The sun peeked through the trees that hovered over Daryl. The mud and sand beneath him soaked through his shirt, sticking to his skin. His legs felt heavy as they sunk into the ground, and his neck became sore as it was laying on a rock.

He felt a few bugs crawl across the skin on the back of his hand, as he felt paralyzed. What little vision he had was clouded with darkness.

But the sound of footsteps pulled him back into consciousness. The sun that once blinded his sore eyes was now being blocked by a tall figure that stood over him.

The initial instinct to get up and attack whatever was there wouldn't carry out as his muscles wouldn't respond. He couldn't reach for anything to defend himself, and that tight feeling in his abdomen that signalled danger pulsated.

"Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy?" he knew that voice. His eyes were playing tricks as a familiar voice came into his eye line. "You could bind your wound better."

He knew exactly who it was, and despite his entire self-telling him it was just an illusion, he smiled of sorts. Even if Merle wasn't really there, a sense of tension released from his shoulders.

"Merle." Daryl rasped, closing his eyes for a moment to calm down from the initial sense of danger.

His head throbbed where blood had started seeping from, but he didn't really care at that moment.

Merle grinned back at him, the edge of his leather vest catching the light. He laughed for a second before analysing Daryl. "What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?"

"Shitty day, bro," he muttered back.

"Like me to get you a pillow?" Merle mused a smug look on his face as he looked at his out-of-it brother. "Maybe rub your feet?"

"Screw you." The fact that Daryl knew he wasn't really there played on his mind. Questions knocked themselves back and forth through his head as his fuzzy mind tried to take it all in. Even if Merle wasn't there, he wasn't going to let him talk to him like that.

Merle only laughed again response. "You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get?"

If Daryl could move... or if his muscles would do what he told them to, Daryl would get up and shout at his brother. Try to argue back. But every bit of energy was being used to stay awake.

"Look at you," the elder scowled. "Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here little brother."

Daryl nearly fell back into darkness until his brother asked him a question.

"And for what?"

"A girl," Daryl replied. He blinked a few times, some dry sand getting into his eyes mixed with the brightness that would peek beside Merle's head and nearly blind him. "They lost a little girl."

"So you got a thing for little girl's now?"

Disgust coursed through Daryl's veins. "Shut up." He tried to put more energy into it, but it only came out slightly louder than a whisper.

"'Cause I noticed you ain't out looking for old merle no more."

"Tried like hell to find you, bro." Daryl flashbacked to when he found his brother's hand and how desperate it made him feel.

"Like hell you did," Merle accused, furrowing his brows. "You split, man. Lit out first chance you got."

Daryl never enjoyed how much Merle made fun of him or how much he accused him of things he never did. Other people's comments would fly over his head, they wouldn't matter, they were just words.

But there were certain people to him where their words could sting more than the most painful burn. They would cut through him, and the inner wall he had would crack at its edges.

He was sure... absolutely sure, of two certain people being those persons. And Merle was one of them.

But with Merle came a certain numbness, because he had heard it nearly all his life.

"You lit out," Daryl raised his eyebrows. "All you had to do was wait. We went back for you. Rick and I, we did right by you."

A look of disbelief and disappointment washed over Merle's old features. "This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand?"

Achingly moving his eyes as much as he could, a blurred image was in front of him, and Daryl saw that his brother still had both hands.

He knew for sure that it was just his imagination. But still kept asking himself whether it was or not.

"This him we're talking 'bout here? You his bitch now?"

"I ain't nobody's bitch," the younger said confidently.

"You're a joke is what you are," Merle scowled. "Playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, n*ggers, democrats, and strippers."

He chuckled, but Daryl didn't like it.

Daryl knew exactly who he was talking about, and he didn't like it at all.

"You're nothing but a freak to them."

It seemed like someone else was there, but all he could hear was their voice. It was distant and soft, sounding so quiet despite being right next to him. It was like music to his ears. He wanted to know who was calling his name. He tried to focus on it but was being distracted by Merle.

"Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that don't you."

"Daryl." There it was. His name seemed to come from their lips like a sin and a prayer, and soft clouds. His mind was telling him he knew whoever was talking, but he refused to be unfocused from the sound for a second.

"I got a little news for you, son."

"Daryl."

"One of these days, they're gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dogshit."

Something was wrong with what he was seeing. Merle seemed to glitch at the edge of himself. It was like a TV that was losing signal. His voice became muffled, and the other one was getting louder.

"Daryl."

"Hey," Merle patted his brother's chest, the action feeling light, and not there. "They ain't your kin... Your blood. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd go back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me."

"Daryl."

He wanted to know who else was speaking. His eyes were lazy as he tried to keep them open the best he could. His chest felt tight as the unknown voice got closer, and they eventually became more familiar.

"Daryl."

'What was she doing here?'

Merle reached out to his face, grabbing his slack jaw.

"Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me, baby brother."

"Liar." The voice changed its words, but that didn't take away the raspy, honey-like quality.

The hand on his face seemed to change, feeling less rough. Merle glitched more, soon becoming someone else after he said his last words which were, "Ain't nobody ever will."

It was a strange thing. Merle was there but was replaced in a split second by a halo of rose gold.

The voice matched with the face, and his stomach dropped slightly.

She knelt down in front of him, hovering over his face. Once she was no longer glitching, she smiled.

"There you are." Her voice echoed like a song, seeming to be only something that could come from the lips of an angel. Daryl was sure that he was seeing an angel.

For this couldn't be the girl he was thinking of; her face had no bruises, her hair was clean, and her hand on his face was not scarred.

This was not Marley. But, God, he wished she was here.

Her hand left his jaw, and trailed down his chest, going to one of his hands. She laced their fingers together, using her other hand to push the hair away from Daryl's face. She cupped his cheek.

"My poor Daryl," she whispered the light around her face setting aflame to her hair. Her green eyes shone like lightning. "You need to get up."

Daryl felt himself slipping, but the girl in front of him wouldn't let that happen. She leaned forward to where their faces were mere centimetres apart. Their noses bumped together.

"Stay with me," she breathed, it washed over his face and fell upon his parted lips. She was a deadly mix of sugar, and strawberry vodka. He didn't know how he knew that, but he was intoxicated.

"You need to get up," her eyes were as wide as his, being in such close proximity to each other was dong stuff to him on the inside. "I'm in trouble and you need to get up."

'Trouble? Why was she in trouble?'

"Only you can help me," she fluttered her eyes closed, her hand leaving his and coming to cradle his jaw, making him not be able to look anywhere but her long eyelashes that brushed against his cheekbones.

"Don't let me be alone," she ordered quietly. "I can't be alone." The girl shivered as her full lips torturously grazed his own for a second.

It took all his strength to lift his left arm to cradle her elbow.

This was nothing like when he had been so close to her back in the CDC. This was full of something he wasn't quite sure how to name.

Daryl found himself wishing that it wasn't a dream.

She hesitated from moving to speak again. "Only you. Nobody else. You need to pull me back before it's too late."

He wasn't quite sure what she meant but almost found himself begging for her to get closer. She was like his own brand of drug, being that close was the best high he ever had from her. He felt starved of her, and he hoped she felt the same way.

Her soft fingertips trailed patterns behind his earlobe. He practically melted, falling into her and grasping what little material he had between his fingers from her sleeve - waiting impatiently and terribly preparing for the sensations to come.

How could she do this to him? How was she making him so soft, and willing to be on his knees for her?

She opened her eyes once again, and he thought she was going to walk away and leave him reaching out for her.

Daryl was on the edge, the absolute edge and he didn't think that he could take it anymore.

Her eyes looked down to his, blue meeting green.

Silent permission was settled and she looked down to is awaiting lips. Her fingernails doing wonderful things to the underside of his jaw.

After what seemed like an eternity spent in a strawberry blonde galaxy, somewhere between the brightest star and the darkest black hole, she placed her lips on his.

Daryl let out a shaky breath through his nose as he practically fell into her. She was so soft and delicate with her actions, like if she went too fast she would tear at each other's fragile edges. He was drowning in her and the only way to breathe was to pull away.

He didn't, instead trailing his fingers higher up her forearm, gripping it like if he let go she would float away back to the sky full of envious stars.

The man was delirious from her sweet lips, and he couldn't believe that it was really happening because nothing made sense at that moment.

She didn't make sense.

Marley was too good to be true.

Too fucking good to be true but he wanted her to be.

He found himself desperately reaching out to her and she started pulling away. The puzzle that they were, breaking apart, her pillowy lips rolling off his like liquid gold slipping from his grasp.

She stayed close to him, her eyes still closed and nose nuzzled next to his own.

Heat flooded his body, as her hands started letting go of him, and he almost pleaded for her to stay. It was odd, but she made him cold and being without her brought him back to reality and under the scorching sun.

He couldn't do anything but lay there uselessly as this practical goddess coated his lips with sugar as she spoke a few more words.

"Get back to me," she whispered hurriedly, her eyes opening and lighting up his day with a treacherous hurricane that bore deep into his skull with only one look at her deadly gaze.

She was violence and peace. She was rain and she was the sun. She was everything his entire being craved... and she wasn't even there.

"Don't be scared," she said with finality.

Those words woke him up to the pressure on his ankle like something was grabbing him. He looked down to see a walker gnawing on his shoe.

Suddenly panicking, he conjured up enough strength the kick it away from him.

He lunged to the right, trying to grab his crossbow but it was too late as the walker was back on top of him.

After some wrestling, Daryl managed to grab a stick beside him and beat the walker's head in. It split like a spoilt fruit, taking all the energy out of Daryl since he had just been in such a relaxed state.

He saw another walker approaching, knowing he was out of bolts he had to resort to the worst idea. Leaning back into the wet sand, he forcefully pulled the bolt in his side through his body and out one end.

It wasn't the worst pain he had felt, but it certainly wasn't the weakest. He swallowed the pain, grunting from exertion.

Finally getting it out, he struggled to pull back the string on his crossbow. He didn't want to be weak, and anger bubbled inside of him and he used that to his advantage. He soon got the wire up just as the walker was about to lung from above him.

Laying back and aiming, the bolt swiftly shot through the walker's head, sending it to through ground beside him.

Daryl didn't know whether he had taken a real breath since he last saw Marley above him, and now was his time to gasp for air. His chest rising and falling quickly, still not believing what had happened was true.

+

Blood surrounding his mouth, his wound bound, and crossbow trailing behind him he climbed the edge of the ravine once again.

At the call of birds, he looked up, facing the treacherous drop that took him before.

"Please, don't feed the birds."

Looking behind him, Merle was standing there a smile rising to his lips.

Daryl huffed in exasperation and tiredness, becoming sick of his brother just appearing out of nowhere. He had enough of his hallucinations for one day.

His brother laughed, "What's the matter, Darylina? That all you go in you?"

Daryl gritted his teeth, his arm shaking as he tried to lift himself higher.

"Throw away that purse and climb."

"I liked it better when you was missing," he grumbled, all energy was being put into climbing.

Merle only laughed again, "Come on, don't be like that. I'm on your side."

"Yeah, since when?"

"Hell, since the day you were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass."

Anger rose up in Daryl's chest again. But it quickly dissipated once he glanced back up to give his brother some sense, but he saw someone beside him.

She was there, and it appeared that Merle didn't even notice.

She stood there calmly, looking down at him, smiling.

She wasn't saying a word.

"You never took care of me. You talk a big game, but you was never there."

Hooking the vine around his wrist, he tried everything in him to climb farther.

"Hell," he hated to say it, "you ain't her now. Some things never change."

Merle tilted his head. "Well, I'll tell you what - I'm as real as your chupacabra."

"I know what I saw."

"I'm as real as her."

This made Daryl look up from the vines that tangled dangerously around his neck. Merle kept his eyes on his brother, and Daryl stopped climbing to look up at them both.

"Yeah, I got your attention now, huh?" Merle smiled smugly. "She's made you soft, boy. You'll be doing dam curtsies tomorrow with the way you're going."

"You best shut the hell up."

"Kick off those damn high heels and climb!" Merle yelled.

Marley's hazy figure knelt down in the dirt and reached out her hand towards him with eyes luring him further and somehow helping him.

His muscles were like jelly, but an encouraging look in her eyes was all he needed.

The bad words Merle was giving him and her pale hand reaching out towards him gave him strength.

Just as he made it to the top, he went to grab her hand, only to grab the dirt below it. Clinging to a root embedded in the ground, he used up the last of what he had in him to make it upwards.

Daryl had made it, looking around with heavy breathes for his brother and the girl.

"Yeah, you better run!" he roared, directing it towards Merle.

But when he looked around further he saw no one. He was alone until a hushed voice spoke again.

"Daryl." He didn't know how much he loved the sound of his own name until she had uttered it. She appeared in front of him, hidden behind the bark of a tree.

"This way," she smiled, once again reaching out her hand.

+

It all came too fast.

One second he was standing, looking for the strawberry blonde that led him there, and the next he fell to the ground, in pain... again.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, he fell down.

As he was lifted from the ground, his ear necklace being taken away from his mouth. "I was kidding," he breathed before his world was finally brought into darkness.

After Marley had figured out who it was and had gotten to the ground, she tried her hardest to follow after everyone.

Nobody paid any attention to her as she trailed breathlessly after Daryl's limp body. Her eyes held worry and confusion and fear. Her fists clenched tightly.

Everything was cloudy for her, and she felt her insides shattering like a glass house. She didn't like it at all. She didn't want to have those feelings. To be totally honest with herself, she wished she couldn't feel a damn thing.

But Daryl didn't make that remotely possible for her.

"What happened?" she almost cried, walking beside Rick and keeping her eyes on Daryl. She was wearing herself out and her ribs moaned in pain as her heart thumped against the cage of them.

"It's just a graze, don't worry," Rick comforted the girl, seeing clearly how much distress she was in. His own breaths came out shaky as he struggled with the weight of Daryl for a moment.

When Hershel let them in, he ordered that a few of them stay outside. He almost told Marley to leave but stopped himself when he saw tears starting to form on her doe eyes. He knew that she needed to stay with him.

Hershel had presumed they were a couple, but he didn't know for sure.

Shane sat on a chair, Rick knelt beside the bed and Marley next to Hershel trying to help him.

Hershel passed her a pair of scissors, shocking her from her daze of looking at Daryl with largely shocked eyes. "We'll need to cut his shirt off."

Whilst Hershel prepared to stitch Daryl's wounds, she grasped the metal in her shaky hands. Marley looked at the utensil for a moment, almost not trusting herself with the task.

She took his filthy shirt in her hands and cut the straps off his shoulder before moving to the part that covered his chest.

Daryl was still unconscious, but not for long as her fingers left a trail of fire as she slowly moved the shirt off of him.

On instinct, he instantly grabbed her wrist stopping her from going anywhere. She winced from the pressure until their eyes met and he let go of her, his eyes frantically searching the room he didn't recognise.

Her being there made him question if he was in reality, but the bruise that painted her face let him know that he wasn't dreaming or that he wasn't hallucinating again.

"I'll need you to move onto your good side," the vet ordered, still slightly annoyed that Daryl had taken one of his horses without his permission.

Daryl did as he was told but with Marley still in the corner of his eye.

After telling Rick where he found the doll, and Hershel healing his wounds and telling him he should be able to clean himself up everyone left - Except for her.

Throughout his discussion with the others he kept her at the corner of his eye.

When she wasn't a result of his confused mind, she was so much better. She was real.

Twice as pretty, twice as tragic.

He watched her carefully as she walked to the wall he was facing, and slid down it, bringing her hands to her hair.

He wanted to know what the hallucination-Marley meant by "You need to pull me back before it's too late," or that only he can help her.

Help her with what, he was hoping to find out.

"Andrea shot you," the girl sniffled from the waves of her hair that surrounded her hands that tangled within it.

"Ain't a big deal," he rasped fidgeting with the cloth he still had pressed to the side of his head.

"She could have killed you," she snapped. "Nobody is allowed to kill you."

"Who said so?"

"I said so."

The air was thick with tension as they burned each other's eyes with their own gazes. A storm was brewing before them and Daryl didn't want that to happen.

She got up from the hard floor and sat beside him on the bed, despite their previous bickering, she put on a playful smile.

"Who's gonna' look after me?"

Daryl made a noise similar to a laugh, but it only lasted a second as he kept his emotional-badass demeanor up. Even if that demeanor was its weakest around her.

He never felt the need to be that way around her.

He didn't want to be rude or have arguments with her. He didn't want to demand answers from her even when she didn't want to give them to him.

He didn't want to see her cry or be sad. He didn't want her to hide her bruised eye with her locks of fire. He didn't want her to ever be scared.

He wanted her to know what he thought of her, and what he had seen down in that ravine... but he really couldn't bring himself to form the words.

He wanted her to touch him again, and it seemed that her prayers were answered when she reached out and placed her hand on top of his.

"Daryl?" She brought him from his thoughts. "You're not gonna' die on me right?"

He was too focused on how she was holding his hand like she held it every day.

"Promise?" She whispered, tilting her head to the side, and that smile he loved so much rising up her face.

The back of his neck felt heated as he had a feeling pressure upside in him.

"If you promise me t-"

"Of course," she cut him off, dancing her fingers across his dirty knuckles.

"Then yes." His voice was so quiet and afraid he thought it might break.

He didn't think he had said surer words until just then.

'Who wouldn't want to stay alive just to see her every day?' he thought.

She let out a shaky breath having to look upwards as tears threatened to spill. She was still in panic mode from when she had seen him almost dead in front of her.

Daryl never thought he would have the thoughts he was having for a girl who suddenly appeared in his uncle's cabin, but he wasn't complaining.

She sucked in a sharp breath, getting up and letting his hand go in the process. Swiftly leaving the room not wanting him to see her have a panic attack of sorts.

"You can't make that promise to him."

Jimmy's figure was leant up against the wall, arms crossed and a disappointment in his cloudy eyes.

Marley turned to him.

"And he can't either, nobody can these days."

"Then I'll keep his promise for him."

"How's that supposed to work?"

"I'm gonna' make sure that he stays alive... at whatever cost."

Jimmy laughed, getting up from the wall and towering over her much shorter self.

He lifted one eyebrow, curiously. "You never made that promise for me."

She tilted her head, analysing his challenging face.

"I made the promise to live much longer than you."

+

Is daryl becoming too un-daryl like for you guz?

How long will Jimmy last? Will Jimmy become a regular thing? Do you guys want him to be a regular thing?

pls answer in the comments what you think

and also tell me what your reactions were to tHE DARLEY KISS OMG!!!

DARLEY FOREVER!

also pop any questions you want answered below, and i'll answer them in the approaching chapters.

vote, comment, follow, cry. (not necessarily in that order)

have a good day my darlings.

-Sylar