"Standing guard?" a low voice spoke, his heavy boots dragging along the wooden floor I was sat upon.

My lower back, especially my tailbone, ached as I sat in an awkward position. My knees pointing upwards, my arms wrapped around my thighs, pressing them tightly against my chest. My long hair created a curtain, disfiguring my view of the person approaching me, but I knew who it was. Someone I hadn't talked to in a while.

"No, just hiding," I whispered into my sleeves.

He sighed as he lowered himself to the ground on the left side of me. His elbow brushed mine, but I didn't flinch away like I thought I would with him.

After he had talked to me, a sense of forgiveness washed over me after he left. I had realised he was right.

"Well, I don't blame you," he said amusedly, turning his face towards me, his eyes lingering on my wounds. Everyone who talked to me looked at me that way. "This social gathering they got going on is gonna be awkward as hell."

I laughed slightly at his wording.

It was silent for a few more moments before Shane spoke up again. "How you doing nowadays, Marl?"

His voice was quiet like we were exchanging secrets. That seemed to be all that we were doing anymore.

There was no more flirty deputy who patted my head when he was amused at how small I was. It was now very different; Shane, with his bald head and wanting to lead me somewhere he thought was necessary. Leading me to that place his mind was buried, but what he didn't know was that my grave was already built there.

"I still can't talk to people properly," I said honestly, keeping voice as low as his. I shuffled closer to him, my cheek pressing up against his shoulder.

He played with his cap in his hands, twisting it, and pulling it.

"You'll get there," he assured, now putting the cap on the floor between his legs. "Just gotta try and forget. Not let it get to you. Flip the switch."

"I don't think I have a switch," my voice was still hoarse from screaming that day. "And I can't forget when people keep looking at me like I just... said something weird in front of them." My words were hurried and desperate.

Shane's hand made my heartbeat rise and fall quickly, it coming into contact with my knuckles and picking up my hand. He turned it over, looking at the smooth and strange looking palm.

"I never said sorry fo- I don't know, throwing you was it?"

"It was more like unknowingly knocking," I smiled. "Hurt like a bitch, but palms don't scar easily."

He stopped surveying the lines on my skin, intertwining our hands together and resting them atop his knee. This caused me to move closer to him, my whole body curling into his. I had no choice but to rest the side of my head against his shoulder.

My whole entire being was tense.

Sure, Shane was cool and I didn't mind him holding my hand. But I was kind of a Geiger counter for danger, and I was contemplating on whether my magnetism to him was because of that.

He was the person I didn't have to lie to, so I found a certain weird comfort in being around him.

"Maybe I should shave my head," I said suddenly, not thinking before I came out with that. "You seem to be coping since you did."

Shane smirked, now looking away then back to me.

His eyes were the same colour as Jimmy's.

"No, don't do that," he uttered. "You'd regret it."

It was silent again, as our small laughter died down.

I thought about not lying to Shane; and telling him the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I could lie to others all I wanted, but Shane - I could tell him everything.

I could say that I wasn't fine, that I was seeing Jimmy, I could tell him what happened to me, I could tell him about my brother, and hope to everything in hell that he wouldn't leave me like the rest.

People who knew all there was about me to understand me never really stayed too long.

Shane was my opportunity to let it all go.

"I was a stripper before all this," I whispered, hoping no one curious was walking by.

I looked away from the wall and to his eyes. He looked shocked, but thankfully not disgusted.

"I would have never thought," he said simply. He didn't seem bothered at all.

"My parents died on my birthday," my words broke at the end, my throat starting to confine itself. "It was snowing, and my brother never came back."

Shane turned his body, facing it more towards me, his hand letting go of mine since I squeezed it too tight. I started wringing my hands together, tears threatening to spill over.

"Shane, he never came back and I don't know where he went."

I slid upwards on the wall, Shane following me as my legs carried me from wall to wall.

"Marl, you need to calm do-"

"No!" I squealed, staring him down. Neither of us looked like we were going to back down. Him more so than me.

"Calm down Ariel."

"My name is Marley!" I all but yelled. "Stop coming here and calling me that!"

Shane grabbed my shoulders, and unexpectedly pushed me backwards until my entire back roughly hit the wall behind me. My head made a knocking sound as it came into contact, and my hair flew in front of my face.

"Get your shit together!" Shane hissed, his hands curling into fists around the collar of my shirt.

We both breathed the same air as his gaze burned into mine.

"You first," I dared, ripping his hands away from me.

"I got my shit together Marl," he pointed an accusing my finger towards me. "Neither of us can afford your... whatever this is." He gestured around my head.

I felt extremely offended and turned off by Shane's abrupt turn in behaviour.

To be completely honest... I wasn't better.

"No," now it was my turn to point a figure at him. He towered over me, my tiny frame almost being comical as we had the argument. "What we did; no sane person comes out that. Despite you thinking that you have mastered this titanium persona, you really haven't."

"At least I got one. At least I can lie without looking like the guiltiest person alive."

"I've had to put on a show my whole life, but this fuckery needs some getting used to." We both now stood strongly, our shoulders parallel, our stare as deadly as a knife.

"No shit!" he tried to back me up to the wall again, but I only wavered in my balance. "We just can't have everyone knowing that."

"I'm not stupid, Shane!"

He brought his hand up to his forehead as our bickering died down a little.

I was going to try something.

I brought my face closer to him, he stood glued to his spot, and surveyed every little move I was making.

"If I were stupid," I swallowed. "I would have let Otis live."

His face stilled, and he slowly brought his eyes up to me.

"If I were stupid, I would have stopped you before you shot that gun."

He backed away from me.

"If I were stupid, a lot of people would have lived."

My hands clenched into fists, and we stood opposite each other as equals.

"And you know what," I smiled when I really shouldn't have. "I remember all the names of the people I feel responsible for."

He nodded in understanding like he wanted me to finish talking. But I was far from finishing.

"Jessica Mccall, Robert and Violet Van Allan, Samuel Clark, Cordelia Denver, Jimmy Blake, Lucy Smith, Otis, Peggy the fucking horse, and my fucking brother who I don't even know is alive or not."

"So don't talk to me about handling guilt when you have no idea about how much I have."

Shane didn't utter a single word as he backed away down the hall, picking up his hat along the way.

He had a facial expression like he didn't believe me.

I didn't need him to believe me, I was the one that needed to.

+

Outside - it was better than inside.

Dale had approached me, telling me that dinner was ready. I told him I wasn't hungry.

So here I was, leaning on the fence, wrapping my arms around myself as the cold started to emerge for the night, I could have easily just gone to sleep, but sleep wasn't important for me.

No sleep meant headaches but pinching and scratching my arms to try and focus the pain somewhere else. The cold made the bruises prominent, my skin rising up accompanied by goosebumps.

I was so hungry, but I refused to go in there and be surrounded by the people I have to constantly lie to.

And Patricia, she was there.

It would give them one less mouth to feed, so I wasn't hurting anyone.

"Quite a scene in there."

I hated him.

"Looks like Shane cares a lot about you," he smiled, leaning up next to me. "Bad decision to be completely honest."

"What do you want?"

I turned to him. He looked the same, except his eyes reflected the small amount of light that was coming from the house. They made them look glassy and artificial.

"Well since I'm stuck with you until you, as Shane called it, get your shit together," he crossed his arms, breathing loudly from annoyance. "I kinda just wanna spend some quality time with you."

"You're disgusting," I spit, standing fully and walking forward. I don't get far as he appears in front of me.

"That's not what you would usually say," he corrected, raising his eyebrows and standing over me, at least trying to be intimidating. "Thank you," he whispered. "That's what you would say."

I bit the inside of my cheek, looking around to see if anyone was around.

When I saw no one, my ears steamed with anger and ferocity.

"Thank you?" My hands shook, and I breathed heavily. "For what? For all the times, you left me crying on the floor? When I always got sick because you refused to take me to a doctor?"

"I looked after you," he seethed, bending his knees so he spat on my face at every syllable.

"You're. Not. A. Doctor." I said slowly. Recalling the memory, I felt a new sense of excitement at how brave I was being towards him, despite him not even being there.

He looked slightly defeated but more emotional than before.

"What about when you forced me..." I swallowed hard. "To do things. Things I didn't want to do, but you didn't realise 'no' meant 'no'."

His eyes were dead, and he evidently chews his tongue, watching me as I threw insults his way in any shape or form.

"When you passed me off to others like a doll, but punished me when you thought I was cheating."

No words from him.

"When you treated me like an item to be played with - your own little chew toy."

I expected him to do nothing more as I caught my breath, my neck flinching when I had the urge to pull out a knife and give him all the scars he had given me.

But he did something.

He bent his knees again, getting down to my level.

He was so close to me I could see the tendrils of flesh that were torn due to his bullet wound. All coming to together like violin strings.

"At least I never tried to kill someone," he whispered, hoping that my walls would crumble on every syllable.

"I never got that far."

"Oh, you got pretty far, my Ariel," he kept his voice level, like everything he spoke were factual. "Just remember who pulled you back into the car."

I didn't want to think about that.

"You're welcome," he whispered with finality, and then his figure was gone.

I let go of a breath I didn't realise I was hocking, my side protesting and screaming for me to stop arguing with figments of my own imagination.

What was the point of him, and how could I get rid of him?

+

She was shouting at the air.

Marley was shouting at the air.

Daryl was surprised no one had gone out to check on who was making so much noise. The window only opened a few inches despite the obvious need for them to open more, because of where they lived. This caused him to only make out a few words.

She looked so crazy and strong.

He thought that was what he must have looked like when he saw her down in the ravine.

He had to keep reminding himself that she didn't actually kiss him. It was just a figment of his imagination - unfortunately for them both.

There was something so completing and final about them doing that together, that he didn't want it. Daryl knew no happy endings, so he kind of just wanted a happy start and middle.

He didn't feel the need to confide in her that way because he knew it wouldn't go too well. At least not at that moment.

Like a child hiding a secret from their parents, Daryl quickly scurried away from the window when he saw her start to make her way towards the house. Her arms swinging from side to side wildly, her hair following her like a river of fire.

Even in the dark he could see that.

He groaned as he lowered his now clean self onto the firm bed, securing the bandage on his head by tugging it slightly. He lifted the sheets to his chest, concealing his back and his past.

He heard her before he saw her, those dirty boots he had gotten her made the loudest footsteps against floorboards, but were silent on the ground - he didn't think they would end up in a house when he got them.

The door swung open and closed just as quick. He glanced over his shoulder and saw her lean up against the door to catch her breath for a moment. After that, she walked around the bed to sit on the chair opposite him.

She bent down, unlacing her boots to reveal mismatched socks. They were the cutest things - one was bright pink whilst the other had tiny hedgehogs printed on them.

"I thought it'd be warmer in here," she complained, setting her shoes aside and looking to Daryl.

His eyes flickered to the window he forgot to close and relished it had let a breeze in. He inwardly cringed at his mistake.

She follows his gaze and proceeded to close the window, turning the latch.

She sat back down, leaning into the dusty cushions trying to find a way to be comfortable. She shuffled around for a few moments, b she found no way she could sleep there all night.

Jimmy tended to appear when she was alone, so the only logical thing to do was not to be alone.

With Daryl being in the house, leaving their tent empty, she preferred to be by his side anyways.

She gripped the edges of the chair for a moment before meeting Daryl's gaze and talking. "Any planned company?"

He was utterly confused.

"No?"

"Is anyone accompanying you in your bed."

"No."

"Lovely."

She got up quickly, kicking her boots away from tripping-over distance and carefully laid down next to him.

She was facing him, as she shuffled around in the sheets, bringing them up to her face and lowering down impossibly further.

She hadn't slept on anything close to a real mattress since the CDC and she didn't remember that experience all too well.

Daryl Dixon was actually some sense of scared, and he absolutely hated that. He hated that she did it so easily - just looked at him, touched him, interacted with him. She made it look so godamn easy and he hated that he couldn't do the same.

He hated that couldn't look at her without his mind wandering.

His mind was his own and he wanted to control it, but Marley came at him with herself and he could never be prepared.

He detested everything about her, but he couldn't ever at the same time.

"What are you looking at?" She questioned, confused by his beady eyes that burned holes into her. She thought she must have startled him because he looked downwards.

"Nothing," he said, but it came out muffled as he mirrored her actions and pulled the sheet to his mouth.

She smiled, her eyes lighting up. "I'm nothing?"

"You know what I mean," he sighed, turning so he was on his back and looking to he ceiling. So he went looking at her.

"How was dinner?" Daryl inquired, even though he knew she didn't go. Carol had told him she wasn't there and that he should ask her about it. Something about how only he can do that.

Marley sensed he was trying to be funny by the way he said it.

"I didn't go," she breathed into the pillow, which she had the side of her face firmly pressed into. "Too many people."

"Same here."

"You didn't go because you got shot in the head," she lifted herself up to give him a knowing look. "Not because you have bad social skills."

"That too."

He felt her hit his shoulder before she lay back down.

She did a brave thing and shuffled closer to him, her soft lips only just grazing the muscle on his bicep.

He felt her eyelashes brush against his skin and it made him inwardly shiver.

The room as still like ice to her, and that only made her curl more into him. She was fearful that he would push her away, but he didn't.

"What actually happened to you today?" She whispered.

"Fell down a ravine, and hit my head."

"Your side?"

"Arrow."

"Oh."

"I saw merle."

That grabbed her attention as she fully lifted all her weight onto her hands so she could half hover over him.

He found it quite familiar, but he would never tell her that.

"What the hell?" She whisper-yelled, quickly tucking her hair behind her ears so she wouldn't lose balance.

"Just from hitting my head," he assured. She laid back down next to him. "He wasn't even there." He sounded disappointed, exasperated, annoyed.

"Anybody else?"

He was definitely going to lie.

"No."

A silence was upon them, and it was like that for the rest of the night. After Marley had gotten up to turn off the light, she resumed her previous position next to him.

Both of them were worried to disturb the other, so they lay completely still. Absolutely still.

They were both sure that neither of them breathed, and throughout the night they both steal glances at each other to kind of make sure the other was still alive.

Marley was the first to go to sleep, seeing as she was running on the least. She tried to stay awake, but the comforting factor that she was next to someone seems to work like a lullaby. Her nose ended up being nuzzled underneath his arm.

She didn't know it at all, but she was a loud breather in her sleep. She was like soft wind bellowing through trees - and Daryl couldn't find s more comforting sound to fall asleep to.

Whilst she was completely out of it, he tuned in on the noise.

Soon enough, he was completely out of it himself.

When Daryl slept he was like a cat. Completely unaware but totally aware at the same time. He chest would rise slowly and descend just as slow. It was like all the tensions he had that day were cut from their strings and his whole body relaxed.

With Marley tucked in beside him like a forgotten teddy bear, her slightly foetal position would be a bitch to stretch out from in the morning but it was the cosiest she ever felt in a day. All her warmth and heat concentrated towards her hands and heart, she became a furnace.

Daryl would awaken multiple times during the night and so would she but never at the same time, unfortunately.

When he did, he would just try his best to get back to sleep instead of thinking about how he had touched her, and yet he hadn't.

When she did, it was like disturbing a goddess. Her hair a mess and hurt in her eyes like she had just been betrayed. Her eyes wide and searching for the culprit who woke her by we only met with the side of Daryl's face and the moonlight that reflected off his collarbone.

She would eventually fall back asleep, becoming peaceful again.

Her legs would be pulled up towards herself, whilst one of Daryl's threatened to fall off the actual bed because Marley would actually claim most of the bed.

They were both kinds of a mess as they slept, not exactly fitting together. Unknowingly kicking each other during the night, or twitching in their dreams and nearly elbowing each other.

And when the sun shone through the window in the morning, Daryl was the first to wake.

+

omfg even carol ships them

it feels like i havent updated in a while but idk

bc this chapter was a bitch to write because i had no idea what to do with marley

still think it's shite tho tbh

lol marley is such a two face

there are a few thangs for you to theorise about but i'll list them for you anways;

marley's brother?

the names of people she feels responsible for?

"at least I never tried to kill anyone." - Jimmy (wtf does that mean?)

i'd love to hear what you think so comment your thoughts

anyways those who asked how i do my gifs... soz but that's a secret. (not to be a little shit or anything.)

and omg MONDAY'S EPISODE WAS AMAZING

I REALISED THAT JESSIE IS KINDA LIKE MARLEY OMG

anyways

have a good day my darlings x

- sylar