I hurt all over. I couldn't find any other word to describe it - it hurt so much.

It's all I could think about.

I tried to focus on other things, like how Carol's fingertips felt against my wrist. The way Lori's hair fell. At which angle Carl's hat fell.

Anything to take my mind off the everlasting and allover tiredness I felt. It was like being drowned, slowly, the tenderness that felt like bruises scattering every muscle I could think off.

If you pushed me too hard, I would probably shatter.

The sense of vulnerability sent me into a wave of curling into myself. I wasn't feeling much inside but the need to keep to myself. To stop letting people help me because they're looking at me with pity, and sympathy. When I knew none of them could see inside my head and understand what I was going through.

Due to the fact that I never told anyone but Daryl and Shane about my occupation; nobody knew me.

Daryl was the only one I had ever told everything I could to.

And it wasn't even everything.

He was the only one of trusted to go near me when I was in this state. When I was sick beyond belief, with my guards down, and wanting to do nothing but lay down; Daryl was the only one I could trust to not hurt me.

Someone could hurt me, but he wouldn't.

So when he left it sent my gut into a swirling panic. He wasn't here to look after me and make sure no one hurt me, when I couldn't do it myself.

I wasn't feeling much of anything lately, all my emotions being behind a glass, with my fists lashing out at the surface, desperate to rekindle with my own self. But I still felt panicked.

My throat croaked out. "Wher-" i couldn't get out the other half before my voice cracked into a sharp whisper.

"Marley?" Lori turned her head towards me, brushing the hair that stuck to my forehead away. "What is it?"

"Where is everyone? Where did they go?" I didn't understand where everyone went. I couldn't multitask with everything around me.

Thinking only of the scraping feeling in my muscles.

"They've gone to a pharmacy to get you medicine?" She kept her voice quiet. I saw her look around us, then back to me. "Don't stress yourself."

I suddenly recoiled, hastily pulling my wrist away from Carol and curling into myself. My nails scraped my skin, digging heavily into my muscles in hope of stimulating some sense of warmth and relief.

The blanket they placed beneath me was scratchy and uncomfortable. The bare threads tickled my arms and cheek.

One of the women around me grasped my arms, turning me back over to my back. I let them because I was too tired to fight back psychically.

"Leave me alone," I whispered above me.

They didn't answer me, huffing at my guarded attitude. They didn't seem shocked that I didn't want anyone to be near me.

I had my eyes closed, but let one open to see if they were still there. They were, and I furrowed my brows in frustration.

Using both my arms, I lifted my upper body from the ground. My legs were restless and twitching.

I heard them say my name and felt then try to lay me back down, gently. But I brushed them off, leaning myself up against the fold down seat beside me.

I blew away the hair that fell into my mouth, licking my dry lips.

Carol reached out to me again, but I took her wrist into my own hand, throwing it away from me. "Leave me alone."

I hit my head against the plastic armrest, sending a coiled shock through my head.

×

Rain beat down on the window of the car, making it hard for Daryl to keep a single thought straight.

They really hadn't anticipated bringing home strays, especially ones with loud and irritating personalities.

Glenn had drawn the short straw, being squashed beside Will, who had a very unhappy laura huddled on his lap. He kept himself to the window, watching condensation crawl up the surface. It cooled their skins from the heat of paranoia.

The theatre was in sight, and it was a swift movement of opening the door as soon as the car came to a hault.

Daryl heard Rick giving the new strangers instructions, threats, bringing out his gun to prove a point.

All weapons they had were neatly tucked beside the mountains of medicine the three people had given them. Along with needles, bandages, gauzes, tape - it was a gold mine daryl didn't mind trading his peace for.

The rain, that was relentless and cold, wet down his hair.

It reminded him of how marley's hair stuck to her skin. How it clung desperately to every slick part of her neck.

He shook his head.

He burst through the doors, letting the terrorising wind slap them to the wall in a crack. Breathing heavily, his steps were forced and heavy on the ground, adamant to get the medicine to Hershel as Glenn and Rick dealt with their new found friends.

All eyes crossed over to him, and he squirmed under their gazes. Walking in and wetting the carpet with each step he took.

Rushing over to the older man, he presented his bag, letting the vet rummage past the multiple guns to the jars and boxes below.

"How's she doin'?" His words were thick with anxiety. He couldn't bring himself to look directly at the girl.

Hershel shook his head dissapointedly, my answering the man.

As the older veterinarian started to set up an IV for Marley, Daryl started to approach her.

Carols eyes were glued to him as he tiptoed down the aisle. He could just see the top of her head when Hershel's voice rang out to him. "Where's Rick and Glenn."

Daryl released a breath he had been unknowingly holding and turned on his heels. "Found some more people."

"What? Who?" Lori was the first to ask and many followed after her with similar questions in worried tones. They all crowed around him and just as the hunter felt like he would be smothered alive from their eyes alone, two men burst through the door with hands on other people.

They looked like drowned rats, their heavy winter coats dragging down on their bodies and showing off how little supplies any of them had.

Laura ran a hand through her hair, having her shoulder held by Glenn, she brushed him off and rushed towards the front of the theatre.

"Where is she?" she sounded abrasive but concerned at the same time. "You said you had a Marley! My Marley."

"Your Marley?" Daryl cut off her steps by stepping in front of the woman, so she could no longer rush forward. They were in the middle of the theatre, dripping water onto the ground and staring each other down.

Daryl grasped the edge of his crossbow, but since Laura was exactly the same height as him, he had to discreetly tipptoe to make himself larged.

Rick, who had his arm on Will, loaded his gun and pointed it straight at the dark haired woman giving Daryl the death-stare. "Step back, Laura." His voice echoed on the chipped walls, bouncing around like a ringing bell.

Laura jutted her chin forward and stepped back unti Glenn had a hold of her arm again.

It was eerily silent for a moment, until Will spoke up. "You... you do still have a Marley though right?"

Whereas everyone opposite to the newcomers cowered away from them, holding each other close - Rick bit his lip and thought of what to say. "Let's just make sure it's the same one."

"We answered your fucking quest-" Will was cut off by the cold metal of a barrel to a gun

Distant coughs sounded, and the hunter instantly reacted and jolted on position. He took his gaze away from the new people and left to walk over to the front of the chairs.

There she was. She had herself curled upright against the seats, chin propped up on her knees with her arms tightly wrapped around them. Her eyes were closed until she heard him coming, then they were red and itchy looking up at him.

He just wanted to bring her close and brush the hair from her face, but he couldn't.

Instead, he went down on one knee, watching her own bloodshot eyes follow him. All other people in the room blurred out to a soft background noise. It was just her and him in that massive theatre, and he could feel the bubble closing in around them. But he still couldn't bring himself to clutch her hand in his own and brush his lips across her warm knuckles even though he so desperately wanted to.

He instead settled with grazing his own knuckles on her knee for a moment, catching her attention and making sure she wasn't doped up on her own sickness.

She traced the edge of her fingernail where his hand had been, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth.

"Sit up," Daryl murmured so only she could hear. He gently grasped her upper arms.

She looked at his hands oddly, and let him lift her up to sit on the red audience chair. She let out a long sigh as she watched him look over her head and at the people still talking behind her. Marley craned her neck tightly, watching upside down at the new people.

And the sudden gravity that she knew those people hit her neck and she sucked in a breath, causing her to choke because of the way her neck bent. And she whipped her head forward, skulking down further into the seat and widening her eyes.

"I know them," she whispered to Daryl. She shot out a hand to his arm, gripping it tightly. "That- that's Laura, Harvey and... Will." She swallowed, suddenly feeling extremely tired, closing her doe eyes and letting her head fall on to her own shoulder.

Her eyes fluttered effortlessly, and she let out a whisper for only him to hear. "She was that girlfriend I told you about."

"Harvey and Will; high school friends."

Daryl watched her chest fall and rise carefully, because everytime she closed her eyes he pulled on the invisible emotional string he had attached to her to see if she was still with him. It tugged at him too, and it hurt.

"Okay," his voice was low, as he picked up her small hand from his arm and laid it on her own lap, getting up from his kneeling position.

As he trailed to be beside her, rather than in front, he gave Rick a nod. It confirmed that the Marley they were talking about, was his- their Marley.

"As you can already tell," Rick came face to face with Laura, because she seemed to be the alpha of her pack. "You're not exactly gonna kip next to us."

"Didn't expect it," she said cooly, blinking lowly at the ex-cop. "But I need to see my Marley."

"She isn't anybody's," Maggie spoke up for once in a long time.

Silence struck the room like lightning and it only made Laura angrier that she couldn't see the girl. "Let me just see her face."

Daryl rested the side of his hand on Marley's shoulder protectively and discreetly.

Rick sucked his teeth, impatient, and annoyed that Daryl had offhandedly agreed to giving these people their company and protection. Winter was coming and they didn't need the extra mouths to feed but the rest of the group obviously cared about the redhead at the front of the theatre more than him.

"Fine."

Laura almost ran towards her, as she darted quickly to the front of the theatre.

And she came face to face with Daryl who stayed glued to the sick girls side. And she only had to swerve around him and grab the girls face to get a good look at the person she hadn't seen since Jimmy Blake took her away from her.

Laura placed her long fingers at the sides of her jaw. "Marley? Oh thank god." The dark haired woman brushed the hair from Marley's eyelashes, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

Marley's eyes were only wide and looked incredibly startled, as she let Laura hold her face.

"What happened to you?"

Before Marley could answer, which she wasn't going to do, Daryl pulled Laura's shoulder upwards to stand so he could be in front of Marley and not her.

"Think that's enough," Daryl growled, curling his hands into fists and knocking his heel with Marley's to have a sense of where she was.

Laura bit back the argument she had mustered up, seeing the way Daryl's eyes always darkened when she even mentioned the person behind him.

So she walked away and back to her own group, of Will and Harvey.

So Rick could give them limitations. They would not include full visiting privileges to the girl she still loved.

+

Daryl let his whole body relax, or at least her tried.

He never could relax fully when Marley looked at him. It was like he was trying to guard everything he held within himself. His emotions, and telltale signs of those.

Marley had been moved to the stage, where they arranged the most pieces of pillows and mattress they could find. They tried to make her as comfortable as possible, but with Lori and Rick she wasn't the first priority.

Rick wouldn't allow her to be the first priority.

So there she was on the stage, a thin blanket laid upon her, and he honestly felt as sick as she looked.

Looking at her like this broke him into more than two pieces, because he could not do a thing about it.

The only thing helping her in that moment was the tiny needle sticking into her arm and the fluids now flowing through her veins. Whilst all he could do was watch.

The night had gotten dark, and the group had turned in for the night. Most of them taking up the right side under the balcony section of audience chairs. And away from Marley, unlike Daryl, who had resided himself on the front row with his leg hitched up and hand over his mouth.

Glenn had taken first watch at the front desk, and someone else had to stay awake to watch their new companions.

Laura, Will, and Harvey slept soundlessly to his left.

And then there was her again, the only other person in the room that was awake and staring lazily at him.

"Go to sleep," he said quietly. His eyes faltered from her, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

She shivered, sweat dripping from her nose. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Marley could taste the salty sweat peaking into her mouth as she licked her lips feverishly. "I can't sleep."

"Then try."

"I can't," Marley didn't bother to whisper and all but bit him as she spoke. "It's- it's too cold... then it's too hot and- I can't."

"Well, that's your own damn fault," he leant forward now. "Taking whatever you was taking."

"I didn't mean to- mess it up," she let out a hushed sob and curled her fist into the blanket at brought it to her cheek. "I didn't want to."

He saw a silent tear trail itself down her cheek, and paint pale skin in place of the faint dirt that was once there.

"Jus- stop. You don't need to cry," he almost kicked himself. This was Marley. You have to deal with her with a little more... caution.

"I-" then she used the heels of her hands to lift her upper body from the bed.

So Daryl shot up, raising his hands up towards her as a silent usher to get her to lay back down.

And then she let out a shaky breath, tossing the blanket from her shoulders and swinging her little legs from the stage. Marley used both her hands to tuck her slightly damp hair behind her childish ears.

Daryl relished in this new feature of hers.

Marley's hair was one of his favourite things, and it hid those little round ears most of the time.

"Lay back down," the redneck ordered quietly. Daryl splayed his fingers on he shoulder to try and coax her back down, but she furrowed her brows and he didn't know whether it was from confusion, fear, or anger. So he removed his hand as she recoiled from it in turn.

Marley looked down to the carpet below, and then cast a meek look back to Daryl. And then her words were sqeaky and waspish. "I wanna sit down. I dot wanna lie down. My legs keep twitching. I ca- Daryl."

The last thing she said was his name and the rest of her words got sucked in through a breath, as Daryl, for what seemed like the thousandth time, hooked his hands under her arms and hoisted her little body towards his own.

Marley instinctively latched her small hands to his biceps, anchoring herself to him.

Even when he had put her down on the chair he once sat down on, so he had to carefully unclip her fingers from his shirt.

He made sure to wheel over her IV bag as well.

And her hands were once again in his own, and he wanted to just... hold them there. He wanted to trace his own rough knuckles against hers. To trace each line and bend as if he had to commit it to memory.

Like one moment she would be gone, and after that, his own memory of her would be all he could ever go off of.

But he lay them down on her own lap, folding her short fingers together, and sitting next to her.

He nervously brought a fingernail to his teeth, chewing on it absently.

"He's not here is he?"

Daryl stopped chewing and traced his eyes down to her hand that had once again latched it to him, a part of him, his sleeve.

He knew he couldn't just brush her off. That's not how you treat Marley.

So instead of recoiling from her touch, he leaned down, so his voice would be more level with her. "He?"

"I don't want to see him again," and it ended in a choke. "I don't want to- don't let him come near me please."

She started to full on panic and look around her, taking in everything around her. Sweat glistened off her skin and shook off as she violently lashed around her.

"No, no, no, please- don't hurt me i didn't do anything wrong."

He watched as Marley used the hand she once used to latch onto him and wrap is around her throat.

Of course, you can't choke yourself, but she started to hold her breath, as if to keep the image alive.

"Please don't hurt me," she said, strained, and face turning red.

Daryl had no fucking clue what to do, and he had no idea what was happening, but the closest thing that came to mind...

Nightmare.

"Marley," he growled, ripping her hands down, and looking her straight in the eyes, their noses parallel with each others.

Her eyes widened and enlarged so much he thought they would pop right out of her head. And those eyes looked down to the tight grip he had on her wrists, and her fingers splayed into the air, grasping desperately for release.

As much as he hated to handle her like this, he didn't let go.

"You don't ever call me Marley," she wasn't looking at him anymore, except at her hands. "Why did you call me Marley?"

Daryl played along with whatever was happening."What do I call you?"

Tears rolled fiercely down her cheeks.

"Ariel."

He shook her wrists away from him as if they were made of fire. "What? Marls, wake up."

And suddenly it was like a painting lost its color. All her wide eyes and shaking stood still, and it was like that night she lay in the cold grass, looking up to the stars.

With him hanging on every single word like it was the edge of a precipice.

"Daryl."

Another name she said, and it was pained with relief.

○○○

YALL know this unedited asfuck

I always grammar check it and wp never saves that for some reason but I'm tired rn

I know yall cool and lemme nap a little before fixing it yall don't mind

Hello poopies long time no see

Guess what day it is

It's Thursday

Yeah its my birthday WOOHOOO I'm finally 17 yay

Goddamn I just realised how long I've been doing this fic

I can't think of much to say but hint that my fav types of comments are the in line ones bc I've been lacking those ever since this fic hit emo city

It's all good tho

STUFF ABOUT MY OTHER BOOKS;

- I have two suicide squad fics. One female pro "Day & Night"

One male pro "Borderline"

- if you read my bucky Barnes fic "the Lazarus effect", it has been retitled "Ivory" and the sequel "Icarus" has been posted.

- gay Allison Argent fic I cry about a lot ("A Little Death"(Yeah I went there))

- most fics are gonna be slow updates until this fic is complete

As always I love to hear your predictions

Stay cute

All hail the king, baby

- sylar