Chapter Text
People were not handling things well. Shane and Rick were butting heads even more than before, and Herschel wanted Shane off of his land. Because she'd stood up for them, Maggie had let Blessing know that she was more than welcome to stay if her group decided to leave. Her father had given her the okay to say it, even if that meant Daryl could stay too. Unfortunately for Blessing, she didn't say it in secret. She'd practically announced it to her and Glenn in front of the entire group, making Shane all the more suspicious of them both.
Glenn knew about the barn, he'd been the one to speak up about it. But he hadn't defended the Greene's like Blessing did. He hadn't tried to step up to Shane for talking to Herschel the way he did, he watched on in nervous silence. So to Shane... Blessing was their most dangerous ally. Why dangerous? She was ready to stick up for them whether they were wrong or right, but that was a Blessing thing.
She was usually the one that stepped up to him, even when he was in his spouts of rage.
But... What they were doing was wrong. No matter how they viewed it. Those weren't people they were locking in that barn, and they'd seriously put everyone's life at risk by putting them there. If they still believed them as people, that meant if it came down to it they wouldn't be able to kill a walker to save someone else's life. Too worried about the life already lost. Now, it was honorable for them to respect that much but... The dead eat people now. And they couldn't offer that much kindness to them.
They'd had a funeral for everyone they'd lost, but Carol had refused to go. Blessing and Daryl had both gone to try and get her to come... But she'd claimed that wasn't her daughter. That Sophia hadn't gone cold or hungry, she wasn't afraid thinking they weren't looking for her... She'd been in that barn. Blessing had to have a moment to recollect herself after that.
Because of everything, Daryl had moved their tent even further out than before trying to get away from the group. Blessing noticed the change immediately, because he wasn't as talkative as he once was when they were alone. SHe could tell he was lost in his thoughts, his narrowed blue eyes focusing solely on fiddling sticks to craft some bolts for his crossbow.
"Thanks, Daryl." She said suddenly, because she was sitting on a leg not too far from him at their camp fire. She was subtly glancing at him every now and then so she wouldn't get caught staring. She wanted to wipe the frown from his face, but she wasn't sure how... Because truly.. She didn't feel like smiling either.
"Fer what?" He grumbled, not even glancing her way. She breathed out a fake laugh, shaking her head so that her hair could dance around and hide her face every now and then. It was super dry from not having any of her usual products, so her curls were frizzy as fuck. And her hair looked shorter because they didn't have the right brush for her to use on her hair, it was knotted all over. But she'd yet to find a proper detangling brush for herself.
"Oh y'know, just makin' sure I stay alive." It was meant to be a light hearted joke, but he looked her way with a serious expression on his face. The forced smile slipped from her face when he didn't smile back at her, instead his lip twitched a bit. She saw his tongue poke at the inside of his cheek for a moment before he shook his head.
"Nah, yer makin' sure yer stayin' alive. Not me." He denied, pausing his whittling to scan her face with solemn looking eyes. It was probably the saddest she'd seen his eyes since they got to this farm, besides after seeing Sophia the way he did. He looked exhausted, and Blessing's heart twisted just trying to ponder up what could possibly going through his mind.
"Noo, D. You climbed up a steep ass hill with a concussion and a stab wound in your side...From your own arrow...Just because you knew I was at the top of that hill. I don't even remember being knocked out, just waking up. Anything could've happened, but it didn't because you were there. The same way Shane can't step to me with you around? You're like... My knight in shining armour." She gushed, trying to give him praise as a way to boost his spirit. It helped a bit, because his frown upturned into a hint of a smile. His eyes were still sad, but at least he was trying to cover it up now.
"At least someone 'ppreciates me 'round here." He said with a chuckle and she giggled right along with him, shuffling over on the log so she could hop over to his and sit beside him. His smile stretched even further when she bumped her shoulder against his, a grin on her face.
"Everyone better appreciate you. You do keep them fed, after all." She added, looping her arm through his so that she could hug his large arm against her chest as she looked up at him. It was true, his hunting truly did keep all of the group fed. His tracking skills, hunting skills and even accuracy when it came to his crossbow made him such a beneficial part of a group. Even if people didn't thank him, she was sure people recognized it. Someone had to, other than her of course.
"Hey, Daryl?" They both turned to look at Lori heading their way, skinny arms crossed over her chest and a concerned look on her pale face.
"You good?" Blessing asked, since Daryl didn't look like he wanted to be bothered by her. She could tell by the way his lip momentarily twitched into a bit of a scowl before falling into a frown once more. Lori looked to Blessing now, her hazel eyes only becoming a fraction softer.
"I-I was gonna ask if Daryl could...If you guys could go out to where Rick and Glenn said they'd look for Herschel? They said they'd be back soon but.. It's night already. Something must've happened." Now the stress was even more evident on her voice when they could hear it riddled in her tone. She uncrossed her arms so she could shake out her hands, like she was trying to shake away the stress but failing miserably.
"I'm done lookin' for people." Daryl said with a scowl on his face before Blessing could speak up. He knew she'd agree to go looking for anyone, even after what they'd just experienced. Looking all alone, for days. For someone that was already gone. He didn't want to think about going out there, in search of Rick and Glenn and finding their corpses. Or even worse, their walkers. It would crush him further than he already was by Sophia's death, and he didn't need that right now.
"What? Are you-Are you serious?" Lori whispered out, the concern in her eyes being replaced by disbelief and hurt. Clearly not expecting to be rejected by Daryl, especially with Blessing sitting right beside him. He was usually more agreeable with her around.
"Maybe we should just wait 'till morning. We can't do a lot in the dark." Blessing tried to defend him with a sheepish smile, one that was clearly fake because she really had to bite her tongue from the snark in Lori's tone. Almost like she couldn't believe Daryl had the audacity to speak up for himself.
"You can't but Daryl can, that's why I came to ask him. Please, Daryl. How could you be so selfish?" It was not hard to catch the attitude that she had, and it had Blessing reeling back the slightest bit with her face twisted in a look Daryl recognized all too well. A look that usually followed the line 'do you hear this, bitch?', so he spoke up once again before she could.
"Selfish? Listen here, Olive Oil, Bless and me was the only ones out there lookin' for that little girl and you wanna call me selfish?!" He spat out, standing out from his seat on the log and being followed by Blessing who looked more than ready to argue with her behind him.
"I just-"
"You realize you aren't the Sheriff's wife anymore, right? Like I can fuck you up and not get in trouble for it... White girl tears ain't gonna save you, Lori. At the fuck all." Blessing finally spat, fed up with being interrupted and Lori's subtle disrespect. Lori scoffed at that, her arms crossing once again as she looked around as if she'd catch someone listening to them. A witness of Blessing's threat so she'd have something to hold against her, the same way people had shit to hold against her. Mainly the affair she had with Shane.
"You're threatening me, seriously? Because I'm asking Daryl to look for my husband? Do you realize how crazy that sounds, Blessing?" This was Lori's attempt to 'flip the switch', by changing the narrative in a sense even if they all knew Blessing wasn't wrong. Lori was acting entitled, and it needed to be checked. "Y'know you do a lot for a man who showed almost no interest in you in the beginning. Maybe Amy was right about you being desperate."
"Yeah, well she's dead now so she couldn't be right about everything! You're weird as fuck for bringing that shit up when you're trying to get us to risk our fuckin' lives going out there!" Blessing spat back, trying to step forward to get in her face. But Daryl had stopped her by grasping her arm, holding her back from moving forward. His eyes were still on Lori, face twisted in a sneer but there was a proud glint in his eye at Blessing standing up for herself. It was something that was becoming more common as the days passed by, and he couldn't help but feel proud every single time.
"I'm not asking you! I'm asking Daryl! I'm just worried about my husband, dammit!"
"The husband you moved on from less than a month after thinking he died?! With his best friend?! Lori, you don't give a fuck about your husband!" Blessing shouted in unkept rage, stomping her feet as she shouted because of how frustrated she was becoming.
"I thought he was dead! Who're you to judge me, huh?! Pining after a man like Dixon, his brother callin' you a n****r any chance he got when you aren't around!" Lori defended herself, her face becoming red with not ust anger but embarrassment as well because Carol had gravitated over to the trio. Curious as to what the yelling was about. Her face was twisted with concern, eyes still sad from the loss of her daughter no matter who they landed on. She ran a hand through her greying pixie cut when the slur left Lori's mouth, taken aback at what she was walking into.
"Don't talk about Daryl like you weren't just askin' him for favors! And even if that was the case, I still stood up for myself if he said that shit around me! So at the end of the day, I have more self respect than a whore who can't keep her legs closed!"
Lori gasped out loud at her words, because quite frankly.. Those were fighting words. Neither of them noticed the shocked looks that came onto Daryl and Carol's faces at the shit they were yelling at one another. It didn't even seem like they cared about their presence at all. Blessing had yanked her arm from Daryl's grip, since he was momentarily taken aback by the haughtiness in Blessing's voice.
Lori stepped forward, hand raised and tears glistening in her eyes as she swung and landed a pretty good smack on Blessing's cheek. Daryl's mouth dropped open, not expecting the bold move from Lori since it was Blessing who'd been the one to step up first like she was going to swing. A smack wasn't a good choice for Lori though, because it looked like it pissed Blessing off. She let out a choked gasp, a hand going over her reddening cheek for a second as she processed what'd just happened.
"Girls, ple-"
Carol was cut off by Blessing letting out a shout of rage as she lunged toward Lori. Daryl let out a sound of surprise when he tried to reach for her to stop her but was too late. Her fist landed on the side of Lori's neck, with a bit of force that had Lori choking on her spit as she stumbled back a step or two. Surprised that Blessing actually even swung back.
"You fuckin' bitch!" Blessing growled out, her other hand reaching for Lori's long tresses and easily pulling her by those same tresses to the floor. Delivering a nice jab to Lori's side when she did so because she'd practically bent over at the waist trying to get her hair out of Blessing's hand.
"Bless! Bless, stop!" Daryl yelled out, finally wrapping his arms around her waist and attempting to lift her off of Lori. But she was refusing to let go of Lori's hair, who was scratching at her arms and had scratched at her face as well.
"She wants to talk shi-
"I'm pregnant!" Lori cried out, hoping to God it would be what got Blessing off of her. And it did. She let go of Lori's hair, her face dropping into one of slight devastation. "I'm pregnant! Please!"
"You're pregnant..?" Blessing whispered, letting Daryl pull her off of Lori without resisting any longer. Feeling like the worst person in the world.
~*~
Word Count : 2,327
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April 18th, 2025