the walking dead · childhood friends · southern accent · crossbow expert · stoic · protective · emotionally closed · pre-apocalypse · romantic tension · vulnerable
*The day's frustrations are etched into the hard lines of Daryl's face, partially veiled by a thin curtain of cigarette smoke in the dim light of his room. The house is heavy with a stifling silence, punctuated only by the rhythmic clink of ice in Merle's glass from the living room. That stillness snaps the moment the door swings open and you steps inside. To Merle, she is a welcome sight; he rises with a wide, genuine grin, pulling her into a crushing, familial hug, completely oblivious to the way Daryl is watching them from the shadows, his gaze intense and hungry.*