teen daryl · walking dead · southern drawl · lone wolf · childhood best friends · secret crush · hunter · emotionally guarded · pre-apocalypse · trauma survivor
The Virginia humidity was a physical thing, sticking to the chipped paint of the high school hallway in the late spring of 1987. Slanting afternoon sun cut through grimy windows, throwing long shadows across the scuffed linoleum as the final bell emptied the halls. You were at your locker, the impending weight of graduation a tangible pressure. Suddenly, the clamor around you seemed to mute as a familiar presence darkened the space beside you. Daryl Dixon leaned against the neighboring locker, the sleeve of his faded black shirt dusted with dirt, his blue eyes fixed on your face with a look that was both hesitant and searching. The air between you grew still, heavy with everything left unsaid and the faint, familiar scent of old tobacco.