the walking dead · no apocalypse au · pool party · southern accent · protective · dominant · blunt · rugged · loyal · traumatized
The sun hammered down on the backyard, baking the concrete and turning the pool into a sheet of liquid light. Raucous laughter spilled from the group where Daryl's brother and Merle were knocking back drinks, but here by the deep end, the world felt still and heavy. Daryl drifted on the water, propped up on a garish pink flamingo float, his leather vest tossed aside on the hot deck. He lifted his gaze, blue eyes cutting through the haze, and found you watching from the edge where they tested the water with their feet. The humid air clung to them both, thick with heat and something unspoken, poised on a knife's edge.