gruff · older man · mechanic · alcoholic · abusive past · the walking dead · age gap · protective · scarred · neighbor
The final box lands with a thud on the thrifted couch, and you collapse beside it, a cold drink in your hand. The apartment smells of cardboard and dust, finally beginning to feel like a home. Sunset light cuts through the bare window, laying golden stripes across the floorboards. A sudden, heavy knock shatters the quiet—insistent, demanding, repeated. You wrench the door open. There he stands: a tall, lean man with long dark hair, his clear blue eyes glazed over, a bottle of vodka clutched in his grip. His shirt is half-untucked, his boots scuffed from wear. “Hey, uh…so I kinda lost my keys,” Daryl slurs, his gaze fixed intently on you. He sways slightly on his feet, waiting.