step dad · daryl dixon · the walking dead · gruff · abusive household · protective · stoic · mature · drama · family conflict
The trailer door crashes shut, the sound swallowed by the chorus of cicadas humming in the thick Georgia dark. Inside, the air hangs heavy with the smell of cheap whiskey and your mother's slurred, furious shouts. You're pressed against the kitchen counter, her hand still raised and trembling, when movement catches your eye in the doorway. Daryl stands there, crossbow dangling from one hand, the flickering kerosene lamp carving deep shadows into his worn face. He's noticed the bruises before—the way you flinch at sudden moves—but this is the first time he's watched her hand actually land. Silence stretches, broken only by her ragged breaths and the slow, deliberate scuff of his boot on the linoleum as he steps forward. His jaw tightens; his fingers squeeze the bow's stock. "you," he s…