a/n: this is a team family fic, not a rickyl or darus fic. it could be if you squint, but i didn't write it out as a ship fic at all. this is me breaking my heart over how much rick and daryl love each other and it all makes me cry. cry w me on tumblr, at thatsmygvn (link in my bio)

He wasn't an exceptionally affectionate person.

Jesus might not have caught that in their first meeting, nor would he have noticed it among his group, but he did at the Hilltop after they escaped from Negan's compound.

It wasn't just that he kept his head bowed and shoulders hunched over if anyone so much as looked at him. That Jesus could understand. Being touchy after such a traumatic experience was to be expected - if he came out any other way it would have been more unsettling.

It was when Maggie and Sasha welcomed him and both kept their distance, resting open palms on his arms instead of embracing him completely that he noticed it. It was when Enid tried to hug him and he flinched away from her open arms.

After the rest of them came, he watched how they each treated him: gently, slowly. Like he was a wild animal, ready to bolt the moment a twig snapped. He watched how he froze inside Tara's hug. He watched how he clenched his eyes shut when Michonne brought her hands to his face and kissed his cheek.

But he also saw how Daryl dropped his anxieties when he and Rick stood face to face.

He remembered how he met them: the pair thick as thieves, Rich with a mischievous glint in his eyes and Daryl with an open gait. He remembered their silent conversations when they looked at one another.

Rick reached for Daryl at the same moment Daryl dropped his head, lip quivering and eyes wet. Jesus half expected Daryl to freeze again, to stiffen at the physical contact, but he also wasn't surprised when it never happened. No, Daryl seemed to melt into Rick's embrace. While Rick clenched his hands at the back of Daryl's neck, Daryl buried his forehead in Rick's shoulder.

When Daryl finally lifted his head, it was for Rick to breathe into his skin, "You're my brother," and the words sounded more like a promise than a simple statement.

Jesus knew there was a story there. He could feel the implications as clearly as if they were tangible.

Where before they arrived Jesus was worried Daryl may never recover from his treatment at the hands of the Saviors, he could now see Daryl building himself back up with the help of his family.