This is based on a very strange thought that I had the other day. Carol has been very much transformed since her original character. But the effects of long periods of domestic abuse never 100% disappear. I feel like she would never, ever let someone abuse her again but its possible its still in her nature to let some things happen, like maybe being used. Also, Carol would give anything for the people she loves. Combine those two things and I feel like its possible for this story to occur.

Daryl is just a little OOC I think. Everything is from Carol's perspective. I am going to leave it up to you whether the feelings expressed in this are truly legitimate or if maybe what Daryl and Carol have each gone through is making them believe they're feeling something they're not, in very different ways.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters therein.

Love and Truth

Chapter 1

One could argue that they'd been dancing around it for a couple years. One could argue that. Sophia had brought them together but they'd clicked in a way that no one could have expected. But they should have. They were both broken long before the dead began to walk, and its intriguing how broken souls can mesh together to become somewhat whole again. And that's what they did. To Carol, Daryl was a truer friend than she had ever had. He protected her in the beginning and then he helped teach her to protect herself. He wasn't a weak man who needed a weak woman to feel powerful. He enjoyed Carol's growth into the fighter she'd become. To Daryl, Carol was his anchor, support, and, often, his link to rationality. She meant more to him than anyone that wasn't blood ever had. She wasn't afraid to call him on his bullshit but never tried to change who he was either. They were best friends and the love between them was absolute.

Sometimes their family joked about the two of them being a couple. Carol would merely chuckle and, if Daryl was around, slyly say something suggestive. Daryl would usually scowl or roll his eyes and huff some sarcastic remark. Carol knew the subject made Daryl uncomfortable so she joked about it herself sometimes, but only when they were alone. Over time Daryl's reactions got more mild and he occasionally flirted back, awkwardly. This ease of relationship, their sarcasm and joking, was comforting to Carol.

As time went on they developed stronger relationships with the others in their group. They were no longer each others' only support. They no longer always gravitated straight to each other. Carol began picking up more jobs to stay busy, Daryl was always working on some mission. But somehow the closeness never wavered. It wasn't always shown in what they did with each other but what they didn't do with anyone else. Daryl never so casually touched anyone else, didn't walk with his arm around anyone else's shoulders or waist. Carol talked to the others plenty, but only truly confided in Daryl. Carol didn't spend most of her time within sight of the gate every time everyone went out on a run.

Maybe some could argue it had been building for years... but Carol was content with the way things were. After she was exiled, she'd wondered if he'd find her but knew things wouldn't change either way. After the prison fell, everyone was separated and then Terminus happened. When Daryl had charged at her and wrapped her in that hug, Carol felt like she'd found her home again. Daryl felt his heart thaw. Things changed a little after that. Carol had missed him terribly but felt he was a little different towards her; a little too desperate to forget the past and build a new future with her. She was fine with forgetting the past but his sudden attachment to her was just ever so slightly strange-like a taste that isn't quite unpleasant but unfamiliar. Being a little protective, offering to carry things for her, sleeping so close that they physically touched, randomly touching her hand, her shoulder, her neck, whenever he moved past her, none of those things were negative but they were not typical frequent behavior for Dixon and it puzzled her. She excused it as him having missed her.

After Beth died, Daryl closed off again for a few days. Carol knew enough to give him his space. What surprised her though was that he didn't give her any. He was emotionally vacant, impossibly quiet, but still he was always there, right beside her. She let him stay, let him touch, let him grab her hand at night and pull her back into him, wordlessly. He was hurting, they all were, and if her presence brought him some kind of comfort, she was okay with that.