A/N:I started writing this ages ago, around about the time season 3 episode 10 was being shown and I can't for the life of me remember the full idea for this one-shot so I just kept writing and went with the flow so to speak. It totally disregards the last few episodes of season 3 for sure.
Carol boldly followed an angry Daryl into the apartment they had claimed. They were still unsure as to why they left the prison exactly, well not too unsure exactly. After they won the battle against the Governor they made a truce with the members of Woodbury. Naturally the idea of joining the new (and hopefully improved) version of Woodbury was appealing to most of the group but they decided against it and stuck to their prison. But as the days went pass more and more walkers appeared outside the fences and were spilling in through the damaged side of the prison. If they waited too long their path would be block even for a quick supply run. That had been their prompt to move, especially when they would spend the whole day taking out walkers to have another three stumble forward for each ten that they killed. It was an endless cycle.
With all the shooting and fighting they couldn't be surprised. Even those who had just stumbled within the area when the fighting stopped had a good chance of finding the prison. It wasn't safe anymore even if they had won the war. So Daryl, Rick and surprisingly Merle left in search of somewhere new to stay. With a baby in the group they couldn't just leave and hope, no, they had to find somewhere then move the group. And they did. An old building site. Only two houses had been built along with the showroom house where the real estate people would have set up their temporary offices while they sold on the houses. There was also a small garage near the two houses that had a small apartment above it. The area was locked up with a chain link fence just like back in the prison and it was hidden away from civilisation.
The group had moved there almost instantly. They'd already checked out the houses and found them empty, as well as the immediate area enclosed by the fence. As soon as they got there they made sure Hershel, Beth and Judith got inside while they reinforced the boundaries. They used the construction materials that were there to reinforce the fences that were already up and then to put up a second fence slightly further in. They had it done in a couple of days, including other things like setting up different watch points and entry/exit points.
Once the area had really been secured they split up into groups. Beth, Maggie, Hershel and Glenn took one of the houses, which was dubbed the Greene house. It was a three bedroom so they all had one each (with Maggie and Glenn sharing). Rick, Carl, Judith, Michonne and Andrea took the second house, which was dubbed the Grimes house. It had a third floor so Michonne and Andrea had taken that to themselves so the Grimes family could have the second floor for their own private space. While the Dixon brothers choose the showroom house Carol took the small apartment above the garage. It was next to the two houses while showroom was a little way off. It reminded the group of when Daryl would set his tent away from everyone else's. She had been happy to have the space to herself, but slowly Daryl started spending more time there when he wasn't busy and eventually he practically moved in.
"Leave me alone," he told her angrily.
"It's my house Daryl, so I'll stay if I want to."
He turned that typical glare on her, the one she had grown used to now, the one that had little to no effect on her whatsoever. So she stood there, hands on her hips and her own glare set in place. Eventually he hissed in anger and just looked away from her. He made his way over to their little couch and sat down in the middle of it. His legs stretched out in front of him and he placed his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.
"You going to tell me what's bugging you or what?" she asked.
He turned his eyes to her for a moment before looking up at the ceiling again. "What do you think?"
"Just when I thought we were getting somewhere," she sighed.
He turned his glare on her again but this time she wasn't looking. Instead she made her way over to their little kitchen. They'd made their own fire pit and put it on top of the cooker, where they had a little window to let out any smoke. If they got some gas they could probably use the cooker but for now they would use the fire pit like they would if they were camping. It could be moved as well which meant they could place it in the bedroom or living room to keep them warm. The fridge and freezer didn't work either but they used it for extra storage. Some food was given to the individual group for lunches and snacks during the day if they were needed. While most of the food was kept separately so that the entire group could eat together for breakfast and dinner like they always had.
She could hear him getting up off the couch and coming towards the kitchen. There was no wall to separate the kitchen and living room. She could just tell by the way that he was walking that he was still angry. And she still didn't know why. He had gone outside of the boundaries to hunt with Merle like normal and she had gone about her day being as useful as possible with chores, something they still shared as an entire group. The sun had been out but with a slight breeze so the day was enjoyable. Except when Daryl was back he was angry, he had nothing with him which made Carol think that he was angry at that but then she saw Andrea with the string of squirrels. So she got up from her spot next to Rick and followed him inside. Now here they were and he wasn't talking to her, again.
"You can't force me to talk to ya," he told her through gritted teeth.
"I'm not forcing you." She still kept her back to him, working very carefully on cutting up some of the fruit they found growing on the trees inside the boundaries. "That's why I came in here to get on with some lunch. I'm not going to force you to talk, Daryl but I wish you would. I thought we'd gotten close, I thought you trusted me so I just wish you would just talk to me when something's bothering you rather than bottle it up. Do you think I'll laugh? Judge? Mock you? Because I won't, I'll listen and I'll help as best as I can."
This time she did turn to look at him. The way his eyebrows were bunched together and he was chewing on his thumb nail told her that he was thinking about what she had said. And she meant it. Every word of it. They'd grown close over the winter, while they were at the prison and again after they left it and came here. This had been the biggest step forward in their friendship. They shared an apartment and although they didn't share the double bed, they slept in the same room, him offering to take the floor so she could have the bed. But still he kept to himself until it burnt away and whatever was bugging him just stopped.
"Don't think about it," she told him, holding up a slice of apple as a peace offering. "I'm not angry or anything, Daryl. I've told you enough times that I'm here for you to talk to and if you're not going to well then what more can I do?"
"I do trust ya," he finally said, taking the apple slice from her. "Well as much as I can anyway. I never trusted Merle this much, still don't, and I don't even trust Rick as much as I trust you. Just enough that I can work and live with him."
"Then talk to me," she pleaded. "Or talk to someone. I hate to see you angry or upset. I only want to help you."
He nodded his head in understanding. "It's just something stupid."
"My guess is it's to do with Merle or something happened when you got back here." She turned her back to him again, continuing to cut the fruit and dispense it into two bowls. "Because I know you caught quite a lot this time around so it wasn't that. So unless Merle said something out there it was something back here."
"Fine, it was something back here," he admitted.
"Then what was it?" This time when she turned back around she handed one of the bowls to Daryl and kept one for herself.
The fruit was carefully picked at as he seemed to think over what to say next. "Don't even know why I was angry now."
"That's a lie if I ever heard one. Daryl, you can calm down quickly but you can't get over it that quickly."
He growled in frustration, realising that she had noticed more about him that he first thought. "Dammit, woman, it's nothing, now drop it."
She continued to eat her fruit, not letting his frustrated tone get to her. "It most definitely isn't nothing and just because you think it's stupid doesn't mean I will."
"Just fucking leave it, will ya?"
She set her bowl on the counter behind her. "Now, I'm starting to think it's about me."
His eyes grew wide for just a moment. "It ain't."
"Are you sure about that? Because if it is to do with me I'd rather know."
He glared at her again but after a few minutes passed he realised that she wasn't about to give up on this. "Fine, maybe it does have something to do with ya."
She sighed, having no idea what she could have done seen as he'd been out all morning. She grabbed his hand lightly and gave him a few moments to adjust. Once he had she took him over to the small table they had. It only sat two people, usually across from each other but this time when they sat Carol moved round the table a little so she was closer to him while still giving him some space to breathe.
"So, talk me through it."
For a moment he considered arguing or just simply walking out but now that he'd said it was about her he knew he couldn't. "Merle was being decent for a change, been doin' that a lot lately. So it was actually the best huntin' trip I've had in a long time."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she told him honestly.
He nodded a little, seemingly relaxing into the conversation. "When we got back here I couldn't see ya so I gave the string of squirrels to Andrea, she and Michonne had seen me and offered to clean and skin them. Apparently Michonne knew how and I guess I could always continue on the job if it got too much."
Carol nodded her understanding but didn't say anything.
"Merle said he was heading back to the showroom to get rid of some of his gear and maybe clean up a bit and get some shut eye," Daryl explained. "I was gonna come back here and do the same but I still hadn't seen you. It unsettled me to not know you were OK so I… I looked around a bit and I saw you sitting outside of the Grimes house with Rick…"
"Oh." It came out in a little gasp as the fingers of her left hand came up to cover her mouth. He was jealous. She knew that now. He was jealous. And no wonder he found it stupid, it was the kind of emotion he would find stupid, especially seen as they were only supposed to be friends.
Carol's mind wandered back over the events of that morning. Daryl was already gone when she woke so she went straight outside to do chores. They had a somewhat schedule, but of course it never worked. Beth was in doors with Herhsel and Carl, the three of them looking after Judith and generally just relaxing. Andrea and Michonne were sorting the food they already had, getting things ready to cook for dinner later. Glenn and Maggie were on watch, this time they'd been separated 'cause there were only two of them, making sure they would actually watch. One was walking the perimeter between the two chain link fences while the other stayed high up. Daryl and Merle were out so that left her with Rick. She was meant to do laundry but with the absence of running around and killing zombies regularly there wasn't any, it had been done the day before, she'd only have some when the Dixons got back from hunting. And Rick, well Rick was supposed to be on watch but he wasn't when she found him. He'd spoke to Maggie and Glenn about it and instead sat out to scour the area on a map, marking the places they could scavenge and was even marking down escape routes in case any trouble came and they had to move. They were happy but couldn't be too careful.
Carol had helped him do it, they even dwelled into cleaning the guns. They ended up on the discussions of what shops they might come across. They discussed what would be needed, the usual essentials for surviving but they spoke of things they probably didn't need but would like to have. Thinking back Carol remembered how loudly she'd laughed, the kind of laughter that had you rolling all over the place, the kind that hurt your stomach and you had to hold onto the person next to you for balance. And she'd done all of that. She remembered holding onto Rick's arm for support as they discussed what movies they would get if they could play them. She didn't regret it. She hadn't seen Rick smile like that in so long, in fact she wasn't sure she'd ever heard him laugh before, or at least she couldn't remember it. So she was happy that the morning had played out that way.
"You were jealous?" she finally asked him. He scoffed and she rolled her eyes at the sound. "Then what was the issue with me sitting outside with Rick?"
He looked at the ground. Ha, she thought. Jealous. "Fine, maybe I was, I guess, alright?"
She grinned a little. "Why?"
He looked a little startled by that. "What do you mean?"
"Why were you jealous?"
"You were hanging off of him and laughing," he shrugged. "I know I flinch a lot but I still don't like you hanging off of him like that, or anyone else for that matter. And the laughing… I've never heard you laugh like that before. I guess I just didn't like that it was Rick that made you laugh like that."
"I think it was more the topic of conversation," she admitted. He looked up, startled. "We were talking about movies." He nodded, calming slightly. "And I keep touching you lightly, like when I took hold of your hand earlier, because I want you to get used to it before I get that close to you. I never could be like that with anyone, I didn't have friends and Ed wasn't exactly loving. So I'm sorry if it looked like more than what it was but I promise I have no interest in Rick in that way."
He went to nod but then something seemed to hit him. "Wait, why would you do that?"
"Do what?" she asked, confused.
"Apologise for what it might have looked like to me."
"You may avoid feelings but I don't Daryl," she sighed. "I thought our relationship – friendship - developed a lot over the winter but since coming here it's developed more and I don't think we can deny how close we've gotten."
"But it's not like we're… Together." She couldn't help but notice how his eyes darted to the table and his cheeks burned bright red at the word 'together'.
"Oh." Well he was right, they weren't together so really she shouldn't be sorry for how it could have looked between her and Rick to him. But she wasn't about to deny the fact that her feelings for Daryl had somewhat changed from that of friendship to more. Yeah, she most definitely saw him in a different light. "I guess you're right…"
He lifted his head to look at her. "But?"
She groaned a little and ran her hand over her face. So this is what answering something you didn't want to felt like. "I guess it's because if something as simple as that stops us from being together then I'd rather be sorry. I'd rather still have the hope of us being together than risk losing you completely."
"Oh."
That wasn't so bad, she thought. He's not saying much but he hasn't bolted."Dammit, Daryl," she groaned after a few minutes of silence. "Please just say something."
"I…"
"I'm not saying we need to be a together or anything," she explained desperately. "I don't want you to be off with me… I just figured I should explain why seen as you told me what was wrong."
"So you like me?"
Now she was the one to feel embarrassed but she couldn't deny that that little light in his eyes and the smile on his face made it worth it. "Well… I think it's a little stronger than what you're thinking but I'd say so."
"I… Well, I don't really know what to do."
"You don't have to do anything," she laughed. "All you need to know is that you don't have to be jealous because I'm not interested in the any of the guys or women of this group except you."
He watched her carefully, looking for any sign of doubt or a trace of a lie, but he found none. That stumped Daryl. Merle had said he cared about him, the entire group even said they cared but Carol… She was talking about this romantically, she was interested in him. And what happened next? Daryl tried to work it out because he didn't know. He knew they were close, hell he wasn't ever that close with Merle or even Rick. But he never thought his feelings ran that deep but hearing that hers ran that deep for him, maybe he was wrong, maybe he just didn't know what being in love was like. It all had Daryl thinking.
"Tell you what." She placed her hands on top of one of his. "Why don't you clean up and get some shut eye while I do the laundry. After we'll take a walk if we have time then have some dinner, we can bring the rest up here after or eat the rest of the fruit bowls for dessert and we can talk some more if you want to."
"Or maybe go for another walk?" he asked hopefully. "Or maybe we can sit in bed and you can tell me more about what you and Rick were discussing. I'd like to know what makes you laugh like that."
She blushed a little but nodded her head. "It's a date." This time they both blushed.
R&R
