Daryl was on watch and this time Glenn had joined in. Now there were more of them, so the prison was better secured, but it also meant a bigger responsibility. Half of the men brought from Woodbury didn't know how to hold a gun right, but Rick and Daryl were working on that.

Yet not tonight. Tonight he was on watch with Glenn and, somehow, he enjoyed the silence. His Korean friend, kept to himself this evening, even if normally he was more the friendly type. But it seemed that the night had brought a strange kind of need for silence, of taking the rare time to look into oneself and where they were standing. And while Glenn was thinking about Maggie, with a small smile in the corner of his lip, Daryl's mind was spinning and spinning.

Merle was dead and this just recalled him of the time Ed had been bitten and how Carol had insisted to put an end to his life herself. He recalled how all her anger went in that hammer and how she hit the man not once, not twice, but until she got all her anger out. How she freed herself from him that night, in anger and in tears. She had been controlled her whole life by him and wasn't he, Daryl also in that situation?

Youngest of the Dixon, a boxing sack for the whole family, starting with his father and ending with his brother. Sure Merle wasn't that bad, he just repeated the same history that happened to him. He had had a certain desire to protect and take care of his younger brother, but that could happen only through control and pushing his way of living down to him. He was…

"Chilly evening isn't it?" Daryl's thoughts got interrupted by the only voice he ever found comforting. He turned to the smiling Carol, who was holding two bowls of food. "Brought you something to eat".

"Great, I'm starving" Glenn said cheerful, taking one of the bowls. He looked long at it and the put it down. "Carol…could you take over for a couple of minutes? I need to…use the toilet".

Daryl snorted amused.

"And you needed her to appear to tell me you need a piss?" the hunter asked.

Glenn shrugged somehow ashamed.

"Sure" Carol said and Glenn nodded thanking, disappearing towards the building of the prison.

"You think he's afraid of me?" Daryl asked digging the spoon in the bowl of food.

"He is just polite" Carol replied, pulling her long sweater tighter. "It's…rather silent tonight. I mean, it's silent every night, but even the walkers seemed to have taken a break".

"Yeah…if they ever…" he looked at her long. "You know what? You kinda changed".

"Merle said that to me a few days ago" she replied turning to him.

"Yeah, even that dickhead must have noticed it".

"I should say the same about you. When I met you back at the camp near Atlanta you just seemed…"

"Like Ed?" he filled his mouth again, staring into the distant night.

"No, not at all. Just distant, not interested in anything else than surviving and keeping your brother safe. Even so…you were the one to hunt for the whole camp".

"Yeah and the camp kept my clothes clean" he shrugged.

"Guess we both changed. I am not afraid of shadows anymore and can hold a gun and you…I guess you learned to trust".

Daryl made a long pause as his mind understood of her words. She was silent as well, she would always let him gather his thoughts.

"I guess I learned to care" he finally said.

"Is this why you returned?"

Daryl finished his food and sat the bowl on the ground.

"Neah, I returned because if I didn't, all your asses would have ended as snacks for the walkers" he smirked.

Carol laughed shortly and looked down at the ground, moving a little on her feet to warm up.

"I guess we need you, but probably not as much as Merle needed you" she said.

"Yeah, but…I also need you people around here, more than I need Merle" he mumbled, Carol having a hard time understanding him. But she did. "And now…it's just me, Merle's out of my head".

Carol laughed and she laughed rich, making Daryl look surprised at her.

"What you laughing about, woman?"

"It was you for a long time, Merle was merely a part of your existence. I mean his influence is long gone, what is left is just your brother love for him. Let's be serious, Daryl, you fought to keep us all safe, you helped Rick sort things out and you…definitely helped me more than anyone did in my life" her voice lowered as she had gotten to the end of her sentence.

He looked long at her, forgetting for a second where he was and even that the world had ended. That until he heard Glenn return.

"Don't…leave again" Carol said quickly as she picked up the bowl and turned to leave.

"Sorry it took me so long" Glenn said as he passed Carol.

"Your food's gotten cold" Daryl said neutral. He looked up the hill at Carol walking away.

"Maggie is coming to release you from your shift".

"Why so? Need some privacy and don't know how to say it?"

"No…that's not it. She says you had a couple of long days and should get some rest".

"Since when started women giving orders around here?"

"Since the world ended?" he said amused. "But she's right. You should rest tonight".

"Yea, whatever".

Maggie did indeed take over later and Daryl returned to the block of cells. He stopped by the cell Carol was living in and looked inside. Carol wasn't there.

"Searching for someone?" she approached.

"Just checking up on everybody" he said.

She nodded with a smile quickly and wanted to enter her cell just as Daryl took a step to his right to pass her. They stopped in front of each other. Carol took a step to her left to let him pass. She looked at her long, the intention to pass leaving his head.

"Wait I need to…" he took the same step to be closer to her.

He lifted his hand and remained with it in the air, before approaching it slowly to her cheek. His fingers brushed her cheek in a sluggish move as his face approached her more. He smiled shortly before his lips met her in a soft and simple kiss. Carol almost froze, his burned lips feeling unreal on hers. It took her a moment to come to herself and soften her lips, letting the man truly kiss her. She barely opened her mouth as his lips embraced her lower lip. Her desire was rising in her as her hands went to Daryl's neck, when Judith started crying. They broke the kiss and looked at each other.

"I need to…" she barely whispered.

"I'll wait here for you".

She smiled and nodded fast and turned to hurry to Judith.

Daryl sat down on Carol's bed as the woman rushed to the baby, hoping to calm it quickly and be able to return to her cell that never seemed so appealing to her like in those moments. She felt her guts tense and her heart beat fasten at the thought that that man…the only man in her thoughts was waiting for her on her bed.