Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead or any of it's affiliated characters.
He really did not know how long he been sitting against the garden wall watching Carol and Hershel plant cucumbers. The answer was probably somewhere between awkwardly long and too long, but it was quiet there. And there had not been much quiet since the people of Woodbury had moved into the prison. The last few days many of the older women and a few of the older men had swarmed the garden helping Hershel plant, but it was very hot today, unusually hot for spring and they were all inside now. Only Carol had volunteered to finish planting the last of the vegetables with Hershel.
To top it all off the honest truth was he really was just watching Carol. It was the first time he'd been out in this corner of the in a week or two since they dug up the dirt to begin planting. He had taken refuge in the prison, runs, and hunting as of late. Even under the big endless blue sky of rural Georgia he felt much too claustrophobic with all these strangers around. It was also the first time he had been in anywhere of the vicinity of Carol in the last week. They had not even had meals together. She had volunteered all the days he was at home to cook meals with some of the women of Woodbury. If he did not know any better he would almost think she was avoiding him.
He watched her extend her hand to Hershel who could only plant as far as his arms could reach. Standing and bending really exhausted the old man far too much these days without the use of his other leg. Carol, for her part, was doing most of the work while under Hershel's strict supervision. He could hear the old man chastise her for placing some of the seeds too close together or stepping on an already made bed every so often.
Daryl knew that he really did not have much longer to be dawdling in the garden as he leaned against the wall of the prison. Maybe another 30 minutes, 40 before Rick came looking for him. It was his turn for watch. He almost missed that solitary time up in the tower. With all the new hands on deck he had not had to take watch in nearly a week. He said a silent prayer, he was not sure to who, that this would not make them lazy if the time came where they would not have the help.
Suddenly he heard Hershel call out to him "Are you just gonna sit there all day staring or are you gonna give an old man and a lady some help?" He felt his cheeks redden. He knew they had to have noticed him by now, but he did not realize that his staring was that obvious. He gave a quick glance to Carol to see if she had caught on to Hershel's words. She was smiling shyly at the ground.
"Just restin'. Don't see ya haulin' a 100 pound buck to the prison ever, old man." He responded using Hershel's words against him.
"And I don't see you taking care of cuts and scrapes for overly dramatic men and women twenty-four seven and creating a most masterfully planted garden after all that." Daryl laughed. His heart swelled with affection for the old man. His daddy would have been around his age he thought briefly, but his daddy was not like this man.
"Alright. Ya got me." He said smiling. "It seems like ya all are nearly done though. Don't seem like much of a reason for me to hafta get up."
"I suppose not. But the least you can do is get us some water. We've been working right hard all day."
"I'll pour ya 10 cups of water if you let me sit here another five minutes. Can't a man enjoy the view."
"I know I'm beautiful son, but I gotta hope you are talking about Carol because I just don't think things are that way between us."
He could hear Carol giggle next to Hershel telling him to stop teasing, that things were not like that between them either. He could have sworn he felt a slight bit of disappointment, but he suppressed it quickly.
"Don't flatter yerselves. I was talkin' about the nature." He said trying to glare at the old man, but a smile sprouted on his face despite him. "I can see when I ain't wanted. I'll get ya yur damn water. Gimme a minute."
Daryl returned shortly to find Hershel already hopping into the prison. He handed him one of the cups he was holding.
"My thank you for this, son. I'm parched."
"Where's Carol?"
"Out in the yard. She's finishing up the last row. I trusted her to do that for me. My back is not what it used to be."
Daryl found her with her back to him. One of the men from Woodberry was talking to her and he silently cursed that yet again these people were yet again wasting his time. He could not remember this man's name. He seemed like a pleasant enough fellow though so Daryl ignored his want to holler in frustration at the sight of him. He would not consider himself a jealous person, but he had not had many people in his life and he felt not inclined to share anymore with these damn people. One month in and he felt like he was going to go crazy.
Carol tried to be patient with Tom. He was a nice enough man, but she was quite hot and did not really want to spend time explaining to him the layout of the grounds outside the prison while the son continued to beat down on them. Maybe he was unaffected after a day inside doing laundry, but she was melting.
"You see we came over from that side of the prison. The whole are behind us is kind of unexplored, except maybe by Rick or Daryl. They do a lot of the scouting. Maybe you should ask one of them."
"Ah. I see I was just curious. When we came in I really was too shaken up to pay attention to where we are going. You know?"
"I do, but in this world you really have to work past that. It could get you killed now. I've got to go inside now. It seems like my water has not made its journey out to the field ye-"
"I've got your water right here woman."
Carol jumped a little. She had not heard Daryl sneak up on her. Tom took a step back and greeted Daryl.
"Hey man." He said trying to sound pleasant. "You think you could get me a glass of water too. I'm melting out here."
Daryl stared at the man like he had grown an extra head.
"Excuse me?" he repeated. Carol decided it would be a good time to intervene. She took the cup from Daryl's hand. He looked at her for a second and she tried to make her face as stern as possible. No fighting. Daryl jaw clenched when he looked back at the man.
"I ain't no water boy. You-"
"Here, Tom. Why don't you have mine? I'm going in now anyway." She said passing him the cup and taking a step between the two men. Tom for his part seemed pretty clueless.
"Uh. Alright… thanks. See you later, Carol." He said walking away leaving Carol and Daryl alone for the first time in awhile.
"That was for ya."
"I know, but I don't think you need to take off the man's head cause he asked for a glass of water."
"That idiot is a presumptuous little fu-"
"Presumptuous? I agree." She said laughing. "That's a mighty fancy word there."
"What and I don't know those kinda words, miss fancy pants?" He said sounding slightly hurt, but more crabby.
"No. Of course you know. You just don't use them ever is all. I don't know that I've needed that word since before all this went down."
"True." There was a silence. Not more awkward than usual. "Haven't seen you for awhile, Carol."
"I know. I've wanted to help out a little more lately."
"Ya already helped out enough."
"I know, but I can always do more."
"Though you were avoiding me for awhile." Carol looked up at him, a little shocked by his confession.
"Of course not." He did not seem too convinced. "I've missed you." She admitted. She could swear he was blushing.
"Well I got watch soon, so I better be goin'." He said trying to ease the tension of her words.
"Wait. Walk me in so I can get some water."
"It ain't my fault you gave yours to Tommy boy." He said smiling down at her with a little hint of accusation in his voice though.
"Stop that, Daryl. You are going to start seeming like you are jealous." She said retuning his smile equally as accusative. Daryl's eyes dropped from hers and things got quiet and the air got thing.
Never in a million years would Carol have expected what happened next. His eyes darted up to hers for a moment and he mumbled something.
"What was that, Daryl?"
He looked up at her again a little exasperated.
"Said I was jealous." He started fidgeting with the loose part of the strap of the rifle hanging his shoulder.
"Oh." Carol wanted to ease the anxiety that she knew was coursing through Daryl probably twice as fast as her, but she could not. Her cheeks felt a little hot. He could just mean like a friend of course, but she knew better than that. She had not expected Daryl to be forthright with his feelings any time soon… or ever more like so she had been quite comfortable with the way things were between them.
"You ain't gonna say anything?" He said sounding a little shaky.
"No." She replied. He fixed her with a scowl. He just admitted something quite personal and she was going to leave him hanging like that. His heart was hammering faster than he ever thought it had. Maybe faster than the first time he saw a dead person walking the earth. He was about to walk away when she said. "Wait." He braced himself for he was not sure what, but not for what he got.
Carol was pretty sure this was now or never. She did not have long to think, but she did not want to make Daryl anymore uncomfortable than he already was. She supposed that was impossible. He was staring at her now. She saw the rise and fall of his chest from how close they were standing. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but that was too much too soon. She wanted to kiss him anywhere, but mostly on his lips. She knew that would not be any good either or maybe it would be, but she was not sure she was ready for it herself.
"You know the other day when you were talking to Karen about your bow?"
"Yeah. You heard that? How come you didn't say hi?"
"I don't know."
"So ya were avoiding me?" He said sealing himself off, his voice harsh. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"No." He didn't seem to buy what she was saying. "No!" She said surprisingly loud and grabbed his wrist before he could turn away. He looked up at her a little wide-eyed and she pulled her hand back like it burned.
Now or never.
"It's because I was a little jealous too." She offered sheepishly.
He returned the smile.