She wasn't supposed to hear them. She wasn't supposed to sneak up on them like that.

But she did hear. And she didn't even mean to sneak up, she just wanted to tell them that a generator in a shower block was broken again and the elders from Woodbury pleaded them to mend it as soon as possible. But she did hear them.

Men were sitting around one of the tables in the dining area, sipping on the beers, which Tyreese with Daryl found on their last run. The mood was untypically cheerful and relaxed, when she heard them mocking each other.

"Come on Rick, I saw your eyes on top of your head when you accidently caught Michonne walking out of the showers," Glenn laughed and jabbed Rick's side with his elbow.

Rick chuckled and raised his hands in surrender.

"OK, I admit there is something about her, OK?"

His confession was accompanied by cheerful laugh and whistling.

"What about you Glenn? Still have your eyes for your bride only?" Rick returned the blow promptly.

Glenn blushed and he shrugged his shoulders: "It's probably weird but I got the most amazing woman I could ever wish for. It would never happen in the real world and I'm really not going to screw it up by going for some other chick."

"I'm really happy for you man, it's so rare nowadays," Tyreeses's voice became more serious for a while before his face cracked into another grin.

"I think little Beth is really sweet. How old is she anyway?"

Rick looked at him anxiously: "Still not old enough to make sure that her father won't blow your head off as soon as sees you around her."

Tyreese sighed heavily, leaning into the chair: "I guess I'll have to wait a little then."

"What about you Daryl?" Tyreese turned to the quiet hunter at the table and Carol stiffened, "don't tell me you don't have time to check some nice ass from that watch tower."

Carol could say he didn't feel comfortable with the topic but didn't want to be left out either.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders and quickly glanced at the men around the table.

"Karen, I guess. She's damn sexy when she sways her hips."

Men grinned at him in silent mutual agreement.

Carol felt like somebody had punched her in stomach and she quietly started walking backwards, closing the door behind her quietly.

Of course he would have said that. It would have been strange, if he wouldn't. Karen WAS beautiful. She was tall, slim, with pretty long hair and cute face. Friendly, approachable, kind and YOUNG.

Carol felt a lump in her throat. None of them had mentioned her. And no matter what rational reasons she tried to come up with, it hurt. It hurt like hell.

Helpful, invisible and easy going Carol, always eager to please. The prison's inventory, grey mouse with no needs, with no life, that's how everybody had perceived her. The realization hit her with a strength of hurricane.

She fluttered her eyelashes angrily to push back the tears. She swallowed them, furious with herself for letting them hurt her so easily. Normally she was very good at handling her emotions but she felt she would explode is she stayed in prison for one more torturing second.

Carol knew she could not make claim to Daryl and her thoughts were rattling in her head when she was running outside as the devil itself was chasing her. She should have known better that their bond was just a friendship, which he didn't mean to take any further. She should have suspected that it was rather a pity for a desperate daughterless mother that made him worried about her. She'd mistaken his protectiveness for affection instead of seeing it in a proper light – she was one of the most vulnerable members of their group and he'd been just doing his job.

She was sobbing when she finally reached the edge of the wood. She was fuming with rage and self-pity. Her deep, long repressed memories suddenly rose to the surface and knocked her down to her knees at the bank of a little creek.

She had never felt like a woman with Ed. She was a housewife, a mother, his private punchbag obliged to vent out his aggression. She was his sexual object, but she'd never felt wanted or let alone beautiful.

But somehow it was different with Daryl. Although there had been nothing going on between them, she felt more like a woman around him than she'd felt with Ed for years. She even caught herself considering her garment selection, which was quite pathetic given the narrow choice. But Daryl had never noticed or commented and now she knew why. He'd already had his head full of Karen and the way her hips swayed when she walked. She fisted the ground in frustration.

"What the hell are ya doin' here all by youself?"

She jumped startled and looked over her shoulder to see Daryl behind her.

She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Out of all people she didn't want to see right now, he was number one.

Daryl had been still sitting with the others when Carl had dashed into the room saying that he'd seen Carol running towards the wood like crazy. Daryl had cursed, grabbed his crossbow and headed out.

Now he was looking at her and had not freaking idea what he should have been thinking. She was a mess and he could see she was shaking for no apparent reason.

"It's none of your damn business," she snapped back at him.

He gazed at her slack-jawed. Never, not even once, had been Carol Peletier mean to him for no reason. And God knew he'd given her plenty of reasons to kick his sorry ass. He'd flown off the handle with her more times than he could actually count and although he'd regretted it immediately, it hadn't changed anything about the fact that he'd been behaving like a jerk sometimes. But for some reason she'd seemed to accept his unruly behavior and she'd always seemed to forgive him.

She narrowed her eyes at him, breathing heavily, her body talk clearly showing she was stressed out and uncomfortable.

"Get out. I don't need you to babysit me!" she snapped again and fought to hold down her hand, which instinctively shot up to cover her mouth.

A shock was written all over his face. His cheeks turned red with rage as her last words did it for him.

"Fine. Whatever. Let yourself get bitten, I don't give a fuck," be barked at her, spun around and left.

"Fuckin' crazy woman," she heard him murmur before the wood swallowed his angry footsteps and he disappeared from her sight.

Only then she allowed herself to break down, sobbing violently, letting out all her hurt, desperation and loneliness. She knew she had to put herself together and act normally; she wasn't an emotional teenager to nurse her hurt pride for days. She knew she would have to act normally towards Daryl as well; it was not his fault that he wasn't attracted to her. But replaying her outburst in her head, she knew it would be easier said than done.

The light was almost out when she came back to prison. Daryl was pacing the perimeter impatiently, giving her ten more minutes before going back to the woods, determined to drag her back tied up if necessary. When she showed up at the gate, she didn't even look at him or Carl who helped him to open the gate and went directly to prison, her head hung between her shoulders.

When the morning came Daryl found Carol in the kitchen as usual, busy preparing the breakfast for everyone. Beth usually helped her but the girl always got up a bit later.

He wasn't sure how to approach her after their yesterday's encounter in the wood, but before he had time to sort out his thoughts, she turned to him with a smile, handing him steaming cup of coffee. He took it hesitantly but almost dropped it when he saw her blue eyes. They were dead. There was no spark, no evidence of life, no emotions at all and it scared the hell out of him. This woman, who was automatically moving around the kitchen, had nothing in common with Carol he had become so fond of.

He had no idea what'd happened to her. Damn, he had no idea if it had been even him who had screwed things up once more. Most importantly he had no idea how to fix it and the thought of leaving Carol in this zombie-like state was driving him crazy.

"What…?" he got closer to her, struggling to find the right words.

"What? Everything is all right Daryl. I apologize for my yesterday's outburst, I overreacted," she smiled at him, big fake smile.

"Fuck..," he hissed, slamming the cup on the table, cursing when the hot liquid spilt on his hand, "just fuck it Carol!"

He stormed off.

He found her alone later in the afternoon, when she was hanging out the washing. He crept from behind, startling her at purpose. She cried out and turned around swiftly. He was relieved to see old Carol in that brief unguarded moment of fear before the mask of fake contentment covered her face once again.

He straightened up, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Care to tell me what the fuck's goin' on?" he desperately tried to control his voice but it came out as angry snarl anyway.

She knit her eyebrows in confusion but before she opened her mouth, he grabbed the washing basket she was holding and tossed it aside tipping it over in process. She followed the basket with her eyes and he could see her face twisting in anger before it was suddenly replaced by the same calm expression he came to hate so quickly.

"Don't ya dare to put up this shit again woman!"

"I don't know what you are talking about Daryl. I apologized for yesterday and I'm fine," she looked into his eyes.

He suddenly gripped her arms and shook her.

"Damn woman, I know ya! Tell me what's goin' on or stop actin' like fuckin' robot!" he growled into her face, his frustration and powerlessness getting better of him.

Carol had enough. She put every little bit of strength into her attempt to act out normally and she had no energy left for Daryl and his relentless effort to get to the bottom of it.

She sighed heavily, going limp in his grips.

"Why do you care Daryl? Just leave me alone, I'll be OK. Shouldn't you be somewhere else anyway?"

It was Daryl's turn to look at her quizzically.

"Where should I be?"

"In the watch tower, checking Karen's swaying hips!"

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself and this time she put a hand over her mouth, shutting her eyes, embarrassed to death. Shit. She prayed for walker to get her right now so she would never have to open her eyes and look at Daryl again.

Daryl stumbled back one step, his mouth hanging open when it all suddenly clicked. How could she hear them?

Carol was jealous. Jealous of Karen. Jealous of stupid remark he'd made just to knock off the guys' teasing. As he felt tension and fear leaving his body, his lips cracked into the wide smile. Before he could stop himself, he started laughing loudly.

Carol opened her eyes in disbelief. Daryl Dixon never laughed aloud. NEVER. And out of all her embarrassing moments in her life, he chose this one to humiliate her even more, although she thought it was not possible.

Her vision clouded as she felt last remnants of rationality definitely leaving her. She leapt towards him and punched him hard, sending Daryl Dixon straight to his ass. Before taking off and running back to prison, she couldn't help but notice with satisfaction that his beaming expression changed into pure shock.

He caught up with her before she managed to get to the door, spun her around and pinned her against the wall, blocking her way with one arm, while he rubbed his chin with his other hand.

"Don't ya dare to do it again Carol," he warned her, his face just inches from hers.

There was something in his tone she couldn't quite identify and she looked into his eyes to work it out. Her breath caught in her throat when his blue eyes were searching her face with hungry intensity.

"I don't give a fuck about Karen. Ain't my type," he moved even closer, trapping her between the wall and his body. The air was chilly, winter was coming soon, but she felt a drop of sweat travelling down her back. She was more than aware of heat radiating off his body.

"Why…would you say it then?" she shook her head in confusion.

"I didn't want any of those jerks staring at your ass. It's already booked."

He smirked with satisfaction when her mouth dropped open.