Surrendering the Soul

By:

Ethereal_Wishes

A/AN: The war is over and as Carol and Daryl reflect on the past, they discover their future together is filled with endless possibilities, but not without some conflicts of course. This started out as a O/S, but I'm turning it into a multi-chap fic.

The sun filtered through her bedroom window in Alexandria, but this morning, unlike all the previous mornings, Carol wasn't alone. She glanced over at the rugged hunter laying beside her. The bed sheets hid the lower half of his body, his curtain of dark brown hair masking his face, bringing a smile to her own. She leaned over, brushing a soft kiss against his lips. Her affectionate gesture alerted him, rousing him from his slumber. Daryl pulled her closer, kissing her with unbridled passion. Carol smiled against his lips, breaking the kiss momentarily.

"That was one heck of a wake up call," he mumbled, stifling back a yawn as he pulled her into his secure embrace.

"Well, I didn't see the point in sleeping the day away," she said, grinning lazily at him.

Daryl smirked, tucking an errant curl behind her ear. "Who said anything about sleeping? I'll give you another workout if that's what you're after."

Carol chuckled, ruffling his hair playfully. "You know we have to start rebuilding. The war is over, and we may be the victors, but it isn't time to grow lax. We have to make preparations, start-"

He placed his index finger against her lips, silencing her. "It can wait for a few more hours. There are things we should talk about."

"Like what?" Carol inquired innocently, wrinkling her nose unconvincingly.

"About what happened between us last night; what was that? You practically jumped my bones after the victory celebration," he snickered, his eyes wide with intrigue.

"I wanted to celebrate." She lifted one delicate shoulder in a shrug. "Wasn't this the perfect way to do so?" Carol remarked, batting her eyelashes playfully at him.

"It was more than that and you know it. You and I - we've been through alot together with this group, and each other. When I found out you'd left, back at the prison, I was ready to cut a trail and come looking for you, but I didn't have a chance because the Governor and his prick brigade attacked us. Then we got away, and you showed up at Terminus, and blew those cannibals out of the water. Since then, you've closed yourself off to everyone, and that's fine. You don't owe them an explanation, and if last night was just a one time thing, then I won't ask you for a reason again, but if it wasn't, then I want to know Carol. You don't have to be ashamed of what you've done or who you are. We all have blood on our hands. Those weeks I spent without you tore me up inside," he admitted, swallowing hard.

Daryl had always been a man of few words, and he'd just uttered a mouthful, so Carol knew he was serious about her and about this.

"First of all, last night – I don't want it to be a one time deal, but I'm afraid – afraid if we begin something the world will just rip it away from us. Growing attached to others has brought me more grief than I've ever known, and I can't -" she halted, hot tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Don't think like that. I ain't going nowhere," he said, capturing her lips in a brief kiss.

"You can say that all you want, but you don't know how anything's going to play out in the future," Carol reverberated, her voice tinged with melancholy.

"I do, you and I, we're both goin' to make it. One day when we're old, we'll be sittin' on the front porch in our rockers, reminiscing about how we survived the end of the world," Daryl reassured her, wiping away stray tears from her eyes.

Carol smiled brokenly at him – a watery chuckle escaping her lips. "I left because Rick made me. He found out I'd killed Karen and David, though I did it for everyone's safety. I met up with Tyreese and those girls, Mika and Lizzie, when the prison was attacked, and you all were separated. Tyreese, Judith, and the girls and I found a house – somewhere to lay low for awhile. Mika was smarter about things, yet afraid. She knew the walkers were bad, but Lizzie ..." Carol stifled back another onslaught of tears as she made herself relive that hellish day.

"I didn't want to, but-" she paused, struggling to speak her damnable confession.

"Shh...You don't have to talk about it if you don't wanna. You did what you thought was best, because it was what you had to do. She wouldn't have survived much longer, and you spared her from turning into one of those things, left to mindlessly roam the earth with no purpose but devouring others. You made the right decision though it was a hard call," he crooned, his accent thickening with emotion.

Daryl's words of consolation flooded her soul like a healing balm. "Thank you," she said, kissing his brow affectionately.

He took her hand, brushing a soft kiss against her knuckles. "If you want this then there can't be any more secrets between us."

Carol nodded amicably. "That also means you can't hide the truth from me no matter how much you believe you're sparing me from heartache. Glenn and Abraham – why didn't you tell me back at the cabin about their deaths?"

Daryl paused, the vulnerability in her eyes making his heart rate increase. The only person Daryl had ever cared about before the group was Merle, but Carol – she'd always held a special place in his heart since the first day he'd met her. His affection had steadily grown towards her throughout the years, though he wouldn't say it was love, but that was before the events from last night had transpired.

"Because … Because I knew you'd go after Negan without a second thought, and I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't watch you just walk into a war zone, left at that bastard's mercy. No, I didn't tell you because I wanted to protect you," he revealed, catching her off guard.

"But that wasn't your call to make," she countered, gazing at him intently.

"No it wasn't, but I don't regret it – not for a second - because it kept you alive," he replied, rolling over on top of her, enveloping her in a needy kiss. Carol moaned, carding her fingers wantonly through his hair as they made love for a second time.

The residents of Alexandria began to stir from their slumber - ready to meet the day and begin rebuilding what the war and savior's had destroyed. However, there were two of the community's residents who wouldn't be present that morning. They were too busy building something else – a future together.

XXX

"Has anyone seen Daryl?" inquired Rick as he walked towards the remaining residents of Alexandria, a bag of tools hanging loosely in his right hand.

Tara shrugged, blinking owlishly at their community leader. "He was at the victory celebration last night … Maybe he just wanted to get some extra shuteye," she surmised.

"Daryl is always the first one up and ready to go. That doesn't sound like him," remarked Rosita, absentmindedly kicking a stray rock with her boot .

"The same could be said about Carol. She's late too," Morgan announced, swinging a pickaxe over his shoulder.

"We'll give 'em ten more minutes. Tara, do you care to go scrape up some more nails? I believe there's some in Tobin's old garage," Rick supplied.

"Sure thing! I'm on it," Tara said, stalking away to get the supplies.

"I have all of the lunches prepared. We have a ton of peanut butter left over from the savior's compound and more fresh fruit from the Hilltop," Michonne announced, making her presence known.

Rick greeted her with a quick kiss on the lips. "Where's Carl? Is he on his way?"

"Yeah, he stayed behind, something about making sure Enid had everything she needed to care for Judith. I honestly think it's just because he wanted to spend some time alone with her, if you know what I mean," Michonne grinned.

Rick chuckled faintly. "He's all grown up, I suppose."

"Not quite, but he's getting there," Michonne returned, hitting him on the shoulder playfully.

"I have the nails, and I brought along a few other tools I found strewn along the garage floor. Also, I saw Daryl and Carol coming out of her house with huge grins plastered on their faces. Do you know anything about that?" Tara whispered to Rick and Michonne.

The other residents of Alexandria had assembled themselves in a circle and were chatting animatedly about their agenda for the day, ignoring the pair who'd just shown up. Before Rick could form a reply to Tara's comment, he heard Daryl's voice booming in the background.

"Rick! Sorry we're late! Carol called me over this mornin' and said her dryer had blown a fuse. I had t' fix it for 'er'" Daryl fibbed, making his presence known.

"So, did you fix it?" Michonne inquired, furrowing a brow quizzically at the pair.

"Yeah! It runs like a charm now," Carol interrupted, beaming at the dark skinned woman.

Tara glanced at Rick, shrugging as she flounced away, going back to stand beside Rosita. Rick watched her walk away before turning his attention back to Daryl. "Well, I suppose we should get busy then."

He hadn't noticed the dark blush coloring Carol's cheeks at his use of terminology, but Michonne had, and she had a hunch Carol's dryer had never been broken, but it was none of her business, and she wouldn't bring it to Rick's attention. No, whatever was going on between Daryl and Carol was strictly their business until they decided to unveil it to the group.