Hey everyone! I know I'm in the middle of writing So far from home, I simply felt like it is based on a specific story line and it wouldn't make sense to go off it and I wanted to write something that was just filled with a bunch of fluffy cute moments, and the building and progression of Carol and Daryl's relationship, so I hope you enjoy it!
Title: Soft smiles and tender kisses
Chapter 1: Just friends
It was winter and the grass and trees were covered in frost and it glistened in the morning light. Boredom is an understatement for what Daryl felt. There couldn't have been more than a dozen walkers and they were spread around the perimeter of the prison there was no real threat but Rick had insisted he still take watch. He scraped some frost off of the railing of the watch tower and watched it fall to the floor below. He sensed something and looked up, a warm smile spreading on his lips. Her. She stepped out the doors of the cell block and walked down the metal steps, careful not to slip. She pulled her over sized, cream coloured, wool cardigan tighter around herself as the cold air hit her warm skin and she shivered.
"Ain't you s'possed to be makin' breakfast?" He called out to her.
She looked up and squinted, her eyes still adjusting to the new light. "Just, getting some fresh air."
"Been doin' tha' for 5 hours already." He leant his arms on the railing, looking down at her.
"Bored? Good. You can help me with breakfast, Judith always likes your pancakes better anyway."
His eyes lit up like a child on Christmas. "Pancakes?"
She giggled, he reacted just like she was sure Judith would. "Yes, now come on before everyone's up and complaining their hungry."
Within seconds he was down the steps of the guard tower and by her side. Daryl walked in front of her, going through the door first he held it open for her. Glancing up at him, she blushed. "Thanks" She murmured sheepishly.
"We have a pancake mix, we just add water, stir and then put it into the pan. Somehow Judith likes it better when you make them, but we make them the same." She frowned and then shrugged, she'd never understand that little girl.
"Why don't you just tell her I made them?" He poured some pancake mix into the bowl, added some water and began to stir it.
She laughed and looked at him. "Don't you think I've tried that? She still swears black and blue she can tell the difference." She got the pan ready over the heat and looked at him as he spoke.
"Maybe it's 'cause mine really are better than yours." He teased, handing her the bowl, the mix was ready to be cooked.
She poured a little of the mixture into the pan and pursed her lips, setting the bowl down. "Yours are not better than mine."
"Are too, yours are, yucky." He chuckled, using the exact words Judith had just a week ago.
She put her hand into the pack of the left over flowery pancake mix and threw some at him. "Are not." She stuck out her tongue.
Narrowing his eyes, he smirked and pounced on her before she could run and pinned her to the wall, tickling her ribs, she squealed. "Okay, Dar, I'm sorry, yours are better than mine." She managed to say through giggles.
He stopped tickling her and caught her eyes with his; they were both smiling. Daryl's palms where pressed softly up against her ribs and neither of them wanted to move away from the other.
"The pancakes are burning." Judith's sleep coated voiced brought them out of their trance and they pulled apart, Daryl flipped the pancake, luckily it wasn't burnt.
Judith sat at the table and Carol got her some crayons and some paper so she could draw. She was four, and had big chocolate eyes and mousey brown hair that went down to the middle of her back. She stroked her hair, "Did you sleep well sweetie?" She just nodded and continued to draw so Carol left her and went to help with making more pancakes.
"She's not really talkative today." He observed, taking the cooked pancakes out and pouring more of the mixture into the pan.
Before Carol could answer him, she spoke. "I drawed you something" She said pushing the drawing toward them before starting to draw something else.
"Drew." Carol corrected before she picked it up and smiled. It was two stick figures, what she could make out to be her and Daryl, holding hands with a heart above their hands.
"Are you in love?" She asked nonchalantly, intrigued in her colouring. "Carol and Daryl." She giggled and looked at them, "It rhymes."
"Spoke too soon 'bout her not being talkative." He muttered under his breath and Carol nudged him with her elbow, both of them ignoring her question, distracting her because the pancakes were now done and they had to wake everyone up.
Everyone ate in peace and no one said much, but Judith watched as they ate, she noticed that no matter what Carol was doing, be it eating, putting her plate in the bowl of soapy water, waiting for everyone else to finish so she could do the dishes. His eyes were glued to her, he'd hardly touched his food because he was just watching her. She giggled at something one of the other children had said and looked at him, her eyes sparkling as she shot him a sweet smile, one reserved for him only.
"Daryl?" Judith climbed on his lap.
"Yeah, lil ass kicker?" Even with her on his lap, he didn't take his eyes off Carol.
"Do you like her? Do you LOVE her?" She looked at him and then looked at Carol who was across the room.
"Who?"
"Duh. Carol, silly." She giggles.
He cleared his throat and averted his eyes from Carol. "er, no, course not, we're just friends."
"But just friends don't look at each other like that, are you BEST friends?" God, this kid asked a lot of questions.
"Yeah, whatever you want." He said, lifting her off his lap and setting her feet on the ground. He ate the last of his pancakes and went over to Carol and placed his plate in the bowl of water. He rested his hand on the small of her back and kissed her temple quickly as he whispered his thanks into her ear, hoping no one would see; but Judith did. Then he walked past her, both of them keeping eye contact and smiling at one another for longer than usual before it was broken when Daryl almost bumped into someone.
The thing is, they weren't together, they hadn't slept in the same bed, they hadn't said anything about loving or even liking each other, they hadn't kissed, not even had a friendly hug. It was the little gestures, the arm strokes as he walked past, the laughing, the smiling, cooking together, wanting to spend time with each other longer than you should want to spend with someone who was just your friend, but neither if then thought any deeper into it.
When Carol was finished doing the dishes she had to teach the younger children reading and writing, they were all getting on with their simple writing tasks, like copying over the word "cat" and "dog" then Judith put her hand up. Carol kneeled beside her and tucked her hair behind her ear so she could see her face. "Yes, sweetie, what are you stuck on?" Carol looked down at her paper but she was doing quite well.
"Do you like Daryl?"
"Of course, he's my friend."
The child frowned. "Do you LOVE Daryl?"
Carol gulped and looked down at her work drawing a smiley face on it she ignored her question and whispered, "good work."
...
It was now time for lunch but it was Carol's break so she was sitting on her bunk lost in thought because of what Judith had asked her just a few hours earlier. Did she love Daryl? She didn't know. She felt a lot for him, strong feelings she couldn't explain. When he was on a run she would worry about him more than anyone else, she would feel sick from the moment she watched him drive out of the gates until the moment she watched him park up. She'd always feel happier when she was around him, when there was a group of them she'd look around to find him, watching every little thing he did, his chest rising and falling, the way he would chew the inside of his lip in the most discreet way when he was worried about something, but she noticed.
"Can almost hear the clogs turnin', you ever stop thinkin'?" She glanced at him, he looked somewhat amused.
"We've traded places since this morning. The break from everything is nice but... I'm bored." Sighing, she stuck out her bottom lip slightly and Daryl chuckled quietly, she looked positively adorable.
"I have watch again, you could come keep m'company? 4 hours of nothin' but starin', could use some." He suggested, wiping his palms on his shirt, his hands were cold but clammy, he was nervous.
"Sure." She shot him a smile and walked with him up to the guard tower, she walked inside and perched on the desk, shivering.
"'S cold up here, shoulda told ya to bring somethin' warmer, go back if you want." He mentally killed himself, of course she would be cold, she was only wearing a thin sweater and it got freezing up there.
"And leave you to bore to death for four hours? No chance, I'll be fine." Chewing the inside of her cheek she hugged her arms around herself.
Taking it off, he placed his poncho on her and pulled it over her shoulders. She smiled and pulled it tighter around her, she could feel his warmth still on it, like she was in his embrace. "Thank you." He nodded and half smiled at her before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the drawing Judith had drawn for them that morning.
"Thought you might want this." He placed it on the desk.
"It's half yours." She laughed, "that child is..."
"Nosey, talkative?"
She shook her head and glanced up at him with a smile. "Don't be mean, she's just... Curiously growing up."
"Asks too many damn questions if ya ask me." He looked back at her before turning around and peering out if the window.
"She asked you too, huh?"
Turning his head to her, he narrowed his eyes in curiosity. "Asked me what?"
Shaking her head she shrugged. "Nothing, it doesn't matter."
"Hmm." He murmured, turning his body back round to pay attention to her, she was wrapped in his poncho and now sitting on the desk, her feet a few inches off the ground so she was swinging them absentmindedly. "You warm now?"
She nodded, giving him that same sweet smile she had that morning when she was doing the dishes. "Hands are cold though."
He looked out the window and then back at her. "C'mere." He mumbled, setting his crossbow down on the floor he moved between her legs to stand in front of her. He took her hands between his and rubbed on them in an attempt to warm them for her.
Her cheeks went pink and she flicked her eyes up from their hands to find him looking right back at her. Giggling, she pulled one of her hands away from his and ruffled the side if his hair. "Some flour, from earlier." Was all she said as she saw the confused look on his face and he smiled, reminiscing the morning. Then he realised, he finally had an answer for Judith's question.
"She asked me if I liked you." He said quietly, he was no longer warming her hand, he was holding it instead. Before she could reply he spoke again. "She asked me if..." He cleared his throat and played with her fingers. "If I loved you."
Her eyes snapped up and she looked at his face. "And?"
"Told 'er we were just friends."
Carol tried to hide the disappointment on her face and returned her gaze to their hands, she muttered. "Oh. Well, we are friends."
She watched as he laces his fingers with hers and felt is forehead rest on hers. "Don't have to be."
"Oh, sorry I bore you with my friendship." She teased.
"Don't mean that." He took a deep breath. "She said friends don't look at each other like that."
She gulped, both of them becoming brave enough to look into each other's eyes. "Like what?"
"She likes to observe." He stated. "She does have a point."
"You don't look at me any different to anyone else." She frowned searching his eyes, having a hard time figuring out what he was thinking.
"I do. I'm always lookin' at ya." He confessed.
"Why?"
This question puzzled him and he pulled his forehead away from hers so he could look at her better. "Why not?"
"Why me?" She took her eyes off his and looked at his chest. "Out of everyone here, so much prettier, so much sexier. With no scars too... So why'd you want to look at me?" She was genuinely confused and almost sounded disgusted as she was talking about herself. She frowned again and with her free hand she toyed with the zipper to his jacket, flipping it up and down.
He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her head so she was looking him in the eye again. "What are ya talkin' 'bout? You're the prettiest damn thing I ever seen and you better believe it."
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and she smiled. He moved his hand from her face to her arm and trailed it down until both his hands were just above her hips and he pulled her closer to him, if he moved she would surely not be sitting on the desk anymore. "As for sexy..." He dipped his head and kissed her jaw. "I watch you, with your damn swaying when you walk, those low cut tops when you bend over to help the kids cut their food at dinner."
He sighed moving his face to look at her again. "Ain't the point anyway. You're fuckin' perfect an' you better start believing it, ya hear me?"
Tears fell from her eyes and she looked down shaking her head. "Stop lying." She whispered.
"Ain't lyin'" He placed his hands on her sides of her neck and wiped the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. "Hell, even Judith noticed it and she's four. I'm always lookin' at ya and if I ain't there to look I'm always thinkin' 'bout ya." He sighed heavily. "You fuckin' make me dizzy, make me feel like I ain't got legs or some crazy shit like that."
She managed a small smile but it soon faded. "I have scars, Daryl."
"So do I, and you've seen 'em, I know you did that time at the farm. You're special, Carol. Nothing can change that."
She only nodded, then she took his poncho off and lifted her sweater over her head so she had on only a pale pink bra. "You sure about that?" She questioned, almost angry at him.
He traced his finger over the scars on her stomach and ribs. "Wish he was a alive, jus' so I could kill 'im, feed 'im to the walkers." Bending down he kissed ever single one of her many scars so tenderly it caused her to gasp. "You." He paused and stood up again, staring straight into her eyes. "Are fuckin' beautiful. Anythin' that bastard said to you ain't true, anything he told you ain't true. Weren't no man, jus' a pussy, jus' like my daddy." He then helped her with her sweater when she shivered, and wrapped his poncho around her again.
She rested her head on his chest wrapping her arms and legs around him, drawing him in closer. He held her then, stroking her back in small rhythmic circles.
"Daryl."
They had just enough time to pull apart before the door swung open and little Judith came toddling in.
"Daddy said lunch ready."
"Ok, lil ass kicker, C'mon." He smiled lifting her up onto his shoulder and she giggled resting her elbows on his head.
Carol smiled at the scene, watching him walk down the stairs with Judith, following them. Once inside Daryl set Judith down and she ran over to Rick, sitting on his lap while eating her lunch. Daryl thanked Maggie and got two plates, one for him and one for Carol. "Thank you." She smiled taking the plate from him beginning to eat. He just nodded in return, eating his own.
...
Everyone else was asleep but Daryl was tossing and turning, sleep clouding his mind but he could never doze off, so he slung his crossbow on his back and decided to walk the cell block. He stopped as he approached Carol's and his eyes softened as he saw her curled up in pyjamas and his poncho. He was observing as her chest rose and fell and her eyes danced beneath her lids as she dreamt. He hadn't realised he'd been watching her for long before he heard a whisper. "Are you going to stand there forever or would you like to join me?"
He froze, shocked by her sudden question but then placed his crossbow on the top bunk and started to climb up. She tugged on his foot and tried to contain a giggle. "I meant with me, now grab a blanket and hurry up, it's cold."
He pulled a blanket off the top bunk but left his crossbow there, he climbed over her so he was laying with his back pressed to the wall and her back was pressed to him. He spread the blanket over them both and wrapped an arm around her waist. She turned to face him and he relaxed, shuffling so his back was now flat on the mattress with only his arm touching the wall. She brought her knee up and nudged his legs apart, hooking her leg over his, intertwining their bodies. She buried her head into his neck sighing sleepily. Holding her hand he kissed it and held it close to his chest. With his other arm he wrapped it around her and held her body tightly to his.
She was back to sleep within minutes and her peaceful breathing against his neck was soothing and therapeutic, sending him into a much needed slumber.
I hope you liked it, please review. More will be coming soon!