This was a challenge piece for NineLives the Caryl Site.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
It would only be a fling - she wasn't about to break up the happy home. That was all. That was all it could be. He was married and it wasn't her place no matter their circumstances to say anything, she was already causing issues. She was going to make it clear tonight. Because if she didn't then she knew she would never have the resolve to walk away from him.
When she looked up a smile bloomed across her face along with a flush. Daryl looked over at her and a smile a mile wide was immediate. They'd been friends since they were in diapers and there wasn't a thing about him she didn't know. It was likewise for him knowing her because anytime something had ever happened he was there. He was always there and that was where he regret laid like a lead weight. It was easily her fault they weren't together. He'd made it clear when they were younger that he had feelings for her, very strong feelings. And arrogance and youth made her throw it in his face saying they could only ever be friends. She was scared to lose him at the time and while he was still her friend she lost anyways.
They still kept in touch. Still seen each other while she was away at college and he was working his away up through training and settling into the routine at the firehouse. In that time though despite seeing him between classes and his shifts things changed. She'd started dating and then he'd met someone.
The saying you don't know what you got til it's gone always stung after that. Because after that she had to share her time with a new person. A woman that she had to bite her tongue being around and that green eyed monster reared its evil head. Watching another woman fawn over him and then the progression of their relationship was like being forced to swallow bile. That's when she realized what regret tasted like.
Not that she could blame her because Daryl was beautiful. Of course he was handsome and had looks that killed but his heart was what made him beautiful. For her to think that he'd remain single while she was away and women finally seen him without her attached to his hip was ridiculous. Shelly was a sweetheart and that was what made Carol feel so bad. Most women would have put a stop to their husband having a woman for a best friend. Most women would have made it a point to always be around if that woman was. Shelly had welcomed her with open arms and had no issues with her and Daryl still being friends. She always had a welcome smile and a nice word to say.
"Where you at?"
Carol looked up and swallowed. Soot was covering his arms, neck, and a clear handprint where he'd swiped at his face. His shirt was stuck to his chest and stomach leaving barely anything to the imagination.
Carol blinked and met his eyes. They were knowing and he smirked at her. "We need to talk." Carol blurted out. She had to or she was going to crack under pressure.
His face sobered and he nodded. He eyed her couch for a second before looking at his own clothes. He'd not changed before leaving his shift at the firehouse. Carol sighed and motioned for him to set down. It wouldn't be the first time she was cleaning up her furniture from him.
He set heavily and studied his hands before clearing his throat. Carol braced herself for what she knew was coming. Opening her mouth she tried to force words out. Daryl wasn't hers. He never was. She was being selfish. She knew that he still had feelings for her when she'd come onto him that night. She initiated this and she had to end it.
He looked up and she met his eyes. She flinched at the look there and it was like their teens all over again when she'd rejected him. He nodded sharply and pushed himself standing. He gave her a long look and she knew it was goodbye. He couldn't be around her and not have her. Not anymore. It was the same for her. She'd given her heart away all those years ago but she realized it too late.
Carol watched him walk away and felt like her chest caved in. Pain like she'd never felt before erupted and a sob started building in her throat. He didn't look back at her and she stood her arms wrapping around herself. She was falling apart but she could do this. She could let him go.
When his hand met her door handle he paused and stared at it. He didn't lift his head or look at her. He cleared his throat. "I know you're running again but I'll always love you." His voice was hoarse and sounded thicker than she'd ever heard.
Carol's feet were moving before she could stop herself. Moving quickly she caught his arm before he could pull the door open and slammed into him. Her hands went into his hair and her mouth caught his before he could say anything else. He groaned his hands meeting her hips and lifting her. Carol gasped as her legs wrapped around his hips and her. She was frantically tearing at his clothes as he walked them down the hall to her bedroom.
When he stepped into her room he wasted no time in dumping her on the bed. Her dress was up around her hips and the halter top was already untied. Carol set back panting bracing herself as he tore his belt open. She was mesmerized by his motions as she tried to get her breath. His chest was heaving as he jerked his jeans open and he stepped up against the bed. He caught her ankles and jerked her to the foot of the bed against him as his jeans pooled around his ankles.
Carol tried to raise up more but he moved to fast. Her panties were jerked to the side the same time he pushed two fingers into her. He met her eyes then and she fell back wide eyed. She'd rarely seen him so out of control. He was tearing her towards the edge without a care and his eyes looked feral. The smoke and fire scent mixing with the soot coating his body as he ripped her orgasm from her own made her soar higher. He growled then and lined himself up with her his hand never straying far from her. His fingers were quick and knowing against her clit as he slammed into her, not giving her a chance to recover from her orgasm.
His hand came down next to her head and he snarled something low in his throat. Carol clung to him as he pistoned into her, her entire body bucking. Tearing at his shirt he finally moved enough to pull it over his head and Carol moaned loudly. Her hands meeting his chest and sliding with ease over him with an ease that was their own. His hands went behind her knees and he jerked her right to the edge of the bed and forced her knees back beside her chest.
He stopped and met her eyes. "You were going to run." He panted, his voice was hurt. "You were leaving me again."
Carol swallowed while trying to get her breath. What was she supposed to say? The hurt in his voice was worse than she'd prepared herself for. He pressed closer to her, deeper, and leaned over her driving her knees further into her and giving himself better access to her. He still wasn't moving though and she whined deep in her throat.
"Do you think I wouldn't find you?" His voice sounded completely serious.
Carol felt tears bead on her lashes and slide from the corner of her eyes. She was helpless to swipe them away while knowing he was seeing more than she'd wanted. His eyes softened and he rolled his hips. Despite the slower pace he was taking her with now, he was moving just as deep and torturous as before. Every bit of him claiming every inch of her.
He caught her mouth as her cries continued to grow and she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as close as she could. His groans were vibrating through his chest and shaking through his frame as he drove into her with a fierce need. The sounds of their frantic love making all she could hear beyond her own cries. He let her legs go and she wrapped them around his hips locking him against her.
Daryl's forehead met hers and he locked eyes with her as his body started tensing. Carol nodded frantically almost begging for his release. His eyes were a swirling mess of emotions she'd never seen so clear. Things he'd kept shuddered behind a wall he'd put in place all those years ago. Chest heaving Carol felt her eyes start burning and her throat constrict with the need to cry with what she seen there. She wasn't a fling. She wasn't just some common thing to pass the time, like you'd see on a porch between two people, a small kiss that could mean nothing. She was more because he loved her and always had. HE always would.
When he finally untangled himself from her Carol wasn't ready to let him go. She wasn't ready to face the thought of him going home to another woman, to his wife. Carol rolled and wrapped her arm around his torso, her fingers tracing every mark and scar on his body. She could remember what each came from. How he'd gotten the broken ribs when he'd padded their landing when they fell from the tree house. How he'd gotten the scar that almost cut his Norman tattoo in half. All of it. He had a lifetime of memories for them on his body and she wasn't ready to say good bye.
Daryl pushed his hair from his forehead and groaned. He stretched and then looked down at her. "You aren't going to try to tell me some stupid shit about how this is over are you?" His voice was sharp, "Carol we'll never be over."
Carol looked up at him and swallowed. "Daryl..." She sighed and pushed herself up not caring that she was naked. Giving him a perfect view of her breast over his own chest. "You're married. " Carol ran her hand over his face and chest where the soot was now smeared even more. She knew she had it all over her but didn't care a bit.
He stared at her hard for a minute before closing his eyes. He exhaled hard and shook his head again. "Didn't you hear me?"
Carol huffed, "Telling me you love me doesn't remove your wife from the picture."
Daryl snorted then and Carol felt her temper flare. "No it doesn't." He set up then forcing her backwards before pulling her into his lap. His arms wrapped around her and he forced her to meet his eyes. "Though I imagine me and her both filing for divorce last month makes a difference."