AN: hey, well I was on Facebook and saw a picture that HaloHunter posted and I immediately had two story ideas come to mind. One AU one not AU. I couldn't decide which one to do so I thought I would do both. Anyway this will be two -two part stories. The first takes place in the za in the future after they reach the Alexandria safe zone. Let me know what you think :)
Part 1
"A white bed spread? ...your happy about that...Seriously?"
Daryl watched from the door as Carol jumped in surprise at him speaking. She'd been fussing with the spread on her bed, making her bed neatly with a smile on her face, humming under her breath. She had seemed happy for the first time in a long time.
They had been at the safe zone for two weeks. When they had first arrived they'd been placed in isolation for two weeks, apparently the safe zone had been hit with the flu like they had at the prison and were cautious.
They'd been released from isolation this morning and ushered to their new houses. They were in a large six bedroom house, sharing with Rick, Michonne, and Maggie and Glenn and the kids. The safe zone council had brought some supplies to the house for them. Clothes, food, shoes, bedding. They'd all dug through and picked out what they wanted. The bedspreads had been last. The white one had stuck out like a sore thumb.
In the old world it would have been the one everyone wanted. Thick and soft and a gleaming snow white in color. But no one had wanted it today, everyone had grumbled about how you'd never be able to get blood out of it and picked a darker more practical one. Carol had chosen last and had been left with the white one, he'd glanced at her apologetically as he'd scooped up his but she seemed excited to get the white one.
He'd already dumped his shit in his room, the one next to Carol, but anxiety had started eating at his gut, being in another room felt to far away.
He knew he'd been smothering her, since Beth's death. Beth had been like the little sister he never had, her death had been another failure on his soul like Sophia, another kid he failed.
He couldn't help thinking of how Carol had been fixin to leave that night. Whether she slipped away at night, or died he knew one thing he couldn't lose her again. If he lost her he wasn't sure he could keep going.
So he'd smothered her, been overprotective while they'd been on the road. He needed his eyes on her at all times or he felt a panic start to seep in. He knew she could defend herself, but it still weighed on him. He couldn't lose her again.
He would bed down next to her every night. Staying awake until he was sure she was asleep and pulling her to him even closer.
She never made it awkward or uncomfortable, never asked why she woke every morning plastered to him wrapped in his arms. It was like she understood how he was feeling, like she knew what he needed.
Even In isolation he managed to snag a cot next to hers, she never batted an eye the first night when she went to settle in and found their two cots pushed together. She simply yawned when he got in bed and rolled her body in to the crook of his arm, like she knew that's what he needed, like she understood.
Holding her every night had become just as important to him as protecting her. He loved the feel of her in his arms, her soft hair on his neck, her warm breath on his skin. She always seemed a little cold, she was so tiny, she'd lost more weight than she should have on the road, he could feel her body be warmed by his, her involuntary little shivers would stop and she would sigh happily when she would get warm.
He got plenty warm too, holding her like that had an effect on him. He wasn't sure if she never noticed his aroused state most mornings, or brushed it off as a normal male morning thing and ignored it. It was definitely all for her.
His hands would travel, just a little, he was always ashamed that he couldn't resist touching her when she was asleep. Hell he wanted to touch her all the time. He wanted to roll her on to her back and wake her up with his lips on her neck and show her just how much she affected him, but he never did.
Now they were going to be in completely separate rooms. He had no excuse to stay with her, none at all. He'd never made his feelings clear, he'd only started to realize them himself lately. He was slow as fuck and a dumbass but he knew what he wanted he just wasn't sure how to get there from here.
She smiled then at him, that grin that he loved, the one he hadn't seen in a long time, the one that said she was enjoying teasing him, that made her face light up.
"Look at how clean it is Daryl!" She said excitedly motioning to the bed spread.
"Pfft...won't stay that way, you'll never get blood out of that." He scoffed teasing her a little but regretting it when he saw her face fall.
"Oh, I'll keep it clean, we have water here now...there is no reason why I can't." She said determinedly.
The safe zone had set up solar panels at every house. It was enough for water and refrigeration and that was it, but it was more than they'd had in a long time. Some days it felt like forever.
She looked so hopeful, he hadn't seen that on her face in a long time. They'd talked on the road, shared their grief. She finally told him what had happened with Tyreese and the girls. It was though talking about it had eased her burden, made her feel better about it. He was glad he had done that for her.
As he watched her face smiling again at something so simple as a clean bed, he realized then it was time, time to tell her how he felt, lay it out on the table. He realized part of the reason he worried so much about her was that his feeling were more than friendship. They had been for a long time. He took a step forward, reaching out to take her hand, when she put her hand up stopping him.
"What are you doing? ...You can't come in here like that." She said
"Like what?" He said looking down at himself. The council hunters had taken him out with them to show him the hunting grounds.
"Ummmm, no" she said a hand on his chest pushing him out of the door "You are more than welcome when your clean but it will get dirty by osmosis if your in the room like that. Sorry Pookie" she said
"What the fuck is osmosis?" He said but her only response was a cocky grin as she shut the door in his face.
Well fuck
