Consumed is one of the best episodes ever. A LOVE angsty Carol. It was usually Daryl who was angsty this entire series, and this flip in characters really gave him a taste of his own medicine. Trying to reach someone you care about get them to share with you, but their emotional walls just get higher and higher. I had a hard time getting into Daryl's head, I searched for inspiration and found it in one of my favorite books by Jennifer Greene. Her Max is much better than my Daryl. I do not own Walking Dead.

Author's liberties- picks up right after this scene, except in my world the sun had just gone down. They have prepared to spend the night in the apartment.

And It Consumed Them

"You don't know me."

She's lashing out, and he gets it. He does. He has visions of the little pissy fits he threw, when she was trying to get him to open up.

You don't know me.

She wants to push him away. She wants to piss him off. And almost, for a split second, she almost did. But then, he almost had to laugh, because yeah, he did understand, and yeah he knew her. He knew her better than he knew himself.

You don't know me.

"You keep on tellin' yourself that."

Then he watched her walk away from him. Again. It seemed like he was doing a lot of this lately.

And he had no rights were Carol was concerned.

None.

He wasn't her boyfriend or lover, or even best friend. There was no defined relationship; he had made damn sure of that. She didn't have to say diddly or squat. She didn't have to share shit. And now that was eating at him, because he really really needed her to.

He had never been so worried about somebody in his whole damn life. Carol had lost it. Got her wires crossed. Slipped a screw.

He would have to be deaf dumb and blind not to know that Carol thought she loved with him. He knew for damn sure that he loved her. And that was the kicker.

Fucking love.

It wasn't a grand feeling, it wasn't like some stupid ass romantic comedy. Here, in this god forsaken world, it equaled…weakness. Distraction. Death.

Anybody who loved her wouldn't put her in danger.

And he would die, before he let her get hurt.

And now, God damn it, he knows her too well, he can feel her pain. And it's actual physical pain for him. Every wave of her misery sends eclectic shocks to his heart. He keeps rubbing that spot over his chest, hoping that will help the pain go away.

It won't.

So she walks away.

Again.

And he follows.

Again.

She's broken, and all he wants to do is just fix her.