Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Walking Dead, just borrow the characters for my stories.
This was a submission for Nine Lives Challenge Secrets and Signs. Enjoy please review!
"I'll take watch," Carol said quietly. She didn't want Daryl to hear her. She had a feeling he knew what she was planning on.
"Carol, you need someone…" Rick started hesitantly.
"NO! I know you all have to be exhausted, I'll be…"
"She'll be fine. I'll be with her, it's all good," Daryl said from somewhere behind her.
Her shoulders dropped and she hung her head. 'Damn, so close' she thought to herself.
Rick looked from one to the other and could tell there was something going on, but didn't know what it was. "It'll be safer this way, Carol," Rick said gently, as he turned and walked away.
"Let's go woman, ain't got all night," Daryl said gruffly.
He knew something was wrong with her. She was keeping herself isolated from everyone, even him, and that scared him. When Sophia came out of that barn on Hershel's farm, Carol was still there for him, pulling him back towards the group even though she was the one who had just lost her girl. So, he was going to be here for her and he wasn't going to let her leave. NOT now, when he had just found her again. He would get her to talk, and he wasn't takin' no for an answer.
She could feel his eyes on her, staring at her intently while they kept watch. Any other time she would be thrilled to have his attention like this. She had wanted it for so long. But things were different now. He would hate her if he knew what happened, what she was forced to do, and she couldn't bear the thought of that.
"I don't want to talk about it, Daryl," she murmured.
"Look I know what happened at the prison and everyone will understand. 'Sides ain't no one gonna say nothin', I'll be seein' to that. You saved us-YOU! Nobody else," he said forcefully.
"Daryl, that's not it. I really don't want to talk. I need to forget it all,"she choked out. 'Don't cry now!' she thought to herself, trying to hold back the tears, afraid that if she started she would never stop.
He reached out his hand and gently wiped the tears from her face. She sat quietly for so long that he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Then he said, "Ya' know ya' can tell me anythin', I ain't gonna think bad of ya'."
"This is different. It's bad, really bad," she said so quietly he barely heard her.
"S alright- ya' can tell me, I can help," said Daryl emphatically. She squeezed his hand back, inhaled deeply, looked him right in the eye and started talking.