Timeline: 2x07 Pretty Much Dead Already

Drabble 1

She thinks, if she's still, if she's quiet, then it won't hurt. The pain will forget she's there. Forget to crucify her... move on to someone else.

They think she's grown hard, that she's cold. Not attending her daughters funeral - how could she?

How can she explain that she can't bear it? That if she stands over that grave it will be real. That it wasn't her Sophia who came out of the barn. Her daughter is still out there... in the ether. Waiting.

That's how she copes - knowing that thing, that body lying in the ground isn't her daughter... not really. That the essence of Sophia isn't tied to that thing... that monster she was turned into.

Even Daryl's mad at her... but this isn't about him or any of them. This is about Sophia.

Carol stares out the window; the sun glares in the sky. She feels a traitor to him, as if she owes him... for all the kind things he's said... all the gentle measures... everyone else turned from her but Daryl met her eyes and she can't seem to tell him how important that was, how much she appreciated it...

People seem to want to tell her how to grieve but can't meet her eye.

The group is always trying to force her into a role. Battered housewife to be pitied, weak mother unable to protect her kid. Now she's the woman without a family, without a reason to live... she's sick of their labels.

Daryl doesn't do that. She feels herself with him. Not the self she puts on display for the group. She's unguarded with him - he gets it. She can allow her instincts to take over. There's no judgement from him. None; for the first time in her life.