When it comes to Alexandria, I am taking some liberties with the flow of time, basically in that I'm pretending they're there longer before the chaos begins.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Walking Dead. I wouldn't have killed certain characters. And other characters I'd bring back just to kill again lol.
Chapter 2
Things didn't get too strange until Alexandria. Once they split the houses Eugene, Rosita, Abraham, Sasha, and Tara went to stay in the second house. Maggie and Glenn took a downstairs bedroom. Rick, Carl and Judith took the master bedroom. Michonne took her own room next to Rick's and had smiled and told Carol she was welcome to split her room so long as she didn't hog the covers or sleep naked. Carol had laughed and would have moved her things in but after her trip to the food storage building found her possessions missing.
She'd found them in the small bedroom at the far end of the upstairs hallway, next to Daryl's bag. Daryl had not asked, or even discussed this arrangement with her at all. His expectation that she would stay with him miffed her slightly, but she let it go. With things changing so rapidly for their group, maybe it was comforting for him to keep some things the same. After all, when they had taken in the masses from Woodbury, and other people later, the two of them had shared a cell, although never a bed, to help accommodate space for the newcomers.
The first night, Carol had stayed busy. Helping the others get clothing, stocking their kitchen as much as was allowed, organizing dishes and personal items, tending to Judith, really anything she could find to do so that when Daryl was home and going up to bed, he went into that room first. She walked in a few minutes behind him to find him sitting on the bed, taking off his boots.
"Bout time you turned in." he muttered in greeting as he worked on his laces.
She scoffed. "Don't think I'm ever going to get used to sleeping a full night again." She watched him for a moment and then looked over him at the headboard of the one queen sized bed in the room. "So you finally decided to get me into bed." She teased.
He snorted. "Oh shut up."
She sat down next to him then, taking off her own shoes. "Seriously, though, you okay with both of us sleeping here?" She asked, keeping her voice light.
He looked at her then, brow crinkling. "Why wouldn't I be?"
She shrugged. Taking their shoes and tossing them towards the closet, she went to their dresser and pulled out a pair of flannel pajamas. She thought of it as theirs only as a technicality. Although she had grabbed some clothing for Daryl, he hadn't shown any interest in them. She went to the bathroom to change and luxuriated in the ability to brush her teeth and wash her face before bed. When she came back Daryl was laying nearly fully dressed on top of the sheets, his vest and holey socks the only items he'd bothered to remove. He'd pulled the comforter off the bed since it was so warm.
"You know, we're at least somewhat safe here, for now. You don't have to sleep fully dressed. You could even shower." she said with a teasing smile.
"You just want me naked." he grinned.
Her eyes widened slightly. He flirted with her so rarely. But then she laughed. "Suit yourself. But now that I don't smell, I'm starting to notice how much you smell. You should at least find something in those clothes I got for you so I can wash what you're wearing tomorrow." With that she climbed into the bed, sliding under the covers on her side even though that kept her movements limited since he was holding the sheets down on his.
He turned to her. "So long as you didn't get me anything as ugly as the shit you've been wearing, I'll think about it." he mocked.
"Its a costume. And by the reactions I get from these people, a damned good one. They're never going to suspect me, Daryl."
"Hurmph. Well your pjs are ugly too."
She reached over and smacked his arm lightly. "Jerk."
He chuckled, getting out of bed to get under the top sheet, like her. The exhaustion of the day began pulling at Carol strongly and she turned away from him to settle into a cozy position. Suddenly she felt his fingers touch her hand lightly before finding her hip and then he slid his arm over her waist, shifting closer to her but not so close as their bodies were touching.
She held still, not quite tense but simply unmoving as he found a comfortable position behind her, his arm around her their only point of physical contact. His breath slowed as he fell asleep within minutes but she lay awake for nearly a half hour before drifting off.
In the morning she woke up with his arm wrapped tightly around her, his calloused fingers sprawled under her pajama top and against the skin of her side, and his face pressed against the back of her neck. She laid there for a few minutes, feeling his hot breathe cascade down her back and his fingers twitch against her skin every so often, and wondered what it all meant.
She wasn't sure if he was pushing their relationship towards something altogether different or if their friendship had just reached a level where this kind of physical contact was okay. When she was younger she had slept in her friends' beds during sleepovers, even male friends as a teenager, but this felt different. This felt again like that strange taste she couldn't place and wasn't sure if she liked or not.
She'd slipped out of his arms and out of bed silently, grabbing her clothes for the day and dashing off to the bathroom to get ready. When she came to put her dirty clothes away, he was sitting up in bed, putting his boots on. She wasn't sure if he'd woken up when she'd pulled away or when she was in the shower, so wasn't sure if he'd been aware of how close he had been holding her. But either way, he said nothing about it.
