Carol was woken by the sound of soft snores filling the room, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light filtering in through the blinds of the infirmary. She turned her head to seek out the source of the noise and found Daryl, sprawled out in what looked like a very uncomfortable position across the tiny chair next to her bed.
She couldn't help but smile as she took in his sleeping form, his beautiful face free of his usual scowl, no trace of the stress and troubles that came with surviving in this world, he looked so much younger. His arm was outstretched towards her as if he had fallen asleep clasping her hand. She reached out and took his fingers in hers, gently caressing his knuckles with the pad of her thumb, he stirred slightly but remained unconscious.
She wondered for a moment what he was doing there but it didn't take long for memories of the night before to come screaming back to her. She was so embarrassed, she enjoyed teasing him every now and again but she knew last night she went overboard, hell she tried to pull him into the bed with her! And yet here he was, spending the night crammed into this little chair just because she wanted him close.
Squeezing his hand gently she tried to wake him causing him to jump and almost roll out of his seat, with quick reflexes he was able to steady himself before he fell. He gazed around the room taking him a moment to realise where he was, rubbing his tired eyes adorably he focused on Carol.
"Hey," his voice was deep and sexy, still rough with sleep.
"Hey," she was smiling brightly at him.
"How ya feelin'?"
"Umm, a little sore." She tried to sit upright, wincing as her back flared with pain. He immediately rushed to her side.
"Hey hey take it easy ya gonna make it worse if ya don't rest." He hesitantly ran his fingers across the exposed skin of her lower back, not missing the goosebumps breaking out there at his touch, he gently nudged the hem of her shirt. "Can I?"
She nodded and allowed him to lift her shirt up, he examined the blotchy purple bruises along her spine, his anger at Morgan immediately returning.
"Son of a bitch," he snarled, she watched him step back and start pacing, he fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to keep his temper under control.
She shifted again so her feet were dangling of the side of the bed, the pain she was in evident in her features.
"Don't stand up I'll get your meds, do ya know where Denise put 'em?"
"Oh it's okay I don't really want them."
"Carol ya gotta take 'em. Don't want ya hurtin' no more, ya can't even move."
"I will take them I promise, just later. I wanna spend just a little while not completely doped up. I'm gonna ask Denise if she has something else when I see her."
"Yeah you were pretty out of it last night," he chuckled to himself as he remembered her antics.
"I know. Thanks for taking care of me… Angel"
He stopped and stared at her use of his new nickname. "Ya remember?"
She nodded slowly, wondering if he was going to bring up any of the things she had said.
"The nicknames not stickin' is it?"
Her face lit up as she giggled at his question, "I like it, it's very fitting. Suits you. You've watched over me ever since the farm. You might act all rough and tough but underneath you're really an angel."
He scoffed at her explanation, "Better than Pookie I suppose," he muttered, earning another soft giggle from her.
They were quiet for a while, comfortably studying each other in silence. He took his place back in the chair, stretching out his muscles, aching from the position he had slept in. She snagged her lower lip between her teeth as her eyes raked down his body, he was stretching his arms above his head now, causing his shirt to ride up flashing the bare skin of his stomach, her eyes followed the faint trail of hair from his belly button to where it disappeared below his trousers, all sorts of naughty images surfacing in her mind.
She thought about what he had said, she was sure he was just being friendly and trying to stop her from sexually harassing him. But what if he wasn't? What if he really meant that they could consider this step forward in their relationship?
"Wanna screw around?" She blurted out, unable to stop herself.
"Huh?"
"You said to ask you again today."
"Carol, you can't even sit up properly. Don't think you're in any shape to be screwin' around."
"You said we'd talk about it."
"'Kay, so let's talk." He prayed to god that his voice didn't give away how nervous he was, he hadn't been prepared to have this conversation, convinced she wouldn't remember anything from the previous night.
"Do you miss sex?" She asked
He started picking at the skin on the inside of his thumb again, just as he had the night before. "Nah not really. Didn't do it much anyway. You?"
She thought carefully about her answer. "No. I don't miss what I had before. Sex with Ed was never a really enjoyable experience. He's the only person I've ever been with you know? We married pretty much straight outta high school, he was my first. It always had to be about him, he never cared if I got off which I never did, not once. It never lasted more than a few minutes at least."
Daryl listened her dumbfounded, that asshole had been with her since high school and had never given her an orgasm. He would be lying if he said he had cared about the pleasure of all the women that he had slept with but that was different, they were meaningless one night stands. This was Carol. If he had been blessed enough to have had her as his wife, he would've spent every night on his knees between her legs worshipping her. She deserved no less. That piece of shit didn't appreciate how goddamn lucky he was.
"I've always wondered though," she continued, "What it would be like with another man. Even before all this when he was still alive, I used to feel guilty about it but now I know that I deserved better. I've missed out on so much in my life. I've always wondered what it would be like to be with a man that didn't just use me for my body. What it would feel like to be held by a man that was big and strong, but gentle. Someone who took their time to explore my needs and not just their own. I wanted a man that looked at me like with love in his eyes, that would never even dream of hurting me." A man like Daryl.
It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex with her, he more than wanted to. She was all he thought about anymore, all he dreamt about, every dirty fantasy he could think of centred around her. But he was extremely awkward when it came to this and after all those things she had just confessed he was terrified of disappointing her.
She watched him have some sort of internal conflict with himself, worrying that maybe she had said too much and come off as desperate. She knew that Daryl was the only person that could give her what she wanted, she had meant what she said the night before, she felt safe with him. She trusted him with her life, and her body.
"If you pick at that nail any harder you're gonna make it bleed," he locked eyes with her as she broke his concentration. He noted that she didn't look as confident as she had when she started her speech, her eyes starting to betray own nervousness that grew with every passing moment of silence. It was then that he knew what he had to do, he wanted to give her everything she had ever desired.
Raising slowly from his seated position he approached her until he was standing between her parted legs. Both of their breaths now mingling and heart rates elevated at the proximity. He tilted his head to lightly skim his nose up and down the length of hers, her eyes fluttering closed at the small action.
This time it was him who spoke, his voice so low it would have been inaudible had his lips not been pressed to her ear, "Wanna screw around?"
She pulled back with wide eyes, her stomach doing somersaults as she processed what he was asking. "For real?"
"Mhmm," he bit his lip and ducked his head in a nod. "Only when ya better though."
She pouted and he huffed out a laugh, the action reminding him of the previous night. "Wouldn't dream of hurtin' ya," he whispered.
Her pout broke into a huge grin as she pulled his face to hers and planted her lips on his in a firm kiss. He responded instantly moving his mouth against hers, groaning when she ran her tongue along his bottom lip seeking entrance. He countered her movements and soon they were lost in a heated make out session. It was clumsy and awkward but perfect all at once.
They needed to end the kiss before things went too far, Daryl could feel his arousal throbbing against his jeans and Carol had hissed in pain more than once when she had instinctively tried to grind her hips into his. She knew it was time to take her meds again, admitting defeat as she got Daryl to fetch them for her.
He handed them over to her with a glass of water and helped her settle on her back in the bed, when she was somewhat comfortable he resumed his place beside her in the chair.
"You don't have to stay here with me, doesn't Rick have plans for you today?"
"Probably. Doesn't matter though, I'm the only one that knows how to look after your doped up ass," he teased.
She laughed that musical laugh he loved so much. She decided to do whatever she was told from that point onwards, desperate to be on the mend so they could make good on their deal to finally screw around. She was frustrated that she couldn't take him then and there right in the middle of the infirmary, but the promise of everything she had been dreaming of was enough for now.