Carol pulled away almost immediately, even though there were parts of her screaming not to. She hadn't been kissed in years. And even then, it was sloppy drunk kisses from Ed when he came home trashed and wanted to get off. There was a tenderness in Tyreese's kiss that she had never experienced before and it was intriguing. But kissing him back would have been wrong because the second she closed her eyes he would have became Daryl and that wasn't fair to either one of them.

Tyreese was muttering an apology when she spoke. "Tyreese, please... I'm sorry too," she said softly. "Can we just sleep? Talk in the morning?" Carol pleaded. She wasn't ready to get into the kind of conversation they needed to have. She needed time to think and choose the best words she could come up with. She didn't want to hurt him. And as awful as it sounded, she didn't want to completely burn the bridge of romance between them. Carol knew it wasn't fair but if they found out Daryl was dead maybe... Just maybe she could find that kind of love with Tyreese.

He nodded and apologized once again. Carol could see the look of hurt in his eyes and she hated causing it. "Tyreese," she whispered, "I do love you, just not... It's not you... It's..." Carol stammered.

His eyes softened and he smiled at her. "Sleep. We have plenty of time to talk in the morning."

Carol lay with her back to him. How the hell could he be so damn nice, understanding, and so freaking perfect? She had hurt him and somehow he ended up comforting her. If she was honest with herself Tyreese wasn't blameless, he had initiated the kiss. But at that moment she felt like shit, simply for being a part of the sadness in his eyes, whether she truly had any blame in the matter or not.

She thought for a while about what she would say in the morning. Carol didn't know if she should lie or just be honest. If they found Daryl at Terminus and Carol lied to Tyreese about why she couldn't be with him he would be hurt. Even worse. No, she knew she had to tell him the truth about her feelings for Daryl.

Carol was really tired but she was afraid to fall asleep. She wasn't sure if dreaming about Daryl would just make matters worse and jumble her mind even more. Eventually it was out of her hands as exhaustion took over and she slipped into dreamland.

The dream started with the same blackness as usual but this time when it cleared she was sitting alone in a beautiful field of wildflowers, clutching a bouquet of daisies, lilies and black eyed susans she had picked. His voice came from somewhere behind her, but Carol didn't turn, she simply smiled. She felt him sit down behind her and his voice was in her ear, "you forgot the most beautiful flower of all," he whispered, presenting her with a delicate Cherokee rose.

Carol accepted it and turned to look at him. "I looked all over for one of these," she said. "Where did you find it?"

Daryl shrugged and placed a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. "I guess you just have to know where to look," he said as he pulled away. Carol leaned against him feeling the steady rhythm of his heart and sighed contently.

Carol woke, immediately after the dream, with a sense of easiness. It was wiped away when she saw Tyreese and remembered the talk they would have when he rose. She decided to get up and busy herself doing morning chores. Carol figured it would be best to talk while they were walking. No sense in wasting any daylight traveling time. She had breakfast waiting and most everything else packed up when Tyreese emerged.

"Morning," she said, trying rather unsuccessfully not to feel awkward.

Tyreese saw breakfast was ready and smiled at her thankfully, "Morning."

He seemed to be faring way better than her which made Carol even more uneasy. As far as she was concerned, until they talked, there was an elephant in the room the size of Georgia. She took a deep breath. "So if you're okay with it, I thought maybe we would get all packed up and hit the road before we talk... About last night?" Tyreese paused mid bite and looked at her, a grin spreading across his face. "What? Why are you smiling?" she asked, confused.

Tyreese shrugged, "you're cute, that's all." Carol sighed in frustration. Why were men such insufferably annoying creatures? He knew he had irritated her so Tyreese continued, "just relax. We can talk whenever you're ready. I have nothing but time on my hands," he laughed easily. "When you want to talk, just say the word."

Carol narrowed her eyes and watched him eat. She couldn't figure out what was going on in his head and it bugged her, a lot. She was very, very good at reading people. It was the main reason she got to know Daryl so easily in comparison to the rest of the group. They bonded quickly because they had a similar past, filled with demons, but also because she was able to figure him out. But Tyreese was different. Perhaps he was just too normal, too all American, kind hearted and genuine for her warped and damaged mind to understand. If there was a hint of envy, greed or evil inside Tyreese she couldn't find it. She made a note to discuss him with Sasha someday, when they found each other.

Judith woke, interrupting her analysis. It was a relief since she was batting zero anyway. Half an hour later she had Judith ready and Tyreese had the tent packed up. It was time to hit the road. "Here, let me," Tyreese said, taking Judith from her. "You look like you might stop breathing any second, the extra weight isn't going to help," he teased.

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Carol growled in frustration.

Tyreese looked at her as they walked. "What do you mean? I'm trying to make this as easy for you as possible."

"That's exactly what I mean," she shot back. "Why? I don't understand it. You kissed me, I didn't kiss you back. Yet you're not mad, frustrated, hurt... Why?"

Tyreese shook his head, "You're wrong. I do feel all of those things Carol. But why would I want to make you feel even worse when you're already so upset?"

Carol was shocked at his admission. "Me? You're worrying about me?"

"Of course I am," he replied. "I thought last night, if anything, would show you how much I care about you." Tyreese adjusted Judith to the other arm. "For whatever reason, you don't feel that way about me, and that's ok. If you want to tell me why, great. But if you don't that's okay too."

"You would be okay if we dropped it and never spoke about what happened? With no explanation?" she asked.

"I can't make you love me if you don't. But I can certainly try," he replied with a grin. "But will you be okay with it? That's what's important to me."

His self sacrificing nature was a hard pill to swallow. As much as Carol would have loved to just pretend nothing happened she knew she couldn't just let it go. He deserved to know the truth. Carol shook her head, "I need to explain." She paused and inhaled slowly. "Please know that I care deeply for you. We've shared experiences that will forever change who we are and what we believe. That's a bond we will share our entire lives." Carol looked at him. She stopped walking and reached for his hand. "Tyreese I do love you, you're family now, but my heart... I..." as many times as she had said the words in her head Carol couldn't get them out without a struggle. "I love... I love Daryl," she stammered, looking away awkwardly and then back to meet his eyes. It felt so good to admit it to someone, but she knew her admission would sting for Tyreese and that hurt her.

Carol watched his face as her words sunk in. It went from shocked, to angry, to calm. "Don't do that," she said angrily pulling her hand away. "Don't pretend I didn't hurt you. Don't hide it for my benefit."

"Carol, calm down," he touched her shoulder. "I wanted it to be about Karen, I really did. I thought we could get passed that in time. But somewhere inside I always knew that's what you were going to say." Judith started to babble and they both smiled at her, it was impossible not to. "Why should I make you feel bad about being in love?" he continued.

Carol opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She wanted to punch him for being so understanding. And she wanted to hug him for being so kind. "I could see how you felt about Daryl, even before I got to know you. The first thing I admired about you was how much you cared about others. It was something I could relate to. But there was always this special look that you gave Daryl. I saw it because you and I are a lot alike and it's the same way I looked at Karen."

Carol felt like she was going to throw up. "oh God Tyreese, and I took that from you," she said with a sob.

Tyreese hugged her. It was a group hug with Judith in the middle. "Stop. We've been over this, I forgave you for that. I understand why you did it. And I know you ended her suffering." Carol pulled away and looked at him. "Come on now. I know what it's like to lose the person you love most. But Daryl's not dead, right?" She shook her head. "So let's go find him. He doesn't know how you feel right?"

Carol shook her head again and followed as Tyreese started walking. "One last thing though, before we put this conversation to rest... If he fucks this up and hurts you, he's a dead man. You deserve to be happy." Tyreese smiled, and stopped beside her. "I lied, one more thing." He kissed her cheek, "I'm a very patient man."

"Come on, let's go find your skinny redneck at Terminus before my sister puts the moves on him," Tyreese joked.

Finally Carol let herself smile. "I think the only brother in law you need to worry about is Bob."

"Yeah?" Tyreese was surprised.

Carol nodded, "you didn't catch that vibe?"

"No, wow. Missed that completely," he chuckled.

They walked and chatted easily. Carol couldn't believe how lucky she was to have a friend like Tyreese. They saw another sign for Terminus and Carol looked at the map. Her heart started to pound. They were close. So close. They would make it by dark, she was sure of it. "Please be there Daryl," she prayed silently.

.~.~.~.~.

Daryl tromped through the woods. He knew he was likely scaring away any potential food with all the branch snapping his boots were creating but he was angry and he couldn't help it.

He had lost Beth. And Carol was gone, with no way to find her. He felt guilty about Beth. He'd been stupid and opened that door without checking. Someone took off with her while he was trying to save himself from the walkers he had let in. He felt obligated to find her because he believed it was his fault she was taken. With Carol it was different. It wasn't his fault she was gone but he had to find her. With Beth it was obligation, with Carol it was a necessity. He would always have it weighing on his conscience if he never found Beth but if he never found Carol a piece of his heart would be forever lost. Perhaps the whole fucking thing.

Daryl paused. There was an animal near by. He held his breath and a deer appeared. If there was one thing Daryl knew about hunting and tracking it was that sometimes you just have to know where to look. He raised his crossbow and let the bolt fly.