Chapter 4

Michonne smirked when Carol came padding into the kitchen and pushed a hot cup of coffee toward her on the counter.

"You look amazing," Michonne teased, pointing to Carol's hair, which was standing up in about twelve different directions. "How's that hangover?"

"Hmm," Carol grumbled, taking a sip of the hot beverage. "God, that's good."

"Oh, that sounds familiar," Michonne said, sitting down across from her at the island counter. Carol closed her eyes, savoring the taste of coffee on her tongue as the warmth filled her belly. "Where have I heard that before?" Michonne tapped the side of her coffee cup, her manicured nails clicking against the porcelain. "Oh, that's right, when you and Daryl were going at it in my guest room last night." Carol choked, covering her mouth and nose with her hand, blinking a few times before widening her eyes at her friend. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not mad. I was hoping that would finally happen. You two have been eye-fucking each other for months now."

"Michonne!" Carol reprimanded. "What…"

"I walked past the guest room, and Daryl was snoring away. You must have worn him out."

"Oh my God," Carol groaned, putting the coffee cup down and covering her face with her hands. "Oh God."

"You don't have to give me an encore. I remember how it went."

"Shut up," Carol snapped, as Michonne snorted and took another sip of her coffee.

"All I can say is, it's about damned time." Carol shot her a look. "Or was that not the first time? Has this been going on already?"

"No," Carol mumbled, staring down into her coffee cup. "Last night was the first time."

"So there's going to be a next time?" When she looked up at her friend, Michonne reminded her of a kid at Christmas.

"We have a…thing," Carol commented. "We haven't worked out the details of it yet."

"There are details?" Michonne asked, raising an eyebrow. "Ok. Tell me more."

"We've decided to date each other for a month."

"A month? Why a month?"

"Well, it sounded like a good idea when he mentioned it last night, but that was in the middle of all the drinking, and, well, we got home last night, and it sounded like a really good idea."

"So…this was a drunken mistaken, or are you guys really going to do this?"

"I don't know," Carol admitted. "I…I really don't know. God. It's Daryl. And, it felt so right, and I don't know what I was thinking agreeing to this. All I know is that I had a lot of fun last night, and it meant a hell of a lot more to me than it should have."

"Then march your hung-over ass into that bedroom and tell him that," Michonne replied, pointing toward the hall.

"I can't do that," Carol muttered.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because. He's my friend. One of my best friends. And…"

"And you two clearly want each other enough to sleep together after a few drinks. So what's the problem?" She placed her hands on her hips.

"I don't…I can't…I just got divorced."

"And?"

"And I don't know what Daryl wants."

"So?"

"So, we're taking this month to help each other."

"As…fuck buddies?"

"No! Well, not just…no. There has to be boundaries."

"What boundaries? You guys had sex last night. I'd say you crossed all the boundaries there are."

"No," Carol replied with a sigh, "look, it's complicated."

"It's a pain in the ass is what it is. You guys want each other, so why not just…be together? Not just for a month." Carol groaned, burying her face in her hands again. "Oh, you're impossible!"

"No, look. We're friends, and we're attracted to each other, and we can be friends that have sex without there being…"

"But you just said…you want more, don't you?"

"I don't know," Carol replied honestly. "I love him. I mean…he's been an amazing friend, but I never thought of him that way until…until…"

"Until you realized your marriage was on the way out the front door and you got closer to your best guy friend and realized that everything you've ever wanted might be right under your nose?"

"Maybe my thoughts just went there, because Daryl's safe? Maybe I'm just not opening myself up enough to other possibilities." Little did the girls know that Daryl had woken and had made his way down the hallway, only to freeze when he heard them talking. "Maybe sleeping with Daryl was just a way to finally get over Ed and to prepare myself to finally start dating again."

Daryl felt like somebody had knocked the wind out of him.

"So, this was, what, a rebound thing?"

"Maybe," Carol murmured. Daryl turned quickly, heading back down the hall. He'd heard enough. If that was all it was to her, it would just have to be all it was to him. If she was in this for a month, he could be too, and he'd just have to accept that when it was all over, when it was all said and done, he was going to have to let her go.

"Really?"

"No," Carol replied. "It's not…it makes it sound cheap. It's not just a rebound thing. The way he looks at me sometimes? I just…it drives me crazy. And I look at him, and I want him, and I think 'what if?' But what scares me the most is losing him as a friend. So that's why…the month. Thirty days of this, and at the end, we stay friends. We figure out what the hell is wrong with each other, why we can't be happy or find people that make us happy, and then we just…we just move on."

"This is twisted," Michonne said with a shake of her head. "I love you both so much, and I'm telling you right now that one month isn't going to cut it. You might think you can walk out of this without hurting anybody, but somebody's going to get hurt."

"I trust him, and I hope he trusts me. Maybe we can help each other find what we've been missing."

"You guys are ridiculous. I can tell you right now that what you've been missing is each other."

"Oh, stop. Don't say those things. Not unless you know it's true. Daryl gets…bored. Easily. Maybe he's attracted to me, but that isn't going to cut it in the long run. Attraction only goes so far. He needs somebody who excites him, who he can spend more than four dates with."

"And what about you? What do you need?"

"Maybe I don't really know anymore," Carol sighed.

"But would it be so bad if what you need is Daryl?" Michonne asked with a hopeful smile. A little grin spread over Carol's face before she looked over her shoulder and sighed. She looked back at her friend and frowned.

"I can do this. One month and then…who knows?"

...

"You ok?" Carol asked quietly, as she opened up the door to her apartment, stepping inside with Daryl following right behind.

"M'good," he said with a nod, ducking his head slightly.

"Have a seat." She tossed her purse and her keys on the end table next to the couch. "We have a lot to talk about." Daryl nodded, sitting down, keeping his eyes on her as she sat down next to him.

"Feel like I'm in the principal's office," he admitted. Carol grinned at him.

"Ok. So. Boundaries."

"Yeah?"

"First of all, we need to make sure we're going to do this. One month. Just us."

"I'm game," he said with a shrug, looking away briefly.

"Are you sure? Daryl, this could be a terrible idea." She chewed her lip. "We were drunk, and we could just chalk it up to…"

"A stupid, drunken mistake?" he offered.

"Exactly. Or, we could accept the challenge. Try and…fix each other."

"Maybe we ain't broke. Maybe we just think we are," he said with a shrug. Carol eyed him for a moment, a sad smile playing over her lips. "What?"

"Nothing." She cleared her throat. "So, we do this, and in thirty days, we, what? Go back?"

"To being just friends," Daryl said quietly. "If that's what you want."

"Isn't it what you want?"

"What I want," Daryl said with a dry laugh. "Ain't this what this whole experiment's all about? We don't know what the hell we want." Carol smiled a little.

"So we should set up boundaries."

"Like what? We can have sex but not sleep in the same bed?"

"Exactly. That'll just confuse things."

"Maybe."

"Do you want…do you want to sleep in the same bed?"

"It'll get pretty tiring driving back and forth between all the sex we're gonna have," Daryl teased her. Carol snorted, feeling a little more at ease now. This was what she loved. This easy feeling, this laid-back knowing that she was with her best friend and everything would be ok. The last thing she wanted was to lose that.

"Alright, then," she sighed. "No boundaries. We're in this. All in this. For a month." Daryl nodded. "And we don't let it affect our friendship. Friendship comes first, and if…if anything starts to get…weird or somebody starts to get hurt, we stop."

"We stop," he said quietly, swallowing back his worries and his dread for the end of their thirty days. "Thirty days, and then…"

"Then we'll see." She leaned over toward him, placing her hand against his chest. "Daryl?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we…are we being stupid here?" He blinked at her a little bit. "Michonne said something. She…"

"What?" He licked his lip as her fingers curled into his shirt. His gaze bore into hers, and her shoulders slumped. She started to open her mouth, but instead, she got up off of the couch.

"Come on."

"What?"

"I don't know about you, but I could use a shower. You want to join me…friend?" Her tone changed considerably, and she made sure her hips swayed a little more than usual as she started down the hallway. Daryl considered it for all of .03 seconds before he was chasing her down the hallway and tackling her against the bathroom door.

It could be amazing, or it could go down in flames, but whatever happened, they were sure as hell going to have fun.