A/N – Next chapter…. SMUT. Be prepared. :) Fluffy smut. But first, this chapter… hope you like!

Chapter 7

The game had gone on long enough as far as he concerned. Three days of no Carol had left him missing her... a fact that surprised him. He cared for Carol; he had for a while now. He wasn't sure when it had started or why it had started... maybe it was that night on the highway in the RV, when she was sobbing for Sophia. Maybe it was even before that… when she'd taken the pickaxe from him and drove it through her husband's skull with an intensity he'd never seen.

At any rate, he grew to care for her... she was one of their group, one of his people, and he grew to think of her as family. It was strange to him. He was so used to his own dysfunctional family that dealing with these people had been so odd at first. It took an adjustment but he was slowly feeling better about it, about them... comfortable. He respected Rick; Shane considerably less so. He didn't like Lori much, but she was really the only one he found it difficult to be around.

He was most comfortable with Carol though, or at least he had been before... before they'd had sex. Not that he was uncomfortable now, but he knew she was.

She had said they were friends. Friendship was a foreign concept for Daryl. He hadn't had any memorable friends growing up. He'd never been friends with a woman before. He'd fucked women... but in a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of way.

A one night screw should have been easy for him... par for the course. But somehow it wasn't. He suspected it had gone wrong the moment it had been Carol. If he'd had sex with someone else – not that there were a lot of options, not that he was interested in any other options – if it had been anyone else, it could have been easy.

But with Carol… well, this was anything but easy. He didn't want to define his feelings for her. Did he want her… did he think about the way her lips felt on his… the way her molten, silky tongue felt as she'd sucked the bottom of his earlobe into her mouth… Okay, he thought about it. It was all he thought about.

This was the problem with having sex with her. She'd been in his head enough as it was, before they'd had sex. Now she was everywhere, even when she was avoiding him – she was everywhere.

He dropped his kills off at the campsite and moved to find her. He'd had enough. It was partially his fault anyway. He'd gotten himself into this mess just as much as she'd gotten herself into it.

One night. He should have said no then. He should have said it wasn't a good idea. And he shouldn't have hit Shane. He'd been jealous. Why the hell had he been jealous? And he shouldn't have kissed her in his tent… the list of shouldn'ts was long – too long.

He should go talk to her. He should go figure this shit out.

"Hi Daryl," Dale said as Daryl strode past. Daryl stopped, gave a nod at the older man.

"Ya seen Carol?," he asked hesitantly.

Dale looked thoughtful for a moment, pulled his hat off his head and scratched before putting it back on. "You know… I haven't… but I think she was going to do laundry in Hershel's basement today. You could check there."

Daryl nodded and went to move, but suddenly Dale had stepped closer. Daryl's eyes flickered to meet Dale's.

Dale smiled. "I'm not blind, you know… or deaf for that matter," Dale said, "You'd be smart to talk things out with her, figure out what's going on between you two."

"Ain't nothin' goin' on," Daryl growled, but his tone was unconvincing and Dale just gave him a look.

Daryl huffed, and stalked off toward the house. Who did Dale think he was, Daryl thought as he walked around the side of the house and saw the basement hatch was open.

He moved quietly down the stairs into the basement, careful not to make a sound. He could hear them talking as he moved into the shadows of the basement.

"Andrea never helps, haven't you noticed?," Lori said petulantly as she piled the wet laundry into a basket.

Carol looked at Lori sideways and shrugged. "She helps. Keeps watch, checks the borders for walkers… she's as good as the men with that gun… I'd say she helps a lot."

Lori sighed. "Oh that doesn't count. What about laundry?"

"What about it?," Carol said. She pulled her hands up out of the tub of water they'd been submerged in and turned to face Lori. "You know, Lori, I've got this… I can finish up here just fine. Why don't you go and relax?"

"I didn't mean…"

Carol smiled, shook her head. "I know. Of course, you didn't. But you do look tired, and really, I can finish up. It's no problem."

Lori smiled. "Well, if you insist… how bout I go up that way and lock up and you can bring the clothes through the house?" Carol nodded agreeably. Lori wiped her hands on her shirt and moved through the basement past the area where Daryl stood unnoticed and disappeared through the hatch. He heard the hinges protest as Lori closed the doors, the groan of the lock being latched from the outside.

Daryl stepped out of the shadows and into the area where Carol stood, her back to him. He heard the water draining and she bent over, heaved the basket of wet clothes up to put it on top of the table next to the tub. He watched the way her body filled her clothes, admiring her ass as she bent over again to grab a shirt that had fallen to the floor.

He cleared his throat and she jumped, whirling around to see who was there.

"Jesus, Daryl… when did you get here?"

"Was jus' waitin' for the first lady to leave," he muttered.

Carol smiled warmly. "The first lady… that sums it up pretty well, doesn't it? You should have heard her going on about poor Andrea."

Daryl smirked and Carol raised an eyebrow at him.

"You heard? Sneaky. I'm going to sew some bells into your shirts or something," Carol said.

"Easier to avoid me if ya did."

Carol frowned, paled at his comment. "I… I… well, I'm sorry about that."

Daryl shrugged. "Ain't nothin'."

Carol wiped her hands on her pant legs and moved forward, moving across the distance that gapped them until she stood a foot away. "No, Daryl, I feel bad about that. But frankly… I don't know how to talk to you. I don't know… how to explain myself…"

"Explain yerself?"

Carol nodded, and then she blushed as she spoke, "I like having sex with you."

Daryl raised an eyebrow, couldn't hide the way his lips turned up in response to her words.

"And I'm assuming… and tell me if I'm wrong… you like having sex with me?"

Daryl smiled, a real smile, with teeth and everything. "Ain't ba-ad…," he drawled softly and Carol laughed.

"Ever the charmer, Daryl Dixon," she said, her eyes twinkling and he couldn't help his eyes from moving down her face and to her lips. She was smiling, and then she stopped smiling and she licked her lips. He watched her tongue dart out and brush across her lower lip and he felt the ache in his stomach, the longing…

"We could keep doin' it," he said softly.

Carol opened her mouth, thought better of what she was going to say and then bit down on her lower lip. Daryl wanted to bit that lip… he felt himself growing hard. He'd never known his body to respond to a woman like this… how his body responded to her.

"We… could," Carol said slowly and his eyes went to meet hers.

"Be a shame not to," Daryl murmured, stepping forward at the same time she stepped to him as well, and they collided, their lips melding together in a way that suddenly felt natural. He felt her hands glide across his back, moved his hands beneath the back of her shirt, feeling the soft skin that she hid beneath her clothing. He left one hand at her shoulder blade, his fingers just grazing the nape of her neck, and moved his other hand to her hip, sliding slowly up under her shirt, gliding up her side, feeling the swell of her breast on his thumb as he relished the softness of her.

She moaned into his mouth, her tongue darting out to greet his own, and his arms moved again, clutching her to him, so close there wasn't even air between them. He needed more… more of her… more of this.

He wondered if it would be possible for him to ever get enough…