A three-parter! When I originally wrote this (before I edited it into oblivion) it was bordering on 12,000 words. Waaaay too much for one chapter. But I liked where my beta cut me off, so I left it. Anyway, I can't be held responsible for the content of this chapter. I wrote and edited it under the influence of Ny-Quil ™. Here goes nothing!

Read and review. I love hearing what you guys think!


Daryl was bored. Being on watch was mind-numbingly, soul-crushingly boring. The Governor had been taken care of months ago. No new threats had popped up as of yet. Unfortunately that didn't mean they could slack off on watch, and Rick still didn't trust most of the Woodbury group to take on the task. That left the original prison group, Tyreese and Sasha, and a select few from Woodbury that Rick and Daryl had grown to trust. Luckily there were enough people in the rotation that he usually only ended up on night watch about every two weeks.

He'd become accustomed to the afternoon and evening shift, preferring to hunt in the early morning. He was quickly finding that this shift was no more entertaining than the shifts he normally took. He still found himself staring at the blank horizon wishing he could be anywhere other than the watchtower. He huffed a breath and hoisted his feet up on the control panel, which had long ago been rendered useless.

After awhile Daryl turned his attention to his to the yard where a group had gathered in the garden to collect that day's harvest. He watched as a group of Woodbury women stood around at the edge of the field. Off to his left Carol, Maggie, and Beth collected armfuls of vegetables under Hershel's direction. Once the plants had been picked clean both groups made their way back into the prison, though he could see that Carol and company were not at all pleased.

Daryl turned his attention back to the horizon and watched as angry clouds began to roll in. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get any hunting in today. He grumbled to himself as he grabbed a rag out of his pocket and began wiping down his crossbow. He sighed as the skies opened up and the calming pattering of rain turned into a deluge. The sound of the rain drowned out the sound of footsteps on the stairs leading up to the watchtower so he was caught momentarily off-guard when the door swung open and Rick stepped in.

Rick wiped the rain from his face as he addressed Daryl, "It keeps up like this we might think about collectin' two of everything and findin' a boat."

Daryl smirked at the comment. "Everything okay out there?"

"Yeah," Rick replied. "Just came up to see if you'd be okay keepin' on the afternoon shift. Tyreese is helpin' Beth and Carol get the stuff from the run put away."

That got Daryl's attention. "Told 'em I'd help with that this afternoon."

Rick shrugged. "Rain forced everyone inside. Guess they wanted to get it done sooner rather than later."

Daryl nodded. He didn't like the idea of Tyreese hovering around Carol, but he didn't have any claim on her so it wasn't like he could say anything about it. "Yeah s'fine. Who's up for evening watch?"

"Glenn this evening. Carol overnight, I think."

Daryl turned his attention back to his crossbow. "Hopefully it clears up before tonight. Sucks sittin' out here in the rain at night. Can't see shit."

Rick nodded in agreement.

Daryl watched Rick out of the corner of his eye. The former sheriff leaned heavily against the wall as he watched the empty field below them. He could almost see the weight of world on his friend's shoulders. Finally Rick pushed away from the wall and turned toward the door. "Thanks," he scrubbed his hands over his face before disappearing out the door and down the stairs again.

Daryl was, once again, left alone in the tower with his thoughts. He really didn't like the idea of Tyreese helping Carol. He'd told her he'd help her this afternoon, why couldn't she have just waited? He set his crossbow down within reach and returned his attention to the field and watched as the walkers wandered about even more aimlessly than usual. The rain seemed to confuse them, which at least made them slightly more entertaining to watch.

The rain refused to let up and the sound was beginning to make him sleepy. He stood abruptly and walked the length of the room, forcing himself to wake up. He was headed out the door to let the cool rain wake him up when he nearly plowed into Beth.

"Sorry," he muttered as he stepped back and let her in out of the rain.

She lifted the hood on her eight-sizes-too-big raincoat and smiled at him, "it's okay." She handed him a bag with his lunch in it. "Carol made it," she assured him.

He looked up at his visitor, "where is she?"

Beth dropped her gaze then. "She's, uh, she's helping with lunch."

Because of the rain Daryl couldn't get a good read on what time it was. He wasn't sure if it was still lunchtime or not, but he could tell Beth was nervous about something. "Never stopped her from bringin' my lunch before."

"It was pretty busy in there. You know, with the rain and all," she tried.

"Can't be any busier than usual," he said between bites, "ain't like we magically got more mouths ta feed 'cause it's rainin.'"

"I guess not, she just asked me to do it."

"You sure nothin' else is goin' on?" He thought he might lose it if Beth told him Carol ditched him to eat lunch with Tyreese. She always brought him his meals when he was on watch. Usually she brought her meal too and they ate in companionable silence. Despite her role in the group, Carol needed the peace and quiet almost as much as Daryl did.

Beth sighed heavily, "if I tell you something you have to promise not to tell Carol."

Daryl's heart began to pound wildly. He knew Beth was going to tell him that Carol had taken up with Tyreese. So he was mildly relieved at the next words that came out of Beth's mouth.

"Some of the Woodbury women have been kind of mean to her," Beth admitted quietly.

That was it? Some women were being mean to her? She wasn't shacking up with Tyreese? Relief washed over him until he realized he didn't actually know what that had to do with Beth brining him lunch instead of Carol.

"What do ya mean they're bein' mean to her?" He asked cautiously.

"Look, I shouldn't have even said anything. Carol would kill me if she knew. I better head back down and help her get things cleaned up." Beth said quickly before high-tailing it out the door.

Daryl paced the tower for the rest of his shift. Time seemed to drag even more slowly than usual as he waited for Glenn to get his ass up there. When the rain let up he paced the deck around the tower. Finally, what seemed like days later, Glenn started across the yard. When the other man finally made his way up the stairs Daryl nearly knocked him over trying to get down them.

"Whoa, man. Hold up." Glenn yelled after him.

Daryl stopped and turned to face him, an expectant look on his face.

"Anything goin' on?"

"Nah, nothin' goin' on. Walkers are confused as shit by the rain. Give ya somethin' ta watch anyway." He turned and headed down the stairs again.

Glenn watched as Daryl all but ran back to the prison. He wondered what had gotten into the other man, but he definitely wasn't about to go asking.


The rain had slowed to a drizzle, so Daryl managed to make it back to the prison without getting soaked. When he got to the door he found one of the Woodbury women standing under the alcove. He ignored her and started to open the door, but he was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Where ya headed, Handsome?"

Daryl shook off the woman's hand and mumbled something about going inside.

Unwilling to take a hint she reached out for him again, "why go inside when you could stay out here with me?"

Daryl jerked away from her this time and pulled the door open. "If ya need someone to keep watch over ya out here go get one of the other men. I ain't interested. Gotta go find Carol."

"Oh, I don't think she wants to be bothered," the woman tried. "She went up to her cell before we started with dinner. Said she didn't feel well. The offer to keep me company out here still stands."

"Told ya I ain't interested."

"I don't see why you spend all your time with her anyway. You could have your pick of any other woman here," the woman lamented.

Daryl didn't even bother to dignify that with a response. He now had an understanding of what Beth meant when she'd said the other women were being mean to Carol. If that woman was willing to say those things to him, he could only imagine what they were saying when they thought she wasn't listening. He stepped inside the building and made his way toward the stairs. He took the steps two at a time and strode to the end of the catwalk to the cell he shared with Carol.

He pushed the blanket in the doorway aside and stepped into the cell. He found Carol sitting in her bunk reading by lantern light. She very rarely used the lantern for reading, preferring to save the fuel.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Fine."

He took off his crossbow and set it in the corner before leaning back against the desk against the wall. "Ya sure you're okay? Ain't like you to skip dinner."

"I'm fine, Daryl," she sighed. "I'm just not feeling well and I needed a break."

Daryl's brow crinkled in confusion, "Would ya just tell me what's wrong? Ya don't take breaks and the last time ya got sick we damn near had to drag ya in here and tie ya down to get you to rest."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine. But ya gotta eat," he insisted.

"I'm fine, Daryl," she repeated.

He shook his head and walked out of the cell.


Daryl made his way down the steps into the cafeteria and got in line behind Rick. The two men talked about the watch schedule as they waited. The line moved quickly and Rick took his plate before stepping off to the side to wait for Daryl.

"Need two plates," he said to the girl serving dinner without looking up.

"Got yourself quite the appetite," she smiled. "Bet I could help you out with that later."

His head jerked up and he came face to face with the very same girl who'd held him up outside. Confusion crossed his features as he tried to figure out what in the hell this girl was doing. "Need one to take to Carol," he grumbled. "She ain't feelin' well."

"Oh! Don't you worry about her, Sugar. We'll make her up a plate and send someone to take it to her. You've been working hard all day, you should sit down and relax." She laid it on thick, hoping she could tame the wild hunter.

"Said I'd take it to her," he said again, this time loud enough to get Rick's attention.

"There are problem?" Rick asked. He'd watched the exchange with curiosity. Daryl rarely said anything to anyone outside of the original group.

Daryl suddenly realized that all eyes were on them. "Nah, man. Just need two plates. Gotta take one up to Carol."

Rick looked to the girl and back at Daryl, "She okay?"

Daryl nodded and took the two plates the girl reluctantly offered. He strode off toward the cells without another word.

Rick watched Daryl walk off, his curiosity piqued even further, before turning back to face the girl. "Julie, right?"

Julie nodded.

"Can I offer you a word of advice about Daryl?"

Julie nodded again, enthusiastically.

"It would be in your best interest to leave Daryl be. Especially where Carol is concerned," Rick warned.


When Daryl returned to their cell he found Carol exactly as he'd left her. She took the plate he offered and he stepped back to sit on the desk. They ate in silence as they usually did. But something was different. This wasn't the comfortable silence they'd grown used to. Each could feel the tension radiating off of the other.

Daryl finished his meal and watched as Carol did the same. When she was done Daryl took her plate and set it on the desk.

"Thanks," she said softly.

Daryl grunted a response and continued to watch her. He willed himself to think of something—anything—he could do to fix this. But the truth was he didn't really even know what he was trying to fix. He'd spent his entire life running from relationships for this very reason.

Carol marked her place in her book, kicked off her shoes, and situated herself in bed. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep before watch tonight."

Daryl nodded, "You want me to go?"

"You don't have to go."

He pulled out the desk chair and took his knife out of the sheath at his waist. He grabbed a rag and a whetstone out of his pack and took to cleaning and sharpening his knife and Carol's. He glanced at Carol every once in awhile to see her tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable as she willed herself to sleep.

"Ya sure you don't want me to go?" He asked quietly.

Carol sighed before turning on her side and sitting up to face him, "it's not you keeping me awake, " she admitted.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Beth told me what was going on," he admitted hesitantly.

Carol groaned.

"Nothin' specific, just that the other women were givin' you a hard time."

"It's fine."

"Ain't fine if you're upset."

"I'm not upset," she insisted.

"Coulda fooled me."

Carol was frustrated. He just didn't get it. And she didn't want him to because that would mean admitting her feelings for him. Despite all of that, it seemed she had no control over what came out of her mouth next. "What good will it do to talk about it, Daryl? What do you want me to say? It started with them saying I was taking lunch to you to get out of work. I could deal with that. I knew I was contributing more than my fair share in taking care of everyone. When that didn't faze me they moved on to saying there was something going on between us. Don't worry; I squashed that rumor before it could pick up any steam. And I started sending Beth up with your lunch because they were really pushing to take turns bringing you meals." Carol took a deep breath, "Beth came back after a couple of days and said you'd asked for me. She said it in front of the others. I don't know. Maybe she thought it would get them to back off. The talking stopped for a couple days. But today Julie asked about taking lunch up to you. I tried to explain that you preferred the routine and she seemed okay with it. As I was leaving to bring you lunch she pulled me aside and said that it wasn't fair that I was keeping you from being happy. You clearly have your pick of the women around here, but I stand in the way of that."

Carol's hand flew to her mouth as though she couldn't believe that she'd just said all of that. Daryl stood immediately and she was sure he was going to bolt.

"I told you I didn't want to talk about it," she breathed shakily as she willed herself not to cry. She absolutely would not cry. She bit down on her lower lip to suppress overwhelming desire to just let the tears go.

"Ain't no one standin' in the way of me bein' happy 'cept me," his voice was gravelly with emotion. He took the one small step necessary to get from the desk to the bed and sat down at her side.

Carol studied her hands as she thought about what she could say to pull herself out of the Grand Canyon-sized hole she'd just dug. She couldn't believe he was even still in the room. She was even more shocked when she felt his fingers ghost over her cheek. Or maybe she was hallucinating on top of everything else…

"Hey," he said softly, "look at me."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, "I know you don't—"

Before Carol could finish, the blanket over the doorway moved to the side and Julie poked her head in, "just came to get your plate so we could get 'em wash—"

"Get out," Daryl growled.

"But your dishes," she tried again.

"Ain't sayin' it again, lady. Get out."

Julie backed away from the door with her hands up. When she'd gone to get the dishes she'd intended to talk to Daryl alone; she hadn't expected Carol to be there. When she'd walked up to the cell she'd heard him comforting Carol and knew he must have taken her earlier advice and was trying to let her down easy. What she couldn't understand was what he was so angry about. She shrugged it off and headed back down the steps. Maybe she could catch him later once Carol was on watch.

Once the blanket dropped back into place Daryl turned his attention back to Carol. He stroked her cheek gently, wiping away the one stray tear that had escaped. She hadn't cried—hadn't even seemed close to crying—in so long. He was proud of how far she'd come. Even now, upset as she was, she refused to fall apart on him and be that weak woman he knew she despised. He couldn't fix the damage done by the Woodbury women, but he could fix the rest of it. He could fix the damage he'd done through his own inaction.

"Carol, I—"

"I really just want to get some sleep," she whispered.

"Yeah, okay. I'm just gonna, uh, run down and take a shower while they're free." He explained as he pulled away.

"You don't have to go."

"You'll be able to get to sleep better if I'm not in here keepin' you awake. I'll be back in a little bit. I'll come on watch with ya tonight… If that's okay."

"Okay," she yawned.


Daryl grabbed some clean clothes out of his pile and the toiletry bag Carol had snagged for him on a run. He made his way downstairs and back to the bathrooms. He liked showering shortly after dinner because the bathrooms were usually empty and he didn't have to worry about someone seeing him. He stepped into the shower stall and pulled the curtain closed before undressing and hanging his dirty clothes over the curtain rod.

He stood under the hot spray longer than he normally would have. He and Merle had once joked that the damn world had to end before they had hot water. He chuckled at the memory. He thought he'd died and gone to heaven the day they found out that the showers were fed by a natural hot spring. He quickly scrubbed at his hair and body before shutting off the water and drying himself off. He dressed and collected his clothes so he could head back to his cell. Maybe he could get a couple of hours of sleep in before he went out on watch with Carol.

Daryl opened the door and found Julie standing there. He rolled his eyes and tried to step around her but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Where ya runnin' off to?" She asked.

"Man, you just don't learn do ya?" He grumbled.

"Oh, come on, don't be that way." Julie whined.

She stepped further into his space, effectively pinning him against the wall. "Don't," Daryl growled. He wanted nothing more than to forcibly remove her from his space, but he wasn't his daddy and he wouldn't lay his hands on a woman. Not even if she was way too close for comfort.

Julie reached up to touch his face, but Daryl jerked away. "Hmmm, you are a wild one, aren't you? I bet you just need the right kind of woman to tame you."

Just as Daryl was about to respond he heard footsteps down the hall. He breathed a sigh of relief thinking that Julie would back off now that someone was coming. Unfortunately he misjudged her and she moved further into him instead. The footsteps continued to get louder and the person those footsteps belonged to rounded the corner and headed into the bathroom just as Julie tried to kiss him.

He'd finally had enough and he pulled her arms from around his neck and shoved her away from him. "Don't fuckin' touch me," he spat. "And quit fuckin' sayin' shit to Carol. Ya'll don't know the first fuckin' thing about me or what I deserve." With that he turned on his heel and stalked into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

"Carol!" He called out into the bathroom. "Carol!" He yelled again.

"A little louder, maybe? I don't think the people in D Block heard you."

Daryl skidded to a stop outside of the shower room. He could just barely hear her over the water and he sure as hell wasn't going in there while she was showering. "It weren't what it looked like," he tried.

"Really?" Carol chuckled dismissively. "'Cause it looked an awful lot like Julie had you pinned to a wall. But I could be imagining things. This place seems to have that effect on people."

"Wasn't doin' nothin.'" He was nearly pleading with her to understand.

"I could see that," Carol chuckled again, but her voice quickly turned serious. "She's right, you know? You don't have to be alone."

"Ain't interested," he grumbled.

"Not in me, Daryl," she sighed. "You have your pick of women around here. Any one of them—"

"Don't want my pick of the women 'round here," he interrupted. "…Just want you."

When she didn't respond Daryl was pretty sure he had his answer. "Carol?" He asked quietly. Still he got no answer. Instead of waiting around to face the humiliation of rejection he tucked tail and ran.


Let me know what you think! Also keep in mind that I'm all about Caryl! Despite the fact that I try not to be so angsty it always seems to come out that way. I suppose I can relate to the "damaged" parts of both of these characters so that's why it comes out that way. Anyway, I always manage to get a happy ending eventually and this will be no different. So, next up, how do they each react to Daryl's little revelation?