Daryl didn't know how people did this. Sometimes they seemed so engaged in a long, unbearable ranting for hours, he just couldn't get far enough from. Worst part was how most of them seemed to enjoy all this meaningless jibber-jabber. He only felt his ears aching. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had found himself carried away in conversations with Carol, losing track of time to the point that somebody had to show up to replace him in duty watch, or until he noticed the sun had moved in the sky, or until she was wrapping her sweater tighter around her from the change of temperature before realizing how many hours had passed. It might have even happened more times that he'd like to admit, but this was different, because it was Carol; and although Carol could sometimes keep babbling for hours, usually telling old stories with Sophia, she wasn't annoying like everybody else, but that was because Carol wasn't annoying; she was pleasant, although he couldn't really say what made her company so different. Well, what was he? A fuckin' shrink? If the others couldn't be pleasant like Carol was, that was their problem to fix, nothing of his damned business.

And now Rick was standing there, testing the waters between them and looking like shit. Daryl was worried about him. Merle was blood, but Rick was maybe as much of a brother to him as Merle was. He felt guilty at the thought; believing in family that wasn't blood was against everything he had grown up with. Bonds of blood were never trivial technicalities in the Dixon household. Blood came first. But, Rick… Rick was Rick. He was the male equivalent of Carol among the members of the group. Only he was a man. Well, it's not like he considered Carol to be his sister. Carol was… what was Carol? Maggie and Glenn were his friends, Rick even more than that, like best friend, or even more, brother. But, Carol? Why wasn't her face fitting in any of this? Shit. Woman drove him crazy even in her sleep and he couldn't do as much as mentally ostracize her to hell.

And what exactly was he doing now for Christ's sakes? Merle's death didn't mean he had to indulge himself in some kind of profound assessment of his relationships with people around him. Dixons didn't do feelings; they sucked at it. These were his people, period.

Shit, he was becoming a pussy after all. Merle would say they had to send a search squad to look for his pair of balls, if he ever heard him rumbling about what these people meant to him blah, blah, blah. He would laugh his ass off and have the time of his life making fun of him. Well, Merle had gone and gotten himself killed and left him alone so the bastard could go fuck himself as well.

When Rick finally spoke, Daryl was grateful he interrupted his muddled thoughts. "I'm sorry, Daryl," he offered resting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"We're square."

"You ok?"

Daryl nodded. "You?" he returned the question his eyes drifting on the sheriff's throat.

Rick nodded in return. "Are you still with us then?"

"What kind of question is that, Rick? I came back, didn't I?" Daryl hissed, genuinely offended this time.

Rick nodded again. Message received. "I'm gonna check on Michonne," he said and was gone with a final squeeze on Daryl's shoulder.

Daryl stepped inside the prison and squinted at Carol's cell pondering on what to do next, when Beth with Judith in her arms caught up with him.

"How are you?" she asked, concern spread all over her beautiful face.

Jesus fuckin' Christ. Didn't they have anything more important to do instead of looking at him warily? "Fine," he tried to sound calm. Poor Beth, she was the last person in the world he could blame.

Shit. Where was his fucking anger?

"What's wrong?" he asked before he could stop himself, cocking his head towards Carol's cell.

"Oh, nothing, don't worry."

He wasn't worried, damn it. Just asking.

"Rick and Carol only went to bed like three hours ago. She's just exhausted, I guess," Beth explained.

Shit, he still wasn't convinced. Rick was already up. Why Carol wasn't? He hated this growing knot in his stomach and the fact that his heart was racing even at the thought that something might be wrong with her. All he wanted to do was to step into her cell and wake her up. Fuck.

"Wanna hold her? She is quiet now," Beth offered, drawing his attention back to her and the baby.

He nodded and reached out his arms. In seconds, Lil' Ass Kicker was comfortably settled in his embrace looking perfectly content with her situation. The way Daryl had with this baby was the biggest mystery of the world for everyone in the group, himself included.

"I'll be outside, if she needs anything," Beth said and walked away.

He was mesmerized by the little creature in his arms. "Hi, sweetheart, are you done crying now? Little belly of yours full? This is what all this wailing was for? You sure are a girl who knows how to get what she wants, ain't you?" he smiled tickling her with his index.

Daryl walked down the hallway and sat in the stairs casting glances to Carol's still frame. These two women had him wrapped around their little fingers. Fuck.

When she finally stirred and he knew she was awakening, he felt relief. She was ok. He didn't mind her company that much after all. Carol knew him, she wouldn't expect him to be fucking peachy and emotional after what happened last night. Being able to even look at her after what she witnessed was a fucking accomplishment.

"Did you get any sleep?" she smiled from the entrance of her cell stretching groggily.

"Yeah. You?"

"Hm…" she mumbled between yawning and rubbing her eyes and he had to restrain his crooked smile before blooming across his face. He was gonna be stubbornly cranky today to avoid talking about his feelings. The die was cast.

"I think I kinda passed out. Don't believe I didn't hear all the fussing. I feel like I could sleep for a week. May I hold her?" she tried to keep the conversation going, walking closer and leaning over Judith.

"In a while," he scolded her, but a smile twitched in the corner of his lips. "Can't always have it your way, it's my turn now." God, he was a helpless piece of shit when it came down to Carol, wasn't he?

Carol grinned, teeth and everything and he felt his stomach jolting.

She wanted to ask him how he was doing, but it was clear that this simple question, the simplest of them all truly, was way beyond the limit for him. Actually she was shocked he was even standing there; she'd bet anything he'd be too embarrassed to speak to her for a while.

"We're gathering in ten minutes in the yard." Beth's blonde head popped from the corner.

"Ok, sweetie," Carol replied.

"What's all this gathering 'bout?" he growled. "Celebrating Beth didn't burn the stew?" There, cranky.

She chuckled. Cranky it was then; good. Better than withdrawing himself away from them. "No, we're voting."

"Voting for what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Stay and fight or leave," she said looking around for her sweater.

His eyes narrowed, but she missed it. There was a fucking debate then? Fight or flight? He felt anger and rage effortlessly throbbing through his veins for the first time since his woke up. He had unfinished business here and Dixons never left unfinished business behind. Didn't they know by now?

"What's your vote?" he asked sullenly while she was putting her sweater on, wrapping it tightly around her middle section.

"Leave." Receiving a hard look she could only interpret as a glare, she instantly felt the need to explain herself. "There is no reason to stay here and get killed from a crazy bastard. This prison is a safe haven from walkers, but it's not the first time we'll be out in the open. We survived then, we can do it again. I'd rather fight walkers than real people. I mean, I don't know; if we were just a bunch of grown-ups, maybe fighting for this place would make more sense. But we have Beth and Carl and Judith to think about. Putting their lives in danger or risk leaving them with no one to protect them… It's just not worth it", her eyes darkened. "I'm done failing my children."

Fuck. Sophia. Fuck. She was right. "You're right," he agreed grudgingly.

"You're gonna vote for us to leave then?" she asked surprised, hope warming her chest.

"Yeah. You should all leave," he grunted, avoiding her eyes.

"What do you mean "we"? What about you?" What did he mean? What was he going to do? She felt her heart skipping a beat.

"I have to stay," he stated dryly.

"Why?" she almost yelled her despair.

"He killed Merle, I kill him. Simple as that." And with that, we walked out with the baby still in his arms, leaving her breathing heavily with wild eyes.

Carol felt her knees buckle. Of course, she should have known this much.


That was it :) I hope you liked this chapter. This story is very different from my other one and really challenging for me to write, because I have to think about all the characters interacting together even if it's mainly focused on Daryl and Carol.

As someone mentioned, it's kind of a behind the scenes footage, my intake of what we never saw on screen. So, next chapter is the vote :) I was really excited in episode 15 when Rick announced they all get to vote about leaving or fighting. I thought it was a great opportunity to shed light to the character's most inner thoughts and priorities and the way they evaluate things, so I got really disappointed when the vote supposedly happened off screen.

Anyway, thank you all for reading :)