This was a Christmas Drabble request by Asamcedesfan! Hope you guys enjoy!

I don't own the Walking Dead.


Rick had opened the fence three days after Daryl had been left behind, and the man had walked in like nothing had happened. He had his crossbow slung over his shoulder, and the familiar look of steel in his eyes. His brother trailed after him, unsure of the welcome he would get, but still looking as cocky as ever. His appearance, and Rick's directions to the contrary were the only things that kept her from running to him, and throwing her arms around him. She wanted to see him, and not just from the distance she was at.

He had found her, and they had been together for maybe thirty minutes before he had left. One day passed, and Rick came back, Daryl hadn't. Three more days, and here he was, but still just out of reach.

She had lost other things in her life, the people she loved. It was a constant threat, always, but the idea of losing him so soon after she had actually connected with him hurt more then she had expected.

The hours that passed were spent on edge. Everyone had an opinion on Merle, and no one was willing to wait to get it out. Shouts could be heard throughout the entirety of C block. Of all the things that could have bothered her at that moment, it was the noise. Shouting, and the pounding of fists on a table made her nervous, and despite her best efforts, they probably always would.

Daryl had been pretty banged up, and Rick had demanded he go get some sleep after Hershel fixed him up. He'd been pretty mad about it, but he didn't argue, which had come as a surprise. He must have been really tired, and must have had a lot of trust in Rick to do what was best for his brother.

Carol crept up the stairs to his perch carefully. If he was already asleep, she would leave, if not she had a bottle of water and a bowl for him. He wasn't asleep, his eyes followed her from the mattress on the floor. He laid on his back, his knees drawn up, and one lazy arm rested across his forehead.

She smiled at him and offered the bowl, which he gratefully accepted. He sat up and patted the mattress next to him in invitation. Her smile broadened and she sat down beside him, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. Neither of them would speak, she was sure, but she was relieved that he still wanted her company.

But something was gnawing at her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something would go amiss, even as they sat side by side, as they had for months now.

"What are you going to do if Rick says he can't stay?" She asked quietly, wanting to look him in the eye, but knowing that, if she did, the emotion welling up inside her would spill over. He wanted his brother, she knew that. She knew that he had missed him, and having him back now was a great thing for him. But she also knew about his brother's temper, and she worried about how he would act now that he was back, and what would happen if Rick ended up pulling them apart again.

"I don't know. It won't be that easy, just up and decidin'." He huffed quietly, and she knew that he had put a lot of thought into this. She could hear the emotion in his voice, but when she looked up, he had turned his face away.

"You would leave if he asked you too though, wouldn't you?" Carol hoped that he couldn't hear the crack in her voice.

can't lose you too. Can't lose you too.

She had said those words, what felt like years ago. She'd lost her family, she was still losing her friends, the threat of it was hanging over her head everyday. She'd lost her daughter, and if she was being honest, for a long time she had lost herself too. He'd been there through that, with her, and he had helped pull her out of it, whether he knew it or not.

"I don't know…I got a lot goin' on here." He peeked up at her, furtively at first, but for once, he didn't look away when she caught his eyes.

"We'd all miss you." I'd miss you. Is what she didn't say.

"Yea…" He huffed, unsure of just how to respond.

"Plus, we need you around." I need you around. She bit back her words.

The shouts from the other room were escalating, and Merle's argument was going nowhere, fast. Carol hoped Rick knew what he was doing. She had learned to trust his judgment, but this was something she just couldn't sit back and let him run with. Merle was dangerous, but he looked like he'd cleaned up pretty good. And Rick knew he needed Daryl. They all needed Daryl. Rick would make the right decision.

Daryl huffed beside her, "Yea, that's the only reason any of ya'll are fightin for me to stay, its cause you'd all starve to death without me." His voice was gritty, and his accent got thicker as he tried to push back his emotions. He was trying to rationalize it. He felt as if it would come down to him leaving, and he was trying to talk himself into it, and tell himself what he needed to in order to make it easier, but when she looked at him, he just looked defeated, vulnerable even.

"You know that's not true." She murmured quietly. And he did know. He knew that they all cared about him, and that they wanted him around. She couldn't deny that they would have all starved without him, but that wasn't why they wanted him around, or why they needed him around. They were family.

"I know." He sighed beside her. Months ago, his attempt at rationalizing the situation would have worked, but now it wasn't. He could try to deny it, but he wanted them around too.

She could see the gears grinding in his head, and he was working to push away the vulnerability that was threatening to overwhelm him. He would get angry for a minute, but he would relax. She'd seen him do it to many times to count.

"But damn it Carol! What do you expect? He's my brother! I can't just let him go again! He was my brother before any of ya'll were in my life!" He threw his hand up and into his hair. He was seething, grinding his teeth together. The gears continued to work in his head, but he wasn't quite ready to relax.

She put a hand on his arm and reached up carefully pulled the other out of his hair. He let her hold his hand, and didn't flinch when she touched his face. They had come so far…she couldn't let him pull away now.

"I know that. Rick knows that. And he knows the decision to make that will be best for us all." She fought to keep her voice as even as possible, as calm as possible. His arm was still rigid under her hands, but she could see his eyes relaxing. He took a deep breath, and mumbled an apology under his breath.

"Its gonna work out Daryl. I know it will." she squeezed his hand gently, and he took her hands in his, and they just sat there for a minute. When he laid his head against her shoulder, she knew that things were almost back to normal. He was back, and she wasn't to worried about losing him anymore. She took a moment to revel in the fact that he trusted her with this side of him. She smiled, and wondered how far she could push him to talk, now that his emotions were at the forefront.

"I missed you, by the way. What happened to stay safe?" She murmured, brushing his hair from his face. He huffed, and for a minute she expected him to pull away, and for them to float into an awkward silence, but he didn't. He was so unpredictable sometimes. She could never really predict what words would make him uncomfortable. It wasn't her intention to try, but it would be a lot easier to avoid the silence if she knew what was to far.

"That was for you. Lord knows I didn't need you runnin' off and disappearin' on me again." He huffed, and she could feel his thumb running circles on the palm of her hand.

Maggie had spoken to her when she got back, after the shock of seeing her alive subsided, how Daryl had responded to 'losing her.' She had been shocked, but looking at him now, she didn't know why.

Maybe it wasn't just her that had grown so impossibly attached to him.

"I didn't plan on it. Caused some trouble for you, didn't I?" She teased, but humor wasn't really her objective. He sat up straight, and looked right into her eyes. Their fingers were still interlocked, and his hand tensed in hers.

He didn't know how to respond. Had she caused problems? No. But had it messed with him,The idea of losing her? Yes, it had. Looking in her eyes right then, he wondered if that turmoil was what she was feeling, with the prospect of him leaving hanging over their heads. He didn't want to admit it, but he wanted her to feel that. He wanted her to to miss him, to want him around, just like he had when she was gone. He wanted to know that she really cared about him, that she wouldn't just move on if he did leave.

But he couldn't voice any of that. He couldn't let her know that that was what he was feeling. He wasn't going to fall apart. He still had time with her. There was no need for any kind of awkward confessions now. The shouts from the other room had subsided and he knew in his gut that he wasn't going anywhere.

He had to say something though, didn't he? She had admitted that she missed him, and he knew that she cared…

"Nahh. Not problems…just…" He didn't know how to tell her that he had been sad, he didn't know how to tell her that he had been angry, at her for disappearing and at himself for not being there when she had to run.

She freed one of her hands from his grip, and framed his face with it. Her thumb stroked his brow.

With all the emotion floating through him, his old instinct to flinch had come back up, and she made a move to pull away, fearing that she had upset him. He caught her hand, and held it back to his face, reminded, not for the first time, just how small she was. He sighed, and all he could say was,

"I missed you. I really did." He finally huffed out, looking away from her eyes, even as she drew their faces closer.

"Daryl." She said his name with so much gentleness in her voice he was surprised.

"Daryl, look at me." He looked up, and his eyes were so filled with emotion. He was nervous, he was relieved, and he was vulnerable.

In return, her eyes were peaceful. They stared at each other for a moment, entirely caught up in the emotions passing between the two of them. Daryl was bad with words, but he was thankful that he didn't really need them for Carol to understand what he was saying.

To her, his eyes said it all.

She moved her hands to cup his face. He didn't flinch, he held her gaze, but his body stiffened and his hands clenched into fists beside him.

She touched her lips to his, hardly even a kiss, but enough for him to know what she meant. She pulled away for a second so he could decide if this was what he wanted.

He went back in to kiss her, and his hands sat on her waist. He was nervous, but Carol smiled under his lips. He was careful, and unsure of his movements, but she enjoyed it all the same.

It was over to quickly, put Carol didn't want to push him to far, not yet anyway. She moved her hands from his face, and pulled him into a tight hug. To her surprise, he hugged her back.

"I missed you, and you missed me, but we're both back for right now, so lets just be happy while we can, okay?" She murmured into his ear. She could feel his ragged breath against her neck.

"Okay."


End. :) It was supposed to be their first kiss, and I guess it was, but I just had to draw that out a little bit. Hope you enjoyed!