Carol's eyes followed him as he moved away from her, his crossbow slung across his back, after a brief, intense look into her eyes as the back of his hand brushed hers in passing.

Eric, leaning against the door jamb, had been watching Aaron who was walking next to Daryl, the two of them going out on another recruiting run. Unlike Carol, who was smiling ever so slightly, convinced that Daryl would know how to handle himself out there because he had been looking out for himself for decades, Eric looked worried.

When Aaron opened the driver's door of the car and got in, Eric looked over at Carol who was watching Daryl swing his leg over his bike's saddle - HIS bike, not Merle's - and take it off the kickstand with his left foot while turning the key in the ignition. He glanced back at her over his shoulder as his right thumb moved to the switch to start the engine.

Her slight smile turned into a brilliant one, her eyes shining.

Daryl gave her his curt nod - his promise to be back, safe and sound - and toed his bike into first gear, then gently rotated the right handgrip toward himself, revving up the engine, even as he loosened his grip on the clutch. Facing forward again, he revved the engine once more and lifted his booted right foot onto the footrest as the bike started moving.

With a deep sigh, Carol turned away, back toward the house, to pick up the supplies she would be taking home.

Eric raised an eyebrow. „How long have you been together?" he asked softly.

Startled, Carol looked up and met his eyes. „We're not -„ she began, uncomfortable. What to say? „It's not like that", she tried to explain. „We … We look out for each other. We're … We're like family, all of us, so we …" She faltered, feeling that Eric's eyes were seeing far more than just her face. He was looking right into her.

„Yeah, right", Eric smiled. „And you smile at everyone leaving on a run like that, sure." He put a gentle hand on Carol's shoulder as she passed him. „Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I know he's very private, so you probably are, too. It's none of my business, after all."

Relieved, she let it go - although, of course, she had not succeeded in changing his mind.

.-.

They had taken up their prison routine again once they had gotten settled in Alexandria. This being Daryl's third run from here, and everyone knowing them well enough by now, the tower outlook knew enough to send for her when the bike came into view, followed by the car. She was already waiting at the gate by the time it was opened to admit the two of them.

Aaron, following Daryl in and with a clear view of Carol, saw her shoulders rising as she took him in, saw her chest expanding as she took a deep breath. He had put the bike down two days before and had bruises and scratches on his right arm, but was otherwise unhurt and undamaged.

Unlike many other times he'd gone out and come back, Daryl was well.

And once the bike had passed her and Daryl was no longer able to watch her face, Aaron saw her close her eyes and wipe a hand across them, quickly, brushing away tears of gratitude. And he saw the bone-deep relief when her hand came down again.

Like Eric, he knew what he was seeing.

.-.

Stepping out of the townhall, Daryl turned toward his bike, reaching out with both hands to steady it prior to getting on it. Aaron was on his heels, heading for the car waiting next to the bike.

„So", he began in a casually conversational tone, „how long have you been together?"

Daryl froze, already straddling the bike. Aaron saw his jaw muscles working, saw him biting his lower lip, saw him tense up, saw his eyes narrowing. He knew him well enough by now to realize that he had just made Daryl Dixon put all his tells for anxiety on display, with the sole exception of the thumb gnawing because he needed to keep his bike balanced. Then Daryl looked up at him, all but piercing him with his glare. „Shuddup", he growled, his voice low and threatening.

Taken aback by his fierce answer, Aaron raised both hands in a gesture of surrender, just like that first time they'd met, after the storm. „Whoa, no offense meant", he managed, his eyes wide with apprehension. Angry Daryl, he knew, was a force of nature and not to be taken lightly. „I just thought … From the way she looks at you when we leave, and then again when we come back … Sorry, man!"

„Yeah, sorry don't cut it, you stop talkin' shit about her", Daryl snapped back, finally sitting down on his bike and kicking up its stand.

„But -„ Aaron bit his lip immediately as Daryl glared up at him. As the hunter didn't launch himself at him right away, however, he cautiously went on. „How is assuming that you're together ‚talking shit about her'?" He painted quotation marks in the air as he repeated Daryl's words.

„I ain't discussin' her", Daryl replied curtly.

Aaron took this answer in quite eagerly. „So … You're not denying it? You're together?" His face lit up. „That's great, Daryl! I just bet she's great for you, she cares so much for you and I just love that you have someone to come home to as well, just like I have Eric …" He realized that he was rambling and slowly trailed off.

Daryl, he saw, had blushed a bright crimson from his neck up to his ears and kept his head down as he started his bike and roared off. Aaron looked after him, a happy grin on his face. „Whatever, Daryl. Everyone knows about it anyway", he muttered as he slipped into the driver's seat.

.-.

„Did you ask? Were you brave enough?" Eric was all but bouncing on his toes with excitement as soon as Aaron opened the door. „He came back maybe two minutes ago and hugged her on the front porch before they went in. Like this." He stepped up to Aaron and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, placing his head against Aaron's shoulder. „I was waiting for them to melt into each other. How can he still believe that nobody is onto them?"

Aaron chuckled softly as he gently kissed Eric first on the tip of his nose and then on the mouth as they stepped apart reluctantly. His arms were still around Eric's shoulders - he had missed him out there and relished the physical contact with his lover as he always did after a run.

Then his thoughts returned to his recruiting partner and his face turned somber. „He's excellent at reading people as they truly are, behind the masks they wear", he said softly. „But at the same time he's still learning to … how do I put this?" His eyes lit up as Eric handed him a cup of coffee - with creamer and two lumps of sugar in it, just the way he liked it.

And then it hit him. „He senses the danger in people", he whispered. „That's what he's good at. That's how he knows who to trust - and who not to. But at the same time it's almost like he's never learned to read the signals that people put out with regard to just about everything else."

When Eric gave him a confused look, he elaborated. „The looks that they exchange, the way she smiles at him, the way he's so protective of her - he truly thinks that nobody notices that because they're not signals for danger. And -„, he went on sadly, „I don't even wanna know the reasons for that, and I'm not going to ask!"

Eric sighed as they both sat down on the couch, Aaron cradling his mug of coffee in his lap, well aware that the mug would be replaced by something - or someone - else once it was empty, and looking forward to that. „Well", Eric said, curling up next to Aaron and leaning into him, enjoying the feel of his lover against his body, „at least we can be sure now that he has someone to come home to. It all adds up - the looks, the hugs, the angry denials - they're practically married."

„Yeah", Aaron said with a contented smile as he put his arm around Eric's shoulders to pull him in even closer. He'd have to hurry up with that coffee. „Wonder when their people will find out."