(Here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy!)

The two of them stood in Glenn and Maggie's kitchen in an awkward silence. Daryl had removed his hand from his face, but was too embarrassed to actually look at her at this point and kept his eyes downcast on the floor. Carol was still tensely leaning against the counter with her arms folded over her chest. She'd known from the moment he muttered holy shit that he didn't mean anything bad by it. She could tell by the way his gaze swept up and down her that he was checking her out and he liked what he saw. The fact of the matter was, it scared her to know he was looking at her like that, because despite what happened back then, she still had feelings for him today. She didn't want to admit it, but they were there. Not to mention the fact that she thought he was freaking gorgeous. She knew she was going to end up in trouble if he had the nerve to try anything. However, unless he'd drastically changed his approach towards women in the last six years, and judging by the way he made himself look like a stammering idiot a few minutes ago, she doubted he had. She probably didn't have to worry about him making the first move and she wasn't going to make a move.

She removed her arms from her chest and pushed away from the counter. "I think I'm gonna get a drink." "Do you want one?" She asked

His blue eyes darted up from the floor and met hers. "I could use one." He replied with a nod.

She knew Maggie had a bottle of wine ready out in the living room that she and Lori had already started on and she knew Glenn had put the beer Daryl brought in the fridge, but she was in the mood for something stronger. She pulled the freezer open and found just what she was looking for, a full bottle of grey goose. She carefully pulled the plastic back from around the top and pulled the cap off. Since she had no idea where Maggie and Glenn kept their shot glasses or cups, she simply turned the bottle up. It had been a long time since she had drank liquor straight, and she was instantly reminded of this by the way it burned her throat going down. She grimaced and let out a deep exhale when she sat the bottle down. "Here." She said holding the bottle out towards him.

He had been watching her curiously the entire time and was staring at her with wide eyes. "I was thinking more along the lines of a beer, but what the hell." He said taking the bottle from her and getting his own swig.

She put the bottle up and the two of them made their way into the living room to join everyone else. Glenn was seated in a recliner sipping a beer with Maggie in his lap sipping on some wine. Rick, beer in hand, and Lori, who was also sipping on wine, were on the love seat. Andrea, Merle and Michonne were all sitting on the couch. Carol couldn't help but notice Merle was sitting as close to Andrea as possible. Carol went and joined Rick and Lori on the love seat, while Daryl moved to the couch. Merle made a few cat calls and jokes at her about the dress she was wearing, but quickly turned his attention back to Andrea, because he knew that she was his best bet at getting laid tonight. Everyone sat around talking and drinking. Eventually, Carol asked Maggie where her cups were and told her she wanted to go make herself a drink. She excused herself to the kitchen and Daryl got up and followed behind her.

"You sure you wanna be drinking all that liquor?" "Everyone else is drinking beer or wine." He said, as he walked up behind her.

She turned around quickly at the sound of his voice. "I can handle myself." She replied as she poured some vodka into a red solo cup and mixed some cranberry juice with it. "It's not your job to look after me anymore."

He looked at her, noticing the slightest trace of resentment in her eyes and decided against trying to argue or reason with her about it. "Pour me one too, then."

"You sure you need to be drinking all that liquor?" She mocked him

"Lady, do you have any idea how much I can drink?" "I've been living with Merle the last six years."

She let out a laugh and poured him a cup too, adding slightly more liquor to his than she had hers.

"Thanks." He said grabbing the cup and taking a sip. "I'm gonna go grab a cigarette if anyone asks where I'm at."

"Can I join you?"

He looked at her questioningly. "You don't smoke." He scoffed. "Do you?" He finally added realizing that she very well could now and he'd have no idea about it.

"No. I don't."

"Good. You shouldn't. It's bad for you." He said with a grin as he walked towards the door at the end of the kitchen that lead to a screened in back porch. "You still wanna come with me?" He called out.

"Yeah." She replied and followed behind him.

The two of them sat in rocking chairs on the back porch in silence looking out into Glenn and Maggie's impressive back yard. The grass and shrubs were trimmed perfectly. Truthfully, the whole house was impressive. It was a newer place out in a nice neighborhood. It had three bedrooms and a loft, which Glenn used as his man cave/gaming room. The living room was spacious, as were the dining room and kitchen. Financially, Glenn and Maggie were probably the most stable of the group. She'd been a nurse for two years and he was a chemical engineer at a battery plant in town. Together they easily brought in more than 100 grand a year.

When he finished his cigarette the two of them made their way back into the kitchen and were surprised to see Shane standing in there with Rick putting away some beer of his own.

"Well look at you girl." He said looking at Carol. "You're straight rocking that dress tonight. Go on with your fine self." He said with a sly grin. "You gonna stand there or you gonna come give me a hug?"

She blushed a little bit and walked up to him wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks for the compliment, officer." She said with a laugh. Shane was a flirt, he always had been. Back in high school he had been notorious for sleeping around and had even gotten with their P.E. teacher.

Shane pulled her in closer and let his arm rest over the small of her back. He looked up and let his eyes meet Daryl, who was scowling at him. Shane flashed a cocky smile at him. He eventually pulled apart from Carol and walked up to Daryl. "What's going on Dixon?" He said extending his hand. "It's been a long time."

Daryl shook his hand, but had a sullen look on his face. "It's been a while." He agreed.

"I tell you what," Shane said shaking his head," I damn sure wasn't expecting to see the two of you anywhere near each other tonight."

Carol downed the rest of her drink and went to make another one.

()()()

Everyone made their way back into the living room and sat round talking and catching up for a while. Carol found herself on her third drink of the night and she was starting to feel it a little. Her lips felt fuzzy and her chest felt warm. After a while the conversation lulled for a bit and Maggie suggested that they play a drinking game. Her suggestion immediately took Carol back to the party at Maggie's house six years ago.

***Flashback***

"Let's play a drinking game." Shane suggested.

"What about circle of death?" Maggie said

"Or we could play more beer pong?" Rick added.

"Nah, I'm thinking of something a little different. Something that will make things a little more interesting." Shane said smiling

"Like what?" Glenn asked.

"It's called truth, dare or drink. How you play is, someone will say truth or dare and you pick one. If you don't wanna do the dare or answer the truth, then you drink."

Everyone looked around the room at each other and nodded in agreement. This could definitely make the night interesting.

Merle, who had driven down for the weekend and was taking Daryl back to Virgnia with him chimed in with a laugh. "I think I'm gonna like this idea." He was 21 and had supplied all of the alcohol for this little party Maggie decided to throw while her parents and little sister were out of town visiting her step-brother.

They started playing the game and things were going well so far. Maggie and Glenn admitted to doing it in her dad's hay loft, Shane admitted to banging the P.E. teacher, Ms. Kelly, Andrea had taken a body shot off of Michonne, Merle had to run around the farm wearing only of Maggie's thongs, Glenn had to lick syrup off of Rick's nipple, and Daryl had taken several shots. The shots were taken instead of admitting to whether or not he was a virgin, going against a dare of doing a strip tease, and dodging a question of if he had ever had a crush on anyone in the group. Add those shots to the all of the beer he had from their earlier game of beer pong, and it was safe to say he was feeling no pain at this point.

"So, it's my turn right?" Merle growled

"Yes, Merle. It's your turn." Carol said.

"Well, since my baby brother just dared me to run around the damn barn in a thong and I can't dare him back since he just dared me, I'm going for the next best thing. "Carol, truth or dare."

"Dare." She said boldly, despite knowing that Merle was probably out for blood from what he just had to do.

"Just what I was hoping for." He said lowly as he rubbed his hands together. He let his eyes lock on his little brother and then moved them back to Carol. "I dare you to kiss Daryl."

She froze in place and she felt all of their friends grow quiet. All eyes were on her, including Daryl's. His eyes were wide and saw him nervously shift. He wasn't good with physical contact in front of other people, and the two of them had never kissed before. In all honesty, she wasn't sure he'd ever kissed anyone before. She certainly didn't know about it if he had and aside from herself, she didn't know that he'd ever actually been alone with another girl.

"What, are you gonna pussy out and take a shot instead?" Merle mocked.

She gave Daryl a look, searching his eyes wanting to know if it was okay. There had been times over the last few years where she actually thought they were going to end up kissing. They'd be wrestling around and he'd end up on top of her. Things would grow silent and still and he'd give her this look, but he'd always back away. One time he'd even been giving her a back run and she looked up at him and smiled. He looked down at her and swallowed hard, before taking his hands off of her and saying he had to go. She liked him and had wanted to kiss him, but she didn't wanna push him away or upset him, so she'd never make the first move. He was kind of like a wild animal, the slightest sudden moves would send him running. She wouldn't risk their friendship on something physical. She'd decided she rather have him in her life as a friend than not at all. Besides, maybe she'd been reading it wrong. Maybe he'd never actually wanted to kiss her anyway.

"We ain't got all damn night." Merle yelled. "I'll just dare Daryl to do it next time I get a chance if you don't, even though we know he'll be too much of a pussy to do it too."

Daryl's eyes met hers and he gave her a nod letting her know he was okay with it. She took the initiative and started making her way towards him slowly. She stood in front of him, searching for any sign that he didn't want to, but he didn't give her one. She moved towards him and pressed her lips to his. At first he was tense and rigid and it didn't seem like he knew what to do, but after a few minutes he seemed to get the hang of it. It was slow at first, but she deepened the kiss and before she knew it the two of them were full on making out. At first she forgot about everyone else in the room, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her in close to him. Her heart was pounding and her breathing quickened she was getting lost in him and what they were doing. Then reality set back in when the whistles and screams from their friends caught her attention and she was reminded that they were in a room full of people. Daryl must have just realized they were there too and slowly pulled himself away from her. His eyes met hers, and she felt a little weak in her knees.

"Damn, baby brother. I guess we're related after all." Merle said as he slapped him on the back.