After breakfast, Daryl went straight back to Carol's cell. He regarded the bunks carefully, trying to figure out if it was possible to get the two apart. He realized, much to his happiness, that all he really needed was a wrench and he could make short work of separating them.

Rick passed by the cell with Tyreese while Daryl was inspecting the bunk.

"What are you doing, Daryl?" Rick asked.

"I'm tryin' ta figure out how this top comes off," Daryl said.

Rick looked at Tyreese and they both stood at the cell door a moment longer.

"What the hell ya doin' just starin' at me like that? Ain't'cha got nothin' better ta do?" Daryl growled, realizing the two men were just watching him.

"Um, we were here to get Judith's crib," Rick said. "We're moving it to Beth's cell. I thought things might be a little crowded in here."

Daryl turned around a moment regarding the crib and looking back at the two men.

"S'pose your askin' me ta get outta your way," Daryl said. "You got a wrench?"

"I don't have one, but Glenn has the toolbox in their cell, he'd know where a wrench was," Rick answered. Daryl tried to ignore the smirk on his face.

"Figures, that damn kid's always got somethin' I need," Daryl said. He pushed past Rick and out the cell door to go in search of Glenn and find out where he'd put the wrench.

Daryl stopped first by Glenn and Maggie's cell, but finding Maggie in there, he quickly started out to the yard, hoping to find Glenn quickly. When he finally found him, Glenn was checking the fences for weaknesses.

"You can't be out of condoms already, Daryl," Glenn said as Daryl approached. "I mean there's a lot of racket coming from that cell, but it's not that whole stash worth of noise."

"Shut up," Daryl called back, finally closing the distance between them. "I ain't here 'bout condoms. I need a wrench an' Rick said you had the toolbox in your cell."

"Yeah, but Maggie's in there, you can just go and get the wrench out of the toolbox," Glenn said.

"I think Maggie's sleepin' or somethin'," Daryl said. "I didn't want ta just go in there."

Glenn looked a little annoyed.

"She won't mind you just getting a wrench out of the toolbox. What's broken anyway?" Glenn asked. He looked confused and Daryl knew right away it was because it was usually Glenn that Rick assigned any kind of job where something required fixing.

"Ain't nothin' broke," Daryl said, "I just need the wrench."

Glenn stopped what he was doing and turned back toward the prison, not saying anything to Daryl for the time being. Daryl followed behind him, hoping the kid would just hand over the wrench and not bother him anymore about what he was doing. He could do this on his own.

Daryl waited outside the cell while Glenn disappeared inside. He came out seconds later with an adjustable wrench.

"So what do you need the wrench for?" Glenn asked.

"Ain't none 'a your damn business," Daryl responded, taking the wrench. He huffed when Glenn started following him. "Man, why you followin' me? Ain't ya got fences ta check?"

Glenn was undeterred and followed Daryl to the cell door of Carol's cell. Daryl went in, noticing that the crib was gone. He didn't really care. Beth was better off having Lil' Asskicker in her cell anyway. He didn't get to see Carol half the time as it was between cooking, washing clothes, and tending the baby, along with whatever other chores that she picked up when Rick threw them down. He didn't think she needed to spend her night's taking care of the kid too. He had other plans for the little bit of time that they did get together.

Daryl started working on the first of the bolts.

"You're taking the top off the bed, aren't you?" Glenn asked after a minute.

"Yeah, so? Maybe I am. Carol don't like sleepin' with no lid on her bed," Daryl growled. "She don't like tight spaces," he added, remembering her concern at the CDC.

Glenn snickered.

"That's a genius idea, Daryl, and I'm sorry I hadn't thought of it before, but we both know that it has nothing to do with claustrophobia," Glenn said.

Daryl worked one of the bolts loose and went to the next. He didn't respond to Glenn, but he noticed that the kid didn't offer to leave.

"I've got an idea, Daryl," Glenn said. "These bunks are heavy, and they might be hard to move, but I'll help you get the top one out of here if you'll help me do the same thing in our cell."

Daryl considered it a minute. He hadn't thought much about how much the top bunk of this bed was going to weigh, or how he was going to get it out of the cell on his own. He hadn't quite gotten to that part of the problem yet, figuring that the first thing he had to solve was how to get the bolts out and then later he could tackle the rest. As much as he didn't want to have to do this to two bunks, the extra help could come in handy.

"Deal," he grunted.

"Good," Glenn said. "I've got an extra wrench. I'll go get it and get started on the other side."

Daryl continued to loosen bolts while Glenn disappeared back to his cell for the extra wrench.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1

"Come on, let's hear it, how is it?" Sasha asked Carol when they were doing laundry later.

Carol felt her cheeks burn. She was doing laundry with Sasha, Maggie, and Karen and occasionally with the help of Beth. Now their attention was turned because Maggie had brought up the prison's curiosity in what was going on between her and Daryl. Carol wasn't used to being the center of attention like this, and she hadn't been involved in conversation like this since she'd admitted, ages ago, that she missed her vibrator.

"I'm not going to talk about it!" Carol protested.

"Oh come on, Carol, everyone knows what's going on! The prison isn't exactly sound proof. The only reason we haven't said anything is because Rick told us not to. He didn't want us scaring Daryl away before he got settled in," Maggie said.

"Yeah," Sasha urged, "give us some juicy details. Even Maggie shares. It's good for those of us like me that are having to live vicariously."

"Besides," Maggie said, "this has been a long time coming and you've earned the right to brag a little."

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell," Carol said, plunging one of the shirts from the pile into the water and lathering it up.

"No, but a girl sure screams and gossips," Sasha said, "so spill it, just a taste."

Carol tried to hide her smile. She didn't want to gossip about her relationship with Daryl. He was sensitive about it, and she didn't want to do anything that would get back to him and embarrass him. Even if everybody already knew, it was important to her to keep it private. If that was the way that Daryl needed it to be, that was the way it was going to be.

"I'll just say it's good," Carol said. "But I'm not going to say more than that, so you can stop harassing me," she finished.

"Oh boo!" Maggie said, splashing her with some of the water. "We knew it was good, that's not giving us anything! Don't act like not much is going on, I know for a fact he took most of our condoms, and I don't think you two are making balloon animals in your cell at night."

Carol blushed again. She'd known that Daryl had gotten condoms from Glenn, and she knew that he said he had a whole bag of them, but she had no idea that he'd taken so many from them. Apparently Daryl really did have plans to try and make it through the entire book.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

Rick and Tyreese stood outside the cells, distracted for a moment when they saw Daryl and Glenn wrestling a bed out of Carol's cell. The two didn't say anything, but passed through the hallway, Glenn backing and Daryl stepping forward, the bunk between them. Rick peeked his head into the cell after they'd passed, going wherever it was they'd decided to put the discarded piece of metal.

"He took the top off of the bed," Rick said. "That's Daryl for you. He comes up with a plan and he sticks to it."

"It's not a bad idea," Tyreese responded.

"Thinking about breaking down your own bunk?" Rick asked.

Tyreese smiled.

"I just said it wasn't a bad idea," Tyreese responded.

Rick snickered at him. "Please, don't think that no one knows that Michonne pays you conjugal visits. She might not talk much, but quiet she isn't."

Tyreese chuckled but didn't respond. He stood next to Rick with his arms folded.

When Daryl and Glenn came back, ducking into the cell for their wrenches, Rick asked them where they were going.

"We're going to do the same thing to my cell," Glenn said. "If you were smart, you might have helped us with that bunk and we might have returned the favor."

"Can I get on in on this one and get a little assistance?" Tyreese asked.

"So this is what we're doing all day?" Rick asked. "We're just taking bunks apart?"

Glenn blushed a little. Daryl didn't say anything, but stood there nervously chewing at his cuticle. Rick supposed that Daryl thought he could play innocent as long as he didn't contribute to the conversation.

"A well-rested army is the best army, right Rick?" Glenn asked. "Some of us could get a lot more rest if we didn't have to worry about those top bunks."

Rick stood there a moment longer and then smirked.

"Might as well, it doesn't look like the Governor is showing up in our backyard today anyway," Rick said. "I'm in."

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

When Carol finished up the dinner dishes and bid everyone goodnight, she slipped into her cell. She'd known that the men had been hard at work inside the prison, but she hadn't been really aware of what was going on beyond the fact that Rick had decided that Beth should keep Judith at night to give Daryl and Carol some privacy.

Carol had originally protested the child being put in Beth's cell. She was alone at the time and thought that it was better that Beth not be saddled with her, but now she had to admit that she was excited of not having to think about whether or not they'd disturb the baby. Since Rick didn't think himself capable of taking care of his child at night, she was fine now to let the baby reside in Beth's cell until Beth and Rick took the matter up together.

She had also known that Daryl had said he was going to take the top off of their bunk, but she was surprised when she entered the cell and found that it seemed so spacious, and that he had, indeed, removed the offending upper bunk.

"There's so much space," she declared, finding Daryl in her bed, flipping through the pages in the bunk. He'd piled several condoms on the bedside table beside her lamp. "Big plans?" She asked.

"I thought I'd bring some extra, just in case. Don't wanna go runnin' back an' forth all night," Daryl responded.

Carol wanted to suggest to him that he bring his things to her cell and just move in there, but she didn't dare do it, not yet. Although the truth was the he spent some of his waking hours and all of his sleeping hours in her cell, going back to his own only for clothes and various other odds and ends from time to time, Carol worried that suggesting he move into her cell would be too much for him. It would look as much like commitment as they had to offer these days, and Daryl might not be ready for commitment.

"You did a good job taking the top bunk off," Carol said. Daryl beamed at the praise.

"Weren't nothin', he said, putting the book down beside him. "We done took 'em off most a' the beds in here."

"Oh, did you now?" Carol asked. She came over to the bed and took her shoes off, peeling her socks off after them. Daryl was leaning back against the pillows and she noticed that he'd kept the one from the top bunk and brought the ones out of his cell as well. She wasn't sorry to see them. The prison pillows left much to be desired.

"Yeah we did," Daryl said. Carol crawled onto the bed, stopping a moment to kiss his chest, her tongue toying with his nipple. His hands were on her suddenly, wrestling her shirt off. She helped him get it over her head.

Carol pulled the sheet back a little, realizing that Daryl was completely naked under it, and apparently thumbing through the pages of the book had him already excited.

"Where are your clothes, Daryl?" Carol asked, smiling.

Daryl gave her a half smile.

"On the floor, I took 'em off," he said.

"I can see that," she replied.

"I reckon that's where yours oughtta be too," he said.

Carol leaned down and kissed him and he returned it, leaning up into her. His hand went to the back of her head, pulling her down deeper and she pulled back a little. He was threatening once again to overtake her. She pushed back against his tongue with her own, hoping to let him know that too much wasn't necessary. Daryl fumbled with her bra and finally cursed.

"What'cha gotta wear this damn contraption for anyway?" Daryl growled.

"Calm down," Carol said. She realized she was already growing short of breath just from the kiss and she could feel herself aching for him. She felt embarrassed for a moment, feeling like she had less restraint than a teenager. She reached around behind her and unhooked the clasp, removing her arms and dropping the troublesome garment onto the floor. "It's a bra, not a Rubik's cube," she said.

"Ain't never understood neither damn one of 'em," Daryl said. He sat forward and sucked on one of her nipples, biting down on it.

"Don't bite," she protested. After a moment, though, as he moved to the other, not entirely heeding what she'd said, the pain was replaced by pleasure. "On second thought," she panted, "biting isn't all bad."

Carol unfastened her pants, feeling Daryl tugging at them. She had intended to gracefully shimmy out of them, but it hadn't happened nearly as gracefully as she'd thought it would and she had to actually get off of the bed to get them off.

Daryl smiled at her when she stood in front of him naked. She felt embarrassed being so exposed, but he seemed to like it.

"Damn, woman," he said. He didn't say anything else, but Carol realized that was the best compliment that he could pay her. He flicked back the cover and she crawled into bed with him, his mouth returning to her breast. For a moment she felt like a million dollars. Daryl looked at her the same way a kid might look at a new bicycle on Christmas morning. She worried, though, that it was just the same kind of feeling. She was exciting for him still. She was something new and shiny, and apparently something that he hadn't had before. She just hoped that he didn't lose interest in her too soon, moving on to newer and shinier bicycles.

"Did you find something else you like, or did you want to do what you found last night?" Carol panted.

"I want this one," Daryl said, breaking away from her a minute and finding the book. He'd dog eared the page of interest. He held it up to her and Carol studied it a moment, a little worried.

"Daryl, I don't think I have the balance or the leg strength for that one," Carol admitted. "I don't really want to fall backwards off the bunk and have to explain that to Hershel."

Daryl snickered.

"I'll hold ya hands, woman, you ain't gonna go nowhere," he said. "'Sides, it's my prize for gettin' that bunk off."

Carol eyed the illustration again, still concerned. She wondered, though, if she could trick him with an easier position. Judging from the illustration, it could very well be that all he wanted was her on top, and that she felt she could manipulate into something she could do, without having to achieve the acrobatic skill of the woman in the photo.

"What if we changed it up, just a bit?" Carol asked. She leaned into Daryl and kissed him, biting his lip and tugging at it. Her hand dropped down to tease him.

"Ok," he responded. Carol grabbed one of the condoms from the table and handed it to him, waiting for him to roll it on.

Carol straddled him, easing herself onto him and feeling him immediately buck into her. She smiled, and let herself respond to his movement. This wasn't a position that she was used to, but already she liked it. She felt him draw his knees up behind her and his hands went around her waist, holding her as he continued to buck, his speed and force growing.

As she neared her peak, she was distracted momentarily by Daryl grunting at her.

"Open ya eyes, woman," he commanded.

Carol forced herself to open her eyes, but she didn't stop biting her lower lip. She looked at him and watched his face twist in pleasure. Just as she felt her own release, he grunted his own, pulling her down on top of him in a swift movement.

She lie on top of him panting for a bit, long after he'd freed himself and done away with the condom. Finally she decided that she had no intention of moving. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and kissed it, feeling his calloused hands rubbing up and down her back slowly.

"Daryl," she said after a moment, quietly.

"Yeah, Carol?" He asked. She could tell he wasn't far from falling asleep.

"If you wanted to, you could move your things in here," she said timidly. She didn't know how he'd respond, but she figured that now was as good a time as any.

"I ain't got much," he said after a second.

"Just the same, there's room if you want to," she said. "You don't have to, though, if you don't want to," she finished quickly. Already she was beginning to wish she hadn't brought it up and barely seconds had passed since she'd thought it was a good idea.

"I'll get my bag in the mornin'," Daryl said.

Carol smiled to herself and kissed his neck again, feeling him below her, a human mattress. She longed to tell him at that moment that she loved him, but she didn't dare. The fact that he was going to move his things into her cell was enough for one night. There was no need to push him too far outside his comfort zone. Beneath her Daryl had already begun to snore quietly, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Carol closed her eyes and tried to sleep, lulled by the movement and the calming sound of his snoring, overcome by the relaxation of their recent actions.