And as an early Christmas present, I'm giving you a Caryl scene. Hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas and be so kind and leave a little gift in the shape of a review ;)

Getting everything packed up and ready to go back on the road had been especially difficult that morning. Nobody seemed to have gotten a good night's sleep and the general tone of discontent within the group was almost palpable.

Carol had been relieved when they'd finally managed to get going, creating at least some distance and room to breathe for everyone.

Daryl had been lying stretched out on the backseat of the SVU as usual, Carol sitting in the seat at his feet. Neither Maggie nor Glenn seemed to be in much of a talking mood and the fatigue and rhythmic shaking of the car soon lulled Carol to sleep.

The absence of the vehicle's motions seemed to seep into her unconscious state and she jerked awake. The car was parked and the front seats were empty. Her head whipped around and to her relief she saw Daryl still lying on the bank, his head propped up against the door with a pillow, his eyes fixed on her.

"Whats going on?" she asked nervously.

"Relax," Daryl said. "They're just meetin' up with the others to decide which way to go."

"Okay," Carol said as she leaned back, trying to relax. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed to sleep," Daryl stated. "don't look so good."

"Thanks," Carol said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," Daryl mumbled. He looked at his hands, trying to busy himself. Carol continued to watch him as he grimaced.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothin'," Daryl said. "Legs are crampin'." He added, pointing at his feet, which he'd placed in front of the driver' seat next to Carol's legs, arching his body at an awkward angle.

"Then get them up here," Carol said, motioning for him to stretch out his legs across her.

"It's fine," Daryl muttered, refusing to look at her. Carol rolled her eyes.

"Quit being such a baby," she said. Daryl's eyes snapped up and he glared at her.

"I said it's fine!" he snapped. "Leave it alone!"

"Jesus Christ," Carol said in exasperation and she leaned forward. She swiftly grabbed Daryl's calves and with a bit more force than she actually needed lifted them up onto her legs. She felt Daryl trying to move back, so she grabbed ahold of his ankles to keep them there.

"Come on, Daryl," she said, glaring at him. "You're uncomfortable and I don't mind."

After another second of struggling, Daryl relaxed his legs and Carol let go off his ankles. She sighed and leaned back against her seat, closing her eyes.

"Why can't you stop arguing with me?" she asked, sounding exhausted.

"I'm not!" Daryl exclaimed. She turned her head and looked at him.

"Sorry," Daryl mumbled. He drew his hand over his face, looking agitated. "I just…"

"What?" Carol asked, when he trailed off.

"I don't know how to do this," he muttered.

"Do what?"

Daryl let out a sigh and his eyes flickered around the car, looking everywhere but at Carol. His hands were twitching and Carol was sure she'd seldomly seen him so uncomfortable.

"I…"Daryl began and broke off. "I just… thanks."

Carol stared at him in disbelief, one eyebrow raised, while he still refused to look at her.

"That's what's so difficult to say?" she asked. Daryl didn't answer, his eyes resolutely glued to the back of the front passenger seat.

Carol opened her mouth to tease him about it, but the expression on his face made the words die in her throat. Carefully placing her arms on his outstretched legs in her lap, she turned to look out of the windshield.

"Any time," she finally said, her voice quiet. But she knew he'd heard her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his head turn to look at her. Carol closed her eyes and silence fell.

The minutes passed and Carol had almost drifted back to sleep when Daryl spoke.

"Why'd you take Merle?" he asked. Carol turned her head to look at him and this time he met her gaze.

"Does it matter?" she asked, shrugging.

"I gotta know," Daryl said, sounding pained.

"Because he's your brother," Carol stated simply.

"But look what he's done to Glenn," Daryl said, looking torn. "And what a pain in the ass he's around here."

"I'm not an idiot," Carol said calmly. "I know this is going to be difficult. I knew that before I went back to get him."

"So why did ya?" Daryl asked, his voice small.

"Honest?" Carol asked and Daryl nodded. "Because I thought you'd never forgive me if I let your brother stay tied to a chair, so the Governor's men would kill him. Because no matter how much of an asshole he is and what he's done, he's still your brother."

Carol tried to assess the situation. She wanted to say more, to reassure Daryl, but she knew she had to tread carefully. If she overstepped her boundaries he'd retreat.

"He's your family. And I know that if someone left my family to die… I could never excuse that."

As soon as she'd said it, she regretted it. She knew Daryl would misunderstand her. He stiffened and his eyes grew dark.

"You mean like we left Sophia," he muttered.

"No," Carol said decisively. "Daryl." she said, reaching out and taking his hand. He froze and his eyes snapped back up at her. "Nobody left Sophia to die. Nobody, least of all you. And Sophia wasn't my only family. All of you, you're my family, too."

Her eyes were fixed on Daryl, making sure he understood her.

"And we're your family, too," she continued, squeezing his hand. "You don't just have Merle. You have all of us. You know that, right?"

Daryl's eyes lingered on their entwined hands and he gave a small nod.

"Good," Carol said and smiled.

Neither of them said anything for a while and Carol waited for Daryl to let go off her hand and retreat back behind his shell, uncomfortable with the depth of the conversation they'd just had. But Daryl didn't remove his hand and although the current position wasn't entirely comfortable for Carol she did her damnedest not to move an inch.

"You don't owe me anythin'," Daryl mumbled, still looking at their hands.

"What?" Carol asked.

"You don't owe me anythin'," Daryl repeated. "for lookin' for Sophia."

Carol sat back and jerked her hand away in anger.

"Serious Daryl?" she said angrily. "We back to this?"

"I'm sorry," Daryl muttered and he looked so miserable Carol almost apologized herself.

"You got nothing to be sorry for!" she exclaimed. "And stop feeling bad!"

Daryl didn't respond and Carol silently cursed herself for her outbreak.

"I'm never going to forget what you did for my little girl," she said when she'd calmed down. "I'll always be grateful for that. And yeah, I'll always feel just a little indebted to you for that. But do you really think that's the only reason I went to look for you?"

It was a rhetorical question, but the look on Daryl's face was answer enough.

"Daryl," Carol said softly. "I didn't do this out of some sense of debt or duty. I came to get you, because you're important to me and I care about you."

She reached out to take his hand, but he automatically jerked it back. Determined not to give up she kept her hand outstretched, looking at Daryl. After a few second he slowly stretched his hand out again and let her take it.

"You're my family and I couldn't bear to loose you," Carol whispered, blinking fast to stop her eyes from watering.

Daryl looked up at her and for a second she could see that he understood what she was saying and that he believed her. And then his guard was back up, his eyes hardening ever so slightly, his shoulders stiffening slightly.

"Well," he said in an effort to sound light hearted. "Guess now it's my turn to save you again, huh?"

"I guess so," Carol said quietly. She knew she should be grateful for coaxing him out of his shell at all, but she couldn't help wishing he'd just feel comfortable enough with her to never feel the need to hide. Wishful thinking.

"I think that's a good deal," Daryl continued. "I save you, you save me."

Carol eyed him warily. She knew he was trying to sound as superficial as he could, but he knew exactly she'd understand that he was being entirely serious. And it was true. He did save her, in more ways than one. And maybe she did that for him, too. It was as close to a recognition of whatever they had that she was going to get, probably for a long time.

"Yeah," she smiled back. "That's a good deal."

And as if Daryl could sense her uncertainty, he reached out, taking hold of her outstretched hand with both of his. Carol didn't let the surprise she felt be visible on her face at his actions. He smiled briefly at her, before looking out of the window, still holding her hand.

Maybe this was all she was going to get for now. But that was okay. She wouldn't trade it for anything.