I do not own The Walking Dead or Its characters.

Read & Review!

Enjoy!

It had been two days since they heard about the body in the neighboring County. Two days of Carol walking around the house like a zombie on autopilot. Two nights of Carol not sleeping; Daryl pretending to sleep as he watched her pace the kitchen from his place on the couch. Two days of her cooking so much that Merle, who was mostly solid muscle, had to let his belt out a notch.

The morning was chilly, but it was supposed to warm up a bit later. She had wanted to take a dip in the pond a few days ago, but the weather wouldn't cooperate. It would be perfect today, but suddenly the desire was gone. Her desire for everything was gone, put on hold.

Since Glenn had come out of that room, Carol had been living with uncertainty. She refused to think of Ed as either living or dead, and that left her in some kind of fog.

On one hand it would mean relief, on the other hand she didn't think she deserved the kind of happiness his death would bring.

"Dammit!"

She pressed her fingers to her temples. Now she felt guilty about being happy with a man dying. Not that Ed was much of a man, but it still wasn't polite. Something was going to have to happen soon, or Carol was afraid she would get stuck in this haze.

Daryl, Carol and Merle went to the Culver County Medical Examiners Office in order to identify the body. Carol didn't say much when they went into the icy cold room to see the body. It seemed to Daryl that she was just waiting. Waiting for it to not be him, to have to look over her shoulder every day.

Sure enough, lying there on a stainless steel table was Ed.

She felt numb. The elation, the happiness, the relief didn't flood through her like she thought it would. Instead she just felt content. It wasn't like she was expecting to jump up and down for joy in the ME's office, but she thought there would be some type of rush.

On the car ride home, it had begun to sink in. She drank in every scene they passed; families playing in the park, walking dogs, and riding bikes. As those faces slipped by the window, she felt a stirring. Every store they passed on the way home, she thought how she could now go in without feeling scared. By the time she got home, the elation she thought she would feel at seeing Ed dead was building inside of her. As Daryl pulled in the driveway, Carol leapt out of the car. She raced to the porch and grabbed Beth's hand. Beth, who has been shelling beans on the rocker, dropped the bowl but didn't protest when she saw the look of absolute giddiness on Carols face.

Daryl hadn't even stopped the car when Carol jumped out. He threw the car into park and got out, running after the two women. He stopped short when he heard the racket from the back of the car; Merle, who had protested being put in the back in the first place, was pounding on the window to be let out. Daryl opened the door for him and both men took off in the direction of the pond. The rounded the corner just in time to see Carol and Beth, hand in hand jump off the dock fully clothed, into the water. Merle stopped and shielded his eyes with his hands. Daryl stopped behind him, huffing.

Merle chuckled. "Damn, thought yer woman was goin crazy."

Daryl shook his head, trying not to smile at the thought of her being "his woman."

"Nah, think she's just relieved. Fucker can't come after her now. She thinks maybe it was one of Ed's friends that put the dog in the closet."

"Yeah, and what do ya think?"

Daryl sighed. "Shit, I don't know. No forensic evidence left behind, no footprints, nothing. I'm hoping it was one of Ed's friends. Now that the fuckers dead they won't have any reason to bother Carol."

"But…"

"But, this guy, he was smart. Left nothing. I don't think dumb ass Ed's friends are the smartest criminals."

Merle snorted in agreement.

"Yeah, only thing we can do is keep an eye out. Don't worry the ladies too much though. Not til we have reason to."

Merle sighed and looked over at Daryl who had his eyes glued to Carol as she splashed at Beth.

Chuckling, Merle crossed his arms over his broad chest and shook his head.

"When the hell did this shit all happen bro?"

"What shit?"

Merle gestured in front of him, waving hand out over the pond. "This shit. Us standin here like a couple pussies watchin two women get each other all wet, and we aint tryin ta do nothing about it."

Daryl chuckled. "I'm not the one who asked, no wait, begged Herschel to let me take Beth to the lake."

Merle shot Daryl a look. "Shut the fuck up. Man was walkin around the house with a loaded shotgun. Even I aint stupid enough not ta ask. And I aint the one goin dancing."

"Carol likes dancing. Besides, she deserves to be taken somewhere decent."

Merle nodded, agreeing.

Daryl noticed that his brother's eyes were firmly glued to the young docs daughter as she wan Carol climbed out of the pond, and plopped down on the grass, sunning themselves.

"So, you finally asked her out. This isn't going to be like one of your other flings is it Merle? I have to be around these people, work with them, I'm friends with them."

Merle continued to stare at the pond, unanswering. Daryl decided to say something that would either confirm or disprove how his brother saw this thing with Beth. But if Daryl was right, it might earn him a broken nose. So Daryl stepped away from his brother a couple steps.

"I know how you are Merle. Its ok if Beth is just going to be another one of your fuck buddies, but I'd like to know ahead of time."

After the last syllable left his mouth Daryl felt the side of his face explode in pain as he was knocked on his ass. Merle stood above him, damn near foaming at the mouth glaring daggers. "You ever say anything like that about her again and they'll never find yer goddamn body, understand?"

Daryl held his jaw in his hand, but managed a grin at his brother. "I know, I know. I was just making sure."

Merle rolled his eyes and helped his brother up. "Ya fuckin did that on purpose. You gotta be one of the dumbest motherfuckers I ever met. I coulda killed ya."

"Na, that was a love tap. Besides, you didn't answer when I asked outright."

Merle walked towards the pond muttering under his breath. "Sneaky little fuck."

Carol paced in her room, throwing every drawer open, trying to figure out what to wear. She knew that Maggie and Beth wanted her to wear one of her new dresses. Daryl had said he liked her in green, but honestly, the emerald green A-line lace dress was a bit too pretty for her to wear. She figured she would just wear a clean pair of jeans, her blue peasant top and a pair of the ballet flats. The girls had made her buy the top, they'd be happy with that. As Carol began to get dressed, Maggie and Beth barged in. Carol screeched and tried to hide herself behind the bed. Maggie laughed. "Really Carol, after everything, you are still worried about me seein your naked ass?" Carol suddenly felt silly, and came out from behind the bed. Maggie thrust her hands on her hips and let out an exasperated breath. "Carol, what are you wearing?"

Carol scoffed, motioning down to her ballet flats and white bra and underwear. "At the moment, not much."

Beth walked over to the chair where they had laid out Carol's clothes. She picked up the lace dress and the bra and panty set and took them over to Carol.

"Carol, you tried these on in the store. They don't fit anymore?"

Carol sighed. "They fit, but honestly, I don't think it's going to be a matching panty set kind of date. I'm sure we will both be asleep, in separate rooms by ten."

Maggie shook her head and snickered. "Carol this panty set is not about getting you laid. It would be a nice bonus though. Do these panties, this dress make you feel pretty?"

Carol chewed on her bottom lip. "Yes."

Maggie's face lit up. "Good." Beth, go get some heels out of my closet." She pulled Carol into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Daryl stood in the living room, pacing. Merle sat on the couch, trying to watch a football game. After Daryl walked in front of the TV for the fifth time in ten minutes, Merle picked up a throw pillow and chucked it at his brother's head, knocking off his hat.

"Boy ya better sit the fuck down or I'm gonna sit on ya til the damn games over."

Herschel chuckled from the recliner. "Merle, leave your brother be. Young mans nervous."

"Hell for? He's been on a date before."

"Yeah, but I suspect this is a different kind of date, right Daryl?"

Daryl shrugged and continued pacing. They heard the bedroom door upstairs close and Beth came and sat next to Merle, while Maggie perched on the arm of her father's chair. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Daryl started to get nervous.

Maggie sighed. "Carol, if you don't come down here, I'm gonna come up there and throw you over my shoulder, got it?"

"I hate you Maggie!"

"No you don't."

Daryl watched as Carol slowly came into view. The first thing he saw were black shoes with impossibly high heels. He started worrying about her falling down the stairs, until he saw her bare legs, followed by the hem of an emerald green lace dress resting just above her knees. He stared at her, his mouth going dry. As she came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs she looked around the room. Merle sat on the couch, his arm around Beth, a huge smile on his face. Herschel sat in his recliner beaming from ear to ear, Maggie bouncing around on the arm, clapping her hands together not able to contain herself. Then she saw Daryl. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, his mouth hanging open. Her smile faltered and she looked like she was going to start back pedaling up the steps. He finally snapped out of it and stepped forward, taking her hand in his. He pulled her close, inhaling the scent of lilacs from her perfume. His nose tickled her ear as he spoke, his voice husky in her ear. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Carol blushed, letting him lead her out the door.

An hour later, Carol sat on the side of the road; her lace dress caked with rain and mud. She sat on the ground, her heels slung over her shoulder. She was wet, dirty and freezing. But she stared at him, his shirt off, his muscles bunching with the exertion of changing the tire. She bit her lip and smiled. This was still the best damn date she had ever been on.

He cursed as the tire iron slipped out of his hand again. He threw it down and kicked the side of the car. Shaking his wet hair out of his face, he walked over to her, offering her his hand. He helped her up and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'm so damn sorry about this."

She smirked at him. "I'm not. I got to take these hellish heels off and watch you get all wet without your shirt off. I can die happy." He tilted her chin up and caught her in a wet kiss. The rain was still sliding down their faces, making it sloppy, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Come on. I know somewhere we can go."

He helped her up and they took off across the field.

A/N: Just so you are warned, CARYL SMUT will ensue next chapter!