Carol was holding Judith, watching everyone get ready for their trip to the governor's town in Woodbury to save Glenn and Maggie. She looked down at Judith and smiled, watching Daryl come out with his crossbow, looking at her sincerely. She smiled at him as he came up to her, his hand landing on the small of her back.
"Are you okay?" Carol asked.
"Yeah," he frowned. "I should be asking you that."
"I'm not the one who is going off to war right now."
"I'm not going off to anything." he murmured. "Just goin' to get them back is all. You're the one who needs to get better."
"I'm okay Daryl, honestly. Thanks to you."
He shrugged, swooping in for a gentle kiss on her lips. It had been the first one that they had shared since he had found her, but it wasn't to the extent and passion that she had been hoping for. It was like he was so scared to hurt her, like anything would just send her back to the fragile state she was in before. Of course, it wouldn't, and god if he would just kiss her the way that she knew that he could, she would feel like things were back to normal.
"Just come back to me." she told him as he pulled away.
Daryl smiled at her softly, leaning down to kiss Judith's forehead. Carol's heart swelled, she loved his tender side, especially with Judith.
"I'll come back." he kissed her cheek. "Always do." he looked at her sternly. "Stay safe."
"Nine lives, remember?"