Daryl grabbed Carol's hand tightly and tugged her back towards him. She gasped as she was spun round and pulled tightly against him. He brought his lips crashing down on hers, taking her by surprise. She tentatively kissed him back, carefully placing a hand on his good shoulder. He was more sure this time, ready. He was used to this now. He was comfortable with Carol and he had to admit that he'd become quite familiar with kissing her.
Carol could sense the confidence that radiated off of him and it made her even happier. She relaxed into him as much as she could. She restrained herself for now, not letting herself nibble on his bottom lip or explore him further with her tongue. She brought her other hand up to tangle itself in his hair. He let out a slight moan as she tugged on it slightly. She tried to smile but instead a gasp escaped her lips as she felt his tongue gently prod and run along her lower lip. She carefully parted her lips, not wanting to frighten him. He slowly, a little unsure, reached his tongue out. She brought hers out to meet his but as soon as they touched he pulled back.
"Sorry," he mumbled, cheeks turning a light shade of red.
"For starting it or ending it?"
"Well, if it was bad then for starting it."
"It wasn't bad, so you don't have to be sorry for starting it," she assured. "And don't be sorry for ending it either."
"So I can do it again?" he grinned.
"Whenever you want to," she nodded, smiling back.
She grabbed his hand again and pulled him towards their little apartment. When they got up she left him in the living room while she went into the bedroom to change. Running around like a mad woman for hours had left her feeling grubby. She was careful with the water as she used it to freshen herself up slightly before pulling on some clean clothes. When she went out into the living room again Daryl was stood there waiting for her. He smiled at her and the two of them headed back down to everyone else.
After dinner the group decided to spend some time outside. They got Judith to sleep, Merle and Andrea went on watch and everyone freshened up before they met back outside. The brought out blankets and deck chairs that they'd found. Carol and Daryl perched theirs down, Rick sat beside Daryl, then there was Carl, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Hershel and Beth with Judith fast asleep in her Moses basket between Beth and Carol. The group relaxed and started to talk, they created a small and contained fire in the center of them. It wad big enough to keep them warm but not big enough to draw any attention.
As some time passed Daryl noticed Carol start to shiver. They were close enough so he grabbed a spare blanket and threw it over the both of them. It didn't look too strange, other members of the group were also sharing blankets, so no one questioned Daryl or Carol for sharing one. And seen as no one had questioned them yet, Daryl carefully held Carol's hand in his underneath the blanket. He squeezed her hand a little when he noticed her start to smile. She squeezed his right back, and thread their fingers together so that she could hold his hand properly.
"You're getting brave, Dixon," she whispered, keeping her eyes on the fire.
"I'd say I'm gettin' comfortable."
She smiled a little to herself. "Comfortable is good."
"Well you must be doin' somethin' right."
"I don't remember teaching you to pull me back and kiss me like that."
"I only learn from the best."
She felt a heat rise up in her and she knew that her cheeks had turned an obvious shade of red. She caught Daryl smiling as he watched the fire. She squeezed his hand as she kicked his leg. He bit down on his bottom lip in an attempt not to shout out. He glared at her and subtly tried to rub the leg she'd kicked with the foot from the other leg. It failed and she knew it, so she kept a tight grip on his hand. He couldn't use the other hand because of the sling so there was no way she was letting him use his good hand.
"You're gonna pay for this," he warned.
She grinned, not even trying to mask it. "I look forward to it."
Carol woke up the next day to crying. She cursed herself for offering to take Judith for the night so everyone at the Grimes house could have a break and a decent night sleep. It wasn't exactly a horrible time but even in the middle of a zombie apocalypse Carol didn't exactly like getting up early when the only people who would be awake were those on watch. She shuffled out of bed and headed over to the Moses basket. Carol reached in and lifted Judith out, instantly she stopped crying.
"What's going on?" Daryl grumbled.
"Judith is awake."
"Told you we shouldn't have had her over night."
She adjusted Judith so Daryl could see her face. "Would you say no to this?"
"I feel like you and the baby are tag teamin' me."
"Is it working?"
"I'm not gonna answer that."
"We should work together more often," she whispered to Judith before raising her voice so Daryl could hear. "What do we girls need to do around here to get your help?"
"Depends on what you want," he mumbled, eyes closed again.
"She needs a bottle but I don't want to let her down to do it."
"Fine," he grumbled, shuffling off of the bed. "Anything else your majesty?"
"Kiss me," she said, not missing a beat.
He chuckled and pecked her lips before leaving the room. She settled herself down on the edge of the bed and continued to rock Judith lightly. Daryl took a little longer with the bottle but eventually he was back in the room and handing it to Carol. She took it and the bottle barely touched Judith's lips when she started to drink. Carol tried not to laugh as she attempted to soothe Judith into drinking slower.
Daryl tried not to laugh at her either as he watched her drink, finishing the bottle off in record time. Daryl took the bottle and went to clean it while Carol did everything she could to make sure Judith really was OK after drinking so much so fast. When she was sure Judith was OK and would keep the milk down Carol laid her carefully into the Moses basket again. Judith gurgled and reached up, Carol hoped she'd sleep for another couple of hours considering she'd woken up a few hours back wanting a bottle.
"That girl drinks way too much."
"Like I said, are you going to say no?"
"No," he chuckled. "But at least she doesn't get up as much now."
"Sometimes she doesn't wake during the night at all," Carol said, remembering the talks she'd had with Rick. "Maybe it was the change in environment."
"Well it looks like she's driftin' off," Daryl commented. "Maybe we should leave her in peace."
"And why should we do that?"
"I'll show ya."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room. She closed the door over but left it open enough so she would hear Judith. Daryl led her over towards the couch but before they sat down he had her pulled against him and his lips were on hers again. Carol carefully pushed him back to sit on the couch. As she sat down beside him he turned so that his back was against the arm of the couch. He crossed his legs and she shuffled as close as she could, leaning in to press her lips to his.
As he became more sure and his tongue came out to meet hers he didn't pull back. They both tried to keep themselves in check as he carefully and unsurely massaged Carol's tongue with his own. As they kissed she shifted to kneel on the couch, he stretched his legs out so that they lay on either side of her. As he pressed his lips harder against hers she moved herself to straddle him. His legs came back together and he sank further into the couch so that he was lying down with his top half propped up only slightly.
Daryl instinctively gripped her hip with his good hand as she placed her hands on the couch on either side of him. She leaned down and resumed kissing him. She carefully nibbled on his bottom lip, causing Daryl to buck his hips up against her. She tried not to react to the contact it caused, wanting to see what his reaction would be. He didn't say anything, but instead kissed her again, this time a little more intense. She took a leap of faith and nibbled on his lip again. He bucked his hips again and she subtly moved her own hips to cause a little more friction. This time he wasted no time in kissing her back, hand running up her back, just under her shirt. Carol smiled into the kiss as he experimentally ground himself into her.
"Wow, whoa, OK, wow, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean- I'll just go and wow."
Daryl instantly tried to sit up and Carol backed away until they were on either end of the couch. Carol twisted round to see Beth standing there. One hand over her eyes as she reached out with the other to try and get to the front door.
"Beth, wait," Carol said urgently. "You can open your eyes."
"Are you decent?"
"We're dressed if that's what ya mean," Daryl mumbled.
Beth peered through her fingers. "It looked like you guys were..."
"Yes, well," Carol coughed awkwardly, cheeks burning red as she stood up. "It was nothing."
Beth dropped her hand. "Where's Judith?"
"Sleeping," Carol explained, indicating the bedroom.
"Oh, good," she nodded. "I came to see if you needed any help with her... Are you two... Together?"
Daryl rolled his eyes at the grin that slowly formed on Beth's face. "None of your business."
"Ignore him," Carol assured. "We are... But we don't want anyone to know."
"Why not?!" she demanded. "This is great news! We should tell everyone!"
"What part of we don't want anyone to know do you not get?" Daryl grumbled, getting up off of the couch.
"It's just not the right time yet," Carol cut in. "Please keep this to yourself."
"Agree to take care of Judith more often so I can train and we have a deal." Daryl looked at Carol for an answer when Beth spoke again. "That request is for both of you."
"Why should I look after Judith?" he asked, bewildered.
"Because if both of you help look after Judith then I have more time to train, I really want to go on a run and have more watch duty," she grinned, innocently curling a strand of hair around her finger. "I mean, if you want I can just go down and tell the others about what I just saw."
"We'll do it," Carol said hastily.
Beth squeaked out a thanks and ran from the apartment. When Carol turned to Daryl he raised an eyebrow and said, "did she just blackmail us?"
A/N: I figured it was time somebody knew about them for sure :p As always you guys are awesome, there will be more chapters like the last one where they all work together and stuff but I wanted a break filled with a bit of Caryl
R&R
