A/N: I'm so sorry, I meant to get this out on Saturday but I was having trouble with the site and it wouldn't let me :( But hey, now it's up, before we get onto it I just wanted to say WOW, I did not expect that reaction to the last chapter! My mind is literally blown, seriously, thank you all so much! The beginning of this chapter takes on a slightly serious tone but that's only because I listened to another Norman Reedus interview where he spoke about how Daryl would be quite clueless and probably cry in a corner when it came to women, so I had to listen to the Reedus, I mean who wouldn't? But I hope you enjoy and I promise it doesn't stay too serious for too long :p

Daryl took a few steps back, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Beth Greene had just blackmailed him. Carol watched him as he moved, having no indication as to what he might be thinking. She thought a whole spectrum of things, ranging from the very worst scenario to the very best. When he ran a hand over his face and let out a small groan she knew she had to say something.

"Daryl?"

"Don't people ever knock?"

"I'm sure she meant no harm."

"Did you not hear her just now?" he asked in disbelief.

"OK, I don't think she set out to cause any harm," she amended.

"You think she'll keep quiet?"

Carol knew neither of them were ready for the group to know, especially Daryl but the fact that he seemed so worried, no terrified, of them knowing stung a little. "Would it be so bad?"

"You want to keep it quiet too," he reminded.

She let out a sigh as she sat back down on the couch. "I know, I'm sorry, just thinking out loud."

"Right," he nodded.

"Come and sit down?"

"Maybe later."

She twisted further in her seat to look at him but he was already heading into the bedroom. She laid back against the couch. Well he didn't seem angry which was good in Carol's books, he just seemed scared, understandable. She tried to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about as best as she could but it honestly wasn't working for her. Giving in she stood up and headed for the bedroom door. She knocked once, twice and then let herself in.

Daryl was pacing, talking quietly to himself. He didn't stop so Carol just slipped in and sat on the bed. She watched him but he just kept on at whatever he was doing, not even glancing her way. After some time he sat down beside her.

"That was different earlier," he whispered.

"Different good?" she questioned. "Or different bad?"

"Good," he decided, "definitely good."

"I didn't know nibbling on your lip would cause quite that reaction."

"Sorry," he mumbled, gaze instantly falling to the ground as he blushed.

"No, don't be," she said quickly, hand resting on his leg. "I want to know what you like."

"What I like?" he asked sceptically.

"In every sense," she explained. "Like everything from liking your lip nibbled to what your favourite food is."

"You mean besides squirrel?"

She fell back onto the bed with a laugh. "Yeah, besides squirrel."

He fell back onto the bed beside her. "Just give me a pack of cigarette, some good alcohol and my loaded crossbow and I'll be fine with just that."

"You should really quit," she said quietly.

"Quit what?"

"Smoking," she mumbled. "I would say the drinking but I guess it's a luxury to even have the chance to get drunk these days."

"It's a luxury to be able to smoke too."

"It's easier though, you can still smoke and do your job," she argued. "But it's just as bad for you, if not worse."

"Is this one of those things I have to do because we're in a relationship?"

She chuckled a little. "A while back I never would have thought I'd hear you say 'relationship' when referring to yourself."

"Shut up, I'm trying."

"I know," she said seriously. "And no, it's not one of those things. I'd prefer you didn't smoke but we all have our things I guess, something that gets us through"

He gave a small nod. "You know, we never did do that celebration you went on the run for."

"I know, with the haze of everything people just forgot, and I think it's a good thing."

"Missing out on the chance to let loose in this world is not a good thing," he disagreed.

"No, I mean I figured we could wait until we got somewhere solid with all this training and trial stuff," she explained. "Give us something big to celebrate. We would have been here a while by then so it'll feel even more like home and hopefully will still be just as safe."

"Yeah, I do hope this one lasts," he said thoughtfully. "I like it here."

"We just can't be too safe," she reasoned. "And we're not, we're being careful while still allowing ourselves the chance to relax."

"Well, now I know what you like to do when you relax," he said, smirk firmly in place.

She pushed him a little. "I didn't hear you complaining!"

"Didn't really give me much of a chance."

"Oh, really?"

He started laughing as she went to get up. He quickly reached out and pulled her back. "I'm kidding."

She rolled onto her side to face him. "I know." She smiled. "I like it."

"I came in here because I was scared," he admitted, voice a lot quieter now. "We weren't even really doing anything and I felt… Well, I felt like I was going to explode. We still had our fucking clothes on and it was nothing." He placed his hand over his face. "I thought it would be just as bad when you came here, that's why I didn't even pay you any attention when you first came in."

Carol watched him carefully as she tried to work out her next words. She didn't want to be too specific or even too graphic, she wanted to save him as much embarrassment as she could. "Is that why you're so worried about moving too fast or getting to that point? Because you might not last?"

He peaked at her through his fingers. "And the fact that I might as well be clueless. I know the concept and I can guess the rest but…"

"But nothing," she argued, tugging his hand away from his face. "You seemed pretty sure before."

"You started it."

"I did," she agreed. "And I'm happy to keep starting it when it seems right, but you got pretty into it, don't be afraid of that."

"Even if I can only offer you two seconds of pleasure?" he mumbled.

She shuffled closer to him. "It'll be longer than that and even if it's not I don't care."

"We shouldn't be talking about this in front of the baby," he whispered.

She smiled at him. "She's sleeping, she's fine."

"I know what we promised Beth but I get you to myself tonight," he decided. "No arguments."

Carol sat at the table, Judith in her lap. She showed all the different coloured and numbered blocks to Judith, attempting to try and at least try and teach her something. Although her other motive was to keep herself busy so she wouldn't think too much about having Daryl to herself later on that night.

"Ain't it a bit early for that?"

She smiled at Rick as he sat down in front of them. "Early as in the time or as in her age?"

"Her age," he said as he allowed Judith to grip his finger.

"There's not much else to do, guess we might as well try while we have a spare moment here and there."

"Thought Beth was looking after her."

"No, I offered to look after her now and then," Carol informed. "Daryl might help too seen as he can't do much with his arm."

"Well she's in good hands either way," Rick said happily as he gently waved Judith's arm, making her giggle.

"This place has been good for us," Carol said quietly. "You and Carl seem happy now."

"I guess getting away from that prison was what we needed," Rick agreed. "It's more open here but it still feels safe."

"So we're staying?"

"As long as we can," he confirmed.

"Well, I wonder if Daddy is going to spend the day with us," Carol said, directing her question at Judith. The little girl just looked at her, wide eyed and blowing a spit bubble so Carol pulled her into a hug so that they were both looking at Rick.

"Do you two pull this trick on everyone?"

"Just you and Daryl," Carol said happily. "But please let it work, I love her and everything but she's happy enough to occupy herself, please stay here for a while."

He tried not to laugh. "Where's everyone else?"

"Merle came back from a hunt so Daryl is helping him as best as he can," Carol explained. "Glenn, Maggie and Michonne are on watch. Andrea took Beth and Carl to fish and Hershel final got a moment to really check out all that medicine we brought back."

"Yeah, thanks for that," Rick nodded. "You girls brought back a lot of stuff."

"No one thought to check the prescriptions so I grabbed as much as I could," she shrugged. "Might be worth nothing."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Rick argued. "I walked passed Hershel earlier and he looked pretty happy if you ask me."

That did make her feel a little better, when she was out on that run she just went on instinct and didn't really think that she could have wasted time or energy, but knowing that Hershel seemed pleased made her feel like she'd made the right choice.

She watched as Rick played with Judith who giggled and squirmed on her lap. She kept at least one arm round Judith completely so that she wouldn't fall. She laughed as Rick started pulling faces and Carol couldn't help but laugh either. Partly at how ridiculous Rick looked and partly because of how infectious Judith's laugh was.

"Were you like this with Carl?"

"I guess so," he said thoughtfully. "Long time ago though."

"Well, now you get to do it all over again," she said cheerfully.

"Do I?" he frowned. "You and Beth have probably done more for her than I have. Hell, I was so lost when she was born that Daryl had to go on a run so she wouldn't starve. Another man might be the reason she's here in the first place, and a different guy made sure she stayed."

"You were grieving," she argued. "And you love her even though Shane may play a part."

He nodded. "No point in worrying, we'll never know, and plus, she's adorable right?"

"Yeah, definitely didn't get that from Shane, it's all you."

"I was gonna say it was Lori," Rick laughed. "But I'll take a compliment where I can get one."

"You know if you wanna spend some more time with her and Carl you just have to say," Carol reminded. "We'll take over any of the duties, hell, Beth and I won't mind if you want to look after her instead of us."

"I feel things dying down," he said thoughtfully. "And I see her after we all go to our own places so I can wait a little longer, see if things die down even more."

"Tell you what," she smiled. "My legs are numb from sitting here all day, you keep an eye on her while I walk it off, give you some more time with her."

Rick eagerly took Judith from Carol. She smiled down at the pair as she slowly stepped away. When she heard Rick talking quietly to Judith she picked up her pace, heading straight towards the showroom house to speak with Daryl. She planned to tell him that they may have even more time to themselves now that Rick might be on board to spend more time with Judith.

When she got there he was surprisingly helping to skin the squirrels Merle had caught. He was a bit slower and Merle had to start each one off for him but he got it done as well as he would've done with both hands. She shook her head when she spotted him using his bad arm a little to help tug back the bits of fur and skin that got stuck. The face of pain he pulled didn't last long so she figured that meant he really was healing up faster than anyone would have thought.

"You're blocking my light," Merle said gruffly.

She rolled her eyes as Merle dramatized her standing there. "I wanted to see how you boys were doing."

"Thought you had Judith," Daryl pointed out.

"Yeah, she's with Rick for the moment."

"What's he meant to be doing?"

"Nothing I don't think," she shrugged. "He came over and me and Judith got him to stay."

"I should never let you near that kid again," Daryl said, shaking his head slightly.

"Just because we get our way."

"Using the most unfair method there is!"

"Hey, either keep skinning or take your old married couple talk somewhere else," Merle said, completely stopping either of them from talking.

"Yeah," Beth's voice came, seemingly out of nowhere. "Maybe you two should go and talk."

"You smell like fish," Daryl said, warning tone in his voice. "Move on."

"Well I came to see if you guys would mind helping us get this fish ready for dinner," Beth said thoughtfully. "But then I heard you two talking about Judith and Merle's comment came out…"

Daryl shot her a warning look but it was Carol who spoke. "We're talking just fine here, and the boys will be over as soon as they've done this to help you guys with the fish. We should have plenty to eat tonight if we're quick about it."

"I don't see you picking up a knife to help," Merle grumbled.

Daryl kicked him and glared causing Merle to grin as he looked between the two of them. Carol quickly grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her away from the brothers. They got a few steps away when the girls heard Daryl groan and Merle start to laugh. Carol just knew that Merle had made a comment. Maybe she and Daryl weren't as good at keeping secrets as they thought.

R&R