Carol headed home after work to shower and change. She was picking up Abby, Michonne and Maggie and they were driving into the city to shop.
The mood at work had been a bit somber, but they had the wrap party in a couple days and inevitable call backs. So even though it was the last day, they knew they would all see each other again. Nonetheless, it was still a sad day to wrap filming for season 4. Carol was ready to cut loose and have some fun with 3 wonderful ladies, whom she adored.
The laughs started the moment they were all in the car. And continued into the first store. They had decided to each pick a dress that they would never wear and try them on one at a time. Just for fun. And after that they would get serious.
So while Michonne and Maggie were picking out long floral prints that did nothing to show off their figures and Abby found some god awful tweed pant suit, Carol headed for the skin tight, short and revealing dresses, like Maggie and Michonne would likely end up in. She usually opted for darker colours. Nothing too flashy. And though she didn't mind showing a bit of cleavage she always chose longer skirts or pants on the bottom. Accessorizing was her area of expertise and you needed a more plain base to really be able to work with layers of necklaces and bracelets.
The dress Carol chose was bright red, with long lace sleeves. The back was open from the bra strap up and there was a cut out in the front that showed some boobs. Above the cut out the dress laced up to the neck and there were several strings of pearls attached that did up to look like necklaces. The dress was skin tight and very short. Carol looked at it again and chuckled. It was so far from what she would normally wear she decided to find a pair of stiletto heels too. She rarely wore heels and if she did they were very low or wedges. The pair she chose matched the dress perfectly. They were very high with a strap around the ankle and criss cross straps down the front. The straps were decorated with silver square jewels, and diamond rhinestones that sparkled in the light.
Carol headed for the change room area. Abby was up first and they all cracked up as she stepped out in the tweed suit. She looked like a librarian. Just to make things extra goofy she was wearing a huge pair of shades and had a massive orange handbag on her shoulder.
The dress Maggie chose looked like a curtain. And even her sexy curves didn't make the dress look flattering at all. They laughed as she strutted like a model and spun around, heading back into the change room. Michonne came out wearing this long drab thing that could only be described as frumpy. Michonne was gorgeous and Carol was pretty sure she could make a garbage bag look sexy but it was very amusing to see her in something so drab.
Carol was up next. She went into the change room and got into the dress. The bra she was wearing didn't quite work with the cut out so she took some time to poke and tuck as much as possible. She slipped the heels on and turned to look in the mirror. She chuckled a bit. But then she took a second look and spun around a bit. She felt very sexy. With one last look she blushed slightly and opened the door. She didn't have experience in heels that high but she managed quite well.
Carol stood in front of them and waited for the laughter. But none of them spoke at first. "That bad?" she asked with a grin.
They all started taking at once. "Holy shit, you look hot," Maggie said.
"Look at your legs! Why do you hide those?" Michonne exclaimed.
Abby got up and walked a circle around her, "how many times have I told you to show off that body?" Abby had been picking tighter shirts for Carol to wear from early season 3.
"Woah, woah, woah," Carol stopped them. "The whole point was for me to pick something I would never wear," she said, with emphasis on never.
The three of them stared at her. "But you're going to buy this dress and wear it on Saturday," Maggie replied. "You have to, you look stunning!"
Carol shook her head. "No way! People will think I've hit a midlife crisis or something," she chuckled.
"Who cares!" Michonne said. "We are all friends, everyone who will be there loves you."
"It's one night. One fun night with friends, what's it going to hurt?" Abby said. "You trust me as a costume designer, right?" Carol nodded. "Then believe me when I say you look stunning, sexy and classy all at the same time."
Carol still wasn't convinced. "Does it come in black?" she asked.
"No!" all three said in unison, even though none of them knew for sure.
Carol smoothed a hand over her stomach and tugged a bit at the bottom of the dress, "Are you guys sure?"
"Yes," came the reply, in unison again.
Carol smiled. "Okay then." She turned and went back into the dressing room to change.
"Oh my god, the guys are going to drool all over that," she heard Michonne say. "Glenn, Rick, Tyreese, Daryl..."
When she heard "Daryl" Carol quit listening. She looked at herself in the mirror one last time and realized quickly that he was the reason she was doing this. He had brought out a sexiness in her that she hadn't felt in a long time. And how much fun was it going to be to tease him all night? Drive him crazy! Carol gave herself one last look from head to toe. Yep, Daryl was in big trouble.
DARYL - DARYL - DARYL - DARYL - DARYL - DARYL - DARYL - DARYL
Daryl was one of the first to arrive at the wrap party. He liked to see everyone else show up and already have a drink in his hand when they arrived.
Glenn and Rick were with him though. Glenn had actually got there before him, and Rick showed up not too long after. It wasn't surprising that most of the early arrivals were men. They had far less primping to do.
Execs and crew started to trickle in slowly but the first female cast member to arrive was Michonne. She looked gorgeous as usual in a midnight blue silky dress. Beth and Maggie both showed up soon after. Beth was wearing a fairly simple black dress, but looked cute. And Maggie was wearing one of her usual show stoppers.
Rick nudged Glenn and they shared a look as Maggie waved at them. They were all just good friends but it was fun to tease Glenn since his and Maggie's characters were hot and heavy on the show.
Daryl scanned the crowd wondering if Carol had slipped in at some point and he missed her. She was never one to draw attention to herself and it wouldn't have surprised him if she had
somehow snuck in unnoticed. It was fairly late and the dancing had started already.
"Holy fuck," he heard Rick say. "Oh my God, she looks amazing."
Daryl turned as he was taking a sip of his Crown and coke and choked when his eyes landed on the woman Rick was talking about. The drink stung as it threatened to come out his nose. He attempted to regain his composure while Rick and Glenn continued to fangirl.
"Look at those legs? I had no idea what she was hiding all these years," Glenn muttered in awe.
I did, Daryl thought, finally taking a moment to drink in the sight of her. He was pretty sure that everyone was looking at Carol and she absolutely glowed. The dress showed off every curve of her body, leaving nothing to the imagination. There was this open area at the front that showed just enough cleavage to be ridiculously sexy, but tasteful at the same time. He wanted to go to her side immediately and tell her how wonderful she looked. And tell her how much the dress was making him want to rip it off her. He felt a tightening in the groin area that he tried to ignore.
Rick looked at him, "might wanna pick your jaw up off the floor."
Daryl gave him a playful punch in the arm but realized if he didn't play along they were sure to suspect something was up. "Fuck, who knew?" he said. "I might just have to see if I can get my hands on that sweet ass later," he joked.
Glenn and Rick laughed, assuming he was kidding. And for their purposes he was, though Daryl knew he would get a handful of that ass later. He was going to make sure of it. There was no way she was going to tease him like this without finishing the job. He knew she was trying to drive him crazy. When it came time she would be more than ready to give in.
"Well I'm going to be the first to dance with her," Glenn said. "Later suckers," he waved and headed towards Carol.
Daryl and Rick watched as Glenn made his way over and gave Carol a hug. Carol adored Glenn. Daryl knew he was one of her favorite people in the world. But they were friends. Just like everyone assumed was the case between himself and Carol. Or so he thought.
"Okay, it's just us," Rick said quietly. "You're fucking her, aren't you?"
Daryl choked on his drink again. "What? Why would you think that?" he sputtered.
"I'm your best friend, asshole," Rick replied. "I got suspicious when you hadn't talked about your latest piece of tail for weeks." He looked at him and smiled, "You've got it bad for her."
"I do not, there's nothing going on," he tried again to deny.
"Stop. I know it's true but it's not like I'm going to say anything. When I left the other night, she stayed didn't she?" Rick asked, with a knowing look.
Daryl felt his cheeks light on fire with the memory of exactly what they had done after Rick left. He was thankful for the dim light, hiding the blush a bit.
"Oh my God," Rick laughed. "I've never seen you like this before."
"Fuck off," Daryl said, with a glare. His eyes wandered to Carol again. She still hadn't seen him as she was distracted by the immediate throngs of attention the moment she walked in. She was on the dance floor in Glenn's arms, swaying to some country song about making memories. Glenn whispered something in her ear and Carol threw her head back in laughter. Daryl's heart tightened a bit. Fuck, it's Glenn, you idiot, he said in his mind. But there was no denying the fact that he wanted to be the one who was making her laugh.
Suddenly Carol caught his eye. She held his gaze a little longer than she should have and followed with a bright smile and little wave. He held up his hand in response and continued to watch her, even after she broke eye contact and returned her focus to Glenn.
"Am I even here?" Rick mumbled, snapping Daryl out of his trance. "You done shooting daggers at Glenn? Because I'm next ya know."
The song was winding down and Glenn was leading her off the dance floor, in their direction. Before they got close the next song was starting, another slow song.
When Daryl heard the first lines: I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight. I've never seen you shine so bright. He looked at Rick and grinned, "I don't fucking think so, she's mine for this one." Daryl flipped him the bird and walked to meet Carol and Glenn. Daryl held out a hand, "May I have this dance?"
There was a little grin playing on her lips as Carol shrugged her shoulders and placed her hand in his. Her hand was soft and warm. Just touching her skin, even if it was only fingers, made his heart pick up just a bit.
They headed to the middle of the floor and Daryl pulled her comfortably into his arms. He attempted to keep a respectable distance initially but couldn't resist feeling her fully against him. Carol didn't seem to mind, even though there were still a lot of eyes on her - on them now.
Daryl had danced with her at the wrap party the year before, and although alcohol blurred a lot of the season 2 party, he was pretty sure they danced then too. It certainly wasn't anything novel. But what was novel was the fact that he could not keep his hormones in check - at all. Just holding her was making him hard.
He decided to distract himself by starting a conversation. "The DJ is definitely checking you out. He obviously played this song for you," Daryl whispered in her ear as they moved to Lady in Red. "But I mean, really, who isn't checking you out?"
"Do you like it?" she asked, almost shyly.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked. "You look, mmm, stunning." He held her closer and continued. "Just like your acting this season, you're stealing the show."
"Stop," Carol said, teasing him with a staple "Daryl" line.
"But seriously, are you trying to fucking kill me?" Daryl asked. "How am I supposed to focus on anything with you wearing this?"
"You can blame Abby, Maggie and Michonne. They talked me into it," Carol replied.
Daryl shook his head. He knew her well. "No one talks you into anything. If you're wearing this dress it's because you want to."
She looked at him. The heels she was wearing were so high they were almost the same height. "You only live once," she responded, with a chuckle.
"You're right," Daryl said, an idea brewing in his mind. He pressed his hips closer to her so Carol could feel his erection. The song was drawing to a close. "There's a bathroom upstairs. Meet me there in 5 minutes. I'll lock the door, so knock twice."
"Are you serious?" Carol replied. "Here?"
Daryl leaned close and breathed in her ear, "Why did you wear that dress? Be honest."
"To make you want me like you have never wanted me before," she sighed. "And to make sure I was the only one you were looking at all night."
Daryl knew it was common knowledge that he usually took home someone from the party. An intern, an extra, anyone that wasn't likely to be back the next year.
"Mission accomplished. I want you Carol," he said huskily. "And I can't wait until the party is over."
Daryl released her as the song ended but leaned in for an innocent looking kiss on the cheek. "5 minutes," he repeated. "Don't keep me waiting."