Chapter 14 - Snowman

"How are you?" Daryl said to Carol has he sat up, making eye contact with a now fully awake Carol. He rubbed his tired eyes with the palm of his hands, clearing his throat before Carol replied.

"I'm good." She nodded, biting her lip slightly had Daryl grinned at her and he squinted his eyes like he always did. She watched as Daryl got to his feet, stretching slightly.

"Hey, it's snowing." Daryl noted as he blinked at the window that had broken blinds on it. Weightless flecks of snow danced through the chilly November air and stuck to the dead grass outside Daryl's house.

"What?!" Carol snapped her head to the window, quickly getting to her feet and finding her way to the window, her skinny fingers resting against the icy window, smiling as she watched snow fall onto the ground. Daryl pursed his lips as he watched Carol rush to the window like a little kid, with her tangled hair and wrinkled clothes and Daryl almost smiled. "Let's go outside!"

"No." Daryl mumbled as he met up with Carol, his shoulder brushing against Carol's thin one as he looked unsatisfactory at the white ground through his living room window. "It's too cold."

Carol couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she gently hit Daryl on the chest with her hand. "We have to go out there!"

"We're not kids."

"Sure we are!" Carol clasped onto Daryl's big arm with one hand, opening the back door with the other and the both of them shivered when winter air forced it way into the house. She tugged Daryl onto to the porch, both of them with bare feet, and Daryl called her name as she pulled him into the open backyard. Carol finally let go, taking a few small steps through the light snow, her head up into the sky with a smile on her face. The sky was a cloudy color, and her eyes trailed the snowflakes that randomly
fell around her. Carol had always loved the snow, every year her and her sister would build a snowman on the front lawn, and they would pick some sort of ridiculous name and their mom would take a picture of them with their new friend, and they would put the picture on the fridge until the next year. She remembered the way Sophia laughed when they decorated their creation as she stood barefoot in the crystal white snow.

"It's fucking freezing out here." Daryl complained, holding onto his arms as he frowned at the snow around his feet.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" Carol's head shot to an annoyed Daryl, and he blinked at the sudden tears in the corners of her eyes. He looked her up and down, and he was shocked she was wearing shorts and she didn't even seem phased by the weather. She looked at him desperately, like something so stupid was the most important thing to her and he nodded slightly, and he could feel himself smile because she looked so nice in the snow.

"Only a small one."

"That was harder than I thought it would be."

Carol covered her mouth to keep from laughing as her and Daryl stood in line at the gas station. After building one of the saddest excuses for a snowman, both of them had been freezing. They pulled on the only winter clothes they had and set out to find some hot chocolate. "I thought it was cute." Carol smiled, and Daryl looked at her for a minute before he could feel his face getting hot and he looked away. Carol cupped her hands around the smallest cup of hot chocolate they had, watching as curls of steam pushed its way out. Daryl stood next to her, his empty eyes watching as the long line ahead of them shrunk, thanks to a quick paced employee with long blonde hair and tattoos crawling up his neck. By the time they had gotten to the front of the line and both of them pulled a few crumpled dollars out of their pockets the cashier was already moving onto the single mother with three toddlers in line behind them.

"Thank you," Carol said, after meeting the Carmel colored, paper cup to her lips. "For everything." Daryl looked at her for a moment as they started to walk outside, slightly nodding with a straight face. He looked down then, when he could feel Carol's cold fingertips against his, and she was smiling as she intertwined her fingers with his and it seemed to fit just right. They walked outside the store side by side, and Carol smiled at the snow, noticing a few children playing on a hill across the street, using flattened card board boxes to sled and attack each other with piles of snow.

"Carol?" She snapped away from the elementary kids as an unusual voice called her name. She blinked widely as Mr. Peletier, her first period teacher standing in front of her, wearing a pair of torn gray sweatpants and a sack of groceries tucked in his arm. He looked her up and down, a subtle smirk splashed against his face.

"Oh," Carol cleared her throat. Daryl blinked from his teacher to Carol, and she tightened her grip on Daryl's hand, and he could feel her suddenly shut herself off, her shoulders arching forward slightly, and her breath suddenly unsteady. He looked at her with concern as she tried to find words. "Hello. How are you?"

"I'm doing better," He smiled widely at Carol, and he acted as if Daryl wasn't standing there. "Now."

"Let's go," Daryl chimed in, tugging Carol in the opposite direction that their teacher was headed. She blinked to him nodding slightly as they started to walk away.

"Make sure to let me know if you need any help with your class work, Carol." He called after her, causing Carol to look up at him against, and he chuckled slightly. "I have private tutoring available."

"Well," Carol let out a shallow breath. "Thank you."

She thought she could hear him chuckling as he walked away. It wasn't until they had already walked a block, when Daryl said something.

"Does he…" Daryl cleared his throat before he spoke, and Carol looks up at him with happy eyes, like nothing ever happened. "Bug you?"

"I mean he's a little creepy," Carol shrugged, looking away from Daryl, fixing her eyes on footprints of people left in the snow in front of them. "But it's no big deal."

"Ya sure?"

"I'm fine." Carol nodded, lightly squeezing on the hand she was so happy to have in hers. "Don't worry about him."