Sorry it took me so long to update! Thanks to everyone that reads and reviews, I never would have thought I'd take this story so far! Hope you like the chapter! Let me know!

Carol had found the whole incident quite comical, she was laughing wildly as Daryl moved to the stove, turning off the timer. Norman was now circling him, clearly in need of attention, as he finally gave in to the hilarity of the moment and let out a breathy chuckle, "S'ppose we'll get it right one a these days."

She had returned to her glass of wine and was still perched on the countertop, "We do have terrible luck with timing. I don't mind though…makes everything more exciting," she bit her lower lip and smiled at him, mischief visible in her bright blue eyes.

Daryl huffed and looked down shyly, she somehow managed to relax him and make him more nervous all at once. He still couldn't believe she wanted him to kiss her. Him, Daryl Dixon, kiss her. He decided she must be fucking crazy. No woman ever wanted to be around him, let alone actually kiss him. He wasn't stupid, he knew what he was like, knew most people found him odd. Hell, his own brother thought he was strange. Not Carol though, she never seemed put off by his long silences or his occasional outbursts, she would just smile up at him and slip her tiny hand into his. His awkward fumbling and complete lack of relationship experience didn't bother her either. He still didn't know why the hell she wanted him but he was happy that she did, he never expected to meet someone like her, someone so understanding and patient and kind. He honestly thought that he would just be alone forever, had come to accept it, prefer it even, but now that thought held little appeal for him. Falling on that arrow had been the best damn thing that ever happened to him, it had led him to Carol.

He looked over to Carol's little corner of the kitchen and found his big oaf of a dog up on his hind legs, front paws leaning heavily on Carol's thighs as she scratched his long ears and gave him the attention he was so desperate for. She must of felt his eyes on her because she looked up from Norman and gave him a warm smile, completely unperturbed by the big hound's presence. He would normally look away, embarrassed at being caught, but this time his eyes just held hers in a steady gaze. She was so painfully beautiful, his chest ached just from looking at her. The soft evening glow filtering through the kitchen's rain dotted windows, cast her in an almost ethereal light. He felt bold, letting his eyes travel the length of her body, starting down at her bare feet, working his way up her slender calves and onto her shapely thighs resting on the counter. Most of her was hidden behind Norman so he mentally filled in what was missing, her softly flared hips and perfectly shaped ass both held a special place in his heart, as did her breasts, the shape of them visible beneath her burgundy tank top. He had paused for a little too long on her breasts, so he moved his attention to her thin clavicles and the hollow between them, he wondered how it would taste. How would she react to his tongue moving across the juncture of delicate bones and up toward her long, graceful neck? The thought had his breaths coming out in hot, ragged gasps, his cock growing hard in his battered jeans. She hadn't looked away, just accepted his intense gaze, returning it with just as much fierceness.

How did she do that? How did she let him stare so openly, letting him look as long as he liked, most women would be outraged. But that's why she was so perfect to him, she took him for what he was, didn't judge, didn't try to change him, just accepted him. Daryl was struck with the odd thought that maybe she was meant to be his, that she was the only woman that could tolerate his peculiar ways and rough exterior. He'd never met anyone else that understood him they way she did, not even Merle. His unusually philosophical line of thought was interrupted by the ring of Carol's phone.

She pushed Norman down and hopped off the counter to retrieve the phone from the island, "Hello?... Oh Hi!"

Daryl finished up with dinner, pretending to not listen to Carol, but wondering who had her sounding so cheerful. It was difficult to tell, only hearing one side of the conversation.

"Yeah I've been working a ton…No, I'm actually off the rest of the week….Uhh I don't know…maybe…I'll have to get back to you on that…Ok yeah, I'll talk to you later…Bye."

The two sat down to dinner, Carol gushing over Daryl's skills in the kitchen, "This is so good…really," she gave compliments in between bites, eating a surprisingly large amount of venison, "Where did you learn to cook?" Carol was curious as to how the rugged man had acquired such impressive culinary abilities.

Daryl was secretly pleased with himself, she always seemed to enjoy his cooking, eating more than one would expect for such a petite woman, "I dunno, figured it out mahself mostly. Never really had anyone around to cook for me when I was a kid so I had to learn. S'ppose I picked up a bit from Merle too, he's a real good cook."

She smiled at the small scrap of information he offered up, she knew he didn't like talking about his brother, "Well you better be careful, keep feeding me like this and you won't be able to get rid of me."

Daryl felt a new bravery within him, knowing that she truly wanted him, "Maybe that's the plan," a sheepish grin slipping through.

Carol was smiling like a mad woman, her cheeks flushed at his words. Maybe she should tell him what she wanted more often, it seemed to bring out a boldness in him that she didn't know existed. In the span of one evening, he had quite obviously oogled her and more or less said he was planning on sticking around for a while, "So that's your plan, huh? Make me fat and happy?"

"Yeah, that's the plan…s'ppose kissin' ya wouldn't hurt neither," he was grinning right back at her, surprised by his own flirtatious response.

"Nope, wouldn't hurt at all…among other things that I wouldn't mind…"

It was Daryl's turn to blush, she always managed to one up him, always going a bit further. But that was fine, he would rather follow her lead with these things, "Few things I wouldn't mind neither."

Carol's blush returned, but her face was lit up, clearly happy with his new found courage, time to up the ante, see how far she could take it, "Like what?"

Daryl's head snapped up to look at her, her smile let him know he didn't have to answer but the half-jokingly asked question still made him nervous. Like what? He had plenty of ideas but he couldn't verbalize them, couldn't tell her the things he'd thought about doing to her. His experience with women was embarrassingly limited, he didn't even know if the things he wanted to do were normal. What if she was horrified by his response, or what if she laughed? He fought off the wave of worry, he would cross that bridge when they came to it, he hadn't even kissed her yet, he had time to sort things out. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, pushed his brief panic away, "Guess you'll jus' have ta wait and see," a small smirk forming.

Their flirty banter carried on through the rest of dinner and into cleaning up, it had settled a bit by the time they made their way out onto the patio. The smooth stones were wet from the earlier storm, the air still heavy and humid. Carol had dried off two chairs so they could indulge in their usual ritual of talking beneath the stars.

"So…that was Lori that called earlier, Rick's wife…"

Daryl gave a quick nod, indicating that he remembered the sheriff from the night of the bar fight.

"Well, she invited us to have dinner on Friday…I told her I would let her know. If you don't want to go, that's fine."

Fuck. Of course he didn't want to go, he hated meeting new people. Didn't want to have dinner with that cop and his damn wife. He couldn't help but notice the hope in her eyes, she wanted him to go, wanted to him to meet more of her fuckin' friends. As much as he hated the idea of eating with those people, he hated the idea of disappointing her even more. He had told himself a while back that he would try, try to be better, try to do new things, try to make her happy. For her, he would go to dinner with her fuckin' friends. He let out a heavy sigh, rubbed a hand across his face, "Yeah..alright."

Carol sat up straight, surprised at his answer, smiling wide, "Yeah?"

"That's what I said, aint it?"

She immediately brushed off his gruff response, happiness flooding her. He obviously didn't want to go but he had agreed anyways, for her, "Thank you!"

Daryl stayed later than he had planned, talking and laughing until midnight. Both hadn't noticed the time slip by so quickly until Carol was stifling loud yawns every few minutes. She walked him to the gate, as usual, they both stood awkwardly for a minute, not sure what was to come. Daryl wanted to kiss her but he wasn't quite ready, not yet, he still needed to process the idea of it. She looked up at him, trying not to appear hopeful, she didn't want to push him but she so badly wanted something from him.

He was looking down at her, he wanted to do something to show her he cared about her and wanted her. Before he lost the courage, he closed the gap between them and pulled her to him, wrapping his strong arms around her small frame. She let out a little gasp, surprised at his sudden movement but quickly settled against his sturdy body. It was awkward and he was holding her a bit too tight, she pushed back lightly so she could fit her arms around him. Once she maneuvered their bodies into a more comfortable position she laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat a quick, steady rhythm. Daryl felt her body relax and lean into him, he let out the breath he'd been holding and let his chin rest on the top of her head. He was amazed at the way she fit against him perfectly, like she was meant to be in his arms. The thought brought him a great deal of satisfaction, he never wanted to let go, he wanted to keep her with him always. His mind wandered back to his thoughts from earlier in the evening. Maybe she was meant for him. And maybe he was meant for her too.

Carol was in the kitchen, finishing up the strawberry cheesecake she had made to take to Rick and Lori's when she heard Daryl at the door, she yelled out loud enough for him to hear, "Come in!"

It felt a little strange to walk through the house without Carol leading the way, he found her in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as she cut up strawberries. She smiled at him over her shoulder, "Hey! I'll be done in a minute… I see ya got all dressed up again," she giggled as he rolled his eyes at her comment.

"Yeah yeah…lets get this shit over with," he acted more irritated than he really was. He had come to accept the fact that if he wanted to be around Carol, he would have to learn to tolerate her friends too. Meeting Maggie and Glenn hadn't been too bad, this wouldn't be any different.

They walked the half block to the Grimes house, Daryl grumbling the whole way, Carol just laughing. As they walked, he looked around the neighborhood, it was nice, much nicer than where he lived. The cop's house looked just like all the others. Carol knocked on the front door while Daryl fidgeted nervously, pulling on the collar of his shirt. She shot him a reassuring look, "Daryl, it's gonna be fine. Just dinner with some friends. What's the worst that could happen?"

The door opened, revealing Shane Walsh, "Hey y'all, it's about time ya showed. We were 'bout to send out a search party," the tall deputy closed the door behind them, a menacing grin on his handsome face.