AN: Heyyyyyy! Thanks for being patient and thanks to those who are impatient and asking for more, I love you all, either way :) I just finished my first full week of work, which is why I haven't been updating as quickly. But I will do my best to keep getting chapters out as long as you still want em! Hope you enjoy and don't kill me for the end!

Chapter 14

When Carol woke the next morning Daryl wasn't in bed with her. She was struck with a sense of panic and sat up quickly, "Daryl? Daryl?" She called out, her voice tense and nervous. "Daryl?" She said louder.

"Hey," he said, popping his head out of the en suite bathroom. "Sorry, I just took a quick shower… hope that's okay?"

Relief washed over her. He hadn't given her any reason to think he'd run and she suddenly felt very silly for panicking. "Yeah, of course it is," she replied, trying to hide her blush. The colour in her cheeks got brighter when Daryl stepped into the room wearing only a towel. Holy crap he's sexy, she thought, quickly looking over his form. "I guess I'll just let you get dressed and have a shower myself," she stammered, slipping out of bed, feeling awkward that she was only in her bra and panties. She hadn't felt the least bit self conscious the night before, but morning light often brings a little too much clarity.

"I'll put on a pot of coffee," he said as she disappeared into the bathroom.

"Okay thanks," Carol called out before shutting the door. Holy crap, if that hair doesn't scare him away nothing will, she thought looking at her wild curls with a smile. She quickly got in the shower and started to think about things as the hot water relaxed her.

She couldn't help but be a little nervous about what all Daryl would tell her that day, but it was more because he seemed so scared she wouldn't want to be with him after she heard everything. Carol believed in him though, even if she really didn't know him all that well. The acts of kindness he'd already shown her and the way he'd changed his own path in life so selflessly told her everything she needed to know about what kind of man Daryl truly was.

As she was rinsing the conditioner out of her hair an idea came to her. The longer she thought about it the better the plan seemed and by the time she was out, dressed and heading down to the kitchen she was excited to tell Daryl.

"Soooo," Carol started, giving him a little smirk that received a look of curiosity. "I want you to take me home," she finished quickly.

"Uh… you are home…" he replied, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Nooooo, not my home, your home. Take me to Birmingham with you," Carol explained.

"Oh… uh… okay…" he stammered. "Like now? Why? For how long?"

Carol rolled her eyes. "So many questions," she teased. "Honestly? I just need to get away from here for a little while. There's too much history, too many memories… and I don't want them influencing the first few new memories I want to make… with you."

"We should talk first," Daryl replied. "Then if you still want to go I'll take you."

"I'm going to pack," Carol responded with a smile. "We can talk on the way."

"Carol…" his voice held a warning tone. "Please…"

She shook her head stubbornly. "Nope. It's a nice long car ride, plenty of time to chat on the way." Daryl went to protest again. "Nope," she interrupted. "You must remember how stubborn I am, right?" He nodded with a defeated sigh. "Besides, you can relax, I know everything I need to know about you, this talk is just a formality." For the first time, in all the times they had discussed his past, Daryl smiled.

"Okay, but there is one thing I have to say before we go," Daryl somewhat resigned. "Go pack and I'll be waiting."

It only took her 10 minutes to pack a bag with everything she needed. Carol had no idea how long she was going to stay with him but she could always do laundry or buy clothes if she needed to. "Okay, what did you want to say?" She asked, plopping the heavy duffle bag on the floor.

"Rick and Michonne…" he started.

"Oh hell no, I don't want to talk about them today," Carol snapped, a little edgier than she had meant to.

"I know, but just hear me out…" Daryl pleaded. "I know you're angry with 'em and you should be, but in time I need you to promise me you'll at least make an attempt at forgiving them."

"Maybe Michonne," Carol said. "But I don't think I can ever forgive Rick for this, any of it."

Daryl's voice softened. "You know him as well as I do - when Rick commits to something he's all in." Carol looked at him and was interested in where the idea was going so she let him continue. "Somewhere along the way he realized I had fallen in love with you, and somehow he decided he needed to protect you from me. Carol, he treated you good. You were happy and you loved him back. You were going to marry him…" Carol couldn't help but give a disgusted snort. "He thought he was protecting you…"

"I didn't need protecting," Carol snapped. "I just… I just needed to be loved."

"I know," Daryl said softly, standing up and walking over to her. "But I need you to believe that we're together now because this is when we are supposed to be." He wrapped her in a hug and as she hugged him back she started to realize that this request of his might actually be more for him than for Rick and Michonne. And even if it wasn't… what kind of incredible person could want forgiveness for someone who did such a shitty thing? "I need to believe that my life, the path I took… wasn't a mistake," Daryl whispered against her hair. "I need to believe that this was how it was supposed to happen." It felt so good in his arms, she closed her eyes and listened to his voice. "I can't do that if we both hold a grudge against Rick because it means everything that happened was wrong…" He drew back, "Am I even making sense?"

Carol nodded and looked into his eyes. "I can't promise you anything except that I will try - but not for them - for you." It was gonna take time for her wounds to heal, and she really wasn't sure she could ever feel anything but ill will towards Rick, but it was important to Daryl so she would try.

"Thank you," he whispered. They stood in the kitchen hugging for a while, enjoying the security and comfort of being in each other's arms. Finally Daryl pulled away gently, "Ready to go?"

They locked up her house and got into the car. "My place ain't much," Daryl said as he started to back out of the drive. Carol had let him drive since he knew where he was going.

"Stop," she said. "You know I don't care." Once they were on the outskirts of town she spoke again, "Okay, start talking so we can get that all out of the way and you can relax."

Daryl sighed and shook his head, but gave her a sideways glance and smile. "Well… where do I start? You know most of the first part, and why I left town… And you know I got a job driving truck… might as well fill you in on what Rick was talking about…" His cheeks flushed. "I get paid extra money, cash, to allow people to add stuff to my load that I bring back to Birmingham," he said quickly, blushing harder.

"Oh…" Carol wasn't all that surprised, she was expecting something like that, yet to actually hear him say it was still somewhat shocking. "So you're like a smuggler or something? Was it drugs?"

"A smuggler… I guess," he admitted. "Never thought of it like that, but I suppose that's the right word." Daryl sucked in a breath. "I don't know if it was drugs. But I would assume so."

"How did you not know?" Carol asked curiously.

"I, uh… I just left the back unlocked," he explained. "... went for a smoke and let them do their thing while I was gone. When I dropped the load in Birmingham part of the deal was that I didn't have to unload anything… just leave the trailer, take my extra cash and wait for the next run."

"So all this time you could have been moving hot chili peppers," Carol offered.

Daryl chuckled, "Maybe… but I picked up my load at the mexican border and got paid a lot of money to get it to Alabama…"

"Huh," Carol said, pondering for a moment. "But you swear it's over?"

He nodded eagerly. "I promise you, I'll never be involved with anything like that ever again."

"Okay," Carol stated.

"Okay… that's it? You're fine with it?" Daryl seemed shocked even though she had told him so many times not to worry.

"You did it. You've been honest with me. And now it's over," She shrugged. "I trust you Daryl. You've never had anyone trust you before have you?"

He shook his head. "Guess not."

"Well I do. You're not going to hurt me - ever. I know it. I believe in you," she said, reaching for his hand. "Besides, you're like a modern day trucker pirate…pirates are sexy… and you're way hotter than Johnny Depp," she teased him.

Daryl physically relaxed, she could feel the tension leaving him as they held hands. "Okay, so you know that part… there's one more thing you should know…" Carol held her breath, she had no idea what was coming. "I know I was being all preachy about forgiveness and stuff… but when I found out that Rick knew all this time how I felt about you… I punched him… twice…"

Carol stared at him for a minute. Was he seriously thinking she was going to be mad about that? She started to giggle, "You did? Oh. My. God. I wish I could have seen that." When she stopped giggling she had to know, "Why on earth would you be worried to tell me that?"

"I dunno," Daryl shrugged. "I don't want you to think I'm just some punk redneck who gets mad and fights… and assaults officers…" he added.

"Oh Daryl, you're so sweet," she cooed. "I think it's hilarious that you punched Rick. He deserved it. Every bit of it. And it's not just some punk redneck thing to fight when you're mad… in my experience it's a guy thing in general." She looked at his handsome face and would have kissed him if he wasn't driving. "I think it's why men get over things so much faster - you throw a few punches to show how you feel and you just get it out. Maybe I should go punch him a couple times too."

Daryl chuckled. "His damn head is pretty hard, wouldn't want to hurt these pretty hands," he said, lifting up the hand he was holding and linking their fingers. They rode in silence for a while and Carol suddenly felt sad. The things Daryl had to tell her really hadn't been as bad as he made them seem. Yeah, there would be some women who wouldn't risk a relationship with someone who had smuggled drugs, or something, for years… but she believed him when he said he would never do it again. It was part of his past now and she wanted to be part of his future. It hurt her heart that Daryl had never had someone who believed in him. It was so painful see how insecure he was because he'd never had anything truly good in his life. She wanted him to know that he was special. Carol wanted him to know that she truly believed he was 'the one' all along.

"Home sweet home," Daryl announced a while later. They had drove a long time in silence, but it wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, it was nice. There weren't many people you could just be with, just be… and it felt perfectly normal.

Carol saw the truck parked in the drive and they pulled in beside it. The house was small, but it was in a nice neighborhood from the looks of it. He had a small front yard and she was pretty sure she could see a pool in the backyard.

Daryl carried her bag and led her inside. "The tour won't take long," he joked. "Kitchen, living room.." She followed him down the hall. "Spare room, bathroom… and…" he opened the last door. "My room." The house was neat and tidy. Quite minimalist with decore, which didn't surprise her for a male bachelor. It felt warm and cozy and Carol immediately felt at ease.

"You hungry? You wanna go out and get some lunch?" Daryl asked.

"A little," she replied. "But there's something I wanna do first." With her stomach full of butterflies and her heart racing so fast she felt dizzy Carol took his hand and led him towards the bed. "It's the right time," she stated. "Isn't it?" She needed to know he felt the same way.

Daryl brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Yeah," he said softly. "It's the right time."