As promised; Here is Chapter 21... I hope you all enjoy it. I still have no computer, I'm on my aunts right now. Haha, I'm so lame but I wanted to make sure I have an update for everyone. I don't like to keep you all waiting!

I hope to have the next chapter up soon for everyone. I do hope you enjoy this one. It's not long and I apologize for that :( no computer is really bringing me down. It sucks having all these ideas and I can't write like I used to.

Enjoy!

Chapter: 21

Your like a drug;

The next morning Daryl and Carol had woken up before anyone else in the group. He helped her pack up the bedding they had and stacked it in the corner where they had slept. Just as they were exiting the room they could hear some of the others start to stir as well.

"Ya didn't have to get up with me, ya coulda' slept in," he said glancing over at her as he moved his crossbow over his shoulder.

She smiled faintly and shook her head holding onto his jacket as she hugged it close to her chest. "I'm fine." She licked her lips and looked ahead still feeling his eyes on her as she looked away, "besides, I want to explore the place a little," she said walking through the doors as he opened one for her. They entered the lobby area of cell blocks; it was where most of the guards kept watch on the inmates.

"I don't wantcha' explorin' this place alone," Daryl said without looking at her.

She furrowed her brows at his sudden overpowering protectiveness. He had mentioned something to her too back at the house before they had left –he always showed signs of protecting her but he was becoming a little … she couldn't quite find the word for it just yet. Maybe possessive? Then again it was Daryl Dixon –she had to remind herself of the emotional rollercoaster he could sometimes be with her.

Deciding changing the subject was best she carried on, "we –we're you going to," she swallowed hard pausing for a moment seeing the irritated look on his face.

"Spit it out," he said carefully looking at her.

"Did you want to share a room with me?" she asked boldly. She didn't know why she was so shy about it now –he had held her almost every night for the past few weeks. He'd felt her body up, kissed her senseless and made love to her –why was she so shy now to ask such a simple question? She wasn't quite sure –but she knew everything that happened back at that house –the good and the bad –were memories she wanted to keep. They had less privacy here now and she wasn't sure how he was going to react to people actually knowing that they were sharing a room.

Daryl sighed with a chuckle hearing T-Dog and Glenn talking with a few of the others as they walked towards them to the lobby.

"After we settle who takes what shift for the rest of the week, I'll explore the place with ya." When she finally looked up at him he gave her a quick faded smile, "we'll pick a room…t –together," he said quickly seeing her lips curve upward, "maybe even find us a room to train in." He left it at that and turned his attention to the others as they all gathered in the small room together.

D/C/D/C/D/C

They decided there were enough people now to switch their shifts every other day. There would be at least four different people on watch at different times each day. It was easier to do it this way now because everyone would have a day off and at least get some rest when they were off duty. Of course Maggie, Beth and Carol all offered to stay with some of them during these times as extra sets of eyes in case anything were to go wrong.

Daryl agreed that would be a good idea and the only extra set of eyes he wanted out those three was Carol. But Lord knew that woman was a distraction for him enough as it was so he didn't know how that was going to play out when and if the time ever did come. He didn't worry about it now though he got lucky and didn't have his first watch until later tonight so that meant he could do as he promised to Carol and look around the place with her.

Once their shifts were assigned and everyone started to bring their things in he found Carol in the kitchen with Lori. The good thing about the prison is it had its own water system and generators that still worked. The kitchen was still stocked with plenty of things and with the things they had brought along they were set for a few weeks at most. It was coming up on dinner time and almost everyone had their own places for the night –or better yet the rest of their stay there at the prison.

Daryl felt kind of bad for waiting for so long because he knew their room choices would be slim pickin's now. But it was just the two of them and he really didn't care either way, as long as it was safe and comfortable enough for her that's all that mattered to him. Daryl had done a quick hunt and just returned, he placed two of the rabbits he had caught on the counter seeing Lori covering her mouth with her hand. He winced slightly with a quick mumbled "sorry" to her as she waved her hand to let him know it was ok before she rushed past him.

He had overheard Andrea talking to Glenn one day and they said the woman was more then likely four months along now. He didn't understand the puking thing or the mood swings but all he did know was the woman had enough of both to make them all go crazy. Chuckling at his thoughts and shaking his head seeing Carol coming towards him he watched her glance up with him quickly before taking the rabbits and turning to take them to the sink.

"Glad ya don't get like that," he said suddenly with a small chuckle seeing her look at him over her shoulder.

"I did at one time." She sighed and put the rabbits in the sink, "I never got as sick as Lori does, my Sophia … she never caused me much trouble during pregnancy," she said almost quietly with a tremor in her voice.

Daryl frowned and slightly rolled his eyes –not at her but at himself for bringing it up. He walked up behind her and reached his hand up to place it on her shoulder much like he had that night in the truck when she was crying over her daughter after they left the farm for the last time but then the kitchen doors swung open and it was Beth and Maggie. Daryl quickly moved his hand away before he even touched her and backed away from her a little. He nodded to the girls and stepped back a little adjusting his crossbow over his shoulder. This time he did reach out again and brushed his fingers over Carol's forearm when he got her attention he put on his famous faded side smile seeing her smile back at him.

"After dinner." Was all he said nodding to her before he made himself scares from the kitchen and out to cafeteria area.

D/C/D/C/D/C

After they all ate dinner together Glenn went up to the watch tower and Maggie joined him. Daryl had gotten Carol's attention to let her know that he was ready whenever she was to go scope the place out. Manuel had let them know once again to stay away from the south end of the prison –that was where they had the inmates locked up. The three men didn't like it because what little freedom Tyreese and Manuel let them all have, was gone now.

"Where's everyone else stayin'?" Daryl asked her as they walked slowly down the west end, shoulder to shoulder.

Carol let him know that everyone had already had their things set up in some of the offices and that there was two of the "weekend rooms" left. Those were the rooms the cops and guards had for the long shifts they sometimes had when they stayed overnight at the prison. They had a total of ten throughout the prison but there were only six at this end of the prison. The others were around the south end which they were informed to stay away from for the time being.

"I feel like we're house huntin' or somethin'," Daryl commented surprising himself for the second time today. Lately he had just been saying what was on his mind –which he usually did anyways but these times were different now –he was more aware of his emotions.

Carol chuckled, "enjoy it because we'll never get to do it again," she said with a soft sigh.

Daryl knew she was right about that –he was sure once Rick got the itch to move on again they would be finding another place and knowing their luck it wouldn't be a farm or a prison or a house that was set up like the one they had before. They would be on the run and to where –none of them would know. Although it sounded stupid –he kind of liked doing this with her. He never really had anything of his own –when he was a kid he had to share a room with Merle and the only times he was ever alone in it was the times Merle had taken off for a few days. Any other time he usually had to sleep on the hallway floor –one was because Merle had one of his many women in the room and two was because the couch wasn't an option. He would rather die then have to sit next to his father on the couch while he drank.

Shivering at his thoughts he stopped for the hundredth time tonight, "this room looks good 'nough?" he said peaking in real quick. They had made a lot of stops in the last hour or so but that was to talk and not really look at any of the rooms or offices.

Carol crossed her arms over her chest peaking into the weekend room. It was about half the size of the basement, maybe a little smaller. Walking into the room hugging herself, Carol examined the room, it had a single window that looked out into the court yard, one bed, a lamp a dresser and a table with a few papers and things on it.

Not giving her a chance to answer him Daryl spoke up, "com' on, lets get our things. I wanna get some sleep before I take watch tonight," he said quickly.

D/C/D/C/D/C

While Carol got their clothes out and put a few of them into the small dresser, Daryl dragged one of the other twin beds into room. He put them together and helped her put the sheets and blankets over them. He loaded his crossbow setting it on the desk as he looked over at her seeing her digging through one of the bags frantically.

"Carol?" he said softly getting her attention. He never said her name but the moments he did they were usually serious ones.

"Where is it?" she said frantically walking beside him to look through one of the boxes that was sitting on the table.

"What?"

"The picture."

Daryl sighed knowing it should have been the first thing he gave to her when they had arrived but he didn't think about it until just now. "Hey, hey," he said quickly grabbing her hands to make her stop and look at him. "I got it," he said nodding to her. "It's in one of my side bags on the bike," he said reassuring her.

Carol calmed herself and sighed slightly rubbing the back of her neck with her hands glancing up at him then to the ground with a slight nod. "Sorry," she whispered with a deep sigh finally looking up at him. "Been a long day," she said softly once more.

"Gonna be an even longer night," he said walking over to sit down on the bed as he pushed his toes to back of his heal to take his boots off. He had watch tonight and although Carol never mentioned coming along with him something told him he would have her company sometime tonight.

"You should rest," she said quietly.

"I aint the only one, get yer' ass over 'er!" he said quickly with an angry tone –well it would sound angry to most people but Carol knew how he could be sometimes. He scooted back onto the bed watching her crawl onto it as well dimming the lamp beside them. The only light they had now was the moon light that shown through the window above the bed. Daryl felt her fidget around on the bed for a few minutes before she finally laid on her side getting comfortable. When she looked over her shoulder at him with a faint smile, Daryl took that as his cue that it was ok to put his arms around her. He slid one hand over her waist and pulled her back against his chest while his other arm laid out above his head.

He wasn't going to really sleep right now, he just wanted her to calm her ass down and rest for awhile. No one knew what room they had taken so he had to be alert for when Glenn came off his shift for the night.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Carol had woken up a few hours later alone in the bed, the ghost of Daryl's arms wrapped around her still lingered. She longed to feel them caged around her once again and she knew soon enough they would be. Without another thought Carol got out from the bed and grabbed Daryl's jacket slipping it on as she made her way down the hall of the prison. There were a few lights on so she could see for the most part and she noticed yesterday that some of the halls had censored lights so when something was in the censored area the lights would come on. That was the hall she was in now as every light within a few feet came on to her walking.

Carol walked a little ways before she hit a flight of steps that led her up to the watch tower. She climbed all of them seeing the door open and Daryl sitting in one of the chairs with his feet propped up on the desk. She stood there for a moment hugging the jacket to her body as she looked at the mini screens he was looking at. She remembered Glenn going on earlier about how the security system still worked on the north end but they only turned the cameras on at night to save on electricity. During the day it was easier for them to see so it came in handy during the night.

"You jus' gonna stand there all night?"

Carol jumped at the sound of his voice and chuckled walking to stand next to him as he dropped his legs and moved to stand up from his chair.

Daryl pushed his chair towards her letting her know it was ok to take it. He wasn't going to argue with her about being up here with him seeing how he only had an hour or two left on his shift anyways.

Carol smirked sitting in the chair, "you're not going to argue with me about being up here?" she said suddenly as though she was reading his thoughts.

Daryl growled a little and made a small disapproving noise, "only got an hour or so to go, 'sides I can keep a better eye on ya if yer' up 'er with me," he said seriously. The smile that came to her lips was a mocking one and caused him to growl slightly again. Ignoring her a little, he continued his watch as it fell silent between them for what seemed like forever.

"Are we ever going to talk about it?" she finally said after about twenty minutes of uncomfortable silents.

Daryl furrowed his brows looking over at her, "talk about what?" he asked seeing her stand dropping her hands to her sides. The look on her face made him want to pounce on her and rip his damn jacket off of her –do things to her again that he had wanted to every since the moment he made love to her.

"Us… what happened," she confirmed. "I'm not asking anything from you," she started to explain herself before he took what she was asking the wrong way –Daryl was good for that –the man assumed way too much without getting the hard facts. "I don't want you to think I'm one of those women who expects something from you just because we… we…" she paused hearing him complete her sentence.

"Made love."

She nodded her head fidgeting with her hands in front of her, "I don't want you to think you have to share a room with me or… even hold me every night or kiss me… at those random moments when we seem to kiss…" she was babbling and that was something Carol never did. She noticed now she was seriously nervous and she hated this feeling because everything that was coming out of her mouth was coming out wrong.

Daryl took a few steps towards her looking at her, "you think I do all those things not wanting to?"

She didn't say anything all she did was look down at the space between them. Daryl wanted to be angry with her right now for thinking such a damn fool thing –but he couldn't be mad at her. He was almost questioning the same things as well –he figured those were the things he was supposed to do after people did what they did. He still wasn't sure on the rules of it all but he was trying and now she was taking it all the wrong way. Daryl moved his hand to her chin cupping it for her look up at him and when she did he swallowed hard seeing the loving… yes … loving look in her eyes.

"I don't express my feelin's well… I jus' wanna do right by ya and … I guess I'm going 'bout it the wrong way?" he said dropping his hand backing away from her a little. This was the insecure and defensive Daryl coming out again –he hadn't seen this side of himself in months and it was because of her he had changed. For the better? Probably –he would admit it –he liked the "softer" side of himself, of course it was reserved for her and her only.

Carol shook her head and walked towards him, "no… I mean… yes… I mean what you're doing Daryl is sweet, I'm not … I'm not used to a man like… like you," she said softly.

"And I aint used to doin' all this, I don't show affection like other people do. I aint never had it so I don't know how to show it. I aint gonna be like Glenn and hold yer' hand and kiss you in front of everyone…"

"I'm not asking you to, I just want you to be yourself."

"And that's good enough?" he asked almost bashfully.

Carol smiled and stepped closer to him moving her hand out to cup his cheek. She watched as he closed his eyes from her touch and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yes, Daryl, that's good enough… your good enough." Her voice was just below a whisper as Daryl opened his eyes and crashed his lips to hers not letting her get another word out.

By God did this woman drive him fucking crazy! He hated the way his heart was feeling right now, it felt like it wanted to bust right from his chest… love… he wasn't sure how love felt but if it felt anything like the way he was feeling now he damn near wanted to overdose on it.

It was like a drug…. She was like his drug.

I've found a way to start writing.. through my email, it's the only way for me to do and it kind of sucks because I have do to it from here (my aunts house) or whoever's house I am at and use their computer. I don't like doing that but it's the only way for me and that's how determined I am to post these chapters for you.

I'm sorry about the sucky -status of this chapter, but I'm kind of proud of it in a way because I felt like I stayed in character for the events that were happening.. or maybe I didn't? What do you all think?

You're reviews have been so amazing lately (and have ALWAYS been) you have absolutely NO idea how much it means to me to see that I have review alerts on my chapter updates. You all, your reviews... keep me going, they really do. I love being told how good I'm doing or your thoughts on where my story is going and I only hope this chapter leaves you all wanting more.

Sorry it's so short too, but the next chapter.. CH 22 ... some of you will be ... well I can't say, but I was biting my nails writing it... so maybe that will give you a clue as to what's to come?

Read and review please! I'd aperciate it a whole bunch!

Love to you all!