Hello dear readers! I am here apologizing once again for my delay. You see, I am in a middle of a ship crisis. I am still watching the show but I am disappointed .Well, obviously, I'd like to see Carol and Daryl together in a romantic way but what I am disappointed in is the production of the show. They let us see that amazing photoshoot at the beginning of the season, Norman shared pictures of Caryl too and I was happy 'cause I thought I'd finally see them in the same shot after almost an entire season but no, it was a fluke. We got a quick hug and that was all. I don't know where they are going, and I am almost positive they don't neither, and I lost hope too see those two wonderful characters together even as friends. Well, I am rambling now but when I think about the wonderful charachters Gimple had in his hands I got angry.
I leave you to read this new chapter, the next one is ready and the one after that needs only some correction so I hope to deliver them soon. Enjoy the ride and, as always, let me know what you think.
AH! Thank you so much CutesyBunny for the support and the lovely reviews!
Carol was left in the house thinking about the last days and the rollercoaster they got on. Daryl's hate toward Morgan was something new but Carol could relate to it. He was her rock for so long during those months, always there to catch her and fight for her and motivate her and suddenly he found that someone else had taken his role. Morgan was someone who took a chance on her, who believed she could be someone else, maybe someone better for his own sake. Daryl wanted her to be her own persona, he wanted her to make the right choice for herself while he watched and maybe make her see the reason. It was clear for her, but Daryl had been raised up as he was and he had his own twisted view of the relationships. They've talk about it and she understood. They've talked more during these days that in all the time they've known each other and it felt good. She was always the one to push him to talk to her, even about little silly things. Having him now opening himself to her, like this, was slightly incredible.
But Negan's ghost was hovering on them. He could kill them in a heartbeat and she couldn't risk losing him at the hands of a monster. Not now that they have found each other. She had to do something.
She retrieved her bag and left the house. She walked back to the Kingdom, knives and guns ready if walkers or hostile people blocked her way.
The two people guarding the perimeter of the Kingdom signaled her presence and the gate opened in front of her. With her stride never faltering, she went where she knew she would have find him. And here he was, tending the garden with Ben's little brother. They were planting new cantaloupes and she wondered how the boy was doing. The thought fast committed away, she came here for a mission.
She waited for the boy to move away from Ezekiel.
"Carol" the King said before standing up from the ground. He was good at picking presences behind him.
"How Ben is doing?" she asked, approaching him slowly.
"He woke up sometime before lunch, Jerry made him eat a little of soup and then he went back to sleep." he answered looking at her with gratitude.
Carol knew that he wasn't going to like what she was going to say. " They're gonna be here now. We have to get ready. We have to fight". She wasn't scared. Not for her life, anyway. She was scared of losing Daryl and the others.
Ezekiel looked at her, like her words had a physical weight on his soul. "We do. But not today." He nodded toward Ben's brother, intent on taking the next plant from the pot before taking to the new garden.
Carol looked at them for a moment before dropping her bag and kneeling on the other side of the boy.
It was late afternoon when she took off for coming back home. She expected to see Daryl somewhere but she didn't. She didn't want to be the kind of woman who needed to know where her man was every hour but with Negan roaming free near them she was kind of apprehensive. She didn't want him to feel crowded, she knew him well enough not to make this mistake.
So when he came back a few hours later, the sun setting behind the forest, she tried to play it cool. She went on with her business, namely washing some jeans and shirt, and give him space and time to come around if he wanted.
As much as one could expect, Daryl found her a little bit later. He sat on the steps behind the house and looked at her.
"You don't need to wash my clothes" he said in his rough voice.
"I don't mind. I had to wash mine, anyway." She said courtly. She didn't want to argue with him so she kept her face down trying to rein her over-protectiveness.
Daryl sensed the strange mood, which wasn't odd at all. He always knew what she was thinking or feeling. Since the beginning they got each other. They never needed too many words.
"What's up?" he asked playing with a cuticle.
"Nothing" she answered. They stayed in silence for a few minutes before he asked the same question. Carol stopped what she was doing and sighed.
"I've been in town" she just said and saw Daryl's shoulder tense. "I've talked to Ezekiel. We need to be ready." He mmhed at this. Carol was sure he knew where this was going. "I looked for you"
"I was hunting" he lied. He didn't want to lie to her but he knew she was going to have a fit and he didn't want to ruin the past days. They were changing their relationship into something more and he didn't want to admit that he didn't know who to handle this change. He didn't know if he had to let her know his every move, he didn't know how to give her more. Full stop. In the bedroom or elsewhere. He was not equipped for this kind of stuff, neither he lived with the right example.
"Daryl, stop" she almost pleaded. She sighed once again before turning toward him. He was studying his hands. She huffed and got up, annoyed with him and herself. She was going past him back in the house when his hand was gripping her wrist. She almost dropped the basin and winced slightly. Daryl noticed it and adjusted his grip. He pulled her arm to make her sit next to him. She followed but said nothing more.
"I 've gone to Hilltop" he said in a low voice.
"What? What the hell were you thinking? Negan's men are looking for you!" she almost screamed at him. She knew he was up to something but this was crazy. Didn't he understand the danger?
He glared at her for a moment, not used to being chastised but then softened his look. He understood her. "I knew you were going to react this way. That's why I didn't told you."
"Well , thank you Daryl for sparing me the stress." she said making for leave again but his hand at her wrist stopped once again.
"Will you just stay still, woman?" he said angrily. She stopped moving. "I am sorry, okay?" he said after a few breaths.
Carol looked at him like he had grown a second head. Never Daryl said sorry to anyone, not even her. He never said sorry for how he treated her at the stable after finding Sophia. He never said sorry for leaving her without a word to go looking for his brother. They accepted each other faults and that was all.
"I don't want you to be sorry, Daryl" she sighed. He obviously was, but she wanted them to be partner. They had lost so much time already, always gravitating toward each other and never making the last step. She was tired of be left behind. She wanted them to be equals. She wanted him to trust her. "What happened?"
He lifted his head to look at her, surprised of this change of mood. He was grateful to have her with him, she understood him and accepted him, faults and everything. "I went there to talk to Rick. I was there for a few hours when Negan's men came" he interlaced their fingers while he talked to stop her from slapping him or worse. He felt her hand go rigid in his and, without even knowledge it, his thumb started stroking the skin inside her wrist. He hoped to calm her down enough to make him explain everything. " I hide with Maggie in the basement. Someone went to look in there. I had the knife with me but Enid distracted him and he left". Carol's eyes never left his face while his eyes fixed on his thumb moving on her warm skin.
Carol didn't know what to say. She wanted to scream at him but she knew he was feeling stuck here with her while the others were trying to find a way to defeat Negan's army. She remained silent, knees touching with him.
"Maggie forgave me" he said in a whisper.
"What for?"
"For killing Glenn" his voice was rougher than ever. He felt tears in his eyes and it angered him so much. He wasn't the type to cry, he has never been and there he was crying like a baby for the second time today.
"Oh Daryl", she lifted her free and to touch the side of his face and turned it toward her. She didn't want him to feel ashamed of his tears, He always bottled up. "Of course she did. It's not your fault. Glenn's death is Negan's doing, not yours"
He breathe deeply through his nose and put his head on her shoulder, taking comfort from her. She was his rock, even if he wasn't sure she knew.
"I should have told you" he said again.
"I am sorry too. I don't want to be a nag but I worry about you now more than ever."
"I know" he simply said lifting his head and waiting for her to turn her head toward him. He didn't waste time to press a kiss on her lips. An apology or maybe a way to let her know he was there alive. He wanted to find Negan and have his head but he wanted to live for Carol.