28.

Andrea woke up inmediately. She didn't know what time it was, but she was prety certain someone was knocking the front door so fiercely she thought it may just tear apart. Her heart started to bit quicker… was it possible that Ed…? She hoped Carol didn't get up… figuring she could handle whatever was behind the door on her own.

She got up and walked to the door, trying to sneak through the lock 'Who the fuck is it?' She could see a male's frame, and she started to freak out. She was thinking of going to the kitchen to find a knife or something when the person behind the door spoke.

's' me Andrea'. She couldn't believe it. Was that Daryl's voice?
'Daryl?' she asked.
'Yep… I know it's pretty late, will ya open jus' for a second?'

Andrea rolled her eyes. This was a fucking romance novel and she was apparently part of it.

'What do you want, Daryl? It's fucking 2 am in the morning, you freaked me out'.

'Can ya get Carol?' Andrea stared at him, an annoyed expression on her face. She could smell the alcohol and smoke emanate from him.

'Are you sure this is a good idea, Daryl? Talking to her, drunk, at 2 AM? Why didn't you just ask her to stay when we were in the bar?'

'No' fuckin' drunk, not yer damn bussiness anyway'.

Her mouth dropped open. 'Excuse me? It is my fucking bussiness since it's MY house you bursted in, and it's MY friend you're talking about. Couldn't you just call her? Or talk to her tomorrow? Nothing personal here Daryl, but you know she's seeing someone else right?'

Daryl raised an eyebrow. 'Ya gonna call 'er or am I gonna have ta listen to yer fuckin' speech all night?'
'Come inside, for god's sake, I can't fucking believe this'.

Carol showed up a few minutes later, looking sleepy and confused. Daryl 's eyes went inmediately to her slim legs her tiny pijama shorts were showing. He tried to focus on her eyes then, but he felt so nervous he just couldn't hold her gaze.

'What are you doing here, Daryl? Andrea is kind of mad'.
'I, umm… figured I'd check how ya was doin'.

Carol chuckled and raised an eyebrow at him. 'Don't tell me, at 2 am in the morning? I already told you in the bar anyway, I'm doing fine.'

'tha' guy of yours, he isn' in town?' he realized he was trying to talk about anything other than the reason why he was here. Because he wasn't sure anymore. After they left, he just stayed in the bar, drinking a few more whiskeys, trying to deal with the sensations that little encounter had provoked on him. And it had suddenly made perfect sense: he had to get to Andrea's and see her, hell, in that moment he had even been certain that was what Carol wanted too.

'No. He doesn't live here'.
'But ya guys are kinda serious huh?'
'Yes. Kind of… I don't know Daryl, why do you care anyway?'

Daryl shrugged. 'Don' care, jus' fuckin' askin… can't I? didn' seem to bother ya back there at tha bar.'
Carol sighed and put her hands on her hips, moving forward a little.

'It's 2 am, Andrea is trying to sleep and so am I, Daryl. So are you going to tell me why did you come here, asking about Tyresse, when you claim you don't care? Or you just randomly visit your ex fucks in the middle of the night to see how they are doing?'

Daryl moved forward too, so they were standing in front of each other now, in the middle of the living room.

'don' know why I'm here k? jus' drove here without thinkin' of it… don' know why though. 'm sorry'. He quickly glanced at her and started to anxiously bite his thumb, feeling ridiculous for having showed up in the first place.

'Wanted to see me and what?' Carol frowned. 'Are you drunk?'

He moved one step forward. 'been drinkin', yea, no' completely wasted though… I… seein' ya back there, it jus' left me wantin' to see ya again… Carol, I… I've missed ya, k?'

Carol stayed still, not able to think straight. The situation back in the bar had been enough to confound her even more than she felt she already was. She was surprised of herself, though, because instead of being all awkward and sad of actually seeing him there and sharing the table with him, she found herself talking, even flirting with him as she used to the first times they'd seen each other. She had thought so much about him the past weeks, that she had felt actually glad and even kind of happy of having ran into him at the bar. It was like realizing he hadn't gone anywhere, he was still in the city, doing the things he always did, working and hanging around with the guys whenever he wasn't at the shop. He was still kind of shy and awkward, with the same sarcastic sense of humour and with that damn half smile. And… because she knew it had been there, in his eyes, in the way he'd glance at her all the time…. he was still attracted to her, apparently. All of those things she thought about when they got back home and she went to bed. She had seen Daryl and he was still that rare, gorgeous guy she had liked a couple of months ago.

And now he was here, in the middle of the night, clearly because seeing her had meant something for him too. And he had said he'd missed her, those three words piercing her ears and spreading through her whole body like a shock of electricity. But she had to keep the calm, no matter how the whole situation was screaming for her to just lose control and either yell to him and tell him to leave or push him against the couch and let go.

'Are ya gonna say anythin'?'
'Figured I'd hear what you have to say'.

'I miss ya, Carol, damn... I think of ya, and I miss ya, and I don' want ya to see tha' guy, an' I hate tha' he's fuckin' charmin' or whateva and tha' he may be jus' right for ya, cause I fuckin' ain't, I know tha'… he breathed. 'I jus', I'm fuckin' selfish an' I'm hopin' ya make a fuckin' mistake.'

If Carol hadn't known what to say a few seconds ago, now she felt she didn't know how to breath straight either. Make a mistake and what? She thought. 'Make a mistake and what?' she found herself saying it loud.

Daryl moved forward then, putting his arms on her shoulders. Carol just stared at him, the confusion on her gaze making her look so fucking beautiful, he thought. 'Make a mistake an' come wit' me, at leas' for tonigh', he almost whispered, his gaze now not leaving hers.

Carol felt almost dizzy as his words sent a chill all over her body. She looked down, feeling incapable of moving away from him but unable to move forward either. She looked to the floor.
'You know I can't, Daryl, you know we shouldn't. You're just drunk.'

Daryl lifted her chin then, forcing her to look at him. His lips were inches from hers now, and she found herself wanting him to kiss her more than she felt she had ever wanted anything. The hand that had been on her chin was moving to her face now, his eyes still on her, his gaze intense and dark and full of lust. 'I want ta kiss ya so badly', he whispered huskily, his fingers touching her bottom lip now, her lips slightly parted.

It was Carol who closed the distance then, her own hand going to the back of his neck as she kissed him eagerly, her tongue pushing inside his mouth reaching for his own, their tongues melting together when they encountered, intertwining inside their mouths, pulling back and forward and fighting for dominance as they deepened the kiss. She broke apart a little, tracing his bottom lip with her tongue and biting on it softly as she inhaled deeply. 'Damn, Carol', he breathed against her lips, kissing her harder and unconsciously moving forward so that she was now leaning against the side of the coach. She pressed herself against him, not wanting to break the kiss, scared she'd come back to her senses if she did, like if some sort of magic spell would be broken. It was Daryl who pulled apart after a few seconds, both of his hands on the sides of her face.

'Ya got no idea what ya do ta me, woman', and he kissed her again, slower this time, his mouth leaving hers and working down her neck, his tongue softly sucking on different places all along it until he reached her clavicle…. both of them pressing themselves against the other with such intensity the couch suddenly moved a few centimeters, making an awful noise.

'Oh shit! Daryl, we can't do this, not here', she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand and pushing him a little. She remained still and tilted her head, trying to listen to any movement Andrea might do in response to the noise. The apartment was silent though, but she realized then she couldn't just screw with someone in Andrea's house. It wouldn't be right. It would add another wrong element to the whole situation which was already way beyond wrong itself.

'Fine', he said, keeping his distance, his hand playing with a lock of hair on her face. Carol laughed when she saw the expression of his face. He looked like a dissapointed little child; and she was sure he wasn't doing it on purpose but he was even pouting a little. She leaned forward then, and kissed him softly. 'It's ok, we just have to be silent'.

Daryl chuckled. 'Ya ain' silent, woman, let's get outta 'ere'.

'Where?' Carol froze. She wanted this so bad, but she was afraid that if she left the apartment she'd just come back to her senses and decide not to do it. She didn't think that was an option actually, because she felt every cell of her body would hate her if she did that. She felt after all it wasn't so wrong, she wasn't committed to anyone, it's not that she had to be faithful or anything… yes, it sounded bad, but she needed it, she needed one last time with him. She frowned then, not liking how it sounded. Ok, she figured she needed a few last times with him actually, but she could think about it later.

'Wha's wrong, huh? Looks like ya battling with yerself over there', he said then, pinching her forehead as to make the frown go away.

'I am'.

Daryl stepped forward then, so that they were now very close again, his hands moving from her arms to her waist.

'look… I know I'm a fuckin' asshole… and I'm gonna understan' if ya don' wan' this ta happen, I jus' want ya to know… I'm fuckin' sorry, Carol. An' I'm not apologizing to ya here, I'm sayin' I regret it maself… hell, I'd give ya one million rides ta anywhere ya want if tha' meant I'd get ya back. I… yer worth so much more than tha.'

Carol felt herself melt in his words. She held his hands then, and rested them on the sides of her hips.

'What do you want, Daryl? Out of this, I mean.

Daryl sighed. 'I don' know, I'm not gonna lie ta ya jus' to get in yer pants… I don' know, Carol, I guess tha'… I want everythin' ta get back to how it was 'fore tha' day I fucked up. That's all I know… that's all I know how ta do anyway. I want ya, like crazy… tonigh'… with me… an' other nights too, tha' all I know fer sure'.

'I know I want tonight too'. And she kissed him again.