Hi! Sorry it took a few days to get back into the swing of things for me to update, but I'm happy with the result and I hope you will be too. I was just proofing this and noticed how the chapter began with Carol's tears and ends with - well you'll see - thus the title. :) Please enjoy and review. Love hearing from all of you and I appreciate you taking the time to check it out. Kat

Carol woke in the darkness with Daryl's arm dangling over her shoulder, fingers splayed, and his thumb resting on her nose. As soon as she began moving he was awake, and accidentally ran his hand across her cheek, feeling the tears. They both sat up.

She drew the covers up around her in the chilly room and scooted closer to him feeling his arms slide around her and his breath on her shoulder. "Y'all right?"

"No." She shook her head and brushed the tears away. "I was dreamin' about Sophia. It just seems like people from our little group just keep getting added to - "

He squeezed her tight. "Don't think about it like that. I was pissed when we showed up and you were gone, but once I calmed down T-Dog told me what you did."

"You already knew I went lookin' for you." She said, uncomfortable with any kind of compliment at the moment.

"Wasn't talkin' 'bout that." He said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear before planting a kiss on her shoulder. His lips felt warm and made certain places on her body tingle, bringing her back to where they were, making her thankful again for whatever reason they'd found their way back to each other safely. "He said you kept them going, kinda took charge of things." He couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. "Made sure they all got here safe and organized who would do what before you left. It's 'cause of you that Sophia doesn't have more company."

She let out a huff. That was probably the most Daryl had ever said out loud to her at one time. He was the only person in the group aside from Andrea who dared say Sophia's name.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothin'." She didn't know how to respond. "My first thought was to take one of the cars from the convoy and go after you all when I saw them draggin' you away, but T-Dog," She paused to let out a small laugh. "He wouldn't let me."

"Remind me to thank him."

Carol nodded wiping more tears. She could hear murmurs from Maggie and Glenn in the next room over. "I know I'm not strong Daryl. I'm just so tired of not being able to help."

She felt him tap her nose and she sought his lips with her hands. He gave her a quick kiss and stood. "Stop worryin'. You do enough. I'm gonna go check on Rick. Try and sleep." But sleep wouldn't come until he made it back to their bed.


Rick wanted to call an early meeting, at breakfast on what the plan of action would be. He sat in quiet defiance on the stoop asking Daryl if Carl was still asleep, but not much more. It was like toyin' with a rubix cube with him right now, tryin' to figure out what to say to get the colors to line up correctly.

He passed Andrea on his way back through the door, still a bit leery since their last exchange. "Christ isn't anyone asleep around here?"

"Look, I'm sorry for the other night." She gestured out to where Rick was sitting, his hands folded under his chin staring straight ahead. "I'm trying."

Daryl narrowed his eyes, tryin' to remain indifferent, but couldn't. "Thanks for goin' with them yesterday." He was grateful to her for that.

Andrea laid a hand on his shoulder, and continued out the door. "No problem." She called back.

Michonne was the other one he checked on, though T-Dog was sitting vigil on the couch arm when he came back through, watching Michonne's fitful sleep.

"We can't just walk away and let that sick bastard keep on doin' the shit he's doin'." Daryl said.

T-Dog gave a quick nod. "We're gonna have the fight of our lives on our hands. But then again when don't we?"

"Seems it. Hey thanks for keepin' Carol from doin' anything stupid the other night."

"I really don't think she would've, but no problem. She's crazy in love with you man."

Daryl looked down shuffling his feet, wishin' he'd kept it brief. "Yeah so I've heard." He had no idea why though.

T-Dog grinned and stood up. "I need to go relieve Herschel. You want me to wake you when Rick's shift is done?"

"Yeah, why don'tcha do that? You know where to find me."


Hours later Carol was up before the rest of them trying to find something to cook that felt more like a breakfast than just a meal. They needed to regroup, figure out what their immediate plan was gonna be. She didn't like the idea of them going to war with this governor person. He sounded like an unstoppable force. They had Carl and Beth to think about and the fact that his army outnumbered them by a lot – she had yet to hear talk of numbers, though Daryl had said the dead from Cell Block Ten had put quite a dent in it.

She heard Daryl come through the front door, familiar with the sound of his footsteps, the way his heels hit the floor with a thud and then the resounding click, knowing his arms were swinging at his sides. That sexy strut of his would be the death of her.

In truth it was selfish but she didn't want them to tackle a fight with the governor for fear of losing him, mostly. It was bad enough to have to keep on watch for walkers. Obviously other groups could be a threat, they'd always known that. But why not leave? Find someplace far away to settle. She struggled with that idea though. There was a part of her that wanted revenge for Lori's death, to avenge what happened to Michonne, to keep it from happening to anyone else.

As her thoughts swarmed around in her head, she was taken aback when he wrapped his arms around her, leaning into her ear, taking the lobe in his mouth and sucking on it. She shivered in his arms, trying not to giggle out loud.

"Come on outside. Gotta show you somethin'." He grabbed her hand and led her past a sleep-groggy Maggie coming down the stairs. In the front yard lay a yearling boar he'd killed.

"Daryl, wow!" She exclaimed, putting her hands to her mouth. "This could feed us for a good week or two."

Glenn sat on the steps smiling for the first time in twenty-four hours.

Carol reached down and grabbed the pig by the hind legs. Bristly hairs poked out from its skin tickling her fingers.

"What are ya doin'? I didn't expect you to help drag it. Must weigh upwards of two-fifty." Daryl griped.

"I'm fine. Let's get it out back. Everyone else is just waking up."

It took some work and a few dirty looks from Daryl, but she wiped her hands on the short apron she was wearing when they were done.

Daryl leaned in and wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead. "Always surprisin' me."

"My parent's owned a farm." She said as he started to walk away.

He turned around, squinting. "Ya never told me that."

Carol shrugged. "I didn't really - wanna think about it." It was true. After she'd married Ed, she hardly ever visited her parents. It'd be too easy for them to see through her façade. Once the walkers came through, she'd tried calling before the phone lines died and she'd talked to her mother one last time before the fever took her. Her father had passed away a couple of years prior and it was a neighbor that had wandered onto the farm and had bit her mother. Carol's eyes dropped to the hog they'd placed near the large picnic table. She remembered butchering hogs with her father years ago. Living on the farm had been a simple and sweet way of living, but it'd left her naïve and sheltered. It'd been once she'd gone off to college that she begun making all the wrong decisions.

"Hey." Daryl said, waving a hand in front of her face. "It's nothin' you gotta go into."

She nodded, her eyes drawn down to the wild pig. "I just miss - the simplicity, ya know?"

Daryl reached to put his arms around her but when they saw Rick come around the corner, he pulled away quickly.

Rick tipped his head toward the kill. "Nice." He shifted his weight and eyed Carol.

"I'll go see about getting breakfast started." She knew he wanted to talk to Daryl, who flashed her a brief look of appreciation as she left.

She threw together a quick breakfast of biscuits using the powdered milk they'd brought from the prison, powdered eggs and venison gravy to top things off. Portioning was tough, knowing everyone would be hungry, so she splurged – as much as she dared, hoping it would help lift everyone's morale.

The meeting got off to a start while everyone's mouths were full. Rick was ready to talk, not ready to fill his stomach, which was frustrating with all the trouble she'd gone to. They had Beth and Carl eating their breakfast upstairs.

Michonne sat next to Rick. Her lip was swollen and split, both her eyes blackened and one so puffy she could barely open it. Her hood hung on her back, revealing raven locks, normally tamed and kept after. Instead it frizzed and stuck out in all directions. She kept fidgeting, and that was when Carol noticed how clawed and raked over her fingers were.

"Michonne put up a hell of a fight the other night. And if you all had seen Lori - " He stopped when his voice started cracking, glancing up at Daryl, who stood near the doorway.

Daryl crossed his arms and avoided eye contact with the rest of the group. She knew he didn't want to talk about it. He hadn't since he got back. "Rick's tryin' to say it was bad. You all saw me when I got back. That was Lori's blood."

"They know who we are." Michonne told them.

Rick sighed. "He and his men tortured and raped my wife. It didn't take long between her and Michonne to get the information they wanted."

"They don't know where we are now." Daryl said. "But they'll come lookin' for us."

"Why can't we just go? Leave this place? Head west to get around them and then north." Maggie suggested.

"Because I don't want to run." Michonne told her. "I am going to skin that bastard alive."

Everyone got quiet. Carol paced behind Herschel, Maggie and Glenn and finally broke the silence. "We can't just go at them head on. We would have to send scouts to get an idea of what's going on and what his plans are for the prison. Take him by surprise." She spoke as if she were a little unsure of herself but they all began nodding.

Daryl's lip quirked. "She's right. We gotta know more before we make any kind of move."

Tyreese shifted in his chair. Taking a napkin and wiping his mouth, he stood up towering over the group. "When we were on the outside of the development the other night, I saw some of my men in there from the prison, some that those two assholes had traded off. If we can take that bastard and the men he has duped down, his hold on most of them would mean nothing."

Rick stood on the other side of the table, facing Tyreese. "Then that's what we'll do. Anyone who doesn't want to be party to this say so now."

Andrea cleared her throat. "I'm in." She gave Rick a hard stare.

"Maggie?" Carol asked. "T-Dog? Glenn? Herschel? For Lori?"

They all agreed, Maggie on the condition that Beth be excluded, which was a given. The girl was barely sixteen. She was pretty good throwin' knives, but not ready for a battle. Carol wasn't sure she was herself, but it looked like they had no choice if they wanted to rid the world of something worse than the walkers.


Later that day Daryl helped her butcher the hog. "Reminds me of when I used to help my daddy. He always had a certain method to it."

"I see you still know your stuff." Daryl commented as they scalded him in a huge wash tub over the fire they'd built in the back yard. They felt it'd be safer to section it off after scalding it rather than roasting it right there over an open fire, drawing everything living and dead to their hide out.

It was a messy job, but by the time they were done, they put the fire out and Andrea and Maggie had carried the pieces off to the one freezer they kept running in the basement.

Daryl gave her once over. She was sweaty and messy, but never looked more satisfied and pleased with herself. "I meant what I said this mornin'. You keep surprisin' me."

"Why?" She asked.

He shrugged and wiped his nose off with his sleeve, shifting uncomfortably. "I thought you'd go against what Rick wants to do."

"I don't wanna see any more of us get hurt. But we can't just sit back and wait for him to find us, or come after us or catch us. And I don't want to see him get away with what he did Daryl."

He didn't care who was watchin'. He put his arms around her, gut mess and all and held her for a minute. "Lori wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but I wouldn't wish what she went through on anyone." He said against her ear.

Later that night she laid facing him in the dark, holding his hand, which he took and ran across his lips. "Plans are gonna be made and set in motion tomorrow. I just wanna know one thing." He murmured quietly.

"What?" She asked.

"Will you follow along with what's laid out for you to do? No strayin'?"

She brought his palm to her cheek and let him feel her shake her head yes. "I promise Daryl."

"Promise me if anythin' happens to me that you'll keep goin'."

She pulled his hand away but he grabbed onto hers, tensing up. "Shh, sh. You already read my - "

"I need to hear it." He whispered, feeling guilty that he was so backward with words and here he was demanding that very same thing from her.

"You know I will. I promise. Now I want the same from you. I can't see you opting out, not for anything, but still."

"I don't wanna live without you here, but I'd probably be too much of a pussy to do myself in." He whispered back. Her hand went to his chest as they both let out quiet laughs, settling in under the covers. "After watchin' Rick and Lori the other night, I just - " He stopped, unsure of where he was goin' with what he wanted to say.

"You just what?"

"I feel lucky, I guess." He told her cupping her shoulder, running his hand down her arm.

She didn't push for more; she simply found his lips with hers and kissed him. He liked that more than fumbling with words. He grasped her hip and it took little effort to pull her on top of him. She ran her fingers over his chest and it still gave him chills deep inside that someone would touch him like this. It probably always would strike him as odd that he'd become so important to someone in a good way when he was always needed in a bad way before.

Her fingers eased his belt buckle loose and with little effort she took control, sliding him inside her. He only got about three strokes in when the words slipped out of her mouth. "I love you Daryl."

She said it so quietly that he almost thought he was hearin' things, but then he felt her hesitation, like maybe she'd said somethin' wrong or he'd stop their whole 'bout of fuckin' because of it. Instead, he came up off the mattress, gently running his fingers through her hair bringing his lips to hers. He wanted so badly to answer her to respond, but the words wouldn't come.

"It's okay." She whispered against his mouth, reassuring him. "You knew I did." He could feel her smiling when she kissed his cheek.

He lowered his head to her bare breasts, nodding. Being that close to those perfect freckled peaks, he took one in his mouth, licking it and she moaned, pushing him further inside of him, making him grow harder, making him want her more than he thought possible. In one swift motion he rolled her under him and began a rhythm, causing the bed to squeak, just a little.

"Shh." He whispered as she began giggling. "Maggie and Glenn'll hear ya."

"And we've never heard them?" She giggled some more. "They'll hear this damned bed before they hear me."

He lost and then picked up the same rhythm once again. She felt smooth, hot and slick. As much as he tried he couldn't hold back much longer. Second go-arounds were always longer if they had the chance to do it twice in one night. There wouldn't be that chance tonight. The men were the only ones allowed to take watch now with the governor being their main threat, and his shift was toward dawn.

The more he had nights like this with her, and the more exposure he had to people who truly cared for him – especially her, the more he felt less like who he used to be and more like who he'd always wanted to be. He would always be a realist and a stubborn bastard. He'd never learn to completely control his temper and he would probably always hold onto a lot of the tough lessons he'd learned being raised a Dixon, but here he mattered. He felt accepted and he'd do anything and everything he could to protect that and her.

Once they were finished, she settled in, her back to him and went to sleep, he made sure her breathing was even and steady against his chest, which burned with a mixture of anxiety, pride and another emotion that was threatening to spill over. He could barely make out her beautiful profile in the darkness. A single tear crept from the corner of his eye as he watched her. "I love you Carol." He whispered, his head falling back on his pillow and before he knew it, he fell asleep.