Chapter Twenty Nine

Three weeks after Carol came back a rare winter storm blew down from the north. She was thankful they had decent shelter but it would have been much better if they had also had heat in the rooms. They had managed to find a wood burning stove that they rigged up in the apartment above the office since they couldn't afford for Judith to get sick. Keeping her from touching it was another matter, but most of the group slept there. Carol wasn't one of them. As pathetic as it seemed, she wanted to stay as close to Daryl as she could, even if it meant only sleeping in the room next to his. She would take what she could get.

They hadn't spoken. It was torture because there was so much she wanted to say to him but was too afraid. She didn't want to push him and she wouldn't. All she could do was prove to him that she wasn't going anywhere, even if he was going to pretend that she wasn't there. So far he didn't seem very impressed and she didn't blame him.

"We need to do something for Christmas."

Carol jumped at the unexpected voice, spinning around. Piper was shutting the door against the snow, shaking the white flakes from the hair that she never seemed to be able to tame. She wasn't surprised to see her. Piper seemed to think it was okay to barge into what ever room she wanted, whenever she felt the need. "Christmas?" Carol said the word like she had never heard it before. Who had time to think about things like that?

"Yeah. Christmas. We should do something," Piper said as she sat down on the foot of Carol's bed and looked at her expectantly.

"We've never done anything for the Holidays before. We don't even know when Christmas is," Carol said, leaning against the small sink and cupping the coffee mug tightly to warm her hands.

"It's the day after tomorrow. It also happens to be my Birthday so trust me, I keep track," she said wistfully.

Carol felt a pang of sadness for the girl. Sometimes she seemed much older than she looked and other times she seemed like a little girl that craved approval. "I'm in," she said with a smile, "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. You're the grown one so I figured you would be able to figure it all out and then I would take the credit for thinking of it in the first place."

Carol raised a brow. "Well... I can't think of anything we have that we can use as gifts for everyone."

Piper's gaze turned inward for a few moments and then she looked up, smiling slyly. Carol instantly didn't trust it. "Don't worry about that part. I'll figure something out. Rick was talking about taking a trip to the settlement today. Daryl's got a truck load of kills and Rick thinks that we can get some supplies for trade. That and you lucky assholes can get hot showers there. I'll have to take a whore bath at Rick's."

Carol laughed. "That's what you get for stealing, and for doing drugs."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yeah, I've heard this a million times. So, are you going with the others?"

Carol narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Because Daryl is going and maybe if you go too you can save the towns water supply and just shower together. You know, get the sex out of the way and then you two can finally talk it out. You've been back for almost a month and the two of you haven't even tried to work this out."

Carol actually didn't mind the blush she felt coloring her cheeks but only because she welcomed the warmth. "You're ridiculous. And you really need to get the idea out of that head of yours sweetheart. It isn't going to happen. I think he'll end up speaking to me at some point but I messed up and there isn't a chance he's going to let me back in."

"You're both miserable and stupid. This sucks," she grumbled, standing up and heading towards the door. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Piper," Carol said, shutting the door quickly behind her.

~H~

He dressed quickly, hissing as the cold air hit his bare skin. He had taken to sleeping in those stupid ball shorts that Carol had given him forever ago, not that he'd ever tell anyone. They had gotten a couple of sub zero sleeping bags and he had snagged them both, knowing he wouldn't be piling up with the others at Rick's place. He'd rather freeze than have to listen to Abe and Michonne snore all night. He told himself that that was the only reason but he was lying. Another reason was, he knew Carol wouldn't go to Rick's either and he wouldn't have been able to sleep knowing that she was alone in a room so far away, closest to the wall. If bad people showed up he wasn't risking being so far away. He still couldn't stand her for what she had done and he couldn't say anything to her but he liked that she was so close. She was right on the other side of the wall. She was still there and that surprised the hell out of him. He had expected her to move on after she realized that things wouldn't be going back to how they had been. For weeks he had dreaded the day that he went to Rick's and she wasn't there whipping up something for breakfast. But it didn't happen. She stayed, no matter how much he ignored her.

He zipped up the leather coat and braced himself for the cold that he knew was going to greet him. He could hear the wind through the door. Just because he wouldn't sleep at Rick's didn't mean he wouldn't go there in the mornings to enjoy the heat. He opened the door and hurried out, shutting it quickly. His room wasn't warm by any means but it was a lot better than the bitter cold that stung his cheeks out here.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned but stumbled to a stop when Carol came out her door. She didn't look his way so she was unaware that he was there. He was willing to wait for her to go ahead and go, since the cold was easier to deal with than talking to her. She turned, took two hurried steps and then her feet flew out from under her and she fell flat on her ass.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She growled, still unaware of his presence as she sat there for a few seconds.

She landed in about six inches of snow so he knew she wasn't hurt, which was why he couldn't hold back the laugh that bubbled up. He tried hard to stifle it but it did him no good. The more he thought about it, the louder he laughed. She looked over her shoulder sharply, her face red either from the embarrassment of someone seeing her take the spill or from the cold. He knew her well enough to know that it was probably a mixture of both.

She narrowed her eyes and pulled herself up from the sidewalk without a word. He couldn't just stand there and wait for her to go on ahead of him. Not now that she knew he was there, so he followed her, keeping a few feet back. She was walking faster than she needed to and he knew it was because she wanted to get away from him. That was when her foot hit another ice patch and she almost went down again.

Only, she didn't. He caught her quickly around the waist. "You'll get there faster if you don't break your neck on the way," he said, his voice gruff as the feel of her body against his made his head swim a little.

She pulled away slowly. "Thanks," she muttered right before she started walking again, much slower this time.

He was surprised that he felt the need to say more to her. It had been nearly a month since they had spoken, which caused more than a little awkwardness since their group wasn't a large one and they all lived here. He had expected her to leave again. That was what she did when things got tough. But she hadn't. She had persevered through his silence with grace. She avoided him as much as he avoided her but she still slept in the room next to his and he still watched her closely when he knew no one was looking. Well, almost no one. Piper had called him out on it a few times.

"Are you going today?" He asked, right before they reached the stairs leading up to the apartment. Making small talk with her wasn't really hurting anything. He wasn't a complete piece of shit.

She stopped with one gloved hand on the rail. When she looked up he almost had to look away. Her eyes were large as they studied him and she couldn't hide the hope that filled them. It stung. It stung a lot, but he kept his eyes on hers. "I was thinking about it. You?" She asked hesitantly.

He nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah. I did all the work when it comes to those kills. Might as well get a hot shower out of it."

She smiled and he felt his lips twitch. He looked down at the metal steps and frowned. The snow was packed down hard from all the feet that had tracked up and down the stairs. He knew it was going to be slick. Hopefully neither of them slipped and fell down the damn things. Maybe they should think about getting some salt.

He heard her sigh and then she turned and started up. On the third step she slipped a little and gripped the banister to keep from going all the way down. "This is awful," she mumbled.

He was about to say something when he lost his footing. He grabbed the other banister. "This is bullshit is what it is. Looks like somebody poured water all over the damn snow."

Without warning he felt her hand in his. He looked up sharply but she wasn't looking at him. Her lips were set in a determined line. "Just until we make it to the top. I don't want you falling down the stairs."

"If you got a hold of me and I fall, you ain't gonna hold me up. Your skinny ass is gonna fall too," he said.

She nodded and was about to let go but he tightened his hand around hers and started moving. This was why he was avoiding her. If he let her in just a little he wouldn't be able to keep himself from pulling her all the way in. He should have just let her fall on her ass again. He could have already been in the apartment, warming himself up before they loaded up and shipped out. But he hadn't, and now he was hyper aware of how close she was.

He dropped her hand as soon as they reached the top and hurried around her, opening the door without knocking. There were people everywhere, just like there was every morning. He was actually relieved to see them this time. Piper grinned up at him from the small table she was sitting at with Carl and Lydon.

"Morning," she said sweetly. Her eyes moved to the door and he could have sworn that she looked smug.

"Mornin'," he muttered, taking the bowl Sasha handed him and finding a spot against the wall away from everyone else so he could eat in relative peace. He was having a harder time keeping his eyes on his bowl this morning. He kept glancing up and more than a few times Carol seemed to look up at the same time. Their eyes would meet and then he would look away quickly.

He was in trouble.