Well, there is probably only one sort of epilogue chapter next, and then this story is over :) I was planning on making just one long chapter but the situation in my country and my city is crazy today, street riots, shops sacking, I swear, I felt in the apocalypsis for a moment. It's 4 am and I won't be getting any sleep. To scared to. Hope everything is ok tomorrow...

Anyway, back to something nicer, this is pretty much a fluffy chapter since I wasn't in the mood for anything else.. and it's one of the last, so I want to thank you guys who read this story. I really enjoyed writing it even though I struggled with the words sometimes, because I speak spanish and well, it gets harder to write in another language. Thanks to starbuck777, vichy, 80p, Halohunter, who've always been reviewing, it really encouraged me to keep going with this and to write another fics. Now that I found this site, I won't stop writing and I definitely won't stop reading your awesome stories!

Forgive me if there are any mistakes, it's just been a hell of a day here :/ I wish Daryl was around, to hide behind him. lol.

hugs!

S.-


53.

He knocked the door lightly once, not wanting to scare the hell out of her, not more than he was probably already going to. He swallowed hard now, suddenly feeling nervous again. He hadn't prepared any sort of speech, the few words he'd thought of saying having erased from his head as he frantically chewed on his thumb nail, thinking what if she was with someone inside… what if she had a new relationship… what if she just showed up and told him to get the fuck out of here. But it'd only be that, he figured… he'd tell her how he felt and take off. There weren't any expectations, any hopes she'd just wrap her arms around him and let him in. This was only about being honest with her and with himself, once and for all. It was only about that.

The house was completely silent but then he saw a light turn on. It was a nice house from the outside although he was too damn distracted to take a bigger look at it, but he did see her car was parked on the garage. He smiled slightly then, memories of the day they bought her car coming in. And before he knew it, Carol had opened the door and was standing in front of him, her eyes wide and the bluest, bluer than he remembered, bluer and prettier and softer, her thin arms instantly wrapping around her chest, frowning in desbelief, or maybe anger, he wasn't sure.

"Daryl?" she spatted, rubbing her arms with her hands.

He lifted his eyes at her, his thumb still on his mouth.

"Hi Carol", he managed to say, and his voice was fucking trembling. He was a damn awkward asshole even after this long.

"What are you doing here Daryl?" she asked him, her eyes narrowing now as she leaned against the door frame. And he couldn't help to glance down and then up at her, taking her whole body in, the body he'd missed like crazy every damn night since this whole thing ended. He shook his head and bit his lip then.

"I jus', I drove 'ere", he mumbled. His heart was beating so fast he started to worry he might pass out or something right there. He chuckled, suddenly, at the thought.

Her face was constantly changing from eyes narrowed to wide open, mouth curled and then pressed in a thin line as she tilted her head a little, frowning again.

"Carol.. I.. I know it's been a long time.. a fuckin' long time", he started, scratching the front of his head with both of his hands. "I jus.. damn, I figured I could fuckin' do this smoothly.. clearly I can't." He looked up to see which expression she was giving to him now.

"Do what smoothly, Daryl?" she asked, her expression stoic.

"this, talkin' ta ya, jesus", he spatted, scratching his back now. "I've been wantin' ta talk ta ya fer so fuckin' long, ever since I told ya ta leave tha' day.. I huh, picked up the phone, many times, I even went ta Andrea's tha' day ya was leavin'." He glanced up at her. "Herman told me which day ya was leavin'", he explained.

She stood there, using her arms to keep warm and just looking at him, listening to him silently, and suddenly he felt all the words just run through his throat and come out.

"I wantcha ta be happy Carol, I wantcha ta be the damn happiest person in tha whole fuckin' world... and I... ya made me happy, ya know? ya made me happy even in tha short time we spent togetha, I jus'.. I didn' know wha' tha fuck it was, I didn' fuckin' recognize it, 'til ya was gone."

Her eyes were watery now as she slowly lifted them up and let them lock with his.

"I'm gonna turn aroun' and fuckin' go on wit' tha hell of tha life I got, cuz it's been fuckin' hell without ya. I'll do it cuz this ain't bout gettin' ya back, ya know? cuz I know yer gonna be happy, yer gonna be happier without me around... it's jus' bout bein' honest with ya."

"Don't say that", she muttered, her eyes still fixed on his. She looked down, and then back to him.

"Don' say wha'?" he asked, suddenly worried he might have upset her with something he'd said.

"Don't say your life is hell. I want you to be happy too", she said, a single tear running down her cheek and he felt like walking to her and wiping it off with his lips.

"I love ya Carol." He let the breath he'd been holding go and fixed his eyes on his feet. "Damn it. There ya go. I love ya, I've loved ya, for a while… dunno how long, didn' know wha' tha hell tha' was before, didn' fuckin' believe in all that shit ta begin wit." He dared to look up at her then, and now there were plenty of those tears on her face.

She walked a step forward, but she didn't say anything.

"I jus' wish I've said it tha' day ya did Carol… I wanted ta, nothin' I can do 'bout it now though, I know it took me so fuckin' long, to get there.. I know it's fuckin' late… I jus', I needed ya ta know it anyway, thought it'd be better if ya did. Thought I was gonna feel better maself too, already do actually. Tha rest, I can fuckin' take it. I'll figure how. Couldn' take thinking' ya might have never known…"

"What time is it?" she asked, all of a sudden.

He frowned, confused.

"You said it's late, I don't think it's that late", she mumbled, looking around.

He didn't understand what she was trying to say but he found himself half smiling at her, his eyes tentatevily flicking over her face.

"Anything else you want to say? Ask?" she spoke again, and she was walking towards him.

He shook his face frantically. "No, ain't got anythin' else ta say... reckon I got no questions either", he said, and he noticed she was only a few inches away from him. He felt his heart squeeze something awful.

He couldn't hold himself then. He brought his hand and slightly brushed it over her face, wiping away the tears that were still coming.

"You're right", she said then, fixing her eyes on his again. "It's late, you've got an awful timing", she added, shaking her head lightly and smiling a little at him.

"But it's not too late Daryl. I love you too".

He felt his body shake, his heart jumping underneath his chest. He looked down at her.

"aw, damn Carol". His voice was trembling and he didn't give a fuck. He just wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, hugging her tightly, his head instantly sinking on her shoulder as he inhaled her scent and pulled her even closer. She pulled back a little to look at him, cupping his face with both her hands.

"Don't come here and tell me you're just going to say stuff to me and walk away. Don't tell me I'd be happier without you, you've got no idea", she stated, but her eyes were smiling, although tears were still coming down, and it'd been a long time he hadn't seen that expression on her face.

He leaned in then, aiming to kiss her lips, but he ended up kissing her cheek instead, his lips pressing slowly against her soft skin, and then he moved his mouth up her face and kissed away the tears that remained in her eyes, and her forehead and her nose, raining her whole face with kisses until she pulled his face down and her lips met his. And it was like all the three months feelings found their way out, his arms wrapping around her as he kissed her back, softly at first, but he couldn't help the moan that slipped out of his mouth, and she opened her mouth then and let his tongue in, her hands going to the nape of his neck, pulling him closer as he slowly massaged her tongue with his. He wanted to undress her, right there, but he pulled away instead, locking his eyes with hers.

"I love ya", he told her again, cupping her face with his hands and nodding reassuringly. He just felt for some reason, all he wanted to do was say it again and hear her saying it back to him again, and it surely was odd but it felt oddly amazing too.

She pressed her hands on his chest, gripping his shirt to pull him for a small kiss. A little laugh came out of her lips when they broke apart.

"And I love you too but I think you already said that", she teased him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Cuz I love ya." he repeated, and Carol suddenly thought he was the cutest thing alive. "Ya forgive me?" he mumbled, pressing his lips on her forehead.

"I… might, you're here after all, aren't you?" she told him, pulling her face back from his chest to look at him, a smile still plastered on her face.

He smiled. "Ya wanna do this?"

"Do what exactly?" she asked him, supressing a smirk as she pretended she didn't know what he was talking about.

"huh, whateva' people who love each otha do? Like, maybe gettin' inside yer house ta begin wit'", he told her with a smirk of his own.

"Don't push your luck Daryl Dixon", she whispered in his ear, and he couldn't help but laugh out, loudly, relieved, as he held her close.

Yes, he was a lucky son of a bitch. And this was so good it just didn't feel real.
Only this time it was.