Whew, three days of 12 hours shifts at the E.R. for EMT training...yeowza. I am so worn out and my mind has definitely not been on writing, except for last night when I had a ton of downtime and hand wrote a fan fic in the hospital (That'll be up soon!).

But anyways, I DID get to thinking about this story this morning and I think I have a chapter in mind. So here goes nothing :D

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It had been nearly five days since Carol had last spoken to Daryl and it was tearing her apart inside. He never came up to the house unless he needed to speak to Rick, he ate whatever he caught that day in the woods at his campsite so he never even came up to the house to eat. However, Carol realized that Sophia and he were still as thick as thieves, she'd seen them in the yard the other day waxing their bowstrings and talking like nothing at all was wrong.

But the worst sting of all was that Daryl had taken to visiting the barn daily to see Merle and he stayed in there for hours at a time. When he came out, he never looked exceptionally happy, but he never looked at Merle the way he'd looked at her that night he'd kicked her out of the tent.

It was taking a toll on her, physically and emotionally, she noticed. She didn't feel like eating at all, she felt tired and helpless, she threw up at least once a day if she thought about him too much, she couldn't think straight and people were beginning to worry about her. Lori and Maggie were still muttering about Daryl around her, doubtlessly trying to make her feel better by tearing him down and telling her it wasn't her fault that he was treating her this way...but it only made her feel worse and she had finally told them to stop talking about him the way they were.

"Please, Lori," she'd sighed heavily that day when they were dusting the living room, "Please don't talk about him that way."

"Carol, the man's a complete asshole!" Lori demanded, "He has no right to treat you this way. How can you still stick up for him like this after everything he's done!?"

Carol hung her head and rubbed her eyes with her knuckles.

"Because I love him, Lori," she whispered, thinking back to what he'd said to her at the campsite. You can't just love me when it's easy, and I've seen that you can't handle it when it's hard.

Lori just shook her head and finished wiping down the coffee table before leaving Carol alone in the room with her thoughts. She had to fix this, but she had no idea where to even begin. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and Sophia came walking in, looking sheepish.

"Hi, Sophia," Carol wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Sophia asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Of course, sweetie," Carol took Sophia by the shoulder and they both took a seat on the couch. "What is it?"

"Why are you and daddy fighting?" Sophia asked quietly.

Carol felt her throat tighten and she sighed heavily.

"Honey...we both made some very big mistakes the day Merle took you," she admitted, "We said things and did things that really hurt eachother and we've been spending some time apart to think about things."

Sophia's eyes widened.

"Did daddy hit you?" she asked quietly. "Did he give you that bruise?"

"Sophia," Carol wasn't sure what to say, how could she admit to her daughter that the man she looked up to and admired had hit her? She'd seen enough of that with Ed and she wouldn't understand.

"He must have been scared, mom," Sophia touched Carol's arm gently, her eyes looked so sad, "He was scared that he lost me."

"He was honey, and I made everything so much worse because of the horrible things I said to him," Carol agreed, "But neither of us were right and he should never have hit me, just like I never should have said those things to him."

"I know mom," Sophia soothed, "But we all make mistakes, right? Aren't you both going to give eachother another chance?"

"It's complicated, honey," Carol replied gently, "We need to take a little time apart for a while."

"Not too long, mom," Sophia demanded softly, "Like you said to Mrs. Lori, you love him. And I don't want to lose my daddy again."

Carol watched her daughter leave the room, wise beyond her years. Why couldn't it just be that simple?

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Sometimes all it takes is the smallest thing to get your foot in the door of something big. Carol had no idea walking out the front door would be the turning point in her recent agony, but that's just how it worked.

Seeing that there was no water for the soup she was making, Carol made her way towards the door with the intention of walking to the well and pumping some up. But as she reached for the door knob, the door swung inward quickly and forcefully, colliding very painfully with her nose. She clutched her face and watched in silent horror as blood began dripping through her fingers to the floor.

"Oh shit!" Oh this just got better and better...that was Daryl's voice. But Carol felt his hands clutch her shoulders and push her urgently back to the kitchen where he gently sat her down and knelt in front of her. He removed her hands from her face to get a look at the level of damage that door had caused.

"Oh man, Carol," he groaned and stood up, moving quickly to the sink to grab a towel. He returned and knelt down again and very carefully pressed the towel to her nose to staunch the heavy flow of blood. "God, Carol, I am so sorry, I didn't know ya were there!"

"It's ok," Carol whispered, wincing at the pain the pressure from the towel caused. Oh geez, her nose was broken, she just knew it!

By that time, Andrea had walked in and was looking at them in shock.

"Daryl, did you...?!"

"NO!" Daryl snapped angrily, "I didn't hit her! I opened the door a little hard as she was coming out."

"I wasn't asking if you hit her, Daryl," Andrea's voice was calming and she laid a hand on his shoulder, in a silent motion of reassurance. Carol couldn't help the flare in her chest at that harmless, friendly touch, but it was there anyway. "I'll go get some water to clean this up."

Carol's eyes followed Andrea out of the room and then they dropped down to the floor.

"Has it stopped yet?" she asked quietly.

Daryl removed the towel and shook his head before placing it back on, making her cringe back from the pain.

"Geez, Carol, I really hope I didn't break your nose," he muttered.

Carol wanted to stop the words that came out then, her mind was screaming at her to stop even as the words slipped out.

"You already broke my heart, my nose is no big deal."

Daryl met her eyes then and she found herself captured in the pull of those cobalt irises, unable to look away. Finally, he looked down at the floor as Andrea stepped back into the kitchen with the bucket of well water. She poured some in a bowl and got a clean rag and handed it to Daryl who took it with a thankful nod. He removed the dry and very bloody towel to see if the bleeding had stopped and he set it aside, so Carol assumed the blood was no longer flowing because he squeezed out the water from the clean rag and raised the damp material to her face. He gently began wiping the trail of blood down her face away, his face twitching the whole time, like he wanted to speak but was holing it back.

Finally, he let the rag drop into the now red water in the bowl, but Carol was surprised when his right hand came back up and rested on her cheek.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears and Carol felt her heart squeeze uncomfortably. "I'm so sorry."

And that was all he said before he stood quickly and headed out of the kitchen and out the front door. Carol stood and walked to the foyer window where she peeked through the boards that covered it, watching as he walked off towards the barn, he raised his arm and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

It may have been all he said, but it was enough for Carol...and it was the foothold in the sheer wall that had sprung up between them that she'd been searching for.

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Merle and Daryl both showed their faces in the house that night for dinner. Carol felt anger rise up in her at the looks people were giving the brothers, not that she cared about Merle at all but they had no right to look at Daryl that way. The air was thick with tension, so thick you could almost taste it, and everyone was just...standing there and staring.

Carol saw that look in Daryl's eyes, that look he always got just before he bolted, and she knew someone had to do something quickly before this attempt at integration, which she knew had been Daryl's doing, was ruined. She stepped forward and laid a hand on Daryl's arm, smiling at both of them.

"Well, looks like we've got company!" she said cheerfully, "Rick, what say we make some room at these table for our Dixons?"

As if a spell was broken, everyone began to move things around and make spots at the table available, Patricia jumped up and got two more plates, bowls, cups and silverware out of the cupboards to set out, friendly shatter started back up again and the tension faded till it was almost unnoticeable.

Carol took her seat and gulped lightly when Daryl sat down straight across from her, his eyes were unreadable, but he gave her a nod as he scooted his chair forward. Merle sat gingery and unsure between Patricia and Rick, looking highly uncomfortable.

Dinner was quiet and didn't last very long. As soon as it seemed like it would be acceptable, the Dixon brothers stood and Daryl excused them before they headed for the front door. Carol stood on instinct, about to follow and then hesitated before sitting back down slowly, a move that did not go unnoticed by the group...or by Daryl. She saw him glance over his shoulder before he and Merle walked out and she quickly looked down at her empty plate in embarrassment.

"Hmph, imagine having the nerve to show his face in this house after what he did," Maggie said with distaste. That was the final straw for Carol's already worn nerves, and she slammed her fork down next to her plate angrily, causing everyone to look at her in surprise.

"ENOUGH!" she hollered loudly, pushing her chair back and standing to her feet, "I've had enough of your judgment! Daryl may not be perfect but he's trying, he's really trying hard to fit in with this group and make a place for himself! He made a mistake, but we all do and I'm tired of all of you acting like you're better than he is because you're not and I'm not going to sit here while you tear him down anymore!"

The entire room was silent when she finished her tirade and Sophia was smiling up at her from the smaller table and Andrea was smiling as well...but everyone else wasn't even looking at her, their eyes were locked on the doorway. Carol closed her eyes for a moment, knowing the truth before she even turned around...and sure enough, Daryl was standing in the doorway looking completely and utterly shocked. He'd heard everything.

Carol wanted to melt into the floor or disappear or just...bolt. Since she couldn't do either of her first choices, she did what she could. She bolted. Right past Daryl and out the front door where she nearly collided with Merle on the porch, she looked at him with wide, fear filled eyes but she just edged around him and continued running until she reached the RV and slipped inside, locking the door behind her.

Once inside, she realized she was hyperventilating and she focused on getting her breathing slowed down. She stumbled through the vehicle to the back where she fell on the bed and began sobbing uncontrollably, all the previous few days' emotions and stress just pouring out of her finally after being held in for so long. It felt so good to finally let it out.

She felt the RV move and she heard the door open and close softly and she wondered vaguely how who it was had unlocked the door. The footfalls got closer and closer and she recognized them immediately, the careful, light movement. Daryl.

He didn't say a word, just crawled into the bed and laid down behind her, wrapping his arms hesitantly around her, waiting to see how she would react, and then pulled her in tighter as he moved closer. The silence seemed heavy at first to Carol, but when the tears finally stopped flowing she realized how calm and easy it was to just lay there and soak up his warmth, that familiar warmth she missed so much. But she felt the need to say something, anything, to explain herself.

"You weren't suppose to hear that," she whispered softly.

"Figured," Daryl murmured, his breath tickled her ear and she closed her eyes to stop the rush of desire that flowed over her.

"Why are you here?" Carol felt a little angry at him for this, how could he be laying here with her like this if he was done with them? "I thought you needed space."

Daryl remained silent, his breathing steady and quiet on her hair. Finally, he shifted his weight and sighed lightly.

"I do," he said softly, "But I told ya I haven't given up on us yet. I'm not gonna go hide in a tent while ya lay here bawlin' yer eyes out."

Carol wanted to laugh. but it came out more as a strangled sobbing sound and she felt his arms tighten around her. She was overwhelmed with the desire that always flared up in her when he held her like this and she went to turn over and face him, but he held her firmly down.

"Don't, Carol," he said sternly, all the softness was gone from his voice. "Don't try t' make this what it ain't."

The reprimand made Carol's crying start up again, not quite as hard but still enough to make fat tears roll down her cheeks. He wasn't ready to let her back in just yet.

But it was a start.

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Well, I'm about to fall asleep so I leave you with this: ONE WEEK TILL SEASON 3! :D

Alrighty, let me wake up to reviews :)