Quinn & Negan, Alexandria

When I woke up the next morning, I felt so embarrassed. I think my face was red all night while I was sleeping. I couldn't believe it really happened. Or was it just a dream? Negan was still asleep. I grabbed my clothes and tiptoed downstairs. I quickly got dressed, drank a glass of water, then sat on the porch to sunbathe in the morning light. It was really early morning, the sun had just come up. As I sat down I let out a huge sigh I didn't realize I was holding. I heard footsteps, I looked up. Daryl stopped when he saw me sitting on the porch.

"Everything good?" he asked, frowning his eyebrows.

"Yeah," I replied quickly.

"Maybe I shouldn't ask anything else," he said, investigating me with his eyes.

"Yeah, don't," I said, chuckling embarrassed.

"Jeez…" he said, shaking his head disapprovingly, smiling slightly. He glanced at me one more time, then continued his way towards the gates.

I knew how much he hated Negan, so I was glad he didn't make a fuss about it. I let out another sigh. It didn't take long to be interrupted again, because Carol showed up too. She had freshly baked bread in her hands.

"Hey! I didn't expect you to be out here," she said surprised.

"Yeah, me neither. What's that?" I asked, looking at the bread in her hand.

"Bread. It's for you," she said smiling. I stood up and took it from her.

"Thank you so much, Carol. I just ran out of everything last night."

"Well, I wish I could bring more but… that's all I had," she said smiling sadly.

"Daryl didn't bring anything?" I asked.

"No, it was just two squirrels. We gave them to Judith and RJ."

I nodded understandingly.

"Thank you again," I said and I turned around to bring the bread to the kitchen. "Wanna come in?" I asked. She shook her head, slightly frowning her eyebrows.

"I rather not," she said smiling. I chuckled, I put the bread in a cupboard, then I headed back to the porch to Carol.

"He is still sleeping and he is not naked," I stated, smiling.

"Good to know," she chuckled. Then she looked me in the eye with that impish look. "So?"

"So what?"

"Details?"

"Come on…" I said, chuckling embarrassed. Carol looked curiously. "It was awesome," I said finally, blushing crazily.

"I'm happy for you," she said still smiling. "I still wish it wasn't Negan, but I'm glad you're happy."

"Thanks, I guess," I said, smiling.

"I'm heading out today, to look for herbs and mushrooms. Wanna join?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. "I'll just let Negan know."

"Okay. See you at the gate," she said and headed back to her house. I went inside, closed the door. I headed upstairs. Negan was still in bed, looking at me sleepily.

"Were you talking to someone?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was Carol. She asked me to go with her, looking for something edible in the forest."

"That's not a bad idea," he growled sleepily.

"She brought fresh bread, you can have some for breakfast," I said smiling at him as I sat next to him on the bed.

"That's great," he said, smiling.

We looked each other in the eye for a long time, then of course I got embarrassed.

"What?" I asked.

"I can't believe we did it. Or did I dream the whole damn thing?" he asked with slightly red cheeks.

"It was a very nice dream," I said smiling, turning my eyes away, embarrassed. He chuckled.

"Probably we should do it again, to make it completely real. It's hard to believe it really happened."

"Agree," I said smiling. He chuckled, I leaned closer and kissed him. "But now I have to go, Carol's waiting for me," I said.

"Right," he sat up in bed, the blanket fell off, revealing his chest. I quickly stood up and left, blushing.

I grabbed a basket, in case we find something. I felt like I was going shopping with Carol. I quickly got a spare key to the front door for Negan. He came downstairs, completely dressed.

"Here's a key to the front door," I said and gave it to him. I felt little jolts of electricity when our hands touched.

"Thanks," he said.

"Bread is in that cupboard," I pointed to the cupboard I was talking about, Negan glanced at it, then suddenly kissed me.

"Be careful out there," he said quietly when we parted.

"Don't worry, Carol will be there. She is invincible," I said smiling. He smiled at me then I turned around and left.

As I was approaching the gate I saw Carol was already there, talking with Jerry. They both glanced at me when I arrived.

"Ready?" asked Carol.

"Yeah," I said as I touched the knife in my belt.

"Good luck," said Jerry as he opened the gate for us. We said goodbye to him and headed straight into the forest.

"It was a long time ago I went out like this," I said.

"It's okay. You remember how to tell which mushroom is edible?" she asked.

"Of course I do," I said confidently.

"I hope Daryl can bring something too. I want to cook a nice meal in the afternoon."

"That would be nice," I said, I felt my mouth watering just at the thought.

"So… do you wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"I don't know. Not really. I feel so embarrassed," I said chuckling with a red face. "I'm not that good at this girl talk thing…"

"That's okay. Was it everything you dreamed about?" she asked half-mocking, half genuinely.

"Yeah," I said looking her in the eye, nodding. She smiled.

"I'm glad. Is that my knife?" she asked as her eyes fell on the knife on my side.

"Yeah, sorry. You gave it to me when we got to Hilltop. When we went out to look for Eugene. I just forgot to give it back."

"You can keep it, I was just surprised you still have it," she smiled at me.

"Thanks… Now tell me, what about you and Daryl?" I asked to change the topic.

"Nothing much changed. He blames me for Connie's death and he belongs with Leah," she stated, quoting the note she found in Leah's cabin. I shook my head disapprovingly.

"Oh come on… What can that woman do that you can't, really? I refuse to believe that. I am genuinely offended by Daryl's behavior."

Carol chuckled, just what I wanted.

"It's hopeless. Just forget it," she said.

We were walking in silence for a little while, both deep in thoughts.

"Ha! Look!" she said and crouched to grab a mushroom.

"Nice!" I said. I looked around closely but didn't see anything else. We continued our journey. But after a while, I spotted something too.

"Look, do you think that's rosemary?" I asked unsurely, pointing at a herb.

"Yeah, grab it!" she instructed, I did as she said. "Okay, that's more than nothing," she said, examining our baskets.

"Yeah, keep going," I said and we did.

We found more mushrooms and chives too.

"It's nice we can walk in the forest again, without the whisperers," I said.

"Yeah. I'm so happy Henry is safe and he is happy with Lydia," she said smiling.

"I'm quite relieved too."

We were walking in silence for a while, then I asked:

"Is Daryl still avoiding you?"

Carol seemed startled by the question.

"I never said he did," she glanced at me.

"I'm not so blinded by love as you think. I have eyes."

"Well… Yeah, I guess. We don't talk much."

"Both of you deserve happiness," I said.

"It's not easy with him," she said quietly.

"I know."

We continued our journey in silence once again. I felt so comfortable around Carol. When I was with Negan, I was always scared that I don't look good enough, or what to say, how to behave. When I was with Carol I never thought about such things. I hope I will feel the same way eventually around Negan. I wanted to be perfect for him. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard footsteps beside ours. Carol got tense too.

"What are you two doing out here?" asked Daryl as he approached us.

"Jesus Christ, Daryl, you always give me a heart attack. How can you walk so quietly?!" I snapped at him.

Carol let out a sigh, Daryl smiled at me.

"Sorry," he said in his low voice.

"We're scavenging," said Carol. Daryl looked her in the eye, he nodded, then asked:

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure," said Carol, shrugging her shoulder.

"I'll head back to Alexandria," I said, smiling at them. I wanted to give them space. I turned around and left.

…

As Quinn walked away, Daryl turned back to Carol.

"What?" asked Carol.

Daryl was staring, speechless. He was terrible at this.

"Nothing. Just go with her," he said quickly and wanted to walk away. He got cold feet. Carol didn't let him, she grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Hey! You wanted to say something, just say it," said Carol. Daryl looked her in the eye and shook his head. Carol let go of his arm. "Is this about Connie?" she asked. She thought he wanted to talk about Connie and how he blames her for the accident.

"No," said Daryl simply.

"Then what? Clearly, you wanted to say something. Is it Leah then?" asked Carol. Daryl shook his head once again. Carol looked at him curiously, didn't know what to expect. She was investigating him with her eyes, trying to figure out what this was about.

"Just forget it," said Daryl and he tried to walk away once again.

"You started it, just spit it out," said Carol.

Daryl stopped for a second, turned back to face Carol. He shrugged his shoulder and turned his gaze away. Carol still didn't understand what was going on, but she tried to help him anyway.

"I'm sorry about Connie. And I'm sorry about Leah. I want to help you, but I can't, if you won't tell me what's going on," she said genuinely. "Did you find Leah or what?"

"No. It's not about them," said Daryl, growling in his low voice. He was still avoiding Carol's eyes, so she stepped in front of him and faced him to make him look at her.

"Daryl, I can't help if you won't tell me," she said softly. "Are you hurt?" she asked now worrying. "Were you bit?" she asked as worry built up inside her more.

Daryl shook his head slightly. Carol let out a sigh of relief, stepped closer to him, and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Just tell me what's wrong," she said quietly, resting her hand on his cheek. Daryl looked her in the eyes finally.

"Remember what you asked me when you got drunk last time?" he asked.

Carol was thinking about everything else but this. She frowned her eyebrows disbelievingly.

"Yeah," she said. Daryl hesitated for a moment, then said:

"I'm ready."

Carol's heart skipped a beat.

"Ready to talk about it?" asked Carol unsurely.

Daryl shook his head slightly, looking her in the eye the entire time, then he slowly, very slowly started to lean closer to her. Carol was scared her heart might stop. She was waiting for this for such a long time.

Daryl hesitated even at the last moment, before their lips could touch he stopped for a second, but Carol couldn't wait anymore. Her hand was still resting on Daryl's cheek, so she moved it to the back of his neck and pulled him closer, to finally close the gap. She kissed his lips. Both of their minds got blown, they were feeling like teenagers who have their first kiss. Their knees were trembling, butterflies in their stomachs. They were kissing for so long, in such a sweet manner.

…

Author's notes: I'm such a huge Carol x Daryl shipper haha! ❤ I was planning this scene for so long I wanted to stay true to their characters. I hope you like it! ❤

Listen to "The One" by Jeremy Renner. I always imagined Daryl would have a similar singing voice to Jeremy Renner's, if Daryl could sing. :D ❤

Also, listen to "Unconditionally" by Katy Perry. This one goes for Carol. ❤

Thank You for reading! ❤