Hello people! I'm so glad you all seem to like this so much! It's been a long time coming. Anyway, things are still weird in this chapter and there's a mild smut warning. It's a crucial bit though. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope you're having a great weekend! =)

Stay

Carol woke up to a heavy arm wrapped around her and a warm body pressed against the front of hers. She was disoriented at first. Surely last night had been some sort of strange dream. Some very realistic, very unbelievable dream. Had he really kissed her like that? That wasn't Daryl Dixon. Daryl was still skittish when it came to casual touching most of the time. But who else would now be tangled up with her in their bed?

She opened her eyes slowly, sure that she was still dreaming. She had been almost positive that when she opened her eyes then she would be staring at the brick wall, her back pressed against the solid line of his own, her arms empty, as usual. But he was there, his face much less intimidating in sleep than it ever looked while he was awake. The leg that was shoved between her own shifted, his thigh pressing against parts of her that she had nearly forgotten existed.

The blanket that hung over the bars of their cell was thick, letting in very little of the light that shone through the windows throughout the cell block. But there was enough light for her to see his eyes open. She braced herself for whatever was about to come. In the cruel light of day surely he would be completely humiliated by what had transpired between them the night before. He would mask that humiliation with anger and he would direct that anger towards her, no doubt, in an attempt to banish it from his thoughts. She wracked her brain to try to think of a way for him to turn this around on her but she couldn't. He had initiated everything. But surely he wouldn't look at it that way today.

She was waiting for him to yank himself away from her and then bolt out of the cell like he had done the morning he woke up and was facing her in the bed. But he didn't do any of that. As a matter of fact she was sure the arm around her tightened slightly. He wasn't looking her in the eye but he rarely did. She was too afraid to move. Afraid of his anger, sure, but mostly afraid that the spell had been shattered and rejection was about to make an early morning appearance.

Things wouldn't be the same after this. Their friendship would take a fatal blow after what had happened in the dark. He would lock himself away once more. He would push her out and he wouldn't let her back in. But then suddenly she remembered something else. Something she was amazed she had let slip her mind. It was what they had talked about before he had kissed her. He wanted to leave and he wanted her to go with him.

"The look on your face right now tells me that if I wasn't holdin' ya down you'd be runnin' for the door." He whispered.

She let out the breath that she just realized she had been holding. He didn't sound angry or embarrassed. He didn't sound like he was about to bolt for the door. He sounded like he was a little worried that she was about to do the very same thing.

She shook her head quickly, still unable to believe that this wasn't something her mind was making up. Some cruel joke just for her. "There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be." She flinched, not meaning to say the thought out loud but when the corner of his mouth pulled up slightly she relaxed once more.

This was really happening. She had never even let herself think about anything like this. Knowing that it would never happen. She figured that he had given her everything he possibly could have. His trust. His loyalty. His friendship. Those were the things that kept her heart beating. She never ever thought of more than that. That was nothing but a let down waiting to happen. She didn't think there was another part of him to give. Never thought that maybe he would look at someone like her and think that it was where he belonged.

"You ain't changed your mind?" He asked as his hand slid down to her thigh.

She shook her head. He had to have felt her heart as it hammered hard and fast against his chest. "What about your brother?" She whispered.

"I'll find him." He said as he moved his leg in further, forcing her thigh to move high up on his hip.

He wasn't running. He wasn't yelling. He wasn't even grumbling. He was acting the exact same way he had acted the night before. But just like it had the night before it didn't feel quite real. Everything seemed to have a dreamy haze around it. "Do the others know?" She felt the traitorous tears filling her eyes and wondered vaguely if they would ever dry up completely. The thought of leaving them, leaving her family, was weighing heavily on her mind but she knew who she could and couldn't live without. This would be hard but she was used to that. That was their life now. Just a long series of hardships.

"Glenn knows." He said simply. "I wasn't sure if you were ready. Thought ya might be but I didn't wanna say anything to anybody else in case I was wrong."

"You weren't sure if I would go with you?" She asked, still not sure if she really wanted to leave everyone but absolutely sure that she would do what she had too to be with him. Even before he had ever kissed her. Hell, she would have left with him and Merle over a month ago if he had just came and asked her.

He shifted again, this time rolling her over and pinning her to the bed with half his body. "I wasn't sure if it was time. It's time now." He whispered. His face hovered just a few inches above hers and his lips brushed her face where the tears had left a wet trail before they found hers. His kiss was salty. Sad. This kiss tasted like grief.

She kept her arms around his neck, still hoping that she wouldn't wake up and discover that all of this was some sort of twisted dream. She had wanted this for a long long time and had stubbornly ignored it. Pretended that what they had was enough. But it never would have been. She would have always, deep down, wanted more of him. More than she thought he was ever capable of giving.

"I'm gonna tell'em today. If you're sure." He said when he finally broke the kiss.

She nodded and took a deep breath, savoring the smell of him.

"I gotta go. Rick still needs help. I'll do as much as I can today."

"Are you sure? Are you sure this is what you want? You want to leave?"

He shook his head slowly, eyes roaming down instead of meeting hers. "No. But it's what we have to do. You'll understand."

She was starting to think that she wouldn't understand anything anymore. She felt so torn. She felt like her thoughts were scattered and blowing away. Things seemed to be missing and she couldn't put her finger on it. He seemed to be different and she couldn't understand why. But she didn't voice any of these things. She simply nodded and kissed him quickly before he pulled away and sat up.

She studied the smooth lines of his muscled back greedily but there was something not quite right about what she was seeing. He was perfect, of course. But she had that nagging suspicion that things were missing again.

He stood up, shoving his arms quickly through his shirt and buttoning it hurriedly. He offered her one last smile before grabbing his crossbow and opening the door.

Carol sat straight up and squinted into the light that came in from the hallway. And that was exactly what she was looking at. An actual hallway. Through the open wooden door she could see a painting of some sort of pink flowers hung on a beige colored wall. And then it was gone. The cell door closed with an audible clang. A familiar sound. She let her head fall back down onto the pillows and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

What was happening to her? She felt her head but she didn't feel feverish. She didn't feel sick to her stomach and nothing hurt on her body. Whatever was wrong it was obvious that it was only her mind. Was she going crazy?

She opened her eyes once more and pushed the blankets off of her. The cell was dark once again, the blanket filtering the light. She lit the oil lamp and sat for a while on the edge of the bed, fighting down the panic that seemed to envelop every cell in her body. She couldn't be going crazy. If she was going to go crazy then she would have done it over a year ago after losing Sophia. It had to be something else. It had to be.

She pulled her own bag from under the bunk and dressed quickly. She hesitated by the door. What would she see when she opened it? Another place? Different people? She jumped when someone on the other side banged lightly against the bars.

She opened the door and blew out a relieved breath when she saw Rick standing on the other side. He gave her a sad smile. Daryl must have told him already.

"Morning, Rick." She smiled back and knew that hers was just as sad as his was.

He didn't say anything else. He just pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back, feeling like she would burst into tears at any moment. Despite their rocky start Rick was her brother now. She loved him and it left such an ache inside her to think of leaving him. His hand went to the side of her head and he kissed her cheek.

"I don't even know how to begin to thank you for everything you've done, Carol." He whispered.

"You've kept us alive, Rick. I'm gonna miss you so much." She held back a sob and was grateful that he didn't let her go yet. There was always so little time to tell one another how they felt about each other. They needed this now. She couldn't walk out of this prison until they all knew what they meant to her.

After a long time he dropped his arms and stepped away from her. "If somethin' ever happens, you have to promise you'll come back to us, alright?"

She nodded quickly and dabbed at her eyes. "I promise."

He nodded, kissed the hand that he had taken and then walked away, shoulders hunched, leaving her standing there watching after him. How was she going to do this? It felt like every one of them had a hook embedded in her heart. By tomorrow morning she was sure that it would be torn to shreds.

She made her way to the common room and watched all the people bustling around. Her and Daryl must have slept in but it didn't bother her today. She was ready to help. Ready to socialize now that she knew that she wouldn't have to deal with any of these Woodbury people again. She scanned the room for Daryl but he wasn't there. This was why she knew that she had to go with him. She would miss her group so much but she didn't think she could survive without him. She didn't care how stupid that made her sound. It was the truth.

Maggie came through the doorway with Glenn in tow. Carol smiled at them but the smile dried up on her face when Maggie's face fell and then crumpled as she rushed towards her. The girl nearly knocked her down. Carol wrapped her arms around her waist and hugged her. Maggie and her had never really been as close as Carol and Beth had gotten but she understood why Maggie was so upset. There were so few of them left. The originals. It was even worse for Rick and Glenn. The few that had been together from the very start of it.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." Maggie cried into her shoulder. "But I'm happy for you. You deserve this."

Carol was so confused at her words but really too choked up to respond to them. What did she mean? That she was happy for her that Daryl finally made his feelings clear or happy that she was able to leave the prison? Was her misery in this place that obvious?

"I'm gonna miss you too, honey." She said as she stroked Maggie's hair.

Eventually Maggie let her go and they all got to work on surviving another day. Sometimes she would get so caught up in her work that the sounds of everyone around her became like white noise in the background. That happened often but suddenly the white noise was gone once again and was replaced by that dead silence just like in the dream she had the night before. It was like she had gone deaf.

"Mom?"

She spun around at the sound of Sophia's voice. The girl was standing there, clutching a doll to her chest. She looked just like she had looked in the dream. Unbelievably real. Vivid.

"I need you." Sophia said miserably.

Carol closed her eyes tightly. Someone caught her hand and suddenly the noise of the prison was filling her ears bringing her back around. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up into Daryl's worried face.

"You with me?" He asked.

She nodded, knowing how she must look. "I just saw..."

"I know. Just stay with me, okay?" He said quietly.

"Daryl, you shouldn't..." Maggie appeared behind him but Daryl spun around.

"Don't. Just mind your own fuckin' business, you understand?"

Maggie's lips formed a hard line but she walked away with the slightest shake of her head, not sticking around to say another word to him.

He faced her again. "You're with me, right?"

She felt the frown on her face but she nodded.

He dropped her hand and was gone out the door once more. He was helping Rick. She was suppose to be getting her own chores done. Instead she was standing there like a moron. She shook her head, her heart hurting from the vision of Sophia. She was starting to think that it must be the prison. She needed to get out of the prison. It had to be the problem. It was driving her crazy. She would keep her mind on her work and when that was done she would just think about what her and Daryl would do out there while they looked for Merle.

She had just put Judith down for a nap when she walked out of Rick's cell and ran smack into Tyreese. He chuckled as he steadied her.

"Just the lady I was lookin' for." He smiled.

"What can I do for you?" She asked with a small smile of her own. She had just been trying to think of something else she could dive into to occupy her mind.

"I heard that you were leaving in the morning. I was thinking that, since I have to do a perimeter check, that maybe you'd like to go along? It wont take long and I don't know if I'll get my chance to talk to you again before you leave us."

She thought about it for a few seconds and then nodded. It would do her some good to get outside for a bit and as long as she had him to talk to then she wouldn't be left with her own thoughts to torment her.

She stopped off to grab a sweater from her cell and then they were on their way outside. Tyreese was usually chatty and Carol enjoyed talking to him but Daryl seemed to dislike the man for some reason. Every time she was near him Daryl would usually glare at them until Carol would cut the conversation short and then scurry off to their cell where he would usually give her the silent treatment for a while.

It never occurred to her that maybe he was jealous. The thought almost made her laugh out loud now.

"So, this is really what you want? To go back out there?" Tyreese asked her as they made their way towards the fence.

She looked out past the fences at the walkers that stumbled about. Not looking away from them she nodded. "It's time." She said quietly, not even finding it strange that she worded it that way.

He sighed. "Well, I hope you find everything you're looking for out there." He said quietly as they made their rounds.

"I hope so too." She said as she pulled the sweater tighter around her slender frame.

"Does your man have anywhere specific in mind?" He asked after a few minutes of dreaded silence.

"I don't really know." She said, almost smiling at the term he used.

After those few loaded questions Tyreese decided to go another route for conversation and, blessedly, decided to talk Carol's ear off about everything from football to apple pie recipes. She was grateful for his chatter and even spent more time with him after his perimeter check was over. She didn't see Daryl again until dinner was ready and the throngs of people lined up to get their meals.

She was already seated with Tyreese and his sister so Daryl grabbed a plate and sat down with her. He wasn't giving the big man the evil eye. He actually nodded towards him after taking his seat next to her.

"Did you get everything done that Rick needed help with?" She asked after the silence went on for longer than she was comfortable with. She was dreading trying to sleep later.

He nodded but said nothing until he was done. "You told everybody bye yet?" He asked without looking at her.

She shook her head, not looking forward to saying goodbye to the rest of them. But she knew she would have too. It didn't take them long to start showing up either. Beth was first, coming right to the table with Judith in her arms. She passed Judith off to Tyreese and then flung herself into Carol's arms just as Maggie had earlier. She couldn't hold it back this time. She cried as she held the sobbing girl.

After Beth calmed herself she took the baby back and disappeared into her cell. But Carol's emotional goodbyes did not end there. The last one to finally approach her was Carl. He was probably the hardest one. She had watched him age right before her eyes. He was no longer anything like that boy that had been Sophia's friend at the quarry.

"Tell her hi for me, okay?" he whispered into her ear when he finally hugged her.

"Who?" She asked as she wiped tears away.

"Sophia." He backed up a few feet and then he was gone. He walked past Rick without a word, which was typical. Carol watched him go. She felt to tired to try to understand why he had said that to her. Daryl made an angry sound in the back of his throat as he glared at Carl's back.

A lot of people had cleared out and she was beyond ready to get back to their cell where everything was relatively normal. Or had been up until last night. She made her way up the steps slowly since her vision wasn't so great with the tears still flooding her eyes. Daryl was behind her. She felt his hand on her back and she almost turned to ask what he was doing. She wasn't used to him being like this. Not just with her either. It had taken him months to not flinch from any kind of contact and now he was touching her. She kept going without looking at him.

"You gonna be alright?" He asked when he shut the cell door behind him.

She wiped at her eyes once more and nodded before looking up at him.

He wasn't there. She was looking at a dimly lit peach colored wall. A single chair sat against it. She blinked and then Daryl was right there, inches away, his hands on each side of her face and his eyes intense. "You can't go yet." He breathed and before she could say anything at all his lips were on hers, soft but insistent. She wanted to ask him what he was talking about and she wanted to understand why all these weird things were happening to her.

She was about to pull away, even though she didn't want too. She could have kissed him for as long as she lived and not minded but she was starting to feel dizzy. She was light headed and felt completely disoriented until she felt his hands slip under the back of her shirt. As soon as his hands touched her skin everything seemed to settle. She relaxed against the front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back hungrily. He would make it better. He would make sure she was fine. He would take care of her.

His mouth left hers, lips trailing down to her neck, hands sliding over her ribcage. "Daryl, I think there's something wrong with me." She whispered and then she moved her head to the side, giving him more access.

His hands gripped her sides almost painfully. "You're gonna be fine. Don't think about it. Think about me." He whispered into her ear right before he claimed her lips once more.

She did as he said. She thought about the way his mouth moved on hers. She thought about how long she had secretly wondered how they would feel against hers. She thought about the way his rough hands were gliding over the skin of her back. His muscles were tense under her hands as he pulled her even closer.

She stopped thinking about why. Why was he doing this now. Why was he acting so desperate.

She brought her hands from around his neck, her fingers hesitating over the button on his shirt. He nodded without breaking the kiss so she undid the buttons, her hands clumsy and shaking. He let go of her long enough for her to push the shirt down over his shoulders where it fell to the floor with a soft sound.

He pulled his face away and pulled her own shirt over her head. His lips were on her shoulder, her collar bone, her neck. Her hands went to his hair. Her head was spinning again, not because something was wrong with her but because she couldn't believe this was happening. She let him unbutton her jeans and push them down over her hips.

She was really glad she took her time and put that razor to good use because as soon as she stepped out of her jeans his hands were moving all over her. There was one thing about living in a world where you had to be concerned that the dead will break through your defenses and eat you alive. You stopped thinking about certain things. Things like getting touched by a man. A man that you'd dreamed about for a year. A man that seemed to somehow know exactly how to touch you.

She felt her knees growing week and it was like he could read her mind. He moved his hand away and then walked her backwards towards the bunk. He never once broke their kiss until her head touched the pillow and his lips moved from her mouth to her ear once more as he braced himself on his forearms.

"Is this what ya want?" He whispered, sending a jolt through her.

She nodded, eyes wide, not sure if she would ever find her voice again. It was so strange that there was no hesitation. She never dreamed that he could be like this. It was something she could have never imagined. But there he was. Bracing himself with one arm while he went for the button on his pants with his other hand.

He struggled out of his pants, causing him to actually chuckle as he tried to free himself from them. She couldn't help but grin at him. When he was finally free he was kissing her again. Her body was screaming for him. She'd never needed anything so bad in her life. Not food or water or air. She had to feel all of him.

She felt him pressing against her, so close, but he pulled his mouth away from hers once more and went to her ear. "You gotta promise me you're gonna try to stay with me. Say it"

She didn't understand what he was talking about but she agreed. "I promise. I promise I'll stay with you." She breathed.

He raised his head then, eyes locked on hers, an expression she had never seen in them before. And then he pushed himself into her, eyes darkening and breath catching in his throat. She felt her eyes roll back as he filled her, a small cry escaping her throat before his lips were on hers again. She'd never felt anything so good in her life. Like they were made to fit together perfectly.

He moved slow and she matched every move he made, like she knew what he was about to do before he even did. When she felt that pressure building up inside her she dug her nails into his back. His mouth dropped to her chest. As soon as his mouth covered the top of her breast she arched into him and then gasped. He drove into her quicker then, moving his mouth back up to cover her cries. She couldn't stop so she kissed him back, broken sounds muffled by his lips as he drove into faster, harder, her body jerking and twitching as she was crushed by a pleasure she had never even known existed.

The only indication he gave was a low growl in his throat as his body tensed, and then she felt him as he came with her. His kiss grew deeper, less frantic as he slowed and then finally stilled over her. She was just coming down herself as she raked her nails gently across the back of his neck when his head fell onto her chest. He stayed right there for a while, until their breathing became even once more and their hearts weren't hammering as hard.

He eventually rolled off of her, onto his side, pulling her against him in the same movement. Her back was pressed against his chest and his finger twined around hers. His lips grazed her shoulder all the way up to her neck.

"You okay now?" He whispered.

She nodded, a small smile on her face that he couldn't see. She squeezed his fingers with her own. "We're gonna be just fine." She whispered back.