After tonight's election...I really need to relieve some stress, so I turned to writing. Not to insult anyone, but I'm terrified for this country and the path that it has chosen. God help us...save us from ourselves.

I'm sorry, America...we tried to save you. I love this country, and I'll fight for my home, but I will not let this government take me down with it, I'll die first.

I will now come down off my soapbox, a sad and disillusioned American, and prepare to fight for my freedoms with everything that is in me...even with my life. We need a revolution.

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Now that there was a new mouth to feed, Daryl took it upon himself to go out hunting far more often and for longer periods of time so that Lori could get some nutrition back to better provide for baby Judith. He usually managed to bring back a good amount of food on those days where he was gone during every bit of sunlight possible and Rick's appreciation was obvious in the look he gave Daryl whenever he would walk through that hole in the fence safely and in one piece. Truth be told, however, Daryl wasn't looking for gratitude, and it wasn't JUST to provide food...it was also to get some space from Carol.

He'd never admit it, but she'd scared the crap out of him with that little stunt in the showers. At the time, he'd never even given a thought about what almost happened, but once the excitement of the baby being born had died down he was completely overcome with embarrassment and fear of Maggie telling everyone what she'd seen. He was ashamed, not shame over who but over what, and he didn't want the whole world knowing about what had almost gone down in those showers.

So he decided it would be best if he just avoided her altogether these past few days. She was busy helping with the baby so he assumed she was too busy to notice and he was glad because he didn't want to hurt her feelings by staying away from her but, damn it, he just couldn't face her. He didn't know what the hell she wanted from him but he was pretty sure he was not qualified to give it to her, surely he wasn't even remotely her type.

Unfortunately, Carol had noticed his distance and today when he returned from his hunt with the string of squirrels, rabbits and a beaver, she was determined to corner and confront him. He saw it in her eyes the moment he stepped in the yard, she was sitting on the grass with the rest of the ladies doing mending and such on all the worn clothes in the warmth of the Georgia Spring. As he walked past, she followed him with her gaze and he suddenly felt very self conscious about how he walked and found his legs started to stiffen as his nervousness increased.

"Carol, you wanna come cook these or not?" he called back gruffly, giving her the chance to follow if she felt she needed to. He figured it would be best to get this confrontation over with in the privacy of the kitchen while everyone else was outside. Her footsteps approached him quickly and she slowed into step slightly behind him as they made their way into the cell block.

When they reached the kitchen, Carol immediately pulled out pans to put the meat in once Daryl skinned them properly and Daryl laid the string of animals on the stainless steel prep area and pulled out his buck knife to do just that. He worked in silence, waiting for her to speak because he could hear her back there sighing and fiddling around doing nothing beside move stuff around, he knew she was organizing her thoughts.

"Are you avoiding me, Daryl?" her small voice suddenly reached his ears and he felt a tiny bit of tension disappear from his shoulders. He didn't speak, because he knew she had much more to say. Sure enough, she came over and stood on the other side of the table to look at him with big, tear filled blue eyes.

"Aw, fuck's sake," Daryl sighed, looking at her face as it twisted with sadness.

"If you don't find me attractive, why can't you just tell me?" Carol asked with a choked voice, "I mean, you've had plenty of time. If you don't want me around, you should just say it because being avoided and not knowing one way or the other hurts worse than just admitting that you don't want me like I want you. I mean, I know I'm older than you and I know my hair isn't long and flowing and blonde, and I know I'm as skinny as a rail and I know I'm used goods, but I still thought maybe we had something between us."

Daryl stared at her in utter disbelief the whole time she was spouting her tirade at him, watching the way her bottom lip quivered every time paused to take a breath and the way her fingertips pressed firmly into the table as she neared the end of her speech, but mostly he watched the way her tears slid down her cheeks and left little puddles on the steel of the table.

"Carol, are you crazy?" Daryl sighed, running his hand down his face and placing both palms down on the table to lean forward on them.

"I'm beginning to think so," Carol admitted softly, she looked off towards the barred window and bit her bottom lip in an effort to stop the quivering.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Daryl snapped, then he looked down, squinting in annoyance at his unintentional sharp tone. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I meant, you're crazy if ya think I see ya like that. You ain't used goods and I don't ever want to hear you say that again. And for your information, I never did have a thing for blondes anyhow!"

He pushed off of the table and came around, turning Carol around by the shoulders to face him. He stood at arm's length from her and allowed himself to look her up and down, taking in every inch.

"I just...don't know how to do this," he admitted quietly as he looked down at the floor. "I ain't ever had to look out for anyone but myself. It ain't that I don't find ya attractive, because I fuckin' do, it's just...I don't know how to be who you want me to be."

He waited for her to reply, but she didn't, she didn't even move an inch and so he finally worked up the courage to look at her face. He braced himself for the look of agreement or annoyance...but he found those blue eyes of hers locked on his full of understanding and something close to humor. She smiled slightly.

"You're exactly who I want you to be," she said softly, "Just the way you are."

Daryl didn't even know what to say to that so he just stood there with his hands resting on her shoulders the way they'd been since he walked around to the table to her and blinked in disbelief. Did she honestly not care how awkward he was? Did she not get embarrassed by his outbursts, harsh language and rough attitude? Was she saying that he WAS exactly what she wanted?

"In case that brain of yours is trying to figure out if I'm telling the truth or not, I most definitely am," Carol assured him after a long period of silence.

"But...I ain't..." Daryl started to reason with her but she didn't let him speak. She gripped him firmly by his biceps and leaned forward on her tiptoes, cutting him off by covering his mouth with hers.

Daryl was surprised, shocked even. His eyes went wide and his entire body tensed at the sudden and definite contact, her body came forward to press into him, inch for inch, and he felt lightheaded with disbelief. Finally, he let himself relax slightly and Carol pulled back to look at him with a puzzled look.

"Aren't you gonna kiss me back?" she asked quietly, but he noticed she didn't look unsure. She KNEW he had been unprepared and she KNEW he wasn't use to physical contact like this and she wasn't rushing him, that question was more than just a question, it was a quite understanding that she would wait till he was ready if he wanted. But he didn't want to wait anymore...he knew what he wanted now, what he'd wanted for so long, to let her know how he felt about her.

When he pulled her face back to his and started a long, slow, kiss he tried to put aside all thoughts on insecurity and unsure feelings and just kiss her according to how he felt at that moment. And so that sweet, gentle kiss soon became ravenous as they both poured out the long denied feelings they'd kept inside for so long, the majority of the aggression came from him, he realized.

"Daryl," Carol pulled back and whispered, "Please don't do this to me if you're just going to walk away and pretend this never happened again. I don't know if I can handle it again."

The silence that filled the air after that statement was heavy and disconcerting and Carol, felt her heart sink as it lingered on and on while Daryl stood there motionless and eyes closed. She decided to put some space between them, possibly to make the rejection less painful when he finally voiced it...but she felt herself pulled firmly back into his chest, colliding with him audibly with a thump sound. He looked at her with slight panic in his eyes.

"I ain't walkin' away," he said quickly, "You see me walkin' out?"

Carol looked at him hopefully.

"But...I don't know if I'm ready for everyone t' know about us," he whispered then, wondering himself how he could be so worried about what people thought. Hell, he was lucky Maggie had decided to keep her trap shut about the shower incident.

"Why?" Carol whispered back, "Why does it matter what they think?"

"Ya readin' my mind or somethin'?" Daryl asked in amazement. "I...don't even know why. I just...don't know how to be what ya'll expect."

"Well, heck, Daryl," Carol laughed, "That's one of the best things about you, you're never what we expect."

Daryl didn't know what to say to that, so he decided not to say anything at all, he just rested his chin on her head and sighed. They stood there in silence, pressed against each other for a long moment before Carol pulled away and gave him a sad little smile.

"I think you know where I stand, Daryl," she said softly, her hand came up to rest on the side of his face as she nodded slowly. "But I can tell you're not ready. Don't feel bad about it, ok? I understand and I'll just be waiting until you are."

Daryl watched her leave the kitchen, a huge lump in his throat preventing him from calling her back and claiming out loud to her all the things running through his mind. He wanted her. He wasn't ashamed. He had insane feelings for her...he might even love her. But he remained silent and the door shut behind her, ending his chance to let her know how he felt.

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Well, I'm still wide awake so I think I'll write another chapter tonight :D