Author's note!
So JackAndHoney wanted Daryl and Carol to have a heart-to-heart about Merle and themselves...
And this drabble happened.
I have no idea what it is, I swear I set out fully intending to fulfill the prompt! Honest!
*sobs* Ugh...On to the replies lol.

dirty-icing- Well thank you! I have a couple more richonne-y prompts up my sleeve...Glad you liked.

zombieslayer5- Thanks! It has it's fun points (*cough* Rick always staring at her chest *cough*) but I believe there will be angst because DAMMIT KIRKMAN lol.

zombiefeak21- Thanks? Lol yeah, killing Michonne is never fun :P

crystal2817- Thank you :)

LaurenEmilyxxx- Agreed! Though I never blamed Lori for the Shane-thing (it was just an awkward situation, could've been handled better on all fronts) the mindgames were a bit much...Michonne is much more of a straight shooter.

LittleMissEmerald- Thank you, I plan on keeping it up, I have quite a few prompts to fill...No YOU rock :)

zenofbeingmommy- Thank you very much, I am a huge fan of the richonne ship, favorite Michonne ship I've come across (though merchonne amused me from a ficcy point of view) and caryl is love.

Anywho..Thank you all so much for the feedbacking and following and favoriting...Much appreciated.
Hope ya'll like this drabble- but don't get your hopes up because lord only knows what this became lol.
Enjoy (maybe) and please review either way!

So Hard

Nobody said it was easy.
No one ever said it would be so hard.
The Scientist- Coldplay

The silence while they waited for The Governor to make his move was almost painfully long and eerily still.
From their vantage point within the cage it seemed like even the walkers had quieted, some of them standing in place as though they too were waiting.
It was unsettling, the silence, the sense of something building. The calm before the storm, she thought, remembering the cliched term for it.
More like the calm before the hurricane, if what Merle had imparted to them about their foe was true.
Merle. The thought of Daryls brothers recent sacrifice had Carol turning towards him, studying the furrow in his brow, the shadow in his eyes that had become ever-present since he'd found the shambling corpse. All that had remained of the only blood he had.
He'd found a family in the group, a place. But this wouldn't help ease the cruel sting of the loss he'd suffered, the truth of the matter plain in his gaze.

"I might of been wrong, you know," she spoke suddenly. "About Merle."

He gave her a quick, unreadable glance before focusing back on the field. "Whaddaya mean?"

"When I said he wasn't good for you..."

Daryl scoffed at that. "Wha', ya figure out he was a saint all of a sudden?" He turned away from her. "Didn't ask fer yer sympathy, I know ya'll hated 'im, after wha' happened wit' Glenn and Maggie...Don't blame ya."

She shook her head. "I never hated him Daryl what happened...Well, it happened. It was done with, nothing we could do about it anymore." She stared at him, but his eyes refused to meet hers, lost in their own universe. "We talked, me and him, you know...Before."

That regained his attention, he peered back up at her through the fringe of his too-long and unruly bangs. "And?"

"He was trying Daryl. To fix things. In his own way. He wasn't a bad person, he was just...Merle."

He chuckled, the noise coming out more bitter and wistful than amused. "Yeah. Merle always was 'is own animal."

"I'm just saying, nobody blames you for mourning him." She took a deep breath, choosing her next words carefully. "They'll understand if you need...Closure."

Daryl was tearing into his thumbnail as she spoke, perplexed until realization settled upon him and he looked up at her with a cold acceptance.

"I know. I just...I didn't wanna bury tha'...Thin'. Didn' want it under a marker wit' my brother's name on it." He shook his head slowly, reaching into his chest pocket to pull out a packet of cigarettes, grimacing as he lit it and placed it between his lips. "Tha' weren't Merle, didn' want 'im bein' remembered as..."

"I understand Daryl," Carol finished for him, tone soothing as she put a light hand on his shoulder.

Because she did, it was exactly her fear when she'd refused to attend Sophias funeral, that she'd never again be able to remember her baby as anything but a monster. The fear that the image of a starving, rotten corpse would overshadow the memories of her beautiful girl laughing, smiling, living.

He nodded, mumbling. "Look, 'm sorry 'bout how I acted when..." He swallowed, mind on Sophia as well as his brother now. "I didn't get it is all."

"It's okay."

"Naw, it ain't."

"No Daryl, it is." She insisted, forcing him to meet her stare head-on. "You didn't understand Daryl, you couldn't of- God, no one should. It's okay.
You'll be okay."

His voice cracked a little when he answered her and she felt her heartstrings tug with the quiver in his words.

"I ain't sure."

Carol let her fingers wrap around his wrist, voice firm, hold steady. "You will be Daryl. This won't break you. I won't let it."

Daryl gave her a careful, shaky nod, expression trusting. She let her hand drift down to clasp his for a moment, before they heard the gunfire and broke apart, preparing themselves. But Carol smiled to herself. He hadn't flinched away. He trusted her to lead him through this.
So she would.