When Daryl woke up the next morning, he had a smile on his face thinking about last night. He had been dreaming about Carol. They had been kissing like they had last night. But in the dream he had been running his hands over naked flesh, and she had writhing beneath him and begging him for something. For what, he didn't get to find out, because the blaring of his alarm clock had woke him.

Fuck, I need a cold shower, he thought.

He had told Carol how he felt. Well, not exactly how he felt. He hadn't told her that he loved her. He thought it might be too soon for that. Carol wasn't just his friend now. She was his girlfriend.

Was she his girlfriend? He said he wanted to be more than friends with her, then they had kissed. A lot. But he hadn't actually asked her to be his girlfriend.

He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed a hand across his face. Maybe he should ask her tonight, just to be sure. He thought of something just before he opened the bedroom door. He walked to his dresser and dug around until he found what he was looking for – his class ring. Would she even want to wear it? He wasn't sure if Carol would like something like that. Michonne wore Rick's on a chain around her neck, and she seemed to like it. Maybe he would give it to Carol tonight.

When he came downstairs, his hair was still dripping. He dried it as much as he could with a towel that he tossed into the laundry room. When he came into the kitchen his mom was standing in front of the fridge, where he had hung the picture Sophia had colored for him, admiring it.

"Sophia drew this?" she asked running her finger along the side of the paper.

"Yeah. Made it for me last night," he said while he poured a glass of orange juice.

"That's really nice. So, what'd you do last night?"

"Nothin' much. Watched a movie, ate dinner," he shrugged. "We got any cereal?" he asked, hoping he could distract her from asking any more questions.

"In the cabinet, where it always is." She jerked her head towards the cabinet next to the fridge. "So, you seemed pretty happy when you came home last night."

He glanced at her over his bowl. "I guess," he said, taking large bite of Lucky Charms.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with a certain redhead, would it?" She looked at over the rim of her coffee cup.

How the hell did she know these things? he thought.

"What do you know?"

"Nothing. I swear," she said. "Andrea came into the diner last night with some friends. She mentioned you two were having a date."

"Wasn't a date," he grumbled, knowing that's exactly what it was, even though he hadn't intended for it to start out that way.

"Whatever you say," she said, smirking at him while she put her cup in the sink.

"I gotta get ready for work now," he said, dumping his bowl and glass in the sink. He was hoping to get away before she asked any more questions.

"Alright," she said, putting her hands up in defeat. "I'll stop asking questions. But I do want you to ask Carol and Sophia to come over Thursday when Merle gets home so we can all have dinner together."

He nodded. "I'll ask," he said, making a quick exit.

After he finished getting ready, he grabbed the ring off his dresser and put it in his pocket. He was about to walk out the front door when his mom called him back.

"Yeah," he asked, turning to face her.

"Here," she said, holding a gold chain.

"What's this for?" he asked, taking it from her.

"Your ring. It's way too big for Carol's hand. You should put it on there so she can wear it around her neck."

"How did you…?" he began but then shook his head. "Never mind. Thanks," he said, giving her quick kiss on the cheek before heading out the door.

Mary smiled, watching her son. She loved seeing him so happy. He really deserved it after everything he'd been through. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him this happy, which is what made the phone call she got this morning all that more distressing. She knew she should have told him about it, but he'd been in such a good mood this morning and seemed so happy, she hadn't wanted to do anything to ruin it. It would keep…she hoped.

She sighed, pushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear, and went upstairs to get ready to start the day.

"Andrea!" called Carol from her bedroom. She was trying to brush Sophia's hair into pigtails, which wasn't an easy task with all the squirming around Sophia was doing.

"Yeah?" Andrea said, sticking her head into the room, a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

"I have to take my car over to the shop this morning for a tune-up. Could you follow me over there and drop me and Sophia off?" She asked, tying off Sophia's pigtails with one pink ribbon and one green since she had insisted on wearing two different colors.

"Sure, I can do that. Just let me know when you're ready." She walked back to the bathroom to rinse her mouth out before rejoining Carol in her room.

"Here, let me," Andrea said after watching Carol unsuccessfully try to put her hair into a ponytail. She brushed her hair back and held it tightly while she looked around for a ponytail holder.

"Here," Sophia said, holding out a ponytail holder.

"Thank you, sweetheart," said Andrea, taking the holder, and pulling Carol's hair back. "What else do we need?" she asked, addressing Sophia.

Sophia bit down on her bottom lip and hoisted herself into the chair in front of the mirror. She pushed around the items on the dresser until she found what she was looking for. "This." She held out a pink ribbon that matched the one in her own hair.

"Perfect," she said, tying off Carol's hair. "So, are you going to tell me what happened last night, or am I going to have to guess?"

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell," she said, leading Sophia to the bathroom so she could help her brush her teeth.

They had kissed a lot. It had been the best kiss of her life. Granted she didn't have that much experience. Even though she had a daughter, Daryl was only the third guy she had kissed. There was Jeremy Davis in sixth grade, right before she had come to live with Uncle Dale. But they had only done it because they were playing spin the bottle at a birthday party.

Then there was Sophia's father. No, she was not going to call him that. It was a title he didn't deserve. He hadn't wanted anything to do with her since the day Carol told him she was pregnant. In fact, the day Sophia was born he had sent papers over to the hospital signing away all of his parental rights. It had made her a little sad at first, thinking that a father wanted nothing to do with his child. But she had gotten over it pretty quickly because she had realized so many other people that cared about her and loved her. Daryl loved Sophia and she knew he would do anything for her. He had done more for her daughter than Sophia's so-called fathercould ever hope to do.

"So, there was kissing," said Andrea. "How was it?" she asked as they gathered up the things they would need for the day.

"It was…It was really good," she smiled, remembering last night. She had felt an unfamiliar warmth spread over her whole body. It felt so good that she had been disappointed when he said he needed to go home. But she knew he had been right. If he had stayed any longer, they might have ended up doing something that they weren't ready for.

"From that look on your face, I'll bet it was."

"He's coming over again tonight," said Carol, taking Sophia's hand and leading her out the door.

"Really? That's great! Tell you what, since Dale will be gone to a car show until Sunday and Amy wants to spend the night with Beth again, I'll find something to do tonight so I'll be out of your way."

"You don't have to that. It's your house, too."

"I don't mind. Oh, wait, I have a better idea. I'll watch Sophia tonight. You two go somewhere," said Andrea, helping Carol get Sophia settled into the car seat.

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You didn't ask, I offered. Now hurry up and accept before I change my mind," she said as she opened the door to her car.

"Alright. Thank you."

She pulled out of the driveway with Andrea right behind her.

When they pulled up to the shop Daryl was out front working on a car with Tyreese and Axel. Daryl looked up when he saw her pull in and started making his way over to her, wiping his hands on a rag as he went. His eyes swept up and down her body, taking in her appearance. She was wearing another skirt. And a red short sleeved shirt that buttoned up the front. How come he never noticed how good she looked before? The outfit wasn't revealing, not really. But he couldn't help but think about how hot she looking wearing it. Or what she might look like underneath it. Damn it, I need to get myself under control. He couldn't be thinking about those kinds of things while he was at work. Carol got out the car, transferring Sophia and her car seat to Andrea's car. Why didn't she do that before she left the house? She looked up to see Daryl making his way towards her. He was wearing coveralls. She had seen him wear them before, plenty of times. But there was something different about them now. She had always thought that Daryl was cute. But something about seeing him in those coveralls with his too long hair sticking to his forehead was doing funny things to her. He looked hot. She couldn't remember thinking that before. But she did now. "So, you actually remembered to bring it."

"Yes, I remembered," she said sarcastically. "You only told me ten times," she said, dropping the keys into his outstretched hand, which she held for a few seconds before letting go.

"It wasn't ten times. More like nine," he said shyly, ducking his head but looking at her through the hair hanging down in his eyes.

"If you say so," she said, smiling at him. "Oh. Andrea said she'd watch Sophia tonight for me, if we wanted to go somewhere."

"Yeah. What do you want to do?" He didn't mind hanging out her house. But he really did want to take her on a real date.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Figure it out later?" she asked.

"Fine with me."

She wanted to kiss him goodbye but she wasn't sure if he would want to do that in front of Andrea and the guys he worked with. "I better go. Andrea has to go to work after she drops me off."

"Okay. Pick you up at six?" he asked. He wanted to kiss her but she hadn't made any move to act like she wanted him to.

"Sounds good," she said as she began to turn. But he grabbed her arm and tugged her back to him pressing lips against hers and pushing his hand against the small of her back to pull her closer. She wound her arms his neck and tilted her head to the side, opening her mouth slightly. They didn't pull away until they heard the catcalls and whistles coming from Andrea, Tyreese and Axel.

Daryl turned around to glare at the guys, who quickly went back to pretending like they were working. He turned back to Carol whose cheeks had taken on a slightly pink tinge.

"See ya later," he said, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

She nodded. "Have good day."

He gave her one last quick kiss before turning and going back to work.