It was almost dusk when Daryl heard the heavy footfalls coming up the steps. His spot in the tower was usually his alone and he liked the quiet, but tonight's company was expected. Had been requested specifically and Daryl nervously tapped his own boots against the dirty floor while he waited.
He'd gone over what he was going to say a hundred times in his head and still had no clue what would come out of his mouth when Rick's head popped up into view and the other man climbed into the tower with him.
The evening was a peaceful one, nothing on the other side of the wall except rabbits and squirrels and the occasional bird. Rick took up a spot next to him, both sets of eyes peering out into the space beyond and neither one saying much of anything just yet.
Daryl shifted his weight, cast a side long glance in Rick's direction and tried to slow the rapid thumping of his own heart. Was about to open his mouth and see what happened when he was beaten to the punch by Rick who spoke into the darkness without turning.
"When?"
Daryl let out a heavy breath. "Tomorrow morning."
Rick nodded at this, finally turning his head to meet Daryl's eyes and his expression was softer than he'd expected it would be. "It's all right. We'll be ok. Honestly…you lasted longer than I thought you would."
Daryl squinted at that. "Whatdya mean?"
"Been two weeks. Saw it the day we left, how you didn't wanna go. Shoulda said something then but I was being selfish. Wanted you here with us, felt safer about all this with you by my side should something go wrong but…I knew. I already knew."
Daryl pondered this new piece of information. Rick had known. Apparently everyone with eyeballs had known because he certainly had no shortage of people trying to give him advice or lend a sympathetic yet unwanted ear. Faith and Aaron had been more vocal about it, trying in their own ways to get him to open up, but while Rick had been silent he clearly knew just as well as the others.
"You didn't say nothing, but neither did I."
And he hadn't. Had gotten into the car and drove away and never said a word to anyone about how difficult it was or how he'd regretted it every moment since then.
At first, he expected it to get better. That time would soothe the ache and his thoughts would drift less and less to her and more toward the new life they were making here. If anything it had only gotten worse. Carol was the first thing he thought of in the morning and the last thing he pictured at night and all the moments in-between were no different. It was a constant weight on his chest that he was unable to shake no matter how hard he tried.
In the end it wasn't something big that spurred him into action. No heartfelt speech from someone else about grabbing life by the balls. No near death experience. No examples of other people blissfully wrapped up in each other to kick his brain into high gear and show him what he was missing.
The turning point was much smaller than that. It snuck up on him at random. Crawled up the tower one easy, quiet night while he stood watch and smacked him lightly upside the head.
He simply didn't want to spend another day without her and decided to stop pretending he could.
The fact that Rick was ahead of the game and already knew his intentions was both a surprise and a relief. Daryl wasn't sure he could have argued about it. Didn't want to leave this place behind on anything but good terms. Was more than grateful he wouldn't have too.
Rick stood back from the railing and clasped him on the shoulder. "Tell her we miss her. That she's always welcome here. That goes for both of you, if you ever change your mind."
"I'll tell her."
For a moment Rick look conflicted, like he would pull him into a hug or backtrack and ask him to reconsider but he only gave a half smile and headed back down the steps, disappearing from the tower and leaving Daryl alone to finish out his shift on watch.
The night dragged on slower than ever and he could only sit and wait, counting the minutes until he'd be able to leave Alexandria behind and start moving forward with her.
The next morning Daryl was packed and ready to leave before the sun even struggled into view. The night before, even after his conversation with Rick he had been slightly unsure of his decision. Worried he was leaving the others too soon, before they'd settled enough, before it was really safe. Worried about the reception he'd get when he arrived at the farm. But today those thoughts gave way to nothing but excitement and waiting until after dawn was a monumental task.
Daryl was never one for goodbyes. Trusted that Rick would tell the others and that they would forgive him for not doing it himself. The one person he did speak to was Aaron, asking to take the bike for longer than a few days and promising to bring it back when he was able.
Aaron had only smiled and nodded and told him good luck. Not for the first time Daryl wondered how everyone else seemed to be so far ahead of him when it came to his decisions regarding Carol.
He was already on the bike, ready to rev the engine and get the hell out of dodge when Aaron jogged up, holding an envelope and struggling for breath.
"Oh good, I caught you. I have something for Buffy, if you don't mind giving it to her. It's an outline of what we have available to trade, she asked me to put something together last time we spoke."
Daryl nodded and tucked the paper away in his pocket. "Will do."
"Have a safe trip."
Aaron received a grunt of acknowledgment in return, the roar of the bike eliminating further conversation.
When Daryl passed through the gates only thoughts of the future passed along with him.
The greeting he received as he rode up to the farm was exactly what he expected. Several of the girls blocked the way, pointing weapons at him and looking entirely too imposing for their own good until they realized who it was and wariness gave way to expressions of surprise.
Daryl rolled the bike up to the front of the house quietly, not wanting to make a scene with the loud engine and left it there as he headed for the first place in his mental list of options for where she might be.
The shed was quiet and still from the outside but he took his chances anyway and softly pushed open the small door. The sight of her with her back to him in the kitchen nearly took his breath away and she hadn't even looked at him yet.
"Dawn? Did you find the thing? It was there last time I looked but I don't know. It could have grown legs and walked away on it's own…"
She'd turned then, facing him mid sentence and sucking in a hard breath when her eyes landed on his face.
Carol's hand gripped the edge of the kitchen counter, expression compiled of a dozen different emotions that he wouldn't be able to place if he tried. So he didn't. Just watched her watching him and he wouldn't have been surprised if his own face mirrored hers.
"What's wrong? Is everything ok? Did something happen?"
She snapped out of her stupor and approached him cautiously, suddenly terrified. Her eyes searching his for reasons why he would be standing here when he'd left for good only two weeks prior. Naturally conjuring up the worst.
"Nothin' happened."
His words were calm and easy and he waited for her to put the pieces together on her own. Half because he wasn't sure he could explain it and half because he wanted to know that she would. That the conclusion was just as obvious as he thought it should be.
He could see her brow creasing, knitting together in the middle while she ran through possibilities. Saw the moment when she landed on the right one and turned from confused to knowing.
"You can't. You can't be here. You belong…"
"Here. I belong here. With you." He cut her off before she could finish. His matter of fact tone slicing through the tension and bridging the space between them. Bought a hand up to her cheek, stroking the pad of his thumb there and watched as her resolve crumbled beneath his fingertips.
Her voice was barely a whisper when she spoke, hopeful and disbelieving all at once as her eyes bore into his. "Are you sure?"
"Never been so sure of anything." He paused, his own self doubt nagging at him for a split second and he couldn't stop the next words from tumbling out. "If you'll have me."
She smiled then and he knew it was genuine because it crinkled her eyes and washed away the apprehension that previously clouded her features. Small hands with tapered fingers went to the sides of his face, pausing for a moment before pulling him to her and responding with a gentle press of her lips against his own. Slow and sweet and everything he thought it would be.
The words she breathed into his mouth once they parted soothed every ounce of him that could have held a doubt.
"Welcome home."
"You all owe me the next bag of red vines." Faith flashed a smug grin to Buffy, Dawn and Xander as they gathered around the kitchen island.
"What? No way. I said two weeks! I called that!" Dawn folded her arms, glaring at Faith.
"Technically it's not midnight yet so it's still only thirteen days which means my guess of 10 days wins."
"I don't think this works how you think it works."
"Pshhh, we have rules here, Little D. And the rules say my bet on how long it'll take Dixon to come back wins this round."
"This game is rigged."
Faith only laughed at Dawn and Buffy just smiled. "I'm not getting involved in this. I already lost with my three day guesstimation."
Xander nodded. "Yeah, I gave it a month so clearly I'm out of this race too."
Faith sighed. "All right, double or nothing. Next bet is how long it'll take them to start making the shed shake."
Dawn wrinkled her nose. "You're so wrong." Tilted her head and raised an eyebrow before continuing. "I say tonight."
Faith clapped her hands together loudly and jumped down off the counter, pointing at Dawn with confidence. "You're on! I give it a week and once it happens we won't see either of them for days. They'll totally disappear in there."
Placing of bets and discussions on how the results would be judged continued for the next several minutes, unknown to anyone that this particular game would have a clear winner in the not so distant future.
Later that night moonlight filtered through the windows of the tiny shed Daryl and Carol shared, illuminating long stretches of bare skin. She had finally gotten him to share the bed with her, only this time it didn't take any coaxing at all.
A trail of clothes and undergarments lead the way from the door to the bedroom, telling the story of what occurred only a few hours earlier.
His arm curled around her waist as he pressed himself along her back and she covered it with one of her own. Puffs of breath on the back of her neck sent a shiver down her spine and he shifted the blankets higher over them before pulling her closer. "Cold?"
The corners of her mouth turned up and she snuggled into the warmth that radiated out from him and seeped into her own skin. "I'm good."
End Notes:
That's it for this one ya'll. And Faith was half right, no one is gonna see them for days ;)