Chapter five. Proof

A/N: I swear they are getting out of his room. This chapter covers more things they needed to talk about and a little of their back story. Warning for Language and talk of prior drug use.

I do not own The Walking Dead but I wish I did.

Later they sat Indian style across from each other on the bed, there was an ashtray and a water bottle between them. She had on a black tank top that was his and her underwear on. He was in his boxers and no shirt. He was smoking a cigarette and she reached for it.

They had opened the window, because this was a no smoking dorm. He was friends with Tyreese and Milton but he didn't want to push his luck. Plus the RA Sasha, Ty's sister was not a rule breaker. She had eyes in the back of her head and could spot you fucking up a mile away. So when he smoked he blew it out the window, hoping no one in the parking lot noticed. He saw Bob down in the parking lot smoking sometimes when he was doing that, Sasha was his girlfriend and even he didn't even risk smoking in the dorms.

"You don't smoke." He said.

"Humor me, will ya." She looked up at him.

"Ha." He handed her the cigarette and she took a drag.

"What? It's been a long night" She looked down shaking her head and them both laughed.

"You need a smoke after, damn." He smiled, nodding his head.

"Shut up you cocky fuck." She laughed harder and swatted at his leg.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think I'm gonna be able to keep my hands off you ever again." He looked up and her. His eyes big and soft. "Not even kidding. It's bad. I knew it would be."

He shook his head.

"Ed better stay away or he and I are gonna have a big problem." He said.

"Why don't you just piss on my leg?" She laughed.

"If I have to." He shrugged.

"Charming." She took a drag of the cigarette." and you're so possessive, what about your two floozies, how are they gonna like this new thing. Whatever it is?"

"Told ya last night I'm done with them, been done a while now."

"Can I ask you something else?" She brought her hand to her face to stifle a giggle.

"Ya know you can, and no I never fucked them both at the same time." He smiled laughing.

"That's not what Amy said, I'm not judging okay, we don't judge each other, just asking."

"She made that up, something to do with the sorority they were pledging. I just had the bad luck of knowing both of them while they were pledging. I'm an innocent bystander." He laughed as she rolled her eyes." Go ahead roll your eyes all you want. Those two are really wacked though. But whatever we were all over 21." He shrugged.

"Don't they do volunteer work and sew pillows anymore like back in the day, never mind." She put her hand up. "I knew there was a reason I didn't pledge, now I know."

Then her eyes got big and wide. "Oh my God we didn't use condoms." She covered her face.

"You're on the pill." He shrugged like it was no big deal. "And I always used them before, so you don't gotta worry, I won't be giving you the clap, that's Merle's gig not mine."

"See this is what is freaking me out, you knew I was on the pill, you know my class schedule. I forgot about protection. But I know about Merle's clap. Now you want me to dump B.O.B. "She laughed. Then she turned to look at him dead on. "Look, I'm not getting into any weird three way things with you. Just so you know right from the jump."

"Wouldn't it be a four way? You know the blonde, the brunette, you're the red head and me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "That's not a bad Idea..."

"Fuck you Daryl." She laughed.

"I think you just did. More than once," He watched her face go red again and her eyes grow large but her knew she was exaggerating her response for effect." Superbly too."

"I know I walked into that one." She took a drag from the cigarette.

He nodded. "Ya did."

She handed the cigarette back to him.

"I'm done with them, like you're done with that asshole jock." He said simply.

He moved to sit against the wall and motioned her to sit with her back to him between his legs, they still had the ashtray next to them.

"I'm sorry I've been teasing you all day, I don't mean anything by it."

"Me either." She laughed. "It's ok that's us. It's us. I don't want things to change with us."

He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back against him. He put his knees up and hugged her to him, kissing her head. She was blown away by that sweet gesture, but she had more questions, she was a Journalism Major, that's what she did, ask questions. She had always been that way.

"Remember after graduation when we drove up to the beach in Savannah. With Merle, Lisa Winters, Maggie and Glenn." He leaned his chin on her head lightly.

"Yeah." She said. "We were the only ones that left the hotel and even went to the beach. We had a good time though, just us."

"Yup, wanna have a lot more with you. "He nodded.

"Why?"

"Why what? Why do I want to be with you?" He asked.

"Why are you done with Amy and Karen?"

"Nothing up here." He pointed to his temple. "Neither one of them."

"So nothing to talk about?" She eyed him sideways. "Boring? Nothing to do?"

"I like talkin, to some people." He wound his hands around hers and squeezed her again. "Like you. Have always liked talking to you. We been talking all day, mostly."

She nodded her head.

"They didn't care either, it was just something to do, anyways." He said.

She looked back at him.

"Like this."

"No, not like this smartass, you're the only girl ever that I slept next to, woke up with."

"Oh bullshit." She looked back at him.

"No bullshit, when my Mom used to babysit you and we fell asleep watching South Park every night, Prom Night and last night, you're the only one." He said. "Always wanted to get the fuck away after. Cut and run." He said wistfully looking out the window, like it just occurred to him.

It also occurred to him that now, he was doing everything so that she would not leave him.

She turned around to face him, sitting back on her knees so they were face to face.

"How many girls have you slept with, for real?"

"You know about all of them, Karen and Amy, Not at the same time." He laughed." Jenny, Carleen, Tonya, Christine, Joanna and Stacey."

"Barbara Crowley and Claudia whatsername."

"Right, forgot them, you know them all. No skanks and I always used condoms I swear. I'm clean." He said. "You know I get tested, I know you got tested, remember that nurse thought we we're together that one time."

"Yeah I've been holding your hand for needles and shots longer than I remember, that's really great that you suck it up for your health. Now mine, thanks bro." She looked back at him." I made Ed go too, alone." She snickered. "He was not happy. Don't you think we should have had this conversation last night?"

"Probably, but we know everything about each other already and we kinda lost our minds ya know?" He said, smiling at her. "But we're having it now. So let's get it all out no secrets, no bullshit."

"Okay, not judging at all, but Tonya, who worked at the Dairy Queen on 95, ew Daryl, just ew? I never understood that."

"Once okay? It's a long story, anyway look who's talking Sean, Daniel and Ed, bunch of losers." He said.

"Not Sean, we didn't, that's how you ended up my ride home on Prom Night, remember. He found out I wasn't putting out and left me there."

"Yeah, I remember, Claudia never spoke to me again, boy was she pissed, when I dropped her off first. But it was fine, we had a good time didn't we?" He said.

"We were drunk that night too, and high, if I remember right, but we managed not to attack each other." She said solemnly. "I remember we woke up in the bed of your pickup truck the next morning."

"This is not cause we were drunk, cause we weren't that drunk, Carol. We've been way drunker before, high too." He said rubbing her arm. "Plenty of times."

She nodded, that was true, back in the day they did way more drinking in a night than they had done last night. Plus they were in Merle's pot stash too a lot in those days. They had for sure been more trashed together before last night. Last night was nothing really.

" You're the longest relationship of my life, 'sides Merle." He pulled her onto his lap, she rose up on her knees. He held her up against him, his head against her stomach, and sighed. "And the most important."

He thought about all the times he tried to tell her. Before she left for school they had gone out somewhere he didn't remember where, and he was going to tell her. He even knew exactly what he was going to say. But he chickened out, she was so happy to be going to school like her mother always wanted her to. He couldn't dump his feelings on her. He didn't want her to feel pressured about anything. So he didn't tell her. She went to school and he kept quiet.

When he had first got to school, he told himself every night, tomorrow, I'll tell her tomorrow. But then he never could, tomorrow never came, and then she met Ed.

"I don't wanna fuck it up, I like this." He said.

"Exactly, I feel that way too, you are so important to me, don't you think this?" She waved her arm around. "Might fuck up our friendship."

"I'll always be your friend, no matter what. If you decide you don't want this, I won't like it but I'll accept it and it won't change a thing. "He looked in her eyes. "I swear."

"This is the most fucked up conversation we have ever had." She said.

He lit another cigarette offered her the pack, and she took one. He lit it for her and spoke with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. She had always thought that was so sexy, which led her to stare at the mole on his lip. She shook her head of the thoughts she was having, because now she wanted to kiss him there. She had thought about him this way throughout the years, sometimes, she was coming to realize that. She had pushed those feelings down though, because of how she felt now. She knew how it would be.

Which was why it probably started coming at her in her dreams.

She felt consumed with him, engulfed, he was all around her. Somehow she had known if they were ever more than friends, it would be like nothing she ever imagined in her life. Too much and not enough all at the same time.

"This is not the most fucked up conversation we have ever had, that would be the time we were drinking with Merle, remember that?" Daryl said.

"The time he offered me fifty dollars and a joint to take off my shirt?" She sipped the water bottle and took a drag off her cigarette.

"No, but that was fucked up too, I didn't talk to him for six days cause of that." He took another drag on his cigarette.

"He was just being Merle, I would never do it and you stole that joint later anyway. I wasn't upset." Carol said.

"Still it was disrespectful." He said. "He never said shit to you like that after either."

"Well, thanks Daryl for saving my virtue."

She laughed. The irony of this was not lost on her either.

She had just taken her shirt off for a cup of coffee and some donut holes.

"No the most fucked up conversation we ever had was the time he asked which celebrity you wanted to fuck and you said Rooney Mara, and he spit out his beer across the room" He laughed. "That was awesome by the way." He shook his head. "You never let Merle get to you, he asked a fucked up question and you gave him a just as fucked up answer. He likes you a lot."

"I like him too, remember what you said? Good choice, after you nearly choked on your beer," She smiled, remembering how easy that had been to mess with them. She laughed. "I said that to freak him out, it's really, Charlie Hunnam."

"Pfft whatever, you know Merle is gonna laugh his ass off about this? When I came here after you left, he said and I quote; 'Oh your little girlfriend hasn't even been gone a month and you're following her to school. That didn't take long.' But he sold the Mustang for my tuition balance after the scholarship, didn't even have to ask him."

Actually Merle also had called him a mopy bitch and told him to get on to that school and get that piece of tail he couldn't seem to live without. Daryl left that part out.

"No I didn't know that, he's a good brother. He's alright." She smiled.

"He feels the same about you." He said. "That's why he teases you."

He took another drag of his cigarette, so did she.

"According to him it was never a matter of if, it was when, and I should just get you out of my system, once and for all." He laughed softly.

"The world according to Merle." She laughed. "Got to love his logic. Now I kind of miss him."

She took a drag off her cigarette inhaling deeply. Then put it out.

"Have you? "Carol asked.

She looked at him, her eyes soft, not knowing what she wanted the answer to be. Maybe this wasn't a good question to ask when she was sitting on his lap, but this was not a usual morning, not by a long shot.

"Have I what?" He looked back at her, putting out his cigarette.

"Gotten it, me, out of your system,"

"Fuck, no."

He swooped down and before she knew it she was back lying flat on her back. He was back on top of her.

"How do you keep getting me on my back?" She laughed.

"Cause, I got mad skills."

"Yeah, I know."

"Oh so you admit it in the daylight, that's good, the first step is the hardest. That's what Merle says they say at those meetings he goes to." He kissed her. "You're powerless."

"Ha funny."

"Are you ok, for real, you aren't going to get upset and go hide somewhere are you? Because I can't have you hiding from me. I'm the one you always run to."

And he was right she did run to him when she had a problem, or was happy about something, he was her person. That made him feel so good about himself, someone needed him, someone cared and wanted his company, because of who he was, no other reason. But somewhere it had changed from friendship to something else. And he had missed her when she was gone. He did follow her to school, because life without her had gotten very empty very fast.

Claudia his prom date was the first one to actually say it to him, two days after their Junior Prom, when she broke it off with him. He and Carol were seventeen at the time. Claudia said couldn't believe she wasted eight months with him, when he and Carol were in love with each other and too stupid to do anything about it. That knocked the wind out of him at the time. Because he had dated lots of girls, but that day was when he realized they were a poor substitution for what he really wanted. It took him a long time to get here.

Five years, almost six of knowing he loved her and thinking he could never have her that way. He had been sure he was friend zoned long ago. He never imagined he had a chance.

"I'm not gonna hide."

"Good cause I'm not gonna let you."

"I do have to go get my books and change for tonight though."

"Ok, get going, I'll see you at six."

He stood up and pulled her up by the hand and into a hug. He breathed deeply his face in her hair, she smelled so good and he knew he was in deeper now than ever before.