"We're twenty minutes late!" Lily had exclaimed when the two had pulled up to the building, practically jumping out of the passenger's side seat and running around to Daryl's side of the car. Her uncle gave a hefty sight as he shouldered her Strawberry Shortcake backpack and slammed the car door behind him.
"We're twenty-three minutes late." He corrected her with a small smile. Lily did not seem amused by his comment and her only reply was to grab the hem of his shirt and tug him toward the building ahead of them. People still stood scattered on the lawn, so he supposed their lateness would probably go unnoticed.
The scout hall was a very large, very old building located at the very edge of town. It was the sort of building that looked as if it had been set in place since the beginning of time; the shingles on the roof had been falling off for years, the pale blue paint had slowly been peeling off of the splintered weatherboard and out front weeds sprouted out of the yellowing tall grass in abundance. None the less, it didn't seem like an unsafe place for the girls to stay. Adequate shelter, adequate adult supervision and a safe place for them to play.
On the front lawn, adults stood in small clusters and children ran around in some impromptu game of tag. A few adults barked out various warnings about behavior to their children and a few children responded with typically tweenage replies; 'sure', 'okay', etc, etc. Looking at all the groups, Daryl immediately weaved his way through the thick of the crowd and found the point where it thinned out was on the front porch of the scout hall. Much to his relief, Carol and Sophia were already standing there. He supposed they didn't like crowds either.
"You're late," Sophia said as she went in to hug her friend, Lily rolled her eyes and shot a telling look to Daryl, which caused the two to giggle and laugh to themselves. "Good afternoon, Daryl." Sophia nodded. Sophia liked Daryl a lot more now, especially since he let her and Lily build a fort in his yard. That was cool of him, in her opinion.
Daryl nodded to Carol and Sophia and from there the small group sort of just made general chit-chat for a few minutes before someone came out clapping and herding all the kids into the hall together, Daryl guessed it was the leaders. Sophia and Lily turned to the adults to say their final goodbyes for the night and as much as Daryl hated to admit it, he didn't want Lily to go. He looked to his side and noted Carol looked equally as nervous to be saying goodbye to Sophia. Daryl decided he didn't want Sophia to go either.
"Be safe, don't go off with the others if they're being idiots, look out for Lily - and text if you need anything," Carol lectured as she knelt down to eye level with Sophia. The young girl nodded in response and Carol wrapped her in a bear hug. "Be good. I love you." Carol finished, jumping to her feet and dusting herself off. Lily looked expectantly at Daryl, he didn't think he would be very good with the parting words deal but nonetheless he put a hand on each of Lily's shoulders.
"Don't do anything stupid, don't try any weird shit, take care of yourself and Sophia. Call or text if ya need me," Daryl felt his parting lecture was significantly poorer than Carol's but he really meant his words. He trusted Lily to be safe and Sophia too, but he didn't know those other kids. "Just.. Try not ta' raise too much hell and be safe, want ya home in one piece, okay kid?" Daryl gave Lily's shoulder a firm squeeze. He found himself feel surprisingly saddened at the image of Lily and Sophia leaving and heading into the hall together.
Soon, most the other parents had departed. Actually, most of them couldn't get away quickly enough. However, Daryl and Carol remained on the front lawn, enjoying each others company for a few moments. Carol looked closely at Daryl out of the corner of her eye; she had yet to invite him to Maggie's engagement party. She knew her friends really wanted to meet Daryl and she knew he didn't have any plans for the evening, but she didn't know if he wanted to use his kid-free time to relax at home.
"Daryl," she said as she kept her eyes glued straight ahead. Even without looking she could tell he was looking at her. "I got invited to an engagement party tonight." She began, she immediately realized how disjointed that sentence sounded. It was as if she had just picked a random piece of information and dropped it into their conversation. Daryl didn't seem to mind.
"Never been to one a them 'fore." Daryl admitted. Truthfully, he had never been to an engagement party before because he'd never known anyone who had gotten engaged. He hadn't even known anyone who had gotten in a relationship lasting longer than a few days, with of course the exception of his parents and that hadn't ended well.
"Would you like to go to one? You can come tonight with me… I mean, if you want." Carol offered. Turning on her heel to face Daryl, she saw he was looking right at her and fidgeting around. He reminded her of a nervous third grader sometimes, twitching so nervously and looking so unsure.
"I can go, I mean, I'd like to go. If you want me to." He managed to say as he brought his hand to his mouth so he could chew on the skin around his thumb nail. He thought being out would provide adequate distraction to the quietness in his house when Lily wasn't there. Carol gave him a smile, the kind that reached her eyes. She promised to text him details and he promised he'd do his best to show up on time. With that all done, they each went to their respective cars and drove home, both equally excited for the festivities of the night.
The first few hours of the sleepover had been spent playing games outside and getting to know the other kids but the light had quickly dwindled away and the air had quickly become cool, meaning the adults had told the kids to come inside and set up camp for the night. It didn't take long for Lily and Sophia to get settled; they found a place in the hall to set up home-base ( where they could set up their sleeping bags, stuffed animals, backpacks and hide their stash of candy) and decided to keep to themselves for the better part of the night. Sophia sort of wished they'd just had a sleepover at her house or Lily's house because she really hated social gatherings, but the were here now. Hopefully the night would pass uneventfully and quietly and Sophia wouldn't have to talk to anyone but Lily.
"Aren't you a little old for stuffed animals?" No such luck, a boy approached the girl's sleeping bags. Sophia recognized him, she'd seen him around town and just earlier that night he'd introduced himself as Carl Grimes. Sophia remembered he'd given her and Lily a flyer for the fair once at the grocery store and now he was mocking her stuffed toy, Sophia picked up her little plush panda bear and protectively hugged it to her chest.
"I got it off a friend." She mumbled in response. It was the little panda Daryl had given her at the fair, she'd slept with it ever since she'd gotten it and she didn't want to leave it at home for the sleepover because, if she was being honest, she didn't think she could sleep properly without it.
"Whatever," the boy shrugged with a smile and a roll of the eyes. "Amy told me to tell everyone she's putting a couple movies on before bedtime." He explained as he looked down toward the other end of the hall. The two girls followed his gaze to see Amy wheeling what was possibly the world's oldest T.V. out of a storage closet.
"We'll be right there." Lily answered for herself and Sophia. The boy quickly left and scurried off to other groups of kids, leaving Sophia and Lily alone.
Sophia pulled her phone out of her pocket, it was an old phone but a reliable phone and she only ever used it to text her mom anyway. Other than that she wasn't really supposed to use it for much. She thumbed out a quick text to her mom to tell her that the sleepover was fun so far and say goodnight, she wasn't expecting a reply but just texting her mom made her feel less homesick. She was happy when her mom managed to send back a little smiley and a quick message.
"I wonder what my mom and your uncle are doing." Sophia wondered aloud as she picked herself up off her sleeping bag so she and Lily could head over to where the kids were now assembling at the other end of the hall. Lily shrugged.
"Boring grown up stuff, I bet." She mused with a giggle.
Daryl had never seen a bar so packed with people in his life and it made him damn anxious. He hated being around so many people, he hated bars and parties and all that junk but he was at least happy to be seeing Carol. When he did see her, that was, for the thick crowds of people all sort of blurred together and blocked some of the tables from view. Eventually, Daryl did manage to find Carol and her friends. It made him feel a little better to see they'd chosen a booth away from most the other people and there also didn't appear to be to many people at their booth.
"You're here!" Carol grinned as he came into view. She knew he'd come, she just didn't actually expect him to be on time. "And you're on time." She added with a giggle. Daryl nodded and walked the final few feet to the booth.
"I am." He said with a small smile, his eyes combed over the people sitting there. Other than Carol there were three people. Carol's friends also seemed to be a lot younger than he and Carol were, college aged he guessed, early twenties.
"You can sit down, you know." Carol chuckled, scooting across on the bench seat so Daryl could join her. In all the noise and distraction of the bar, Daryl had actually forgotten to take a seat. He quickly sat down next to Carol and went back to observing her friends.
"Dude, I'm so glad you came. For the past ten minutes I've been outnumbered by girls." Said a young man Daryl couldn't remember the name of, Carol had told him earlier the names of her friends but he couldn't ever remember them right. Everyone giggled at the man but the guy still got swatted by his girlfriend. Daryl guessed that was the engaged couple.
"Daryl, that's Glenn," Carol said around the straw of her drink as she gestured to the man. Daryl nodded in his direction and he nodded back. "That's Maggie, the bride-to-be," Carol shifted her gaze so her sights were set on the girl in Glenn's arms. "And that's Tara," Carol moved to gesture to the girl sitting across from him. She extended her arm and held her fist out to him.
"Don't leave me hangin', man." Tara coaxed when Daryl made no move. Daryl hadn't fist-bumped someone since he was twelve years old but he gave her a fist-bump none the less because it really looked like she wasn't giving up on getting the fist bump.
The group of friends fell back into a lull in conversation, they asked Daryl a lot of questions at first, he guessed it was because he was new to them and they wanted him to feel better about being the new friend. They all seemed okay, weird but nice.
"Maggie's going to be an R.N. soon." Carol said when the conversation fell flat, the younger woman nodded and took a long pull from her beer. Daryl found Maggie to be a little rambunctious, but he guessed she had been drinking a lot. Still, she was very fun company to keep.
"Damn straight I am, I'll be the best registered nurse in Georgia." Maggie jested, tongue in cheek. The entire table laughed, Glenn especially. Daryl even laughed a bit too.
"Well, second best." Carol wiggled her eyebrows and pointed to herself in faux boastfulness. Once again the whole table laughed, Daryl especially this time. The two women went back and forth for a few moments, Daryl could hardly keep up with their banter and it seemed Glenn couldn't either because he took Maggie's drink away and told her she was officially cut off. After that he offered Daryl to go play at the pool table or maybe the dart board and with a little encouragement from Carol, Daryl agreed.
Maggie waited until the men where out of earshot before swivelling around on her seat to face Carol and slam her hands down on the table. The empty bottles on the table rattled at the force with which Maggie whacked the table but none fell over.
"Jesus, watching you flirt with King Socially Awkward was actually painful. Physically painful." Maggie elongated her words as if she were talking to a child and broke out in a fit of laughter. Tara shot Carol a little smile and chuckled.
"I wasn't." Carol shrugged, she felt her cheeks heating up at the topic of conversation and she could tell her face was flushed.
"Don't deny it, you were about as subtle as a damn gunshot, Carol." Maggie rolled her eyes. Upon further observation, Carol noticed Maggie didn't seem to be nearly as drunk as she had been acting with the guys around, but she certainly wasn't sober.
"I'm shipping it!" Tara announced from across the table, a broad smile blossoming on her features. Carol shook her head at all the nonsense and rolled her eyes. Sometimes, her friends could be positively ridiculous. Carol decided the conversation seriously needed to be moved along and all it took was the mention of wedding planning before the topic of Daryl Dixon was abandoned in favor of wedding dresses, frosting samples, and people Maggie didn't want to invite.
"Are you sure you don't want a lift?" Tara offered for the last time, Carol had come with Tara, Glenn and Maggie but wasn't planning on getting a lift home with them. The small group had left the bar and stood in the parking lot. The night air was cool but not cold and the moon was big and glowing with plenty of light and so Daryl and Carol had agreed to walk home together, it wasn't a long walk home and it was a nice night out.
"Daryl and I are going to walk home, it's such a nice night." Carol explained to her friend. Tara told her to be safe and text her when she got home so she knew they got home okay. The two women looked over toward Daryl, who was loitering close by chain smoking while he waited for Carol. Tara and Carol bid each other a final goodnight and Carol watched her friends all pile into Tara's car before leaving the parking lot.
Once her other friends had departed, Carol came to stand next to Daryl, who had finished smoking for the time being. The two stuck close together and walked mostly in silence, only speaking every now and then. More than anything, they just felt content to be in each others company and enjoying the nice night. The moon was big and glowing, the stars were all out and the air was cool. Daryl guessed most the town were probably tucked away in their beds, it had to be at least three in the morning but Daryl liked walking in the dark with Carol at three in the morning. He felt warm inside, like he had had a lot of whiskey, only he hadn't. Daryl had actually refrained from drinking too much, mostly because he wanted to remember the night with clarity. He didn't want it to be some alcohol washed, hazy memory. He'd honestly never felt more content in his life and he wanted to remember that.
Suddenly, he was jerked from his thoughts by Carol making a discontented noise and rubbing her hands up and down her arms, generating warmth. It had cooled off a bit since they had started their walk but Daryl was pretty unaffected by cold.
"You cold?" Daryl asked, watching her hug herself.
"A little. It cooled off more than anticipated," she smiled at him and before she knew it, he was handing her his jacket. It was a tired looking jacket, leather, and she noticed he had been sporting his usual sleeveless attire under it. She shook her head. "It's okay, Daryl."
"I ain't cold." He shrugged, shoving the jacket at her one more time. She thanked him about a billion times and checked a few times before accepting it. She liked the jacket, it was warm from where he had warn it and very comfortable, even if she was swimming in it. Taking a deep breath in, she noted it smelled like pine-smoke, leather and soap. A flirtatious smile tugged at her lips and she gazed up at Daryl.
"Are you tryin' to woo me, Dixon? - Giving me your jacket, walking me home. It's pretty romantic." She wiggled her eyebrows at him. Blood rushed to Daryl's face and he could tell he had gone red, he just hoped Carol couldn't see in the dark.
"Is it?" Daryl asked quietly, feeling bold.
"Is it what?" she giggled. Daryl fixed her with a long look until she got what he was trying to say. "Romantic?" She asked, making a kissy face. The word seemed to be rolling off her tongue tonight. They fell quiet again and there was a look on Daryl's face that said he hoped she wasn't joking, Carol had the same look. "I haven't decided yet." She chuckled to herself.
The next few blocks were quiet, Daryl would occasionally point out something in the sky; he seemed to have infinite knowledge of constellations and it interested Carol to listen to him talking about it, she could have fallen asleep that his voice was so calm. She had expected it to feel a little awkward after the whole romantic thing, but it wasn't. After a few minutes, when they finally arrived on Carol's lawn, Daryl had insisted on walking her to her door. It would only be the gentlemanly thing to do.
Under the dim porch light, they said their goodbyes and Daryl felt sad to be going back to his empty house and Carol felt sad to be going back to her empty house but they were too exhausted to hang out any longer.
"Daryl, thank you. I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Carol said, wrapping her arms around herself. She still sported Daryl's jacket and she intended keeping it as long as possible. Daryl nodded at her and shuffled on his feet.
"Me either." He mumbled, for some reason they both laughed a little, maybe it was nervous energy but neither of them was sure. Daryl found himself hiding under his hair.
"And Daryl?" Carol began, causing Daryl to look up at her face. "It is. It is romantic, I think." She decided finally with a stern nod before stepping toward him. Somehow through a series of slow and small steps they had ended up in each others space, their faces just inches apart. Neither of them was sure who initiated it but before they knew it there lips were brushing over each others in a soft, sweet kiss.
A.N: Hello all! I have returned, this story is not scrapped, real life just got way crazy. So uhm... this chapter happened. Sorry if it was a little... weak? I don't know, I'm nervous to post this one... Caryl kissed though... whoops. I know there are a lot of fics where Carol and Daryl 'hang out' (for lack of a better word) with Glenn and Maggie so I hope this one was a little different. Thanks for the patience while I dealt with real life, I'll update in a timely fashion. Let me know if your still out there reading. I hope you all had a merry Christmas, festive Yule, happy Hanukkah... I just hope you had a happy holiday season and wishing you an early happy New Year.
Thanks for the reviews on last chapter, you're all awesome: LopezG, General KJ, lismrox, vickih, itsi3, deanandjo4ever1 and green angel01. You all are my motivation :D. I try to PM you all, but I get worried I annoy you so just let me know if you don't wanna be PMed or anything :).
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Next Chapter: Daryl and Carol do some heavy thinking over pancakes and Sophia and Lily sign up for a musical.