A/N: hey so this is chapter 9 of 'Real or not real?' This chapter is just everything from chapter 7 and 8 in Daryl's POV, so yeah. It doesn't have much speaking sequences, more about his actions and thoughts

Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Walking Dead but you should buy me it for Christmas ;)

OMG speaking of which are any of the UK goers looking forward till this Friday? Season 4 baby! U lucky Americans have already seen it! Ya lucky ducks.

Any who hope you enjoy my pretties :D

Earlier that day...

Daryl felt extremely uncomfortable sitting in his cell, shirtless. Normally he wouldn't mind it that much on his own, but the thing was, he wasn't alone. Carol was kneeling in front of him inspecting the wound which Tyreese had inflicted on him earlier. It wasn't anything to worry about though; he knew it would only need a few stitches. However that didn't stop it from hurting like hell as Carol poked her small hands around it as she cleaned the wound. Carol had asked him who done it, knowing all too well it hadn't just happened by accident. So he told her everything.

Daryl hadn't expected much of a reaction from her and he was right, sure she was pissed but she didn't do anything irrational like he would have done had their positions been swapped. Carol finished the few stitches he needed and kissed his forehead, before walking out of his cell. Daryl just watched her leave before lying back down on his bed. He thought it was best he left her alone to think everything through and calm down a bit. So Daryl welcomed the sleep that came to him and lay unconscious within 10 seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

Daryl awoke with a start. He looked around his cell wildly to finally notice that Beth was standing right there in his cell looking frightened. The sight made his heart clench, even though he had never thought of Beth in a romantic way. She was young enough to be his kid (had he had any), and not to mention the fact that Hershel wouldn't think twice about shooting him in the head if he so much as even looked at Beth in a romantic way. Even though the man was old, he had an explosive temper and Daryl had learnt that the hard way.

"Daryl you need to come quick"

Beth's voice sounded frail and weak, shaking with each word. The short, to the point sentence, caused alarm bells to ring off in his head and he was suddenly all too aware of his surroundings. He quickly turned out of his bed to awkwardly notice he still had no shirt on. He cleared his throat and Beth clearly understood because she promptly left his cell and waited outside for him, he could hear her pacing almost instantly. Daryl made quick work of throwing on his shirt and lacing up his boots, before slinging his bow across his back and heading out to where he heard Beth nervously pacing.

Daryl had just come to realise that he still didn't know what the problem was and felt like an idiot for not asking.

"What happened?"

He knew it mustn't have been anything serious otherwise the whole cell block would have been in a commotion, which leads to the conclusion that something had happened within the group, Prison and Woodberry alike. The thought made his stomach flip.

"It's Carol. I think she's had a bit of a break down, she's been crying for ages now but won't let anyone near her"

The new found information made Daryl feel sick. How was he supposed to cope in this world if the strongest woman in it had broken down? He knew that Rick accusing Daryl is most likely what sent her flying off the edge, and he had been too blind to realise. That fact made him feel responsible for her breakdown. And also like a total jerk for not talking to her.

"Well why didn't ya come get me sooner?"

His voice sounded harsher than he had originally intended and he regretted using the tone almost instantly, but he couldn't help it. He knew it wasn't Beth's fault that they didn't come get him, but at the moment he just needed someone to get pissed at and unfortunately for sweet little Beth, she was in the firing range.

"This is not my fault, so don't get pissed at me! I'm worried sick about her too. You think I didn't want to go get you straight away? Because I did. But Rick and daddy said to just leave her be. They said that for nearly half an hour now! In fact they were still saying it when I stormed out and got you. So don't you dare try turn on me! Now. Are you coming or not?"

Daryl was stunned into silence by Beth's rant. He'd never heard the girls voice sound so hostile, nor had he heard her swear before. Daryl knew from the start he shouldn't have used that tone with her and he had regretted it, but now he regretted it even more. He looked down at the ground and mumbled an apology before Beth started to lead the way, and he both obediently and silently followed closely behind her.

When Daryl walked into the cell block he quickly picked up pieces of what had happened. He noticed a few blood splatters on the floor and that one of the tables had been knocked over. 'How did I sleep through all this?' Daryl thought to himself in wonder, he was normally such a light sleeper. However the blood and table aren't what concerned him most. What concerned him was the limp and defeated looking body that was lying slumped against the wall. He could hear Carol's sobs even from this far away and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort her in any way he could, but knew better than to do that. Knowing first hand himself that it was better people just left you alone to cry away all your pains and worries in one go. So instead Daryl grabbed Beth's arm to stop her walking any further into the room and pulled her over.

"Where is everyone?"

Beth looked both puzzled pissed that he was asking where the rest of the group where, rather than helping Carol however she didn't question him.

"They're all outside. We figured it was best we leave her alone remember."

Beth sounded extremely spiteful but Daryl made no comment, even though he felt a slight tinge of anger building up inside of him at the girls sass.

"Well come on then"

Daryl grabbed Beth's arm and continued to pull her outside into the prison court yard, trying to be as quiet as possible so as to not disturb Carol, even though he was pretty sure a heard of walkers could come in right now and she wouldn't notice.

Sure enough there was everyone sitting around the tables that were sprawled out and about the court yard. When Daryl walked out they all turned to gawk at him, eyes full of questions that he didn't have answers to. The main one being why he was out here talking to them rather than helping Carol. He cleared his throat to make sure he had their attention before speaking.

"I know you're probably all wondering why I'm out here rather than trying to talk to Carol. But if I'm bring honest, right now, I don't think that's gunna work"

There was a thick and awkward silence, so silent Daryl swore no one was even breathing. All of their faces held a similar expression of pure dread and fear. Most likely they were thinking of the unimaginable, that she was bit, and Daryl knew he needed to clarify that she wasn't, to enable them to really focus.

"Now she's as fine as someone who has held all her misery in for a year can be. So I think it's time we all showed her how much we appreciate her. And not just a simple 'Thanks for everything Carol', she deserves something special."

Daryl watched the relief wash over everyone's face when they learnt that Carol was physically fine, and more importantly, not bit. Then Daryl watched as their faces lit up with the possibility of all the things they could do for her. Rick looked to be trying the hardest, and Daryl noticed the bruise along his jaw. 'What exactly did I miss?' Was all that Daryl's mind could come up with. Not one thought about showing his appreciation to Carol came into his head and he scolded himself for it. He heard Maggie squeal and he presumed that meant she had thought of something. He was right.

"I've got it! We should cook a little extra food tonight, Beth and I could make a cake. Nothing crazy that would affect us much, just a little extra food is all. Plus it would only be the core group, people she's really close too."

At Maggie's suggestion the other members of the group's faces cracked into huge, face splitting grins. Even Daryl felt the edge of his lips tilt up in small smile.

"That sounds perfect Maggie. Rick would it be alright if we did that? What with the supplies and all, I know we can't afford to sacrifice a lot."

Daryl studied Rick's face as the man thought about it. Thinking how the small party would affect the supplies. With whatever happened earlier Daryl had a hunch that Rick would say yes.

"So long as we don't go crazy... We can manage"

Everyone cheered in response and they were instantly discussing who was doing what and when. Daryl just left them to it. His mind now focused on solely helping Carol now. He swiftly walked back into the cell block and noticed that Carol was still just lying hopelessly against the wall crying. He didn't want to disturb her so instead he leaned against the wall which was opposite to the one she was at and just watched her.

It had been around an hour and a half before Carol stopped crying. Daryl had been worried about her after about an hour of solid crying, fearing she would make herself sick, but begrudgingly he didn't interfere, seeing as he had been through this himself. However it didn't make watching and listening to her cry her heart out any easier. His patience paid off eventually though because once she stopped crying he was able to sit beside her and speak to her about what had happened.

Daryl was both proud, and shocked for what she had done. He was proud for the fact she had punched Rick, but he was shocked at how she had defended him. No one had ever defended Daryl as passionately as she had. In fact no one had ever really defended him at all. For that fact he loved her even more. He hadn't told her he loved her but Daryl was pretty sure she already knew it, probably even before he had himself.

As they finished talking, Daryl tried to think of a believable excuse as to where everyone was. She bought it, and they both took advantage of the solitude and began a very long and passionate make-out session, which was sadly cut short by a party impatient Glenn, who disguised his excitement as annoyance.

When Carol walked outside he had never felt so proud when he saw the look on her face. It was glowing like a light bulb when she saw everything laid out in front of her. But what Daryl surprised himself by doing, was kissing her. In front of the whole group. As expected the cat calls and applauding happened rather enthusiastically, but he just ignored it. He wanted the rest of the group to know that Carol was his. Even if that meant listening to Glenn taunt him for the rest of his life, it would be worth it if he could do this whenever he felt like it.

Later that night after the party Daryl went into Carol's cell and slept with her in his arms. They didn't do anything of course, seeing as he wasn't ready for that kind of intimacy anytime soon. But as she lay asleep in his arms, Daryl replayed the day in his head repeatedly, thinking about everything she had said to defend him. And how her words would be permanently engraved in his mind. And he felt excited about it. For he knew that no matter what, she would do anything to defend him, and he would do anything to protect her.

A/N: so I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, it wasn't very spectacular but in the middle of writing this authors notes I just thought of an evil plan :3 mwuhaha *cough cough*

I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but I edited it so I'm a little more accepting of it now.

Reviews make my day so do go crazy :) x