Carol was the one person who had believed he was better than he was. His life with the group hadn't had the best of starts but it was filled with instances of her compassion and consideration that he had never deserved and advice that he never thanked her for. In a world that had quite literally gone to hell, where she had lost as much as he had, more even, she still cared, she still trusted. She was the reason he had a place in this group, she was the one who had made him a part of this family and kept him here.
He didn't love Carol in a romantic way, not initially at least, that wasn't what it was about at first. It was a deeper connection than that, transcending flesh and bone and blood and becoming something else, she was family. He trained her to look after herself and she forced him to look at himself in ways that he'd never had reason to. He watched her grow a little more with every day out of Ed's shadow, watched her rebuild herself after the loss of the daughter she had adored. When they talked, and they did often, he felt more valued than he had ever been in his whole life.
He guarded her heart and her body with a determination that would have amazed those who had known him in his past life. He looked out for her, taught her how to shoot, how to hunt, how to survive and through it all he made sure that she was okay. She broke down all the walls that he had built around himself, forced him to see himself the way that she saw him. They kept each other close and kept each other safe.
She was his friend, his confidante and his only solace and he always protected what was his.
