When Carol woke the next morning and picked up her phone to check the time she saw a text from her boss. She quickly opened it and read the message: Filming canceled for this afternoon. Sending everyone home soon. Will let u know about tmrw. Stay safe.
What the hell is going on, she wondered. Before texting him back she checked the weather app on her phone, remembering hearing something about some snow on the way. There was a red alert banner at the top and she clicked on it. Apparently there was a winter snowfall warning and they were in for blizzard like conditions and ridiculous amounts of accumulation. Carol quickly replied, Drive safe. Talk to you tomorrow.
Guess it's gonna be a relaxing day at home, she thought, picking out a comfy hoodie and black tights. By the time she finished in the bathroom and headed for the kitchen it was late morning, but Daryl was nowhere to be found. Must be still sleeping, Carol thought. She started a pot of coffee and went to the living room to see what was happening outside while it brewed.
"Holy shit," she muttered, looking out the huge window overlooking the city.
"You're telling me," Daryl replied, coming into the room off the deck, shaking snow out of his hair. Carol saw the pack of cigarettes in his hand and realized he'd gone out for a smoke.
But that wasn't all she noticed. Suddenly the snow wasn't the most interesting thing to look at. "What the hell is that?" she asked, laughing at his clothes. He was wearing onesie that she was pretty sure was a dalmatian.
He pulled up the hood and she laughed harder at the floppy dog ears. "It's cold out there." He reached for the zipper. "I can take it off for ya," he said, starting to pull it down.
Carol took a step forward, caught his hand and pulled the zipper back up, letting her fingers graze his bare skin. She patted his chest. "Nope, keep it on, I like it."
"Any chance you made coffee, Woman?" Daryl asked, looking down at her.
"Did you just call me Woman?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes, but knowing he was teasing her. "How about you make me some eggs, Man."
"Ohh, you sure? How about toast? I can make toast. I make a mean piece of toast. Or a bagel? English muffin? Eggo waffle? Anything that you put in the toaster I can do," Daryl offered.
"Oh fine, a bagel with that strawberry cream cheese," she replied, wondering if maybe a healthier option would be better. She rationalized that the jog the day before would counteract the bagel as she headed to the coffee pot to pour their mugs.
Carol was sitting at the table, thinking about how they seemingly avoided any awkward that could have come out of the situation the night before when Daryl placed her bagel in front of her, sat down and said, "So how did you sleep?"
Carol picked up her bagel, took a bite and studied the amused look on his face. She chewed and swallowed, then took a drink of her coffee, all while continuing the staredown. "Well, I have this amazing new mattress and had a couple shots of rye… slept like a baby," she replied.
"So you think it was just the bed and the rye that helped?" Daryl asked, still looking amused. "After your text I went for round two and pretty much passed out." Carol choked on the bite she just took.
"T-M-I Daryl," she got out.
"What? Why? Masturbation is perfectly natural Carol, everyone does it," he said in a jokingly lecturing tone.
"Some more than others," Carol muttered. "Soooo how about the weather?" she added, in a not-so-subtle attempt to change the topic.
"It's bad," he said, his tone actually becoming serious. "I had the news on earlier and all the airports in the northeast are shut down already. Supposed to snow into tomorrow morning." She felt her stomach churn. It had been a long time since she'd been in a true snowstorm. They had the occasional ice storm in Georgia, but nothing like what was going on outside.
"Who would have thought we'd end up snowed in together, huh?" Carol joked.
"It's like the start of a romance novel," he chuckled. Well at least he didn't say porno, she thought.
"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure we're far from your typical mommie-porn characters," Carol replied.
"Don't sell us short," he teased. "We would make great fictional characters. Exceptional even." He took a drink of coffee. "Good friends, past co-workers with insane chemistry get stranded together in a snowstorm. She's gorgeous, classy, a little quirky with a kinky side she hides well. He's was a nobody from the wrong side of the tracks, a diamond in the rough who has been polished by the celebrity lifestyle into a handsome, slightly egotistical pervert. Who's gonna write this story?"
"Oh I'm sure someone will," Carol laughed. "But how does the story end?"
Daryl shrugged, with that sexy grin on his face, "That remains to be seen."
"Well, in chapter 2 we clean up the breakfast dishes, refill our coffee mugs and find something good on TV," she said, standing up. "Unless you have other plans?"
"My other plans fell through," he replied, standing to help her with the dishes.
They went into the living room and decided on a Criminal Minds marathon. "Those two need to just do it already," Daryl said, the first time a flirty Morgan and Garcia scene came on.
"Hmm," Carol replied.
"What was that? What does hmm mean?" Daryl asked.
"Just didn't peg you for the shipper type," she teased.
"Shipper, what's a shipper?" he asked.
"You're joking right? You have to know what a shipper is," Carol was sure he was kidding. Daryl shook his head. "You know how people are always wanting your character to get together with other characters on the show? That's called shipping," she explained. "And you… are a Morcia shipper. Morgan, Garcia, equals Morcia."
"Wow, who knew…" Daryl looked amused. "Morcia… huh. What's our name?"
Carol narrowed her eyes, "We don't have a name, we're not a couple."
"Yeah, but say we were… what would it be?" he asked. "Caryl… Darol… they sound the same as saying your name or saying mine… huh."
"What's the huh for?" she couldn't help but ask.
"It's just kinda cool, that's all." Carol rolled her eyes and tried not to think about the fact that she agreed, it was pretty cool.
After 5 episodes they decided to take a break. Daryl wanted a smoke and she went to the window to watch the storm rage while he went out onto the balcony. It was bad and she started to feel anxious. She literally couldn't see anything but white swirls. "Holy fuck," Daryl hissed shaking off the snow at the door before he stepped back inside. She felt the rush of cold air and shivered. Thankfully the apartment was nice and cozy.
He shut the door and reached for the remote. He flipped on some music. It was a slow song that she didn't know. "Ohhhh I love this one, dance with me," he said, grabbing her before she had a chance to say yes or no.
"Ahh," Carol squealed. "You're cold… and wet," she hissed.
Daryl pulled her closer. "The offer still stands to take it off."
"Ugh," she groaned. "No, no, keep it on, by all means." He started to move to the music. "I'll just get all wet and cold with you."
"That's the spirit," he whispered softly in her ear. Carol decided the shiver she felt run through her body was because he was cold and wet, but she still found herself snuggling closer.
As the last notes of the song faded she looked up. She found herself staring at his lips, unable to look away, unable to tear her gaze away… even as they started to move closer. It wasn't until they were too close that she finally looked away, meeting his eyes instead, just for a second before his lips touched hers.
It was good. It was so good she moaned and arched her back. She couldn't help it. It was Daryl and fuck… Daryl was a damn good kisser. That tongue of his was… incredible and God… it was addicting. She wanted it. She wanted all of it. And then she wanted more. But wait, it's Daryl…Before she had a chance to decide what to do something happened… the music shut off… the lights… shut off… and it was quiet.
"Oh shit," Daryl said, breaking the kiss. "Power's out."
"Oh… no… uh…" Carol stammered, taking a step back for air. "Are there backup generators here?"
"Hmm, don't know," Daryl admitted. "Power outages aren't much of an issue in the city."
"So, now what do we do?" she asked, looking around. There was light coming in the windows, so it wasn't pitch black by any means, but it was the quiet, so quiet there was an eerie buzz, that got to her.
"Well, I'm thinking we should get out of these clothes," Daryl said.
"What?" Carol replied, looking at him in shock. Did he think…
"Uh, wet clothes… it's gonna get cold if the power is off for a while. Probably not a good idea to sit around in damp clothes," he said, looking strangely at her.
"Oh yeah, you're right," she said, heading quickly for her room before he saw her cheeks flush with embarrassment. Carol found her phone and used the flashlight to find her clothes and change. As quick as she thought she was Daryl still beat her back out to the other room. She heard him rummaging around in the kitchen while she got comfortable on the couch.
Suddenly he appeared. "I made you dinner… again," Daryl announced, dropping a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos in her lap. He sat at the other end of the couch and set down two glasses and a bottle of wine on the coffee table. "Unless you want to switch… I got Cheesies."
"No way in hell," she replied, pulling open the bag and popping one in her mouth. "Mmm, so good."
"Not sure the wine is gonna go well with Doritos and Cheesies but… who the fuck cares," he laughed.
"Oh Sweetie, wine goes with anything," Carol teased.
For the next hour they talked and laughed, drank wine and ate their 'supper.' It was getting dark outside and the room got dimmer by the minute. "I think I have candles somewhere," Daryl said, disappearing and returning with several and a lighter. He set them out around the room and lit them all. "Shit, what chapter is this now? Like 5? And the room is romantically lit with candles… dun, dun dun…Or is it bow chicka bow wow…"
"Stop…" Carol sighed, somewhat serious. She looked at his handsome face, glowing from the flicker of the candles and with a little courage from the wine she spoke, "Why'd you kiss me again earlier?"
"I dunno," he said, cocking his head to the side and grinning at her. "I like kissing you. It feels good."
She shook her head, "But we're not supposed to kiss like that… we're friends."
"Did you like it?" he asked, looking intently at her, waiting for a reply.
"Yes," Carol admitted honestly. "But that's not the point."
"You liked it. I liked it. So what does it matter?" he questioned her.
"I don't know," she sighed again. He was making her feel like she was being silly for worrying about a little kiss, so Carol dropped it. But she did have another burning question. "Why'd you come home last night? I mean, you could have found another girl. Called someone from your list of possibilities. Why didn't you?"
"Oh you have to go and remind me of getting dumped, huh?" Daryl laughed. "Well first of all I was mad. You know I have a big ego…" his voice trailed off for a moment. "Other than that… I wanted to tell someone. I wanted to vent and talk about it. I'm not used to having someone to come home to and I knew you were here and I could talk to you… I wanted to talk to you," he finished, sounding very genuine. Carol shivered and he noticed. "It's getting really cold, huh?"
"And late," she added, trying to stifle a yawn. "Maybe we should just call it a night and get warm under the covers."
"Good idea," Daryl said, getting up and blowing out all the candles but one. He used it for light and led the way down the hall to her room. He pushed open the door and walked in, holding the candle while she found her way to bed.
She climbed in. "Thanks," she said, letting him know he could go.
"Scoot," he replied.
"Huh?" Carol felt her heart start to beat a little faster.
"It's gonna be a long, cold night unless the power comes back on," he said. "Might as well snuggle and try to keep each other warm instead of both of us freezing in separate beds." Was he serious? Carol wondered. She watched him set the candle down and start to get in. Clearly he was quite serious. "You want to be the big spoon or little spoon?"
"Uhhh… little I guess," she replied, without really thinking it through. Daryl blew out the candle and the next thing she knew he was cuddled up against her, forcing her to turn towards the wall. He slung an arm over her and wiggled around a bit until he was comfortable.
"I am not responsible for where my hands end up when I'm sleeping," he announced. "Or anything else that might happen to my body with a sexy woman in my arms." She tried to ignore the feel of him against her ass and the thought of how it might feel if he was hard. This was certainly a development she had not been expecting. "Chapter 8…" Daryl said with a yawn. "Chapter 8 they're in bed, spooning."
Chapter fucking 8, Carol thought. He had to go there, didn't he? She closed her eyes and made a valiant attempt to sleep.
