MORNING
The only good thing about the day was the morning. She had slept in. Irresponsibly. She woke up and she knew she'd been irresponsible and it filled her whole body with lightness. "Irresponsible." She whispered, loving the word on her tongue and giggled. It was stupid, truly it was, but It was her just... being. She'd turned into this whole new person in her journey to survive, but that new person had yet to discover who she was when not running, not fighting, not watching over her back. The times she got to enjoy just being were rare, often weighed down by the knowledge of what she'd done and knowing she'd never be truly at peace with it. So those extinct moments were as precious to her as they were fleeting.
The newcomers were already in Alexandria when she got up and was ready to face the day – Daryl and Andrew found them pretty early and took them back to the town, staying themselves as going on another run was off the table with all the joy from the arrival of two pretty girls and the impending festive dinner.
By the time she found him nestled in the corner on the floor of their houses's porch, half-hidden in the shadow and working on his bolts, she'd already heard the story of the miracle rescue a couple of times and she knew he wasn't getting out of this one.
"Heard you're the hero of the day." She purred, her lips forming a sly hint of a feline eyes glinted from under his overgrown bangs as he fixed her with a stare. An outsider would believe him angry but Carol knew better. "The saviour of not one, but two damsels in distress. A knight with a shining crossbow" she went on, basking in the glory of her teasing, the corners of her mouth contorted with pleasure.
"I did alright" He grumbled good-heartedly, setting the bolt aside and throwing his head back against the wooden wall, his eyes full of mischief.
She giggled silly then and lifted her face up to the sun that was shining without a care, like it had no idea what kind of world it was shining upon. His gaze turned wistful but she never saw that happen, her eyes firmly shut against the sun.
"Here." His voice was suddenly too close and she opened her eyes lazily. "Got this for ya." He pushed a chocolate bar in her hands and leant on the railing next to Carol, looking straight ahead onto the street and not at all at her.
She chucked "For the cookies?" and nudged him slightly with her shoulder.
He bristled a bit then, annoyed by the fact she'd suggest he cared about the stupid cookies or her role of a stupid cookie maker. "I said for ya. Are ya a cookie?"
He walked right into that one as she squinted playfully at him: "I could be for you, Pookie."
"Shut up and eat the damn thing." He stumbled off the porch gracefully in the Daryl way she'd grown to adore. He had turned into a man, raw and untamed, hard and somehow sure. Sure of his place, of his choices, of his family. But when he swore under his breath and went back up onto the porch to get his forgotten bow there was the boyishness in it that melted her heart like a chocolate in the sun.
"Thank you!" She called after his retreating form and she was sure he'd mumbled "Ain't nothing" even if she didn't hear it.
It was a good morning.