Chapter 8

Kissing her was the best thing he'd ever felt in his entire life. The feeling of one of her hands on his chest and the other on the back of his neck as she pressed against him had his blood sizzling and rushing to a very particular part of him that he knew was going to get him in trouble if they didn't stop soon.

She felt his hands on her waist, and she pressed against him, her tongue dipping into his mouth, tasting him, gently stroking his tongue and feeling his hands twitch at her hips. The soft groan that escaped his lips was enough to pull her out of the trance she seemed to have fallen in the moment their lips had touched. The spark that had pulled them together had been the most powerful thing she'd felt in a very long time. Years, even.

With a soft hum, she pulled back, bravely dragging her gaze from his amazing lips to his deep, blue eyes. He opened his eyes, and for a moment, it was as if their souls met, reaching for each other. And then they realized they were still wrapped around one another, and Daryl shifted just enough that Carol realized she needed to back away. Just touching him was doing things to her, and she got a brief glimpse that it was doing things to him before he stood and stalked outside, leaving her completely overwhelmed, her pulse pounding at her throat.

She got up and hobbled across the room to the door, peeking outside to see Daryl leaning against his truck and taking a long drag off of his cigarette. Carol took a deep breath and decided that they couldn't have this awkwardness between them, not if they were going to be spending all of their time together. She decided to apologize.

She grabbed her jacket just as Sophia came out of the kitchen.

"Mama, what are you doing? Your ankle! Sit back down." Carol sighed and turned as Sophia hurried over and put her arm around her mother's waist. "Daryl said to stay off of it."

"You listen to everything Daryl says, huh?"

"You told me to," Sophia said with a little laugh as she and her mother leaned on each other and crossed the room to the couch. Carol lowered herself back to the couch and made a face.

"You're right. You've got me there, sweetie." Carol winced in pained. "What'd you find for dinner?"

"We have spaghetti o's," she announced.

"Perfect," Carol said with a little smile. "You can start heating them up." Sophia nodded.

"One or two cans?"

"Just one," Carol said quietly. "We need to make what we have last as long as we can."

"Okay. There's some jerky left, too."

"Sounds good, kiddo," Carol said with a nod. But instead of going into the kitchen, Sophia headed to the door. "Soph—" Too late.

"Daryl! Mama's hurting again!" Sophia turned from the door.

"Did you really just tell on your own mother?" Carol asked, brows raised, jaw dropped in faux disbelief.

"It's for your own good. Now you sit there, and I'll get dinner started." Sophia nodded firmly and turned back to go to the kitchen just as Daryl came in from outside, exhaling a stream of smoke. Ah, so that's what he'd gone to do.

"What happened?" he asked, crossing the room toward the couch.

"Nothing. I…it was nothing. I got up, and it was stupid, and…"

"You got up?"

"Well, I was going to go after you. I guess I forgot about the pain for a second." She managed a weak smile. The awkwardness had returned, and the tops of his ears were red. She took a deep breath and went for it. "Listen, I want to apologize. I don't know what I was thinking. She willed herself to keep his gaze. "I don't want you to think I'm…"

"You're sorry?" he asked, biting at his nails a little, a habit she'd noticed was almost as bad as his smoking.

"I mean, you…I didn't mean to…"

"You didn't?" he asked, dropping his hand uncertainly before deciding to stuff it in his pocket.

"I don't…I don't know. Did you?" she asked, moving over as he sat down next to her on the couch. She turned her head to watch his mouth twitch as he tried to think of something, anything to say. She watched his gaze move from her face to the fireplace, and then he looked at his feet. "I just…we kissed. I guess, I kissed you and then…"

"Yeah," he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck, which she realized was something he did when he was nervous or uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm sorry if I made things awkward between us." Her shoulders slumped as she realized she was completely at a loss. What did she say next? How did she fix this? She just wanted to go back, but she didn't want to go back, and now she had a headache.

"It ain't that."

"Yes it is. If it wasn't awkward, you wouldn't have gotten up and walked out the door to smoke a cigarette," she pointed out.

"I liked it," he muttered. "I didn't wanna stop." He was pretty certain he hadn't been this embarrassed in his life. Just stop talking. Just stop.

"You…" Well, he had gotten an erection, but hell, she was likely the last woman alive on the planet, and he was a man with a penis, so she hadn't really thought much about it. "Oh. You…you liked it?" She watched as he rubbed his hands on his knees nervously. "Well, that's what I thought, but then you got up and left and…"

"I had to," he admitted. "I…well, you know."

"Yeah, I know," she said with a little grin tugging at her lips. "I can't read you sometimes."

"Welcome to my world," he muttered, a smile tugging at his lips. Carol licked her lips and let out a slow breath.

"Can I try something without you getting up and leaving?" she asked softly. Daryl tensed on the couch next to her but nodded.

"A'right." Carol took a deep breath and leaned into him, gently running her fingers through his hair before she stroked his cheek and leaned in, pressing her lips against his once again. She curled her fingers into his shirt, gently tugging him closer, and he moved his hands to her waist, tugging her closer. She sighed against his mouth, relishing the feel of being this close to another person, enjoying the sensation of him kissing her back, his tongue skimming along her lips, teasing her in the most exciting way. And then she pulled away, and he chased her lips with his own, not yet ready to end such a good kiss. But finally, he let her go, and she scooted over just a bit to give herself some space. They were both a bit flushed, and he couldn't help but crack the faintest hint of a smile when she bit her lip. Her nose crinkled just slightly, and then she was smiling back at him.

And then it happened.

"Are you guys done kissing yet? I really want to start dinner." Sophia peeked around out from the kitchen, watching as her mother and Daryl's faces turned the funniest shades of red. "Who's hungry?"

Dinner was quiet, and Sophia made no more mention of her knowledge that the two adults in her life had been kissing just a while ago. When dinner was over, she and Daryl helped each other clean up the mess, while Carol relaxed on the couch with her foot propped on a pillow.

Carol wiggled her toes and sighed, staring up at the ceiling, hoping that tomorrow, the swelling would be down and she could get around. She was growing very tired of the couch and just wanted to get up and move.

Sophia was the first to come back into the living room, and she moved over to the couch to give her mother a hug. Carol sat up a little, hugging her back, and she gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead.

"Good night, Mama," Sophia said softly.

"You're going to bed already?"

"I was going to read," she said with a shrug. "Don't worry, I'll keep the lantern light low."

"Okay," Carol said with a slow nod. "Soph?"

"Yeah?"

"Earlier…did you see?"

"You kissing Daryl? Yeah." Carol's cheeks reddened.

"Well, what you saw…that was…"

"Mom, I'm twelve," Sophia said quietly, cocking her head to the side. "And I like Daryl. He's really nice. Night, Mama. Love you."

"Love you," Carol called out as Sophia went off to her room down the hall. Carol sat up quickly, smoothing down the front of her shirt, running her fingers through her short locks, waiting for Daryl to return. Her nerves were coiling now, and she felt nervous and excited, and she was suddenly reminded very much of how she'd felt on her first date. Only, the first guy she dated hadn't been Daryl Dixon, hadn't had his amazing eyes, his kind spirit, his fantastic kissing skills or those arms. Suddenly she was imagining Daryl Dixon trying to grope her in the back of her father's station wagon, and she couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Daryl asked, walking into the room with a cup of coffee for each of them. She shook her head and smiled.

"Nothing," she said quietly. "Thank you." She took the hot mug and sipped slowly, as Daryl took a seat next to her. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Carol put her mug down. "I can't sleep on this couch one more night."

"You want me to take you to bed?" The words were out before he could stop himself. Their eyes met, and Carol decided not to give him a hard time for it. She simply shrugged and shifted her weight on the couch. "Shit. Not…what I meant." Carol laughed and waved her hand at him.

"Help me up?"

"Yeah." He put his coffee down and moved over to help Carol stand. Within a moment, he swept her up off of her feet and started carrying her off toward the back of the cabin. She forced herself not to stared at his mouth for too long, because she knew that would only lead to kissing, which could possibly lead to other things that neither of them was completely ready for, despite what her body might have thought at that moment in time.

As his arms pulled her firmly against his hard chest, she tried not to think about those amazing hands of his touching her and making her feel things she hadn't felt in a long time. She imagined what it might feel like to have him crawl over her and kiss her the way she really wanted him to, and suddenly, she felt a little weak.

"Okay, you can stop here," she said quietly, as soon as he walked into the room.

"But…your bed's over there."

"I know," she said softly. "But you…you need to stay over here."

"Okay," he said quietly, letting her down gently. "You gonna get over there all by yourself?"

"I can manage. You just…have a good night." Daryl stared at her, a little bewildered.

"You sure I can't just…"

"Oh, it's not a good idea," she murmured. "Trust me." He saw the fire in her eyes then, and he realized that she didn't trust herself not to take things further. She wanted him. She wanted him.

"Oh," he said quickly. "Okay. I…um…I'll see ya in the mornin'?"

"Yeah. Good night, Daryl."

"Night," he muttered, watching as she hobbled over to her bed. He waited until she was sitting down and giving him a weak smile and a wave, before he quickly turned and left the room, closing the door and retreating to his own room to try not to think about what might have happened if Carol hadn't drawn the line that night.