Chapter 20

Carol woke abruptly to the feeling of rough stubble against her stomach and a warm tongue circling her navel. She gasped, her hands flying out grasp Daryl's shoulders as she squinted into the early morning light.

"Daryl?" she gasped, as he moved up, pressing kisses between her breasts.

"Hmm?" he murmured lazily as he took a nipple between his lips, tugging gently. She bit her lower lip, her eyes rolling back momentarily as her body adjusted to such a spectacularly intense and urgent wakeup call.

"What time is it?"

"Dunno," he murmured, his tongue circling her pert little bud as she gently caressed his hair. "Maybe six thirty? Seven?"

"You couldn't sleep?"

"I slept. Then I woke up." She snorted at his playful side this morning. It wasn't something she saw often at all. He kissed her neck, sucking tenderly there as he crawled over her, his hand moving between her knees, parting her legs. She gasped softly when his fingers found her center, stroking her into a jumble of firing nerves.

"Anybody else awake?" she panted.

"Don't hear nothin'."

"Good," she breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to her for a good morning kiss. He fell into her, pulling her leg up to hook over his hip. He reached down, gripping his dick in his hand. With a couple of strokes, he was fully hard, and he slid into her slowly, a soft mewl escaping her lips at the sensation of being filled by him.

His hands framed her face as he moved inside of her slowly, relishing the feel, memorizing the way she bit her lip, the way her lids fluttered when something felt particularly good. He couldn't help but smile when she opened her eyes and looked up at him, that dazzling smile spreading over her face before a wave of pleasure washed over her, sending her arching against the sleeping bag beneath her.

He caught her cries of pleasure in his mouth, kissing her softly, slowly, making love to her and savoring every moment, every touch, and every exquisite sigh that escaped her soft lips.

Afterward, he stroked her back, feeling the damp warmth against his fingertips, and she snuggled into him, not wanting the moment to end.

"You're with me, right?" she asked softly after a few moments. "I mean, we never…we just kind of…happened."

"Yeah," he answered, "I'm with ya. And you're with me." Carol smiled a little, kissing his chin.

"I mean, we don't…it's just that there are others now. I just want to make sure that you want…" She found herself getting tongue tied, before Daryl hushed her with a chaste kiss upon the lips.

"Hey," he whispered, his calloused thumb sweeping over her cheek. "I just want you."

"Ok," she said with a sweet smile, pressing her hand against the center of his chest. "Then we need to talk."

"I mess up already?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," she chuckled. "If we're going to keep doing…this, we need to be smarter about it."

"Oh," he murmured. "Oh. Shit. Carol, I'm sorry."

"It's ok," she said softly. "I wasn't exactly thinking about it either. But I know you got condoms at the store that day." She watched the color of his cheeks run the gamut from pale to bright red.

"They're in one of the bags in the back of the truck."

"Okay," she said with a little nod. "Maybe keep one in your pocket, you know, just in case."

"Just in case you just gotta ravage me on a supply run, huh?" he asked, an amused grin spreading over his face.

"Oh yeah. You never know," she laughed, burying her face into his neck, happy that that awkward little conversation was over. It wasn't long before their quiet was interrupted by the sound of somebody dumping wood into the fire pit for a morning fire, and the smell of coffee soon filled the air.

They dressed quickly and made their way out of the tent to join the rest of their new group, trying to figure out exactly where they fit in the scheme of things.

"Holy shit," Glenn Rhee panted as he stared at the squirrel that fell to the ground with an arrow straight through its eye. That was the fifth one that morning, and with each one, Daryl plucked out the bolt and stuffed the little critter in a sack over his shoulder. Glenn and Hershel had accompanied Daryl on his morning hunt. Mostly, Daryl wanted to talk to Hershel about training his youngest daughter Beth with a weapon. She was eighteen, plenty old enough to start defending herself and helping defend the group. He figured that if twelve-year-old Sophia could handle a gun, then Beth Greene should be no exception.

"Just gotta know where to aim," Daryl said with a shrug, a bit amused by the younger man's surprise at his skill with a crossbow.

"Where'd you learn that?"

"Ain't my first time," Daryl muttered, wiping off the bolt. "I been teachin' Sophia how to handle weapons."

"She's just a girl," Hershel spoke up incredulously.

"Yeah, but I'd rather her know how to handle one and use it right than be just another dead girl." He spat onto the ground as they walked through the woods.

"You convinced her mama of that?" Hershel asked.

"Ain't like we wanna build a child army. Just want her to be able to protect herself." He looked over in the direction of the camp. "She almost lost her daughter, and I know she ain't willin' to risk that happenin' again." He cleared his throat. "Maggie handles a gun?"

"Maggie's a great shot," Glenn pointed out. "I taught her myself." He seemed pretty proud of that fact. "I taught her and I taught my wife. They're both good."

"So what's Beth do? Hide behind one of you when the walkers come biting?"

"My Beth's young," Hershel said quietly.

"She's eighteen. She's not a baby," Glenn muttered. Hershel eyed him.

"So you're saying you want to see your Jenna out there putting walkers down and practicing her aim on tin cans and fence posts?" Hershel asked. "That's your baby girl. You really want to watch her innocence fade away the second you strap a gun to her?"

"That's different," Glenn pointed out.

"Not to me it's not."

"Look," Daryl interrupted, "Beth's grown. Sophia ain't, but she's old enough to be responsible. We gotta be smart. Gotta have everybody able to handle it trained. We get into a herd, and how long you think Beth's gonna last without a weapon? You talked to her about it?"

"She watched her mama get ripped apart by those things," Hershel explained. "She doesn't need to be…"

"So you ain't talked to her about it."

"You're brand new here," Hershel warned. "You're just gonna go around putting guns in people's hands?"

"If that's what it takes to save our lives? Yeah, I guess I am." He turned and headed back toward camp, realizing that the only person he was going to have to convince to let him train Beth was Beth herself.

Carol busied herself with helping Maggie and Sarah with the laundry that morning, and by the time they got to hanging it to dry, baby Judith had worked herself up into a crying fit, and nothing Rick did could seem to sooth his fussy baby. Carol watched him walking back and forth with her desperately as some of the group looked around warily, as if expecting her cries to draw walkers from miles away, which, honestly, was a possibility.

Drying her hands on her pant legs, Carol made her way over toward Rick's tent, where he was pacing back and forth outside, bouncing the baby in his arms.

"She ok?" she asked softly.

"She does this every morning," he muttered tiredly, hoisting the baby up so her head was on his shoulder and he could pat her back.

"What are you feeding her?" she asked.

"Uh," Rick murmured, rifling through one of his packs before retrieving a can of baby formula, "this. This is what Lori fed Carl when he was born." Carol took the can in her hands and read it over. She made a soft humming sound before putting it down with a little nod.

"May I hold her?" Rick eyed her for a moment as she held her arms out, and he finally put the baby gently in her arms. Carol began rubbing the baby's tummy, and she soon quieted and began sucking at her own tiny fingers. Carol glanced up at Rick, who seemed to watch in awe as Carol soothed his daughter in a way he'd never been able to.

"How'd you do that?"

"Some babies don't do well with iron," Carol explained. "My Sophia got the worst stomach cramps when she was born, and we switched to something without iron, and she took to it like a pro." She cradled the baby tenderly in her arms. "Do you have anything else?"

"Uh, yeah," Rick said quickly, searching through the pack and pulling out a different can. He held it up to Carol and she scrutinized the label. "We got it as a backup."

"Try making her a bottle with that one." Rick looked down at his daughter and then up at Carol and then at the can of formula, figuring that anything had to be better than his daughter being in constant discomfort, so he figured it was worth a try.

Carol held the baby as he poured some bottled water into a fresh baby bottle and mixed in some of the new formula. She handed Judith over to him and watched him for a moment as he fed her. The baby took to the formula quickly, and Rick gave Carol a little nod.

"Thank you."

"Let me know if she does better with this one. I'm willing to bed it's the iron in the formula that was making her feel bad."

"I'll let you know. Thanks again." Carol nodded and gave him a little smile before heading back over to help finish hanging the laundry.

"God, thank you," Maggie muttered. "She cries like that every morning."

"I didn't even think about the formula," Sarah said softly. "Jenna was breastfed, so I didn't really have to think about that."

"Oh, when you've been up all day and night with a screaming baby, you never forget what it was that made your baby feel so bad." She looked over toward the tree line just as Daryl, Glenn and Hershel walked out. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him stalking toward the camp.

"He's yours, huh?" Sarah asked with a little smile.

"Mine?" Carol asked nonchalantly. She couldn't help but smile and the blush that spread across her face. Sarah and Maggie both laughed and looked at each other knowingly.

"He's your husband, right?"

"Husband?! No," Carol explained. "No, we met after…after everything." She gave a little shrug. "If it wasn't for him, Sophia and I probably wouldn't be here. He's…well, he's important."

"Uh-huh," Sarah said with a grin. "I've seen the way he looks at you. You're important, too." Carol blushed at that, and the three women had a good laugh. Carol looked up to see Daryl's eyes on her, and he nodded his head. She cleared her throat and put up the last piece of laundry in the basket.

"Excuse me, ladies." She turned and walked off to a chorus of Sarah and Maggie's laughter. She headed over to the pickup truck, where Daryl was rifling through the glove box to find one of the pistols. "Whatcha doing?"

"Gonna talk to Beth," he muttered.

"With a gun?"

"What?" he asked, looking at the pistol in his hand and then up at her. "No. I…I'm gonna teach her how to use it."

"What's her dad have to say about that?"

"He's not on board, but I think he'd rather have a daughter that can protect herself than a daughter who's just…walker bait." Carol crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, I'm sure that's true. Did you just go in throwing around your opinion, or did you actually talk to him?" Daryl eyed her and leaned against the truck, pulling a cigarette out of his breast pocket. He flicked the lighter and took a long drag. His gaze poured into hers, and she like her knees had turned into jelly.

"Shit," he muttered. "Probably ain't makin' the best first impression, huh?" Carol gave him a little grin and turned to lean against the truck next to him, nudging his shoulder with her own. "A'right. I'll talk to him. Just…feels like I'm talkin' to my grandpa or somethin'."

"Put yourself in his shoes. Say it was your daughter somebody was wanting to teach how to use a gun so they can shoot walking corpses in the head."

"Sounds like somebody's damn nightmare," he muttered. "When the hell'd the world turn into a damn horror movie, anyway?" He took another puff on his cigarette. "Fine. I'll talk to him. But he still ain't gonna like it."

"Well, it's not up to him. It's up to Beth. She's old enough to choose for herself, and if it was me, I'd wanna know how to protect myself and the people I love." Daryl nodded. He took another drag off of his cigarette, and at that point, Hershel came walking over. Carol gave Daryl's arm a little nudge to get his attention.

"I thought about it," Hershel said quietly, scratching his finely trimmed beard. "You're right. I'd rather have my Beth able to protect herself. I won't be around forever." He shifted nervously. "If you're half as good with a pistol as you are with a bow, then you're the one I'd want teachin' her." Daryl gave him a little nod. "She's eighteen, but she's…delicate. She's very emotional. That's why I had my reservations about her learning. My Maggie's good with a gun, but she's always been the strong one. I never had to worry as much for her as I did for Beth." Daryl gave the man a nod, and Hershel turned to walk away, stopping and turning back to look at Daryl. "You teach her what you know. I don't want some half-hearted instruction. I want her to know what you know." When the old man was out of earshot, Daryl let out a breath, and Carol linked her fingers with his, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Maybe your first impressions are better than you think," she murmured softly. He snorted and took one last drag off his cigarette before turning to press into her, backing her into the side of the truck, his sudden display of confidence making her gasp before she relaxed and smiled up at him when his cheeks filled with blood at his own sudden bravery. She laughed as his fingers skimmed the edge of her jeans, tickling the soft skin there. "You've got things to do."

"Can think of more things I'd rather be doin' than teachin' some spoiled daddy's girl to shoot a pistol." He brushed his lips over hers, and she reciprocated the kiss before gently pushing him back.

"Well…maybe I'll go with you. Could be fun." He chuckled and kissed her once more. "Besides, I'd like to get some more practice in. We'll take Sophia. Make a day of it."

"Sounds good," he said with a little grunt, giving her ass a little squeeze.

"Think you can keep your hands to yourself for a few hours?" Her tongue darted out over her lower lip as his heated gaze bore into hers.

"Dunno. Might be hard." He pressed into her, and she knew exactly what he meant.

"Tease," she giggled. He leaned in to kiss her again, but she pressed her finger against his lips, her mouth parting teasingly before she ducked out from his grasp. "I should check on Sophia." She crinkled her nose at him, and he watched as she turned and walked away, her hips swinging a little more than they usually did, which let him know that show was all for him. He pulled another cigarette out of his breast pocket and lit up, leaning back against the truck and watching her walk away, a smirk curling at his lips. Now who's a tease?

Author's Note: To the person who told me they would no longer be reading because I made Beth 18 instead of 16 in this fic, that's fine. But if you've been reading this story all the way through, you should be able to figure out that Carol is it for Daryl, and Beth would NEVER even be a blip on his radar. But, ok.