We're coming into the home stretch! This one's a shorty.
Repetitive disclaimer: Still not mine.
In a panic, Daryl turned and ran away from Carol's cell, face burning. He swept up his crossbow on his way down the stairs, slinging his quiver over his shoulder. There were way too many pairs of eyes on him as he rushed through the common room. Everyone was sitting down to dinner, and he knew they were all staring at him, wondering what he'd screwed up now. He had to get out of here.
As he left the building, he broke into a jog. He trotted down to the gate and fumbled it open. He locked up after himself and took off into the forest at a run. As he ran, his mind raced, too. He couldn't shake the images of Carol out of his head. Both the incredible image of her shuddering and gasping and the terrible, awful image of her horror at being seen. He could see how painfully humiliating it was to her, and yet here he was still lusting after her like a goddamn alley cat. A growl of frustration ground out of him – how could he be such an asshole? He ran harder to try and make his brain shut up.
Eventually he had to slow down. Breathing hard, he slowed to a walk.
Dammit. He felt horrible about what happened. He felt worse about being aroused by it. Terrible as he felt, the truth was, watching her orgasm was the single hottest thing he'd ever experienced in his life. She had been impossibly beautiful, and he wanted her more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life. But he'd fucked everything up. She'd never speak to him again. Hell, she probably wouldn't ever look at him again, and he couldn't blame her.
If he didn't know the blood would attract walkers, he'd beat his head against a tree.
It made his chest ache, thinking he might lose her. Then he shook his head. You can't lose what you don't have, dipshit. She certainly deserved better than having to put up with his stupid ass. But he had to admit they had something, though. His friendship with her was special – different from anyone else. Different from anyone he'd ever known. But that was Carol. She was special, and she made him feel special. She was sweet, caring, funny, sassy, and beautiful, and holy shit was he in love with her?
He stopped abruptly. Was that what this weird feeling was? Was he actually in love with her? He was shocked he hadn't thought of it before. The only people he'd ever loved were his mama and Merle, and that had always been a sort of twisted mix of love, anger, and pain. Of course he was attracted to Carol – she was amazingly sexy. But he hadn't recognized that what he felt was love without the pain.
He loved her. He sank weakly down to sit on a rotting log, his crossbow slipping down to land softly in the leaves. He loved her.
The revelation set him reeling.
He had to tell her. She had to know how he felt – that he'd finally figured it out. Of course she hated his guts now, but it didn't matter. Now that he understood it, the feeling filled his heart until he thought he'd suffocate. He had to share it with her.
He had to go back.
Scooping up his crossbow, he set off for the prison at a run.
When he made it back it was fully dark. There was just enough moonlight to make his way. He'd only encountered a few walkers and had avoided them when he could. He didn't want to waste any time if he could help it.
Once he approached the gate, he slowed to a walk to catch his breath. He hurried into C-block and made his way through the common room without making eye contact with anyone. He only wanted to talk to one person. He took the stairs two at a time, dropped his weapons on his mattress, and went straight to Carol's cell. He knocked, but there was no answer.
"Carol?" he called out softly. He peeked his head past the curtain, but the cell was empty. Where had she gone?
"She left," T-Dog's voice came from below.
"Where?"
"Not sure, but she headed into the prison, not outside. She looked upset."
"Shit." Daryl started down the stairs to go after her.
"Hang on, man." T-Dog held out a hand to keep him from rushing off. He ducked into his cell and rummaged around. "If you're going after her, I got something for you."
He came out of his cell with a grin on his face. "I don't know what you two got goin' on, and I don't care. Whatever you did to piss her off, you need to go make it up to her. She's a good woman. Don't be fuckin' this up."
He handed Daryl a box of condoms.
Daryl stared at it stupidly, and T-Dog laughed. Blushing furiously, Daryl stuffed the box deep in his pocket.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
"Now go get 'er!"