Carol first went to her room to shower and wear something more comfortable for the night. She opted for a grey hoodie which was way too big for her and a pair of leggings, not exactly the sexiest thing but she was cold. Plus, she knew Daryl could not care less about her clothes.
On her way to his room, her eagerness to see Daryl was now accompanied by stress. After what happened the night before between them, she did not want him to feel like she expected anything more from him unless he was ready, she did not want to pressure him. Moving their friendship to the next step was a big deal for both of them, not really for the friendship itself because she knew he would always be her best friend but because both had a lot of emotional baggage. Both were scared of not being good enough for the other. Both were scared out of their mind to lose each other. She knew she would not get over it, she knew that if she were to lose him there wouldn't be anything left of her.
She sighed, annoyed by her own thoughts, she was done being scared, done letting fear taking over her desire to be with Daryl. Not to mention that what had happened the night before proved that he felt just the same.
His door was left ajar, the room was beautiful at this time of the day for the sunset was lighting up the whole room, giving it a warm glow. She could hear the shower running in his bathroom so she closed the door behind her and let herself in. She sat cross-legged on the window seat and waited for him.
"Hey," he said as he opened the bathroom door, unsurprised to see her there.
"Nice day ?" She asked.
He simply nodded before adding, "You ?"
"Yeah." She paused and watched him drying his hair with the towel he had in his hands. His long locks were now wilder than ever and she challenged herself to convince him to cut his hair one of these days.
"I talked to Dwight, I told him to leave Alexandria."
Daryl looked at her, waiting to hear more.
"He's going to," she said to answer the curious look he gave her. She stood up to approach Daryl.
"I bet ya asked nicely," he said, knowing that she probably did not. Carol could see in his eyes that he was being playful and she found it endearing.
"Of course. I'm always nice," she smiled.
She placed her hands on his chest and slowly moved them to each side of his neck and kissed him gently.
"Is this okay ?" she whispered, her lips still close to his.
As a response, he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her waist to kiss her back, passionately. Daryl was aching for her and Carol moaned in desire as his tongue slid against hers and he pressed her tighter to him.
They kept kissing for a long time before Carol ran her hands down his torso to grab the hand of his t-shirt, giving him a clear idea of what she wanted to do with it. She started lifting his shirt up but he finished the job for her, removing it in one quick gesture. But he soon regretted what he had done in the heat of the moment for his insecurities took over, he nuzzled his head in her neck, ashamed of his scarred body. He felt stupid too for Carol had already seen his scars and he knew she would never judge him, their relationship has always been about unconditional acceptance. Carol felt like her heart was going to break for him, how could he not see what she was seeing when she looked at him ? She gave Daryl a kiss on the temple and cupped his face in her hands to make him look at her.
"Let me show you something," she said.
As Carol started taking her hoodie off, he was hit by the realisation of how much he loved the woman in front of him, not just because she was not wearing anything under it but because of how much she trusted him.
She dropped the hoodie to the floor and started pointing out her own scars, near her chest, stomach and arms.
"Got some of those on my back too," she said as she turned around to show him her back. "And on my thighs," she added. Pure rage started burning inside Daryl as he wished Ed was still alive so he could kill him himself.
He was absolutely speechless therefore he simply hugged her from behind in comfort, wrapping his arms around the body that he found perfect as he kept listening to her.
"Cigarette burns scars for when dinner was not good enough, belt marks for when I wasn't good enough… He used whatever he could to hurt me. Destroy me. But he didn't. I'm still here and he's not, the people who've hurt us are not here anymore. We are."
She turned around to face him and cup his face in her hands again.
"Where you see scars, I see how strong you are."
She kissed him, a kiss through which she hoped he could feel just how much she loved him.
"Let me show you how good you are," she whispered against his lips. As Daryl felt overwhelmed by so much acceptance and unconditional love the kiss became more urgent again. Their chest to chest contact was intoxicating and both moaned as their tongue met.
Carol's lips eventually left his to trail a line of kisses along his jawline and neck, driving him crazy. She removed her hands from his hair to move them down the front of his trousers to undo them and Daryl tilted his hips towards her in response.
They started moving quickly after this, taking off the rest of each other's clothes like they were tearing their last walls down. Carol guided him to the bed but as result of not wanting to part their lips both stumbled a bit. They laughed at their awkwardness but quickly resumed kissing as she lied on the bed and Daryl moved over her.
He kissed his way down to her breasts and Carol arched her back at the sensation of Daryl's lips against her skin, his hands were gracing her body with the softest caresses. He sucked a nipple into his mouth, curling his tongue around it over and over while massaging her other breast.
All this teasing was killing her.. Her fingers were tight in his hair when her moans grew louder as she felt his hand caressing the inside of her thigh.
"Daryl…" she moaned. Her desire for him was becoming almost unbearable, she wanted him, all of him. Once he was done with her breasts, she captured his lips once again and arched her hips against his.
He settled between her legs as she folded her arms and legs around him to keep him as close as it was humanly possible. He went deep but quickly stilled at the overwhelming feeling. He shuddered against her, she was too much, too perfect like the way they fit together. His heart was pounding like crazy, and he wondered for a second if it was going to explode. "Perfect way to die" Daryl thought. He felt Carol's body shaking under him too so he rested his forehead against hers in comfort before looking at her. The blue of her eyes was darken with desire.
Carol captured his lips in another kiss and Daryl finally started moving his hips. He was everywhere and it was overwhelmingly perfect, the way he fit inside her, his strong body above hers which made her moan with each of its thrusts, following a perfect rhythm. And though this was their first time, he felt familiar too, like this was meant to happen all along and she had finally reach her home.
Daryl's tongue found the sensitive spot in her neck and it made her moan even louder before he shut her up with another kiss. She rolled her hips against his, asking for more and more and he was more than willing to give her anything she wanted. He thrust faster as she kissed him harder, her fingers grabbing his hair with yearning. And Daryl wanted to cry at the level of intimacy they shared in that moment. No moment in his life had ever felt like this.
Carol gently pushed him off of her to change their position. She sat on top of him but Daryl instantly missed the contact of her chest against his so he sat up with her and held her lips as he pulled her down, burying more of himself inside her. In response Carol cried out his name and quickly they accelerated the rhythm of their movements, desperate to lose themselves in each other.
She pressed herself into his chest, feeling like he would never be close enough as he ran kisses along her neck. The combination of their emotions had them panting. Neither one of them had ever wanted anyone so much, both physically and emotionally. Daryl knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer and as he felt small hands gently grabbing his hair, he thrust his hips into her a few more times, leading her to reach her own climax. Carol cried out, burying her face in his neck and with a low grunt from deep in his throat Daryl came inside her, making her his.
They stayed in the same position for a while catching their breath chest against chest as he gently ran his fingers up and down her spine, both reluctant to separate the union of their bodies. Carol's head was still buried in his neck, tears rolling down her cheeks.. She was crying out of love, out of happiness, they had finally done it, they were finally letting themselves be together, accepting that the fear of losing the other was smaller than the love they had for each other.
Daryl leant back to look at her, he did not question her about her tears, he just understood and in that moment he wanted nothing more than getting the words "I love you" out of his mouth but he remained quiet, unable to open his mouth for he feared that he might just start crying with her. He knew it did not matter, they simply knew and that was enough. He kissed her cheek, his lips lingering a bit longer before softly kissing her lips and lying down on his back.
Carol collapsed on top of him for she could barely feel her body and he welcomed her, wrapping his arms around her naked body. She eventually found enough strength to roll on her side and stop crushing him though Daryl could barely feel her weight. She pressed her face into his neck as he curled her tighter to him and both fell into oblivion.
Daryl could feel from the sound of her breathing that Carol was awake. He blinked sleepily at her, adjusting his eyes to the morning light.
"Hey," she said smiling.
They were lying on their side, facing each other.
"Morning," Daryl answered stretching himself like a cat which made Carol chuckled.
"You're so cute." She said seriously.
"It's a bit early to be drunk don't ya think ?"
"Shut up," she laughed.
He cupped one side of her face and stroke her cheek with his thumb. They were looking at each other in complete awe until Daryl kissed her nose and slowly got up to look for his trousers.
"Stay, we're off duty this morning."
"I'll just get us somethin' to eat," he reassured.
"Get out quickly then," she joked as she watched him getting his trousers on.
"You done lookin' at my ass ?"
"It is a sight to behold," she said, her face overly grave.
He laughed at her nonsense.
"You perv" he joked as he put his t-shirt on.
"Right. Like you haven't been looking at my ass for the past couple years."
"Dunno what you talkin' about," he said but his chuckle betrayed his lie.
Carol could not stop smiling after he left the bedroom. She could not remember the last time she felt so happy, so relaxed. Daryl and herself were both complicated people, damaged by the world they lived in but paradoxically being together was simple and nothing felt more real and honest than being with each other.