Sorry I didn't get a chance to update yesterday. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!

Chapter Three

Apparently Rick and Shane were having a hard time agreeing on where the group should head to next, even though it had been three days since Daryl and Sophia had stumbled onto the old abandoned house. It was getting to everyone, the tension that seemed to ooze from the two men, but none of it was Daryl's concern so he kept his mouth shut.

He had other issues to deal with. Issues that very much were his concern. He stared up at the water stained ceiling and listened to the silence that filled the early morning. It seemed like the only time of day that there was any sort of silence at all. Movement across the room had him looking over just as Carol sat up, rubbing a hand over her face.

The two of them had shared a room with T-dog and Sophia. The girl slept next to her mom at the back and Daryl posted himself near the door in case something got past the person on watch and made it into the house. His gaze flicked to the corner of the room where T-dog should have been but the man must had headed out earlier to take watch.

The two of them hadn't talked about what had happened since that first night they had stayed and he wasn't sure if they ever would. Things like that didn't come easy to him because he'd never been in this situation. Never really bothered to fucking care about someone so much before. And it wasn't like he'd meant to. He didn't like the headache that came with caring, but it wasn't something he could just shut off and ignore. Maybe before, but not after what had happened.

The room was far to dim for her to really see him so she probably thought that he was sleeping, but he was wide awake now and could feel her eyes on him. Again, he wondered what the hell she was thinking as she stared in his direction but of course he didn't ask and he didn't do anything to let her know he was awake. So, she sighed heavily and slowly slid out from under the blankets she shared with her daughter. When she stood up she stretched and then her hand came up, rubbing at her shoulder. She went to the small window and gazed out, her back to him now as her hand still tried to rub away the ache in her muscle. He knew how she felt because sleeping on the cold floor was taking a toll on him too, but it beat sleeping in the dirt out there somewhere so no one dared say anything about it. Even though he wanted to let Rick and Lori know that it would have been a lot more fair if they took turns with the damn bed that they had claimed for themselves. He couldn't help but wonder how Shane felt about that situation.

He finally shoved the thin blanket away and climbed to his feet just as she turned around. For a few beats her eyes locked onto his.

"Morning," she whispered before turning back to the window.

"Nothin' gets past you," he muttered before shoving his feet into his boots.

He was rewarded with a backwards glance and a flash of a genuine smile. His lips twitched into a small smile of his own. He was trying to be nicer and sometimes it came easy but other times he had to work at it. Either way she seemed to sense that he was at least trying and that helped. Less pressure on his part.

~H~

She hadn't expected him to still be in the room this morning but she wasn't exactly surprised at his presence. She had to admit that it was nice, having him so close most of the time. The feeling of security was something most people took for granted but she wasn't one of those people. She'd spent the better part of her life knowing she wasn't safe and knowing that when it was all said and done, her daughter wasn't safe either. But since getting here, that's exactly how she felt and it was all because of him.

"How'd you sleep?"

The sound of his hushed voice was much closer and she rolled her eyes as her heart picked up a little bit. It was completely ridiculous to feel like this but it was there all the same, and she was powerless to do a thing about it. "As good as can be expected, I guess," she said without turning.

"Hurt?"

She glanced over her shoulder again and realized that she was still absently rubbing at her shoulder. She shrugged lightly. "It bothers me sometimes. Last year I... I fell down the stairs. Tore some muscles in there..." she couldn't believe she had just said that. Fell down the stairs? Why would she bother lying? She hadn't fallen down the damn stairs!

His eyes hardened and then narrowed as a muscle in his jaw worked. He kept his eyes on her shoulder and she was glad because she didn't want him to read the embarrassment on her face. He took in a slow breath and his features smoothed out but that dangerous glint was still in his eyes. "Guess it's a good thing we're stuck here and I can at least try to keep your clumsy ass from takin' anymore nose dives, huh?"

She read the real meaning in his words easily and her throat tightened with emotion that she couldn't even identify. He knew she hadn't fallen, knew that it was another injury she'd acquired at the hands of her husband. It was his way of saying he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Wording it any other way would have been too hard for him. When his eyes finally raised up, meeting hers she smiled.

"Here," he mumbled, his voice gruff as he pushed her hand away. Without another word he started working at the sore muscles and she had to stifle a groan. His hands were strong and somehow he knew exactly where to put them. It was unexpected but very welcome.

She could feel the heat from his body, so close but not quite touching her and she had the overwhelming urge to lean into that warmth. Wanted desperately to feel his arms around her, to feel safe. It wasn't lust. That had nothing to do with these sudden and overwhelming wants. It was the need to feel another person. She wasn't accustomed to affection, at least not from a man and knew that he was the last person in the world that would probably be willing to offer it freely. But it didn't change those powerful urges. The world was a lot colder now and she just wanted to feel... something good.

"Are you taking Sophia out today?" she whispered as he moved a little lower. Her voice shook slightly and she wasn't even sure why.

The pressure of his hands softened. "Yeah," he said and there was something in his own voice that had her wondering what he was thinking at the moment.

"Have I thanked you for that? For working so hard with her?" she asked.

He was silent for a few beats but he finally answered her. "A few times."

She nodded and closed her eyes, fighting that urge to lean into him with everything in her. "Well, I'll just keep doing it, okay?"

"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding more perplexed than concerned and then suddenly his hands fell away, like maybe he thought she didn't really want him touching her.

She turned then and his proximity brought her up short. "We don't really have the luxury to not be okay, right?" she asked.

He shrugged and almost took a step away but she couldn't let him. She quickly stepped into his space and before she lost her nerve or he was able to bolt right out the door she hugged him. His whole body locked up, every muscle seeming to tense and she realized that she had made a grave mistake.

~H~

The embrace was unexpected, and he was so ill equipped to know how to respond, but he still knew the exact moment that she began regretting her decision. He swallowed hard just as she was about to pull away from him and then he moved his hands to her waist and forced himself to just be still. How fucked up was he? Why was it okay for him to rip her clothes off and fuck her on a storage room floor but a simple hug had him freezing up? Really, when was the last time he felt this? A person just wanting, for whatever reason, to be closer to him? And why did it make him feel so... exposed? Naked. Almost terrified?

She made a move like she was about to step away so he tightened his hold on her and then, reluctantly, his arms slid around her. His heart thundered in his chest and he half expected her to come to her senses and pull away, realize that whatever she wanted wasn't something he could give her. He had built walls around his heart a long time ago and he didn't want to watch them crumble now; didn't want to give anyone, not even her, the power to cause any more damage to his already threadbare sense of self worth. He needed to protect himself from that.

Really, what was the point of this anyway?

He already knew the answer to that but tried to shove it to the back of his mind. The point was, there was no point. It just felt good. It felt good knowing that someone was simply there, and willing to show him that they cared. Suddenly, with such a simple gesture on her part, he didn't feel as cold anymore, or as alone as he had only moments before. Such a simple thing, such a small thing, had the power to shake him up like nothing had in a long time. Maybe ever.

He finally let it go, the reluctance, and let himself feel the warmth of her body against his, willed his own heart to stop beating a bruise against his ribs, and he realized then that hers was chasing his, thundering hard, like maybe this was just as hard for her. He would have laughed because this was pretty damn ridiculous. They were both grown adults but had to tread water, had to feel their way around situations that came so goddamn infuriatingly easily to everyone else.

Her face was tucked into the crook of his neck and he was surprised to feel the warmth of her breath on his skin when she let a breathy little laugh escape her. "Sorry," she whispered.

"For what?" he asked, knowing he sounded guarded as hell but not caring.

"For ambushing you. It's been a strange couple of days," she said.

He snorted and relaxed a little more but neither one of them tried to pull away and he found himself wondering how the hell he'd gotten himself in this situation. Once he could finally feel anything other than the shock and uncertainty, this was actually a damn good feeling. She needed it, just to feel the closeness of another person, and he was the one providing that and as strange and different as that was, it was still a good thing. And maybe, though he was reluctant to admit it, he needed that closeness too. Maybe it was high time that he finally let somebody in.

"Are you two gonna kiss or what?"

They both jumped at the unexpected sound of Sophia's voice. He'd forgotten the girl had been sleeping just a few feet away. He dropped his arms to his sides and took a good three steps back as his ears started burning. Carol looked as startled as he felt, her wide eyes meeting his for a second before flashing to the corner of the room where Sophia was sitting up, rubbing her eyes and grinning like some kind of asshole.

"Well?" she pressed, raising her brows, her wide eyes innocently glancing between the two of them.

"Of course not," Carol mumbled, clearing her throat.

"Why not?" the girl asked.

Daryl glared at her but she ignored the look.

"Because we're friends and friends don't go around kissing one another," Carol said, grabbing Sophia's hand and pulling her up from the floor. "Let's go find some breakfast."

Sophia glanced up at him as she stepped past and he'd be damned if the skinny little shit didn't look smug. He thought about kicking her right in the ass but he refrained. He was an adult. He'd wait till he had her out tracking and he'd trip her or something. She was old enough to learn the lesson of payback being a bitch.

"Sorry," Carol muttered on her way past, looking worried.

"Should be," he grumbled as he stepped out the door, not wanting her to regret something that had been... nice.

She glanced back at him.

"Don't think for a damn minute that I'm gonna fall prey to all that mushy shit, woman. It ain't happenin'." He stepped past her but was rewarded with the sound of her laughter.

"Duly noted," she said lightly.

Sophia looked up at him again as he slid past her in the narrow hall. "Looked to me like you liked it."

"Looks to me like you aught to shut up and mind your damn business."

The girl grinned up at him and he found himself flashing her smile of his own before giving her a small shove into to the wall on his way past.