Carol barely looked up from putting the dinner dishes away when she heard the front door swing loudly open, shaking her head at the mess. She felt a slight breeze and then the foundation shake slightly at the harsh slam, only cocking her head when she heard a muffled curse.
Her heart stopped for a moment as her ears pricked and she peered through the window in the wall just in time to get a glimpse of him gently setting down his crossbow as he stumbled inside.
A quick glance at the calendar in the kitchen earlier had told her that he was well into the fourth week of a three week journey. Not that she'd been officially keeping track.
She placed the glass she'd been holding back in the sink and made her way into the main room in a few long strides.
"Hay," He mumbled, raising his head up when he heard her approach. His heavy footsteps stopped, clearly expecting her to slow her pace.
She didn't let up, plowing right into him and catching him off-guard as she threw her arms around his torso.
He stumbled back a few steps as he struggled to catch her, the fingers of one hand winding in her hair to hold her in place as she buried her face in his neck.
"Miss me?" He asked softly.
She shook her head slowly as she straightened up and attempted to collect herself. "Nah, not really."
He chuckled at that. "Well, I'm glad you're home. Nice ta have a welcomin' committee."
"I didn't hear your bike," she said casually, her wide blue eyes slowly sweeping over him to make sure that everything was just so.
He shrugged. "Parked it at Aaron's."
She nodded. "You hungry? I was just cleaning up, but I could fix you somethin."
He followed her into the kitchen, pausing to take in the slight hunch in her frame as she bent over the counter.
"Hay," he said again, reaching out to place a firm hand on her shoulder.
She whirled around, lower lip trembling as she ducked into his embrace.
He rested his chin on top of her head, pressing his hand into the small of her back and breathing her in.
"You're late," she mumbled quietly.
He sighed, reaching out to tap her chin up with his thumb.
Their eyes met and his fingers slid behind her ears, his tongue flicking out to wet his dry lips. Her watery gaze fell to his mouth and she turned her eyes down, sniffling slightly and slowly backing away to put some distance between them.
"Man," he said, watching her wipe at her face with the back of her hand. "You are such a girl sometimes."
She sniffed, the corners of her mouth tugging into a smile. "You say that like it's a bad thing," she teased.
"Trust me," he countered, his expression cautious as he continued to watch her. "It ain't."
She looked up at him, her eyelashes still damp. "I do trust you," she whispered.
His breath caught in his throat and he reached out his hand, hooking his thumb under her chin to tilt her head back, his fingers trailing along her jaw.
Her eyelids suddenly felt too heavy, and she closed her eyes in anticipation, her mouth parting slightly. In a second, his lips were pressed against hers, his hot breath all over her face and his hands firm at the back of her head.
She gasped audibly, her eyes flying open to find his staring back at her, widened in alarm.
"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, huffing slightly and it took her a second to realize that he was panicking.
"No!" She said, shaking her head and reaching out to touch his face. "Don't… I don't… no…" She searched her head to find the right words to calm him, but there were no words, only the roughness of his chin stubble in her hands and the warmth of his strong arms crushing her to his body and then she was kissing him again, slow and deep, and he was kissing her back.
A foreign sound escaped her throat, soft and desperate as they kissed.
He pulled back slightly, a dim yearning in his eyes that she didn't quite recognize. "Where's Rick?" He asked gruffly.
Her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to remember anything but the feel of his wet, sloppy mouth on hers. "Patroling," she said confidently as it came to her.
He nodded his head several times, taking it in. "Carl?"
"Out with friends," she said quietly.
"Michonne?"
She shrugged.
"The baby?"
"Sasha has her," she managed, wondering if he could hear her unsteady words over the pounding of her heart.
"We alone?"
She nodded, her hands shaking as she wrapped her fingers around his, gesturing wordlessly behind her without really moving and yet somehow they ended up standing in the middle of the room she'd been using to sleep at night.
In the end, she wasn't sure who moved first, but then the only thing that mattered was that they were kissing again and even though it was a little sloppy, it was honest.
She was pretty sure she was making those sounds in the back of her throat again, and his breath was coming in loud, fast gasps in between kisses. Not that she'd had much to compare it to, but she thought that Daryl Dixon was a damn good kisser.