This started out as a role play between myself (gunslingerdixon) and my Carol rp partner untapdtreasure (nolongeraxburden), and it was mutually decided upon to share with the rest of FF as a fanfiction. So here it is! Enjoy!

If y'all are interested in following us just go to: nolongeraxburden. tumblr .com or gunslingerdixon. tumblr .com

Also: we own nothing in regards to The Walking Dead. All rights belong to the copyright holder.

Daryl:

"Why won't you let me love you?"

Daryl felt his heart leap from out of his chest and onto the floor. Everything seemed to just… Stop. The pawing on the other side of the door was muffled and the drumming in his head a slow staccato echoing long into the stilling silence that was settling between them.

He froze, gulping the tension down as his brain tried processing her words. Trying its best to understand what she was saying. He felt unsteady and uneasy. The anxiety building itself back up again. His walls padding themselves high.

This was what he was most afraid of. Allowing someone to love him. Allowing himself the vulnerability to be loved. It wasn't something he could just easily allow. Something he could simply let happen.

He turned slowly to look at her but only caught the glimpse of her back to him. The wrinkle in his brow asserted itself on his face as he turned fully around to face her. With her back to him, Daryl had a subtle idea as to how she felt. A silent rejection. And it bothered him some that she turned away from him. For the first time in a long time he felt ashamed for what he'd done. It was hard for him to admit, but he had fucked up. They both knew it.

Working his jaw, he played with the stone in his hand, rolling his fingers over its smooth surface. He found himself glaring down into the concrete of the bathroom floor, eyes catching the glimmer of moonlight reflected off the shards of broken mirror from his temper earlier before. He'd all but forgotten about his bleeding hand as his knuckles were white from the tension of his hand having been balled into a tight fist. Coagulated blood collected in the slivers of shredded skin, light sting of pain flitting up his hand.

The more he thought about why he refused to allow her to get too close to him the more he found that he was hiding himself away. Dismissing what everyone knew to be true, but himself. Daryl wasn't a bullshitter. He'd tell her the truth whether he wanted to or not. That was how they operated. Open honesty.

Except for this.

This was something they didn't speak. It was some unwritten rule between them that they never spoke of and it worked for a while. It did. But things changed. They had changed.

He was still surly and aloof, but his unbridled temper had settled down. The callous and selfish remarks were almost nonexistent. His time and efforts spent were to protect and provide for others. His own wants had been tamped down and put to the wayside. He'd never asked for anything more than that his group mates… His family… Be accepting of his blood. Be accepting of Merle. He'd been denied that and then some.

What is it that she wanted from him? What did she want? Did she really want him? Or was it simply the idea of being with him that was appealing?

"Why do you even bother?" He finally uttered in a hoarse voice. Daryl was no longer studying the ground as he had before, but was keening his gaze at the small of her back somewhat afraid to quite meet her gaze if she was so inclined to turn around at that moment.

Taking a step forward, he brought the heels to the hollows of his eyes, vigorously rubbing. He didn't get it. Didn't know why she wanted so badly to be with him. "I ain't no good. I can't be what you want." He admitted low and mostly to himself, running his heels up and slowly to settle at the nape of his neck, fingers twisted in the length of his hair. "I'm no good at any o' this."

Huffing loudly he turned to head towards the door. Leaning his back against it, he slid down to the ground until he was sitting. His head thumped against the rattle of the door as Daryl persisted to keep his stunted attention on Carol's form in the dark. He was anticipating some sort of reaction to his affirmations of doubts. He wondered what she was thinking. If she was deciding on whether to give up on him. If he was being honest with himself, he hoped she wouldn't.

Everyone else had at one point. She seemed to be the only one still standing in his corner in spite of the nasty things he had said to her or the way he acted out towards her affections, outright denying them.

"Why don't you give up on me?"

It was the one thing he most wanted to understand. The why? Why did Carol put up with him as she did? What made him worth her while? Why?

The banging on the door was slowly working his nerves the more he sat against it and the more he became angry with himself over the present situation at hand. Pushing up from his sitting having had enough of the incessant desires of the walkers to get their hands on them, he felt a knot of tension coil itself in his chest tight around his heart. He found his feet taking him over towards her; his mind swirling about with his doubts again.

She had been the one to push his buttons. Why should she be the one to set the limits when all he'd established was the amount of push she had with him? He moved quietly into her space feeling the wash of adrenaline kick in— cool rush of tingling flitting down his spine and into the tips of his fingers. He pinned her against the wall, steel eyes boring into her own. He pressed his palm flat against the wall above her head, the other at her ear.

There was no taking this back now. Daryl was already pushing his own limits with the breach with physical proximity he was impeding on. Never in his right mind would he ever reckon he'd be this close to Carol to have her under his thumb as he did. Now that he had her pinned, Daryl really had no clue what he was doing. He swallowed the anxiety that was building again down before looking away, embarrassed and ashamed that he'd gone such lengths. "What d'you want from me?" He hissed under his breath trying to make heads or tails of everything.

It was in this moment that he was very aware of what walls he had just breached and he wasn't sure if he was ready to hear her answers.

Carol:

Carol's heart hammered in her chest. She hadn't ever dared to be so bold, nor blunt, with him. He was delicate in that respect, and she hadn't wanted to send him tripping over his feet as he went running for the hills. And she hadn't wanted to finally have an answer as to what they were. Tonight, she'd have it no matter how much it broke her heart, shattering it into so many pieces that it would be impossible to put it back together again. She'd never wanted anyone half as much as she wanted the wounded man there with her. He filled in the cracks and missing pieces of her heart with a delicate balance that almost left her breathless and aching when he wasn't in her immediate vacinity.

Her back was to him, unable to look at him and see just what she knew to be the truth. He didn't love her. Yet, he did. Just not the same way in which she loved him. And how could she expect any less? She'd been too cowardly to leave Ed. She'd been too cowardly to save her daughter. All she had to do was keep an eye on her. And the words from their past came up and slapped her so hard across the face that she visibly flinched. What decent honorable man would want her? Daryl deserved so much better.

Carol's heart then skipped at beat when he began to speak. His voice was low and gravely as it hit her ears. And just as she was about to turn and pour her heart out to him, he spoke again. And the words broke her heart. He truly believed the lies and vile things he'd been told all his life. She had seen changes in him since the farm. She'd watched him grow and blossom before her very eyes, and she was so proud of the man he was today. The man that he'd made of himself because the people behind him pushed him and appreciated him. She never took any credit for that man. She knew it had been in him all along. And she'd been right.

And then she heard his admission. He was no good at any of this. And she couldn't agree and disagree more. That was one of the reasons she'd fallen for him. He was so honest and childlike in that aspect. But there was nothing childlike about the man at the same time. He was everything all rolled into one. And it made him vulnerable. She suspected that she was the only one in whole life to not exploit that vulnerability and glean from it what she could to suit her own fancy. She'd seen Rick do it. Too many times to count. And she'd held her tongue. The only thing that she wanted from him was himself. Nothing more, nothing less.

She turned to face him just as he moved against the door and sat down. She could only make out his outline in the darkness. Her heart ached, breaking just a little bit more as she took a hesitant step forward with an aching need to comfort him. "Because I can't…" Her voice was lost in the darkness, unsure if he'd even heard her words. She was moving forward first one step then the next. Suddenly, he was on his feet, moving toward her, and she froze. Until he forced her backwards several steps and had her pressed against the wall. Her breath caught in her throat as he loomed over her. She could smell him. The mixture of sweat and dirt and the manly smell of him.

She couldn't think or speak as she was very aware of his hands coming to rest right below her ear and near the top of her head. She was trapped, but then again, she wasn't. One push from her and he'd be moving backwards out of her space, but she didn't dare. She didn't dare at all. She locked eyes with him, tilting her head slightly. And he turned his head away before he spoke. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing labored as the emotions that hung in their air were damn near tangible.

Her hands came up, taking his face in her hands and pulling his head back around to search his eyes before she softly whispered, "All I want is you." She lifted up on her toes, pressing her mouth to the corner of his for a second before shifting again and pressing her soft lips flush to his. Her eyes slipped closed. It seemed like time all but stopped.

Please review and let us know what you thought! Cheers!

*Note: This is also not 100% written by myself. I owe a lot of credit to my wonderful partner as she is Carol and does a phenomenal job. Send her some love too at untapdtreasure here at FF!