Daryl took another step towards her, his anger and grief radiating off of him. "And you ain't my problem. Sophia wasn't mine!" He yelled.
Carol took it all in stride, staring at him as he worked through his emotions.
"All you had to do was keep an eye on her!" He screamed, coming towards her and that's when she flinched. She had tears in her eyes and he instantly felt horrible.
She'd expected him to hit her. Ed used to hit her, he'd hit her for stupider things than this.
Carols eyes widened a little and he stepped back.
"I wasn't gonna..." He started, trailing off when a tear slipped down her cheek.
She quickly wiped her hand across her face and stared at him. "I know but, you're right. I should've kept her close to me, all the time." She choked out around the huge lump in her throat.
He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck a little. "You were a good momma." Daryl mumbled. "I'm just pissed at myself, wanted to find her for ya." He said and she nodded.
"You're a good man Daryl." She said and he couldn't believe his ears.
Here she was, telling him that after he'd yelled at her and made her think he was gonna hurt her. He'd never hit her, ever, but he was angry enough a minute ago that she was waiting for the blow. She'd seen Ed get that angry before and knew what he did to her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't find Sophia." He managed, his throat and chest feeling tight as more tears fell down her cheeks.
Carol broke at hearing her name and put her hand to her mouth, bending a little as she started sobbing for what felt like the tenth time today.
Daryl watched her a moment and surprised them both by taking a step forward and tentatively putting his arms around her.
She cried harder, her body shaking in his arms. He just held her tighter and moved his hand to her back, rubbing small circles.
In all the years she was married to Ed, he'd never held her like this, never comforted her so deeply with so little words.
Daryl kept rubbing her back, trying to think of anything to say, something more than just holding her to comfort her. He didn't really have any experience being around women in the past, especially crying women. He felt her tears soaking his shirt and her sobs shaking her small body.
Finally he thought of something that might comfort her. "She loved you Carol, anyone could see that." He said, stroking her short hair a little. "And she knew her momma loved her." He said and felt Carol nodding against his shoulder.
Her sobs finally died down but his arms never broke their hold on her. She was exhausted from crying and felt like just laying down in the grass. Instead she looked up at Daryl and stood up straighter, gently kissing his cheek.
She watched him blush and nod his head a little. "Goodnight Daryl, thank you." She said, stepping away.
"Night." He said, watching her and making sure she got to the RV safely. Daryl had to process all of what just happened but he realized he wasn't scared of getting close to her anymore. He wasn't scared of letting her in because she already wormed her way into his heart and it wasn't so bad.