Author's Note: Love and thanks to you kind folks. That was my first published foray into a more detailed mature situation, so glad to hear it went down well! You find me on Twitter/Tumblr under SepticLovebite. I have a fairly foul mouth, just to warn you! :)

TWDTWDTWD

When Carol woke up, she briefly wondered why she was naked. They hardly ever slept in bed clothes or less, just in case they had to move on quickly in the night. Then she heard the deep, heavy breathing behind her and felt the warm hand resting inside her thigh and she remembered. Daryl wasn't a cuddler but she found she didn't mind. He slept only a few inches away, on his front, one foot caught up with hers and his hand touching her leg.

She knew sex could be good. She had memories of some of her college exploits. But she didn't realise there could be so much fun had without sex. And it was fun. Despite her initial worry that she would be no good at it, Daryl had no complaints as she moved her mouth up and down his length, only growing in size as she worked. He put his hand to the back of her head and she wondered if he was going to hold her there while he took charge but he only ran his fingers through her short hair, letting her take control. It was a pleasant surprise and he only groaned, never commenting on her techinique. It was a good ego boost. He had good stamina, for someone who hadn't had sex for a long time, as far as she knew. Her jaw began to ache and she had to alternate between her tongue and her hands, not that Daryl complained, as she took him back in her mouth, his fingers clenched around her skull, pulling her head back slightly.

"I'm gonna come." He panted out eventually, wanting her to take her mouth away. She pulled back from his fingertips, taking the hand from her head and clasping his fingers in her own over his stomach as she pushed her head further down his shaft, trying to take him as deep as possible. He clearly wasn't used to such an act and she smiled inwardly at his the surprise on his face, a moment later she felt his semen flood the back of her mouth, trickling down her throat. She swallowed the thick liquid and licked at the excess from the head of his cock as it softened and she looked up at him with pleasure as he recovered himself, trembling slightly as he took in deep breaths.

Once Daryl stopped seeing stars, he pulled her up by the arm she rested on his stomach, pulling her up so she lay flush on top of him. Never had a woman done what she did. In the past, if he'd ever been with a girl who was willing to go down on him, they always pulled away at the last moment and he had come to expect it from every female.

"You are gonna get me killed, ya know." He groaned, pulling her down to him by the neck to press his lips to hers. She smiled against his mouth, letting him push her lips apart. The act surprised her, because Ed would never ever touch her lips after she'd been where she had been but Daryl didn't seem to care and she wondered if he could taste his seed as his tongue toyed with hers. She would have to stop comparing him with Ed, she decided, because clearly there wasn't even a competition at all.

Eventually she pulled away, trying to get her breath back because she could feel his hand creeping further down, skimming over her ass and resting there.

"I'm not going to lie and say I've done it quite like that before." She murmured bashfully and Daryl stopped his ministrations at her neck to look at her, one eyebrow raised.

"Coulda fuckin' fooled me." He told her, holding her tight so he could roll them over, pressing his weight onto her. His hand slid between their bodies and Carol gasped in appreciation, drawing her legs slightly apart to allow him access. She would let him give her the second orgasm that was cruelly taken from her earlier in the evening.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl woke up just minutes after she did, stretching his limbs before turning to look at her.

"Don't tell me you were watchin' me fuckin' sleep." He greeted her, sliding closer. "Cos I ain't above kickin' ya ass outta this bed."

"No!" She scoffed, drawing the bed sheet a little higher. "You do pull some god-awful faces in your sleep though." She teased, turning from her side to her back.

"Fuckin' liar." He told her, closing the gap between them and rolling on top of her. She felt his dick line up between her thighs and she would only have to arch up to him for it to slip between her slick folds. She briefly considered the "pull out" method of contraception before mentally scolding herself for the thought. A stupid idea, she knew, one that she could possibly live to regret.

Daryl seemed to be thinking the same thing. He hovered over her, propped up on his elbows, not quite doing anything.

She shook her head and let out a laugh. "We are ridiculous. Come on." She pushed herself up and he sat up with her, the blankets pooling around their hips. "I thought you'd promised a trip into town today?"

Daryl pushed up from her, rising from the bed, picking up clothes from the floor and pulling them on. Carol took her time, hunting for something clean and dry in the pile that lay in the corner of the room. She mentally noted the need to wash everything later that morning.

She'd only got as far as her underwear by the time he was dressed, boots, coat and crossbow too. She wondered if she should kiss him goodbye or something. It didn't seem natural though. Not that she objected to kissing him at all, but putting it into a routine seemed a little scary, a bit like a married couple. It was way too early to be putting a label on anything. She could imagine him running out the door if she tried. No, she would leave that side of things to him. Continue as normal, housewife to the entire group.

"Gonna go drag Glenn's ass up and get outta here, see if we can get back by dinner." He told her as he hunted through the fallen clothing for the pair of pants that contained the keys to the truck.

Carol spotted them at the bottom of the bed and she fished in the back pocket, throwing the key at him, clucking her to herself. Honestly, she had never noticed how untidy was before. She was sure he wasn't like this back at the farm. Was it only since they had taken to sleeping in the same room? Did he expect her to pick up after him now? She pretended to herself that she would put a stop to that, but truth was, what else did she have to do? She had taken the role as housekeeper, along with Lori since they first met. Not that she minded because she loved to keep busy. Having four walls around them gave her more to do and she was grateful.

He nodded his thanks to her and touched her arm as he passed her and he was gone before she pulled a shirt over her head.

TWDTWDTWD

The sun was shining as Carol scrubbed at the evergrowing mound of dirty clothes out on the garden patio. There was a nip in the air, but she pulled on a sweatshirt, rolling the sleeves up to the elbows to get stuck in. Lori was beside her, wringing out each item after Carol scrubbed them and Rick was making noise somewhere behind them, constructing makeshift lines for the clean things to dry out on.

She felt like she hadn't really spoken to these people for days. Weeks. She saw them everyday but it was like they were old friends that had moved away. For a long time, she was locked inside her own head, just barely going through the motions, trapped with thoughts of death and hopelessness and bitterness. Then the door opened and he walked in. Her thoughts were consumed by him. How he smelt, how he spoke, how he touched her. Being stuck in that truck all day only made the situation more intense. It felt like it was just the two of them, facing whatever came their way. It probably wasn't healthy to have your whole existence depend solely on one person, she thought.

Lori still looked peaky, morning sickness had plagued her for far longer than was fair, but their situation wasn't helping. Carol felt a wave of guilt that she hadn't even asked her friend how she was feeling in a long while.

"Still struggling, Lori?" She nodded towards the woman, who was sipping at a bottle of water in between every piece of clothing.

Lori nodded. "It's not easing off at all." She groaned. "I never suffered this bad with Carl."

"Well, it's the stress of our situation. Maybe when we finally settle down a bit, it'll calm down." She gave Lori a reassuring smile, a little more confident than she felt. She wouldn't allow thoughts of a future where this baby wasn't born form fully in her mind, but her heart lurched at knowledge that she would probably be expected to be there at the birth. Hershel would take charge no doubt, but she was the only other person who could possibly understand what Lori was going through. The possible complications at birth. She would ask if they could go looking for books on the matter, closer to the time she thought.

"I hope so." Lori turned back to look at Rick, who was making his way down the garden, cursing as one of his lines collapsed, dropping the wet clothes into the overgrown grass. "Tell me, Carol, have you spoken to Beth in the last couple of days?" She dropped her voice and her gaze fell on the open kitchen window.

Carol looked to the house and she could hear the young girl clinking glasses around, Carl was with her, jabbering away about something or another.

"No, she doesn't seem to want to talk to me. Not since..." She took a breath, thinking back to the last time Beth had spoken to her. "Not since that night with Andrew." She stopped her scrubbing to think it over. She'd been so wrapped up in her own experiences of that night, she hadn't thought about how Beth was. Because after Andrew, there was Daryl...once again she realised she really needed to bring herself back to reality.

"I know that what happened that night, was far, far worse for you than it was for her." Lori hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "But she's not doin' so great. I thought she'd come past the behaviour that we saw at the farm, the suicidal tendencies -" Lori stopped abruptly and Carol knew why. Lori knew how she had been feeling, Daryl was right. They all knew, he was just the only one brave enough to say something to her. A wave of shame rushed through her and she couldn't explain why. "- I mean, she's so young. She can't handle this. She told Maggie that she hates herself for what she did."

Carol was perplexed, had she missed something in her Daryl-induced haze? "What did she do?"

Lori quirked an eyebrow. "What she didn't do." She clarified. "That night. She said she just watched as he hurt you."

"But I don't blame her for that!" Carol exclaimed. "It wasn't her fault, Lori. It happened so fast and you're right, she is young, she's a child for goodness sake! I wouldn't have expected it off Carl, or you or, or Sophia." She was truly shocked that the young girl blamed herself. She was hardly much older than her own little girl had been, still a little girl herself. And she had been so sheltered, even more so than Sophia. She'd never seen Walkers like her own daughter had, not until they had to leave the farm. She had never experienced living people doing bad things, like Sophia did. "He was hellbent on having someone Lori, I would never have put Beth in front of me for that." The thought made her well up. Poor, poor Beth. And Carol hadn't even noticed.

"Hey." Lori put an arm out, grasping Carol's. "It's ok. She will be ok. If you could just give her a hug or something, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"No, it's not just that." Carol picked up the shirt she had dropped. "I didn't even notice she was suffering! I've been so wrapped up in what's been happening-" She was about to say Daryl's name but stopped herself just in time. She wasn't quite ready to explain the odd pairing of her and Daryl.

"You have a right to take care of yourself first, Carol." Lori pulled her arm away, reaching for her bottle of water again. "Besides, Daryl has been keeping you busy." Her last comment was a sly one, said with a smile in her voice and Carol turned to her, mouth agape.

Carol hesitated before she spoke. "I don't know what you mean." She turned away from Lori, scrubbing at some invisible stain. Lori just raised an eyebrow at her. Carol's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Don't go telling everyone, alright? It's a new thing...hell, I don't know if it's even a thing."

Lori let out a giggle. "I knew it. You two are terrible at keeping secrets. Well, Daryl is." Carol looked at her questioningly. "The man looks like he wants to eat you up. I think the term I've heard it being called is...eye-fucking?" Lori held back a grin and Carol burst into peals of laughter that had Rick looking up from his spot at the bottom of the garden.

"We do no such thing!" She argued.

Lori just smirked at her and turned back to her pile of laundry.

TWDTWDTWD

There wasn't much opportunity to talk to Beth until later that evening. Only when she went to search for the younger girl did she realise how much she did try to avoid her. There was always something that needed to be done everytime she had a chance to go looking.

The men returned by late afternoon, laden with bits and pieces and Daryl gave her a nod as he walked past her, hand brushing her butt in a move that was so subtle she barely felt it. She turned and gave him a small smile before disappearing to sort through the boxes of food.

He came in when she was alone in the kitchen, Lori was putting plates on the dining room table and Carol was just about to dish out their meal of rice and tinned vegetables mixed in a tomato sauce.

"A good day then?" She asked, wondering if he would get what she meant.

"Very." He told her, resting against the counter just next to her, fingers drumming against the marble. He leaned over to her, mouth brushing her ear. "After dinner, you are gonna be real tired, get yourself an' early night." He told her, his tone suggesting that she would be doing everything other than sleeping.

"And I suppose you'll be tired after your big day today and you'll need an early night, especially if you want to go hunting in the morning." She murmured back, reaching over him for a serving spoon from the pot across the counter.

He grabbed her wrist mid way over and pulled her closer. "Damn straight." He pressed his mouth to hers, pushing her back against the counter and she let him, hands finding their way into his hair as his tongue invaded her mouth, almost taking away her ability to breathe. There was hiss from behind her and she pulled away to turn the heat down on the overflowing pan of rice and he whipped her back round to face him.

"Fuck dinner." He growled at her and she pulled away just as his lips grazed her skin.

"Hey!" She cried out in mock indignation. "We can't all be hunter-gatherers, you know." She turned away from him with a smile, just as Lori came back in the room.

Daryl let out a groan under his breath and walked away before he said or did something that he'd probably regret in front of Lori.

They ate scattered about the living room and when she saw Beth cross legged on the floor by the empty fireplace she sat down beside her, ignoring the young girl's startled look and the empty seat next to Daryl.

She waited until they finished and as Beth went to get up, she pulled her back down, handing off their plates to a knowing Lori. "I need to talk to you." She told her, loud enough for Daryl to hear as he passed.

She waited until the others were out of ear shot before letting go of Beth's arm, shuffling to face her properly. She wondered how she should start the conversation, but decided with just coming out and saying it.

"What happened that night, with Andrew, it wasn't your fault, okay? There was nothing you could have done to make it better." Beth looked up at her through already teary eyes. "It was just chance, who ended up in front of him, alright?" It wasn't strictly true, of course, Carol had known which side of the car Andrew would attempt to get into and she had pushed Beth in the opposite direction.

"I should've done somethin'." Beth pressed a hand to her mouth, the words almost a whisper.

"What could you have done, Beth? He was bigger than both of us put together. It doesn't even matter, I'm here and I'm fine." Carol reached out and took the girl's hand, but it was limp in her own.

"He was goin' to-"

"But he didn't." Carol tried not to shudder at the thought. She was convinced Andrew would've raped her too, but he didn't and that's all that mattered. "Beth, I do not blame you at all, alright? He died. I killed him."

"But how can you forgive me?" Beth finally found her grip, squeezing Carol's fingers.

"There is nothing to forgive. You can't go on living like this, hating yourself for something that happened by chance, that could have gone a million different ways, whether you did something or not." She pulled Beth into a hug, gripping her tight. "Please, promise, you'll try to forget about this. I don't want to think about it anymore either."

She heard Beth sniff against her shoulder and finally felt her head nod up and down. "I'll try." She whispered.

"Good girl." She patted the girl's back before pulling away, standing up and extending a hand to her. Beth took it and they walked out the room together, towards the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. In the corner of her eye, she saw the door to the study swing shut and she nudged Beth into the kitchen with a final smile before turning back to the study.

As her hand twisted the knob, she was grateful that soon was here. Finally.