Author's Notes: Thank you for the reads/reviews/tweets and tumbl's. Find me on them at SepticLovebite. Just to let you know, I drop the c-bomb near the end, if that offends you then you may wanna hit the back button.

TWDTWDTWD

The town they headed into was crawling with Walkers. Literally crawling with them. There had hardly been any contact with anymore than one or two at a time since they left the Greene farm and it set Daryl on edge. Glenn seemed less perturbed by it all, but he was making all the runs these days, Daryl had been holding back to tend to Carol after her injuries, preferring to hunt in the nearby forests and fields.

It was kind of liberating though, to take out his frustrations on any flesh eater that had the misfortune to run into him. Because he was beyond frustrated. He'd gone months and months without any sexual contact. It was hardly on his list of priorities after the world had gone to shit and before that the novelty of sleeping around had worn off. It was a habit Merle had given him, get drunk, get high or both sometimes, find the nearest willing woman and get down to it. Didn't matter who they were, just a body to fuck. He never stayed the night, never took a number, never gave a shit. It got old though, particularly after there was that shit scary moment where he thought he got one girl knocked up but it turned out she was already pregnant when Daryl took his turn. He put an end to it after that. Not that he was a saint or anything, but he was definitely choosier after that.

But Carol was literally killing him. There'd always been something about her, right from the day he handed her a pickaxe for her to beat the shit out of Ed Peletier's skull. She wasn't the reason he went out looking for Sophia when the little girl went missing, he would've done that for any kid, but she was the reason he kept looking when everyone else gave up.

She made him mad. So mad he could kill something. His attraction to her was something he couldn't even begin to get his head around in the beginning. She was clearly fucked up. Really fucked up. But so was he. Maybe because she came from a shitty homelife, like he did. But his attraction to her was muddled up with anger and fear. He was angry because he failed Sophia and in his darker moments, angry at Carol for failing her too. For not keeping a tighter hold on her child, for not rescuing her from her own father. No kid deserved what that bastard dished out. He hadn't deserved that either. He feared his own feelings, unsure how to deal with them because getting attached to anyone was a stupid move, bound to get you killed. Or left grieving when they died.

He feared that he would hurt her. She was fragile and soft. He was clumsy and awkward around other people at the best of time. That night, after Sophia, he ranted and raved at her, screaming in her face and she just took it. He almost hit her. He almost kissed her too. Both feelings were fighting to escape him and he had to fight them back down. Carol was fucking terrifying. Not because of what she said or did, but what she turned him into.

"Psst. Daryl!" Glenn pulled him out of his reverie, gesturing wildly towards the fire escape over his head. Daryl nodded and shouldered the crossbow to climb the metal rungs. Getting into the camping store they were aiming for was easy, two Walkers that went down without a fight and they were stacking up tents and sleeping bags. Glenn was doing a head count under his breath, trying to figure out how many they would need of each item.

"Hey, you and Carol would share, right?" He asked, throwing a spare tent aside.

Daryl jerked this head up at the question, pulling his attention from watching the front of the store. "What?"

"You and Carol, if we use the tents, you'd share?" Glenn looked at him as if he had two heads.

"Don't fuckin' stick your nose in when it comes to me an' Carol." He snapped at the younger man.

"Dude, I'm just asking! Less to carry that way. God. I don't care what you and Carol get up to, I got enough of my own problems. Sheesh." Glenn didn't seem all that perturbed by Daryl's snarling.

"It ain't anyone's fuckin' business. Can't keep a damn thing quiet 'round here." He muttered but he saw Glenn's ears pick up at his words. "Shut up, Glenn." The other man hadn't even said anything, but Daryl knew he was about to. Kid was too smug for his own good and Daryl had gone and given the game away. "Keep your trap shut, no mouthin' off to Maggie."

Glenn just nodded and moved onto the sleeping bags silently.

"So..uh, shall I just get you and Carol a double sleeping bag?" He bit out with a chuckle and Daryl settled for giving him the filthiest look he could muster.

The kid was just begging for an ass whooping.

TWDTWDTWD

He practically crashed the truck trying to get it back to the house they were calling home for the next few days. His foot didn't touch the brake, eager to get out of the town that was starting to give him the spooks.

They hadn't really needed anything urgently. Sure, food, fuel and ammo were always required, but they had enough to get by a little while longer. They could've scavenged houses they passed along the way. He gave them the excuse of the tents and things just so he could hunt down a box of condoms. It was so ridiculous he could almost laugh. He risked his neck for a box of condoms. If Glenn had even dared suggest such a thing, he would've ripped him a new one.

She had driven him crazy, where all that mattered was her, getting under her skin, getting under her, over her, inside her. Knowing that he could bring her to the edge just by looking at her. She wanted him, he wanted her. He wondered if the sex would even be as good as it had been without it. Because he was pretty convinced that the biggest turn on of his life was her writhe against him while he got her off with one hand. He could do that.

She took her sweet time getting to him in the study, stopping after dinner to talk to Beth. He nearly dragged her away but he figured even a naive little girl like her would clock on to his intentions. He'd been fiddling with his gun, finding the bullets he'd hunted out in town, refilling it on the desk. She shut the door softly behind her, twisting the little key to lock it. He could hear the noises of the others trailing off, taking themselves into the living room and upstairs.

She gave him one of her soft smiles, one side of her mouth curving up, sitting on the bed to pull off her sneakers and socks. She was slow in her movements, taking the time to undo each button on her shirt and he watched her undress from his spot at the desk.

The bruises were minimal, just patches of yellow across her stomach that she claimed not to even feel, hardly visible in low lighting. Her bra came after the shirt, breasts dropping slightly from their cotton prison and she worked on unbuttoning her pants, stopping when she realised he was watching her intently. She blushed and he thought that was when she was her most beautiful. When she didn't even realise it. He extended a hand out to her and she took it, jeans open, slipping slightly on her slim hips.

His hands wrapped around her hips, pulling her close to him, his nose level to her stomach and he pressed a kiss there, over the fading marks on her skin. Her hand went to the back of his head, fingers twisting his hair, massaging his scalp.

Carol couldn't resist smiling as he trailed kisses up her mottled stomach, soft, featherlike touches that were so unlike him. Normally he kissed her like it would their last, hard and fast, almost aggressive. He trailed upwards, mouth closing over one nipple, lightly nipping at it, tongue running over her breast. She let out a gasp and he smirked against her skin, pulling his mouth away only to tend to her other breast.

His hand pushed her jeans down to her knees, just allowing him enough access to push his hand between her thighs, fingers trailing their way down to that hot notch, curling inside of her. She stiffened at his touch, fingers pulling tighter on his hair. He watched her as her head lolled backwards, eyes shut as he worked at her, he had to keep a grip on her waist to keep her standing and he wondered if he could bear to contain himself to let her come before he pushed her to the bed.

As if she could read his mind, he could feel the pressure building inside her and just as he thought it would only be another minute or two until she clenched around his fingers, she pulled his hand away, panting and gasping.

"I can't wait any longer." She told him, releasing his hair to tug on his shirt and he lifted his arms to let her pull the offending garment off. Her jeans fell to the floor and she pulled her feet from them as he toed off his boots, hurrying to undo his belt for him and he chuckled at her sudden enthusiasm.

"Ain't no goddamn rush, woman." He growled at her softly, pulling her trembling hands from his belt buckle to undo it himself. She sat down on the bed, waiting for him and he reached over to pull the box of condoms from under the pillow where he had hidden them. "I spent the day wit' Glenn and a bunch o' droolin' Geeks for these, so I ain't fuckin' rushin'."

She just rolled her eyes, pulling him onto the bed with her and he put himself on top of her, stopping her from getting ahead of him.

"And I have been sitting on my hands all day, waiting for you. Slow can come later." She panted into his mouth, prising the condom box from his hand to pull one foil square free. "Just fuck me already."

The curse was odd coming from her, she never swore but it was enough to make Daryl's dick even harder against her thigh and he snatched the condom from her, ripping the corner with his teeth and rolling it on quickly. She thought that perhaps she should let her self swear more often because he pushed himself against her and as she raised her hips to meet his, he sank into her and groaned as she clenched herself around him.

It took a minute to find a rhythm together and she drew her legs around his waist to drive him deeper into her, encouraging him to go faster. Despite his earlier words, he listened to her request, propping himself on one arm to give him leverage as he pushed himself in and out of her. She keened like an injured animal and he pressed his mouth to hers to shut her up, lest the whole house be hammering on the door wondering if he was killing her.

She squeezed herself so tight against him, he was amazed he didn't come on the spot. He didn't know what he expected from Carol, but it was never this. She was like a goddamn addict, bucking and writhing underneath him, desperate for her fix and it turned him on more than he could ever believe it.

She was fighting to control the pace and he decided to let her, rolling them over so he was underneath her and she pressed up from him to ride him properly, pushing her pelvis right against his so their bones hit each other almost painfully. Watching her would be his addiction, he decided, because she looked absolutely amazing as she ground against him, taking his hands in hers for balance, head tipped back in ecstasy.

He knew a few moments later, that he couldn't take much more and he pulled her down towards him, his hand slipping between their slick bodies to press his fingers to her clit, lightly rubbing at the hard nub and she took in a sharp breath as he worked and he knew she would come within seconds.

She was murmuring something under her breath that he couldn't hear, her face hovering over his, her features screwed up as her touched her a little more firmly and she ceased her bucking momentarily, her cunt gripping around his shaft so tight that he came himself before he expected, white clouding his vision and she slumped forward, breath ragged against his chest, her hands trembling as she fumbled to bring them to his face.

He caught her hands in his own and lifted his head to hers, pressing his mouth against her jaw, sucking and kissing his way to her mouth. Her skin had a slightly salty tang to it, a result of the light layer of sweat that clung to both their skins and she couldn't seem to get her breath back. She was whispering into his ear, so breathy that he couldn't quite catch all her words, although he did manage to catch her murmuring something about "never before" and "best ever" and he felt a swell of pride rise in his chest.

He couldn't believe he had known her this long and they hadn't done this sooner. She was perfect. They were perfect.