Okay, it's finally time for someone to get naked! It really isn't what you were thinking... perverts;) No really, it is just too much fun putting these two in the most awkward situations. As always I really hope you are all enjoying this. It's so fun. Thanks for your great reviews and all the likes and follows and stuff!

Chapter Eight

Carol curled up in the small tent and hugged her knees up to her chest. She couldn't believe how stupid she was! She had no blankets or even a pillow and by the time she crawled in and realized that she felt too stupid to crawl back out and try to round any up. So she tried to just shut her eyes and will herself to sleep. She had no doubts that she was going to be sore in the morning.

Another crack of thunder had her jumping. She hated that sound. The wind was picking up too and even though the tent kept it from her she couldn't help but shiver as it whipped around. The rain hadn't been too bad but she could here it getting harder and then she groaned when she felt a few fat drops of moisture hit the side of her face. This was turning out to be a really bad idea. She should have just took Lori up on her offer. Andrea had said if there was any problems with the tent then she could squeeze into the R.V. But there were already six people sleeping in there and she didn't want to wake anyone.

More fat drops of water fell on her and she sat up and scooted into the corner. Maybe one of the cars would be a better place to hole up until the storm passed. But then there was Ed to worry about. She didn't think he would bother getting himself wet just to stalk her but she wasn't sure how mad he was. He usually wasn't one to make himself uncomfortable so she could only hope that he was holed up in his own tent.

She looked up as more rain started falling inside her meager shelter and this time she groaned out loud. She was so tired. It had been an emotional day and all she could think about was sleep. She curled up once again but now the rain that was on the floor was puddling around her body, seeping into her clothes and making her even more cold than she was to start with. She didn't have a choice now. She had to make due sleeping in a vehicle and hope that Ed would stay away. If she could make it to a car then all she had to do after that was lock the doors. Her discomfort at being drenched was winning out over her fear of her husband.

She crawled over to the opening and unzipped it as slow as she could. She was sure Daryl was asleep by now and over the rain and wind he wouldn't have been able to hear that small noise. She hoped he didn't worry too much when he woke up to find her gone but she felt bad about waking him up to tell him she was leaving. She eased out of the tent as quietly as she could and when she was about to stand she froze.

She found herself face to face with a crossbow. It disappeared and was replaced by an angry face.

"The hell do you think you're doin'?" Daryl growled as he grabbed her hand and yanked her into his own tent in one fluid motion. "Jesus, how'd you get so wet?" He asked as he pulled the zipper down, shutting out the wind and rain.

She had her arms crossed over her chest, they were both on their knees facing one another and it seemed like they both realized at the same time how close they were. "My tent has a leak." She whispered and then wiped the water from her eyes. Her clothes were soaked and she rubbed her arms briskly.

"Ya think?" He shook his head. "Why didn't you just say somethin' sooner?"

"Because I didn't want to wake you up. I was going to go get into one of the cars." Her teeth started chattering and she tried to clench them together to keep him from noticing.

"Your soaked." He grumbled as he reached around to grab something behind her.

"Ya think?" She could feel his breath on her shoulder and it caused her to shiver again.

He rummaged around in a duffel bag and came up with a dark T-shirt. "This was Merle's so it'll be huge on you but it's dry." He shoved it into her hands.

"If I put it on now I'll just get it wet before I can get to a car." She argued, handing it back.

He blew out an annoyed breath. "You ain't goin' out there again."

"But I..."

"Shut up, Carol. You think you'll be any good to anybody if you catch somethin' just cause you were too damn stubborn to listen to me? You can stay here. I have plenty now that Merle's gone."

It felt like the ground fell out from beneath her. Her stomach was up in her throat. "Stay here?" She asked in a whisper.

"Nah. I was sayin' you should sleep in the mud." He muttered sarcastically. "Yeah, you can sleep here. Unless you think I'm some sort of weirdo. Then I'll walk you to a car if that's what you'd rather do."

"I don't think you're a weirdo. But everybody else is going to..."

"Talk about it? Believe me, Carol, you're about the only thing any of them has talked about for days now." He shook his head and then turned towards the opening in the tent. "All right. Let's go. But we have to hurry cause I wanna get some sleep sometime this year." He unzipped the flap but she grabbed his arm before he could slip out.

"I'll stay. I want to stay, I mean. It's freezing and I'm tired. Let'em talk."

He gave her a smirk. "Rebel." He muttered.

She held up the shirt and then sniffed it. It didn't smell bad. It actually smelled like Daryl. Like the woods mixed with a little sweat. It was a heady scent that kind of made her head swim a little. Ed usually smelled like body odor and morning breath. "Where am I suppose to change?" She whispered.

He looked around the small space like maybe he would find a changing room somewhere amongst the scattered blankets and then he shrugged.

"Well, at least turn around!" She hissed.

He chuckled but did as she said.

She hurriedly stripped off her wet shirt and tossed it in the corner over his head. The T-shirt was big and went down to her knees.

"Daryl?" She asked, feeling more embarrassed than she probably should.

"What, now?" He asked without turning around.

"What about my pants?"

He shrugged again. "Take'em off."

"What?" She said in a voice much too loud for the small space.

He blew out a breath. "Are they as soaked as the top half was?"

She groaned. "Yes."

"You'll have your own blankets Carol. It ain't much different than wearin' a nightgown. It ain't like I'm gonna try to sneak a peak once your asleep."

"Well, of course not. That's not what I mean. It's just..."

"What?" He sounded amused at how uncomfortable she was.

"It's just... well... it's inappropriate."

She got an outright laugh out of him this time. The first one she had ever heard from him. "Are you serious? Look, sleep in your wet pants if that's what you wanna do. It don't matter to me."

She made an annoyed sound but didn't argue any further. She slipped out of her wet pants, tossed them over his head and grabbed the first blanket she saw and wrapped it around herself. She was glad it was dark because her face felt so hot she knew how red it must be. If someone would have told her two days ago that she would be sitting in Daryl Dixon's tent, in the dark, with no pants on she would have called them crazy.

"You decent?" He asked, still keeping his back to her.

"It depends. In theory I suppose I am but in all seriousness this is not very decent at all."

He turned around then and the silence became deafening between them. He broke it, of course. "That blanket is mine." he pointed to the blanket she wrapped herself up in.

"Are you serious right now?" She raised her eyebrows and frowned at him.

He nodded and then smirked. "Not at all." He tossed her a pillow and then grabbed another blanket and laid down. "Goodnight, Carol." She could hear the humor in his voice and she wanted to tell him to go to hell but then she found herself smiling and shaking her head at the silliness of the situation. Leave it to her to end up like this.

She sat there for a few long moments and then heard him chuckle again which brought another smile to her face. "Whats so funny?" She whispered, curious to know if he was still laughing at her but not able to feel offended by it.

"I was just thinkin'. If Merle found his way back to camp. I don't even wanna imagine what he would say about this."

"I'm sure he would have a few words." She sighed and it was quiet after that.

She laid down herself, making sure that she was as far away from him as the tent would allow. Which meant he was still only about a foot away. She felt much better than she had in her own leaking tent. The blanket was warm and dry and so was she. But not only that, she felt safe. She knew Sophia was fine with Rick and Lori and now she was fine too, somehow knowing that he was there made her feel safer than she had felt in... Well, ever. She stopped worrying about what the others were going to say in the morning. Stopped thinking about how bad this all looked. She drifted off to sleep quickly, for once in her life feeling like everything might be okay.

~H~

Daryl stared up at the low ceiling for a long time. Long after he heard her breathing deepen in sleep. The wind had let up but the rain was still coming down but that wasn't what was keeping him awake. He didn't know why he didn't just walk her to a car and let her lock herself in for the night. It made perfect sense but he hadn't wanted her to go. This caused him to wonder exactly why he didn't want her to go and then that caused him to start to badger himself about how ridiculous he was acting. If Merle was there right now he would probably kick his ass all over camp for getting so involved in things that had nothing to do with him.

Not to mention him sneaking a half naked married woman into his tent. Well, she wasn't half naked when she got there but she was most definitely half naked now. Hell, Merle probably would have been proud at how quick he had gotten her out of her clothes. Merle was an ass like that.

She made a soft sound in her sleep and then she rolled over to her side, facing him. She was frowning and he had that urge to do something to wipe the frown off her face. He shook his head at the thought. Things wouldn't be so confusing once they headed out in the morning. She would be riding off into the sunset with that asshole, Shane. And then maybe her and Shane would talk about things. Find out how much they had in common. He would be totally smooth and probably say all the right things at the right time. Do all the things that Daryl wouldn't do. He let out a frustrated breath. It wasn't any of his business anyway. Shane wasn't really too bad. He'd be able to keep her safe and he wouldn't hurt her.

Another sound escaped her in her sleep and he glanced at her again and then rolled over onto his side, facing her. Yeah, tomorrow was going to change everything. He may as well enjoy it while it lasted. He studied her features until his eyelids grew heavy and then finally he drifted off to sleep to the sounds of the rain and her steady breathing.

His eyes snapped open and it took him a few long seconds to get his bearings. It was still dark. It was still raining. But there was something very different from when he had gone to sleep. He had stayed on his side in his sleep but Carol had moved around in hers. Had moved around a lot by the feel of things.

Her face was maybe an inch away from his and she was somehow now under his own blanket. Her head was resting on his arm that had somehow wrapped itself around her shoulders and she had one hand pressed against his chest and one draped across his waist. One of her legs was pushed in between his own and his free hand was on her hip. Her bare hip. Merle's shirt must have rode up on her during all that moving. His heart lurched and started pounding painfully in his chest. He should have let her go. He should have insisted that she go. Or at least just went ahead and let her sleep in her clothes. This was not something he knew how to deal with. He was really particular about his personal space. He didn't like people this close. Wasn't comfortable with anyone touching him. Wasn't comfortable touching anyone else. His space was just that, his space. But she was all over his space. There actually wasn't any space at all anymore that she wasn't invading. She was pressed up against him to the point where she couldn't possibly get any closer.

He was afraid to move, afraid to even breath. If she woke up then she would probably think that this was all his doing. Even though he was still on his side of the tent, under his own blanket. He had thought she was as close as she could get but suddenly she moved. Her leg that was wedged between his knees moved further into him and then her hipbone was pressed into his crotch. If she woke up now he would be in real trouble. There was no talking his body out of reacting to hers. He slowly moved his hand off of her hip but she was so close that there really wasn't anywhere else to put it so he had to put it back where it had been.

He wanted to bolt out of the tent. But he stayed still. Perfectly still. He even tried to control his breathing, which was hard because he felt like he was suffocating. Every small movement her body made against his was painful. Sometimes the grip that she had around his waist would tighten and he would subconsciously tighten his own around her shoulders.

Eventually he talked himself into just relaxing a bit and enjoying it. As sick as it sounded even to himself it wasn't very often that he found himself in the arms of a woman. And by not very often what he really meant was never. And he had to admit that once he fought his way through all his personal space issues, it actually felt good. Too good really, but he was even able to ignore that after a while, until she would shift in her sleep and grind against him again, which would send him into another fit of panic. But exhaustion finally won out over his fear and he drifted off to sleep once more with her warm breath on his neck.