Here is a little more awkwardness for you all ;) Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Nine
Carol was having a hard time getting herself awake. She could tell that the sun was up, which was strange because usually she was up at the crack of dawn. Then she noticed how unbelievably comfortable she was. She felt amazing and then she realized that she wasn't alone and her eyes snapped open and she almost yelled out in surprise. She was draped across Daryl's sleeping form. Draped across was a real understatement. She was almost on top of the man. She wanted to cry. This was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her. And she knew that as soon as she moved he would wake up and catch her. He would think she was some sort of perverted freak and demand that she stay the hell away from him from now on. He didn't like to be touched, she knew that, so he was definitely going to be irate to find her on top of him like this.
She tried to figure out how she had gotten into this mess. She felt his arm tightened around her and she stiffened. She hadn't even realized that his arm was around her at all. But there it was, heavy and tight around her waist. Her bare waist. Oh, Jesus, had she even taken off her shirt in her sleep? His other arm was flung out at his side. He moved a little and she able to tell where the rest of her body was. Her head was on his chest and so was one hand, her other hand was cupping his neck. She could feel the steady beat of his heart under her palm. She had one leg wrapped around him and the other was flush against his side.
This was awful. This was bad. Really really bad. Here he was, going out of his way to help her out and then she had to go all slut bag in her sleep. He was really going to hate her now and she really couldn't stand the thought of that. She was starting to rely on him too much. His rare smiles and his awkwardness. Even his short temper and his fowl mouth. She needed that. She held her breath when she felt his hand slide up the center of her back. She could tell now that she was definitely still wearing the T-shirt, but his hand had found its way under it. That hand was rough but gentile at the same time and it left a fire burning up her spine.
The arm that had been resting at her side slid around the other side of her and then he was sliding his other hand under the shirt and then pulled her even closer. Which meant nearly lifting her off the tent floor so now she wasn't just mostly on top of him but all the way on top of him. She held her breath when his hands stopped abruptly and the steady beating of his heart turned into a very quick hammering under the hand that was still pressed against his neck.
He was definitely awake now. She was sure of it. His hands were still against her skin and she knew that she was going to have to look at him and she really didn't want to. Not at all. She was mortified.
"Carol?" Someone outside of the tent asked tentatively. It was Shane's voice.
Her head shot up off of Daryl's chest and she looked towards the entrance in a panic. She looked down and Daryl was staring at her, eyes wide, she hadn't realized before that he was breathing heavily. So was she. He slid his hands down her skin slowly and then, like the polite gentleman he was, pulled the shirt back down as far as it would go.
"I'm so so sorry." She whispered as she shifted on top of him.
He groaned and his hands grabbed her hips roughly. Her eyes went wide when she finally realized what had happened. She could feel it there, right between her legs. He was having a hard time with this himself but his reaction to her lewd positioning wasn't making him as upset as she thought. Quite the opposite really.
"Oh, fuck." She breathed and then she covered her mouth with her hand which caused her to move again.
He rolled his eyes and his face reddened. He stared at the ceiling. She didn't know what to do.
"Carol? You in there?" Shane again.
She heard the zipper to her tent unzip and she looked back up in that direction. Daryl, realizing he was still holding her in place let go of her but she still couldn't will her body to move away from his.
She groaned. If she didn't say something right now she was sure that Shane would be looking in this tent next and if he found them in this horrible position then it was over. Everyone in camp would think the worst.
"Give me a minute." She croaked and then, not knowing what else to do she dropped her forehead back down onto Daryl's chest.
"Oh. I, uh. People were wonderin' about you. Sent me up here to see if... I'll just tell them your fine." She heard him walking away.
Daryl squirmed a little which cause her breath to catch in her throat and another strange fire to ignite in other areas of her body instead of just her back where his hands had been. Jesus Christ, what was happening to her.
"Carol?" His voice came out in a husky croak of his own. "You're really gonna have to get the hell off of me. Like, maybe right now."
She rolled off of him and landed next to him on her back. He pulled the blanket up to his waist. She wanted to die. Right there in the tent, just sink into the ground and disappear.
"I didn't mean to do that. I swear, I woke up and I was already there. I'm usually a really light sleeper." She said in a rush. "Oh God, this was a really bad idea. I really really bad idea. Shane thinks I slept with you!" She pulled the blanket up over her head and groaned loudly. "You hate me now, don't you?"
She waited for him to blow up at her. Braced herself for what she knew was coming. But he surprised her. She heard him laugh. A real one. Even louder than he had laughed the night before. Now it was her that was getting angry. How could he laugh right now? She pulled the blanket away from her face and glared over at him. He had an arm over his eyes but he was still laughing.
"How is this funny? Do you know how awful this is?" She snapped and then she smacked his arm, hard.
He moved his arm away from his eyes and then laced his fingers behind his head. His face, after much effort, grew serious. He still didn't look at her. A small blessing. "It's either laugh or cry when it comes to this one, Carol. And I ain't much for cryin'. And besides, I thought you were gonna be mad at me. So this whole blamin' yourself thing is somethin' I can deal with. I always pegged you as someone with some self control." He glanced at her but looked away again.
She sighed. Maybe she could find the humor in it all later but right now it wasn't very funny at all. She ignored him and then covered her face once more with the blanket.
"And you said fuck. You. How can somebody not laugh at that?"
She jerked the blanket away from her face again. The way he was looking at her was purely innocent. No trace of humor there at all. "You're really enjoying yourself aren't you?" She grumbled as she sat up and looked around for her pants. They were going to be wet and uncomfortable but she didn't care. It was time to go out there and face reality.
"I was." He smirked.
Carol's felt the blood rush to her face and she kept her eyes on the floor, still searching for her pants. "Yeah, I could tell." She sounded more upset than she really was, which was saying something because she was really upset. She was embarrassed and he knew it and he was making things worse.
"Hey, you can't blame me for that. You could finger point if you woke up with me on top of you but it was the other way around, lady."
She glared at him. "You're one of those ridiculous morning people aren't you? I should have known."
He nodded, face still innocent. "I really am. Even on mornin's when I wake up getting violated by married women. I don't let shit like that faze me till at least noon."
If it was under any other circumstances she would have really been enjoying this side of him. She'd never seen it before. Didn't even know it existed. He was always so serious and so stoic and now he was this totally different person. But it was at her expense so she wasn't having any fun with it.
"You weren't getting violated. You know, you're being a real ass right now. You know how bad this is and you have jokes. For the first time in your life. And I'm the damn butt."
He sighed and then sat up. "Would you rather me be pissed off? Hurt your feelin's and kick you out of my tent? I can do all that, you know."
She met his eyes. "No." She sighed. "I wouldn't rather you do all that. I would appreciate some help though."
His eyebrows shot up. "Wouldn't we all?"
She glared at him again. "Can you please help me find my clothes?"
He nodded. "There outside."
Now instead of flushing she felt the color drain from her face. "What? Why?"
"Cause they were soaked and there ain't any room in here for a bunch of wet clothes." He unzipped the tent and she watched him poke his head out. Then he crawled out further. Then he pulled himself back inside and looked over at her, this time he really did look like he felt bad. "They ain't there."
"What?" She sounded like she was being strangled.
"I put'em right by the tent but they ain't there."
"What am I gonna do?"
Now he was actually looking worried. Good. It was about damn time. If he would have just left them alone then she could be dressed and gone by now.
"You can maybe wear somethin' of mine. I gotta belt around here somewhere I don't use." He really did look apologetic.
"That wont work!" She snapped.
He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. "Then go out there like that."
"I'm serious Daryl. Are you trying to play some sort of prank?" Her voice was much louder than she intended it to be. "Cause if you are then it was hilarious. Just give me my pants back." She practically yelled.
"Are you crazy?" He barked. "I don't have your damn pants! Why would I hide your pants?"
"You're the one that got me out of them, how the hell should I know!" She yelled back.
Just then they heard a giggle from outside the tent. "Oh. My. God." She mouthed, her eyes wide.
"Carol?"
"Andrea?" Carol was almost relieved.
"Is everything okay in there?" Andrea asked.
Carol put her face in her hands. The world really needed to just swallow her up. She peeked out at Daryl from between her fingers. "She heard all that." She whispered.
"Well, that ain't my fault either." He whispered back.
"What am I going to do?"
Daryl took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Hey Blondie. Could you come in here for a sec. Carol's gotten herself into a mess. Maybe you can help her out."
"What is wrong with you?" Carol hissed.
He just shrugged. "What the hell do you want me to do?"
Andrea stuck her head in and looked at Carol. "Are you okay?"
"She lost her clothes last night and she needs you to go find her something to wear." Daryl said deadpan.
"Daryl please stop trying to be helpful." Carol groaned.
Andrea was gaping at them both but regained herself quickly. "Do you want me to bring you something of mine or would you rather me find your own things?"
"All your stuff's in Shane's Jeep. Probably be better if she just grabbed you something of hers. It wouldn't look so bad." Daryl said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Okay." Andrea smiled.
"Andrea?" Carol called before she could crawl out.
She turned.
"Could you please not tell anyone about this. It really isn't what it looks like." Carol pleaded.
Andrea held her hands up and smiled. "None of my business."
Carol breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"Any time."
~H~
Daryl was chewing on his thumbnail and minding his own business when Andrea left the tent. He wasn't even looking at Carol, which was how she caught him off guard. She slammed him in the side of the head with a pillow.
"What the fuck was that for?" He growled.
"Did you really have to tell her all that?" Carol hissed and then hit him again.
"Would you quit doin' that? I had to do somethin' damn it. We're leavin' today. Can't have you sittin' in here sulkin'."
"You're right, but you could have went and got me something yourself. You know what she's thinking?"
He shrugged. "Don't much care."
"But I do! You don't care because you're never around them. You stay to yourself so you don't have to deal with their looks."
"I still wouldn't care." He said. "You didn't care last night."
"You're impossible." She growled.
He did kind of feel bad for her. His attempts at lightening the mood had failed. He was embarrassed himself but not for the same reason's she was. She was embarrassed because now she was going to be the talk of the whole camp. He was embarrassed because he had no control of how he had reacted to her this morning and she had known it. His first instinct had been to buck her off of him and then maybe cuss her out a bit. But when he saw how humiliated she was he decided not too do any of that. Maybe he was finally learning self control.
And then Shane had to come nosing around and that really got her going.
He sighed. "I'm sorry." He said flatly.
He must have caught her off guard because her eyes widened a bit. "You are?"
"Yes. I am. If I'd have known that somebody was gonna steal your clothes I would have never put them outside. And if I'd have known you were such a tramp in your sleep I woulda walked you to a car."
She sighed. "I'm sorry too. If I'd have known you were going to get me undressed I would have stayed in the other tent and drowned. And if I'd have known you were so easily excited I definitely would have stayed in the other tent and drowned."
"Ouch." He mumbled. "You ever hear of lettin' a guy down easy?" He meant it as a joke but her words had actually stung a little. Not that he was into her or anything, but she could have been a bit nicer about letting him know that she'd pretty much rather drown than be caught in that position with him again. But he shrugged it off. Or thought he did.
She was staring at him with a weird look on her face.
"What?" He grumbled and then he nearly crawled out of his own skin and ran away when she threw her arms around his neck. What the hell was she doing? She wasn't asleep. There was no joking his way out of the uncomfortableness of this situation. There wasn't anywhere to go so he didn't try to bolt. Instead he found his own arms ghosting around her waist. "The hell is this for?" He asked into her shoulder.
"Because I think I hurt your feelings and it was one of those knee jerk reactions." She laughed.
He scoffed. "I ain't got no feelin's to hurt." Which was true as far as he was concerned. But it felt really good to have her arms around his neck like that. Not good like it had felt this morning but a different kind of good.
"Okay I got... Oh. I'm really sorry. I thought you guys knew I'd be right back." Andrea said as she looked at them.
Daryl rolled his eyes and dropped his arms to his side.
Carol was more reluctant to move. She slid her hands away and then turned to Andrea with a smile. "Thank you. You're a life saver."
Andrea left without another word and now they both just sat there on their knees on the ground looking anywhere but at each other. Daryl started chewing on his thumbnail again. His thoughts drifted back to what he had been thinking last night about her leaving with Shane. He was really going to miss having her around but he still wasn't stupid enough to think he had anything to offer her. He blew out a heavy breath which caused her to look up at him.
"I'm sorry about this morning." She said as she looked back down at the clothes Andrea had brought her. "You think maybe we can just act like that never happened?"
If he ever needed any confirmation then this was it. He nodded. "Already forgotten." he said as he headed for an escape.
He stood up and stretched once he was finally out of the confines of the tent. The clouds were still dark and heavy but it wasn't raining yet. All he had to do was gather up the stuff he had in the tent and then the tent itself and he was good to go. He had loaded up most of his stuff in the truck the day before. He glanced down the slight incline and saw everyone else sitting around the fire pit. He thought about waiting on Carol to come out but then decided against it. She probably wouldn't want to show up down there with him. Things were bad enough for her as it was.
The men were all huddled together and he figured he needed to be there too. He wanted to know exactly where they were going and how long it was going to take to get there. As he started walking towards them he glanced around again until he spotted Sophia. She was with Carl and Lori, eating breakfast. She looked up and smiled at him. He gave her a nod and then looked back down to the ground.
When he reached the group of men they all looked at him, but it was Shane who spoke. Of course.
"You move quick, don't you Dixon?" He asked with a smile.
Daryl was about to tell him to fuck off. But then he thought about it and just shrugged. Let the asshole think what he wanted. Then maybe he'd leave her alone. But then after glancing at Rick he knew that wasn't going to happen. Asshole.