Here is another for you lovely folks. Hope it helps brighten your morning! I really like this chapter for some reason. I don't know why =) Anyway, Happy Friday!

Chapter Fifteen

The sun was up long before anyone came out to relieve Daryl from watch. Carol had stayed the whole time. She wasn't tired after sleeping for so long and she was starting to think that Dale had been right. She must have been in shock. She was glad she had stayed with him.

The plan was to scavenge around in the town and then move on to look for the CDC. It was a little sad to her. Everyone else had gotten the chance to enjoy a whole day of living in a real house again and she had spent the whole time sleeping off the horrors of her last day at camp. She didn't really want to go to the CDC. She wasn't sure f if she wanted to know what was really happening. At least as long as they were only speculating then they could all harbor a little hope. These people could confirm all of their worst fears and then that would only leave them all desolate and hopeless.

It was Dale who came out to relieve them. They were in almost the same intimate position as before. Her sitting between his legs with his arms wrapped around her. But Dale, just being Dale only gave them a smile and sat down on the top step.

"Glad that rain finally passed us." He said as he glanced up and down the street.

"Me too." Carol said as she looked up at the sky. Not a trace of a cloud marred the blue expanse.

"You know, you gave everyone quite a scare." He said as he met her eyes.

She chuckled. "That's what I hear.

"If it hadn't been for Daryl there I think that little girl of yours would have been more scared than she already was. I'm not a relationship specialist or anything but I'm pretty sure you've found yourself a keeper." Dale smiled. "Especially since everyone here pretty much owes them their life.

She felt Daryl shift uncomfortably behind her and it made her smile widen. No one said anything for a few more minutes but then Carol reluctantly moved herself away from Daryl's warm body. She took Dales hand in one of hers and patted the back of it with the other. "Dale, I'm really sorry about Jim. Jackie too of course, but I know how close you and Jim had become." She said softly.

Dale looked at her with sad eyes and nodded. "We were lucky to have had them for as long as we did. I guess this just taught us that we have to stick together more."

Carol smiled and then stood up after giving his hand one final pat. Daryl followed her into the house. It was one of those older Victorian houses that she had always loved. Everything about houses like that appealed to her. They weren't just beautifully built but also sturdy. Strong. She glanced behind her at Daryl standing in front of the door. She smirked. She definitely had good taste.

It was something else to watch. With her he was becoming an open book but as soon as other people came around he closed right back up. It made her wonder what kind of man he would have become without the constant influence of his brother. But then she shook her head. She didn't even want to know what he could have been because what he was was what mattered. He was amazing.

"The hell you starin' at me like that for?" He asked gruffly.

She couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, he was most definitely perfect. "No reason." She smiled and they followed the voices coming from down the hall.

Sophia almost mowed her over when she entered the kitchen. She hugged her back tightly and shot Lori a thankful look. She assumed Lori had been the one taking care of her daughter while she was in her self induced sleep and she was grateful.

Sophia looked up at her and gave her a grin. "Mom, your clothes smell like Daryl."

Carol heard him groan behind her and then felt her cheeks heat up. Several people in the kitchen laughed lightly. Sophia must have realized that she shouldn't have said that out loud and she almost looked as embarrassed as Carol felt.

Everyone had something to say to her. She didn't think she had ever been hugged so much in her life and it really did make her feel good. It had been so long since she had had any friends and all these people really seemed to care. The only person who she had known to care about her at all, for longer than she could remember, was Sophia.

Shane and Rick entered the kitchen and she was surprised to find herself being pulled into Ricks arms. "Lady, you had me worried!" He said as he held her at arms length and looked her over. "I'm glad you're doing better. You actually look really good. You needed that rest."

"Thank you, Rick." She said, feeling another blush coming on from all the attention.

It was apparently Shane's turn and she almost cried out when he hugged her tightly around the waist and then actually lifted her off her feet. Shane was really okay as far as men went. He had stuck up for her, nearly took Ed's head off after he had hit her and had been kind to her even before Rick had showed up at camp. But all she wanted at the moment was for him to put her down. He took her hands and stepped back looking her over. "Rick's right. You look like a new woman today." He finally dropped his hands and she gave him a polite smile.

"Thanks, Shane." She took a few steps back, until she felt Daryl's chest against her back. Shane didn't look put off at all. He just smirked and shoved his hands in his pocket. What the hell was going on here?

She didn't turn to look at Daryl, afraid of what she might see and then her eyes zeroed in on something else. Sophia. Her sweet, shy, quiet daughter was sitting at the table with Carl and the look on her face was shocking. Her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was set in a grim line, her jaw was even clenched like she was grinding her teeth together. And that ferocious look was aimed right at Shane. She was surprised at the girl and then she was surprised again when she felt Daryl's slide over her hip.

~H~

That mother fucker! Daryl had to clench his teeth together when that idiot Shane had grabbed hold of her like that and picked her up off the floor. But then he looked right at Daryl over her shoulder and grinned. And then the son of bitch winked at him! He was doing it just to piss him off.

He felt a little better when Shane had put her back down and she backed into him. At least she seemed as though she hadn't liked it. Shane wasn't looking their way anymore. His eyes flashed over to Rick who just gave him an exasperated look and shook his head.

He didn't want to get into a pissing contest with this guy. Daryl already knew that he wasn't at all skilled at this sort of thing. He was capable of a lot. But he was over his head when it came to this shit. Shane wasn't. He was right in his element. All confident swagger and all Daryl was doing was barely keeping his head above the water. Stupid asshole. He wanted to hit the guy. Or at least throw a chair at him. Something.

He actually looked towards the table to see how sturdy the chairs were and then he was surprised at what his eyes found. There was Sophia, looking on at Shane with a look that would have been scary if she had been a bit bigger. She was pissed. He almost laughed. This kid had spark. But now he understood what she had meant about Shane. It didn't seem like Carol was much interested in his game but he didn't seem like the kind of guy that lost very often when he wanted a woman. The guy needed to watch his back because this kid looked like she meant business.

She got up out of her chair and looked as though she would storm out of the kitchen but on her way out she grabbed Daryl's hand and looked up, her angry eyes flashing. "I need to talk to you." She said in a low voice. "Alone."

Carol looked down at her and then back up to Daryl. He just gave her a shrug and let Sophia march him out of the room. She dragged him down the hall and then into a room that looked like it had been a study or office of some sort. She slammed the door closed and turned around with her arms crossed. He just stared at her, his own hands on his hips.

"Daryl, what are you doing?" She asked, eying him with those angry eyes.

"What? I ain't done nothin'." He said as she approached him.

She stood right in front of him and looked up. "Exactly." She hissed. "You can't just stand there and let Shane try to move in on my mom. You have to try harder, Daryl."

He narrowed his eyes. "The fuck you want me to do? Kick his ass for huggin' her? Look, kid. I ain't got no claim on her."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Didn't you listen to me? I see a lot more than people think. I saw you two on the porch this morning. If that isn't a claim then I don't know what is. But if you let him do things like that then she's just going to think that you don't mind and you mind. I know you mind."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the floor. "You're right. I mind." This kid was something else. He felt like he was being chastised but it was almost funny. Almost. Hell, even the kid could see how bad he was struggling here.

She gave him a smile. "So are you going to try harder?"

He blew out a breath and scowled at her. She didn't seem to be bothered by it. "What the hell do you want me to do?"

She shrugged. "Have you kissed her yet?"

He gaped at her. "What? Are you serious? I ain't gonna stand here and talk to you about this shit. This is stupid." He went to walk out of the room but she grabbed hold of his hand again, stopping him.

"No it isn't. You have to show her that you care, Daryl. Do something you normally wouldn't do. Just let her know."

"I've been doin' that, damn it. I've been doin' it for days. I ain't worried about Shane and your mom and we're done here, kid. When the hell did you learn so much about all this grown up shit anyway?"

She snorted. "I guess by watching Shane and Lori. And you do need to worry about it. You think he's gonna drop it? This is fun for him."

"Oh, God. That's it. We're done. Let's go." He couldn't believe her.

He grabbed her hand and was about to storm out when the door opened and Carol eyed them with a frown. "What are you two up too?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

"Nothing." They said in unison.

Carol crossed her arms and stared at them. "Really?"

"We were just talking, mom. No big deal." Sophia said as she looked back up at him.

"About what?" Carol asked.

They both shrugged and then Daryl realized that the girls hand was still in his and he dropped it. "Sophia's nosy. Just had some questions for me I guess." He said.

Sophia shot him a warning look.

"Oh?" Carol looked them over again. "What kind of question's?"

Daryl and Sophia shared a look and then the girl sighed. She was about to give herself up but Daryl cut her off right when she opened her mouth to say something.

"Huntin'." he said quickly. It was the first thing that popped into his head. He didn't want the kid in trouble. She was just worried about her mom.

Sophia shot him a grateful look. "I was thinking about learning some time. I figured he would be the one to ask."

"You want to learn to hunt? Sophia, you used to cry when you dad watched hunting shows on T.V." Carol said with a soft smile.

Daryl bit his lip. That would have been good to know before he had opened his mouth.

Sophia just shrugged. "That was different. I would only hunt for food. You know, survival and stuff. It's a new world, mom."

Carol frowned and kept glancing between them. "Okay then. Carl was looking for you, sweetheart."

Sophia nodded, looked up at Daryl once more and then took off.

"Hunting? Really?" Carol asked, still not convinced.

Daryl nodded. "Yep."

"Isn't she too young for that?" Carol asked.

He scoffed. "I've been huntin' since I could walk. Can't be too young."

"Well maybe I'll learn. I need to learn to do something."

He frowned. "You do plenty."

Now it was her that scoffed. "Are you kidding?"

He shook his head. "You take care of people. It's what your good at."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not very helpful. I'd like to learn to do more. And it would be smart to at least learn how to use a gun."

He nodded. "I can do that."

"Really? I'm glad." She turned to leave and then glanced back at him over her shoulder. "I thought I'd have to ask Shane to show me."

He narrowed his eyes. "Real cute, Carol." He grumbled.