AN: Hi everyone! A little something else from Sweet Junction for you here!

I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!

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Daryl could tell that Carol wanted to be alone…or at least she wanted to be alone with him. Michonne and Andrea must have gotten it too, after all they weren't complete idiots and Carol was pretty obvious with asking them when they were leaving and what their plans were, so soon after they'd finished with cake they'd taken the girls and left.

Daryl didn't even know, in fact, if Andrea had even been intending to leave at all. She lived here, after all, and might have had intentions to stay. She'd left with Michonne though, and Daryl had found himself alone with Carol.

But suddenly he felt like he didn't know what to do. He felt like it was almost their first time alone together since they were operating on some strange set of rules that he wasn't sure he entirely understood. He was supposed to be there…but not be there. He was supposed to be close to her and be with her…but only so close and there were limits to what "being with her" meant, though he didn't really know what the limits were until he hit them.

When Andrea and Michonne had left, Carol had gone to sit on the couch, so Daryl joined her. He sat awkwardly beside her for the moment, unsure of what was supposed to be happening. If they'd left on their own then he wouldn't have felt any pressure for anything to happen, but because she'd seemed so damn ready for them to go, he felt like she had plans and he didn't know what they were.

"Did'ja want me to leave too? Was I missin' that part?" Daryl asked.

Carol looked at him, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Was it that obvious that I wanted them to leave?" Carol asked.

Daryl smiled and chuckled a little.

"Sorry ta say it," he said, "but it couldn'ta been more obvious if you'da kicked 'em in the ass as they was goin' out the door."

Carol looked horrified for a moment. She put her hand up, covering her mouth.

"I didn't mean for it to be so obvious," she said. "I just…I just wanted us to be alone for a little while."

Daryl chuckled again.

"I don't think they cared much, an' we alone now," he said. "What the hell'd ya have in mind?"

Daryl didn't want to sound like some sex starved teenager, but the fact of the matter was that he felt like he'd be suffering from damn blue balls before long. He'd done everything in his power since he'd tried to come back not to make a move on her…to let things move along at a snail's pace if that's what she wanted. And there had been the month before that when he'd stupidly gone on some kind of vacation from life.

Now his sex life had been reduced to trying to make his dick behave in her presence and jacking off like a damn fourteen year old whenever he got the fuck alone.

Carol looked at him and bit her lip and Daryl was silently thanking whatever gods it was that were on his side. She had that damn look in her eye like she was missing him just as bad as he was missing her and he thought she might not put the brakes on him this time. She didn't say anything, though, and he wondered if she needed just a little nudge or something.

So Daryl leaned over on the couch and brought his lips to hers, softly at first. She pressed back against him and opened her mouth, granting his tongue access. He twisted around and moved one of his hands into her hair, tangling her auburn curls around his fingers and pulling her face to his, holding the kiss as long as he could.

Carol twisted a little on the couch, bringing her body more in line with his, and Daryl moved to let her slide into a more comfortable position, breaking the kiss only a moment and immediately bringing his mouth back to hers.

He brought his hand down, still holding the kiss, and searched with his fingertips to find the hem of her shirt. He brought his hand under it and pushed forward, sliding his hand under the cup of her bra and taking her breast in his hand, squeezing.

He was already hard. He really wasn't any better at this shit than a fucking teenager. It didn't take more than squeezing her breast once and he thought he'd lose his fucking mind.

"Wait…" Carol panted, pulling her mouth away from his and resting her head on the arm of the sofa, having wiggled into laying down on the thing under him. Daryl thought if he was that kind of man, this would be the moment he'd cry because she was going to tell his ass to get in the truck and drive back to the Greene farm.

Daryl sighed and sat back on his feet, careful not to crush her. He ran his hand, frustrated through his hair.

"What?" He asked. "Ya gonna tell me ta go back ta Hershel's or what?"

Carol frowned at him.

"Are you mad, Daryl?" She asked.

Daryl sighed and chewed the side of his thumb.

"I ain't mad…but damn Carol…" Daryl said. "I need ya ta give me a fuckin' window or somethin'. How long's this shit gonna last? I ain't sayin' I ain't gon' wait it out, but I just wanta fuckin' know how long I gotta wait or else I'm gon' keep thinkin' ya gonna forgive me just ta find out ya ain't."

Carol looked at him, blinking at him now but nothing more.

She groaned after a minute and tried to push her head back, but the arm of the couch stopped it and she only succeeded in pushing her chest up toward him.

"Actually…" she said. "I was going to say that we should go to bedroom…but you're right…we need to talk about this."

Daryl sighed again, tugging at his own hair.

"Let's talk about it, then," he said. "Let's get this shit outta the way. How long is it gonna take ya ta forgive me for bein' an asshole?"

Carol sat up a little, sliding out from under him a bit.

"I forgive you, Daryl. I do. I haven't done any of this out of some attempt not to forgive you," Carol said. "You left, though, and you didn't call…and you didn't come by…and you didn't make any indication that you really expected to ever be back. You know as well as I do that we just keep messing this up. It seems like no matter how hard we try, we never get it right."

"Seems ta me like we got two damn choices," Daryl said. He shrugged and shook his head a little. "We can either fuckin' do this shit or again or we can give it up. Ain't no damn good for neither one a' us ta just stay in some fuckin' limbo land though. I don't want ta go back ta stay at the Greene's farm…I wanta stay here with you…an' the baby. If ya don't want me to stay, though, I'll go…but I don't think I can go without knowin' how fuckin' long I gotta do time for."

Carol shook her head.

"I don't want you to go," Carol said. "I want you to stay, Daryl. I didn't want you to go in the first place. I just don't want you to go later either. In fact, it's not even about want, Daryl. I need you to tell me that if you stay then you're staying. That's just it. You can't run away. You can get mad if you need to get mad and you can stomp and snort…or whatever it is you need to do…but you can't run away from me. I can't handle that."

Daryl reached down and brushed his thumb on the side of her face.

"I ain't leavin' again," Daryl said. "I can't say I ain't gon' be an asshole never again…an' I can't say that I'ma do shit right 'cause I'm real damn good at fuckin' shit up, but I ain't leavin'…not if ya let me stay."

"I can't promise that I'm not going to be difficult to live with," Carol said. "And I cry, Daryl…I cry over stupid things…and I've never been able to control it, no matter how bad I knew it was going to cost me…and I don't think it's going to stop now."

Daryl chuckled a little.

"Maybe I could learn ta ignore the cryin' when it pisses me off if ya could try ta ignore sometimes when I do stupid shit?" Daryl asked.

Carol lie there, looking at him. That was all…just looking at him. Daryl felt his chest ache, almost like it was closing up.

"I love ya…I hate that I fuck shit up with ya, but I do…but I still love ya," Daryl said.

He chuckled to himself again because he could see tears brimming in Carol's eyes.

"Oh go the fuck ahead an' cry about it if that's what the hell ya wanna do!" He spat.

Carol laughed at him then, but the tears did make their way out her eyes and roll down the side of her face. Daryl brought his back to her face and he wiped at them with his fingers.

"Can I fuckin' stay?" He asked.

Carol nodded.

"Don't leave me again," she said.

Daryl leaned down and kissed her.

"Christ woman, not 'til they put my fuckin' corpse in the dirt, OK?" Daryl said when he pulled away from the kiss.

Carol shook her head, more of the tears spilling out of her eyes.

"Please don't say that," she said.

Daryl smiled.

"Really?" Daryl asked with a smile. "Ya gon' cry over that shit too?"

He climbed over her and got off the couch. He reached a hand toward her and she took it. He pulled her up and she moved around, gaining her feet and following him quietly toward the bedroom.

When they walked in the room, Daryl closed the door so that not even Lincoln could disturb them. He kissed her, tangling his fingers in her hair and holding the side of her face to keep the kiss exactly where he wanted it for as long as he wanted.

As he kissed her, he walked her slowly backwards, toward the bed. He broke the kiss when he felt her bump the bed and he reached down and pulled her shirt up, letting her come out of it. He tossed it on the floor and she reached around, unclasping her bra and dropping it beside her shirt on the floor.

Daryl came out of his own shirt then, letting it join the other discarded clothes, and he unceremoniously came out of his pants and everything else, figuring to save time later since there was no denying where the hell this was going. Carol smiled at him when he looked up at her while he was peeling everything off and she shimmied out of her own clothes.

Daryl brought his hands to cup her breasts, kissing her as he did, letting his mouth trail down to kiss the crook of her neck and her collar bones.

Carol moaned and rolled her head back. As she stood there in front of him, Daryl bent down, taking one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked it, rolling it between his tongue and the roof of his mouth and Carol gasped.

Daryl brought himself back up and met her in a kiss again, smirking against her lips.

"Get on the bed," he said, barely moving his face away from hers.

Carol nodded and swallowed and got on the bed. Daryl grabbed her around the hips and pulled her toward him to the edge of the bed, lifting her legs so that they rested over his shoulders and he buried his face in her, lapping at her and sucking at her, his hands holding tight to her to keep her from bucking away from him in the squirming she was doing to accompany her whimpers and moans.

He rolled the little ball of nerves she was so damn fond of between his tongue and his lips and sucked at it, bringing one of his hands to stroke her. She was bucking, at this point, so much that he almost laughed at the fact that he could barely keep his mouth in place. He slipped a finger into her and stroked her until she screamed out. When he was sure that she'd milked what she could from the orgasm, he pushed her back and got on the bed with her, pushing her legs back up over his shoulders.

"Ya OK?" He asked.

Her expression looked pained almost and he wasn't sure if it was actually one of sincere pain or if it was the pained look that sometimes accompanied her pleasure. She nodded, panting.

Daryl lined himself up with her and pushed into her fully. He hissed at the feeling of being inside her again and had to stay still for a moment to keep himself from really living out every teenage nightmare. She was wetter than he'd thought she'd ever been before and he had to admit that he liked it. She folded into him a little, her hands going to his shoulders.

Finally, when he was sure that he could hold it together for at least a little, he began to move and she matched him, thrust for thrust, until they both came together and Daryl found himself biting down on her shoulder without even the realization that he was doing it until the feeling passed.

When he had at least a little control of himself, he moved off of her, releasing her legs from their position, and kissed the bite mark on her shoulder, sorry that he'd left a mark.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Carol rolled her head, looking at him, still panting.

"Sorry?" She panted.

"For bitin' ya," Daryl said, kissing her face. He moved to kiss her neck, nuzzling it there, smelling the mixture of her scent and the sweat on her skin.

"Don't be," she said. "Don't be sorry…"

Daryl kissed her shoulder then, her collarbone again. He lingered for a moment before he looked at her again.

"I love you…" Carol said, looking at him, her eyes fully open now. Daryl brought his mouth back to hers and lingered there in a long and lazy kiss.

"I love ya too," he said. He dropped to his side, finally, beside her and ran his fingers around the skin of her chest and stomach, tracing some of the lines that were barely there…barely visible.

Daryl let his fingertips trail down softly to the lower part of Carol's stomach and he rested his palm there, just over the place where she'd identified she was getting fat.

"So a little girl, huh?" Daryl said.

Carol propped her head up on one hand and looked at him, the other hand coming down to run her fingertips over the top of his hand.

"A little girl," she said. "Who's not shy…she wanted to show it all off." Carol snickered.

Daryl chuckled.

"She's gonna have ta stop that shit right quick like," Daryl said. "Just fine while she's all tucked up in there, but that shit ain't gonna fly when she gets out here."

Carol snorted and Daryl looked at her.

"I'm sure we'll get control of it before she's old enough that we have to worry," Carol said.

"She's a mover too," Daryl said. "She was bouncin' all around. Can ya feel it when she does it?"

Carol shook her head.

"I don't know," she said. "I can't tell if I can or if I can't. I guess I'll just have to wait until I'm sure."

Daryl nodded a little.

"Ya ain't gon' paint the nursery pink, are ya?" Daryl asked.

Carol looked at him.

"I hadn't really thought about it," she said. "Why? You don't like pink?"

"Hell no," Daryl said.

"Then what color do we paint it?" Carol asked. "If we leave it white it'll be boring for her."

"Ya said ya favorite color's purple," Daryl said. "Ain't pink…but it's still kinda girly. Why don't we paint the damn thing like some baby purple or some shit like that?"

Carol smiled.

"Yeah?" She asked.

Daryl nodded.

"I'd like that," she said.

Daryl rested his head on the bed beside Carol. He felt relaxed, ready to sleep almost, though he didn't really want to drift off and leave her. He kept his hand where it was, on her stomach, and she'd relaxed and rested her own on top of his.

"Are you going to change diapers?" Carol asked.

Daryl chuckled.

"Prob'ly gonna suck at it," Daryl said. "But I reckon I could learn how ta change diapers."

"You won't suck at it for long," Carol said. "It's not too hard."

"Reckon we'll see…" Daryl said.

He lie there a few minutes in the quiet, fighting the nap that was trying to crawl over him. Under his hand, he felt Carol's body rising and falling with her breathing. It was evening out…getting smoother, and he realized without even looking at her that she was relaxing and would probably sleep soon too.

"I'm really glad ya lettin' me stay," Daryl said. "I swear I'ma try not ta fuck it up this time."

"I'm glad you're staying," Carol said. "I promise I'll try not to make it hard not to fuck it up."

Daryl chuckled and shifted his body, pulling closer to her and moving up so that he could kiss the side of her face. Carol shifted then and rolled next to him, resting her head in the crook of his arm.

"S'too damn early ta go ta bed," Daryl said as he felt her hugging him.

"Not bed," she said. "Just a nap…we'll get up to eat, OK?"

Daryl chuckled and leaned enough to kiss her head.

"Sounds good to me, woman," Daryl said. He sighed. "Sounds pretty damn good."