AN; hey, I'm not sure if I like this chapter, I want Daryl to be more in touch with his true feelings than Carol, I don't know why, maybe because I don't like writing Carol as secretly pinning for Daryl. The mother in me thinks if she was secretly pinning for anyone it would be Sophia. I can't seem to write long chapters for this, sorry this is short,but let me know what you think:)

I do not own or profit from The Walking Dead

Chapter 4

Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,

And think of you

Caught up in circles confusion -

Is nothing new

Flashback - warm nights -

Almost left behind

Suitcases of memories,

Time after -

~Cyndi Lauper~ Time after Time

Carol had just settled Judith back to sleep after feeding her when she heard Tyreese call out weakly to her.

"Carol"

"Ty " she breathed out rushing to his side, giving him some water to drink.

"How are you, how do you feel? I..." she paused glancing at his stump.

"I feel, ...weak as a baby, ...thank you, you saved my life, and lord I'm glad I was unconscious when you did it" he said, and she giggled a little through her tears. "Jude ok?" He asked and she nodded.

"She's fine, don't worry about anything but getting better ok?"

"Yeah... You okay? You look tired?" He asked, drowsily, struggling to keep his eyes open then nodded back to sleep before she could even answer.

She sat down in the chair next to him. She was tired, bone tired and weary, she wasn't sure when she had last slept through the night. At least a month, even more maybe. Her sleep had been haunted by never ending nightmares, which only seemed to get worse. The nightmares always involved Sophia somehow, and she would wake up with a new ache in her chest like her death had only happened yesterday. She had started to feign sleep at the prison. She didn't want people to know she was awake, to wonder why.

That's how she had realized Daryl would come to her door frequently to watch her sleep. She would feel his presence, know his footstep. She had waited the first time, assuming he could see she was awake and talk to her, but he hadn't. He had leaned his shoulder on the door frame and simply watched her. She'd been confused, what was he doing? Thinking it was a fluke, she forgotten about until the next time it happened. She realized he must have known about her nightmares and was checking on her. It was good to know he still cared even if he didn't seem to have much time for her. She had briefly wondered if maybe there was another reason, but clamped that thought down before it went anywhere.

She snorted, Rick had accused her of being cold. God, if only that were true, if only she could shut off this swirl of emotions in her heart. She wished she could put Sophia aside, compartmentalize her into a distant corner of her mind. It was a daily battle to even get out of bed sometimes, she would wake some mornings and forget that Sophia was gone, and then it would hit her again, the loss. She had no desire to discuss her feelings with Rick that day, she knew he was going to do something to her, she thought that he intended to kill her in truth. Definitely not the shoulder she wanted to cry on.

The shoulder she had wanted to cry on would have been very uncomfortable if she had done so. She knew that and did not want to push anything on me him, so she kept it in, tightly bottled.

She chuckled to herself, Daryl really did have great shoulders, maybe she should have confided in him after all. She should have given him the chance to be the type of friend she needed. She gulped as a realization hit her, she had tried so hard to build walls to protect her heart when she realized she had feelings for him, she may have inadvertently been the cause of the distance between them she perceived. Maybe, it had been all in her head ? Daryl was the most loyal person she knew, he would never let their friendship slide. She had been attempting to do what she often accused him of. Pulling away. No more, no more lying to herself, it was toxic. She...loved Daryl, she thought with a sigh. No harm in admitting it to herself now, it wasn't like she was ever going to see him again anyway.

Her head snapped up at the distinct sound of vehicles in the parking lot.