"What made you say that ta ma brother?" Daryl asked quietly from behind Carol, thinking that she would be surprised at his arrival. Carol had sensed him walking silently behind her; she wouldn't have mistaken that earthly smell of the hunter anywhere. She stopped in the middle of the empty hallway and leant against the wall; keeping her back turned away.
"You heard all that?"
"I heard enough to know that you just threatened to slit his throat."
"I simply told him to watch his back."
"That ain't good enough." Daryl pressed for an answer, he had his suspicions over her actions but wanted her to admit to it.
"I know how torn up you were back in Atlanta; for a while you went off the rails. When you helped to search for Sophia – it was then that we all started to realise what a completely different person you were without Merle; I know that you were planning on robbing the camp before he got left behind…"
"How'd ya know that? Weren't something we ever discussed aloud…"
"It was clear in the way Merle kept asking questions about what we had chosen to bring along from home – he seemed a little too interested."
"Well we didn't go ahead with it…"
"No, you didn't." Carol pressed the point that it was only after Merle had been left behind Daryl truly became a valued member of the group. If Merle had remained, the two of them would have probably hightailed it out of there the moment the first signs of trouble came along.
"He's ma brother, Carol. The only family I've got left.." Daryl leant against the wall too and slid down it to rest on the dirty floor. Carol finally turned around and sank to the floor, stretching her legs out in front of her to echo his pose. They sat like that for a while, not speaking and with their bodies resting mere inches apart. Finally Carol sighed and said - "No he's not, Daryl. When I first took the tray into Merle I said it was because I figured he was part of the family now. And that's what we are Daryl – a family. You, me, Rick, Maggie, Glenn and the others – we're a family. And if you can't see that – well maybe you would be better off leaving with Merle after all."
"Hey! No one said anything about anybody leavin'! I do see us as a family; but Merle's part of that family now as well." Daryl nudged her boot with his foot, hoping that she'd picked up his intentional stress on the word 'us'.
"I know he is – I just wanted to make it clear to him that if he messes with my Pookie; then he messes with me too!" Carol grinned over at Daryl wanting to lighten the suddenly way too serious swing. She had picked up on his meaning; and although it thrilled her to bits she was wary about what the rest of the group may have to say.
"Dammit woman! Cain't you be serious for more'n two seconds?" Daryl shifted slightly so that he was angled slightly and was able to meet her gaze.
"I'm tired of being 'serious Carol' – tired of being the worn out old widow woman that everyone thinks that they have to protect all of the time! Heck, I was taught how to handle a knife and rifle before most of those kids were even born! Probably before you were born too…"
"I doubt that – I cain't be more'n few years younger that you….I'm nearly forty."
"I'm forty one…nearly forty two – I started going grey in my twenties so people assumed I was much older." She grinned over at him, strangely pleased that there wasn't such a huge age gap – Daryl smiled back, thankful that he had added a few years on; what harm would it do letting her think that there was only a few years between them when in reality he was only thirty four...years of hard living had sculpted his features and added lines to his face that could very well have been mistaken for aging.
"Tell me, what else have you been hiding?" Daryl rubbed his hand up and down over her lower arm, wanting to learn more about why this woman had chosen to hide away her true self.
"I was born and raised in Northern Georgia by my Grandpa after my parents passed away when I was still very young. Every fall we would go up into the mountains where he taught me how to track and hunt – his idea was that I would be able to care of myself should anything ever happen to him."
"Go on…" Daryl couldn't believe what a turn on it was to suddenly have this woman reveal a story so much like his own. He found himself shifting position on the cold, hard floor as his body made it very clear what it wanted him to do next.
"Well, I met Ed shortly after Pappy passed away…I guess I was still in shock and he swept in like some knight in shining armour to take me away from all of that. It was only after we had Sophia and he lost his sales job that things started to get ugly…"
"Why didn't you just leave him? You coulda made it on your own easily…" Daryl just couldn't get his head around the fact that she had spent years learning how to defend herself against the beasts of the wild and yet couldn't get up the courage to leave a worthless husk of a man like Ed Peletier.
"Too many years of soft living, Sophia would've been around eight the first time he hit me, and I…" Carol shook her head, not wanting to relieve past memories all over again.
"Seems like his shining armour was just a piece of shiny foil, huh?" Daryl rubbed her arm again, offering understanding and Carol sighed heavily; shifting her body so that it rested against his side. Daryl moved his arm so that her head naturally came to rest upon his shoulder, and brought his other arm across his body to clasp Carol's opposite hand. He felt her fingers curl around his own and they sat in the growing dimness of the hallway content just to be together.
"Wanna go out with me on a hunt tomorrow?" Daryl finally spoke. Carol shifted her head against his shoulder so that she could look up into his face.
"Really? Aren't you worried what people might say? Hey, look Daryl's gonna have to spend more time pickin' her up off her ass than he is huntin'." Carol mimicked the scathing tones of Maggie perfectly.
"Since when do I give a rat's ass what people think? Just imagine the look on their faces when we come strollin' in the gates with a truck full of meat…" Daryl squeezed her shoulder gently, desperately wanting her to agree to come out with him. God – he hadn't felt this nervous since High School!
"You askin' me out on a date, Daryl Dixon?" Carol asked cheekily, loving the way a rosy blush spread across his chiselled cheekbones.
"Yeah – I guess I am…Play your cards right and I might just give you a kiss at the door too." Daryl smirked down at her grinning face and waggled his eyebrows lecherously.
"Why wait until tomorrow?" Before he could even react to that, Carol had swung her leg over his lap and grasped his chin firmly in her hand. She brushed the mere ghost of a kiss against his firm lips and liking the sensation; did it again.