Here's a kind of short chapter for you guys. I redid it TWICE in hopes of getting it just right and I'm pretty happy with the turnout and once again, it has OOCness in it and that will probably be for all of the chapters and I hope that's okay with you all! :)

Chapter Five

Daryl was speechless. Was Carol actually considering his proposal? No. No way. It was too good to be true.

"Are-Are you serious?" This couldn't be happening. Daryl knew he had to still be dreaming. Good things didn't happen to the Dixons. Especially good things like Carol.

He kept his eyes on her, eager to hear an answer. If Carol was thinking about marrying him, Daryl knew he would be the happiest man in the world. So, he never took his eyes from her face and watched as she bit her pretty, pink lip before speaking.

"I'm serious, if you were." She picked some nonexistent lint from his covers and peered at him through her eyelashes. The uncertainty in those pale, blue orbs, nearly undid him. "Were you? I-I mean, if you weren't, then forg-" Daryl grasped her hand and she stopped.

"Yes." His voice sounded breathy and weak, but he didn't care. This was still all so new and surprising to him. "I was so fuckin' serious." If he had known that falling down a ravine would have allowed him to finally see his angel, again, he would have done it weeks ago.

Daryl knew right then, that he was in love. Love wasn't a Dixon thing. They didn't do love. But deep down, Daryl knew that was what this was. It had only taken him a few minutes and a handful of words for him to fall. Hard.

"Why?" Carol's soft voice broke Daryl out of his thoughts. "We hardly know one another. How can you tell I'm someone you would want to spend the rest of your life with?"

Daryl couldn't really explain why he had decided that. The moment she had walked through those doors, his heart told him that Carol was the one for him. "Did you know we've...met before? It was like a month ago and kind of brief. Probably can't even consider it a meetin'."

A confused look crossed her face and Daryl could tell that she was trying to recall their meeting.

"It was at the convenience store in town," he supplied, hoping that it would help jog her memory. He didn't want to be the only one to remember the encounter. Part of him hoped that Carol had also found him intriguing in the few minutes they interacted, but he doubted it, though. Daryl knew that his persona didn't send out a message that he was a good guy. In fact, he looked like someone everyone should avoid.

When a look of recognition flashed across Carol's face, Daryl was surprised. Did she actually remember him?

"Yes, I remember." She smiled and Daryl took that as a good sign. "You had your arms full of snacks and when I saw the gummi worms on top, I nearly went down the aisle to get some for myself."

No fuckin' way...

"You looked so sad, though." Daryl sat up more in bed and ignored the constant pain throbbing in his side.

"I was sad." Carol looked away towards the door. "I don't really want to talk about it, right now. Is that okay?" Her eyes returned to his and were filling up with tears. Daryl reached over a brushed a stray one that was making its way down her soft cheek.

"My answer is yes." Her voice was shaky, but she looked him right in the eye. "Yes, I will marry you. If you'll have me."

Daryl would have lunged and wrapped his arms around her if his side wasn't aching so badly. And the pain was the only thing that was keeping him from thinking it was all a dream, at the moment.

"Really?" He had to ask. To be sure.

She smiled, shyly. "Really."

"Then, I'm goin' to have to get you a ring."

Carol blushed and stood. "You don't have to do that."

"Course I do," he argued. "Got to make it official."

"All right." Carl gave him a shaky smile. "Well, um, do you need anything? I was-I was going to go work in my garden for a bit, but if you need something, I'm here to help."

Daryl felt his face heat up. "Uh, I kind of need to take a pi-. I mean, I need to use the bathroom and maybe get cleaned up...? Should have done that before I laid in your nice bed, though. Probably got the sheets dirty."

"Daryl, its fine." Carol reached over and placed a hand on his bicep. "I can wash the sheets. It's no big deal. Now," she flung the blankets from his body. "I'll help you get to the bathroom."

Daryl knew that he didn't need help to walk, but if it meant he could put his arm around her, then he would let Carol help. He still couldn't believe that they would get married. Fuck. He nearly started when Carol slipped an arm around his waist and together, they walked to the bathroom.

"You can take a shower if you want," she said when they reached the bathroom. "I can wash your clothes while you're in there. I think I may have an old pair of E-, uh, an old pair of sweats that you could wear." Carol wasn't looking at him and instead, had focused her attention to the towel hanging on the wall.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just leave your clothes on the floor by the door and I'll get them as soon as you're in the shower." She gave him one last smile and left the room. Daryl watched the door click shut and wondered why her smile had suddenly gone sad.

Carol's hands sunk into the cool dirt. She had left her gloves in the mudroom and didn't care that there would be dirt forever under her fingernails. She needed this time, alone, in her garden. So many things had happened that day that needed processing. Like the fact that she had just agreed to marry Daryl.

It was only because he would protect her, she kept telling herself. But it didn't help ease the guilt. He adored her, that much was clear, and it made her feel good. No one had ever looked at her like that before. Not even Ed during their early months, together.

Thinking back to when she had first seen Daryl, Carol couldn't help but smile. She had noticed the handsome man standing by the refrigerated goods. Ignoring the leering clerk, she had walked up to them to get a bottle of water and almost giggled when the man nearly tripped over his feet trying to get out of the way. She had felt his gaze on her back, but it didn't make her skin crawl. Like the clerk's did. And Ed's. Daryl had an innocence about him and when they made eye contact once again, she almost gasped at the desire she had seen in his eyes.

Carol had pushed that interaction from her mind the moment she drove away, knowing that nothing like that would never happen to her, again. No man would ever want her.

It turned out she had been wrong. Daryl wanted her. He wanted her enough to marry her. Did that mean he was in love? Could he have fallen in love with her in their brief interaction? What could he have possibly seen in someone as useless and lonely as her?

"I can't do this!" She sobbed and covered her face with her hands, not caring that they were dirty. "I can't use him like this." But she had to. Ed would find her one day and she was too weak to deal with him on her own. He'd kill her, she knew. And Daryl would be devastated if she took back his proposal. She had gotten herself into a mess.

Tears continued to flow down her cheeks. She hadn't cried like this in a long time and her salty tears were created mud in the dirt-caked palms of her hands, but she didn't care. She was a horrible person and deserved whatever Ed was going to do to her.

"Carol?" Daryl's voice startled her and she looked up to see him standing on the grass in front of her garden. His hair was still wet and the borrowed shirt (a men's t-shirt she had bought to sleep in) clung to his slick body. It was already tight on him and his recent shower and damp skin made it cling to every crevice. Daryl really was a handsome man.

"Is something wrong, Daryl?" She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, which was surprisingly clean.

"No, but there's obviously somethin' wrong with you." He walked into the dirt and Carol noticed he was barefooted. He sunk down next to her and wiped at her cheeks with a thumb. "Why are you cryin'?" His face was full of so much concern and dare she say it, love, that she burst into tears, again.

Daryl didn't hesitate to wrap her in his arms. Carol clung to him and he stroked her back in soothing strokes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Daryl pulled back and looked down on her.

"No. It's nothing really." She managed a smile.

"Carol, we don't know one another that well, like you said, and I want to know everythin' about you. I want to know why you're cryin' and why you looked so sad the day we first met."

It was only fair that she told him, but she didn't want to. Not yet. "I-I don't want to talk about it, now. But I will. I promise."

Daryl looked disappointed, but didn't press the matter. "Well, then, I was, uh, wonderin' if you could take me home."

Carol stood and wiped the dirt from her pants. "Sick of me already?" She teased.

"No. Never." He stood up and said, seriously. "I want to spend more time with you, but I wanted to get somethin' from my house, first. If...If that's okay?"

"Of course. Let me grab my keys and we can go."

"Thanks." However, Daryl didn't move to the house, like she thought he would. Instead, he remained standing in front of her, looking unsure. He reached for her, his calloused hand made contact with her cheek, softly, and Carol found herself leaning into the touch and not flinching away.

"Thank you for eveythin', Carol." He leaned down and kissed the corner of her mouth. "My angel," he whispered.

I hope the everyone enjoyed this chapter and I want to thank you for all of the lovely reviews! They blow me away! :)