Sorry for the wait! A little over a week left of school, and then, I'll be free to write all the time! :)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Daryl laid there hours after Carol had said she loved him, too happy to sleep. He was married to a woman who he loved and loved him in return. Finally. And when they had been together, it had been everything Daryl had dreamed it would be and more. To think, they would be spending the rest of their lives together.

Carol shifted a little in her sleep and Daryl watched as she snuggled closer to his side. They were still naked, and the feel of her skin on his felt like heaven. Leaning down, he kissed her gently on the forehead and she smiled. "Love you, Daryl," she mumbled before succumbing to sleep as quickly as she had woken up.

Daryl knew he would never tire of those words coming from her mouth, since they had seemed to be a long time in the making. He couldn't remember anyone ever saying they loved him, except maybe his mama, but he couldn't really remember if she had said them or he dreamed she had said them. Merle had never said the words, and his pa sure as hell hadn't, either. Not that Daryl would have believed him if he had.

He believed Carol, though.

It had taken her a bit to get to this point, but he understood. She had been hurt by a man before, mentally and physically. Just thinking about what that bastard had done to his Carol had Daryl clenching his fists in anger. If he ever came face to face with Ed, he would...

"Daryl?" Carol's voice was soft as she turned to look up at him. Her eyes were half-closed with sleep, but he could tell she was concerned. "Are you okay? Do you...do you-?"

"No." Though she hadn't finished the question, Daryl knew what she had been about to say and made sure he was quick to answer and reassure her. He turned her full on her back and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. "I love you. I was just too happy to sleep."

The smile that flashed on her face lit up the room, even though it was still dark. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He kissed her, again. "Now, let's get some sleep. I don't work all weekend, and I plan on keeping you in this bed for most of it." In the dim light from the moon shining through the window, Daryl saw the way Carol's cheeks flushed.

"I'm never going to have enough of you, Carol Dixon. Ever." He slipped an arm under her back, and using his strength flipped Carol onto his chest. She seemed surprised at the change of position, but not unhappy. Their bodies were completely flushed against one another and Daryl's strong arms were wrapped around her slender waist.

"I take it you're not tired," she giggled and kissed his nose, playfully. Despite her playful attitude, there was desire in her eyes.

"I want to love you, again. Is that all right?"

"Yes," she said, breathless already, before placing her hands on his chest and pushing herself up to a sitting position. Her thighs straddled his narrow hips. "Like this?" There was a little uncertainty in her eyes as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

"If you want." Daryl reached up and cupped her cheek, gently. "I just want to let you know, Carol, that I will never make you do anything you don't want to do. Not just in the...bedroom, but with everything. It doesn't matter that you have my last name, now; you're still your own woman. I'm never going to do anything that will hurt you. I promise."

Carol's eyes watered. "I know." She leaned down and kissed the long scar across his collarbone. "The same goes for me, too. I won't hurt you. Ever."

They hadn't talked much about his past, but she had seen and felt the scars on his back, so she had an idea of what had happened during his childhood. Daryl didn't feel ashamed of his scars. Later, sometime, they would talk about it. Daryl would tell this woman everything. Even the things Merle didn't know about.

"I trust you." Saying those words felt odd in Daryl's mouth, since he had never said them to another person before. But he said it, now, with one hundred percent truth. He trusted Carol with his life.

When he propped himself up on his elbows, Carol leaned down and kissed him. After that, there was no more talking for a long time.

The sun had been up for a while, but Carol and Daryl didn't care. They were still asleep curled into one another. It had been almost dawn when they finally fell asleep together, and they had slept straight through breakfast. It wasn't until their stomachs started growling did they drag themselves out of bed.

Carol threw on one of Daryl's shirts and a pair of panties, and Daryl padded to the kitchen in just a pair of sweats. Daryl went straight to the coffee maker, which he had quickly learned to use, and Carol gathered some food together to start making them something to eat. It was close to lunchtime, but she wanted pancakes and knew that Daryl wouldn't mind.

She had just mixed together all of the ingredients for the batter, when the aroma of the coffee hit her nose and made her mouth water.

"Here you go, sweetheart." Daryl placed a steaming cup of coffee on the ledge next to her mixing bowl. He had even put it in her favorite mug. The green one with the little Cherokee roses.

"I put cream and sugar in it for you. Hope it's good."

Carol picked up the mug and took a tentative sip, since it was hot. "It's perfect." She smiled and took a larger sip. It had the right amount of cream and sugar.

"Its how I like it, too." Daryl set his cup next to hers on the ledge to free up his hands as he wrapped them around her waist. "This all right?" He asked, settling his chin on her shoulder and watched her pour the batter into the pan.

"Of course."

"Good." He kissed her shoulder and watched as she cooked. It didn't make her feel uncomfortable like when Ed had done it.

"Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Don't you know? Once you get married, you can't ask your wife anything. Instead, I just get to tell you what to do all the time." She teased and flipped a pancake.

"Ha ha."

"Go ahead," she said. "I'm listening."

Daryl hesitated and it made Carol wonder if it he was going to tell her something bad. "You know that my brother Merle is in jail, right?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, he's getting out soon."

Carol turned around in his arms and smiled brightly. "That's great! I bet you've missed him."

"I haven't thought about him much since I met you, honestly." Daryl didn't seem upset about it, so she didn't say anything. "Well, he wants me to visit him before he gets out and since I have the day off tomorrow, I was wonderin' if you want to come with me to see him."

"Of course! I wonder how he's going to react when he finds out you're married."

"Probably won't believe me, at first. But once he gets out and sees that I ain't livin' in that house, anymore, he'll get it." Daryl smiled. "Kind of lookin' forward to his reaction."

"Yeah?"

"He always got on me about pickin' up women." He blushed, which she found cute considering what they had done last night. "I never had the desire to go to a bar and get with someone there. Just wasn't me, you know?"

"No, all you had to do was fall down a ravine and shoot yourself with an arrow to get a woman." She pinched him lightly in the side.

"That fall hurt like a sumbitch, but I'm glad it happened. I probably would have never seen you, again." Carol had almost forgotten that they had met briefly in a local convenience store. She wondered how she would have reacted, if she knew that the shy man she had seen in front of the refrigerator section with a pack of sour gummi worms in his hands, would one day become her husband.

"I would say that I'm glad you fell, but I would never be happy about you getting hurt."

He kissed her. "It was worth it."

Before things could get more heated, the smell of something burning reached their noses and Carol turned to see the pancake in the pan was smoking.

"Oh no!" She cried and turned the flame off. But it was too late, the side of the pancake was burnt. She turned to Daryl and playfully swatted his arm and pouted. "You made me burn the pancake!"

"No, I didn't." She smiled. "It ain't my fault you can't resist me. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll eat that one."

Carol grimaced and took the pan to the garbage. "No, I'm just going to throw it away. None of us needs to suffer and there's plenty of batter left. But," she pointed at him with the spatula. "No more distracting me!"

Daryl held up his hands in mock surrender, a smirk plastered on his face. "Fine. I'll just stay on the other side of the counter, mindin' my own business."

"Good." Carol walked over to the stove and started the process of making another pancake. This time she would be more vigilant, her hungry stomach wouldn't allow her to be anything but.

"So, tomorrow is all right to pay a visit to my brother?" Daryl leaned his elbows on the counter and watched Carol as he sipped from his mug of coffee.

"Sure! I'm looking forward to it."

Daryl snorted. "Oh, you won't be once you actually meet him. He's an ass. You'll probably want to leave the moment we get there."

"Oh, come on, Daryl. He can't be that bad."

Daryl didn't say anything and fixed her with a look.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess, I'll just have to see for myself, then. Huh?" She flipped over the pancake.

"You will. I'm tellin' you. He's goin' to be surprised to see you, but I'm hopin' he'll be able to keep himself in check while we're there." Daryl sighed. "But, no promises."

"Got it." She smiled and slipped the now, perfectly cooked pancake on a plate and held it out to him. "Do you want the first pancake?"

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