AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!

111

Daryl had started explaining by saying that they'd met these people by accident and he'd decided they seemed like some decent people to have around. He didn't go into too much detail, though, until they'd reached the clearing and, leaving Lydia to handle the wagon, Carol had dragged him off the wagon and some distance away from the ears of the teenaged girl and any of the people from the approaching carts.

Daryl lit a cigarette.

"You mad about it?" He asked.

"I don't know what I am," Carol said. "I'm still not really sure what they're doing here."

"Goin' with us," Daryl said.

"Where?" Carol asked.

"Wyomin'," Daryl said, looking at her and half wondering if she'd maybe hit her head while he'd been gone and suffered a concussion.

"Let me get this straight," Carol said. "You met—a handful of beautiful women and just decided they needed to with us to Wyoming?"

"There's also a teenage boy and an old woman," Daryl said.

They stared at each other. Daryl wondered if he might have said the wrong thing, given the change of expression on Carol's face. He chewed his lip.

"That ain't what I meant. I don't think. Listen—you gotta hear me out on this."

She raised her eyebrows and, hands on her hips, rolled her hips so that she practically cocked one in his direction. Amusement rose up in Daryl's throat unexpectedly.

"Well—I'll be damned," he mused. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

She jerked back like she'd been burned. Her mouth opened in a slightly angry "o."

"I am not!"

"You are! You're jealous of them women!" Daryl said, laughing now. "No—now don't you get pissed. It's the first damn time I see your ass jealous, I wanna enjoy it. Especially after all the hell you've put me through over the years."

"You think I've never felt jealous?" Carol asked.

"You have?" Daryl asked.

She drew up, immediately, like she'd only just realized the words that had escaped her. She looked as surprised by her own confession as Daryl had felt when he'd misspoken and identified that the women were, indeed, attractive—not that he had any interest in them in that way. His lack of interest, though, didn't render him blind to whether or not people were attractive.

Carol huffed at him.

"You haven't explained to me why it is that you've decided that these women need to go with us to Wyoming, Daryl…where we were going to build a new life, if I remember our conversation this morning correctly, on top of all the other conversations we've had."

Daryl swallowed back his amusement.

"I think I like you heated almost as much as I like the way you look when I'm suckin' on your clit," Daryl offered. Her face ran red. Daryl felt heat in his own face, but it didn't matter to him. He'd like everything he'd done with her—and everything she'd taught him in these days—and he wasn't feeling at all apologetic about it. "In fact—seein' you heated like this? Gets me thinkin' about doin' just that. That's what I remember most about this morning, if we're being honest."

Carol cleared her throat. She changed her stance, too. Daryl wondered if women felt as uncomfortable between their legs, sometimes, as he felt when his dick was straining to change positions in his pants without his explicit permission. He figured he might try to remember to ask Carol about it later, because now might not be the time.

Still, he thought she might be thinking about him sucking on her clit, now, every bit as much as he was, and he licked his lips. She opened her mouth like she might say something, and then she closed it. The blush wasn't gone from her face.

"The women, Daryl…" Carol said.

"I met the boy first," Daryl said. "Beau. Listen—Carol—he's just a kid. A teenager like Lydia."

"And you thought you'd bring him home?" Carol asked.

Daryl swallowed back another wave of emotion. Home, now, was the camp. Home was the wagon. Home was the tent.

Home was wherever they were, and Daryl had noticed that Carol was using that word liberally these past few days. He didn't know if she'd noticed, and he wasn't about to point it out to her. She became stiff and nervous if she thought she was doing something wrong—or if she thought she was doing something that might cause her some heartache in the long run—and Daryl preferred her being comfortable and happy like she was when everything was just right for her.

He liked her making a home with him, even if it was just under their blankets in the tent. She felt like home to him, and he liked being home to her.

"He's got what little book learning he's ever had from them women," Daryl said. "Been with them for a long while. He's smart, though, when it comes to all the things he needs most these days. We brought in a big ass deer to cook for the night. He's been doin' most the hunting for them since he was probably about nine and they took him in."

"You brought them because you want the boy?" Carol asked, furrowing her brow.

"He's damn near a man," Daryl said. "Will be soon enough. Not a puppy, Carol. I didn't bring him because I wanna keep him and teach him not to piss in the tent. I brought him because he could be a damn good asset to tryin' to build some kinda life—and they're doin' this shit on their own. But that ain't all."

Her hands went back to her hips, but her shoulders were more relaxed than they were the first time.

"I'm listening," she informed him.

"The brunette and the blonde are doctors," Daryl said. "Actual to goodness, medical doctors. The real ass deals."

"They told you that," Carol said.

"They don't have any reason to lie to me," Daryl said.

"Except to get you to bring them here," Carol said.

"I asked them to come," Daryl countered.

"You don't think they would have known that would happen?" Carol asked.

"They've been on their own, Carol. They were doin' just damn fine with me and without you. They don't need us."

"Then, why are they here?" Carol asked. "We were doing just fine without them. Weren't we?"

Daryl sensed a change. From the short distance between them, he noticed the dampness in Carol's eyes. He closed the distance between them and he pulled her to him, reminding himself that he could do that now. He was free to do that now. He could love her without any hesitation and without any worry that she would feel he'd overstepped even a single boundary. She sunk into the hug that he offered her and he held her tight.

"We're doin' just fine," Daryl said. "We always could, and we always will. They were doin' fine, too. Headin' west from the east coast, just like us. Thinkin' that more space meant less trouble. Lookin' for a new life." Daryl pulled out of the hug and wiped away a tear that had escaped Carol's eye. He shook his head. "It ain't nothin' but a thing. There's strength in numbers. You know that. They don't know us and we don't know them, but they seem alright. I don't even get the slightest feeling from them that something ain't on the up and up. We can all travel together. Settle close, if we want, when we get there. It don't hurt to have people."

"But sometimes it does," Carol said.

Daryl nodded his head at her, letting her know that he understood, more than saying he agreed.

"The blonde and the brunette are actual to goodness doctors," Daryl said. "You can't tell me that shit's not important to have around. We've got knowledge, and you've got crazy skills and abilities, Carol…but doctors? A matched pair, even?"

She broke and smiled, amused at least a little. She nodded her head.

"It doesn't hurt to have a doctor around," she admitted.

"The old woman they say is some kinda healer or a witch or—hell, maybe even some kinda medicine woman or shaman. They don't know and she don't say. All they know is she ain't never really wrong when she does decide on something."

"She's old…and this is a hard world," Carol said.

Daryl laughed quietly.

"One she's been livin' in at least as long as we have," he pointed out. "I guess she ain't done too bad for herself. They like havin' her around. And she don't hurt nothing, and it can't hurt to have another healer."

"She's bound to know some things," Carol said with a sigh. "Just from—experience."

Daryl nodded his head. Carol seemed to be softening to the whole idea. She seemed to be relaxing. Another tear dripped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. Daryl brushed it away. They were no longer actively coming. Daryl could tell that difference in the dampness in her eyes. Still, the few that were trapped by her eyelids and lashes still needed to escape.

"The boy's a good hunter," Daryl said. "Got some survival skills that don't hurt, neither. He won't be a burden, and he could be a big help to me. To all of us."

"And the redhead? What magical skill does she possess?" Carol asked. There was a hint of that earlier jealousy there. Daryl laughed quietly.

"Nothin'," he said. "Took up with them. That's all. Been with them a long time. She was a teacher or something. She's deaf, though. I told her that we know a little sign language, and she was pretty damn excited about that."

Carol went pale and shook her head.

"What?" Daryl asked, instinctively stepping toward her.

"No…Daryl…no…" Carol said.

"No?"

"We're starting over," Carol said. "A fresh start. Leaving everything behind. We'll never be able to do that with them to get to know and…"

"We don't have to tell 'em a single thing you don't want to tell 'em," Daryl said. "I promise. I told 'em we come from Georgia originally. I told 'em you were my wife. I lied about it, and I'm sorry…and I'll tell them I lied if that's what you want. I told 'em I had a daughter. Lydia. We had a daughter. I said all that before I knew they were coming back with us, but if you want, I'll tell them that. I'll tell them that was just a lie. We don't have to tell 'em shit else about our lives or what's happened to us—what we've done. Nothin' you don't want to tell."

"She's deaf," Carol said.

"She's deaf," Daryl said, confused.

"And every time you—look at her, you'll think of Connie," Carol said. "And you'll think of how…I got her lost."

Daryl's stomach tightened.

"I did think of her," Daryl said. "I did. I thought—exactly what I told her. We had a friend who was deaf. Taught us some signs. Carol—Connie got lost, but the last we saw her, she was fine."

"If she hadn't been, it would have been my fault," Carol said. "It was my fault she was lost while she was."

"We left that back there," Daryl said. He shook his head at Carol. "We didn't bring that guilt and shit with us."

"But maybe we did," Carol said.

Daryl put a hand on each of her shoulders and squeezed gently to ground her.

"Look at me," he said. "Look me in my eyes. Don't look away from me, Carol." She held his eyes. He saw her as she got more grounded. He saw the change in her eyes. "We keep what we want. Isn't that what the hell we said? Everything you want to keep, we keep. We let go of the rest. If that means you still wanna deal with shit…talk about it? We do. We'll talk about whatever the hell you want. However much you want to talk about it. We'll throw the shit out after we talk about it if you don't wanna keep it then. But it don't change shit. We're goin' to Wyoming. We're starting a new damn life. And we're only keeping what the hell we want."

"It doesn't change anything?"

"It don't change a damn thing for me," Daryl said. "Does it change something for you? About us?"

Carol shook her head. Daryl wiped her eyes for her with the pads of his thumbs. He smiled at her, holding her face tenderly in his hands.

"I have you now," he said. "I won't never let you go. You want me to tell 'em all to go to hell, I will. But—I didn't figure we could keep the rest and tell the one that…I'm sorry, she can't come with us. Can't come with them. We don't want her 'cause she's deaf."

Carol laughed at his teasing explanation, and she shook her head.

"No," she said. "We can't tell her that. We wouldn't mean that, either."

"You wanna at least meet 'em first? Decide if you want 'em to stay? I told 'em we'd share that deer. And there ain't no need for you to be jealous, OK? No need at all—whether they stay or they go after the deer gets eaten."

Carol considered it a moment and then nodded.

"You told them we're married?" She asked.

Daryl's stomach tightened. He nodded.

"And Lydia's our daughter," he said. "She just agreed with me. Didn't tell them any different. But—if you want, I meant what I said. We'll tell them it's all a lie. Just a knee-jerk thing I said."

Carol pulled him to her and kissed him. Her kiss was salty from the tears, but he didn't mind.

"No," she said, after the kiss had broken. "I kind of like it. If you do."

Daryl nodded.

"I do," he said. "Come on—before they think we're up to something and everyone starts gettin' nervous."