A/N:

I got a review about the timeline and I just wanted to make sure it's clear what has and hasn't happened.
Firstly yes, Carol was with Tobin. Everything that happened leading up to Glenn's death, happened as it did in the show.

The main difference in the timeline is the period between Glenn's death and Daryl's escape, rather then weeks it is months. This also applies to the time Carol spent at the house she occupied after leaving Alexandria.

We can all just go ahead and assume it took the residents of Alexandria and Hilltop a little longer to decide to fight back against the Savior's.
If you have anymore questions let me know.

Chapter 2

(Vibe: Monsters by Seafret)

Once Rick and Michonne left, she stood there watching him, feeling completely out of her depths. And those feelings only intensified the longer she observed him.

Without much thought she took a few steps in his direction, before she realized what she was doing and stopped herself.

She wanted to get closer to him and she wanted to find a calm way of letting him know that she was there. So she decided not to get to close. She didn't want to sneak up on him. She also didn't want to call out to him and startle him. She decided the best thing for her to do was to wait him out, until the time was right, and then go from there.

She could see his pacing starting to slow, she was sure it was because he was tiring himself out. Whatever chaos was stirring in his head was far from over, but his legs just didn't have the energy to join him anymore.

With out any reason Daryl suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder, away from her.

She wondered if he had heard something. She was worried it was a walker, but as she looked around she could see nothing.

Daryl quickly turned to face whatever it was that had distracted him and she waited for something to appear.

She'd seen the fear cover his face as he took in the sight, one that clearly was only visible in his own mind, before his head started shaking back and forth and suddenly he let out something of a growl that was closer to a yell.

She was almost relieved when he retreated back behind the cover of his arms again.

He laced his fingers together behind his head again and started pacing once more. He was obviously in distress, but whatever had just happened, whatever his mind had conjured up had genuinely scared him and she didn't want to see that fear in his eyes.

After watching him for hours, Daryl slowly slid himself from the episode he was enduring. She dreaded to think of how long it had been going on before she had arrived.

Daryl didn't stop or seem to question much. She never saw a moment of deliberation. She guessed that it was as simple as hunger hitting him, so that meant he was going to eat now.

Daryl's only weapon was a knife attached to his belt. Rick said he had left guns where Daryl could find them, but Daryl wouldn't take them. Apparently Daryl looked at the guns with little interest and ignored the fact that they were appearing in spots around him.

Daryl unsheathed his knife and started walking through the woods. She decided this was probably a good time to let him know that she was close by. This was as close to lucid as she had seen him and she needed to take advantage of that.

Carol quickened her pace to catch up to him, but still maintained a good distance between them. She hoped that by doing this, when Daryl did notice her, he didn't feel threatened.

Her mind scanned through different ways to approach him. She silently constructed strategies and different options. She weighed up the pros and cons of those options, and continued thinking it through from every angle, to make sure she did this right.

But she couldn't think of a single thing when Daryl's arm swung hard and fast.

The knife spun through the air, landing with a crack as it hit the tree, pegging a now dead squirrel to to the bark.

Maybe she should have been prepared for what came next. She didn't know what else she was expecting him to do.

She stood frozen in her spot behind him as he ripped his knife free, bring the corpse of the squirrel with it. There was no ceremony or deep thought behind his movements as he tore the squirrel's fur back with the tip of the knife. He didn't waver for a single second before his fingers started ripping pieces from the inside of the squirrel and eating them raw.

"Daryl!"

His name barked out of her mouth without any thought and it fell out far to firmly. All consideration of timing had evaporated. All her careful planning was useless.

She had said his name just as she would done anytime that she'd seen him doing something concerning. There was surprise in her tone and scolding, and she hated that both were clearly there for him to hear. It was definitely not the smooth approach she had been hoping for.

His head spun in her direction and she started kicking herself even more then she had been.

There was fresh blood smeared over his face and his eyes were wide with shock, but it didn't take anymore then a few seconds before they were narrowed in on her.

"I didn't mean to surprise you" she promised, as his eyes scanned her over from head to toe.

There was still a good amount of space between them, but she could see marks on him that hadn't been there before. If the thick layer of dirt on his skin was removed, then she was sure she would find even more.

"You know me Daryl. I just want to talk" she added keeping her voice low and calm.

Daryl barked out a sound that she'd heard rumble right up through his throat, before he turned on his heel and started briskly walking away from her.

She finally understood what Michonne had meant. Daryl really did look at them like strangers.

There was a distance in his eyes that hurt her, more then she ever imagined anything could. She hadn't said anything to Michonne, but she had hoped that reaction Michonne and Rick had received from Daryl, wouldn't mirror his reaction to her. She liked to think that there was no one else on earth who she knew better then Daryl and she knew without any doubt the the man knew her inside and out.

At the very least, Daryl was her best friend.

There was times when she had hoped for more, but she knew he wasn't ready for that and she was content just having him with her.

She would have been ok if he'd never let their relationship progress beyond the friendship they shared, because it was still the most meaningful connection she'd ever shared. She could look in Daryl's eyes and see the love he had for her, starring back.

But right now all she could see was fear and confusion.

The sun was setting when Daryl returned back to his spot by the water. His steps faltered when he saw her in the distance, watching her for a minute to see if she was going to leave him alone.
Once she made it clear she had no intention of approaching him, he went about his business and never took the time to look at her again.

She set her tent up, started a fire and cooked herself something to eat, all the while watching Daryl wonder aimlessly around his preferred spot by the water.

There was a lot to worry about when it came to Daryl. She didn't know what was going through his head, or what had endured to cause such a fragile condition. There was also his physical state to be concerned with. He was obviously malnourished and though she hadn't gotten close enough to have a proper look, she feared he was injured.

As it got darker Daryl sat down and leaned his back into a tree by the stream. He drew his knees up to his chest and settled his arms on them. It wasn't long before Carol could see him slightly rocking and shaking his head before he dropped his head over his arms.

It wasn't like earlier when he was pacing. Then it had appeared as though something was clawing into him, refusing to let him go. But right now, Daryl looked as though he was handing himself over to it.

She wondered if it was because he didn't know how to fight it, or simply didn't see the point.

Carol saw the moment Daryl decided he was tired, and it was much like when Daryl had decided he was hungry. He didn't put any thought into it. He simply decided he was ready and let himself fall into the dirt.

She fought the urge to go and cover him over, knowing he wouldn't appreciate it. And she didn't want to be the cause of him running off into the woods in the middle of the night. So she settled for watching over him while he rested.

She assumed that Daryl's exhaustion was enough to have him out cold for the night, but after only a few hours of sleeping she could see him tossing and turning. She could hear him growling and groaning out pained sounds as though he was being tortured.

She had seen Daryl have a lot of nightmares in the time she had known him, but they were never like this. The sounds he was making didn't sound like him, and the way his body violently twitched, didn't look like anything she'd seen him do before.

With a sudden jolt to his body Daryl woke up, searching around him for something that wasn't there. He jumped to his feet and turned in a circle, drawing his hand to his mouth so he could start chewing on his nails and the tips his fingers.

That was when he started again.

Daryl's actions quickly feel into the same sight that she had seen upon her arrival. He was caught up in something, and whatever it was that had him in its clutches, was upsetting and overpowering him.

Daryl barked out noises in the dark and shook his head, as though he was trying to shake something out from his mind. But he obviously never succeeded.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she noticed the walker stumbling through the woods towards them. The light of the fire was enough that she could only just make out figure roaming into their space.

She grabbed her knife and hopped she could circle around Daryl without him noticing, so that she could kill the walker and not disturb him.

As she rose to her feet, she noticed Daryl stop what he was doing and drop his hands back down to his sides. She was sure he had seen her moving toward him, until he pulled out his knife and stumbled over to the walker. He drove the blade into it's skull and watched it fall to the ground.

He stood there for longer then was needed. Starring at the body on the ground before he was seemingly pulled back into the darkness that was brewing in his mind.

He started his repetitive steps once more, only stopping when the occasional walker stumbled into their campsite.

From what she could see Daryl was safe. From what she could see Daryl was able to protect himself. No matter how stuck in his own head he appeared, he did seem as though he was aware of his surroundings. Knowing that made it easier to relax, it made it easier for her to lay down and rest her eyes.

When she woke, she found that Daryl was dragging a rotted corpse away from the camp by its legs. She watched as he disappeared out of her sight and then returned later to start his journey again, grabbing another of the walkers he had taken down through the night.

She sat there watching him, noticing his blank stare and creased brow as he completed the task that he had set for himself.

There was something so lonely about the act. She wasn't sure if it was the expression on his face or the way he wondered off into the woods by himself, but that was how he looked right now. Alone. In every sense of the word.

With that thought she got to her feet and quickly started packing her things up.

It was the only thing she could think to do. It was the only way she could ease the pain of having done nothing for him since her arrival, except maybe scare him and make him uncomfortable.

It was only ten feet, but it was ten feet closer to where Daryl spent most of his time.

It wasn't until she was pushing the pegs for the tent into the ground that she noticed Daryl standing with his arms crossed watching her.

He had returned from dragging another of the walkers away, without her noticing.

He looked confused and uneasy, clearly noticing that she was slightly closer to his space. She froze, awaiting his reaction that she knew would appear, once he fully processed what she was doing.

She could see him chewing his lower lip as he reached one hand up and started kneading the back his neck. She stayed still waiting on him to object or show his discomfort, but instead he dropped his head down and walked over to the last body that was left in his space.

It wasn't much and logically she knew that, but right now she felt as though she had completed something significant.

He needed time and that was fine, she had nothing but time.