Walking Dead I liked you first

"I liked you first."

Daryl blew her off, but those words kept haunting him at night when he slept. Sometimes he honestly had no idea how to take some of her comments. She could be so open that it made it hard for him to trust her. Anyone that was that nice had some agenda or was making fun of him. Yes, Carol didn't seem to be either of those things, but given his past, it sure was hard to be sure where she was coming from.

But the more he thought about it, it seemed like she sure did like him. She was always checking on him, more worried about him than her own well-being at times. He remembered a long time ago when she was playing around and she offered for them to hook up. It made him laugh- that's what he liked about her. But what if she wasn't joking? What if it seemed she really did see him more as a friend?

Daryl didn't know what he thought about it. In this day and age, it would be the stupidest thing he could do, opening himself up to a woman like that. People who loved anyone always got hurt. Always.

But still, the little twinge of jealousy in her voice (over what, he had no idea) kinda made him feel good.

0000

It was a quiet moment, so he decided to go check on Carol. Probably with lil' ass-kicker, he thought. And as it turned out, he was right.

She was sitting with Judith in her cell, holding her and singing to her. Apparently Carol didn't know he was there. It was wrong, Daryl knew, but seeing Carol like this somehow just felt right. He couldn't explain it. It just did. There were a lot of things about Carol he couldn't explain.

He was about to announce his presence when Carol got up to put a sleeping Judith in her make-shift crib. For some reason he felt like he should leave when suddenly he noticed something about Carol.

After she set Judith down, Daryl watched as Carol wiped her eyes. He felt sick. He always, always, hated seeing any woman cry, but whenever Carol did, he felt both helpless and an instinctive need to protect her.

"Hey," he coughed, low enough not to wake Judith, but loud enough so Carol wouldn't feel embarrassed when she saw that he was there.

Somehow, like she always did, despite her tears,despite whatever hurt she was feeling, Carol smiled. No matter how low she had been, she had always, always been happy to see him.

He kinda liked that.

"Hey yourself...pookie," she smiled causing him to half-laugh. For some reason she'd taken to calling him that. If Merle were around to hear it, Daryl would never hear the end of that. But he was no longer around...and if there was one person on earth who could get away with calling him that, it would be Carol.

He started to say something but instead found himself starting to laugh, partly out of nervousness (why he always felt like that around her still, he didn't know) and partly out of the humor of the situation. "Why you always got to be calling me that?"

He knew he sounded gruff, but if anyone knew how to take him, it was Carol. "I don't know," she smiled. "You just look like a 'pookie' to me. Hasn't anyone else told you that?"

He shook his head. "No. No. Can't say that. Been called a lot of things, but never..."

"Pookie?" God she looked so beautiful when she smiled.

"Yeah."

"Does it bother you?"

Now she was standing so close to him he felt his heart beating faster. "Na,it's all good," he cleared his throat.

"Look at you, your face is all red," Carol laughed. "Don't tell me I embarrassed you!"

"No! No. Just been out in the sun all day. You know...huntin' and stuff."

She nodded, even though she didn't appear to believe him. "Well...I suppose I should be getting lil'a ss-kicker back to her father."

He didn't say anything. He wanted to tell her to stay with him, just a little bit longer. But to drop his defenses like that, well, that just wasn't him.

She bent down to pick up a blanket Judith had dropped. He didn't look away.

She straightened up and smiled. "I saw that!"

"What're you talkin' about?"

"You were checking me out. Out of the corner of my eye- I could see you."

He shook his head. "You're silly," he decided on saying.

"What, you think I don't check you out?" Carol asked, suddenly appearing very serious.

Now he was more nervous than ever. "Oh, stop."

"It's true. I notice the funny little things you do- like when you just get yourself a walker just for a split second you kind of have this look on your face..."

"What?"

"I don't know...kinda like you're proud of yourself, like you know you've come a long way. I'm proud of you, Daryl."

With that, Carol reached over and touched his hand.

"I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything. I know how you feel. It's just a question of if you know how you feel."

"Carol..."

Now she placed her finger over his lip. "Ssh. It's okay. You don't have to say a word. Just remember- I liked you first."

He watched her for a minute, then she turned around to get Judith. It was at that moment that he realized- she was wrong. Very wrong.

He liked her first.

Maybe, some day, if things ever settled down, he would tell her how he felt. Until then it was enough for him to know that she liked him and he liked her.

Until then, he would keep an eye out on her, keep making sure she was safe. And if anything happened...who knew, maybe, just one of these days he would take her up on that long-ago offer she'd made of a hookup.

He watched her leave her cell, and as he headed back outside, it occurred to him that for the first time in a long time, Daryl Dixon was happy. Happy to be alive, happy to have survived, and more importantly, he was happy to have known Carol, no matter what may or may not happen between them.

Yes, it was going to be a good day after all.

The end


End file.

Walking Dead, Friendship, Romance