This was suppose to be my annual Birthday One Shot for a friend of mine but by now you know how I can't seem to keep anything condensed. Instead of a one shot you get a four chapter story instead. It's nothing flashy, just some Caryl. Hope you enjoy and thank you for giving it a shot!

Chapter One

She felt like she was dying. The fire was too low to help very much and she hadn't gotten to bed down quick enough so she was further away from it than everyone else was anyway. The temperature had dropped throughout the night and she knew that sleep would never come with the way her body was quaking from the cold.

Every night was cold and had been for a while now but not like this. This was the kind of cold that the flimsy tattered blanket wouldn't keep at bay. The ground was hard and frozen and she tried hard to stay still, to will her body to produce enough heat to warm up one small spot and keep her from freezing to death. But there just wasn't enough of her left now. The constant running had left her body almost gaunt.

She envied the others. T-dog had been sure to bed down as close to the fire as he could so he was one of the few that was able to warm up that way. Rick had Carl and Lori to share body heat with. Beth had Hershel and Maggie had Glenn. It was just her and Daryl on the outside again.

She opened her eyes at the thought of him. He was on watch and she hoped that he was okay out there. At least she was able to hunker down under the blankets but he was out there in the bitter cold, walking the perimeter, keeping them safe.

She made a pained sound as a shiver ripped through her. She was so cold that it hurt and she was actually scared. She was scared that she wasn't going to make it till morning. For the first time in a while, she wished she weren't alone in this. Not that she missed her husband in the least, but maybe if Sophia were here, they would have been able to keep each other warm. The thought of watching her daughter waste away or freeze to death was dismal, however, and she shook off the thought. Sophia wouldn't ever have to suffer like this and Carol felt as though she should be grateful for it.

She sat up suddenly and was about to rearrange her blankets when she glanced over and was staring Daryl Dixon right in the knees. She hadn't heard him approach her but that wasn't surprising. The man was as silent as a spirit when he needed to be.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice hushed.

She nodded and then blew out a breath and shook her head instead. "I think tonight is finally gonna do me in. I've never been so cold before."

"It might help if you'd stop giving your goddamn food away. Losin' weight like you've been doin' is what will do you in," he grumbled. He dumped something on the ground next to her and she squinted in the dark. It looked like his own bedding.

"Lori needs it more than I do, and I'm not the only one starving," she said, watching with wide eyes as he sat down heavily.

He pulled his pack onto his lap and started rummaging through it. "Yeah, well, just because she got herself knocked up don't mean you should fucking starve for it. I didn't see anybody handing over their share."

She frowned. "Be nice. We're all miserable. There isn't any reason to be mean."

"Here," he elbowed her sharply and shoved something into her had. "And there is a reason to be mean. You didn't put her in that situation, she did it on her own and now you're out here half froze to death and starvin' while her and her brood are all three sleepin' half in the camp fire, warm with full stomachs. I found these a few days ago in a car and stashed them away so eat."

She held up the package and saw that he had given her two protein bars. Her stomach chose that moment to rumble embarrassingly loud. It took her a few tries to open the package since her hands were shaking so hard from the cold. Her body quaked next to his and she felt embarrassed and wasn't even sure why. She didn't want him to feel like she needed to be taken care of. She could take care of herself just fine. She didn't want to feel like a burden and for a while now, she had pulled her own weight without a hitch.

"Stop brooding," he grumbled, arranging his things in the spot next to her.

She looked over, watching him make quick work of the blankets, creating a strategic nest. "I'm not brooding." She took a bite of the stale protein bar and chewed thoughtfully. "What are you doing?"

He looked up and then shed his jacket, tossing it to her. "I'm workin' on keepin' you alive. You can thank me later when you wake up with all ten toes."

She quickly finished the bars and dusted her frozen hands off. She winced because it hurt. "We're sharing?" She picked up the jacket and shoved her arms through the sleeves. She stifled a moan as the heat started seeping into her. She wanted to argue and tell him to keep it because there wasn't any sense in him freezing with her but to hell with that. If he was in the mood to play knight in worn leather then by all means, she'd let him.

"I could hear your teeth chatterin' from clear across camp. Yeah, we're sharin."

She felt a small smile lift the corner of her mouth. The prospect of his warmth had her sold but she would be a liar if she tried to tell herself that she wasn't going to enjoy this situation much more than she had any right to.

He settled down in the nest he'd made with what they had and then looked up at her expectantly. He huffed out a breath. "It's only gonna work if you actually lay the fuck down, Carol. Sittin' there starin' ain't gonna warm either one of us up." His voice was so gruff that the smile died on her lips.

"You know, if you'd just not speak you would be a lot more charming," she muttered, settling down next to him, unsure if she was allowed to actually get close enough to touch him or not.

He snorted. "My charm ain't what's gonna keep you alive. And this ain't the time to be shy. Scoot the fuck over here. I'm freezin'."

She moved over cautiously until their sides were pressed together and then she had to stifle a small laugh.

His head came up. "What's so damn funny?"

She shook her head. "I was just wondering if you'd get offended if I tried to crawl underneath you right now. And then I pictured the look on your face if I were to actually try, and that, Daryl Dixon, was a funny image."

"Yeah, well, one of us dyin' tonight ain't too funny," he said in a low voice. Her eyes snapped open when she felt him shift next to her. The weight of his body pressed her deeper into the blankets he'd used to keep them off the cold ground. He covered half of her, his leg pushing up between her own. He pulled the blankets up over their heads, cutting off the meager light. His hands worked their way into the open front of the coat he had loaned her and then were around her. "Ain't neither one of us gonna freeze, and you can't even see the look on my face so quit giggling like a school girl and try to get some sleep," he muttered quietly.

With her heart hammering embarrassingly loud in her ears she tentatively raised her free leg until it was wrapped around the one he'd shoved between her thighs. Her body was still trembling but the heat he was putting off was quickly working into her, letting her body relax. The way he had them wrapped up, there was no way someone wouldn't be able to tell the position they were in, innocent or not. But it didn't matter because it trapped the heat.

His head dropped to her chest and even though she knew he was only doing this out of necessity, it was hard to talk her body out of responding to him. Responding to him in a way that was shocking. She felt heat flood her face because his ear was pressed against her heart and she knew that he could hear it now, pounding out a painful rhythm.

She didn't want to feel this way but she did. She had loved him since the farm and there wasn't anything she could do about it. And usually it wasn't something she really even thought of very much but this situation brought all of those forbidden feelings to the surface.

But at least she was warm.

~H~

He hadn't been able to stand seeing her suffer anymore. The woman did a lot for all of them and never asked for anything in return. She sacrificed silently and no one seemed to see it but him and that was why he was here. He'd insisted on sharing what he could with her, including the heat that his body could provide hers. He couldn't just go on to his own spot and sleep, knowing she was freezing to death.

And if he was being honest with himself, which he rarely was, he would admit that this was the perfect opportunity to get closer to her. Something he found himself wanting to do a lot but never really doing it because there was never a reason.

He listened to the hard quick beat of her heart against his ear and raised his head again. He hadn't realized that maybe his proximity would make her nervous. Maybe she wouldn't want the others thinking that they were messing around. Maybe she was... was she afraid of him?

Well shit! She probably thought he'd done all this just so he could fuck her! Jesus, why hadn't he thought of that before now? Now he was half on top of her under the damn blankets on the ground.

He raised his head up, finally aware how close their faces were. He couldn't see her but he could feel her warm breath. "You want me to move?" He whispered.

She cleared her throat. "No," she whispered back. "This is the warmest I've been in a long time."

"Then why the hell is your heart beatin' like a bird's? I ain't gotta sleep here."

"I want you to," she said quickly. "I was probably five minutes away from asking T-dog if I could share with him." She tried to laugh but it came out strained.

He scowled in the dark, picturing her in this situation with the other man had his teeth grinding together. It surprised the hell out of him but worse than that, it was a damn confusing feeling. He'd never felt that before. "Well, you're better off here then. That asshole snores somethin' awful."

She worked one of her hands into the front of his shirt and he hissed at the cold feel of her icy palm running up his side, seeking heat. Surely she was only seeking heat. He dropped his head again but still her heart was pounding. Her hand stopped once it was wedged between his chest and her stomach.

He shifted then, just slightly, and her pulse sped up again and she exhaled quickly. He'd closed his eyes but suddenly they snapped open as realization dawned on him. She wasn't afraid of him and he knew it. She never had been. It was something else that had her pulse racing like that.

No fucking way, he thought wildly. It couldn't be that. It had to be something else. He was just Daryl. He was grumbly and he was an asshole and he was usually filthy. There was no way that she could actually be turned on right now. Hell, he could smell himself for fucks sake! Just to make sure he shifted again, just like he'd done a second ago, moving the leg trapped between hers just slightly.

He hadn't been thinking about this. Not even when he'd climbed on her like that. But now he was thinking about it because again, her breath rushed out of her. He raised his head, his eyes wide, and then he moved the blanket from over their heads so he could see her face. Her eyes were huge and so bright that they were reflecting the starlight.

Jesus Christ, what the fuck was he suppose to do about this? Nothing like this had ever crossed his mind before. It was too damn dangerous to think about things like that when you were constantly watching your ass and trying to live. But right now all was quiet. Things were calm. Other than Rick, who had taken watch after him, the group was asleep. And he could see, clear as day, that she wanted him. Why she would he had no idea, but it was easy to see now that he knew to look for it.

Her lips parted and he came up on his arms. Her chest was moving up and down and each quick breath left a small cloud that dissipated in the cold air.

He looked up from her mouth, his eyes locking onto hers and the look she gave him was so fucking intense that a twisted thrill shot through him. Without thinking about what he was doing he dropped his head, his lips meeting hers.

Instantly the hand that wasn't pressed against chest came up, gripping the back of his head and holding him in place.

This was incredibly fucking stupid. Stupid and dangerous and fucking fantastic. The rush had his body taking on a mind of its own, moving until he was braced between her legs. Her hand slid out from under his shirt and then she was gripping the sides of his face with both hands. She pushed him back enough to break the kiss.

For a terrifying second he thought he had fucked up and read her all wrong but then she raised her head, pressing her lips against his, kissing him much more gently than he had kissed her. It wasn't hard to follow her lead and he understood it. She'd had enough rough in her life so he forced himself to take it easier and found quickly that it was a lot more enjoyable that way.

She sighed, a contented sound that went straight to his head. When her teeth dragged across his bottom lip he felt a growl building in his chest but he forced it down. The kiss went on for a long time, just his lips exploring hers. He couldn't remember anything as soft. He eventually returned the favor, catching her bottom lip between his teeth and pulling lightly.

Before he even thought about what he was doing his tongue slipped between her lips, sliding against hers and causing a low moan to escape her. Her fingers tightened in his hair and she came alive then, kissing him back almost frantically, exploring his mouth.

He pulled back, taking in some much needed air. His head was spinning, his heart was pounding and he was sure that this had opened up a whole new world of terrifying possibilities.

"Walkers!"

Daryl froze at the sound of Rick's frantic voice. "Fuck," he grumbled, shoving himself up off the ground, grabbing her hand and pulling her up with him.