Late Valentine's fluffy fluffiness! Slight spoilers for 7:10 and beyond.

Three Kisses

"I just want your extra time and your... kiss." -Prince

"I don't... I don't like kissin'." Daryl told her, looking down at his boots, "Somebody's face so close to mine, mouths... tongues... all that stuff... touching..."

"I see."Carol said, that tiny flame of hope she'd nursed since this morning, when she'd chastely pressed her lips to his, guttering like a cold wind had blown over it.

She'd been feeding Judith breakfast, trying to get her to finish her applesauce, watching as first Carl and Enid and then newlyweds Rick and Michonne shared good morning kisses before heading out in different directions to go to work. When after they'd all left Daryl, who'd had a late shift on the wall, wandered in to fill his thermos with coffee. When she saw him Judith clapped her hands and started chanting,

"Tiss! Tiss! Tiss!" adding in the clink of her baby spoon against the bottom of her bowl to the clatter.

"The hel-heck she goin' on about?" Daryl frowned, doing his best to curb his natural inclination to colorful language when he was around the child.

"Dare!" Judith ordered, holding out her arms to be picked up.

"Little dictator." Carol admonished, but Daryl was a sucker for the little girl and sauntered over to her high chair.

"Hey lil' bit." he said, his voice dropping in both pitch and volume to a lower register that made Carol's stomach do a little flip. He unhooked the high chair tray and safety belt so he could lift Judith out, cradling her close.

"Tiss." she chortled, put both hands on his cheeks and then puckered up in a cute exaggerated way.

Daryl raised his eyebrows and glanced over at Carol.

"She saw her dad kiss Michonne and Carl kiss Enid goodbye."

He frowned and screwed his eyes closed tightly but leaned in so Judith could press a smacking loud "tiss" to his cheek and then she giggled happily.

"Care!" she demanded next and Carol gave a little groan but stood and bent over to exchange a similar noisy kiss with the little girl who grabbed hold of her shirt to keep her close.

"Dare tiss Care!" she insisted.

Knowing Judith would pitch a fit if they didn't and ignoring the sudden look of panic on Daryl's handsome face, Carol leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheek at the same instant he turned his head. As happened in romantic comedies from the dawn of cinema instead of scruff covered cheek her lips met his.

Soft, warm, sweet... fuck, her lips were so damn sweet...she tasted like the honey laced chai tea she drank when they could find it and somehow also just her, Carol. It was over too fast, not fast enough... what?

Blushing, Daryl stepped back quickly, disentangled himself from Judith's grasp and held her away from him so Carol would have to take her, which she did. She didn't look at him, but he saw the small purse lipped smirk that she worked hard to keep from blooming into a full-fledged smile.

"Have a good day at the office, honey." Carol teased softly as he backed away and turned to make his getaway. Something in her voice made him turn back to look at her and damned if she wasn't blushing just as much as he was, her eyes soft and warm as she held his gaze.

"Stop." He choked out and shook his head at her, frowning then smiling then frowning again and finally just fleeing out the door.

"Well, at least he didn't swear at me this time." Carol said to Judith. "Did I ever tell you about how brave Uncle Daryl tried to go on a quest after he'd already been wounded in a fall from his mighty steed?"

Judith looked up at her, rapt with anticipation. She loved hearing Carol's stories about brave Uncle Daryl, or daddy or mama or her brother Carl.

"I tried to stop him—told him I couldn't lose him too—and he was very cross with me." Carol said in a sing-song voice as she bounced Judith and carried her empty bowl of apple sauce over to the kitchen sink. "But that's because he didn't know what to do. His daddy didn't love him like yours does, like I loved my little girl. No one taught Uncle Daryl that he was good enough for someone to love him too."

"Unka Dare?" Judith asked softly, her little face frowning in concern.

"That's right, we love Uncle Daryl, don't we, pumpkin?" Carol said warmly.

"Unka Dare!" Judith said stoutly.

"I just wish he'd let us." Carol said sadly.

From his position on the porch hidden from their view, leaning back against the front door he'd just exited, Daryl heard every word they said through the open kitchen window.

Daryl missed supper and when he did get home, late and filthy, he didn't stop to say hello to anyone; instead he immediately ran up the stairs and took a shower. Carol worried he was avoiding her, but after he came back down in remarkably clean clothes, his damp hair pushed back behind his ears so you could actually see his face, he quietly asked her if she'd come with him for his wall watch shift.

From his seat on the couch with Michonne, Rick raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with his wife when Carol told him where they were going, but waited to comment until after they left.

"He seem off to you?" he asked her.

"Little bit. More like nervous." Michonne replied, "He's still getting used to the idea of having her back here with us."

"When she rode in, literally on a white horse and helped save our asses, I thought for sure we'd see another reunion like outside Terminus..." Rick mused. After Morgan had filled them in on what had happened, how Daryl had lied to protect Carol, his suspicions about Daryl's feelings for her had been confirmed. Yet in the week since they'd defeated the Saviors, the Archer had merely resumed his careful protective watchfulness over her, from a respectful distance.

"She rode in with Ezekiel." Michonne reminded him. "I don't think Daryl breathed until the King went back to the Kingdom without her... and even then I think he thought she'd take back up with Tobin."

"He didn't act jealous." Rick frowned.

"Because he doesn't think she has those kinds of feelings for him..."

"Well, that's just bullshit." Anyone could see how she adored the gruff man.

"You and I know that, but it's Daryl, Rick." Michonne said, lacing her fingers through his, "He doesn't think that he's good enough for her."

"More bullshit." Rick sighed. Daryl was one on the best men he'd ever had the privilege to call friend—he was his brother.

"They just need time. If we can figure it out, so can they." Michonne leaned in, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I know I'll never be good enough for you." Rick said, squinting down at her as if the light that shone from her halo was blinding him and then kissing the top of her head.

"True that." Michonne said haughtily, making him chuckle and push her back against the couch cushions, kissing her soundly as she held him close.

"M 'sorry 'bout this morning." Daryl said, venturing a look at her profile as she looked out over the road leading to the gates of Alexandria. They'd been standing there in virtual silence for the last twenty minutes and he couldn't take it anymore.

"Nothing to be sorry for." Carol assured him, but she didn't turn to look at him, nor could he read her neutral facial expression.

"I don't... I never liked kissin'." Daryl told her, looking down at his boots, "Somebody's face so close to mine..."

"I see." Carol said, that tiny flame of hope she'd nursed since this morning, when she'd chastely pressed her lips to his, guttering like a cold wind had blown over it.

"But I liked... I liked it when you kissed me them times..." Daryl said, his voice so low she could barely hear it.

"Times?" Carol looked over at him, frowning in confusion.

"First time after that damn horse a' Hershel's tossed me an' I ended up with a bolt in my side. You brought me supper and I acted like an ass. Was the first time anybody ever touched me like that... I didn't get it..."

"Like that?" Carol asked, but she knew. She'd seen his scars that night. It had been the first time someone had touched him to give something other than pain and that thought just about broke her heart.

He wasn't able to articulate it to her yet so he just shrugged and continued.

"Second was when we was on the road after... after Grady... you told me you couldn't, but I had to feel it, let the pain in. You were right, I did." He looked up at her, "But you didn't. You got more and more closed off, farther away and then you were just gone. Even that day I found you at Kingdom, it was still eatin' you up inside."

Carol gripped her rifle more tightly and looked back outside the walls.

"But then when you showed up to the battle? After? You were you again or at least close as I'd seen since the prison. I thought... I thought it was 'cause a him..."

"Ezekiel?" Carol ventured a look over at him and saw he was chewing on the inside of his lower lip in agitation.

Daryl was unable to hold her gaze, his skittered down to his boots again.

"Ezekiel went back to Kingdom, Daryl." Carol said gently. "The war is over."

Daryl dipped his chin in a tight nod.

"That mean you're heading back to your little house soon?" he asked her, sounding defeated.

"You've held me more times than I've kissed you." Carol said, ignoring the question.

"What?"

"If we're doing an inventory of the times we've touched I'd like to point out that most of those were instigated by you."

"Savin' your ass, most of them." They both thought back to how he'd saved her at the farm and the prison.

"Point taken, but you're the one who volunteered to rub my shoulder the first night at the prison." She teased, both of them willfully choosing to ignore the first time he'd touched her, that horrible day at the barn.

Daryl blushed. He well remembered the wood he'd sported after that. Could'a drilled a hole through a tree that night. Thank you long lost poncho for hiding it from her. Probably some walker wandering around Terminus still wearing the thing.

"And I lived for the times you had me ride Merle's bike with you." Carol admitted, her turn to blush. She'd loved every second of being allowed to wrap herself around his strong muscular back, her head nested against his broad shoulder.

"Yeah... "Daryl said sheepishly, "Me too."

They smiled at the admissions.

"And you're a damn fine hugger too, Daryl Dixon." She told him, her lips curling up into what he thought of as her cheeky duck face. "But you're shit at carrying water."

"Yeah, well you make me nervous as a polecat sometimes." He growled.

"Like this morning?"

Daryl nodded. He'd had to stop outside the porch door because his heart had been racing a mile a minute and he thought he'd pass out if he took another step.

"Can I hold your hand?" Carol asked, reaching out to him.

Daryl looked down at it, small and work roughened like her. Then he took a small side step closer and took it in his larger scarred and callused one.

"I'm not heading back to that little house soon, Daryl. It's just a house." Carol said, squeezing his hand. "Ezekiel isn't the reason I joined the fight. I came because I couldn't handle the thought that you could die when I could've done something to stop it. This is my home because you're here."

Daryl face was a study in conflicting emotions, disbelief warring with hope.

"Do you really like it when I kiss you?" Carol asked him carefully.

Daryl nodded, speechless.

"So I could... maybe... try it again?"

This time he shook his head no, and then he raised his free hand to delicately lift her chin, forestalling her look of hurt confusion.

"My turn." He said and ever so slowly, keeping his eyes open so he could watch her reaction, he lowered his lips to hers.

It was even better than the one this morning and lasted a whole hell of a lot longer.

"You owe me a candy bar." Carl said smugly, lowering the binoculars and ducking back behind the corner of the house closest to the wall. He felt a bit guilty spying on his friends, but his watch was up next and he didn't want to interrupt anything. They'd all been waiting a longtime for Daryl and Carol's slow burn to heat up.

"I knew it was sucker's bet when I took it." Enid groused, digging in her backpack to take out one from her stash. "Morgan told me how it was with them, but I thought Tobin had an outside chance—she did have a thing with him before she left."

"Nah. It was always Daryl." Carl said, ripping open the wrapper and breaking the KitKat in two and handing one half to her.

Enid smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss of thanks to his hand as she took the candy.

"What took him so long?" she said, taking a nibble of the mostly stale but still delicious chocolate.

"Lotsa stuff." Carl shrugged. "They've both been through a lot."

"Who hasn't?"

"A lot of theirs was from before the Turn." Carl said, not going into any more detail. He and his dad were the only ones alive besides Carol and Daryl themselves who knew what her husband and Merle had been like.

"I guess they just needed a little extra time." Enid said thoughtfully, twirling the KitKat in her mouth, sucking the milk chocolate off the stale wafer. She gradually became aware that Carl was staring at her intently, a smudge of chocolate in the corner of his mouth. "Stop. I'm too young for that look." she muttered dryly and then giggled at the bright red color his cheeks turned.

They heard low voices and Carl peeked around the corner.

"Shit! Com'ere!" he blurted and grabbed her, pressing her back against the side of the house and kissing her. He'd rather get busted for making out with his girlfriend than busted for spying on the two scariest people in town.

"You pull that shit outside the walls and a walker's gonna bite you in the ass." Daryl's raspy voice said sternly.

Carl released Enid and they both looked over at Carol and Daryl. Both sets of eyes lowered to the place where the older couple's hands were joined and then rose to take in their slightly swollen lips and Carol's windblown looking hair on this perfectly calm night.

"You're right—we're sorry." Enid apologized. "Carl gave me some chocolate and I was thanking him."

"Chocolate?" Carol said hopefully.

"Got any more?" Daryl asked, narrowing his eyes at the teens.

Enid dug in her bag and pulled out three misshapen Hershey's kisses, the last of her stash.

"Look Daryl. Kisses." Carol said, pressing her lips together to suppress her delight.

Daryl held out his free hand and Enid dropped the small silver foil wrapped candies into his palm. He immediately handed then off to Carol, knowing how much she love chocolate in any form.

"Thank you for the kisses, Daryl" Carol said sweetly and he froze like a deer in headlights.

"We ah, we should get up there. Our watch." Carl said, taking Enid's hand and backing towards the gate tower and then turning to walk as fast as he could, not looking back.

"Stop now." Daryl muttered, but then Carl and Enid distinctly heard him chuckle along with Carol, sounding happier than they'd ever heard them.

There are actually a few sets of three kisses that occur in the story: Romantic ones for Enid/Carl; Rick/Michonne & Daryl/Carol; the two forehead and one on the lips Carol gives to Daryl; and the three "tisses" initiated by Judith: one cheek kiss each from her for Daryl and Carol and then the accidental one on the lips that Carol bestows on Daryl, and of course the 3 chocolate kisses at the end.

I really do think that the way they have created Daryl and the way NR plays him, he was never given any kind of physical affection or emotional support as a child. He is awkward and uncomfortable with most touch until after he really feels a kinship with the group after their time on the road between S2 & S3. The exception to this is Carol. Before her forehead kiss in "Chupacabra" his touches were all utilitarian (like saving T-Dogg on the road) or belligerent (his fight with Shane & Rick at the quarry camp.)

Thanks for reading-if you have time, let me know what you think! Caryl on!