A/N – Hello amazing, wonderful readers! So I didn't realize that this chapter would be the final chapter of The Benefits until after I started writing it. But as I was writing, it became clear to me that THIS was my final chapter, that this was the perfect way to wrap things up. You might disagree, but I'm hoping I did it justice. I'm sorry to see this story end, but rest assured, I still have two open WIPs that I plan to finish up soon (hopefully with more diligence from here on out) and then I'll be off and writing new stuff based on the endless amounts of material and inspiration provided by Season 3.

Chapter 18

Carol stood on the hilltop that overlooked the vast land stretched out in front of her. Her eyes were closed, her head churning with thoughts – worries and sadness, happiness and fear, memories and hopes. She sighed and then heard the soft footsteps as he approached. Her lips curved into a smile but she didn't open her eyes. She imagined him in her head, the tips of his overgrown brown hair clinging to his face from the midday Georgia heat, his eyes narrowed as they always were when he watched her, his lips spread into just the slightest of smirks. She felt his hand intertwine with hers and knew that he was standing beside her now.

She opened her eyes and saw the luscious green of the field at the bottom of the hill, the field that stretched forth towards a hulking, ominous building that stood in the distance. They were home, she realized. It wouldn't have been the place she'd have picked. It paled in comparison to the homey comfort that had been Hershel's farm, but it stood strong in its fortitude in a way that screamed "safe".

She watched a few aimless walkers meander their way through the grass down below, completely unaware of the two people watching from above, completely unaware that within an hour they'd all be gone and her group would have dispatched them.

When Daryl had told her it was a prison that he and Rick had found, a prison that they could bunker down in, really make a life in; she'd been so unsure, but staring down at it now, it almost seemed beautiful, it almost seemed poetic. This world they lived in was more a prison than this place ever would be. She didn't know what waited inside. She didn't know what would happen in the "clean-up" of the area. She felt strong though, capable and sure after a lifetime of feeling unsure. She knew now that she could worry and fret and not let those feelings consume her. She knew now that she could believe in a life worth living even after all that she'd lost.

And she knew she loved Daryl Dixon more than any other man in her whole life.

She turned her head to look at him eyeing her just like she'd pictured in her head. The wind ruffled his hair and she smiled.

"I love you," she said, because they were the only words that mattered.

He gave her a lopsided grin that was more of a smirk and cut his eyes at her with a devilish look.

"Wha' are ya thinkin' up 'ere, woman?" The Daryl Dixon version of I-love-you's. It was more than enough. She knew he loved her. He'd told her, just like she'd told him, countless times in the months before, but she'd come to realize that his love was more quiet and watchful than hers. More closed-in perhaps, but also somehow just as honest. And she was secure in that. She'd started this never imagining needing him as much as she did, loving him as much as she did. Friends with benefits; that's what she'd said, and that's what she'd meant at the time. And he was her friend – he was the closest confidante she'd ever had, the person who invaded her thoughts from the time she woke to the time she bedded down. But he was more than that too, and it was the more of it that she'd never have expected back at the beginning. The beginning… that fateful campfire back at Hershel's when beer and bourbon had bolstered her into saying something she'd never even thought possible, bolstered her into being ballsier than she'd ever been.

Carol shrugged her shoulders slightly. It had been three months since they'd lost the farm, since the walker herd, since Shane's craziness, since the group had lost everything they'd had except one another – minus one, of course. She worried sometimes if Rick and Lori thought poorly of her for Shane's death. It was a silly thing to worry about, she knew. But it was hard not to worry. Despite the tumultuous and untoward nature of Lori and Shane's once-coupling, she knew that Lori had loved him. And despite the fact that Shane had in more ways than one betrayed Rick, she knew that Rick had loved the man as well – maybe not the Shane he'd become, but the Shane he was. The partner. The friend.

She smiled wistfully at Daryl then, thinking of the Shane that was. He'd been a decent man once – the man who took care of the group before Rick, the man who tried to stop Ed once, the man who cleaned her up after she scratched and ripped her hands and arms pulling at the Cherokee Roses. He was never as good a man as Daryl is though, and Shane would have hated knowing that. She suspected he knew though… it was the reason for taking her. He'd been mad at losing Lori for sure; wanted revenge perhaps; to make Lori jealous, of course; female companionship maybe, but taking Carol had been payback for Rick's sudden reliance on Daryl as second in command. Lori had told her once, about a week after, that Shane never could stand to play second fiddle.

She realized Daryl's expression had turned quizzical, watching her sort out her thoughts.

"What?," she said softly.

"It's like watchin' a mouse on a wheel…," he muttered, shaking his head.

Carol tilted her head and gave him a raised eyebrow look. "You mean a hamster," she said, smiling.

"Ain't never 'ad none-a those fancy things," he muttered, turning away from her, his hand still clenched in hers, pulling her after him as he went, "me and Merle… we 'ad mice." He led her away then and they moved silently through the nearby woods until they reached the others.

Rick eyed her cautiously as she and Daryl went to stand with the group. Rick was waiting for her thoughts. They were all waiting for her thoughts. She, Carol Peletier, mattered now. What she had to say about their next move mattered to the group. She'd never thought there would be a time where people would want to hear her opinions, but that time was here, that time was now. The others had all deferred to Rick about the prison. She'd been the only one hesitant on the subject. It'd been Daryl's idea to bring her to the clearing where they'd first seen the massive structure. It'd been Daryl's idea to let her see for herself and make her decision then.

"Okay," she said as the others watched her, "let's go make this place our home."

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. :) HUGS TO YOU ALL!