Daryl walked by Carol's cell, fully expecting to see her with baby Judith. But she was, to his surprise, playing solitaire, so he decided to drop in and see what she was up to

He tapped lightly on the door, not wanting to disturb anyone else. She looked up and grinned, embarrassed at being caught taking a few minutes to try to pass away the long night. She got up and invited him in.

"What are you up to?" Carol smiled at him.

"Couldn't sleep. Looks like I ain't the only one."

"Want to join me?"

He looked at her, curious as to what she meant.

"Cards," she clarified.

"I ain't really good with cards. They ain't my thing."

She took his hand and encouraged him to sit down. "I bet you've played a hand a time or two."

"About the only thing I know how to play is poker. And we ain't got nothing to bet."

Carol grinned broadly. "I know. How about strip poker?"

He started chuckling until he realized she was serious. It was one of the moments of tension between them that were happening more frequently that was best broken by laughter. That was kind of becoming their thing. At any rate, ever since Judith came around, Carol had been smiling more than he'd ever seen her do, and that was a good thing.

"You serious?" Daryl cleared his throat.

"Why not? What do we have to lose...other than our clothes I mean?"

He mulled over the offer for a moment. Not sure whether or not this was real, his curiosity got the best of him.

"What do we got to lose?" Daryl settled on saying.

So they started, and the first one to lose the hand was Daryl. He looked around and wasn't quite sure what to do next.

"Your shirt," Carol commented.

"How 'bout I start with my bow?" he counteroffered.

"That'll do."

So he obliged, and to his relief Carol was the next one to lose. This was shaping out to be an interesting night indeed.

She cheated, he thought, when she took off her headband. Oh well. What the hell was he hoping for anyways?

Apparently she was a better player than he'd guessed her to be, for Daryl's shoe was the next to come off. Maybe Ed had taught her to play, or she'd observed one too many nights with Ed and the guy. At any rate, Daryl realized he had to gain some ground.

To his relief, he won the next hand, so Carol removed her sweater. This wasn't exactly an equal match, for she had dressed in layers. Damn it, he thought, why was his heart racing when he saw her remove her sweater?

Daryl took the upper hand the next few rounds, so pretty soon Carol was sitting in her bra, apparently not embarrassed to be losing. They felt so comfortable around each other, so this wasn't as awkward as he'd thought it would be.

"Ha!" Carol threw down her card, beating Daryl. He was already shirtless, so his jeans were the next to go. He wasn't quite sure what she expected so he gazed at her curiously.

"It's okay. It's me," she gently reminded him.

"Yeah," he responded, as the jeans came off.

Before too long it was the both of them in only their underwear, wondering what to do next and how far to go.

"What the hell?"

Carol and Daryl looked up and saw that Rick had obviously walked by to check on Carol, expecting her to be with Judith rather than with Beth. The look on Rick's face made Daryl and Carol crack up, mostly out of embarrassment.

"Don't ask," Daryl gruffly ordered.

Rick quickly backtracked, and Carol finally spoke up. "Looks like the game's over."

Daryl thought to himself, no, it was only just beginning.

The end