A/N: Just a little one shot to get me out of my slump. Let me know what you think.

Carol was trying to get up the stairs with too many bundles in her arms. She had stopped after work to pick up a few things and as always bought too much. As she reached for her keys in her pocket she dropped one of the bags spilling all the contents all over the floor and stairs. Then her cell phone fell out of her pocket and she huffed in annoyance.

It was just how her shit went lately, she thought as she shook her head. It was three flights up and the elevator was broken. She was lucky she made it this far.

She watched as her lemons rolled down the stairs and sighed to herself. After she blew the hair out of her face she sat the other bags down. She reached for her cellphone but then she dropped her keys, finally she reached everything but the lemons.

This day was just getting better and better, work had been stressful and she needed a big hot bath to get over it. She stood up and got ready to go chase the lemons down the stairs and bumped into her best friend.

Daryl was standing there holding them and giving her one of his grins, showing his dimples that sometimes made her sigh in frustration.

He was the perfect guy but they had friend zoned each other long ago. She wondered though, especially now that another guy just dumped her.

His shaggy blonde hair was hanging in his eyes, covering his sky blue eyes as usual. With a turn of his head he flicked hair out of his face.

"Loose something?" He said holding them up for her.

She smiled when she saw him and her face lit up. "Oh thanks Daryl."

She was always happy to see him, even if he wasn't recuing her lemons. He moved in five years ago and since then they had discovered what total acceptance of another human being was. He was the best friend she ever had, she had no siblings, her father was dead and she didn't speak to her mother.

Daryl had been a gift that she didn't even know she needed.

They had each seen the other through heartbreaks and sicknesses. Bad work schedules and bad movies. Car problems and relationship blow ups.

He was the first person she called if she was having a shit day and she the first person he called. He called her even before Merle and Merle had thoughts about that which he did not hesitate to tell Daryl about at least once a month.

He put them into one of the bags and looked up at her. "Bad day huh?"

She nodded. "The worst."

"Me too, that Jag, I'm working on is haunted, I swear." He said.

"You'll get it, I know you, and you'll keep at it till you figure it out." She said.

Carol opened the door to her apartment and he grabbed her groceries and brought them in to her apartment. He followed her into the kitchen as she threw her keys on the counter.

"Where you want these Car?" He asked.

"Tables good, thanks." He said and he helped her unpack the bags.

"How was work? Seriously" He asked and she shrugged.

"I'm glad it's over." She said taking off her scrub jacket and he hospital Id badge. "We coded a guy our age Daryl, heroin overdose."

He wrapped her into a hug and rubbed her back with his hands, he gave the absolute best hugs. He smelled like gasoline, cigarettes and some kind of musky cologne. He smelled like home and it always made her smile.

"Sorry sweetheart." He whispered into her hair and he snuck a deep breath of her, she always smelled like Lemongrass soap. That scent relaxed him if the roles were reversed, if she was comforting him. She did that when he was torqued up, and he would take a deep breath of her when she was hugging him. It always made him feel better.

She nodded. "I'm glad to be off tomorrow."

"Supernatural? Or American Horror Story" He said and she was already nodding, that was their thing.

She smiled a sweet smile at him that went right to his dick, as usual because he was in love with her. "Both."

Every Wednesday night they watched their favorite shows together and ate junk food, either at his apartment or hers. Thursday and Sunday nights too, there were three shows they watched together without fail. No matter what or who didn't like it.

They had been doing it for years, ever since he moved in next door to her.

They watched their shows together every week, some Netflix too, so much so that Carol's boyfriend had broken up with her. Ed said he was tired of being the third wheel in their relationship. He told her him or Daryl and she had chosen Daryl.

No great loss as far as Carol was concerned, but her feelings were hurt all the same. Ed had not been nice about it.

Anyone who didn't like her friendship with Daryl could fuck off as far as she was concerned and she knew one day she would meet someone that wouldn't put those restrictions on her.

Or she would marry Daryl, they both said if they reached 50 and neither of them married they would just marry each other. They were both twenty five, there was still time left.

"Merle coming over tonight?" She asked him in the easy manner they had with each other.

"Yeah, games on, you should stop by since you're off." Daryl said.

Carol shrugged. "Maybe I will."

He nodded.

"I have some things to do first, then maybe I will." She said.

"OK, Imma take off now, I told Maggie I'd call her about that English hot mess she insists on driving." He said and Carol laughed.

"Tell her and Glenn I said hi. M'kay."

"Sure thing, feel better, sweetie."

He squeezed her hand and left.

She stared at the door as he left. What would she ever do without him? She never wanted to find out.

/

Merle sat down on Daryl's couch and grabbed the bowl of popcorn as Daryl sat down with him and handed him a beer. The big screen TV was on and the football game was playing. Merle always came to Daryl's on game night because his TV was smaller. Daryl's TV was much better for the games because sometimes Merle made a little bet or two, so he liked to watch closely.

They were all each other had left in the world and they were tight. Merle and Daryl always had been tight. They had to be with the kind of upbringing they had, but they had survived it.

Daryl had Carol too of course, they had all hit it off right from the jump.

She was family too, they spent holidays together when she was off work and she cooked for them. But Merle just could not understand why Daryl wasn't hitting that.

She wouldn't say no, Merle knew that for sure. Those two spent more time watching each other and pretending not to in made Merle laugh.

They were a couple of idiots.

"Where's little sis tonight?" Merle asked, time to stir the pot and get baby brother all riled up.

Merle had known Carol as long as Daryl did. The first few months that he knew her he would hit on her, half-jokingly but it soon became clear to him who she wanted.

It was all crystal clear to Merle and they couldn't see it.

So he became a surrogate brother to her and watched his brother tip toe around her since they were twenty one.

"She's home, probably doing girl stuff, she might stop over later." He said taking a sip of his beer and putting his feet up on the coffee table. "She had a bad day today."

"I wish she would, with a tray of those nachos she makes that would go real good about now." Merle said belching outload.

"That all you care about is the food she feeds you?" Daryl said.

"That all you care about?" Merle put his feet up next to Daryl's.

Daryl looked over at him giving him the side eye.

"Don't give me that face, when are you going to do something besides eye fuck her all the time?" Merle said, never one to mince words.

"Told you already, she and I are just friends, all we'll ever be." Daryl said reaching for popcorn.

"Why's that?" Merle raised his eyebrows.

"She don't want me like that."

"Says you." Merle said. "Let me tell you a story little bro, ran into Ed Peltiere down at Joe's the other night."

"Yeah he broke up with her last week, and I had to make a midnight run for Ben and Jerrys and Vodka over that." Daryl said. "Guys a douche, what did he say about her."

"Midnight run for ice cream and vodka?" Merle said incredulously. "Are you shitting me?"

"She called me up crying. I hate when she cries. So we did some shots of Stoli and had ice cream." He shrugged like it was a normal occurrence.

It was actually, if one of them ended a relationship, they got their choice of alcohol and ice cream. Between the two of them they had finished off two bottles of Petron and three bottles of Stoli over other people in the past five years they knew each other.

"Well, ole Ed said he dumped her because he didn't like her hanging around with you." Merle pointed to him. "And she told him to go fuck himself."

Daryl nodded. "That's my girl."

"That's what I'm sayin brother." Merle said taking a sip of his beer.

"Aint like that."

"Alright whatever you say, call her up and see if she'll make me some nachos."

"You call her." Daryl said.

"Brother, I'm telling you, you need to make some kind of move, let her know how you feel."

Daryl didn't answer him. The truth was that he was afraid. They had a good thing going that he didn't want to screw up. If he told her how he felt he was afraid she'd be scared off. He dreamed about her sometimes, waking up in a cold sweat and needing a cold shower.

Some relationships were not meant to be that way he figured, and he couldn't lose her, just because his dick had a mind of its own. He regularly told his dick to step off where Carol was concerned.

"She aint going to be around forever you know? "Merle said sitting up to reach his beer and take a sip. "Some guy is gonna come along, maybe sweep her off her feet, that's all I'm sayin. Don't take too long to work up the nerve. This is me looking out for you brother."

"We aint like that."

"You start her car on cold days for her, she cooks for you, and you watch your creepy TV shows together. Netflix and chill and you two really watch the shows." He shook his head." It's like you're a couple and neither of you realized it."

/

Carol sunk down in the bathtub as soon as Daryl left the hot water flowing over her body. She had lit some candles and had a glass of wine. The items in her fridge now and the meat defrosting on the counter for Merle's nachos.

She closed her eyes and relaxed and she started to feel better. She would go hang out with Daryl and Merle and just forget this horrible day.

/

The next night Daryl showed up at her door with a pepperoni pizza and a bottle of coke. Carol had brought nachos over to his house the night before and Merle was in heaven. As he was eating the nachos just to poke the snake a little he told her she needed to either marry him or his brother because he needed to eat this way all the time.

Both Daryl and Carol had turned bright red and Carol changed the subject really fast.

Daryl had been thinking about it for a long time and Merle was right, much as he hated to admit it. Someone would marry her one day and take her away from him forever.

He needed to at least tell her how he felt. He was in love with her and had been for a long time. No girl measured up to her and his relationships were always short lived.

He tried not to feel this way and told himself he was just horny but that wasn't it. It was love.

She opened her door and he was struck again how someone could look so good in sweatpants and a hoodie. She had no makeup on and her hair was up in a loose bun.

She took his breath away every time.

"IS that extra cheese, pepperoni?"

"Lenny's extra cheese extra sauce, heavy on the pepperoni and peppers."

"I love you." She sighed letting him in the door.

They walked to the couch and plopped down together side by side and dug into the pizza while they watched their shows.

Two hours and four slices later they sat on the couch and she had her feet in his lap. He was rubbing her feet like he often did while they watched TV together. They discussed plot points of the shows and ate themselves into oblivion.

"You give the best foot rubs." She sighed. "Do you want me to rub your feet?"

Sometimes he let her do that, but not often, and tonight he had too much on his mind to let her put her hands on him.

He felt like he was about to dive into a pool that had no water. Maybe Merle was wrong and he shouldn't tell her. He was about to crash and burn, he was sure of it.

But she was a catch and a dish (His father used to say that about his mother sometimes and that fit Carol). Someone soon was going to sweep her off her feet and then it would be too late.

Even if she laughed at him at least he'd know once and for all, and with any luck they could salvage their friend ship.

Sometimes late at night he thought about her and the way she was with him and he thought he had a shot.

"You got any booze Carol?"

She sat up and looked at him.

"You okay? You need to talk?" She said looking at him, his eyes were soft and she was getting scared.

He nodded and she got up and went to the fridge.

"All I have is pinot grigio. The vodka is at your place."

"Its fine, I'll take some."

"Ok." She poured two glasses and brought them back to him and sat down. "You don't look so good, what's going on?"

He took a long sip of the wine and then nodded to her to take a sip.

"Trying to get me drunk, aye Dixon, you know I can't hold my booze." She laughed and took a sip.

More than once he had to hold her hair while she puked, he really hoped she wouldn't puke tonight. Either from the booze or the stupid conversation he was about to start.

He swallowed and noticed she was staring at him, he looked down at his wine glass and took another sip.

"Is this about Shelly James, I know she's been liking all your posts on Instagram."

"What?" He turned his head towards her.

"She's after you, don't you notice every time you go buy your smokes at the gas station. Are you blind?" She said. "She undresses you with her eyes."

He shuddered. "Ew." He looked up at her. "No, this is not about her why would you think that?"

"I dunno, I guess maybe you….." She started to say. "It's been a while since you and Linsey broke up. I thought…"

"I love you Carol." He spit out and immediately regretted it. He wanted to have a little more finesse then that.

"I know. I love you too." She answered right away.

"No." He gulped again and willed himself to just spit it out. But he couldn't look at her. "I mean I love you, I'm in love with you."

He didn't even know what happened next but she was in his lap in an instant and she was kissing him. He had never kissed her before and the feeling of her tongue against his made his heart skip in his chest. He was totally overwhelmed by it, his body melted into hers and they ended up falling off the couch.

"Shit, you ok?" He said. Always concerned about her. And she nodded her smile wide on her face, she rolled over so she was on top of him and sat up. "M'sorry Carol."

"I'm not." She said and pulled her hoody off revealing a black tank top underneath and he lost his breath. He had seen her in it before, but it had been in the summer. It was dead winter and she was peeling her clothes off. "I've been in love with you for a long time."

She said matter of factly and leaned down to kiss him again and he couldn't believe this was happening. His body took over for his brain that wasn't functioning at all and he rolled her back so that he was between her legs now.

The coffee table tipped over tossing the pizza and the wine on the floor on the other side of the table. Neither of them gave a shit.

"Jesus." He said and went in for another kiss, now that he had her he couldn't get enough. His body was resting between her thighs and he was already hard as a rock and feeling really embarrassed about it. Then she reached her hand down and grabbed his dick and he let out a moan like he had never heard come from his lips.

She spread her legs a little more and now he was right against her, there was no mistaking her intentions. Still, he was totally overwhelmed.

"Carol, wait…are you sure you really wanna do this. We can't go back and undo it."

"I'm sure, are you?"

"What do you think?" And he kissed her again allowing his hands to move over her body in places he had never touched before, but had always longed to.

This was better than anything he had dreamed about. She was pulling his t shirt over his head and the feel of her fingers on his skin almost did him in. When she brought her hands up into his hair he almost died right there.

"I want to, right now." She breathed out as his hand roamed over her breast and she felt a lightning bolt go right between her legs.

She was dizzy now and it wasn't the wine, he had pushed up her shirt and unsnapped the front of her bra and was kissing up the side of her breast. By the time her got to her nipple and started licking and his other hand went to the other one, she let out a scream that almost made him come in his pants.

He couldn't help but buck his hips into her and she wrapped her legs around his and pulled him closer. The taste of her skin was driving him crazy and he was sure he could live on it for the rest of his life.

He lifted his head up then and kissed her again. "It's you and me now, right?"

And she nodded bringing her hands out of his hair and down over his face.

"You and me."

"That's the way it's gotta be." He said as they were quickly shedding the rest of their cloths. "I can't go back to watching you date other guys, I'll go crazy."

"You don't have to worry." She said pulling him closer to her and his hand slipped between her legs. She let out a hiss and tried to stop her legs from shaking as he touched her.

She was so wet his dick started aching. And then her hands were there guiding him towards her. He practically growled when he was finally inside her.

"Oh fuck me …." He breathed out. "Holy shit."

He leaned down and kissed her hot and dirty and started moving, both of them finding a rhythm and then to her utter shock she came immediately. Letting out a soft sound somewhere between a sigh and a scream.

He followed not to long after her and they collapsed on the floor, not moving. Carol looked over at the wine dripping off the table onto the carpet. And he kissed the side of her temple.

"I'm going to love you the rest of my life." He murmured into her ear.