Holy shit! Was this really happening? How in God's green Earth did this end up happening? If all it took to get Daryl to make a move on her was a back rub she would have done it a long time ago! The feel of his lips on hers, on her skin, the way his hands explored her body, the way his muscular form pressed perfectly into hers. It was so much better than she'd ever imagine it would be.

For such an awkward, shy, flighty person, he sure didn't hold back once he got going. Her shirt and bra were both off now, his hands playing with her breasts, gently squeezing and cupping while he nipped at her neck.

God, she loved this boy so much. So, so much. She could have gone away to college. She'd been accepted to Southern, where Shane and Rick had gone. Andrea had asked her to apply to Mercer with her. But she hadn't. Instead, she'd decided to stay at home and go to the local community college. The thought of living hours away from Daryl had made her sick to her stomach. She feared what it would do their friendship, that time apart, the distance. And more so, she worried about leaving him here all alone. He wasn't a social person by any means. She doubted he'd bother to try and make new friends.

Her parents, her friends, everyone told her she'd regret not going away. Not exploring something new. But it was a year later, and she didn't have any regrets. Those people, they didn't understand what Daryl meant to her. How important having him in her life was to her.

And after tonight, she felt like it was a decision she wouldn't ever regret.

()()()

The sound of her moaning into his ear as he suckled her neck had to be one of the most beautiful things he'd ever heard in his entire life.

He had no fucking clue how this had all escalated, and he was still in utter shock that she'd wanted to do this with him, but he wasn't going to question it. Not right now. He was just thanking his lucky stars that it was actually happening. That it wasn't some wet dream he'd wake up from any second now. This moment he'd been fantasizing about the last few years was finally happening for real. Nothing else mattered to him in this moment. Normal thought process evaded him. He wasn't thinking about possible ramifications. Not the fact that the front door was unlocked. Not the fact that he didn't have a condom with him. All he was thinking about was her and how he was ready to be inside of her.

He moved a hand down from her breast, slowly trailing its way down her stomach and towards the button on her shorts. In one swift motion, he unclasped the button, next he reached for the zipper and began slowly tugging it down, waiting for her to offer the least bit of hesitation. But she didn't, she simply arched her hips to encourage him in his quest to get her naked. And he gleefully obliged, moving so he could tug her shorts off and rapidly tossing them to the side.

She was still lying on the couch as he hovered over her now. The sight of her lying there in only her underwear was breath taking to him. He raked his teeth over his bottom lip as he admired her form.

She could feel his gaze lingering on her and all of a sudden, she started feeling extremely self-conscious and exposed. Her face flushed and she was about to move to put her arms around her breast and look away from him. But the sound of his mumbling made her stop in her tracks and turn back to face him.

"Damn girl, you're so fucking beautiful." He reached down and cupped a breast in each hand.

She looked up at him, grinning widely, then raised up on her elbows. She reached up and traced a line down his chest until she reached the button of his shorts, earning a pleased grunt from him. After she pulled the zipper down he let the shorts shimmy off him and then stepped out of them, returning to his place on top of her.

His lips connected with hers again fiercely, grinding against her forcefully as he threatened to spill right out of his boxers. He slipped his fingers under the waist band of her panties, but forced himself to pause before pulling them down. He pulled his mouth from hers once more, taking in heavy, much needed breaths of air. "Are you….Uh…Sure you wanna?"

She bucked her hips against his wildly, wrapped her arms around his neck, then pulled him in again. "Never been more sure," She muttered against his lips between kisses.

()()()

Sweat was pouring down his body as he hovered over her after they were done. He felt like he could stay like this forever. Buried deep inside of her, her arms wrapped securely around his neck. He leaned in and kissed her again, then they both laughed when beads of sweat dripped from his hair onto her face. When he pulled away, he remained in his position hovering over her, grinning down at her. "You were right." He told her.

"What?" She asked, with a grin of her own. Still high from the exhilarating experience they'd just been through.

"About the real thing being better."

She brushed her palm against his cheek and her grin widened. "It was pretty great."

"Pretty great? Shit, that was fucking amazing for me."

She giggled and planted her hands on his chest, pushing him off of her. "It really was. For someone so quiet I had no idea you had such talent with your mouth." She winked at him as she slid out from underneath of him and gathered her scattered clothes from the floor.

He blushed and reached down for his own clothes. He found his boxers first, hurridly sliding them on to cover himself. In the after-glow, he found he wasn't quite as confident as he had been in the heat of the moment and was left feeling exposed. As he was going for the top button on his cargo pants, the front door swung open, causing Daryl to freeze in place as his jaw dropped.

Carol had her bra and underwear on and was in the middle of putting her shorts on when the door opened. She tugged her shirt the rest of the way on as fast as she could and let out a surprised gasp.

"Well, well, I'll be damned!" Merle Dixon gawked, as he stood in the doorway of his living room. He was grinning widely at his little brother and his best friend and precarious situation he'd just stumbled in on.

Daryl pulling his pants up, Carol tugging a shirt on while she wasn't wearing any pants, he hair wildly sticking up in every direction. He turned to the woman that was in tow behind him, his friend Axel's sister, who was an older blond lady with huge tits who was wearing skimpy clothes. "Darling, we gotta get the fuck out of here. Seems like my little brother's finally getting his dick wet and we interrupted." He winked at both Daryl and Carol and gave a slight nod head, in an attempt to let Daryl know how he proud he was, as he turned to close the front door and step outside. As he walked away, he muttered, "Sorry about that. By all means,pretend we were never here."

Daryl's face was flaming. He quickly buttoned his pants and turned to look at Carol. He couldn't imagine how embarrassed she was. That had been horrifying enough for him. Panic settled deep in his chest when she began pacing frantically, her hands covering her face.

The reality of what they'd just done set in with her and she felt the weight of their actions come crashing down. She had no business letting that happen when she knew how she felt about him. It wasn't fair to him and it wasn't fair to her. He'd just wanted sex. This didn't mean anything. Not really. It was just him getting his dick wet, like Merle had said. "I've gotta go. I need to go. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have…We shouldn't have." She bolted for the front the door.

He felt his heart drop. He'd pressured her into something she didn't wanna do. Why'd he start feeling on her like that? He should have known better than to try and initiate something. He knew she'd never want a guy like him. He got caught up in the moment and let something happen that he couldn't ever take back.

He walked over to her and hesitantly placed a hand on her forearm. He couldn't let her just leave like that while she was this upset with him. He had to apologize. He owed her at least that much. "I'm sorry." He choked out. "I didn't mean to make you do something you weren't ready for. I thought…I thought you were okay with it. I'm an asshole."

Her blue eyes met his and she saw the pain and regret there. She could her in his voice how much it hurt him to think he'd coerced her into doing something. And that wasn't the case at all. She'd been a very willing participant. She just hadn't thought about the after affects when she was caught up in the moment. "You're not an asshole." She mumbled, dropping her eyes from his. "You didn't force me to do anything. I wanted to. I told you I was okay with it. Don't feel bad."

"But…you're upset now." His voice cracked again. "You regret it."

She shook her head and forced her own voice to steady itself. "I don't." She whispered. "I just…I think it meant something a little different to us. That's all. And I don't think it was fair of me to put you in that position."

What position? He thought to himself. Did she know how he felt about her? Had she known for a while now? He took a deep to mentally prepare himself for his next words. "It ain't gotta mean nothing. Not if…not if you don't want it to." He'd initially thought that this was going to be some step forward for them. That if she was willing to do that with him then it must mean she had feelings for him too. She wasn't the kinda girl that slept around. But now he realized he must have been terribly wrong. She just had some itch and he was there to scratch it.

She tilted her head up at those words. "Wait, why do you think I wouldn't want it to mean something?"

"Because you're kinda freaking out, Carol." He threw his hands up. "You tried to bolt out my front door!"

"That's because I'm in love with you!" She screamed.

He stood perfectly still. "What?"

She chewed her bottom lip nervously. "I'm in love with you, Daryl. I have been for the longest time now. Why do you think I make all those jokes all the time?" She shook her head. "And it was wrong of me to sleep with you knowing how I felt and knowing that you didn't feel the same way. I'm such complete idi…" Before she could finish her sentence, his lips were crashing down on hers.

When he pulled away from her. she stared at him dumbfounded and he awkwardly glanced down at his bare feet. "You ain't an idot." He mumbled. "And just so you know, I uh, I feel the same way about you."

"You're…in love with me?" She asked in utter disbelief.

He looked up and nodded at her. "Have been for a while. Didn't think you'd feel the same way about me."

She lunged herself at him and threw her arms around his neck. "Of course I feel the same way about you! How could I not?"

He tightened his grip around her, feeling relief sweep throughout his entire body. They should have had this conversation a long time ago. How much time had they wasted just being friends?

"Say it?" She muttered, as she rested her head on his chest.

"Huh?"

"Say it." She grinned. "I wanna hear you say the words."

He swallowed hard, his throat feeling thick at the words that were about to leave his body. Words he'd barely said before in his whole life. But it's how he felt about her, and he knew she deserved to hear him say it. His voice low and hesitant, he uttered, "I love you, Carol."

The front door busted open again and Merle stood there staring at the two of them in disgust. "Damn baby brother, that ain't how you're supposed to do it. What the fuck? Go on ahead and get round two in before I come home for the night."

"Piss off, Merle." He hissed.

Merle tossed his good hand up. "Okay, okay. I'm going, damn. Just came back to make sure you knew where my condoms were in case you didn't have any of your own. Second drawer of my night stand." He grinned again as he went to walk out the door. "Always remember, safety first."

Daryl paled at the mention of condoms and how he had completely not even bothered to think about one. "Oh, shit!"

"It's okay." She calmly informed him, knowing why he was fretting.

He released her from his grip and shook his head violently. "No the fuck it ain't! I might love you and all, but I ain't ready for no damn youngin's. I'm just a fucking kid myself. And you're in school. What the hell are we gonna do?"

"Daryl, really, calm down. It's okay, I promise."

"No the fuck it ain't!" He insisted, collapsing onto the couch and placing his head in the palm of his hands. His entire life was flashing before his eyes.

"Daryl." She snapped when he wouldn't listen to reason. "I'm on the pill. It's okay."

He slowly peeled his hands away from his face. "You're what?"

"Birth control. I take this little pill every month and it stops me from getting pregnant. It's magical, really."

He sat there, processing the information in his head. Relief from knowing he had nothing to worry about as far as impending fatherhood went was mixed with the painful image of her and other guys. "You, uh, you been on it long?" He asked, flatly.

She shook her head. "I had a yearly check-up a few months ago. My doctor asked if I wanted it."

He nodded. "Guess we got nothing to worry about then."

"Guess not." She hesitated, then decided she should have asked this question before. "Are you…I mean…you're clean, right?"

He snorted at that. "How many damn girls you think I been with?"

She shrugged. "Honestly, before tonight, I would have said none. I've never heard you talk about any and we both know how shy you are…but you seemed to…know what you were doing."

He held up a hand and showed her the number two.

Her stomach dropped at the thought of him being with another woman the way they'd just been together, but she tried not to let it show.

"Ain't you gonna ask who?" He said, with a half grin.

She grimaced. "I don't wanna know."

He let out a small laugh and held up both his hands. "Think you're kinda familiar with them now anyway. Rosie Palms and Pamela Handerson."

She busted out laughing at that and felt the disdain disappear. "You were a..."

He nodded and grimaced slightly, not letting her finish the word. It was embarrassing to admit, even to her.

She fell on the couch beside him and took his hand in her own. "I'm glad we're each other's first."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "You never?"

She shook her head. "Never. Couldn't you tell?"

"Ain't like I had nothing to compare it to!" He huffed. "But you and Ed?"

"We…did things…things I had no business doing that young. I told you that, but you know it never went all the way. That's one of the things he was mad about the day you punched him. He wanted to go all the way and I didn't."

"Tobin?" He questioned.

"We kissed, that was it." She assured him. "He took me to prom, and the only reason I even let him was because you wouldn't go with me. There was never anything there with him. It was you, always has been."

He grinned at her and leaned in and placed a peck on her lips. He squeezed her hand and then went to stand up. "I'm exhausted. I'm ready to knock the fuck out."

She smiled weakly, happy that things worked out, but not in a hurry to leave him either. "I'll see you tomorrow then? I can drop by after lunch if that's okay with you."

He shook his head and watched as her face fell, then he grinned mischievously and tugged her hand. "Stay with me tonight."

She nodded eagerly and let him lead her to his bedroom.

Daryl fell asleep that evening and slept better than he had in his entire life. When he awoke early the next morning Carol was still fast asleep right there next him, wrapped contently in his arms. He carefully maneuvered out from under her so he could get up and take a piss.

After he took care of business and was about to walk back to his room, Merle called out to him from the living room couch where he was sitting, smoking a cigarette. He walked over and sat down beside his older brother who was smirking at him.

"She finally made a man out of you I see."

He hummed and took out his own cigarette.

"Was it good?"

He grinned and pulled a long drag off of his cigarette.

"Damn boy, you forget how to fucking talk? Did her pussy cat get your tongue?"

"Shut up." He muttered.

Merle chuckled. "So, tell me how it happened? How'd that pretty little thing ever decide to let your ugly ass touch her?"

Daryl recounted the story to Merle as he listened intently.

"That little mix seduced you! I didn't know she had it in her?"

Daryl snorted. "What the hell are you talking about? I made the first move."

"Oh hell no you didn't! She did with that damn back rub she offered you."

"Nah, that didn't mean nothing. She was just being nice because I had a long day."

"Pffft. No way. It's the Back Rub Theory, little brother. Automatically leads to sex. Every damn time."

"Stop. It does not."

"Does too. I can't name a damn time it ain't worked for me. Some girl ain't in the mood, you offer up a nice relaxing back rub and the next thing you know they're on your dick like white on rice."

"That's ridiculous." Daryl scoffed. "It don't happen every single time."

"Every. Single. Time. And if she hadn't of given you one tonight, your pansy ass wouldn't have ever made a move. You'd be the next forty-year old virgin. Knitting sweaters and shopping for tampons and shit."

Daryl rolled his eyes at Merle as he stubbed out his cigarette. "I got a hot girl waiting in my bed, the fuck am I still doing in here talking to you?"

"You make me proud." Merle beamed, covering his heart with his left hand in mock adoration.

Daryl flipped him off as he strolled back to his room. He didn't think Merle's theory was completely accurate. There was no way it could be, but he had to admit, if it wasn't for that back rub, his whole world might not have changed for the better last night.

The End! Hope it was enjoyable.