AUTHOR'S NOTE!

So this story popped in my head as I slept and refused to leave me be so I posted this intro. Please review and let me know if you'd read this and if not I'll delete it.

This story is going to bounce between pre-early ZA and around ep.09, which is when the intro takes place. It's a Daryl/OFC past as fic as well as a Caryl fic.

Daryl is a little OOC in this intro because he is drunk and hating himself,but if you guys want me to continue I promise Daryl will be his surly self next chap :)

Please review and tell how I did and wether or not I should continue, if I don't get any reviews I will delete it.

I own only my OCs. Enjoy!

Intro: Tell A Story

Let me stay Where the wind will whisper to me

Where the raindrops, as they're falling, tell a story.

Imaginary- Evanescence

Carol was over halfway to the farmhouse, tears threatening to spill over from the sting of Daryl's words, when she had to stop. Her knees were shaking, threatening to buckle with every uneasy step. Exhaustion coursed through her. She'd never felt so tired, despite the fact that she was in better shape physically than she'd been since the dead had risen. Hell, this was the first time in over 20 years that she wasn't struggling to hide broken ribs and bruises- however her mind was running at a thousand times it's usual speed. No matter how she tried she couldn't stop the flow of thoughts and emotions, they raced around through her head without a single pause.

Sophia-dead-failed-Daryl-gone-leaving-alone-Ed-was-right-useless-bitch-no-wonder-Sophia's-dead-dead-dead-just-a-burden-Daryl-can't-want-you-no-one-wants-you-failed-

She shook her head desperately while she sobbed, as if she could throw the thoughts away. They were always there, bubbling under the surface.

After all, she thought hopelessly, you can't hide the truth.

She shook her head again, this wouldn't be her, not anymore. These thoughts belonged to a weaker woman, someone who'd allowed themselves to be controlled and manipulated until they didn't know who they were anymore. Someone who'd been get stripped away bit by bit and had given in to a monster.
No, she wasn't that woman, she was better than that. She would never back down again.

But isn't that exactly what you just did, her thoughts sneered, taking on Ed's grating tone as they mocked her. Redneck tells ya what's what and ya run off scared, you cowardly little bitch. He shoulda smacked ya on your ass.

Yes, she had. When she'd headed out to see him she'd been determined that nothing would stop her. He wasn't pulling away, not anymore. The group needed him and now more than ever he needed them. He needed to understand that he was wanted and that she didn't blame him, she could never blame him. Yet the moment those blue eyes had hardened she felt herself waver. She'd flinched and ran, it was as simple as that. He hadn't scared her, she knew that Daryl would never stoop to hitting a woman.
He wasn't his brother or Ed,unlike them, he was a decent man. It was his eyes that made her crack, because when she stared beyond the mask of anger she could the excrutiating pain of failure. The ghosts of Merle and Sophia swam in his cold stare, but just beyond them was another hurt, a scar she couldn't quite place.

She couldn't stand to see his pain. Her pain could manage, she'd been carrying it for weeks now, but Daryl's was something else entirely.
So she'd ran. She'd thrown in the towel and now she hated herself for it.
Her legs started carrying her back towards his tent before she was completely concious that she'd decided to go back. His fire had dimmed significantly and there was an empty bottle of Johnny Walker Blue that had not been there before and she wondered absentmindedly how long she'd stood crying in that field.
The inside of the tent rustled and she jumped a little as Daryl peered out of the opening. He was even more disheveled than usual, his dirty blonde hair sticking up in some places and another bottle of Johnny Walker clutched in his hand. The air around him smelled like dirt and whiskey and he had a far away look in his eyes, the pain she'd seen earlier numbed with booze. His eyes hardened when he saw her, though it was clear that his mind was elsewhere.

"Thought I told ya to git," Daryl grumbled.

"You did," Carol admits with a shrug as she sits in front of his now weak fire in an attempt to get warm.

He stares at her while she rubs her arms, trying to warm them up. Damn, this woman confuses the ever loving shit out of him and the booze isn't making anything clearer. His gaze takes in her flushed face and reddened eyes, she's obviously been crying and his first thought is to tear whoever the hell had the nerve to upset her a new one.
But I made her cry, he realizes and his guts twists and his stomache churns as if it's trying to escape. The whiskey threatens to come up fighting, but he swallows. He doesn't want anyone to see him puke, least of all her.
He ought to apologize, he know's that what manners dictate but he's never been good with manners so he tries another course of action.

"It's warmer in the tent, ya oughta get in there 'fore ya fuckin freeze to death," he found himself muttering.

Hell, he thought, I must be drunk.

She smiled that Carol smile- that mind-blowingly sweet and warm grin of hers that managed to crawl into his head and stay there, and said a quiet thank you.

The contents of his stomache threatened to escape again because he knew she had nothing to thank him for, all he'd done was fail her, it was all he'd ever done.
He failed Carol,just like he failed Annie...

Shit, Annie.
The entire reason he'd begun drinking was to stop thinking of Annie and now that he'd started he couldn't stop. He knew that if he so much as blinked he'd see her green eyes staring at him, looking hurt and betrayed but somehow still loving him. Even then, she'd loved him. It would be easier almost, if she hadn't.

"Daryl? " Carol's voice cut through the thoughts, emanating kindness and concern that he knew he didn't deserve.

Fuck, he didn't even deserve to have her near. She was everything he'd never been, she was caring and good and he was backwoods redneck trash. He couldn't have her and it was meant to be left that way. If Annie taught him one thing it was that when he took what he shouldn't have it didn't end well. If he wasn't careful, he'd ruin Carol too.
It would be so much easier if she would just stay away, less tempting, but he would learn to ignore her if he had to.

"Why do you do it Daryl?"

"Do wha?" He growled, faking what he hoped was an annoyed expression.

"This," she gestured to their surroundings,"cut yourself off and pull away."

"Ya tryin to shrink my head woman?" He hissed,"cause I don't need it!"

She winced, hurt,"No I'm not,I just- I'm sorry." Her eyes filled with tears.

He was hurting her again, her tears were going to be on his consience.

He felt himself break, felt his tongue moving without his consent. Maybe it was the horrors of the day, the pain in her eyes or the whiskey in his veins, hell maybe it was all three, but he began to tell her about the first time he'd been up this way. About Annie. He began to tell her everything about Annie except how every time he looked at Carol he felt like he was betraying her. No amount of booze could force that from his tongue.

"It all started," he growled slowly,"with a car crash."