Neither of them knew how they'd ended up in this position. Him breathing her air. Her breathing his. Their bodies pressed more closely together than they'd ever been before. This was unexplored territory for them sharing personal space like this. Carol knew he was uncomfortable but that had nothing to do with his previous aversion to physical contact and everything to do with his uncertainty of how to proceed from this point forward. His arms encircled her waist, iron bars holding her tightly against his chest as if afraid he might lose her forever. Carol had no intention of going anywhere though. They were poised together at the edge of the unknown but both had come too far, survived too much to shy away from what was in front of them any longer.

The moment they had been building towards for so long now was fast approaching. The realization that she and Daryl were finally on the same page, were both ready to take the final leap together out into the great beyond both terrified and exhilarated Carol. For all her flirting and teasing she had honestly never thought this moment building between them would ever come.

She had known for some time now she loved him. It wasn't because he had searched tirelessly for her daughter. It wasn't because he seemed to be the one always saving her. It wasn't that she needed someone to nurture after losing Sophia. Carol couldn't put her finger on the reason she loved Daryl. Maybe it was simply because he was a good man; an honourable man.

He was exactly the man she needed. He was the man she deserved.

The man standing so close to her was born for this world. He was a warrior. He was made to withstand the horrors they endured each and every day. He was a man of honour that fought gallantly to defend his family. But despite all his strength, despite all his courage, Daryl was still lacked the knowledge of his own worth. He was missing the self-confidence men like him usually possessed to take that final step out of his comfort zone.

His eyes locked with hers from beneath the shaggy tangle of his hair, begging her to make the first move here. All the confidence he had acquired in this new world and he still was so unsure of himself with her.

Carol had known for some time that if anything was going to happen between them she would have to initiate it.

Her hands drifted from his shoulders to settle behind the base of his neck. She threaded her fingers in the longer hair brushing against his collar, tugging gently at his head to angle his face downwards. Daryl's eyes bore into hers, the blue in them darkened with desire. His breath quickened when their noses grazed lightly as they moved closer to the inevitable. Her heart started tap-dancing at the proximity they shared but she was not going to shy away from this. Their time was finally at hand.

Daryl's tongue shot out, licking his lips in anticipation. Carol watched his eyes glance down to her mouth before finally flickering shut.

She refused to close her eyes until she felt his lips gently pressing against hers. When she felt him breathing her air and she breathing his.

A/N: Thank you for reading. I just wanted to fill another prompt for the USS CARYL's drabble kinky/non-kinky drabble challenge. This was just a short piece examining the moment before Daryl and Carol's first kiss. I realized I write in Daryl's POV quite a bit so I wanted to move outside my comfort zone here and write from Carol's. I also wanted to just do something short. Hope you enjoyed it.