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Isabelle discouraged him from going back, but all he said to her before he got on the boat was:       "I know where I'm supposed to be."       Carol had arrived about a week ago, completely disarming Daryl with her appearance and knocking all the air out of his lungs. At that moment, the man thought he was hallucinating from longing. But she was real, clutching at his vest with cold fingers and sobbing quietly on his shoulder. The first night Carol was put in the room next to his, but while suffering from insomnia in the middle of the night, Daryl heard quiet footsteps and a knock on the door. She cautiously entered the room without saying a word, and walked further in and sat on the bed. The man saw the paths of tears on her cheeks glistening in the light of the lamp. Without a word, he pulled Carol to him, covering them with the blanket and letting the woman nuzzle her nose into his neck, sobbing intermittently. Daryl stroked her back and hair until her sobs stopped and her breathing calmed, only then did his consciousness slowly begin to drift away. From that night on, without talking, they always slept together.       After a week they still managed to get to the small boat Carol had come on with one of the Commonwealth acquaintances. He was a nice-looking guy of about forty-five, polite, and had worked as a helmsman in the past, he said. The only thing that was bothersome was that Jack, the guy's name, liked to make eyes at Carol and compliment her, to which she giggled and smiled in embarrassment. Not that it bothered Daryl, no it didn't, he was just worried about his woman best friend. Perhaps this helmsman was an unreliable man.       Climbing onto the boat they set off on their journey, the approximate time they would have to travel on the boat, about 7-8 days without incident. Having lunch in the open air, they watched a small cloud come over the sky, they did not give it any importance, overcast weather was not new in France. But toward evening, Jack said that there was a big storm coming, and that they would have to drop anchor, for it would be dangerous to go any farther, for they might be carried to the shore, or in any other direction, and lose their way.       Quietly knocking at the cabin where Carol was, the man opened the door, looking at his friend's hunched and trembling back. He came to the bed, sat down beside her, threw a warm blanket over her shoulders, and pulled her to him, warming her with his body.       "Cold?"       "A little," Carol replied, snuggling closer to the man.       "I see," Daryl hummed softly, looking at her red nose and chattering teeth.       She poked the man in the side with her elbow.       "Aren't you cold at all?"       "I'm wearing a warm shirt, vest and poncho, and I don't walk around the ship in one thin sweatshirt" Daryl said in a mocking tone.       "And that's why you've been walking around watching this all day, waiting for me to finally freeze to come and gloat?" she furrowed her eyebrows with a smile and raised her head to the man.       "Of course" Daryl looked her in the eyes and a silence hung in the cabin that was to their liking.       Something sparkled in her eyes and the smile slowly began to fall from their faces. Suddenly the ship shook violently, and Carol grabbed the man's hand.       "What was that?"       The door opened and an agitated Jack stepped out of there.       "The storm's getting worse. You better move to the floor between the bed and the wall so you don't get tossed all over the cabin" he coughed quietly, awkwardly averting his gaze to his surroundings. Daryl held back a victorious grin without admitting it to himself "Carol, you can go to your cabin it's saf..."       "No" Daryl said too harshly and hastily causing the woman to look up in surprise, clearing his throat he continued softer "I'll make sure she's safe, I think the two of us are safer than alone"       Carol smiled warmly turning away and putting on a mask of serenity turned to the navigator.       "Yeah, I think the two of us will be safer" the ship shook again, almost throwing them off the bed "Oh shit"       "Good luck to you" Jack nodded and left the cabin closing the door.       Daryl stood up from the bed holding out his hand to the woman.       "Come on, we need to get to the floor."       Carol slowly stood up under the swaying floor, taking the man's hand. In an instant the vessel shook violently, forcing Daryl to grab the bed rail with his palm and pull the woman to him with the other. He turned to face her with a face that was in unacceptable proximity to his. He looked away, still holding her tightly by the waist, and walked closer to the corner of the room.       "Come on, we have to hurry so we don't get scattered all over the room."       Daryl leaned back against the bed, his feet resting against the wall opposite, since the distance was short he could only bend his legs at the knees to fit.       "Come here" he held out a hand to the woman, forcing her to sit next to him, but another jolt caused her to stagger and fall sideways into his lap "Shit."       Daryl quickly sat her back down normally on her feet, turning the woman's face towards him with concern "Are you okay?"       "Other than falling sideways on your pointy knee then yes" she hissed and laughed softly rubbing her bruised side.       "Sorry" he spread his legs, settling his friend on the floor between them, for reasons of his unforeseen physiological processes that could happen if she continued to sit on his lap.       "It's okay," she squeaked softly at another thrust. Daryl held her tightly with one hand, the other grasping the foot of the bed.       "Damn, how did you fish all summer with that shit? I wouldn't have lasted a day" he hummed, clearing his throat.       "We didn't have storms this bad back then" she laughed, leaning her back against his chest and grabbing the foot of the bed the same way, the other covering his arm around her waist.       "Doesn't change the fact that it's dog shit, I've only held back vomiting three times this day."       "You're just not used to it, I'm a sea dog, and you're not" she turned her head to him with a chuckle and looked into his eyes.       "Okay, so be it, I'm not adapted to the sea"       The ship rocked much harder, tilting almost sixty degrees. Carol squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her back tighter to the man and squeezing her fingers until they were white.       "Oh shit" hugging his friend closer around the waist, he could feel her heart pounding frantically. She turned her head bumping her nose against his forearm. Daryl felt her clutching his arm tightly and resting her back against his chest "Everything okay?"       Carol nodded her head, not moving an inch away from his arm.       "Hey, Carol?" he stroked the knuckle on her hand with his thumb.       "It's okay, I'm just a little scared," the woman whispered in a quiet voice, hoarse from crying, making Daryl's heart clench.       "I'm with you, it'll be okay, it's just a storm, this boat is strong and will hold" he pressed his nose against the top of her head inhaling her scent and covering his eyes, not believing his own words.       "It would be stupid if I came here to take you back, but we end up dying on this damn boat" she squeezed his hand tighter, sobbing softly "I wish you had stayed there, it was a waste of my time to come"       "Hey" the floor of the ship screeched desperately making the woman wince and Daryl squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled "You shouldn't have come just so you wouldn't put yourself in danger. I would have come back anyway, with or without you. I promised, remember?"       "Yes."       They had spent the entire week working out a plan to go home, only discussing problems and ways to retreat. Almost all these days they had no time to have a proper conversation and discuss all the things that had happened to them. And the night always passed without words, they just absorbed each other's warmth and soothed nightmares until the morning, which was again filled with problems and busyness.       She groaned loudly as the boat rocked even more, threatening to capsize.       "Oh god, oh god, oh god," he heard soft sobs and felt his sleeve wet with bitter tears.       Pulling the woman tighter against him, Daryl buried his nose against her temple and felt a tear roll down his own cheek. Her pain and fear always magically transferred to him.       "I'm sorry for leaving you alone" the man whispered softly into her ear "I was a real idiot, I shouldn't have gotten in here."       "I missed you so much" whispered Carol softly, sobbing at the next jolt of the waves.       "Me too, so much" he breathed out through his mouth, trying to hold back the traitorous tears "I've been waiting to go back since day one, and now we're here" the man hummed sadly, burying his nose harder into her neck.       "We always run into trouble, don't we?"       He laughed sadly, in an instant feeling his feet begin to slide off the wall.       "Shit," he shifted, gripping the foot of the bed tighter with numb fingers.       "If we die I want you to know I love you" Carol said in a shaky voice, sobbing loudly.       "I love you, too. Hell, more than anything in the world" Daryl dipped his lips to her cheekbone, pressing down hard and leaving a wet trail of tears.       In an instant, the boat rocked the other way, causing him to lean forward sharply and hit his head. His ears whistled desperately, and from beneath the tons of water he heard only one voice.       "Daryl! Daryl!"                                           ***       "Hey, Daryl? Daryl?"       He woke up on the bed to a gentle hand on his cheek and a quiet whisper. His head felt like it was being pounded on both sides with hammers, and the rocking of the waves only made it worse. The man opened his eyes, looking up at the crying face above him.       "Oh my God, you're awake" Carol sighed softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.       "What happened?" he frowned, stroking her back and looking around.       "You hit your head and it was like you were gone" she pulled away and wiped the tears from her cheeks, helping the man sit up "You had blood on your head, I was really scared" Carol exhaled, looking into his eyes "It seemed like you passed out but you were just as hard holding onto the foot of the bed and holding me. Do you remember anything?"       "Nothing, I remember the impact and nothing else. Are you okay?" he scratched the bandage on his forehead and looked into her eyes that were beginning to fill with tears.       Carol moved closer, tracing the outline of his eyebrow with her thumb with a smile and tears in her eyes.       "You covered me with your body, nothing would have happened to me but suffocation."       Daryl smiled embarrassedly, frowning at the pain in his head.       "What time is it?"       "It's afternoon, you passed out close to morning when the storm calmed down. The boat's fine, but the anchor slipped a bit overnight and so Jack's adjusting the route now" she sighed sadly wiping her eyes with her fingers.       "Hey" the man frowned gently taking her wrist "You didn't sleep at all, did you?"       "Couldn't sleep while you were in that state, I was afraid you wouldn't wake up" she shook her lips with a sad smile and looked away.       "You haven't eaten either?"       Carol shrugged and hummed.       "Damn, woman" Daryl growled getting to his feet under her worried look "I'm fine, let's go"       He took her hand, leading her towards the exit.       "Daryl don't need to, I'm not hungry" she shivered, still following the man.       "Tell that to the seals."       He led her to the front of the ship, sitting her down on a small couch and pulling out the bread and baked meat they had been given for the trip yesterday. Folding two sandwiches and cutting each one in half, Daryl placed them on plates and set them on the table, taking a seat next to Carol.       "You didn't need to."       "Shh, eat" he grinned at the clucking and eye rolling woman and took a bite of the sandwich.       After a couple minutes, she sighed quietly.       "You don't regret sailing away?" she set the food aside on her plate turning to the man.       "Should I?" he raised his eyebrows looking into her eyes "No, that's definitely not where I belong."       "That boy... Laurent, you two seem to have become friends" Carol continued with a smile. At one point she blushed and looked away.       "What is it?" he frowned incomprehensibly, immediately opening his mouth at the guess "He was telling you something?"       "Sure you want to know?" Carol hummed quietly transferring her gaze to the man.       "Spit it out."       Carol shook her fingers off the crumbs and made herself comfortable on the couch.       "He told me about your friends" she smiled slyly "He didn't know my name... Talked about Connie, Ezekiel... A lady named Carol" the woman laughed softly watching his ears flush "He also blushed when he found out who I was."       "Stop it" Daryl hummed embarrassedly returning to his meal.       A couple minutes later the door creaked open and Jack stepped out of there. The man frowned, examining the large blue spot under his eye.       "Did you get one of those last night too buddy?" snorted Daryl.       Jack puckered his lips in embarrassment and shifted his gaze to Carol who looked the same.       "What?"       "Well actually... Um..." began the helmsman.       "When the storm calmed down, Jack came into our cabin and tried to help me up, but apparently you thought he was trying to hurt me and..." Carol pressed her lips together and nodded at the man.       Daryl blushed and raised his eyebrows.       "Oh shit sorry man, I was out of line, didn't mean no harm" the man got up from the table and walked over to the navigator, innocently extending his hand for a handshake. Jack smiled and extended his hand in return, nodding. Shaking it harder than necessary, Daryl raised an eyebrow with an innocent smile, "No offense?"       "No offense," the man said through gritted teeth.       Pressing his lips together and smiling he strode off in the other direction.       "I hit him pretty good" Daryl sat back down and turned to the woman with a smile.       "Don't be proud of it" she rolled her eyes and laughed.       After rinsing and putting the plates away in a drawer, the man held out his hand to Carol.       "Come on, you need to get some sleep."       "Yeah, right," she yawned deeply, standing up with the help of the man's hand and swaying slightly under the waves.       Walking to the back of the ship to their - now shared - quarters, Carol went the other way.       "Where are you going?" Daryl sat up on the bed looking incomprehensibly in the woman's direction.       "I need to treat your wound" she pulled a first aid kit out of a drawer, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge opposite the man "Come here."       She slowly unwrapped the bandage, carefully peeling away bits of dried blood at his hiss.       "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Carol moved closer, blowing on the wound. Watching the woman's delicate actions Daryl smiled involuntarily.       She pulled out a can of alcohol, soaking absorbent cotton and gently applying it to the split skin of his forehead. Carol reached up and gently tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear, looking into his eyes and smiling sadly. Pulling out a jar of homemade ointment from the commonwealth, the woman applied weightless strokes to the wound and sealed it with a thick band-aid, gathering the first aid kit back up with a detached look on her face and intending to get up, but the grip on the wrist stopped her.       "Hey, what's wrong?" Daryl looked into her diligently averted, moist eyes.       "It's okay" she looked away, sniffling her nose.       "Carol, don't lie to me" he gently pulled the woman's arm, forcing her to sit next to him. The man turned her by the shoulders, forcing her to face him "What's wrong?"       "I shouldn't have sailed..."       "Hey, we already talked about this" he wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.       "No, you don't understand. I just, like a stupid hysterical girl, thought something had happened to you. You said you'd be here in a week and on the eighth day I decided it would be a good idea to follow you" Daryl opened his mouth but she put her hand forward interrupting him "I could have put you in danger, I could have put your friends and myself in danger and then Judith and RJ would have been alone..."       "Carol, please stop, you know that's not true" he tried to take her hand but she pulled it away and wiped the tears from her eyes, gesticulating desperately.       "What's this all for, Daryl? What's the point of me? Why am I here?" she stopped, staring into the man's face with desperation and tears in her eyes.       Talking had never been to his advantage, and even then, looking at that dear crying face he thought he was making a mistake, but all the man could prove was his love and need for her. At the last moment, looking into Carol's desperate eyes, he crossed the distance between them and touched his lips tenderly to hers, cutting off all uncertainty and steps of retreat.       He clenched his eyes desperately, feeling her freeze and not respond to the kiss, he realized he'd made a big mistake.       Slowly pulling away, the man shifted his gaze from one of her eyes to the other, trying to find an answer. His voice trailed off as he tried to answer, stroking her cheek with the palm of his hand.       "Sorry..."       Unbridled tenderness and love flashed in her eyes, and a lone tear rolled down her cheek, falling onto the man's thumb.       "Shut up," Carol shortened the distance, returning his kiss.       Daryl sighed convulsively, answering the sweet, desperate kiss, running his palm into the woman's hair. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting him down and forcing him to lie on his back. They could both feel the water running down their cheeks and mingling together.       After a couple minutes of breaking the kiss from lack of air, she opened her eyes and looked up at the man with a smile, sniffing her nose. Daryl hummed softly, wiping a tear from her cheek and watching as she nestled her face into his palm.       "Did I convince you?" he pulled Carol to him, kissing the tip of her nose.       She lay on his chest, slapping her palm softly against it and giggling softly.       "Asshole."       It was then that he realized exactly where his home was.