Otherwise

The smog outside the window was sticky, disgusting, and stifling, typical of the weather in France and unaccustomed to the sunny days in America. But there's a silver lining, isn't there? Almost the entire castle was gathered around a long table, eating and celebrating someone's birthday. People had not forgotten about the celebrations and continued to enjoy life even in such cruel years. Hands awkwardly fumbled with the cloth napkin on the table, due to the slight awkwardness of so many people. The man glanced occasionally at the cheerful Carol, who was settling in well among the people here, making new friends and gradually learning the language. Her murmuring accent sent shivers down his spine, leaving a spicy aftertaste. Her extended, cartouche letters were honey to the ears, and more than one Frenchman asked the woman how long she had lived in France. And even now, talking to some guy, she caused languid goosebumps on his fingertips, either from the accent or from the desire to gently run his thumb over her lips stretched in a sunny smile. She turned her head toward him, smiling softly and warming the bored brunet's soul. Isabelle sat nearby, watching their glances and clenching her teeth fiercely. Even if he'd cared about her feelings before, he certainly didn’t now, for after what she'd said about his father and Carol, he couldn't look at the nun any other way than with a ghostly indifference in eyes. A bearded man sat down next to Carol, causing the hunter to tense up slightly and focus on his actions. He took up almost all of the available seat, squeezing the woman, forcing her to move closer to the nuns with an awkward smile and end the conversation. The man poured more wine into her glass without request or permission, turning to Carol and smiling an unpleasant, deceitful smile. The smile fell from Daryl's face, causing his fists to clench to a whitening and his eyes to search her gaze for a look that begged for help. She tried to ignore it, continuing her dialog with the guy and glancing at the hunter with a calm look, notifying that everything was alright. Daryl nodded and sipped some more of the sour alcohol. It was about five minutes before the man heard the rough accented voice and the stranger's grimy hand on the - painfully familiar, fragile shoulder. Carol threw off the insistent palm, saying something to the man in a warning tone and trying to get up. A rough hand grabbed the woman's wrist, sharply sitting her back down. With a disgusted grin he opened his mouth to say something into the frightened blue eyes, but somehow at the last moment he met the angry, other blue eyes and felt his throat constricted by the pressure of another man's finger on his Adam’s apple. "Now you let her go and get the hell out of here" said the hunter leaning closer to the stranger's ear and pressing harder on his throat "And if I see you less than ten meters away from her, my finger will be replaced by a well sharpened knife blade, got it?" He pulled back, peering into the man's angry, terrified eyes with a lousy smirk and pressing his fingernail against his shrivelled up throat. "Got it," wheezed the voice across the room, grabbing his throat and coughing when Daryl's strong hand loosened its grip. He took a step back, extending a hand to Carol and helping her over the bench as the stranger withdrew in the opposite direction with the abrupt gait of a loser. The woman caught the toe of her shoe awkwardly on the seat, but strong arms picked her up by her back, keeping from falling and pulling her against him, knocking the air from lungs. Carol chuckled softly, placing her palm on his chest and reluctantly pulling away. "Looks like I'm a little ivre*" she amusingly made a curl of her hand saying the word in French, not realizing what feelings she was causing the man with her vocal cords. Daryl hummed, taking her under arm and leading towards the exit of the great hall, leading her to the stairs to the second floor where the bedrooms were. After a dozen steps framed in ancient designs, they came to an empty floor illuminated by a large number of hanging lamps with candles at each door. "Has he hit on you before?" the man asked in an unobtrusive tone, biting lower lip on the inside and turning to Carol. "A couple times this week" she smiled lightly looking into the disgruntled eyes above "It's okay, he didn't touch me until today." Hunter nodded affirmatively, sighing heavily and frowning irritably. She chuckled softly and hugged his back, resting head on his shoulder. Turning head, his lips stretched into a warm smile on their own at the sight of the red nose and sparkling eyes. Being in France for a week now had brought her to her senses, at least the woman didn't look as tortured and awkward as she had in the first few days of her arrival. He hugged the fragile waist tighter, feeling the warm breath on his chest and the spilling calm in his soul, as often happened around her. Reaching the oak door of her bedroom Daryl planned to awkwardly say goodbye, walking further into the cold emptiness of her room two doors later, but upon opening the door Carol pulled them both inside for some reason looking around fearfully and breathing heavily. "What's wrong?" the hunter frowned, placing his palm on her tense shoulder and trying to catch her gaze. "He was following us" Carol quickly stepped around the man, locking the door shut and retreating to the bed "He had a knife." "What?" growled Daryl roughly, turning toward the door and intending to turn the key. Thin hands quickly pulled him back. A pleading look made him sweat the blinding rage of letting go of the doorknob. "No, please," the palms gripped the man's forearm harder, gazing fearfully into the furious eyes. Once she was sure of his decision, she pulled away covering her face with palms and taking a seat on the soft mattress of the bed. "You need to talk to Isabelle or who the hell is in charge here" through the noise in her ears Carol felt the bed next to her sag, cracking the springs. She wiped eyes with palms, folding them in her lap in a furious tremor "I came here to make sure you weren't in any danger, not to have you stabbed around the corner because of me" Moving closer the hunter covered trembling hand with his palm, squeezing in a soothing gesture. She turned her moist eyes, gazing into the calm smile of the man across from her. In the Commonwealth, Carol looked around like a madwoman when she saw the familiar wavy hair of some brunet, each time pulling herself back and trying to hold back tears. As she filled out the paperwork, she replayed their last conversation in her head, smiling and constantly distracted from her work. Afterward, hearing the painfully familiar voice on the radio, she tried not to burst into tears like a fool, bringing her breathing back to normal after the third "You sure you okay?". Daryl had always read her through and knew her more than she knew herself. The woman packed her things that same night, and went to bed with anxiety inside from the fact that she might not make it. She had a beautiful dream that evoked a sense of Deja Vu. A quiet tune downstairs, Judith and RJ running after each other. Lydia sat quietly in a chair reading a book and smiling quickly at her. Daryl was standing in the kitchen pouring breakfast into 5 plates and carrying them to the table. He greeted her, stepping closer with a smile and pulling her to him by the thin waist. Whispering some nonsense, the man leaned closer and... At five in the morning, the alarm clock rang, forcing Carol to open her eyes, haggardly breathing. "Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault that some asshole doesn't know the measure" growled the hunter angrily, countering his tone by gently stroking the protruding bones in her palm "I'm still not happy that you risked your life to find me. But I'm glad you're here and we'll get home together, I promise." Carol smiled frailly, radiating some unfamiliar sadness and longing in the eyes. She sniffed her nose, releasing her hand and combing her hair back with fingers. There was an awkward silence, bringing back memories of hard times when their friendship was on the verge of breaking down, the awkwardness filling every inch of the room in a way that could have been cut with a knife between them. Daryl coughed quietly, intending to get up, but the firm grip on his wrist made him turn his head questioningly. "Daryl, stay, I..." the woman awkwardly faded her gaze, pressing lips together and loosening her grip on the rough wrist "I... I'm scared" that very "I'm afraid" couldn't get out of her throat, it meant too much. I'm afraid to be alone in the dark of night, I'm afraid for your safety, I'm afraid to see again that dream that violently twists my lungs, preventing me from breathing. I'm afraid to fall asleep without your warm embrace. Carol let go of his hand, turning head toward the bedside table. "Okay," came a low, husky voice, causing her to turn his head too abruptly in surprise and smile gratefully. Taking off her shoes, Carol lay under the thick, wool blanket, turning off the lamp and watching the man do the same. He climbed in next, getting comfortable and putting his hand under his head, peering up at the stained ceiling. Outside the thick balcony door, she could see the night sky with millions of stars shimmering white, mesmerizing late-night passersby. She thoughtlessly ran her fingers over the short lint on the blanket, occasionally touching the palm of man’s hand. "Have you ever wondered how it could be otherwise?" whispered Carol, breaking the stale silence with a loud sigh. "How “otherwise?" the man turned his head slightly to look at her exquisite profile in the moonlight. "If Rick hadn't kicked me out" she said with sadness in her heart "If I hadn't rescued you from Terminus. If I hadn't married Ezekiel" her voice trembled slightly. Daryl discreetly clenched his teeth and palm into a fist at the mention of the unpleasant name "If Rick hadn't gone missing. If you'd just let me get back on the boat..." a warm hand covered clenched palm, smoothing the indentations in her skin from sharp nails. "That last one would definitely never have happened" the hunter whispered hoarsely, still feeling a pinch of guilt for what he'd said in the wooden house on the edge of the forest "And what I told you in the cabin..." "Daryl, don't, that was a long time ago." "No. What I said in the cabin was a stupid lie, I would never let you go alone. Even if I had to swim with my own two hands across the ocean, I would do it to get you back" a lump stuck in his throat from the confession and he swallowed loudly, listening into the silence of the night. "Thank you" she smiled tearfully, bringing their clasped hands to hers and kissing man's wrist weightlessly. "That's no reason to be grateful" Daryl hummed sadly, watching her actions and suppressing the urge to wipe away the tear that rolled down her cheek with his finger. "Thank you for telling me about it" Carol moved closer, resting her temple against his shoulder "It was important to me." "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I was a total asshole" he stroked the bones of her fingers, feeling his lungs unclench and the warmth in his soul spread throughout body because of the pleasant closeness. "It's okay" Carol hugged his forearm, exhaling relaxedly and watching his profile. After a couple minutes in comfortable silence, Daryl hummed and smiled amusedly. "What?" "You said what would have happened if you hadn't saved us in Terminus" the man said in a cheerful voice. "Well?" a hint of a smile and curiosity could be heard in her voice. "You'd probably still be living your life with Tyreese and Judith and we'd have been digested in the stomachs of those deranged cannibals like a decade ago" the hunter laughed softly, feeling the body next to him tense up. "Daryl, ew!" exclaimed Carol with feigned disgust, slapping his palm lightly and giggling softly "What a horror. And what do you mean with Tyreese? You think I only like dark-skinned men?" she said indignantly with a sly smile, hoping to embarrass the hunter like old times. "Well, you didn't marry his Majesty for nothing," the man said with amusement. "Stop it, I just had no choice" Carol finished with a laugh, silencing herself on the last word and noticing how his shoulders tensed. His nose stiffened and the hunter tried to suppress the sad sigh that was coming out. She had no choice... The feeling of Deja Vu immediately came to mind as he sat on the edge of the concrete surface at the Saviors' base and tried to contain his emotions after hearing about her engagement to the oddball king. Daryl tried as much as possible not to show his true feelings so as not to give away his broken state of mind. "It's long past and doesn't matter" the woman said in a quiet voice, snuggling closer to her own shoulder "I had a dream where we also..." she froze, cursing her damn tongue for not being able to think before opening her mouth. Carol felt the man turn his head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, begging to be vaporized from this place or to rewind time. "Also? What?" asked Daryl with a huff, watching the frozen face. She turned on all her acting skills pumped up over the years, opening her eyes and smiling, looking into the questioning eyes. "We also..." "Were married?" the question that followed knocked all the air out of her lungs, making the squeeze and the feigned smile slowly slide off her face. Daryl stared into the frightened eyes, once again discerning that same unknown longing. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but something clicked in his head, making all the puzzles fit together. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just time to set the record straight. He exhaled noisily, watching the confused face. "Was that bad?" he whispered hoarsely into the silence of the dark bedroom. Gathering her composure and possible failure, the woman shook her head imperceptibly in the negative, swallowing thick saliva with her parched throat. "Will you tell me?" Daryl smiled warmly, turning sideways to her, finding himself in impermissible proximity. "I... I woke up at our house in Alexandria" Carol began, staring in disbelief into the blue eyes dark under the cover of night "Went downstairs where Judith and RJ were playing" she sighed when a warm palm covered her clenched hand "Lydia was sitting in a chair reading a book" loving eyes surveyed her face with breath taking tenderness "You poured us breakfast and I came over to help you carry the plates to the table" "Mm?" purred Daryl with a smile, moving closer to his favorite face. "You said good morning and hugged me around the waist" her cheeks flushed with recognition and her breath caught as the warm palm of his hand around the waist drew her closer, when it felt like it couldn't get any closer. "And then what happened?" With a tickling hot breath, the man murmured into her ajar lips. "And then..." Carol whispered faintly, falling silent and covering her eyes as their lips came together in a soft kiss, completing the missing piece of her dream. She sobbed softly into his lips, clutching at the overwhelming feelings. All misunderstandings vanished somewhere. All the resentment and longing in the eyes, all the anxiety in soul and understatements. Their skin absorbed into each other, intertwining bones and souls. A lone tear fell from his eyelash, mingling with the wet path on her cheek. Her lips retained their inherent sweetness, diluted by the spicy flavor of wine. Carol kissed the soft lips one last time, pulling back a short distance and looking into the face opposite her with a tearful smile. Daryl stroked her cheek with his thumb, wiping away a tear and kissing the corner of the lips. "I already told you I love you, you just didn't hear me" the hunter said with a small sad smile, imprinting this moment in his memory with trusting eyes and swollen lips from the kiss opposite. "Afraid to take wishful thinking for granted" Carol laughed softly, sniffing her nose sadly. He lay back on the bed, pulling the fragile body to him by the waist, sheltering with love and warmth. Carol snuggled into his chest, hugging back with the palm of her hand and exhaling relaxedly. "I'm afraid it's a dream and nothing happened," the woman admitted quietly, snuggling in closer "I'll still be here in the morning. I'll never leave you again, I promise, sweetheart." Outside the window the bright moon was shining brightly, lighting the way for the people walking in the street. A small star in the sky fell down, granting the only wish of two people who had finally doomed the other half of their broken souls.