Carol never expected to live at the Kingdom after the war.
Never expected to be anywhere, really. Surviving at all felt like an unattainable goal. But here she is, leading a community she’s grown so fond of and helping to rebuild it to it’s former glory.
She didn’t expect Daryl to use it as a waypoint either, but he wasted no time in finding any reason he could to show up here after a long day of recruiting. Tired and dirty and worn out from venturing into the depths of the apocalypse.
It had taken some getting used to at first. They were further apart than they were close when he showed up, asking if he could stay the night with a sheepish duck of his head. As if she could ever say no.
Turns out all they really needed was time for it to all fall back into place. Time without running or fighting or struggling.
It didn’t take long to feel just as close to him as she’d been back at the prison, even more so now that he’s begun sharing a room with her. Holding her close under the covers, one strong arm wrapped around her middle and his nose buried in the back of her neck.
Sometimes they go out together, in those rare moments when she wants a slice of adventure, even if the real reason is to avoid watching him leave alone. Who is she kidding, though. She likes the mundane. Cherishes the easy, slow days here at the Kingdom where there’s nothing to do but listen to the choir or let Jerry teach her how to bake cobbler.
It’s Daryl that craves the freedom of the wild. That’s the trade off for having him home with her between every mission and she’ll gladly accept it.
She’ll spend her time while he’s away teaching the children how to fire a gun, planting tomatoes in the garden and planning strategies for fortifying their walls.
It’s an unspoken promise they have now that he’ll be back in her bed, in her arms, more often than not and it’s a routine that she lives by. She’s well aware of how seriously he takes these commitments, after all.
He’s already made good on the first offer he made her a lifetime ago, on top of an overturned bus, when he told her he’d go down first.