the sun slowly came up and they awoke
daryl woke up first and realised carl was cuddling him "hey kid we need to wake up" he said before shaking him gently
carl groaned and got up slowly "morning" he replied and slipped his shoes n socks back on
they headed downstairs and had some corn for breakfast and sat down on the couch
"this is nice even if everyone else is missing" carl said in a soft tone and planted a gentle kiss on daryl's cheek
daryl froze for a minute before smiling like a kid in a candy store "yeah, yeah it is" he replied
carl scooted closer and rested his head on daryl's shoulder "we'll leave tomorrow and start looking for them"
daryl nodded and placed his hand on carl's thigh slowly "alright" he said calmly before letting out a soft sigh
daryl truly couldn't believe carl was so okay with all of this and didn't mind daryl's hand on his thigh
carl ended up falling asleep on daryl but daryl didn't mind at all so he eventually fell asleep
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they slowly awoke once again and saw the sun was already up and bright
carl put his hat on and slid his backpack on before walking out the door
daryl soon followed the younger boy and they walked into the woods
—————
time skip cs i'm lazy aight
it had been four weeks days and daryl had taught carl how to track, use a crossbow and even found carl a crossbow
they were walking through the dark woods when they suddenly heard voices that sounded like.. RICK AND CAROL
they ran out and saw everyone but the group raised their guns before realising who it was
carl's eye shot completely open before putting his hands up "woah woah! it's just us guys"
daryl chuckled to himself a bit before getting attacked with hugs from the group
rick ran to carl and hugged him tightly "i thought you were dead coral!"
carl smiled weakly and slowly hugged his dad back while making eye contact with daryl "i missed you dad" but that was slightly a lie
daryl could see carl's pain and couldn't take it anymore so he cleared his throat and walked over to rick "why'd you leave us behind tho?"
rick pulled away from the hug and glared at daryl a little "i didn't leave you behind. i just thought you were dead." he said in a sassy tone
carl slowly made his way over to daryl's side and whispered something in his ear. daryl nodded and looked at rick "yeah.. right uh sorry"
rick just nodded and walked back over to the rest of the group who had finally sat down again
carl and daryl sat down with everyone else but stayed close together and didn't dare move away
rick explained they were gonna be on the road again and would move now since it's still day
the group walked on the road but daryl walked next to rick and started to talk "i like someone in this group but i don't really know how everyone will react"
rick nodded slightly "why don't you go look for some water or something and think about it for a bit before telling everyone?" rick suggested
"yeah thanks rick" daryl nodded and started to walk into the woods again but didn't realise carl had followed him
daryl walked in a little deeper and sat down on a log and didn't even realise carl had sat next to him before carl grabbed daryl's hand
"i heard you and my dad talking so i thought i'd come out and see if you wanted to talk about it" he said softly before smiling
daryl looked up at carl and started to lean in slowly
"daryl what are you doin-" carl was cut off by daryl's lips smashing against his softly
carl froze for a few seconds before kissing back and placing a hand on daryl's cheek
they pulled apart after 15 seconds and smiled at each other
"are we going to tell the group?" carl asked but it came out as a soft whisper
daryl shrugged "let's see how long it takes for them to figure it out"
carl smiled and nodded "we should head back before they come looking for us"
so they headed back to the group and eventually found a house to stay in for the night.
