LV

—/<3/—

"Rory, come eat," Carol said warmly as she appeared in the courtyard where Rory was planting potatoes in the largest planter they could find at the garden centre.

"I'll be there in a second, I need to wash up first." Rory smiled and glanced down at her arms and clothes which were covered in soil and fertiliser.

"Do you want some help? We got a lot more hands now, I'm sure someone would be happy to give you a hand," Carol offered, taking a seat on the stairs as Rory brushed lumps of mud from her exposed legs.

"Nah, I'm good. There's not much left to do." Rory flashed a friendly smile and stepped past her, heading inside to get cleaned up. Carol stood up and followed.

"So...You and Daryl?" She whispered with a shit eating grin. Rory's eyes widened but she fixed her expression and turned to Carol with faked confusion.

"What do you mean?" Rory feigned innocence.

"Oh come on, I don't know what you were doing up in that watch tower but I sure as hell know what I saw last night 'round back," Carol raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't make out in public if you don't want people to know."

"Who else knows?" Rory asked quietly.

"No one, don't worry," Carol chuckled and placed a hand on Rory's shoulder. "I haven't told anyone, knowing how you and Daryl are, I figured you wouldn't want you relationship to be too public."

"And Daryl knows you know?"

"Of course, I grilled him about it as soon as you left him." Carol rolled her eyes, her smile never once dropping. "I think you're good together. People might think you're an unlikely pair by looking at you but your personalities are a perfect match."

"I haven't even told Niamh about this, not with her big ass mouth. She'd blab to Mikey and that means Jonah and Archie would know too." Rory let out a relieved sigh.

"Does that mean you're glad someone knows?"

"Yeah, and I'm glad it's you and not one of the others," Rory chuckled. She entered the bathroom and Carol followed, leaning up against one of the sinks as Rory dunked her arms into a bucket of water and began to scrub the filth off. "You're Daryl's best friend even if he's too emotionally constipated to admit it."

Carol laughed and agreed. "When did you even get together? Did he run off with Merle when you were already in a relationship?"

"No, it was when he came back. We were talking and smoking like we usually do and he kissed me. Then he tried to run away," Rory explained.

"Yeah...Sounds like Daryl alright." Carol shook her head. "Y'know you're not as secretive as you think. A few people have been placing on bets on when you're gonna get together, and some people think you're gonna get back together with Jonah."

"Oh god, never again." Rory grimaced. "Don't get me wrong, I love Jonah, but we're better as friends. We didn't work well together romantically and he knows that too."

"So... does this mean our threesome is off the table?" Carol joked.

"Well I'm down if Daryl's down." Rory winked and dried her body off. "I'm gonna get changed... meet you in the cell block?"

"Yeah, I'll save you a seat," she said. "On Daryl's lap," she added playfully. Rory shushed her and nudged her away, disappearing around the corner.

—/<3/—

"Where've you been all day?" Daryl questioned as she walked into their shared cell later that night.

"Planting vegetables, where have you been?" Rory flashed a lopsided smile and leant against the bunk bed, resting her head on the cool metal.

"On a run with Glenn," Daryl answered shortly.

"Get anything good?" She asked.

"Some canned shit, cigarettes, bedsheets...We found this too." Daryl reached under his bed for his pack and presented her with a folded up piece of paper.

Rory took it curiously and unfolded it, revealing a poster of Rory's band. It was their tour announcement poster and Atlanta was circled in red marker.

"We found it in the staff room, one of the workers probably put it there."

"This feels like centuries ago," Rory smiled at the bittersweet memories that came flooding back. "It feels like a dream compared to what we have to deal with now."

"Did you make a lot of money doin' concerts?" Daryl asked. He stood up and stripped his jacket off and threw it to the end of his bed.

"It wasn't a lot but it was a decent amount...£1000 each per show but we paid for our own fuel, accommodation and food," Rory explained as she folded the poster back up and slid it into her pocket to show her family later.

Daryl motioned towards the door and shook a crumpled pack of cigarettes in his hand. Rory nodded and followed him out of the cell and down the stairs to the main part of the cell block.

"Rory," Jonah called. "Let's play a song! I'm bored!"

"Okay, give me ten minutes and I'll be in." Rory agreed. She carried on walking, mindlessly following her boyfriend.

"Why are we going out here?" Rory queried as Daryl pulled out his keys and unlocked one of the gates, leading her down to one of the remaining watch towers.

"Carol saw us," he said simply.

"I know, she teased me about it but she's sworn to secrecy 'cause I buttered her up a little." Rory smiled and climbed up ahead of Daryl, shoving open the hatch. "Did you know that people have bets on us getting together?" she shouted down as he climbed up.

"We're already together," Daryl said.

"Well, yeah, but people expect us to get together...does that mean we're too obvious or we're good at hiding it?" She let him slide a cigarette between her lips and fished the lighter of the front pocket of his jeans for him, lighting both of their smokes.

"Does it matter? It ain't none of their business." Daryl inhaled and leant up against the wall. He rested his arms on his knees and closed his eyes, giving Rory the chance to ogle him without him calling her out—or so she thought.

"I can feel you starin' at me." Daryl cracked an eyes open and Rory hurriedly looked away.

"Was not."

Daryl scoffed and lifted his cigarette to his mouth. "You always stare when you think I'm not lookin'."

Rory spluttered and focused her attention on the walkers wandering aimlessly outside the fence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Daryl reached toward her and gently grasped the back of her neck, angling her face towards his. Rory smiled and crawled between his legs, slotting her lips over his with a happy sigh. He broke away and took a drag before moving his hand from Rory's neck to her jaw and blowing the smoke into her mouth, connecting their lips a second later.

Rory flushed red when they broke apart, the smoke from the shotgun editing through her nostrils. Daryl looked smug as he raised the cigarette back up to his lips.

"Where did that come from?" Rory squeaked, suddenly feeling boiling hot.

Daryl just shrugged and closed his eyes again.

—/<3/—