Chapter Text
Carol smiled as she saw Daryl standing outside her work waiting to take her home, just as he always did. She reached her hand out for his when she was close enough, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.
“Hey.” She smiled at him.
“Hey yourself.” He squeezed her hand before walking with her to his motorcycle.
“I only live three blocks away, y’know. I can walk.” She teased him gently. They did this routine everyday, but it never got old.
“Need to take every minute I get with ya.” He said sadly.
“Oh, Daryl…” She sighed, pulling him into a hug. Neither of them were handling her moving away for college soon very well.
“Gonna miss you.” He damn near pouted.
“I’m going to miss you too, babe. I’m just a letter or phone call away, though, okay? You can come visit whenever you want, I’ll make time for you. And then next year, you can come with me.” She was trying to see the positive, but it was becoming a lot harder as they got closer to her leaving.
“Carol?”
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
“I know. I love you too.” She brushed the tears off her face with a sniffle. “So goddamn much. It’s not fair, really.” She shoved him playfully, trying to make him laugh. He let out a sad chuckle, mostly just to make her feel better.
Her parents were out of town this weekend, so she finally had the chance to do what she had been wanting to for weeks. She pulled him into her house, up the stairs, and into her room. He raised an eyebrow before he caught on.
“Are you sure?” He knew she struggled with being in a relationship sometimes. Her dickhead ex had fucked her up, and when she’d told him about it he dealt with it, landing him in suspension for a whole week. Every second had been worth it, though, to see the proud smile she tried to hide when he told her what he did.
“I’m sure. I’m ready. I want this with you.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.
A while later they laid in her bed, cuddled together and still panting.
“Daryl?”
“Hm?” He mumbled sleepily.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.” He pulled her even closer, rubbing her back gently as they fell asleep together.
The dreaded day had finally come. Carol was moving away. Daryl had made sure to save all the money he made from the mechanic shop so he could afford to go with her and help her move in. He sat in the backseat of her parents car with her, fingers laced together, as they pulled up to her dorm’s door.
After hours of making trips to the car and rearranging her room, they’d finally got everything perfectly how she wanted it. All that was left was the hardest part: the goodbyes. Her parents had said theirs, waiting down in the lobby to give Daryl and Carol a bit of privacy.
“I’m going to miss you so much.” She sniffled, crying into his neck as he held her.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’ll come visit soon. This isn’t goodbye, baby, it’s just see you later.” He was fully aware of how cliché it sounded, but he didn’t care. The only thing that would get them through the separation would be thinking about the next time they got to see each other.
“I love you.” She kissed him.
“I love you too.” He said back after they both pulled away.
The breakup, if it could even be called that, had been building for a while, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. Their schedules never aligned, her classes took up most of her time, work and school took up most of his. They’d managed to send letters, but they were scattered and non-routine. They could never find more than 5 or 10 minutes to talk on the phone. They just…drifted apart, despite the fact they were on each other's minds every second of every day.