Words failed her when Daryl sprinted towards her. Her brain entirely forgot how to think and how to act. All she could see was Rick, Carl, Michonne, Sasha, Maggie, Glenn, Bob…and Daryl running at her like his life depended on it.
He almost skidded into her, and as his arms latched around her, she automatically was returning the embrace. As soon as he pulled her to him, emotion slammed across her body in hot waves. Something between a sob and a laugh bubbled up in her throat, and the sheer, unbridled relief that flooded through her core almost made her see stars.
She’d found them. She’d saved them. They were alive. Daryl was happy to see her. He wasn’t angry or upset. There was no hatred or disgust in his touch. Relief was coming off of him in waves and there was a desperation in the way that he couldn’t keep his feet still as he stumbled around, trying to hold her closer.
The ground disappeared under her feet, and Carol clung to him as he lifted her up, swinging her side to side. He didn’t know what to do with himself, which was lucky, because Carol hardly knew what to do with herself either. So she just let the tears come and the smile burst through, and his hand, cupping the back of her head, so intimately, nearly sent her to her knees.
She was loved. She was wanted. She had found her family again.
Daryl dropped her back to her feet, but Carol had never flown so high as when he pulled away and their eyes met properly.
He looked fit to be tied, and his shoulders rose and fell with emotional gulps of air as his face crumpled, and he lowered his forehead to her collar. It all overwhelmed her, and his shuddering breath flitted across the bare skin of her chest and down the front of her shirt. She closed her eyes briefly and held her hands against the sides of his neck, holding him there and tilting her cheek against the crown of his head.