She's had her guard up for so long that it's a relief to know she can let it drop, even if the wrong kind of sound will send her bolting upright. Take what you can get when you can get it, that's all any of them know anymore.

Carol shifts against him to get comfortable, cheek nestling in. "Don't eat all the cookies," she says, a drowsy afterthought. She doesn't so much care if he did, but she felt like she should say something, and any more tiptoeing around the obvious topic is too much a tightrope walk for her tired mind.