This idea came to me randomly one night while I was lying in bed and I was desperate for something new to write for Caryl, so here you all are! :) I hope you all enjoy!


Cigarette smoke curled up to the dingy ceiling light and loud, boisterous laughter could be heard, even if one was standing outside. Tonight was Poker Night. Tonight was Merle's turn to host Poker Night. So, six men were squeezed into the Dixon's small living room, shuffling cards on an old card table.

Poker chips and various objects sat in the middle of the table as each man kept their eyes on their hands and each other's faces, looking for bluffs. The stakes were steadily rising. Axel had bet his watch, not exactly a Rolex, but had been worth over a hundred dollars. Another man emptied the contents of his wallet which had contained a few fifties. There was also a ring from an ex-wife and a slip of paper betting a set of expensive tools.

"I'll throw in my bike." On a sheet of paper, Merle wrote motorcycle and threw it in the middle. Everyone knew shit had just gotten real. Merle loved his bike (some suspected even more than his brother Daryl). "Now, what do you got for us, Ed." Five pairs of eyes went to the youngest man at the table at only twenty-three.

"Uh, I ain't got anything."

Rounds of 'bullshit!' went around the table.

"You got any tickets to a game?" Axel asked. "Like the Braves? I haven't been to a game since I was little."

"Some of your grandmother's old jewelry?" Oscar said, fingering the large gold ring on his right hand fondly. His grandmother had given it to him when his grandfather had died.

"Stock market shares?"

"Lottery tickets? Preferably ones with winning numbers."

Ed shook his head at everything the guys were throwing at him. "I don't have any of those things. Oh!" He reached into his pocket and took out a delicate gold chain with a tiny heart at the end. "Was going to give this to my girlfriend, but I suppose I could throw it in the pot."

Merle stopped him from doing so with a hand on his wrist. "Where the hell did you get that? A gumball machine." He took the chain and inspected it. "There's no way you spent more than fifteen dollars on this junk."

"It was twenty dollars and I got it from Wal-Mart!" Ed snatched the chain back. "So, can I put it in or what?"

"Hell no!" Merle cried. "If I'm puttin' my precious ride in the pot, there's no way I'm lettin' you put in a piece of shit jewelry and callin' it even."

"Hmm, you do have that cherry red Mustang," Axel suggested, standing up and peering out one of the windows. "Why don't you put that in?"

"Hell no!" Ed protested. "That's my baby and I'm not about to risk losing her."

"Then, how about a night with your girl?" Merle said with a smirk. No one around the table had seen what Ed's girlfriend looked like, but a night with a woman was appealing to them. No matter how she looked.

"What?"

"A night with your woman," Merle repeated. "When I say night, I mean a night of spending time with her. Relax, man. I wasn't talking about fuckin'. We're all desperate for time spent with a woman, since we ain't as lucky as you."

Ed thought a moment and reached for a sheet of paper. "Fine," he agreed and wrote night with girlfriend on it. "It's better than risking my baby and don't even thinking about touching my girl. She's mine."

Half hour later, Merle's arms encircled the stack of chips and paper in the middle of the table and pulled it toward him. He had been the big winner of the night and though, the men grumbled at their losses, Merle had won fair and square.

"See you all next month!" Merle crowed as his friends got up to leave, including Ed. However, the older man stopped him. "Oh, and bring your girl over here next Friday at around seven, okay? I'll have an evening planned for two."

Ed rolled his eyes and walked to the door. Merle grabbed his arm and stopped. "You don't bring her, Ed and you'll have me and the other guys to deal with. We don't take kindly to those that try to cheat us."

"Okay, okay. She'll be here at seven."

Merle released him and smiled. "Make it 6:45. Now, get out of here and good night!"


Next Friday- 4:00 PM

"What?"

Daryl had just gotten home from work at the local garage, covered in grease and motor oil to find Merle waiting for him in the living room. Normally, at that time, Merle would be in bed resting up for a night on the town.

"You heard me little brother. I got you a date."

"Ain't interested." Daryl shook his head, dismissing the idea and walked past his brother, heading to his room.

Merle stood from the couch and reached for his brother's arm. "You'll want to be interested. Trust me." Daryl didn't trust Merle more than he could throw him. Which wasn't very far.

"Whatever." He wrenched his arm free and continued his journey to his room and bed. The day had been a hard one and all he wanted to do was nap, not deal with his older brother now.

"You better be ready at six-thirty, little brother," Merle called after him and took his seat back on the couch. "And in somethin' decent, too."

Two hours later, the walls to their house were about to fall down- wait, was there earthquakes in Georgia? Daryl flipped to his side and slammed a pillow on his head. As long as he protected that part of the body, he would be fine and could go back to sleep.

"Daryl, if you don't get your ass up now, I'm comin' in there!" Merle shouted from the other side of his closed door. The shaking started again as Merle pounded on the wood with his fists. Daryl was surprised the door didn't splinter.

"Okay, okay. I'm up!" He shouted from his bed and sat up.

"Good. You have just enough time to get a shower before your date gets here." Daryl opened his mouth to protest and tell his brother one more time, that he wasn't going on this date, when Merle spoke again, "When you see the girl, you'll definitely want to go on this date."

"Doubt it," Daryl mumbled and gathered his clothes before heading to the shower.


"I can't believe you did this, Ed!"

"Listen, baby. It's only for one night and knowing Merle Dixon, it'll probably just be at a bar or somethin'." Together, Ed and his girlfriend were sitting in the Dixon's driveway in Ed's cherry red mustang.

"That's not the point," she said. "How could you put me in the betting pool? Am I just an object to you?"

"It was either you or my mustang." Ed rubbed the steering wheel lovingly while his girlfriend blinked away the tears. They had been going out for two months and lately, she had been feeling inadequate in the relationship...or pressured. Especially when Ed was drinking. She wasn't ready for that step in their relationship, yet. She wanted to know that Ed loved her before giving him something so precious.

"All right, it's 6:45. You should go knock on the door." She rolled her eyes and opened the door to the mustang but Ed grabbed her arm before she could step out.

"You better not let Dixon touch you." The grip on her arm tightened to the point of pain. She tried to wrench free, but he kept a strong hold of it.

"I think I can let him do whatever he wants,especially since I'm nothing more than an object to you, Ed!" Finally, her arm was free from his grasp, but it throbbed from where his fingers had dug into her flesh.

"You do and you'll be sorry."

Ed had never threatened her like that before but right now, she didn't care. Tonight was going to be the worst night of her life and it was all because of her 'boyfriend'. She slammed the door to his precious baby, glared at him one more time and went to knock on the Dixon's door.


"She's here!" Merle called to the closed bathroom door. "I hope you're almost done in there." There was no response from the bathroom and Merle shook his head, hoping he wouldn't have to drag Daryl out.

He opened the front door just in time see Ed's mustang drive away. When he looked down to Ed's girlfriend, he was taken aback by the fierce glare the woman was sending his way.

"I'm here, Merle," she snapped. "Let's get this over with."

Merle could tell that she didn't take kindly to being all but forced to do this, but in the end she would be thanking him. He hoped. Ed wasn't the man for her. He was an idiot. "You ain't goin' out with me, missy," he said just as the bathroom door opened. Merle stepped aside. "You're going with my brother, Daryl."

Merle looked at his brother just in time to see Daryl's eyes widen when he set them on the woman. "Carol?"

The glare from earlier faded from Carol's face and she smiled. "Daryl! I am so glad I have to spend the evening with you and not your brother." Merle wasn't offended by the words. Instead, he went up to Daryl and clapped a hand on his back.

"Told you that you'd want to go on this date."


There should be one more part after this and I'll try to get it up as soon as possible!

Thanks for reading!