She said yes to Daniel and he didn't know about Daryl, she wore his ring now and he didn't know about her past in Georgia. It just never came up really.

Carol had been living in New York for five years now and at the age of twenty-six she had finally gotten her masters in Marketing and found her prince in a three-piece suit.

But there was a problem. A big one in Georgia, named Daryl Dixon. They hadn't spoken in seven years, after the last fight over something she couldn't even remember now. They said things to each other that they couldn't take back and she left him. Now, she was going to have to call him because she couldn't marry Daniel until she and Daryl were divorced.

She had been too busy to file the papers with school and working and she really thought he would file, but he never did. She had made sure he had her address to send them too, her best friend Tara back home had given it to him. Every time she moved, she told Tara to make sure Daryl knew where to send the papers.

They never came.

They had been married for thirteen months before it all went to shit and she had left town in a hurry. It had been good at first, like things always were, but they were way too young. They said I do when they were barely out of high school and sure that they could set the world on fire. But the fire between them had consumed them and broken both their hearts.

Well, her heart was broken anyway, she didn't know about him. She figured he had moved on long ago, there certainly were plenty of women who would line up for him. He was good looking and strong and more than a few people were shocked when he had married the town nerd, but he did.

He'd had no choice, he was madly in love with her, and no one else would do. So they eloped one summer night to Maryland and came back married. They had been so happy then, even Merle got on board with it after a while.

But it didn't last. Like many first loves don't.

She was going to have a real wedding this time, at the finest restaurant in Manhattan, Daniel had promised her. The date was set and the deposit paid.

But first she had to sit down with him in Starbucks, on a rainy April day and look him in his gorgeous brown eyes and come clean.

"Daniel." She stared as he opened his laptop to review his cases for the next day, he had just come from court and they were meeting for coffee before he had to go back.

"Yes Kitten." He said. He had called her that almost from the beginning and it was so endearing. Daryl had always called her sweetheart, not very original, but at the time it was everything to her.

She smiled at him. How to tell him? He was a reasonable man, surly he would understand, hell, he could represent her. Get this done quick. Then they could forget all about it and get married as planned.

"Daniel, I have something to tell you and…It's complicated."

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Daryl rolled over in bed to the sound of the house phone ringing which was weird. No one ever called the house phone, every one used cell phones now. He couldn't remember the last time they got a call on that phone. It was part of a bundle with the crooks at the cable company, so they kept it. But the last time they got a call, he was sure it had been months.

He heard Merle stumble out of his room and curse as he stubbed his toe, then he heard him pick up the phone to answer it.

A few minutes later he was busting through Daryl's door.

"Wake up brother, your wife is on the phone." Merle cackled as he handed Daryl the old cordless phone.

Daryl sat up in bed and glanced over at the picture that was tacked up on his wall with a thumb tack. It was of him and Carol sitting on the stairs of this very house, where they used to live together. She was sitting on the bottom step and he was behind her holding her against him, they were just seventeen years old. In a years' time they would be married and in over another year they would be broken up.

But in that picture they were so happy and so in love.

He swallowed hard and brought the receiver to his ear. He had been waiting, all this time for her to call. But something told him this wasn't the call he had wanted.

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Merle was in the kitchen drinking coffee and he had poured one for Daryl, assuming he would need one. He also had a pack of smokes and a lighter on the table for him. Finally, Daryl came out of his room, in jeans and a sleeveless flannel shirt and put the phone back on the wall.

He sat down and grabbed a cigarette, lit it and inhaled. Merle didn't say a word, even as he sipped the coffee and smoked the cigarette down to the filter. Then Daryl reached for the pack again and Merle could take no more.

He looked at Daryl with his eyes wide and a gesture as if to say, "Well?"

"She wants a divorce; says she's sending papers."

"Well, hell brother, why you acting so surprised?"

"I aint signing."

"Come on Daryl, you two aint lived together or spoken in years." Merle said. "You…"

"Don't mean I still don't love her." He said. "Or that she doesn't still love me."

"Oh for God's sake."

Daryl took a long pull on his cigarette and looked up at the ceiling.

"I told her I wasn't signing and she's coming here with some fancy lawyer she's banging and I'm gonna have to kick his ass."

Merle huffed and reached for a cigarette now too. Because he knew this was going to be an epic clusterfuck. His brother refused to move on, even though she had been gone for years. Daryl said she'd come back to him one day.

Well she certainly was coming back now wasn't she.

"She's my wife Merle."

A/N: So my Caryl muse finally came back and now she wont shut up. I realize this is a familiar trope, but I just love the idea of reunions, it makes my little black heart so happy. This story is almost completed, so updates will be regular, hope you enjoy and let me know what you think :)