Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead characters, but i do own the storyline.
Carol walked into the semi crowded bar. It was a little more crowded than usual on a Friday night, but she didn't care, this was her night of freedom.
When Ed went on a fishing trip with his buddies, Carol felt like she was free, of course that would only last for a few days, but these few days were like a vacation for her, she could do anything she wanted. She had put on a light amount of make-up, curled her shoulder length hair and put on a fancy shirt and a skirt.
She hadn't felt this way in years, not since her wedding day. Ed always controlled her, decided what she wore, if she would wear make-up or not and who she would go out with. She was sick of it, his abuse, how he controlled her. But she couldn't walk away, because despite it all, she still loved him.
(Daryl POV)
Daryl sat by the bar, exhausted after a long day at work. He usually went to a less crowded bar, but he was too tired to drive all the way to the other end of town, this would have to do.
He had finished his third beer when a pretty blonde sat down next to him. She was obviously not from this part of town, she was too pretty, not like the other skanks that usually hanged out around this bar.
He wanted to buy her a drink, talk to her, anything. But he knew that there was no way she would talk to a filthy redneck like him. She probably just got lost, or her car broke down and she needed to call someone. But he could at least try, right? The worst thing she could do was to say no.
"Hi." He said and looked at her. He expected her to scoff and look away, but she didn't. Instead she smiled.
"Hi." She replied.
Daryl gave her a small smile in return and cleared his throat.
"I'm Daryl. Daryl Dixon."
"Carol Peletier." She said, and shook his hand.
xxx
They had been talking to each other for a few hours, and were both pretty drunk. A few guys had walked up to Carol, offered her drinks, but she always brushed them off, she was only interested in talking to Daryl.
"I should probably head home, it's getting late." Carol said.
"Want me to walk you home?" Daryl asked, hoping her answer would be yes, he didn't except to have this much fun tonight.
"Sure" She smiled and picked up her purse. Daryl quickly paid the bartender and together they walked out of the bar. After some small talk they finally arrived at her house.
"You want to come in? Get some coffee or something?" She asked hopefully. Daryl hesitated for a moment before nodding and following her into the house. Daryl looked around while Carol got them something to drink. It was a typical American house. A big, fancy living room with lots of pictures on the walls. A picture of Carol with an old lady who Daryl assumed was her mother. And a picture with Carol in a wedding dress with a man in a tuxedo standing next to her.
'She's married?' Daryl thought and at the same time Carol walked into the living room holding two beers.
"I figured you would rather want beer instead of coffee." She said and put the beers on the coffee table. She frowned when she saw the look on Daryl's face.
"You ok?" Carol asked.
"You're married?" He asked and pointed at the picture. Carol bit her lip, she knew she shouldn't be doing this, this felt so wrong but at the same time it felt so right.
"Divorced" She lied, "haven't had time to put these down." Daryl let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Carol held out the can of beer and Daryl quickly accepted it. She sat down on the sofa and signaled Daryl to sit down next to her, which he did.
"This is nice." She said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
"Yeah" He said and took another sip of his beer. Carol put her empty beer can on the table and then suddenly felt Daryl's lips on hers. She knew she was supposed to pull away, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Ed deserved this. She deserved this. She deserved to be happy.
So she quickly responded by putting her hands in his hair and lied down on her back so Daryl was on top of her. Daryl broke the kiss when they were both in desperate need for air.
"You sure you want this?" He asked and looked down on her. She nodded and kissed him again. Daryl's hand began to stroke her thigh and she began to stroke his back. Carol deepened the kiss and started to remove his shirt.
Daryl was too drunk to care about the scars and began to take off her shirt while she stroked his hard abs. She could feel his erection pressing against her. In one swift motion, Daryl took off her shirt and threw in the floor.
A few minutes later they were both in just their underwear and Carol was now on top of him. They spent a few minutes just lying on the cough, kissing and exploring each other's bodies.
She could feel his hot breath blow into her ear, "You wanna move this to the bedroom?" He asked. She nodded and Daryl started to walk them to the bedroom with Carol legs wrapped around his waist. He lied down on the king sized bed with her on top and he quickly un-hooks her bra and throws it on the floor. He switched positions so he was on top and started to suck and bite at her hard nipple.
Carol moaned and arched her back, her hands in Daryl's hair. Carol felt her pulse quicken when he started to kiss her neck, his beard tickling her collarbone. His calloused hands began to stroke her inner thigh. He then grabs her panties, pulling them down her long legs. She then takes off his boxers and her soft hands began to stroke his shaft, Daryl lets out a moan and closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling of someone else toughing him.
She lets go of him and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him down for another kiss before Daryl slowly, but surely slides into her. They both let out a moan and rest their foreheads together. Then Daryl starts to quickly thrust into her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
Carol's nails dig into his shoulder and she closes her eyes, and in no time at all, she was reaching her peak. Feeling the sensation building in her stomach, she lets out a long moan and then reached her climax. Feeling her come was enough to send Daryl over the edge as well.
When they finally were able to catch their breaths, Daryl lied down next to her and put a hand around her waist. Carol fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in a long time.
Ten years later
Sophia sat in the hospital room, clutching her doll to her chest. The only sound she could hear was the beep of a heart monitor. She watched her mother lie in the hospital bed with her eyes closed.
Her father was nowhere around, probably out drinking with his friends. Ever since her dad found out that her mother had leukemia, he had been drinking more than usual. He was now taking all his anger out on 9 year old Sophia.
"Sophia?" Her mother rasped out, slowly opening her eyes. Sophia shot up from her chair, and was by her mother's side in a second.
"Yes momma?" Sophia asked and took her mother's hand in her's.
"I only have a few hours left. I want you to promise me something." Carol said and looked at her daughter.
"What is it?" Sophia asked, and was trying to hold back tears. She knew her mother's death was coming, she just wasn't prepared.
"Promise me that you will always be strong. And that you don't make the same mistake I did." Carol said with unshed tears in her eyes. Sophia nodded, tears streaming down her face.
"I promise" She whispered. Carol smiled at her daughter.
"There's something else I need to tell you. You're old enough and you deserve to know." Carol said and took a deep breath. "Ed is not your real father." She said.
Sophia furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"
"I'm only telling you this because I don't want you to live with Ed. When I was married to Ed, I slept with another man. I knew the moment I first laid my eyes on you that you were his, not Ed's." Carol said and squeezed her daughter's hand. Sophia still hadn't said a word, just looked at her mother with wide eyes.
"Sophia, do you want to meet your real father, or do you want to live with Ed? If you say that you want to live with Ed we can just forget I ever said anything. No one has to know." Carol said.
Sophia thought about it. She had always been afraid of her father, but she learned to love him, just because she was her father and she was supposed to love him. But when she found out that her mother was dying, she had been terrified knowing that she would have to live alone with Ed. Maybe her real father was different, maybe he was kind and didn't hit her?
"I want to meet my real dad." Sophia finally said.
Carol smiled and took her daughter's other hand. "You made the right choice."
Xxx
Daryl wiped sweat from his forehead, without air-condition, the heat in the cramped garage quickly became unbearable.
"Hey, Dixon! Come over here." Matt, his boss, yelled. Daryl quickly made his way over to the other end of the garage and walked into the office where his boss was standing.
"What?" He asked when he stopped in front of Matt. Standing next to him was a pretty blond, probably from the big city. Her 400 dollar heels and fancy clothes only proved that.
"This here is Andrea Harrison, a lawyer, she wanted to speak with you." Matt said before disappearing into the shop, leaving Daryl and the lawyer alone in the office.
"Andrea." The lawyer smiled and offered him her hand. He pulled out a red bandana from his back pocket and wiped the grease from his hands before shaking her hand.
"Daryl." He replied. Andrea sat down on an office chair and signaled him to do the same.
"What did Merle do this time?" Daryl asked after he sat down on the chair opposite from her.
"Excuse me?" Andrea said.
"Drugs? Don't tell me he killed someone this time." Daryl sighed. Andrea let out a low chuckle.
"No, this has nothing to do with this Merle." She gave him a small smile and picked up a briefcase.
"Do you remember a woman named Carol Peletier?" The lawyer asked. Daryl furrowed his eyebrows.
"Yeah. But I haven't talked to her in like 10 years." Daryl answered.
"Mrs. Peletier died a week ago from leukemia." Andrea said.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. She was a nice woman." Daryl said and started chewing on his thumbnail, a habit he had a hard time getting rid of.
"Mrs. Peletier had a daughter. A daughter she claims to be yours." Andrea said. Daryl dropped his hand from his mouth and onto his lap, his mouth agape.
"Mr. Dixon?" Andrea said and waved her hand in front of his face when Daryl hadn't said anything for a few minutes. Daryl felt his hands go sweaty and his throat was dry. Suddenly the room became so much warmer. A daughter? There was no way that he had a kid!
Daryl cleared his throat and blinked a few times before finally returning his gaze on Andrea.
"Wh-what?" He stammered. "Ain't no way. I don't have a kid." He said, his voice raising.
"Mr. Dixon, if you could just calm down we co-" Andrea started but Daryl cut her off.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN? You want me to calm down after you dropped this – this bomb on me!" Daryl yelled and stood up. He looked like he was about to burst, his hands were in tight fists, and his face was hard.
But then suddenly he started laughing. "Where's Merle? This is one of his jokes, right?" Andrea sighed and sat back down, telling Daryl to do so as well.
"Mr. Dixon-"
"Call me Daryl."
"Daryl… I can assure you that this is not a joke." Andrea said. Daryl rubbed the back of his neck, he was in really deep shit this time.
"Do you know why she never told me that she was pregnant?" Daryl asked her in a quiet voice.
"Because she wanted her husband to believe that this was his child." Andrea replied and crossed her legs.
"She told me that she was divorced." Daryl said.
Andrea sighed, "Then she must have lied." She answered. Daryl took a deep breath and ran his hands thru his hair.
"What about this husband. Why did she tell anyone that this was my child now?" He asked.
"We have evident that show that Mr. Peletier is abusive. That Mrs. Peletier and her daughter are both victims of domestic abuse. Mrs. Peletier didn't want her daughter to live alone with him, so she decided to tell the truth." Andrea said. Daryl felt his blood boil, he took a few deep breath to calm himself down.
"I understand that this is a lot to take in. And you are not obligated to take care of your daughter. Mr. Peletier still has custody, but if you decide to take her in, you will receive full custody." Andrea said and stood up, picking up her briefcase. Daryl stood up as well and shook Andrea's hand.
Andrea handed him a name card. "Here's my number. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I'll give you a few days to decide what you want to do." She said and turned around, walking towards the door.
"Wait" Daryl said when she opened the door.
"Yes?"
"The kid… what does she want?" He asked. Andrea gave him a small smile.
"She wants to live with you."
Xxx
"Wait… so you have a kid?"
"Yep"
"That you didn't know about until today?"
"Yes"
"And if you decide to take her in you get full custody because her 'dad' is an abusive asshole?"
"Yeah"
Merle suddenly roared with laughter, and almost fell off his barstool. His brother sent him a dirty look and took another sip of his beer.
"You're really in deep shit this time little brother." Merle laughed and clapped his brother on the back.
"You think I don't know that?" Daryl hissed. Merle wiped the tears from his eyes once he had finally calmed down.
"So what are you going to do?" Merle asked and signaled the waitress to give them another round.
"I'm not sure." Daryl mumbled and drowned another shot of whiskey. Suddenly his older brother grabbed him by the jaw and made him look at him. And then spoke, his voice dangerously low.
"Now you listen to me boy. You told me that your little girl is going thru the same shit we went thru when we were kids. I know that being a dad must be scary, especially when the kid is already 9 years old. But, if you don't do what's right, and take that little girl in… I will chop off your balls and feed them to a pack of stray dogs. Understood?" Daryl swallowed hard and nodded. His brother finally let go of his jaw and took a sip of his beer.
"I just have no idea how to be a dad." Daryl admitted and looked at his older brother.
"Wouldn't you rather live with someone that had no idea what they were doing instead of living with someone that hits you?" Merle asked. Daryl sighed and nodded.
"Plus, you could always take a DNA test to be sure. Lord knows I've had to take a couple of those." Merle said.
Xxx
The drive to the clinic was tense. Daryl was grabbing the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white and Merle wasn't sure if he was angry or nervous.
"You ok?" The older Dixon asked after a few minutes of very awkward silence.
"I'm fine." Daryl mumbled, not taking his eyes of the road.
"You shouldn't have slept with that girl in the first place." Merle said, making Daryl look at him thru narrowed eyes, Merle cleared his throat before continuing, "You know I always taught you that the body is a temple and you should not sleep with any girl until your married… maybe wait a year or two into marriage."
Daryl tried not to smile, but was failing miserably. Finally they both burst out laughing, easing the tension.
"Good lord, Merle." Daryl laughed. But his smile turned into a frown when they parked in front of the clinic. He saw Andrea waiting for them in the lobby, she wanted him to sign some papers before he left and they were supposed to decide when he would finally meet the girl. Merle gave him a reassuring smile before stepping out of the truck.
"Good morning." Andrea smiled when she saw the two brothers walk in.
"Morning." Daryl mumbled.
"Well hello, sugartits." Merle said and smiled when he saw Andrea.
"Merle! Shut up!" Daryl hissed which made Merle laugh.
"You must be Merle, pleasure." Andrea gave him a fake smile before returning her attention to Daryl.
"Are you ready?" She asked Daryl.
"Yeah. Where's the girl?" He asked and walked with Andrea to the reception, leaving Merle alone in the waiting room.
"She already gave her sample." She replied. Andrea talked to the receptionist and Daryl looked back into the waiting room, seeing Merle hitting on a girl.
"Daryl, when you're done giving your sample I will be waiting in there with Merle." She smiled.
"Where's my brother?" Merle asked once Andrea sat down next to him.
"Giving his sample, he'll be right back." She replied and picked up a fashion magazine.
"Hey, Blondie. How about you and me go off somewhere, bump some uglies? Were all gonna die anyway." Merle grinned.
"I'd rather." Andrea mumbled under her breath, never looking up from her magazine.
"Hey! I thought you were supposed to be nice to your clients." Merle said.
"I am, but you're not my client, your brother is." She replied, making Merle laugh.
Xxx
Daryl was still asleep when the phone rang.
"Hello?" He answered in a tired voice. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.
"Daryl, this is Andrea. The results are in." Andrea said. Daryl shot up from the bed, suddenly wide awake.
"And?"
"You're the father." Daryl took a deep breath and sat down on the bed. Before he took the test he was 80% sure that he was the father, but hearing it just made it seem so… real.
"Does the girl know?" He asked.
"Yes, she knows. She took the news pretty well. But we still have the big question unanswered. Do you want to take her in and gain full custody?" Andrea asked.
"Yeah"
"Great, then you can meet her today at my office at four a clock." Andrea said before hanging up the phone. Daryl sighed and ran a hand over his face. Who knew that your life could change entirely in only five days?
Xxx
"You alright sweetheart?" Andrea asked Sophia, who was sitting on a couch in her office, clutching her doll to her chest.
"Yeah, just a little nervous." Sophia replied and smiled at the blonde.
"You'll be fine. I already met your father, he seems like a nice guy." Andrea smiled and ruffled the girls hair like she used to do to Amy, this little girl looked so much like her younger sister.
T-dog, Andrea's assistant peeked his head into the office, "He's here." He said.
"Thank you T." She said before returning her attention back to Sophia. "I'm going to talk to him for a second and then I'll send him in. Would you like to speak to him alone or do you want me to be here as well?" Andrea asked the young girl.
"Alone." Sophia answered after a moment of consideration.
"Alright." Andrea said before walking out of the office, leaving Sophia alone. She was nervous, she hoped that this man was nice, not like Ed. Her friend, Carl, has a nice dad. Yeah, she hoped this man was like Mr. Grimes.
The door opened, pulling Sophia from her thoughts, and a dark haired man walked in. He was tall and muscular, with a scruffy beard and blue eyes. His eyes were just like hers.
Daryl didn't remember ever being this nervous. This girl was way too pretty to be his. With her short blonde hair and blue eyes, hell, this had to be the most adorable kid he had ever seen. He wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like she was going to run up to him, hug him around the waist and call him daddy. He wasn't really used being around children.
Surprisingly, Sophia was the one to make the first move. She walked in front of him and put her hand out.
"Hi. I'm Sophia." She said. Daryl smirked and kneeled down so he was on her level.
"I'm Daryl. Nice too meet you." He replied and shook her hand.
What do you guys think? Should i continue? Review!