Here We Go Again

Chapter 1

A/N: Well, this is my new Caryl AU fic! No walkers or anything like that, just normal life. There are the same characters in it, it's not just Carol and Daryl and then a bunch of OC's. No. I'm going to try and kind of make them the same, if I can. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this! This way I can do what I want and not have to go by the rules of TWD Ahahaha! Sorry, evil laugh was necessary. Enjoy!
McBrideReedusLover.~

Carol grabbed her purse and hurried out the door. Lori and Andrea were waiting for her in the driveway. She hopped into the car and buckled her seatbelt. "Took you long enough!" Lori said as she looked back at Carol. Andrea started to back out of the driveway.

"Sorry! I couldn't find my keys!" Carol apolagized.

"You were cutting into our party time. That isn't cool Carol!" Lori laughed.

"It's not like we have school anymore! We can stay up as late as we want!" Carol smiled, and Andrea turned up the radio. The three of them had just finished college, and it was time to celebrate with a girls night out at the bar. Carol was excited. No more getting up early to go to class, no more cramming for exams, no more school work ever again.

"Alright, shall we go to the restaurant and then hit the bar?" Andrea asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"I think that's a great idea!" Lori clapped her hands, and Carol laughed. They were going to have a great time tonight.

"Hey Carol, you think you're ever going to start dating?" Lori asked as they ate their supper.

Carol almost choked on her food at the sudden question. She didn't know. She hadn't really thought about dating in a long time. No one ever caught her interest, and with all the school work she was doing, she didn't have the time. "I don't know Lori, why does it matter?" Carol asked.

"It doesn't, I guess. I was just curious. I mean, I'm with Rick, Andrea is with Shane, but you're all alone." Lori spoke.

"Thanks." Carol gave her a sarcastic smile. She never really payed attention to men since highschool. She had a huge crush on someone back in highschool, but she never had the courage to talk to him. So when she went to college, she forgot about him, or tried to.

"Well, we're just trying to make sure you don't grow old alone and have twenty cats." Andrea pushed her plate away.

Carol just looked at Andrea. Sometimes her friends could be idiots. "Well as much as I appreciate your want to help me, it's up to me if I decide to date. First off, I'd need to find a suitable guy to date."

"Maybe you'll meet one at the bar! Let's go!" Lori clapped her hands and stood up. Andrea followed Lori, leaving money on the table for the meal. Carol followed the two of them to the car. She got in the back and waited for them to get going. "So which bar are we going to?" Lori asked, obviously excited to go out partying.

"I was thinking that one on 8th." Andrea headed down the road.

"Oh that's a good one. Lot's of cute guys there." Lori beamed.

"Aren't you in a relationship, Lori?" Carol raised a brow at the woman.

"Yeah... I meant for you of course." Lori smiled. Carol just shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Oh I'm so excited!" Lori jumped up and down as they got out of the car.

"Good lord Lori, calm down before you hurt yourself!" Carol laughed. The three of them walked inside the bar. There was a couple pool tables, a dance floor, a DJ, and the finest choices of drinks Carol had seen. She hadn't been to a bar in a very long while, and she had never been to this one. "Wow." Carol looked around. There were quite a few people, but the bar was larger than most in the city, so it wasn't crowded, which was a good thing considered she was claustrophobic.

"Hey, look at the bartender, he's pretty cute!" Andrea nudged Carol. Carol looked at the bartender, and if she would've had a drink, she would've spit it out. She had finally gotten rid of him for the most part, and now here he was. Her crush from back in highschool. Her heart started to race.

"I uh, think I left something at home we better leave." Carol made a beeline for the door. Lori grabbed her arm.

"Woah there girl! This is supposed to be a fun night, let's have fun!" Lori pulled Carol back toward the bar. Andrea stopped and held her arm out, stopping the other two girls as well.

"Wait, is that, Daryl Dixon?" Andrea tried to examine the man. Same hair, same eyes, same face. It must've been.

"Oh my gosh you're right! That is Daryl Dixon!" Lori whispered. She turned to Carol. "Do you remember Daryl from highschool?"

Of course she remembered him. She was head over heels for that redneck. She was always hanging out with Lori and Andrea that she never had the chance to talk to him outside of class, not that he would want to. He never talked to anyone. He was lower on the highschool food chain. No one talked to him, but she found him interesting ever since she laid eyes on him. His blue eyes were hypnotising. His voice was like music to the ears. She had only ever talked to him once, when they were forced to do a science project together. She had cherished every single moment. She had it bad for him. "Uh yeah, he rings a bell." Carol avoided looking in his direction.

Andrea and Lori dragged Carol to the counter and sat down on the stools. Carol made sure to look away from him. Instead, she kept her eyes on the dance floor.

"Three shots." Andrea smiled at him. Daryl simply nodded and went to get their drinks. He placed the three shot glasses infront of them and poured the whiskey into each. "Thank you." Andrea grabbed her shot glass and downed it. Lori did the same. Carol hadn't even noticed that the drinks were there, because she was too busy trying to distract herself.

"Earth to Carol!" Carol snapped out of her thoughts as Lori waved a hand infront of her. "We're going to dance, you want to?" Carol just shook her head. She was never any good at dancing. "Fine, but drink your shot before I do!" Lori laughed and followed Andrea. Carol turned around and just looked at the whiskey. She sensed someone was staring at her, and she glanced up. In the corner of her eye, she saw Daryl quickly look away. He had been staring at her. She felt her cheeks start to warm up and she quickly downed the shot.

Daryl could have sworn that was Carol from his science class. He had a major crush on her back then, but of course he'd never shown any hint of interest towards her. When they did their science project, she was nice to him, but he assumed it was because she was being forced to be with him. A woman like her would never want anything to do with redneck trash like him. She had gone off to college with Lori and Andrea, and he didn't go nowhere. She was out creating a life for herself while he was stuck working at a bar. Atleast it was enough to pay the bills. Lord knew Merle wouldn't pay the bills. He glanced over at her again as she downed the drink. Her friends had left their empty glasses with her, so he figured he'd go pick them up, and maybe work up the courage to talk to her.

"Carol?" He said it before he could stop himself. Now he had to talk to her. Shit.

Carol looked up. "Oh, uh, hi." She said shyly. His voice was just so... She didn't even have words for it.

"Been a while." He ran his hand through his hair. This was awkward.

"Yeah it has... So uh, how have you been Daryl?" So she remembered atleast.

"Alright I guess. 'Bout you?" By the way she was speaking, it seemed like she was afraid. Fuck, he probably scared her, why did he have to talk to her. She'd probably run from him now.

"Doing alright." Carol gave a small smile. "Finally finished school, so I'm happy about that." She tried to remain calm and attempt to have a conversation with him, but inside, her heart was pounding and she was screaming from many emotions. Excitement, worry, panic. Those were just a few examples.

"Yeah, heard 'bout that. What'd ya study?" Daryl was starting to relax a little bit. Atleast she hadn't ran from him, and it seemed like she was actually willing to talk to him. His heart was racing, she hadn't changed at all. She was still very beautiful, and her voice was still as angelic as he remembered.

"Me, Lori, and Andrea wanted to become nurses. We passed and we each have our degree. The only obstacle now is finding a job." Carol's smile widened. It wasn't as hard talking to Daryl as she had previously thought.

"Wow, that's great. Congratulations." Daryl was happy she had achieved so much. Him on the other hand, living in a small one story house with his brother and working at a bar.

"Thanks. So, what about you? Did you go to college or anything?" Carol was curious to find out more about him. This was probably the last time she would see him for a long time.

"Nah, been workin' here for a while. It pays the bills atleast." Daryl gave her a small smile.

"Well, atleast you have a job. I probably won't be able to get a nursing job for atleast a year, so I'll have to take a day job somewhere." Carol sighed, it was how life worked though. She'd get a job here if she could, but she wasn't a bar person really. She'd only be here for Daryl anyway, not that he needed to know that.

"Smart." Daryl nodded. He realized he hadn't taken the glasses like he planned. He'd been so lost in conversation with her that he never thought about actually doing his job. When he looked away from here, there were a lot of people waiting. "Shit, gotta take care of 'em. Be right back." Daryl took the glasses and then headed to serve to other people who had gathered around the counter.

"Carol, we have to go now." Andrea walked up and grabbed Carol's arm.

"What, why?" Carol didn't want to leave. She was having a wonderful conversation with her old highschool crush, who she never got over.

"There are some guys who won't stop hitting on us, so we figured we'd just leave. So lets go." Andrea tugged at her arm. Carol looked back to Daryl who was still getting drinks for everyone else. With a sigh, she stood up. She didn't want to just up and leave him to wonder where she went. She saw Lori walking over, a worried look on her face.

"Come on, lets get out of here." Lori shuddered and started for the door.

"Yeah, come on Carol." Andrea followed Lori. Carol reluctantly walked after them. Before she walked out the door, she turned back to look at Daryl once last time. He saw her leaving, and nodded to her. Atleast he wouldn't think she ditched him. With a sigh, she headed out the door after her friends.

A/N: What will happen next? Will Carol ever see Daryl again? Who knows! Thank you for reading, please, R&R lovelies!
McBrideReedusLover.~