They had gone to school together, that's how they knew one another. During their senior year, they had English class and Carol had taken a seat next to him the whole semester. They had even done a project on one of Shakespeare's plays. It was probably the only 'A' Daryl had gotten in that class.

Carol had swung by the Dixon place once during the project to pick Daryl and they had dinner together. That night, he had come home moon-eyed and Merle knew that his brother must have liked the girl. But Daryl was a coward and they had graduated high school without Daryl asking her out. Merle knew she would have said yes, too.

Up until she started dating Ed, she had worked at the convenience store down the road. Daryl had looked for every excuse to go down there and it hadn't taken Merle long to figure out why.

So, Merle had had the Poker Night planned for weeks now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to start playing high stakes poker. That last night of playing the card game, he had been feeling lucky and had thrown in his motorcycle, knowing that other high bets would have to follow. Ed would never put in his precious mustang, so his girlfriend was the next best thing.

Hopefully, after tonight, Ed would no longer have a girlfriend.

"Well, I better let you two get goin'. Knowin' Ed, he'll be here right at midnight." He stepped aside and pushed Daryl forward. His brother looked slightly panicked and glanced back at his older brother with wide eyes. 'You're welcome,' Merle mouth and shoved him one last time before making his way to the couch.

Sometimes, he couldn't believe how great of a brother he was. He deserved an award or some shit like that.

"So, uh what do you want to do?" Daryl asked, feeling awkward as he shoved his hands in his pockets. If he had known Merle was setting him up with Carol, then maybe he would have taken more care in his appearance.

"I don't know. I was kind of forced into all of this." Carol didn't sound mad about it, but Daryl peeked at her face and saw that she did look hurt.

"Sorry about that," he apologized.

"It's not your fault." She brightened and quickly changed the subject. "Oh, there's that festival going on in the next town over. Ed didn't want to go because he was afraid someone would mess his car up." She rolled his eyes. "Then, when I offered to take my car, he said he didn't feel like it."

Ed's an idiot, Daryl wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut. Talking about someone else's boyfriend in front of them was probably a big no-no.

"So, do you want to go? I mean, we don't have to. It was just a suggestion."

Daryl shrugged. "Let's go. I haven't been to a festival in a long time." Or ever.

"Great!" Carol beamed and Daryl was reminded of why he liked her so much. Carol was beautiful. If only he hadn't been such a coward in high school, then maybe... Maybe, what? She'd go out with you? Ha! The only reason why she's goin' out with you know is because Merle won her in a poker game.

After receiving directions from Carol, they arrived at the festival fifteen minutes later. It was already going in full swing and the place was crawling with people. The smells of fried food hit Daryl's nose and made his mouth water and screams from people on rides made him think someone was getting tortured.

Carol walked over to where he stood beside his truck. "So, what do you want to do first? Eat or ride rides?"

The rides looked fun and the food smelled good. "What do you want to do first?" He figured he should let Carol choose first. She was a lady, after all.

"Well, I am kind of hungry."

"All right. We can eat first, as long as you promise not to hurl when we get on the rides." Daryl wanted to slap himself on the forehead for saying something like that. That was no way to talk to a lady. Especially a lady like Carol.

However, Carol only laughed. "Deal. Let's just not go on any spin-y rides for an hour after we eat, okay?"

"You got it."

They had a hard time picking out what they wanted from the several different vendors. Everything was different, except that it was all fried food. "Ed doesn't like it when I eat food like this," Carol said, taking a bite of her corn dog. "He says I'll get fat."

"You ain't goin' to get fat from one damn corndog," Daryl grumbled, disliking Ed even more. "And he shouldn't tell you what you can and can't eat."

"You're right," she said quietly and they fell into silence.

When they had found the vendor for their food, Daryl had offered to pay for their meal, but Carol had pushed his hand away. Telling him that she could pay for her own food and it wasn't like it was a real date, anyway.

Daryl knew it wasn't a real date, though he wished it were. He had liked Carol since his sophomore year of high school, though he had never had a chance to talk to her until their senior year. If he had been brave, he could have asked her out, then she would be able to eat all the corn dogs she wanted.

"Dessert now or after rides?" She asked as they threw their sticks away. Now, they were heading toward the ride section of the festival.

"Uh, later?"

"Sounds good to me. Come on!" She reached for his hand and then, stopped. "I want to go on all the rides at least once before we have to leave!" Daryl tried his hardest to not think about Carol almost grabbing his hand.

They bought their wristbands and Carol led them to their first ride. As they waited for their turn, she looked to where the ferris wheel was. "I say we save that one for last, huh? Unless, you don't want to."

"Sounds fine to me," he said. Honestly, he would do whatever Carol wanted to do this evening. As long as the night would never end because after midnight, she would be Ed's again and they probably would never see each other.

Together, they went on every ride at least once. Some more than once. In those few hours, Daryl forgot about everything except for that moment and Carol. Never had he had so much fun in his life. When they had gone on the Ferris Wheel it was almost like they were the only two people in the world.

"We have to do that again sometime, Daryl!" Carol exclaimed over her ice cream cone as they walked to Daryl's truck. "It was so much fun!" Her face was still flushed from the rides and Daryl didn't think she had ever looked prettier.

"You think Ed would let you come out with me, again?"

The mood grew tense and Daryl wished he could have taken the words back. But he needed- no, wanted- to know what Carol would say. Was there a chance that they could hang out again? Daryl would take it, even knowing that they would only be friends.

Carol sighed and threw the rest of her cone away in a garbage can. "Probably not. He hates it when I go out and he's not with me. It gets kind of irritating when I go bra or underwear shopping." At Daryl's red face, she quickly apologized.

"Sounds to me like he ain't a very nice guy." He braved a look at Carol, hoping to see her reaction.

"Ed's just...Ed," she sighed again and looked away. "It's not fair of me to talk to you about him. We're supposed to have fun tonight."

"I got an idea," he said. "You willin' to go with me to one more place before I take you back to my house. I figure we have at least an hour or two before Ed shows up."

"Okay. As long as you promise you haven't turned into a serial killer since we graduated," she teased.

"Promise." He smiled. "Let's go."

The place Daryl had in mind was only a ten minute drive from the festival and he knew the way by heart. It was a place he often went when things got too suffocating at home. Turning on a dirt road, he drove a ways before pulling off to the side.

"Is this where you plan to kill me, Dixon?" She teased and Daryl saw her smile in the moonlight.

"Naw. Unfortunately, I ain't got my favorite knife with me to do the job." He turned the truck off and shifted in his seat to look at Carol better. "From here, we're walkin', but you gotta promise me that you don't tell anyone about this place. All right?"

Carol saw that he was serious and nodded. "I promise."

"Good. Come on."

Even in the dark, Daryl was surefooted. He knew where every rock or tree root was. Carol on the other hand, didn't. Behind him was a continued string of curses as she kept tripping or stubbing her foot on something.

Taking pity, Daryl reached back with a hand. "Here, take it. I'll make sure you don't fall on your ass."

Carol gripped his arm and grumbled, "And you couldn't offer me it five minutes ago?"

Didn't know how you would react if I touched you, was on the tip of tongue, though Daryl knew he would have been mortified if he had let them slip. "Thought you'd be able to handle it," he finally teased,shocking himself further. "You've gotten soft since high school."

"Ha ha. So, what is this place you're taking me to?"

"Just a place I go to when I want to get away from my brother. I'm able to have some peace and quiet while I'm there."

"Sounds nice," she sighed.

At that moment, they broke through the tree line and stepped into a clearing. About twenty feet away, was a pond. The outer rim was covered in tall reeds and weeds and only a small section was open up to a dock.

"It's private," Daryl said and let go of Carol's hand. "Ain't no one goin' to bother us here."

Carol smiled, eyes wide in awe. "This place is beautiful, Daryl," she said and turned to him. "And the moon is out, so it makes everything look silver."

"Do you want to sit on the dock for a little bit?"

"Yes, please."

Ten minutes later, the two had taken off their socks and shoes to dangle their feet in the cool water. For all those minutes, Daryl kept trying to figure out how to bring up the subject of the talk they were going to have.

"So," he started. "Are you...happy? With Ed, I mean."

There was a pause and Daryl wondered if she was even going to answer it. "I...I find myself happier when he's not around...which has gotten fewer and fewer nowadays." She glanced up at him. "Does that make me sound like a bad girlfriend?"

"No, it doesn't," Daryl answered honestly.

One corner of Carol's mouth tipped up. "I'm glad. I know it should be normal for couples to see each other a lot, but Ed constantly wants us to be together. Half the time, we just end up driving around in his mustang, which was fun the first few times. But now, it's just boring.

"I want to go somewhere fun, somewhere we haven't been before, you know? Instead of the same damn thing." She sighed and leaned back on her elbows to look at the sky. Things were silent for a few minutes.

"Why don't you break up with him?"

At the shocked, wide-eyed look Carol gave him, Daryl backtracked. "Shit, sorry. It ain't my place to say that."

"No, it's okay, Daryl. We're friends." She reached over and squeezed his wrists. "I'm sure you didn't come here to hear me rant the whole time. Tell me what's on your mind."

Fuck the prick and give me a chance! "Uh, if you aren't happy with Ed, then maybe he isn't the one for you." There. That sounded decent enough.

Carol didn't speak for a few minutes and appeared lost in thought. Daryl gnawed on the skin of his thumb and forced himself to look at the rippling water at the pond, not at Carol.

"You know what, Daryl?" She looked at him with clear blue eyes. "Maybe you're right."

"I am?"

"If Ed doesn't make me happy anymore, why should I still be with him? Especially, if he's not willing to the things I want." She reached for him again and this time grabbed his hand. "Thanks."

Daryl didn't know what to say with Carol grabbing his hand. "Uh. We should probably start heading back. It's getting late." The last thing he wanted to do was leave this place, especially with Carol's soft hand in his.

"Y-Yeah. You're right." She stood. With her hand still in his, she helped him up, too. "This time, you're helping me get through the woods the whole time and not just when you're tired of me tripping."

Daryl's mouth curled. "Yes ma'am."

When they pulled into the Dixon's driveway a little after midnight, they saw that Ed's red mustang was already idling alongside Merle's bike. "Uh oh," Daryl whispered and glanced at Carol with a little teasing smile.

Carol only rolled her eyes. "We're five minutes late. Big deal. We should have made him wait longer, in my opinion."

"Now, that would have been fun."

Carol giggled and then, turned serious. "I had a wonderful time tonight, Daryl. At first, I was pissed that I had to do this because of a stupid bet, but now I'm glad it happened." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Let's not wait two years before we hang out with each other again, okay?"

"O-Okay." His face felt hot and the place where her lips had touched his cheek tingled.

Goodnight, Daryl."

"Night."

With one last smile, Carol climbed from the truck and walked over to the passenger's side of the mustang. Daryl waited a few more minutes before getting out and heading to the front door. It took all of his willpower to not turn around and wave at Carol.

"Where the hell have you been? It's 12:08!" There was no greeting or 'I missed you, baby. How was your night?' from Ed. Not that Carol had expected as much.

"Relax. We were only eight minutes late," she huffed and put on her seatbelt. "And you have no right to be angry, Edward Peletier. It was your fault I was out tonight!" Not that she minded. In fact, her night with Daryl had been better than any of her dates with Ed. Even in the beginning of their relationship.

"And Dixon better not have tried anything," Ed continued to grumble as they drove to Carol's house. "I'll kick his ass."

If he did? and I'd like to see you try, were on the tip of her tongue, but Carol kept her mouth shut and focused out the window. 'Why don't you break up with him?' Daryl's words played through her head. 'If you aren't happy with Ed, then maybe he isn't the one for you.'

When they pulled into her driveway, Carol had made her decision. Turning to Ed, she said, "Come inside. I need to talk to you." Ignoring his smug smile, she got out of the car and walked to the front door.

As of right now, there will be one more part.

Thanks for reading!