The Spare Room
Summary: The bills keep piling up and if Daryl Dixon has any hope of improving his life, he and his brother are going to have to find someone to fill their spare room. The problem is that while he can't stand his new roommate, he finds himself falling for his roommate's girlfriend. Caryl. AU.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that you recognize from the Walking Dead.
Chapter 3
"You know, you're going to have to talk to Mom and Dad eventually," Catherine said from the edge of the garden as she watched Carol work the soil.
"I talk to them," Carol defended herself as she used the little hand tool to loosen the soil enough so that she would be able to plant a small garden in the backyard. Since moving home, she had visions of freshly dug potatoes and home grown vegetables to use in some of her recipes.
"Saying 'yes' and 'no' don't qualify," Catherine pointed out to her sister, "You've barely looked them in the eye since the whole 'sinning' conversation three days ago."
Carol groaned, "Catherine…"
"They're going to know something's up if you keep avoiding them," Catherine told her, "Clearly you haven't done much lying to Mom and Dad."
"Clearly," Carol deadpanned, "So explain this to me, Little Devil."
"Gladly, Sis," Catherine said, grinning, "See, Mom and Dad are very suspicious creatures. They pick up on your tells, which is why Mom knew you were sinning with Ed almost the second you walked through the front door. You've got to learn to hide it…a poker face."
"Poker face?" Carol asked with a raised eyebrow, "Since when do you play poker?"
"Gil and Jim were trying to teach me and Mary Ellen the other day," Catherine answered, shrugging her shoulders, "The point is that when you lie, especially to Mom and Dad, you've got to believe the lie. You've got to believe that yes, Ed really did sleep on that air mattress. You've got to believe that no, you and Ed haven't sinned. That sort of thing."
Carol stared at her younger sister for a moment with incredulity. Then she shook her head and laughed a little, "Mom and Dad really don't know what they're dealing with when it comes to you, do they?"
"Nope," Catherine said with a wide grin.
"I just hope there are times when you use those superpowers of yours for good," Carol deadpanned, getting to her feet to grab the hoe to begin a row of carrots.
"Of course there are," Catherine said, almost indignantly, "I'm helping you, aren't I?"
"That you are and I appreciate it," Carol thanked her, "It was nice of you to cover for me the other night."
"And yet you still deny me the details," Catherine pouted up at her sister.
"I told you that Ed and I went for a drive," Carol reminded her.
"And what happened on this drive?" Catherine prodded.
Carol groaned, "Catherine…"
"Did you have sex with him?" the younger sister questioned. Carol huffed and glanced up at the house to ensure that their mother was not close to the window and listening in on the conversation.
"Yes," Carol admitted in a whisper, before fixing her sister with a firm gaze.
"In his car?" Catherine asked, "Mary Ellen said that doing it in a car was really uncomfortable."
"It was. It was very cramped," Carol replied in the same low voice, "but he still lived at home and I couldn't bring him here…at least he's got his own place now."
"So you guys have your own little love nest?" Catherine teased.
Carol shook her head in exasperation, "Not exactly. He has two roommates…the Dixon brothers, whoever they are."
"They're new," Catherine replied, "Mary Ellen's older sister works down at Ernie's bar and she says that she sees them most weekends. I guess she had a thing for the older one, but he's kind of a womanizer so it didn't work."
"He sounds charming," Carol replied sarcastically.
"He must be," Catherine said, "I've heard he's had a lot of women in town."
Carol shook her head and asked, "What about the younger one?"
Catherine shrugged, "I dunno. You never hear much about him. It's always about the older one. Maybe you'll get to meet them."
"I suppose I'll have to," Carol said, not really too enthused about the prospect of meeting a womanizer, but if he was Ed's roommate, she supposed that she ought to, "I'm thinking of cooking dinner there for Ed tonight."
"And have you told Mom?" Catherine asked, raising an eyebrow. Carol froze and grimaced.
"Crap."
0-TSR-0
Carol lingered in the doorway of the kitchen, watching as her mother cooked at the stove. Even now, three days later, thoughts of the 'sinning' conversation had made it hard for Carol to look her mother in the eye. Rose Peletier had zeroed in on the nature of Carol's relationship with Ed in a matter of seconds. She knew that Carol had not followed her rules. Oh, but if only she knew how much…
Carol had lost her virginity to Ed and though it hurt and she had been a little drunk at the time, it still seemed okay. She knew how disappointed her mother would be if she ever found out, but her mother didn't understand that it was a different time. People didn't wait for marriage anymore. Besides, Carol loved Ed and someday, she was going to marry him. That had to make it okay, right?
Carol didn't know for sure, but she did know that she couldn't go on tip-toeing around her mother for the next four months. Catherine was right about that. Honestly, Carol didn't know where her little sister got her wisdom from, but there were times when Carol felt like the younger one.
Carol took a deep breath and stepped into the kitchen, where she was immediately set to work by her mother, "Carol, chop those onions for me. I need to get this roast in the oven if it's going to be ready by the time your daddy gets home from the bank."
"Yes, Mama," Carol said, obediently setting to work while silently mustering up the nerve to tell her mother about her plans for the evening. After a moment or two, she spit it out, "Mama, I'm not going to be home for supper."
Rose looked over at her daughter with a raised eyebrow, "And why not?"
"Well, I…I was going to cook Ed supper," Carol admitted, "He just moved into a new place and-"
"You're going to a man's house, alone, to cook him supper?" Rose questioned, "Are you his wife now?"
"No, Ma'am, and we wouldn't be alone. He has two roommates," Carol supplied, hoping that if her mother knew that Carol and Ed wouldn't be alone, she wouldn't make such a fuss about it.
"And why can't Mr. Ed Peletier come over here for supper?" Rose asked, "We would have more than enough food and I know your daddy is very interested in talking with this boy."
"Maybe some other time, Mama," Carol said, "Right now he's still in the middle of unpacking and I wouldn't want to tear him away from it. I just want to do something nice for him."
Rose sighed wearily, "I suppose that would be nice for him, Carol, but you remember that at some point, your father and I are going to have to meet this boy. The fact that we haven't yet makes us wonder just what his intentions are."
"His intentions are good," Carol insisted, frowning slightly.
"Be that as it may, your father and I would feel much better about you going off to see him if we were to meet him," Rose continued, "And don't give me that face, Carol Ann. One day when you have a teenaged daughter, you'll understand why we need to meet him."
"Yes, Mama," Carol said, knowing that life was easiest when she agreed with her mother even though she couldn't fathom ever having a teenage daughter.
0 – TSR - 0
Daryl groaned as the doorbell went off a third time. Up until this point, he hadn't even been aware that they had a doorbell. It became apparent that Merle and Ed were not willing to leave their lawn chairs and beer out in the backyard, so Daryl hauled himself out of his bedroom so that he could talk to whoever was calling on them. He wrenched opened the door, expecting one of Merle's work buddies or one of Ed's friends.
He did not expect for there to be a girl there.
She was a few inches shorter than Daryl with curly auburn hair pulled back into a messy sort of bun. She wore a white button-up blouse with short sleeves and a plain navy, knee-high skirt. She looked far too proper to be standing on his dumpy front step. She stared at him expectantly with blue eyes that could put the sky to shame. He swallowed back the saliva that pooled in his mouth and asked, "Uh…can I…uh…help ya?"
"Yeah. I think my boyfriend lives here. Ed Peletier," she said. Then it clicked for Daryl. This was Ed's girlfriend, the one that Kevin had prattled on about a couple of days ago.
"Right," he said, "Uh, yeah, he does. He's out back with Merle…uh…my brother."
"Great," she replied, smiling brightly at him and once again, he was wondering what the hell this pretty little thing was doing on his doorstep. She held out her hand to him and introduced herself, "I'm Carol. Carol Taylor."
There was a pause before Daryl remembered that there was some social etiquette that needed to be followed in this situation. He clasped her small, soft hand in his larger, stained one and said his name, "Daryl Dixon."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Dixon," she told him sweetly, "Can I come in?"
"Of course," Daryl said, moving out of her way to let her enter the house. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to the empty cans on the coffee table and the ashtray of cigarettes. He noticed the floor was dirty from Merle kicking off his boots and that Daryl's ratty coveralls were ruffled in the corner. The place was a pig sty. He refused to comment, though, and led her into the kitchen, where there was a small pile of dishes in the sink, which was actually pretty good, an empty chip bag on the counter, and a plate with the crusts of a sandwich on the table. He stepped out the patio doors, a little relieved to find Ed and Merle were just drinking and not doing anything illegal. He didn't know exactly why he cared what this woman thought of his home and brother. Maybe it was simply that he didn't want her to see him as a slob…though again he had no idea why he suddenly cared about what she thought of him. Ed got up off of his lawn chair as if burned.
"Carol! I thought I told you I'd pick you up," Ed protested, walking over to the woman. Merle paused mid-sip to look over at the patio, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline as he watched Ed kiss the girl on the cheek.
"I didn't want to bother you," she told him, "I know you're busy with unpacking."
"Uh, yeah. Just takin' a break with my new roommate here," Ed said, making up an excuse as to why he was not unpacking his shit.
"Merle Dixon," Merle introduced himself, getting up off his chair to shake her hand, "Ya must be Carol."
"I am," Carol replied with a smile, "It's nice to meet you, Merle."
"Mighty nice meetin' ya too, Darlin'," Merle echoed her, giving her a wide smile, "Now what brings ya over to our little piece of paradise?" he asked.
"Well, I was going to see if Ed wanted me to fix him somethin' to eat," Carol replied, bestowing him with one of her kind smiles.
"Ya came over here just to cook him dinner?" Daryl ejected before he could stop himself. That did not add up. Why in the hell would a girl like that be catering to someone like Ed? In the two days that Ed had been living with the Dixons, Daryl was of the opinion that Ed was even lazier than Merle could be at times and that he drank just as much.
"I thought it might be nice for Ed to have a home-cooked meal after a hard week at work," Carol replied, "My mama always said that a well-fed man is a happy man."
"Well, ya ain't wrong there, Darlin'," Ed told her with a chuckle, "Could really go for some good cooked food."
"I stopped at the store and got a chicken and some vegetables," she said brightly, "I know chicken's your favourite."
"Well, Darlin', I'll show ya the kitchen then," Ed offered, a wide grin on his face as he directed her inside. Daryl stared after them, the perplexed look never leaving his face. He glanced over at his brother and saw that Merle was wearing a similar look of disbelief.
"Ain't what I pictured her as what with the way Ol' Ed described her," Merle said, scratching his head with the hand that wasn't holding his beer, "Sweet Lil' Thing, ain't she?"
"Yeah," Daryl agreed, "The hell she doin' with his ugly ass?"
Merle chuckled, "No wonder he wants to marry that one. She's one fine-lookin' lady, Lil' Brother."
Daryl, who had never heard his brother speak approvingly about marriage before, looked over at Merle incredulously and asked, "What happen to the 'ain't no bitch tyin' me down for no damn reason' thing?"
"Hey, I ain't marryin' her, Brother, but I can see the damn appeal," Merle said, "Lil' thing like that with a good-lookin' body, pretty smile, and a personality as sweet as fuckin' cotton candy is one of them girls that ya latch onto tight if they'll have ya. They don't make 'em like that anymore. Too damn rich for our blood, though, Brother."
Daryl grunted in agreement, but his eyes kept wandering back to the patio door, even when Ed returned to the backyard. Daryl didn't have much experience with women, but the one that was in his kitchen was intriguing the hell out of him. He supposed it was because there was now a female in what had been a predominantly male dwelling.
That had to be it…right?
0 – TSR – 0
Carol stood at the sink, washing the dishes that had been left there as she waited for the chicken to cook in the oven. All in all, the house was pretty clean for three men living alone, even if there were a couple of small things that needed to be tidied up. She was happy for Ed. She knew that he had been getting pretty frustrated living with his parents and now, he had the freedom that Carol often craved. He seemed to get along pretty well with his roommates. Even now, she could hear him laughing with the older Dixon brother. Merle seemed nice, nothing like she had expected after talking with her sister, and it seemed as though he and Ed were very similar. They were both outgoing with a charming smile. They both enjoyed sitting with a beer and telling their stories. It was nice that Ed had a friend. After his car accident, he had lost touch with all of his old football friends.
"Ya don't gotta do that," a voice from near the table had Carol turning around. She found the youngest Dixon brother standing there, his sharp blue gaze fixated on the sink full of sudsy water.
"I don't mind," she replied, giving him a smile.
"I meant to do it after my shower," he said, running his hand through his long, damp brown hair, "Don't usually let them dishes pile up."
"It happens. People get busy," Carol shrugged, returning to her task. She didn't hear him as he padded across the floor and jumped a little when she caught sight of him in her periphery. He picked up a cloth and began to dry the clean dishes that she pulled out of the sink.
"You don't have to do that. I don't mind," Carol told him again. She had been brought up in a household where the domestic chores were taken care of by her, her mother, and her sister.
"They ain't your dishes," Daryl reminded her, opening up a cupboard to put a plate away. She said nothing more on the subject and neither did he. They worked together in silence to work through the dishes. Every so often, Carol would look over at him out of the corner of her eye.
While Merle was more outgoing, Daryl seemed downright shy. He was quiet, rarely saying anything and speaking in low tones. There were times were it seemed that he tried to make himself as small as possible, like he was trying to blend into the wall. He also seemed to be very self-conscious, almost embarrassed of the small messes that could be found in his house. For being around her age, he seemed almost too mature, much more so than Merle, who had to be at least ten years older than Carol. She wondered how long the Dixons had been in town. She had certainly never heard of them before. She was about to ask when Ed and Merle entered the kitchen, both looking for another beer.
"Looks like we got our women takin' care of the dishes," Merle teased Ed, who chuckled at the joke. Carol looked over to Daryl, who rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn't respond to the taunts.
"How long 'til supper, Baby?" Ed asked, opening the fridge and passing a beer to Merle before taking one for himself.
"About twenty minutes," Carol replied.
"Well, smells good, Darlin'," Merle told her, "Much better than anythin' Lil' Brother cooks up."
"I'll remember that shit come huntin' season and ya want venison," Daryl mumbled.
"Wish it was huntin' season," Merle sighed wistfully, "Then there'd be some decent food 'round here."
Carol laughed, "Well, you're in for a treat tonight, Merle. My mama makes the best roast chicken in three counties and I happen to know the recipe."
"That's mighty kind of ya, Darlin'," Merle said, "Mighty kind indeed."
He strolled back outside with his beer, but Ed didn't follow him. Instead, Ed spoke to Daryl, "We can finish up here. Why don't you go talk to Merle?"
Daryl's eyebrows shot up and he gave Ed a look, but he said nothing as he followed the path his brother had taken moments before. Carol turned and smiled at Ed, who was leaning against the opposite counter.
"They seem nice," she said, placing a few forks on the counter.
"Good enough guys," Ed agreed, "They mooch a little bit. You don't have to feed them, Carol."
"I don't mind, Ed," Carol said with a chuckle, "They're your friends. I don't mind cooking for them."
"Still ain't right," Ed insisted, watching her dry some of the dishes on the counter, "You came here to cook for me, not them."
"I came here to cook for all of you," Carol corrected gently, "I don't even want to think about how long it's been since those poor men had a home-cooked meal."
"If they want a home-cooked meal, they oughta go find their own damn women and stop takin' advantage of mine," Ed snapped, "Carol Ann, you're too damn sweet for your own good."
"I'm just being decent, Ed," Carol maintained, "Besides, there's more than enough food to go around."
"Still," Ed said, moving to wrap his arms around her middle, "men like this take advantage of any act of kindness. They think it's in invitation right into a woman's pants. Don't want them thinkin' of you that way, Darlin'."
"Ed, I don't think Daryl and Merle are like that," Carol insisted, "They're sweet."
"Just remember who you belong to, Girl," Ed reminded her, "Only man around this place that ya ought to be cookin' for is me."
TBC
AN: So Carol has met the Dixons...and she seems pretty fond of them. Ed's not too pleased, though. Originally the start of this chapter was different, but I figured that Carol needed more time with her sis. Hope you enjoyed! Hopefully the next chapter's up in the next couple of days. Carol, Ed, and the Dixons are going to have their meal together. Not skipping that one :)
Please let me know what you think so far! Thank you for all of the wonderful and kind support!
