Carol sits in the cool office doing the paperwork. Daryl had shown her what needed to be done and how to do it. She got the hang of it rather quickly. She's been working for her hours and her eyes were getting a bit crosseyed like Daryl had warned her. the Dixons were a rather strange bunch. Daryl was quiet and mostly kept to himself. Eli was a lot like Daryl, but he was much more open and friendly towards Carol. He had come in quite a few times to just hang out and talk with her. He was a nice kid. Merle was a whole other story. Merle had no filter. He said whatever he wanted and most of the time it was racist, sexist, or sexual. Carol learned quick that it was just his sense of humor, but she had never been around a man who spoke so freely and so dirty. It almost made her want to take a shower everytime she talked to him. She had yet to meet his son. She saw him when she was coming into the shop, but from what Eli told her, Dean isn't allowed to take breaks. She feels bad for the boy because she'd look out once in awhile and see the boy sweating and cursing down there. She had thought he was much older than he was when she came in, but Eli had told her that Dean was only twenty-one, a dangerous age for a boy. At that age, they are free to drink and a lot of time they found trouble real fast.

Carol had finished only half of the paperwork that was left when her phone rang. She picked it up and answered almost mechanically, she's been answering calls all day too. "Hello?"

"Hey, so, I've been home since two and it's now it's almost eight at night now. I know you said you were going shopping and job hunting, but you left the house over eleven hours ago." Carol's eyes snap to her watch and her eyes grew wide.

"I didn't even realize it was that late."

"What have you been up to all day?"

"Long story short the car broke down and it got me a job."

"What?" Sophia sounded so confused. "Please tell me you didn't sell your body to get the old junker fixed." Carol's jaw drops in shock.

"What? Sophia!"

"What? You said it got you a job. Did you fuck the sexy mechanic?" Carol had no idea what to say at the moment. Her daughter was surely joking. The sound of someone clearing their throat had her turning and looking over at the doorway. Daryl stood there and Carol lowered the phone.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. Just came to tell you that I'm closing up. Do you need a ride home?" He asks. He sounded nervous, which was strange because he had no reason to be nervous. He was offering her a ride home not asking her out on a date. Carol shrugged it off and looks at him.

"Uh, sure, that'd be great."

"Let me just finish up downstairs and we'll get going. That can wait until tomorrow." Carol nods and watches Daryl walk out.

"Mom?"

"Sorry, honey, just talking to, uh, my boss."

"Explain." Carol sighs and puts the pen down. She stood up and grabbed her purse that she left on the floor beside her chair.

"My car broke down and this boy stopped by and offered his help. He got the car towed back and promised to fix it. His dad owns this mechanic shop with his brother."

"You can't offered to get your car fixed."

"Which is why the man offered me a job. Said if I worked he'd fix the car."

"Ah, so you agreed to work for him if he fixed your car."

"Yes."

"Is it nice there?"

"Yeah."

"Are they nice?"

"Yeah."

"Is he hot?"

"Ye-" Carol catches herself and finds her daughter laughing. "It's not nice to make fun of a tired woman."

"It so is." Sophia says, causing Carol to roll her eyes. "So, how are you getting home?"

"He's driving me."

"Oh, is he?" Carol rolls her eyes and shuts the lights off before heading down the stairs.

"Have to go, Soph."

"Tell my new daddy hi." Carol huffs and hangs up, throwing her phone into her purse.

Daryl rounded the corner and looks over at her. His eyes move over her body, causing heat to travel through her. "You ready?" Carol swallows and nods, not trusting her voice. "Come on."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Merle headed home an hour ago. Dean left at six, part of his pa... uh, grounding." Carol frowns and gives him a confused look, but Daryl is quick to move on. "Eli just left."

"You said you had six people working here, right?"

"T-Dog and Jesus had the day off."

"T-Dog and Jesus?" Daryl shrugs.

"It's what they like to be called."

"Right." Carol can't help, but smile at home strange the group is, but she stays quiet. Daryl walks her towards a beat up old truck and holds the door open for her. "Thank you." Carol could have sworn she saw Daryl blush, but the night made it hard to tell. She hops up into the truck. Daryl closes the door after her. He hops in and starts the truck up before pulling out of the parking lot.

As they drive down the road Carol feels nerves beginning to fill her. Daryl shifts in his seat and sits back in his seat. Daryl clears his throat and glances over at her. "So, my son seems quite fond of you. He kept going up and seeing you all day."

"He's sweet." Carol smiles as she looks up at him. "He's a good kid." Daryl sighs and leans back in his seat.

"Yeah, don't know what I'd do without him."

"I feel the same way about my daughter, Sophia." Daryl glances over at her.

"Mm, what's she like?"

"Quiet, shy, but she's sweet. She's been through a lot, with my divorce and everything, but she's tougher than she looks." Daryl hums in response. "I didn't see much of your nephew, Dean was it?"

"Um, yeah, Dean." Daryl nods.

"He was kept busy." Daryl frowns before nodding.

"Yeah... There's probably something you should know about Dean." She glances over at him and gives him a curious look. "He's a good kid, he really is, but... But he's like his father. He has a temper and has a love for fighting. He finds himself in trouble a lot, but he is a good kid. He has a good heart."

"What did he do?" Carol asks, already knowing where this is going.

"His brother, Colt, he's only five years old. He's just like his father and Dean. Loves fighting. He got into a fight with a bunch of kids at school, the older brothers apparently weren't too happy. There was two of them, probably in their late teen years. Found Colton walking home, he did it plenty of times before, and they jumped him."

"Oh my god." Carol covers her mouth in shock.

"It was storming that day, so Dean was going to go pick him up, but he was running late, so Colt started walking. He drove down the road and saw the fight. He took it too far."

"He hurt the kids." Daryl nods.

"Dean loves his brother, would do anything for him. Even go to jail for him. He was sentenced for three years, but got out early for good behavior. He's on parol now. Only got out yesterday."

"And those kids..."

"They're alive, but they got hurt pretty bad. I'm telling you this because this town ain't big fans of us. Dixons, we have a long history of finding ourselves in trouble and these people tend to make it worst than it really is. I don't want you working for me and not knowing who we really are and hear things from other people." Carol nods.

"And those kids, did they get into trouble?" Daryl snorts and looks at the road.

"No, why would they?" Carol frowns.

"The justice system isn't fair."

"No, no it isn't."

"That's my house there." She points it out and Daryl pulls up to it. "Thank you, Daryl, for the ride and thank you for today." She smiles at me and he finds himself smiling back.

"Night, Carol."

"Goodnight." She gets out and waves once more before heading inside. Daryl watches her until she's safely inside before pulling out and heading home.