AN: I've delayed putting this up, because I'm not too terribly thrilled with it. On the other hand, things will only get fluffier and happier from here. I am really looking forward to sharing the next couple of chapters.
Carol knew instantly what she was going to do with at least part of the money Daryl had given her. Sophia might be able to have her first real birthday party. Usually it was just the two of them, celebrating her special day. Carol always tried her best to make sure it was special for Sophia. This year, maybe she could do more. She could invite Rick, Lori and Carl, maybe Daryl would come. Hell, she'd even invite Merle. The more the merrier, right?
The last time they all had dinner together, she had brought up Sophia's birthday and everyone had accepted her invitation to come, even Merle, who had become another person on the list of people who Sophia had wrapped around her fingers.
Carol was happy, truly happy, Ed aside, for the first time in a long time. She smiled a lot more, and had hope. There was now more to her life than Ed, and Sophia was happy. That was what made the biggest difference. She hadn't noticed just how much Sophia was effected by their home life until she saw her break out her shell with the Grimes and the Dixons.
Carol went to the store the day before Sophia's birthday to pick up a cake, balloons, decorations and other supplies for the party. She dropped the supplies off at the house, not bothering to hide them yet since Ed wasn't due home for another two hours before she went to go pick up Sophia from school.
As they walked home hand in hand, Carol stopped in panic as she saw Ed's car in the driveway. She tried to remain calm for Sophia, who hadn't noticed anything was wrong, and slowed her pace, trying to delay the inevitable. Maybe Ed would be in a good mood, maybe he'd understand that Sophia deserved to have a birthday party, like any other normal kid.
Somehow she doubted that. She tried to come up with an excuse, somewhere to go, something she had to do, so she wouldn't have to face. Carol ended up giving in, knowing that the longer they stayed away, the more angry Ed would be.
They made it to the house all too quickly, and before turning the knob, Carol spoke to Sophia in a hushed whisper. "Go straight to your room, and shut the door, okay?"
"Yes mama," she answered shakily. Something bad was going to happen, Sophia knew it. Her mama always acted this way when something bad was going to happen.
As soon as Carol opened the door she heard Ed's voice yelling throughout the house. She glanced worriedly at Sophia who raced up the stairs and disappeared into her room.
Ed came into the room then and grabbed Carol, shoving her against the door.
"Where the hell were you and what the fuck is all that shit in the kitchen?" He screamed at her.
Carol was about to speak when Ed slapped her across the face, and grabbed a handful of her hair. He pulled her head away from the door before slamming the side of her face into it.
"I asked you a question you dumb bitch!"
"It's nothing," Carol cried. "It's just for me and Sophia. I wanted to make her birthday special," she pleaded.
"Fucking liar!" Ed snarled before making a fist and bringing it to her stomach. Carol slid down and crossed her arms in front of her, trying to make the pain a little less.
"I know all about your little fucking friends," he said, grabbing her hair again and raising her head, forcing her to look him in the face. "How many of them are you fucking?" He asked.
"None," she choked out.
"Oh, I doubt that. Maybe I'll just go ask Sophia," he grinned. "Maybe I can teach her to not be a whore like her mother," he grinned wickedly at her.
"No, leave her alone!" Carol cried out as she tried to pick herself up off the floor. Ed had already started up the stairs towards Sophia's room. By the time Carol got up there, he had kicked the door in, and he was heading towards Sophia, who had tucked herself into the furthest corner of the room. Carol grabbed a vase from the hall and threw it at Ed's head.
"Mama!" Sophia cried out.
"I'm calling the cops, Ed." Carol said in a dangerously low voice. "I'm done. You're not going to hurt my daughter," she spat, leaning against the doorframe. "You've hurt us long enough! I've given you everything and everything I haven't given, you've taken from me!"
He laughed at her. She backed away slowly, trying to get him to follow her out of Sophia's room. She made her way to the house phone in the hall and held it in front of her, her finger ready to press the call button. She hoped he wouldn't notice how badly she felt she was shaking. She was determined to be strong, to be strong for Sophia.
"Get out, Ed," she hissed venomously.
"Fuckin' crazy ass bitch," he muttered. He grabbed the car keys and left, tearing out of the driveway. Luckily, he had listened to her, believing she would call. Ed couldn't go to prison, according to him, men like him didn't belong in prison. He'd come back when she had cooled down, and realized that she had nothing without him.
Carol threw the phone down and ran back to Sophia, scooping her up into her arms. She didn't bother calling the cops, because she had lost all faith when they refused to do anything the first time she went to them. Instead, she was playing on Ed's fear of going to prison, and thankfully it had worked.
Once she calmed Sophia down, she grabbed her purse and left, but not before she saw a glimpse of the destroyed kitchen, and noticed how Ed had ruined nearly all of the things she bought for Sophia's party. The cake she had gotten was all smashed. Pieces of what remained of the balloons littered the floor. The Happy Birthday banner that she was going to put on the wall had been torn apart. Carol ignored the desire to cry as she took Sophia out of the house.
They started walking towards Rick's house, the only cop she did trust. She couldn't stay in the house, not knowing when Ed would be back. He had gone after Sophia this time, and that was the final straw. Carol thought she could protect Sophia by staying with Ed, but that was no longer the case. She had stupidly fooled herself into believing it, and her daughter had suffered because of it. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forgive herself for that.
Lori answered the door when they got there, and Carol thanked God that they were home. "Oh honey," she sighed, leading her into the house.
"Here, sit down," she gestured to the couch. "I'm going to get Rick." Sophia sat in Carol's lap and laid against her.
Rick came down fuming with Lori behind him a few moments later. "Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? You're going to file charges against him, right?" She had never seen Rick talk so fast or look so angry in the years she had known him.
"We're okay, no, and yes," Carol said quietly, almost not trusting her voice, as she ran her fingers through Sophia's blonde hair.
"Mama?" Sophia asked as she lifted her head up. "Is Daryl coming?"
"I'll go call him," Lori interrupted before Carol could answer. Lori had felt uncomfortable, not knowing what to do or say for Carol or her daughter. At least calling Daryl would be doing something and she knew how much the Dixon brothers had grown to care about the two of them.
"Alright, I'm going to go call Shane, he's on duty right now. I'll have him come over here so we don't have to drag her down to the station." Both Rick and Lori left the room before Carol could get another word in edge wise. She was thankful, in a way. She felt so ashamed, having nowhere else to turn, nowhere else to go.
Lori came back in before Rick. As soon as Daryl said Carol and Sophia were there and that Ed had gone after them, Daryl had hung up and raced out of his house before he could even tell Merle where he was going. "You really didn't have to call Daryl," Carol said to her.
"Nonsense, he adores Sophia and he cares about you. Rick uh, didn't want me to tell you this but," Lori looked away from Carol and checked to make sure Rick wasn't about to come in.
"Daryl came by a couple of weeks ago, worried about you. He was throwin' a fit. We all had a feeling about Ed, but Daryl was pissed. He said he saw bruises on you," she said, lowering her voice. "Rick was angry too, but he had to calm Daryl down. Daryl was getting mad at Rick for being a cop and not doing anything. Rick had to explain they couldn't do anything because you hadn't pressed charges. I thought Daryl was going to go after Ed himself. We've um, we've all been talking. About how we could get you away from Ed," she admitted. "We just felt so helpless… and we didn't want to see either of you get hurt," she blinked the tears away from her eyes.
Carol looked away in shame, feeling fresh tears sting her eyes. She had tried so hard to cover it up and they had all known. The tears had made their way into sobs as Carol thought about how screwed up she had let her life get, Sophia aside. She should have listened to Rick's warnings when they were still in high school. Rick had seen something in Ed that she hadn't seen yet, because she was so desperate to get away from her latest foster family. She was so desperate to feel loved and wanted, that she found it in the arms of the first man to show her attention.
"Are you okay, Mama?" Sophia asked, touching her hand to Carol's cheek. Before Carol could reply, the door swung open and Daryl stalked over to where they were sitting. "Daryl!" Sophia squealed, leaping out of her mom's arms and into Daryl's. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her tightly to him, while he looked at Carol. He let one of his hands drift to her face, running his finger slightly over the bruise that had formed.
He felt rage bubbling up inside of him, and fought the urge to go stomp Ed's ugly mug in. He pushed it aside, because Carol and Sophia needed him more at the moment. He could go beat up Ed's ass later. He needed to make sure they were okay first. He held Sophia even tighter, using his need to comfort her as an anchor to keep him from going after Ed.
The rest of the night was one big blur that left everyone exhausted. Tears had been shed, pictures taken, statements written down… Just when Carol thought she couldn't take anymore, Officer Walsh had informed them that he didn't need anything further. Carol felt wary of the man, but Rick had convinced her she could trust him. When he promised to find Ed, Carol was tempted to believe him.
After Shane left, Rick and Daryl refused to let Carol go back home, worried that Ed would show up.
It ended up being decided that Carol and Sophia would stay with Daryl and Merle. Rick and Lori would have offered, but they didn't have the space, and they weren't comfortable with leaving Lori, Carol, and two kids alone in the house with Ed on the loose when Rick had to work the next morning.
Daryl on the other hand, had plenty of room at the house he had inherited and fixed up. He and Merle would be home, and everyone knew better than to mess with the Dixons, even Ed Peletier.
AN: Phew! I really struggled with this one. For most of it, I had been also working on my other fix, Demons, and that had really taken up a good chunk of my muse. I was thinking of saving it, but it doesn't fit with either of the ongoing fics I have currently. If you haven't already, check it out. It's AU, Caryl, and smut. Do you really need to know more?
If you have checked it out already, thank you! It was meant to be a one-shot but I may (probably) end up writing another chapter, as long as the muse cooperates.
Not to sound like a broken record, but thank you, thank you, thank you, for all the support you guys and gals have been giving me with my fics. It really means so much to me.
Keep Caryling, shipmates, we're still very much afloat.