AN: Well…here we go, the next little chapter. I'll try to get something else out soon.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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Carol saw the man when he walked up the sidewalk and entered into the little part of the café, the outside patio, that was fenced off with the knee high cast iron fencing.

As soon as she saw him, her memory remembered him…not that the details were clear in her mind or that she might have dared to say that she could pick out any of his features from a line up…but her mind immediately saw him as familiar, and there was an odd feeling in her body that he was familiar as well.

She'd only sat, moments before, to await his arrival, and she stood up, stepping toward him and around the table she'd chosen…her favorite in the patio area…to catch his attention. She glanced quickly at Andrea, a few tables back, who was pretending to read a magazine that she had absolutely no interest in and was nursing her second cup of coffee.

When Daryl saw Carol, he walked straight toward her, one of his hands in his jeans pocket, the other he wiped on his pants before offering it to her, so she smiled and took it to shake…an odd gesture when her memory offered her snippets of what his hands had done to her before…and she let her eyes take him in.

He was…dirty…honestly. He looked like he probably worked some kind of outside job…one of those jobs where men didn't come home looking pressed and stressed from the office. It had to be one of those jobs where they came home dirty and tired.

He was obviously the kind of man who might frequent Salty's far more often than she would have.

"Daryl," he said, a crooked smile spreading across his lips.

He was handsome. He had a short beard, maybe simply the result of skipping shaving a few days, that was pretty heavily greying…especially in comparison to his hair which showed evidence of his age, but less than his facial hair. And he had very blue eyes surrounded by crow's feet that made Carol at least somewhat happy that she hadn't picked out and corrupted a college boy or something of the like in her drunken stupor…something that might have left her feeling more embarrassed and a good deal like Mrs. Robinson.

"Carol," she offered.

When Daryl pulled his hand away, he looked at it.

"Uh…sorry…I just took off work an' I ain't had time ta…clean up…ya gotta bathroom?" He asked.

Carol smiled and nodded.

"Just inside, straight to the back…would you like me to get you something? I'm having coffee…" she offered.

He nodded his head and scratched at his beard.

"Yeah…coffee's good…just…just regular coffee," he said, looking around.

"OK…do you like pie?" Carol asked.

He looked at her like he didn't like the question and then his face faded to being expressionless.

"Yeah…whatever…pie's good," he said.

Carol offered another smile and he disappeared, taking quick strides inside. Carol cast another glance at Andrea, reclining in her chair and grinning, before she went inside to get their coffee and their pie.

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Daryl washed his hands and his arms up to his elbows. He'd been working with Merle and Axel trying to get flower beds put in and it had turned out being more of a chore than they thought it would because the woman who had contracted them for the job had failed to mention, when she described what needed to be done to Tyreese, that the piece of ground they had to work with was damn near grown up enough that Daryl expected to find some kind of damn wonderland back there while they were working.

He rinsed his face too, hoping to at least take off a little extra helping of dirt, and then he used a bunch of the paper towels in the bathroom basket to dry up.

Carol had not been what he was expecting…not at all. He'd thought he remembered her clearly enough…he'd thought that he'd gone piecing things back together enough to have a pretty good idea of what he'd gotten himself into…but he hadn't.

She wasn't blonde…not at all. Her hair was grey…almost white in most places…and he'd remembered that it was cut in something of a pixie cut…but he hadn't realized that the light color in the dim atmosphere had been grey.

And she was attractive, there was no denying that, but Daryl was simply thrown off by her hair and by the fact that she was, frankly, just not what he'd been making up for himself in his mind.

He was also thrown off by the atmosphere of the place. He was in a bathroom and the bathroom looked nicer than the dining rooms of most of the establishments that he frequented.

And if he had to be honest with himself…if he had to be truly honest…she was a lot older than the women that he usually went out with. The women that he usually went out with didn't have gray hair…or they didn't have too much of it.

Because, though he wasn't trying to lure in jailbait like his brother was, Daryl had a pretty strict policy that he liked to keep his women in their thirties at the oldest…Merle had taught him that…half your age was the youngest you could go without getting looked at sideways, and never go over half plus ten if it could be avoided.

And yet…he'd done just that…and he didn't remember hating the night…but then again, he'd also thought she was blonde and much younger than she obviously was…so he couldn't say that his memory of the night was very reliable.

After Daryl had hid out in the bathroom, thinking about things, until he figured she might grow worried, he decided to suck it up and go back out there. He would be a good sport…drink some coffee…eat some pie…make sure he hadn't fucked up and left her any kind of souvenirs to remember him by...and then…

But that's where he got stuck…and then what?

Was he going to bail on her because she wasn't 35? After all the shit he'd given Merle through the years?

Since he couldn't answer that question for himself, and since he figured she might not even care for him once they started talking and it would be a moot point, he stepped out of the bathroom and made his way back to the patio.

She was sitting at the table, her head resting on her hand and her elbow propped on the table, staring straight ahead of her in thought.

But she smiled again as Daryl sat down.

"I hope I wasn't too bold…calling you out of the blue," Carol said.

Daryl cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Nah…" He responded. "I…uh…thought'cha might call…"

Carol pushed the coffee cup and plate with a slice of pie on it toward him and Daryl thanked her, picking up the fork and eating some of the pie. She watched him as he did and it almost made him feel self-conscious with the way she had her eyes locked on him…her very, very blue eyes.

"You…ya ain't eatin' none?" Daryl asked.

Carol shook her head.

"No…I didn't want any, but you enjoy it," Carol said. "On the house…my treat…"

Daryl nodded his head in the way of thanks and she fell silent. He wasn't sure, at this point, if it was that she didn't have anything to say to him or if it was simply that she didn't know how to get the conversation going…not that he was any great weaver of conversations himself.

"I was worried," he said after a minute, "that'cha might be callin' ta say…well…that'cha run into the way a' trouble from…"

Daryl paused and cleared his throat.

"From what happened," he finished, stuffing another bite of pie into his mouth as an excuse not to say more.

Carol raised an eyebrow at him and drank some of her coffee.

"Trouble?" She asked.

Daryl didn't feel like beating around the bush at the moment. He swallowed the pie that he was eating.

"Ya ain't knocked up, is ya?" He asked.

He hadn't expected Carol to laugh like she did, but she let out a pretty good laugh before dramatically shaking her head at him.

"No…that's not a problem," she said. "Not…a problem at all."

Daryl felt relieved.

In his mind he still had the idea that somewhere he was going to end up with some magical woman that was going to turn his world upside down. He was only forty five, after all, and it could happen…it happened to a lot of men older than that.

And he figured they'd have a nice family…two kids, a dog maybe…all the shit he'd been told to expect out of life that just hadn't come his way yet.

But he hadn't exactly wanted either of his two kids to come from the oh so romantic setting of a sloppy drunk night down at Salty's where he had to learn the kid's mama's name two weeks later from a random ass phone call.

That just wasn't the shit that hallmark cards were made of.

When he hadn't spoken for a moment, it must have gotten to her like the earlier silence had gotten to him because she drank from her coffee cup and leaned forward a little, perching her elbows on the table and shaking her head gently at him.

"I just wanted you to know that…what happened…I don't usually do things like that," Carol said. "I really don't…"

Daryl nodded his head knowingly and scraped the crumbs up off his pie plate, sucking the fork clean before he rested it on the plate again…more for something to do than for any genuine interest in the pie.

"Yeah…I don't do shit like that neither," he admitted.

After a moment, something struck him and he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. The chuckle caught her attention and she raised her eyebrows at him in question. He shook his head slightly, realizing he was going to have to explain.

"Hell…I don't reckon too many people that do that kinda thing are gonna come right out an' say they do," Daryl said. "How many people ya know gonna say they ended up gettin' drunk down at a bar…did…ya know with someone they ain't knowed from Adam…an' then gon' say they do that kinda thing all the time?"

Carol shrugged slightly and she chuckled lightly.

"I might know some people…" she said. "At least people who do that kind of thing a lot more than I do. When I said I don't usually do it…I really meant it. I'd own up to it if it were common."

Daryl felt bad then because he suddenly felt like she'd misinterpreted something that simply struck him as funny as some kind of accusation about how she spent her weekends, and that wasn't the case at all. Looking at her now, he couldn't even believe a woman like her had been that drunk down at Salty's…he couldn't believe she'd even done it once…so he certainly didn't think that it was like some kind of alternate ego for her.

He frowned and shook his head.

"I didn't mean nothin' by that," he admitted. "I know some people would do that a good bit…hell, my brother's one of 'em…or at least he'd end up knowin' damn near anybody in town that was…an' I weren't tryin' ta say ya were. Was just tryin' ta say that a good damn many people that did wouldn't even say they did…"

Carol nodded her head and offered him a small smile.

"It's OK, I didn't think you were accusing me," she said. "Besides…your only knowledge of me doesn't exactly paint me in the best light."

Daryl frowned again.

"Hell…reckon ya weren't alone, right?" He said.

When she didn't respond with words and instead only responded with a gesture of her head, Daryl started to feel a little uncomfortable. He started to feel a little like he didn't know why he was there…or what exactly it was that they were talking about. He'd spent so much time worrying that he was going to find out that she was going to have a kid and he was going to have to deal with whatever aftermath came from that, that he hadn't exactly spent too much time to coming up with other topics of conversation.

"D'ja have anythin' specific ya wanted ta talk about?" He asked.

Carol shook her head, looking a little taken aback.

"No…not really," she said. "I just thought you might like to meet…that you might like to have coffee…"

She left the words hanging in the air and Daryl swallowed them down.

This was the point where he was supposed to make some decision and he knew that well. She was leaving this shit open to him.

He could either come up with something to talk about now and prolong this meeting, or he could end this meeting and invite her to something else…he could ask her out. He could ask if she wanted to go to dinner…if she wanted to see a movie…if she wanted to do something else that she might find at least mildly interesting.

And that would put them in the odd realm of going on a date…a date…not just meeting for coffee. And from there, he'd have to decide what happened…was there a second date? Since they'd already slept together…would they do it again?

If he asked her right now to go on a date with him, it would lead to figuring out the relationship from there.

Or he had the option to thank her for meeting him…he had the option to bow out gracefully. He could decide if he'd say he'd call her and then later never do it, or he could simply leave it at that and never hint that they'd see each other again.

The thing was, at this point, it was on the table for him to decide. She'd been the one to make this call…and she'd been the one to ask him to come and meet her here for coffee and pie that she hadn't eaten…but the next step was his choice.

And he wasn't sure where he wanted to go.

Daryl cleared his throat and took his phone out of his pocket, checking the time like he had somewhere to be even though Axel and Merle had likely not even missed him while they were wading through the kudzu jungle.

"Well…I'm glad ya called me…" Daryl offered.

Carol smiled at him.

"I'm glad that you came," she offered.

And she was still looking at him with expectation on her face. She was looking at him to see which card he threw out next.

"Listen…I just…" Daryl stopped.

He had never really felt conflicted before about what to do in a situation like this…and that was partly owing to the fact that he'd never been in a situation like this before.

The few times he'd gotten so blitzed that he didn't even remember the women he was with, he'd just never heard from them again. Any other time that he'd been with a woman it had been because he'd already picked her out…he'd already decided there was something about her he liked, even if it was just the way her shirt hugged her breasts…this was a first for him.

But there was also something about Carol that made him not want to simply get up from the table and walk away, leaving it clear that he wasn't going to see her again at all.

"I just got out a relationship," Daryl said. "That's…really why the hell I was at Salty's that night."

He shrugged.

"I just got outta it an' I was goin' there ta…" He stopped and chuckled, scratching at his beard. "I was goin' there ta forget about it, ya know?"

Carol somewhat smiled and nodded her head.

"I know…I understand," she offered. "But…it was a nice night…I just wanted to thank you for it…"

Daryl swallowed and nodded his head at her.

"Yeah…thanks…ta you too…" he offered, feeling odd saying the words.

Thank you for the one night stand that I hardly remember. Thank you for letting me relieve a little stress. Thank you for serving to fill a spot I needed filled while I was pissed the hell off about yet another woman turning out to be a total bitch. Thanks for all that.

"Hey…well…I gotta get back ta work, but…I guess I'ma see ya around?" Daryl said.

Carol looked a little surprised, but it quickly faded into a smile.

"Sure…I'll see you around. Stop back by if you're ever in the mood for coffee…or pie…I own this place with Jacqui…so I'm almost always here," Carol offered.

Daryl looked around.

"Nice place…good pie," he offered. "Thanks. An' I got'cha number…"

Carol nodded her head.

"And I've got yours…but I'll see you around," she said.

Daryl nodded at her again and got up and she stood too. He didn't know if he was supposed to do something as a way of closing the whole thing out, so he extended his hand and she smiled once more, taking it and shaking it a little awkwardly…but then he thought the whole handshake was awkward so he couldn't blame her for that.

He turned then, without saying anything else because he had no idea what to say at the moment, and walked back out the way he'd come in…wondering if he'd just made an ass of himself…wondering if he would see her around or if he'd call her…wondering if that's even something he wanted to happen or if he would just be grasping at straws because he was still caught up in all the bullshit feelings that Janice's decision to fuck around on him had caused.