Here We Go Again

Chapter 7

A/N: I read that some of you find Carol's actions wrong, that she is just using Daryl while Daryl actually loves her. This is not the case I've tried to show. What their relationship is, Carol thinks Daryl doesn't love her like she secretly loves him, so she's trying to stop herself from loving a man that will never love her, which is why she is dating Ed. Daryl does love her, but doesn't believe Carol loves him. They don't the true feelings each of them have for the other one. No one is using anyone :). Anyway, just had to make that clear. Please, enjoy chapter 7!
McBrideReedusLover.~

Carol paced back and forth as she waited for Daryl to pick up the phone. Her heart almost stopped when he answered. "Hi Daryl." All that she had planned to say to him was gone once he spoke.

"Hey." Daryl spoke into the phone. He was wondering why Carol had called him.

"You remember Lori right?" Carol stopped pacing, she was getting dizzy.

"Yeah." Daryl had remembered her. Long brown hair and the one who set her up with Ed.

"Well, she's and her fiance Rick are having a social to raise money for their wedding. She wanted me to bring someone, would you like to go with me?" Carol bit her bottom lip.

Daryl froze at her question. She wanted him to go? What about Ed? "What 'bout your boyfriend?" Daryl hated saying that word.

"He didn't want to come. I thought I'd ask you, if not I'll go alone, that was my plan in the first place." Carol sighed. He didn't want to go with her, she didn't blame him. She did have a boyfriend, it must have seemed like Daryl was her backup. She didn't want him to think of it like that. Daryl would've been her first choice, but Lori had told her to ask Ed, so she did.

"No no, uhm, I'll go with ya." Daryl ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't believe he accepted her offer. She was dating someone else, and going to a fancy social would almost seem like a date. Secretly he was excited, but he also knew it was sort of wrong.

"Great! It's on saturday." Carol was relieved her decided to go.

"Yeah, okay. I'll uh, talk to ya later then." Daryl said. They said their goodbye's and Daryl hung up the phone. He started to wonder, what kind of a boyfriend was too busy for his woman? He thought back to a few nights ago when he thought he saw Ed and another woman. That fucker better not be blowing Carol off for that blonde bimbo. If Daryl ever found out he was cheating on Carol, he'd beat his worthless ass.


Daryl was supposed to pick Carol up in an hour. The week had flown by after Carol asked him. It was a fancy event, so Daryl's usual sleeveless shirt and jeans wouldn't cut it. Yesterday he went and got a tux for the occasion. He didn't have to worry about Merle, since he hadn't been home in a few days. Probably out doing drugs and hooking up with random girls, like usual. Daryl shook his head and started to get ready.


Carol had been looking through her closet all day. She had bought a few dresses earlier that week, but none of them seemed fitting. She had never fussed this much about how she looked when she went out with Ed, but it was different for Daryl. She wanted to look her best for him. She sighed. She had it bad for Daryl, she knew. But she was dating Ed. She didn't want to hurt Ed, but she was afraid she was hurting Daryl. He probably didn't have the same feelings for her as she did for him, but still. She shook her head, and went back to hunting for a dress. She settled for a red dress that was just past knee length. She slipped it on and looked in the mirror. It definately complimented her figure well. Carol looked up at the clock, she had ten minutes to put a bit of makeup on. She wasn't a big fan of makeup, so she only put a small amount on. She nodded to herself, and headed down the stairs. She glanced out the window, thankfully, he wasn't there yet. She looked at her phone and saw a message from Lori.

"You never told me if Ed was coming." The message read.

"He isn't. Daryl is." Carol was a little nervous to hit the send button, but she did. A few seconds later, Lori's name popped up on her screen.

"Oh my gosh! Really? Oh you two make such a cute couple! Can't wait to see you two!" Carol blushed at her comment. She sort of wished they were a couple. She looked up as the doorbell rang. She hurried and opened the door.

Carol looked at Daryl as he stood there in his tux. He looked so handsome. "Wow, you look wonderful Daryl." She smiled up at him. She could see a shy smile appear on his face as he looked down at his shoes. "Just let me get my purse and we can go." Carol ran to get her purse. "Alright, all set."

Daryl nodded to her and headed back to the truck. He waited for her to get in. He had no words for how beautiful she looked. The dress was amazing on her body. "So uh, where's the place we gotta go?" Daryl asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"It's at the banquet hall on fourth." Carol couldn't take her eyes off of Daryl. He cleaned up really well. Hopefully, she could keep her feelings under control tonight. There would be alcohol at the social afterall. The last thing she wanted was to mess up their friendship by saying something stupid while she was drunk.


The banquet hall was decorated beautifully, with a big "Congrats Rick and Lori" sign on the wall. There were lovely round tables with white table cloth. Carol saw Lori and Andrea waving her over. She looked back at Daryl. "There is Lori and Andrea, you want to go sit with them? We don't have to, we can sit somewhere else if you prefer." Carol knew Daryl wasn't big on talking with other people for too long, and being honest, she didn't really want to sit with her friends, they would probably ask stupid questions.

"Don't matter to me." Daryl shrugged.

"Carol!" Lori shouted from across the room. Carol sighed. She grabbed Daryl's hand and lead him through the crowd to her friends.

Daryl followed her, wishing that he could continue to hold her hand, but he knew he couldn't. When they came up to Lori and Andrea, he quickly pulled away his hand, but missed the feeling of her soft hand in his.

"You guys remember Daryl." Carol gave her friends a small smile.

"Yes we do. Nice to see you again Daryl." Andrea smiled up at the man. He gave her a small nod, obviously a little shy. "Why don't we all sit down." Andrea suggested. The four of them sat down at a nearby table. Daryl saw that Lori and Andrea both already had drinks. He leaned over to Carol.

"You want a drink?" He asked her.

"Sure." Carol smiled. Daryl nodded and got up to go to the bar. Carol turned back to her friends. "A lot more people here than I expected."

"Yeah, lots of people showed up. Probably because of the booze." Lori laughed. "So, you and Daryl." Lori raised a brow with a smirk.

"Lori, we're just friends." Carol sighed. She knew this was going to happen.

"Why are you just friends? The way you two look at each other. Like it was meant to be!" Andrea exclaimed. "Besides, you don't seem happy with Ed. Maybe you should just dump him and go out with Daryl."

Carol had thought about it many times. She looked back to see if Daryl was coming back, but he was still in line. "What if he doesn't like me that way though."

"You'll never know if you don't take a chance." Lori glanced at Daryl who had finally got to the bar. "I bet he likes you too."

Carol just looked down at her hands. A drink was placed infront of her. She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"It's nothin'." Daryl shrugged and sat down beside her.

"Well, I'm going to go find Rick. Thanks for coming Daryl." Lori smiled and walked off to find her fiance.

"I'm going to go find Shane. Nice seeing you again." Andrea quickly followed Lori, leaving just Carol and Daryl at the table.

"Thank god." Carol laughed and turned a little in her seat so she could face Daryl.

"They don't seem that bad.." Daryl looked at her.

"Sure when you're around!" Carol smiled and took a sip of her drink. "I really like your tux by the way." She looked down at the drink in her hand.

"Thanks. Your dress is nice too..." Daryl never knew what to say when she gave him a compliment. But he didn't want to ignore her either.

Carol smiled. She was glad that he liked her dress, it meant she picked the right one. She looked up at the dance floor as a slow song started playing. It was one of her favorites too. She saw all the couples go together while the single people sat back down. She wanted to dance, but she knew Daryl wasn't one for dancing, and it would probably be awkward. Instead she just hummed to the song.

Daryl looked at her as she stared at the people dancing. Part of him wanted to ask her to dance, even though he had no clue what to do, and the other part of him wished that he wasn't here, to be put in this position. It was clear to him that she wanted to dance, the way she looked at the other people. He looked past her to see a man coming towards them. He was staring at Carol. A surge of jealousy swept over him as he thought of Carol dancing with another man. He already had to witness that once, he didn't want to again. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and started for the dance floor.

"Where are we going?" Carol was shocked as he pulled her away.

"To dance." Daryl muttered, but Carol heard it loud and clear. A small smile crept across her face.

"You sure you want to?" She asked as they made it to the dance floor. They were further away from the other couples though, but Carol didn't care about that.

"Well, already up here ain't we?" Daryl shrugged. He was however starting to panic. He's never slow danced before in his life.

Carol could see uncertainty in his eyes. "Daryl, do you know how to dance?" She asked him.

Daryl shook his head slowly. "Not a clue..."

Carol just smiled. "Here." She took hold of his hands and put them on her waist. His hands seemed to fit perfect around her small figure. "You keep your hands on my waist, while mine rest on your shoulders." She gently placed her hands on his shoulder. She felt him tense up, but relax after a moment. She could tell that his cheeks were a slight red from being this close, but she chose to ignore it. "Now, you just move your feet like this, it really isn't that complicated, once you figure it out." Carol showed him how to do it. After a moment, he finally got the hang of it. "There you go, see, not hard." She smiled up at him. She remembered about a few weeks ago her and Ed went dancing. When they slow danced, he wasn't nearly as gentle as Daryl was with her. Daryl was so relaxed, while Ed was so tense, like he wanted it to be over. The more she thought about it, the more she realized Ed was always more rough, while Daryl was relaxed and calm. Then she remembered what Lori said.

"You'll never know if you don't take a chance."

Maybe that's what she would do. Maybe she would break up with Ed, and slowly work her way towards Daryl. She couldn't just spring it on him. They had to build their relationship. This was a start for sure. She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. "It's easy, isn't it?"

Daryl just nodded. He was still in a slight shock that he was actually dancing with her. He was in even more shock at how her hands were on his shoulder, and his hands were on her waist. The whole thing was perfect, and he would definately miss it when the song was over.


"Look at them, they're so cute." Lori smiled to Andrea as they watched from a distance.

"Definately. Maybe Carol will think about what we said."

"She better, cause her and Daryl look much better then her and Ed." Lori nodded to herself. "Her and Daryl would make cute babies." The two girls laughed at Lori's comment. Thank god Carol wasn't around to hear them, or she would most likely kill them.


Carol unbuckled her seat belt and looked at him. "I'm glad you decided to go with me. I had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, was fun wasn't it?" Daryl smiled at her.

Carol nodded. "Well, talk to you soon, okay?" She placed a hand on his.

Daryl glanced down at her hand on his. He hated it, but he loved it. "Mhm." He nodded.

"Bye Daryl." Carol got out of the truck and waved to him. She smiled when he waved back. She opened the front door and then leaned against it. That was the most fun she had ever had in her life. She knew what she had to do. Ed had to go. He wasn't right for her, not like Daryl was. Tomorrow, she would tell him. He would probably understand that he just wasn't the one for her.

Little did she know how wrong she would be.

A/N: Over 2000 words this chapter! I'm so proud of myself! I really hope you liked reading that, as much as I enjoyed imagining every scene! :) R&R lovelies!
McBrideReedusLover.~