Sorry for the delay! I've lost a lot of writing due to computer issues, had company from out of town, and been rather busy the last few weeks. Oh, and I'm just flaky with updates unless a story is complete. Hope you're all well and kicking. Thanks a ton for reading! =)
Chapter Seven
It was the longest day of Daryl's life and considering the trials he had faced up until this point, that was seriously saying something. Walkers had managed to break through one of the back fences and since he wasn't exactly accustomed to Merle's body, he had damn near been killed. Merle had tried to get to him but he was too fucking far away. The person who saved his skin was Maggie Greene and that had stopped Merle right in his tracks.
Maggie had risked her ass to save who she thought was Merle Dixon. Daryl had seen the disbelief in the man's eyes when Maggie had gotten between Daryl and the walkers that were crowding in around him. Daryl had done what he could with the makeshift blade but his body didn't move the same way anymore. He was powerful, but not as quick.
Apparently being in a body that belonged to someone else was just like riding a motorcycle you weren't used to. Each one handled differently and the body he was stuck in was one he couldn't get used to.
Now that the prison was settling down a little he was able to hunt Carol down and try to come up with a plan to get his body back. He didn't give a damn how much Merle wanted to keep being him, it wasn't fucking happening. Besides, when it was all said and done, Merle looked pretty damn stressed. Daryl had a lot of responsibility around here and now it was all on Merle, since everyone thought he was Daryl.
This was so fucking confusing.
He climbed the steps, ready to talk to Carol, maybe even talk to Merle and then get some sleep. He needed to have Merle talk to Rick about the three of them leaving again. Maybe if they went back to that place and tried to recreate the situation then they would change back to who they were suppose to be.
It wasn't just the fact that he couldn't seem to get the hang of how to be Merle physically. He couldn't get used to the rest of the group looking at him with such disgust. He had to remind himself over and over that Merle had earned a lot of it but really, he was almost sure that if they would just stop, if they would try to understand him for who he was, he wouldn't be so damn determined to lash out at them. Daryl was sure that if there was just a little more give from the group, Merle would learn how to integrate himself. He would find the niche where he belonged.
He slipped into Carol's cell, needing that calm that she seemed to bring to his mind no matter how much turmoil was raging. Instead of finding Carol he found Merle sprawled out on her bunk. He grinned when Daryl stopped, glaring at him.
"How pissed off would you be if I told you I fucked your girlfriend?" Merle asked, wagging his eyebrows.
Daryl felt his eye start to twitch in annoyance. "I'd call you a liar cause she already knows what's happenin'. And she ain't my goddamn girlfriend," he added for good measure.
Merle sat up, running a hand over his head, musing his hair.
"I gotta get a goddamn hair cut," Daryl grumbled.
"She knows?" Merle asked, surprised.
Daryl nodded, trying to fight back a yawn. How he could be sleepy when his whole world was turned on it's head was beyond him.
"Well damn," Merle muttered, standing up and stretching.
Daryl just shook his head. "I already told you before that you wouldn't have had a damn chance with her. She ain't stupid."
Merle shrugged lightly. "Just as well. You have one hell of a sensitive Johnson, little brother. You wouldn't have lasted more than a few minutes anyways."
Daryl cringed visibly, scowling hard. "What the fuck are you talkin' about?"
The grin that stretched across his face then made Daryl's stomach turn. "Well, got bored and decided to rub one off-"
"Jesus Christ! Enough! I don't wanna hear this. You keep your filthy hands off my dick, Merle or I swear to God!"
Merle held up his hands. "These ain't my filthy hands. They're your filthy hands, so I can do what I want and it ain't fruity. From the feel of it, you ought to think about jerkin' off more. Nearly passed out right there in your cell. I ain't got that problem, myself."
Daryl growled, the sound menacing, but he couldn't formulate actual syllables at the moment so it would have to suffice. Besides, it wouldn't matter what he said anyway because Merle was an idiot and wouldn't listen.
"You boys playing nice?"
They both turned at the sound of Carol's voice and saw her leaning into the door frame with her arms crossed. Daryl wondered how much she had overheard and shot another loaded glare at his brother, but Merle wasn't paying any attention to him anymore. The smile on his face turned, for lack of a better word, charming. He'd never smiled at her like that in his life but she seemed to be eating it right up.
"You know, Daryl, that's a really good look," she said, meeting his eyes briefly.
His eyes narrowed to slits. "You tellin' me that Merle wears me better than I do? It's my goddamn face," he snapped, being completely serious but all he got for his outrage was a laugh from both of them.
Carol recovered, stepping further into the room. "We leave at dawn. We're going back to that place and we're fixing this tomorrow."
Merle nodded and to Daryl's surprise the expression on his face was one of relief.
"Good. Being the little brother ain't what it was cracked up to be at first," he said, confirming Daryl's suspicions. When Merle looked back up he looked a little sheepish. "You got a hard fuckin' job around here. Puttin' up with all the assholes is only part of it."
He seemed sincere and Daryl found himself nodding. "Yeah, you ain't had an easy way to go either. That shit needs to change."
"Okay, you two hug and then hit the sheets. We have an early start," Carol said, trying to hide a smile.
"You're in an awfully good mood," Merle said, stepping past her and purposefully brushing up against her.
She rolled her eyes and moved away from him. "I have a good feeling about tomorrow," she said, sitting down on her bunk.
Merle nodded. "I hope the hell so."
~H~
Merle left the cell, knowing that he had a lot left to do tonight before he was going to be able to retire. He had made a goddamn mess of things and even though it was part of his charm to simply walk away from that mess and let someone else clean it up, he wasn't going to do that this time.
He headed down the stairs, sighing inwardly as people gave him weary and confused looks. People hadn't ever looked at his brother like that before but now they thought he was some sort of psychotic asshole. And it was all Merle's doing.
So he was going to make amends and then maybe when he got his own body back, he could work on a few things himself. First things first, he had to find Maggie Greene and lucky him, he knew exactly where she would be. It was late and her and Glenn had watch tonight. He wasn't sure how the hell he was going to make her believe that he was genuinely sorry, especially since he really wasn't, but his opinion of the girl wasn't his brother's and it was Daryl that she would hold a grudge against.
Besides, regardless of how she felt about Merle, she had risked her own ass out there to save his. She sure as hell hadn't known that it was actually Daryl she was saving. When she had seen those walkers closing in, she had seen Merle in danger and she had acted fast and it had fucked Merle up a little bit. He still didn't like the girl but he had to grudgingly admit that he had a bit of respect for her that he had never had before.
He climbed up the tower steps, trying to think of a way for him to make this right but nothing would come to him. He would do what he usually did when it came to damn near everything. He would simply wing it. He was pretty damn good at winging it. Besides, Maggie thought he was Daryl right now and everyone loved the fuck out of Daryl. He was the sweet one.
"What the hell are you doing up here?"
Merle was a little surprised at Glenn's tone. Sure, he hated Merle's guts and didn't ever try to hide the fact, but every time he had seen the boy address Daryl it had always been with complete respect and camaraderie. Of course, that was before Merle had gone off on the girl today so maybe he should have expected Glenn's less than welcoming demeanor.
"I just came up here to talk to Maggie," Merle said, holding up both hands in surrender.
Glenn looked mad enough to spit. "I think you've talked with her enough." He shook his head in disgust. "You know, after everything we've been through I can't believe you'd treat her like that."
Merle chewed the inside of his lip, resisting the urge to tell Glenn to do the world a favor and take a swan dive off the tower. That wasn't going to resolve anything for Daryl. "That's why I'm up here."
Glenn looked skeptical but before he could say another word Maggie came out, her eyes red but flashing angrily. "What do you want, Daryl?" she asked hotly, crossing her arms.
Merle reminded himself that he was doing this for his brother and as far as these two knew, he was Daryl. He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at his boots, trying to hide a wicked grin. Just because he had to make this right for his brother didn't mean that he couldn't have a little fun with it. He schooled his features into that pained look that Daryl excelled at before looking back up. "I wasn't myself today."
Glenn and Maggie both kept glaring.
Merle sighed tragically and looked past them, towards the tree line in the distance. "I talked to Carol last night, see, and the conversation didn't go as planned. She turned me down, just like that." He snapped his fingers, shaking his head morosely and risking a look at the couple in front of him. Maggie's brows were pulled down in a frown and Glenn's features had smoothed out a little.
"After that I found a bottle and a started drinkin', tryin' to drown my sorrows a bit, ya know?" He reminded himself that Daryl wouldn't ever in a million years talk about something like this so he needed to thin it out a bit but he was having fun now. "Just kept thinkin' about you two, how good y'all are together and how much I thought I might've found the same. Guess after I got a little lit I started gettin' more and more jealous. But that ain't no excuse for sayin' what I said to you and I'm sorry. Just cause I'm hurtin' don't mean it's okay to hurt you." He met Maggie's eyes and had to force himself from laughing.
She wiped a tear away and met Glenn's eyes for a few long moments. She was hooked and Merle knew it.
Merle leaned his forearms on the railing and looked down at the yard below. "If you don't forgive me, I won't blame you. I just needed to tell you that I'm sorry. I wasn't going to, I was too damn ashamed of myself, but Merle told me it would be the right thing to do."
"Merle?" Glenn's voice was incredulous now. "Merle Dixon?"
Merle nodded and then he felt a hand on his back, tentative but there. He looked over and met Maggie's eyes.
"Carol loves you. Everyone knows it and she'll come around. I know she will," Maggie said, no more animosity in her voice.
Merle turned shook his head. "I guess time will tell, huh? She told me not to hold my breath."
Maggie's mouth dropped at that. "She didn't!"
Merle nodded. "Said there's somebody else."
Maggie's face scrunched up at that. "There is not anyone else! What is wrong with her? Let me talk to her for you."
Merle had to hide a laugh behind a cough. He glanced at Glenn but the boy still looked perplexed.
"Merle told you to come apologize?" Glenn asked, his mind momentarily stuck on this little tidbit of information.
"Oh yeah," Merle nodded sagely.
"Look," Maggie said softly, her hand on his arm. "What you said hurt, and it's gonna hurt for a long time, but I don't hate you for saying it. And I'm sorry about Carol. I always thought... Well, we all thought..." she shook her head. "She'll come around. I'll talk to her. Glenn will talk to her."
Merle nodded. "I appreciate it." He turned and headed down the stairs. He had one more thing to get out of the way before he could put all his focus on getting the hell out of Daryl's body. After this, the people around here wouldn't look at Daryl the same again. They'd have a new respect for him for sure.
He chuckled darkly.
I feel like maybe Maggie would have forgiven him if he laid it all on really thick. I didn't want to have to dwell on the issue for too long so I hope that this was at least semi believable. Not a ton of this story left. Maybe 3 chapters. Again, thanks for reading!
