Chapter Seven

Carol reached up, putting the last strand of hair in place. She adjusted her top and then sighed at her reflection. She wasn't recognizable as the same girl that had visited the library this morning. She was someone else. She had a role to play here and she was a damn fine actress. She'd felt down all day but she couldn't let that bother her anymore.

On one hand she was glad that he had seemed at least a little bit remorseful about running off this morning. There was at least that. And she wasn't sure why she was so upset anyway. She didn't even know him. All she knew about him was that he was the brother of her friend. He was 21 years old. He was kind enough to stick up for people. Oh, and even though she didn't have anything to compare it to, she was pretty sure that he was very good in bed.

She sighed heavily and left her apartment, running into Oscar again. They worked the same shift every night. He nodded, she nodded back and then they both made their way to the bar. It was just as crowded as she had expected it to be.

She was surprised to see the owner, Tom, behind the bar, pouring drinks for a particularly rowdy bunch that started whooping when Carol stepped into view. Merle winked and she offered him a broad smile, shaking her head at his antics. "Tom, you decide that owning the place was too dull? Why are you back here?" She asked.

He turned, looking flustered but relieved to see her. "You and Oscar are both behind the bar tonight, darlin'. That asshole that was suppose to cover the day shift bailed. I'm firin' his ass after this. You two keep your ear out for fights because this place is too packed for you to handle it all on your own."

Carol nodded and slipped in, remembering what drinks most of them preferred without them having to say a word. She slammed two shot glasses down in front of Merle and quickly filled them. She tapped his with her own and downed the drink. They both slammed their glasses down. He grinned like he always did but the smile faltered when she poured another one.

"Two in a row?" Merle asked, his brows pulling together in a frown.

She slid his over and nodded, taking the other shot as quickly as the first. It didn't make her feel any better but the burn took her mind off her problems for a while.

"You alright?" Merle asked, sliding the shot glass towards her.

She nodded. "I'm fine. I gotta go take care of these maniacs. You mind your manners Merle, or you'll get tossed out on your ass." She winked and then went to work, mixing, pouring and talking with the others. She would get through the night and then tomorrow she would watch old movies and she would curl up on her couch with a new book and she'd forget that last night ever happened.

~H~

Daryl glared at the door. Who the fuck was pounding away on the front door at eleven at night? He pushed the threadbare curtain aside and scowled so hard his face hurt. "Are you fucking serious?" He hissed under his breath as he threw the door open.

"Hey there, younger Dixon. Where the hell is that brother of yours?"

Daryl moved as Merle's idiot friend Axel strolled in with two women. One just happened to be the one he had spent about fifteen minutes with over a year ago. "He's at the goddamn bar just like he is most nights. What the hell are you doin' here?"

The woman, he was pretty sure her name was Anne smiled at him. She was about ten years older than him, closer to Merle's age than his and she had that fanatical look in her eye that most drug addicts had when they were pretty messed up on the hard stuff. She wasn't ugly, or she hadn't been, but the life she lived had taken a toll on her looks. Her hair was frizzy and brittle, there were bags under her eyes that hadn't been there even a year ago, she was rail thin and she had a weird twitch about her that creeped him out. Maybe she hadn't been anyone's first choice back then when he had fucked her but she was flat out fucking gross now.

And now she was pressed up against him before he could back away from her. "How've you been?"

For some strange reason an image of Carol popped into his head. Clear blue eyes and her quick smile. He pointed to the door. "You all can find Merle at the Bird. I was about to go to bed so..."

"Is that a hint?" Anne asked, her eyes raking over him.

He shook his head. "No," he deadpanned. "Out. All of you."

Axel held up his hands. "Okay, okay. We're goin'. Probably won't go to the Bird though. Last time I was there I tried to hit on the bartender and Oscar and Merle both just about broke my neck."

Daryl felt his jaw clench. "She's out of your league anyway, asshole."

Axel shrugged. "Course she is, but can't blame a guy for trying." He backed out the door.

The other woman coughed loudly and then rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. It didn't look like she was impressed with his assessment of Carol but he didn't care. These people were exactly what he had been talking about. They were trash. Him and his brother weren't. Once they were out the door he slammed it shut.

He knew it was pointless but he turned off the light and stomped to his room. He didn't even bother taking off his clothes. He flopped down gracelessly on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, willing himself to be sleepy. He'd had a fucked up day and he was ready for it to be over.

An hour and a half later he was on his bike, cursing himself for the decisions he had made the night before, cursing his brother for dragging him out to that stupid bar in the first place and cursing Carol for her bright idea. Because he was okay with just the messing around. She'd been the one that wanted to take shit further and now he was the one that was stuck feeling like a goddamn asshole because of it.

And he had every intention of telling her that too. As soon as he got her alone for five seconds. Once he got there he realized that was going to be a lot harder than he thought. The place was a lot more packed then it had been the night before. He made his way past the pool tables and wound through throngs of people until he finally reached the bar. It was packed but he managed to find an empty spot at the end close to the hallway that led to the bathrooms.

He tried to play it cool. He tried to look like he wasn't seeking her out but it wasn't easy.

"What can I get for ya, Romeo?"

Daryl looked up sharply and saw Oscar standing there. The look that the big man was giving him wasn't exactly friendly but he wasn't openly glaring at him either.

Oscar inclined his head to the other end of the long counter. "She's down there. Saturdays ain't the best times to try to talk to her. People come out of the woodwork around this town to come down here on a Saturday night. Everybody loves the girl. So she's busy and she's gonna be for a while. What do you want to drink?"

"Beer," he muttered, settling down on the stool. "What the hell's your problem anyway?" He asked, knowing that Oscar had one and knowing that it was with him. No reason to beat around the bush.

Oscar sat a mug down in front of him. "No problem at all. Unless you prove to be the reason that she's upset. We'll have a problem then. She's one of the best damn people I've ever met and if somebody hurts her they got a lot of people to deal with."

Daryl took a drink and then slammed his mug down on the table. "You too, huh?"

Oscar eyed him. "What the hell you mean, me too?"

Daryl shook his head. "My brother apparently feels the same way. What the hell is it about this girl that's got all you burly bastards up in arms over her?"

Oscar shrugged and then walked away. Daryl scowled down into his glass, wondering if he should just say fuck it and go on home. He wasn't going to get a chance to talk to her tonight anyway. And at this point, if someone seen them talking at all he'd end up getting his ass kicked.

He finished his beer and looked up just in time to see her breeze past, stepping out from behind the bar and into the hallway. A quick look around proved that no one was paying attention so he hauled ass after her.

The bathroom door was just shutting so he put his foot in the gap, stopping it. This was perfect. Now nobody would come down the hall and see them. If Merle caught him he'd have hell to pay. He pushed the door open.

"What the-" Her startled voice trailed off when he slammed the door behind himself. "Daryl? What are you doing?"

He locked the door. His eyes swept over her and again he was surprised at how completely she could transform from one person to another. "I needed to talk to you," he said quickly.

She shook her head. "Well, you can do that when I'm not on the clock. We're swamped out there and-"

"Goddamn it, I'm sorry, alright? I told you that earlier."

She nodded. "And I said it was fine."

"But it ain't fine. I got Merle sniffin' around and Oscar basically just threatened me out there if I'm the reason that you're upset. Meanin' that you are upset and I know it's my fault. So what the hell can I do to fix this shit so you ain't upset anymore?"

"Get out," she said, her blue eyes flashing, surprising him.

"What? No! I came down here to talk to you and I can't fuckin' talk to you out there so we're gonna talk here."

"I don't know what you want me to say!" She hissed, trying to move around him. "I already told you that it's no big deal. I don't know what the hell they're talking about because I am completely fine. You know what, you have a lot of nerve coming down here and locking me in a bathroom because you're overblown ego has you believing that you're worth even getting upset over. I don't even know you! And the sex wasn't even that good, so there. Maybe you need to get on your bike, take your self serving ass back to your house, call up one of your brother's whore girlfriends and stop pining over me!"

He gaped at her, stunned speechless that she even had that much bitterness in her. Especially because of him. And she was liar too cause the sex had been goddamn great. He'd been there. "That what you want?" He asked, his voice just as cold as hers. "Cause trust me, you're already provin' to be more goddamn trouble than you're worth."

"That's exactly what I want," she snapped. "I want you to go back to whatever hole you crawled out of last night and I want you to stop thinking that anything I'm upset about has to do with you."

He nodded. "I can do that. Have a nice life, lady." He opened the door, stepping around a woman that was apparently waiting to go to the bathroom.