Hello lovely people! I'm really glad that everyone thought the last chapter was okay. I get nervous when I feel like something isn't quite right. I'm blown away, once again, by all of the nice things you have to say about this story. I love writing it! So, thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this one. =) It's bed time for this girl! The rest of you have a great day!
Chapter Nine
Daryl groaned. They hadn't been at his dads place for five minutes and already Merle was going out of his way to make them uncomfortable.
Merle chuckled and then put his feet up on the coffee table. "So, let me get this straight, baby brother. You hit her car, when?" He was grinning.
"Yesterday." Carol answered for him. She was perched on the arm of the chair Daryl was slumped in.
Merle nodded. "Okay, so, you hit her car and then you guys have a conversation. The conversation alone has gotten me floored. Daryl here don't get too chatty with women. It's a rule of his." He shook his head, "Anyway, then what?"
Daryl wished he could just kick the dumb ass in the teeth. Just this once. "Then I went to the bar to see if you was ready and saw that someone had slit her tires."
Merle dropped his feet from the table and leaned forward, picking at his cuticle and nodding like he was turning all this over in his head. He'd already heard the story. He was just being a dick. "Okay. So you stop and talk to her again. And you offer her a ride. How come?"
Daryl rolled his eyes. "Because she didn't need to be walkin' with Ed on the prowl."
Merle grinned. "Then what?"
"Then I invited him in." Carol volunteered. "And it was... nice."
Daryl groaned again. She should really just shut up.
"Nice." Merle said sarcastically, winking at Buck who just shook his head and looked back towards the t.v.
"Goddamn it Merle. Who the hell cares? Are you gonna do this or not? You've seen the place. Ain't nothin' better gonna come along for either one of us. We need the place and she needs the help. Its a win win."
"Just be patient, baby brother." Merle said calmly. "So, he took you home and y'all had a nice time. Then he takes you to work, right?"
"Son of a bitch." Daryl grumbled under his breath.
"Right." She nodded, playing along with Merle, like the asshole needed encouragement.
"How did he end up spending the night?" Merle asked. This was the part of the story that he hadn't heard yet. He gave up asking Daryl questions and now he was going to grill Carol.
"When he called me last..." She began but Merle held up a hand.
"Wait. Called you?" he asked, looking clearly confused now.
She nodded. "Yeah, he called me on my break."
Merle looked at Daryl then, smirking like the asshole that he was. "You walked to that payphone in the goddamn rain?"
Carol looked down at him frowning. "You called me from a payphone? In the rain?"
Daryl could feel the blood rushing to his face as all three of them looked at him. She was beaming, which almost made this humiliation worth it, but not quite.
"I don't have a phone. You wanted me to call. What the fuck are y'all looking at me like that for?" He squirmed.
"Daryl, that's the sweetest thing." She said, her smile lighting up the entire shitty ass apartment.
He slouched even further into the chair, ready to sink into the cushion so they all would stop staring at him.
Merle cleared his throat. "Okay, go on then." He said to Carol.
"Well, I didn't have a ride home so he said he would pick me up at two."
Merle looked at him again. "Boy, you told me that you had to get some sleep cause you had to leave the house at four in the mornin'. So you crawl outta bed to walk to the payphone in the rain and then tell the girl you're gonna pick her up two hours before you gotta leave for work? Oh, fuck, Pa. Baby Dixon's got it bad for this little girl." Merle laughed.
"Fuck off, Merle." Daryl growled. "You ain't gotta clue what you're talkin' about."
"Anyway," Carol said, clearing her throat, "After he took me home I asked him to stay. So he stayed." She shrugged like that was no big deal.
Merle looked from one face to the other. "And then y'all got drunk and started tossin' your clothes off." he grinned and this time even Carol was turning red.
"Well, I guess that's how it happened." She said with a tight smile.
"So, have y'all set a date yet? At the rate the two of you move I'd say they should be a weddin' here in a day or so." He grinned.
"Fuck you, Merle." Daryl grumbled, sinking even further. He just wanted to get this shit over with. At least Buck hadn't jumped in to mess with him. He knew how stupid this was but what fucking choice did he have? None. He didn't want to live in his goddamn truck and he sure as shit didn't want to live in this damn apartment with Buck. He could give him a hundred bullshit apologies. It wouldn't matter. Buck had ruined any chance for him or Merle to have a normal life. He didn't care what Carol said and he didn't care if Merle wanted to go right back to the way things were right before his dad got locked up the last time. He wasn't letting that shit go. He wasn't going to pretend that Buck Dixon had changed at all. It didn't matter anymore. He should have changed before now. Before both his boys were grown men.
"You think it's a good idea to live up here above a bar when you're spose to be a recoverin' alcoholic? Don't seem all too smart if ya ask me." Daryl didn't know why he felt the need to taunt the man. If Buck really wanted too he could break him in half.
Buck just looked at him for a few seconds and then shrugged. "Couldn't find nothin' else on such short notice." He returned his eyes to the T.V.
Carol stood up then. "So, where do we drop your stuff off at Merle? Here or my place?"
Daryl sighed in relief. It was about damn time.
Merle looked at her for a long time. "Are you gonna do all the cookin'?" He asked.
She nodded.
He glanced up at Daryl, smirked and then looked back at her. "Do you ever walk around naked?"
"Merle!" Daryl yelled.
Carol's lips twitched. "No."
"Can ya?"
Daryl grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the door. "That's it. Let the fucker sleep in the damn ally." He growled.
"Hold on a minute, little brother. Don't be like that. I wouldn't touch anything that belonged to you." He was grinning again.
"She don't belong to me, you dick. God, sometimes your like a fuckin' ten year old."
"That ain't what the ladies say, little brother. That's the important thing. Go ahead and take my shit. You two are too damn interestin' to miss."
Daryl, although annoyed as hell at his brother, was relieved. The last thing Merle needed was to spend more time with Buck. Maybe Carol really could help him get his brother off the heroin. That would be a huge weight off his shoulders. This was far from Bucks first stint in the pen. This wasn't the first time the man had found himself clean. It was the first time he had ever admitted to being a piece of shit dad, in a round about way. And it was the first time Daryl had had the balls to say anything to the man. But he was pissed. He had been pissed for years. And now he knew he was going to have to explain to Carol what had happened with Ed Peletier's own daddy. Even though that really wasn't much Buck's fault. That corpse wasn't Buck's fault, not really, but there were others that were. Maybe he would tell her about those too.
They were on the sidewalk when he realized that he had never let go of her hand. So there they were, walking hand in hand towards his truck when around the corner comes Ed himself. Carol stopped in her tracks and it was then that he decided maybe now he should let go of her hand. But her grip on his tightened and he felt her body press against the side of his. Behind Ed were four more men. The same ones the man spent most of his time with.
Daryl knew that he could hold his own in a fight. Buck had hardened him up in that aspect. There wasn't much any of these assholes could do alone that could drop a Dixon. But this was five on one. He started sizing them up, figuring out who to try to take out first. Ed was the biggest out of all of them but he also knew Ed was nothing but a pussy so he wasn't a threat at all, unless you were a woman. Daryl eased her behind him but she stopped and took a step forward.
"You and your friends need to back up, Ed. I'll call the cops. You're breaking that restraining order, you know. Do you really want to end up in jail again?"
Daryl was proud of her. Her voice never wavered.
"So this is what you want?" Ed sneered. "You wanna trade me in for some white trash kid?"
Carol narrowed her eyes. "I didn't make a trade in Ed. It's called an upgrade." She snapped and a few of his friends even snickered.
Ed's face reddened. He looked like he could have charged her then and if he did Daryl would kill him. He would stomp his head in before anyone could get him away from the man.
Ed took a step towards her, seeming, in his rage, to forget Daryl was even there. Daryl reacted on instinct then. Something told him that he had to put himself between her and anything that could hurt her, and so he did. Ed stopped but Daryl didn't. He shoved the other man away and then kept coming. Ed nearly fell on his ass but his friends helped him. It didn't matter to Daryl at this point that he was gonna end up having his ass handed to him out here, what mattered was that Ed suffer a little before that happened.
"I'd suggest the rest of you boys run along now." A deep voice said from behind him. Daryl couldn't help but grin as the color drained from Ed's face.
Daryl didn't have to turn around to see who was there. And now it was just him and Ed. The other men had taken one look at his dad and tucked tail and ran. Now it was fair. And now he was going to have himself some fun with Ed.
"Daryl, please." Carol's soft voice reached his ears right before he lunged at Ed. He looked terrified now that his friends were gone, but his friends were pretty smart. No one would take on Buck. Not one person Daryl could think of.
"What?" He glanced down at her and then right back towards the other man.
He felt her hand on his and he backed away from Ed to look at her once more. She was wide eyed and the hand she had placed on his was shaking. "If you do this he's just going to use it against me in court. It'll only make it harder on me. Please stop."
"Let it go boy." Buck said, suddenly beside him.
Daryl let out a ragged breath and glared Ed down but Ed wasn't paying any attention to him. He was looking at Buck. And he looked much more afraid than his friends had.
"Did you forget our conversation Ed?" Buck asked in a low voice. "This girl ain't yours. Now you know what I gotta do. You best hope you got good locks on your doors."
Buck looked at Daryl, their eyes locking. It was strange for Daryl to look at them, they were the mirror image of his own, only colder. Buck nodded, a dismissal that Daryl knew well. He stepped around Ed wordlessly, pulling Carol along with him. When they finally got past the man he dropped her hand and gave her a look from the corner of his eye. She still looked a little scared and that made him want to go beat the hell out of the piece of shit even more. She should be able to walk down the damn street without being afraid. He was going to make sure that when she went anywhere while he was at work that Merle was with her. People around here were damn near as scared of Merle as they were Buck. Only they weren't to concerned with Merle killing them. Buck on the other hand had no such reservations.
He wanted that look gone from her face. "So, I'm an upgrade, huh?"
She looked up at him and then bumped his shoulder with his own. "You aren't an upgrade from that, Daryl. You're a totally different species."
He glanced at her again and smirked. "That's a compliment, right?"
She shook her head as she pulled the truck door open. "Yes, it is." She smiled.
He went around the side of the truck and was stopped by a blonde girl. She looked pretty familiar. "Daryl? Daryl Dixon?" She asked.
He frowned at her and grunted in response.
"I'm Amy. We went to school together." She smiled.
He scowled until her smile grew dimmer and then finally disappeared.
"I...uh... I'm sorry if this is a bad time or something but a friend of mine told me that you did a really good job with his car and I was wondering if there was any way you could take a look at mine? I'll pay you."
He didn't want too. He remembered this girl now. She was a stuck up bitch that thought she was better than everybody else. But he needed the money and depending on the job he could make a decent amount. "What's wrong with it?" He grumbled as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
She looked relieved. Transmission I think. I think that's what the guy said. But he was going to charge me fifteen hundred dollars! And I have to buy the transmission on top of that."
Daryl frowned. "You sure that's what it is?"
She shrugged. "You're the expert. Do you think you could take a look at it?"
"Take a look at what?"
He looked down and Carol had gotten out of the truck and was staring at the girl. She looked almost hostile. He frowned and looked at he blonde, she was eying Carol the same way. He cleared his throat. "Her car." He muttered.
Amy was the first one to recover. "Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Amy." The girl stuck her hand out politely.
"Oh, we've met. You used to date my ex husband's nephew. You've been over a few times." She crossed her arms over her chest and Daryl could feel the tension rising in the air as the two women sized each other up.
"Oh, that's right." Amy dropped her hand and smiled. "I remember you now. You look different."
Carol narrowed her eyes and then finally looked up at him. "No, I don't." She growled and then her angry eyes met his, "You ready? We need to get your stuff before it starts raining again." She gave him a tight smile.
He nodded.
"Anyway," Amy said, smiling at him again and stepping a little closer. Too close. He took a step back. "Here's my number. Just give me a call whenever you think you can come and look at it. I have a garage you can work in."
"He has his own garage. Bring it over." Carol glared.
Amy dropped her smile. "What?" She seemed confused.
Daryl's eyes flicked from Carol to Amy and then he started chewing his thumb nail. He'd never seen two girls fight before but from the way Carol was looking at the girl there very well could be one right here on the street.
"He has his own garage, and he has access to a lot more tools than you probably have. If he's going to fix your car then you can bring it to our house. As long as it's running, of course. If not then I'm sure you can have it towed."
"Your house?" Amy frowned. "I can do that. I'll drop it off whenever you want." She was looking at Daryl once more, her smile starting to creep back to her lips.
He was so beyond ready to get the hell out of here. Carol was completely fucking pissed and he didn't even know why. This uppity bitch was probably the cause but he needed to get her the hell out right now because she looked pissed enough to start throwing punches.
"Let's go." He grumbled and watched her storm past him.
"Gladly." She growled without looking back at the other girl.
"Here." The girl was thrusting a piece of folded paper at him. He took it and shoved it into his back pocket without looking at it. "It was really nice seeing you again, Daryl. I hope you call me soon." With one last smile she strutted away.
He got into the truck and glanced over at Carol who had her arms crossed and was looking straight ahead.
"What?" He asked, scowling again. Now he was going to have to put up with her bad mood all damn day.
"Nothing." She snapped.
"Yeah, it's somethin' or ya wouldn't look like you was about to rip somebodies face off."
"I can not stand that girl." She said between clenched teeth.
"Jealous?" He smirked, knowing she wasn't but not being able to resist the barb.
She turned her angry gaze on him. "Of her?" She raised her eyebrows. "No. I just don't like her. She's an evil bitch."
He kept his eyes on her as he started the truck. "How's that?"
"She dated Ed's nephew, like I said. She would make up stuff to tell Ed just so I would end up getting..." She shook her head and glared out the window.
Now Daryl was pissed off himself. He didn't pull away from the parking space. He thought of how the girl had acted in school and he really could see her being that way. Finally Carol turned her head and looked at him. Her anger had quickly turned to, what looked like, sadness and his anger was quickly turning into rage. He fished the number out of his back pocket and then rolled down his window. He wadded it up and tossed it out. With that he finally backed out onto the street. He risked a glance at her and she was trying to fight back a smile. His anger quickly faded.
As they climbed the stairs to the apartment he could feel his face growing hot. This was the last thing he wanted. She didn't need to see this shit hole but he was learning quick that she wasn't ever going to listen to a word he said. She refused to wait in the truck and considering the neighborhood he hadn't really wanted to leave her there in the first place.
He sighed and then opened the door. Everything was as it was when he left it last night. Luckily for him they really didn't have anything. The apartment had came furnished so they had very few actual possessions other than their clothes which they kept conveniently stashed in two separate trash bags. There was a framed picture of his mom on the small T.V. He grabbed it and tried to shove it into the bag but Carol's quick hand shot out and snatched it from him before he could.
"Your mama?" She asked without hesitation.
He nodded and then scanned the room. He dreaded going into the bedroom. That was pretty much Merle's space and it was hard telling what the fuck kind of nastiness was growing in there. He cringed just thinking about it.
"You look so much like her." She said, drawing his eyes back to the photo in her hands.
He shrugged. "That's what I hear."
"She's beautiful." She said and then her face reddened as she handed the picture back.
He stared at her for a few long seconds and then took a deep breath. "You ready for the hard part?"
She gave him a questioning look. "Hard part?"
"Merle's room." He made a face that had her laughing.
"It can't be that bad." She said as she pushed past him and opened the broken door. "Oh wow. What's that smell?" She asked, backing out of the room.
Daryl chuckled and pushed her back in before going around her to look for the stuff that he knew Merle would want to bring.
"Shouldn't he be doing this? You can't treat him like a child for the rest of his life and expect him to grow up, Daryl." She said as she put her hands on her hips.
"If we let him do it we'd be in here all damn day tryin' to talk him outta takin' everything. You don't want this shit in your house. I don't treat him like a kid." He grumbled.
"Yes you do. Why is there a tree branch in here?" She pointed to the far corner of the room.
"Merle brought home this big ass iguana one night. I guess one of his buddies owed him money and he took it as payment. He didn't have a cage so he just went out and dragged in that goddamn tree limb and let the big fucker run loose in here."
"That's not very... sanitary." She wrinkled her nose.
"Merle ain't very sanitary, darlin'. You'll learn."
"No I will not. We are gonna have to sit down and map out some rules for your brother, Daryl. I'm not living in a house that is covered in lizard poop." She was still making that face and he found himself laughing. She made another face at him before she walked to the chest of drawers. The top of it was covered in beer cans, candy bar wrappers and...used needles.
"Ain't nothin' up there worth... oh." he muttered as he saw what she was looking at. "Guess I need to throw that shit away." He reached out and carefully started dropping the needles into the bag, making sure the caps were on every one so they wouldn't poke through the plastic. He was really wishing that she had stayed at her place. She didn't need to see this. He didn't want her to see it. He was sure that something was going to be too much and she was going to change her mind. He knew at first he hadn't even thought to consider living in that house but now it felt like a real way for things to start getting better.
His eyes flicked up to her face. She was watching him with a frown. When he threw the last one in he pulled open the drawer. There, on top, in a ziplock baggie was Merle's stash of unused needles. Daryl was the one that picked them up for him. There was a clinic a few towns over that handed them out to people that had addictions involving needles. They were doing it to try to cut down on diseases like Hepatitis and AIDS. Merle was going to use drugs one way or another. All Daryl could do was make it as safe for him as he could. He didn't want his brother to end up with some fucked up disease like that.
"He needs these." He said defensively, expecting her to react badly.
She just smiled sadly and put her hand over his. "He wont for long, okay?"
This girl couldn't be for real. There was no way she was going to be okay with all the fucked up baggage that came along with the Dixon's. She must not understand that yet. Merle really was like a fucking kid half the time. He wasn't responsible for anything. He was probably going to make their lives a lot harder than they had to be. "If you realize that ya can't deal with all this then all you gotta do is tell me, alright?" He said quietly.
She nodded. "That isn't going to happen, Dixon."
He nodded and shoved the unused needles into the bag of things they were going to keep. He looked up when he heard her laugh. "What?" he frowned.
"You look like you're waiting for me to tell you I changed my mind. You look absolutely miserable!"
He scowled. "Well, I'm happy that you can get a laugh out of that." He grumbled. He needed to work on his poker face. He wasn't used to having anyone around to pay attention. She was reading every fucking thing his was thinking.
When he looked back up she was right there, her face inches from his. She leaned in and kissed him on the jaw. When she pulled back she was smiling. "I'm not going anywhere." She whispered.
He swallowed hard. The spot where her lips had been was burning. All he could do was nod.
