Here is one more before the weekend! I usually don't update on weekends for stories that are updated daily because usually people have stuff to do but I can make an exception for this one if you guys are heavy weekend readers. There's another story lined up that is almost finished that I can post as soon as this one is marked complete so I don't have to take my time updating it. It's basically up to you guys. Either way, hope your weekend is a great one and stay safe!
Chapter Eleven
He was pretty sure he was doing the right thing. Hell, some people put ads in newspapers for roommates. This wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't so off the wall. Okay, maybe for him it was. He wasn't good with people. He'd spent most of his life avoiding the hell out of people. But apparently not her. And it probably didn't have a damn thing to do with her really. Surely not. It was just that this was going to make things easier on himself. When Merle came back he could get a job and help and then Carol could move out on her own or Merle could get pissed off and leave and Carol could stay. Hell, maybe Merle would actually stay true to his word and actually change this time around and then they could both stay.
"So, what kind of house is it? Did we drive by it when we were out here yesterday?" Carol asked. She was nearly bouncing in her seat with excitement.
He shook his head. "It ain't far from the farm but it's far off from the road. It's more in the woods than Hershel's place. It wasn't a part of the land that Hershel owned. He bought up more acreage about ten years ago and that house just happened to come with the property."
"How big is it?" She asked.
He shrugged. "It ain't huge. Like I said, it ain't like Hershel's place. You'll see."
"And it's hidden. I've left my husband with nothing but the clothes on my back and I'm about to move in with a man I barely know to a house in the middle of nowhere!"
He glanced at her after he turned off of the main road towards Hershel's. "I guess you are. Sounds like the beginning of a bad horror movie."
"Or a cheesey romance novel." Her eyes went wide at her words and she sat back, her face flushing. He couldn't even call her out on it because he could feel his own ears burning. "So... uh... what about furniture? You said that your house was furnished. What are we going to do about that?" She asked to change the subject.
He parked the truck behind a car that he knew well. It belonged to Patricia. "Hershel had a farm hand that used to live there with his wife. He died close to a year ago and a few months later his wife moved in with the Greene's. Everything is still in the house so it comes with the property. Hershel bought it out so she didn't have to worry about movin' it. Now I think he just wants someone livin' in it and for some reason, that someone is me."
Again, Annette and Hershel met them out on the porch despite the cold. They seemed thrilled about the news and Hershel readily accepted Daryl's meager down payment. It would be rough until he got his paycheck but they would make due.
They.
He caught himself again. All morning it had been "we" or "us" like they were some kind of unit. They were not a unit. They were both in a bind and they were sharing a house because that was the only choice they had. He needed to go back to the "I" and the "me".
Annette and Patricia came along with Hershel to show them around, even though Daryl had seen the place several times. Again, Carol was almost trembling with excitement and nervous energy as they pulled onto a rarely used drive. He followed the winding driveway from the gap in the trees and memory alone. There was an undisturbed blanket of snow covering the whole place.
It was slow going through all that snow but eventually the house came into view. Now that he was looking right at it he couldn't help but be a little more excited himself. It wasn't anything fancy, really. It was just an old two story farmhouse, but the front porch was wide and it had a fresh coat of paint. There were a few scattered outbuildings and there were trees everywhere. It was like the house had grown right out of the woods themselves. It just belonged. And Daryl felt like he belonged too. That was a strange feeling for him. He was used to feeling out of place no matter where he was. But not here. That was why he wanted it so badly. That was why he was willing to move some woman that he barely knew right in with him so he could manage to own it.
"Oh my God! Are you serious?" Carol's wide eyes landed on him, her smile causing his breath to catch in his throat. "We're going to live here? This is it?"
He nodded, watching her closely, the house all but forgotten as he took in her face.
"It's... Daryl this is amazing!" he grunted as she nearly threw herself across the seat, hugging him tightly. This time she didn't even realize that he was frozen in place and she was almost on his lap. Why did she have to be such a hugger? Hershel and Annette were right behind them, surely watching the whole show. She pulled back, her hands on his shoulders and her eyes sparkling even though it was overcast outside. "I swear, you won't regret this. I won't bother you at all. You won't even know I'm here. You have no idea how exciting this is! I've always wanted to live in a place like this. Look at the trees! Oh my God! We should get a dog! We should get a lot of dogs!"
She was wrong. He would definitely know she was here. Especially if she got into the habit of throwing herself on top of him every time she got excited about something. He was about to say something but she didn't give him a chance. She was so eager to get outside to look around that she didn't bother with her own damn door. She threw his open and climbed right over him.
Jesus, this was gonna be... interesting.
"I believe someone likes it already," Hershel chuckled as Daryl finally got out of the truck.
"Are you kidding?" Carol asked, her face tinged pink from the cold. He barely even noticed the bruising on her jaw or the cut on her lip since it was almost impossible to not stare at her eyes.
Her enthusiasm didn't dim when they went inside. He had seen many different sides to her in the few days that they had known each other. The fearful woman that lived inside her own head. That version of her was quiet and contemplative. The one that instantly assumed that he was going to be mad about something she had done. And then he would see glimpses of her overly troubled side. He'd seen her angry when he had refused to go into the store with her, even though her anger wasn't anything to be worried about. She mostly just slammed the truck door and gave him a dirty look. And then there was her teasing side that had shown it's face a few times.
This, even though he wouldn't dare tell anyone, was his favorite Carol by far. There was no fear. No anger. She was almost childlike in her excitement and all of her walls had been lowered. It was this Carol that he couldn't seem to stop staring at. It was this Carol that he wanted to see more of and he found himself wondering what he could do to bring out this side of her more often.
Daryl and Hershel had been left in the kitchen while the women dragged Carol off to see the rest of the house.
"Can I ask you something?" Hershel's voice was low as they leaned against the long counter.
"Shoot," Daryl said, feeling a little nervous at the tone of Hershel's voice.
Hershel glanced at the wide doorway leading into the dining room. He didn't have to because he could hear the women upstairs. "I couldn't help but notice her face."
Daryl met the man's eyes then. "Yeah. It's hard to miss."
"Is that why she's with you? Is she in some kind of trouble?"
Daryl looked away. "It ain't my story to tell."
"I've seen it before. That look. I saw it in the Diner and knew right away. I know you're a good man, Daryl. You're rough around the edges, sure, but you're a good man all the same. Just remember that if the man you took her from would do what he did to her, he might not let her go easily. The girl's probably been through more than you can imagine. You keep her safe, son."
Daryl felt his jaw clench at Hershel's words. His only response was a stiff nod before the women entered the room, chattering excitedly. Carol caught his eye and then grabbed his hand. "You have to see this," she beamed as she nearly dragged him out of the room.
He let her drag him away because he wanted to get away from Hershel's assessment. He didn't want to think about what kind of horrors she had been through. He just wanted to think of ways to keep them at bay. She pulled him up the stairs, her grip on his hand warm and firm, like she thought he'd bolt back down the stairs if she didn't keep a hold of him. She must have forgotten that he had seen the house before. At the top of the stairs there was a hallway with a door on either side. At the end was another door that led to a bathroom. She opened the door on the right and pulled him inside.
"It's great, right?" She asked, still gripping his hand.
He glanced around. There was a full sized bed with a matching dresser, mirror and chest of drawers. There was a cedar trunk, pushed against the bed's foot board. Matching night stands sat on either side of the bed. It was nice as far as rooms went but it was actually the smallest bedroom in the house. "It's small," he noted.
She snorted and waved him off. "That doesn't mean anything. For me, it's great."
"So you want this room?" He asked, raising a brow.
"Unless you want it," she bit her lip as she gazed at him from under her lashes.
He shook his head, "I don't want it. Had my eye on the one across the hall."
Those eyes lit up again. "I thought you would want the big bedroom downstairs! Not that that would matter if you did but I don't know your brother and living right across the hall from him would be weird. I'm so excited about this house!"
"I can tell," he felt his lips twitch but he refused to laugh at her.
She sighed. "You must think I'm an idiot. It's just a house but really, it's a fresh start. I can be-"
"Whoever the fuck you wanna be," he finished for her.
"Exactly. And I'm sorry about what I did in the truck. I didn't mean to do that." Now she looked embarrassed, as she very well should have been, crawling all over him like that.
"No big deal," he lied. It was kind of a big deal. The closer she got to him the closer he wanted her to be. His head was getting all clouded up every time she let her guard down and touched him. That wasn't a good idea. They had an agreement to live together out of necessity. He couldn't be worried about himself getting mixed up with her emotionally... or physically.
"Are we staying tonight? You're closer to work and I'm closer to Hershel and it makes sense. Patricia said they haven't been out here in a while so the whole place needs dusted and scrubbed and we can go out for dinner and the fireplace would be enough to keep us warm tonight." She rambled on and on.
He waited for her to finish before he nodded in agreement. "We can do that." She had used a lot of "us" and "we" in all that jabbering she was doing but he brushed it off. "We won't need the fireplace though." He flipped the light switch and the overhead light came on. "They kept the power on. I just gotta get it transferred."
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were still bright and he suddenly had an overwhelming urge to get closer to her.
"Well, we should get back down there then," she said suddenly.
He couldn't agree more. The room felt smaller and the bed seemed bigger and her lips looked softer. He swallowed hard. "Yeah, that's a good idea."
He was in serious trouble if he didn't stop letting his mind run away from him like that. This time she didn't grab his hand and he was glad. He was starting to think that this was going to be a lot harder than he thought it was going to be.
