A/N: Here it is. The phone conversation, this was the second part of my thoughts on high school sweethearts reunited after a long separation. Thank you to everyone who has supported this fiction. I eat these reviews up with a spoon, I love you all. I hope you enjoy this.
Well, my God it's been so long, never dreamed you'd return.
But now here you are, and here I am. - Elderly Woman Behind The counter In A Small Town By Pearl Jam (I know you're all shocked)
Carol never got to see Michonne and Tara that day. She called and spoke to both of them and made plans for the next night. Dinner, a movie and wine at Tara's afterwards. Then she could talk to them about this new development in her life, that she was pretty sure had Tara's name written all over it.
Abraham and Rosita had come home with a pizza and thoughts of any other food left her head. As she cleaned the dishes with Rosita while Abraham took the kids out side to look for frogs, Carol turned to the woman she thought of as her sister in law.
Abe and Rosita weren't married, but they had a love affair that Carol envied. Her brother treated Rosita like a princess, she wanted for nothing. Carol didn't either really, monetarily. Ed provided a lifestyle that was fitting for an in demand surgeon in the city. They had an apartment in Center City, Philadelphia and a summer cottage in Beach Haven, Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Every summer she and the girls lived there for two months, just them. Their days were spent going to the beach every day, Carol's favorite place in the world to be.
She had a big diamond ring and a mink coat and she would have given it all away for a happy marriage, to love and be loved. To have what her brother and Rosita had. What Sasha and Bob had since she had met them, sophomore year of college.
It just wasn't meant to be for her. But she loved her girls and that was enough.
"Rosie, Daryl called me today." She said rinsing the dishes.
"That's a name I haven't heard you utter in forever. Did he call about your Dad?" Rosita asked.
"Yes, it was nice of him, right? He's calling back later tonight." She sighed "I don't know what to say to him."
"Why would you after all this time. That's normal." Rosita said. "Say whatever comes to mind at the time."
"That's what worries me Rosie." She laughed "I have so much to say but don't know how to say it, or even if I should."
"You should." Rosita replied. "It's time. If you can go up in a helicopter for God's sake you can talk to Daryl Dixon, right?"
Carol sighed. Putting the dishes in the drain. Yes, she could do it, and she would.
"You'll figure it out, you always do." Rosita handed her a dishtowel Carol started drying the dishes.
"I know, it's just been so long, but I want to talk to him."
"It has been a long time, he hasn't changed, I see him once or twice a year" Rosita said "He gets his taxes done at my place, Maggie does the. He's always really sweet to us, brings us donuts and coffee every time."
Carol smiled, that would be him, thinking of other people. Their fight had been the only time she ever saw a bad side to him. In the three years they had been together they had never had a fight. Only once had he lost his cool with her, and she had a part in that too.
"Well, I'll be up later if you need to talk after. Don't over think it Carol, It's Daryl. You know him. He really hasn't changed at all."
"Thanks." She smiled and squeezed Rosita's hand.
She didn't know what to do all she knew was her father was dead and she missed out on so much time with him and so had her girls. They would never know their grandfather the way she wanted them to.
She had been a fool, and now it was too late.
How could she let this rob her of time with her father? He was gone now and she couldn't take it back. She vowed right then and there to never have regret like that again.
That meant cleaning up her mess and getting her act together.
/111111111111111111111
The phone rang at exactly 10pm and she thought, same Daryl, he was reliable to a fault. That was good at one time, and bad. She caught herself smiling then remembered what the girls had said today, about her smiling. She felt happy, she supposed, to be home, to talk to him finally. It should have been done a long time ago, but she had felt paralyzed once by the pain from it. Then it stopped hurting as life went on and as she became busy with her children, immersed in her job.
No time for heartbreak and amazingly she healed.
She never came back though, she had not been ready. She could not think about seeing him, even by accident, not for many years.
Strange though tonight when that cellphone rang she felt like she did that night after the party, when they first met. Was that really 18 years ago? It felt like yesterday, like she was 15 again and not had called her that night to say goodnight and they had stayed on the phone for almost two hours. That had been when it all started.
She had decided that day while sitting at the pond when he called she would talk to him about all of it. If he would listen, the last time they had seen each other no one was listening to anyone. Maybe age and maturity made them more open minded. She certainly wanted to talk, to say she was sorry for what she had done, the things she had said. He had hurt her, but she had hurt him too. When she later tried to make it right, he told her it was too late and sent her away. She never begrudged him that, she had deserved it she supposed. But she didn't like having something out there between them. That anger that they had both felt, it was time to put it all behind them. She always hoped he had a good life, that he was happy. She wondered what Merle was up to, and if he was still trying to run Daryl like he did before. Merle had not been good for Daryl and she had gotten into it with him, a few times actually, and, he made it very clear what he thought of her. She thought about all of this and more as she answered the phone the way she used to when he called her.
"Hey, hey," She said as she opened the screen door to the porch.
"Hay, Carol." He smiled, she sounded like he always remembered, and all the years that passed might just be gone. He felt that way at least.
"I'm so glad you called Daryl," she said as she grabbed her tea and took it out on the back deck to sit at the table and chairs. "I was so surprised."
"Me too, but I wanted to call you, pay my respects." He said.
"I'm glad you did, it's been so long."
"Too long. " He said.
"Yes, too long."
"So sorry about Jim he was one in a million." He said a twinge of sadness in his voice. He had such good memories of Carol's father.
"Yeah, he was, and he loved you." He could hear the smile in her voice, the slight lift of timbre as she said it, it made him smile.
"Felt the same." Daryl replied.
They were silent for a few beats. The years stretching between them, like the Grand Canyon, they both wondered where to start. They were grown-ups now, not kids. She wanted to behave as such and not hold a grudge or be afraid anymore.
"How are you Daryl?" Carol finally said.
"Doin alright, you?
"I'm alright too."
"Good."
He was relieved, this was going ok so far. He needed to think of something to say.
"How's Merle? "She asked.
"Merle's, Merle you know, he works with me now, still lives in the old place." He said.
"You don't?'' This surprised her.
"Nah, I got my own place now, sides his girl Andrea is there a lot, I don't wanna get in the way. " He answered.
"Merle and a steady girl, wow, will wonders ever cease?"
"We all gotta grow up I guess right, all them guys, all married or something, Rosita and Abe living together, have been for years. I guess you already know that" He laughed to himself nervously. "Glenn married Maggie Greene you remember her right?"
"I do, I was at their wedding in the Bahama's."
She remembered how that had went, being so afraid he was going to show up. Sasha had taken her kids for the weekend, Ed had too much paper work, as usual, so she went alone. She was a wreak, Michonne and Tara finally took her to the hotel bar and getting her nice and wasted, buying her shots so she would stop worrying. He wasn't expected, but he and Glenn were friends, and she couldn't be sure.
She was hungover at the ceremony, but at least her nerves were in check. She still watched the door all day, thinking he would be there but he didn't come. Travis had his appendix out that week, she had heard later on. He couldn't get there, that had been nine years ago, she wouldn't have been ready anyway.
Her father had still been alive then and she hadn't known how short life really was yet.
"Eugene was in love with her little sister the little blonde, he followed her all over school she never paid him no mind either, what was her name? I can never remember it." She asked. "She was so cute."
"That's Beth Tara's girl." He said
"Oh, oh, that Beth, Yeah, I have heard all about her." She laughed.
"I didn't know you kept in touch, you just disappeared." He said soft like a whisper.
"Of course, I see Michonne and Tara all the time, just not here."
She wanted to say because you told me to go away, you married someone else, but she couldn't, and she wasn't mad anymore anyway. At first it was what kept her away, later it was Ed being controlling until he stopped caring what she did. She could have come back but she was stubborn. She had never wanted to know about his life, when Michonne or Tara brought his name up. She would change the subject fast.
Still they snuck it in sometimes, Carol knew he was divorced and had a son. She knew almost right when it happened, thanks to Tara. Tara had called her to report his divorce, like she had called to report his wedding. Carol had laughed that time, did Tara think she'd run down here when she heard he was divorced. She had come running after him once, and made a fool out of herself, she would never do it again. He never came looking for her either, it just wasn't meant to be and Carol accepted that a long time ago.
"Eugene, I wonder if he's ever gonna hit on a straight girl, remember what Tara said to him, at the prom?" Daryl said trying to break the silence.
"Yup I was standing right next to her, you know I like girls right?" Carol said. "And he said, I'm well aware of that fact. So deadpan, I love him though. He got me through Calculus and Physics and I wasn't the only one either."
"He's like the Lesbian whisperer. " He smiled laughing softly and she let out a big laugh.
"Daryl!" She kept laughing.
"What?" He laughed along with her. "It's true."
"Hey, I heard Rick married Lori Taylor, I didn't really like her much. " Carol said.
"Don't worry they're getting divorced, ah, She's with Shane now, having his baby they left town together, you ain't gotta worry about running into him, either."
She was silent, he brought up Shane, but it didn't seem like he was being mean. More like trying to ease her mind. Like he didn't want he worrying about some kind of confrontation or something. She really had no problem with Shane anyway, even if she saw him it would be no big deal. The last time she saw him she had put him in his place.
Daryl was the one who had a problem with him, all their lives they were at each other. And he was Merle's good friend, so that didn't help at all. Shane and Daryl were like oil and water.
That came to a head when Daryl had punched Shane in the face, it had been a long time coming between them, but, part of it was her fault and she owned that.
She had already been gone by then, but Daryl had seen her with Shane before she left. She had heard Daryl thought they were together. Shane was running his mouth about her, and that had been enough for Daryl. Rick and Glenn had to break it up, Tara had told her about that too.
"I'm sorry for Rick, and you too, I heard about you and Karen." She said.
She let her voice trail off. She never disliked Karen even before the shit hit the fan. She just wasn't her kind of person and, after she had been so jealous and angry. Karen was probably a nice person, but she had married him, and that's not how it was supposed to be.
Carol and Daryl had made plans, plans that were totally destroyed, by fate, other people, and themselves.
"Yeah, Karen and I been divorced a long time, she married Tyreese Jonson, like ten years ago, Travis, that's my son, he don't even remember Mommy and Daddy living together." Daryl said.
"Wow, my kids should be so lucky. "She regretted saying that the minute it had left her lips. She knew he'd catch it, he always caught everything she said. He listened to her, he always had and nothing got by him. Some things never change.
"Huh?" His voice picked up. "What did you say?"
"Oh how old is Travis?" She quickly changed the subject, she had not meant to say that. What was it about him that she always just said what she was thinking, like she could keep no secrets from him? He brought out all the word vomit in her, even now. Not even on the phone for ten minutes and she was divulging all her secrets.
"He's gonna be 14 in January." He said.
"Wow."
Daryl decided to just go for it, he had nothing to lose really. She had said that and he felt like maybe life wasn't against him after all. He wanted to know, if she was happy. If not, he was going to offer to change that.
"You wanna talk about what you just said before." She had sounded so sad just then, he hated that. He wanted her laughing voice back.
"No" She answered too quickly. "I really don't"
He wouldn't push her. He thought quickly of something to say, to lighten the mood and hopefully make her laugh.
"Uh oh ok, hmm, so, we're old and gray and thirty now Carol" He said laughing his musical laugh that always, always made her smile.
That had been an old joke between them, he winced hoping she would laugh and not be sad. The joke had been about when they were going to have kids. Not till they were old and gray and thirty they had said.
They had talked seriously about getting married, made plans for a future together. When to have children had been decided, how many. They even talked about baby names they liked, it was serious. They had everything figured out, that was why when he ended it she had been so blindsided. The carpet had been pulled out from her feet and she had fallen hard, it took her years to get back up.
Neither of them had named any of their kids the names they had picked out.
She sounded unhappy just now and he never wanted her to be unhappy again. He had been witness to that once before and he almost broke because of it. He had done it, he knew for reasons he thought were valid and for her own good. But that didn't' matter, it still nearly killed him too.
She giggled, oh thank God he thought, I didn't fuck this up that much. Not yet anyway.
"Yeah we are, actually way over thirty, who would have thought it Daryl, when we were tooling around here on your bike, tearing up all over the place that we'd be over thirty."
"Or apart." Damn he thought and winced again. Why he couldn't keep his trap shut, he thought. Five minutes on the phone with her and he was spilling his guts, saying all the wrong things, like always.
"I'm sorry it was the first thing that came to mind." He said.
"I agree, I thought that too, but it's ok, that's not how it was supposed to be." She said.
"You getting Zen on me?"
"Kind of, I've grown up I guess." She thought of what she wanted to say. "I understand things differently now."
"Well, I'm gonna try to stop putting my foot in my mouth anyway, you're gonna to lose patience eventually."
She laughed though and on his end of the phone he was smiling.
"I just, I didn't mean to bring up all that old shit" he whispered.
"It's ok I'm happy to hear about the old gang, to talk to you, we have history, you and I."
"Yeah, we do." Lots of history, he thought to himself.
"I want to talk about it, all of it, truthfully it's why I wanted you to call."
"I do too.'" His voice still a whisper.
She waited. Unsure of how to start this conversation. She played it over in her head over the years but now she couldn't get the words out. She knew what she would say to him if she ever got the chance, had thought about it, but now the words wouldn't come. Hearing his voice brought back so many memories. She couldn't get the words together.
She couldn't get it out of her head now, all the memories. He had taught her to drive, and how to change a flat tire. How to start a car with a screwdriver.
They had danced together without music out by his truck in the woods, he hummed "Heroes" in her ear the whole time. That was still the most romantic night of her life. It was a flood of happy memories bombarding her brain all at once the more she heard his voice, they had loved each other so much.
"Can I see you? If we're going to talk about it, can it be in person. I live real close." He asked.
What? Was this him talking? He heard his voice asking to come over there. He wasn't even sure he could handle seeing her again. Yet he felt desperate for it. Yes, he had to see her.
Merle's words echoing in his head now, third times the charm, little brother. Do it before it's too late again.
She felt it again, he always did this to her, that mix of excitement, nausea and terror. What was it about your first love? Did everyone feel this way? After so many years?
She had thought she would sneak into town and he would never know. This is exactly why she never came back before, to avoid this. He had an effect on her that time couldn't erase. She would not be able to deny him anything he asked.
"Carol?' He said when she hadn't answered him.
He couldn't let her leave without seeing her, and right now it was the most important thing on his mind. He didn't know what the hell he thought he was going to do once he saw her though.
"Uh, the girls are asleep, I can't tonight." She gulped out.
"Tomorrow?" He asked hopefully, she could hear it in his voice.
God he was sounding like a man dying of thirst in a desert. Desperate, always so desperate when it came to her. He remembered what it had been like touching her, kissing her, having her in bed.
Now, he was now even more desperate, if that was possible. He had to see her, she had to say yes.
"The diner, meet me for breakfast? Or lunch, whatever you want its Saturday Abe can watch the kids can't he?" He said thinking to himself, you are so desperate. "Dale would love seeing you."
"He's still there? "Carol asked.
"Yeah, still makes the best grits in Georgia"
He was surprising her more and more as this conversation went on. Years ago it had been she that chased him until he felt comfortable and trusted her. Then he became confidante after her knew he had her, but until then she had been the one making all the moves. He took a long time to be comfortable, she always felt like it was because he lost his mother so young and his father being such a bastard. They didn't talk about it too much but she thought so. He had always been a little skittish. Unless he had a point to prove. He could be stubborn if he had it in his mind to be, so could she, which was kind of what ended them. He was sure he was doing the right thing and it destroyed them.
But this was a different Daryl, not afraid in the slightest.
The years had changed Daryl Dixon. He was a different man and she was going to say yes, God help her. Because she wasn't that same girl anymore either.
"Ok," She laughed "for the grits."
"Ok?" He couldn't hide the thrill in his voice. Whatever got her there, the grits or whatever, it didn't matter she was coming. "What time?"
"How's eleven."
"Eleven is great" He smiled and suddenly all his nervousness was gone "So Carol…what kind of music ya into these days?"
She smiled wide then. Just like the very first time he ever called her, they were talking about music. Just like old times. She decided to mess with him a little.
"You ever hear of Five Finger Death Punch. Or OAR?"
"I can't say I have but I'm sure ya gonna make me listen to them tomorrow." He laughed.
"I am, and while you're doing nothing later, when we hang up, Google "Drowning Pool "Let the bodies hit the floor."
"I'm scared." He teased.
"Ha, you should be."
'I am, I know you, and your crazy music."
They were now laughing outright.
"Hey, Dixon, your precious Johnny Cash covered "Hurt" She laughed: "You know that right?"
"I swear when I heard that, what was it five or six years ago, first thing I thought, Carol is probably laughing her ass off at me right now." He said.
He was enjoying this conversation with her, it could have gone either way, really. She very well could have hung up on him, he wouldn't have blamed her. But she didn't and they were indeed talking like old friends now. Even though they had a few awkward bumps along the way. The years had changed them both and calmed them both down. She wasn't stomping off in a rage and he wasn't throwing wrenches anymore.
"He did a good job with it." Carol said.
"Yeah he did."
"I did laugh about it, I remember I wished I could have called you and gloated." She said.
"I would have loved it Carol."
He joked and it was just like they hadn't been apart at all. Just like nothing had ever happened between them to drive her to not set foot in Georgia for almost 15 years. Nothing that made him marry someone else, even when she practically begged him not to.
He filled her in on all their old friends, who was doing what, who left town, who stayed. She told him all about her girls, and her job as a flight nurse in Philadelphia. He rambled about Travis, who was the most important thing in his life. Travis was the greatest thing he had ever done he told her, and she got that, she understood.
He filled her in on Merle's antics and about his new girl Andrea who was also a nurse like Carol. He said Merle was different now, he had gotten sober. She was happy about that, Merle had grown some too.
There was a lot of laughing and smiling on both ends of the phone that night.
Just like the first time he ever called her, when she was 15 and he was 17.
A/N: Some one asked me why Carol would be so quick to forgive him. Fifteen years have passed and they both have grown up. Plus she has just lost her father and her heart is open to forgiveness and she may be ready to change her life now that she sees how short life can be.
Enjoy Fear TWD if you are watching tonight. Thank you for reading I heart you all.
