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Carol was liking her first day on the job so far. Sure, she'd only been there a few hours, but it was going well. They'd shown her how to get people checked in using their system and she'd caught on to it pretty quickly. They told her to get used to checking people in for the first few days and then they'd let her start checking people out and handling transactions later in the week. They also wanted her to become well versed in the prices of regular procedures, medications, and products they sold in order to better answer client questions.

They'd given her lists with prices and told her the basics about them, but she planned to get Daryl to educate her even more on everything and even on things they hadn't told her that she had to know. She wanted to impress Hershel and let him know how serious she was taking this job and how grateful she was for it.

Hershel's wife was the head client care specialist, which meant she was training Carol and she worked right up front at reception with her. The woman was good with clients. Always smiling at them and welcoming them with that southern charm she carried herself with. She seemed really nice so far, and she talked non-stop about her kids. Shawn, her actual son and her step-daughters, Maggie and Beth. You could tell she loved them like her own, just as she'd said. Carol couldn't help but find it endearing, because step-parents weren't always like that and the woman didn't have to be.

There was another client care specialist, too. Her name was Tara. She was about Daryl's age, but she wasn't in college right now. She hadn't quite figured out what she wanted to do with her life yet and didn't want to start college until she knew. Carol wasn't exactly sure what to think of her at first. She'd introduced herself this morning with a fist bump and a head nod. As the day went on and she talked to her more she thought she'd end up liking her. She seemed nice enough and had even shared a secret stash of Hershey kisses she had hidden under the counter with her.

Carol had just clocked out for lunch and was about to head to the kitchen when Maggie stopped her. She had just left class and gotten to the clinic to start her shift. "Hey, how's your day going?" She smiled.

"It's going great!" She smiled back. "I can't thank you and Daryl enough for this."

Maggie let out a laugh. "Yeah, I heard he really sang your praises this weekend."

"That's what your dad said. I had no idea he'd even talked to him about me."

"Me either." Maggie replied, honestly. "You two, you've kinda hit off, huh?" She was shooting her a knowing look.

She shrugged innocently. Pretending not to pick up on what Maggie was insinuating. "He's a nice guy. We're gonna be pretty good friends, I think."

Maggie was about to say more, but then Michonne walked through the door. She looked at Carol and then to Maggie and raised an eyebrow? "Fresh meat?" She asked, with a small laugh.

"I guess that's one way of putting." Maggie said, shaking her head. "This is Carol, Rick's sister. She just started working here today."

Michonne's eyes widened slightly and she shot Maggie a look. "So, this is the girl Daryl Dixon described as fucking beautiful?" She shot Carol a curious smile.

Carol felt her face flush involuntarily. She was definitely taken aback by knowing he said something like that to his co-workers about her. She wondered if it was followed by some lewd comment or some dirty thing he'd like to do to her. The way Rick described him he wouldn't have said something like that without adding that extra piece. "That'd be me." She smirked. "And you are?" She looked to Michonne and raised her eyebrows.

"Sorry. I'm Michonne."

Carol looked the woman up and down upon hearing her name. So, this was the girl her little brother had gone to the movies with the other night. She was athletic looking. Her arms were more toned than some guys she knew. She was definitely a girl who Carol assumed could handle herself. She wasn't manly looking though, she was a beautiful. "So, you're the girl my brother went out with this weekend?"

Michonne cocked her head. "We went to a movie…as friends." She replied carefully. "If I recall, your brother invited you, but you wanted to go downtown with Dixon instead."

Carol titled her own head and laughed, but didn't reply. She could tell already that she was going to like Michonne. "I better get to lunch so I actually have time to eat. I'll see you two in a bit. Nice meeting you Michonne." She turned around to wave as she went to head out the door and almost smacked clean into someone who was coming in it. She felt a pair of hands go to her hips and was almost too afraid to look up, worrying that it'd be Dr. Greene. When she heard the laugh she immediately knew it wasn't.

"We gotta stop smacking into each other all the damn time." Daryl laughed. "If you wanna be this close to me, all you gotta do is ask."

She looked up and met his eyes. They were looking straight into hers and he was wearing that sexy, side-ways grin of his. His hands were still low on her hips and she suddenly felt a rush of electricity shoot through her. They were so close that his hips were practically pressed into hers. She pulled back on her bottom lip, momentarily forgetting where she was. She was two seconds away from leaning up to kiss him when she heard someone clear their throat.

"Six inch rule, remember?" Maggie muttered.

She looked up and saw Daryl snatch his hands away quickly. His face turned crimson and she knew her own face was." I gotta go to lunch." She mumbled, shooting past Daryl quickly and bolting out the door.

()()()

Daryl had pretty much kept his distance from Carol the rest of the day at work. He couldn't believe the little moment they'd almost had in front of Maggie, Michonne, a treatment room full of animals and Hershel's camera. He'd have died if Herschel walked in right then. He'd have thought Daryl was only trying to get her a job to help him get laid, and that couldn't have been further from the truth. He really thought she'd be good at this job and he knew she needed it. Although, that would be hard to convince someone of that if they'd just seen him with his crotch pressed up against hers.

Then there was that comment he'd made. Why the hell had he said that out loud with other people in the room? People that knew Rick, no less. Just another example of him not thinking clearly around her. He was rather hopeful that her idea of celebrating for this job involved him, her and a bed so he could get this shit out of his system and be him again.

He and Michonne were currently alone in the back, re-stocking before they could leave. Carol was out front waiting on him since she'd finished up her part of the job at six after there was no one left to be checked in. She'd stayed up front and observed Tara doing check outs until she went home. Then she'd come in the back and bummed a cigarette and lighter off him and headed outside to wait for him to get done. He was just about to finish putting the last of the vaccines in the refrigerator when he looked over to Michonne who was re-stocking the syringes. "Hey, I need to ask you to do something for me."

She cut her eyes at him and smirked mischievously. "Sorry, Daryl. I don't think you and I should go there. Might be awkward working together after, but I'm flattered."

"Shut the hell up." He growled. It wasn't that he didn't think she was an attractive woman, she was, but she'd never been the type of girl he'd go after. Then again, Carol wasn't his usual type either and that didn't stop him from wanting her.

She just chuckled to herself at his annoyance. She'd never considered going there with him. She knew his reputation and one night stands weren't her thing. He was a cute guy, but she didn't see him like that at all. "What do you want, Dixon?"

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "What you saw earlier with me and Carol….just don't say nothing to Rick about it. It ain't what it looked like. We just joke around like that."

"Right. Yeah. I joke like that with my friends, too. You should have seen me and Maggie in surgery earlier. I had my hands on her hips and I was staring deep into her eyes and then I licked my lips and I was about to kiss her, but I didn't, because I was just joking around."

He just rolled his eyes. "Damn it, Michonne! Rick will go ape shit if he thinks I'm gonna try something with his sister."

"Are you going to?" She challenged.

"No!" He spat back a little too quickly and it had her raising her eyebrows at him. "Just don't tell Rick. Okay?" He pleaded.

Michonne sighed heavily. "Look, I'm not saying anything, because I don't know anything. You're grown. She's grown. I could give two shits less what you do. But I won't look him in the eye and lie if he asks and I know something to tell him. Understood?"

Daryl nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Understood." He muttered. He stood up and brushed his hands off and reached for his keys in his pocket. "I'm finished up. I'm gonna head out. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. See you." She replied, as she watched him walk away. Just as he got to the door she stopped and called out to him. "Oh, and Daryl?"

He turned around and stopped to look at her.

If something does happen, you better make damn sure it's worth Rick finding out." She warned.

He bit his bottom lip then turned and looked out the glass doors in the front of the building and saw Carol sitting on the brick side rails. She was swinging her legs back and forth and still smoking that cigarette. He then glanced back over at Michonne and didn't say anything. He just offered a small nod and took off for the door.

()()()

When she saw him coming she took one last, long drag of her cigarette and then tossed it to the ground and stomped it out. She picked the butt up and put it in an ashtray. He nodded at her to follow him and the two started walking towards his bike.

"How was your first day?" He asked.

"It was good. I like interacting with people and all of our co-workers seem pretty cool."

"They let you start checking people in. A lot of times they make new people sit there all day and watch."

"I'd have died from boredom if I had to do that. The last hour was hell just sitting and watching Tara."

"Yeah, I bet. I had to follow Maggie around my first day and I didn't get to do shit. I about went fucking crazy." He re-called.

She smiled thinking about him just sitting and observing. He was a hands on person, for sure. He always had to be doing something. Even at home. He was never completely still. He was always fidgeting or twiddling his thumbs. He seemed so in his element here today at work. Constantly going up front to get animals or return to them to their owner and explaining medicine. When she'd walked back through treatment to get to the bathroom he'd been drawing blood from a dog all by himself. He was so gentle with the dog and he was talking softly to it as he worked on it. It was a more tender side of him she hadn't seen firsthand. "You're good at your job." She pointed out.

He shrugged and blushed again. "No better than Maggie or Michonne."

She just shook he head. She didn't understand this boy at all. Someone who had enough confidence to meet a stranger and go home with them sure didn't like compliments very much. "Maybe." She mused.

They stopped in front of his bike and before he went to get on he stopped and looked at her. "I heard Hershel talking back in surgery. He seemed pretty impressed with how quick you pick things up. When summer time comes we always need extra help in the back. If you impress him enough between now and then he might move you back there if it's something you'd be interested in."

Her eyes lit up at the thought of learning more and actually working one on one with animals, but she didn't have a damn clue about being a vet assistant and she'd be lost. "I wouldn't even know what the hell I was doing."

"Yeah. I didn't either. You'd learn though. I can teach you some stuff when we ain't busy. Just little things so you'd know." He offered.

"Yeah? I'd like that." She smiled.

He smiled back and climbed on his bike. He was waiting for her to get on, but when he turned around she was standing there smirking at him. "What?" He asked, curiously.

She kept smirking and shook her head slightly. "You think that six inch rule still applies?"

"Maybe." He shrugged and shot her a suggestive smirk. "But it don't apply to me."