"What the fuck is this?" Merle said with a smirk as he looked over the acceptance letter. "Daryl applied to college?"
Carol nodded. "It's an art school, very hard to get into… but he did it," she said proudly.
"Art school," Merle scoffed. "Daryl ain't no artist," he laughed. Then it started, exactly what Daryl had been afraid of. "He some kind of little fairy boy with a paint brush?" Merle snorted. "I always knew he was a homo…"
"Enough," Carol snapped. "Why the hell do you think he never told you about this before?" Merle looked like a puppy someone had just kicked and she realized that trait ran in the family. "He is good Merle. He's really, really good. And he's passionate about his work, perfectionistic even."
"He coulda told me," Merle grumbled.
"No, he couldn't," Carol shook her head. "This is his dream, his heart and soul and the minute you found out what did you do? You started to make fun of him."
Merle knew she was right and he deflected by looking down at the letter. "Huh, might be the first Dixon to ever go to College."
Carol sighed, "I'm not so sure. That was the school he wanted to get into, so badly. He'd been anticipating that letter for weeks."
"How'd he do it?" Merle asked. "How'd he hide it all these years? I ain't so much as seen a sketch on a piece of paper round here. But I do remember he was always good at drawing back in grade school."
"Grab your truck keys," Carol instructed him. "There's something you need to see."
Carol took him to the studio, thankful she hadn't left her purse in the car and had the spare keys. "He's been renting this for a while," she informed Merle. "He's been planning on going to art school for years, saving everything he could, practicing his technique, developing a portfolio…" Carol picked up one of the sketchbooks on the table and handed it to Merle. "Have a look, you'll see how amazing he is."
"Well Jesus fucking christ," Merle breathed as he flipped slowly through the pages. "I can't believe it. This shit is professional…" He looked up at her and scanned the room. "Those paintings… he do all of them too?"
"He did," Carol said with a smile. She was so proud of Daryl and hoped he wouldn't be pissed at her for bringing Merle to the studio. "He's been doing commissions, portraits, to make extra cash to cover his tuition."
"So what now?" Merle asked, his tone more serious than Carol had ever heard it.
"Well first we need to find him before he does something stupid," Carol sighed. "But I have no idea where to even start."
"Good thing you brought me along then," Merle grinned. "He's at a bar, we just gotta figure out which one."
"How do you know?" she asked.
Merle shrugged and headed for the door, "That's what Dixons do when we're angry. We drink." It took almost an hour of driving by local bars to find the right one, but eventually Carol spotted her car and they pulled in. "Boy's had almost 2 hours… this ain't gonna be pretty," Merle warned her.
"Maybe I should go in alone… he's mad at you," Carol suggested.
He shook his head. "Nah, you won't get him out. Sure as shit, he's gonna need help to walk." Carol shouldn't have been surprised but Merle was exactly right about all of it. Daryl was a mess. "Jesus Nate, how many you given him?" Merle asked the bartender.
Nate came over and handed Merle the keys he'd taken from Daryl. "Prob 5 or 6 by now… doubles. I took those keys after 2, it was clear he wasn't stopping anytime soon."
"Daryl, sweetie… let's go," Carol tried, grabbing his shoulder.
He brushed her off. "Nah, I'm stayin," he slurred. "It's over… it's over… and it'sssss my fault…"
"It ain't your fault," Merle said. "It's mine."
Daryl turned and glared at him, almost falling off the stool in the process. "Yeah… it'ssss yourrr fuckin fault too," he said, trying to shove Merle. "Butttt I did… stupid… so stupid…" Daryl was rambling almost incoherently and Carol couldn't figure out what he was talking about. He went to swing at Merle but stumbled, ending up in his arms.
"Okay, let's get you outta here," Merle said, hefting Daryl up right and guiding him towards the door. Carol followed, relieved they had found Daryl and he wasn't putting up a huge fight. But she was distraught because now he was crying and still rambling on in slurred speech. "We'll take your car, get my truck later," Merle said. "You ride in the back with him."
Carol got in and Merle shoved Daryl in with her. "C'mere," she said, pulling his head against her chest. She gave Merle directions to her house and gently stroked Daryl's hair the entire drive, whispering soothing words.
When they got home it took both of them to get Daryl inside and into bed. He was pretty out if it by that point and practically snoring before they left the room and Carol shut the door. "Thank you," she said to Merle. "Do you want me to drive you back to your truck?" Carol offered, not wanting to leave Daryl, but she knew Merle had to get to a vehicle somehow.
"Nah, I'll call the old Lady to come get me." Carol handed him the phone and he quickly called.
"Coffee while you wait?" she offered. Merle nodded and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Carol?" he said gently. She turned. "You gotta help him, please? You gotta try to find a way to make this all work out."
She brought the mugs of coffee to the table. "You know I'll do whatever I can. He's worked so hard for this…" Carol felt like crying but she held back the tears.
"If you need me to do anything… anything," he said with emphasis. "Just call. He's my brother. I screwed up."
Somewhere inside Carol found her optimism. "It's gonna work out. We'll figure out something." They drank their coffee and chatted quietly while Merle waited for his ride. He had more questions about Daryl's art and she answered anything she could. Finally there was a honk outside and Merle left.
Carol finished her cup and had another before heading into the bedroom. She slipped out of her clothes and into a nighty and then climbed in bed with Daryl. She moved up behind him and spooned his body. He stirred when she put an arm around him. "Mmm, I love you…" he mumbled.
Carol smiled and kissed his shoulder. "I love you too." She lay wide awake, holding him for a long time. It wasn't the coffee, it was her need to come up with a plan. It wasn't until she was finally satisfied with what they would do next that Carol finally drifted off to sleep.
She woke the next morning to moaning. "Oh god, my head… my head…" Daryl was whining.
Carol sat up. "You drank a lot last night. You gonna puke?"
"Nah," he moaned. "I never puke… but my head… it's killing me… make the pain go away…"
Carol rolled her eyes and went to her medicine cabinet. She returned with two Aleve and a glass of water. "Here, take these, you'll be good as new in no time." She slipped on a robe, "Listen, get yourself together and hop in the shower. I'm gonna go make breakfast and as soon as we're ready we're heading out."
"Ugh," he groaned again. "I don't know if food sounds like the best thing ever or a death trap." He sat up and took the pills, chugging down the entire glass of water in one gulp. "Where exactly are we goin'?" he asked.
"I'll tell you when we're on the way so you can't say no," Carol replied, with a smirk.
"You're a jerk," Daryl teased.
"I know," she replied with a bright smile. "Now go - get ready."
An hour later they were headed down the interstate. "Okay, you got me stuck in here… where are we going?"
"How's your head now?" Carol asked, not ready to break the news just yet.
"It's fine. Quit stalling," Daryl replied quickly.
"Okay, okay," she laughed. "You have a meeting in Savannah with the Dean at noon. If traffic is good we should make it right on time."
"Woah, woah… the dean? What?" Daryl snapped. "Turn around, I ain't going."
"Yes, you are," Carol insisted. "If this is what you want you fight for it. Is it? Is this what you want Daryl?" She glanced over and saw him nod slowly. "Good. Then we go. And you meet him. The worst he's gonna say is no and we're not any worse off than we are right now."
"What do I say? Wait, am I dressed good enough? Dammit, why didn't you tell me before we left?" Daryl grumbled.
"If I did you wouldn't have come. And…" Carol added. "You look just fine. I wouldn't have let you leave the house if you didn't."
She could feel Daryl's eyes on her. "You're a good woman," he said.
Carol giggled, "Yep, I know."