This is the longest chapter, yet, and I hope you all like it!
This chapter has been rewritten!
Chapter Twenty-One
There was no more talk about Daryl's scabbed over knuckles and what Merle had done to deserve an ass whooping as they all finished their lunches talking amiably with one another. However, Carol wasn't going to drop the subject. She just wasn't going to talk with Daryl about it, anymore since it looked like she wasn't going to get anything out of him anytime soon.
After lunch, Carol and Daryl went their separate ways to class. Milton went in the same direction as Carol and she couldn't hide the smile that came to her face. Perfect. Now, she could talk to Milton alone. He would surely tell her what went on Friday night when she and Daryl had gotten drunk.
"Hey, Milton." She sidled up to his side and gave him her best smile. Milton looked a little confused.
"Uh, hey. Carol," he said. "You know we did just see each other in the cafeteria."
"I know." The smile remained plastered on her face. "I just wanted to talk with you some more. If that's okay."
"Oh. Yeah. Of course."
"So...it seems you and Merle have become pretty good friends, huh?"
Milton began to fidget and finger his glasses, but not taking them off, clearly nervous. "Uh, I suppose I am as close to a friend that Merle has, right now." He didn't look at her and continued to fidget slightly as they walked down the hallway.
"That's good. People need to give the Dixons a chance. They aren't all bad," Carol said in seriousness. Merle seemed to be changing in little ways for the better. "So, I didn't see you drinking the other night, like me and Daryl." She continued nonchalantly, like they were discussing the weather or homework.
"I don't like the taste of beer. I thought I made that obvious when I spit out the only sip I took." He gave her a small smile.
"Merle likes to drink, though. Daryl tells me that he leaves empty beer bottles everywhere." She turned to him, brows furrowed in what she hoped was confusion. "And yet, I saw him only take one bottle. That's a little odd, huh?"
He adjusted the strap of his messenger bag and tried to quicken his step. The sooner he got to class the sooner that Carol would stop talking to him. Not that he didn't like it when she talked to him, but she knew where this conversation was going and he wasn't ready for it. "Uh, I suppose."
Carol easily matched his pace. She wasn't going to let him get away that easy. "Well, I was wondering, since you were both sober, did you see Daryl and I do anything embarrassing?"
Milton shook his head and kept his mouth zipped closed. As far as he knew, they hadn't done anything embarrassing, but he and Merle had been in the house for a little bit as they drank, so he didn't know for sure. All he knew was that when they finally came out, they found Daryl and Carol curled up in the back of Daryl's truck, sleeping.
Carol sighed in relief. "That's good. I don't remember much from that night, so I was a little afraid." Milton relaxed. Maybe Carol wasn't going to talk about what Merle had done to Daryl. Maybe she just wanted to know how she had acted that night while drunk.
"Now," Carol moved quickly and stopped in front of him, causing him to stop in the middle of the hallway. It was almost time for class so the halls were empty and it looked like he was going to be late.
"Don't lie to me, Milton," she said firmly and looked him straight in the eyes. "What did Merle do to Daryl to make Daryl kick his ass?"
Milton gulped loudly. This was it. This was how he was going to die. If he told Carol what Merle had done, Daryl would kill him. But if he didn't tell her, then she would kill him. This was a lose-lose situation. Why had he even gone to school this morning?
Finally, he straightened his spine, pushed his glasses further up his nose and made a decision. Hopefully, he wouldn't regret it. "I have no idea what Merle did to Daryl. He hasn't spoken to me about it. Maybe it was just nothing?"
Carol's eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "I don't believe you."
Milton's palms grew sweaty and he was about to tell Carol to let his parents know that he loved them, once she was through with him. But then, she just shrugged, turned around kept walking down the hallway.
"Fine," she said. "I guess I'm just going to have to ask Merle, then."
"What?" Milton cried and jogged to catch up with her.
"Yep," she threw over her shoulder. "I'm going to be giving Merle Dixon a visit today. I'm sure he'll tell me what I want to know."
"B-But," he stuttered. "You can't. Daryl's going to find out. You can't go and see Merle without him knowing."
Carol just turned and gave him a smile. Milton didn't like that smile. It was a smile someone made before they forced someone else to do what they wanted.
"That's where you come in, Milton."
When school ended for the day, Carol was at her locker putting away all of her unneeded books and notebooks. She was about to shut her locker and walk away when an arm shot out and a body leaned against the locker next to hers. Looking at the arm, she knew it wasn't Daryl's. She knew his muscles and these ones weren't as big. Looking up to see the owner of the arm, Carol immediately wanted to walk away.
Ed Peletier smirked down at her. "Hey, Carol." He turned so his back was against the locker, now, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Has that hillbilly friend of yours asked you to prom, yet?"
"No." That was all she said before turning and walking away. Ed fell into step beside her and she groaned. He was the last person she wanted to talk to today. Hell, he was the last person she wanted to talk to ever.
"That's shame," he continued, ignoring her obvious attempts to get away. "Pretty thing like you deserves to have a good time at prom...and that includes having a date."
Carol stopped in her tracks and looked at Ed. "What I told you that I didn't want to go to prom? Would you leave me alone?" She did want to go, but she just wanted Ed to get the hell away from her.
"Not a chance." He smirked. "I also know that you're lying. You want to go to prom. I mean, what girl doesn't. Too bad your redneck trash of a 'friend' doesn't have the balls to ask you. Hell, I don't even know why you would say yes if he did."
She clenched her fists in anger and briefly wondered how much trouble she would get in if she were to punch Ed right in his stupid nose. "Do you have a point to this whole damn conversation, Ed? Or are you really just trying to annoy the hell out of me?"
"Relax," he laughed. "I do have a point, actually. A good one if I do say so myself."
The cocky bastard.
"And it is?"
"I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to go to prom with a real man, just let me know. I'm available." His grin widened. "But I'm letting you know that I won't be for long." He winked before walking away, not giving Carol a chance to respond.
If she had, it would have been a big, fat 'no'. Maybe she would have channeled Daryl and told Ed that it was a 'fuck no', instead.
Milton's hands were sweaty as he waited by the doors to the parking lot. He was going to lie to Daryl and he knew that he wasn't a good liar. At all. Daryl would probably see straight through his lies and he would be forced to tell the truth. He didn't know who he was more scared of, thought. Daryl or...Carol.
Carol was sweet and funny, but he knew she could be manipulative if she wanted to be. He was proof of that. He would never be doing what he was doing, now, if it hadn't for her 'persuading',
Daryl finally showed up a few minutes later. "Hey," he said.
Milton jumped, even though he had known Daryl was approaching. All the things he had thought to say left his mind, then. "O-Oh, hey." His gaze began to jump around and not once did it land on Daryl. He was probably making it way too obvious that he had something to hide.
"Where's Carol?" He adjusted the strap on his backpack and looked around. Usually, she was the first one to be there, waiting.
"Um, I think she took the bus today. She had to get home a little early, I guess." The words fell easily off his tongue, which shocked the heck out of him. Maybe he could do this.
"Oh," he said and frowned. "She didn't tell me that she was goin' to do that." Carol always hitched a ride with Daryl and Milton knew he was confused as to why Carol hadn't mentioned anything to him about not getting one from him today.
"She must have forgotten, as well." Milton offered as an accuse. "S-So, I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to come by my house today and go over some of the data we have so far."
"Now?" Daryl asked.
"Yes. If that's all right, of course."
He shrugged. "Sure. I'll just follow you, then." He went to push open the door, but Milton stopped him.
"Well, u-uh, I have to go and grab something for my mom really quick. If I give you the address, do you think you could find it on your own?"
Daryl nodded, giving him an odd look as he did so, though.
"All right." Milton told Daryl where he lived and together, they walked out to their cars. Fortunately, Daryl had parked near the back of the lot while Milton had parked a lot closer since he always made it to school, earlier.
Carol was waiting by his car when he walked up to it, just like she said she would. When he opened the door and climbed in, she did, too.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked and looked at his friend. "You don't even know if Merle will tell you anything. This whole trip could be a huge waste of your time."
Carol shut the door and clicked on her seatbelt. "Daryl's been acting a little strange lately. I want to know why, but he won't tell me. I'm his best friend. He should tell me everything." She sighed and looked a little upset. "Merle has a big mouth. You know this. So, I'm sure he'll tell me something."
"That exactly what I'm afraid of," he muttered low.
Ten minutes later, Milton was pulling into the Dixon's driveway and dropping Carol off. Before he drove off, he called to his friend. "How are you going to get home?"
Carol looked over to where Merle's bike was parked and a small smile played on her lips. She was going to ride that thing, again. "Merle will give me a ride." She turned back around and started to walk towards the house when she remembered something.
"Oh, Milton!" She waved and he stopped backing up his car. "Can you try to keep Daryl at your house until I call and tell you I'm home? I don't want him to know I had a little chat with his brother. Not yet, anyway."
"Okay, I'll try" he said, reluctantly.
"Thanks!" She smiled. "I'll see you later."
Merle was sitting in his usual spot on the couch, watching TV. Like always. He never really thought about it much but his life was damn boring. All he did was watch TV, drink and work on his bike. Maybe he could switch things up, tonight. Maybe he could go back to that bar outside of town and maybe that girl would be there. Maybe he would talk to her, bring her home and... He shifted in his seat and winced when a sharp pain shot up from his groin.
Damn Daryl and his stupid fucking wrench! He had bruised the shit out of his junk. It was basically useless, now. It even hurt to take a piss! He couldn't show that girl a good time until it stopped hurting to even move.
Next time Daryl got drunk, he wasn't going to tell him that he had sex. Even if it were true. Nope. He had fucking learned his lesson the first time.
At that moment, someone started knocking on the door. They never got visitors before. Merle just stared at the door and groaned. There was no way he was going to get up and answer it, especially if it was someone trying to sell him some stupid shit.
"Merle!" There was some more banging. "I know you're in there. Open the door!"
Carol?
Merle sat up a little straighter and hissed in pain. What the hell was Carol doing here? She never came over when Daryl wasn't there. Hell, she hardly ever came over with him.
"Come in!" He finally shouted at her once he was over the shock of Carol coming to the Dixon house on her own. The doorknob turned, the door creaked open and sunlight flooded the dark room. Merle nearly hissed as his eyes burned from the light. Goddamn sun!
Carol shut the door and stood there as she let her eyes adjust to the dark room.
"So," Merle's lazy drawl filled the room. "Did you finally figure out that you couldn't resist ol' Merle, anymore?"
Carol rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "No. God, I almost gagged. I just come by to talk." Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she could see Merle clearly sitting in the dark. Daryl really had done a number on his older brother. Merle had a black eye, which was in the yellowing stages; along with the bruise on is cheek. The cut on his lip was scabbed over. She was surprised that Daryl's only injury had been his bloody knuckles. He must have been pissed. That made her want to know what happened even more, now.
"All right. Go on and talk, girlie." He reached for the remote, turned the TV off and gave Carol his full attention. If she wanted to talk to him without Daryl around, then it must be about something important.
"First of all. What happened to your face?"
It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Daryl is what happened. You probably knew that already, though." His eyes narrowed. "Didn't you?"
"I did. Just wanted to hear it from you, though. So, what did you do to him to get such a good beating?"
"Who says I did anythin'?"
"I'm sure Daryl didn't just kick your ass because he felt like it. He's not you."
"You're damn right he ain't me!" Merle sat up straighter and winced. "If he was anythin' like me, he'd be fuckin' you already."
Carol blushed a bright red. "He doesn't want me like that, Merle, and you know it! We're just friends."
"Typical," Merle snorted and then, started to laugh. As he continued to laugh, Carol began to wonder if he had dipped into his stash before she had gotten there.
"You claim to be his best friend and you haven't noticed?" He finally spoke in between burst of cackles.
"Noticed what?" She was annoyed and curious at the same time.
"The way that boy looks at you. Hell, if eyes could undress someone, you would be walkin' around without a single stitch of clothing."
Her face flamed, again. "Shut up, Merle. You don't what you're talking about and you're an ass for saying all of that."
"And this," he gestured at her with his hand. "Is why ya'll haven't gotten anywhere. You both keep fuckin' denyin' everythin'! Jesus." Now, he was starting to sound angry.
"Can we," Carol stopped and took a deep breath. "Can we stop talking about this? I came over here for a reason and this isn't it. I wanted to know why Daryl got so mad at you. Was it because of something that happened on Friday?"
"Fuck. Nothin' happened that night. You two were the most boringest drunks I've ever seen." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked disappointed. "Look. All I'm goin' to tell you is that I fucked with Daryl a little too much and it's goin' to just stay between me and him."
"And Milton, too?"
He nodded. "And Milty, too."
"Fine," she said. "I guess if I'm going to be left out of the loop, I won't tell you what Beth Greene told me what her sister said about you." It had been a little odd when the blonde-haired junior walked up to her in the hall and asked if she was friends with Daryl Dixon. It had been even odder when she had proceeded to tell her about what Maggie, her sister, thought of a one Merle Dixon.
She turned to open the door and leave.
"Wait!" Merle shot up from the couch and then, doubled over in pain. Damn dick. "What did she say about me?" He asked between breaths and hisses of pain.
Carol shrugged, hand on the doorknob. "I don't know. What did you say to Daryl?"
"Jesus Christ, woman." He stood up straight and ran a hand through his short hair. "You know how to manipulate a man."
She took a step away from the door. "So. Are you going to tell me what you did?" She was trying hard to not look pleased, but failing.
He dropped back on the couch. "Fine. I told him that he had sex with you while you guys were wasted."
"What?" Why the hell would Merle do that?
"Yeah, and he totally freaked the fuck out."
"He freaked out?" The pleased expression she had on her face from earlier was gone, now. Instead, tears pricked her eyes and she back up until her back hit the front door. She knew Daryl didn't like that and it looked like the thought of being with her like that freaked him out.
"Yeah. I think he was even about to cry," Merle continued, oblivious to how Carol was reacting to what he was telling her.
"He was?" Her hand was searching blindly for the handle on the door, again. She needed to get out of there. She knew Daryl didn't have any kind of romantic feelings towards her, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear all of this.
Merle looked her way and saw how upset she looked. It all clicked and he was back on his feet. "Naw, girl, it ain't like that." He raised what he hoped was a comforting hand. "He was freakin' out because he thought he had raped you or some shit like that."
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she looked at the older Dixon. "He thought he raped me?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yep, and when I told him that it was all a joke, he came at me like a fuckin' demon!" He ran a hand gently over his swollen cheek. "Surprised the bastard didn't break my damn nose. Nearly broke my nuts when he threw a fuckin' wrench on my crotch yesterday."
She tried to stifle a laugh, but failed. Besides, Merle deserved to be laughed at for what he had done to Daryl.
"It ain't funny." He glared. "I had plans for...you know. But he went and fucked it all up."
Carol took a step away from the door and rolled her eyes. "I guess you know now not to mess with Daryl, anymore. Especially about stuff like that and it's clear that he could easily kick your ass, too."
"Pfft! I let him win. Figured I deserved it for all of the shit I put him through."
Carol's eyes widened. Was Merle actually taking responsibility for what he had done? Was the world ending?
"Uh huh, Merle. Whatever you say."
"Shit, woman. I've got a bruised dick. Can you at least pretend that you believe me. Jesus, that boy has a mean right hook, though. Probably got it from me."
She giggled. "Well, it was nice chatting with you, Merle, and thank you for telling me what happened between you and Merle. Now, you can take me home." The smile on her face widened.
"What? I have to take your ass home? Fuck no. What part of 'I got a bruised dick' did you not understand? If I ride on my bike, it's goin' to hurt like a motherfucker. Hell, it hurts now and I'm just standin' up."
"So, you would rather have me walk home all by myself?" She looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Hell yes!"
"All right, then." She opened the door. "I guess I'll just tell Beth to tell her sister that Merle Dixon got his ass kicked by his baby brother and that his dick is bruised." She couldn't imagine saying the last part to the wide-eyed innocent-looking Beth Greene, though. But Merle didn't know that.
"Jesus Christ!" He yelled. "How does Daryl even fuckin' put up with you?"
She shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Defeated, he sighed. "Fine. Let me grab my keys."
A few minutes later, Carol couldn't hide the smug smile on her face as she and Merle roared down the road on his bike. God, she loved this thing. Though, she liked riding it more with Daryl than Merle.
She tightened her grip around Merle's waist, wishing that it were Daryl, instead.
If she had been paying attention to the road, she would have noticed when they passed a red convertible.
When Daryl's stomach began to growl, he knew it was about time to start heading home. Not like there would be anything in their fridge to eat. Merle's lazy ass probably ate all of the good stuff, anyway. Maybe he and Carol could go and grab something...Immediately, he shot that idea down. It sounded too much like a date for his liking.
He pushed away the papers in front of him on the table. "I think it's about time I head home," he said to Milton, who was bent over his own stack of papers with a pencil in his hand
"What?" Milton asked and looked up from the doodle he had been drawing on a spare piece of paper. It looked like he had even gotten bored with the graphs and charts they were making.
"I should head home," he repeated.
"Uh, wait!" He set his pencil down. "I, uh, wanted to ask you a question before you left."
Milton looked around frantically. Carol hadn't called, yet. Daryl couldn't leave. He had to think of something and fast.
Think, Milton, think!
"What?" Daryl settled back in his chair and looked suspicious.
"Ummm..." Got it! "Did you know that prom was in two weeks?"
"Yeah." Daryl's eyes narrowed. "Is that what you wanted to ask me?"
"N-No. I have a reason why I asked that." He fidgeted in his chair. "So. Do you plan on asking Carol to go with you?"
Daryl snorted. "Do you think I would ever go to somethin' like that? Can you see me wearin' a damn tux?"
Milton shook his head. "I just thought that Carol would like to go and you would be the one to take her. You are her closest guy friend, after all."
"Well, I ain't takin' her." He looked at Milton. "Maybe you can take her."
"W-What?" He stuttered. This wasn't how he expected the conversation go, but it really wasn't an unwelcome one. He did want to go to Prom, just to see how it was like, and he would probably like it even better if he wasn't going by himself.
"If Carol really wants to go, I think you should take her. I'm sure she would love to go with you."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Daryl nodded, grabbing the pencil Milton had abandoned earlier and began to start his own doodle. "She considers you a friend, too. A good one."
"Yeah?"
Just then, the phone rang and Milton stood up to answer it, already knowing who it was. Carol was home, now. That was all she had said before they hang up. She would tell him how everything went tomorrow at school.
When he returned to the room, Daryl was shouldering his book bag. "I'm goin' to leave now. I'll see you tomorrow."
He nodded. "Okay."
"Maybe you can talk with Carol about the prom thing, tomorrow? She's goin' to have to pick a dress and shit, so she'll probably want to know if you'll take her as soon as possible."
Milton fought back the smile that wanted to break out on his face. It was obvious Daryl was concerned for Carol. He wanted her to be happy at prom.
"Okay, I will."
"All right. See you." He left the room before Milton could reply. Clearly, the conversation had made him slightly uncomfortable.
Milton knew Daryl had it bad for Carol.
When they reached her house, Carol moved to dismount the bike, but Merle grabbed her wrist to stop her. He turned the engine off so he could be heard better. "Don't think you can just leave without tellin' what my girl said about me."
She planted her hands on her hips. "Your girl, Merle?"
"Fuck. You heard me. Now, what did she say?"
She rolled her eyes. "Beth told me that Maggie said you were interesting."
Merle made a face. "That's it."
"Nope." She smirked.
"For cryin' out loud, girl. Tell me. I probably can't get laid in a month because of you, so the least you can do is let me know everythin' she said!"
She laughed. "All right. She also said that you were good-looking and fun to talk to. She must have been pretty drunk if you ask me."
"Hey!" He protested.
She patted his arm. "I was just kidding, Merle. You're plenty handsome."
"Really?"
"No." She winked.
"You best get your ass inside before I kick it there," he grumbled and moved to start his bike, again.
Carol gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for the ride, Merle. Oh, and don't forget to ice when you get home!" Without another word, she giggled and raced her house.
Merle started the engine and while it roared to life, he muttered, "Daryl is sure goin' to have his hands full with that one."
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