Chapter Thirty Six

Melvin didn't linger and Daryl was slightly disappointed. Andrea, however, followed them around like she was worried he was going to steal something. He ignored her but Carol seemed a little annoyed.

"I have too much crap," Andrea said, her arms crossed over her chest as she scowled at the assortment of boxes and furniture that littered what had once been her spacious dining room. "The TV that was in Sophia's room can go if you think she'd want it. I wish she had came with you. I'd like to see her."

Carol nodded towards the television Andrea pointed to and Daryl wordlessly picked it up to take it to the truck. He wanted to get this over with as fast as he could. He'd rather buy the girl a TV than have to look at Andrea. But he didn't say a word. There wasn't a whole lot that Carol seemed to need so it wasn't going to take them much longer.

He probably shouldn't have kissed her like that but he didn't really care anymore. She hadn't had to kiss him back but she had. He'd mostly done it because Melvin was watching and he knew it. It was a cave man move. It was the equivalent of pissing on her damn leg to mark his territory and she wasn't his property. He didn't know what the hell she was.

Before he stepped back into the room he heard Andrea's droning voice and paused when he heard his name.

~H~

"You said you weren't sleeping with Daryl Dixon."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Why is my sex life, or lack thereof, any of your business?"

"Because I'm worried about you. Both of you. I saw how rough he was with you that night in the parking lot. I saw the bruises he left on your wrists too."

"Are you forgetting how hard I kicked him in the nuts? And I had bruises on my wrists because he was trying to keep me from hitting him!" Carol sad, trying hard to not sound as angry as she felt.

"Carol, what if he's just like-"

"Don't you dare fucking say that," Carol snapped. Why in the hell couldn't Andrea just stop? Why did she have to keep on pushing her?

"What is it about this man? I want to understand. Is it because he's good looking? There's plenty of other good looking men out there, Carol. One just left, actually and he has a lot to offer. More than slamming you up against a car like you're some kind of grown man. You've been through this before."

The silence fell between them, thick and tangible. Her pulse quickened with her anger and she dropped the sheet that had been folding. "I think we're done here," she said in a low voice.

Andrea ran a hand through her hair and looked away. "I'm sorry. I know we've been through this before but can you at least understand why I'm worried? Please, at least try."

Carol shook her head. "I've defended him to you before. I'm not wasting my breath again. I just want to make one thing clear here. As far as I'm concerned, our friendship depends on you. If you ever insinuate something like that about him again, I'm done. From now on, any opinion you have of that man, the man that has so far undone six years worth of damage to my daughter that I caused, you keep it to your damn self. I don't expect you to understand it because you know nothing about us. You haven't bothered to learn. You know nothing about him or his family or the things he is willing to do for me and a child he barely knows. I appreciate everything you've done for me and Sophia. I love you for taking her in and standing behind me through all of this. I really do and I hope you know that. But I won't let you say those things about him."

Andrea met her eyes, a look of surprise on her face. "You're in love with him," she stated in disbelief. "I can't believe I didn't see it."

Carol scoffed and picked up the sheet she'd dropped. "That's ridiculous."

"Carol, I've been your friend for a long time. I very long time. I know you better than anyone and-"

"Stop," Carol shook her head, feeling something like panic clawing up her throat. "He's a good man. A great man. He's helping me and Sophia. He's my friend."

"Okay. I've just never seen you get so upset when someone talks badly about any of your other friends. You do realize you just threatened to cut me off, right? We've been like sisters since we were thirteen years old and you just said you weren't going to be my friend anymore if I didn't stop talking about your boyfriend. If you ask me, you've regressed. You're such a child."

This was Andrea's way of letting it go. Carol looked up, meeting her eyes and could see that the woman regretted what she had said.

"I'm always going to worry about you," she said softly, a small sad smile on her face.

Carol nodded. "And it's always going to get on my nerves." She smiled back and that was that. She was relieved too. Andrea and their friendship meant a lot to Carol and she didn't want her moving away on bad terms. But she had meant what she said. If Andrea couldn't keep her mouth shut about Daryl then she would give her the frostiest cold shoulder in the history of cold shoulders.

~H~

Daryl had high tailed back outside. He couldn't believe Andrea would say that about him. Like he'd ever fucking hit Carol. Like he'd hit any woman! He had stayed long enough to hear Carol tell her off but then he'd stalked back out the door. She'd done a hell of a job putting Andrea in her place but now he was worried.

She had told him about how things had turned out with her husband. He'd been a pretty decent guy too, in the beginning. Maybe Andrea put ideas in her head. Maybe she thought that he was capable of doing the same things Ed had done. Hell, he really had roughed her up a few times, even though it was all in self defense.

He didn't know why the hell it bothered him so goddamn much. Surely Carol knew he wouldn't ever hurt her. Not really. Not like her husband had. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up just as the front door opened and Carol stepped out. She didn't seem upset. Not until she met his eyes. She frowned and pulled the door shut.

"You ready?" He asked gruffly.

She glanced at the closed door and then back at him, nodding. "Yeah. There isn't really anything else I can think of that we can use. Your house is pretty full already and everything from Sophia's room is already in the truck." He could tell that she was studying him as she spoke.

He nodded. "Good. Let's get the fuck outta here then."

"What's wrong?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Nothin'. Lets go drop this off. We gotta get to the shop soon." He turned to head down the steps but stopped when he felt her hand on his arm. He looked down at her.

"You heard her, didn't you?" She asked angrily.

He looked over to his truck, just because he didn't want to look at the outrage on her face. He nodded and then he was speaking before he could even think about what he was saying. "You think I'd do that?" He wanted to know. No, he didn't just want to know. He needed to know.

"No," she said firmly, her hand sliding from his arm. "If I ever thought you would do something like that then I never would have spoken to you after that first night. Don't think for a second that I'm afraid of you. I thought after spilling my guts this morning like an idiot that you would know better."

He ran a hand through his hair and then nodded. "Let's go."

She followed him down the steps, walking closer than she needed too but he didn't mind. When they got in she flashed him a grin. "You wanna know one of the things I like the most about you?"

He raised on eyebrow and looked at her. "My winnin' personality? My unending sense of humor?"

She laughed, her eyes dancing mischievously. "Besides that?"

All sorts of things ran through his mind but he finally shrugged. "What?"

"Melvin kept opening my damn car door. I like how you can trust me with that task all by myself. I don't like being coddled and babied."

He grinned, remembering Brandi with an I. "Yeah, if you were that kinda chick this never woulda worked out."

"It's working out," she nodded firmly.

"Yeah. I think it's workin' out just fine." And for the most part, he meant it. But a small part of him wondered if they really were doing the right thing. He was a little bit worried about what the hell was going to happen between them. It was snowballing fast into territory that he knew nothing about.

The first priority were the kids. That was the biggest issue. Damon loved the woman. Daryl loved the girl. Carol acted like she loved them all.

They needed to be more cautious. They needed to think things through and they needed to slow things down. Sex changed things. He'd like to be able to say that he could jump in bed with her and then if it didn't work out then they could go back to just being Daryl and Carol, but that wasn't logical.

He had a feeling that things were going to be tense for a while.

"What's on your mind?" Carol asked suddenly.

He glanced at her and then shook his head. "Nothin'."

"You sure?"

No. "Yep. I'm good."

He could feel her eyes on him but he kept his own eyes on the road. He chewed his nail nervously, wondering what the fuck he was getting himself into here but knowing that there wasn't shit that he could do about it now.