We had lines down so I haven't been online in days. I'm sorry about the delay and I'm also sorry that you're stuck with this chapter after not getting an update for this story in two damn days! I'm not a fan but there isn't anything I can do about that! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Thirty Six

Carol cleaned up the broken glass mess in the kitchen. She was surprised that the glass had broken without her even realizing it. Then again, she hadn't really been herself the night before. That was someone else. Some desperate psychotic person. She was still embarrassed about it but in the end she was glad that it had happened. Maybe they were moving extremely fast but that was just how it was going to work for them. He wasn't using her for anything and her staying away from him like she had had actually hurt him more than she could imagine. She tried to pretend like she wasn't hurting him but after he had blown up at her, she knew that all of that was out of pain.

She refused to keep pretending like she didn't want him physically and she needed to stop trying to convince herself that she didn't know him. Because she truly believed that she did know him. So well, in fact, that she knew that he wasn't at work. She didn't know what it was but she knew he had been lying to her. That was okay though because she would get the truth out of him one way or another. It hurt a little because she didn't understand why he felt like he needed to lie to her but she planned on talking to him about it.

When she heard the truck pull up she sat down on the couch quickly and turned on the television. She didn't want him to know that she had been glancing out the window every five minutes waiting on him to get home. She didn't want him to know that she was that clingy. It was actually rather embarrassing. She was also a little nervous about confronting him. He wouldn't get mad and hurt her and she knew it but she was tired of fighting with him about things. She wanted to talk to him about something else too and she had no idea how to approach the subject.

She had came to a definite decision that he was everything she had ever dreamed of in a man. Although not much time had passed since she had met him, already she couldn't imagine being with anyone else. She wanted him to know that she felt that way. She wanted him to know that she wanted to be with him and him alone. But did he feel the same way? She knew he wanted her but did he really want to be with her? Did he want a relationship or was he just wanting the perks having a soft willing body to have whenever he wanted it? She knew he cared about her. She wasn't a moron. But did he care enough to actually be in a relationship with her? From what she could gather, he didn't do relationships. He wasn't that guy that did the whole relationship thing. Would he get scared off if she brought it up? All these things worried her.

She forced herself to stay there when the door opened up and she heard his footfalls on the wood. "Carol?" He called as soon as he was inside.

She sat up on her knees with her elbows resting on the back of the couch. When he looked over and met her eyes he had a guilty look on his face. "How was work?" She asked, noticing, not for the first time, that the leather jacket he wore made him look incredibly sexy.

He ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't go. I lied."

Her brows shot up. She had been so sure that she would have to guilt the truth out of him. Now she just felt nervous. What had he done instead? "Oh."

He sighed. "Yeah. I was gonna go have a talk with Ed. Maybe break his hand, I don't know. I just didn't want you to know about it. I figured you'd raise hell and I didn't want to hear it so I lied."

She blinked, her heart sinking. "Well, I'm glad you decided to tell me the truth."

He stared at her for a minute. "That's it?" He seemed relieved.

She didn't even take the time to stand up and walk around. She climbed right over the back of the couch and stood there with her hands on her hips. "No, that's not it! Why would you do that!"

His eyes widened. "Because it needs to be done. He can't just put his fucking hands on you when he sees you. You ain't his property."

She had been less upset about him lying than she was about knowing what he had actually been up to. "Daryl, you could have gotten in trouble! After what happened at the diner you can't just go hunt him down and rough him up! You could get arrested! You could get sent to prison or Ed could get his friends to really hurt you! What were you thinking!"

He shrugged. Shrugged! Like the facts she had just given him didn't matter. "See, this is why I didn't wanna tell you," he said defensively. "I knew you'd get all dramatic about it."

"You could go to jail!" She said, her voice rising.

He pinned her with an intense look. "And if he catches you out there and thinks for a fucking second he can get away with it, you could end up in the goddamn morgue. Which is exactly where I'll put him if he touches you again."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you really think your brother wants the burden of being my keeper? Do you really think he would stay home every damn night just to keep me safe? If you do something to Ed and get your fool self sent away then you can bet that he'll really come for me then. This will all settle on it's own. Once he really realizes that no matter what, I'm not going back to him, he'll give up."

"And what about the next woman?" He countered. "What you went through with that cock sucker was fucking awful. What about when he decides to move on to someone else? Did he start out treating you like that?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it again, shaking her head.

"He was a pretty swell guy, right? He knew exactly what to say to hook your ass and you fell for it. You married him. And then you stayed."

"I was stupid," she said, shaking her head.

"You weren't stupid! You were duped, Carol. Somebody needs to do something about that son of a bitch before he can do it again."

She shook her head emphatically. "That person doesn't have to be you. I don't want him to be able to ruin this for me just by existing. I want a life with you! A real life. I can't worry about you going off on some vigilante mission and ruining that. He's the past. The only thing that matters is me and you from now on. I'm not wasting another second of my life worrying about him. He's taken enough from me. He took everything from me! And you gave it all back. Everything I've ever wanted, I've found in you and if you do something stupid and I lose you then he wins! Why can't you see that!"

His eyes softened as he took in her words but he still didn't look swayed. "You wouldn't care if it happened again? You'd be able to sleep at night knowing he was out there and someone else had taken your place?"

"Of course I don't want that! But I don't see what good it would do me to worry about that for the rest of my life. I just want to be happy. I want to have the things that I couldn't have the whole time I was with him!"

"When I saw him today he was with another woman. He was telling her all about how depressing his life was ever since you cheated on him and then filed for divorce. She looked pretty sympathetic."

Her heart sank to the floor. Talking about Ed eventually finding someone else and actually knowing that he was already on the prowl were two very different things. There was another woman out there that could go through the same things that Carol had. "But it was just a date or something, right? The poor woman hasn't moved in has she?"

Daryl sat down on the arm of the chair. "Sounded like this might have been a first date."

"Well then there isn't anything to worry about, right? She'll see that he's a horrible person and then she'll just not accept a second date."

"He don't come off as a very horrible person to be honest. Hell, if I didn't know the real story even I would have felt bad for the bastard. He's a good story teller, I'll give him that."

She wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the chill but she knew it wasn't the temperature in the house. She knew that it was a coldness inside of her as she thought about another person facing the life she had managed to escape from.

"Now you know why I lied. I didn't want you to have to feel like this," he said in a soft voice that soothed her inner turmoil. He tugged on her arm and she relented, letting his warmth wrap around her.

"I hate being lied to," she muttered against his shoulder. "Even if it is to spare my feelings. One stupid lie and now I'm gonna wonder what else you're lying about."

He nodded, his lips ghosting over her neck. "I'm an ass. It can't be helped. But I ain't usually a liar."

She smiled but it was a sad smile. He was far from an ass. He was the greatest man she'd ever met and he only lied so she wouldn't be stressing. It was still no excuse. "You should be completely ashamed of yourself."

"Sure am," he said against her skin.

She pulled away just enough so she could meet his eyes. "What can we do? I can't let him hurt that woman."

He held her gaze for so long she got lost in the blue depth of his eyes. "I'll think of somethin'."

She shook her head. "This is exactly what Merle warned you about. This was why he didn't want me here. This isn't your fight and here you are, putting yourself out there. I don't want this for you either."

He shook his head, cupping her face and pulling her forward until his lips were moving over hers. She wanted the distraction so she took it upon herself to deepen the kiss slipping her hands up the back of his shirt so she could feel his skin under her fingers. How easy it was to get lost in the feelings he evoked in her. That exciting rush that she got every time he touched her. It was so easy to slip away until nothing existed in her mind but him and the way he tasted. The way he felt under her touch. The way he seemed to crave her just as much. But now there was that nagging little voice in the back of her mind. A small voice telling her that someone else out there may not be so lucky. Someone else out there may have to face the hell she had escaped from.

She pulled back a little, her hands on his shoulders. "What can we do?" She asked again.

He searched her eyes and then sighed heavily, his hands sliding down to her hips. "We wait."

She opened her mouth to argue but suddenly his finger was pressed against her lips.

"We wait and see if this woman even stays with him. If we get wind of her moving in with him or somethin' then I'll figure somethin' out but right now, I'm preoccupied."

She frowned. "Preoccupied with what?"

He grinned and then his lips met hers again. That thrill shot through her, the heat enveloping her the same way it had the night before. Would she ever get used this? She laughed against his lips when he started backing her towards the couch. She would get used to it eventually, she was sure, but right now she could revel in the fact that everything was so new. She felt like her body was a live wire now, her nerves exposed to every small touch. It was exhilarating and she couldn't get enough of it.

"Sit," she said quickly, pulling away.

He eyed her for a second and then sat down, watching her expectantly.

The simple fact that she had told him to sit and he had without question filled her with a giddy kind of wonder. She was in charge of whatever happened here. If she wanted to walk away, she could walk away and there would be no consequence. It was a good feeling. She quickly tore her shirt over her head and tossed it. Instantly his eyes left hers, wondering over her before he sat up and made a grab for her hand. She took a step back and shook her head. His brows went up but he leaned back again, letting her do whatever she wanted to do. She watched him take off his own shirt but then he simply made himself comfortable, leaning back into the couch, his sharp eyes never leaving her.

She reached behind her, ready to rid herself of her bra, and felt the ghost of that nervousness try to dim her mood. Instantly her eyes went to his and she felt it slip away. There wasn't anything to be nervous about. Especially after last night. She knew how he felt about her body and even if she hadn't heard him say it before, she could see the hunger in his eyes now. She quickly unclasped it and tossed it aside with the shirt.

Again he raised up but she shook her head. He sighed but leaned back again. When she went for the button on her jeans he watched her hands and then his own went for his own belt. His eyes came back up to hers, his brows raising in a silent question that caused her to grin. She nodded and then laughed as he breathed out an exaggeratedly relieved breath before he started working his belt open. He still didn't take his eyes off of her, watching as she slid her jeans and underwear down her legs.

His hands stilled as his eyes traveled over her. Before she could do anything at all he was pulling her down onto his lap. Coming up on her knees she laughed and pushed his shoulders back.

"You have no patience," she said, trying and failing to sound severe. As much as it pained her she removed his hands from her waist and he let them drop to his sides with a groan. She finished the job that he had abandoned, undoing his pants. She was suddenly consumed with the desire to touch him. Every time they had been together, he was always the one doing everything to her. She'd never really done anything back.

"You know, I'm startin' to see a pattern here," he said, his voice rough as she freed him from the confines of his pants. She ran her hand over the length of him and finally raised her eyes to meet his.

"Pattern?" She asked, repressing a smile when she saw him swallow hard.

He nodded. "Every time I piss you off, you end up gettin' turned on for some reason."

She chewed her lip, increasing the pressure. Instead of saying anything she kissed him. She wanted to keep it up but she was quickly returning to that strange place she had been the night before. She didn't just want him, she needed him. She broke the kiss and pulled back enough so she could meet his eyes. As soon as he saw the look on her face his hands went back to her hips. She moved quickly then, her forehead falling against his.

It took her a second to get her bearings but he was a patient man when he really wanted to be and with her, like this, his patience was unending. He guided her easily, stifling a groan into her neck once she got her rhythm down. His mouth traveled down her throat, his teeth nipping at her skin just hard enough to spur on her movements. Through the heat and the pleasure she vaguely wondered what it would be like to do the same. So, without worrying about consequences, she let her teeth sink into the side of his neck.

His breath hissed out of him in a rush and his hold on her tightened. She increased the pressure and was rewarded with one of those growls that seemed to rumble straight through her. It wasn't a warning sound, but a sound of satisfaction. Instantly her body reacted, knowing she was doing something that he liked and driving her own need to higher places.

"You like that?" She whispered, his reaction making her more bold.

He pulled back, his eyes narrowed on hers and that was when she felt his hand slip between them. She gasped and dropped her forehead to his shoulder. He played dirty but there wasn't anything she could do about it now because a few seconds later she felt her whole body shudder and then she could do nothing but hang on to him. She forgot about how angry she had been at him. She forgot about the worries he had dumped on her after coming home. She forgot about everything but him and the way his voice sounded in her ear as he cursed and then whispered her name. His body grew tense and then the heat of his release washed through her, taking her own pleasure to that higher place.

When she finally came back down she registered the feel of his hands roaming over her back. She wasn't really in a huge hurry to move just yet. She felt safe where she was. Instead of getting up she moved until her mouth was on his. The kiss was slow and lazy. "I don't want to move," she said, pulling away and dropping her head back to his shoulder.

A low laugh rumbled through his chest. "Well, we can't walk around like a couple of fucked up Siamese twins. Somebody would probably get offended."

She raised her head and stared at him for all of three seconds before she couldn't hold in the laughter anymore. "You're ridiculous," she said, wiping under her eyes.

He gripped her hips and then moved, quickly righting his pants and reaching down to snag her shirt from the floor. He kissed her once she had the shirt on. "You wanna jump in the shower and then call Hershel and Annette? You could cook somethin' up and they could come over since Merle's lewd ass isn't home."

She let him lead her up the stairs after she finally had her pants on. She knew what he was doing and she smiled. He wanted to distract her. He knew she would worry about what he had learned today and he was going to do whatever he could to keep her mind occupied. "That'll be nice."

"No it won't. But it'll beat watchin' you worry over somethin' we ain't got any control over," he said as he pulled her into the bathroom.