In this chapter, I planned on skipping right over the weekend. However, this idea came to me and I had to write it down. It's long and doesn't have much Caryl in it, but I still hope you enjoy it! :)

This chapter has been rewritten!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

When the sound of a door being opened filled the room, the young woman lifted her head up from the patient's chest to see who had walked in. The young man used the remote to turn off the TV show they had been watching to give her their full attention. "Visiting hours are almost over, ma'am."

The young woman- Maggie, the name tag said- gave her a small smile. "Thanks." She sat up and smoothed down her slightly disheveled hair. She had looked very comfortable lying there with her man.

The man grabbed Maggie by the wrist, gently, which was odd to see from a man like him, and asked, "Do you really have to go?" That was when the nurse knew that she should leave the room so she wouldn't be intruding on a private moment between the couple. Softly, she closed the door behind her. She would allow them a few more minutes.

One thing that she noticed seeing the two together was that they obviously cared for one another.

After the nurse left the room, Merle kissed her softly and kept a hold on her wrist. He didn't want her to leave and she didn't want to leave, either. However, she needed to. Carefully, she climbed over of him and was very mindful of his rips. She didn't want to cause him any more pain than he was already in. "I have to go, Merle. My daddy won't be too happy with me if I stayed the night as much as I really want to."

"Why won't he be happy? It ain't like we'll be doin' anythin'. I'm in a damn hospital bed." He pouted, which was an odd expression to see on Merle Dixon's face. Maggie found out that she rather liked it when he pouted.

"I know, but if you knew my daddy, then you would know how much he worries about my sister and me. Also, he's very conservative and thinks I shouldn't spend the night with a man whether if he's in the hospital or not." Her cheeks flushed. "It can get really annoying, sometimes. I mean, I'm twenty-two years old. I'm old enough to do what I want and not get in trouble for it." Now, it was her turn to pout.

"Does he know you've been spendin' time with a Dixon?" He asked the question with a smirk, but Maggie noticed a bit of uneasiness in his eyes.

"He knows that I went on a date with one and I've ignored everything he's said about it, too." She crossed her arms over her chest. "And if he doesn't like it, then tough and I can always tell him that I caught Beth and the new farmhand, Jimmy, making out in the barn the other night. That would get his attention off me real fast. Bethie is his angel." At a look from Merle, she added, "She's the youngest, that's why. I was his angel before Beth came along."

"Well, I'm glad you ain't his angel, anymore, because I hate sharin'."

Maggie blushed and leaned down to give Merle one last kiss. "Well, I better go before the nurse comes back and kicks me out." She reached for his hand and squeezed, careful of the IV still in it. "But once you're all settled at home, I'll come and take good care of you."

"No." Merle shook his head, wincing as the motion caused a headache in his concussed brain. "I don't want you to go anywhere near my house just in case my pa decides to show his ugly face while you're there."

Maggie smiled and patted his cheek, gently. "Don't worry; I'll bring my daddy's shotgun."

"I think we should probably head back, now." Carol lifted her head off Daryl's chest. They had been dozing on the same picnic table for what felt like hours. Her dad was probably wondering where she was, since she hadn't been home all day and had left the house quite distraught with the news of Merle being in the hospital.

Daryl's only reaction to what she said was to pull her closer to his warm body.

"I'm serious." She pushed gently against his chest. "I didn't even go inside when I dropped the car off."

"That's your problem. Not mine," he grumbled. "Now, quiet. I'm tryin' to sleep."

"Really?" She snorted and rolled her eyes. "You're going to fall asleep on a table. How civilized of you, Daryl Dixon."

"Hey," he said with one eye cracked open to look up at Carol. "It is pretty damn comfortable. Even moreso if you stay right here next to me." He tugged her down to his side once more.

"Well, too bad I'm not." She pulled completely away from him, ignored his little whine of protest and climbed off the table to stand on the ground with her hands on her hips. "I would really like to sleep in my bed. It has pillows and everything."

Daryl shrugged. "Your loss."

"Whatever you say," she sighed. "Now. Are you going to walk a girl to your truck and take me home or are you just going to have me walk by myself."

His eyes didn't even open. "You have two legs."

"Fine," she huffed. "I'll just walk home, in the dark, and hope that isn't any creepers lurking around who may want to hurt me." With one look at Daryl, she began to walk away, hoping that she had been able to convince him to get off his ass.

"Be careful and don't go down any dark alleys!" He called after her, unaffected by the fact that she would be alone. He wasn't going to move from the table for anything, it seemed.

"Daryl Dixon!" She whirled around and stomped her foot. "You come here and walk your girlfriend home, right now!"

Daryl sat up on the table and in the dim moonlight; Carol could see that he was smirking. The ass. "What do I get if I walk you home, huh?"

"I'll let you kiss me good night," she answered and crossed her arms, as if she was making a tough deal.

"Hmm. Temptin'." He hoped off the table and strode to her, smirk still on his handsome face. "I guess I'll take you home since I ain't got anythin' better to do."

Carol rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Good." She grabbed his hand, linked their fingers and together, they walked back to Daryl's truck, which was still parked at the diner.

They walked in silence and Carol enjoyed this time alone, even though they had been alone most of the day. Now, it felt as if they were the only two people in the world. She looked up at Daryl, who was looking ahead. She felt like her heart was going to burst with all the love she felt for him.

A half hour later, they pulled into Carol's driveway. The first thing they noticed that the house was dark. "I'm guessin' your dad is asleep," Daryl said, turning off the truck and looking across the seat at Carol.

"Probably." She looked out of the windshield. "That means, I can sneak you in if you want to stay over, again." Was it just him or was there a hint of hope in her voice that he would say yes to staying over?

"Naw," he said, which had been hard to get out. "I better head home. The old man ain't goin' to be anywhere near the place this time of nights and my bedroom door locks."

Carol moved across the seat until she was flush against his side. Her blue eyes blinked up at him. "Are you sure? I wouldn't mind having you in my bed, again." Red tinged her cheeks, but she didn't look away from Daryl.

"Temptin'," he said. It was very tempting for him to say yes to sharing a bed with Carol, again, but even with a locked door there was still the risk of her father finding out that they had slept together and Daryl really didn't want to deal with it.

"Maybe I can come to your house and snuggle with you in your bed." She wasn't ready to part with him for the night and Daryl couldn't hold back a smile.

"Probably not a good idea, either. You haven't been home all day and it wouldn't take your dad long to figure out where you'd been."

"All right, you win." She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, disappointed. Together, they sat like that for a few moments before Carol moved across the seat, again, and this time to open the door to leave.

"Goodnight, Daryl," she said and was about to step from the vehicle when Daryl reached out and grabbed her arm. In one swift motion she was back at his side.

"Where's my kiss, sweetheart?" She giggled when he buried his face in her neck. "We had a deal. Didn't we?"

The next morning, Carol woke to see that she had slept in. Not an unusual thing on the weekends, but on Sundays, her father would normally wake her up so they could go to church. He must have noticed the late hour in which she had returned to the house and allowed her to sleep in.

Carol smiled sleepily and stretched, glad that she had a father that wasn't strict on curfews and allowed her to sleep in when she needed it. However, she would trade that all in exchange for having him home more often. On days she didn't see him, Carol missed him.

When she walked into the kitchen, she found her dad was already seated at the kitchen table with an empty bowl in front of him and newspaper in his hands.

"Good morning, Dad," She smiled and made her way to the fridge.

"Morning, honey," he replied and folded his paper to set in front of him. "I'd thought I'd let you sleep in this morning. You got in a little later than usual last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," she said sheepishly and took the seat across from him.

"It's all right," he said, smiling. "I knew you were with Daryl and I trust him. How is your friend in the hospital, by the way? A boy named Milton came by yesterday about a few hours after you left, looking for you, and when I told him about Merle, he rushed over there."

Milton had gone to the hospital? He must have arrived after she and Daryl had left. She wondered with a secret smile, if Merle allowed him into the room with him and Maggie. He had all but kicked out Daryl and her when Maggie arrived.

"Merle is doing fine," she finally answered. "He just had to stay overnight for observation. He had a concussion and a few broken ribs." She took a sip of her orange juice.

Her dad grimaced. "Buck Dixon did that to his boy, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did."

"I knew that man was bad news." He ran a hand through his brown hair. "I know how that man drinks and he isn't a very happy drunk, either. I've wanted those boys to get out of that house, but I didn't know how to broach the subject to Daryl."

"I've offered to let him stay here a few nights," Carol admitted. "When things were getting bad, he wouldn't tell me most of the time, I just knew, so I offered him a place to stay for the night. He's always refused, though." Except for that one night. Carol cheeks flamed red as she remembered the night and quickly looked down so her father wouldn't notice.

"The Dixons are stubborn men."

"That they are," she agreed. She knew firsthand how stubborn they could be.

"So, how was your date with the youngest Dixon last night?" This time, he was smirking over at her.

Carol blushed, again. "Um. It was...fun."

"I knew you two would start dating eventually," he said and stood. He picked up his empty bowl and deposited it in the sick. "I knew that boy was in love with you and I knew that you felt the same, Carol."

Carol started to wonder if her face would be red for the rest of the day. She couldn't believe at how observant her father was, even though he was barely home.

"I couldn't pick a better young man for you," his voice was serious, now and took his seat, again. "Really. I know the Dixons aren't well-liked around here, but I know Daryl is different than his father. I know Daryl is a good man and he cares deeply for you. I know he would never hurt you. That's all I can ask from my daughter's boyfriend."

Carol didn't know if she should laugh or cry at her father's words. So, she did both and launched herself into his arms. "I knew there was a reason why I love you so much," she mumbled into his shoulder as she pulled him close.

"Hey," he pulled away from her embrace, eyes crinkling at the corner. "I did help make you, you know."

She stepped away, face scrunched in disgust. "Ew, gross! I didn't want to know that!"

"Well, it's true!" He chuckled.

There was a reason why Carol missed her dad so much on the days he was away and this was it. They always had so much fun when they were together and it was obvious that he loved her. Lately, though, he was away more than usual because of his work and he was also spending time with his new girlfriend.

At that moment, the phone rang. Carol's dad got up and answered it. "Hello," he said.

Carol stood there, waiting, as the person on the other end spoke. From the goofy smile on her dad's face, she knew it was someone he liked. It was quite possibly his mysterious girlfriend.

"Let me check my schedule, dear, and then, I'll get right back to you." He hung up after a quick goodbye and looked over at Carol, the smile still on his face.

"Was that the girlfriend?" She asked and couldn't but let a slight amount of disappointment slip into her voice. Usually when a girlfriend called and her dad said he would check his schedule, meant they would be going out.

"Yeah," he frowned when he detected the disappointment. "She wanted to know if I wanted to do something with her tonight."

"You know," Carol started and a traced a random design on the table, not looking at him. "I haven't met her, yet. In fact, I haven't met any of your girlfriends." She mean to sound so accusing, but that was how it came out of her mouth.

She heard him sigh and the chair across from her scrapped against the floor as he took his seat, again. "Look, Carol honey, I am so sorry about that. It's just that I've had quite a few since your mother left and none of those relationships ever lasted long. I didn't want to keep introducing you to strange women, knowing that in just a short amount of time, they would be gone from our lives."

"I understand," she said after a moment. The thought of meeting random women and then, never seeing them again would have been terrible. However, there was something different about this girlfriend. Carol had never seen her dad so happy when he spoke of her.

"I'm glad you do," he said with a sigh of relief.

"What her name?"

"Sharon," he answered.

"You really like her, don't you?" When he nodded, sheepishly, she continued, "Maybe instead of going out for dinner, she could come here. I could make dinner for us and I would love to get to meet her. You approve of Daryl, now I have to approve of Sharon." She winked.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" He hadn't thought it over for very long.

"Good." She stood and smiled. "I can tell this one is a keeper, dad. You looked so happy when you were talking to her on the phone."

"You know what, honey, I think you're right." He stood and went to the phone, again. "I think you're going to love her. I really do."

"I think I will, too."

Daryl picked up Merle from the hospital as early as possible. He knew Merle wouldn't want to spend anymore time in the place than he had to. Daryl couldn't help but wince when Merle's doctor ordered him to sit in a wheelchair and be wheeled out of the hospital.

"I ain't no cripple," he had muttered and luckily, that had been it. The last thing either one of them needed was for Merle to punch someone in the face.

With a little difficulty, Daryl helped Merle get into the passenger's seat of his truck. The high step had jarred his brother's ribs and made him nearly bend over in pain. Eventually, he was settled in the seat and they were on the way home.

"Who the fuck is that?" Through the whole ride, Merle had been silent, so his outburst once they pulled into their driveway, startled the hell out of Daryl.

"Oh," Daryl said, putting the truck in park and opening the door. "That's Maggie's car."

"What the hell?" Merle growled, getting out of the car without so much as a wince. "I told her not to fuckin' come here in case our pa was ready." He whirled on Daryl. "And you let her stay here by herself? What would have happened to her if the old fuck had come back?" Merle was angry, but there was also a bit of fear in his eyes. Fear of what could have happened to Maggie.

"Relax, Merle." Daryl held his hands up in a placating motion. "She came here with a nasty lookin' gun strapped to her back. Kind of wish the old man had come home. He would have gotten his ass blown away. Literally."

"The bastard would have deserved it," Merle added, sounding and looking calmer.

"Merle, you're home!" A familiar voice called from their front door and soon Maggie was standing in front of Merle with a big smile and an even bigger gun strapped to her back, just as Daryl had said. "Come inside and lie down. You need your rest." She took him by the hand and led him towards the door.

Merle couldn't keep his eyes off the gun. She had been serious when she said she'd bring her daddy's shotgun. Maggie looked over her shoulder and saw where his attention was. "Told you I would bring my daddy's shotgun. I dare your pa to come home, now."

Jesus, I fuckin' love you, Maggie Greene.

The moment Merle admitted to being love with Maggie, he nearly froze to the spot. He had never admitted something like that to himself or anyone. Every. He loved Daryl and he had loved his mama, but other than that, Merle didn't love anyone else.

Until now.

The girl hadn't been in his life long, but she had already wormed her way into his heart. Was this the end of the world? Merle Dixon had finally fallen in love with a woman, meaning he wanted to spend the rest of his life with just this one woman.

Maggie looked around the living room and planted her hands on her hips. "So, which one is your room?" Merle was glad that she seemed to be ignoring the beer bottles littered all over the place. He really need to clean up a bit. But first... He couldn't let her in his room. She'd surely run away from it, screaming, and never come back.

"It must be this one!" She announced pointing to a closed door in the hallway. "Daryl came out of the other one this morning. She went to turn the knob, but Daryl appeared out of nowhere and flattened himself against the door.

"You do not want to go in there," he said. "Our pa must have crashed in there the other night cuz it smells pretty rank." Merle decided he would thank Daryl later.

Maggie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Well, that's gross. Is there any other place he can lay down?"

"Yeah," Daryl said and stepped away from the door. "He can stay in my room."

"Are you thinkin' about stayin' at Carol's from now on?" Merle winked and Daryl returned it with a look that said he could make Merle sleep in his own damn room if he kept it up.

Merle decided to keep his mouth shut and follow Daryl to his clean room. For once, he was glad that Daryl liked to keep his room tidy. Otherwise, things could have gotten pretty embarrassing or he would have sleep on their small couch.

Maggie took his hand and led him to the bed. Merle spotted Neil on the night table and smirked, knowing that it would be somewhere nearby. "Carol made that for Daryl a little while ago," he said when he saw Maggie looking at it. "His name is Neil."

She smiled. "It looks real nice. Now, get in this bed." She pushed him gently on to the mattress. Briefly, he thought about pulling her with him, but he was hurting too much to do that. Maybe later, though.

And when they got to that point, Merle wanted to take his time with her.

Shit. What was this girl doing to him?

"Merle," spoke the girl in question. "Are you hungry? Daryl said there's some stuff in the kitchen to put together a sandwich. I can make you one, if you want." She pulled the covers up to his chin, like a mother tucking in a child, and gave him a tender look.

"Fuck, yeah. I'm starvin'. A sandwich sounds good." He moved to placed his arms behind his head, but the motion stretched his sides and he winced in pain.

"Okay. I'll be right back." She bent and kissed his cheek, before she left his hand, he reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Thank you, Maggie," he said, sincerely. He didn't think he would ever say thank you to anyone in his life, at least not a real one, anyway.

"No problem." This time when she leaned down, she kissed him quickly on the mouth. Then, with the massive gun still strapped to her back, she left the room and made her way to the kitchen.

Merle settled deeper into the bed. He could get used to having Maggie in his house and taking care of him with that large gun on his back, threatening to shoot his pay if he took one step in the house.

Yep, he thought and closed his eyes. I can definitely get used to this.

Thanks for reading!