That was an awesome break. I did laundry. Go me! I'm really glad that none of you hated that last chapter as much as I did. I'm happy with this one though! Thank you all so much for all of the reviews and favorites and follows! And for those of you that don't do any of that but still read, thank you for reading! Enjoy your Sunday!
Chapter Thirty Eight
Daryl pulled into the driveway for the second time today. He was trying extra hard to keep a straight face but it was really hard with Buck sulking in the back seat and Carol sitting in the passenger seat, red faced and throwing an occasional glare in his direction. He got out and waited for Buck to get out, keeping close to him. Buck was glaring at him too.
As soon as Buck got into the back seat he had found the ripped panties sitting right out in the open. He had instantly started yelling at Daryl and then at Carol. He yelled at Daryl because apparently Daryl was some sort of sick pervert and then he yelled at Carol because she should know better than to do something like that. And then he yelled at them both because apparently he just knew that it had happened recently.
"Quit fuckin' hoverin' over me, goddamn it." He grumbled as he headed towards the front steps. Daryl kept close whether Buck wanted him too or not.
Daryl smirked. "Carol moved ya to the guest room, Buck. She figured the stairs woulda been too hard on ya."
Carol shot him a look that told him that the action in the car earlier was the last he would be seeing for a while if he didn't shut up.
Buck stopped at the bottom step and turned his head slowly to look at her. "You did what?" He muttered. He narrowed his eyes at her.
Her lips formed a thin hard line as she looked at Daryl. Yeah, he wasn't getting laid for a while after this one. When her eyes met Bucks she smiled slightly and her eyes went incredibly wide. "I want you to be comfortable, Buck. You'll have everything you need down there. It's close to the kitchen and the bathroom and you wont have to go up and down the stairs."
"Don't be doe eyin' me, baby girl. I'll be just fine in my own goddamn room. I ain't some pussy and I ain't a cripple. I can take the stairs just fine."
"She done moved all your shit." Daryl offered as he still hovered behind Buck.
"Carol..." Buck growled.
"You know what, fine." She crossed her arms over her chest, her chin lifting and eyes flashing. "I'll put all your things right back upstairs, Buck. And when something happens and you fall down those stairs and break your stubborn neck then I'm sure we'll all be just fine." She blinked, her eyes tearing up suddenly. Daryl actually felt bad for fucking with her like that. He didn't know she would cry.
Buck sighed and then grabbed her wrist and pulled her gently into his side. She wrapped one arm around his waist. "You're right, darlin'. I best stay downstairs until I get my ass healed up." He grumbled but gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze.
She sniffled. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to treat you like some baby."
"I'm sure." He kept his arm around her as they started up the front steps.
Daryl couldn't believe Buck was such a pushover. Carol looked down at him over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at him and then smirked. He glared. He had really been looking forward to Buck laying into her over switching his room. She'd just manipulated the shit outta the big dumb asshole. And she was going to rub it in too. And to think he had just been feeling bad about setting her up to face Buck's wrath. He shook his head.
Merle and Beth met them in the foyer. Merle was grinning like an idiot and Beth was blushing. "Glad you're home, old man." Buck said happily.
Buck clapped him on the shoulder. "Glad to be home, boy. You know your brother was fuckin' in the car? Ya best start keepin' an eye on him."
Merle glared at Daryl. "I knew it! What the fuck is wrong with you, ya jackass!"
"Buck was gonna fuck Andrea right on the kitchen table!" Daryl threw his arms in the air in exasperation.
"What?" Carol and Merle gasped at the same time.
Buck put his hands on his hips. "Them to were gonna fuck right there on the counter last week!" he said loudly, gesturing towards Daryl and Carol.
"I don't think I'm gonna eat over here anymore." Beth said quietly.
"Is that all you mother fuckers think about?" Merle roared. "Buck, you and Andrea hate each other."
"I don't think I wanna ride in that car again either." Beth Murmured.
Buck shrugged. "That don't mean I don't wanna fuck her."
"Oh my gosh." Beth muttered as she watched the drama unfold before her with wide eyes.
Daryl just shrugged and walked past all of them, Carol on his heels.
"You are such a jerk." She hissed as he made his way to the refrigerator.
He opened a can of coke and smirked. "How's that?" He asked lightly as he took a drink and leaned his elbows on the counter top.
"You have to stop tossing my underwear around everywhere." She huffed as she sat down in one of the bar stools across from him and crossed her arms. "He yelled at me." She pouted.
"Your spoiled ass needed yelled at." Daryl rolled his eyes.
She glared. "Whatever. Me and you need to talk." Her voice took on a serious tone that instantly had his guard going up.
"We are talkin'." He said as he eyed her suspiciously.
She shook her head. "Upstairs."
Just then the rest of them came in. Buck kissed the back of her head on his way by. "What's for dinner, darlin'? I'm fuckin' starvin'."
"Whatever you want Buck. Just give us five minutes and I'll make it." Carol said with a forced smile.
"Merle, ya sure it's safe to eat in here?" Daryl heard Beth Whisper to his brother as he followed Carol out of the room. He couldn't help but chuckle as Merle glared at him. Merle deserved it. He had been doing shit like that to Daryl for years.
She didn't turn to look at him as she headed up the stairs. He was starting to get worried. He never really put much thought into her wanting them to leave anymore. After everything they had been through in the short amount of time they had known each other, if she hadn't opted out by now he doubted she was going too. She was too strong for anything like that. But he still couldn't help but worry. He hadn't learned anything from any of the people he had managed to talk too over the last few days. Merle kept hitting the same dead ends. He had started to think that maybe that crowd just flat out didn't trust the Dixons anymore. They had moved to the fucking suburbs and hung out with cops. No shit they didn't trust them anymore.
She closed the bedroom door behind her and motioned towards the bed. His eyebrows shot up and he grinned wickedly. "Hell yeah."
She rolled her eyes and forced back the smile that was threatening at the corners of her mouth. "Keep it in your pants, horn dog. You've gotten me in enough trouble with that today. Sit down."
He frowned but then sat down on the edge of the bed. She was starting to get nervous. He could tell by the way her eyes went everywhere in the room but refused to land on him for very long. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"I think maybe I should try to talk to Jenna. Alone. Maybe see if she'll let me help her make sense of all of this craziness. Maybe she'll let me help her find out who is doing all of this."
Daryl's mouth went dry. There was no way. No fucking way in hell that she was going to go off with Jenna Dixon on some goddamn suicide mission. Jenna would get her killed just for the hell of it. Carol was watching him and even though he tried to keep his emotions off his face he must not have been doing a very good job because she sighed.
"I have to do what I can." She said quietly as she leaned against the dresser.
He stood up and stormed towards the door. "No." He ground out before he nearly ripped it off its hinges.
She grabbed his arm before he could leave the room. He spun around, anger radiating off of every inch of him. Anger and desperation because he knew that she would do this. Even if she said she wouldn't she would find a way to do this because he was doing almost the same thing. He had lied to her. He had told her that if he found out anything useful he would let Rick and Shane know and let them take care of the rest. In reality, if he found the son of a bitch then he was going to kill him himself, and he was going to make it hurt. For what he did to Buck. For coming into their home. For threatening everything that meant something to Daryl. The man was going to suffer for that.
She stared at him with wide eyes as she studied his face. "Daryl, I wasn't asking you."
He slammed the door so hard that he thought for sure the wood was split. "I don't care. No. You ain't getting sucked into that bitch's web. I swear to god, Carol, I'll tie your ass up and not let you go until I find the bastard myself."
"You can't just tell me no, Daryl." She said quietly.
"I just did." He ground out leaning into her face and putting as much menace in his voice as he could.
"I know what you're thinking but I'm not a child. I know she's dangerous. I can look out for myself. I really do think she can figure this out and I think I can help her."
"No." He said again, with just as much venom as before.
"Daryl, stop." She said as she took a step away from him.
He shook his head. "Are you doin' this just because you think I need a dose of my own medicine? Is this because of what I said the other day about tryin' to find the fucker?" He was desperate for her to listen to him. He shook his head. "I'll fuckin' stop, okay. Is that what ya wanna hear. I'll give it the fuck up but you ain't goin' near her."
She shook her head, eyes wide. "This isn't something I came up with just to get you to stop. I think she can help us."
"Buck don't want you near her either." He was grasping at straws.
She shook her head. "She can help." Another step away from him and she was pressed against the dresser.
"You ain't fuckin' listenin'!" He roared. "I said no. Fuck. No."
Her face changed then. Instead of the fear that he expected to see her face turned cold as stone. "You do not own me. That's something we need to get out there right now. You don't order me around and you don't tell me what I can and can't do. Who I can or can't talk too." She hissed.
He had to admit, he was proud of her for not cowering. But this wasn't the time for her to swallow down her fear and fight back. He needed something. He needed leverage. "Fine. But I'm tellin' ya right now, Carol. All this is gonna do is land Buck right back in prison."
She blinked. "What? How do you figure that?"
"Cause he's done said it. He's said it to me and he's said it to Merle. She goes near you and he's killin' her himself. You wanna be the one to cause that? Go ahead. Call the bitch up and the two of you go play detective. He'll kill her. He'll get caught. And all that will be on your head."
"He wouldn't do that. He isn't stupid, Daryl." She said softly.
He turned to walk away then. He wasn't going to listen to anymore of her bullshit reasoning. This was different than what he was doing. Jenna was a snake in the grass. She'd take out anyone she could to get what she wanted and he knew, deep down, that Carol was the one standing in the way of what Jenna wanted.
"Daryl stop." Her hand was on his arm again. He turned, glaring at her and then the hand on his arm until she dropped it. "You can't tell Buck." She said softly.
"The fuck you talkin' about? Oh, I'm tellin' Buck. I'm tellin' him right now."
"Buck don't know about most of this. Merle doesn't either. We have to keep this to ourselves. We already agreed to it."
He yanked the door open. "That's done. I'm tellin' both of'em everything. You don't leave a man much choice."
She darted around him and slammed the door back, spinning around and eying him menacingly. "No you are not! You know how stressed out that would make Merle. You know what that would do to Buck. They can't know that she knows about Ed. They can't."
He laughed and it was a cold humorless thing, even to his own ears. "They'll know now."
"Fine. I wont talk to her. Just keep your damn mouth shut." She growled as she threw open the door and stormed out before he had a chance too do it first.
He watched her storm off towards the stairs. She was lying. He could see it on her face. She had no idea what the hell she was going to be getting herself into. He'd never hurt her. Never even think about hitting her. But right then he really thought it would do her good to get bent over someones knee and have her ass busted one good time.
If she wanted to act like a bratty little kid then he should start treating her like one. He huffed and then followed her down the stairs. He was going to have to watch her like a hawk now.
~H~
Carol wanted to flog him. She couldn't believe how ridiculous he was acting. She knew that Jenna was bad news. She wasn't an idiot! But he had flew off the handle. He completely lost it over her wanting to talk to the women when it was okay for him to go off and do whatever the hell he wanted. She could handle Jenna on her own.
He was right behind her, she could feel his angry eyes boring into her back. He was always there, watching every damn thing she did. There was no way she would be able to get away from any of them long enough to talk to the woman alone. And if he was right, if Buck did something stupid because of her she would never forgive herself. Not in a million years.
She breezed into the kitchen without turning to look at him. She would talk to him as soon as he calmed down. She wished he was as easy as Buck. Buck was usually on board with anything she wanted to do. But now she had to worry about Daryl opening his big mouth and she had a feeling that no amount of crocodile tears would work on Buck this time.
"What's wrong with you?" Merle grumbled as he watched her storm into the room.
"Nothing." She said as she passed him. "Buck, did you decide what you wanted?"
Buck took one look at her and then was glaring at Daryl. "Figure we can just throw some steaks on the grill. I've been cooped up in that fuckin' place for days. I need to get some fresh air."
"Sounds good." Carol said as she hastily pulled the meat out and pushed it towards Merle. "I don't have time to marinate them or anything. I hope that's alright."
Merle snorted and pulled the packages towards him. "Shit, girl. You're talkin' to men that lived off noodles and boiled squirrel for most of their life. Who gives a shit if the damn steaks ain't marinated." he headed out the back door.
"What's wrong?" Buck asked as he eyed her with as much suspicion as Daryl had earlier.
She looked up from washing the potatoes and smiled. "Nothing. Why don't you go help Merle?"
"Did he piss you off?" Buck asked as he glanced at Daryl.
She shook her head. "No Buck. Go outside. Get your fresh air." She tried to make her smile more convincing.
He eyed them for a few long seconds and then followed Merle.
"I'm not used to seeing him move so slow." She said as Buck closed the door. She said it more to herself than to Daryl, who was the only person left in the room. She wasn't planning on talking to him at all. Not for a while anyway. He had acted like a complete asshole.
She jumped when she felt his arms slide around her waist from behind. He leaned his chin on her shoulder and pulled her back until she was pressed against the length of him. Her breathing kicked up a notch. How did he still effect her this way when she was pissed? And why did he think this was the solution to everything?
"She'll get you killed. Hell, she would try to get you killed. You know that, right?" He said quietly in her ear.
She leaned against him and turned her head slightly. "I don't think she would." She whispered.
His grip tightened. "Because you expect the rest of the world to be as good as you and that ain't how the world is. You should know that by now." He kissed the side of her neck.
"You should trust me." She said, feeling every single bit of her resolve slip away.
"I do. But I don't trust her." With that he let her go and walked towards the door. He joined the rest of them outside.
She was alone.
She quickly wrapped the potatoes in foil. Almost threw them into the oven and then rushed to the phone. Her cell phone was in Daryl's pocket. She dug the small slip of paper out of her back pocket. Jenna had pressed the paper into her hand as she had walked by her as she was leaving the hospital. Carol, knowing that it wasn't something the other woman wanted the rest of them to know about, had slipped the paper into her back pocket. She hadn't looked at it until she went into the bathroom earlier. All it had written on it was a phone number.
She dialed it quickly and pressed the phone to her ear, turning to watch the door.
"Good girl." Jenna's sultry voice answered sending a chill down Carol's spine.
"Umm... hi." Carol muttered, feeling like an idiot.
"Where are all your boys, sweetheart?" Jenna asked.
"Outside." Carol said quickly.
"Good. I need your help." Jenna said in a matter of fact tone. "I want to use you as bait."
"What?" Carol nearly dropped the phone.
"You heard me, honey. I don't like to repeat myself. Whoever this maniac is, he wants you. It may not seem very clear to everyone else but it's clear to me and it's clear to you too, isn't it?"
Carol glanced towards the door once more. "I can't do that. I can't get away from them."
"Look, Carol. I know what you think of me. I know what they've all told you. And it's probably true. I couldn't possibly give a shit less if something were to happen to you. I honestly couldn't. But, you're a smart girl. Well, you're at least not a complete moron." She corrected herself happily. "You keep yourself alive. If not then that's your problem. But I want this person gone. I wont have my son getting hurt because he wont get a clue and stay the hell away from you. So we give the guy what he wants. You."
"There's no way that would work." She swallowed hard.
"Make it work, angel. Or Buck and Merle are gonna be the ones to pay." Jenna said with a hard edge to her voice.
"Are you blackmailing me?" Carol hissed.
"That is such an ugly word." She purred. "But yes. Pretty much. I wont have Daryl getting hurt because of you. You're weakness is all of them. I need you, Carol. And you're going to help me. Just remember that you have to keep yourself alive. I'm not going to do it for you. When all of this is over then I'll leave you alone. You can live in that house with all those men and you can become a Dixon breed hound for all I care. But right now, I own you, baby. Remember that. I need you to meet me tonight."
"What? I told you already I can't get away from them. Daryl will know if I try to leave."
"You're not understanding. You meet me. Tonight. Walk out your front fucking door and I'll pick you up on the street. Wear his ass out. You want me to give you some pointers? Fuck him into a coma. I don't care what you have to do. I'll see you at eleven."
"Jesus, Jenna." Carol grimaced.
"You do this, I'll be outta your hair. It's that simple." Jenna said quietly and then she hung up.
Carol stood there looking at the phone. This wasn't going to work. There was no way this was going to work. She should have listened to Daryl. She shouldn't have called the woman. What if something happened to her? What if Jenna really was going to try to get her killed? But what choice did she have now? If she didn't go along with what Jenna wanted then Merle and Buck would end up paying for it. She couldn't let that happen. Not when it was her fault that Merle did what he did to Ed to begin with.
She grabbed her bag and ran upstairs to their room. In the nightstand drawer was the gun that Lori had loaned her. She shoved it into the bag and then zipped it shut and hung it on the bedpost. She still didn't know enough about it to be a real threat to anyone but it made her feel better anyway.
She hurried back down the stairs and into the kitchen just as the door opened and Daryl stepped in.
"What's wrong?" He frowned.
She shook her head. "Nothing."
He stared at her before crossing the room. "You're lyin'."
She shook her head. "Would you just stop? Please?" She could barely bring herself to look at him. She hated fighting with him. She hated lying to him. Could she really do this? God she was such an idiot. If something happened to her then he wouldn't forgive himself. She knew that.
He sighed and then nodded. "Fine. Truce. For now." He smirked and she tried to smile at him but felt it falter. His face grew serious and then he had his hands on her hips, his forehead pressed against hers.
She was still a little pissed at him but she couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck and pull him closer. He had every right to get as mad as he did. He knew that Jenna was a psycho bitch and he wanted to protect her from that. She would have acted the same way. "I'm sorry. I was an idiot."
He pulled his head back, frowning. "No you wasn't."
Now she was able to give him a small smile. "Yes I was. And you were right, I am a spoiled brat. Blame your dad."
He laughed. "I did. He says I don't know what the fuck I'm talkin' about."
She kissed him then so he wouldn't see how depressed she was becoming. He returned it greedily, backing her into the counter. For a few precious seconds she forgot about the phone call to Jenna and everything else weighing on her mind. She just concentrated on his lips. It wasn't hard to do.
~H~
Buck forced himself to remain standing, even though there were plenty of places to sit. Carol's grandpa must have been one mean griller at one time. The set up he had built was sweet. The brick patio was off to itself, behind the garage and was surrounded by a small grove of trees. There was a built in fire pit in one corner, another corner was closed off on two sides with wood plank walls and a cedar overhang and the actual grill was a goddamn monster.
He kept eying the lounge chair longingly but then he would shake off the thought. He wasn't going to get any better if all he did was lay around like a fucking pussy and he wasn't no pussy. He'd stand here all fucking day.
What he wanted to do was take his ass back in the house and figure out what the hell was going on with Daryl. Him and Carol had been acting sketchy around him for days and after their little chat upstairs he knew there was something wrong. Very wrong. But neither one of them were willing to talk. Daryl had been pretty upset when he found out that Buck hadn't been able to learn anything from Oscar. But that wasn't all. There was something else going on with the two of them.
"You think all this standing around is good for you?"
He turned his head just as Andrea came up behind him. She had a sarcastic smirk on her face that had the corner of his mouth pulling up. "You come all the way out here to play nurse? I dealt with your mouth enough, woman. Does it ever close?"
"Mmm. You'd think a man like you would appreciate a woman like me even speaking to them." She grinned.
"You have gotta be one of the most uppity, stuck up bitches I've ever had the displeasure of meetin'. And believe me, I've met a ton."
"Oh, I'm sure you have. But I'm probably the only one that's ever given you the time of day. That should count for something."
He chuckled at that and then winced.
All humor left her face then. "You okay?" She asked, her eyes raking over him worriedly.
He nodded. "Just fine, for a man that resembles Frankenstein's monster."
"He has more charm than you. You could never be Frankenstein's monster."
Buck shook his head and then busied himself with lighting the grill. Merle was suppose to help but he was giving Beth a ride to her place to get more clothes. Apparently she was the one that had stolen his room. Not that he minded much. She was a real sweet girl. He was glad Merle had somebody like her. It was good to see both his boys with girls like Carol and Beth. Even though he was pretty sure Carol was going to give him a fucking ulcer.
He threw the steaks on and then sighed as he straightened back up. This was the most physical activity he had done in days and he already felt drained. This was the first time he ever actually felt his age. This was bullshit. If he ever found the mother fucker that did this he was gonna rip the bastard in half. And he was going to do it real goddamn slow.
He felt a hand at his back and looked down.
"You look like shit, Dixon. You wanna sit with me for a minute?" Andrea asked, searching his face.
He rolled his eyes and gestured towards the enclosed space. There was some comfortable looking furniture under there. He finally shrugged and followed her to it.
He sat down stiffly and leaned his head against the back, closing his eyes. He was having a hard time figuring Andrea out. She'd been all over him that first day she had brought him something to eat but then after that he got nothing out of her. She came ever day and kept him company, though. Mostly they argued a lot but not all the time. She brought cards one day, which was alright by him. It helped to kill the time. The next day she had actually brought him a gift bag with Battleship in it. That had cracked him up, and that had hurt like hell. He wasn't ever sure if she was doing it to hurt him or not. For a bitch she was pretty slick. She made him laugh. He hated her.
She sat down next to him with her legs tucked under her and her body facing him. He cracked one eye open and looked at her sideways before shutting it once more. "Your wife seems like a real bitch." She said.
He grinned without opening his eyes. "She is. No comparison to the two of ya there, darlin'. She's the biggest bitch you'll ever meet."
"You don't compare the two of us often, I hope." She said dryly.
He shook his head. "I don't."
"So you two are still married? Why don't you just get a divorce? She seems to be a real thorn in your side."
He shrugged. "Don't figure it much matters either way. As long as she stays the fuck away from me and my boys, and Carol."
He heard her laugh softly and cracked his eye open again to peer at her. "The fuck ya laughin' at?"
"You. You're full of surprises, Buck."
He opened both eyes this time and glared at her. "How's that?"
She shrugged, ignoring the look that used to scare grown men and now didn't even seem to faze this stupid woman. "You dote on Carol like some mother hen. It's pretty sweet. I'm almost embarrassed that I used to be afraid of you."
"You don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about. I don't dote on that damn girl. And you should be scared, lady. I don't even fuckin' like you." He growled.
She rolled her eyes. "It really is obvious. I should take the hint and go away. Leave you alone for good. I truthfully can't stand you either. You're a foul mouthed pig. You have absolutely no class at all."
"Ya done now?" He asked.
"Not even close." She smiled sweetly. "Along with your lack of class is your lack of tact which is pretty appalling. When you get out witted by someone, which I'm assuming is often, you have this tendency to flex your ridiculous muscles as if that compensates for your lack of social skills."
"Ya know, I can think of a lot of other things that pretty mouth of yours could be used for that's a lot less annoyin'. That's your problem. You like to hear yourself talk. I'm just honest enough to let ya know that there ain't nobody here that gives a shit about what your sayin'. And at the end of the day, all you really are is a lonely, insecure little girl. You throw all those smarts around cause you feel inferior to anybody with a dick. In all actuality that's the one thing you need. I ain't never met a woman in my life that needs fucked by a real man as much as you do."
She glared at him but before she could say anything else he had her by the back of her hair and was yanking her face forward. He growled when she grabbed his bottom lip with her teeth and bit down hard. He kissed her roughly until she was nearly purring in the back of her throat. She moved her body but kept her lips on his until she was straddling him. He pulled his face back.
"Easy, baby, I'm injured here." He rasped.
She cupped his face and kissed him again, lightly. "I'm sorry." She breathed.
He shrugged and that was all the okay he had to give her before she was kissing him again. He locked one huge arm around her small waist and grinned against her lips. "I really don't like you at all, you know that, right."
She kissed down his jaw. "I don't like you either. You make me sick."