Sorry! When it rains my internet connection messes up a lot! I meant to get this up sooner! Thanks for reading!

Chapter Thirty Eight

Four weeks. He had been locked up for four fucking weeks and he was about to hit somebody. He had taken all of the shit that the asshole guards threw him without complaint. And goddamn he could have complained too. He could have talked to a few of his guys and had them get in touch with the bastards. And by get in touch with the bastards he meant have his guys break a crow bar over their knee caps.

He paced the cage like an animal. He had seen his family once a week since he had gotten locked up but that wasn't good enough. Carol came to see him a few days ago too and she had looked bad. She said it was some kind of flu but it looked like she had lost weight and she was pale and he needed to get the fuck out of this place to make sure she was alright. Even Merle and Buck were getting worried about her. Especially since she had moved out of the safe house and into some dump of an apartment in a shitty ass neighborhood. He had even gotten a letter from Piper telling him how worried Sophia was. How Sophia had told her about how she was getting sick all the time and could barely keep food down at all and she had trouble sleeping.

It was all too much. Too much because he couldn't do a fucking thing about any of it. Buck had told him that he had nearly begged her to just leave the apartment and move in with him and Merle. At least until she found something better, but she had refused.

The shittiest thing about it all was the fact that he had known her for going on six weeks now. Six fucking weeks. And four of them he had spent here.

"Hey, Dixon."

His head snapped up. He had been expecting one of the guards but it wasn't. It was Shane. "Has Andrea shown up yet?" He snapped, storming over to the bars.

Shane shook his head. "Not yet. And I just got some bad news and some good news. Which do you want first."

Daryl pushed himself away from the bars and paced some more, running his hands through his hair. "You can't be serious."

Shane nodded. "I'll start with bad news then. Apparently Dave is willing to testify against you at trial. You know if he gets up there and starts singing, you might not be the only one going down for something. He's been around you guys for a long time now. He has to know shit that can open up a world of hurt on all of you."

Daryl stared at him, his stomach sinking. Dave had been released from the hospital but no one had been able to find him to have a "chat". "So it's set then? I'm going to trial?"

Shane looked at the floor. "So far it looks that way. From what I've found out they are collecting every ounce of evidence they can to put you away for at least a few years. You need to get on their ass about finding him. You won't get out of this at all if they have a star witness."

He sat down, his hands shaking. "Maybe you shoulda given me the good news, brother. I don't think anything you say now is gonna matter."

The corner of Shane's mouth turned up but the smile didn't meet his eyes. "We'll see."

Daryl looked up but Shane was walking away. Had the dumb ass forgotten to tell him the good news? He looked at the walls, scanning the one that contained all of his photos Piper had sent. He needed to get the hell out. He needed to figure something out. He felt like everything was falling apart out there and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Here you go asshole. The good news."

He sighed and turned his head, wishing now that Shane would just get the fuck out and leave him alone. That was, until he saw who was with Shane. Shane, who had that cocky grin on his face, but Daryl barely even saw it. Carol was standing next to him, smiling and offering him a small wave. He stood up, his heart knocking against his ribs in a frantic rhythm.

Shane unlocked the door and gently pushed her inside. "You got thirty minutes Dixon. It's all I could manage. And don't make me come back in here and see your naked ass either. Keep it clean."

Daryl saw heat rise in her cheeks but all he could do was give Shane a stiff nod before the man locked her inside and walked away. Her eyes were wide as she took in the small space before finally landing on him. He was frozen in place, not even sure what to do. "What are you doin' here?" He finally asked.

"I just... I don't know. I was telling June that I had to see you. She got on her phone and a little while later she told me to come here and ask for Shane Walsh. I probably shouldn't have. I don't want him to get in trouble. I just..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes filled with tears. "This is awful. I don't want you to have to live in this place."

He swallowed hard, unsure what to do. He didn't know how to handle this kind of thing and he wasn't used to her being emotional. Sure, the night that everything came to a head with Ed had been rough but that was understandable. He grabbed her hand, a jolt going through him because he'd wanted to touch her for so long and hadn't been able too. She slammed into him hard, her arms going around his neck. His breath left in a rush and he buried his face in her neck, breathing deeply. He'd missed the smell of her. His arms came around her and he frowned, letting his hands roam over her back to her waist and then up her ribcage. She had lost a lot of weight.

"It ain't that bad. Check it out, Piper even sends me shit to hang up to make it more like home," he muttered pulling her back by her arms and nodding towards the wall by his bed. She looked over and her lips turned up but her eyes were killing him.

"You have some of me. Where did you get all these?" She asked, her arms going around him again.

"Piper. You know, you ain't gotta wear that shirt all the time when you're at the house. I got more in the closet."

She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Those don't smell like you. That's the last one you wore."

He forced a laugh even though every time his hands moved over her he became even more distraught. She wasn't just sick. There was something seriously wrong with her for her to go from healthy to this in just a month. "You know, you can always just go back to Buck's. I ain't washed those sheets in months so I know that bed has to smell like me."

She shook her head, tightening her hold on him. "I need to be on my own. I don't want to have to depend on somebody else to take care of me. I've never taken care of myself before. I need to learn to start."

He didn't want to argue with her. The last thing he wanted to do was start a fight. He was damn lucky that Shane was doing this for him. He thought it would be a long time before he would be able to touch her again. Talking to her from behind that fucking glass was torture. Not just because he wanted to touch her but because there was something more, something big going on with her and nobody knew what the hell it was. "Will you tell me something?" He asked, trying to sound as calm as he could.

She nodded.

"Is there somethin' going on with you that you ain't telling anybody? Sophia tells Piper that you're sick, you've been sick for weeks and it's bad. I can tell it's bad. But when anybody mentions it you just blow it off like it's nothing. I'm stuck but Buck can help you."

She shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You look like shit, Carol. I can feel your bones! You ain't fine," he growled.

She pulled her head back, fresh tears filling her eyes all over again. "That's a horrible thing to say."

He groaned. "I didn't mean it like that! Goddamn it."

"Then how exactly am I suppose to take it when you tell me I look like shit?"

"I just mean you don't look like you."

"I look like me, just a crappy looking version."

"Carol," he snapped. "There's somethin' wrong and you ain't telling me what it is. You look sick. That's all I'm sayin'."

She shook her head, grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him towards her. She kissed him hard, surprising him. He grunted and wrapped his arms around her waist but he didn't hold her to tight. She seemed fragile. Not just her body either. She was a fucking mess. There was a desperate edge to this kiss that scared the hell out of him and he hated not knowing what was wrong, or how to help. He did all he could do for now and he simply kissed her back. His hands slid from the small of her back to her ass.

"Thank God," he muttered against her lips.

"Hmm?"

"You're skinny as fuck now but so far your ass is still there. Had me worried for a second." He made jokes because if he didn't then he was going to lose his mind. He didn't like being lied too but he knew she was lying for a reason. That and... well, he actually was glad that her ass was still very much the same as it had always been.

She laughed. "I miss you."

He sobered immediately, his chest tightening. "Yeah, I know the feelin'."

"Don't worry about me, okay? As soon as you get out of here everything will be fine."

"You tellin' me that the only thing wrong with you is me bein' locked up?"

She kissed him again, quickly this time. "That's actually a huge part of it. I haven't been feeling well. A lot has happened and things are all crazy right now and my nerves just can't seem to handle it. Working on the house helps but-"

"What house?" He asked, his brows pulling together.

"Buck's old house. He said he's ready to fix it up and rent it out and he gave me free reign. I'm the one picking out everything. Paint, wall paper, curtains, how to set the rooms up. I feel better when I'm there. As soon as I walk in it kinda feels like everything might be okay. I wish I could afford it. I can't believe Merle doesn't just take it. Buck said he offered it to him and Piper."

Daryl stared at her, his eyes wide. Buck never told him this. Any of this. He had told Buck that he was ready. That he wanted the house and eventually he'd ask her to live in it with him. He had no idea Buck was doing all of this behind his back. That old bastard was a genius. She was going to get everything she wanted and he didn't have to stress about any of it. Well, about anything other than getting his ass out of jail and away from prison.

"Are you upset? I thought you knew. I wasn't even thinking. That was your mom's house-"

"Nah. I'm glad he's doin' it. It's sat there empty for too damn long," he said.

She nodded. "A house like that has no business sitting empty."

"I agree."

"Have you heard anything? When is this gonna be over?" She asked, her voice taking on that shaky quality.

He shook his head but he had to be honest with her. "It ain't lookin' good. Right now it's just all up in the air. Dave is gonna testify, the prosecutor is pushing for a trial, Andrea ain't been able to do a damn thing other than push the trial date back. But you gotta get it together. I can't be stuck in here worrying about you. It's drivin' me fuckin' crazy."

She swallowed hard and nodded. "I can do that. Or I can at least try."

"Will you leave that dump and move in with Buck?" He asked eagerly, since she seemed to be in an agreeable mood now.

She shook her head. "I need to do this."

"Why?"

"Because I do."

"That's stupid. You're just being stubborn cause you can. I know Sophia don't wanna be there."

"Daryl we don't have much time left. I don't want to fight with you." She searched his face and then hugged him tightly. He couldn't do a damn thing but stand there and hug her back, dreading the seconds that seemed to be flying past them.