Daryl hesitantly stepped towards his brother and half-heartedly welcomed the other man's embrace. His head felt like a merry go round, there were so many different thoughts swirling around at the moment, none of which were positive.

Merle showing up out of the blue like this couldn't be a good thing. It never was. Maybe he'd lost his job. Maybe he was on the run from the law. Maybe he needed money to pay off a fine. Maybe he'd knocked some girl up back where he'd been living and he was running from the responsibility of it all. Knowing Merle, there really was no telling. Maybe it was all of those things.

But whatever it was that brought him to town in the first place, well it had the worst fucking timing on the planet to happen. Because adding Merle into the mix of the already precarious situation he was in concerning Carol, well that was like adding gasoline to a fire. Shit was about to go up in flames once Merle Dixon found out about them.

Number one, his brother wasn't going to take his feelings for this woman seriously at all. If he'd thought Rick's laughing at him when he'd tried to confess how he felt about her at the pool hall that night was bad, Merle's reaction was going to be that times a thousand. His brother would be laughing at him worse than a mad hyena.

And even if Merle believed him and took him seriously about what he felt for her, he wasn't going to be receptive or supportive of it at all. Merle didn't believe in relationships. Not at all. People thought that Daryl's number of sexual partners was bad but they didn't know a damn thing. He was sure his brother's number was at least three times as high as his own, maybe much higher than that.

His older brother had a code. And that code focused on three main goals. Get as much pussy as you can. Get as fucked up as you can. And have as much damn fun as you can while doing it.

Merle wouldn't be happy at all with how his younger brother had chosen to live his life this last month. Nope. He wouldn't be happy at all with how settled and routine Daryl's life had become. And he'd let him know it, too. No doubt about that.

Even worse, if he learned that Carol was Rick's sister, which inevitably he would if he was staying here any longer than a few hours, Daryl was sure he'd go through hell and high water just to let the cat out of the bag about what he'd been doing. What they'd been doing.

Merle would get a kick out of the turmoil it started. His brother always loved to stir the pot and cause trouble. He'd been that way since they were kids. It was like he got his rocks off by watching other people squirm.

And Merle would probably have another ulterior motive in mind, as well. His brother would probably be hopeful that it would send their budding relationship crashing and burning before it ever officially got off the ground.

It wasn't that Daryl didn't miss and love his brother. He did. And a part of him was happy to see him, but he wished like hell his brother could have chosen next weekend to pop up, like the Jack in Box he is, instead of blowing into town right now. At least next weekend Carol and Rick would both be out of town and he wouldn't have had to tip toe and walk around on egg shells like he knew he was about to be doing.

Merle slapped Daryl on the back hard before he let go of his younger brother. He smiled at him with that mischievous grin of his as he let go of Daryl and studied his face. "You don't seem too happy to see me, little brother. Why the long face?"

"I just ain't know you were coming. Took me by surprise. That's all." Daryl muttered, still spinning all of those wheels around in his head.

"Shouldn't be too much of a surprise. You think I'd really miss my only brother's twenty-first birthday? Come on, baby boy, you wound me."

Daryl looked at his brother skeptically. There had to be more to this visit than that. "My birthday's next Wednesday. Why are you here now?"

Merle reached forward and pinched Daryl's cheek, then laughed when his younger brother slapped his hand away. "Because I missed that pretty little face of yours. That's why. Besides, you only turn twenty-one once. I gotta make sure you do it right." Merle turned his attention towards Carol and eyed her lecherously. "And who, might I ask, are you, darling? Did ole Rick Grimes finally cut that stuck up bitch of his loose and get him a real lady?"

Daryl cut his eyes at his brother at the way he noticed he was looking at Carol and clenched his fists involuntarily. Another thought suddenly ran through his mind about what Merle might try to do if he found out about him and Carol. And that thought centered around Merle trying to get revenge on Daryl for when he'd nailed that girl Merle had been trying to hook up with a few years ago. And that thought had him internally fuming. Not that he thought Carol would ever go for that, but seeing his brother even try would infuriate him beyond belief.

Carol wasn't exactly sure what to make of this situation or of Daryl's brother himself. Daryl didn't look overly thrilled to see the man standing at their front door and she'd heard enough stories about the man to find a little worry at his unexpected presence herself. It didn't help his case that he'd angrily been banging on their door only a few minutes ago like he owned the damn placed and that now he was staring at her like she was a big juicy steak he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into. But none of that really mattered, she supposed. He was Daryl's brother and that meant she needed to try her best to be friendly and get along with him. She forced a smile at him. "Well, Rick did get an upgrade in the romance department, but it wasn't me. My name's Carol, and I'm actually.."

Daryl butted in before she could say more. "She's Rick's sister." He stammered out nervously. He'd panicked thinking she was going to tell Merle one too many details about them for now.

Carol side-eyed Daryl and then looked back to Merle, whose mischievous grin only seemed to widen at hearing that fact.

"Well, Rick's sister, I never would have guessed that. No sir. Wouldn't have guessed that at all. You're far too beautiful to be kin to Rick Grimes." Merle reached out and extended his hand to hers and when she reciprocated by placing her hand in his he leaned down and placed a kiss there. "It's very nice to meet you, darling. How long will you be here? I hope long enough for me to get to know you better."

Daryl bit down on his bottom lip hard, fighting the urge to tell his brother to get is damn hands off of his woman and to get whatever dirty disgusting thought he had running through his mind about her the fuck out of his head, but he stopped himself. Giving himself a reminder of the shit storm that would likely bring to his life.

Carol pulled her hand back slowly, sneaking a glance at Daryl as she did so. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest as he worked at his bottom lip. She glanced back towards Merle, who was still staring at her expectantly and looking like a cat who was ready to pounce on its prey. Obviously she was said prey in this situation. He probably thought she was some unsuspecting mouse he could have make a meal of while he was here. But even if she wasn't completely gone over his little brother, she couldn't see herself giving in to him, despite the charm he was trying to turn on. The man had trouble written all over his face. The corner of her lip turned up as she went to answer him. "Oh, I'll be here as long as you are." She watched his eyes beam with excitement and shook her head at him. "But that's because I live here."

"Really?" Merle asked, with an intrigued look on his face. "Well, that's about the most interesting damn thing I've heard in a long time. Why don't the two of you catch me up on what happened to that whiny ass bitch Rick was dating and where that cocky ass roommate you had went and how this pretty little thing ended up here in the first place."

"It's kinda long story." Daryl muttered.

Merle stepped all the way in the house and shut the door behind himself. "Oh, that's alright. I'll be here for a week. I got plenty of time."
()()()

They brought Merle up to speed on the Rick/Shane/Lori love triangle and about all the details concerning Carol and how she ended up living down here. The look on Merle's face when he'd heard that she'd been cheated on was one of someone who appeared to have struck a gold mine and Daryl shot him a don't you dare glare. One that just earned him a slick smile in return. Daryl didn't mention anything about he and Carol to Merle, and thankfully, she didn't even try to bring it up either. Though she did shoot Daryl a few questionable looks during their talk. As if she was trying to read what he was thinking. He wished he could get her alone to discuss things, but there was a fat chance of a moment of peace for the two of them to talk at all while Merle was here.

Luck must've been on his side though, because Merle did briefly step outside to grab his bags out of his truck and it gave Daryl the opportunity to say something. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think we should say nothing about us to my brother."

Carol looked at him curiously. A tinge of nervousness rising in the pit of her stomach. "Are you…are you ashamed for him to know how you feel about me?" The way Daryl had been quick to jump in earlier and the way he'd dominated most of the conversation to Merle had her feeling a little uneasy about where she actually stood with him versus where he'd been telling her she stood. She'd easily picked up on the fact that he hadn't wanted his brother to have any idea about them.

He swept his hands through his hair. "No, of course not. It ain't that. I just….you don't know him. We ain't gonna have a chance to tell Rick if he finds out. He'll do it for us. And he'll make it ten times worse than it's already gonna be."

She supposed she understood that. It made sense in the long run and she couldn't put up too much of a fuss about it since they'd both been hiding it from her own brother. But a part of her did wish Merle knew so that maybe he'd stop looking at her like he was gonna hump her leg any second now. "If that's what you want." She conceded. "But if he decides to start adding being all touchy feely to the way he's ogling at me, I'm breaking his hand. Fair warning."

"Not if I break it first." He mumbled.

()()()

Merle chunked his bag on the floor and then propped his feet up on the coffee table, not failing to make himself right at home. He patted either side of the couch, motioning for his brother and Carol to come join him. Carol walked over and opted for the seat in the recliner, much to Merle's disappointment. "So, Carol?" Merle began.

"Yes, Merle?" She politely replied.

"Being the woman of the house and all, I'm sure you know the answer to this question. What's for dinner? I drove a long way to get here and I could eat a damn horse at this point."

She grinned at him. "Actually, Daryl and I already ate. We were about to start working on dessert when you started banging our or door."

Daryl choked back a laugh and watched his brother carefully. He was waiting for the moment Merle decided to turn off the sweet charm he'd been trying to play and turn into his usual asshole self and smart off at her. And that was one thing Daryl wasn't going to tolerate. Not even from his brother. In all actuality, he was a little worried about how these two were going to get along this next week. Carol's sarcastic nature, which Daryl actually loved about her, and Merle's short temper probably weren't going to mesh well.

"Well, since you didn't get to dessert, I'd be glad to finish it up for you. And uh, whatever left overs you got in the fridge would be nice."

"Actually, Daryl and I are gonna finish dessert up later." She quipped. "But, if you're that hungry you're more than welcome to heat up a frozen pizza. We've got plenty for nights we work late." If this was Rick or Daryl she would've just gone and heated it up for them. No big deal. But Merle was looking at her like he expected her to do just that, and the tone he'd conveyed when he asked her what was for supper assured her that's exactly what he expected, and she'd waited on Ed's lazy ass enough when they'd been together. She wasn't about to be resolved to waiting on Merle Dixon all week. She'd be damned if he was Daryl's brother or not, that wasn't happening.

()()()

Merle grudgingly made his own pizza and purposefully left his dirty dishes on the coffee table after. After, he'd asked Daryl for a cigarette and the two were now on the back porch since Rick didn't like people smoking in the house.

Merle flicked on of the ferns that was hanging beside his head as he leaned over the deck. "That roommate of yours. She's a little spit fire."

"She's something else." Daryl replied, smirking to himself. He was honestly getting a small kick out of how much it seemed to irk Merle that he had to heat his own damn food up.

"Yeah, I see that." Merle flicked the cherry off of his cigarette then turned to face his brother. "Let me ask you something?"

Daryl shifted nervously, wondering if Merle was about to ask him if he'd slept with her or not. "What's that?"

"Is she a lesbian? Did she switch teams after her old man cheated on her?"

"What?" Daryl snorted.

"Well, she's got on that baggy ass shirt that looks like you should be wearing it and not her. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's got a nice face and those legs." Merle licked his lips. "I bet she's hiding a nice pair of tits under there." He reached out and squeezed an invisible pair of boobs in the air." Then there's the fact that she don't cook. I mean, what the fucks up with that? You got a damn woman living in the house that don't put food on the table."

"She does cook you dumbass." Daryl barked. "She cooks better than any damn woman I ever met in my life. She went out with some friends earlier and they got something to eat. She brought me something back. Most nights she cooks dinner for me and Rick after working ten hour days." Daryl shook his head. "And she ain't a lesbian either. But you best not be getting no ideas when it comes to her. You hear me?" He growled out.

Merle snorted at that. "Little brother, if I didn't know better I'd think you was sweet on little Ms. Grimes."

Daryl ignored him. "I mean it Merle. Don't even think about trying to touch her. That's Rick's sister and he's really protective of her."

Merle tossed his cigarette down and stomped it out. "Sounds like he ain't the only one who is, little brother. What? You don't want me to hit so you can have a chance when the timings right? We're already blood brothers, you don't wane be Eskimo brothers, too?"

Daryl chuckled and stomped his own cigarette out. "She wouldn't give your ass the time of day no way. Don't even matter."

"Eh, you're probably right. She seems like the kinda girl who'd make you work for it. I ain't in the mood for working for shit tonight. Why don't we go hit up a few bars? Get us both a piece of tail and get shit faced drunk for old time's sake."

"Nah, I can't."

"And just why not?" Merle challenged.

"I got finals tomorrow. My ass has gotta stay here and study. Ain't no way I'll pass hungover and shit."

"Sounds like your ass needs you to get the stick out of it. Come on and live a little, baby brother."

"I told you, I can't."

"Fine." Merle huffed. "We can just go out tomorrow then."

Daryl shook his head at that, as well. "Got plans tomorrow. All weekend actually. Going to the lake with my friends after work."

"I'm your fucking brother. You can't cancel plans with those damn people you see all the time to spend time with me?"

"You showed up without warning, Merle. It'd be different if I knew you were coming, but I made plans and I ain't putting my life on hold just because you decided you wanted to pop in for the first time in God knows how long. You're more than welcome to come with us. And I hope you do, because I do miss your aggravating ass, but you can't just show up at my door like that and think I'm gonna do whatever the fuck you want me to just because you blew into town."

(Thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the update.)