Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Walking Dead. All characters belong to the creators of the television series and graphic novels.

Trigger warning: This story references abuse, both sexual and physical to a person under the age of 18.

Don't Look Back

Chapter 1

Carol Mason wiped the sweat from her forehead when she stepped into the cool, smoky living room. The air conditioning was a gift, but the smoke lingering from an earlier smoked cigar had her fleeing down the hall to her bedroom so she could breathe again.

Halfway down the hall, a door swung open, and she jumped, keeping close to the wall as her adoptive brother's shadow blocked out the light coming from his bedroom.

"You're late." Ed Peletier's voice was always accusing and harsh, and just the sound of it made her flinch.

"I got stopped by a train." Her voice was soft and trembling, as it usually was when he was around. She froze when she felt his hand come out to clamp down on her shoulder. She cringed and shuddered under his touch, but he stepped out in front of her and backed her up against the wall.

"Mom and Dad aren't home tonight."

"Where are they?" she asked, sheer panic flooding through her veins. The knots in her stomach coiled tight, and she felt cold dread run down her spine.

"Went to Santa Monica to a party." Carol's shoulders slumped, and Ed laughed.

"What? You thought they were out buying you a birthday present?" Carol knew better than that. "I'm in charge tonight. Dad said to make sure you don't sneak out again." He tugged at the string on the apron she still wore from her serving job at a little diner down the road. "I told him I'd keep an eye on you."

"I'm tired, Ed. I'm going to bed." She tried to push past him, but he closed in on her further.

"Told you I'm in charge," he bit out, his jaw tense as he pressed his nose against hers. She turned her head again, and he laughed dryly against his ear.

"Leave me alone!" she pleaded.

"Or what? You'll tell them? You already tried that, remember? They didn't believe you." His hand moved down her shoulder and over her breast before settling on her hip. "Come on. You know you want it." The blood that ran cold through her veins was pounding in her ears, and she reacted, ducking out from under the arm he propped himself up against the wall with. "Come on. Don't be that way. You know what I want. I know what you want. Just relax, and…" Carol spun around then, smacking away his hand, a bold move considering she knew what would happen if she fought him. Still, with the way her boss was riding her ass at the diner because she was always late, because she was always tired, she'd had her fill of men demanding anything from her today.

"I don't want it," she spat at him. "I never want it." She managed to duck out of the way just in time to miss his fist coming toward her face. He hit the wall instead, letting out a pained growl that reverberated through Carol's bones. She turned then, running the rest of the way to her room, slamming it shut and immediately running to her bathroom with her purse in and hand locking the door behind her.

It was only a moment later before Ed burst through her lockless bedroom door and started banging on the bathroom door.

"Carrie, let me in," he growled. "You broke my fucking hand!" Carol covered her mouth with her hand, sliding down onto the bathroom floor between the toilet and the bathtub, reaching into her purse for her cell phone. And just as her luck would have it, the battery was dead. Still, she had to get him to back off.

"I'm calling the cops!" she warned. Ed stopped banging on the door.

"You call the cops. You do that, and I'll make sure you never leave this place alive. I'll burn the fucking house down with you in it, Carrie. I swear to God," he warned. "Nobody will miss you. You understand that? I'm all you've got. My parents don't give a shit about you. Your mom didn't give a shit about you. She left after you were born. Your dad was a worthless piece of shit who killed himself because he didn't want to take care of you. He should've killed you first."

Carol's shoulders shook with her sobs, and as Ed quieted down, her choked cries echoed across the tile floor.

"Go away. Please, go away."

"Open the door, Carrie. I'll bust it down, I swear to God. Open the door, or it'll be worse for you." Carol hugged her legs to her chest and buried her face against her knees. "I know about your little boyfriend." Carol's head snapped up, and she glared at the door with tears streaming down her face. The one you've been talking to online. What's his name? Some hick name. Daryl, right? How you tell him how bad you wanna get out of here. How you wish you lived closer. Oh, Carrie, you're such a good little actress. You really think he'd give a shit about you if he knew what I know? If he knew I got there first?" The anger inside of her was at a boiling point, and she pulled herself up on shaky legs and stepped toward the door. "Don't worry. I told him for you." Carol's heart sank, and without thinking, she unlocked the door and tore past Ed toward her computer. She shook the mouse to wake the device up, as Ed rubbed his sore hand behind her.

"I found your little diary tucked under your mattress. It wasn't hard to crack your password." He stepped up behind her as her screen opened to a chat session with Daryl. To her surprise and relief, the last piece of conversation on the screen had been from the night before. Carol turned to look at Ed who grinned at her and flexed the fingers on his injured hand.

"You really think I'd tell anybody what we do when we're alone together? Hmm? Please. You're just something to pass the time." He came up and put his hand against the back of her neck, curling his fingers and squeezing just enough to let her know he was still in control. Carol shivered and tried to shrug him off, but he held tighter and brought his other hand across her belly and down between her thighs. "Sure am gonna miss this when mom and dad kick you out. You're gonna have no place to go. You think your boss is gonna let you keep working in the diner when you smell like you've been sleeping on the street? Huh?" Ed grabbed her shoulders and jerked her around to face him. "Unless you can give me a reason to let mom and dad keep you around. You be a good girl, and I can talk them into letting you stay a while." Carol tasted bile in the back of her throat, and she was just about to headbutt him to get him out of her space when the front door opened and a voice carried down the hall.

"Ed? You home son? You seen my wallet?" It was Ed's dad, Dave Peletier. Ed pulled back from Carol like he'd touched a hot stove, and as soon as he rushed out the door, she slammed it shut behind her and pushed her desk chair under the knob to keep it from opening again.

She could hear the muffled conversation, but her pulse began to drown it out, and the hot tears that flowed down her cheeks stung her skin. The sick feeling in her stomach began to bubble, and a moment later, she tore across her room to her small bathroom and knelt in front of the toilet. She threw up between sobs, white knuckling the sides of the bowl until her stomach was empty. She sat there for what felt like an hour while she waited for her stomach to stop turning and her tears to stop falling. And when she wasn't shaking anymore, she pulled herself together and got in the shower.

She'd been trying to hold on a little bit longer, until she turned eighteen, but now she knew. Ed was never going to let her go. He might treat her like garbage, but she was never going to be free of him. Not really. Not unless she did the one thing she'd been dreaming of for so long. She'd been too scared, until now. Now she knew that if she didn't get out, she was going to die there, and the last face she was going to see was Ed Peletier.

...

"You waiting on your little girlfriend?" Merle Dixon leaned over the back of the couch where his younger brother Daryl sat with his open laptop. Daryl glared up at him.

"Shut up, Merle."

"Oh, baby brother. Why are you wasting time talking to girls online when you could be out there in the real world, getting your dick wet for real?"

"Jesus, Merle, leave me alone," Daryl grunted, slamming his laptop shut. He winced just as he did it, because he knew how much his stepdad paid for the thing, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin a perfectly nice Christmas gift.

"Careful. Don't wanna make Uncle Moneybags mad, do you? Afraid you'll get cut out of the will?" Merle yawned and stripped out of his white wifebeater before sliding open the patio doors. The strong smell of chlorine wafted into the living room, and Merle grunted.

"If it wasn't for Uncle Dale, you wouldn't have that fancy swimming pool you like to swim in so much, would you? Why you gotta be such a dick all the time, anyway?"

"You don't have to kiss his ass, little brother. He ain't here."

"Yeah, and he trusted us to watch the place while he's gone. All you've done since he left is bring girls over every night."

"Yeah, and if you was smart, you'd do it, too. Place like this is a goddamn pussy magnet. Startin' to wonder about you, baby bro. You are just chatting up girls online, right?" Daryl decided not to dignify that with a response. "Hey, not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, I ain't judgin'." Realizing he wasn't going to rile up his brother any further, he just shrugged and headed outside to swim.

Daryl shook his head and opened his computer back up. He quickly found the chat website, the only place he could contact Carol. She had been pretty vague about her situation, but she'd told him that her guardians had access to her phone bill, and the last thing she wanted was for them to know who she was talking to. She didn't even have social media. They'd done a few webcam sessions, but she never stayed on for long. He supposed she'd just wanted him to know she was the real deal and not some fifty year old guy catfishing him from his mother's basement or something.

He signed in and waited. She usually got online about this time each evening, and while her chat icon wasn't lit up yet, he went ahead and left her a message.

Hey. I know your birthday's coming up, and I know we've been talking a lot about meeting. My uncle is out of town for two weeks visiting some of his family. He left me and my brother here to watch the house. Well, really, he left me here to keep an eye on the house and my brother. He might be older than me, but he gets into more trouble than anybody I've ever met. Anyway, I thought maybe it'd be a good time to meet. I'd even pay for your ticket. Consider that part of your birthday present. I really want to see you, and I know you'd be missing work, so I understand if you can't. I just wish I knew what you were going through at home. I hate that I can't help. I just want you to know that I wanna do whatever I can to help you get out of whatever you're going through. You can always come here, and we can figure things out together.

He took a deep breath, and his fingers twitched and stalled on the keyboard. They'd been chatting online for nearly two years. They both met on a message board for teens who'd lost their family. His dad and mom were killed in a car wreck when he was thirteen. Carol never knew her mother, and her dad killed himself when she was little. He knew she had a bad relationship with the people who took her in, and he felt thankful for his family for taking him in. And while Merle was less than gracious, Daryl knew deep down he really did appreciate what they had, because otherwise, they'd probably be out on the street.

All Daryl knew about Carol's situation was that her guardians, the Peletiers, cared more about their precious son than about her. They put his needs first and took his side on everything. And their son, a little older than Carol, had done nothing but make Carol's life miserable for years. From the few times they'd video chatted, Daryl had seen bruises on Carol's arm and got the impression that Ed hurt her, but he'd never been able to get her to open up about it. When it came to Ed, Carol shut down.

What little he did know about Carol was frustrating. He knew she was about to turn eighteen. He knew she'd graduated a month ago and had been working at a little diner since she was sixteen. He also knew that the long conversations they'd had had made him feel closer to her than to anybody he'd ever known.

Growing up the kid brother of the town troublemaker was hard enough. His parents hadn't been the best parents, but he still missed them. His Uncle Dale and Aunt Irma had given both he and Merle everything they needed and more. He wished that Carol had had someone to help her like that, too. Maybe she hadn't before, but he wanted to be there for her now.

She still hadn't signed on by the time he finished typing his message, so he figured he'd grab a snack and come back to check in a little while. But when he was halfway to the kitchen, the doorbell rang, and he figured Merle was still swimming so he'd better get it.

When he answered the door, Leah Simkins, a girl he'd gone to school with since Kindergarten and graduated with last month was standing there with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Daryl."

"Leah? What're you doing here?" He hadn't seen or spoken to her since graduation. The truth was, Leah had made her feelings for him known the summer before senior year, and she'd wanted to go out after graduation. He'd turned her down, explaining that he was sort of involved with someone, and while he hadn't exactly elaborated on the fact that he was falling for someone who lived over two thousand miles away, he'd made it clear that he wasn't interested. It hadn't stopped her from texting him a few times, so seeing her on his doorstep wasn't exactly unexpected. It wasn't exactly great timing either.

"Relax," she laughed. "I'm not here for you. I'm here for Merle."

"Merle?" Daryl asked, brows furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah, he invited me over. We met down at Axel's the other night, and he mentioned you have a pool." She stepped past him and into the foyer. "This is a hell of a house, Daryl Dixon." Daryl stared at her for a moment before slowly shutting the door. He was having trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that Leah, who was eighteen like him, had been at a bar hanging out with his twenty-three-year-old brother. But, nothing really surprised him at this point. Merle was known for picking up a different girl each night. Daryl just never figured Leah for the type to go for an asshole like Merle.

"It's my uncle's."

"But you live here. I mean, it's your house, too. Holy shit, your living room's bigger than my living room and kitchen combined!"

The patter of wet feet on the tile floor in the hall distracted Daryl from the uncomfortable moment of his former classmate appearing for a date with Merle. At least, until Merle came in with his swim shorts down around his hips and a towel draped over one shoulder.

"Hey, sugar," he said with a wink, sauntering over to give Leah a slap on the ass. She grinned at him and looked at Daryl who cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, bro. Forgot to tell you I had a date."

"What else is new?" Daryl muttered. Leah smiled, and Merle snickered.

"Aw, don't mind my baby bro, darlin'. He's might be a little wet behind the ears, but he sure ain't gettin' anything else wet." He winked at her, and Leah's gaze fixed on Daryl. He avoided her eyes and flashed a murderous glare at his brother.

Thankfully, his computer chimed, alerting him to a message, and he turned back toward the couch.

"That was mean," Leah hissed, loud enough for Daryl to hear.

"Oh, he's gonna go sulk and jack off to his little online girlfriend. I swear I wonder about that boy sometimes."

Daryl pushed past both of them and headed upstairs to his room with his computer in tow. His face was burning with embarrassment, but that all went away the moment he settled onto his bed and opened his computer. Only, the smile on his face brought only by an alert of Carol's message was quickly replaced by a frown and a creased brow. Suddenly, his heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest and break at the same time.

Daryl, I want to see you. I'll be eighteen in three days, and after that, I can leave L.A. I know we've never met, but I feel safe when I talk to you.

His heart was thundering against his ribs, and he swallowed hard. His mind was reeling, and his fingers flexed and twitched against the edge of the keyboard before he decided on his next words.

Another message popped up.

Are you there?

I'm here. Carol, are you ok?

I will be. Can I call you tomorrow?

You want to call me?

Tomorrow. I can use my work phone before I clock in. Maybe ten til nine?

Yeah, yeah, I can do that. You have my number?

Yes. Please don't post it here. Ed's figured out how to get into my computer. He's probably already figured out how to get into my account, so I'm deleting it after we talk.

Are you safe?

I'm safe. Please don't worry. I'll explain more tomorrow. I have to go. Please answer when I call. Promise.

I will. I promise.

Goodnight, and thank you for caring about me.

Goodnight. Please stay safe.

Carol logged out immediately, and Daryl felt like he'd been punched in the gut. There was so much she wasn't telling him, and now he was really starting to worry. She'd never called him. Ever. And there was something about her words that had him worried about her safety.

He sat there staring at the screen for a few moments, internally feeling like he was trying to claw his way out of his own skin.

Part of him wanted to hop in the car and head to California without a second of hesitation. He was in a position to do it. He had the money, and he had that pickup Dale had bought him for his seventeenth birthday. It ran great and had new tires. A cross-country trip would be a cinch.

But what if leaving now made everything worse? What if he stepped into something and unintentionally made things worse for her? He couldn't stand the idea of that.

For now, he was going to wait. But he swore to himself that if he heard even the smallest hint of fear in her voice tomorrow morning, he was leaving Georgia and not returning without her.