Chapter 12

Carol was fairly certain that Daryl was either mad at her - or he was just plain done with her. And she couldn't blame him if he had decided that being with her was just to much of a burden to bare.

But the more she convinced herself that something was very wrong, the more confused Daryl left her.

Throughout the day and into the evenings, he barely spoke to her. He mumbled his thanks when she handed him his meals. He answered any questions she had for him, but he never offered her more then a few words in reply.

But at night something shifted in him and she couldn't figure out what that shift was or why it occurred.

Daryl was not taking a watch shift lately and she wished he had have been, so that she could escape with him into his truck and maybe find out what was going on, or what she had done to bring on the sudden change.
But because Daryl was out hunting most days, he was relieved from those duties and that meant that he didn't really have to spend any time alone with her. And he seemed to be using that as another excuse to avoid looking at her or talking to her, unless he had to.

He didn't join her in the tent until he was sure that Ed wouldn't catch him, though she didn't really care if Daryl was seen by Ed or anyone else. She wanted him in there, there was nothing really inappropriate about the sleeping arrangement. And it was, after all, Daryl's tent.

The part that had her confused, the part that made her feel like she was going crazy or reading into things far to much, was what happened at night.
When Daryl would finally crawl into the tent to go to sleep, it would appear as though nothing had changed. If anything, she could feel his desperation to be close to her. There was something about the way he touched her that was heart braking, it was a s though he was he was horrified of loosing her and yet he spent his whole day pushing her away.

He'd settle into his position beside her and wrap both his arms around her tightly and shift around until she was almost completely laid over him. It wasn't something she'd expect from a man who was looking for a way out - and they weren't the actions of someone who was angry.

In the mornings, shortly after the sun rose, he would leave the tent and she would follow him out and kiss him goodbye and then he would tie his arms around her and bury his face into her neck.

It was something that they did every morning before he left, but now he held onto her for a little longer and made her promise him that she would be careful when he wasn't there, because he didn't want anything to happen to her.

There was something broken about the whispers he mumbled into the skin of her neck. She wondered if he thought he wouldn't make it back, or that she wouldn't be there when returned.

From the time he laid down beside her at night, until he parted ways with her in the morning, it was as though he was savoring to every moment he had with her. But then he would come home in the afternoons and avoid her as much as he possibly could. Just like he had done today.

It just didn't make sense to her and it had her constantly watching him for some sign of what was going on with him.

She worked slowly with Andrea, preparing lunch for everyone. They had started the process early and were taking advantage of the fact they were in no hurry.

As she slowly opened the mass of canned vegetables, she pretended that she wasn't watching Daryl and Sophia's interactions, just as she had been doing since Daryl's early arrival back to the camp.

No matter how stressed or anxious she was, she still couldn't help but marvel at the sight of her daughter tagging along behind him.

It was hard for her to believe Daryl minded how Sophia hovered around him, especially when it seemed like he was much more comfortable when she was close by.

Daryl had set himself the task of keeping Sophia safe from Ed and he attacked that job with determination, he was so determined not to fail that he had encouraged her, in his own way, to join him whenever she pleased.

"Is it broken?" Sophia asked, as Daryl popped the hood of his truck.

He shook his head and ducked in to get a closer look. "Nah. Ain't gonna be either...just needs a little tune up"

Sophia looked at him with a confused frown, while she considered what he said. But it obviously didn't make much sense to her.

"How do you know. I mean-, if it's not broken, how do you know ya need to fix it?" Sophia questioned, tilting her head to the side.

Daryl twirled his finger by the side of his head. "I could hear it." He said as he came out from the truck and crouched down.

He opened the toolbox and started pulling out what he needed as he continued on with his explanation. "When we were driving down to the water…just didn't sound how'd I'd like it to sound"

Sophia crouched down next to Daryl and her eyes scanned over the tools that Daryl was collecting up. "Can I help?"

Daryl was nodding before Sophia had even finished the short question.

She watched as he passed Sophia each tool, one by one, telling her what they were.

She doubted Daryl knew how good he was with Sophia. He spoke carefully and guarded her feelings, much like he guarded her from Ed and the walkers.

He told Sophia she could help by handing him the tools as he needed them, but not to worry if she forgot the names of them, because he himself had trouble remembering what they were, though Carol doubted that was true.

He was patient, though she was sure he would never describe himself as such.
She knew the trait didn't go unnoticed by Sophia either. She had only really ever spent time around men who demanded her silence. But that was not a rule that Daryl enforced.

Though she had protected Sophia from Ed physically hurting her, she had failed to protect her from his harsh words and his general rejection of the idea - that she deserved his time, compassion and encouragement.

She couldn't remember the last time Sophia had asked Ed anything, she couldn't remember her ever seeking out his company or assuming he had protection to offer her. She couldn't actually remember Sophia looking at her father with anything but fear in her eyes.

She wondered if that was why Sophia found Daryl so fascinating. There was nothing amazing about most of the things Sophia did with Daryl and she never seen them carry out a lengthy conversation. She sure that Sophia's fascination with the man was wrapped into the simple fact that he didn't look at her with contempt.

"Need anything else?"

Her head spun towards the sound of his voice, as it broke through the silence that he'd created.

He had brought her the last basket of laundry that she needed to hang, but she could see that he was itching for an escape from her.

She wished it didn't hurt so much to see his eagerness to leave her, but it did.

She knew that she needed to be especially careful right now. She was almost certain that if she pushed Daryl to hard or made him feel to trapped - that he would pull away more then he already was. But it was hard to just let this go on.

She dropped her eyes down to the basket and started slowly sorting through the damp clothes. "Some company would be nice"

She risked a glance up at him, to see his reaction, but it was just as she had expected it would be. His eyes darted around him and she could see him slowly inching back towards his truck.

"I need to go. Gonna fill up the two big drums and check some snares I got down there…Sophia, she's with Lori and Carl in the RV. She's good for now" Daryl muttered as he rubbed at his neck, still slowly leaning away from her.

She had barely opened her mouth to respond when Ed suddenly entered the quiet space, that was slightly separated from the rest of the camp.

They both froze and the limited conversation they were having came to a complete halt.

She sunk into herself and ducked her head slightly, as she was used to doing whenever Ed approached.

Daryl's initial reaction was much like it usually was, his muscles visibly tensed and his jaw tightened. He always looked as though he was ready for a fight, whether one was going to take place or not.

Ed didn't so much as look up as he approached Daryl's truck, carrying the large empty drum. He didn't snarl or glare, he simply tossed the drum into the tray and turned to offer her, what he thought was a sheepish grin, but never looked anything but sly and conniving.

She wanted to look away and focus on what she was doing, at least until she knew that he was gone, but when her eyes fell on Daryl she couldn't take her sights off the expression that had formed on his face.

In the past, Daryl had looked at Ed with anger and disgust. But right now, Daryl looked nervous and uneasy.

It didn't make much sense that the simplest interaction with Ed could evoke those kinds of emotions, especially when she had seen him in more violent situations with Ed and he'd never looked anything but furious and ready to react.

She found herself starring at him as he worked to reign in everything that he was exposing.

His eyes stayed on Ed until he was out of sight, before they darted back to her. When they fell on her she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.
It was just a moment, nothing she got to examine for any longer then that. But she had seen it clearly, it was as obvious as anything else around her. He looked like he had been betrayed.

"Daryl?" she asked carefully feeling her stomach twist at the sight.

He spun before his name had fully left her mouth and began shuffling to his truck. She heard him mumble out something about being back soon, but didn't stay long enough for her to say another word.

When he made his way down towards the stream he noticed the old Corolla by the water, a car that he knew Andrea should have left behind, rather then choosing it to drive headfirst into the apocalypse.
The thing was dying and even Andrea had said, many times over, that eventually she was going to part ways with the beaten down mess, but she always finished by adding that "today was not that day".

He could see her looking out over the stream, before her hand braced the gun that she kept in the waist of her pants.
His truck wasn't quiet as it approached the stream, but she had been so lost in thought that she hadn't heard anything.

He could see the shock on her face as she turned towards him and he could see her whole body relax when she realized she wasn't in any danger.

She stopped and regarded him for a minute while he parked the truck and jumped out, ready to start the tasks that he had set for himself.

"You finished? I can keep an eye out for ya until ya done" he asked as he grabbed the two large drums from the tray of the truck and dumped them onto the ground.

He could see that Andrea's hair was damp and her shirt was clinging to her skin. He knew she was most likely finished cleaning up, but he didn't want to invade on her privacy if she still had some things she wanted to do.

"I'm done" she said throwing her bag into the old yellow heap of crap that she drove, before she came over and grabbed the second drum.

"I can do that. Don't need ya help" he grumbled with far to much aggression.

Andrea ignored him and he couldn't help but growl, knowing she was cutting down his time on being away from the camp.

She followed him to the stream and dipped the over-sized drum into the water, relaxing into the boring task alongside him.

"You doing ok Daryl?"
He shrugged, not liking the tone of voice she was using. He didn't do heart to hearts and he got the feeling that she was trying to steer him in that direction.

"ok as I've ever been"

"You and Carol, are you fighting?"

"That ya business?" He questioned, keeping himself focused on filling the drum rather then engaging with her anymore then he had to.

"Just being friendly"

He couldn't help but laugh.
"Friendly?..Talking about me fighting with Carol. That strike ya as friendly conversation?"

Andrea smiled at him and grew quiet for a minute.

He wasn't stupid enough to think she was done. He could see she was just trying to decide where she was going to go from here. But god he wished she would just leave it at that and back off. He didn't even know how to talk to Carol about this and he didn't like the idea of talking to this women about something he considered to be pretty damn private.

Right now he wished he'd dragged Sophia along with him. He doubted Andrea would think this topic was appropriate for the kid to hear and he would much prefer Sophia's silence to Andrea's "friendly" chat.

"Is this about Merle?" Andrea questioned carefully, gauging his feelings about the situation as most people did. Still unsure if he was bitter enough to explode over what had happened.

"Merle?" he echoed, waiting on her to elaborate.

He had some shit in his head to work out, that was for sure. He had to figure out what he was going to do if Carol dumped his ass and he had to figure out how he was going to deal with all the other shit that came with that. But one thing he was sure of, was this had nothing to do with his brother and he was surprised to hear his name brought up.

"You started wearing that vest and it seems like your shitty mood has been growing since then"

Daryl creased his brow and stopped what he was doing to look at her.

"I just mean, if you're upset you can talk about it. I know that-.., I know you must still be upset."

The dumbstruck look he was wearing was unavoidable, but she was to busy averting her eyes to take much notice of it.

"Maybe I'm not the only one" he pointed out, watching her closely as he spoke, noticing her become uncomfortable.

"I'm sure your not-…I mean-…Merle, he wasn't that bad-..he just-…well he's-"

"Merle's a prick. He always has been." He couldn't help but laugh as he looked Andrea over. "And from what I can tell, the only people who miss Merle are right here by this stream"

Andrea's mouth fell open like she might protest, but she couldn't quite find the words to start. She stammered out a sound and turned red, before she darted her eyes back to the stream.

"Jeez Andrea. He called you a whore, a bitch…called you a few things I don't even wanna repeat."

Andrea nodded and she even looked a little angry at the memories he had stirred up.

"Your right, he did. So why would I miss him?"

There was a bit of force in her tone, a bit of conviction, but she was a lawyer and he guessed she knew how to sound honest when she was trying to spin shit.

He shrugged, trying not to smile, he didn't want her to think he was judging her and he didn't want her to think that he cared who she had chosen to spend her time with. Even if he thought she was crazy.

"That ain't for me to say..I mean, people are strange. Get themselves into odd situations. One thing I do know, is this vest" He said tugging at the leather before he continued. "Merle never wore it. Never took it out of his bag. Far as I know, his bag never left the tent..the only way you'd know it was his, was if you just happened to be in his tent. Maybe he showed ya and maybe-"

"You know what? you're right." Andrea snapped quickly, cutting him.

He leaned back in his spot as she suddenly jumped to her feet, biting the inside of his mouth, trying to hold back his grin as long as he could.

She looked flustered and annoyed and it only made it harder for him to control his reaction.

"What ever is going on with you and Carol, it's none of my business"

He choked back a sound and nodded his understanding.
"Andrea, It's alright. I won't say anything…it's not my business"

Her eyes narrowed in on him, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. Possibly trying to decide if she needed to kill him to keep him quiet.

He held both his hands up in surrender and finally gave into the twist that his features had been fighting for.

"Dixon's can be pretty damn discreet,… you outta know that"

He wished he could wipe the ass-hole smile from his face, he knew Andrea didn't appreciate it. She certainly didn't start the "Friendly conversation" up with the intention of him finding out that she had been screwing around with his brother.

He watched with amusement as she huffed and stalked over to her car, leaving without another word.

He knew his brother. The prick could get the attention of any women in the room and then he could swing enough charm to keep their attention. But that wasn't the Merle who had been with him at the quarry, it wasn't the Merle that Andrea knew.
So it did kinda make him wonder what the hell was wrong with her.

Andrea wasn't awful to look at, she seemed nice enough and seemed pretty damn smart,..hell she was a lawyer and not the kind that chased ambulances around.

He had heard her talking to Carol before - about being a civil rights attorney. She had raved on and on about human rights, social freedom, equality and discrimination.
Maybe that made Andrea a little more open minded then the average person.
Maybe it made her have a little more compassion for Merle.
He didn't really know and he decided not to question her. She quite obviously didn't want to talk about it.
But he wondered if it went a bit further then Merle holding her attention long enough to scratch an itch. He doubted she would have gotten so worked up if it had been that simple.