Sorry guys! This isn't an overly exciting chapter but it's a chapter! Thanks for reading! =)

Chapter Twenty

Daryl glared at the mess around him. He was furious but he had to reign it in. Carol looked around, her eyes widening.

"Dad, you and your brother ain't too good at cleanin' after yourselves, huh?" Jake asked, his wide eyes looking around.

"Don't look at me. It didn't look like this when I was here just the other day." There were beer bottles all over, trash strewn about. He went to the kitchen and stopped in his tracks, looking down at the table.

Carol stepped in then, wanting to help but not knowing how. She followed his gaze and gasped.

"Get them back out to the car," he said, his voice cold as he saw the needles on the table. "Now."

She grabbed each of them by the hand and hurried back out of the kitchen. He stared at the small empty baggies and the few needles lying there on the chipped formica. He stared at the drips of blood on the table where someone hadn't bothered to clean up their mess. His stomach turned sour and he had to swallow down bile that rose in the back of his throat.

He loved his brother. There was no doubt in his mind about that. And he wanted to help him. Merle was a decent person when his demons were resting and Daryl knew that he had the potential. But if he ever saw anything like this around his kids, Merle was out. It was one thing for Daryl to put up with it. It was one thing for him to look at this mess, but he wasn't alone anymore.

Carol was a grown woman that was perfectly capable of protecting herself so he wasn't worried about her either. She was strong and capable, but Jake and Lily? They were four goddamn years old! It was his job to keep them from getting hurt. It was his job to protect them. He was just scratching the surface as far as this whole dad thing went but that was just instinct. He loved Merle and he always would but somehow, in just a few short days, those two kids had become everything. Everything in him had shifted and changed and now everything he did, every decision, revolved around them somehow. He loved his brother but his brother wasn't his whole world. They were.

If Merle ever brought something like this into his house, exposed his kids to the same kinds of things Daryl had been exposed to, then it was over. He'd send him packing and he wouldn't look back. If Merle got himself killed out there then there wasn't anything that Daryl could do. Merle had to try to do right. Daryl couldn't shoulder his weight anymore. He had too much on his own now.

It would kill a part of him to lose his brother. He could only hope that this time was it. It just had to be it. Daryl couldn't keep doing this.

~H~

Carol glanced back before she killed the engine. Jake and Lily were both out like a light. Normally she would have to wake one of them up and carry the other. She refused to leave one in a vehicle while taking the other to bed. Anything could happen. The one she left could wake up, scared because they were alone in the car, or someone could snatch them up, even though she usually parked right in the garage. It felt strange that she didn't have to worry about something like that.

"It's been a long damn day," Daryl said, stopping next to the driver's side door. He'd followed her home in her car.

She smiled but she knew he would know it was forced. Seeing all of that stuff on the kitchen table scared her. She was afraid for Daryl and she was afraid for her children and most of all, she was afraid for Merle. Afraid because if he ever brought something like that into her home, where her children lived, slept, played... she would kill him. "Let's get them to bed. I feel like death myself."

He nodded, a worried look in his eyes that she refused to comment on at the moment. There was time to talk later. Right now, her mind was just too tired to talk about it.

Jake was taller and much stouter, making him heavier than his sister so Daryl went for him and she gave him a grateful smile as she unbuckled Lily, who barely stirred. Once they were both in bed she found Daryl in the living room, kicking his boots off. He sat them off to the side and then sank back into the couch. He still had that distant look in his eyes and she hated it.

He looked tired and he looked worried. After what she had seen in his brother's kitchen earlier, she was more than a little worried herself. When they had been at the hospital she had been so sure that she was making the right decision. She was trying to ease his mind, offering Merle, not only the guest room, but a place in their lives. A permanent place. Now, she was simply scared but she didn't want him knowing it. It was obvious that he had enough to worry about without her adding her own fears to it.

"Come on," she said, turning the lamp off and reaching for his hand.

He sighed heavily and took it, pulling himself up off the couch with little help from her. She didn't glance back at him as she pulled him through their room and then slipped into the bathroom, finally letting go of his hand and shutting the door firmly. When she turned he was leaning against the counter, watching her with one brow raised.

Without a word she went to the shower, turning the water on as hot as she could stand and then she went back to him. She pushed his shirt up until he had no choice but to strip it off. Her hands went to his chest and she kissed his throat, reveling in the taste of his skin on her lips. His hand came up, tangling into her hair and forcing her mouth up to meet his.

She kissed him, her mind still stunned that this was still so familiar, natural. Her fingers made quick work of his belt. He started backing her towards the shower, lifting her shirt and forcing her to momentarily abandon the button she was working on. She hurried out of her bra and let him push her pants down her hips.

The shower was large with a wide rain shower head fixed to the ceiling. As soon as he had his pants off she pulled him in, shutting the glass door. The hot water felt good but his hands felt even better, strong and rough as they hauled her against him. Steam bellowed around them in thick clouds as the water poured over them. She slid her hand between them, gripping him hard, causing that primal sound to escape his throat.

She felt her back hit the warm tile and she smiled against his lips. There was a low seat built into the corner and she used it to prop one leg, drawing him further against her. He pulled her hand away and then pushed into her, his forehead dropping to her shoulder. Her hands roamed over his slick body as he moved into her, skin slick and wet, muscles flexing and bunching under her wondering touch.

His arm shot out, his hand braced against the wall next to her head, his breath heavy next to her ear. She turned her head, her teeth biting into his skin lightly. He cursed, gripping her hip hard. She clung to his shoulders when he finally lifted her, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist. When he turned his head, catching her lips with his own she moaned into his mouth, feeling that sweet pressure intensify as he moved deeper.

She shuddered against him, gripping him tighter. Her head fell back and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying out. His forehead resting against hers, his eyes boring into hers as the heat of his release filled her. His eyes were dark and heated and she lost herself in them for a moment. He finally pulled back, keeping his hands on her hips until her feet were on the floor.

"Feel better?" She asked, pushing him back under the spray.

The corner of his mouth turned up and he shook his head, working on catching his breath. "You think you can just put out and all my worries go away?"

She nodded, schooling her features. "Of course."

He laughed and kissed her quickly. "Yeah, actually I do feel a little better." His face sobered and he reached around her for the shampoo bottle. Her eyes followed the trail of suds that slid down his throat, over his chest.

"Eyes up here, pervert," he said, sounding offended.

She met his eyes and laughed and then started washing her own hair, catching him doing the same thing she had done, following the soap down to her breasts. She turned her back on him with a grin. He growled and gripped her hips, pulling her flush against him. His hands slid up and she leaned into him.

"We gotta hurry up and get the hell outta here. If one of them wake up and neither one of us are in the bedroom..." His voice trailed off.

She sighed. "I keep forgetting that you're older now and may not be able to keep up. It's okay. You don't have to use our sleeping children as an excuse, Daryl. I understand."

He laughed stepping away from her reluctantly. She smiled to herself.

They managed to keep their hands to themselves after that but the proof that he very well could keep up with her was obvious. Out in the desert the two of them had had an insatiable sexual appetite and the fact that he was still aroused so quickly after they had just been together was proof that he hadn't changed in that aspect.

Once they were in bed she rested her head on his chest, running her hand along his side. "It might be a little tough at first but everything will work itself out in time. I don't want you worrying about it."

He was staring up at the ceiling but he tightened his hold on her. "Can't be helped. You met the man. I'm hopin' he'll try to make it easy but Merle... Well, let's just say that he's about the most frustrating son of a bitch I've ever had to deal with in my life."

"I think we'll be okay. We're tough."

He sighed. "You saw what that house looked like. You saw the shit he was into. How the hell can you say that, knowin' what he's capable of?"

She shrugged and then raised up on her elbow, looking down at him. "I can say that because I know that we can fix this. Daryl, he did what he did because he was hurting."

He shook his head. "This ain't the first time he's done it. Hell, he's already done jail time this year. And it wasn't his first stay, either. Merle is a fuck up. He ain't always been but the last couple of years he's just spiraled."

"Despite everything, he's proven that he cares about you. He never would have brought you here and you reacted exactly how he expected."

"He's a grown ass man, Carol! It shouldn't matter what the hell I say to him. It ain't an excuse for him to go do stupid shit like that. He blew every goddamn cent he had on that junk and that was his rent, his bill money, money for food. He killed his damn self! That ain't my fault."

She raised a brow at him. "Are you finished?"

He blew out a frustrated breath and sat up, leaning back on his arms. "I don't know. Are you blamin' me for Merle's stupid ass decisions?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "You know that I'm not blaming you. All I'm saying is, Merle, despite being a shithead, loves you. I think that if he knows that he isn't an outsider, that he didn't lose a brother but gained a nephew and a niece, then he'll try harder to do better. If he didn't regret what he did to us he never would have brought you to me. That took a lot for him. I think we need to remember that, no matter how bad it gets. I believe he'll come around and he's worth fighting for. He has to feel like he's completely alone right now and we have to work to let him know that he isn't."

He collapsed back onto his back and sighed. She laughed quietly, her eyes dancing and his gaze flicked to her. "What the hell are you laughin' at?"

"You just got mad at me. I've never seen you mad at me before."

He snorted. "I wasn't mad you."

She nodded grinning down at him. "You were! It was so cute! You looked just like Jake."

He glared at her. "Keep it up," he warned.

She eyed him. "Or what? You'll get outraged again? I'm not scared of-" She cried out in surprise when he rolled, pinning her under him. She laughed and tried to squirm free but he had a good grip on her. He kissed her hard.

"Shut up," he said against her lips. He let go of her hands so her arms could wind around his neck.

"We're gonna be okay," she said, nearly gasping as his teeth sank into her neck.

"I know," he said, raising up and meeting her eyes.

They didn't say anything else for a long time after that.