A/N: 11/16/2014 This chapter and the next (which I will post tomorrow) are actually the same one, I just split them up because I felt like it was too long...plus, this was the perfect place for a cliffhanger XD

Tinkerbell99: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it so far! And you're right, this is a story with so many different possibilities it's crazy. I just hope you end up liking the direction I take this :)

Prettyprincess45: Thanks, Caryl is one of my top five OTPs too! :D I hope you like this update!

wildcow258: Thanks again for another review! I'm glad you like the way I write Daryl and Merle in this story, I was kind of antsy about that XD

Merlefan27: Lol thanks, I'm glad my story 'intrigued' you XD

tdcaryl: Thanks a ton! I'm happy you think I write the characters okay, even though they're in an AU. I can't say how long this story will be, because honestly I'm just making it up as I go along, but it'll probably end up being at least 10 chapters ;)

annibelle: Thank you! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Chapter three: Hostage~

"Merle, what the hell are you doin'?!"

Daryl looked accusingly at his brother, who was busy packing their things. After robbing the gas station for the second time and just barely getting away with it, Merle had driven them straight home and started stuffing what little things they had into trash bags that served as temporary suitcases.

Merle barely glanced at him as he made his way into the bedroom. "What are you, stupid, man? We just robbed a safe and left a gun at the crime scene! We gotta get outta here, and we gotta do it quick!"

He moved around his younger brother to grab the last remains of their clothes, but Daryl's hand shot out to stop him and shove him away. "Man, what are you talkin' about? We can't leave! We just got here!"

Merle looked at him with an expression of confusion, which slowly morphed into understanding, and then, finally, smugness. "Ohhh, I see what's goin' on here. You're sweet on that Mama Doe back there, ain't ya?"

Daryl bristled, mouth twitching. "No! I just don't think we should keep runnin' everywhere we go, that's all."

Merle grinned at him. "Nah, I see right past that bullshit. You, sir, have been bitten by the looove bug, hahaha!"

Daryl looked to the ground, face red as a tomato as his brother proceeded to laugh at him.

He should have known he couldn't hide anything from Merle. He'd always been the one to see through his bullshit, even since they were kids. And now the truth was out - he only wanted to stay because of Carol. He supposed there was really no reason to be ashamed, but in the presence of his brother, he was. And it was damned near suffocating.

Merle continued to laugh, tears in his eyes, and Daryl suddenly decided he'd had enough. He reached out and shoved him, pushing the older man into the empty closet behind him.

"Woah, there, little brother, it's all good!" He managed through his laughter. "Ah...aha, oh, okay...okay, I'm good now...hahahaha!..."

Daryl watched, tight-lipped as the sound of his laughing slowly died, trying his damnest to glare a hole through his skull.

Merle pushed himself off the closet door he was slumped against, eyes still wrinkled in mirth, and rested a hand on one of the full trash bags that lay on the bed.

"Woo...okay, little brother. You win. We'll stay so you can romance your little Bunny-Boo, and then we're outta here. That sound good to you?"

Daryl shoved him again, harder this time. "Shut up, Merle..."

"Ahahahahaaa!"

He stalked out of the room as his brother burst into another fit of laughter.

Daryl awoke the next morning on the king-sized mattress, feeling far less than rested, and grumbled.

There were no windows in the bedroom of their apartment, but the sunlight streaming in through the open door was less than inviting to his sensitive eyes, so he rolled over onto his stomach, paying no mind to the trash bag he knocked onto the floor, and crammed a pillow over his head, annoyed. This lasted for no more than a few seconds, however, before his name was called from the other room.

"Hey, baby brother! You up yet?"

Daryl growled beneath his pillow, hardly in the mood to be up and moving around so early. But nevertheless, he complied. After all, it wasn't as if he had anything better to do.

Savoring the last few moments of rest, he slowly crawled out of bed and into the living room, wondering what the hell could have been so important that Merle wanted to drag him out of bed at ten in the morning.

The first thing that hit him was the smell.

Daryl shuffled across the living room and over to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as the smell of sizzling bacon invaded his nostrils. His mouth watered.

"...So what'd you want me in here for?" he asked, voice slurred with sleep.

Merle grinned from his place by the stove as he watched over the bacon. "I got a surprise for ya."

Daryl scoffed, not believing it for a second. "Really?"

He turned the bacon. "Yep."

Daryl watched as he turned off the stove and heaped the food onto a plate, taking a piece and popping it into his mouth. "...Well?"

Merle lifted his eyebrows at him. "Well, what?"

"You gonna tell me what it is?"

"What what is?"

"Man, don't play dumb with me! You just said-"

"Haha, I know, little brother! I was just messin' with ya!"

Running a frustrated hand over his face, Daryl walked over and took a piece of bacon, savoring the taste as he chewed.

"...So what is it?" he snapped, glaring at his brother.

Merle smirked. "Well, grab your coat an' I'll show ya."

Daryl sent him a look, glaring through his rather full mouth, but complied anyway. Annoyed, he swallowed his food and walked over to the closet door to grab his jacket, angrily swinging it open. His eyes nearly popping out of his head when he saw what was on the other side.

A figure- no, a person, sat huddled on the floor of the closet, their hands, feet, and mouth tied with duct tape, a blindfold over their eyes. It was a woman with short, greyish-brown hair. Fair skin, soft hands...

Daryl froze.

It was Carol.

A/N: DUN, DUN, DUUUUNN :D