A/N: 12/17/2014 Sorry I took so long updating this! I would've posted it a week ago but I got hit with another idea for a Caryl fic and I figured I'd better write it down before I forgot. And then I thought of another idea, and so I wrote that down too. And then I got busy with Christmas stuff...you know how it goes :P

I feel like Carol was OOC in the last two chapters, and I may go back and rewrite them a bit (nothing major, just Carol's behavior) but for now, I'll leave them the way they are. I hope to correct that OOCness in this chapter, though Carol's attitude towards Daryl and Merle is meant to lighten considerably anyway, so nothing too different from how she acted before.

Prettyprincess45: Thanks! Slapjack IS pretty fun. I'm glad you think I write humor so well because I love writing it XD

TheConjuringMind: Thank you! I'm truly flattered that you think this story is so good, especially the Dixon bromance, lol (=^.^=)

wildcow258: Thank you! Yes, you never know what you're gonna find in a single man's apartment (or in this case, two single brothers). No, it's not Ed that Carol's hiding from. But when it's finally revealed I don't really think it'll be that much of a shocker. And don't worry, it'll all work out in the end ;)

annibelle: Thank you! Unusual is good! :D

Tinkerbell99: Yes, poor Daryl :( More will be revealed about Carol in the later chapters. And yeah she doesn't really seem to mind being kidnapped all that much, but she's really just trying to make the best of her situation. Thanks for the review! :)

Reading time: 13 mins.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Chapter nine: Awkwardness and Agendas~

Daryl shifted in his seat, chewing slowly on his cereal as he awkwardly switched his gaze between the two people sitting at the counter with him.

Carol sat across from him, keeping her eyes downcast as she quietly ate her breakfast, trying to ignore the way Merle was staring at her.

The air was so tense a gunshot could have gone off and it wouldn't have rattled anyone.

After having yet another debate with his brother over the wellbeing of their 'hostage' (particularly the subject of her blindfold) Daryl had allowed Carol to have breakfast with them. It had seemed like a good idea at the time - Merle could warm up to her and the three of them could sit down and talk like normal adults - but now he wasn't so sure.

At like...all.

Daryl swallowed his food, deciding that he would be the first to speak.

"Uh...so? Either o' you guys want any more bacon?"

They answered at the same time.

"No, I'm fine-"

"As a matter o' fact-"

Merle gave her a look, and Carol silenced, ducking her head and allowing him to finish.

He turned back to Daryl. "As a matter o' fact...yes I would, little brother."

Daryl gave him a warning look, but stood up from the counter and obeyed nonetheless.

He walked over to the opposite counter and grabbed the plate of bacon, spinning on his heel and setting it down between Carol and Merle.

"Well thank you, little brother," Merle smiled, taking a piece. "How very polite of you."

Daryl glared at him as he sat back down.

He knew he was hating the whole 'play nice' rule he had set down for Carol's sake, but at least he was trying. To be honest, he'd be worried if he wasn't pissed off - that would mean he was planning something. But after reasoning with him on the grounds that women generally didn't want to make daring escapes from their captors if they were nice to them, and therefore less likely to run to the cops, he agreed. Begrudgingly, of course, but it was agreed nonetheless.

Carol had barely spoken a word since they had all woke up.

He reasoned that it was just because Merle was there, but something churned in his gut that told him that wasn't entirely the case. He hoped it wasn't because of something he had said or did. He couldn't think of anything that would have offended her or put her off, but knowing his luck, his dumb ass probably had himself to blame for her closed off behavior.

Daryl exhaled, his breath hot against his face under his bandana, and went back to his cereal.

It was really weird (and not to mention hard) to eat with something over your face, and Merle was sure to bitch to him about that sooner or later - he was getting kind of tired of it himself - but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Then again, he wasn't exactly playing it safe by letting Carol run free around the apartment in the first place, but he argued in his mind that it wasn't as bad as letting her see their faces and being able to identify them. It was quite a stretch, but still.

In his mind, it was okay.

In Merle's, it wasn't.

"Man, I can't take this shit much longer!" His big brother hissed. "This is damned ridiculous! I can't even take a dump without wearin' this stupid shit on my face!"

Daryl flinched as he ripped the bandana off his face and hurled it across the living room, steam practically coming out of his ears.

"Man, it's just fer a couple o' days, it ain't like-"

"No," he said, pointing an accusing finger as he walked up to him. "If we keep lettin' this go the way it is, it ain't gonna be just a 'couple more days'. It's gonna turn into a couple more weeks, and then months, and then...well hell, we may as well just adopt 'er!"

Daryl pursed his lips, wanting nothing more than to rebuke him, to tell him he was wrong. But he couldn't.

Because he wasn't wrong.

He was right.

If they kept at the pace they were going now, kept doing things the way they were doing them, Carol would come to know too much, and she would all but be forced to stay with them. And they couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that.

He opened his mouth to speak, but just then the bathroom door opened, and Carol emerged.

Both of their heads turned to look at her, and she stood cautiously by the door as she looked between the two of them and the obvious tension in the air.

"Is...something wrong?" she asked, brows pinched.

Daryl opened his mouth again, but Merle beat him to it.

"No, no trouble! Not at all! Why, we were jus' discussin' yer bedding arrangements! Can't have ya sleepin' in a closet fer the duration o' yer stay, now, can we?"

Daryl gave his brother a 'what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?' look, becoming worried when he smirked mischievously at him in return.

"Naw...in fact, Daryl here was jus' volunteerin' to get ya somet'n' more comfortable to sleep on. He's always been the noble type."

This time, Daryl stepped in to voice his objections. "Man, what the hell're you talkin' about-"

He held up a hand to silence him. "Little brother. Please. No need to be humble, we all know how much you care fer the little lady. It'll be gettin' dark here in about six hours. Ain't got no time to waste now, do we?"

When he made no move to leave, Merle clapped his hands. "Come on, now! Chop, chop! Mattresses don't buy themselves!" He took out a wad of cash from his pocket and tossed it to him. "Go on, now! Get!"

Daryl shifted on his feet, unsure of what to do.

He knew what he was trying to do: he wanted to get him out of there so he could be alone with Carol. For what reason, he didn't know. But it made him uneasy.

Scratch that, it made him frantic.

It wasn't that he thought Merle would hurt Carol - though he wasn't above hitting a woman, he was no beater - it was more along the lines of he was afraid of what he would say to her. The last thing he needed was for his brother to 'help' him get into her pants. Besides, he didn't want that anyway. He was an introvert, and on top of that he was insecure. And he was not about to hop into bed with someone he barely knew, let them see his scars...even if it was someone as pretty as Carol.

Carol's gaze shifted unsteadily from Merle to him, looking guarded but slightly confused, and ultimately Daryl decided to just go with whatever hair-brained scheme his brother had planned out in his head.

He knew he wouldn't hurt her, and he knew that if he tried to object he'd just end up making him look like the ass, so it was better to just take the easy way out and avoid conflict. Besides, it was important for Carol to feel as un-threatened as possible, hopefully to the point where they could let her go and leave each other well enough alone without involving the police...hopefully.

Daryl sighed, scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "Whatever..."

He turned on his heel to head for the door, stuffing the wad of cash in his pocket as he left their apartment in search of a mattress store, missing the victorious smirk that Merle sent in his direction.

Daryl returned home some twenty minutes later (which was about nineteen minutes later than he would have liked) with a fairly good-sized mattress.

It was actually a blow-up mattress.

But a mattress nonetheless.

Daryl pulled his bandana up over his nose, swallowing thickly.

He practically kicked the door open and tossed the box containing his purchase into the room, more than nervous about what Merle had been saying to Carol while he was gone.

The two were sitting on either end of the beat up couch, and they simultaneously looked over at Daryl as though he were insane for bursting through the door. He stared at them for a moment, noticing immediately what was amiss.

Merle wasn't wearing his bandana.

The thing was probably still lying in a corner somewhere from where he'd thrown it before, but he seemed far too comfortable to be in any hurry to go pick it up. It was too late now, anyway, he supposed - Carol had already seen his face when she'd come out of the bathroom, he was sure of it. Even though she had averted her eyes it was obviously too late. She knew what his brother looked like. So why was she smiling, and not storing that information away and keeping it safe for later use?

"Well..." Merle grinned, arms resting on the back of the couch. "I see you finally showed up. Honestly, I figured you'd take longer. They have a sale at La-Z Boy's 'r somet'n'? Haha!"

Daryl glared at him, shutting the door behind him and pushing the oversized box into the living room.

He shoved it over onto its side so he could rip off the price tag and open it up, dragging out the folded square of plastic and fabric as he purposefully avoided their gazes.

Setting the mattress aside, he reached into the box and took out the directions (or what he assumed to be the directions, he didn't really give them a good look) tossing them in a corner behind him as he reached back in and took out what he was looking for: the automatic air pump.

He set it on the coffee table and kicked the box out of the way, pulling the mattress back in front him so he could fold it out.

Merle chuckled from his place on the couch. "Was this the best they had at the Ghetto Store? That thing don't look good enough for a dog ta sleep on!"

"Ya only gave me twenty bucks!" he snapped, shutting his mouth when he noticed Carol flinch.

Merle scoffed. "Pfft. Boy, I gave you a wad o' cash-"

"It was nothin' but fives and ones," He shot back, making an effort to contain his anger.

Merle put his hands up. "Woah, no need for hostilities! So I made a mistake, it happens. It's not like you weren't able to get anything. It looks like a decent bed. Good job."

By the time he had finished, Daryl was ready to jump up and smash his face in.

He hated it when he went all 'nice guy' on people, especially when it was obvious that he was just manipulating them for whatever angle he was working. But this was a special case because the person he was manipulating was Carol, who was probably the only other human being besides his brother in his entire life that he had ever even come close to forming some semblance of a relationship with (platonic or otherwise) and that shit was grating on his nerves.

But if he beat the crap out of him like he wanted to, it would only further his twisted agenda (whatever it was) so he really had no choice but to keep his damned feelings to himself and make sure his damn mouth stayed shut.

Merle was practically waiting for him to slip up.

Well too bad, because he wasn't about to let that happen.

"Well, little brother. It's been fun, but I'm gonna crash. Having mentally stimulating conversations with beautiful women really drains a man."

Unfortunately, it sounded a lot easier than it actually was.

A/N: Uh-oh, what could that mean? Does Merle want to make things better for Daryl, or worse? Read to find out! :D

Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to say that I watched The Boondock Saints for the first time ever recently. For those who don't know, it's the film that Norman Reedus (aka Daryl) is most famous for. I loved it. Seriously. I had a bromance overload XD

Anyway yeah, go ahead and read the next chapter! :)