I'm happy to say that this is my first real filler chapter for this story. I hate filler chapters but this one isn't half bad. I'm glad you are all so open minded about this tale. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I'll never be able to say it enough! =)

Too Little Too Late

Chapter Eleven

Carol woke up later than she thought she would. The light shining in through the sheer curtains was bright but she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. She didn't wake up disoriented or confused or afraid. She was pretty sure she woke up with a smile on her face. Nothing could have prepared her for the way everything had worked out. Her daughter was alive and safe with Rick and Lori and Daryl was here, in her bed, with his arm slung over her. It was hard to believe her luck. When she remembered the look on his face that last night she was with him at the prison it made her heart hurt. The pain that he couldn't hide was as unbearable as the pain she felt when she had woken up and thought that he had only been a dream. She pressed her back further into his chest.

After a while she tried to ease out from under his arm so she could get up and start the morning but he tightened his hold on her and pulled her so her back was pressed against his chest. She knew him. She was ultra aware of his body language and she could feel how tense he was behind her. She knew how hard this was for him. So many conflicting things, emotions and feelings that this man wasn't quite equipped to handle, even though he was trying hard. She covered his hand with her own.

"Stop thinking about running out the door, Daryl. You're doing fine," she whispered.

She felt his breath hit the back of her neck and the tense muscles at her back relaxed slightly. She smiled to herself. He'd be just fine. It was just going to take him some time. She gave him a few minutes and then she rolled over so she could see his face. He looked calm. She was still surprised at meeting these eyes and not the ones she had grown so used to at the prison. Those eyes at the prison had been haunted by the grief they all shared. The loss that they lived with every day. These eyes were different. It reminded her of how much he had changed while they struggled to survive, and now it was like both versions of himself were constantly battling it out in his mind.

"I wasn't thinkin' about runnin'." He grumbled.

She reached up and ruffled his hair, smiling brightly. "Yeah, you were. You keep forgetting that I know you, Daryl. Sometimes even better than you know you."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "I need a shower." He muttered as he rolled over onto his back.

The phone on the nightstand rang, causing her to jump. It was a little early for phone calls and she thought about ignoring it but she wasn't sure if it was Sophia so she picked up with a happily muttered hello.

It was Merle asking for his brother. She didn't have to ask him how he got the number. It wasn't like she wasn't listed. She handed Daryl the phone. He rolled his eyes.

She laughed quietly when she heard Daryl tell him to shut up. He must have been eager to give his little brother a hard time for not coming home. She crawled out of bed then, knowing his eyes were on her and not feeling the least bit self conscious about it. She pulled on a pair of the jeans she had bought the day before, not bothering to change out of the shirt she had slipped back on last night and then left him there to argue with his brother on his own.

She padded to the living room and glanced around. Some of their clothes were still scattered about and her gun lay in the middle of the floor. She hadn't even locked the damn front door before leading him to her bedroom. She shrugged and then stuck the gun in the waistband of her jeans before making her way to the kitchen.

She stopped in the doorway when she saw a haggard and bruised looking Ed sitting at the kitchen table. He watched her but she couldn't read the look on his face. She stormed right past him and started getting the coffee ready. "What in the hell are you doing here?" she snapped when she finally turned to face him once more.

He looked down at the table. "I thought we needed to talk. I didn't realize you'd have company," he said quietly.

"The motorcycle in the driveway didn't give you any sort of hint?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Where's Sophia?" He asked instead of answering her. There was still no hostility in his tone and this caused her to narrow her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what he was up too with all of this nice guy crap.

"With a friend." She growled. She knew he had seen the clothes in the living room. She was lucky he hadn't picked up her gun and went and shot her and Daryl both while they were in bed. Oh God... what was going to happen once Daryl came out? Ed's face was a mess. It looked just as bad as it did the day that Shane Walsh had beat him senseless for hitting her. Her face flamed in humiliation when she remembered how she had acted. Begging Shane to stop hitting him.

"Can we talk about this? About the crazy way you've been actin' ever since you came out of that coma." He kept his voice level. There was no anger to be detected there.

She crossed her arms over her chest once more and glared at him. "Me? The crazy way I've been acting?" She laughed bitterly. "You've beat me nearly every day since we've been married. You've forced yourself on me a hundred times. More than a hundred times. And we need to talk about the way I have been acting? You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry. Is that what you need to hear? Carol, I want my family back."

She turned her back to him, keeping her ears strained just in case he was planning on coming up behind her and trying something. "You don't have any family, Ed. Someone could walk in here right now and slit your damn throat right in front of me and I wouldn't bat an eyelash. I couldn't possibly hate you more than I do right now. What you've done to me, what you've done to my daughter," She shook her head and grimaced, "Those things are unforgivable."

"This is about that Dixon guy, isn't it? The one you're screwin'? The one that jumped me last night at the bar? I know that's who you got stashed in the bedroom. I'm not stupid. That's his brother's bike out there. I've seen them at Kellie's. Is that the type of man you're tradin' me in for? Like he's gonna be any different."

"I don't have anyone stashed anywhere. I don't have to hide people from you. Who I'm sleeping with isn't any of your business." She snapped.

"The hell it ain't." He slammed his hand down on the table but then took a deep breath, seeming to calm himself down quickly. "You're my wife. This is our house. We need to work on this. What can I do to fix it?"

"Ed, if I were you, I would just go ahead and go back to wherever the hell it is you came from. I was never your wife. I was your slave and I was your doormat and your punching bag. There's a difference. A piece of paper doesn't mean a damn thing. But you're right, I suppose. This is your house. It's in your name and you've paid for it. Take it. I'll take Sophia and go somewhere else."

"Are you even listenin' to me? I told you I was sorry. We can fix this. You leavin' isn't what I want."

"What you want ain't her problem, asshole." Daryl growled from the doorway.

She spun around. He was dressed now, hair still damp from the quick shower he had taken. He was glaring at Ed as he buttoned the shirt he must have scooped up off the living room floor.

"This don't concern you. Why don't you run along home now, boy and mind your own damn business. She's my wife, she ain't nothin' to you but a piece of ass. She just ain't figured it out yet." Ed barked.

Carol watched the anger fill Daryl's face right before he took a step closer to Ed, his fists clenched. Ed stood up, not willing to back down even though it was obvious who was going to win if this came to blows again. It was almost comical since she recognized the fear on Ed's face instantly. He wasn't so ready to fight when his opponent was a man that could give it back just as brutally, if not more so, than Ed could dish it out. But he still had to save face and stand up. He was more stupid than she thought.

"She is my business you sorry sack of shit. She ain't nothin' to you no more, she never was, and what she is to me ain't no concern of yours."

Carol put herself between them, facing Ed. "Get out." She hissed.

Ed didn't glare at her like she expected him too. He actually looked like he had lost something. All those years and he had treated her like she meant nothing. Like she said, she was nothing more than a punching bag to him. And now he looked devastated at the prospect of actually losing her.

"Do you really think he's gonna turn out any different? He's usin' you and you're too stupid to see it. He'll put is hands on you faster than I ever did." He sounded desperate.

Carol shook her head. "You used me. I was nothing to you and you made it a point to let me know that every day for the last thirteen years. Leave. Now."

"You don't even know him," Ed spat as he walked towards the doorway.

Carol laughed bitterly. "No Ed. You don't know me."

He stormed out then after giving Daryl one more hard look. She turned to face Daryl once the front door slammed shut. His eyes bore into hers. "Remember that night," he said in a strained voice, "I left camp after Sophia... The night you came out to check on me."

She just kept staring at him, remembering that night well.

"I never woulda hit you. I was pissed off and I know you was thinkin' that I would but I never would have. The shit I said..." his voice trailed off but he took a deep breath and kept going. "The shit I said that night wasn't right."

She frowned. "I didn't think you were going to hit me. And what you said was the truth."

He visibly flinched and then shook his head. "That's bullshit."

She put her hands on his chest and was happy to see that he didn't flinch away from the touch. He stood there, the slightest tensing of his muscles under her palms the only indication that he had been the least bit uncomfortable. "Daryl, I should have kept an eye on her. I should have taught her how to protect herself instead of just sitting back and letting other people do all the fighting. She would have been fine if I hadn't been such an idiot. I was weak and so she was weak too. That's not how it's going to be now."

He looked like he was about to argue again but then must have changed his mind. "You ready to go get your car? Merle want's his bike back. He hates drivin' my truck."

She glanced longingly at the coffee pot and then back to him. Shrugging she turned it off and then faced him once more. "I'm ready when you are."

He nodded and then followed her to the door. She paused before she went out to the porch and then turned, knowing what his answer was going to be before she even asked him the question. "What are you doing later?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Nothin' as far as I know."

She grinned. "Would you go to dinner at the Grimes's with me?"

The scowl on his face was more than enough. "Are you insane? Hell no! You know how those assholes feel about Merle and me."

She sighed and then put her hands on her hips. "So you're gonna make me be the one to get the whole group together? You don't plan on helping me at all?"

He groaned. "It ain't like it was at the prison. You know how hard it was at first."

"And you ignored the fact that I even existed until Sophia turned up missing. That sure wasn't how you acted last night." She raised her eyebrows at him when she saw the flush heat up his face from his neck to his hairline.

"Shut up. That's different." He looked anywhere but at her and she had to force back a small laugh. She had to wonder if he was ever going to be comfortable in his own skin.

"I guess it is different. But still, I might need your help." She said grabbing his hand forcefully.

He huffed and looked down at her hand in his, shaking his head slightly. "What can I do?"

"Convince Merle that all of this is real. I'm gonna need both of you to do what needs to be done."

He looked up, those blue eyes narrowing once more. "You're shittin' me." He deadpanned.

She tightened her grip on his hand and then closed the distance between them. "No, I'm not. I need you both to help me do what needs to be done."

"What needs to be done that the two of us have to help you with?"

She bit her lip and followed the line of his neck with her eyes. "Remember the farm?" She nearly whispered as she met his eyes once more.

He nodded, frowning.

"Remember how safe it felt? We had shelter and food. It was amazing after spending all that time at the quarry."

He nodded again but kept his mouth shut.

"I want that. The thought of living on the road is unbearable and the thought of living in a prison makes me sick. We need a farm. We need to stock it and we need to secure it and we don't have that much time to do it."

He shook his head. "How the hell are we gonna do all that? Show up at the Greene farm and tell Hershel to scoot his ass over? Fence in his property? I don't think even Merle is that convincin', Carol."

"I'm sure he isn't," she rolled her eyes. "But I can find something before all this starts. We can have an actual home. We can skip all of the bad stuff we went through. We won't lose anyone and we can actually thrive there."

He stared at her for a few long moments. "You got all this shit figured out, huh?"

"I'm trying." She said softly, "but you have to try too."

"Are you serious?" his eyes widened and he gestured around the room almost angrily. Typical quarry Daryl. "I came here last night, didn't I? That was me tryin'! I'm still here. I didn't leave, even when I woke up askin' myself what the fuck I was doin' here." He shook his head. "I ain't him, Carol. That guy," he tapped the side of his head with his index finger, "He's in there but that ain't who I am. I don't know how to be him," he shook his head again, looking around almost frantically. "And then other times I don't even fuckin' know how to be me anymore cause that guy won't shut his big fuckin' mouth. I didn't live through the shit you lived through. I was dreamin', alright? Cut me some fuckin' slack! I'm tryin'. I can't be somebody I'm not. If that's what you expect then we got more problems brewin' than just the walkers comin'. You might want him but all you got is me."

She hadn't seen him like this in so long that she was surprised. He was breathing hard and she expected him to shove her away when she took a few steps closer to him but he stayed still, chest heaving, eyes narrowed on her, jaw twitching.

"You feel better now?" She asked quietly. She'd been waiting for some sort of outburst but after last night she thought that maybe it was going to be easier than she thought. It was still easier than she had imagined it would be.

He kept watching her. He was still tense but then he seemed to calm down. He took in a huge breath and blew it out slowly before nodding.

She braved the last few inches and placed her hands on his chest. He stayed very still, watching her like he couldn't figure out what she was about to do. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, moving her arms up to his shoulders. "I wasn't expecting that other man, Daryl. I knew who I was going to find when I took off looking for you. You don't have to be that guy, okay?" She kept her voice low.

She could have cried when she felt his arm go around her waist. He still didn't say anything but his head dipped down and his lips brushed hers softly. He sighed, his breath ghosting across her face, causing her to shiver. "I ain't goin' to no goddamn dinner, alright? But I'll talk to Merle. I don't know what good it's gonna do but I'll give it a shot."

She gave him a huge smile. "That's good. I'll try to talk to him too."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "You sure about that?"

She nodded. "You wanna come over tomorrow? You and him, I mean? I can cook and we can talk. I need to know if he can get his hands on some weapons. Big weapons. Lots of weapons." She smiled. "We need to start stocking up."

"How long we got?" he asked nervously.

"I think maybe two months at the most. I can't remember the exact date it all happened. We need to start looking at properties and figure out the best way to defend it. We need something with a few large bodies of water. We're really going to be okay."

"How much goddamn money you talkin'?" He frowned.

She boldly kissed him on the mouth before turning and heading towards the door. "Enough, Daryl."

She climbed onto the bike, waving at the old lady that had lived next to them for the last twelve years. He snorted as he climbed on in front of her. "My Pa would turn over in his fuckin' grave right now if he knew I'd done snagged myself a woman with money."

She laughed into his back as the bike roared to life. She wrapped her arms around his waist and wondered briefly how fast it would take for the entire town to know he had spent the night with her. Which caused her to think of everything that had happened last night and her legs pressed harder against him. She hadn't thought anything could be better than what had happened in their bunk that night but last night had been even better. Much better.