Hello! Here's another chapter. There is another familiar face showing up in this chapter. I hope you guys like it. It has a bit of a filler feel to me but that's just my opinion. Remember, I warned you that there were going to be more people from the same town because it wouldn't have worked otherwise. Thank you all for reading! Much love XD

A Beautiful Lie

Chapter Fourteen

Carol felt exhausted when she got home. The past few days had taken a toll on her emotionally and last night had taken a toll on her physically. Her body ached but not in the way she had grown used too over the past thirteen years. No, this was a good ache, but an ache all the same.

She dropped her bag by the door and then headed strait to the phone to call and check on Sophia. Lori answered on the second ring, her voice causing Carol's heart to pound a little harder than usual. It would take a long time for her to get used to hearing it.

"Hi, Lori. It's Carol," she said brightly.

"Oh, I'm glad you called. I was just about to call you. Rick and Shane were going to take the kids fishing this afternoon, if it's alright."

Carol had to remind herself that Sophia would be fine with Rick and Shane. This wasn't the Shane from the farm and neither of them would let anything happen to her daughter. "That sounds like fun. You not a big fan of catching fish?"

"I'm more a fan of eating them. I don't do worms," she laughed. "How was your first night alone? Sophia told us that this was her first sleepover. I hope you took advantage of it."

"Oh, I did," Carol felt herself flushing. "I was wondering if it would be okay if I brought a friend tonight?" she held her breath and waited for the next obvious question.

"That's fine. I'm making plenty. You mind if I ask who this mysterious friend is?"

Carol groaned inwardly as she remembered the looks Rick and Lori had shared earlier the day before when she had mentioned the Dixons. "I... er... Daryl Dixon." she cringed at the silence in her ear.

"Daryl Dixon wants to come over here for dinner?" Lori finally asked, disbelief clear in her voice.

"He's a really good friend of mine actually. He isn't really anything like his brother at all," Carol said in a rush.

"Are you sure?" Lori asked, clearly worried.

Carol felt her defenses going up at Lori's tone. Daryl was viewed as some sort of hero at the prison but while they had been at the quarry Lori hadn't tried to hide her distaste for the brothers. She loved the woman but sometimes Lori had a real problem with removing the huge stick from her ass. Especially in the early days, which technically were now. "Look Lori, it isn't a big deal. I can pick Sophia up later and the three of us can go do something else for dinner. No worries." She did everything she could to make her voice sound cheerful but still indifferent, like it didn't matter to her either way.

Now she knew exactly why Daryl had been so against going with her. He still was, really. She could always call him and tell him that he didn't have to go. He was right. There wasn't any reason for him to be there at all. She already had Rick and Lori in the bag so why did she want him there? The sad truth was, she just wanted him with her, wherever she was.

"No," Lori said before she took a deep breath. "Sophia and Carl had been looking forward to this all day. I'm sure Rick wont mind."

Carol was still unsure if she should just tell Daryl to forget it and go in on this one on her own. "Thank you, Lori."

"Just be careful, okay. I've just heard so much about them..."

"I will. I'll see you at seven." She said quickly. They said their goodbyes and hung up. She was starting to get nervous. Daryl had really acted an ass when they had met with the realtor earlier and she couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had made a mistake in guilting him into going with her.

She made her way to her room and stopped in the doorway. The bed was completely stripped. Something she hadn't done herself, but that isn't what had her sighing out loud. In the center of the stripped bed was a picture. An 8x10 photograph in a lovely antique frame that a long forgotten friend had gotten her more than thirteen years ago. Her wedding photo. It had been tucked away at the bottom of her cedar chest for many years. She approached the bed slowly and picked it up, gazing down at a beautiful lie.

She looked happy. She had been happy. Ed was actually a decent looking guy then. Thinner, kinder. Not the monster she had met shortly after the picture was taken. In the picture she was gazing up at him adoringly. She felt an ache in her chest for the unsuspecting woman in the photograph. All of that woman's hopes and dreams were still alive somewhere inside her. The life that could have been. The life that should have been. She had wanted a big family. She had wanted at least three children. That had been a dream of hers. She had had many dreams back then.

If this was Ed's way of trying to make her remember how it used to be he was sorely mistaken. Tears pricked her eyes as she looked at that woman's face and then that ache in her chest turned into something else. Something familiar and alien to her all at the same time.

She threw the picture as hard as she could against the wall. The glass shattered, like her dreams had done years ago, falling onto the bed and the floor.

She wanted him to stay out of her life but she doubted that would happen. If he really was filled with regret now that he had lost her then maybe that was for the best. Maybe he really would change now. But that meant nothing to her. She had moved on. She couldn't look at that man with anything but disgust, just like she looked at herself for letting him do the things he had done to her. She knew what it felt like now to have a man care. To have a man sacrifice just to make her feel good. She knew what love was, even if it wasn't something that she would hear Daryl say and it was definitely not something she would say to him. Talk about someone running in the other direction.

She opened her closet and stared at the clothes hanging there. Ugly shapeless blouses and dull outdated pants. She hadn't hung up any of her new clothes. She thought about wearing a dress but then realized she didn't own one. She started ripping the clothes off the hanger and angrily tossing them on the bed. More tears started stinging her eyes. She hated these clothes. She hated that picture. She stormed over to the other side of the bed and picked up the frame, ripping the picture out and cutting her fingers in the process. She barely even felt it.

She clung to the picture and grabbed the empty hamper from her closet floor, tossing the clothes inside and the picture on top. She ripped open the nightstand drawer and grabbed a lighter she knew would be there and stormed out the back door, tossing other things inside the hamper as well. Photos of them during the harder years. Other odds and ends that belonged to Ed. She wanted it gone. All of it.

She walked quickly to the end of the yard where there was a burn barrel next to the alley. She held up the photo by the corner with bleeding shaky fingers and set it on fire. She didn't drop it into the barrel until half of Ed's face was burned away. She slowly added the clothes and other photo's, frames and all, to the inferno. She stood with her fists clenched until it was nothing but smoldering ash.

She turned on her heal and walked around the side of the house. She didn't see the point in locking the door. The only person she wanted to keep out had a spare key. Without a second thought she got into her car. She didn't own a dress. How odd that something like that would set her off. But that hadn't been the thing to really set her off. It was that damn picture and knowing everything it stood for.

She wanted a dress. "And I'm gonna go buy a goddamn dress." She growled. When she looked at her hands on the steering wheel she cursed again. Her hands were a bloody mess and she had left her bag sitting by the door.

She hurried back into the house to wash her hands and grab a few band-aids. She groaned when she reached the door and heard the phone ringing. "Damn it," she mumbled on her way back to the kitchen.

"Hello?" she said unable to subdue the annoyance in her voice.

No one said anything on the other end. All she heard was silence. Probably Ed just seeing if she was back home. She slammed the phone down and headed back out. She needed to invest in a cell phone. At least for the last remaining months they would be able to use them.

When she got to the store she didn't get out right away. She was starting to feel a little foolish. What the hell did she need a dress for? She didn't. She was acting like a petulant child that had gone too long without getting her way. She felt ridiculous. But she was already here so she may as well get the stupid dress. Besides, once they were safe behind the walls of the farm that she was going to put a down payment on Monday morning, maybe she'd get to enjoy things like dresses more than she got to enjoy needless things like that at the prison. They would be a lot more free. Like on Hershel's farm before the herd showed up. But there wouldn't be a herd.

She removed the gun from her jeans and put it under her seat before she went inside. The store wasn't big but it was about all they had in their town. There wasn't a mall or anything so this would have to do.

She started looking through the racks, holding a few up and then putting them back when they proved to be too fancy or too bright.

"The one you just put back would look amazing on you," someone said from somewhere off to her left.

She looked up sharply, repressing a gasp. Amy stood there with a knowing smile on her face.

"The color and the cut. It's perfect," Amy said, taking a step closer. She had a name tag on. Carol had never had a clue she had worked there, but then again she wouldn't have. She had never been to this store before. She hadn't thought about finding Amy and Andrea yet. She figured she had enough to deal with trying to bait Rick and Lori and hopefully Shane after this. Plus she was hoping she could convince Daryl to figure out a way to get to Dale and Glenn. She hadn't thought any further than that yet. She hadn't known where to even look. It was so strange how everyone seemed to fall right into her lap.

"I don't know. It's a little..." she looked back at the dress.

"Trust me, Miss. I do this for a living." Amy quirked an eyebrow at her and then shrugged. "Look, try it on and if you hate it after that then whatever you do decide to get, I'll knock off five percent. You have nothing to lose."

Carol hadn't known Amy well but she did know that Andrea adored the girl and her death had been so monumental to her friend. It had caused her to give up on life and Carol knew she could save Amy and Andrea both. She held up the dress.

It was a dark purple number, not a color she would ever choose for herself, which was why she had put it back. It was too flashy for her, even though it wasn't very flashy at all. Amy was looking at her expectantly and then she remembered all of those awful clothes she had burned. Clothes Ed had made her wear. Clothes that made her feel like a hag.

"Screw it. You only live once, right?" She let Amy lead her to the dressing room and she shut the door firmly behind her. Of course there were one of those full length mirrors in there. She used to hate those things but it wasn't so bad now. She hurriedly undressed and slipped the dress on. She finally looked up at herself with a frown.

She had to tie it at the back of her neck and it left most of her back exposed which made her feel extremely free and extremely uncomfortable at the same time. The neckline came down in a V and it hugged her waist a little. It came down just above the knee, which wasn't incredibly short but it was shorter than anything she had been allowed to wear. She was extremely critical of her own body since she had spent years hearing about how bad it looked. The only time she seemed to feel comfortable in her own skin was when Daryl was around. But even though he wasn't around at the moment she couldn't help but admire the way the dress really did accentuate what she had without making her look like she was trying too hard. As much as she hated to admit it, even felt slightly guilty for admitting it, she really did love the way she looked in the dress. Showing other people was an entirely different thing however.

With a weary sigh she opened the door and stepped out. Amy's eyes widened and then narrowed as she took a step back and examined Carol to the point where she was shifting nervously from one foot to the other feeling completely ridiculous.

Amy held up a finger. "Don't move," she commanded as she hurried off to the back of the store. Carol stood there, feeling like she just may march right back into that dressing room, put her jeans and shirt back on and leave before Amy could come back. She didn't know why she stood there waiting for the girl.

Oh yeah. She was in charge of keeping her alive. Great.

When Amy came back around Carol frowned at her. She had a long necklace that at first glance looked like black beads but on closer inspection Carol realized they were more like polished stones. Sophia would have loved it. Amy surprised her by wrapping it twice around her neck and then letting the excess hang down just above her cleavage.

"You have an incredible neck and that just makes it that much more incredible." Amy smiled and then examined her handy work one more time before reaching for some shoes that Carol hadn't even seen her set down.

She was blushing and could tell, not used to compliments at all. The shoes looked amazing. They were black and strappy with at least a four inch heel. She'd break her fool neck if she tried to wear them. Amy shoved them into her hands.

"These are perfect and they are on sale," Amy beamed.

Carol wished that she could have ran into the girl somewhere else. She felt like she was indulging a child with a game of dress up wearing the dress, and she would feel even more ridiculous wearing the shoes. But she was going to buy whatever the girl pushed on her regardless of how stupid she felt wearing it.

She shrugged. "I'll take everything then."

Amy grinned. "That's good because I don't really have the authority to give you five percent off whatever you would have bought. It would have came out of pocket. But it was worth it. You really do look amazing."

Carol couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, you're good."

Amy winked. "My sister's a lawyer so I learned how to put all her smarts to good use while I'm stuck in this place and saving up to go to college myself. I can be convincing when I believe in my argument."

"You plan on being a lawyer yourself?" Carol asked before she went back to the dressing room to put her normal clothes back on.

Amy shook her head.

"Fashion designer then?" Carol tilted her head, a mischievous smile gracing her lips.

Amy laughed out right. "Marine Biologist."

Carol thought she might cry at hearing that. What dreams they all had. She thought of that wedding picture once more. She struggled but she kept the smile there, unwilling to let her emotions show as Amy unwound the necklace from around her neck and placed the shoes back in the box. Carol slipped into the dressing room and quickly changed.

Amy was at the register, already ringing her stuff up. She walked by a display table and stopped. She glanced up at Amy, who was watching her. The girl nodded quickly so Carol checked the sizes and grabbed two hand fulls of the sleaziest underwear she had ever seen in her life. Now that her sex life was existent, she may as well have some fun with it.

Her face felt like it was on fire by the time she made it to the counter and she was certain she never would have bought them if there had been even one more customer in the store or if it had been a sales girl that she didn't, somehow, already know.

She had an idea right as Amy handed her the bags. It was worth a shot. "I hate to ask but I was wondering if you knew anyone that would be willing to babysit a few nights a week? The pay would be good and it would be at my house."

Amy's eyes lit up. "How good?"

Carol smiled. Perfect. "How does fifty dollars a night sound?"

Blue eyes went wide. "Don't tell me... you have six kids and three of them are in diapers."

Carol shook her head. "One very well behaved twelve year old girl."

Amy bent down and came back up with a small notepad, writing something quickly and then tearing off the corner to hand to Carol. "Call me." She grinned.

Carol dropped the paper into her bag and grinned. "I will. Very soon. Maybe we can do lunch or something so the two of you can get to know one another before you start."

Amy nodded happily.

Carol felt great and couldn't stop smiling by the time she stopped by one last store and headed home. The house was blessedly empty. It didn't seem as though Ed had made any more appearances. She cleaned up the glass she had left in her room. She cleaned out her underwear drawer too, tossing all of the white cotton Hanes into the waist basket and stuffed the new ones in their place. She glanced up in the mirror and couldn't help but laugh at how red her face was.

After putting the new sheets she had bought on the bed she figured now was as good a time as any to get herself ready to go to Lori's. She was excited to see Sophia. It had only been a day but considering how much had happened it felt like much longer. And she was cutting Daryl loose. She was going to call him as soon as she got herself ready and then she would go to Rick and Lori's early to see if Lori needed any help with anything. After talking to Lori on the phone she knew that he had been right. They weren't going to accept him. It didn't matter that they didn't know him at all. She cared about him too much to put him through all that. She was a little sad that she wouldn't get to see him though. She had really been looking forward to that.

When she put on the heels it actually did complete the whole look. Maybe Amy was on to something. Other than the underwear she was wearing that didn't even cover her whole butt she felt pretty comfortable. Feminine. It was a powerful feeling. She dropped her gun into her bag and smiled at herself in the mirror. Powerful indeed.