I felt guilty about you guys waiting so long for that last chapter so I am posting another. Not only that, I am eager to get to the real make up chapter ;) I have a feeling that you will all enjoy it a lot. Hope you like this one! Thank you for reading and reviewing! Have a great weekend!

Love Letters

Chapter Twenty Two

He wasn't sure where he was going until he hit the highway and once he was sure of where he was going he wasn't sure what he was going to say when he got there. All he knew was that there was no fucking way he was going to sit in that house and wait for her to come back just so she could feed him more shit about how they were messing everything up.

He narrowed his eyes at the stretch of road ahead of him. They weren't messing up a damn thing. She was. And if she was too goddamn chicken shit to take a chance on something then who the hell was he to try to convince her otherwise? If Carol Peletier wanted to act like a coward then that was alright by him. He was used to getting the short end of the stick because of other people. He was surprised at first but the shock wore off quickly. It was replaced by a dull ache. He felt betrayed somehow. Betrayed by the one person that he had always thought he could trust completely.

He talked a good game in his head but the truth was, he would end up trying to talk some sense into her eventually. He'd even left her a note before he left so she wouldn't worry. If he was ready to say to hell with her then he sure as hell wouldn't have gone rummaging through the drawers for a notebook and a pen. He would have left and stayed gone a few days just out of spite. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Just in case she would worry. He was so fucked. He felt like she had him by the balls. Now he knew why he hadn't ever gotten involved in any crazy ass relationships before. They fucked with a man's head and turned him into a pussy.

He was only a mile or so from the exit when he saw something that surprised him up ahead. Again he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he drove closer. Surely it wasn't what he thought it was.

There, on the side of the road, sat a familiar site. Dales R.V. And sure enough, coming around the side of it, was Dale. There was no way this was going to be this easy. He knew what had happened. It was that damn radiator hose. He would have bet his ass on it. He slowed the truck down and pulled off the road, parking in front of the R.V.

He had been heading to Dale's house to begin with. He hadn't put much thought into what he would say to the man but now it looked like he didn't have too. What he had said to Carol was confirmed. Dale had just fallen right into his lap. He almost couldn't believe it.

Dale poked his head around the side and grimaced until recognition had him smiling grimly. "What are the odds of this happening?" he asked as Daryl approached.

Daryl nodded. "Pretty weird. You break down?" He waited to see if Dale would give any indication that he, just like everyone else, remembered Daryl from a place other than in front of the realtor's office the other day. He was a bit surprised when Dale didn't let on like anything strange was happening.

Dale's smile turned genuine. "Nah," he wrinkled his nose and glanced at the front of the R.V. "Just figured it looked like a good time to pull on off to the side of the road and enjoy the sights. Daryl, isn't it?"

Daryl scowled. Dale was a smart ass. "Yep. You know what's wrong with it?"

Dale frowned and took off his stupid hat so he could scratch at his head. "I've only had the thing for a few days. I don't know what it could be."

"Radiator hose," Daryl said firmly.

Dale smiled slightly and glanced at him. "Well, I'm sure you know your way around a vehicle, son, but I haven't even opened her up yet."

Daryl shrugged and watched him curiously. It didn't take the man too long to straighten up and place his hands on his hips. "Well, I'll be damned," he mumbled.

"Radiator hose?" Daryl asked as he leaned against the front and crossed his arms over his chest.

Dale looked up, his eyes growing suspicious. "How the heck did you know that?"

"I'm some kind of psychic that has premonitions of the future. You need a ride somewhere to get another one?" he deadpanned.

Dale nodded and then locked everything up. Once they were in Daryl's truck Dale stayed true to character and starting talking. "So, where is that little lady of yours this afternoon?"

Daryl snorted and kept his eyes glued to the road. "By now she's probably pickin' out what to wear on her date tonight with her husband." For a second he let his mind dredge up the image of her in that dress she wore to that insane dinner at Rick and Lori's. As much as he liked it he would set the damn thing on fire before he let her walk out the door wearing it to go meet that dumb fucker. He could have kicked himself for not hiding the damn thing before he left just so he wouldn't have to worry about it. This made him even more angry. Now he was wanting to hide her clothes? What the fuck was wrong with him?

Dale was silent for a few long moments. "I didn't know she was married."

Daryl glanced over at him, realizing that he needed to keep his dumb mouth shut. Too late now. "She's separated. Had to talk to him about their kid or some shit."

"I see," Dale said in that tone that told Daryl that this conversation was just getting started. "So she has children?"

"A daughter." Goddamn it. Why had he opened his mouth?

"I could see how something like that could complicate things a bit. I'm sure the two of you will work it all out though. You seemed to be well on your way to recovery when I left the two of you the other day. And let me tell ya, that looked like it was gonna get pretty ugly."

"We'll see," Daryl said glumly, hoping that Dale would drop it.

"Are you and her daughter very close?" Dale asked after a few blissful minutes of silence.

Daryl sighed. "I guess you could say that."

Another round of silence followed that but was soon broken, once again, by Dale. "You know, it seems to me like you just have a bad case of jealousy. Maybe you two should talk it out."

Daryl shook his head. "I'm pretty sure she's ready to call it quits. We gave it a go and it didn't work out like she thought it would." Why the fuck couldn't he just tell Dale to mind his own goddamn business and keep his own mouth closed about this shit?

"Did she say that?" Dale asked as they pulled into the auto store.

Daryl nodded. "That's what she was hintin' at before she left."

Dale looked at him, sympathy filling his kind features. Daryl bit the inside of his jaw to keep from telling the man to stop fucking staring at him like that. "Well, I still think there is probably a little hope for the two of you yet." He smiled and then got out of the truck.

Daryl watched him go in and sighed loudly. He didn't understand why Dale wasn't acting like the others had acted. Had he not had those dreams? With a weary sigh he got out of the truck and followed Dale into the store. He had a feeling that this was going to be a really long day.

~H~

Merle pulled into the parking lot of Kellie's and turned off the bike. He scanned the lot until his eyes landed on the car that he had hoped would be here. He climbed off the bike and sauntered up to the door. He wasn't even in the mood to be here at the moment but he had someone he needed to talk to and this was about the time of day that the man was usually here.

His eyes scanned the room and sure enough, there he sat. Ed Peletier. He was sitting at a corner table, alone, as usual. Merle made a face. He looked like a toad. Merle wondered what the hell Carol could have seen in the man to begin with and wondered briefly what had possessed her to stay with him once he proved to be a woman beater.

He made his way to the table and took a seat, uninvited. Ed looked at him and then scowled. "What the hell you want, Dixon? I ain't here for any trouble. Just mindin' my own business. Maybe you should try it."

"Believe me, asshole, I would. But seems like my business is probably stickin his dick in your business at the moment. That makes what they're doin' our business."

Ed glared at him. "And what do you expect me to do about that?"

Merle shrugged. "Well, it woulda' helped if you hadn't been such a woman beatin' pussy. Now your wife got herself a taste of the good stuff and I can't seem to pry the bitch off of him with pliers. She's your wife. Do somethin' about it. I'm all outta tactics."

Ed didn't look like he was in the mood to discuss any of this. The truth was, Merle wasn't either. But he needed to get his brother away from that woman somehow and Ed was the only possible answer to his problems. Maybe he could charm her or something. "I'm suppose to meet with her tonight and talk."

Merle shook his head. "Don't count on it. My brother went back to her today."

Ed frowned. "I saw her with some Asian guy. You sure your brother is even with her?"

Merle nodded. "She must have sent the kid over to get him earlier."

Ed shook his head and took a drink of the beer that the waitress sat down in front of him. "So what the hell am I suppose to do? You don't think I've already tried. The woman lost her damn mind in that accident. There ain't no fixin' crazy."

Merle glared at the man. "You ever think that maybe you beat her one too many times? This is all your fuckin' fault! If you hadn't been such an asshole she wouldn't have set out after my brother and he'd be just fine right now," he growled.

Ed returned Merle's angry stare. "That right there ain't none of your business."

Merle leaned towards him, hands on the table, eyes flashing angrily. "You ain't hearin' me right now. You fix this. If you don't fix this then I swear to Christ I'm gonna rip out your fuckin' tongue and I'm gonna choke you to death with it. You understandin' me?" Merle knew that this was a long shot. More than a long shot. He just didn't know what else to do. So he handed the responsibility over to Ed. If Ed couldn't get Carol back then he would make good on that promise. He would beat the man into oblivion.

Ed took another drink, eyes watching Merle wearily. "I'm meetin' her tonight. I'll do what I can. But I'm tellin' ya. She ain't listenin' to reason. I have done everything and she won't listen."

Merle stood up then. "Then think of somethin' else. I'll be seein' ya around." There was no mistaking the threat in his tone.

He walked away without looking back. This whole thing with Daryl was stressing him out more than it should. He'd had a few more of those fucked up dreams. He didn't dream about his brother and that pussy ass group of his. Now he dreamed about a man named Philip Blake who found him after he cut off his hand.

He wanted to ask his brother about that but he couldn't. He wasn't going to feed that insanity with tales of his own. He had another plan. That man in his dreams was one sick son of a bitch. He was a good judge of character and Philip Blake was a goddamn prime example of a man on the verge of losing his shit. Merle was bad. He would be the first to admit it. The world had made him that way and he embraced it. But that guy? That guy was something else.

He squinted into the sunlight and mounted his bike. He was giving up on trying to keep his brother on a leash. He had something else to do now. He was going to find out for himself if this crazy shit was really what his brother and Carol said it was. If these weren't really dreams and he really was having premonitions of what was to come he planned on changing things up a little.

The bike roared to life and he flew out of the parking lot. He had a lot to do. If those dreams were true then Merle was definitely going to throw in a monkey wrench. He was going to find Philip Blake before Philip Blake found him.

~H~

Carol could tell that the tension in the Grimes house was up. Lori and Rick were barely speaking and Carl looked at her and rolled his eyes as soon as she walked through the door. Sophia was all smiles until she saw Carol's face. Her eyes narrowed.

"What's happened now?" Sophia asked quickly.

Carol shook her head. "Nothing that I can't fix," she hoped so anyway.

"What's that even mean?" Sophia asked, eyes still studying Carol's carefully.

Jesus, when did this girl get so grown up? It was like she knew what Carol had done and completely disapproved of it. She disapproved of it herself. "It means that it isn't anything that you need to worry about," she said.

Lori and Rick perked up when Carol informed them that Amy would be the one babysitting but they wouldn't let Carl go no matter how much he begged and argued. They were curious as to why Amy hadn't seemed to be effected the same way they were. Shane still acted pretty normal himself. They had even hinted to him that they had been experiencing weird dreams themselves but he never acted like he was experiencing anything out of the ordinary.

"So Shane and Amy aren't effected. What does that mean?" Lori asked as she leaned into the counter.

To their surprise it was Carl that spoke up. "Shane and Amy never made it to the prison. Maybe that has something to do with it."

Carol shook her head. "Sophia didn't make it to the prison either."

Carl just shrugged. "It doesn't make any sense that I was dreaming about it before my mom and dad were. I didn't meet you, only Sophia. And Daryl never saw anyone. Not from the prison or the quarry before he started dreaming. It just came out of the blue. Everyone feels like they already know you when they see you, or at least the ones that you were closest too do. It was more intense for dad than it was for mom because after mom died and you were found alive in the tombs, you and dad became really close. And everyone knows that Daryl's loved you since Hershel's farm. The closer you were to the people, the deeper they feel it. The question isn't why Sophia. The question is, why me."

Everyone in the room stared at the boy. They were lost in their own thoughts. Was that really what was going on? The closer she was too everyone the more they remembered her. But it still didn't make any sense. It probably never would.

Carol had told Rick and Lori the bad news earlier. They were apprehensive but their reaction had been better than hers had been. They seemed to have the same reaction Daryl had. It would be harder but they could still do what needed to be done. They could still get through it. Carol took comfort from their determination.

Once her and Sophia had said their goodbyes she was nervous. Would she be able to deny the girl the chance to save her father if that is what she wanted to do? But not bringing it up was bad also so she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was readying herself to discuss Ed but Sophia spoke up first.

"You saw Daryl today, didn't you?" Sophia asked without looking at her.

Carol nodded. "I did."

"And something bad happened," she stated flatly. It wasn't a question.

"It was more... a misunderstanding," she said cautiously.

Sophia shook her head sadly and looked out the passenger side window without saying another word. Now definitely didn't seem like the time to bring it up but Carol had no choice.

"Sophia, have you thought about what we talked about earlier?" she asked reluctantly.

Sophia looked thoughtful for a few long minutes before she said anything. "I can't say that I want him dead but I can say that I don't want him with us." She looked up as Carol glanced at her and for a second Carol felt guilty for even bringing it up. She should have made the decision on her own. She shouldn't have involved her daughter. Sophia was still only a child, regardless of what had been going on and how grown up she seemed to be now.

"I'm sorry. I never should have asked you that. Daryl and I can talk about it and then make a decision on what to do about him."

Sophia took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm glad you did. But you're right. Talk to Daryl about it."

Carol nodded as she pulled into the driveway. She was disappointed and scared to death all at the same time when she saw that his truck was gone.

"I thought Daryl was here." Sophia said with a frown.

Carol sighed and couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. She put on a brave face for her daughter and got out of the car. It was going to be a long day, that was for sure. She thought back to that stupid fight and the things she had said to him. What had she been thinking? How could she even think that it would be okay to say something like that? Of course them actually being together wasn't going to ruin anything. Other than Sophia the idea of them was the greatest thing in her life. She was a stupid coward for saying what she had said and she knew it.

Was he going to come back? Had she just lost him over a moment of weakness? Surely not. She felt stupid even thinking it. He wouldn't take off and not come back just because she had blurted out something stupid in the heat of the moment. That wasn't something he would do.

She sat her bag down and walked to the kitchen. Sophia followed her. There was a piece of paper sitting on the counter. She picked it up and realized then that her hands were shaking. She was almost too afraid to read it.

You're an idiot. Be back later.

Daryl.

The relief she felt could have knocked her over. She grinned down at the words scrawled on the page. She wouldn't have been happier if it had been a letter confessing his undying love. She giggled at the hilarity of that thought. She could almost see him, pen in hand, scowling down at the sheet of paper while he struggled to word his thoughts.

"What's so funny?" Sophia asked as she reached for the paper.

"Daryl wrote a love letter," she said with a shake of her head.

Sophia's eyes went wide, until she read it. Her laughter filled the quiet room and Carol plucked it out of her hands and shoved it into her back pocket. Sophia made her way to the living room while Carol started preparing something that Amy could heat up quickly for dinner. She had no intentions of meeting with Ed later but another plan was forming in her head. She had a lot of apologizing to do and she planned on doing it right. Rick and Shane were on duty tonight and she reminded herself to tell them to keep an eye on the house.

She made a few phone calls and then wrote out a list of things she needed to buy. Glenn would be around later too but Carol would call him and tell him to pretend like he had other things to do so Amy wouldn't ask any questions. If Glenn stayed home then she wouldn't need Amy to keep an eye on Sophia, but she didn't want Glenn too far away because of Ed.

She thought of all those long boring hours they had all spent on watch at the prison and figured that as long as Glenn had something to keep him occupied he wouldn't mind watching the house. She added a portable gaming system to the list of things to buy. She would have to ask Sophia what kind to get. Glenn would love it.

She was in a much lighter mood than she had been in earlier. Everyone else was right. They didn't have as much time as she thought they would have but her group was strong. They proved that from the beginning. Starting tomorrow things were going to start picking up speed. But tonight was all hers. She went to her room and pulled the dress Amy had talked her into buying out of the closet and laid it out.

For the first time in her life, she hoped Daryl didn't get back any time soon. She had stuff to do and she had a feeling that the angry gruff redneck would gladly accept her apology. She grinned wickedly at her reflection in the mirror.