Disclaimer: I do not own TWD and I write these things for no monetary gain.

I am a stubborn mess
I am spilled milk and crying about it
I am the captain of an ever-sinking ship.
-Kait Rokowski "New Insults"

Merle grinned as he pulled out the bag with the pills in it and dangled them in front of Ed's line of sight as the halftime show blared in the background. "We only bring the best, my brother and I - we got plenty of satisfied customers left behind us. Would give you a list for references but we got our secrets to keep, sure you get it." He watched Ed's fingers twitch towards the bag.

"I ain't worried about it. You men don't look like you got death wishes to bring less than the best through the door of my own house." His eyes snapped between the two of them. "It may have been awhile since I had myself a fix, but I'm not rookie. I'd know. Told junior here just as much when he offered." Nodding his head towards Daryl in that moment. "But - you'll understand if I need to make sure before handing off that kind of money." His voice trailed off and Merle narrowed his eyes at the bigger man.

"Don't give out free samples, if that's what yer askin'."

Ed's laughter rang through the air as he shook his head and dug out some cash, counting it out before pushing it in Merle's direction. "I believe this covers the cost of one of our little buddies in there?" His eyebrow quirked in Merle's direction. "You take that, give me one, and I'll decide if I think the stash is worth havin' my bitch go get the money out of the safe for the rest."

Merle's gaze drifted down over the pills and the cash, slowly lifting it and counting it to himself before holding the pile out towards Daryl. "Not many men question my integrity and walk away from it." Merle said, not slipping open the baggie yet, edging himself forward in the chair, his gaze locked on Ed's in that moment.

"I imagine that's cause you don't got much of it." Ed shot back with a shrug. "I ain't interested in buying your integrity. Just some of your stash." He nodded back into the baggie in Merle's hand, though his gaze never once left the older Dixon's, completely locked into the moment with him, waiting for his product that he paid for with exaggerated patience.

Daryl knew that he should be paying closer attention to the tense dealings as Merle's backup, but he couldn't help that his focus was on the sound of running water from just down the hall, imagining the way that Mrs. Peletier moved in the shower. Would she be quick and flighty, fidgety, or slow and luxurious as she washed up under the stream of the water? Was she being efficient about it as she scrubbed quickly and thoroughly or would she run her hands down over her body and let hands and fingers linger?

Shit.

Daryl shifted in his seat to do better about hiding his wandering thoughts, reaching for his forth beer to take a long swig before he realized that he should have left it there and tried to afford the woman more time in the shower before her husband would undoubtedly be yelling at her to get them more from the fridge. His gaze refocused in on Merle and he saw his brother's gaze drop down to his lap before he turned to Ed, the slow and amused grin spreading over his face as he nodded and popped open the bag, fishing out a hit before holding it out in Ed's direction.

"You know what? I like you, Ed. Like your spunk." He tossed the pill in Ed's direction and watched as the other man set it on his tongue and pressed it up to the top of his mouth, allowing it to dissolve in place before he took a swig from his last beer to wash it all down, sitting back silently in his chair.

Daryl downed the rest of his beer quickly as he heard the running water cut off from the bathroom and he situated back on the couch more, swallowing hard as he willed his erection to calm while simultaneously hoping that Merle would be smart enough not to do anything stupid like bring it up in front of Ed or his wife, since he had obviously taken notice of it. He'd take the relentless teasing later, but he didn't want to let anything slip in front of their clients.

"You uh - you got a bathroom?" He finally spoke up, his eyes on Ed. Ed didn't speak, his eyes closed as he leaned back against the back of his chair, keeping himself calmed as he waited for the high to really hit him. His hand gestured to the hallway and Daryl sighed, standing up quickly and turning to walk out of the room quickly. If the hard on wouldn't calm on it's own, then he was going to have to rub one out now to get it under control and be able to pull off something semi-professional and be able to be certain he would have his brother's back if something went wrong in the rest of the buy.

"What are you doing?" The quiet melodic tones of her body paused him in his actions and he froze, looking up at her as she stood there, wrapped in a towel, hair still dripping water droplets down over her cheeks, he watched them glide down her neck, slip over her shoulders. He saw droplets dancing their way down her long arms as she hugged the towel close, others nestled themselves inside the slight gap of her towel, in between the crevice of her breasts. "Dixon." Her voice was a bit harder and his head jerked up to meet her eyes, seeing steel. "What. Are you doing?"

"Bathroom." He choked out against the sandpaper in his throat, trying to subtly adjust his pants, but he was no good at this and he only managed to draw her attention down to the way that his tattered jeans tented in the most painfully obvious way. He saw the look that clouded her eyes for a moment before she planted her feet more solidly on the ground and she looked up at him, shaking her head. "Ed-"

"I know who you are." She interrupted him, stepping closer, tucking the towel closer about her own body, shaking her head slowly. "I know what you've done. I hate you, Daryl Dixon." There was such venom in the soft cadence of her voice that it felt like he could taste the charge in the air between them.

Daryl frowned in that moment. Most people knew Merle and his brother's reputation kept the people willing to associate with the brothers minimal, but it was rare for someone to even consider Daryl himself. He was an afterthought - Merle's baby brother - that was his only reputation. "I ain't done -"

"Michonne." Her single word - that name - stopped him in his tracks and the color drained out of him completely. The erection wasn't a problem anymore as it softened instantly and his hands reached behind himself to find purchase on the wall, taking a step back as if the little slip of the woman was actually intimidating to him. His eyes glossed over a bit and he saw the tears in the corner of her own. "Michonne was my best friend. And I swear to God... you will suffer, Daryl Dixon. Suffer ten times the pain that you caused her. You will pay for the part you played in her death." Carol didn't speak anymore before turning on her heel and walking out of the hallway and slipping into her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her.

Daryl couldn't breathe as the world spun around him, his back pressed tightly against the wall and he slid down the length of it, his eyes pinning closed and the images came flying back to him. The memories were suffocating and he felt himself slipping back down into one of his anxiety attacks, his hands pressing tightly against his temples as he curled himself up tightly over his knees, his eyes buttoned shut as he willed the earth to swallow him whole.