Chapter five- "Wounds"

Thank god Carol's mom wasn't home.

Carol peeked into the entryway of her home, scanning the familiar furniture for the woman she lived with. When she realized she wasn't home, she opened the wide sepia door fully, sliding off her tennis shoes as soon as she walked in. Daryl followed her, awkwardly hugging onto the strap of his backpack, stepping on the white tile floor as if it was glass. Daryl nonchalantly looked at the shelves on the walls, matching frames sitting in rows. Most of the pictures were from years ago it seemed, from birthdays and Christmas and he paused for a moment at one of the larger frames. It must have been recent, Carol looked mostly the same. She was smiling, with pink cheeks and sparkly eyes and she held hands with a little girl. They looked a lot a like. Daryl had never met the little one, but he recognized her from all the years she lived next door, and from the news report after she went missing.

The kitchen was spotless, with granite cabinets and a steel silver fridge with no pictures on it. The kitchen table was covered in a silky looking white cloth, with a crystal vase in the center, fresh picked flowers overflowing. The sink didn't have any dishes in it, and no wrappers covered the counter tops. Daryl felt like a stranger in a home that looked identical to his on the outside. He pulled out one of the matching table chairs, dropping his bag to his feet as she sat down.

"Do you want a sandwich or something? I'm going to make turkey." Daryl looked at the backside of Carol, her head in the refrigerator. She fingered through the organized cheeses and meats and she could feel his eyes on her. Carol shut the fridge, a package of her favorite smoke turkey in her hand.

"Alright," Daryl muttered. He tried to act like he didn't care about anything, even something so simple, it was obvious in the tone of his voice. She turned away from him, and he watched her as she spread slices of white bread across the counter. Carol didn't dress like a lot of girls at school. She didn't wear shorts and dresses and five pounds of makeup. She usually wore jeans and always had her hair pulled way from her tired face. She was pretty though, Daryl recalled as he watched her, though he would never admit that to her, or anyone else for that matter. He didn't know what to do with his body, or his hands and even his eyes and so he just watched her, and he could tell it was making her uncomfortable. It was awkward, to be strangers in this house together, and Daryl had no idea how to handle himself.

Carol reached into the door at her side, her shaky, pale fingers pulling out a serrated knife to cut the sandwiches she made in half.

"Ow!" Daryl's eyes widened, Carol's scream somewhat bringing him back into reality. She turned to him after the knife fell to the floor around her feet, clutching her bloody finger in her hand. Of course she would cut herself, Daryl wanted to roll his eyes. He could tell she was trying not to cry, but tears squeezed down onto her cheeks when she ran he hand under the sink water, watching as the blood on her fingers ran into the drain. It wasn't a very big cut, Carol realized and she cursed herself for letting it hurt so much.

Daryl didn't speak as he picked up a few of the napkins that sat in a stack at the table, meeting with her and she looked up at him before talking them from his hands, stuffing her thumb into the towels. She looks away from him fast, her watery eyes staring down at her injured finger.

"Your such a whimp," She can hear Daryl say, and it would of hurt her feelings if the tone in his voice didn't sound so nice. "Gotta toughen up. I got lost once when I was camping, and got attacked by a nasty ass mama bear. She roughed me up something awful." The tone in is voice wasn't harsh or commanding, more like he was trying to comfort her and it was so strange to her. " So I killed that fucking bitch."

Carol's head shot up to Daryl, making eye contact with him. His face was like stone, and she squinted her eyes to him. "Are you serious?" She said to him as she cocked her head, the words coming out way more animated that she figured.

"Hell yeah!" Daryl said, pausing before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, except for the part when I killed her. I ran like hell away from her."

Carol pursed her lips, trying to conceal a smile before she started laughing, using her well hand to wipe away the sticky tears from her cheek. He smiled at her, but she when she looked up at him giggling, he tried to make it go away.

"Thanks," She said, as insignificant as she could when she threw away the bloody tissue, glancing at her hand one more time before deciding it was fine. She looked at Daryl to see him bite into the sandwich on the counter, wiping the crumbs away from his scratchy face with the back of his hand. He nodded in satisfaction before sitting back down.

"Okay let's get this over with," Daryl said when Carol sat next to him. "You said the respiratory system?"

"I'm surprised you heard anything I said today," she replied, and suddenly there was some confidence in her quiet voice, and she looked at him with a slight smile on her face.

Daryl shrugged slightly, looking down at his hands as they rested against the expensive tablecloth. "I was being a dick."

"Damn straight," Carol said, pulling out the notes from her notebook. She had written a lot, neat down the page with a diagram of the system in the corner. "It's okay though."

Daryl looked at her notes as if he cared, nodding to her. She had seemed so proud of herself, for taking school seriously and those were the kinds of people that made Daryl mad. School had always been so hard for him and now he had to act like he cared about some dumb project that wasn't going to make a difference to him. But Merle had never graduated, and Daryl was going to make damn sure he did.

Carol had tried her best to explain everything to him, even drawing most of the diagram and all she relied on him for was coloring it in, and even though it seemed like an easy job, Daryl had never really been creative. The past hour hasn't been unbearable after all. Carol even managed to crack a few jokes, and to his surprised he could joke back with her. She watched him as she scribbled on the poster, trying his hardest to keep within the lines, but she made him nervous and it's safe to say she wasn't doing the best job. "It's look good," She lied to him, and he knew she was but it still made him feel better.

"Shit," Daryl looked up from the paper. Carol's head was turned towards the front door, watching as someone on the other side turned the lock. "That's my mother."

She opened the door, looking tired and sick as usual, wearing a fast food uniform, her hair tied in a tight knot on her fore head. She frowned down to the pairs of shoes next to the front door. She had always been obsessed with cleaning; anything out of place hit a nerve with her.

"Carol," she said, letting out a sigh as she walked fully into the house. "You need to move your shoes right now." She stopped though, her eyes widening as she noticed Daryl sitting at the kitchen table. Carol avoided looking at her mom, and Daryl could sense the loss of confidence all throughout her body.

"Mom, we're working on a school project." She quickly spoke up, trying to justify why a boy was in the kitchen.

"That's bull," She replied back, so sure that she was lying and Carol didn't say anything back. "How dare you have somebody over. Imagine what your sister is going through right now, while you're at home hanging out with a boy."

"Not now," Carol started, closing her eyes as she ran her fingers through the top of her hair.

"I see." Carol's mom almost laughed. "You don't want me to embarrass you in front of your friends. You don't want all your friends to know that shit you put us all through."

"Mom-"

"You let my little girl go missing!" She was suddenly shouting and Daryl was almost shocked. "It's all your fault, just think about all that she is going through right now thanks to you. She miserable and you think it's okay for you to hang out with boys?!"

It was like a record. Every other day was the same exact thing and there was nothing should could do to stop it. Anything that Carol did, her mother found a reason to bring Sophia into this.

"Do you really want to hang out with her now?" Carol's mom looked at Daryl, shaking her head with a sinister smile. "She let her little sister go missing! She never cared about her."

"That's a lie!" Carol rose to her feet with force, hot tears running down her face and she seemed like she wanted to say something else. She fiddled in her place for a moment, panting before decided to storm out the back porch.

"Of Course," Carol's mom rolled her eyes, soon fixating them on Daryl. He looked angry, or maybe sad or just confused. "Get out of my house."

Daryl nodded, slowly but surely getting up and walking out the same way as Carol. There she was, sitting in the grass staring at the trees that both of them knew way to well. Maybe she wanted to talk about it, Daryl wondered. Standing at the edge of Carol's porch. She hugged her knees, her head buried and Daryl knew she was crying even though he couldn't hear her. He almost took a step towards her. But she was a stranger, and Daryl was never one of those nice guys, the kind that made you feel better. So instead he went home, and Carol stayed in the grass and cried.

A/N: Okay so a new chapter! I like yall's feed back so please review! let me know what you thought! Thanks.