Sorry if the last few chapters have been boring! I didn't really realize how tedious it was going to be to build these relationships up! I've managed to put a LOT on my own plate and it is proving to be difficult. SO, with that said, there is a point to all of this dialogue and character development! I promise =) There will be action.

Chapter Forty One

Daryl picked up his bag and threw it over his shoulder and then grabbed his crossbow. He knew he was the type of man that messed up sometimes. Especially when it came to this whole woman thing. So he was willing to admit when he was wrong. He had been wrong before and he had admitted it and he even apologized, which was something he hated doing. But he'd be damned before he apologized to that woman over something that wasn't even his fault. And shoving Shane off the porch today wasn't his fault. Not really. It was Shane's fault. So he wasn't going to hang around in their room and wait for her to come in and give him a bunch of shit for doing something that was completely justified. She just couldn't see it because she was the type of person that believed the best in everyone just because she was that good.

Unless it came to a certain Dixon. Daryl had to admit that most of the time he loathed his brother. He'd always had love for him. Had always had his back and was always willing to go above and beyond for the man, but he loathed him non the less. But Carol was wrong. He was starting to believe that the only salvation Merle would ever find in his life was Sophia. She'd done to Merle the same thing Carol had done to him. The kid was showing him that it was okay to not be such an asshole. Merle needed that. And for Carol to say what she said in that kitchen, well, it pissed him off.

So now he was leaving. His bag was packed and thrown over his shoulder and he was gone. Of course, all he was doing was moving outside to camp but still. He felt good about it. It'd teach her a lesson. He didn't even care that he was acting like a pissed of child. He'd act like a pissed off child if he wanted to. He just hoped someone had a spare tent since his got left at camp. Maybe that Milton guy had some. With all the crap that Jenner had loaded them up with surely he could scrounge something up. At this point he wouldn't care to sleep on the damn ground. As long as he could get away from that pissed off woman.

He was about to walk out of the bedroom door when a pissed off woman barged in. But it wasn't the woman he was expecting. It was Maggie.

"What the hell?" Daryl grumbled as she pushed past him.

She had kicked the door shut on her way in and she was now sitting angrily on the edge of the bed. He glanced nervously towards the door again. He was in enough hot water. If Carol came in now and there was some girl on the bed she would be super pissed and then he'd never hear the end of it.

"I know me and you ain't talked much, Daryl. But from what I can tell you're a real stand up guy. I like you."

"What the fuck are you talkin' about? Get the hell off that bed girl, you tryna get me in deeper shit than I'm already in?" He choked as he glanced at the door once more. "Whatever your sellin' I ain't interested."

Maggie frowned and then crossed her arms. "What are you talkin' about?" She asked as she stood up, arms still crossed angrily in front of her. "I came in here to talk to you about Merle."

"Merle?" He visibly relaxed. "What the hell you wanna talk about Merle for?"

"What the hell did you think I was in here to talk about?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Nothin'." he grumbled.

"What is wrong with him?" She asked as she pointed an angry finger in the direction of the room Merle was occupying.

"He sawed off his own hand so he could get off a roof. He got an infection. He's an asshole. He's a sexist prick. He's an arrogant bastard. You can tell when to stop whenever you're ready." He said dryly. "I can go on like this all day."

"You need to talk to him." She said angrily.

"Me? Maggie, Merle is just Merle, ain't nothin' nobody can say to him that's gonna change Merle." Not when it came to women anyway. Merle had a way with words, and sometimes even actions, when it came to the opposite sex. Daryl had told him a thousand times that he should probably try a new tactic if he wanted someone that wasn't a step away from a hooker. But Merle didn't listen. He liked his women to be just as unattached as himself. A woman that wouldn't mind taking a man in a bathroom stall.

"Well, the next time he slips his good hand up my thigh don't be mad at me when I chop it off."

Daryl sighed. "It don't matter to me what you do to him."

She finally realized that he was standing there with his things. "Did daddy tell ya'll you had to leave?" She asked, a bit of panic in her voice.

"No, I'm goin' out there with the rest of my group." He hadn't meant to say his group.

"Well, you need me to help you with Carol's things?" She asked as the rest of her anger faded.

He shook his head. "She ain't comin'."

Her brow furrowed. "Why not?"

He shrugged and then slipped quickly out the door. She was on his heels. "You gonna follow me around now?" He grumbled as he pushed through the screen door.

"What did you do to Carol?" Maggie asked as she hurried to keep up with his longer strides.

He stopped and glared at her. "I didn't do shit to Carol. She's just bein' Carol. Ain't none of your business little girl, go on somewhere."

"Screw you, Dixon. Don't forget who's farm you're on."

He shook his head and kept walking towards the rest of the group. He spotted the person he was looking for right away. He was sitting with Andrea under one of the trees that surrounded the camp.

"Hey Milton." He called as he tried to pick up his pace to get away from Maggie.

Milton pushed his glasses up his nose and stood up. Andrea did the same. "Hi, Daryl." Milton said in that hushed voice he often used.

"Milton, there any spare tents in that haul you brought with you?" Daryl asked.

Milton shook his head. "No. I thought you were staying in the house. Hershel said you needed more rest even though you were too stubborn to listen. His words, not mine, of course."

He cursed and then glanced hopefully at Andrea but she was already shaking her head. "Sorry, Daryl. I ruined my own back at the quarry, remember? Where's Carol?"

"I don't know. Ain't my day for babysittin' grown ass women." He said a little too harshly. But Andrea was used to him by now. She just rolled her eyes and smiled a little.

~H~

Sophia was mad. Really mad. She had never been mad at her mom before and she didn't like to be which only made her more mad. She kicked at a stone as she made her way towards the barn. Carl fell into step beside her.

"Where you going in such a hurry?" He asked.

She just shrugged. "I don't know. Just on a walk I guess." she said quietly. She was trying to keep the anger out of her voice and Carl didn't question her about anything so she figured it was working.

"I figured you'd be with Merle." He said and she picked up something in his own voice that normally wasn't there.

"There isn't anything wrong with hanging out with Merle. Why does everyone try to make a big deal about him? Why can't anyone just leave him alone?"

"Shane says he's dangerous." Carl said as they stepped into the barn.

"And I say Shane's a big moron that doesn't know what he's talking about." She snapped.

Carl gave her a look and then shook his head. "Shane's my friend."

"And Merle is mine."

Carl nodded. "So should we just agree to disagree?" he asked with a sly smile.

She couldn't help but smile back. Sometimes Carl was an okay friend.

They made their way to the hayloft and sat in silence looking out at the farm, the fields and then the woods in the distance. It gave her time to think about things, which was why she had come here to begin with. It looked like a good place to just think. Carl was good about keeping as quiet as her most of the time.

She thought about what her mom had said about second chances. She didn't understand why it was okay to give someone like Shane a second chance and not someone like Merle. Sure he wasn't all that nice and he cussed even more than Daryl but under all of that was a pretty good guy. He made her laugh and he listened to her when she had something to say.

Before all of this, Shane had been a cop. A pretty upstanding guy to hear Carl tell it. He was Rick's best friend and he was like an uncle to Carl. He had probably saved a lot of peoples lives and he had probably locked up some real scuzz buckets. But, to her, that was the person Shane wanted people to see. He wanted people to think that he was good. She had become pretty good at reading people over the years. She knew that the man everyone saw wasn't the person he really was. Deep down Shane was the bad guy.

Merle on the other hand didn't give a crap what people thought. He was going to do what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do it. She had seen how he treated other people. She even seen the way he had treated his own brother. But he was different and she had saw it back there in that shack in the woods. On the inside, he was good. He hid it well but it was true. For some reason he just chose to hide it, the same way Shane had hidden who he really was.

If that was so easy for her to see then why was it so hard for her mom to see? She couldn't figure it out. What she did know was that, for once in her life, she wasn't going to listen to what her mom said. Because her mom was dead wrong about Merle Dixon and as soon as she figured out a way to show her mom what kind of jerk Shane really was she would know it too.

"If I show you something do you promise not to tell my dad?" Carl asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Sure." She said absently, still looking at the view instead of at him.

"I took this out of the bag my dad went back to get. You know, the one he had dropped in Atlanta." He shoved something cold into her hands.

She looked down and her mouth fell open in surprise. "A gun? Carl why would you steal a gun?" She tried to hand it back to him but he shook his head.

"I stole two guns." He looked at her. "What happened to us out there..." He looked away and took a deep breath, "That could happen again. I saw you. I saw what you had to do to save us, twice. And I didn't do anything. I don't want that to happen again. We need these."

"But you stole them. And not to mention we don't even know how to use the damn things. You should have thought about that." She once again tried to hand him the gun back and he once again refused to take it.

"We'll learn how." He said stubbornly.

Sophia just stared at him. "I know that Daryl seems like he doesn't care about certain things but he's still friends with your dad, Carl. If we show up with these and ask him to teach us to use them I can't say he wouldn't rat you out."

Carl gave her a grin. "But me and you both know one Dixon that wont give a crap where these came from. He'd probably like me a little more if he found out I swiped them."

Sophia's eyes lit up. "You know, sometimes you amaze me, Carl Grimes." She stared down at the gun in her hands with a grin. She knew Daryl wouldn't mind teaching her a thing or two about guns. But Merle was the man for this job, she was sure it.

"Let's just hope he doesn't get bored and shoot us for fun." He said with a little less enthusiasm.

She scowled. "You know, sometimes I think you'd be perfect if you'd been born a mute." She mumbled.

~H~

Carol stood there with her hands on her hips in the middle of the room she had been sharing with Daryl. His stuff was gone but she wasn't too worried. He wouldn't have gone too far. He was just angry at her. And her daughter was angry at her. And she didn't really blame either one of them. She sighed and then sat down on the bed and sulked.

The way Sophia had stormed out of the kitchen earlier had stunned her. She couldn't believe that she had managed to upset the girl that much. But she had a point. Carol was so quick to forgive and forget everything Shane had done and she was steadfastly refusing to do the same thing for Merle. But they were two very different people. Weren't they?

"You're wrong, darlin'."

Her head shot up and there was Merle, standing in the doorway. He strolled in and shut the door behind him and suddenly she felt like a woman trapped in a room with a bear. She stiffened and watched him warily. How could Sophia, as small as she was feel so safe with this predatory man?

"About what, Merle?" She asked quietly, thankful that her voice still sounded strong.

"About whatever it is ya think I'd do to that girl of yours." He walked over to her and sat down but he kept his distance, probably able to smell her anxiety.

She turned her head to gaze at him. "I know what kind of man you are. I don't know what it is you are doing here but I don't believe for a second that you are a changed man. I'm waiting just like everyone else. We all know it's coming Merle."

He eyed her for a long time and eventually she had to look away. "That's smart I suppose. I ain't a changed man. For a man to change he's gotta feel like there's somethin' wrong with who he is. Ain't nothin' wrong with me. I just do in the open what other people do behind closed doors. I say the shit that other people ain't got the balls to say. Ain't nothin' wrong with a little honesty."

"There is when you hurt people. You don't care who you hurt and my daughter has been hurt enough. She don't see you for who you are. Not like the rest of us do."

He let out a raspy laugh. "I tell you what. This whole mother fucker could go up in flames and I can't honestly say I'd bat an eyelash as ya'll burned." He stood up and her wide eyes followed him. He stood in front of her, looking down at her with a cold smile. "But you can bet that pretty little ass of yours, I'd get that girl out before I did."

She felt the blood drain from her face. "You're sick." She whispered.

He leaned down so their faces were but a few inches apart and then he reached out his hand and ran his fingers slowly across her neck, barely touching her skin and causing her breath to catch in her throat. His touch felt too much like his brothers but that cold look on his face was much different. But then he smiled.

"We all got a monster inside us, sugar. I choose to let mine breath a bit. But your monster's in there too. You remember that."

"What are you talking about?" Her heart was pounding in fear and his warm hand was still on her neck, now cupping the side of it, her pulse was pounding against one huge palm.

"These old bruises you got here." he brushed his thumb against the hollow between her collar bones. "This the reason you gutted your ol' man?"

His eyes were locked on hers and she couldn't look away from him and she couldn't think anymore. She nodded.

He nodded in return and then he let the smile drop from his face. "Ya let that monster breath. You did somethin' I wouldn't even do. So stop."

"Stop what?" She could barely hear her own voice.

He leaned in a little closer, this time brushing that slow thumb up the center of her throat. "Stop actin' like you and your people are any different than me. You ain't. You just hide it better." His voice was as low as hers. He patted the side of her neck gently and then stood up quickly, looking down at her for a few long seconds before leaving the room.

She stared after him with wide eyes.