Author's Note: Thought it was time for a bit of a time skip. Gonna try to pick up the pace just a little from here on out. Emphasis on try:) Hope you enjoy!

Daryl was nervous. Merle had been gone for 29 days but at some point a car would pull up and drop his brother off. And the next day they would likely go to work together. There were so many things to be nervous about. He couldn't remember a fully sober Merle. As far back as Daryl could remember Merle had been drinking and experimenting with drugs, which turned into a habit. What would he be like?

Then there was the fact that Daryl knew his big brother wasn't going to be impressed with all the people he'd made friends with. Merle was a racist. There was no nice way to put it - it was simply a fact. Morgan and his son were black, Glenn was asian, the Morales family were hispanic… and Daryl liked all of them. Race, skin color… it didn't matter to him at all, but over the years Merle had become something of a white supremacist, barely a step down from KKK mentality when he was drunk or high. Perhaps the fact he was going to be sober would help a lot.

The house was neat and tidy. Not that Merle was a neat freak, but Daryl just felt like he should return home to a clean house. He paced around and tidied up a little more and then grabbed a beer and sat down. As soon as he cracked the lid he clued in. With a sigh Daryl got up, went to the kitchen and poured the beer down the sink. Then he went to the fridge and dumped every other bottle in there, followed by all the whiskey and hard liquor he could find.

After that was done he started searching for pills and drugs through the entire house, including Merle's room. Daryl took the collection of oxy, pot, coke and meth and flushed a lot of money down the toilet. He felt like an idiot for not doing it sooner and hoped he hadn't missed a secret stash anywhere.

It was late afternoon by the time he finally sat down again, this time with a can of pepsi. The last few days had been pretty crazy. They had done a lot of work with acting coaches and Daryl hated every second of it. It only made it worse that he seemed to be the only one not enjoying himself. Carol teased him, a lot, and often made him smile. Without her he would have been in hell. Rick helped a lot too - the cop was really growing on him. He was a natural leader and Daryl felt comfortable under Rick's direction.

Mike hadn't said another word to him about Carol, even after the kiss and all the dancing at the party. Mike had made his point and whether or not Daryl chose to heed his warning was up to him apparently. It made it easier when he was around Carol because everything was just so natural around her and he found he didn't worry about all the bullshit.

The producers had started filming the first episode with Rick, Shane, Duane and Morgan and were almost done. It took a little longer than expected given they were working with amatuer actors and likely had to redo scenes more often than they normally would, but it worked out well because Merle was home before his scenes started filming.

Finally a few minutes later he heard the door open. Merle was home. "Daryl?" He yelled, the second he was inside.

"Hey," Daryl replied, appearing in the hallway. His heart was pounding from nerves but it eased when he saw Merle, he really hadn't changed much, but he looked good and he looked happy.

"Ah, baby brother get over here," Merle said, pulling him into a hug. "It's good to see you Bro," he added clapping him on the shoulder. Daryl was still nervous and didn't really know what to say. "Fuck, dude, I'm fine - You can relax."

"I cleaned." The second the words left his mouth Daryl blushed. What the fuck? That's the best he could think to say? "I, uh… I thought maybe we could go out somewhere for dinner," Daryl stammered. He was acting like a fool but he just couldn't pull himself together. He still wasn't sure what to expect and it was the longest he'd been apart from Merle in many years.

"Ah man, I'm gonna have to take a rain check on dinner," Merle replied, hanging up his jacket on the coat rack. "Can't drink and can't touch any of the good stuff so I'm gonna need pussy, a lot of pussy." Daryl felt his cheeks burn again. He wasn't a prude by any means but sometimes things caught him off guard. "I called Tonya and she's on her way. Be here any minutes. I gotta get laid bro, multiple times… My fucking wrist is getting sore."

"Ain't you gotta work first thing in the morning like the rest of us?" Daryl asked. Once again, it sounded stupid but he'd pretty much resigned to it by that point.

"Nah, ain't gotta be there until noon. Something about some photo shoot or costume fitting… Can't remember exactly." Daryl heard a car pull up as Merle was talking. "Oh fuck yeah, look at her D, just look at those titties bouncing." Merle had pulled open the door and was watching the scantily clad brunette make her way up the drive. Daryl wondered if she was a prostitute.

The second she stepped inside and Merle shoved his tongue down her throat and started groping her ass Daryl was out of there. He grabbed his crossbow and headed out to hunt for a few hours.

When Daryl came back from the woods the red sports car was still there in the drive, but there was also a black Honda… He recognized it as one of Merle's exes. Great, now he's got two women in there, Daryl though with a sigh. He put his crossbow back in the garage and fired up his bike. He had no desire to be in that house listening to Merle's manly grunts and the girl's high pitched cries all night long.

He drove around for an hour, just enjoying the wind in his face, but as night approached Daryl found himself in Carol's driveway. What am I doing here? He asked himself. It didn't stop him from walking up to the front door and pressing the bell. Carol pulled the door open moments later. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She asked, moving so he could come inside. She was wearing a silk robe, clearly she'd been ready for bed, which made sense because they had an early morning coming up. He looked away quickly because he was pretty sure he could see the outline of her nipples and if he stared too long his dick was definitely not going to behave.

Daryl scowled. "Merle has… women at the house…" he grumbled. "I didn't know where else to go," he shrugged, hoping she would understand.

"Women?" she raised her eyebrows. "Like more than one?" Daryl nodded. "Wow, you Dixon boys…" Carol teased him.

"Ah naw, just him," he replied. "I'm a one woman kind of man," Daryl added, blushing as he walked past her.

"That doesn't surprise me," he heard her say as she closed the door behind her and locked it. "You hungry? I can make you something. Are you staying the night?"

"I ain't hungry, but thanks," Daryl replied. "If you don't mind me crashing here…"

"No, of course not," she said quickly. "Wasn't really expecting anyone," Carol added, gesturing to her robe. Now why did she have to go and draw his attention to that again? "I can go change. I should go change…"

"Nah, it's no big deal," Daryl shrugged. Fuck, why did I say that? Of course she needs to go change, Daryl thought. Please argue with me, please.

"Okay. Well, I was just going to sit down and watch some TV before bed… but if you're tired I can just grab a book and head to my room and read," Carol offered.

"TV is fine," Daryl said, kicking off his boots and following her to the living room.

"Oh, I was having some wine, you want a glass?" she asked, when she saw her own drink and it reminded her.

"Sure," he nodded. Daryl wasn't much of a wine drinker but with all the booze he'd poured down the drain today he really did want a drink. Carol came back and handed him a glass and then took a seat beside him on the couch. When she sat down the tie loosened on the robe and he could see the low cut, silk nightie underneath. He quickly averted his eyes to the television. "Grey's Anatomy?" he snorted, giving her a sideways look.

"Shut up," Carol responded, leaning over to smack him. "It's my guilty pleasure." She took a drink of wine. "It's the season finale… there's a gunman loose in the hospital and McDreamy has been shot… I think Cristina is gonna operate on him, she's such a bad ass… And oh, oh oh, Meredith found out she's pregnant…"

"Uh, you realize I know none of these characters right?" Daryl interrupted.

Carol rolled her eyes, "Just watch, look it's starting."

The third commercial Daryl had a lot of questions and he finally had to start asking. "Okay, so who is the guy with the grey hair? Mc something…"

"That's Mark, McSteamy," Carol replied. "He's Derek's best friend and he's totally in love with Lexie… they're sooooo cute together."

"But wait… she's with that Alex guy? But who is Izzy?" he asked.

"Izzy was the love of his life, but she went kinda crazy and she's gone now," Carol explained.

"Hmm," Daryl was about to ask another question when he saw her smirking at him. "What?"

"You're enjoying it," she said, smiling wider. "Admit it."

"I wouldn't say enjoying," Daryl grumbled. "I just don't like being confused is all." He glared at her and decided he wasn't asking any more questions. That lasted one more commercial and he asked several more until she started smirking again. "Don't start with me," Daryl warned. He gave her a playful nudge with his foot. Carol laughed and when she moved to nudge him back the robe fell open completely. Daryl found himself staring right down the drooped neckline of her nightie, a full view of her gorgeous little tits.

Carol froze. She made no move to cover herself up and he made no move to tear his gaze away. But he did resist reaching for her, even though it was all he wanted to do. Friends, he reminded himself. You're not supposed to stare at her tits, a voice said, but still he kept looking. He could see the round mounds of flesh, the darker areola and her perky little nipples, which were stiff from either the cool air or… something else. Oh how he wanted to touch them, suck those nipples… run his dick between them… Fuck, his dick… Daryl shifted and finally looked away but it was too late, he was already stiff. He raised his eyes to meet hers and he shivered with desire.

"It's back on," she whispered without looking at the TV. "Almost over…" But still she didn't look away and neither did he.

"We should probably watch the end, huh?" Daryl said, still staring into those beautiful pools of blue.

"Yeah probably," Carol agreed. Finally she moved, taking a seat again and cinching the tie of the robe. Daryl tried really hard to focus on the show, but all he could think of was Carol's boobs. Merle was at home fucking two women and he was on his friend's couch, his dick hard as a rock and not a chance of getting laid. Or was there? No, don't even go there Dixon, he told himself. Why not? Another voice asked. Friends with benefits. "Damn I hate cliffhangers," Carol growled, bringing him back to reality. The awkwardness of a few moments ago were long gone for her, but the feel of his cock straining against his jeans was a constant reminder of what just happened for Daryl.

"Oh, uh, yeah, they suck," he agreed, but in all honestly he had no idea how the episode ended.

Carol got up. "Well, we have to be up bright and early. I'll go get you some blankets and I'm gonna call it a night." She paused and looked at him with a little smile. "I'm glad you came here tonight," she said softly. "I mean, I'm glad I'm the person you come to when there's something… Oh nevermind," Carol shook her head. "You know what I mean. I'm just happy you're here."

Without waiting for him to reply she took off to find blankets. Daryl looked down at the bulge in his pants… Yep, he was very happy to be there too.