AN: I'm putting this on all my fics for those of you that only read one or the other. I'm not sure when it'll happen but sometime soon I'm going to be entering into an era of my life where I'm really crunched for time. That means that for the most part I'll only be able to get a chapter out a day for any given fic (I have 3 normally updated ones and a 4th I'm trying to start updating more regularly). That means that whenever that time comes, I may go several days before I update each one since I'll be doing it in round robin fashion. I wanted to let you know so that you wouldn't think I'd abandoned this or any of the others just because they go a few days without an update. I'm not abandoning any of them, just spreading my time around.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
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"I'm not saying that they're bad people, Carol, what I'm saying is that you need to keep your distance for appearance purposes," Michonne said. She'd convinced Carol to stay for dinner after she got off work, promising to take her home later. It was apparent now to Carol that Michonne had spent her entire day worrying about the fact that she had arrived at the house in the Dixon's truck with Daryl and Andrea.
"He gave me a ride," Carol said. "He picked me up on the side of the road. I don't think anyone saw us except for the people at the construction site that his brother's working at."
"And that could be enough," Michonne said.
"So now you can't even accept rides from people?" Carol asked, taking a bite of her food and pushing some of the rest around with her fork.
"I'm saying that it doesn't look good, Carol. Ed's not going to take this divorce laying down and you know that. He's going to fight it and he's certainly going to do everything he can to keep you from getting as much money as you deserve out of this. Now I've got X Rays, and I've got medical records, both of which can confirm domestic abuse, but he's not going to just let that go without at least trying to defame your character. The most logical way that he's going to do that is by saying that you were having an affair or that you got tangled up with the wrong bunch of people and maybe started drinking or using drugs, perhaps even physically lashing out at him," Michonne said.
"Well that's bullshit," Carol argued.
"I know it's bullshit, and you know it's bullshit, but a jury might not know that. We'll be doing this at county and not all of our jurors are going to come from Sweet Junction. You can't count on people knowing the backstory, and even if they do, you can't count on town gossip not to skew that story," Michonne said.
"I never had an affair on Ed," Carol said. "I've never even been close to having an affair on Ed. How could I? I was under surveillance all the time. If I so much as sneezed Ed seemed to find out about it."
"Right, so for now your name is clear, but if you go running around in public with the Dixon men, that might not be the case anymore," Michonne said. "It's bad enough that you're working over there at Loretta's bar. Bad reputations get built at places like that."
Carol rolled her eyes.
"It's a bar! I work there, that's it. Rick and Shane are there half the time. Nothing happens. So far I haven't even had handsy customers, not like Andrea gets," Carol said.
"And that's a good thing, but you've still got to be careful. Andrea Duff had a reputation in high school, ever since Jimmy Garrison knocked her up. Her reputation went downhill from that, but you can bet all those years she put in whoring it up at Loretta's didn't help with the fact that she gained a widespread reputation as pretty much the reigning slut of Sweet Junction," Michonne said.
"That's harsh," Carol said, jerking her head up now at Michonne. Michonne shrugged.
"I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm being honest. You tell me the reputation that woman has," Michonne said.
Carol ducked her head again. She knew exactly what kind of reputation Andrea had, but it didn't mean that she didn't think it was harsh. Andrea was from Ferndale, a small town that bordered Sweet Junction and was so sadly developed that its citizens often made the trip to Sweet Junction in search of entertainment. Andrea had been dating boys that could drive since she was probably twelve or thirteen, and had ended up being well known for it in town. It was rumored that when she was sixteen one of the boys from Sweet Junction named Jimmy Garrison got her pregnant. Nothing ever came of the alleged pregnancy besides a flood of gossip and rumors, but it was enough to cement Andrea's reputation in the small town, and apparently made it even harder for her to live in Ferndale.
Carol knew all about Andrea's reputation, that much was true, but she often wondered if Andrea acted the way she did because of her reputation, instead of the other way around. Sort of a different take, perhaps, on the old adage that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. In a town like this she wasn't likely to outrun the rumors, so she might as well embrace them. Though Carol knew that Andrea had this reputation, and though she'd seen her out with various men throughout the years, there was really no proof that she did anything with any of them beyond the stories they told, and they would tell them anyway.
"I know her reputation," Carol said finally. "I'm not doing anything with anyone, though. I just accepted a ride to your house. It was probably less than two miles."
"Two miles is far enough if someone saw you, and you know that," Michonne said. "Not to mention that this Merle guy has a rap sheet that could cover the state of Georgia. I don't have any reason to get ahold of his brother's record, but I bet it's not spotless. That's not exactly the kind of crowd that you want to be known for spending your time with if Ed is trying to scrape something up on you."
"Fine," Carol said. "I get it. I'll try and steer clear of them as much as possible. I mean they live across the hall from me and all three of them are always at the Watering Hole, but I'll try to keep from causing anymore suspicion than I already have."
"That's all I'm asking," Michonne said. "I'm just trying to look out for you. Once the divorce is final it really doesn't matter what you do or who you do it with, but until then you don't want to give Ed any fuel for whatever fire he may be trying to get started, and you know how people around here talk."
"Yeah, I understand, Michonne. Ed's going to use everything he can against me," Carol said. "I'll try and steer clear of them."
Carol turned her attention to her dinner. She hadn't realized that accepting a ride was going to be such a big deal, but apparently it had been the worst decision that she could have made for the day. Now she was tired and she just wanted to finish eating so that Michonne could drive her back to her apartment and she could get some rest. She had to work the morning at Lula's Diner and then the night at the Watering Hole and she knew she needed to get some sleep if she wasn't going to be dead on her feet before she and Andrea closed up the bar.
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"Why didn't ya kick his ass, boy?" Merle growled.
"He wasn't tryin' ta fight me an' we was kinda in the middle of a restaurant. They was people all around, Merle. The damn cops showed up. I weren't tryin' ta go ta jail 'cause a' his sorry ass," Daryl retorted, his voice raised.
"Look, it's not that big a deal," Andrea said. "Daryl took care of it and Shane broke it up."
Daryl and Merle were sitting at the card table in the kitchen while Andrea sat perched on the counter facing both of them. She was wearing one of Merle's shirts and a pair of his boxers that she'd gotten out of his drawers. Since she didn't return to her house after she and Daryl left for parts, she didn't have anything of her own in the apartment. Merle had worked late to make some overtime and then had swung by the Watering Hole for a few drinks before returning home. When Daryl and Andrea told him about the run in with Ed at the Dairy-O he'd been furious, and the flames were only fanned when he realized there were bruises forming on Andrea's arm where Ed had grabbed her.
"Ed Peletier can't go around puttin' his hands on any damn woman he pleases," Merle said. "It's bad enough he thinks he got a right ta do it ta the one he married, but he can't just go runnin' 'round town grabbin' 'em up 'cause he ain't got no punchin' bag right now."
"Well there's not much you can do about it right now, Merle. Ya can't jump him again 'cause that lawyer lady ain't gon' bail ya out twice an' ya could get in a world a' trouble. They don't know us 'round here, an' for the most part that's a good thing, but it also means they don't trust us just on principle. They know Ed," Daryl said.
"Then they gotta know what kinda fuckin' son of a bitch he is then," Merle said. "Don't they fuckin' know Andrea?"
Andrea sat on the counter kicking her feet against it, her heels making pounding noises on the cabinet every time that they made contact.
"I'm not exactly the character witness that you want here in Sweet Junction, if ya catch my drift. Those people in the Dairy-O today wouldn't have stopped Ed if he'd a' drug me outside kicking and screaming. They'd have figured I probably earned it one way or another," Andrea said. "Besides, I don't want either one of you going to jail, not on my account. Ed'll cool down as soon as he gets over this shit with Carol and with the fact that you knocked his manhood down a notch. Then he'll go back to seeing me as a pair of tits and an ass that works at the Watering Hole some nights. Until then I'll lay low and get Loretta to put me on the schedule only when Carol's workin'. Ed's got a court order. Can't be nowhere in the vicinity of the place if Carol's there."
"It still ain't fuckin' right," Merle growled. "Who tha fuck does he think he is any damn way? I don't give a shit if he was born in this fuckin' one horse town or not, don't give him no right ta be a dick ta ya."
"Let it go, Merle. I can take care of myself," Andrea said. "I did just fine before you got to town and I'll do just fine now without you getting your ass locked up for fucking with a man that isn't worth the time you'd spend in jail and isn't worth the money we'd have to scrape up to get'cha out."
Merle looked like he was finally starting to settle down about it. Daryl knew his brother well enough to know that Merle was like an elephant. He never forgot. He may very well lay low, but Ed Peletier had best avoid crossing his path or Merle would be on the lookout for any excuse possible to tangle up with him. Daryl just hoped that he did it in a way that didn't land him in a world of hurt while old Ed got off scot free.
"Fine, but'cha ain't fuckin' stayin' at'cha house 'til that asshole simmers tha fuck down about that lil' woman a' his, 'cause I ain't just gon' sit on my hands like no fuckin' kid if'n he got a hair up his ass an' decided ta pay ya a visit. Tomorrow I'll take ya back there an' ya can get whatever the fuck ya need to hide out here for a while," Merle said.
"I'm going after work to fix her car," Daryl said. "I'll come back by here when I leave Hershel's and take her by her house."
Merle got up then, nodding slightly at Daryl. He leaned around Andrea and opened the cabinet to the side of her. He fished out a bottle of whiskey and closed the cabinet with a bang that made Andrea jump.
"Don't'cha fuckin' leave her there," Merle said, pointing a finger at Daryl around the side of the whiskey bottle. Daryl didn't respond to him in any way other than to nod his head a little. He had no intention of leaving Andrea at her house if she didn't feel safe there, and he wasn't anxious to have his brother trying to fight with him and take out the rage that he was really storing up over Ed.
Merle disappeared through the hall door that branched off to their bedrooms or the bathroom. A few minutes later Daryl heard the shower start up and knew that Merle was doing something that he very often did when he was pissed off. He was going to take a long ass shower, the kind that ran any hope of hot water out for at least two hours in a shit hole like this, and he was going to drink himself into a stupor while he did it.
Daryl turned to look at Andrea. She was still perched on the counter, but she looked far away for the moment.
"Should I go try to calm him down?" Andrea asked without turning to Daryl. She still looked like she was daydreaming, but apparently she was waiting for a response.
"Won't do no damn good," Daryl said. "Once Merle's in a mood like this it's best just ta let 'im ride it out."
Andrea nodded, finally turning to look at Daryl. Then she smiled, the same fake smile that she wore plastered on the entire time she was working.
"Wanna play cards?" She asked.
Daryl shrugged.
"Ain't nothin' else ta do an' it's too damn early ta go ta sleep," Daryl said.
Andrea hopped down off the counter and crossed the kitchen. She rummaged around a drawer that had more or less been the location where everything in the apartment that didn't have a place had managed to end up. She came up with the deck of cards.
"Damn deck's missin' cards," Daryl said.
"That's fine," she said. "We got a note pad, we'll just make the ones it's missing."
"Then we'll know what the hell cards we got just 'cause we'll know which ones we had ta make outta paper," Daryl said.
Andrea smiled again.
"So we'll play something really low stakes for the night. Tomorrow I'll walk down to the Five and Dime and pick us up a new deck," she said. She sat down at the table across from Daryl and started to sort the cards so that she could make the others. "What'cha know how to play?"
Daryl shrugged.
"I can play a little poker, but I ain't no good at it," he said.
"Go Fish it is, then," Andrea said.
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Daryl and Andrea were on their third game of Go Fish and Merle was still in the shower. Daryl was pretty well sure that he was about as drunk as he could get because he'd begun to sing. When Merle did his shower stints like this he always ended up singing. You could tell, though, by what he was singing the level of drunkenness that he had achieved. He was on sad Hank Williams' songs now, which meant that it wouldn't be too long before they heard a crash and he had to go and cover his brother's naked ass where he'd passed out and fell out the shower. Daryl knew that Andrea hadn't seen one of those nights before, but he had a feeling that tonight would be the night.
He cut his eyes at her, studying her cards as though this were some high stakes poker game instead of a stupid kid's game. If she stayed through a shower night, even after dragging an alcohol saturated Merle to bed where he was likely to vomit on her in the middle of the night, then Daryl would know that there was more to them than the casual shit that they tried to sell him. He wouldn't stay with Merle through nights like these if he weren't his brother.
There was a knock at the door all of a sudden and Daryl saw Andrea jump. He'd been caught by surprise too. He was waiting for Merle's crash, but a knock was unexpected. They didn't exactly know a lot of people in town and he didn't know anyone that would be paying them a visit. From what he'd seen, too, Andrea wasn't exactly popular outside of the stale smoky atmosphere of the Watering Hole.
"Ed?" Andrea mouthed at him, her eyes going wide.
Daryl hated to admit that the thought crossed his mind too. That's all he fucking needed tonight was Ed Peletier showing up outside his door when Merle was drunk as a skunk and butt ass naked in the other room. Daryl didn't doubt that he could take the man in a fight, but he really wasn't looking to have a fight right now. Daryl got up and crossed the kitchen, trying to decide if he was going to answer the door. The knock repeated. He glanced at Andrea, but she was watching him. He had no way of seeing outside the door, so he finally stopped before it.
"Who tha hell is it?" He called.
"It's Carol," Carol's voice called back.
Daryl yanked the door open, realizing that if it had been Ed he could have gotten in easily. They never locked the door, so it had been wide open.
Carol was standing outside the door in a worn bathrobe, her hair tied up in a bun almost on top of her head. Daryl stopped a minute, trying to figure out what to say in a situation like this.
"I'm so sorry to bother you," Carol said, "but I think my hot water heater is broken and I wanted to see if it's just mine or if it's something with the whole building."
Daryl looked at her a minute, still unable to formulate any kind of reaction. She had her arms wrapped around her waist, but the neck of the robe still showed far more skin than he'd been expecting. It was a lot less, granted, than what she wore at the Watering Hole, but for some reason it seemed different when it was a bathrobe. Daryl imagined that she was probably naked underneath the robe, having decided to take a shower before realizing that she didn't have any hot water. He cursed himself, unsure of why his thoughts had gone there. He wasn't one for the practice of regularly picturing women naked.
Finally Daryl snapped out of his daydream, realizing that Carol was staring at him expectantly, waiting to find out if it was just her hot water that was out. Daryl realized that a building as shitty as this one likely had a central hot water heater, or at the most, probably had one for each floor. His brother had probably long since drained the thing dry.
"Merle!" Daryl called. "Get out tha fuckin' shower! There's other people in tha damn buildin' that's gotta bathe!"
Daryl heard some sort of sound coming from the bathroom that let him know that his brother had heard him, though he probably hadn't fully understood the message. A few minutes later he heard the water shut off and then then there was a series of noises that began with a shrill clang and ended with a sickening thud. Daryl turned his head just in time to see Andrea darting toward the bathroom.
Daryl looked back at Carol who was staring, wide eyed.
"What was that?" She asked.
"Nothin'," Daryl said. "Prob'ly just fell outta tha shower. Them damn thing's is slick. Ya oughtta be careful."
Carol continued to stare at him for a second and then she nodded her head a little.
"Shouldn't you go and check on him?" She asked.
"I will in a minute," Daryl said. "Andrea done gone back there right now, so she'll make sure he ain't broke his fuckin' neck ner nothin'."
Daryl looked at Carol again and tried to chase away the image of her naked that was trying to invade his thoughts again. He shook his head slightly and cleared his throat.
"Well, he's outta tha shower now," Daryl said. "If what I seen in tha past is any indication, though, it's gonna be at least two hours 'fore ya got any hot water."
Carol looked disappointed for a minute and Daryl wished he'd had the insight to limit Merle's shower time earlier. This wasn't the first time they'd stayed in a place that didn't exactly have the best hot water system for the building, though in the last place they'd stayed it was the upstairs neighbor that was always disturbed by Merle's showers and she would go to banging on the pipes under the sink, sending some God awful clanging noises ringing through their little apartment when she realized she was out of hot water.
"Sorry," Daryl said, trying to think of anything that might wipe the disappointment off of Carol's face.
"No, don't worry about it," she said. "I can warm some water up on the stove. It's not a big deal. Thanks anyway."
Carol turned then, and Daryl watched as she crossed the hall, her hand going for the knob of her door.
"I'll make sure he don't do it again," Daryl said suddenly. "He oughtta thought more about the other people that live here, we ain't tha only people gotta shower."
Carol nodded at him a little and smiled a faint smile, glancing back over her shoulder as she opened the door.
"Really, it's not that big of a deal," she said. "I'm just glad to know it's not just some problem I'm having."
"Could be," Daryl said, "but I reckon it's got more ta do with shitty construction."
Carol nodded again and stepped inside the door. Daryl was still standing there with his door open, unable to make himself go inside and close the door to check on the progress of Merle and Andrea on their trip to get Merle into bed.
"Well, goodnight," Carol said.
"Night," Daryl responded.
Carol closed her door and Daryl lingered there a moment longer. Finally he closed the door and stopped a second to lock it. He wasn't afraid of anyone stealing anything, that much remained true, but he didn't like the idea of any surprise visitors. He sighed and started back toward Merle's bedroom to make sure that Andrea got him safely to bed and that neither of them needed his assistance, calling out before he got there in case Andrea didn't sleep in the clothes that she'd borrowed from his brother.