AN: So I'm not 100% thrilled with this chapter, and that happens from time to time, but it's something for you and it keeps our story moving forward.
I'm getting back into my academic writing now and it's hard to switch those gears from time to time. I'm hoping that's what's making this chapter less than great in my opinion and not the fact that it's terrible.
I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think! As always, I thank you all for reading!
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Daryl was snatched out of his slumber by the sound of pounding. It took him a moment to realize where he was, and then he jumped a little when it sunk in around him that he was sleeping in Carol's bed. What was more than that, was the fact that she was sleeping next to him, half on top of him, and they were both naked.
Daryl had honestly thought the entire thing might have been a dream. He'd gotten used to the fact that he slept alone, and he'd pretty much believed that he would always sleep alone. He wasn't the kind of man that was going to have some steady woman occupying his bed. Yet here he was, lying naked up under Carol.
The pounding continued and now Daryl could identify his brother's gruff voice outside the door.
"Bettah get'cha ass up, lil' brothah! Ya got a damn job ta do!" Merle called.
Daryl crawled unceremoniously over Carol and out of the bed, nearly falling in an attempt to get his leg over her. She stirred, starting to come around to the events unfolding around them. Daryl looked around and finally located his underwear. He pulled them on and ran his hand through his hair, shuffling through her apartment at the fastest speed he could. He ripped open the door and Merle stood in the doorway, already dressed for work. Beyond Merle he could see that the apartment door was open and Andrea was standing there in Merle's boxers and a dirty tank top, a coffee mug in her hands.
"Ya sleep in ya damn skivvys at someone else's house, boy?" Merle growled. "Thought I taught'cha better than that. Ya liable to give that little mouse a view a' somethin' that might scare her."
"Fuck ya want? I'm up!" Daryl barked.
"Don't'cha fuckin' be late fer work," Merle said. "Figured ya might not have an alarm clock over here."
"Ain't gonna be late," Daryl said.
Merle nodded and started down the stairs. Daryl stood there a moment. Andrea was smirking, leaning against the door frame of their apartment.
"Ya need somethin'?" Daryl asked.
Andrea shook her head. She smirked again.
"I made pancakes if you want 'em," she said. "You can bring Carol over if she's hungry. No rush, though."
Daryl grunted his response and shut the door to Carol's apartment again. He turned and headed back to the bedroom to get his clothes. Carol was lying in bed, looking at him. Her hair was a mess and she was smiling at him.
"Wake up call?" She asked, her voice still heavy with sleep.
"Assholes," Daryl said. Carol chuckled.
The phone started ringing and Carol crawled out of bed and went to answer it. Daryl started pulling on his pants, craning a little around the doorway to look at her. She hadn't so much as bothered with putting on a single thing. She was standing, now, completely naked and talking on the phone. The night before hadn't been a dream at all.
Daryl dug his shirt out of the pile of clothes and one lonely discarded blanket. Various boxes of condoms lie scattered around and several of the loose ones from the box he'd opened were strung about. He wondered, for a moment, if they were supposed to have some sort of conversation about this, and what he might be supposed to say if they were.
"That was Michonne," Carol said, coming back into the bedroom. She went to her dresser and Daryl watched as she shimmied into a pair of pink underwear. He felt himself start to go hard and he tried to distract himself. "I'm supposed to be babysitting for her and she's sending Shane over to pick me up. They got Ed. He's in jail and apparently hasn't mentioned anything about pressing charges."
Daryl knew that the focus of this conversation was supposed to be about Ed being in jail and the fact that he wasn't bringing any charges against him for their brawl in the middle of the street, but suddenly he found himself far more distracted by the thought that Shane was on his way to pick Carol up. Daryl stood there, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and trying to figure out how he was supposed to respond to this. He wasn't entirely sure what the night before them had meant, and he didn't know how he could find out without looking like an idiot.
Carol finished dressing and sat on the bed, putting her shoes on. She smiled at him and he smiled nervously back.
"Andrea made pancakes," he said, finally deciding that he had to say something but not knowing what to say.
"Are you asking me to eat pancakes with you?" Carol asked.
Daryl swallowed and realized his mouth was dry. He shrugged.
"Ya can if ya want 'em. She always makes enough pancakes for everyone," Daryl said.
"I would, but Shane's already on his way, and Michonne always makes breakfast so the girls have something to eat," Carol said.
Daryl suddenly had no idea what to do with himself or with the situation. He had no precedent for this kind of thing.
"I reckon I better go so ya can get ready," Daryl said, ignoring the fact that Carol was already dressed and apparently about as ready as she was going to be.
Carol looked at him, and he wasn't sure, but he thought she looked a little sad or perhaps confused.
"OK," she said. "I hope you have a good day at work…"
"You too," Daryl said. He started through the apartment, aware that she was trailing after him.
"Are you coming by the Watering Hole tonight? Andrea and I are working," Carol said, just as his hand touched the doorknob.
"Prob'ly," Daryl said. He turned around a moment and Carol was standing a few feet in front of him. He wanted to kiss her, but he wasn't sure how she'd react. Finally he stepped forward, reaching his arm out toward her and she met him. It hadn't gone anything like he'd planned for it to go. Instead of gently kissing her, he'd accidentally head butted her. She rubbed her forehead for a moment, smiling at him and then stepped up on her toes, pulling his head to hers and kissing him.
When they broke apart, Daryl smiled and Carol smiled back.
"Reckon I oughta go," he said, suddenly unsure of how to leave the apartment correctly.
"I'll see you tonight?" Carol asked. Daryl nodded and turned, opening the door and disappearing into his apartment to change his shirt and scarf down some pancakes before he had to leave for Hershel Greene's farm.
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When Daryl got to the Water Ho, he was exhausted. Hershel had decided to get his money's worth out of Daryl for the day. As he stepped in the door, he immediately scanned the room for Carol. He didn't see her at first and reasoned that she must be in the back either taking dirty glasses back to be washed or bringing clean ones out.
The same assholes that always populated the bar were there, and Daryl slowly realized that they probably thought the same thing about him whenever he slipped through the door and made his way directly to the bar where his older brother sat.
Merle was sitting in his customary spot. A bottle of whiskey and a shot glass in front of him. Daryl pulled himself up on the bar and Merle reached over the side and felt around for a moment, coming out with another shot glass. He put it in front of Daryl and uncorked the bottle, pouring a shot of the amber liquid.
"Ya gon' thank me, lil' brothah," Merle said, shoving the cork back into the half empty bottle.
Daryl picked up the shot and swallowed it in one gulp, ignoring the burn and the fact that he hated the taste of the shit.
"Yeah? Why's that?" Daryl asked.
"'Cause ya big brothah's lookin' out fer ya, that's why, Derlina," Merle said.
Daryl didn't pay him too much attention as Merle reached over and plucked the pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket.
"Ya smell like shit, Daryl, what tha fuck that ole man got'cha doin'?" Merle asked, lighting a cigarette. Daryl picked up the pack and shook one out for himself, snatching the lighter out of his brother's grip.
"Damn near had me rollin' 'round in cow shit today," Daryl said, taking a drag off his cigarette. "Now what the fuck am I s'posed ta be thankin' ya sorry ass for anyway?"
"Ya ain't seen tha sweet lil' biscuit they done brought in here?" Merle asked. Merle turned his head and nodded in the direction of some of the tables. Daryl turned slightly and noticed an olive skinned brunette leaning over a table in Daisy Duke shorts and a cut off tank top. Her whole middle out. "Name's Mary Ann," Merle growled.
"So?" Daryl asked. He turned his attention back to the front just in time to see Carol come by carrying a tray of beer glasses. He smiled at her, but she was focused on not dropping the glasses and hadn't seen him. He watched her for a moment as she walked over to one of the tables where three men who'd already had more than enough were sitting.
"So? So I been talkin' her up for ya, Derlina. She's a bit too young for me, but she's just right for you. Lil' small town girl like that? Ya oughta be just right for rufflin' her parent's feathers, an' she'd like that," Merle said. Daryl was barely listening to him. "Mmm hmmm…might even still be a lil' red left on that cherry, boy. Ya listenin' ta me, Daryl?"
Daryl was watching Carol now as she circled around the restaurant, smiling and speaking to the liquor sodden assholes hanging around the tables. He jumped when Merle smacked him on the arm.
"Fuck ya want?" Daryl growled.
"Pay attention here, boy!" Merle said. "I'm tryin' ta help ya out an' ya got the damn attention span of lil' girl!"
"Fine, I'm listenin'," Daryl said. "The fuck ya wanta say?"
"I was sayin' that ya could get'cha some a' that if ya could focus for more than five damn minutes, boy!" Merle said.
"Some a' what?" Daryl asked. He realized now that he was supposed to have been paying attention to Merle's babbling, but it was difficult to do given the circumstances. The whole day he hadn't been able to get his mind off of Carol. He kept playing over and over what had happened the night before. What she looked like, there with her clothes off, what she'd felt like. All day long he'd had to fight himself to keep from busting out of his pants. Now that he was in the bar with her it was driving him crazy having to watch her go from table to table. Every now and again he saw some asshole stare at her tits or reach out to pinch her ass and it was all he could do not to come off his stool and punch the man. He didn't know how the hell Merle held that shit together night after night with Andrea.
"I swear ya fuckin' adopted," Merle growled. "Some a' that pussy, Derlina."
Daryl watched as Merle waved his hand, flagging down the brunette in the denim underwear. She smiled a cheerleader grin and left the table she was busy waiting on, sauntering across the room. She came over to Merle and hung on his arm, flashing her smile in his face and batting her doe eyes at him. Daryl fought the urge to curl his lip.
"Sweet cheeks," Merle said with a grin, "this here's my baby brothah I was tellin' ya 'bout."
Mary Ann turned her attention from Merle and smiled at Daryl, releasing Merle's arm.
"I'm Mary Ann," she said, flashing her smile at him.
Daryl nodded at her and watched as Merle poured him another shot. Daryl knew this girl was too young for Merle and figured there was a good chance that she was too young for him. He thought she very well was as close to twenty as she could be and still be able to serve drinks in a dive like this without costing Loretta her license.
"Merle here told me all about ya," she said, circling around Daryl then and coming up on the other side of him. Daryl noticed that she got far closer to him than he thought was reasonable, and before he could say anything, she'd wrapped her arms around his right arm. He sat uncomfortably for a moment before shaking her arm off and picking up his shot glass to take a drink.
Daryl realized that Merle had no idea that he'd slept with Carol the night before, and Daryl wasn't sure if he should actually tell his brother that he had. On the one hand, Carol was still married to Ed, and if she was worried about him thinking that something was going on between them, the last thing Daryl needed to do was run his mouth and remove all doubt. Merle wasn't exactly a closed mouth individual, especially not when he was liquored up. On the other hand, what Merle didn't know had now earned Daryl an ornament, and it wasn't one that he wanted.
"Ain't much ta know 'bout me," Daryl said, trying not to make eye contact with the perky brunette. He glanced over his shoulder in search of Carol, but he could only find Andrea on the side of him that didn't have Mary Ann draped over it.
"Don't be shy, boy, ya got'cha a pretty lil' thing tryin' ta talk ta ya," Merle said. He winked at Mary Ann and Daryl heard her giggle in his ear. He was damn near sweating.
"Might oughta get back ta work, huh?" Daryl said, trying desperately to figure out how to rid himself of the new parasite that his brother had introduced him to. He turned slightly and saw that the girl hadn't lost the overly flashy smile that she was wearing.
"I get off in an hour," she said, leaning into Daryl a little.
"Good ta know," Daryl said, flippantly.
Mary Ann finally walked away then, and Daryl poured himself another shot. He was pretending that he couldn't feel his brother's eyes burning into the side of his neck.
"Fuck was that?" Merle asked.
Daryl looked at him and shrugged.
"Not my type," Daryl said.
"Ya dick's gon' fall off if ya don't never use it, boy," Merle said. "Don't know why ya so damn scared a' that shit. I swear, soon as ya finally man up an' get'cha some ass ya gonna be damn pathetic 'cause ya ain't gon' know what ta do with that shit."
"If I'm gonna be so damn pathetic then why ya tryin' ta hook me up with Barbie over there?" Daryl asked.
Merle sucked his teeth, but didn't respond. Daryl knew that Merle was disappointed. For some reason Merle seemed to see it as some kind of badge of honor that Dixon men were known for their conquests. His entire life Daryl had seen Merle go from one woman to the next, thinking less about throwing them away than anyone else would a used tissue. In fact, it had only been since their arrival in Sweet Junction that Daryl had ever seen Merle spend so much time with any one woman, even it was a woman who was just as blind as Merle to the fact that though they both bragged about how much they didn't care about each other, they hadn't exactly been playing the field.
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Carol was having just as bad a night as Andrea was, maybe even worse. Mary Ann was driving them both insane. Since she'd gotten there, she'd gotten nearly every tip that was left behind.
It wasn't so much the money, since they'd still split all tips three ways, as much as it was what it symbolized. She and Andrea were both working the tables like they normally would, but the men were holding out their tips. They were purposefully waiting until Mary Ann circled close to the tables and then they were offering the folded money out to her, tucked between their fingers, with hungry expressions on their faces. She was getting tips for tables she hadn't gone close to before the offerings were made.
To make matters worse, Merle had been schmoozing Mary Ann for the better part of the evening and the girl had been shamelessly hanging on him and rubbing her body against him. Carol knew that Andrea was doing her best to pretend that she didn't care and that Mary Ann's flirtation with Merle meant nothing, but every now and again Carol caught the expression of anger on Andrea's face.
Now, to make matters worse, Daryl was in the bar and Mary Ann had latched onto him. Carol had seen her hanging on him, whispering in his ear, her damn fake grim plastered on her face. Carol was trying not to let it bother her, but it made her stomach churn whenever she saw Mary Ann so much as looking in his direction.
Carol realized she had no claim over the youngest Dixon brother. She had less claim over him than Andrea had over Merle, but it still burned her to see the peppy young girl making eyes at him and brushing far too close to him to refill his shot glass.
Carol was beginning to wonder what in the world she'd been thinking the night before. She'd slept with Daryl, and he'd obviously been a virgin, but that didn't mean that she had any right to dictate what he did. If anything, she worried, she may have inspired him to want something with Mary Ann that he might not have known he wanted before. Maybe now that he'd had sex with her he'd be curious to know what it was like with other women, and the truth of the matter was she had no right to deny him that.
She was still technically married to Ed. She was the last person that could Daryl Dixon not to do anything with Mary Ann Walsh. If he wanted to do it, he had every right.
Carol tried to distract herself and turned her attention to one of the tables where two drunks were sitting, very obviously having reached their limit if they wanted to make it out the door without being arrested by Rick Grimes for public drunkenness just outside. She smiled at them, loading their empty glasses onto her tray and asked them if there was anything else they might want, making sure to bend as much as she dared over the table.
One of them very obviously ogled her cleavage, but they both denied the desire for any further refreshment. She lingered a moment, waiting to see if they would leave a tip, but they both slid out of their seats without offering her any payment for her services throughout the evening.
As they stumbled toward the door, nearly knocking another man out of his chair, she noticed one of them catch the attention of Mary Ann, who was doing more to hold the poker machine in place than she was to actually wait any tables, and when she sashayed over, he slipped her the tip that should have been Carol's.
Carol felt her face burn hot. She shot a look at Andrea across the room and saw from her expression that Andrea had seen it too. Carol heaved up the tray of glasses and stormed toward the back to drop them in the tub for washing later. Mary Ann was getting their tips, and if that wasn't bad enough, Loretta had her working part time for the night. That meant that Andrea and Carol would be the ones that would be left with the abstinent, rowdy last rounders, and they'd also be left doing all the cleaning for the night.
Andrea came to the back just as Carol was turning to head back out front and they very nearly plowed into one another.
"Did you see that?" Carol hissed at Andrea. "That was MY tip!"
"I'm going to break Merle's damn fingers before the night is through," Andrea hissed back.
Carol smiled.
"I thought you didn't care what Merle did?" Carol said, tipping her head to the side.
"I don't give a damn what Merle Dixon does," Andrea said, angrily pointing her finger at Carol. Carol knew that Andrea wasn't really mad with her though. "So long as he isn't fuckin' doing it with Mary Ann Walsh!"
"Can we tell Loretta not to put her on the same nights as us again?" Carol asked.
"One step ahead of ya," Andrea said. "I called Loretta already. Seems Mary Ann had some kind of pageant shit going on for tomorrow night when she was supposed to be working, so Loretta moved her to tonight. I told her if she didn't want me to quit then she wouldn't put the little cunt on my time slot again."
Carol snickered.
"Boy, you're even more fired up than I thought you were," Carol said. Andrea flashed a smile at her that Carol had already learned was fake. It was the same smile she flashed at the overly drunk customers who did charming things like grabbed your boobs or vomited on your shoes. "If you need to, you're welcome to stay at my house tonight," Carol said.
Andrea looked toward the front, though they couldn't see anything because of the partition.
"If I see Merle so much as smiles at her again, I'm taking you up on that offer," Andrea hissed.
Carol nodded at her and started back out front. As she rounded the corner her eyes immediately fell on Mary Ann. She had slid up to the bar between the stools that the Dixon brothers occupied. Carol immediately felt her stomach churn again. Andrea would likely be sleeping on her couch, and that might make her point with Merle, but Carol realized she had no such weapon to use with Daryl. If Mary Ann wanted him, and he wanted her, there wasn't really anything that Carol could do about it. She quickly averted her eyes from the spectacle and tried to focus her attention on waiting on ungrateful customers, instead of on the unwelcomed feeling of jealousy she felt burning inside her.