AN: OK, second update of the day!
Here we go!
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When Daryl got back to the new house after work, he was tired and sweaty. He dug around in his pocket and found the key, noticing that Carol's truck was gone, so she must be out shopping like she'd suggested. Daryl pushed the door open and stepped into the house.
He looked at the floor and realized that his shoes were dirty. He didn't want to track dirt into the house because everything looked so clean that he didn't want to be the one to mess things up. Carol wasn't dirty and she wouldn't truck cow manure and dirt everywhere, but Daryl was the kind that made a mess everywhere he went.
He knew those kinds of things bothered women because he'd heard Andrea rant about it more than once and that was when they live in the trashy little apartment, so he could only imagine that it would drive Carol insane in a clean house like this one. He pulled his shoes off at the door and put them right beside the door frame. Then he thought about it, and remembered Lincoln's desire to help him not have shoelaces, and he picked them up and sat them outside the door where they were safer. Lincoln's little yard didn't give him access to that door.
Daryl walked carefully in the house, and let Lincoln out. Coming back through, he noticed a note lying on the island in the kitchen. He picked it up and read it. Carol's flowery handwriting announced that she had some things that she needed to do and she'd be back later bringing supper because she had a surprise for him.
Daryl wasn't sure what her surprise might be, but he figured he should clean up for it since he wasn't even comfortable standing in the house as dirty as he was. He tried to walk as carefully to the bathroom as possible, feeling convinced that he was leaving a trail of dirt behind him. When he got there, though, he couldn't bring himself to strip down and shower, so he turned right back around.
He let the dog back and in and left the house, leaving his shoes by the door and went in his socks to his truck. He'd rather drive back to the apartments and take a shower there. At least Andrea would know to expect a half a pound of dirt and crud piled in the bathroom floor.
Daryl drove to the apartments and climbed the stairs. He almost shoved his way into the old apartment before he remembered that they no longer lived there. He bit at the skin on his thumb and knocked on the door to what he still thought of as Carol's apartment. No one answered and he burrowed in his pocket and found his key again, opening the door and going inside. They hadn't bothered changing the locks since it wasn't like the apartment was really doing some sort of dramatic change of owners.
Daryl went straight to the bathroom and shucked off his clothes, turning on the water so that it warmed up. Carol's shower got warmer a lot quicker than the one across the hall had, and Daryl was used to it, so he slipped in, surprised momentarily to find it stocked with Andrea's preferred soaps and shampoos instead of the ones that he was used to when he piled into the shower with Carol.
Daryl washed quickly and was pleased to find that Andrea was far enough ahead on the laundry to have a clean towel hanging up on the towel rack for him to use. He dried off in the shower and wrapped it around his waist, making his way out of the bathroom and toward the room that he'd only been in long enough to switch out the mattresses. Apparently that was his room now.
Daryl dug around in the old furniture in the little room and found his clothes, dressing as quickly as he could. He didn't hear Merle come in, so he was surprised to find him sitting at the kitchen table drinking a Coke.
"What'cha doin' here, lil' brothah?" Merle asked when Daryl appeared. "I figured ya'd be over at'cha new luxury house."
"I came to shower," Daryl said softly. He went to the refrigerator and took inventory of what was in there before he got some juice and dug around in the cabinets looking for where Andrea had put the glasses.
"Why'd ya come take a shower in our shitty ass shower when ya got'cha that brand new one ta break in now? Ya woman done run ya out that fast?" Merle asked with a chuckle.
Daryl rolled his eyes at his brother and didn't respond at first. He pulled a chair out at the table and sat down across from Merle.
"That house is so damn clean I'm damn near afraid ta walk in it," Daryl said. "I drag in half a damn cow pasture every fuckin' day at Hershel's an' I don't wanna track that shit all over the place."
Merle hummed at him.
"Lil' woman done bitchin' 'bout ya trackin' dirt in, huh?" Merle asked.
Daryl shook his head.
"She ain't said nothin' 'cause she ain't home," Daryl said. "She left me a note. Said she got some kinda surprise for me that she gon' tell me 'bout over supper an' she's gone ta pick up a few things, whatever the fuck that means."
Merle chuckled.
"Means she's already gettin' into her new damn lifestyle. Goin' shoppin' an' shit ta pick up a lil' somethin' here an' a lil' somethin' there," Merle said. "An' don't'cha worry, she'll start bitchin' soon enough about the damn dirt. Andrea's raised hell across the hall, didn't she? Reckon she's gonna be any different here?"
Daryl didn't think Andrea had really raised hell about it. More than once she might have bitched a little about the mess, but she didn't have a tendency to do too much hell raising…at least not to the degree that Merle would have you believe.
"This place ain't even like the house, Merle," Daryl said. "They's so much damn fancy wood an' tile an' shit. Ya can't hardly step without feelin' like ya gonna mess somethin' up that ain't never been messed up before. At least here ya know this shit's been dirty damn near a million times before so it ain't nothin' it ain't seen before."
Merle chuckled.
"That's why the hell it's a pain ta get any damn thing that's new. Seems all shiny an' shit when ya get it, but the fuckin' shine won't last forever an' then ya feel like ya really done fucked somethin' up. At least if the fuckin' shine's gone when ya get it then ya ain't sorry ta see it go," Merle said.
"Ya reckon things is gonna seem better once the house gets dirty?" Daryl asked.
Merle shrugged.
"Fuck if I know, Derlina. I ain't never lived in no new fuckin' house. Hell, I ain't really never lived in no damn place ya could really call a house at all. Trailers an' shit…fuckin' nasty ass apartments…that's where the hell I hang my fuckin' hat. Ya the only one tryin' ta step inta some kind fancy ass new life, boy. Can't be lookin' at me 'bout that shit," Merle said.
Daryl thought about it. The whole thing was a little mindboggling. The house was new and that was intimidating. The whole thing smelled like glue and sawdust and new house. Everything in it was still so damn perfect. It wasn't a place for him. He didn't feel like he fit there.
Even sleeping in it the night before had been strange. The bed was a bed he'd never slept in and the sheet and the blanket didn't smell like the ones at the apartment had smelled. At the apartment they'd smelled like Carol, and like Daryl, and even like Lincoln, but they hadn't smelled like plastic and something else that Daryl couldn't identify. Hell, even his pillow at the house was all puffy and fluffy and didn't even have a spot that he could identify was the place where his head was going to fit the best.
Even when they'd moved from shithole to another, it hadn't seemed as drastic. Every place they went everything was old and it was used. It might not be them that had used it, but even if they destroyed every damn thing in the place they hadn't hurt a single that anyone would notice was messed up and they certainly hadn't taken out anything that would be missed.
He wondered if eventually all the new and unfamiliar in the house would go away. He wondered if somehow it would start to feel worn and comfortable and he'd find his place there. It seemed really hard to imagine at the moment, though. He wasn't even positive that he had a place there. Carol seemed to think he did, but over and over his mind kept going back to what Merle had said before, as though the whole thing was temporary. Somehow they'd be swept up in some kind of tornado of change…and once it got rolling good, it just wasn't going to stop.
"I ain't tryin' ta have no fancy damn life," Daryl said finally. "I'm just tryin' ta have a normal damn life an' I'm hopin' that damn place seems like a normal place soon enough."
Merle shook his head.
"I don't know, Daryl…all I can say is good fuckin' luck ta ya, then. I hope ya ain't too damn disappointed," Merle said.
Daryl looked at him. As odd as it may have seemed to anyone else, Daryl saw that as some of kind of well wishes from Merle. And that was strange all in itself.
"Ya wishin' me luck 'cause ya think this shit is gettin' ready ta blow up in my fuckin' face, ain't'cha?" Daryl asked.
Merle shrugged and nodded a little.
"Fuck, brothah," he growled. "Yeah, I do think it's 'bout ta blow up in ya face. Hell I ain't sure that this shit ain't 'bout ta blow up in mine, but I'll wish ya good damn luck one way or tha fuckin' other. I want'cha ta be happy, Derlina…believe it or fuckin' not, I want'cha snotty lil' ass ta be happy. I just hope ya ain't 'bout ta get ya feelin's hurt."
Daryl didn't really say anything but he nodded.
"I reckon I oughta go soon," Daryl said. "I don't know exactly what time Carol was intendin' on comin' back with supper an' she's got somethin' planned so I don't wanta fuck it up for her. Where tha hell is Andrea?"
"Had ta work," Merle said. "But I'ma be just fine. Got me a date with a t.v. dinner an' the damnn t.v. Damn woman ain't here ta tell me what I can an' can't watch."
Daryl nodded and got up, heading for the door.
"Daryl," Merle called out, heading to the freezer. Daryl turned and looked at him. "I really do hope ya life don't be as fucked up as it could be, but ya always got a place with me, brothah. That ain't never gon' change. Ya just 'member that if ya lil' woman flies tha coop on ya."
Daryl nodded and slipped out the door, closing it behind him. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach and it was making anything but hungry and ready for a surprise. Right now he didn't like the idea of surprises at all.
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Carol had seen Daryl's shoes by the door and wondered where he'd gone without them, but she figured he might have driven over to see Merle and Andrea to pass a little time. She put the food containers in the oven in hopes that the food wouldn't be too terribly cold when it was time for them to eat, but eating wasn't the first thing that she had on her mind.
She was grateful that Daryl wasn't home immediately because it gave her time to get ready and she needed the time to figure out how to even get into the contraption that she'd bought. She'd been so embarrassed buying the thing that she hadn't wanted to ask for any help. She was confident that it fit, though she wasn't certain it was the best fit because she realized that she didn't want anyone to see her and she certainly didn't want any opinions on what would be better. She could only hope that Daryl appreciated the effort for what it was worth.
She dressed in the outfit as quickly as she could, not knowing how much time she had, and tried to control her auburn locks to the best of her abilities. She slathered on some make up and perfume in the bathroom mirror, hoping that she looked less like the hooker she thought she looked like and more like the sexy seductress she was going for.
As soon as she left the bathroom, though, and slipped on the ridiculous heels that she had, she started to feel like this entire idea was going to be a complete failure. She was great at imagining things. She'd always been told she had a wonderful imagination, but what she imagined and what really happened usually had a way of not resembling each other in the slightest. She feared that this was one of those moments.
The lingerie was a black lace teddy, and she didn't know if they were all meant to be so uncomfortable. It was simple, but it pulled in places she hadn't even thought about all that much before she wrestled into it. The belt and hose that she bought were standard, or so she thought, but the tiny clasps on the belt weren't as easy to attach as she'd imagined they'd would be and she'd pinched the hell out of her finger and broken one of them.
On top of it all, looking in the mirror, she realized that the woman she saw in her imagination…the woman that was wearing something similar…simply looked a lot different than her own reflection staring back at her. When she tried to walk in the heels, easing through the house to figure out exactly how she was going to set up this wonderful surprise she had in mind, she had to hold to the wall so as to not fall out of her shoes. She wasn't used to trying to stand in heels like this and she had all the seductive qualities at the moment of a drunk cow.
She was almost ready to abandon the entire plan entirely, and probably would have, but Daryl pulled up and she was in the living room. She couldn't get back to the bedroom and out of the costume before he'd open the door. Realizing she had no time to plan anything any farther, Carol made her best effort to lean somewhat seductively, or at least she hoped that's what it looked like and not like she was trying to recover from some nasty injury, against the wall closest to her. She stood there, trying to get her heart to stop pounding, and waiting on him to walk through the door.
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Daryl had spent most of his drive from the apartment building up to the sulking mood that he was now sporting. He pulled open the door and stepped into the house, still looking at his feet. He hadn't bothered putting on clean shoes at the apartment, so at least he didn't have to decide what the hell to do about that.
He looked into the living room just as he came in and he had to take a minute to process what was even happening. Carol was leaned against one of the walls, and in theory she was smiling at him, but she looked a little like she was suffering. He wondered if she'd gotten hurt or something for a brief moment, and then he was entirely distracted.
Daryl had never in his life seen a woman wearing something like she was wearing. He'd seen something like that a time or two in some of the magazines that Merle used to have which he stole from time to time, and once they'd found an old porno movie in one of the places they'd rented where the woman wore something similar, but he'd never seen one in the flesh.
And now Carol was leaning against a wall wearing this black number and balancing on high heels. Daryl was embarrassed at himself and a little ashamed of the fact that he felt himself go hard almost instantly, just staring at her. He readjusted himself and tried to decide if this was really happening or if he was having some kind of unexpected hallucination.
"Welcome home," Carol said. Immediately she grimaced at her own words. She didn't know if she was supposed to call this his home and she didn't know how he'd react to it. His face was blank at the moment, so she really didn't have much to go on.
Daryl slowly made his way around to her, standing a few feet in front of her like he wasn't sure what to do. She hoped that she didn't look ridiculous and that he wasn't going to go running from the room.
"What'cha wearin'?" Daryl asked.
Carol smiled.
"Do you like it?" She asked.
Daryl swallowed, looking at her from head to toe.
"I do like it," he said. "Ya look like ya hurt, though. Ya OK?" He eyed her shoes and wondered if she'd fallen down. He learned that morning that the floors were a little slick if you hit them wrong in sock feet and he didn't know if shoes like that might throw you.
Carol sighed.
"Honestly?" She asked. "Could you do without the shoes? I think I'd like it a lot more if I hadn't thought of the shoes…"
Daryl chuckled a little.
"Hell if ya don't like tha shoes then don't wear 'em," he said.
Carol sighed and slipped out of the shoes, her facial expression changing almost instantly from pained to curious.
"Is this the surprise?" Daryl asked.
Carol smiled.
"It's one of them," she said. "Do you like it or are you just being nice? Because I've got dinner too and you can eat if you're hungry…"
Daryl stepped forward and pulled her to him, finally plucking her off of the wall. He kissed her as deeply as he dared and ran his hand down her back, pushing her against him. She moaned a little into his mouth.
"I guess you do like it," she panted when they pulled apart.
"Ya gonna eat like that?" Daryl asked. Carol noticed that he was looking directly at her breasts and his finger was tracing lazily inside the bottom of the outfit, just across her ass cheek. She shivered.
"I was thinking I might take it off first," she said.
"Yeah?" Daryl asked. The hand not doing the tracing pulled her forward and Daryl bucked into her slightly. She giggled.
"Yeah, I was thinking that it might be nicer not to wear it while I eat," Carol said.
Daryl brought his mouth back to her and she teased him with her tongue. She brought her hand around his back and slid it down into the back of his pants and inside his underwear, scratching him lightly as she squeezed at his ass. He bucked again, grinding her against him with his hand and she gasped into his mouth, her breathing already starting to pick up. She was embarrassed at the fact that she could already feel herself flooding in expectation of him.
"Do you think…" she started, clearing her throat and trying to get her voice not to come out with the short gasps that matched her troubled breathing, "do you think that we could go to the bedroom?"
Daryl brought his mouth to her neck, sucking a moment, his hands still exploring the edges of the outfit. She could tell that he was already invested in what she had planned.
"We could do that," he said, finally.
Carol started to pull away from him to walk back to the bedroom…this time without the added effort of the shoes, but he surprised her by grabbing her under the ass and hauling her up. She immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him to help him, and prayed that Lincoln had the good common sense to stay out of their way while Daryl tried to quickly carry her to their bed.
Once they were in the bedroom, Daryl's mouth was all over her as soon as he'd tossed her on the bed. He backed off only long enough to pull his shirt over his head and to shed his pants. She almost laughed, thinking that she'd never seen him out of his clothes so quickly.
As he climbed onto the bed, though, and started regarding her like some kind of present to be opened on Christmas morning, his brows knitted together in concern. Carol was confused for a moment at his sudden change in countenance, but she figured out quickly that he had no idea how to get her out of there, just as she'd had a difficult time figuring out how to get in.
"Don't worry," she said. She slid herself back on the bed that she was lying across sideways to give him more room and she spread her legs. She reached around, grabbing his hand and bringing it to her slit which he stroked as soon as she put his hand there. She moaned and leaned up a little, urging him to bring his lips back to hers, which he did. "It's crotchless," she said. "We can figure out how to get it off later…when things aren't so…urgent."
Daryl didn't need any more urging and he immediately crawled between her legs, kissing her neck and entering her without any more words. Carol thought that he still hadn't mastered her request for a little warning, but she didn't mind. He thrust into her harder and faster than he normally did, and she wondered if whatever was bothering him earlier was the fuel behind his rough approach now. She didn't mind, though, and she spurred him on with her moaning and by raking her nails across his back as he pounded into her, searching for release for them both.
When climax came for them both, Daryl rolled off of Carol and lie on his back, breathing hard next to her. It was only then that she bothered to begin working her way out of the outfit, piling up the pieces on the corner of the bed as she went.
"So you're not disappointed?" She asked, wrestling out of the top.
Daryl rolled his head toward her, swallowing and staring at her for a moment.
"'Course I ain't disappointed," he said. His tone of voice made it sound like she'd asked him the most ridiculous question ever. Carol leaned over, kissing his throat and then moving to kiss his lips. When she went to pull away from the kiss, he buried his hand in her hair and tugged her back toward him, prolonging it for a little longer.
"If you're hungry, we have dinner too," she said.
Daryl chuckled.
"Can I eat in my drawers or I gotta get dressed up?" He asked.
Carol didn't know what he meant, and she wrinkled her brow a moment in response.
"You can eat any way that you want to eat, Daryl," she said. "There's no dress code. I'm eating in a t shirt and panties if that gives you anything to go on."
Daryl nodded a little.
Carol took that as his indication that he'd like to have dinner, so she got down off the bed and slipped into the outfit she'd promised to dine in. She couldn't help but remark to herself how comfortable it was after the last garment. She slipped through the house, then, and went about setting the table and putting dinner out and Daryl joined her not long after.
Carol lit a couple of candles and put them between her and Daryl at the table.
"Candles?" He asked.
"It's romantic," she said with a smile. "Go ahead, eat."
Daryl did start eating, apparently happy with the food since he didn't say much.
"The rest of the surprise is…" Carol started.
"There's more?" Daryl asked.
Carol smiled.
"Yes…" she said. "Michonne came by today, Daryl. I got the papers. I'm divorced from Ed."
Daryl looked at her like he didn't quite understand.
"I'm divorced," she repeated. "I'm not married to Ed anymore. I'm a free woman."
Daryl nodded.
"Yeah, I know what divorced means," Daryl said.
Carol was a little struck. Daryl didn't look as excited as she thought he'd be. She had just assumed that he would think it was as wonderful as she did. He had said a few times that he wished she wasn't still married to Ed, so she just thought that his reaction might have been a little more upbeat, but he didn't look like he was exactly thrilled.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked. "I thought you'd be happy to know that I'm not married to Ed anymore."
"I am happy," Daryl said, finally. He smiled, though it wasn't an entirely genuine one. "Really," he said. "I'm real happy for ya an' I'm glad ya ain't married ta that asshole no more. I really am." He smiled again, this time looking more sincere.
Carol smiled and nodded at him, trying not to let it bother her that the reaction wasn't quite what she had maybe hoped it would be.
"Ya got more surprises?" Daryl asked.
Carol shook her head. She smiled a little.
"No," she said. "That's it. Those are all the surprises I've got."
Daryl nodded and went back to eating.
"Daryl, is there anything you want to talk to me about? The divorce or anything else?" Carol finally asked. She didn't know what was bothering him, but something just seemed off.
"No," Daryl said. "Ain't got nothin' ta talk about. I'm glad ya divorced but I don't know what else ya want me ta say about it."
"No," Carol said, "you don't have to say anything else about it. That's just fine."
Carol turned her attention to her own food and hoped that whatever it was that was apparently bothering Daryl was something that he got worked out for himself soon. The fact that he didn't want to talk about it had her a little concerned that it was something about her or something that she had done, but she didn't really know what to do about it until he decided to let her in on whatever was the problem.
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AN: OK, part two of my crazy weekend updates. Let me know what you think!