AN: Second update of the day.
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Carol and Daryl continued to sit for some time across from one another after Andrea and Michonne had made their exits. They just sat there, both thinking about whatever it was that they needed to think about.
"Now what?" Carol asked finally.
Daryl shrugged.
"We can keep goin' with them cookie jar notes," Daryl said.
"You mean fill the jars up?" Carol asked.
Daryl chuckled.
"Or we could just talk about 'em 'til we feel like leavin' the table an' then we write it down…they said we gotta learn ta talk," Daryl said.
Carol shifted.
"I don't like feeling like you're going to listen to Merle's stupid mouth," Carol said.
"I been listenin' ta Merle's mouth my whole damn life," Daryl replied. "I think he's stupid too, but sometimes he's right."
"But more than he's right, he's wrong," Carol replied. "Daryl, I don't care about what the neighbors I don't have think. I know how people in this town are already. They're going to talk about people. That's what they do. If it's true or it's not true, it doesn't matter to them."
"What if ya start thinkin' that they right, though?" Daryl asked.
Carol sat there for a few minutes. She'd rolled one of the pens over that fell out of the bag and she was rolling it back and forth between her hands.
"Can I ask ya somethin'?" Daryl asked.
Carol shrugged.
"I guess we're at the talking table," she said. "Now's as good a time as any to ask me whatever you want."
Daryl shifted in his chair trying to get comfortable and bring himself to ask the question.
"I talked ta Hershel yesterday," Daryl said. "An' he said I should ask ya if ya love me."
Carol shrugged a little.
"What am I supposed to say to that, Daryl?" She asked.
"I reckon ya s'posed ta say if ya do or if ya don't," Daryl responded. "That's s'posed ta be ya part a' the question."
"And if I say I do, are you going to run away screaming like Merle would tell you to?" Carol asked.
Daryl chewed at his lip. He chuckled a little.
"Does that mean ya do or that'cha don't know?" He asked.
"I asked you a question," Carol responded.
Daryl stared at her.
"I ain't good at this stuff," he said. "I don't know what the hell I'm doin' an' I keep fuckin' shit up."
"So you're going to run again?" Carol asked. "Because more than anything I don't want to keep doing this if you're going to keep running. If I let you come back then I don't want you to just to get scared and run away again. Either stay or go, but I don't want my life to have a revolving door."
"I don't wanna run," Daryl said. "I got scared…Everythin' was changin' an' you was changin'…"
"How did I change?" Carol asked.
"Ya was all excited about the house an' all the stuff with the house…an' ya was all free from Ed…an' then ya was different that night. Ya had on them clothes an' ya painted yaself all up…" Daryl trailed off. He didn't want to look at Carol because she looked upset.
"I wanted to be free from Ed, Daryl, and I thought you would think that's a good thing, not a bad thing," Carol said.
"It is good that ya ain't got Ed no more, but it means ya…I don't know…it means ya can do what ya wanna do," Daryl said.
"And what do I want to do? I wanted to go to the store to buy things to cook for you, Daryl. I wanted to bake apple pies and carve pumpkins for Halloween…I wanted to go and look at Christmas lights in the park…with you!" Carol said, choking back a sob. "I wanted this house to be perfect for all of that…not scary…not the kind of house you run away from…the kind of house you want to go home to. And that outfit? I thought you'd like it…"
"I did like ya outfit, but it weren't you," Daryl said. "Ya don't look like that an' I thought ya was pretty but it weren't like ya normally is…"
"It was just something different," Carol said. "It was supposed to be good different, Daryl, not bad different."
"I just don't like different," Daryl said.
"Well you're going to have to either learn to deal with different or I'm serious and this isn't going to work," Carol said. "No amount of cookie jars is going to make it work. I'm pregnant, Daryl…do you even know how different a baby makes things?"
Daryl shook his head. He got up from where he was sitting and paced back and forth for a moment behind his side of the table.
"No, I don't Carol, not really," he said. "I told ya that I don't know nothin' 'bout babies, OK? I know they cry a lot an' I know they smell bad an' they always snotty or pissin' their pants, but I really don't know much about 'em. I know that things gotta be different, but I don't like you bein' different 'cause if ya decide ta change then ya might change how ya feel about me. That's why I got scared an' that's why I left. I don't know what the hell else ta tell ya!"
"Babies do cry," Carol said. "And they're messy and they're needy…they're all those things…and they change things. And me? Daryl I'm going to change a lot…but just because something about me changes it doesn't mean that I'm going to change how I feel about you. You're the one that left me, Daryl. I didn't leave you. You left me."
"Ya gonna tell me if ya love me or not?" Daryl asked.
"Are you just going to leave again?" Carol asked.
"Damn it!" Daryl said. "I'm standin' here ain't I?"
Carol stared at him.
"I think I do love you," Carol said. "Is that what you wanted me to say?"
Daryl stood still then, biting at his thumb.
"I think I love ya too," Daryl said.
"Are you moving in?" Carol asked.
Daryl nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm movin' in I reckon."
"If you stay you don't get to just run out again," Carol said. "I mean that…I'll have the baby on my own if I have to, but I'm not having you just running in and out of my life and its life whenever something freaks you out. I can't do that."
Daryl nodded a little.
"So we gonna try it then?" Daryl asked.
Carol got up and collected up the plastic containers from the table. She carried them into the kitchen and put them on the counter, one on either side of the coffee pot. Daryl followed after her to watch what she was doing.
"We'll try it," she said.
"Can I kiss ya?" Daryl asked. Carol sighed and turned around. Daryl pulled her to him and brought his lips to hers. She kissed him back, gently and then pulled away.
"Don't make me sorry for this," Carol said, looking Daryl in the eye. "Please don't make me sorry for this."
Daryl smiled at her and kissed her again.
"I'ma try not to," he said when they pulled apart the second time.
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Andrea waited until Merle was in the shower to wedge her pencil in her book, toss her glasses on the kitchen table, and strip out of her clothes. She eased into the bathroom and pulled the shower curtain back, tugging the ponytail ring loose from her hair and dropping it on the side of the tub.
"Well…" Merle growled. "Look at'cha. Just couldn't wait for me ta get out, huh sugah?" He smiled at her and she smiled back at him, shaking her head a little.
"No," she said, "I sure couldn't." She leaned in, kissing him, her hands sliding down his body while he shampooed his hair. "Hot water lasts longer here…" she purred at him.
Merle chuckled.
"Damn tub's bigger too. We had the fuckin' redheaded step child a' places over there, I reckon," Merle said.
Andrea smiled at the change in his tone of voice. His voice always took on a gravelly sound when he was he more than interested in anything she was proposing.
"I told you that moving over here was a good idea," Andrea said. She rubbed against him and bit his earlobe, holding it between her teeth a moment as she rubbed her tongue against it. Merle shivered despite the warmth of the water trailing over him. "Didn't I tell you?" She asked.
"Mmm…hmmm…damn sure did, sugah," Merle said with a chuckle.
Andrea dipped her head and sucked at his nipple, ignoring the mouthful of water she got trailing down from the shower spray. She dipped her hand and wrapped it around him, stroking him for a moment. He closed his eyes and growled in his throat. She smiled and dropped to her knees, stopping for a moment and looking up at him. After a second, Merle looked down at her and grinned.
"Ya know what the hell ta do with it," he said. "Ya ain't no damn blushin' virgin."
Merle tangled his fingers in her hair and pushed her head toward him. She chuckled at him and turned her neck a little trying to get him to let go. Finally she leaned in and licked the tip of him, sucking slightly. He moved his hand then.
"I do know what to do," she said. She took him into her mouth, sucking him for a moment before pulling away again. "Daryl's not coming home tonight," she said.
"Mmm…" Merle grumbled. His eyes closed.
"Mmm…mmm…" Andrea moaned. She sucked at him again, twirling her tongue around him and listening to him hiss. "We had him and Carol talk it out…fixed what was going on there…do you know what was goin' on there?"
"Damn Andrea," Merle said, still not opening his eyes. "Ya gonna fuckin' run ya damn mouth or ya gonna do what tha fuck ya down there ta do?"
Andrea chuckled.
"You're right," she said.
Almost as soon as she wrapped her hand around his balls and squeezed harder than she knew he'd like or ever be expecting, Merle's eyes shot open and his hand grabbed into her hair. She'd been expecting that at least, and still considered herself to have the upper hand.
"Fuckin' shit! What tha fuck is wrong with ya crazy bitch?" Merle snarled. Andrea smiled at him, still not loosening her grip. He yanked at her hair.
"Pull my hair again," she said, "and I'll yank yours." She smiled.
"Fuckin' hell!" Merle snarled. "I'ma beat'cha fuckin' ass ya don't let go a' my nuts!"
"I'm not even using my fingernails yet," Andrea said, smiling. "We're going to have a chat."
"Ya fuckin' crazy!" Merle responded.
"Yep…I am," Andrea said. "And I've got your nuts…my turn to talk now."
Merle narrowed his eyes at her, but he didn't dare move.
"I want you to listen to me really well," Andrea said. "And I know that means you have to concentrate doubly hard right now, but I want you to try and focus. No harm is going to come to your manhood as long as you give it the old high school try. Your brother loves Carol, and she loves him. Now whether it's really what we all wanted to happen or not, they're going to have a kid together."
"What?" Merle asked. "He knocked her up?"
Andrea squeezed a little.
"Shhh…you're not talking yet," she said. She smiled again. "Now, you…Merle…are a dick. And I forgive you for it most of the time. You're not going to be dicking your brother around about this, though. You're going to let him live his life, and you're going to finish fucking yours up if that's what you want to do. If I hear…and remember that I hear everything…that you have been dicking him the fuck around about this…then I'm going to remove your balls..." She smiled again. "And you're not going to see it coming." She raised her eyebrows at him. "If you can behave…you get to keep them." She shook her head at him. "Now I didn't want it to come to this, but you decided that it had to be this way…so there it is. Do you understand the issue at hand?"
Merle growled at her and she tightened her grip again. He yanked her hair again, pulling her head up toward him. She tightened her grip more.
"Keep going," she said. "I like challenges."
"Fuckin' bitch!" Merle spat.
Andrea could tell by the look on his face that he was considering passing out more than anything else at the moment.
"Just a yes or no," Andrea said. "Mind your own fucking business or lose the damn things you're so fucking proud of?"
"Fuck you! I don't give a fuck what he does!" Merle spat.
Andrea let go and Merle's hands immediately replaced hers. He weakly kicked at her, but enough attention was focused on his family jewels that he hardly made any contact at all.
"Get the fuck outta here for I fuckin' break ya damn neck!" Merle snarled.
Andrea knew that he wasn't actually going to do anything to her. He'd cuss and he'd snarl for a while, but he wasn't going to lay his hands on her. She'd caused no lasting harm to him, except maybe to his pride, and she'd make it up to him later. She could only hope that the next time he thought that running his mouth to Daryl about shit that he had no business running his mouth about, though, his balls might ache as a reminder.
She scrambled out of the tub, yanking the towel off the rack to leave him tending his wounded pride and throbbing balls.
"Merle, honey," she said, drying off and hanging the towel back on the rod for whenever he finally decided to get out of the shower, "you want me to put some ice in a baggy for you? Helps with the swelling…"
"Fuck you, ya damn bitch!" Merle hissed from inside the shower.
"Not for a little while," she said. "Maybe tomorrow."
She slipped out of the bathroom and went to make him a ziploc bag of ice as a peace offering. He'd forgive her for this eventually, and until then she'd just stay out of his way and ignore whatever he had to spit at her.
For some people cookie jars worked in communication. For others, like Michonne and Tyreese apparently, conversation came easily on both sides. For others still, there were other methods that got employed from time to time. The key, she figured, was discovering what worked best for you and using it. Communication was always important, after all, especially when you really wanted your partner to hear you.