AN: So here's a little something for you. It's been a busy day, but I did want to get this out. I'll have more sometime soon.
I did use some of your suggestions here, so just like I always thank you for your reviews and your wonderful comments that fuel me in the story, I also thank you for your analysis and your comments. Sometimes they are very helpful in planning some of the smaller details of the story! You're all awesome!
I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think!
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"I thought'cha hired my ass ta do construction work," Merle growled, looking out the window of the pickup truck.
Tyreese shook his head a little. He was, perhaps, shooting himself in the foot with this plan. He didn't know if Michonne would kill him or not when she heard that he'd taken Merle to pick up and deliver the bed and mattresses for Andrea in the moving truck he'd borrowed from a buddy for the occasion.
Everyone had the same idea about Merle. Leave him alone. He'd made his bed with his surly ass attitude so let him lie in it and enjoy the comfort. The problem was that the only comfort Tyreese knew the man was enjoying these days was Southern Comfort and it was wearing on everyone's nerves at work.
Merle hadn't exactly shown up drunk any…but he hadn't exactly shown up sober either. Most days he teetered in a state that lie somewhere in between until just around time to knock off for lunch and then apparently the crackers and Gatorade he downed alone in the shade was enough to knock that somewhat pleasant mood off and send him into the bitterness of a hangover that left him like a foul mouthed four year old for the rest of the day.
Frankly, Tyreese was running out of places to put him where he didn't disrupt the other workers and if getting him into the same space as Andrea might solve some of that problem, he was willing to face the wrath of Michonne…at least this once.
"Way I see it," Tyreese said, "is that I hired you to work for me…you're working for me. I didn't say I exclusively did construction."
"Didn't say ya was in the movin' business neither," Merle said.
Tyreese liked Daryl a good deal, and he honestly couldn't say he disliked Merle. Merle was an asshole, anyone knew that if they spent a few minutes in the man's company, but he wasn't as big of an asshole as he pretended to be. There had been a good period of time, at work, when Merle was more or less one of the favorites among the crew because his antics kept everyone entertained as they worked. That had just gone South somewhere.
"Today I am," Tyreese said.
"Who ya movin' shit for anyway?" Merle asked.
"For Michonne," Tyreese responded. He held his breath, already knowing what was coming next…some launch into the way that Michonne ran Tyreese's life no doubt. Any of the men who were involved knew that Merle, as soon as he found out, would begin to harass them.
"Figures…pussy whipped," Merle said shortly.
Tyreese chuckled. It hadn't been as bad as he'd thought it would be. Maybe Merle didn't get quite as sauced last night as he had other nights…or either he'd gotten more sauced and therefore didn't have the brain capacity to be his normal female hating self.
"Yep," Tyreese said. "That's me."
"Why the fuck ya so damn proud a' that shit? Ain't much of a man likes ta let the world know a woman's got him by the fuckin' balls," Merle said, looking in Tyreese's direction.
"Mmmm…depends on how you look at it, I suppose," Tyreese said. "I happen to like the woman who's got me by the balls as you put it. And a lot of people would say at least that's a man who doesn't suffer from a case of blue balls…there's a good side to just about anything."
Merle huffed at him and grunted something that Tyreese couldn't understand. Tyreese chuckled, knowing that Merle wasn't sure how to retaliate.
"Besides, I thought you'd appreciate it…it's an easier day than we would have had staying on site," Tyreese said. "I figured when we're done we could call it a day. Maybe drive down and check out that little place you're always haunting. Go for a drink or two…my treat."
Merle chuckled.
"Well, I ain't one ta pass up a wet whistle on the boss man's buck," Merle said.
"I didn't think you were…" Tyreese responded.
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Carol was feeling better than she had the day before about the whole situation with Ed. She had to repeat, like a mantra to herself, that he was still in jail and there was no reason to panic about him getting out any time soon. She'd moved on…she wasn't his property and he didn't have the right to terrify her any longer. She was beyond Ed Peletier.
She was far beyond Ed Peletier. She had a home that, sparsely furnished though it may be, made her happy. She had a dog that she was pretty sure was the cutest and smartest animal on the planet, even though he was given to mischief and chewed everything up that he could get his mouth on. She had jobs that put money in her pockets to pay the bills. She had wonderful friends, something she'd never had before. She had a wonderful boyfriend who, though he had his moments, treated her like a queen. And most exciting of all, she had a baby on the way…and Daryl was as supportive about it as she could have ever asked for him to be. Her life was good and it looked nothing like the life that she'd had when Ed was around. She'd moved past him.
Despite her attempts to be positive, though, and to continuously remind herself that Ed no longer had the means to terrify her, from time to time throughout the day he had crept into her mind and done his best to haunt her. It was enough that she was beginning to fear her own subconscious mind and what it might offer her in nightmares when she dared to sleep again.
She hadn't told Daryl that she'd barely slept the night before. Every time she closed her eyes, Ed was there. He was coming after, angrier than she'd ever seen him, ready to kill her. Once or twice when she'd dared to drift off she'd remembered moments of when she'd lost the baby after Ed had pushed her down the basement stairs. She'd woken up once, shaking, and woken Daryl, but she'd excused it saying that she'd dreamed she was falling out of the bed.
Daryl didn't want any of this to bother her. He kept promising that he'd protect her if Ed got out. He'd make sure that Ed stayed away from her.
She believed with all her heart that Daryl would want to protect her, and that he would if he could, but she knew that Daryl simply couldn't be there all the time, and that was what she feared most. Times like this…when he was at work and she was on her day off…Daryl wouldn't have been there if Ed had just showed up. Andrea was there…she was on the couch reading through one of their class books…but Andrea was just as capable as Carol was of fighting off Ed, even though she'd paint herself as Superwoman to try and make Carol feel better.
But Carol didn't want Daryl to know she thought about those things. She didn't want him to know that she was still dwelling on the situation, despite her best efforts, because she didn't want him to misinterpret her concern about Ed to be a doubt that she had in Daryl. That wasn't the case at all. She didn't doubt Daryl…she just knew how conniving Ed could be.
Carol had busied herself cleaning all day and currently she was scrubbing away in the kitchen. She glanced, for just a moment, at Andrea who was sitting on the couch in jeans and a sweater that Carol was certain had either belonged to some ex-boyfriend or had been bought second hand because it didn't fit at all. She was pouring over the book, her reading glasses down on the tip of her nose, and Carol laughed when she took her in.
Andrea glanced up.
"What are you laughing at?" Andrea asked, pushing her glasses up with the tip of finger. The action just made Carol laugh a little more.
"I don't know…you just look so…so something sitting there. Is the book that interesting?" Carol asked.
The truth was they'd learned enough about their class to figure out that they could divide up assignments and inform each other well of the information that they had to cover and still get by. It wasn't so much what was in the books that ended up being important as the hands on activities that they did in class…and that was what really interested both of them the most anyway.
Andrea closed the book and put it on the back of the couch where Lincoln couldn't mistake it for a chew toy. She pulled her legs up under her and reached over, stroking the dog's head since he was keeping her company.
"Not really…not at all," Andrea said. "But if I have to read it I might as well pretend that I like it, right? I might just turn into a bookworm that way instead of having war flashbacks of high school English where I had to write fucking essays explaining why the hell the author wrote about this color curtains or some shit like that."
Carol snickered. She'd never minded school all that much, but Andrea had apparently hated it. Then again, she'd learned enough to imagine that her life when she was in high school and Andrea's life in high school were probably dramatically different…and Carol knew well enough that your home life had a way of affecting every single other avenue of your life.
"I can read that one if you want," Carol said, continuing with her cleaning, though she figured you could probably eat off any surface in the room by now.
"No, it's my turn," Andrea said. She was quiet for a minute. "This whole house smells like bleach, Carol…can we open a window or something? I think I'm getting a headache from it. I'm not used to shit being so damn clean."
Carol chuckled.
"It's really nice outside," Carol said. "You can open the windows if you want."
Andrea got up and started going around, Lincoln prancing behind her and wrongfully believing she might be going to get him something, opening the windows.
"Is that shit OK for the baby?" Andrea asked, heaving up the dining room windows that would open.
Carol hadn't thought about it…now that she did think of it, though, she wasn't sure that it was a good thing that she'd distracted herself from Ed by cleaning until she almost didn't have fingerprints and her eyes were burning.
"You know…I don't know…" Carol said.
"Jesus!" Andrea said, crossing into the kitchen to open the window over the sink. "I saw we open the windows and we go the fuck outside to sit in the yard with Lincoln. I'm going to die if I stay in here!"
Carol hadn't really noticed how strong the smell was, but now that Andrea called attention to it she was noticing that it really was almost suffocating. That's what you get when you decide it's a good idea to douse your entire home in various cleaning products. She left the rag right where it was on the counter and went to the sink, elbowing Andrea out of the way a little and washing her hands. They still smelled like bleach after she dried them and she felt the strange sort of panic that you get when you're beginning to suffocate.
"Let's go!" She said. She rushed to Lincoln's door and pulled it open, letting the dog out and stepping out behind him. Andrea followed on her feet and left the door open.
When they got into the yard, Lincoln bounded around sneezing at the ground and Carol wondered if the smell had irritated him as well. The rush of the fresh air was like a blessing, though, and she sucked in as much as she could. Andrea kept wiping at her nose as though she could wipe the smell out of it.
Finally they both calmed down and started laughing at each other.
"How long do you think it might have taken us to die in there before we realized we were suffocating?" Andrea asked. "My eyes were watering and I kept thinking that it was because I hated reading so much."
Carol didn't want to admit that she'd been having a hard time breathing and thought the whole time that it had been her subconscious mind causing her to panic over Ed.
As they stood in the yard, simply waiting for the breeze to be strong enough to flow through the house and push out all the fumes, Carol noticed a familiar face.
Axel came by, walking Juniper. He waved and smiled as he came near the fence and Lincoln launched himself in the direction. Juniper responded by yapping back to Lincoln's baying.
"How's it going?" Axel asked.
Carol walked toward the fence, Andrea hovering just behind her.
"It's going OK," Carol said. "How about yourself?"
"Can't complain," Axel said. "Even if I did, wouldn't nobody listen."
Carol chuckled in response.
"How are you liking the weather?" She asked.
Axel looked around a second.
"I always did love the fall," Axel said. "Ain't cold like the winter and ain't hot like the summer. Doesn't last too long, though. You ladies just out enjoyin' it?"
Carol giggled a little and glanced back toward Andrea who was standing there with her arms crossed but a slightly less concerned look on her face than she'd been wearing when Axel had first walked up.
"I ran us out of the house," Carol said. "I used too many cleaning products."
"It was damn near a homicide and suicide by bleach," Andrea said.
Axel chuckled.
"Dangerous things them chemicals. Once mixed ammonia and bleach together…didn't know you weren't supposed to do it until the shit started foaming and my eyes nearly burnt out my head! Won't make that mistake again," Axel said. He waved at Andrea who was a certain distance away from him. "I'm Axel, by the way…don't think we've met."
"Andrea," Andrea offered.
"You live here too?" Axel asked.
Andrea didn't respond and Carol wondered if she was suspicious of him because of all the madness going on around a one Mr. Philip Blake.
"She's staying for a little while," Carol said. She pointed toward Axel's house. "Axel lives over there in that house." Carol said to Andrea. She hoped identifying that they were neighbors, and making it clear that she was fairly certain that the man was harmless…except maybe with household chemicals…Andrea would realize that she'd at least met him before. Andrea did seem to loosen up a little and she walked over to chat with Carol and Axel from a closer distance.
The three of them talked about the houses, the weather, the neighbors that Axel had met but Carol still didn't know…and all the while Carol couldn't help but notice that Axel smiled a little brighter when he was talking to Andrea and he looked pleased when she laughed at any joke that he made. Carol wondered if Andrea was picking up on it too.
They got interrupted, though, when a moving truck rolled into the driveway.
"Looks like you got comp'ny," Axel said, tipping his head in the direction of the truck.
"A friend is delivering some furniture," Carol said.
"Need a hand?" Axel asked.
Carol hesitated a moment. If there was a spark of something between Axel and Andrea she was curious to see how it would play out. Axel seemed like a genuinely nice guy and she wondered what it would be like for Andrea to have something like that in her life. She was considering asking him to help Tyreese and the worker…just to get him to stay around a bit…until she realized the worker climbing out of the truck was Merle.
Carol tried to hide her irritation at the fact that Merle Dixon was in her driveway.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I think they'll be just fine…thank you for you offer, though."
"No problem," Axel said. "I guess we're goin' on about our walk now. Y'all have a nice evening," Axel said. He turned toward Andrea who was already glaring in Merle's direction. "It was nice to meet'cha, Andrea."
Andrea put on the biggest smile, suddenly, that Carol had ever seen her wear.
"It was nice to meet you too, Axel," Andrea said. "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other."
Carol almost laughed. She realized Andrea was being a little louder, and a little friendlier, than she had to be, and she was doing it for Merle to overhear as he passed around to the back of the truck grumbling at Tyreese.
Axel waved and went on down the sidewalk and Carol let herself out of the fenced in part of the yard to walk over to the two men.
Tyreese greeted her with a hug and peck on the cheek.
"We got it all," he said. "Michonne said you could come and look at that dresser whenever you want. She found it in the attic. It's in pretty good shape, but it could use a coat of stain. I'd be happy to do it for you one weekend if you want me too."
Carol smiled at him.
"We'll see about it, thank you," she said. She looked at Merle who was beginning to drag the footboard out of the truck. Carol shot a questioning look at Tyreese, but he just looked nervous and swallowed, turning around to assist Merle.
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Andrea was glad that the smell had aired out enough that the house just smelled clean and not offensive. She didn't think she could take the headache inducing fumes coupled with the headache inducing mouth of Merle right now.
"So…ya shackin' up with my baby brothah now?" Merle said putting the bed together.
Andrea leaned back against the wall. She wasn't even pretending not to notice that Tyreese drug Carol away to talk to her about something…conveniently leaving her alone with Merle for him to assemble the bed.
Andrea huffed at Merle and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I'm shacking up with Daryl now. We're all one big happy fucking family," Andrea said. "We're considering taking in a third wife but we haven't read any applications we like yet."
Merle sucked his teeth and paused a minute in his working.
"I'll have ta let Daryl know who I been seein'," Merle said. "He seems ta like my handmedowns."
"Asshole," Andrea growled.
"You the damn one started this shit goin' off half fuckin' cocked like ya some kinda damn firecracker," Merle growled in response.
"You told me to get the fuck out and I got the fuck out," Andrea responded. "You're always saying women don't fucking listen…well I listened. You got what the hell you wanted. I would think you'd be happy."
She crossed her arms across her chest and felt her face get hot with anger and irritation. Merle looked up at her from where he was kneeling on one knee on the floor by the headboard of the bed.
"How long ya figurin' on stayin' here?" He asked.
"Until I find something better, I guess," Andrea said. "I don't see why you care."
"I don't care…" Merle responded. "Stay here as long as ya damn well please…take a first class trip back ta hell where ya come from…I don't give a shit."
Andrea threw her hands up in exasperation.
"See? That's what the hell I'm talking about! You don't care…so what are you even doing here?" Andrea asked. "You came to talk to me just to be an asshole?"
Merle got up, his work done. He walked close to her for a minute, the hammer he had been using clutched tight in his hand. He stopped barely a foot from her, bringing his face close to hers and she didn't know for a moment what he might do. He stared at her a minute, almost like he was contemplating kissing her or something equally out of character for Merle Dixon in a mood like he was in, and then he turned quickly.
"Don't flatter yaself, princess. Ain't here for you…here 'cause my damn boss is payin' me ta be here," Merle said as he walked out the room.
Andrea followed behind him. She wasn't sure what she'd seen in his eyes for that moment. The one thing she did know by now was that what Merle said and what Merle meant rarely matched each other. She wasn't a fool. She knew that Merle's asshole ways were a defense mechanism for him. They were like his shield against a world that he didn't fully understand and he didn't trust at all.
She knew these things about him and that was why she'd stayed with him for the time she'd stuck it out. She understood that underneath it all…underneath the complete and total dickhead that Merle was…there was someone else.
Merle would never be like Daryl was with Carol. He couldn't be. The dough was set and they simply weren't the same kind of biscuit.
But Merle wasn't a bad man. Andrea believed if any woman could ever figure out how to crack the crust that he'd perfected for so many years, underneath she'd find a man that could be caring…perhaps even sweet in his own way…it's just that she was pretty confident she wasn't that woman. She didn't have what it takes. What she did have wasn't good enough for Merle to give the inch it would take to crack enough for someone to work their way into the fissure.
Someone might one day get in there…someone might one day bring down, at least a little, the wall that he'd so lovingly constructed…but Andrea wasn't that someone. He'd have to at least somewhat want whoever did it to be in his life…and it was pretty clear that he didn't want her.
But just for a moment, when he'd paused there and she'd tried to figure out what he might do, she'd seen that flicker again behind his eyes. She'd seen that glimpse of the man that was hiding behind the wall, and she'd wondered if he was going to dare to venture out. In the end, though, the only man that had faced her had been the same one that always seemed to come out. The mask of an asshole that he'd worn so long she wasn't sure if he even knew it was just a shitty Halloween mask.
Andrea followed behind Merle quietly, keeping several feet behind him. When he got outside, he went directly to the truck. He didn't say goodbye to Carol and he didn't say anything to Tyreese. Andrea saw Tyreese shoot her a look and she just shook her head softly to keep him from asking her anything.
Tyreese sighed a little and told Carol goodbye. Andrea and Carol both thanked him for delivering the furniture, and then they stood side by side under the carport and watched as he got in the truck and the two men disappeared from sight.
Carol looked at Andrea and Andrea could see that, even without witnessing the conversation, Carol had figured out more or less how it had gone. Carol frowned at her a moment and then forced out a smile, reaching out and rubbing the top of her arm in the somewhat maternal fashion that Carol employed from time to time.
"Hey, you got a new bed!" Carol said. "Let's go get some sheets on it."
Andrea nodded and followed Carol inside, trying to put Merle out of her mind.
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AN: So I wasn't sure how I was going to go with this chapter…at least not 100%...but several of you suggested the idea of Merle delivering the bed and I thought it was a chance to explore the characters a little more in their development. I was able to work it into the storyline that I have mapped out, so I did. Thanks for the suggestion! It probably wasn't exactly what you were thinking…but things happen how they happen…I hope you'll forgive me and know there's more to come!