Note: Another short bit because I want to keep the prison stuff all together in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Feedback is always helpful.

Part IV

Late Bloomer

"We should take route 24," Carol suggested as Daryl swung a left turn. "It's faster."

"Gonna make a little detour if you don't mind. A little outta order, but it'll save gas to go here first."

Five minutes later, he rolled to a stop behind a dinghy black sedan. The driver door of the abandoned car hung open. The placed looked to Carol to be a mill of some sort, with towering silos. Why the hell were they here?

"I've never been here."

"Nope," Daryl replied. "I been here twice."

She followed him across the yard. Suddenly, it dawned on Carol what this place was.

"Merle," she said softly.

Daryl nodded. He stooped down by a tree. The grave was marked only by a large white stone. Carol was hit by a wave of sadness upon realizing that Daryl had buried his brother alone, in the dark, while suffering immeasurable grief. How was it that it hadn't occurred to her at the time?

"You could've have brought him back to the prison. Buried him there," she said, instantly regretting her words.

"Naw," his bitterness evident. "I couldn't."

"Everyone, Rick, Glenn, him, everyone wanted to make me choose. How the hell was I supposed to choose?"

He stared furtively at the grave for a few seconds.

"He was a jackass, I know. I know. 'Tween him and my dad, I spent my whole life hearing what a useless sack o' shit I am. 'Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you 'cept me, little brother. Nobody.'" He shook his head as if trying to rid it of the voice. "'You're nothin' but a freak to them. Redneck trash. Someday they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit.'"

Carol had a sick feeling in her stomach, picturing Daryl in her doorway, rebuffing her embrace. Why'd you go? The hurt in his eyes had cut her to the quick. Though it was unintentional, she had played right into his deepest fears by leaving him.

"Shoulda been an easy choice, right?"

"No."

"He was my brother," he answered, his voice breaking..

"It's how abusers operate," Carol explained. "They beat you down, mentally and physically, until you actually start to believe the crap they're spewing. They isolate you, make sure you know how lucky you are to have them, because no one else could ever love you." Her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. "I only had to deal with it as an adult. I can't imagine going through childhood like that."

"Merle was kin. And he was the only person who knew what it was like, 'cause we had the same dad."

"You're an amazing person," Carol told him with sincerity. "Because you overcame all that. You managed to grow into a good man, not because of your upbringing, in spite of it."

"I'm not as good as you think," Daryl said, staring at the ground.

They stood in silence for a bit, then Carol spoke. If they were truly going to get it all out in the open, she decided to share what was on her mind.

"But you did choose. You went with him." She could still acutely feel the anguish that engulfed her when Rick informed her of Daryl's choice. She had understood, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

Daryl nodded. "I had to. I wanted to have both and everybody was tellin me I couldn't. I tried so hard to find somethin' that'd work for everyone. But, Merle, the dumbass, he wasn't workin' with me. Straight outta the gate we came on this Mexican family, a man, a woman, a boy and a baby. They were losin' the fight with a bunch of walkers. Merle thought I was a pansy 'cause I went to help 'em. When we was done, killed all the walkers, he got in their car with the lady and started lookin' for shit to steal. The woman's screamin', the baby's cryin', the man's freakin' out, we musta looked pretty scary to them. I told Merle to let 'em go, but he wouldn't. I didn't have no choice. I had to draw on him."

"He backed off," she finished.

"Yeah, he did. Would I a' shot him if he didn't? I don't know. Not sure if I was bluffin' or not. Glad I didn't have to find out."

"Me, too." Carol agreed.

"That's when I figured out that I loved him, but I didn't like him much. And I went home. Back to the prison.

"He loved you," Carol said. "He did. He just didn't know how. That's why he let Michonne go, and tried to take out the Governor. It wasn't for us, it was for you."

"You're a late bloomer," Merle told her, genuinely impressed by her newly found courage.

"Maybe you are, too."

Merle had taken her words to heart. She suspected Michonne had worked on him as well. In the end, he had done the right thing by his brother. His one selfless act cost him his life, but at least Daryl could know that he was right about Merle—he wasn't beyond redemption after all.

"I tried, but I didn't make it in time. When I got here, he was already turned." He began sobbing freely. "He kept comin' at me and I kept pushin' him away. I just couldn't do it. I almost let him bite me. But then the survival instinct kicked in, I guess, 'cause I just started stabbin' him, over and over, in the face."

"I'm sorry, Daryl," Carol said through her tears.

"I'm sorry for what he did to Maggie and Glenn and Michonne," he told her. "If it was my wife, I wouldnta forgiven it neither."

"No one blamed you."

"I know. It was just a really shitty situation for everybody. You know what's the hardest thing? Tryin' to figure out…" The thought of verbalizing what was on his mind horrified him, but he knew that it must be done. That was the whole point of this endeavor. He hoped that she wouldn't think he was terrible for feeling the way he did. "Trying to understand how I could love my brother and still think losing him mighta been the best thing that coulda happened to me. Only a shitty brother'd feel that way."

"He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down." Her own words came back to her.

Carol wrapped an arm around him. "It set you free. It allowed you to step out of his shadow and chart your own course. Be the man you were always meant to be. It doesn't mean that you didn't love him."

She decided to give him a few minutes to himself and walked around the property. She had no idea if she'd find what she was looking for—in fact, it was a pretty long shot. But there it was. She returned to the graveside and placed a lone Cherokee rose upon it..

"I believe there are flowers blooming for your brother."

...TBC