Title: Breaking Point

Pairing: Daryl/Carol

Plot: This is an AU story, no zombies. Daryl and Carol have been married almost 20 years. They have a sixteen year old son who has been causing the happy couple a lot of problems lately and Daryl is finally putting his foot down.

Daryl cursed as he fumbled to get his key to line up with the key hole on the door knob to his home, his irritation starting to get the best of him. He knew his wife and sixteen year old son were home and couldn't understand how both of them seemed to lack the common sense to leave the porch light on. He'd been working the same schedule for the past three years, came home around the same time each night and told them more than once he couldn't see a damn thing out there in the dark, to leave the light on, but no, they apparently enjoyed watching him suffer.

After several minutes of struggling he finally managed to get the door unlocked and tossed his keys onto the little table by the stairs with a frustrated growl as he stepped inside. Carol was usually in the kitchen by now, preparing dinner and greeting him with a kiss, but he could tell from the yelling down the hall that dinner would be late this evening.

It seemed almost every other day Carol and their son Ryan were fighting about something. Whether it was plans for college or the idea of him joining Daryl at his bike shop for a full time job, Ryan never failed to get defensive and slam a door in Carol's face, leaving her standing there with unfinished words that would resurface in a day or two.

Daryl was honestly sick of it. One of the major problems was Merle had recently introduced Ryan to smoking weed and from then on out it consumed a great portion of the teenagers time. Turning the bright young man into someone who just wanted to sit around all day and fry his brain instead of doing something to better himself.

Carol was oblivious to the fact their son was getting high with his uncle and Daryl planned to keep it that way, not wanting to add anymore stress to the poor woman. Daryl had let Merle know what a dumb piece of shit he was, with a fist to his jaw the next day at work after finding out, so as far as he was concerned that was taken care of. Dealing with Ryan on the other hand was a little different. He himself had been sixteen at one point and knew no matter what he said, his son would still find a way to do whatever the hell he wanted. Daryl could really only offer his disapproval and that usually didn't change a damn thing.

The worst however, was the way his son spoke to his mother. Daryl had always treated Carol with kindness and patients, basically worshiping the ground she walked upon and she sure as hell didn't deserve to have her son treating her with any amount of disrespect. Carol would take it though. She would let Ryan get his way with almost anything, no matter how terrible he spoke to her and Daryl couldn't take it anymore. Sometimes he just wanted to strangle the woman and tell her to be a bitch, that their son was headed down the wrong path and she needed to put her foot down, but Ryan was just as hard headed as his uncle Merle when it came to listening to reason and Carol was too damn nice to let the teenager know how she truly felt, leaving Daryl to be the bad guy in the end.

Sighing, Daryl went into the living room to sit down and unlace his boots as he continued to listen to his wife and son bicker. Waiting for the moment when Carol would give up and come find him to finish where she left off. It never came though. Instead a loud crash echoed throughout the house, following a soft whimper that sent Daryl to his feet in an instant.

He quickly made his way down the hall just in time to see Carol pushing herself off the floor where she was trying to avoid the broken glass surrounding her. The bedside table had been knocked over, which Daryl assumed his wife had fallen into and the glass everywhere were the remains of the lamp that once rested there. Ryan was trying to grab Carol's arm when Daryl finally reached him, trying to pull something from her hand, but Daryl was quick to fist the front of his son's shirt and tackle him to the floor before he had a chance to touch his mother again.

"Daryl..." Carol gasped, a plea for him to not harm their son.

Daryl heard her and for the first time in his life he almost slipped and beat the shit out of Ryan. He had never hit his wife or his son, hating the thought of anyone hurting a woman and their own kid after the shitty childhood he experienced, but right then he was having a hard time controlling his anger. It took several minutes of staring into the teenager's eyes and the sound of Carol's voice to calm him enough to jerk Ryan to his feet and shove him away.

"Get out!" Daryl barked at Ryan through clenched teeth.

"Why don't you tell her to get out?! She's always in here bitching about everything and going through my shit!" Ryan argued, straightening out the front of his shirt as he tried to compose himself after being slammed to the floor.

"Don't care." Daryl said, taking a step closer to his son. "Get the fuck outta my house!"

"Daryl, he has nowhere to go." Carol said softy from where she remained standing by the bed.

"Not my problem." Daryl replied, his voice lowering an octave when speaking to his wife. "Ain't puttin' up with this shit no more." He turned back to Ryan then. "Move ya ass!" He yelled, tossing a backpack in his direction. "Get whatever ya need and go!"

Ryan caught the pack and stared at his father. "You expect me to live in my car?"

"Go stay with yer dumb ass uncle for all I care." Daryl said, walking over to Ryan's dresser to start handing him clothes since he still hadn't made any effort to move.

Ryan sighed and picked up his keys. "This is all you're fault just so you know." He said, pointing at his mother. "Can't ever keep your nose out of my business!"

Daryl pushed away from the dresser when Ryan moved closer to Carol and grabbed his upper arm. "Ya take another step toward her and I won't hesitate ta beat ya ass." Daryl threatened his son before turning to look at his wife. "Go wait for me in the bathroom and be careful ya don't cut ya feet."

Carol gave him a nervous nod and carefully stepped over the glass to exit the room.

Once she was out of sight Daryl turned back to the teenager. "I can't fuckin' believe ya, boy."

"Shes the one that started it!" Ryan protested, reaching up to grab his father's wrist to make him let go of his bicep. The action only angered Daryl further and he shoved Ryan against the wall with his forearm pressed into his chest.

"In all the time I've known yer mother I ain't ever raised my hand at her and I sure as hell ain't given ya another chance ta break her heart. She don't deserve this shit! That woman loves ya stupid ass more than anythin' in this world, shes given ya everythn' you've ever asked for and this is how ya repay her?!" Daryl growled and grabbed his son's shirt, leading him out of the room and toward the front door.

"Get off of me!" Ryan yelled as he jerked from his father's grasp. "I know how to fucking walk!"

Daryl let him go and opened the front door. "Good, then walk ya ass on outta here." He spat, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from losing his temper as he watched his son step out into the night, slamming the door shut behind him. Daryl turned the lock and flipped the dead bolt while listening for the sound of Ryan's car before going to the bathroom where Carol was suppose to be waiting.

He found her sitting on edge of the tub with her head down and a wad of toilet paper balled in her fist. Daryl dropped to his knees in front of her and placed a finger under her chin to make her look at him. "Ya alright?" He asked, swiping his thumb across her cheek to clear a path of tears while inspecting the cut on her lip.

Sniffling, Carol gave him a nod, but he knew she was far from alright. Carol would always see Ryan as their little boy and Daryl knew she wasn't emotionally prepared to have her son thrown out of the house, even after all the shit he'd been putting them through.

"Why don't I run ya a bath and while ya relax I'll make us somethin' ta eat?" Daryl asked, resting his hands on her thighs.

"Sounds nice." Carol said, a forced smile spreading across her face.

"Carol, please don't beat yerself up over this." Daryl begged, moving a hand to the side of her neck where he stroked the skin there lightly. "Ryan had this comin' for some time now and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him lay his hands on ya. Ya know how I feel 'bout that shit."

Carol sighed and dabbed at her eyes. "What if something happens to him Daryl? He's never been on his own."

"Ain't nothin' gonna happen. The little prick will probably go ta a friends house for a few days and as soon as he's outta money he'll come crawlin' back." Daryl said to try and comfort her. He honestly didn't know what his son would do or the trouble he might get caught up in, but he really didn't care at the moment since he was still pissed at him.

"And you're going to let him?" Carol ask, giving him a pitiful look. The woman seriously had a heart of gold and it irritated the shit out of him sometimes. He didn't understand how Carol could look at Ryan's constant attitude, his back talking and now his physical abuse like it was a normal thing in every other household.

Daryl loved his son, there was no denying that, but there was only so much one person could take before enough was enough. "Guess that depends." He said.

Carol tossed the used up piece of toilet paper into the trash can, then looked back to her husband. "On what?" She asked.

"How much ass he kisses." Daryl answered, leaning forward to press his lips against her forehead. He reached behind her to turn the knob on the faucet and began filling the tub as he kissed down her neck. "Now get undressed and try ta relax."

"Can I ask you something first?" She said quietly.

Daryl got to his feet and grabbed a towel from the closet to hang on the rack by the tub. "What is it?"

"Did you know Ryan was doing drugs?" Carol held out her hand, a plastic baggy with a few pills and a small bud of marijuana inside rested in her palm.

Daryl took it from her and looked at it closely. "fuckin' Merle." He cursed under his breath. "Knew 'bout the pot, but not the pills."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" She asked in a harsh tone as she turned around to shut off the water before the tub overflowed. She wasn't really mad at him, just hurt he'd kept something like that from her.

Daryl sighed and tossed the bag in the toilet to flush the contents. "M'sorry." He said, bringing his thumb up between his teeth to chew at the skin around his nail. They rarely ever fought or argued and any time it did happen he always found himself in a position where he wanted to cower away in the corner until she got everything off her chest. He didn't have the heart to ever fight back.

A small hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled his thumb away from his mouth. Carol knew him well enough to know he was nervous about her reaction and that's not what she wanted. "It's alright, just wish you'd told me."

"Didn't want ta cause ya anymore stress. Ya already dealin' with enough bullshit."

Carol was about to give him a kiss, but when she stepped forward she hissed in pain and stumble slightly. Daryl was quick to grab her shoulders and gave her a concerned look. "Ya alright?" He asked, looking down thinking she may of caught her toe on something.

Holding onto his arms, she shifted herself to sit again and lifted her foot to check the bottom of it. Daryl took over before she could get a good look and tensed a little when he touched a tender spot right below her big toe.

"Just a piece of glass." He told her, turning to open a drawer to get the tweezers.

At that she tried to pull her foot away. "Let me do it."

Daryl kept a hold of her and furrowed his brows. "I'm not gonna hurt ya." He figured since he already knew where it was it would just be easier for her to let him take care of it.

"Daryl..." She whined and tried to take the tweezers from him, causing him to chuckle.

"Don't be a baby." He teased and propped her foot up on his knee. It literally took him less than twenty seconds to pull the small piece of glass from her skin, give her toes a loving kiss and hold out the tweezers for her to see the simple thing she was making a big deal over.

Carol let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and smiled at how silly she was acting when she took in the sight of the almost invisible shard. "Thank you." She said slightly embarrassed.

He grinned and moved to toss the glass somewhere it couldn't cause anymore harm and just as he was about to tell her to get undressed again she grabbed the collar of his shirt to gave him a soft, sweet kiss that made him moan against her lips. Thankfully his stomach growling interrupted the moment and kept him from getting carried away or her time alone to relax would have been completely ruined.

"Take ya bath 'fore ya water gets cold." He insisted, forcing himself to stand. As he was leaving he lit her favorite candle then proceeded toward the kitchen to start making dinner.