Happy St. Patty's day, people =) Please stay safe this weekend! I have to admit that the chapter after this one has my nerves worked up. Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!

Chapter Thirty

Daryl hurriedly shut the door behind him and ran a hand through his hair and holding the damn jacket in front of himself so the boy didn't have a view of his obvious problem. Damon was staring at him, eyes wide and apologetic. "What?" Daryl asked, hating how strained his voice sounded. He wanted to slap the kid in the side of the head and march his ass right back in there. She was primed, wet and waiting and he was standing out here instead of sinking into her...

Damon shook his head. "Nothin'. I didn't hear anything."

Daryl cursed and shook his head. "If you tell Merle-"

"I won't," Damon said quickly.

Daryl gave him a loaded look but Damon just raised his hands in surrender.

"I said I won't. But how the hell did you get your clothes on so fast?" He asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

Daryl rolled his eyes.

"Oh... Oh! Right on. Breakfast. I get it," Damon grinned. "You musta been starvin', dude. I heard her from way over there." He pointed towards the path. "Freaked me out at first till I heard your name then I knew what was up. You're a fuckin' killer. I thought I should take tips from Merle but from now on-

Daryl actually did smack him in the head this time. "Shut the fuck up! Jesus!"

Damon huffed, rubbed the spot and then gestured towards the path leading to the cabin. "Just makin' conversation, damn. Anyway, Merle needs you two back at the cabin. We have to figure out what we're gonna do with those two fucks. They're awake and Merle's getting twitchy."

Daryl glanced longingly at the door. "Go ahead. I'll be there in a minute."

"Seriously, he wants you guys right now. You don't have time to go... you know. Not if you want it to be any good anyway."

"Damon, I swear to fuckin' Christs I'm gonna-"

"Fine. Damn." Damon turned around and started towards the path.

Daryl leaned against the wall, willing the fog in his head to clear. If he went back in there right now, there was no way he wasn't going to...

The door opened up and Carol stepped out, her face red and her eyes downcast. She held his boots and a bottle of water out for him. He took them without a word, make quick work of washing the taste of her off his lips and then drained the bottle, internally panicking because she wasn't looking at him but then she glanced up. Her eyes were wide and bright and even though her face flushed even more, she smiled slightly.

He returned it and then busied himself with his boots. When he looked up she was waiting, her back pressed against the wall and her eyes trained on the path. He had no fucking idea what to say, just like he didn't the other night when she had taken it upon herself to do what she did to him. What the hell was it about that damn shack anyway?

"You ready?" He asked, stepping away from the small porch.

She nodded and fell into step beside him. She hadn't spoken a word but she walked close, there arms brushing. The sun was out and the day was warmer so she hadn't put his flannel shirt back on, leaving her arms bare in a red tank top. The bruise was a bad one. It looked like the kid had been trying to squeeze her bone to dust. Anger chased away thought of having sex with her, which was a good thing, in a way.

He didn't comment on it. At this point he didn't even trust his voice anymore. She was the nicest person he'd ever met in his life. Why the hell would anybody think it was okay to hurt her? By the time they reached the cabin he had himself all worked up again. He was furious.

"Hey," she said quietly, placing her hand on his arm before he could turn the knob.

He met her eyes. "What?"

"You sure you should go in there this upset?" She asked, keeping her voice low.

He glanced at the door and then back at her. "Ain't a whole lot I can do about that," he muttered. "We need to get this over with."

"What are you going to say?"

He turned the knob and then pulled her inside without answering her question. He didn't drop her hand either. It kind of calmed him, which was odd. Odd, but not entirely unexpected. She had a strange affect on him. Strange was an understatement.

Merle was standing with his back leaning against the counter, his arms crossed and his eyes troubled. He wasn't paying much attention to anyone else in the room. The woman was standing close to Merle. Damon, Piper and Sophia were standing across the room from Merle and the woman. Richard looked up from where he was seated at the table. His son was next to him. One of his eyes were swollen shut. His lip was busted and his nose was a mess.

Daryl didn't feel sorry for him at all. The kid was damn lucky Daryl hadn't let the other boy kill him. "They need to go," he said, finally dropping her hand and storming closer to the table.

Richard stood up, holding up his hands. "Now just a minute here, you don't-"

Before anyone could do anything Daryl had his hand around the man's throat, slamming him back into the chair. "I don't what!" He snarled, his face only inches from Richard's. He felt a hand on his arm and he looked over sharply.

Carol was eyeing him, her face calm and patient. He held her gaze for a few long moments and then shoved away from the chair and took a step back. She dropped her arm and backed up a few steps.

"I want him and his piece of shit son the fuck out of here. Now," he barked, meeting Merle's eyes squarely. He had no doubts. He knew Merle would agree. Sometimes he was a real piece of shit but at the end of the day, Merle wouldn't stand for the kind of shit that the boy had done.

"We need to talk before we make any decisions like that," Merle said, glancing at the woman before meeting Daryl's eye again.

Daryl opened his mouth to tell Merle that he was a goddamn idiot and that they didn't need to talk about a fucking thing. He didn't get any words out before someone else spoke up.

"Can the two of you wait outside, please?" Carol asked, looking between Richard and Brody.

Richard stood up and Daryl felt himself tensing as the man approached her. Carol seemed completely calm when the man stopped in front of her. "I'm so sorry for what happened last night. Brody, well, after everything that's happened, he's just acting out. That isn't an excuse, trust me, but I'm sure he feels bad about what happened. You have a teenager yourself. You know how they can be. Especially when they're stressed out."

Carol smiled slightly. "Actually, Richard, my teenager, even under severe amounts of pressure, has never thought it was okay to disrespect anyone else. She's never raised her hand in anger and she's never spoken to an adult like they were trash. She has never done any of those things because I led by example. Maybe you're right. Maybe it wasn't Brody's fault for doing what he did. Maybe it was yours for never showing him how to act any better."

Daryl saw the anger in the man's eyes but all he did was nod and then motion for his son to follow him. The boy kept his head down as they walked to the door. As soon as it closed behind him Daryl spun around, glaring at Merle. "What the fuck is there to talk about?" He snapped.

Merle held up his hands. "Just hear me out, alright. If you stop bein' so pissed off for five seconds you'll know exactly what the problem is."

"The goddamn problem is the fact that they're still here! I can't believe you're even fuckin' considerin'-"

"Little brother, we send them out there and they run into a group that's just as shady as they are, what's the first fuckin' thing they're gonna do? You've been out there. You know what it's like compared to what we have up here and they're gonna want it. Eventually, they'll gather up the means to take it, and take whatever else they want." He glanced at Carol and Katherine with a meaningful look.

Daryl glared, refusing to listen. He shook his head. "So we put a fuckin' bolt in their brains then! We can't have those bastards around here!"

Merle raised a brow.

"Daryl," Carol said, her voice soft.

His eyes slid over to meet hers. He shook his head. "You too? Are you fuckin serious? Look at your arm! He knocked the fuck outta you just last night! You really wanna keep him around?"

She sighed. "Of course not."

He nodded. "There you go then. She wants them gone too."

"That isn't what I said. I don't want them here anymore than you do, but if that's what we have to do to be able to keep an eye on them then I don't see any other choice."

"You think that little son of a bitch learned his lesson?" Daryl barked.

"We can't just go around killing people. Especially teenage boys. We need to sit down and think about this logically."

He wanted to tell her that she was a goddamn idiot. But she wasn't. He wouldn't be able to kill the kid. Maybe his asshole dad, but not the boy. And Merle had a point. It was pretty damn obvious that they all wanted both of them gone, but they could always come back. Daryl had never even thought of that because he was too fucking close to the situation. He cared about Carol. He saw a threat. He wanted the threat gone. That was where his mind had been.

"Fuck," he snapped, pulling out one of the kitchen chairs and sitting down heavily. "So what? They stay here like nothin' ever happened. And what the hell is your story anyway?" He asked, finally looking at the woman that was still standing with Merle.

"I was just his housekeeper." The woman frowned and cleared her throat. "When everything happened me and my daughter went with him. I didn't want to but I had Sam to think about. I had to go. When we got here, he said to just follow his lead and he introduced us as a family."

"You ever have any trouble out of the little prick?" Daryl asked, wanting to understand the two men better.

She shook her head. "Not really. Not until everything happened."

"So why the fuck did he think it was okay to put his hands on her?" He asked, gesturing towards Carol.

"Because I never spoke to him like she did. I had a feeling. I remember the way he used to treat his mother before she left. He always seemed like he was on the verge of some kind of violence, so I did my job and I left him alone."

"Well, ain't nobody here gonna be walking around on egg shells just because that little son of a bitch needs his ass stomped on the regular," Daryl muttered.

Carol cleared her throat. "So I guess we all know what we have to do? They're staying?"

Merle nodded. "I don't see anything else we can do."

Daryl glanced up then, his eyes going to the bruise on her arm again. "Get your shit."

She frowned. "What?"

"Get your shit and put it in the shack. Make yourself cozy cause you ain't sleepin' under the same roof as those creepy bastards."

"Daryl, the last few nights were okay but I have daughter that-"

"I'll break his neck if he even looked like he was gonna lay a hand on Sophia. There ain't a damn thing you could do to him that I couldn't do faster," Damon said suddenly.

Carol looked between them all, her face flushing.

"It's for the best mom. The shack isn't far and for some reason, it's you he wants to hurt. Between Merle and Damon, he'd never have a chance to do anything around here. Not now that we know what to look for."

Damon nodded. "That and you know you wanna stay down there anyway. I mean..." His voice trailed off and he glanced between them. Daryl was glaring. "Since you two are so close and all. I mean, you're real good friends and stuff. I'm not saying you're messing around or anything. Not that I'd know if you were. Which you're not. As far as I know, you know."

"Damon?" Daryl said from between clenched teeth.

"Yeah?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Damon nodded. "Right."

Piper laughed. "Oh man, you totally went down there and caught them going at it, didn't you?"

Daryl growled, Carol gaped, Sophia groaned, Merle grinned and Damon hung his head. Daryl was five seconds away from throwing something at the stupid boy when they all looked up. The distinct sound of a vehicle could be heard down the drive.

"What the fuck now?" Merle grumbled, pushing off the wall and storming towards the door. Daryl was right on his heels, swinging his bow around. He glanced over his shoulder, meeting Carol's eyes. "Stay in here."

She nodded and then he followed his brother out the door.