Wanted to post this earlier since it's Mother's Day and all. Hope you all had a great one! Mine had a really crappy start but it got better as the day dragged on. Thanks for reading! =)

Chapter Four

Sophia was happy that she had talked her mom into actually going in to eat. She had agreed to just get take out but she wanted to spend as much time out of the house as she could since she knew that once her father was back it would become just as much of a prison as their other house had been. Her mom deserved to have as much fun as she could.

"I thought this place would be a lot more packed considering it's a Friday night," Carol said as they made their way to the car.

Sophia nodded in agreement, still unable to believe how her mom looked in her clothes. "What kind of movies are we after tonight?"

Carol shrugged. "You can pick. I actually wish you weren't stuck with me on a Friday. Isn't hanging out with your mom considered lame?" She winked and Sophia couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"You are far from lame. Especially tonight."

Now it was Carol's turn to roll her eyes as she turned the key in the ignition. The smile fell from her lips when nothing happened. Sophia groaned. "You have to be kidding me! He works at a car dealership! Can't he get us a car that doesn't suck?"

Carol popped the hood and got out without a word. Sophia scrambled out after her.

"Mom, looking at it isn't going to do it any good. You don't know how to fix it, remember?"

Carol cursed under her breath which surprised Sophia a little. Her mom never cussed. "What are we suppose to do now? We're five miles from home and as cute as you say these boots are, I don't want to walk home in them."

Sophia reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Then I'll call Piper and maybe she can have her-" Before she could finish the sentence her mother snatched her phone out of her hands.

"No!"

She stared at her mom with wide eyes and then she grinned. "Oh my God, you think he's hot! And you don't want him coming all the way out here because you don't want to have him see you looking hot because you know he'll think you're hot too!"

"Sophia, that is so far from the truth. I just don't want to bother him. It's late."

"Mom, it's eight o'clock. He didn't strike me as the type to turn in early on a Friday. But okay, lets walk then." She stepped around her, pretending like she was going to head for the road but Carol grabbed her by the arm.

"Fine," she groaned, shoving the phone back into Sophia's hand. "Call your friend."

~H~

Daryl tossed another piece of popcorn into the air, catching it easily on his tongue before he returned his attention to the T.V. screen. He was ignoring the glares from Piper but he could almost feel the venom in the look she was giving him from the other side of the couch.

"You could have talked him into letting me the hell outta here and you know it," she hissed.

Daryl shrugged. "You don't need to go nowhere."

She shook her head. "Just cause you're a lame ass doesn't mean the rest of us have to be."

He caught more popcorn, just because he knew it was pissing her off even more. "What the hell do you expect?" He asked, not looking at her. "You just get outta jail and you think we should just let you run wild again?"

"Like you said, I just got out of jail so maybe you should cut me some damn slack and let me enjoy my freedom."

He finally looked at her. "You fuck up one more time and your ass is gone for a long time, Piper. You know it."

"Yeah, and that's why I won't do anything stupid," she shot back angrily.

"Go outside and take it up with your dad. He made the call, not me."

"He's a damn hypocrite. How many times has he been locked up? Or you for that matter? This house is a goddamn prison!"

"Wow. I didn't know you were tryin' out for drama club, princess."

Before she could pop off with anything else her phone started blaring some heavy metal song. She picked it up and grinned. "Well I'll be damned," she muttered before answering. "What's up square?"

That caught his attention and he looked over at her. She was staring at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Right on. We'll be there in ten." She hung up without giving the person on the other end a chance to even say anything else. "Grab your keys. Sophia and her mom are stranded at the Wok. Car won't start."

He didn't move from his spot on the couch but his pulse quickened slightly. He ignored the weird feeling. "And you just volunteered my services without even askin'? I'm watchin' a movie here."

"This movie sucks ass and you can't just leave them stranded! There's freaks out there. What if they get picked up by some crazy raper or some shit? What if they get tied up in some creeps basement and get beaten to death over the course of a week and a half? What if they get hit by a car trying to get home tonight and they're both splattered on the road or what if-"

"If it'll shut you up then let's go," he growled, standing up and running a hand through his hair. "Things were a lot quieter around here without you, you know that?"

"You missed me, asshole. Don't lie," she shot back as she tossed him the keys to the truck.

Incredibly, it was true. He had missed her but he wasn't about to tell her that. She had a big enough ego already. Merle was out in the shed, working on a carburetor. He could have worked on it at the shop but he wanted to stick around since Piper hadn't been home in three months. He looked up as they made their way towards him.

"I'm goin' with Daryl to pick up a couple of chicks. Don't wait up," Piper said with a grin.

Merle grinned. "Yeah right. If he was pickin' up a couple of chicks he wouldnt' be takin' you with him. Where y'all headin'?"

Daryl shot them both a glare. "Piper's friend and her mom are stranded. I told her today to have that battery looked at. I got one at the shop that'll work."

Merle leaned against the work bench and wiped his hands on a rag. "It's Friday. Piper don't need to be anywhere near that place on a Friday night."

"Are you fucking serious right now!" Piper yelled, stomping her foot.

Daryl elbowed her. "I'll take her with me and she can drive the truck back with the girl. I'll take the kid's mom to the shop with me in her car. It's a fuckin' battery change so it'll only take a minute."

Merle and Piper shared a loaded look. "What's the mom look like, Piper?"

"She's pretty hot. He was checking out her ass today when he was picking me up from school. Then he may have stared into her eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. It was great, you shoulda been there."

Merle turned around, missing Daryl flipping Piper off. He chuckled. "He ain't comin' home tonight if he was already checkin' her out. Make sure you get that truck back here as soon as you can, girl. No runnin' off."

Piper was strangely quiet as they made their way to the restaurant. It wasn't until they were almost there that she opened her mouth. "Maybe since I can't go anywhere then Sophia can just come to the house and hang out."

He glanced at her. "You mean like some kind of slumber party?" He chuckled. "Pillow fights and manicures. What the fuck happened to you, Piper?"

"You're such a dick."

She was glaring out the window when they pulled into the parking lot. He spotted Sophia right away, leaning against the wall with another girl. He didn't pay much attention to them, though. His eyes scanned the parking lot for Carol but she wasn't there.

"Dude..." Piper muttered, nodding to the girls leaning against the wall.

"Where the hell is her mo-" His voice cut off once he realized that the other girl wasn't a girl at all but Carol standing with Sophia.

"Sophia's mom went total milf on you, dude. Dad was right. You ain't coming home tonight. If you're a leg man then there's you an all you can eat buffet. You think she's faking car trouble just so you'd have to come down here and take a look under her hood again? I can't think of another reason for her to be showing off her goods like that."

"Goddamn it, Piper. Shut up!"

They got out and Sophia and Carol both walked towards them. Piper was right. He was kind of a leg man and there was a decent amount of leg put on display. "I'm so sorry about this. Really, if we were closer to home we would have just walked," Carol said, wringing her hands.

He shook his head, trying to keep his eyes on hers so he wouldn't openly check her out. "No big deal. I got a battery at the garage you can have. Piper's gonna drive Sophia back to my place and you can go with me in your car." From the corner of his eye he could see Piper studying him with a grin.

"You don't have to do that!" Carol said quickly, her eyes large and apologetic.

"Well, we could just take you home but you'll have to figure out how to get this taken care of tomorrow. Then you'll probably just call me then anyway cause you don't know anybody else. Might as well get it nipped in the bud now, right?" Was he fucking rambling?

She sighed and then glanced towards her daughter with a scowl.

"What?" Sophia asked innocently.

"You are never picking out my clothes again. Ever," Carol muttered as she breezed by the two girls.

He hung back on purpose watching the sway of her hips as she stormed off towards her car. This was Piper's friend's mom and he needed to stop thinking with his dick. And he was obviously thinking with his dick because he couldn't stop thinking about those legs wrapped around him. He had to shut off the thought because not only was she the mother of Piper's friend, but she was also married and as a rule, he didn't fuck married women. He didn't need the headache.

He made quick work of jumping the car and then he tossed Piper the keys. "You care if Sophia just hangs around at our place till we're done?" He asked, not looking at Carol.

Carol and Sophia shared a look and he could see the hope in the girl's eyes. "It's okay with me. I'll call you when I can pick you up," she said.

Sophia nodded and her and Piper hurried to the truck.

"Piper," he called before she could climb in. "I'm callin' Merle in ten minutes. If you ain't home he's gonna hunt your ass down."

She made a face but refrained from flipping him off or cussing him out, probably for Carol's benefit.

"Really, Daryl, I can't thank you enough for this. We don't know anyone else around here and I really wouldn't have minded walking if I hadn't let my over eager daughter play dress up with me. It's embarrassing. Do you have a wife?"

He raised up so quickly that he slammed his head on the cars hood, cursing loudly.

"Oh! Crap! I'm so sorry, here," she was pulling his hand away from the spot before he knew what was going on. She pulled his head towards her, running her fingers through his hair and then pulling her hand back to check for blood. "I don't think it's bleeding or anything but-" She looked so panicked that he found himself grabbing her wrist and stepping away from her a little. She was crowding him and it was fucking with his thought process.

"I'll live. No sense it getting-" He cut off the sentence. He was about to tell her not to get her panties in a bunch but that wasn't doing a damn thing to help him keep himself in check. "Gettin' all bent out of shape. And no, I ain't married so there ain't no woman pacin' in front of a window somewhere waitin' on me."

She smiled slightly. "Right. Okay. Well, let's get this over with so you can get back home. I know we pretty much ruined your night."

He shook his head. "Not really." He watched as she got into the passenger seat. He remembered Sophia suggesting they call her father. "What about you? Why didn't you just call your husband?" Genuine curiosity had the question slipping from his lips before he even thought about it.

She shrugged. "He's been out of town for a week. He isn't due back until Monday so it's just me and Sophia for now. That and he wouldn't hesitate to leave us stranded and make us walk home anyway. Of course, if he was home I would have been wearing sneakers instead of Sophia's boots and would have been fully equipped to walk home," she rambled on.

He stared at her for a moment before she looked over, her face flushing.

"I'm rambling on and on. I'm sure you just want to hurry up and get this over with," she said as she gestured for him to pull out.

Actually he had a strange feeling that tonight was going to get damn interesting.

I know that some of you are disappointed to see Ed in this but he gets what's coming to him. No worries there. =)