I'm dealing with internet issues so I wanted to get this out as fast as I could before it went out again! Thank you for reading!

Chapter Fifty One

Daryl watched her closely, gauging her mood and her frame of mind. They had made it to the house without any other catastrophes and now she was showing him everything they had done. It was hard for him to pay close attention to everything she was showing him though. He was too busy looking for a sign that she was having seconds thoughts. Second thoughts about him. Second thoughts about them. He was finding out quickly that caring about a woman was hard ass work. He could tell that her smile was forced and he could see the troubled look in her eyes. At times she seemed almost afraid. Of him? Of this life they were about to plow head first into? He wasn't sure.

"So, what do you think?" She asked, meeting his eyes expectantly. She was nearly bouncing with excitement over the house. That wasn't something that she had to force. She loved it, just like he knew he would love it.

He glanced around the room and nodded. "You didn't try to update it. You all just kinda restored it to what it was meant to look like."

She nodded. "I didn't understand why Buck was so happy about that. He said he was afraid I'd try and make it modern on the inside. I told him that if I tried something like that all he would have to do is tell me no. He really did let me do everything. I just thought of what I would want the most and then I did that here, hoping that whoever ended up living here would love it as much as I did."

Daryl let her pull him back upstairs. He wanted to know where her head was at. He wanted to know if she really was just going to sweep murder under the rug. Because regardless of the reasons Buck had done what he had done, it was still murder. And he had skirted around the question when she had asked him if he had ever killed anyone. He was waiting anxiously for that shoe to drop.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, stopping outside of the bathroom door.

"Yeah. You're the one that just got the bombshell dropped on your head today. Are you okay?" He asked.

She met his eyes briefly and then looked away, down the hall. She had changed her clothes but it was still raining out and she had managed to get damp all over again. "I'm trying to understand. And I do understand what happened to Buck when they found those things. I can see a man, a good man, losing it over something like that. I think even I would lose it over something like that. But I know that this isn't first time something like this has happened. I know that Dave wasn't the first. And that's what I'm trying to wrap my head around."

He didn't say anything. He had been born into this. The way they lived, the hard decisions that needed to be made, that was all just a way of life. Family came first and the other members of the club were his brothers. There were times when things were smooth. Other times things happened and they found themselves in positions where they were forced to do things that other men wouldn't ever think of doing.

"I'm mostly worried about Sophia. She was raised in a house with violence. I don't want her to think that-"

"What we do, we do out there. That shit don't cross the threshold," he said firmly, his jaw clenching.

She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Can you really stand there and tell me that it never happens? That the club hasn't done something to someone and it never leaked over into their home?"

He shook his head. "Things like that don't happen no more." He wanted to change the subject. He didn't want to think about that. Not here. Not right now and definitely not with her standing right in front of him.

She tilted her head, a frown in place. "But things like that have happened." It was a statement, not a question.

"My mama's dead. You ever wonder how the fuck that happened?" He snapped, not meaning too but unable to squash the anger that the subject ignited in him. It used to be worse than this. He used to not be able to think about this house. He used to not be able to gaze at a picture of the woman without losing his grip. That tenuous grip on all of that rage.

She made a small shocked sound and took a step away from him. "I didn't realize..."

He swallowed, his throat feeling thick. "Things like that just don't happen anymore, okay."

She nodded, sensing that he wanted to change the subject but unable to keep her next words to herself. "If it's too hard for you to be here, we can go somewhere else. Anywhere else. I don't want you living in a house that... hurts you every time you walk in the door. We can stay with Buck or-"

He shook his head, her voice somehow soothing his anger, taming it in a way that he couldn't do on his own. Never could have. "It ain't like that anymore," he said, stepping into her space.

She raised her eyes, looking at him from under her lashes. "Are you sure. It's just a house. You're more important than a house."

"I'm serious. I've always wanted to come back here." He shrugged, "Just never thought I could. But it ain't bad. She woulda wanted me here. It's home."

"If you're sure."

"Are you sure?" He countered.

She shook her head. "I'm scared to death. I'd be stupid not to be."

"Because of what happened with Buck and Dave?"

She shook her head, more adamantly this time. "Not just that. How much time have we spent together?"

He knew where she was going with this. "None, really. Other than... you know."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. What if we find out that we don't even like each other? What if you end up realizing you've made a horrible call and you weren't ready for any of this? What if I get on your nerves or- What if another woman shows up and you find out that you're bored with this kind of life and you-"

He shook his head. "How many times do I gotta tell you? You're it. I even tried to get you out of my head. I can't. I can't go back to that, even if I wanted too."

She studied him, searching his eyes. "You don't feel like this is all just, I don't know... crazy?"

"Yeah. It's batshit. You know how slim the chances of all of this working out are?" He asked. Her face fell but he pushed on. "But it's gonna work out."

"How do you know?"

He shrugged and the corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided smile. "Cause I want it to work out."

She scowled. "And you think that's enough?"

"I know it is. I always get what I want."

"You're obnoxious, Daryl Dixon. That isn't how things work."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, that's ridiculous."

"How many other men had you cheated on Ed with?" He asked simply.

"None. You know that."

"But you didn't hesitate, not even a little, when I went for it, did you?"

She flushed and then swallowed hard. "Well, no. But that-"

"I got what I wanted."

"Do you honestly think that things are going to be easy for us because you want them to be?" She asked, disbelief heavy in her tone.

He shook his head. "No, but it sounded good."

She smiled and then sighed heavily. "We'll make this work."

"Yeah, we will."

They both looked up at the sound of heavy steps coming up the stairs. Sophia stopped when she saw them and Daryl couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Carol had lost her shit on the girl. He'd never heard her raise her voice before. Not out of anger and certainly not at Sophia. Daryl knew the kid was tough but Carol didn't see it. But today, hearing about Sophia's role in finding Dave, she had gotten scared and fear had spurred on a bone-a-fide mom fit like non Daryl had ever seen.

"Which room is mine?" She asked, looking at him instead of Carol.

He glanced at Carol but she was eying Sophia. "Hell if I know. Which one do you want?"

She looked up at the ceiling. "Can I have the third floor room? The top of the tower? That way I'll at least have a view of the outside world."

"Take it," he shrugged. He felt sorry for her. She was, as of this morning, grounded for the rest of the summer. Even Daryl had put up a fight for her but Carol wouldn't listen to either of them. She was scared for the girl but Sophia wasn't looking at it like that.

"Thanks, Daryl."

"Sophia," Carol called when the girl turned to head for the door leading up.

Sophia stopped, her bags in her hands, but she didn't turn around.

"Don't you think you'd be happier being closer? Maybe the bedroom at the end of the hall?" Carol asked cautiously.

Sophia just shook her head in response and continued on her way. Carol sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"She was just tryin' to help," Daryl muttered.

"It isn't just what she did with the whole Dave situation, Daryl. Fighting at school. Drinking. Lying all the time about where she's been and where she's going. I don't know what to do with her."

He wasn't sure what to say because she wasn't going to agree with any of the points that he made. He thought she was being too hard on the girl. Then again, he wasn't a dad. Not in the literal sense just yet anyway. He understood anyone with an aversion to authority however and since Sophia didn't really have anyone in her corner at the moment he felt compelled to at least put up a small fight for the kid. Merle had stood behind Carol but Sophia hadn't had anyone. "Maybe doin' nothin' is the best thing you could do."

Carol turned her head slowly and he knew this wasn't a good sign. "Like I did when she spent the night with a boy and skipped school the next day? I didn't do anything then. I have to do something. You can't say that what she did should go unpunished." She stared at him, her eyes wide.

He shrugged. "The kid didn't ask for any of this, Carol. She got shoved into a whole other world and all she's tryin' to do is tread water. She was stuck under Ed's thumb, playing peace maker, trying to protect you. She took shit from everybody. Maybe she's just sick and tired of takin' shit. She's what? She ain't to far away from being seventeen? You know how many times I had gotten locked up by the time I was her age? Five." He stated without waiting for her to guess a number. "She's gonna fuck up. Let her fuck up."

"I'm her mother. I'm not her friend," she said, her chin going up.

"Oh don't give me that shit. You know who says shit like that? People on a power trip. Once she's thirty years old do you think she's gonna look back on her childhood and remember all the times somebody told her what to do, how to think, how to act, what to wear, what to say? Fuck no she ain't. She's gonna remember the people that treated her like a fuckin' person. She'll remember the times she felt like her own opinions mattered. She ain't a toy. She ain't a robot. She ain't some sort of pet that needs training. She's got her own head on her shoulders and she ain't gotta be like you. Lock her in a box and your gonna be in for a whole world of rebellion."

She stared at him, her eyes wide. "I don't expect her to be like me. I expect her to use her brain. I expect her to think about her actions before she acts. I don't want her getting hurt."

He understood where she was coming from. He really did. But he thought that maybe she wasn't really looking at this situation from all angles. "Let me talk to her."

She motioned for the open door to the stairs. "By all means, have at it."

"That room she picked out is the only room that ain't finished. I'll run her into town to pick up some paint. Or is her being under lock down mean she can't leave the house with me?" He cocked an eyebrow, earning him an eye roll.

"Merle will be here any minute though."

He shrugged. "Then this is good timing. I think he feels all butthurt cause he ain't got you all to himself anymore."

She sighed. "Are you jealous of your brother?"

He laughed. "No. Actually, a little but that's all on me. I was gone. He was there. Stings a little bit. But you're important to him. I get that. I know my brother wouldn't try to stick his nose in my kool-aid. Or his dick in my woman."

She grimaced. "You're disgusting."

"You love it," he called over his shoulder as he walked towards the stairs.