I just want to apologize for the wait. These past few weeks have been rough! Just two more weeks, and then I am off for winter break! :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Fifteen

Carol hated the loneliness that settled over her as she lay in her bed later that night. Daryl had only spent the night there once, and already she was feeling his absence like a stabbing pain in her heart. Fear also attributed to the feeling. Ed had been spotted nearby, and now, he knew that she was around the area somewhere. He wouldn't leave, or stop in his search, until she was found. A shudder coursed through Carol's body. If Daryl were there, she would have clung to him, would have intertwined their legs to ensure that he was really there. Daryl would like her nearness; Carol couldn't help but smile at that. She knew Daryl would like having her so near, and would probably pull her so close that there would be no space between their bodies.

Daryl loves me. The thought would run through her mind at any hour and never failed to calm her down. Daryl loved her, even though she had given him reasons not to. It was going to take Carol awhile to get use to the fact that this man was in it for the long haul. She grew giddy just thinking about how they would grow old together. That was all she had ever wanted in a marriage; knowing that you would be spending the rest of your life with someone that made you happy. Ed had crushed that during the first few months of their marriage. The first time he had hit her, all dreams of having children with him disappeared. There was no way she would ever bring a child into that kind of relationship. But maybe with Daryl...

Even in the dark, Carol knew that her face had to be beet red. For them to have children, it would mean they would have to have...

"What do you think is going to happen on your wedding night, silly?" She said to the dark room. The thought of being with Daryl in the most intimate of ways caused her stomach to flutter with butterflies of nervousness...and excitement.

Daryl's small, twin bed seemed even smaller as he lay down for the night. The moment he had walked into his home, a few hours earlier, he had regretted leaving Carol. She had wanted him to stay another night, and he should have taken advantage. But work was early in the morning, and Daryl knew if he were to wake up with Carol glued to his side and snoring softly in his ear, like she had that morning, then he would never want to leave the bed. That was something he would have to get use to, however, when they finally tied the know.

Thinking of his impending marriage, Daryl was reminded that he would have to call off work soon. He wasn't sure if Carol wanted a honeymoon, or where they would even go if they had one, but their was no fucking way he was going to go back to work so soon after marrying the woman he loved. But he wasn't looking forward to telling his boss. Daryl never called off work for any reason, and he was sure he'd have to give one, now. Then, it would be all over the garage in minutes.

Groaning, he placed his forearm over his eyes. He was not looking forward to the shit he was going to get from the men he worked with. They were all a rough bunch, and as far as Daryl knew, only two of them were married. However, the only thing worse than getting shit from them was getting shit from Merle. But Daryl knew that he didn't have to tell Merle about his marrying Carol. He could leave it out every time he visited and make his brother figure it out once he was out of jail.

Daryl smiled. Yeah, that's what I'll do. He was almost looking forward to when Merle returned to their house and saw that Daryl no longer lived there, and instead, was with Carol. He could just imagine the look on his older brother's face and laughed. In two year's time, Merle was going to be in for a mighty surprise.

Carol had always enjoyed her lazy days. Well, most days were lazy days for her. Too afraid to go out and get a job, or to finish working on her degree, Carol had been living off the hefty amount of money her parents had left when they died. Luckily, she had never spoken about it with Ed; otherwise he would have found a way to get his greedy hands on it. But the money was not going to last forever, and she knew that she needed to find a job soon. She couldn't rely on Daryl to support the two of them. He was already doing her a favor with marrying her, and giving her protection (even though he didn't know about it), and it didn't feel right to expect more from him.

Carol had always dreamt about having a classroom of her own, filled with students that were eager to learn. If only she had been stronger, and hadn't let Ed manipulate her into quitting school and ending her dream. She would have been able to fulfill her wish of becoming a teacher. But as much as she wished to blame Ed for all it, Carol knew it was all her fault. She should have seen the way Ed was before she had agreed to marry him.

Ding!

A cold knot of fear formed in Carol's stomach when she heard the familiar and horrifying sound of her phone going off in the kitchen. Please be Daryl, she silently begged as she made her way to where her phone rested on one of the counters. Please just be Daryl texting to tell me to have a good day. Carol continued to plead in her mind, even though Daryl had never texted her before. With shaky hands, she picked up the phone and turned it on to read the message.

I hope you have been thinking about me, my dear, since you saw me at the restaurant. Some day very soon, I will find you. I can feel it. Does that make you happy?

Carol nearly dropped the phone back on the counter, not wanting to see the words on her phone, anymore. Ed was sounding more and more...unstrung with every new text he sent her. Was the man losing his mind looking for her? This scared Carol even more. Her ex-husband had never been predictable during their marriage. One day he would come home, paying her compliments and on the next day, he would come home spitting mad and blaming her for every bad thing he could think of. Now, he was even more unpredictable. There was no telling what he would if he ever found her.

Carol needed to do something that would get her mind off Ed and the increasingly creepy texts he kept sending to her phone. The garden didn't need weeding, though, and that was normally who go to place to calm her nerves. The house was spotless and the cupboards were full, so there was no need to go grocery shopping. But there was one thing she could do.

Daryl still needed a ring.

However, she didn't know his finger size. I could ask him, she thought. Or...I can be sneaky about it so he doesn't suspect what I'm doing. A smile spread across her face. Carol remembered Daryl telling her where he worked, and now, she planned on giving him a visit. Grabbing her keys from further down on the counter, she slipped on some shoes and walked out the door... only to walk right back only minutes later.

She was still in her pajamas.

"Yo, Dixon, there's someone here to see you!" Daryl bumped his head on the hood of the car he was working on when Jim yelled his name. Wincing, he rubbed the back of his head and checked to see if there was any blood. Luckily, there wasn't.

"Be right there!" He called back, not knowing who would be there to visit him. Merle was in jail and Carol was probably relaxing at home.

Approaching where Jim stood, he noticed the smirk on the other man's face. "It's a lady," he said.

Carol? Quickly, he rubbed his oily hands on his jeans. Fuck, he probably looked a mess.

"Pretty little thing, too, with them blue eyes."

Definitely Carol, but what was she doing here?

"She your girl?"

"Uh, yeah, you can say that." His mind was distracted as he brushed by Jim and walked into the front part of the garage where they received their customers. Carol was sitting in one of the chairs and when she saw him, stood and smiled.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hey." It was weird seeing her at his place of work, but weird in a good way. In his head, he could picture her visiting him during his lunch break and eating with him, or waiting until he got off his shift so they could do something together.

"I hope you don't mind me being here." Carol fidgeted with the purse slung on her shoulder and tentatively looked at him.

"Don't mind at all. But is everything okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I just came to ask a question."

Daryl blinked in confusion. The question must have been important if she had to visit him at work to ask. "Go ahead."

"Which do you like better? Gold or silver?"

This even confused him more. "Uh, silver."

"Okay!" Carol gave him a wide smile. "That's all I needed to know. I'll see you later!" She turned to leave, but stopped. "Shoot. Almost forgot." Turning back to him, she held out her hand. "Can I see your left hand for a moment?"

"Uh, sure." Daryl presented his left hand to her and winced when he saw that he had not been successful in removing all of the oil stains. However, Carol didn't seem bothered by them and grasped his much larger hand in hers. He watched as she deftly slipped a loop of string on his left finger, tightened it and pulled it back off; making sure the loop remained intact.

"Okay, now, that's it." Carol safely tucked the loop in one of the pockets of her purse before turning back to him. Going up on tip toes, she pecked him on the mouth, this time giving him a kiss before turning to leave. "I'll see you later." And she was gone, leaving a very confused Daryl behind.

The jeweler was very eager to help Carol when she walked into the only jewelry store in town, and if he thought it odd that she had brought a string as a way of figuring out Daryl's ring size, he didn't let it show. For being small, the store had a wide variety of male wedding bands and Carol's eyes widened at the several silver bands she saw.

"Describe your fiancé to me, miss." The older gentleman leaned his elbows on the display case and looked down at the glittering bands in front of Carol.

"Um, well." Describe Daryl? They had only known one another for a week. Could she do this? "Daryl is very...simple." Was that the right word? "Practical, too. He seems rough, but very soft around the edges." She peered at the man. "Is that what you meant?"

The man smiled. "That was perfect, my dear." Stepping back, he opened one of the cases and plucked a band out. "I think this may be perfect." The band was black and silver and Carol could instantly see Daryl wearing it. The design was simple, but not too simple that it was boring.

"I-I think I'll get that one." The other bands in the display case did not appeal to her, anymore. Was it fate that she would find the perfect ring on the first try?

"Are you sure? I don't want you to think that you have to get it because I suggested it." Unlike many other jeweler's Carol had encountered this man didn't seem set on making a purchase; he generally wanted her to like the ring before committing to buy it.

"I love it."

"All right, and you're just in luck. This is the size that your man is. So, I'll go make it shine even more and then, I'll ring you up, dear."

"Okay." Carol's hands shook as she reached for her wallet. It was going to take everything in her to not go back to the garage and hand him the ring right there.

Since I SUCK at describing rings and stuff, here's a pic of Daryl's ring. www. romantissimo elegant- black- tungsten- wedding-bands. html /black-and-silver-tungsten-wedding-bands

Thanks for reading!