I loved the response to the last chapter and I'm glad most of you aren't blaming one person, but blaming both Carol and Daryl for what is going on. That was how I wanted to present it to you guys, so it makes me happy that a lot of you saw that! :)
Chapter Thirty
Daryl woke up earlier than he usually did, hoping that the events of the past few days had all been a nightmare. There was no way Carol would be lying to him. She loved him. Right? Why would she look him in the face and lie? But when he turned to look at her sleeping form, curled to his side of the bed, everything came back and he knew that it wasn't a nightmare he had dreamed, but one he was living.
Carol was hiding something, something that she desperately didn't want him to know and it made Daryl think that it could only be one thing. But he would never know because she would never tell him. And that was why he had to leave. Maybe if he left now, it would hurt a little less when she finally told him the truth and ended everything.
Who was he kidding? He would feel this pain for the rest of his life.
Sighing, he ran a hand down his face and quietly slipped out of the bed and grabbed his bag from the closest. All of his clothes and other belongings were here, now, and his old home was an empty shell with a few pieces of furniture, so it would take him several trips until he removed everything from Carol's house. He wished he could do it all in one jus so he wouldn't have to step foot in the house once he left.
Daryl slid open the top drawer of the dresser to begin shoving his clothes inside and tried to ignore Carol's clothes folded neatly beside his.
A gasp had him tensing, but he would not turn around.
"Daryl what-what are you doing?" Carol sounded panicked and Daryl's hand stilled on one his shirts.
He would not turn around. Not until he was done packing and his mind was absolutely made up to leave.
"What does it look like?" He snapped and slammed the last drawer shut, instantly regretting the harsh words and actions, but he couldn't take them back.
Carol gasped, again, and this time it sounded more like a sob. The rustle of blankets being thrown had him finally turning around to face his wife. She won't be your wife much longer...
"Daryl, please." She walked toward him, grasped his arm and begged. Her eyes were wide, pleading and full of tears.
He easily shook her off to take a step back and turn to the door. "Leave me alone," he growled.
"Please," Carol pleaded and took a step closer. "You don't have to do this!"
"Oh. I don't?" He whirled on her, fast, and she stepped back with a little cry, frightened. Some of the fight left him. He never wanted to see that look on her face, and never because of him. He was not her abusive ex-husband.
But you will be her ex-husband...
With a sound of disgust, more at himself than her, he snapped his bag shut and walked out of the bedroom door. He was still in his nightclothes, but he knew he could always change at work. Right now, he just wanted to get the hell out of there.
"Daryl!" Why wouldn't she leave him alone? "Daryl, why are you doing this?"
He stopped in the kitchen and looked her straight in the eye as he shrugged. "No reason," he lied.
Daryl wished he could find satisfaction in the way Carol's face crumpled when she realized the real reason why he was leaving. It was because of her. It was because of her lies.
"Daryl, please." She reached for him, tears streaming down her face, but he wouldn't waver in his decision.
"I'll come back for the rest of my stuff later," he said, his voice cold and emotionless. "It was fun while it lasted." He felt numb inside as he turned to leave the kitchen, leave the house and leave Carol.
"Ed texts me!" She cried. "He leaves me messages on my phone all the time, telling me that he's going to find me and make me regret ever leaving him." Carol wasn't looking at him when he turned around in shock. Instead, she clutched at her arms like she was cold and started at the linoleum floor.
"He texted me the other night and called me Mrs. Dixon. He knows who you are. He's met you."
Daryl didn't remember meeting any Eds, except... he froze. Edward Peletier. Of course. It had to be him. It explained why Carol had stilled when she had seen the black Charger in the garage. She had recognized the car. She probably had even ridden in it numerous times before and yet, she hadn't told him a thing. Anger coursed through anew through his veins.
"A few days ago, after I stopped by to see you at the garage, I was at the store and he was there," she continued, everything seemed to pouring out from her, again. "He told me that there was no place I could hide where he wouldn't be able to find me. He said that I belonged to him and it didn't matter that I was getting married to you, I was still his."
"And you didn't think any of that was important enough to tell me?" The words left his mouth like a snarl and he hated how she flinched and wouldn't meet his eyes.
"I didn't...I didn't want you to know how...insane he is. I didn't want you to leave me because of it. And-And I thought that the less you knew of him, the better." She clutched her arms tighter and looked up at him. "I thought if you were to know about him, he would find some way to hurt you just to get to me. I've had nightmares. Terrible nightmare. And I was so wrong. I should have told you about him because no matter if you knew him or not, he would harm you to get to me. So. Please, Daryl. I can't-" A sob escaped her lips.
"Why didn't you tell me all this before?" He asked, softly. "You should have known that I would have protected you from him. You should have known that you could trust me. I loved you."
Carol's face fell into pure anguish. "Loved?"
"Goodbye, Carol"
Without looking back, Daryl walked out the front door of Carol's house, tried hard to ignore her wracking sobs, climbed into his truck and left.
The rest of the day went sluggishly slow for Daryl. No amount of work could speed the day up. When he had returned to his old home, he had gone straight to his bedroom to change and didn't even bother to look around to see the state it was in for sitting empty for a few weeks. All he wanted to do was get the fuck out of there and not think about he was going to be staying there, now.
The clanging of the other mechanics was background noise, but they didn't do anything to remove the sound of Carol's sobs from his head. The sound would probably be with him for the rest of his life.
"I loved you." He had said, knowing that it wasn't true. Daryl still was in love with Carol. Nothing could change that and he knew it would not diminish over time, even if he never saw her again. Carol had been it and now, she was lost to him. No other woman would ever take her place in his heart.
"Hey, Daryl. You all right?" He was blissfully pulled from his thoughts for a moment when he heard Jim approach him. That was when he realized he had been staring at the same engine, without moving, for the past several minutes.
"Uh, yeah. I'm good." He leaned further under the hood and tried to act like he about to do something, so that Jim would hopefully get the hint and leave him alone.
"You sure, man?" No such luck. "You're not having marital problems already, are you?" It was meant to tease, but Daryl tensed up and resisted the urge to throw his wrench at the other man's face.
"I said everythin' was fine," he snapped and turned around, wrench clutched in his fist. "Now, leave me alone!"
Jim backed up with his hands up and eyes wide. "Whoa, sorry, man. I just thought I would check up on you." Without another word, he left and Daryl was grateful. He knew he shouldn't have taken his anger out on the other man, who had only wanted to help. Daryl felt even shittier.
Maybe he deserved to be alone.
Carol didn't know how long she sat there, back pressed against the kitchen cabinets close to the floor. The tears had left her eyes red and swollen and her throat raw. Her limps were sore from being in the same position for a long period of time. But she couldn't find it in her to move from her spot. From there she had a perfect view of the front door, the same front door she knew Daryl would never walk through again. He was gone for good.
This brought on another round of sobs. She was so pathetic.
Oh look, Carol dear. You just destroyed your second marriage... Ed's smug voice flitted through her mind and she didn't have the energy to force him away. Not now. And maybe not ever, again.
Maybe you should just let me find you. I'd make you so happy. I promise.
"No!" She screamed and stood, surprised at herself. Where had that come from? Then, she heard Ed laughing and she clutched her head. "Get out of my head, you bastard. You don't own me. You've never owned me and never will."
Not giving herself time to think twice about what she was going to do, Carol ran to her room, grabbed her phone from the drawer and threw it as hard as she could at the wall. It left a dent in the plaster and shattered into several pieces. No longer would Ed be able to text her, to taunt her and a weight lifted from her shoulders. But the weight on her heart still remained.
If only she had had the courage to that a long time ago. If she had, then she would have had no reason to lie to Daryl. But there was no changing the past. Daryl was still gone and was not going to come back.
"I loved you."
"I loved you."
Everything was her fault. Daryl had left because of her and she had no one to blame but herself. If only she had been truthful from the beginning. She should have known that Daryl would have never left her once he found out everything about Ed, but being married to Ed had jaded her and made her untrusting of any man. Even the one who had loved her so much.
Carol walked back to the kitchen and climbed into the window seat of her large bay window. Clutching her knees to her chest, she kept her eyes on the forest that, only a few weeks ago, had been where she had found the man she would come to love with her whole being.
"You're a God damned idiot, you know that?"
Daryl paused in the eating of his lunch when a voice in his head started yelling at him. It sounded suspiciously like Merle.
"You finally get yourself a woman and then, you leave her."
"She lied to me. She didn't trust me." He felt like a complete fool for speaking aloud but there was no one else around to over hear him, since he was eating his lunch in the yard behind the garage.
"She did it because she thought it was a way to protect you. Yeah, she went about it fuckin' stupid, but cut her some slack."
Daryl didn't understand. This was definitely Merle talking to him in his head, but he had been the one to tell Daryl that he needed to leave Carol.
"Well, it looks like I'm the only one your hard-headed self would listen to, so of course I'm your damn inner voice."
Oh.
And it was true. Daryl thought he had been free to make his own choices since Merle was off in jail, but the first time Merle told him to do something, Daryl did it. There had been no hesitation, either. It was like nothing had changed. Daryl was being the obedient dog that followed Merle's every order.
Carol shouldn't have lied to him and shouldn't have kept such important things from him, but he shouldn't have treated her the way he had before he left. He shouldn't have treated her like shit just because he was angry and hurt. Both of them had made terrible decisions; he in leaving and she in her omission of information. He should have gone to her once she had spilled everything about Ed. It had clearly been eating her up inside keeping it from him. But he had been dumb.
And to think, that same man who had been messaging her with threats, was the same man who had come back only two days before and shook hands with Daryl, telling him he had done a great job on his vehicle. The smug prick had known exactly who he was. If Daryl ever saw him, again, he was going to kill him.
"So, now you realized how big of an ass you, what is your plan now? You goin' to go back to the girl?"
Yes, he would. He would return to Carol, ask her to forgive him and he would kiss her. Afterwards, they would talk. Calmly. She would tell him everything. He wouldn't get angry and take in everything. Then, he would let her know how much it hurt to know she was keeping something from him, and then, they would promise not act this way ever again.
Daryl made a decision, right there. After work, he was going to the movie rental place.
Carol watched as the sun sank below the tree line, feeling like a statue as she sat unmoving and cold. She might as well have been a statue because her heart was already stone. It weighed heavily in her chest. If Daryl were to come back, she would tell him sorry a thousand times and hoped that it would be enough for him to forgive her. She would promise to tell him everything, as well.
When someone knocked on the door, Carol's heart thumped faster in her chest. Could it be Daryl? Had he come back? Sliding off the window sheet, she nearly ran to the door and flung it open, ready to start her apologies. But what if it wasn't Daryl? The thought stopped her before she could reach for the handle.
If it was Daryl, he wouldn't have knocked.
It could be Ed... Deep down, she almost hoped it was him just so all of this could end. There would be no more reason to hide, no more reason to constantly have to look over her shoulder, afraid, and no more reason to lie.
Carol took a step back from the door, afraid to open it now. If it were Ed, what would happen?
Nothing, she thought. I won't let him hurt me, again.
She ran to her room, grabbed the gun, made sure it was loaded and went back to the front door. She held the gun at her side and opened the door. Carol looked right into the eyes of...Daryl Dixon.
Carol wanted to cry. The gun clattered the ground. How could her mind play such a cruel trick on her? Gripping the handle of the door, she moved so she could slam it shut, but Daryl moved quickly to place his forearm on the wood and stopped it before it could close.
"Carol, wait," he said.
No. It couldn't be a trick. "Daryl. You're really...here?"
He gave her a half-smile and she nearly wept at the sight. She never thought she would see a smile on his face, again. "Yeah, I'm here." His eyes went to the gun on the ground. "I hope that wasn't for me."
"No." She picked up the weapon, stepped aside and let Daryl inside. "But why are you here? I thought..." She had been so horrible to him. He shouldn't be here.
"Because I was stupid. I treated you like shit and I'm sorry." His hand went to cup her cheek, but stopped before it could touch her skin.
"I was the one who lied to you. I should be the one to apologize. I should have told you everything from the very beginning," she looked down and away from him.
"I'm not goin' to disagree with that, because you should have done those things...but I know you had your reasons." They stepped into the light of the kitchen and Daryl watched as Carol placed the gun on the counter. A surge of pride went through him, knowing that she had gotten the gun for Ed and that she had been prepared to use it if it had been him at the door.
"We were both stupid. I should have talked to you before I decided to leave. You had no idea what was going on, at first, and I shouldn't have left you like I did." He looked ashamed and this time it was Carol's turn to reach out. She made contact with his shoulder and smiled.
"It's all right."
"No! Don't say it's all right because it's not," his eyes flashed in anger, but towards her. "I'm not Ed. You don't have to agree with everything I say and you don't have to make excuses for my shitty actions."
"I know," she said, softly. "God, I know you're not Ed."
"And now that I know who Ed is and what he looks like, I hope he comes back to the garage so I can kick his ass."
She smiled, loosening up some of the tension in the air. Everything was going better than she had hoped. "I would help."
Daryl chuckled lightly before turning serious. "We really do need to talk, Carol. This was good and we got some things worked out, but still have to sit down and discuss everything so we make sure this never happens, again."
Carol nodded solemnly. "I know. I'm ready to tell you everything you want to know."
"But first, let's unwind a little. Today, was pretty stressful on us and I think we should relax some before we hit it hard. I brought some movies." He held up two DVD cases. "I went to the movie place and asked if they had any movies with that Carl guy you like."
She giggled. "Cary Elwes?" It felt good to laugh and smile with him, again. It was almost like they hadn't been separated.
"Yeah. Him. Anyways, they had two movies and I got both. See?"
Carol read the titles. "Twister and Ella Enchanted." A laugh escaped her before she could cover her mouth with a hand. Daryl narrowed his eyes at her, not knowing what she found so funny.
"What?" He asked.
"Do you know he plays an asshole in one of these movies and a bad guy in the other?"
"Really?" He squinted down at the covers before looking at her with a smirk. "Well, that makes me look a lot better, doesn't it?"
"Of course," she patted him on the bicep. "You're not a bad guy."
"But...I'm an asshole?"
"You can be...and I can be a bitch, so we're even." She winked and made her way to one of the cupboards by the refrigerator.
"What are you doin'?"
"I'm going to make us some popcorn. Why don't you put one of the movies in?"
"All right," he said and grabbed the cases before he started to head towards the dark living room.
"I have some wine for our talk later, too," she called from the kitchen. He heard the beeps from the microwave as she pressed the buttons for heating up the popcorn.
"That's good," he said. When he got to the DVD player, he looked down at the two movies, brows furrowed.
"Uh, Carol?" He yelled behind him. "Which one do you want to watch first?"
"Hmm," she hummed. "How about the one with asshole Cary?" She answered. "I think you'll like that one."
Daryl looked back at the cases and then, the kitchen. "Uh..."
"Twister!"
"Oh. Got it." Thank God. The other movie looked like it was made for teenaged girls. There was no way he was going to watch it.
"Tomorrow, we can watch Ella Enchanted!"
Fuck.
So, Twister is one of my favorite movies and its not because of Cary Elwes. He's barely in it (and doesn't last every long, either). The other day I was watching Ella Enchanted and saw that he was the bad guy, which I didn't realize until, then, and since I've already included The Princess Bride and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, why not add these two, too?
I hope that this was a believable way for them to make up. They aren't all the way there, yet, but they soon will be! I hate having them fight and this was a pretty big one.
Thanks for reading!