The Spare Room

Summary: The bills keep piling up and if Daryl Dixon has any hope of improving his life, he and his brother are going to have to find someone to fill their spare room. The problem is that while he can't stand his new roommate, he finds himself falling for his roommate's girlfriend. Caryl. AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that you recognize from the Walking Dead.

Chapter 13

Merle was in an alcohol-induced stupor that had been made worse by a couple pills. His vision swam in and out of focus, but that didn't matter too much to him as a pair of tits bounced in front of his eyes as the girl he had went home with rode his dick. She was as fucked up as he was and was trying just as hard to get off. She felt good, though, and Merle knew it wouldn't be long until he came.

He wasn't aware of much else, though every now and again, he heard moans and groans from across the room. He heard Ed's voice snap, "Take it, Bitch," and the muffled sounds of a woman.

Merle didn't think too hard on it as the girl fucked him harder. The sounds that she made told him that she was close.

Then she came around him, pulling him over the edge with her. She collapsed against Merle's body, allowing him to see over her shoulder. In the kitchen of the shitty apartment that he found himself in, he saw Ed propped against the kitchen counter as some girl sucked him off. Ed finished and then quickly shoved the girl away from him down onto the floor. She lay there for a moment as Merle's vision blurred over again. When it blurred back into focus, Ed was hauling the girl up by her red hair…it was dyed. Merle could tell. Ed shoved the red-head against the counter, forcing her head against the cheap countertop.

"Fuckin' whore!" Ed shouted out, "Fuckin' filthy skank!"

Suddenly, Merle wasn't in the cheap-ass apartment.

Suddenly, he was ten-years-old sitting sprawled out on the kitchen floor, his eye already swelling from the hit he had received from the old man. He watched as his father slammed his mother up against the refrigerator, shouting bad words…words that would have got Merle's mouth washed out with soap if his mama ever caught him using them. Merle wanted to get up. He wanted to drag his pa away from his mama. He wanted to make her stop hurting…stop screaming. He didn't care that Pa would hit him again. Then he heard a sniffling sound come from his right. Little Daryl was there, just a two-year-old whelp clutching a light green baby blanket. His eyes were wide in fear and his pacifier threatened to fall from his quivering lips. Merle changed direction, going towards his brother instead of his mother and hating that he had to leave his mama to their Pa. He knew that if Daryl started crying, Pa would be even madder and both Merle and his mama would die before they let anything happen to that boy.

Merle snapped back to reality. He shoved the boneless girl off his body and stood, hiking up his pants. He crossed the apartment in four long strides. He grabbed Ed by the back of the shirt and hauled him off of the red-head.

"The fuck!" Ed protested, struggling in Merle's grasp. Merle pushed Ed roughly towards the front door, intent on getting the fucker out of that apartment. Once outside, Merle had Ed shoved up against the wall.

"Ya fuckin' do that shit again, I'll beat ya ass into the ground!" Merle snarled, "Fuckin' prick!" he snapped, shoving Ed towards the stairs. Ed's feet moved, but they didn't move well as he stumbled and staggered down and out of the apartment complex. Merle followed him, listening as Ed raved and ranted.

"She's a fuckin' whore! Fuckin' slut suckin' on anythin' and anyone! Just like that fuckin' bitch!"

"Shut the fuck up and let's get the fuck outta this shit!" Merle snarled back, moving towards Ed's car that was parked across the street.

0-TSR-0

"So when are you going?" Catherine asked, watching as her sister pinned her hair up again.

"One," Carol answered around the bobby pins in her mouth.

"And why are you putting your hair up again after you spent a half-hour taking it all down?" Catherine wondered, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"I had to take it down so Mom and Dad thought I was going to bed," Carol told her.

"Why can't you just leave it down?" Catherine questioned, "It doesn't make sense to do it all up again."

"Ed likes it up," Carol replied, sticking a bobby pin in to hold a strand of hair behind her ear.

Catherine frowned, "Seems like a lot of effort."

"When you have a boyfriend, you put in the effort," Carol said.

"You sound like Mom," Catherine remarked. Carol smiled at her sister in the reflection of the mirror.

"Then I guess she knows what she's talking about after all," she said, "Ed always says that I should look good for him. Says people will talk if he's seen out with someone who looks like they just rolled out of bed."

"But at one in the morning? You did just roll out of bed," Catherine asked, "Who's gonna even see you?"

"You never know," Carol shrugged, turning back to the mirror to get started on reapplying her make-up.

"I dunno," Catherine said, "It doesn't really seem fair, does it? You have to get all pretty for him and he doesn't have to do a thing."

"That's just the way it is, Cath. Mom's the same way. She always looks good for daddy and she always makes sure that we look good when we go out."

"Yeah. Heaven forbid we meet a good-looking gentleman and we have a hair out of place. What man could ever propose to such an unkempt looking woman?" Catherine snorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Besides, why are you even listening to all of Mom's lectures now? You really didn't listen to them when you and Ed…you know…"

Carol paused in the application of her lipstick and turned to face Catherine, "That was different."

"How?"

Carol scrunched up her face in annoyance as she explained herself to her sister, "Ed and I will be married someday so there was no sense in waiting. That's an old-fashioned idea anyway. On the other hand, Mom knows how to keep a husband so she must know what she's talking about some of the time."

"You're really going to marry Ed?" Catherine questioned, "Even though Mom and Dad don't like him?"

"They don't know him," Carol corrected, "and yes, I am going to marry Ed."

"You don't have a ring," Catherine pointed out, nodding her head towards Carol's left hand.

Carol huffed, "Not yet, but we've talked about it. I wouldn't have given myself to him if I didn't want to marry him, Cath. I love him and he loves me."

"But he doesn't like the rest of us," Catherine said.

Carol frowned, "He likes you all."

"But he doesn't ever come around," Catherine observed, "Isn't a man supposed to meet your parents and court you or something before he asks daddy for your hand?"

"Ed says that's an old-fashioned idea," Carol dismissed, "It's nineteen-ninety-seven not eighteen-ninety-seven."

Catherine shrugged at this. Satisfied that her sister was done speaking, Carol turned back to the mirror. She felt tense and had felt tense ever since she had left the theatre. She spent so much time defending Ed to everyone and it had hurt a little that she had to do the same thing with Daryl. Even though she had only known him for a short time, she felt like he really understood her. She felt like she could always count on him to have her back and to find out that he hated Ed felt like a betrayal to her in a strange way. It felt like he had joined the ranks of everyone else that questioned her relationship with Ed. It didn't sit well with her. It made her feel on edge. She didn't like disagreeing with him and she didn't like the way they had left each other at the theatre, with awkward 'goodbyes' and nervous gestures.

It felt wrong.

And as a result, Carol had stewed on their interaction for a lot of the remainder of the night, and with each thought, she felt more tense and more of a need to justify to herself and everyone else that her relationship was right and good.

"You know," Catherine ventured softly, seeming a little unsure, "While you were getting ready for bed, I heard Mama and Daddy talking."

"And?" Carol asked.

"And they said that you ought to be with someone like Daryl."

The lipstick tube fell from Carol's fingers and clattered against the vanity surface, "What?" she choked out, whirling around to face her sister.

"They said that he was a nice young man," Catherine continued, "Mama said that he was polite and considerate. Daddy liked that he was a hard worker and that he had plans for his life. They said he was honorable. A good man."

Carol gnawed on her lower lip, effectively smearing her lipstick with her nervous habit.

Did her parents really want to see her with Daryl?

Daryl was her friend and he was Ed's roommate. It would be wildly inappropriate for Carol to pursue anything with Daryl even if she and Ed were ever to break up.

And yet…

You've compared the two men, a voice in Carol's head reminded her, You've thought about it. You've seen how different Daryl and Ed are and you find yourself wondering what it would be like if Ed was a bit more like Daryl.

Carol shook her head. There was no doubt that Daryl was a good man, but it was wrong of her to try to change Ed to be more like Daryl.

You wouldn't have to change Ed if you just dated Daryl, the voice pointed out, Imagine his calloused hand in yours. Imagine his strong arms pulling you tight to his hard, lean body. Imagine his lips on yours, soft, able, and tender.

Carol swallowed hard at the images her mind conjured. This was wrong.

Or very, very right, the voice continued, Think about how easy it is with Daryl. Think about how you're able to talk with him and how he listens to you. Think of how he's always there when you need him. He's a gentleman. More of a gentleman than Ed. How many times have you seen Ed cause a scene?

"Daryl's my friend," Carol said aloud, both to Catherine and to that traitorous voice in her head, "That's all. Now, I'm going to go. See you later."

She moved to the window, anxious to leave her sister's company.

She was with Ed. That wasn't going to change.

That couldn't change now.

Just before she slipped outside, she heard her sister mutter, "If he's just your friend, I'll take him. He's much better looking than Ed."

0-TSR-0

Though Daryl was exhausted, sleep wouldn't come.

He kept replaying that conversation with Carol at the theatre and even though they were still friends and all, it bothered him that she was so completely invested in Ed Peletier…to the point where she couldn't see what an asshole he was.

He was trying to understand it, for her sake, so that when he saw her again, then maybe he'd have a hope in hell of trying to fix this awkwardness between them.

Given what Kevin had told Daryl about Carol, he deduced that Ed was Carol's first boyfriend. She was inexperienced when it came to relationships and apparently thought that what she had with Ed was normal simply because she had never had anything to compare it with. Ed was taking advantage of that fact…and the fact that Rose Taylor had raised Carol to settle down with a husband. In one of their talks, Carol had told Daryl that her mother was always pushing her to find a husband.

In addition, Daryl had overheard one of Merle and Ed's conversations. Apparently, Ed was Carol's first. He had taken her virginity by slipping her some alcohol, a truly low thing to do. She had been drunk and susceptible to Ed's suggestions. Daryl figured that that had been it for her. Her family was religious and he'd bet that sex before marriage was a big no-no for Carol. The only way to justify the sin was to eventually marry Ed and to do that, she had to convince herself that he was worth marrying.

It was a shitty situation, in Daryl's opinion. It seemed so unfair that she had never had a choice…that she was continuing on with this relationship based on an obligation to a god that frowned upon premarital sex and that she had never had anything better than a two-pump chump with an anger problem.

What Daryl wouldn't give to make her see that her boyfriend was a piece of shit and that she deserved so much better than him. What Daryl wouldn't give for a chance to show her what a man is supposed to be like. Not just in the bedroom, but in ever day life. A real man is supposed to worship his woman. He's supposed to hold her hand. He's supposed to love her no matter what happens. He's supposed to be by her side through thick and thin and he's supposed to support her in everything she does.

That was what Daryl had always strived to be.

His granddaddy was that sort of man. His granddad loved his grandmother until the day he died and Daryl cherished the memories of his childhood when he would get to spend his summers with his grandparents and he would get to see what a real, loving relationship looked like…not the train wreck that his parents' relationship was. One memory stood out for Daryl and the more he thought about Carol and Ed, the more that memory came to the forefront of his mind.

Daryl was nine-years-old. His mother had been dead for three weeks.

Grandpa Norman had drove two hours to come and collect Daryl for the summer holidays. He had been anxious to remove the boy from his father's care…or lack thereof…after reading Merle's latest letter. The seventeen-year-old was being carted off to another detention facility and had written asking Norman to take care of Daryl for the summer until Merle was released in the second week of September. That way, Daryl wouldn't have to be alone with their father, something that both Merle and Norman felt was best for the boy.

It was the first night at his grandparents. Though little Daryl was tired, he was also thirsty. He was creeping through the kitchen for a glass of water when he heard his grandparents speaking in the living room.

"I still can't get over how much he looks like her," his grandmother was saying, "Ruby was just like him when she was Daryl's age."

"He's a fine boy," Norman said, "She raised him well, Grace."

"Well enough, I hope," Grace replied, "He's such a sweet boy, Norman. It scares me to think that someday, he could become his father."

"Not Daryl," Norman told her firmly, "He's got good future ahead of him. He's gonna be a good man someday, I know it."

"We thought the same thing about Ruby," Grace said, sounding mournful, "We were so certain that she was goin' to make somethin' of herself and then she met that damn Dixon boy and now…now we've buried our baby girl, Norman."

Daryl listened to his grandma cry and moved closer to the wall. He watched as his granddad got up from his chair. He knelt down in front of Grace and took her withered hands in his gnarled ones.

"Gracie, Darlin', we ain't gonna lose Daryl like we did Ruby. Things was different then. We didn't know enough to protect her," Norman said softly and soothingly, "There was nothin' we coulda done."

"We could have stopped her!" Grace protested tearfully, "We could've taken her in when she was carryin' Merle and she'd've never married that vile man!"

"And then we wouldn't have Daryl," Norman gently reminded her. Grace sobbed harder, her thin frame shaking as her head of silver hair bobbed up and down. Daryl watched as Norman reached up to brush away her tears.

"He took her from us, Norm! He sucked her in…made her all these promises and then he knocked her up and forced her to marry him! He trapped her! He hurt her!" Grace cried, "Will Dixon wasn't what I wanted for her! He wasn't what she deserved! Never! She deserved a husband like you. She deserved a man who treated her like she was the greatest treasure he'd ever received."

"I know she did, Darlin', and I'd imagine she had that," Norman said softly, "She had two boys who loved her more'n anythin'. Merle told me that he knew his daddy didn't deserve her. Told me that she shoulda had better'n him. And Daryl…why that lil' boy is everythin' good…everythin' that our Ruby was and one day, he's gonna be the type of man that his mama can be proud of. He's gonna be the man that his daddy shoulda been. I promise ya that, Sweetheart. I promise ya."

Daryl always remembered that night. He always remembered how his grandmother had mourned her daughter's passing and how his grandfather did his best to hold her and console her. He realized that his grandparents had had something special, something his parents had never had.

Daryl's father had been a real son-of-a-bitch and now, Daryl realized that he had done exactly what Ed was doing to Carol. Ed was making her promises that he couldn't deliver on. He was filling her head with all of these thoughts and manipulating her the way Will Dixon had manipulated Ruby Hayes. The thought left a bad taste in Daryl's mouth and filled him with fear for Carol. It terrified him that she could end up like his mother, broken and beaten down until she drank and smoked herself to death.

But Ed was not Will Dixon. Just because Ed was an asshole didn't mean that he would ever hurt Carol.

But it didn't mean that he wouldn't, either.

And for the first time, Daryl found himself seriously entertaining thoughts of stealing another man's woman. For the first time, he found himself wanting to break his own rule and to hell with his code. Daryl Dixon wasn't much, but he was a much better man than Ed Peletier. He was a much better man than his father was. He could be the sort of man that Carol needed…that she deserved.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

Odd.

Who could be calling at 2:19?

By 2:23, Daryl was racing out the door to drive to the Senoia General Hospital.

0-TSR-0

One AM came and went.

Then two AM passed by.

Three AM was gone as well.

Still, Ed never showed and Carol was left waiting in the darkened park where Ed had told her to meet him.

"He stood me up," she murmured into the night that was slowly becoming day again.

With tears in her eyes, she made the walk back to her house. She was about to make her way out back to climb up the lattice to Catherine's bedroom when the front lights came on and the front door opened.

She froze.

George and Rose Taylor stepped out onto the porch.

Then Carol's father spoke, looking down at his daughter with a disapproving expression on his face, "Welcome home, young lady. We need to talk."

TBC

AN: Yep...I'm mean. Double cliffhanger.

Please let me know what you think so far! Thank you for all of the wonderful and kind support!