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 23

Daryl opened the door to his room and he was a bit taken aback when he saw Carol there. She straightened upon hearing the door open and she looked sort of guilty. Pretty, but guilty.

She was dressed up, wearing the green dress she had worn to her sister's play a couple of weeks ago. Her hair was done up and she had make-up on.

"What're ya doin'?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.

"I…I was leaving you a note," Carol said lamely, gesturing to the piece of paper on his bed, "You haven't been back all day and I wanted to…to…uh…"

Daryl stepped forward and picked up the yellow sheet of paper that she had been intending on leaving for him. He scanned through it while Carol looked more and more sheepish with each moment that passed. Finally, he looked up at her.

"So you're givin' him another chance, huh?" he asked bitterly.

"He was…he was so upset and I…I don't want to hurt him," she tried to explain. Daryl crumpled the note up and tossed it towards the garbage can.

"Sure," he said, putting on a nonchalant front, "It's only right that he gets all the fuckin' chances in the world. It ain't-" he stopped talking abruptly, his eyes resting on her arm…or more specifically, the fingerprint-shaped bruises that he saw there. Carol followed his gaze.

"It's nothing," she said quickly.

"The hell it is!" Daryl snarled, turning to the door only to be stopped by Carol quickly slipping in between him and the door.

"Daryl, it was an accident-"

"Yeah?" Daryl asked, his eye blazing with hate and rage, "That what you're gonna tell the ER nurse when ya go in with a black eye or a broken arm? Huh? Gonna tell 'em that ya tripped and fell? That ya walked into a door?"

"He grabbed me too hard and-"

"And now ya making excuses for the son-of-a-bitch!" Daryl snapped at her, turning away to pace the room. He needed something to do to get rid of all of the excess energy.

"Daryl, he didn't mean it-"

"Stop!" Daryl begged, turning towards her, "Just stop!"

Carol had never seen Daryl like this before. She had seen him angry and she had seen him hurt, but this…this was different. This was a hurt and an anger that ran deep inside him. She approached him then, moving slowly to avoid startling him, and placed her hand on his shoulder. He didn't flinch or shrug her off, but his head did snap over to look at her hand. She took a breath and said, "Tell me."

Daryl raised his eyes to hers and she could see the vulnerability there. Just as she had suspected, there was something deeper there, some dark secret that had him twisted up in knots. Finally, he choked out, "My pa beat on my ma all the time. Put her in the hospital three or four times that I know of. She stayed with him…made all kinds of excuses. Said he didn't mean it. She was…she was broken down by the end. Drank whenever he went out so that when he got back, she wouldn't feel it when he went after her. She smoked like a chimney. When I was nine, she was smokin' in bed…passed out. The whole house caught fire. She died."

"Oh, Daryl, I'm so sorry," Carol breathed, understanding why he had reacted so strongly to the bruises on her arm. He had probably seen that and a lot worse growing up. He had assumed the worst, but Carol was certain that Ed would never raise a hand to her.

Are you sure? A voice in her head asked, He has hurt you before. Remember Daryl's truck…how Ed forced himself on you?

Carol's stomach churned in unease as she remembered that night.

"I won't watch him hurt you," Daryl said, his voice rough and raspy, "I won't do that again. That's…that's a horrible life, livin' in fear or someone who's supposed to care 'bout ya."

"Daryl, it was a mistake. He wouldn't hit me," Carol tried to assure him, even though she didn't quite know if she believed it. It didn't work. If anything, it looked like he was about to be sick. Carol reached up to cup the side of his face, "If he did, that would be it. That would be the end of me and him."

"So that's how it works then? You're gonna wait around for him to hit ya? I thought…I thought…"

Daryl turned away from her, but before he did, Carol saw the hurt that flashed across his face. She saw the pain, the intense pain and she ached for him…for both of them. She knew what he had thought. She knew that he had thought that after this morning, they had a chance. Carol had thought that too, but then Ed had thrown her a curveball. She had never seen him so upset and now she had upset Daryl by giving in to Ed's pleas.

"Daryl, I'm sorry," Carol said to his back, "I'm so sorry, but no matter what I do, someone is going to get hurt-"

"And it don't matter if it's me," Daryl said hollowly.

"I never said that!" Carol protested, "You're the last person in the world that I would ever want to hurt-"

"Then why?" Daryl demanded, whirling around to face her, his eyes red and his expression heartbreaking, "Why d'ya keep me around on the sidelines to watch ya run back to him every damn time? Huh? Ya think that shit's easy for me? Ya think I like gettin' my hopes up and then gettin' let down? It's like bein' on a damn rollercoaster and I want off the fuckin' ride."

"Daryl, I'm so sorry-"

"Just…just…" Daryl stammered, shaking his head, "Could ya just make a choice? And don't give me none of that bullshit that ya don't got a choice, 'cause ya do. I meant what I said. If ya wanna stay with him, so be it, but ya can't keep flip-floppin' no more. I can't…I can't keep doin' this no more. So…so just make a choice."

Carol was at a loss. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. She looked down at the dress she wore and suddenly, she didn't feel like going out. She just wanted to escape. She wanted to run…but where could she go? She wanted her sister. She needed someone to talk to…someone she could confide in. But she had a feeling that if she walked out of the room now, she might just lose Daryl forever and that scared her.

"You're right," she said, "I do need to choose, but…but I can't do it right this second. I need figure all this out and right now I've just…I don't…I've got you in my head and Ed and I can't…"

"What d'ya need?" Daryl asked softly.

"I need my sister," Carol admitted to him, "She's the one person that I could always turn to and-"

"Then go," Daryl said, cutting off her explanation, "If that's whatcha need, then go. I'll…uh…I'll be here."

And even though she knew that it probably wasn't the smartest move right now and that it could be another thing that would hurt him, Carol stepped forward and hugged him. At first he was tense, his muscles hard against her body, but then she felt those muscles loosen and relax.

She reluctantly pulled away after a few moments. She gave him a small smile and slipped out of his room. She was going to go change and then she was going to get in her car and drive to her parents place.

0-TSR-0

Ed entered his room after his shower and found Carol there, dressed in jeans and a sweater. He frowned and asked, "Why ain't you dressed yet?"

She shifted uneasily and then she said, "I'm not going out to dinner tonight."

Ed's eyes narrowed at her and he took a step towards her, "Why not? I thought we were going out."

"I'm going to go over to my parents place…see my sister," Carol responded. Ed raised his eyebrows and shook his head. This was bullshit. Carol had plans with him tonight.

"We had plans," he informed her, "We were going to go out and have a good time."

"I just need some time," Carol said, "I haven't had time to think things over and-"

"What do you need to think over?" Ed demanded, "Everythin's fine!"

"It's not fine, Ed," Carol told him, "and pretending it's going to be fine is just…it won't work-"

"So you lied to me this mornin' when you promised me another chance?" Ed asked.

"I got caught up in the moment and-"

"You got caught up in the moment?" Ed scoffed, his voice raising slightly, "Or caught up in Dixon? He say anythin' to you?"

"Don't bring Daryl into this," Carol pleaded, "It's not about him-"

"Really?" Ed snapped at her, "because ever since you met him, you've been different. All you do is defend him and it's gettin' to be pretty damn annoying!"

"It's not about Daryl," Carol said again, "I just…I'm not happy, Ed, and-"

"And you think the damn grass is greener on the other side, huh?" Ed growled, "You sleepin' with him? That why you been cold as ice for the last week?"

"Would you stop?" Carol protested, "I'm not sleeping with Daryl."

Ed growled and rubbed his face. He was getting pissed off and he knew that he needed to calm his ass down. Carol was already on the verge of breaking up with him and another blow up would seal the deal for sure. He wouldn't lose her, but it was hard. The redneck was fucking everything up.

"Yeah, well, everything was fine before he stuck his nose into our relationship," Ed said sourly.

"It's not about him," Carol repeated, "This is about me, Ed. If I'm going to marry you, I need to be sure that I'm going to be happy with you and right now…right now, I'm not so sure."

Ed sighed. He realized that he would have to do the whole grovelling bullshit once more today and said, "Then what can I do to make you sure, Darlin'? I love you and I wanna do whatever it takes to make you happy."

"I need space," Carol said, "I need time to think-"

Ed hid a scowl. She didn't need time to think. If she had that time, then surer than shit, she would abandon him just like his mother done and just like his ex's had done. He wasn't doing this again. She was it for him and he would have her whether or not he had to drag her down the aisle. He shook his head and got down on his knees in front of her, "Sweetheart, what d'ya need to think about? I'm willin' to do anythin' to make you happy, Darlin'."

"I need to go," Carol said, holding firm to her crazy notion, "I need to figure things out for myself."

Ed was getting frustrated. He clenched his fist to his sides as Carol stepped around him. He willed himself to calm down enough to go see her out. If she was going to go, then he was going to make sure that her mind was on him the whole time. He got to his feet and followed her to the front door.

"Go, but remember, I'm here waitin' for you, Sweetheart," Ed said, grabbing her wrist and tugging her into him, looking for a kiss, but she resisted, pulling away and using her free hand to block him.

"I will," Carol said, ducking away and reaching for the door.

When she was gone, Ed put his fist through the wall.

"Ya gonna pay for that shit?" Merle's voice questioned from behind him. Ed glowered at him.

"Fine," he snapped, "but before I do, you best get that brother of yours in line. I dunno what the fuck he said to Carol, but now she's leavin'."

"Fuck," Merle swore.

"Yeah, fuck," Ed echoed, "Could use a fuckin' drink. Comin'?"

"Why not?" Merle shrugged, grabbing his brother's keys and tossing them to Ed.

TBC

AN: This is update 2 of 4.