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 24

"And where is Edward tonight?" Rose Taylor asked, staring across the dinner table at her eldest daughter.

"He had some stuff to do," Carol lied, focusing on her broccoli instead of on her mother.

"Wedding stuff, I hope," Rose said, shaking her head, "With you living at that house, it's only proper that a wedding should be coming in the next few weeks. Imagine what people are saying about an unmarried woman living in a house with three men."

Carol's stomach churned at the thought of marrying Ed. Somehow, she couldn't picture it being the joyous occasion that she had always imagined her wedding to be. She tugged uncomfortably at the sweater she had chosen to wear to her parents' place. She knew that the bruises would not go unnoticed by her parents and she wasn't in the mood to try to defend Ed. She wanted to stop lying to herself and everyone else, but it was hard. She wanted to live up to the high expectations her mother had for her, yet she didn't want to admit that maybe her mother was right about Ed. Not yet, anyways.

"There's guest lists to be made, invitations to send out…" Carol's mother continued, "and you two haven't even put an announcement in the paper yet."

"Announcement?" Carol asked dumbly.

"An engagement announcement," Rose clarified, "You know, an article in the paper announcing your engagement? Honestly, Carol Ann, it's like you entered into this engagement not knowing what to expect."

"You have no idea," Carol muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Dear?" Rose asked, clearly not having heard Carol from across the room. Catherine, on the other hand, heard it clearly and shot her sister a covert look.

"I'll do something about it," Carol corrected, focusing once more on her food.

"We'll also need to dress shop," Rose rattled on, "and plan the reception, and-"

"How's Daryl doing?" George wondered, speaking for the first time since Carol had stepped foot in the house. Carol looked up with a start.

"He's fine. Been working a lot. His brother is doing good too," Carol answered.

George nodded and said, "He's a fine boy. Respectful. Man of honor."

Carol smiled a little and nodded in agreement, "He is."

"Is he seeing anybody?" Rose wondered, "Irene Creedy was telling me at church the other day that she was wishing that her girl would find a nice young man. You know Irene's daughter, don't you, Carol? Veronica?"

"Yeah, she was in my year at school," Carol said stiffly. Veronica Creedy was a known flirt and she had also dated Ed. The thought of Daryl with someone like Veronica left a bad taste in Carol's mouth…the thought of him with anyone left her with that same bad taste, actually.

"Maybe you should introduce them-"

"She's not his type," Carol snapped quickly.

"Is Daryl still planning on going to college?" Catherine asked, swiftly changing the subject.

Carol nodded, "He doesn't know when, but he knows that once he saves enough money, he's going."

"You tell him to come down to the bank," George interjected, "Maybe we can work something out so that he could get that degree sooner."

"Really?" Carol asked, gaping at her father.

George shrugged and said, "He's a good boy. I'm sure there's something we can do for him."

Carol's father spoke about Daryl with such warmth that she was taken aback. She knew that her family adored Daryl; they liked him because he was a simple, hard-working man that was trying to make life better for himself. He was something that they could respect and see honor in.

It was such a contrast to the way they saw Ed. Carol's father rarely spoke of Ed or the Peletiers and that in itself was big. George Taylor was of the mind that if he found something to be unpleasant, then it wasn't worth talking about. Rose disliked Ed and she had made that plain. She thought that Ed was a bad influence on Carol and she thought he had poor manners.

As the conversation turned to her father's work, Carol thought more and more about how these last few weeks had changed her. Her eyes had been opened to a new side of Ed as she got to know Daryl. She was starting to see things for what they were and not what she wished they were. She could see quite clearly that Ed wasn't half the man that Daryl was. It was there in the little things, things like earlier tonight when Daryl had supported her decision to spend time with her family and when Ed opposed it. It was in the moments where Daryl had defended her right to eat pizza, read, and go to school while Ed tried to deny her those rights. It was in the touches, the way that Daryl's touch made Carol feel alive while Ed's touch made Carol flinch.

She could see it, but it was getting the courage to act on those observations that was the hard part now.

0-TSR-0

Ed was all kinds of pissed off and when he was pissed off, his go-to response was to go to the nearest bar and fuck shit up. In his eyes, it was completely normal and justifiable for a man to go out and let of some steam when he was pissed and that was just what Ed aimed to do. He pulled Daryl's truck into the parking lot in front of the door. Had Merle not been there, Ed probably would have smashed the little prick's vehicle up, but the last thing that Ed wanted to do was piss off Merle Dixon. It wasn't because Ed was scared of him (Ed was quite sure that he could do alright in a fight with Merle even if his arm wasn't fucked up). No, it was because Ed knew that if he pissed Merle off, he'd be kicked out of the house and the last thing he wanted to do was go back to living in his father's basement. It was humiliating.

Instead of dwelling on it, Merle and Ed entered the bar and immediately got themselves drinks. Merle ordered a beer while Ed requested the hard stuff. Ed felt like he needed it after the last week with Carol being such a bitch.

He didn't understand what the fuck happened, but he had figured that Carol should have been jumping for joy when he had proposed. He had been expecting sex and blowjobs and fucking four course meals every night for taking her to the alter just as she had always wanted. Instead, he had gotten one very, very unappealing sex session and then a week of the fucking cold shoulder. The meals consisted of frozen pizzas on account of Carol working so goddamn late all week. It was fucking ridiculous. And then to top it all off, she was getting chummy with the fucking redneck…the one that Ed had told her that she shouldn't be around. It was bullshit. Daryl Dixon was a fidgety little fuck that wasn't going anywhere in life. There was no future for the tree-huggers, but Ed…well, one day, Ed was going to own that hardware store and things would be sweet. There was no reason for Carol to even think of speaking to a no-account like Daryl, but then she was practically hanging off of the fucker.

Ed wasn't stupid.

He knew that there was something going on between Carol and that asshole and it pissed him off to no end. Carol was his, plain and simple, and she would always be his. Always. He wasn't going to let her get away from him like the others. He was marrying her one way or another and she would listen to him. She would keep that stupid job of hers to make money for them, but she wouldn't waste it on stupid shit like schooling. No, that shit wasn't going to fly. Then, when Carol and Ed had their own place, she'd quit work and then they'd work on popping a boy out. She'd cook and clean and raise the boy, and when Ed got home, she would pamper him with damn fine meals. Yes, Ed had it all planned out and he wasn't deviating from this plan. He had a goal and he was sticking to it.

A few drinks had him slurring his words as he listed off those grand plans to Merle.

Another couple of drinks had him spoiling for action…anything would do…a fight, a fuck…anything.

And that was when she walked into the bar.

0-TSR-0

"You show up here, unannounced, claiming that Ed was busy, and snapping whenever Mom talked about the wedding. Then you went ghost pale when Mom was talking about putting an engagement notice in the paper," Catherine listed, "Are you gonna spill now or do I have to beg?" she asked, sitting down on her bed with one arm draped over the bedpost. Carol couldn't help but smile a little. Catherine always seemed to know whenever Carol needed to get something off of her chest and she was always an eager listener.

"If I didn't want to get all of this off of my chest, I think I'd actually make you beg," Carol offered up lamely, earning her a stern, yet concerned look from her younger sister.

"Spill," Catherine requested. Carol sighed and shut the door, not wanting her parents to hear the possible big reaction to what she was about to say.

"Okay," Carol started, "I…I don't want to marry Ed."

Catherine stared at her for a moment before she demanded, "Since when? You were all gung-ho about marrying him and all that. You argued with Mom and Dad until you were all blue in the face about it."

"I know," Carol sighed and approached the bed, "but I…he…things are different."

"How so? I thought you loved him or something," Catherine asked, sitting up a little straighter. Carol took a deep breath and steeled herself for the conversation at hand.

"I thought I did, but now…now, I don't know. At the beginning, when I first started seeing Ed, he was sweet. Charming. Now…well…he's different. He drinks a lot and when he does…he says and does a lot of hurtful things," Carol explained, "He's hurt Daryl…he hurt me-"

"Hurt you?" Catherine asked sharply, her voice taking on a tone reminiscent of their mother's.

"He's said stuff to me and…" Carol trailed off, unsure if she wanted to tell her sister about the night that Ed forced himself on her, "and he was rough with me once. He scared me and now…now I don't know if I can be with him. Even when he's not drinking, he's just…he's different. He always wants to know where I'm going and he tells me what to do and eat. He doesn't want me to go back to school. He's so, so mean to Daryl. I think he's jealous and…and it's not right at all and I…I can't be with someone like that. I don't want to."

Catherine was quiet for a moment before she asked, "So why don't you break up with him?"

"I want to," Carol admitted, "I want to, it's just…what would Mom and Dad say?"

"They'd probably thank the lord," Catherine quipped, earning herself an eye-roll from Carol.

"Everyone's expecting me to marry Ed," Carol continued, "And if I don't…well, people will talk-"

"So let them talk," Catherine shrugged, "It's your life, so you've got to make the decision. You didn't care what Mom and Dad said when you wanted to go to culinary school. You went anyways because it's what you wanted. I've always liked that…the way you stuck to it and stood up for what you wanted. I think it was the first time you've ever done what you really wanted and it was cool."

Carol felt her cheeks get hot with the praise and tried to shrug it off by saying, "This is different. Relationships are…well…people talk about those more than anything else."

"Well, they should butt out," Catherine decided, "If you marry Ed, you're stuck with him for the rest of your life. You've got to be happy with him and love him or you're gonna be miserable for a long time."

"I know," Carol agreed, "I do know, but I feel like…I feel like if I don't get married, I'll disappoint Mom and…well…he was my first and…well…Mama always said that your first should be your husband-"

"Maybe she's wrong," Catherine interjected.

"It's still sinning," Carol replied, "If I don't marry Ed, then it's sinning."

"God forgives, though, right?" Catherine asked, "And surely He would want you to be happy. He would want you to spend your whole life miserable just because you made a mistake gave yourself to Ed."

Catherine's logic was sound and for a moment, Carol marvelled at how different the two of them were, despite having the same upbringing. Catherine had decided that God was merciful, kind, and loving. Carol had received the exact same teachings and lectures about God as her sister, yet she was fearful of the almighty and possible retribution. It was strange in a way, but at the same time, it was eye-opening for Carol. It was like Daryl had said earlier:

That's…that's a horrible life, livin' in fear or someone who's supposed to care 'bout ya.

Maybe that could apply to the almighty as well. Maybe it was time to stop fearing retribution and opening up to the possibility that He could be forgiving.

It was freeing in a way…and yet…would he really forgive Carol for leaving one man for another?

"There's more," Carol said after a moment, raising her eyes to meet her sister's.

"What?" Catherine asked.

"I think I might have feelings for Daryl."

"Really?" Catherine yelped, her eyes wide as she bounced a bit on the bed, "I thought you might! When I saw you two making breakfast last weekend, I thought there might be a spark! I was telling Mary Ellen-"

"I don't know if it would ever work," Carol cut across her, "Daryl is Ed's roommate and well…I can't exactly see people letting that go."

"So what?" Catherine shrugged, "Daryl's a great guy! I'd rather have him as a brother-in-law any day!"

"I think it's a little soon to be talking about marriage," Carol deadpanned, smacking her sister with a pillow.

"Do you think he has feelings for you?" Catherine questioned, deflecting the blow. Carol sighed and nodded her head.

"He kissed me-"

"SHUT UP!" Catherine cried out, "HE-"

"SHHH!" Carol hissed, clamping her hand over her sister's mouth, "Not so loud!"

Catherine shook her sister off and said, "That's so awesome! Was he all 'Hey, Babe, come on over here-'"

"It was really not like that at all," Carol cut across her sister before she made Daryl out to be some Casanova Meathead, "He was sweet."

"So what's gonna happen now?" Catherine wondered.

"I don't know," Carol admitted, "This last week has been hard. I mean…this whole thing with Ed…it keeps hurting Daryl. He's been so patient and…well…he's just too good to me when I've been so…so wishy-washy lately. I mean, when I said I needed some time to talk with you, he was all for it. I had to practically fight Ed to get out the door."

"Again, Daryl is awesome," Catherine said reverently, "I don't see how anyone could say anything bad about you wanting to be with him."

"Ed could. And Merle," Carol listed.

"Ed won't matter once you break up with him," Catherine said, "And I'm sure Merle'll come around. I mean, he does want his brother to be happy, right?"

"I guess…but I'm still jumping from man-to-man…"

"So?" Catherine shrugged, "Daryl seems to understand. I'm sure if you talked to him about it, he'd be good about it. Seriously, Sis. You'd kick yourself forever if you didn't start something with Daryl."

0-TSR-0

Merle wasn't drunk. It was impossible for the great Merle Dixon to be drunk off of four beers.

And yet, he was barely staying upright as he staggered around the bar. He was slurring his words and seeing double. It was some fucked up shit.

"Merle! Merle!" Faye Wallace snapped her fingers in front of his face. Merle tried to use his right arm to swat her hand away, but he had forgotten that it was strapped to his chest in the sling. The momentum sent him off-kilter and Faye had to support him.

"Come crawlin' back, huh, Darlin'?" Merle slurred. Faye rolled her eyes. She felt bad that Merle had been hurt, but that wasn't enough to make her go running back to him. She had two sons to think of and Merle clearly was looking for a quick lay…not a family. She couldn't hold that against him, even if he could be an ass sometimes. He was still a good patron of the bar and a decent man deep down.

"Not in this lifetime, Merle," Faye told him, "Have you been taking meds for your arm?"

"Yep, what of it?" Merle asked.

Faye sighed, realizing that Merle's meds must have reacted with the beer he had drank. Didn't he know that those pills didn't mix well with alcohol? She shook her head and said, "I'm going to call your brother to pick you up-"

"Ain't no point," Merle said, his voice slurring, "We took his truck and there ain't no other vehicle."

"Alright, then where did Peletier go?" Faye wondered, looking around the bar for Merle's companion. Peletier was another frequent patron of the bar, though he tended to cause much more trouble than Merle. She didn't know him well, but she knew of his daddy and in her opinion, his daddy was a crook. If you bought a car from Peletier Car Lot, you were most likely buying a nicely painted lemon.

"Dunno," Merle shrugged. Faye instructed Merle to stay put and then went to look outside. Daryl's truck was gone, so obviously Ed had taken it. She decided to call Daryl in the off-chance that Ed had driven himself home.

"Hullo?" Daryl's groggy voice answered the phone.

"Daryl, is there any way that you can come get your brother?" Faye asked, "I can't find Ed and Merle is out of it. He shouldn't be mixing alcohol with those pills."

"Fuck," Daryl swore, "Shit. I don't got a vehicle. Ed take my truck?"

"It's not in the parking lot," Faye told him grimly. Daryl cursed again.

"Bastard. Shit. I'll try to figure somethin' out," Daryl promised. Then he hung up the phone. He sounded tired and Faye felt bad about bothering him. She knew that Daryl worked himself to the bone.

It was about an hour later that someone actually came for Merle. In that time, he had regained his senses, but was left in a lot of pain. Faye was a little surprised when Kevin Jones walked into the bar and coaxed Merle up and out of the bar. She didn't know that they ran in the same circles. Even so, she was relieved that Merle was being taken care of. She just hoped that Peletier wasn't causing grief somewhere.

0-TSR-0

"Hey, Merle?" Kevin questioned, glancing over at the larger man who made Kevin's Pontiac look like a clown car. Merle grunted in acknowledgement, but made no effort to open his eyes or lift his large head from the headrest.

"You and Daryl fighting?" Kevin wondered. He received another grunt.

"He seemed pretty pissed when he called me to come get you," Kevin added.

"Boy's got his panties in a twist," Merle grunted, "Nothin' new."

"It's not wrong for him to worry about you…especially given the state you're in," Kevin said, glancing over at Merle's injured arm.

"Pfft. He's more worried 'bout gettin' into Mouse's pants and fuckin' up shit with Peletier," Merle grumbled. It took Kevin a moment to realize that 'Mouse' was Merle's nickname for Carol.

"Would it be so bad if Daryl and Carol got together?" Kevin wondered. Merle cracked open an eye.

"You on his side, Elton?"

"Ed Peletier's an asshole," Kevin stated, "and Carol is too good of a girl to wind up with a loser like that."

Merle chuckled, "Ya ain't wrong there, Mr. John. Ain't wrong there. She is a good lil' girl and he is a sack of shit."

"Exactly. She deserves better and your brother is ten times the man Peletier is," Kevin said reverently.

Merle chuckled louder, "Ya sweet on my baby brother, Elton?"

"He's not my type," Kevin deadpanned, "but he is my friend and he deserves to be happy. I mean…hey, don't you want him to be happy?"

"'Course I do," Merle said quickly, "but that girl…she's got baggage…a two-hundred-and-eighty-pound sack of it. That's askin' for trouble and Daryl's too damn sweet to know how to deal with that shit."

"What if she dropped the two-hundred-and-eighty-pound sack off a cliff?" Kevin wondered, "What if she dumped Ol' Ed?"

"And took up with Daryl? While Ed's livin' in the same house?" Merle scoffed, "Jesus, for someone who says my brother deserves to be happy, you're sure wishin' a ton of shit on him."

"Kick Ed out. Get a new roommate," Kevin shrugged. Merle scowled.

"Ain't no guarantee we'd get a new roommate fast enough and I ain't pissin' away all that rent money."

"And is rent money more important than Daryl being with the woman he loves?" Kevin asked.

"Woman he loves?" Merle chuckled, "This where ya start singin' that 'Lion King' shit?"

Kevin laughed and sang, "'Can you feel the love tonight? It is where we are. It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer that we got this far…'"

"Oh hell!" Merle groaned.

Kevin chucked and shook his head, "All I'm saying Merle, is that you ought to think about Daryl's well-being over the money you're getting from Ed."

"The money from Ed is for Daryl's well-bein'," Merle griped.

"Well, sometimes a man needs more than money, Merle," Kevin said simply.

TBC

AN: Update 3 of 4.