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 28
"You're a whore. I'm not even gone a day and you're in that piece of shit's bed," Ed sneered in disgust.
Carol couldn't speak. She stared wide-eyed at his large, menacing form as he stepped towards her.
"Dirty whore needs to be taught a lesson."
Ed lunged for her, grabbing her arms and slamming her back into the wall.
"N-no. Ed, don't!" Carol yelped, struggling in his grasp. He didn't listen. He reared back and punched her in the face. Carol crumpled and tried to shield herself from his blows.
Then they stopped.
Then there was a clinking sound as Ed undid his belt buckle.
"You're mine, Carol Ann, and you're always gonna be MINE!"
"N-no. No!" Carol cried, "No!"
"No!" Carol yelped, sitting bolt upright in the bed. Her heart was slamming against her ribcage and perspiration dripped down her neck as she stared wide-eyed around the room.
The first thing she realized was that it wasn't her room. The second thing was the man standing at the chest of drawers in the corner scrambling to dress. The belt buckle clinked and clanged as he tried to do up his pants.
"Shit! Uh, sorry! Uh…fuck!" Daryl fumbled as he hastily pulled a shirt over his head. He came towards her, dropping to his knees beside the bed, "Carol, it's just me. Just getting' ready for work. You're alright. Safe."
His voice penetrated the fog in her mind and Carol struggled for a moment to get her breathing under control, "D-Daryl?"
"Yeah," he confirmed, "Y'alright?"
Carol nodded her head, "Bad dream," she croaked. Daryl tentatively reached over and took her hand.
"Was just a dream. Ain't real."
"It felt like it was real," Carol murmured, "Ed…"
"Ed ain't ever gonna hurt ya again," Daryl told her, "Promise ya."
Carol nodded her head, but didn't say anything. Daryl got to his feet and apologized, "Sorry I startled ya. Was gettin' ready for work."
"Oh," Carol said, glancing over at window and then at the clock, "It's morning."
"Early mornin'," Daryl corrected, "Sun's just comin' up."
"Do…do you want breakfast?" Carol offered.
He shook his head, "Ain't got time for it. 'Sides, ya don't gotta cook for me."
"I don't mind," Carol told him, "It's the least I could do-"
"Ya don't owe anyone here nothin'," Daryl said firmly, "Catch some more sleep. I'll be back later, but my work number is by the phone. Call me if ya need anythin' or if Merle's bein'…well…Merle."
With a small smile and a squeeze of her hand, he was gone, disappearing from the room and leaving Carol alone. The room felt empty without Daryl and Carol found herself wishing that he didn't have to go to work. It was a silly notion, though. Life went on and they needed the money. Carol glanced over at the clock again. It was ten to five. Early. It would have been perfectly fine for her to sleep for another hour or so before she had to get up to get ready, but Carol didn't want to go back to sleep. Not after the nightmare. Honestly, she was a bit surprised that she slept as well as she did, considering, but it seemed that as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out. She had had enough sleep anyway. She wanted to do something.
The most logical thing to do at this time of morning was to cook breakfast, something that Carol loved to do. She could spend hours in the kitchen, happily working without a care in the world. She got out of bed and eagerly padded down the hall towards the kitchen. After a quick examination of the contents of the cupboards and the fridge, Carol set to work.
And for the first time in her memory, cooking was work.
She was moving slower than she normally would have on account of each movement sending an almost blinding pain through her skull. She forced herself to ignore it and focus on heating the pan and whisking ingredients into a bowl. She then stood at the stove and attempted to cook, ignoring her dizzy feelings. Then she got ou two plates and began piling them wih food. At this point, the pain became too much and she had to grip the counter for support.
"Y'alright, Mouse?" Merle's voice floated into the kitchen. Carol turned and found him standing in the doorway, frowning over at her.
"Just a headache," she replied.
"I believe it," Merle said, stepping into the room, "Helluva concussion ya got. Ya take anythin'?"
Carol shook her head, a move that sent more pain to her brain. Merle moved then, finding the Tylenol in the kitchen. He fought one-handed with the bottle and managed to get her two tablets. He gave them to her and then moved to get her a glass of water to wash them down.
"Gotta take care of yourself, Mouse," he told her. Carol took the pills and then stared over at Merle for a moment. Just two days ago, Merle was warning her to stay away from his brother and now he was taking care of her. It was strange.
"Thank you, Merle."
"No big thing," Merle brushed it off, "Ya can make it up to me if ya know where Daryl keeps my meds. Hurtin' somethin' awful after movin' that jack-ass outta the spare room."
Carol searched out his pills, knowing that Daryl had them tucked away in the vegetable crisper, a place that Merle seldom went. She got out the appropriate pills and got him a glass, returning the favour.
"We're quite the mess," Carol observed. Merle chuckled.
"I'd say. What the hell'd ya make over there, Mouse?" he asked, nodding over to the two plates on the counter.
"Crepes," Carol answered, "I learned how to make them last year at school. It's French."
Merle looked a little wary, but then he said, "Well, if it tastes half as good as all your other cookin', then I reckon it'll be alright."
Carol smiled a little and thanked him. He waved her off.
"I mean it," he told her, "before ya came into the picture, I had to live off of Daryl's cookin'. Boy don't do too bad, but he don't cook like you do."
Carol shrugged it off and took the plates over to the table. She and Merle sat down and dug into the meal.
"Ain't bad," Merle commented after a couple of bites, "Nice work, Mouse."
"You know, I have a name," Carol reminded him after she swallowed her food.
"Be happy with whatcha get," Merle advised, "Usually my nicknames ain't all that flatterin'."
Carol didn't know how Merle could consider 'Mouse' to be flattering, but she had heard some of the things he called his friends and she had to admit that it was better than most things that came out of his mouth.
"You goin' to work today?" Merle questioned, catching Carol off-guard.
"I never really thought about it," Carol replied, "I guess so-"
"Fuck that shit," Merle said, "Ya got a damn concussion. Ya need a 'Me Day'."
Carol laughed a little, "A 'Me Day'?" she asked.
Merle shrugged, "Why the hell not? I take 'em all the time now," he said, nodding towards his injured arm. Carol managed a small smile at Merle's attempted joke.
"Maybe I will stay home," Carol decided after some thought, "I am a bit tired."
"Mmmhmm," Merle nodded, "Last thing we need is you goin' to work and passin' out. Daryl's got the truck and he ain't the easiest asshole to get a hold of when he's off sprayin'. Stay."
"I will," Carol decided, "Thank you, Merle."
0-TSR-0
"So, Ed ever make it home after Saturday night?" Kevin asked as he drove out to the road they were working on.
"Unfortunately, he did," Daryl said with a grimace.
"Uh-oh," Kevin said, glancing over at Daryl, "That doesn't sound good. Things blow up between you two?"
"Things blew up between him and Carol," Daryl revealed, "She told him she was done with him and he tried to beat the shit out of her."
Kevin slammed on the breaks, making Daryl scramble to find purchase so he wouldn't fly through the windshield.
"What?" Kevin demanded, his face equal parts shocked and livid. Daryl righted himself and was thankful that no one else was on the road at five am.
"He hit her, so I beat his ass into the ground," Daryl replied, crossing his arms over his chest, "Woulda beat the asshole to death if Merle didn't pull me off of him and call the cops to haul Ed's ass out."
"Is she okay? Is she pressing charges?" Kevin fired at Daryl, "He getting jail time?"
"She's okay. Got a pair of black eyes and a concussion. She filed charges, but we don't know how long he's gonna be locked up," Daryl explained. Kevin scowled.
"Knowing his father, it won't be for nearly long enough," he spat, "He was always an asshole, but to hit Carol Ann, who wouldn't dream of hurting a fly…that's just a whole new level of low!"
Daryl nodded in agreement, "Like I said, I woulda killed the son-of-a-bitch if Merle hadn't stopped me."
"You aren't in trouble for hitting him, are you?" Kevin wondered. Daryl shook his head.
"As far as the cops are concerned, it was self-defence."
"Good," Kevin said, putting the truck into gear again, "I hope some big ol' guy makes Ed his bitch."
Daryl tried and failed to supress a smile and joked, "Bubba's got a new pretty lil' plaything."
Kevin laughed and turned down the road they were meant to spray, only once they turned down it, they quickly realized that they wouldn't be spraying it.
"What the hell?" Daryl breathed as Kevin pulled the truck to a stop in front of the yellow police tape that sectioned off the road.
"I dunno," Kevin said, frowning in confusion, "I guess we ought to go find another road."
"Guess so," Daryl agreed, leaning back as Kevin backed up into an approach to turn around. Almost immediately, a big old German Shepherd was attacking the tires.
"Christ, where'd he come from?" Daryl protested over the dog's angry barks and snarls.
"I dunno-"
"Jack!" a firm voice shouted out. Daryl twisted in his seat and saw an old man walking up to the truck. The dog backed off but neither of the young men wanted to get out of the vehicle. Kevin did roll down the window, though, to speak to the old farmer.
"Orville Scott," the old man introduced himself, "Any reason for you boys bein' on my land?" he asked, eying the spray truck warily.
"Uh, we're ditch sprayers for the county, Sir," Kevin explained, "Kevin Jones and this here is Daryl Dixon. We were just coming to spray this road, but then we had to turn around because of the police tape down there."
"Ah," Scott said, a scowl overtaking his leathery, wrinkled face, "Just as well then. Don't want no chemicals near my land anyhow."
"Of course, Sir," Kevin said dutifully, reaching for the map that they used to mark where they sprayed, "If you just want to indicate where your land is, we'll make sure not to spray near it."
It was what they were trained to do if any farmers gave them grief over spraying and Daryl was a bit thankful that it was Kevin doing the talking. Daryl didn't have the patience for whiny farmers.
Scott took the map and the pen and started making marks, talking as he did so, "I walk this stretch everyday with Ol' Jack here," he said, gesturing to the dog that was sitting at his feet, "'Course, our walks are a might shorter now with that block up there," he explained, gesturing in the direction of the police tape.
"What happened?" Kevin asked conversationally.
"Found a girl up there yesterday morning," Scott replied, shaking his head, "Was walkin' and then Ol' Jack was runnin' down in the ditch, brayin' and barkin' like a fool. I went to give it a look and found a girl there, half naked, passed out, and all beat up. Had to run back to the house to call 911."
"That's awful," Kevin said, frowning, "Do the police know what happened to her?"
"Reckon some low-life piece of shit done it to her," Scott growled, "Wish I'd been awake when he done it. I would've taken real pleasure in puttin' some lead in his ass."
"Damn straight," Daryl agreed.
"Wow," Kevin said, "I wouldn't have thought something like that could happen out here in the boonies."
Scott chuckled ruefully, "Well, it can and more disturbin' than anythin' is that the cops found a man's class ring from the high school in town near where I found her," Scott revealed, "Son-of-a-bitch must've lost it when he was beatin' on her. Turns out, he graduated four years ago, whoever he is."
"Shit," Kevin breathed, a rarity for him, "Do you know who the girl is?"
Scott nodded, "Irene Creedy's girl. Viviane? Victoria? Somethin' with a 'V'."
"Veronica," Kevin whispered.
"Yeah, that's it," Scott nodded, passing Kevin the map back, "Poor thing. Heard they took her all the way up to Atlanta. You boys drive safe now, ya hear?"
Kevin nodded numbly and put the truck into drive. Daryl started at his work partner for a moment. Kevin was oddly pale and he was gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Kev, ya alright?" Daryl asked.
"I know her, Daryl," Kevin said, "She was in mine and Carol's year when we were in school."
"Oh," Daryl said, blinking a little, "Uh, sorry to hear that."
"She had a reputation," Kevin revealed, "Everyone said she was a slut and a bitch and all, but she always seemed nice to me. Even now, I still think it was all rumours. Things…well, things weren't the same after she and Ed broke up."
"Ed?" Daryl asked, "Ed as in 'asshole Ed'?"
Kevin nodded, "They dated for a while when she was a freshman. It ended badly. Ed crashed his truck and got hurt bad. She dumped him while he was in the hospital…supposedly because she was cheating on him. After that, the rumors started and..."
Suddenly, Kevin was laying on the brakes again.
"What?" Daryl asked.
"You don't think that maybe Ed…Ed did it, do you?" Kevin wondered. Daryl frowned.
"He was out all night on Saturday," Daryl said, "and when he got home, he looked like shit. Drunk, amped up, and he was all dirty and scratched up."
"Did he have his class ring?" Kevin asked.
"Can't remember," Daryl said, "But he had women's underwear in his pocket. We found 'em when we got back from the police station yesterday."
"Sick," Kevin breathed, looking a bit paler, "Daryl, we have to talk to the police. They have to know so they can look into him."
"We'll go after work," Daryl decided, "They already got Ed in custody for what he done to Carol. Now…well, maybe that bastard will never get out of jail."
0-TSR-0
Carol didn't want to admit how tired she actually was so instead of retreating back to Daryl's room, she curled up on the couch with a blanket and watched TV with Merle. Every now and then, she'd catch him looking over at her, almost as if he was checking her over.
"Ya should go to lay down," Merle finally commented as the final round of 'The Price is Right' ended.
"I'm fine," Carol replied, shifting a little.
"Go," Merle prodded from his spot in the chair, "Ain't no reason to be up anyhow."
Carol looked down the hall. The very thought of going back into the room where Ed had hurt her made her feel sick. She knew that Daryl didn't have a problem with her taking his room, but she also remembered that Merle had had a problem with her getting close to Daryl. She shook her head.
"I'm fine."
"Yer stubborn is what ya are," Merle told her, "Ed's room is full of boxes. Go lay in Daryl's room for a bit."
Carol frowned, "I thought you…well…you didn't want me around Daryl…"
Merle seemed to pause and then he looked over at her. There was an odd sort of expression on his face, almost like he was about to do something he found to be unpleasant. He sighed and said, "It…well…I…that…that was different, Mouse. Ain't that I don't wantcha 'round my baby brother. It's more that I didn't wantcha 'round him when ya was involved with that asshole," he let out a breath, "See, there's some things ya gotta understand."
"Like what?" Carol asked curiously, sitting up a little to look at him better. That odd look was still on Merle's face. Carol thought that he would've looked happier going to the dentist for a root canal.
"When Daryl and I were kids, we had shit rough," Merle started, "Our parents weren't winnin' no prizes in child rearin' so a lot of lookin' in on Daryl fell on me. Can't say I did too good of a job, 'specially after our momma died. Left Daryl alone with the ol' man a lot. Big fuckin' mistake. Boy got hurt bad-"
"Daryl got hurt?" Carol asked sharply. The thought of anyone wanting to hurt Daryl made her ache for him.
Merle let out a humourless laugh and stated, "Our ol' man was the devil."
Carol was silent for a moment, trying to picture Daryl and Merle's father, but she couldn't. She had had a loving father who would do just about anything for her. She couldn't picture a father who would hurt his sons.
"Our daddy left his mark on Daryl," Merle continued, "Saw it all when I got back after bein' discharged from the military. He had got quiet, flinchin' whenever someone moved too fast or refusin' to turn his back to anyone. He kept to himself…locked himself up in his room. He hated new folks comin' 'round and godforbid someone ever touch him. He'd-"
"Flinch," Carol finished, remembering the way that Daryl would pull back whenever she had touched him in the beginning stages of their friendship. Merle nodded.
"It took Daryl awhile to get back to bein' mostly okay," Merle said, "He still had his moments, but he got to bein' a bit better…bit more like himself. I swore I'd never let nothin' like that ever happen to him again. Got a bit protective, I guess. Felt I was responsible for what happened to him. Tried hard to make it right, 'specially when I found out that he wanted to go to college. Tried to earn money. Tried to save it and that's where Ed came in."
He sighed and shook his head before continuing, "When Ed moved in, Daryl was flat out against it. Thing was though, that we needed the money. Rent and Daryl's college stuff. Havin' Ed around helped out a lot with all that. Figured if I could save money, I could put the boy through school to make up for all the shit he'd gone through."
"That's really sweet," Carol observed. Merle flushed, but turned to hide the pink tinge on his face.
"Yeah, whatever," he shrugged it off, "So the boy don't like people, but we needed Ed 'round to help pay for shit. Then you came into the picture and Daryl got himself a little crush on ya. Figures that the first girl he's actually interested in would be taken."
"I'm the first girl he's been interested in?" Carol asked, an incredulous expression on her face.
"Don't get me wrong," Merle said, "He's been with girls and all…ya know, scratchin' the itch, but he ain't never wanted to date none of 'em."
"So I'm just an itch?" Carol asked. Her incredulous expression turned into a frown.
"No, no," Merle said, shaking his head, "Ya hearin' me wrong, Mouse. I know my brother and this…well, it's way different. Don't know what it is 'bout ya, Mouse, but the boy's head over heels for ya. Gotta say I didn't like it at first. You was with Ed and I know how that shit works. Man either ends up with the shit kicked out of him or he gets his heart trampled on. Didn't want that for Daryl."
Carol nodded, her brow crinkled up in thought, and asked, "So you didn't want me to hurt Daryl?"
"Uh huh," Merle confirmed.
"I'd never do something intentionally to hurt him," Carol said firmly.
"I'll be holdin' ya to that," Merle vowed, his eyes boring into Carol's, "See, Daryl ain't got no clue 'bout relationship stuff. He might as well be a damn virgin. Problem is that if he gets burned, he ain't gonna try cookin' again, if ya know what I mean."
"I get it," Carol confirmed.
"Hope so," Merle said, "I been tryin' to keep the boy's hand out of the fire, but it ain't easy. Boy's lost all sense over ya. See, whatever it is ya'll got brewin', ya gotta go easy. Tread carefully. Go slow, be sure, and if ya ain't, tell him now before things get too far. Don't lead him on," he requested.
Carol nodded her head, "I want things to go slow too," she told him, "I still need to deal with everything that happened yesterday."
"Ya do," Merle agreed.
They were silent for a moment before Carol spoke up, "Thank you for telling me all of this, Merle."
"He'd be pissed if he knew I said anythin'," Merle revealed, "Boy's proud. He don't like people knowin' a lotta things 'cause he don't want no pity."
"I don't pity him," Carol said, "I admire him. I mean, after everything he's been through, he's so…so strong. He has such a big heart."
"Always the sweet one, my baby brother," Merle chuckled, "This one time, he-"
Merle was interrupted by a knock on the door. He frowned and got to his feet, wondering, "Who the hell is that?"
Merle left to go open the door, leaving Carol to curl up into a ball and pull her blanket tighter up to her chin. She couldn't help it as her mind strayed to Daryl, that puzzle that she was still trying to figure out. Thanks to Merle, she now had a better idea of where the pieces fit. She suddenly wanted to see him and spend time with him.
"Can I help ya?" Merle's voice was wary and that grabbed Carol's attention.
"You can't," the man at the door said, "but I believe Carol Ann can."
Carol's blood ran cold. She knew that voice.
"And what d'ya want with her?" Merle snarled. Carol numbly pushed the blanket away and stumbled to her feet.
"Just to chat," the man replied, "I'd imagine that she's pretty distraught over her fiancé being in jail."
"Ex-fiancé," Merle corrected. The man stepped passed Merle and come into the house like he owned it. He looked directly at Carol, who was a deathly sort of pale. She had met the man a handful of times and each time, he had left her feeling intimidated. He was a heavy-set man in a dark suit. He wore square glasses and had his black hair slicked back. The hair looked dyed, as well as the little goatee on his chin.
"Hello, Carol Ann," the man greeted, offering her a sickly sweet smile.
"M-Mr. Peletier," she stammered.
"Why don't you put some coffee on, Sweetheart?" Patrick Peletier suggested, "We have much to discuss."
So much for that 'Me Day'.
TBC
AN: Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think.