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 30
Ed dropped the last box of his things down on the floor of his father's basement. He was super pissed off to be back at home. Merle had no right in kicking him out. He paid the rent after all. It was all more bullshit to help Daryl steal Ed's girl. Ed shook his head. He felt betrayed. He had thought that Merle was on his side. He had thought that Merle understood that Carol belonged to Ed.
Apparently Merle was just another dumb redneck like his stupid brother.
Thoughts of Daryl Dixon made Ed shake with rage. He kicked the box away and stormed over to his father's wet bar in the corner of the basement. He reached for the whiskey and took a swig.
This was all that Dixon bastard's fault. He had been trying to steal Carol all along. He had manipulated her mind. He had turned her against Ed. Ed knew that Carol didn't really want to break up with him. He knew that Dixon had talked her into it. He had tried to knock some sense in her, remind her that she was his. If Dixon hadn't interrupted, Ed knew that he could've got her in her right mind again.
After all, that was how his father kept his step-mother in her place. Gloria Peletier knew that her duty was to serve her husband and step-son. His father was tough on her and by doing so, he made sure that she would never run out like Ed's whore mother had done.
Ed took another long pull of the bottle.
He needed to get Carol away from the Dixons. He needed to get her and break down all of the bullshit that Dixon had filled her head with. She would marry him. She would be his dutiful wife and she would give him a son, someone to carry on the god Peletier name. That was the plan. That was her duty.
He needed to remind her of that.
Ed stomped over to the box that Merle had packed and ripped it open. He took another long drink.
He saw a pair of pink panties at the very top.
He knew what they were. He took a drink and then picked up the underwear.
A flash of memory came to him from Saturday night. The woman's cries as he broke her, dominated her.
He had showed Veronica Creedy. No one made a fool out of Ed Peletier and got away with it. He took another drink and reached down with the hand still holding the panties. He unbuttoned his jeans and began stroking himself with the underwear.
He took another drink and imagined that he was back in that truck, taking what was his. He imagined Carol Ann's face instead of that Creedy bitch.
0-TSR-0
Daryl was anxious, bouncing around on the balls of his feet and gnawing on his fingernails as the Detective and some cops tore apart his truck in hopes of finding evidence. Under any other circumstances, Daryl wouldn't have given a shit if those cops took as long as they liked searching his truck, but now, Ed was on the loose again. Daryl couldn't help but worry that he might go after Carol. He wouldn't put anything past the bastard.
"You okay?" Kevin asked from his left.
"Need a smoke," Daryl muttered.
"I thought you quit," Kevin observed.
"I did," Daryl grunted, fidgeting on the spot. Daryl felt Kevin's hand on his arm. He turned to look at his friend, who looked supremely concerned.
"Daryl, what's up? I thought you wanted them to catch Ed."
"Ed's out," Daryl said tersely, "He's out and Carol's just with Merle…"
"I can leave," Kevin offered, understanding splitting on his face, "I can go over to the house and stay there until you're finished with the cops."
Daryl nodded, "Please?"
"Don't worry about a thing," Kevin pledged, "It'll be alright, Man."
With that, Kevin clapped him on the back and walked over to his own vehicle in the county parking lot.
0-TSR-0
Carol was woken up by a knock on the front door. For a moment, she thought about snuggling further into Daryl's pillow and ignoring it, however, she knew that it would be unwise to leave Merle alone to deal with it. It could be Patrick Peletier returning to demand that she drop the charges against Ed. She pulled a sweater on over her t-shirt and padded out of the room where she caught the tail-end of an introduction.
"My name is George Taylor. Carol's father."
Carol froze mid-step. She knew how she looked. She knew what her father would see. Oh, how would she explain it to him? How would he react? Would he be ashamed of her? She certainly hadn't given him much to be proud of, what with running off to live with Ed and then letting herself get hurt. How wold he react to the wedding being called off? That would certainly lead to shame…
"Merle Dixon," Merle introduced himself, "Come on in."
Carol panicked. She didn't want her father to see her like this, but before she could move, he was there in the entrance way, looking down the hallway and staring directly at her.
"Daddy," the world fell from her lips in a terrified whisper, like she was a child about to admit that she had done something wrong. He moved towards her, his bright blue eyes never leaving the ones she had inherited from him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Merle hovering protectively.
George stopped a foot or so away from Carol. His gaze was so intense that Carol had to look down to avoid it. He reached over and tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him.
"I am so sorry, Sweetheart," he murmured. It was the last thing that she was expecting. The way he said it was almost as if he was to blame for what had happened to her. He wasn't responsible for what Ed did or for Carol giving Ed the opportunity to do it.
"Daddy, I…I'm sorry-"
"Don't you be sorry," her father told her firmly before taking her in his arms and holding her tightly to his chest. The suit he wore was crisp and almost coarse and it smelled of the bank, but it was familiar to her, as was the gentle way that he held her. It was overwhelming, given that it was the opposite of what she was expecting, and she couldn't help the tear that escaped her eye. George pulled back and gently wiped the tear from her cheek, "When did this happen?" he wondered, gently running his thumb against her skin.
Carol opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. It was Merle who stepped in.
"Yesterday mornin'," he supplied, "Ed came home in a fit and he weren't too pleased when Carol told him she wanted to be done with him. My brother got him off of her. Then we called the cops."
"Are you charging him?" George asked.
Carol nodded her head.
"Good," he said, "He deserves some kind of consequences for this."
"Don't know what those'll be," Merle muttered, "His pa came over this mornin' already tryin' to weasel that asshole outta trouble."
"Patrick was here?" George asked sharply, "Did he do anything?"
Carol shook her head, "No. He just wanted to talk. He wanted me to drop the charges, but I'm not."
"Good," George said, relaxing a little, "I'm just glad you're okay and not…well…"
Carol frowned, "Not what, Daddy?"
George shook his head and sighed, "Honey, there's some things that I should have told you a long time ago. Maybe we ought to sit down and talk."
The three of them went and sat down in the kitchen, where Carol's father told her about his relationship with Ed's mother. He told her how Anne had came to him after one beating too many and asked for his help.
"So the apple don't fall far from the tree," Merle muttered.
George nodded grimly and explained, "Usually Patrick was more inconspicuous with where he hit Anne, but that night, he had been drunk and had left marks. His hangover the next day had worked out well for her, though. She was able to come to see me."
"Why didn't she go to the police?" Carol wondered.
"Patrick has been collecting favors all his life," George told her, "He knows a lot of people in high places and Anne was scared that if she went to the police, she'd be worse off for it."
"Not to mention that abusers make ya think it's your fault…like ya deserve it. Must've felt like she thought she'd get the blame if she went to the cops," Merle added. George regarded Merle for a long moment and then continued.
"In addition, he also used Ed to threaten her-"
"Like if she leaves, she wouldn't ever see Ed again," Merle clarified, "The kids are used to make ya stay."
"Exactly," George confirmed, "and by the time she had come to see me, she had accepted that as a consequence. She wanted her freedom and to get it, she had to leave her son behind. She went off the grid…made it hard for Patrick to find her. I helped where I could."
"Ed always told me that his mother ran off with another man," Carol said.
"A lie that Patrick had concocted after she disappeared," George replied, shaking his head, "It's what the Peletiers do. They lie to make themselves look good."
"Makes me wonder what else he lied about," Merle said, leaning back in his chair. Carol pulled her feet up onto the chair and hugged them to her body.
"Daddy, I can't marry him-"
"No, you can't," her father agreed, "I've been a fool, Carol. Reputation…religion, even, is not as important as your safety. I've known for a while that it would not be in your best interests to marry the Peletier boy, but I foolishly kept my mouth shut when you needed me to speak. I kept hoping that maybe some of his mother's kind nature had slipped through. I was naïve and Anne thought as much when she wrote me after I told her about you and Ed in a letter. In addition, your mother…well…"
"I know," Carol said, saving him from having to say it, "Mama can be pretty old fashioned."
"She can be," George agreed, "She doesn't know the full story, only the bits and pieces that I let slip. She knew that Ed was a troubled boy, but she never knew of the violence that Anne had faced at Patrick's hands. Your mother…well…she never did care for Anne, knowing that we had a past, but then when Anne left, she didn't approve. Divorce is not an option for your mother."
"Even though Anne was being abused?" Carol asked.
"She didn't know that," George explained, "If I had told her that, then I would've had to tell her that I helped Anne leave and to your mother, that would be unforgivable."
"What's she going to say when I tell her that I'm not marrying Ed? What will she say about this?" Carol worried, gesturing to her face.
"You leave that to me, Sweetheart," George told her, "I've spent almost twenty-one years with your mother. I know her, and while for a moment or two, she'll focus on the wrong things, I know that she loves you very much. Just leave it to me."
0-TSR-0
It had been easy to sneak out of his father's house. Gloria had done something stupid and Patrick had been in the middle of teaching her a lesson when Ed had taken the keys to his father's car from the hook and let himself out the front door. He was drunk and spoiling for a fight. He wondered how Carol had enjoyed her night alone with the Dixons. She was probably opening up her legs for them before they had even made it through the front door. He'd show her. He'd show all of them.
Ed pulled up to the house, parking just across the street. Carol's father was over. His car was sitting right in front of the house. Ed would just have to wait for the uptight bastard to leave. He settled into the driver's seat and waited. He wasn't waiting long before an old tan car pulled up behind Carol's father's vehicle. Kevin Jones got out of the vehicle. He paused and looked around. Then those bespectacled eyes landed on Ed. Kevin looked over at the house and then back at Ed. He seemed to be at war with himself. Then he puffed himself up and crossed the street. He came over and tapped on the window. Ed obliged and rolled it down.
"What can I do for you, Lil' Jones?" Ed asked, plastering on a fake smile.
"You need to leave, Ed," Kevin said firmly. Ed chuckled and fished one of his father's cigarettes from the center console.
"What makes you think you can tell me to do anything, you little fag?" Ed asked, putting the cigarette in his mouth and then reaching for the lighter.
"Go home, Ed. You're drunk and Carol doesn't need your shit."
Ed laughed, coughing a little as he inhaled some smoke, "Carol is gonna be my wife. Think I'm more'n able to see her."
Kevin shook his head and said, "You still think she's gonna marry you after what you did? Forget it."
"Oh, she'll marry me," Ed said confidently, blowing smoke into Kevin's face, "This…this ain't nothin'. She just needs some remindin' of the way things are."
Kevin waved the smoke away and glared down at Ed, "Is that what you did to Veronica?" he demanded harshly, "Were you reminding her of the way things are in your twisted little mind?"
Ed's eyes narrowed at the younger man. What did he know about Veronica? As far as Ed was concerned, no one knew about that bitch but him. He shook his head, "You don't know nothin', Faggot."
"I know what you did on Saturday, Ed," Kevin replied coldly, "I know you took Veronica out to some isolated back road, raped her, and beat her so bad that she's up in Atlanta getting treatment. I know you left her for dead…and I know that your class ring was at the scene of the crime."
Ed's eyes widened a bit at the information, but Kevin wasn't done.
"It was you, Ed. You did it and the cops know it. Right now, they're searching Daryl's truck for evidence of you and Veronica and after that, I bet they're gonna be coming for you," Kevin said confidently, "You're gonna go to jail and you're never gonna hurt Veronica, Carol, or anybody else ever again. So get lost."
With that, he turned to walk away.
Ed reacted on instinct. No hesitation. He threw the car into drive, wrenched the steering wheel, and then hit the gas. The tires squealed on the pavement just before the car shot forward. The car took Kevin out at the legs and the momentum sent him over the hood of the car. The windshield cracked from the weight of his body. Ed kept going, watching as Kevin's limp form fell to the pavement.
His mind only conjured up one word: flee.
0-TSR-0
"The fuck?" Merle asked, turning his head and frowning towards the front of the house. The conversation that he and Carol were having with her father was interrupted by a loud squealing sound. He moved through the house to the large bay window in the living room to see what was going on. Kevin's car was parked behind Carol's dad's vehicle, but the owner of that car was several feet away, laying motionless in the middle of the road.
"Shit!" Merle swore.
"Merle, what is it?" Carol called from the other room.
"Call an ambulance!" Merle shouted back to her as he moved towards the door, "Tell 'em someone just got hit by a car!"
Merle rushed out of the house and crossed the yard as quickly as he could. He stepped out onto the street and knelt down beside Kevin's limp form. He had fallen onto his back with one arm draped over his chest. His glasses had flown off in the impact. Merle could tell that his head had taken a good wack on the asphalt.
"Shit," he swore again, reaching over to feel for a pulse. Thankfully, he found one, but other than that, there wasn't much he could do for the kid. He knew that it was dangerous to move someone after they had been involved in something like this.
"Merle!" Carol was calling his name and running across the yard. He got up to stop her, catching her arm with his good hand.
"He's alive, just unconscious. We can't move him. His neck mighta been broke," Merle directed her, "Did ya call an ambulance?"
"My dad's on the phone with them," Carol whimpered, "Is there nothing we can do for him?"
"Just hold his hand. Be there if he wakes up. Just don't move him," Merle cautioned. By now, some of the neighbours were creeping out of their houses. He moved forward to try to see if anyone had any ideas of how to better help Kevin.
0-TSR-0
At first, Daryl assumed that the cop cars in front of his house were investigators involved in finding evidence against Ed. Then he realized that the road was closed. Confused, he parked on the edge of the police barrier and got out of his truck to walk down to his house. It was kind of a relief to get out of the vehicle. It reeked of the chemicals the investigators had used in the truck.
He knew something was wrong when Carol came flying out of the house towards him, her hair a mess and tears shining in her eyes. She slammed into him, her arms wrapping around his neck and it was all Daryl could do to stay upright.
"Hey, hey, what's goin' on?" Daryl asked, "What happened?"
Carol pulled back and he saw just how stricken her face was. Something big had happened. From behind her, Daryl saw her father coming down the sidewalk.
"It was Kevin, Daryl," Carol told him, her voice wobbly, "He was hit by a car."
Daryl opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to compute what she was telling him.
"It happened so fast. All we heard was a screech and then Merle was running out here…"
"Where is he?" Daryl croaked out and even he was unsure of which one he was asking about.
"Merle rode in the ambulance with Kevin," George Taylor supplied, "I told him that we would wait for you and then we'd meet them there."
Daryl nodded numbly. Carol took his hand and dragged him towards her father's car. George drove and Daryl and Carol sat in the back seat, their hands clasped together.
As they drove off, Daryl couldn't help but think of what he knew. He had asked Kevin to go check up on Carol. Ed was out of jail, and probably madder than hell.
Ed had done it.
Ed had hit Kevin.
TBC
AN: Soooo...thoughts?
Also, thanks to SophiaCharlotte for the medical advice that she gave me in regards to Kevin.