Hello again! A lot of you wanted both but it was clear that if you couldn't have both you would rather have the no ZA sequel. So, I'll start with that. I'll apologize in advance if I took this one down an avenue that you'd rather not explore! I know how some of you feel about stories like this one but this is just the story I had to write. It was stuck in my head. I do plan on posting both, but I'm not sure how to do it. I can post them at the same time but wouldn't that get confusing? Then again, if I post the other one after this one, would you even really remember everything that happened in the first one? But, no worries. I'll figure it out! And until I do, I hope that you enjoy this one. I'm really nervous that you won't! The sequels were the biggest reason I never posted the first one in the first place. But I can't leave it the way I left it so, here you go.

Chapter One

Five years gone... Atlanta, Georgia... Carol

Carol dressed in an old pair of cut off jeans and a bikini top. She didn't worry about what she looked like at the moment because she didn't expect to see anyone. Her trip to Atlanta months ago hadn't turned out the way she had thought it would. She hadn't been able to find Daryl, though she had her friend Avery helping her with online searches, but they had turned up nothing. Avery was somewhere in Europe now and Carol was trying to settle into the house she had purchased.

Living back in Georgia seemed to deepen her need to find him, though. It was like he had stepped onto a plane headed for Georgia and he had simply vanished.

She grabbed the water hose and sat her bucket down, eyeing the van with a critical eye. When Daryl had picked her up in the old beat up thing five years ago it had been red. Or what had vaguely passed as red. Now it was black and had undergone extensive body work. On the outside it was much different from the van he had given her. On the inside, nothing much was changed.

She had meant to have it redone. She was planning on giving it back to him some day and had wanted to give him something that he would like. She just hadn't been able to have the inside altered. Even the mattress in the back, where they had spent all those nights wrapped up in each others arms, was still in the back. The stolen blankets from the hotel were still in there too. She had even found one of his shirts shoved into the corner. Everything inside of that van was another physical reminder of the man that had changed her entire world. She would leave it like it was.

"It's so dang hot out here."

She looked over at a pair of denim blue eyes and she couldn't help but smile. He was the first person that she had ever met that was even more beautiful than Daryl Dixon. "It was just as hot in California."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "This hot is different."

She nodded in agreement. "It's humidity."

"Yeah, well, it's awful," he scowled.

"We talked about this before we ever moved here and we all agreed that this was a good idea, you remember that before you start fussing at me," she said, moving the hose so the spray was aimed a little to the left of him.

"Well, you shoulda told me more about it and then maybe I would have pitched myself a fit and begged to stay back in California," he grumbled and then stuck his head under the cold spray. When he finally raised up his dark blond hair was plastered to his forehead.

"I thought you were asleep, anyway," she said once she moved the hose and went back to work on washing the dirt off the side of the van.

"Thought you were suppose to unpack stuff," he countered, leaning against the side of the van and crossing his feet at the ankles. His posture alone had her stomach twisting painfully and a lump forming in her throat. It reminded her so much of Daryl.

"Well, it's a nice day so I wanted to enjoy it."

"When will Avery be back?" He asked. She could tell by his voice that he knew there was something wrong. He was good at that. He read her easily and it was just another painful reminder of the man who haunted her.

"I think she said that she would be flying in next week but you know Avery. She's a busy woman."

He nodded, his eyes moving past her towards the woods that surrounded three sides of their new home.

She had an idea, even though she knew it was going to be a painful one. "How about I get changed and we go on a walk. There's a lot of woods to explore and I'm tired of even thinking about unpacking."

His blue eyes lit up. "You mean it this time or are you gonna do what you've done all the other times I talked about goin' to the woods?"

She snorted, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the back patio. "I'm a busy woman too. But we can go. I think its high time we do a little exploring."

"Are you gonna bring your gun with you?" He asked, looking over his shoulder towards the woods once more, longing in his eyes.

"Of course," she said, pushing him into the kitchen. "Go wake up your sister and tell her to get dressed."

He rolled his eyes. "Why does she have to come? She never said she wanted to go out there."

Carol raised a brow at him and shook her head. "Well, we can't just leave her here."

He huffed but finally headed out of the room. "Fine, but she's just gonna get on my nerves."

She watched him stalk out of the room, carrying himself in a way that seemed much too grown up for his age. She felt that familiar sadness well up inside of her once he was out of the room and she leaned heavily into the counter, her fingers gripping the edge and her head hung low.

She was fine. Everything was going to be okay because she was strong. She was strong and she was successful and she was determined to make herself okay. She was back in Georgia and she wasn't giving up her search. Her friend's parting words cut through her mind, leaving a new wound on her heart.

"It's been five years, Carol. A lot can change in five years. If this is really the guy from those photographs then chances are slim that he didn't find himself a woman. He could be married. He could have built a life for himself. I hate to think of you finding him and accomplishing nothing but breaking your heart even more than it's already been broken."

But she couldn't let it go. She couldn't accept that. Over and over her friend had tried to set her up with men. Over and over she had tried to talk her into moving on. But she never could. There wasn't anyone out there that she wanted but him. And the thought of him already losing all these years hurt her. And it wasn't only her that felt it.

"Mama?"

She turned at the sound of her daughter's voice and didn't have to force the smile. The little girl smiled back easily but her brother, who was just as perceptive as his long lost father, eyed her with an intensity that no four year old boy had any right to have. For two children that actually shared a womb for nearly eight months they were as different as night and day. "You two ready?"

They nodded in unison.

Five years gone... Augusta, Georgia... Daryl.

Daryl was sweaty, pissed off and covered in mortar. They had put in a hard days work and that alone was enough to piss Merle off. He'd been clean for six months but he was itching. Daryl could see it in the hard set of his eyes. Daryl pulled into the parking lot of the bar that Merle frequented. He wasn't in the mood to drink or socialize but this place had the best damn food in the state and he was starving.

"You fuckin' serious?" Merle growled, glaring at him.

Daryl threw the beat up truck in park and nodded. "If you think I'm gonna work all day in this heat and then come home and cook you a meal you're fucking crazy. You can wait out here and have a heat stroke if you want. Don't matter to me." He knew why Merle was in such a bad mood but the man had brought it on himself.

"I bet it wouldn't matter to you you brown nosin' little shit," Merle grumbled under his breath as he jumped down from the truck and slammed the door hard enough to jar Daryl's teeth.

He followed Merle through the doors and was happy to see that the place wasn't crowded just yet. It was a Friday and in a few hours the place would be packed. They headed to a table towards the back and sat down heavily. Usually Merle wanted to sit in the center of the room where he could more easily become the center of attention. Daryl hated dealing with Merle's horrible mood but damn if he wasn't glad he was mad enough to simply want to be left alone.

As soon as they ordered Merle was glaring at him again. "So, did you give that son of a bitch a hand job behind the building today to get out of going to Atlanta your damn self?"

Daryl glared. Earlier their boss had called them in to inform them that there was a job to do in Atlanta. Some lady with money wanted a pool redone and she had heard that the company that Merle and Daryl worked for were the best when it came to brick, stone work and tile. Unfortunately for Merle, he was chosen to go there first thing Monday morning and get measurements of the property and figure out exactly what the woman wanted. "Ain't my damn fault you got yourself arrested and fired. You're lucky he hired you back at all. Stay the hell off my case. I ain't got a damn thing to do with it."

Merle snorted and took a deep pull from the mug of beer the waitress sat down in front of him. "Yeah, I bet."

Daryl went back to ignoring his brother and started chewing on the skin around his thumb nail. He could have easily told the boss that he wanted to take care of that project himself. Merle knew as much, but Daryl hadn't wanted to go. He didn't like dealing with women at all. It was a pain in the ass because he couldn't even speak to a woman, cashier, waitress, no woman, without Merle hounding him about actually getting with one.

And he didn't want anything to do with anything like that.

"Here you go, sweetheart."

Daryl looked up just as the waitress sat his plate down. She was probably a few years older than him with hair that was too blonde and muddy brown eyes that were loaded down with too much make up. He grunted out a thanks as she gave him a wolfish grin.

After handing Merle his plate she cocked her hip out and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Can I get you anything else?" She asked coyly.

He shook his head and started eating, not bothering using his fork but tearing off a piece of steak with his fingers.

Merle scoffed. "Give it up lady, my brother here is queer as a three dollar bill. You give him a snatch flash and he'd likely throw up."

Daryl rolled his eyes but didn't make a remark. If thinking he was gay would get her the hell away from him then for now, he'd be gay. The lady hurried away without another word. They finished eating without speaking and it continued on long after they got to the house that they shared. It was the same house Merle had dragged him to five years ago.

He was tired from working so hard and that was how he wanted it. He showered quickly and then went straight to his room. It was a nightly ritual. Him and Merle didn't do a whole lot of talking. They hadn't for a long time.

He loved his brother. He would never be able to deny that. Merle was the only family he had and the man had tried. Goddamn, he had tried. But in all that trying he destroyed so much and Daryl wouldn't ever forgive him for it. He had tried to forgive him. He had been trying for years. But the kid that left that airport out in Arizona was long gone, the kid that had dared to hope. The man that had finally emerged from that broken boy had been squashed the second he realized that it was all over for him. Another transformation had taken place and the man he was now was a bitter and half recognized reflection of the person he had been out there with her.

He knew that it wasn't healthy. Too much time had passed and he should move on. And he would if he thought that it would dull the ache. But he knew it wouldn't. He hadn't been out looking for anything other than escape out there on that highway the day he had picked her up, but that didn't matter. He'd found something. He'd found everything. He found himself out there and he had found a sense of peace he had never felt before. He'd found home. And then it had all been ripped away.

How could a man come back from that? How could he be with someone else after he'd found the only thing he'd ever want in his life? Carol was probably out there somewhere living the good life. Maybe she was married. Maybe she had decided to move on and maybe she was happy. As much as that thought cut him. As much pain it caused him, he hoped that for her. He loved her enough to want that for her.

He dropped down on the bed and did the same thing he did every single night. He let the loneliness wash over him. He let the dull agony start to lull him into another fitful sleep. He didn't look at her pictures anymore. He couldn't look at them. The only thing it would accomplish was more heartache.

And his heart flat out couldn't take anymore.

P.S. The ZA version took a totally different route. They aren't very similar at all. I don't know if I mentioned that before.