A Secret

Chapter 1

A/N: I know I'm working on another AU Caryl fic, but this one popped into my head last night, and I've been dying to write it down for you guys! So I'm going to have two stories at once, both AU, but very different from each other! There are no walkers, but they are the age they'd be in the show. I can tell this will be an exciting story! So please, enjoy it!
McBrideReedusLover.~

Carol Peletier sat in the court room, listening to the judge ramble on. She wasn't really paying attention, she was only praying that Ed got put into jail. She didn't care how long, just as long as she got a break. Lately, he had been very violent. She was covering the bruises on her arms by wearing a long sleeved dress. She only wished he was here because of her. She only wished she had the guts to report him. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Ed was here because he got into a serious bar fight and severely injured a man. His wife had pressed charges against him. She was secretly thankful to her for doing that. If Ed was put in jail her and Sophia could be free, even if it was for a short amount of time.

"Ed Peletier, you are here by sentenced to six months in the Atlanta State Prison." Carol let out a sigh of relief. He would be gone for six months. Maybe it would give her enough time to gain her strength and finally get rid of him once and for all. The judge got up and walked out of the room. Carol stood up and looked over at Ed. He glared at her as two men took him away. She quickly walked out of the court room. She was looking down at the floor as she turned the corner. The next thing she knew she had collided with a large man.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Carol looked up. She was met with a very familiar pair of blue eyes. "Daryl? Daryl Dixon?" Carol was surprised. She hadn't seen Daryl since highschool, and that was many years ago now. He still looked the same, only his hair was a little longer than before.

Daryl looked down at the small woman. It was Carol from his math and science class. He was a little surprised to see her after all these years. "Oh, it's no trouble Carol. I should probably watch where I'm goin' next time." He rubbed the back of his neck. Why was she at the court house anyway?

"Maybe if I wasn't looking at the ground and walking, we wouldn't have crashed into each other." She gave him a small smile. "So, why are you here? If you don't mind me asking."

"My brother Merle. He got busted a while back for drug dealin'. He was in jail for a bit, now they decidin' what to do with him since his sentence is over." Daryl shrugged. "'Bout you?"

"My husband." Carol sighed. "He was just sentenced to six months in prison for seriously injuring a man at the bar." Words couldn't express how relieved she was right now. She was free, even if it was only for six months. Atleast she wouldn't have to worry about him coming home drunk and taking all of the days frustrations out on her. "Anyway, it was nice talking to you again, but I have to go pick up my daughter Sophia from school." She smiled and started walking away. She stopped after a few steps, remembering she had taken a cab to the court house since her car was in the shop. It should be ready to go now. She looked back to see Daryl leaning against the wall. "Uhm, Daryl?"

"Hm?" Daryl looked over at her, waiting for her to continue.

"My car is at the shop, and I need to get my daughter from school. Would it be too much trouble to ask you for a ride to the shop so I can get my car?" She bit her bottom lip. She didn't want to bother him.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Merle won't be out for a bit anyway." Daryl walked past her, heading towards the parking lot. Carol let out a sigh of relief, and hurried after him. She found him standing by a blue truck. "Hop in." He gestured for her to get in the passenger side. She quickly opened the door and buckled her seat belt.

"Thank you so much. I don't want to trouble you." Carol glanced at him as he started the truck.

"Ain't a problem." Daryl nodded to her, and backed out of the parking lot.

"Well, thank you for the lift Daryl. Do you want some money for gas or something, I might have a twenty in here somewhere." Carol started to dig through her purse.

"It's fine. I don't need nothin'." He shook his head.

"Are you sure? I mean it isn't any trouble-"

"I dont need anythin'. Don't worry 'bout it." Daryl unlocked the doors.

"Well, it was good seeing you again Daryl. Maybe we'll spot each other around town again. Good luck with your brother!" Carol smiled and closed the truck door. He gave her a nod before driving off. She walked into the shop and found Dale Hovarth, the manager of the autoshop. "Hey Dale, is my car ready? I need to pick up my daughter from school."

"Yep, she's all ready." Dale smiled and led her to where her car was.

"Great. Thanks Dale." She took the keys from him and sent him a warm smile. "We'll see you around." She got in the car. It ran so much smoother now. She drove down the street towards the school. She parked on the street and got out of the car. The dismissal bell had not gone yet, so she wasn't late. She found her friend Lori standing with another woman, just talking. She walked up to them and smiled.

"Hey Carol." Lori smiled. The other lady walked away, going toward a car with another woman stepping out. Lori glanced around, and then whispered. "How did court go?"

"Ed was sentenced to six months in prison." Carol said quietly. The Grimes family had known all about Ed and what kind of man he was. Rick was a cop, and he hated that he couldn't really do anything about it. The only way he could do something was if Carol pressed charges, or Rick caught him red handed.

"Well thats a relief. Atleast you and Sophia can have some peace now." Lori gave her friend a reassuring smile. "Just remember I'm always here if you need anything."

"Thanks Lori." Carol looked towards the front doors as the bell rang. She saw Sophia and Carl talking with each other as they slowly made their way towards them. Sophia had looked up to her mother, and came running, a big smile on her face. Carol opened her arms as Sophia ran into her arms. "Hi sweety." Carol hugged her daughter tight before letting go. "How was school?"

"It was really fun mom!" Sophia smiled. "We had a substitute and played fun games!"

"Really? That sounds like lots of fun." Carol looked over to Lori. "Talk to you later Lori. Bye Carl." She waved to the boy. He sent her a smile and waved back before walking away with his mother. "So, what do you say we go home and order some pizza for supper?"

"Yeah!" Sophia grinned and ran towards the car. Carol laughed and followed the eager little girl. As they got into the car, Sophia turned to her mother. "Is daddy home?"

The question pained her. She always saw the way Ed looked at her. It wasn't natural. "No. He won't be for a while."

"Really?" She saw the relief on her little girl's face. She wished Sophia could've had a better father. It wasn't fair to her. "Can it be hawaiian pizza?" Carol just laughed.

"Of course it can."

"Sophia, did you do your homework?" Carol asked as Sophia turned on the television.

"Maybe." Carol crossed her arms and stood infront of the television.

"Maybe yes, or maybe no?" The guilty look on Sophia's face said it all. "Listen, it's the weekend. Better to get it over with, right? I'll help you, and then we can watch a movie. How does that sound?" Carol tried to reason with her daughter.

"Okay! I get to pick the movie right?" Sophia looked up at her mother with her big brown eyes.

"Yes, you can pick the movie, and you pick the snacks." Carol smiled. "Now go get your books." Sophia ran off to her room to get her backpack. Carol pushed the table aside to they could both sit on the floor. Sophia came back and set a math book infront of her mother. "Just math homework?"

"Well, I did my other homework at lunch. I wanted to get it done while it was still fresh in my mind." Sophia smiled and opened the book to the page she was on. "We're doing multiplication and division. It's kind of hard." Sophia sighed.

"Alright, how about you try the first question, and if you can't get it, tell me, okay? I'll try my best to help you." Carol got up and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed herself a water and a juice box for Sophia. When she walked into the living room, she saw Sophia looking very frustrated. "Can't get it huh?" Sophia shook her head. "Okay, you take the juice box. I'll have a look and see if I can figure it out." Carol took the book from her daughter's hand. After studying the question for a few moments, she figured it out. She showed Sophia the basic steps so she would remember how to do it for the next question. It amazed her how quick of a learner Sophia was. She never failed to make her proud. It didn't take Sophia long to finish the page. "All done Soph?"

"Yep!" Sophia beamed and closed the book. "Now, we will have a feast worthy of a king! Mom, go make the popcorn and get the chips! I'll start looking for a movie that we will both enjoy!" Carol had to laugh at Sophia's comment. Sophia also never failed to make her smile even at the worst of times. She rarely got to see the outgoing side of Sophia. Whenever Ed was around, Sophia kept everything bottled up and stayed in her room as much as possible. She couldn't blame her. But when it was just the two of them, Sophia was a completely different person. She was happy. She stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Oh, don't forget to put extra butter on it!" Carol chuckled and put the popcorn bag in the microwave. While it popped, she emptied the bag of chips into a bowl for the both of them. She looked in the fridge for something they could drink. She rarely let Sophia have soda, but she had some left over grape soda, which happened to be Sophia's favorite. She pulled it out and poured them into two glasses. All the snacks were ready, and she walked back into the living room. "I found a great movie! Fox and the Hound!"

"Sounds perfect." Carol smiled and turned off the lights. Sophia put the disc in the DVD player, and then snuggled up close to her mother. Carol had the popcorn bowl between them. This was a moment she would enjoy. Just some simple mother daughter time. She would be able to do this more often, with Ed gone for a while. Sophia only had a week left of school, and then she was on summer holidays. It would be the best summer holiday they had in a long time. Carol didn't know how it could get any better than this.

"This was really fun mom!" Sophia gave her mother a sleep smile.

"Yes, it was Soph." Carol smiled and tucked her daughter into bed.

"Oh, mom?" Sophia stopped her mother from leaving.

"What is it?" Carol looked back, her hand on the light switch.

"Can we go shopping tomorrow? And then go to the park?" Sophia sent her mother a hopeful look.

"Of course we can." Carol nodded to her. "Goodnight sweety. See you in the morning." She shut off the light.

"I love you mom."

"I love you too sweetheart." Carol smiled, and closed the door gently. Today had been a wonderful day. It was the first night in a long time that she hadn't gotten beaten. She also ran into an old friend, Daryl Dixon. Back in highschool, he usually kept to himself. Every so often, he would talk to her, but she had to talk to him first. She liked Daryl. The other kids in school thought he was dangerous, all because of what his father and brother Merle were like. She could see Daryl wasn't like that. She would've liked to talk to him more, but she never really got the chance. After school he'd go straight home. He always ate by himself in the corner of the lunch room while she ate with her friends. Other than their classes together, they never spoke a word. If she could've changed that, she would've. She shrugged. Maybe she could change that now. Of course, she'd have to run into him again in order to do that. Carol yawned and headed into her bedroom. Her bed looked so big without Ed there to take up most of the space. She smiled to herself, and changed into her nightgown. She was a little sore as she crawled into bed. Hopefully, her bruises would heal soon. She couldn't keep wearing long sleeved shirts in the summer time. She yawned again. Enough thinking, it was time to get some sleep. She had a lot to do in the morning, most of it spending time with the only thing she cared about, Sophia.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of A Secret! It was so much easier to write than Here We Go Again. I think this story, for now, will be focussing more on Carol. Anyway, please R&R lovelies!
McBrideReedusLover.~