So someone (whose username I have since lost, I'm so sorry!) requested a fic about Carol and Daryl having a love affair while she was married to Ed (I'm assuming with no apocalypse, which is how I'm going to do it). Bit of background now; Carol and Daryl had known each other in school, Daryl had always had a crush on her but never had the courage to try anything. After high school, Daryl ended up in jail for being the driver when Merle and his friends tried to rob a grocery store. When he returned home, he took a job as a plumber, called to the Peletier house after the sink backed up and Ed couldn't fix it. Unhappy with her marriage, Carol and Daryl start having an affair behind Ed's back and despite both of their better judgment. (In this, Ed's not abusive. I really don't think Carol would risk having an affair if her husband was abusive. She's just very unhappy).

Anyway, here we go! This is fairly long, so I'm separating it into several parts. I'm not sure how many parts it's going to be, probably two or three.

Carol Peletier sat in her kitchen as she waited for the plumber she had called several days before. The sinks in the kitchen and in the bathroom had been backed up for days before her husband finally gave in and let her call a plumber. Ed had tried to fix it himself but he was a mechanic, he wasn't a plumber. So she called the local plumbing company and they said they'd be out as soon as they could. Of course, that actually meant they'd be out whenever they got around to it. Carol wasn't stupid to think that they'd come right out for her. Her plumber had called that morning to tell her he'd be out and she swore she knew that voice. She couldn't place where she knew it from, but she knew the voice.

Carol sipped at the cup of coffee she was nursing, her free hand scratching the head of her dog, Lincoln as he sat at her feet. It was a quiet Tuesday morning just past nine o'clock in the morning, the Georgia heat hadn't broken yet. She'd already been up since five o'clock, having seen her husband off to work hours ago. Carol heard a loud truck pull up in the driveway just as Lincoln stood on his legs and began to park. Linc didn't bark often, he just barked at people he didn't know and that dog knew the sounds of her car and he knew the sounds of Ed's car. He knew this wasn't either of their cars.

"Linc, shh." Carol said and tugged on his collar as she stood to her feet. As she passed her counter, she set her coffee mug down on the tan counter top. She walked over to her door and peaked outside the window just in time to see someone climb out of the beaten down truck, a soft gasp escaping from her lips. "Daryl fuckin' Dixon." Carol said out loud, watching him from the window.

That's where she knew the voice. Carol knew Daryl Dixon, they had gone to high school together, they had classes together. They hadn't really been close friends, but Carol had considered him a friend. After high school, Carol had heard that Daryl had gotten in trouble with the law and had gone to jail, knew he had been the getaway driver when his brother robbed a store. Carol turned her attention back to him as he went around the back of his truck to get his toolbox. Damn, did he look good. Carol pulled the curtain shut and turned to look at her dog, shaking her head. She hadn't felt this attracted to a man in a very long time.

Linc's barking continued as there was a knock on the door and she shushed him again before opening the door and giving him a friendly smile.

Daryl recognized the woman almost immediately. He took a step back as he came face to face with Carol Austin – Carol Peletier now, the girl he'd spent his whole high school career obsessed with. Even twelve years after high school, she was still the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. He couldn't help but stare at her for a few seconds before he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Ya called about a leak?" He asked, averting his eyes from hers. Carol smiled as he spoke and she took a step back to let him in the house.

"Both the kitchen and the bathroom sinks have been backed up all week. Cant figure out what's wrong with it." Carol said as he walked into the house, his toolbox in his hand. She led him into the house, Lincoln following her. Daryl walked past her and towards the sink, glancing back at Carol. He wondered briefly if she recognized him, knew about what he had done with Merle. "I haven't seen you since graduation, Daryl."

Shit, she recognized him. He shrugged as he knelt down in front of the sink, opening the cupboard so he could get to work in the kitchen. "Had some trouble. Went to jail for a while." There was no point in lying about his jail stay. It had happened, he couldn't deny it. It was common knowledge anyway, everyone knew both Dixons were in jail. Merle was still in jail.

Carol lifted herself up on her counter across from the sink, shrugging her shoulders as she picked up her coffee cup and brought it up to her lips. "I know, I heard about it." She said. He glanced up at her as he started to work on her sink. "So?" Carol set her hands on her legs and leaned back to watch Daryl work.

Daryl turned back to the sink as he continued to work on her sink. "So I was in jail."

She waved him off. "You were just the getaway driver, not like you actually robbed the place." Carol said. Daryl froze for a second, not having realized that she knew so much about what he had done. Carol bit down on her bottom lip, regretting what she had said. "Could have been in jail for worse." He shrugged and went back to the pipes he was working on.

"What 'bout ya? Life after high school good to ya?"

Carol tilted her head as she thought about the question. Was life after high school good to her? It wasn't bad to her, but it wasn't very good to her. Carol had met and married Ed Peletier while she was in college and while her marriage wasn't terrible, she wasn't happy. Her marriage was stale, there was no love there but Ed refused to give her a divorce. Ed believed that Carol's place was at home raising children but he didn't know when he asked her to marry him that she couldn't have kids. She still stayed at home, Ed refused to let her work despite the fact that she had a perfectly good Bachelor's degree in Education. "Both, I suppose. No career, no love in my marriage but my husband refuses to give me the divorce I've been asking for for years. But at least I have a house to live in and a Bachelor's degree."

Daryl gave a breathy grunt, which Carol took as a laugh.

"What about you? Meet one of those crazy girls that love prisoners?" She teased, taking another drink of her coffee. Another breathy grunt left his mouth.

"Nah. Those girls go for murderers, type of fuckers that would kill 'em the first chance they got." Daryl looked at her again before he turned back to the sink. "How long has this been backed up before you called?"

"A few days. My husband tried to fix it himself but.. He's useless at home repairs. Our house is half broken because of him. We've got busted windows, busted stairs, rooms we haven't been in in years because of him." Carol ran a hand through her short hair and shrugged. "Only reason he let me call is because we need our damn sinks."

Daryl knew what he was about to suggest was a terrible idea, but he suggested it anyways. "I have a few days off later in the week, I can give ya a hand. Pretty good with my hands."

Carol glanced down at the large, rough hands that were under her sink. "I bet you are." She said before she could even think about what she said. Daryl dropped the wrench that was in his hand and Carol let out a loud laugh, holding the mug in her hand. "Sorry." She said. Daryl turned back to his work and she let out a soft giggle, her eyes falling back to the hands underneath her sink.