Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.
Daryl ruffled Michael's hair a bit as they walked up to the local coffee shop. He opened the door for his son, leading him inside. The sound of a singing voice on the piano that the shop kept open to the public filled their ears as they stood in line.
"Alright, little man, whatdya want? Hot chocol- Mike?" he asked, looking around. His eight-year-old was on a mad dash for the piano.
"Son of a bitch," Daryl murmured as she chased after his boy. Michael approached a young blonde woman who sat at the piano.
"Wow you're really good at that!" he said, awe-struck. The woman stopped playing, turning to look at him.
"Thank you! What's your nam-," she started.
"Michael, come on, let this nice lady get back to it," Daryl said, putting his hand on his son's shoulder.
"Oh no it's okay I don't mind. It's nice to meet you, Michael! I'm Beth. You are?" she asked, holding her hand out to the man.
"Daryl," he said, shaking her hand.
"Dad, can I learn some?" Michael asked, tugging at his shirt.
"I'd be happy to teach him," she said. "It looks like you've got work to do anyways," she said, pointing to the files in his hand. He thought about it a bit.
"Hmm, alright. If you're sure you don't mind?" he asked her.
"Oh of course not! It's been a while since I've taught- can't get rusty," she said. Daryl turned to his son and pointed to a table just about ten feet away.
"I'm gonna sit right there, okay?" he asked, always the protective father.
"Okay!" Michael said. Daryl nodded his thanks to the girl and walked over to the table, scattering his papers about the surface. He looked up to see Beth scooting over to let Michael sit by her. He tried to reach the keys, but when he couldn't, she perched him up on her lap.
It took Daryl an hour longer than usual to do the paperwork for his small auto shop. He looked up every few seconds to make sure his son was okay and still there. Not only was he there, but he was grinning ear to ear. Daryl thought to himself and watched as Michael seemed happier than he had been since his mother died. He shrugged, and started to pack up his things.
"Hey, Mike, we gotta go to Uncle Rick's house," he said, approaching the piano.
"But I wanna learn more…" he said. Beth interjected.
"Well my sister just moved out, and I've been looking for somethin to do on my weekends. I've got a piano back at my house; would you be interested in letting me give Mike lessons?" she asked. Daryl looked at her, really looked at her for the first time, and found her large, clear blue eyes were near impossible to say no to.
"Well I don't really know if we could affor-," he started with embarrassment, looking at the floor.
"For free of course! Enough smiles from this guy is payment enough," she said smiling and putting her hand on Michael's shoulder.
"Can I, Dad? Can I?" Michael asked.
"Yeah why not? Thanks," he said to her. Beth got up, packing up her own things, and scribbled down an address.
"Sunday? Two o' clock?" she asked. Daryl nodded. Beth started to walk away, but found herself stopped when the boy hugged her around the middle.
"Thanks Beth! I'll see you Saturday!" he said as he ran toward the door. Daryl smiled, the first smile Beth had seen yet, and gave her a small wave before he left.
Daryl scarfed down Lori's pasta later that evening.
"Piano lessons?" Rick asked.
"Mhm." The three sat around a small table as their children played together upstairs. Carl was fourteen, but the six year age difference didn't seem to bother him. It was easy to forget Michael was so young sometimes.
Lori gave Daryl a confused look.
"You've never mentioned wanting to get him lessons," she said.
"Well the woman that offered them was nice, and she said she'd teach him for free, so…" he said. Rick and Lori shared a side glance as Daryl's face was buried in the pasta.
"Haven't heard you call a girl nice since Elena died," Lori said, smiling.
"Yeah well girl bein the key word. Musta been 19, maybe 20," Daryl said, avoiding her glance.
"And you've got the maturity of anythin much older than that?" Rick said, throwing him a smirk. He exhaled slowly, and continued to eat in silence.
Knock knock.
Daryl heard a series of frantic footsteps, the sound of something falling over, a "Shit!", and finally the door unlocking.
Beth swung the door open, and he couldn't help but look at how radiant she appeared. She dawned a red blouse, tight light blue jeans, and a thin braid in her hair. More than beauty, she radiated happiness and an optimism he wasn't used to being surrounded with.
"Come on, come in!" she said, ushering them through the door.
"Sorry for the mess," she called over her shoulder as she guided them in through the foyer. Daryl looked around, and noted how it really wasn't messy at all.
"Can I get you something to drink?" she asked them both.
"No thank you," Michael said with manners only a young child would have down perfectly. Daryl shook his head lightly.
"Then let's get started!" she said, smiling. They headed into the living room, and it was unlike what he had expected. The room had red walls, a slick, seemingly new piano, and minimal furniture. He noted the only thing messy about the house was the crumpled up papers surrounding the piano. Compared to the rest of the old-fashioned house, this room felt severely out of place. Her blouse matched the walls so well that Daryl thought if he had her against them, half of her would blend in. He then realized where that thought could go and shut it down quickly.
"I've got some books, but not too much to keep you entertained, I'm afraid-," she said.
"Nah, it's okay. I'll watch if you don't care?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Not at all, not at all," she said. Michael was already sitting at the piano, poking at keys with experimentation.
For a few hours, he sat, and observed- something he was much better at than small talk. A couple times she asked if he was sure he was okay with watching for so long, but he insisted it was okay to go on so long as she still wanted to, and she never seemed to waiver. She was brilliant with Michael. She had him laughing, explained everything so clearly, and even gave him chocolate chip cookies at a break. ("Chocolate chip!? My dad tries bakin, but he really can't!" Michael had said, and Daryl gave a rare blush.)
Soon, two hours turned to five, and they had stopped playing all together.
"How about I whip you guys up somethin to eat?" she had offered. Soon, Daryl found himself sitting at the girl's diner-style booth in her kitchen, watching her make dinner while Michael used the bathroom.
"You're real good with him," he murmured. "Thanks for doin this."
"Any time… he's a good kid. He, uh, his mom…?"
"She died about two years ago. Just him and me," Daryl said. Beth nodded, but didn't press further, and for that he was grateful.
The three sat around the table, enjoying small conversation.
"No, Beth, you shoulda seen it! I used two whole boxed of Legos! Everyone was so jealous!" Michael told his story with loud expressions, and increasingly dramatic hand-gestures. Beth couldn't help but notice the contrast. Michael, loud and expressive, was the near opposite of his father, who was quiet and reserved.
"No way!" she said.
"Yes way! I mean Carl helped a little, but it was mostly me," he bragged.
"Is Carl your classmate?" she asked, taking a bite from her green beans.
"He's my cousin! Well, I mean, I think he is. I don't get that," Michael said, looking to his father expectantly.
"Uh, Carl's my brother Rick's son. Not my real brother- his mom and dad took me in when I was a kid, they were my foster parents. Adopted me when I was seventeen just to make it official," he said, shrugging. "Yes, Carl is your cousin," he said, looking toward Michael. "Blood ain't what makes a family."
Beth looked over at Daryl with slightly wide eyes. She looked at him with the kind of expression he hadn't seen in a long, long time, and he slouched a bit under the gaze.
"Beth, is that Monopoly?" Michael asked, tearing her eyes from his dad.
"Actually yes! My sister, her husband, and I- we used to play all the time before they moved out," she said.
"Can we play?" he asked Daryl with that innocent, pleading voice.
And that was how they ended up at Beth Greene's house at one in the morning, in the middle of the most intense board game he had ever experienced.
"Ya know you look all sweet and innocent, but I swear you've got some kinda demon inside of you, girl," Daryl said, looking at the board in deep concentration as Beth collected yet another free parking. She was annihilating them both. That's what he liked about Beth- she didn't coddle Michael. She didn't let him win or let him have his own set of rules. While still being likeable, she taught him the right ways, made him count his own money, and challenged him when he insisted "it was a six! Not a seven! Please, Beth!?"
"I think you're just jealous because I'm the queen of the Boardwalk," she said with a sing-song teasing tone.
"I can't believe you've landed on it four times, Dad," Michael said, cackling.
"Hey you laugh now, wait till you land on my yellows," he said gruffly.
"They've got, what, two houses, Dixon? Come on now, that ain't intimidating!" Beth said, grinning.
"I ain't intimidatin…" he grumbled.
Two hours later, Beth reined champion, and the three were on the couch in the living room. Michael was sprawled across Daryl's lap, fast asleep as Tom and Jerry played on the TV screen. Beth and Daryl whispered softly, passing each other popcorn. Beth had changed into her pink pajama bottoms and a white wife-beater, having thrown her hair up and taken her makeup off. Daryl's shoes and jacket were tossed in the corner of the room.
"See now that ain't possible," Daryl said as a bomb went off in Tom's face.
"It ain't supposed to be possible, Daryl," she whispered.
"Then why is it a show?"
"You never watched cartoons when you were a kid?" she asked.
"Not like this. By the time I moved in with Rick, I was fifteen. Dad didn't let me watch TV," he said. Beth looked at him for a second, and he looked back. She searched his face, looking for more, but he didn't give it. She pointed to the screen.
"This is the best part. Tom feels defeated, so he puts all of his stuff in a small bag and puts it on this stick. This sad harmonica plays in the background, and when I was a kid, I always felt so bad for him. Even though I knew he'd come back, with a vengeance too, I felt bad for him."
"Ain't you supposed to be rootin for the mouse?" Daryl asked, confused.
"Well yeah but, he's a cat. He's supposed to do this! Catchin mice, that's his job. It ain't his fault Jerry's makin it difficult," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You're a strange woman," he said.
"Gee thanks," she answered, sticking her tongue out.
"Didn't say it was a bad thing," he responded, taking some popcorn from the bowl. She smiled to herself, and got more comfortable, laying out a bit so their arms touched.
When Beth woke up, her neck hurt badly as it had been laying on Daryl's shoulder all night. He slept sitting up, she had no idea how he did it, and she quietly got up, stretched, and walked to the kitchen. She started to prepare breakfast, thinking quietly to herself.
"Hey," she heard and jumped.
"Scared me!" she said. "I was just about to make something, did you want anything?"
"Actually, my brother's wife has this thing about making pancakes on Sunday mornings… we're already a little late," he said, awkwardly.
"Oh, yeah! Yeah, no, um, it's fine. Next time," she said.
"Actually… well the pancakes are shit, and Lori and Rick, they're kinda loud, but-,"
"But?"
"Well you could come if you want. I think you're Michael's new best friend anyways," he said. She nodded, smiling.
"I'll go get dressed."
"Beth you're gonna love Carl! He's so cool!" Michael said, jumping excitedly in the middle seat of the truck. The three stopped by Daryl's place so they could change. Daryl wasn't even halfway prepared to have the conversation explaining to Lori and Rick why he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
"I bet he is from all you've told me!" she said with excitement.
"Aunt Lori's great too. I think you'll like her. She's nice like you. Pretty like you too," Michael said.
"Well thank you," Beth chirped. Daryl rolled his eyes, smiling.
"Always workin'," he said.
The three pulled up to the house and Lori looked out through the curtains.
"Oh my God," she said.
"What?" Rick asked, walking out into the living room.
"He brought a girl."
"What!?"
"She's young, blonde. She must be Beth!"
"You're kidding?"
"No! Carl, get down here!" she shouted. Feet thudded down the staircase.
"What!?"
"Uncle Daryl brought a girl with him," she said.
"You're shitting me!"
"Carl!"
"Sorry, Mom."
"I want you to be as nice as can be to her, ok?" Lori said, grinning.
"It's not like he's marrying her, geeze," Carl said, walking to the kitchen.
"You don't know that!" Lori shouted after him.
Daryl opened the door, only knocking as he was halfway inside. The necessity for permission to enter each other's homes was long gone.
"Hey," Daryl said, giving Lori a hug. Michael ran inside toward Carl.
"Hey man!" Carl said. Michael grinned.
"Hope you don't mind, I brought Mike's piano teacher," he said.
"No, no, not at all," Lori said, her voice going up an octave or two. "Hi, I'm Lori!" she said, reaching her hand out to the girl walking in. "It is so good to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too," Beth blushed.
"How about you two just sit out here and I'll make some more pancakes!" Lori said. Daryl resisted the urge to run away. He should have expected her to go into sister-in-law mode, but he didn't. Beth nodded gratefully, however, and he could tell she was much better at people than he was. The two plopped down on the couch as Rick and Lori put together breakfast.
"I take it you don't bring people around much," she said noncommittally. By "people" they both knew she meant "women", but neither of them said anything.
"Not really," he said.
"Well I'm touched to be among the few," she said.
"Figured I owed you a victory breakfast after you crushed my ass at Monopoly last night. Not to mention the free lessons," he said.
"Are you ever gonna stop mentioning those lessons? I like teaching Michael. It's not a problem," she said. He nodded, and they sat quietly for a while.
"Okay, come on, breakfast time!" Lori shouted loudly enough for the boys to hear upstairs.
The six of them needed to pull up an additional chair to the table in order for them all to fit, so Beth sat rather squished between Daryl and Michael.
"So what do you do, Beth?" Lori asked.
"I'm a student at Emory University," she said. "I'm a music major. I'm on spring break right now, actually."
"So are you a first year, or…?" Carl asked.
"Carl," Lori said warningly.
"No no it's fine! Yeah I'm a first year," she said. Rick's eyes lingered to Daryl, but he was staring intently at his food.
"So you just give away free piano lessons in your spare time?" Rick said with a kind-hearted joking nature that put Beth at ease.
"Actually, I'd say Michael was a special case. The minute he ran over, I knew, 'This kid's got the passion to be really good,'." Beth said. Rick smiled, and Lori practically melted in her hands. Daryl gave her a look that said very clearly, "Oh you are good."
"You should come by next week, too!" Lori said as they walked Beth, Daryl, and Carl out toward the door. Daryl gave a small, amused sigh. Rick nudged him with his elbow, smiling at him.
"I'd love to! You're a great cook, Lori, I'd love to come by again," Beth said. She gave Lori a hug as she opened the door.
"Gotta drive her back," Daryl said, walking out toward the door.
"Dad can I stay back and hang out with Carl? He bought the new GTA!" Michael said.
"Ain't that rated M?" Daryl asked.
"No," both boys said in unison, too quickly.
"Alright, alright. I'll be back for ya later then," he said. Mike gave him a quick hug before darting back up to Carl's room after him.
"See you later," Daryl said, waving to the Grimes on his way out the door.
"God, those were nasty," Beth whispered. Daryl snorted.
"Yeah, but she means well," he said as they walked down the driveway.
"I kinda like it… family breakfast every Sunday? That's just something you see in the movies. Inviting you and Mike over, making pancakes, the whole ordeal. I haven't had that since Maggie and I moved away from home," she said.
"Lori likes family stuff," he said. "When Elena was alive, her and Lori were real close. I think she misses her more than I do sometimes," he said.
"Do you ever think…" she started.
"What?"
"That you could have that again?" she asked. He shrugged slightly. She nodded, wondering if she pressed too much.
"But-," he said.
"Hm?" she asked.
"If I am, I think…" he trailed off, and she waited patiently as they stood outside the truck. "You'll be the first to know," he finished. She smiled.
"Alright good cause I'm not ready to lose my Monopoly opponents," she joked, relieving the tension.
"Yeah, wouldn't want that, would we?" he smirked, climbing in the truck.
And she never did.
A/N: This was my first completely non-zombie AU, so I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews keep me happy!