Beth huffed out a breath as she glared at the man opposite her. He knew, he knew, how much she hated it when he got asked to stay for meals at her parents' house. He knew she hated it when he chose the seat directly opposite her, knew she hated the way he sucked his greasy fingers, releasing each one with a noisy pop of his lips, and he definitely knew she hated it when he "accidentally" kicked her under the table. She jumped as his booted foot made contact with her shin, not hard, but just enough to make her jump, just enough to infuriate her. She scowled at him and he responded with a smirk.

Daryl Dixon was her brother's best friend and the bane of her existence. She couldn't remember when, exactly, (although she could remember what had started him on that path) he had become the bane of her life but he had been her brother's friend forever, as far back as she could remember. She hadn't always hated him, at one point she had thought they maybe they were on their way to becoming... something... But that had come to an abrupt end and was replaced by a wild hate, a rage that simmered under the surface whenever she was near him.

She rolled her eyes at him and looked down, concentrating on her food instead of the ridiculously irritating man sitting opposite her.

Beth knew that her mom invited Daryl to stay as a way of getting them to like each other again. Her mother had always had it in her head that she and Daryl were perfect for each other but Beth felt that the more often he was invited to stay, the more she couldn't stand to be near him. Shawn found it hilarious when Daryl would wind Beth up and make her uncomfortable at the table. She felt his foot hit her shin again and she closed her eyes willing herself to not hop over the table and throttle him. She took in a deep breath and heard him snicker. Her eyes flew open and locked with his. Daryl raised an eyebrow at her, as if daring her to say something, as he popped a piece of food in his mouth. Beth smiled at him sweetly as her foot connected with his shin. Hard. Daryl jumped, pushing his chair back from the table. He coughed on his food as he tried to shout at the pain in his leg and doubled over, his head between his knees as he spluttered and coughed. Shawn frowned at Beth while patting Daryl on the back but she just kept her face blank as she shrugged at her brother. Annette reached for the water jug on the table, refilling Daryl's glass and handing it to him when he was finally upright again. Beth smirked when she saw him rubbing at his shin.

"You OK, Daryl, honey?" Annette was frowning t Daryl, concern all over her face. Daryl scowled at Beth before turning to nod at Annette.

"Yeah, thanks, 'Nette. Just went down the wrong way, I guess." He glared at Beth again and she sucked her lips in, willing herself not to laugh.

Yes, Daryl Dixon was the bane of her existence. But she could be the bane of his too.

Shawn raised his eyebrows at Daryl as his best friend limped in to the room and flopped down into the armchair in the corner. He winced as he rolled up the leg of his pants and revealed a bruise forming on his shin. He scowled at it before dropping his pants leg and looking at his friend evenly.

"Yer damn sister kicked me in the leg." He grumbled causing Shawn to laugh.

"Well, payback's a bitch, Dixon." Daryl opened his mouth to answer but Shawn cut him off. "Don't tell me you didn't start it."

"Didn't kick her as hard as she kicked me. Was barely even a tap." He scowled again and cursed himself for sounding like a petulant child. He supposed Shawn was right and he had started it but he wouldn't have done it if he had known she would kick him back. He was a bit mad that he had barely touched her with his foot and now he was the one that would be left with a bruise.

"I dunno why you do it, Daryl. Purposely winding her up. You know, one of these days Beth's just gonna punch ya square in the face." Shawn laughed at the thought of his younger sister, blonde and petite, punching Daryl Dixon in the face.

He had always been closer with Beth than he was with Maggie even though, at 7 years older than Beth, he was closer to Maggie's age, he and Beth were always the "well-behaved" children, while Maggie was a party animal. He, Beth and Daryl used to have great times together, and at one point he thought he was gonna have to talk to Daryl about his intentions towards his younger sister, but then that had all changed one weekend when he had gone away and returned to find Beth not talking to Daryl and Daryl trying his hardest to pretend he wasn't bothered by the fact that the youngest Greene girl was giving him the cold shoulder. Shawn knew better than to ask what had gone on (mostly because he was scared that it had something to do with something that he really didn't want to think about his baby sister doing) and had assumed it would all blow over. But that was a year ago and the rift between them had only grown, made worse by Daryl constantly trying to annoy Beth when he was round their house. Which, unfortunately for Beth, was almost every day. Shawn sometimes wondered if maybe he should step in, stop Daryl in his torment from his sister, but if tonight was anything to go by, Beth Greene gave as good as she got.

"Don't think Beth's got it in her to punch me in the face." Daryl didn't sound convinced by his own words and Shawn almost laughed at the anxious look on his face.

"Dixon, are you-" Shawn burst out laughing and struggled to get his sentence out. "Are you scared of my baby sister?"

"What? NO! No." Daryl sounded affronted. "Don't be stupid. 'Course I ain't. I ain't afraid o'nothing, remember? She's just your kid sister and I can't stand her, is all."

Shawn raised a eyebrow at his friend. He knew Daryl well and could tell when he was lying. Which is why he found it so interesting that Daryl wasn't telling the truth about how he felt about Beth.

Beth sighed to herself as she lay back on her bed. She was glad that Daryl had finally left, just knowing he was in her house put her on edge. She tried to make herself as scarce as possible while he was here but he sometimes sought her out just so he could inflict her with whatever brand of torture he had come up with that day. She rolled on to her stomach and looked at her clock. Ten minutes until her date. Well, if you could even it a date. More of a rendezvous. With someone she had never met. Beth closed her eyes and groaned. She knew it was a bit weird that she felt like she connected with this guy, that she actually liked him, when she didn't even know his name. She had been talking to him online for 6 months ever since they had met in a public chat room about music and they shared a lot of interests and Beth found him funny. He had never expressed any desire to meet her and Beth didn't want to be the first one to broach the subject so she left it as it was, just an innocent online romance. He had never sent her a picture so she had never sent one to him. Maggie, who was the only person who knew about Beth's little secret, said that she should ask him for one because "he might be a psycho killer, Beth". Beth pointed out that they still wouldn't know if he was a psycho killer even if they saw a picture of him but Maggie said she was merely trying to point out that he may not be who he says he is. Beth rolled herself over, letting her feet touch the floor as she pushed off the bed. She grabbed her laptop and sat at her desk, waiting for it to power up. She clicked on the icon for her chat messenger and opened it up. She saw that he was already there and her heart beat faster as the little box popped up with his message.

hunterguy: Hey

musicismylife: Hi you :)

hunterguy: Hows your day been?

musicismylife: Pretty crappy to be honest! Had to deal with a grade A douche-bag. How about yours?

hunterguy: Not too bad, just hung out with my buddy. Wished I was here talking to you though.

musicismylife: Aw, that's sweet. I thought about you today too, would definitely have rather been talking to you than dealing with a complete jerk.

hunterguy: Well, why don't I give you my number and then you can text me or whatever whenever you want?

musicismylife: I'd like that

Beth excitedly tapped the number into her phone her phone and saved the contact as hunterguy (she really should ask him his name at some point, although she doubted he would tell her).

hunterguy: I'm gonna have to cut it short tonight, I have work early tomorrow. I'd love to stay here and chat with you but bills don't pay themselves.

musicismylife: That's OK, I have work early tomorrow too. I guess I could always text you though. I'll send you my number in a minute. Goodnight :)

hunterguy: Night, beautiful x

hunterguy has signed out.

Beth smiled to herself, knowing that it was silly to be pleased that someone who had no idea what she looked like told her she was beautiful. She pulled up her name in his phone and sent a quick text saying goodnight to him and signing it with her online username. She plugged her phone in and drifted off to sleep, wondering what her mystery man looked like.

A/N - Can you see where I'm going with this? ;)