She stumbled into the bar, looking for some sort of alcohol to go with her infuriating high. Why did I let Ashley convince me to snort that shit? Her mind was reeling, but she tried to focus on walking straight. The bartender gave her a once over, as if he was deciding whether or not she should be drinking. Thankfully he asked what she wanted to drink, ignoring her bright red eyes and slumped over posture.
"Beer. I don't care what kind. Surprise me." She buried her face in her arms as the man poured her a glass of Budweiser. He slid the glass over to her and walked away. A man sat down next to her as she took her first sip, but she couldn't make out his features through her blurry eyes.
"Can I help ya?" He asked. His tone was gravelly, almost too old for a man like him. She could see his face more clearly as her eyes readjusted. He had greying brown hair and a beard to match. He must have been somewhere in his forties, but his eyes contained a sparkle that made him look a hell of a lot younger. "Can ya even hear me?"
She nodded and looked away, embarrassed, "I, uh, I don't even fucking know." She shook her head causing her dark brown hair to fall into her eyes.
"You seem pretty fucked up." There was a hint of amusement in his voice that caused her face to flare red with anger.
"Well fuck you," she growled as she took another sip of her beer. "I might be fucked up, but at least…" her words trailed off as she had forgotten what her insult was. Stupid, she became frustrated with herself.
"At least what?" He laughed, "Did ol' Merle make ya forget what you was gon' say? Hey, Darlina, come here." A man walked over, he was obviously younger than Merle and he had light brown hair that was just long enough to reach his ears. He had intense blue eyes that caught her attention immediately. "I think I found someone that can get more fucked up than me." He bellowed a laugh that stung her ears.
"Fuck you," her words began to slur, "it's not my fuckin' fault." That made him laugh even harder, causing her to slam her glass down. "Screw you!" A single tear made it's way down her cheek, she hadn't even realized she was crying. The man Merle had called Darlina looked at her with complete empathy, Merle must have done this a lot.
"If yer so angry why don't ya leave?" Merle asked, a smile plastered on his face. The truth was, she had no where to go. She'd been living with Ashley for the past week since her parents kicked her out, but she couldn't go back there. When she left, she had took all of her stuff with her, so she pretty much kicked herself out of there. With no money and no job, she was homeless and stuck in a bar trying to come down from her high.
"I have no where to go." Her honesty had surprised even her, why was she telling this to complete strangers? Merle's frown faded and she saw a hint of remorse in his eyes, but just as quickly as it had come, it was gone.
Merle winked, "Ya can stay with us." She chugged the rest of her beer and climbed down from her stool. She already had her backpack on so she turned to walk out. She could hitch hike down the road and find a ride to somewhere. "I was serious," Merle's voice called to her over the commotion of the bar, "me an Darlina got a place." She sighed, she had no where to go, and this was really her best option. She turned back towards Merle to see Darlina putting down a couple of bucks on the counter to pay for her drink. She took a deep breath and nodded, letting Merle and Darlina walk out so she could follow them to their blue pick up truck. Her mind was still reeling and her vision was blurring up again. This was going to be an interesting night.
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She awoke the next morning in a bed that she didn't recognize with a pounding headache. She couldn't remember anything that had happened after she got in the truck with those rednecks. She stumbled out of the room, wearing the same clothes as last night to see Darlina sprawled out on the couch. She must have been sleeping in his room. She walked back in and pulled her only other outfit out of her backpack, blue denim shorts and an old Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt that she had cut the sleeves off, making the armholes dip just below her bra. Sighing she pulled the outfit on and tied her hair into a tight bun, causing small strands of her dark hair to fall over the back of her neck. She walked across the hall into the bathroom and turned on the light. She looked in the mirror staring eye to eye with her own green gaze. There were bags under her eyes that made her skin look even paler, as if it wasn't fair enough already. Her tattoos covering her right arm stood out from her pale complexion, but the others were hidden away under her shirt. She had always considered herself to be average, but everyone always told her she was beautiful and a supermodel. She did have the figure to be a supermodel, but beautiful? She scoffed at the word. She left the bathroom to find that Darlina was now sitting upright on the couch rubbing the sleep from his eyes. She walked over and sat next to him.
"What's your real name?" She asked trying to sit as far away from him as possible.
"As opposed to my fake one?"
"Darlina."
He grunted at the name, clearly unamused, "It's Daryl." He stood up and walked into the kitchen which was really in the same room as the living room. She followed him, but stood across from him on opposite sides of the counter.
"Don't you wanna know my name?" She watched him as he rummaged through the cabinets, looking for coffee. When he didn't respond she decided to tell him anyways, "It's Sheri."
"Sheri," Merle's gruff voice came from the open door way of a bedroom, "never fucked a Sheri before." He laughed and then winked at her.
"Don't plan on it anytime soon unless you find a different Sheri in this town." She was repulsed at how straightforward and uncensored he was.
"Surprised I even found one," his tone became more serious, "what are ya doin' in this shithole anyways?"
She shrugged and picked off the chipped nail polish that still stuck to her nails, "Don't know really."
"Well where ya from?" Merle's curiosity seemed unusual to Daryl, his brother was more of a fuck and move on type of guy.
"New york. Not the city."
"How'd the hell ya get all the way down here?" Daryl spoke up, "Ya don't even got a car."
Again she shrugged, "Walking and thumbing my way along. Been on the move for a month now."
"Well, ya ain't movin' no more." Daryl slammed his palm down on the table. Merle raised an eyebrow at his brother, but turned and walked over to the couch. Sheri looked up at Daryl and caught his gaze, she smiled, making him turn his focus back to the coffee machine. Sheri watched as he reached up into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of generic coffee. She was somehow intrigued watching him do a mindless morning task. His muscles tensed up when he realized she was watching and he turned the machine on so that he could walk outside and get away from her, but she followed. He couldn't get away that easy.
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Merle watched through the living room window as Sheri tried to start a conversation with Daryl who was working on the truck, trying to ignore her. "Little brother needs to learn when a woman's interested." Merle shook his head and walked out to go show his brother 'how it's done'. "Hey city girl." Merle cooed.
Sheri's flirty attitude came to a halt when Merle approached, she didn't want him to think she liked Daryl although she was starting to. As Merle walked by he grabbed her ass making her jump and try to push his hand away desperately, but it wouldn't budge. "Let go you pig!"
"Well damn you have a nice ass, come over here and feel it little brotha." Finally, when her face turned bright red, he let go. Smirking, he added, "What you blushin' fer? Like the thought of his hand on yer ass sweetcheeks?"
"Stop." She murmured, lowering her head and hoping Daryl wouldn't see.
"Oh, so ya do? Well look at tha' Daryl, she's got a crush on ya." Daryl wanted to tell Merle to stop, but the look on her face was too priceless, maybe she really did like him. He shook his head, who was he kidding? She was probably blushing because Merle touched her ass.
"Stop it." Her voice was barely a whisper. This wasn't her, she had always been a loud, speak-your-mind type of girl. Scolding herself for acting so meek she puffed out her chest and smiled at Merle, "Maybe you're just mad 'cause there's a girl chasing your brother instead of you." At that Daryl looked up and threw a questioning glance her way. Her confidence had come out of no where and it threw Merle off a little. I like this girl, Daryl thought.
"Good, it's 'bout time Daryl got a nice piece a' ass, but when ya get bored with him, let me know sweetcheeks," Merle winked at her then walked back into the cabin, laughing the whole way there.
"Sorry 'bout my brother," Daryl mumbled as he poured oil into the truck.
"It's okay, at least he made me speak my mind." She smiled wickedly when he looked up at her.
"Ya really like me?" She nodded, that smile never leaving her face. He shook his head and laughed, "Yer insane girl."
"I know," she winked before turning and walking back to the cabin. Her hips swaying with each step. This girl was going to drive him crazy, but he wasn't sure that was a bad thing.
