A/N: Many trigger warnings apply to this story including heavy hitting issues such as child abuse, alcoholism, self-harm and more. Please do not read this story if you're easily triggered or in a place of employment.
Hearing the piercing loud ring coming from the silver alarm clock next to the bed, Daryl reached over and smacked the snooze button as hard as he could, before he sat up. As he gave his eyelids a quick rub while letting out a quiet yawn, he looked over at the clock's bright cobalt blue numbers, and immediately jumped up to run to the bathroom. He was late, very late, and an important musical guest was coming into The Warehouse for a week long end to her world tour. The special guest was some teen idol by the name of Beth Greene; she was a bubbly and sweet Popstar that most teenage girls wanted to be, and all the teenage boys wanted to get with. Whoever she was, she was a big deal but since Daryl didn't know very much about Hollywood, he most certainly didn't care for it.
Daryl quickly took a shower, headed back into his room and changed into the bright neon yellow polo shirt that read 'Personal Security' on the back in black font, and then slipped on his tattered up black work jeans. They were torn, slightly faded, but they were comfortable and that was all that mattered to him. The moment his work boots were on, he headed out the door and straight for his silver Jeep Wrangler.
"Shit," he muttered to himself as he turned the ignition on - six forty-five read the green numbers on the clock inside the vehicle. He had to be there in fifteen minutes and in downtown traffic he knew it would take at least thirty to arrive. Backing out of the driveway as quickly as he could, he sped off towards the quickest short-cut into town, and by some miracle he managed to arrive only five minutes late. The security guard parked the car in the staff parking area and ran as fast as he could, into the building and to the elevator, as he frantically pressed repeatedly down onto the button that would take him down to the VIP parking garage. "C'mon, c'mon," Daryl muttered beneath his breath as he anxiously waited for the elevator doors to open.
Daryl's sapphire eyes remained locked on the silver doors that opened just a moment later and he stepped onto the elevator. As soon as he got in, he allowed the doors to shut once the 'close doors' button was pushed, and he pressed hard on the B button. Daryl swallowed hard as he watched the numbers above head on the screen change - one, G, and finally B appeared as the doors opened with a familiar 'ding'. Immediately, he was met with a slightly annoyed Rick Grimes standing near the doors of the elevator. "You're late, Daryl!" Rick greeted him in a not-so-friendly tone of voice and Daryl nodded, avoiding eye contact with his boss as he stepped off the elevator.
"Sorry, Rick," Daryl replied quietly as he followed him out of the parking garage.
"Luckily she ain't here yet; it would have been humiliating to have her arrive without her personal security here to greet her. Don't be late again!" Rick stated harshly, Daryl nodded once more as the two stood by waiting for some sort of vehicle to arrive with Beth. Whether it was a tour bus, limo, or some luxury vehicle - they weren't sure but most of the crew had already shown up and she was the only person left, that hadn't arrived.
For a fleeting moment, Daryl became lost in his own thoughts as he looked around at his surroundings. The sky was painted with shades of purple, pink, and orange with white clouds swirling aimlessly through the morning sky. As bright headlights to a large lavender and silver bus pulled up, Daryl rolled his eyes upon laying eyes on the sight, since it seemed a bit flashy. Immediately, he assumed this girl was going to be arrogant, self-absorbed, and rather narcissistic. "Are you sure you can handle this job?" Rick questioned, Daryl nodded in response as they watched the bus park in it's designated spot. "Let's do this!" He added as the door to the bus opened.
A petite, olive skinned young woman with medium length brown hair stepped out onto the pavement and extended a hand to Rick. "Caylah White," she greeted as she introduced herself to Rick. "I'm Beth's personal assistant and I'm here to help with event planning." Caylah stated, giving Daryl a curious yet judgemental look once she was finished speaking. Daryl glared back at her, his face remaining expressionless, before his attention turned to a blonde appearing outside the bus just a passing moment later.
She was on the shorter side of average height, thin framed, ivory skinned with golden blonde hair that reminded Daryl of sunlight. Her eyes were large, bright, and baby blue with a warmth behind them that captivated the man in an instant. Her demeanor was different from Caylah's and Daryl hoped that this girl was Beth, and not someone else. "Hi there!" She greeted, waving shyly at Rick and Daryl as she approached the two of them. "I'm Beth Greene. It's nice to meet you both," she continued as she stepped forward to shake hands with both men. Daryl found it difficult to say anything in response.
"Pleasure is ours, Beth!" Rick responded as the two shook hands once Beth shook hands with Daryl. "This is your personal security guard for the week," Rick added, introducing her to Daryl and Daryl tried to give the girl a small smile as he stood there silently.
"Daryl Dixon," he stated as he finally spoke up to greet the singer and she smiled up at him once they locked eyes for the first time. Beth took a moment to look at something on her phone before looking up at the man nervously.
"Looks like we already have to head out for this photoshoot," Beth commented as she looked over to Caylah. "The car will be here soon, right?" She asked, wondering if Caylah remembered to plan accordingly since she was mostly just someone that handled her smaller events for her fan base, and not much else. Caylah rolled her eyes then nodded at Beth and Beth sighed in relief. "Okay, good!" She muttered under her breath as they waited for the car to pull up.
"Daryl, do you have a copy of Beth's schedule for this week?" Rick asked, just as the black Audi with tinted windows arrived from around the corner.
"Yeah, I got it last night. We'll be fine," Daryl stated, Rick nodded then turned to lead Caylah inside to talk about planning a handful of VIP events for Beth. "Let's go!" the man added, as he turned his attention back to Beth right as he opened the car door for her.
As the car rolled up to a very large townhouse turned photography studio, Daryl's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the building, because it was so uniquely beautiful. Outside, it was clearly a modern townhome made to look like one of the older buildings in the city. He quickly got out and helped Beth out of the vehicle just before he followed her inside to the front desk. "Hi, I'm here for my photoshoot," Beth explained and the curvy strawberry blonde smiled before pulled up Beth's info on the computer.
"Come with me!" The lady stated, Beth and Daryl both followed behind the woman as they were lead up a spiral marble staircase to the second floor. "Natalie! Beth Greene is here for her photoshoot," the woman called out as she knocked on a mahogany door to the photographer's office.
For the first hour, everything seemed to be going smoothly as photos were being taken outside, in a private terrace and garden around the back of the building. "So, are we done or is there more?" Beth asked as she walked with the photographer and Daryl got up to follow them to the second floor of the building.
"You're not done, there's still the entire boudoir shoot that will take place once we get you ready!" Natalie stated, Beth's eyes widened and she quickly became more nervous as she glanced back and forth between both Daryl and the photographer.
"Whoa, no, I refuse to do any nudity!" Beth exclaimed as she looked to Daryl for some guidance and a little bit of help. Sure, her lyrics were pro-feminine sexuality and definitely more on the mature side in some songs, but she had always said she was against this sort of thing.
"Look, you agreed to this and so did your management team. They sent confirmation to me that this was going to happen, so it has to. I have to send these shots in to Maxim by the end of the week. We're doing this!" Natalie nearly demanded and it alarmed Beth but before the singer could disagree - Daryl spoke up in her defense.
"Isn't there some sort of law preventing you from doing this? I could have you shut down for forcing her into doing something she doesn't want to do," Daryl began sternly as he glared at the curvy, short redhead.
"You can't get much more tasteful than boudoir photography and there will be no actual body parts shown. A little skin, sure, but that's all and I promise there will be no butt, boob, or sideboob seen in the shots for the magazine." Natalie responded, sounding assertive but professional about the situation. "Now, Beth, will you please comply because this will be a headache for both of us - not just me - if you refuse." She continued on, picking up a second camera to use for the shots. Beth nervously nodded her head then followed Natalie upstairs.
When Beth reappeared from the dressing room inside the studio, she was wrapped in a fluffy white robe, with her hair straightened and her make up changed to look more 'natural'. To Daryl, she looked like she was in a state of nervous vulnerability and that was enough for him to pull her aside to speak to her. "Hey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to - I will call Rick and get you out of it." Daryl commented, keeping his voice down so Natalie wouldn't hear their conversation. Beth shook her head in response.
"I'm twenty-five, Daryl; I can handle it. I promise." She replied, exhaling through her nose as she moved past him. "But if you don't want to watch this, you don't have to. I'm fine." The doe eyed blonde continued, still Daryl remained where he was because he didn't trust these people with Beth by that point. She moved to untie the belt on her robe then shrugged the robe off of her shoulders, as she moved to get on the bed. Daryl made an effort not to look at Beth's body at all and instead he tried to focus his eyes elsewhere. If he had to look at her, he didn't look below her neck because it would have been an invasion of privacy, in his own mind. Instead, he also kept his eyes on the three people in the room - Natalie, her lighting assistant, and the makeup artist.
Half an hour later, they were done for the day, and Beth got dressed to head back to The Warehouse with Daryl. As soon as they were in the car, Beth bit her lip and slouched down into the seat in the back of the car, and Daryl knew she was regretting what had happened. He could see it in her eyes, in her pained saddened expression, and the fact that her bubbly demeanor was gone.
"Just get me back to The Warehouse, please." Beth spoke softly.
"You got it." Daryl muttered.