Hey all! Here's a new fic for ya'll to enjoy. Non-zombie apocalypse AU, featuring our lovely Dixon brothers.

I own nothing. The pairings will be Merle/Michonne, Daryl/Carol, Amy/Rick, and Andrea/Shane.

Of Beach Babes and Bikinis

"We're going where, exactly, Merle?" Daryl asked his older brother. He was sitting on the beat-up couch that Merle had brought in from the junkyard down the street. The two had been living together for the past year now, ever since the elder Dixon had gotten out of prison for substance abuse. Daryl, all things considered, wanted to be there for his brother to help him get his act together.

"To the water park, baby brother! It's summertime, and ya know what that means, huh?" Merle asked, plopping down on the couch next to Daryl.

"Sunburns and barbeques?" Daryl answered, quite innocently. Merle just chuckled at how narrow-minded he could be at times.

"Hot chicks in bikinis, that's what!" Merle told him, clapping him on the back teasingly. "'Bout time to get you laid again, now ain't it?"

The younger Dixon appeared baffled as that left his brother's mouth. "Man, you're out of your mind! Sure, you can go out an' pick up a girl any time you want to, but that jus' ain't me."

Merle just rolled his eyes at that. "Always playin' the good one, baby brother. Fine, at least come with me and appreciate the glory of the beach babes. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a might pretty girl worth a good bang."

Daryl grumbled something unintelligible under his breath as he pushed himself off of the couch. Vulgar words could be heard here and there.

"Sounds like we have a winner," the elder redneck grinned, picking up the rest of his soda and draining its contents.

o—o—o

It was Saturday morning and everyone was rushing to the water park, hoping to get good parking spots. The Dixon brothers were no different.

"Park right over here, li'l brother," Merle told Daryl, who just looked over at the passenger and scowled. "What? Don't be a pussy and just do it!"

Daryl flipped his brother off as he pulled into the parking spot of Merle's choice. As he turned the truck engine off, the younger Dixon brother looked over and broke the silence, "why are we parking way over here where everyone else is? If my truck gets hit because of your sorry ass—"

"Darylina, don't get your panties in a wad," Merle teased, nudging his head over to the next car over. "Sexy ladies. Why else would I want us to park over here? It's a long fucking walk."

The younger of the two looked over to where his brother was nudging towards. The car was packed with at least five girls, stripping down to their bikinis. The elder Dixon murmured something under his breath about forgetting to bring the binoculars. Unfortunately, though, the opportunity to spy was short-lived. A moment or so later, two guys came over to the car of chicks: both tall and dark-haired, however one man was slightly taller, and at least a shade darker in skin tone. The five girls got out, after taking the time to curse the boys out for changing so quickly. Two of the girls were blonde, very pretty, with impossibly blue eyes. One girl was of African American decent, and she too was breathtaking. Funnily enough, she was the one to catch Merle's eyes first.

The last two girls were brunette headed, however one kept her hair considerably shorter than the other. Daryl thought he had lost his will to breathe when he saw the shorthaired brunette. Merle couldn't keep that grin off of his face as he realized that his little brother had seen something that he liked.

"Let's go, li'l brother. Only two of them appear to be taken. We sure as hell can have some fun with the rest," Merle began, pausing for a short moment, "I call dibs on the Nubian Queen, though."

Daryl just scowled at his brother as they got out of the truck. What has this dumbass gotten me into now…? "Whatever, douche bag."

Merle followed the group close enough to see where they were heading to, but not close enough that the ladies would freak out about two crazy rednecks following behind them. If the elder brother remembered correctly, they were heading for the wave pool. The good news about that was that there were plenty of lawn chairs to stretch out across to catch some sun. And not for Merle to lay out in, either. Most chicks lay out in the sun, showing off their scrumptious bikini bodies.

"Alright, li'l brother. Just sit tight," he finally told the younger Dixon as they made their way to the wave pool. "After these beach babes lay out in their little lawn chairs, it'll be time for tannin' oil, sunscreen, or what the hell ever they lather all over. And that's when we go in." Merle grinned back at his brother, clapping him hard against the back.

Just like all creatures of habit, the five girls stretched out like Merle had predicted. The smaller, paler blonde reached for something she had set on the concrete next to her chair. Also just like the elder brother had predicted, she pulled up a bottle of sunscreen.

"Rick," she called out towards her group of friends. Rick, the slightly shorter one of the two men Daryl and Merle had seen, came up to her. Without even asking what she wanted, he grabbed the bottle of sunscreen and squirted a dollop of it into the palm of his hand.

The elder Dixon brother was watching the darker-skinned woman much closer than he was any of the other women. She looked like the kind of woman that he could get along with. One that could hold her own; she wouldn't be running to him every five seconds, begging for his attention. And yet he could still take care of her and give her the world if he wanted to. When she finally closed her eyes and let the warmth of the sun cake over her skin, Merle decided to take his chance.

Rick looked up from where he was busily massaging the sunscreen into his girlfriend's shoulders. His blue eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Merle leering at a lounging Michonne from a far. Did this guy have a staring problem, or what?

When Michonne opened her eyes again, there was Merle, sitting in the next chair over. She gawked at him and swore under her breath. "Can I help you?"

"Well, you sure can, sweet thang," Merle grinned, leaning against his knees to keep himself close to the bikini-clad woman. "'Course, I can sit here all day and stare at a sexy woman like you—"

"Keep dreaming," Michonne murmured, keeping one eye cracked open at the redneck. "Don't tell me you came here just to swim," she paused, taking in a deep breath. "You wouldn't be over here bugging me if you were…"

"I'd take a good swim, iffen I had you on my arm…" the redneck winked at her.

Daryl shook his head at his brother's blunt behavior. That was when he noticed that the other girls were staring at him. "Um, yeah—" he stammered slightly. "Daryl Dixon. An' that's my dumbass of a brother, Merle."

"Well, I'm Carol," the shorthaired brunette began, making Daryl's heart stop for a split second. "Amy and her sister Andrea are over there with their boyfriends Rick and Shane. Michonne is the one that your brother seems to be attached to, and this is Lori," she motioned to the other brunette, who gave an awkward wave. For some reason, she had been beating herself up over the fact that she didn't have a date like the other girls. Of course, now she knew the reason. She saw the way Daryl looked at Carol from the minute his brother walked over to them. And Michonne, well, she loved playing hard to get. That meant that she wouldn't be entirely single, either. Before they left the water park, Lori would be the only one without any eye candy on her arm…

The younger Dixon cleared his throat and averted his gaze from Carol's, after he realized that he had been staring at her for far too long. Man, she sure was pretty, though. "Uh, it's real nice t' meet ya."

"Likewise," Andrea nodded, practically squeaking when Shane scooped her up after lathering her all over with the sunscreen. "I guess we're all getting in the water now. Ah! Shane, put me down!"

Carol giggled just a bit and turned to Daryl as she got up herself. "She means that you can come with us if you want to. I'm pretty sure that the wave pool is big enough for all of us."

The nervous redneck nodded and looked over to his brother, who was still trying to talk to Michonne something fierce. "Alrigh'. But, I don't have any control of what Merle is gonna do. Ol' bastard can be pretty persistent. Ya might wanna warn your friend o'er there."

Amy took Rick's proffered hand as she too got up from the lounge chair. "Trust me, Michonne can handle her own self. She'll make him work for what he wants," she looked back towards the darker-skinned woman and let out a musical laugh. "And it looks like she may actually like this guy, too."

"Oh, c'mon, babydoll, don't be like that," Merle practically pleaded. "I don't bite," he paused, an animalistic grin crossing his features, "okay, well maybe a li'l."

"Mmhm," Michonne leant forward, pushing her cleavage out intentionally. "If you don't mind, I'm going to join my friends in the pool. You can sit here and watch me all you like, redneck, but it ain't like it'll change anything."

"Oh, I'll do more'n watch, sweetheart," the elder Dixon rasped, eyes raking up and down her exposed frame. "See, I don't play well with hard to get," he grinned at her, chuckling slightly. "If I want something, you can best believe I'm gonna get it."

"Okay you two," Amy teased, proud to have made a point. "Are you gonna get a room, or are you gonna come with us to the wave pool?"

"Hmmm," Michonne hummed, glancing back at Merle with a devious glint in her eyes. She was enjoying this a little too much. "That's tempting," she added, scooting just a little closer to the older Dixon. After Michonne was sure that he would implode at any moment from all of the innuendoes she could muster, she got up and started to head out with her friends.

"Hey! Wait up now!" Merle scrambled to his feet faster than he ever thought possible. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. The redneck had never found a black woman so attractive before. It must've been the way she carried herself. Michonne wasn't scared of anyone or anything, and damn whoever got in her way. She was just so fuckin' fascinating! Merle was pretty sure that she was playing hard to get on purpose. Well, he grinned to himself as he kept up with the group's pace, he would have her beggin' by the time they all went home tonight.

Poor Daryl, on the other hand, wasn't having much luck. In fact, he was very uncomfortable. He thought Carol was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Of course, whenever he wanted to go talk to her, his throat would dry up and he would get all jittery. He never had any luck with women, not like Merle did. (Not like Merle had any long-lasting relationships, mind you. His longest relationship lasted almost three days. Just in time for the sex to get old.)

"Are you okay?" the woman in question asked the youngest Dixon. When he stiffened noticeably, she hurriedly added, "you just look a little nervous, is all."

"Li'l Darylina jus' never been able to talk to women he liked, is all," Merle explained, winking at his younger brother. Daryl's face turned beet red at that.

"Merle, shut the fuck up, man!" he told the elder redneck, so close to a murmur that the girls had to strain themselves to hear it.

"Whatever you say, baby brother," Merle grinned, taking Michonne into his arms despite her attempts to shoo him away.

It was going to be a long day.

o—o—o

After a few hours in the wave pool, the group of young adults had worked up an appetite. The boys had gotten strict instructions to guard a table while the girls grabbed burgers and fries for everyone. Amy plopped down a plastic cup full of fruit, which her sister Andrea just rolled her eyes at. Leave it to the fruit fly of the group to ruin their fatty lunches with something healthy. (The good news would be that the younger Harrison sister would polish off most of the fruit by herself, but she would pawn all of the honeydew off on her boyfriend. Not that he minded, though. He liked sharing with Amy.)

Daryl, by that point, still couldn't talk to Carol much. He shied away from her every time she tried to talk to him, which made her feel more than a little uncomfortable. When she came back around with a tray of food, the redneck couldn't help but smile at her.

Carol sat down next to him and noticed that shy smile coming across his features. "Well there's something new," she sent him a smile as well and offered him a carton of fries. "Want some? There's one for each of us."

The younger Dixon took the carton and murmured a 'thank you' to the shorthaired brunette. When she tucked herself into her own lunch, he took the hint to help himself.

"So, where do you fine ladies stay at?" Merle asked the girls in between large bites of his burger. His eyes were on Michonne's as he asked this, so there wasn't a doubt as to who he was talking to in general.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the darker-skinned woman retorted, wearing a smirk that the redneck was just dying to wipe off of her face…

"C'mon, tell your ol' pal Merle. I'll only pay a visit every night…" the older Dixon scooted closer to her, to which she reciprocated. She was practically sitting in his lap now. Not that he minded, of course.

"Okay," Andrea rolled her eyes as she regarded her best friend and her… whatever Merle was. "Ya'll need to find a room, or I'll lock you in one myself."

"I think Blondie may be onto somethin' after all," Merle grinned wolfishly. "What do you say, Nubian Queen?"

"I think you're out of your damn mind," Michonne drawled, her eyes never leaving the redneck's eyes. The way he watched her was enough for her to give up this hard to get act, but she swore to herself that she would hold off for as long as possible. She was very picky about the men that she dated, or even slept with.

"Those two will be disappearing at any moment now," Carol murmured to Daryl. She was gazing down at her fries. Every now and then she would look up at him and smile. When he scoffed in disbelief, she just added, "don't tell me that you don't see it." She popped a fry into her mouth, "you can cut the tension with a knife—"

"I'd rather not think about my brother having sex," Daryl told her honestly, shrugging subconsciously. It was already embarrassing enough to have to show off these scars on his back, but in front of a pretty girl, too? Merle didn't really care about his. They were just a thing to him.

"Sorry," Carol replied sheepishly. Before she could put her foot deeper in her mouth, she picked up her burger again and finished it.

"So…" Lori interrupted, "not that I don't enjoy talking about sex just as much as the next girl, but—what are we gonna hit next?"

Shane glanced down at his wristwatch. "We've still got about four hours before the park closes," he in turn wrapped an arm around Andrea, who leaned against his chest as she picked at the rest of his fries. "I'll go with whatever Andrea says."

The elder Harrison sister just chuckled. "Yeah, because I'm so the boss of you, huh?"

"Every day of the week," Shane kissed her temple and pulled away slightly, "until you do something stupid, then I become boss."

"Damn cop training," Andrea murmured to the girls.

"Rick's the same way," Amy reassured her sister, snuggling against her boyfriend. "But they're only trying to keep us safe," she peeked up at him and smiled sweetly, "aren't you, baby?"

"And ya'll wouldn't have it any other way, would you?" Shane asked, looking between both blonde siblings.

"No comment," the elder sibling laughed, folding a stand of wet hair behind her ear.

Carol smiled at her best friends as they argued with their respective boyfriends. Heck, even Michonne was starting to look comfy being so close to Merle. Then she looked back at Daryl. He looked so lost, and it was really quite adorable. "Don't feel bad," she told him, after a long moment of silence between the two of them. "We're always stuck in the middle of Shane and Andrea, and Rick and Amy. They're just—well, they're really in love."

"Must be nice," Daryl muttered, glancing over at his brother. "Looks like even Merle may have found his match," Carol gave him a look, prompting him to continue. "He hasn't taken her back to the lockers yet. They may be flirtin' and all that shit, but he woulda whisked her away if that was all he wanted her for."

"Huh," Carol thought aloud.

"Yeah. Like I said, must be nice," the younger Dixon balled up his burger wrapper and stuck it back on Carol's empty tray. "Here, I'll take that," he gave her a half smile as he brought it closer to him.

The shorthaired brunette was this close to grabbing Daryl Dixon and giving him a little piece of her mind. He was driving her crazy, being so sweet and all. "Daryl…" she started, placing a hand on his forearm as he was getting ready to get up to drop their tray back off. "Maybe your brother isn't the only one capable of finding someone today. Right in front of you, in fact."

Daryl's blue eyes widened at that. If that wasn't a hint, he didn't know what that was. "Carol, I ain't datin' material."

"I think I can be the judge of that myself, hmm?" the shorthaired brunette smiled up at him, though it was gone as soon as it came. He didn't look too pleased at that thought. "Unless you don't like me that way. In that case, that's just fine—"

By that time, everyone at the table was staring at them. Not like it was any of their businesses, but whatever.

"No, it ain't like that. Carol, I like ya," Daryl sighed, very aware of his audience. "I think you're the—you're the prettiest woman I've ever seen."

"Then what's the problem?" Carol asked, her cheeks burning crimson, trying her best to keep her voice at a whisper.

"I just don' deserve you. That's all," the younger Dixon murmured, shrugging nonchalantly.

The shorthaired brunette decided that that was the final straw. She leant across the table and pecked at Daryl's lips. After a few short moments, he found himself kissing her back. It wasn't the most perfect kiss, mind you. They had been in the water for so long that their lips had gotten horribly chapped. Even with that being said, though, it was still enough for Daryl and it was definitely enough for Carol.

"Well it's about damn time, li'l baby brother," Merle teased, taking an arm from around Michonne to clap soundly for his brother.

Daryl just blocked Merle out of his mind and continued his kiss with Carol. Eventually, he would cut it out. Eventually…

o—o—o

Michonne was in the middle of a very engrossing make out session with Merle when the clouds began to accumulate later that afternoon. It was about thirty minutes until closing time, and the group had decided to move back to the wave pool until the water park closed for the night. That first raindrop hit the dark-skinned woman, which caught her attention.

"Who told ya to stop?" Merle grumbled against her lips. However, when she didn't kiss him back right away, he opened his eyes to see what was up. "Damn weather has to give out on us now of all times. Fuckin' figures…"

"As long as there's no lightning, we should be alright," Michonne told him, settling back against his chest. She wrapped her arms around him, her lips millimeters apart from his. She moved forward to close the gap when the flash of light came cracking across the sky.

"God dammit, why me?!" Merle swore under his breath, scooping his woman up in his arms. The lifeguards announced that the pool was now off limits until the lightning cleared up. Of course, now it was pretty much null and void. By the time that the storm passed through, it would already be closing time.

Daryl, who had been a sane person and actually stayed with the rest of the group, waved his brother over from all of the way across the pool. Once they were all together again, they made the decision to just leave and go grab a bite to eat at the diner down the road. Something about water made everyone ravenous, true story.

Some time afterwards, it was time for the group to disband. They were all gathered around their vehicles outside the diner, but none of them were ready to leave quite yet.

"Well, we'll just have to make another date, now won't we?" Carol told the group, her hand tightly wrapped around Daryl's.

"Yeah, you boys need to come stalk us more often," Michonne smirked, tugging on her man's shirt collar. He ducked his head just a bit to kiss her. "Don't think you're getting out of this one either, redneck," her expression turned dark, "if you even think about standing me up that'll be the last thing you do."

"Don' worry none, sweetheart. There ain't no gettin' rid o' me now," Merle smacked her once on the ass. "You're mine now," he added as he watched her reach in her bag for something. She brought a pen out and took his hand in her own, where she proceeded to write something on his palm. The redneck flipped his hand over to see a number written in purple ink.

"I'll hold you to that, then, Merle," the dark-skinned woman smiled at him as she went to duck into the backseat of Rick's car. The elder Dixon went over to her as she was scooting inside. He poked his head inside to give her one last kiss for the night. He was even surprised himself at how he was handling this. He had never been so soft in his life. Dammit. He was getting old, wasn't he?

Carol and Daryl were the last ones to say goodbye. Everyone else had filed into their respective vehicles, waiting for that last passenger.

"You don't have to worry about me skippin' out on you either, ya know," Daryl told her, sending her a reassuring smile.

"I never thought that you would leave me in the first place," Carol began, stretching onto her tiptoes. "One for the road?" she asked hopefully.

The younger redneck nodded. "C'mere," Daryl murmured, pulling her closer as their lips melded together.

Those two would have stayed like that forever, if it hadn't been for Merle honking his horn at them. Hey, if he couldn't stay there with Michonne, then Darylina had to share his pain.

"Damn, okay, okay! I'm coming," Daryl sighed, resting his forehead against Carol's for a moment. "Good night."

"Goodnight. You still have my number, right?" she asked, gazing up into those blue eyes.

"In my back pocket," Daryl told her, kissing her on the temple. "Night."

Merle was grumbling something under his breath when the younger Dixon climbed into the driver's side of the truck. "Damn, baby brother. Took you long enough. I coulda took my woman in the truck bed, and you'd still be out there for another hour!"

"Shut the fuck up, Merle," the youngest redneck swore under his breath. "I like takin' things slow."

"Fuckin' your woman slow, now that's a good thing. Get's 'em all hot an' bothered—"

"Why does everythin' lead to sex with you?" Daryl asked, obviously disgusted.

"Because," Merle shrugged, "it's the tie breaker, li'l brother. If your bangin' a chick that ain't good in bed, why have her at all?"

The younger Dixon just shook his head and turned the truck engine back on. "You need counselin'."

"Oh, c'mon! I was right about the water park, though, wasn't I?" Merle grinned back at his brother. And, in fact, the grin was infectious. As soon as Daryl pulled out of their parking spot, he was wearing a grin of his own.

Well, I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Reviews would be loved!