Maggie didn't like to consider herself an overbearing older sibling. She knew several tabloid sources had run articles recently about the kind of sister she was to Beth, but the tabloids didn't account for the fierce love she felt for her baby sister or the responsibility since her momma had passed away.
Maggie's heart broke when she peaked into Beth's room. Her room was in disarray and her hair was thrown in a haphazard ponytail as she furiously wrote in her journal. Ever since they returned from her latest world tour she had retreated into her bedroom and just wrote nonstop.
Her manager had said this was normal and a way to decompress from one hundred and ten shows. That most people her age could barely handle a tour of twenty five stops, but Beth had gone above that. Maggie could only scoff at the dumb bitch. Her daddy would probably cringe at her crude thoughts, but she knew better. Her baby sister was nursing a broken heart and that heartless bitch that called herself Beth's manager had just sent her to a world tour and a parade of boys who didn't matter.
No, what Beth needed was her sister to intervene and fix this situation. She didn't really give too much of a shit if it meant the tabloids running articles about her being an obtrusive and overbearing older sister. Her sister's happiness meant more than that and she wasn't going to let her sister sink any further into depression.
Unfortunately, restoring her sister's happiness also meant texting another obtrusive and overbearing sibling. She'd rather not deal with that asshole but some sacrifices were worth it. Beth's happiness was worth it. With that thought Maggie closed the door silently before sending a text to Glenn asking for a number. Her phone immediately lit up with the contact information. She smiled at the fact he knew her well enough he didn't even question why she wanted another man's phone number.
She guessed it was time to call Merle Dixon because come hell or high water Maggie Greene was going to fix this for her baby sister.
Maggie had given Merle very brief but clear instructions on where they were meeting. She made sure she went in through a waiter's entrance and was corralled into a back private bar. The interior certainly matched the pretty price tag for what she paid to keep this little visit private and exclusive.
She didn't want the paparazzi catching them together. Beth didn't need to know what strings she was pulling and she certainly didn't need her feeling like she was betraying her trust. She figured too that Merle Dixon would not have agreed to the meeting if it weren't for the secrecy of it all.
She ordered a cocktail and took a few sips before using the plastic umbrella to swirl the concoction around. She checked her watch to see Merle Dixon had missed their intended meeting time by twenty minutes. Her patience had begun to wear impossibly thin. She was about ready to get up and leave when Merle Dixon sauntered into the room like he wasn't late.
"Well, looky here. If it ain't Maggie Greene? You better have a damn good reason for this meeting that you couldn't share over the phone" Merle announced as he slung his leather jacket over the bar stool next to the one he chose to sit in.
Maggie ignored Merle's brashness and general rudeness. She took a deep calming breathe and reminded herself that this was for the sake of her sister's happiness and health.
"You weren't followed or nothing right? And you didn't tell your brother about this meeting did you?" Maggie gave Merle a sidelong glance as she continued to use the little umbrella to swirl her drink around.
Merle ignored Maggie for a moment and looked at the bartender who was trying to make himself look busy to ignore the tension in the room, "Hey bartender, if this shit is on her tab get me a glass of your strongest and most expensive whiskey", Merle then turned to face Maggie after placing his crude order, "Fuck that. I ain't telling him I'm with you. He don't need to think his only blood is a fucking traitor scrum when I ain't."
Merle grabbed the glass of whiskey from the bartender and threw in back in one shot. The familiar burn comforting as he thought about the possible repercussions for this meeting.
"Calm the animosity. You wouldn't have showed up if you didn't think this could benefit your brother just like I think it'll benefit my sister" Maggie tightened her grip on the umbrella momentarily stopping the swirling. She just had to play the mantra in her head that this meeting is what was best for Beth.
"I don't know if that spark of tequila is gonna do my brother any good. Especially since he just sobered up from her" Merle told Maggie as he gestured to the bartender for another glass of whiskey.
"I don't fucking appreciate that comparison Dixon. Don't forget that's my baby sister you're talking about" Maggie glared at Merle in warning.
"Woowhee, no wonder you're with that chinaman. You'd make a real nice dominatrix bitch with that tone. I sure can appreciate that. Should try a little more leather out to get a feel for the look" Merle's grin widens at Maggie's disdain. Riling up Greene girls was his specialty.
"Kind of shocking how different you and little Bethy are when you think about it. You're a bulldozer and she's a tropical storm. All chaos until you get to her core and once you're there she'll wrap you in warmth and safety despite causing chaos and disorder in other parts of your life" Merle murmured.
"I hope you did not just compare my sister's vagina to a tropical storm. Especially since this meeting is about reuniting Beth and your brother. Not about you're opinions on the power of her pussy" Maggie bit out.
Merle did look sheepish when Maggie called him out for the comparison. He hadn't meant it to be taken that way. His intention had been something completely different. He assumed the moonshine on the way here coupled with the whiskey had loosened his tongue. That statement hadn't come out as poetic as when Daryl had told him while he was all cut up about the break up with Beth.
"If this is about reuniting our siblings you best get to the point because I'm not setting up some parent trap shit and breaking my baby brother's heart again." Merle decided blunt honesty would get the farthest in this meeting.
Maggie shrugged and looked a little sheepish. "So, the plan is a little parent trap-esque…" she trailed off as Merle stood to leave.
"Just listen to some of the words to the song she's gonna be shooting a video for soon. Okay? You can leave and I'll find another Hollywood bad boy to play lead in her video." Maggie clutched her phone tightly. She didn't need Merle walking out and taking her only shot at fixing this with him
"You got five minutes to fucking convince me Greene this ain't some half-baked scheme" Merle punctuated the five with the wiggle of his fingers.
Maggie figured talking would eat up her five minutes. She pulled up the sound bites from the song and played them for Merle. The words poured from her phone's speakers.
I said, "No one has to know what we do,"
His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room
And his voice is a familiar sound,
Nothing lasts forever but this is getting good now
He's so tall and handsome as hell
He's so bad but he does it so well
And when we've had our very last kiss
My last request is
Say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress,
Staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your wildest dreams, oh, wildest dreams, oh, ah.
Maggie hit stop before the song rolled to something else Beth was working on. "If you don't Daryl to be the lead for the music video for that song I understand, but think about the set up with those lyrics." Maggie couldn't help the smirk that was on her face the minute she realized Merle Dixon was on board.
"Oh Greene, this has the potential to be disastrous but I'm willing to try to get my baby brother from skulking around and avoiding going to casting for new projects. Hell, he had written a few screenplays but trashed them after the break-up." Merle confided to Maggie.
"Bethy wrote an entire album about him on her world tour. Just locked herself in hotel rooms and wouldn't stop writing. Her manager is pushing for an early album release and a second world tour to keep her busy. She won't say it, but she misses him and I ain't gonna watch my baby sister waste away. Not if we can try to fix this" Maggie confided to Merle. He deserved to know Beth missed Daryl as much as how he described Daryl was coping with the pain from the break-up.
"Well Greene, let's set up our sibling trap. The tabloids are gonna eat this shit up. Famous overbearing older siblings strike again to meddle" Merle laughed at the thought.
"The tabloids could say I fucked you to get Daryl to the set and I wouldn't care as long as they get their happy ending" Maggie laughed.
Merle lifted his glass is a gesture of cheers to Maggie "To the best pair of meddling older siblings to ever exist." The only sound was the clinking of glasses and both downing their drinks before drawing up the plans and producing the contracts to be signed.
Beth wanted to groan as she sat in her makeup chair. Today was the newest video shoot for her newest single. She thought the morning workout session with Tara would give her the peace of mind it had on tour. Tara was a Yogi and helped take her from a beginner in yoga to a person who regularly practiced vinyasa almost every single morning. Maggie and her manager always scoffed when she used the proper name for the practice. They said they didn't need fancy names for power yoga, but Beth didn't feel like that title labeled what she was practicing as she exercised.
There was something about today that it didn't matter the amount of sequences she completed none of it felt good enough. She assumed it was because they were releasing Wildest Dreams first for this new album. She hadn't intended for that to be the lead off single for this new album. Especially since most of the album was going to be about coping with her notorious breakup with Daryl Dixon two days before her first world tour.
She had fallen hard for him. Hell, she had even gotten a tattoo that she never got to show him. She just heard his words that their careers were taking them in separate directions and he didn't want this anymore. It made her heart ache as only a few days earlier after they had sex he had sleepily confessed his love and passed out. She had crept out of bed and hastily jotted the date and time in her diary with the simple sentences: He told me he loved me. I've known for some time, but he's finally put the words to what I've suspected for some time.
She had felt like a giddy school girl, but all those dreams had crashed around her when he abruptly gave reasons they just were not working anymore. Her manager had attempted to set her up with a slew of other celebrities. None of them seemed to stick around for too long and none had gotten as close to her heart nor her body as Daryl had. The media had taken to quoting her as the girl who just can't make any guy stay. The title stung, but she assumed it was appropriate.
It's why she wasn't too concerned about this breakup album. They weren't going to link all the songs to Daryl Dixon. Even if they were about him she was sure he wouldn't hear them nor would he care about the songs.
She grimaced as she looked into the mirror and the styling team cooed over how perfect she looked. They called her a bombshell and she could understand why. They had done her hair in big messy looking curls. They had given her a sultry smokey-eye with plump red lips. She looked like some video vixen and nothing like herself.
She adjusted the flannel they had given her. The flannel covered this beautiful lingerie set. She had been given a run down for the music video but she wasn't too happy. She didn't want to roll around in a bed with some random model and pretend to feel the lyrics with this stranger. She saw the piano in the center of the room for another scene. Her fingers itched to dance across the ivory keys as she gave a raw rendition of one of the songs.
It wouldn't happen even if she begged. She just took a deep breath and decided to hunt down a water bottle. Her sister was surprisingly sparse today. Typically she hovered during any kind of shoot to make sure she was comfortable and not being pushed into something she didn't want. Though she could be spars due to her discovery of the Karma Sutra that Beth left in her trailer. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to have the conversation with Maggie about why she was reading it. She wasn't even ready to be with someone emotionally or physically.
She had finally found the snack table and snagged a water bottle. She was going to do her best to sneak back to her little trailer and avoid as many people as possible. The route she had taken had brought her behind the hustle and bustle of props being brought out. She was making good distance to her trailer when she heard her manager talking disdainfully about her to someone over the phone.
The more her manager spoke the more anger seemed to well up in the pit of Beth's stomach. She wasn't anything like what her manager was describing her as, but she would show her. She stomped back to the center of the set where the piano had sat. She didn't care if this would broadcast her as childish. She was tired of doing this everyone else's way. This time this was going to happen on her terms.
She cupped her hands around her mouth, "Attention, I need to director for today's video here now" Beth yelled.
She smiled as Dale Horvath scrambled over. He had down her first video when she was just singing about a girl who was always overlooked. He would go along with her idea for the new video. He believed in creative flows and never wanted to hold her vision back.
"We aren't filming for Wildest Dreams today. That isn't gonna be my opening song. I have another and I just want it to be me and piano." Beth smiled at Dale.
He nodded at her pitch and she pulled the flannel that had slipped so it was back in place on her shoulder.
Her manager looked pissed at what Beth announced. "Beth, the studio wants Wildest Dreams. This isn't the time for a diva fit. Just do the damn video."
"Fuck the studio. I just did a world tour of a hundred and ten shows. Most artists require months of rest before hitting the studio. I jumped right back in. So, we are doing this my way or we aren't doing it at all. I'm sure another studio would be happy to do it my way." Beth felt her chest heaving. She caught a glance of Maggie giving her a thumbs up behind her manger.
"This isn't the time to start acting like a diva. One successful tour doesn't make you God kiddo." Her manger told her.
"But maybe I need a manager who isn't going to live vicariously through my life and actually gives a shit about what I want. You're done. Fired, because I can't do this anymore." Beth screamed. She could feel her breath hitching in her chest as she felt the emotions she hadn't dealt with come out.
Her ex-manager looked ready to say something, but it seemed Maggie had signaled for security to escort her off of the premises. She gave a brief but grateful smile in her sister's direction.
"So, Beth that piano is all yours if you wanna start the other song of yours. We can take several raw cuts of it for the video overall" Dale gave Beth an encouraging smile.
"Thank you Dale" Beth smiled gratefully as she walked over to the piano. She didn't bother fixing her flannel that had dropped once again showing her pale shoulder and a peak of the lingerie she was wearing. She just looked at the keys as her fingers ghosted over the keys. She had played this song so many times in her bedroom. She felt the melody beneath her fingers. For the first few keys she didn't sing. Just took calming breathes.
She heard the directions and that they were ready for filming so it was now or never. She took a deep breath and stared at the keys before she began to play.
Daryl sat in his trailer and sulked. He was pissed at his brother for booking this job. He clearly didn't understand the idea of a hiatus. He need time away from acting and the spot light. If anyone else had booked the show he would of said fuck it, but he owed his brother for all of the projects he had pulled out of.
It seemed silly, but he couldn't stand being in the spotlight knowing the circles were small and he'd run into her eventually. He didn't want to run into Beth Greene before his heart had fully healed. Especially not with any of her supposed beau's that had been linked to her during her tour. Thinking about those assholes pissed Daryl off more than anything.
He freely admitted he was jealous to himself. He wanted to be by her side supporting her and helping her on her journey. He had let one manager talk him into walking away and then bitterness when he had seen she moved on. He never tried to call. He just retreated back to heal his wounded heart.
He had a few casual fucks in between, but no matter the beauty of the model's he was with nothing compared to the breathy noises Beth made. Nor did they compare when it came to enthusiasm for trying something new to spice things up. Overall they had been lackluster and unfulfilling and he had sworn of women since.
He looked up at the clock when Merle popped his head in the trailer. He had been put into wardrobe over an hour ago. Who the fuck takes this long for a music video set? Daryl was going to find out because his patience was wearing thin. He shoved past Merle who had been acting suspicious since this whole ordeal was set up.
He finally reached the main set and he felt like all the wind had been knocked from his sails when he saw Beth yelling at her manager telling her she was fired. For a moment he was rooted in shock at how beautiful she had become. Her small bashful smile towards the director made his stomach twist in knots. He couldn't be here. He couldn't be near her. He'd leave once she started playing and she'd never know he was here.
He heard the keys of piano playing and she was humming the beat. She hadn't looked up from the keyboard. She looked somber and broken completely at odds with the way she was styled with wild hair and a flannel that refused to stay up.
As he pushed past the crowd and film crew Merle caught his arm. "Stay for the song. Then leave if you don't wanna see her, but at least stay for the song." Merle whispered in his ear.
I still remember the look on your face
Lit through the darkness at 1:58
The words that you whispered
For just us to know
You told me you loved me
So why did you go away?
Away
Daryl couldn't make his feet move even if he wanted to defy Merle's wishes. Not after that first verse. Not when he knew this song was solely for him. There was a good chance she didn't know he was here. That was why Merle was on edge. He was trying to give them an opportunity to fix this without it feeling forced. He was grateful for the intervention his brother had brought him. He continued staring intently as Beth sang on rarely looking up from the piano.
I do recall now the smell of the rain
Fresh on the pavement
I ran off the plane
That July 9th
The beat of your heart
It jumps through your shirt
I can still feel your arms
But now I'll go sit on the floor
Wearing your clothes
All that I know is
I don't know how to be something you miss
I never thought we'd have a last kiss
Never imagined we'd end like this
Your name, forever the name on my lips
I do remember the swing of your step
The life of the party, you're showing off again
And I roll my eyes and then
You pull me in
I'm not much for dancing
But for you I did
Because I love your handshake, meeting my father
I love how you walk with your hands in your pockets
How you kissed me when I was in the middle of saying something
There's not a day I don't miss those rude interruptions
And I'll go sit on the floor
Wearing your clothes
All that I know is
I don't know how to be something you miss
Never thought we'd have a last kiss
Never imagined we'd end like this
Your name, forever the name on my lips
So I'll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep
And I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe
And I keep up with our old friends just to ask them how you are
Hope it's nice where you are
And I hope the sun shines
And it's a beautiful day
And something reminds you
You wish you had stayed
You can plan for a change in weather and time
But I never planned on you changing your mind
There was a pause as Beth sucked in a breath after that last line. Daryl's heart was ramming itself against his chest. He didn't expect each line to trigger so many different memories. He didn't account for the pain he would endure from hearing her raw pain laced in the lyrics. She seemed haunted as she scanned the room. Their eyes locked and it took everything in Daryl to not race over and stop the song and explain himself. He tried to convey all the regrets he felt in his eyes. He needed her to see he wanted to fix this. To fix them. She broke eye contact and wiped a solitary tear before continuing the song.
So I'll go sit on the floor
Wearing your clothes
All that I know is
I don't know how to be something you miss
Never thought we'd have a last kiss
Never imagined we'd end like this
Your name, forever the name on my lips
Just like our last kiss
Forever the name on my lips
Forever the name on my lips
Just like our last...
Beth let the last key of the song linger. The entire room burst into applause, but all she could hear was her heart telling her to leave. She didn't understand why he was here. Locking eyes with him was suffocating and incited fear in her. She didn't even wait to say thank you to everyone for their support. She just pushed up from the bench of the piano and bolted for her trailer.
She just kept putting one foot in front of the other. She hadn't really considered the great physical shape Daryl had kept himself in and that running might not have been the best plan of escape.
The distance she had wanted to place between him and her and shortened since he had followed her out, but they no longer had an audience as well.
"Stop, Beth. Just stop for a second and hear me out" Daryl panted as he reached to grab her shoulder.
Beth shook from exertion. "Why do you care now? What about July tenth or any day I was on tour? Why the fuck now?" Beth didn't want to cry but everything was weighing down on her.
"I didn't plan on this happening today. Merle said I had some video shoot I had to be on, but I haven't been right since I left you. I let that woman who was managing you get in my head about not being good enough and I left you. I thought about calling but then I saw those articles where you were with other people." Daryl's voice broke off at the end.
"You're such an idiot. You should have talked to me about everything. If you had called you would know none of those tabloids were true." Beth wanted to cry in relief that Daryl hadn't left her because something was terribly wrong with her, and she also wanted to cry at the wasted time they had spent apart.
Daryl curled his fingers in her hair and kissed her hard. Her brain was overloaded with emotions and the sensation of the kiss made her toes curl and made her slightly dizzy. His hands untangled from her hair and roamed her body. When they broke the kiss they noticed people were beginning to mill in their general vicinity.
"My trailer or yours?" Daryl asked with a cocky smirk.
Beth could only shake her head as she led him to her trailer. She had multiple couches and a little kitchenette with a bar. She hadn't even thought about the book she had left on the bar next a half full bowl of captain crunch.
Daryl picked up the book and read the title out loud. Beth felt her cheeks flush. She didn't understand how he could make the title of a book sound as raunchy without even trying. He knew what the book was, but made no comment other than reading the title.
There was a hunger in his eyes that was almost feral. Beth knew there was plenty of things they needed to talk about. Plenty of issues they needed to resolve, but none of that mattered as his stare intensified. There was always this magnetism that drew them into each other. He had compared her to a tropical storm and she had laughed it off. She had compared him to lava the way each touch left overwhelming heat that enveloped her completely and reduced her to ashes.
She felt like the earth right now and he was the lava warming her insides. Ready to cause havoc but also to bring a new beginning as well.
They were kissing again. It was hard to tell where her body ended and his began. If you asked her later on, Beth wouldn't even be able to give a proper answer as to how they both ended up naked.
She couldn't tell you because she was so focused on his reaction to the tattoo etched on her hip.
"What is this?" Daryl asked as he knelt down to be eye level with her tattoo.
It was hard to focus as he traced the tattoo with a feather light touch.
"It's roman numerals for July 6th" Beth explained.
"Why'd you choose that date?" Daryl seemed genuinely curious as to the random date marked on her hip.
"That was the day you told me you loved me" Beth whispered. She wasn't even sure he heard her fully.
"I'm gonna fuck you so you know how much I love you and for all the time we missed. I'm also gonna remind you why I'm the only one for you" Daryl growled out at her.
Beth bite her lip in excitement. The fervor he had just used on his last words had her aching, but she wanted him to submit. To let her take control for the time they missed.
"You can do what you want, but I choose how we do it:" Beth told him coyly. Daryl looked confused for a second before Beth grabbed the book and flipped to a page she had bookmarked.
Daryl let his hand wander up Beth's thigh as he read over the page and examined the picture.
"Can you hold yourself in that position and be comfortable?" Daryl would do whatever Beth wanted, but he needed to know this would be good for her too.
"Maybe the tabloids should have reported how seriously I took yoga on my last world tour and not any of those loser tagalongs and you would know I can hold this position." Beth whispered in his ear.
Her thighs felt sticky in anticipation. He wouldn't even need to get her ready. She kissed him one more time before she helped guide him into the right position. He was kneeling and had pulled her hips and thighs upwards towards the ceiling as she rested her shoulders and head on the ground. She arched her back allowing him to take her hips even higher.
The bridge between their bodies allowed for short powerful thrusts. It went against Daryl's base instincts for this more agonizing pace. But entering her with each thrust was like coming home. He almost groaned when he noticed Beth had begun playing with her breasts. This position didn't allow him the luxury to give attention to those glorious globes his girl was currently fondling.
Her breathy moans let him know he was penetrating her at the right angle. She sounded close and then he could feel her clenching around him as she orgasmed. Beth had finally stopped touching her breasts after the orgasm.
She wasn't sure if the black spots in her vision were post orgasm effects or if she was dizzy, but it didn't matter because moments later Daryl came and dropped her legs so he could drape his body over hers.
Beth ran her hands through his hair and then traced the tattoo on his shoulder as he trailed kisses from her jaw to collarbone.
"This was good" Beth murmured in Daryl's ear.
"Next time it'll be mind-blowing" Daryl bit her ear and whispered.
"Who says you'll get a next time Dixon?" Beth giggled at the look of horror on his face.
"We've got things to discuss and things we will fix. But we most certainly will be doing this again" Daryl told her.
Beth couldn't help that self-doubt that creeped up from the pit of her stomach.
"What are we exactly?" Beth whispered. She wanted to snatch the question back and just enjoy his presence.
"Well, I'm yours and your mine. We don't need fancy titles or nothin' cause I ain't leaving again" Daryl traced the tattoo on her hip for emphasis.
Beth pulled Daryl to her and kissed him deeply. Beth couldn't help the smile she had on her face while she kissed him. Things between them were far from perfect, but they were going to work on it together. She had her better half back, even if he would be stubborn and argue she was the better half of them.
A/N: Well, I just want to give a huge thank you to Christy (bethgreenewarriorprincess) for all the love and encouragement and editing this story for me. I probably wouldn't have published without your encouragement! And thank you to all my writer friends who took the time to read it over and really encourage me as I wrote this one shot. I cannot thank y'all enough! I needed all the advice and support as I attempted to write a different kind of story for our favorite pair.
Songs used: Wildest Dreams and Last Kiss by Taylor Swift
