Daryl Dixon was pissed.

Not only did he have to cancel his hunting trip early - he had been in the woods for all of three hours before Dale had called him and all but begged Daryl to come in on Sunday because he was short handed, and the hunter was dead set on telling his boss no and go to hell, until the word overtime was thrown out and Daryl knew he couldn't pass up that opportunity - but now he was being woken up at three in the morning by ridiculous pounding on his apartment door and he had to be up in four hours before he had to be at work for another nine hours and yeah, shortly put, he was pissed.

He grumbled incoherent curses as he tossed the covers off himself and slipped on a pair of pants and a shirt he picked up off the ground before he slammed his bedroom door open and all but stomped down the hall.

"Hold ya damn horses, I'm comin'," he yelled as he heard the pounding begin again.

He passed Merle's bedroom on his way and suddenly everything seemed to fit into place. Merle's room was empty. Which meant that he had stayed at the bar all night and now he was either too drunk to remember how to open the door or just too damn lazy. Really, neither option surprised Daryl. If anything it just pissed him off more.

Daryl had a slew of curses and fucking hells all lined up for good ole Merle ready to spew from his mouth but as soon as he threw open the apartment door, any and all words suddenly got caught in his throat as he came face to face with a tiny blonde girl with big blue eyes and looked like she had no business being out passed midnight let alone banging on his front door.

"Oh thank goodness you're home!" the girl said in a relieved voice that just sounded like honey and Daryl started to wonder if maybe he was dreaming.

"Merle of course decided to have a little too much to drink and so I was driving him home when Maggie called me about half way here and told me that he had left his wallet and keys on the counter back at the bar and I was just gonna bring him back to my place and let him sleep on the couch again but then I remembered that I agreed to watch the kids for Michonne tomorrow mornin' and no offense or anything but Merle is a real whiny brat when he's hungover."

The girl continued to talk and Daryl just stood there stunned and slack jawed as she stepped away and turned to kick something down by her foot.

"Merle get up, I brought ya home," she said and it was only then that Daryl seemed to remember how to use his feet and he took a step out into the hall and saw his brother slumped against the wall, nearly asleep and groaning and he watched this girl who looked like she weighed no more than a hundred pounds, begin to haul him up to his feet.

"Ya gonna help me or just stand there and stare?" the blonde looked at him then and Daryl didn't remember moving but suddenly he was right next to her and throwing Merle's arm over his shoulders and he smelled like a damn toilet but the hunter's nose also caught wiff of something else, something floral and sweet and he found himself once again glancing at the blonde woman next to him, carrying half of Merle's groaning body like it was no big thing.

Daryl suddenly started to wonder once again if this was all a dream. Maybe he was still in the woods. Maybe he was passed out under a tree, wounded and dying because there just ain't no other way to explain how this tiny blonde woman is in his apartment, helping drag Merle's drunk ass to his room and she's babbling on like she thinks he is suppose to understand any of the shit she's sayin' or who in the hell Maggie and Glenn and Abe are. Yeah, maybe he never even left the woods at all.

"Peach?" Merle suddenly mutters and Daryl's eyebrows furrow as he looks expectantly to the blonde who is rolling her eyes.

"Thought I told ya to stop callin' me that?" she asks in an annoyed voice but he can see the small smile on her lips.

"Where are we? Thought ya was takin' me back to your place?" he grumbles and Daryl lets out a grunt as they turn into Merle's bedroom and it's only then that he realized this girl knew exactly where to take Merle and he suddenly got the feeling that this wasn't the first time she had done this.

"Not this time." she said simply and Merle let out an annoyed sounding huff before the two of them all but tossed him on to his bed and he's snoring like a freight train in a matter of seconds.

Daryl takes a step back as the woman let out a small musical sounding laugh and he watches as she starts to take off Merle's boots before she brings the blankets up around his drunk brother's body and tucks him in and then she glances back up at Daryl and in silent agreement they both make their way to the door before she slowly shuts it behind them. He follows her toward the entrance again and he just now realizes that he hasn't said one word to her and he is still just as confused as all hell and just as she opens the door, seemingly planning to leave without an explanation the hunter finally finds his voice.

"Wait," he calls out gruffly and she freezes with her hand on the doorknob for just a moment before she turns around with a gasp.

"Oh crap! Where are my manners?" she says with another laugh and Daryl is once again stunned as she flashes him a brilliant smile. "I forgot that you don't know who I am. I'm Beth, the bartender over at The Green Room, ya heard of it?"

Daryl just nods numbly, once again losing his voice. He had heard Merle talk about that place many times and he had asked him to come with a few times but Daryl doesn't drink on week nights and the weekends are usually spent in the woods so he just never got around to it. He knew Merle liked the place though and if this pretty blonde woman who barely looked old enough to drink, let alone bar tend, worked there, he suddenly understood why.

"Yeah well Merle shows up a lot and more than half the time he comes there I end up givin' him a ride home cause he's too stupid drunk off his ass," she giggles as she shakes her head. "He's talked about you a few times too so sorry for wakin' ya and just bargin' in like I own the place, this ain't the first time I've done this if ya couldn't tell. Normally this place is empty though, he says you enjoy huntin' a real lot and are usually gone but I just decided to take my chances." she shrugged.

"How? You and Merle?" Daryl grunts out, fully aware that he's not making any sense but at the same time this whole situation isn't making any sense.

"Oh, that, I don't know, it just kinda happened. We're not together or anything if that's what you're thinking I mean I like you're brother and all but ah, no." she grimaces slightly and Daryl can't help but to give her a flick of a smile.

"But anyways, I should get goin'. Once again sorry for wakin' ya, and maybe Merle can explain things to ya in the morning."

With that she opens the door and picks up a bag he hadn't even noticed she had dropped when they made their way inside earlier before slinging it over her shoulder and turning around.

"I'll see ya around, Daryl." she says with another heart stopping smile before she closes the door softly behind her.

And he is once again stunned, standing there in the middle of his living room like a god damn fool for who knows how long because this girl knew his fucking name and he had never heard Merle mention her once and as he finally found the will to move his legs, he numbly made his way back to his bedroom before he himself collapsed on the bed in a daze.

Yeah, maybe he was dreaming.