Stained Glass
Chapter 1
All of the things Beth Greene is good at can be listed using one single hand.
Index Finger: She can sing
Middle Finger: She can play the piano
Ring Finger: She is good with children
Pinkie Finger: She makes a mean tuna casserole
and Thumb: She is pretty damn good at newspaper crossword puzzles.
Everything else she can do she does 'eh', and if she isn't 'eh' at it then she probably can't do it at all. And those things, those things she couldn't even think of counting on one hand, or any hand for that matter, because there are just too damn many of them.
Beth makes many rash decisions in her life. She once drank a whole bottle of diet coke in 30 minutes and then proceeded to burp for the three following hours only because sister Maggie told her that she wouldn't do it. Then one time she decided that it would be a good idea to get in her car and drive to New York City from Georgia. She got to about South Carolina when she ran out of gas and cried on the phone to her Dad and begged him to come get her.
Now, years after all of those incidents, she is standing in front of her new house. Yes, she bought a house. She's barely 22 and she owns a house on the edge of Senoia, very close to Peachtree City, that is in need of a lot of work. More than she can probably handle.
But did that stop her from buying the place? Of course not, this is Beth Greene. Impulsive, silly, and incredibly optimistic Beth Greene. So of course she bought it. On the bright side it has very nice stained glass windows on the top two floors.
The front of the house is decaying. The white paint is chipped and fading, and the front door is cyan blue with cracks of the under paint, red, coming through. It has character, a lot of character. There is a wrap around porch, which is caving in a bit, and there is a peak with a circular window and a triangle roof. Beth loves it. Loves the messy, old house.
She walks up to the small For Sale sign that is pushed into the dying grass and pulls it out. With a satisfied smile Beth carries the sign up to the house with her.
She hasn't been inside. When she bought it all she had were the images of the outside of the house and the details of the layout. No one has stepped inside the home since it was abandoned, and no one really knows exactly when that was- So Beth has no real idea how long the house has sat here. She thinks it has been here for too long, a hidden gem in the woods of Georgia.
Beth walks up the creaking front steps to the cyan blue front door. She takes the key to the house out of the front pocket of her overalls and pushes it into the door knob. The house smells like mold and dust when she pushes the door open.
There is no light coming into the first floor because most of the windows on this level are boarded up. Beth squints her eyes in the darkness and fumbles with the sign and her purse so she can get her phone out.
She drops the sign on the ground with a loud smack as she rummages through her purse. Beth is also very forgetful, that can be added to the list of adjectives to describe Beth Greene.
She groans when she realizes that her phone is definitely not inside her pocket book.
With a huff, Beth makes her way through the house slowly. She stubs her two only twice and both times were on the same exact chair.
There is a light coming from the top of the stairs and Beth sighs in relief. Slowly, since the stairs look like they might collapse beneath her, Beth makes her way to the second floor. The sunlight is coming through the open windows in thick layers of yellow and gold.
Beth smiles as she looks around the second floor landing. This was the exact reason she bought this house, it's beautiful. The second floor is in much better condition than the first. The floor is cleared off and there doens't seem to be a speck of dust or ivy in sight.
Beth walks down the hallway and sticks her head into the first room she comes across.
"Oh my God," She says loudly and falls back, landing flat onto her ass.
There, standing in the first room on the second floor is a strange man. His hair is short and sticking up in all directions as if he has just woken up from a nap.
He raises his arms and shows his hands to Beth.
"Relax, relax," He says quickly waving his hands at her, "I'm not gonna hurt you, seriously! I didn't know anyone owned the place."
"What are you doing in my house?" Beth yells from her position on the ground in the hallway. She feels satisfied at that, it is her house now.
The man steps forward, his hands still raised. "I've been… kind of sleeping here," He says slowly.
"You… you what?! You've been squatting in my house!?" She yells back to him.
"In my defence!" The man says, "It isn't very obvious that someone lives here. I mean, the 'For Sale' sign didn't help either."
"I just bought it. Doesn't mean you can just go around living in abandoned houses!" Beth says loudly, "What is wrong with you?"
She realizes that she is still sitting on her ass and she jumps to pull herself up.
He steps forward as if he is going to help but Beth shoots him a glare. He raises his hands up in defeat and steps away.
The dirt and grime of the floor stick to her pants as she stands. She groans out a 'gross' as she runs her hands over her pants to get rid of the dust and dirt.
"You have to leave!" She says loudly pointing towards the stairwell, "Like now!"
The guy sighs and nods, "Yeah, yeah. I'll get out of here."
Beth watches him pick up his belongings from the room with her hands on her hips. He does this slowly as if he is waiting for her to stop him. She won't, nope, never, this new Beth Greene is a tough ass and she definitely does not give pity to house squatters. Even the handsome house squatters with the really blue eyes. She shakes her head and lets the thought fly out of her.
"Why's a girl like you buyin' a house like this, huh?" The man asks a he shoves a poncho into his ratty backpack.
"It's nice," Beth says with conviction.
The man snorts at her, "Yeah, it's a nice piece of shit."
Beth shoots him a glare, "Hey! Don't talk about my house like that!"
"Sorry to hurt your house's feelin's, darlin'. Ain't you too young to be ownin' a house on your own? 'Specially one that needs this much work?" He asks. He stands up straight and pulls his backpack over his shoulders. Beth tries not to focus on his very nice muscles.
"I'm 22 for your information! Besides, I can handle fixing this up," Beth says with a tilt of her chin, "You'll see. It'll be amazin' when I'm done with it."
"Girl, you even know how to use a hammer?" He asks with a bit of a smirk playing on her face.
Is he teasing her? The squatter? Teasing? Her?
Beth scowls deeply at him, "Course I know how to use a damn hammer!"
The man shrugs at her answer, "I'll believe it when I see it." He begins to walk towards her and Beth moves aside so he can exit the room.
"You're not gonna see me use a hammer because you are leavin'," She says with a wave of her arm, "Now! You're leavin' now!" She places her hands on his backpack and begins to push him, gently, towards the stairwell.
He doesn't move very much under her touch, in fact Beth knows for a fact that her pushes are doing absolutely nothing other than annoying the hell out of him.
Beth continues to push him down the stairs as he says, "Your Daddy gonna help clean the place up? You better tell him that the furnace is shot, the coil is burnt out. You're gonna need a new one."
"I could have figured that out, sir. My Daddy ain't helpin' me. I'm doing this on my own," Beth says sternly.
She pushes him down to the bottom of the stairs. She misses a step and swears as she lands on her foot, hard.
"Also," The man says, "All of the electrical is burnt. Gonna need a new circuit board, new wiring, new… hell you gonna need new everything, girl."
"I will figure it out," Beth says stubbornly. She eases her foot down and steps on it experimentally before beginning to walk towards the front door.
She stubs her toe again on that same god damn chair as she passes it. She doesn't say a word as the man behind her snickers at her.
Beth gets to the front door and throws it open, promptly causing the door to fall off the hinges and collapse onto the front porch.
"Jesus," Beth says as the door collides with the wooden ground.
"I think you're gonna need some help," The man behind her says.
Beth looks over her shoulder to the older man and scowls. He just seems so… so satisfied with himself. He knew that Beth wouldn't be able to do this on her own. This whole time he has been putting it into her head that he can help her. He must really need a place to stay or maybe he just really likes this house. It's been all of five minutes and he has Beth convinced that he will help her rebuild this house, without even saying those words.
Another thing that Beth Greene is, is good. She is just a genuinely good person.
"I ain't askin' you for help," Beth says looking up to him, "But… But…"
He raises his eyebrows knowingly at her, his lips pulled up in a slight, slight smirk.
"If you just so happened to want to help I wouldn't say no," Beth says.
"Well shit, girl. You askin' me to move in with you?" He asks in amusement.
Beth throws her arms up in the air in defeat.
"No one is living in this house until it is fixed up. Seriously! Don't you try and come sneak back into here!" Beth says pointing her long finger at him.
The man nods in agreement and raises his hands in defeat as he did earlier, "Yes, ma'm."
Beth puffs out a breath of air and blows her hair out of her face. She heads down the porch towards her car and pulls out the keys from her bag.
"Come on," She says looking back to him, "I hope you have some money. Cause you are stayin' at the motel…." She hesitates as she realizes that she doesn't even know his name.
"Daryl," He offers her. Beth turns to see him making his way across the front yard of her house towards her car, "Daryl Dixon," He finishes as he steps up beside her.
"Beth Greene," She says, her voice softening as she looks into his eyes.
Daryl smirks at her, "Careful, girl. Don't go fallin' in love with me."
Beth huffs and rolls her eyes, ignoring the way her heart jumps at the words 'love' and 'falling' in one sentence.
"Let's just get out of here," She says as she heads around her car towards the driver's seat.
When they are both in the car, Beth finds herself smiling without really meaning to. What a weird, unusual, strange twist of fate.
Beth takes a deep breath as they drive off towards the Motel, leaving her new house in the rear view mirror for another day.
Let me know what you think!
No Beta