"You're untouchable, burning brighter than the sun, and when you're close, I feel like coming undone"
- Taylor Swift, 'Untouchable'
Beth hummed to herself as she folded up the t-shirts that had arrived on the delivery that day, trying with all of her might to resist the urge to glance over at the time on the clock that rested next to the cash register at the till. Beth was certain that she was at least half way through her shift and so far, she had managed to avoid checking the time all day, so she didn't want to ruin the new record. Working in retail certainly wasn't fun and she spent most of her shifts wishing the hours away, but the job was helping to pay her way through college, and Beth supposed that that was the most important factor of all.
Besides, working at Lori's wasn't that bad. Beth had always loved children and was training to become a teacher, so working in a children's clothes store seemed almost natural for her. Besides, it seemed like a more fun job than cleaning up after drunks at the bar did, which was what her older sister Maggie had to do every weekend. The girls lived in a small town in Georgia - Beth still living at home with her parents and her brother whilst Maggie had moved out to live with her fiance Glenn - and after some of the experiences that she'd had in local bars combined with the stories that she had been told by Maggie, Beth honestly believed that there was no type of drunk that was worse than a small town drunk.
Lori's was quiet. It was always quiet and Beth was dumbfounded as to how the store managed to make enough money for it to stay open, but somehow, it did. The store itself was owned by none other than Lori Grimes, and the woman even made some of the stock that they sold; like the headbands and the frilly skirts and tutus. Lori was a sweet woman; a mother of two children - a teenage boy named Carl and a two year old daughter named Judith - and she was married to the town sheriff, Rick Grimes. Lori worked hard to make her money and spent a lot of time in the store, but she seemed to love working there and her positive energy really brightened up the atmosphere.
It was just Beth and Lori at the store. Lori's was open Monday through to Saturday and Lori opened up most days. Beth worked for her as much as she could, always penciling herself in for shifts whenever she was free from her classes or had any spare time off from college. Rick Grimes was a family friend, and it had been him who had suggested to her daddy that Beth come and work for Lori part-time because she could do with the help. Although Beth had signed a contract that stated that she would work eight hours per week, she often ended up racking close to thirty hours. Lori offered Beth cash in hand so that she could keep all of her money for herself, and Beth collected her wage at the end of every shift. She deposited the money she earned into her bank account every week and used it to get through the long days at college.
Some weeks, she even managed to put some of her spare cash into the saving's account that her daddy had set up for her when she was just a little girl.
The sound of the bell ringing to signal that someone had entered the shop caused Beth to jump a little in surprise as she was quickly dragged out of her thoughts, and Beth almost dropped the items of clothing that she had just folded neatly straight onto the floor due to her fright. Her mama had always told her that her head was in the clouds, and Beth couldn't deny that her mother was right.
Annette Greene always seemed to be right about pretty much everything.
Beth stood on her tiptoes to glance over the tall stands that were splattered across the store in order to get a good look at who had entered the store. There were plenty of regulars who stopped by during the week; sometimes to buy things, sometimes to browse, other times purely just to chat away to Beth for a while and ask about her father and his farm. For what had to be the first time in a long time, Beth didn't recognise the man who was strolling around the store and looking straight at the girls things, seeming more than a little tense and uncomfortable.
His eyes were narrowed at the tutus as though they had offended him and Beth couldn't help but be immediately curious about him.
The thing with small towns was that everyone knew everyone, and it was odd if anyone passed by her in the street who she didn't know the name of. It was even stranger for her to not recognise someone who was shopping at Lori's.
Beth busied herself with placing the freshly folded tees on a stand and tried not to make it too obvious that she was peeking over at the customer as he rummaged around, looking more than a little bit lost and out of place. From the angle that she was stood at, she wasn't able to get a good look at him, and in the end her curiosity took over her.
It was as though her body was on auto-pilot as Beth pushed herself away from the boys section where she had been straightening up some of the clothes and made a beeline for the man. She told herself that she was simply doing what Lori always told her to do: provide every customer with excellent customer service in order to boost sales and give Lori's a good name.
Beth was coming up from behind him and she couldn't help but notice how tall and broad he was. Beth had spotted it from the moment that he had entered the store, but now that she was this close, he was actually kind of intimidating.
But Beth shook that thought away immediately.
The small heels of her cowboy boots had been clicking loudly on the hard floor the way that they always did as she approached him, so Beth knew that the stranger would be able to hear her coming in his direction, but even as she appeared almost directly behind him, the man didn't turn around to acknowledge her. Instead, he stood firmly in place, a little basket in his hand as he stared at the selection of bright pink and purple and yellow dresses.
"Hi," Beth said as she stood at the stranger's side, turning her head a little so that she could get a glimpse of his face. "Can I help you at all?"
The man turned his head so that he was facing her and Beth's heart sped up at the tiniest rate. He was completely unfamiliar; his brown hair shaggy and falling slightly into his blue eyes, his jaw relaxed but defined and clearly strong, decorated with a hint of stubble. Beth had never been a fan of facial hair, but now she was beginning to think that it wasn't all that bad, actually. That combined with his huge arms that were on show due to the sleeveless flannel that he was wearing and the tan of his skin left Beth feeling just a little more curious about him than she already had been.
The stranger was attractive, to say the least. Beth couldn't place his age, but imagined him to be in his early to mid thirties. That would peg him at being around ten years (give or take) older than her twenty two years and Beth had never been much of a fan of older men, either; but now she was beginning to think that they too weren't all that bad.
Beth had to have been staring at him for a good few seconds before he frowned at her a little, clearly confused. The man's eyes darted around the shop as if checking to see if anyone else was around before he nodded his head sharply at her.
Having been so busy taking in his physical appearance, Beth had almost completely forgotten that she had even asked him a question in the first place.
"Who is that you're shopping for today?" Beth asked.
Shit, do I sound too nosey? Beth hoped that she didn't. She just had a habit of saying things without thinking them through, and she couldn't help but wonder if he would just think that she was another town gossip like most of the other women who lived in the area. Beth had only asked him that so that she would have a better knowledge of what type of things to look for and what age clothes to pick out for him.
At least, that's what she told herself. It had nothing to do with wanting to know whether he had any children himself. Or perhaps even a wife, or a girlfriend.
Nope.
Nothing to do with that at all.
"M'niece," he told her, and Beth tried to hide her relief that he didn't say it was for his daughter.
Not that she was relieved.
At all.
Beth spied for a ring as casually as she could, but she didn't catch a glimpse of one. Just because he wasn't married didn't mean that he was necessarily available and she absent-minded chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated whether straight up asking him whether he was single was too much for right now.
Yeah, it was definitely too much.
"How old is she?" Beth asked, immediately snapping into her work mode and drifting towards the girls clothes that were much less in-your-face. Beth had thought that these would appeal much more to him and he immediately looked more comfortable as they moved away from the glitter and sparkles.
"Six," he grunted, and Beth tried not to think much about how amazing his voice sounded. It was low and deep and rough, and she tried to hide the goosebumps that had appeared up her arms at the sound of him speaking.
Beth had never met anyone who could make a number sound sexy before. In fact, she was pretty certain that she had never met anyone who could make anything sound sexy before, and her cheeks were threatening to burn red just at the thought of it.
She began to hum to herself as she started picking up pieces that she thought he might like, asking him briefly whether his niece was small or tall for her age. The stranger shrugged his shoulders and genuinely looked so confused that Beth had to laugh.
It was kind of adorable.
He was kind of adorable.
The man smirked a little when she laughed and raised one of his brows at her, but he didn't make a comment about it. Beth was almost a little disappointed at that. She wanted nothing more than to hear the sound of his voice once again.
Beth kept trying to talk him through her choices and managed to get it out of him that his niece was a fan of pink and that he needed bits of everything because she would be living with him for a while. Beth desperately wanted to ask him why but she held her tongue and smiled sweetly instead, nodding her head and trying her hardest not to intrude. After all, it wasn't her place. She didn't even know this man's name, she couldn't go around asking such personal questions.
"Is that everything for you?" Beth asked as they made their way over to the till, both of their arms filled with clothing.
The man looked down at the huge bundles in their arms and then up at her eyes and Beth stifled a giggle at his expression. It seemed like he was really out of his depth here and she was glad that she had taken the chance to help him, otherwise he would have probably been stood in the store all night trying to pick out something that his niece would like.
"You reckon I need more?"
Okay, he was definitely adorable. He might not have necessarily looked it at first, but from what she had seen so far, Beth was certain that he was. There was no other way to describe it.
His question caused her to actually giggle and she partly felt bad for laughing at his expense, but he was smirking after a moment and Beth didn't feel as bad anymore. She quickly shook her head no as she began scanning the items through the till, folding them up neatly like Lori had trained her to do when she first started working at the store.
"I think you have more than enough," Beth told him. "Would you like me to wrap it all in pink tissues and use the ribbons we have? Then you could tell her that these are presents and make more of a special occasion out of it."
The man looked like he was weighing it up for a moment but still looked a little confused as to what to do and Beth decided to just reach underneath the till and grab the pink tissue, helping him along.
"My treat," she told him as she ripped off some of the tissue paper and began placing a handful of items in it. "Just don't tell Lori. She wants us to charge extra for this service, but I think you're spending enough in here to warrant a little bit of a discount."
Beth got to work on the wrapping up the items, making sure to be as neat as possible; and the stranger just bent down and rested his forearms on the other side of the till, watching with intense eyes as she carefully placed the clothing inside the paper.
Beth stole a few glances at him as she wrapped up the clothes and smiled at him each time he caught her looking. Her cheeks were tinged pink and she was surprised that she wasn't blushing more furiously. Beth was never usually this confident, but there was just something about this man that made her feel relaxed and at ease. It was probably his laid back attitude, more than anything - he seemed disinterested, but not in a rude way; and Beth thought that he probably didn't care much about what she thought of him.
Even though she thought he was possibly the most attractive man that she had ever met.
"So are you new in town?" Beth asked, trying to start some more personal small-talk with him as she began bagging up his items.
The stranger was quiet and seemed reserved, but not completely unwilling to give her any information. He just grunted at her and nodded his head so quickly that she probably would have missed it if she hadn't been watching for it. She was quiet for a moment as she concentrated on wrapping up the next item and was surprised when he spoke up.
"You live round here?"
Beth nodded at his question and smiled up at him, appreciating the fact that this was the first time that he had made an effort to address her. Sometimes, Beth felt as though she was pestering people (not just customers) to death and that she was overly bothering them. His small contribution to their conversation boosted her confidence in more ways than he probably realised.
"Sure do," she said. "Been here all my life."
He let out a low whistle upon hearing that, but he didn't comment about it any more. From that point on, Beth decided to carry on with her work in silence, trying her best to work at a quick pace so not to keep him waiting too long. She placed all of the items into the pretty light pink bags that had 'Lori's' printed in white on the side and apologised for having to give him so many to carry.
"'S a good job I brought the car," he mumbled, and Beth knew that he was talking to himself more than he was talking to her, but she couldn't help but want to know more about the stranger. He just seemed so interesting and pretty mysterious, too; and the more that she looked at him, the more attractive she realised he was. The thought continued to make her blush and her heart was starting to pick up speed again as his blue eyes stared her down.
Beth couldn't remember the last time anyone had caught her attention like this.
"What else do you drive?" Beth asked, genuinely interested.
The stranger looked at her for a long moment before he decided to answer, handing over a wad of cash to pay for the items. She accepted the money and quickly counted it out in front of him before placing it in the register.
"Got my bike," he told her, and Beth nodded her head eagerly.
"I ride my bike, too," she said, and the man actually snorted at that.
Beth wasn't sure what was funny but she smiled at him anyway, frozen on the spot for a second or two before she dipped her hand back into the register and pulled out his change.
"What?" She asked, giggling a little whilst he shook his head.
"I ain't got a push bike," he said, and Beth's eyes widened in realisation. "Meant a motorcycle."
It took a few seconds, but then Beth was laughing, and the stranger laughed, too. She shook her head and felt a little bit ridiculous as she pulled out the twelve dollars that made his change, pushing the cash register closed with her hip as she leaned over the till to pass him his money.
"That's twelve," she said as she held out the money towards him, but he raised his hand into the air so that she couldn't place any of the change in it whilst his other hand reached to grab the bags that were littered across the till area. Beth blinked at him several times, her face blank as she looked over him.
"Keep it," he said, and Beth was shocked that he was tipping her.
Nobody ever tipped at Lori's.
"As a thanks. For helpin' me..." he explained after a few more seconds, trailing off and narrowing his eyes at her top as though he expected her to be wearing a name tag.
Beth smiled at that.
Maybe he was just as curious about her as she was about him.
"Beth," she told him. "Beth Greene."
Beth wasn't sure why it was important to her that he knew her full name. It just was. Beth didn't want to remain in his mind as just 'Beth - the girl who works at Lori's.'
She wanted him to know her full name. Just in case.
"Beth," He repeated with a nod, as if he was trying out the taste of her name on his tongue.
Beth liked the way that it sounded when he said her name.
"Yes sir," she said, beaming up at him. "Thanks for the tip..."
Beth looked at his sleeveless flannel shirt the same way that he had looked at hers just before in a playful manner and she was glad that he understood she was gently teasing him. He chuckled lowly before telling her his name.
"Daryl," he said, and Beth immediately thought that it suited him. "Daryl Dixon."
Beth smiled at the sound of his full name and watched as he took a step backwards from the till, his body slowly turning towards the direction of the door as he picked up the bags from the counter and placed his arms by his sides. The sight of him standing there with pink and white bags in his hands was more than just a little bit amusing, but Beth tried not to laugh.
"Daryl Dixon," she repeated, loving the way that his name sounded in her voice and thinking that from the slight way his eyes widened and his cheeks tinged a faint red that he liked the sound of it, too. "I hope your niece likes her things. I'll see you around."
The man - Daryl - nodded at her before moving towards the door.
"Yeah," he said. "See ya around, Beth."
Thank you all for reading and please review!