"The fuck we doing in a college town?" Daryl grumbled as he stubbed his cigarette on the brick wall of a restaurant they were about to enter.
"Never you mind, baby brother."
It was about 7:30 pm, and this town was dead. There was hardly anyone on the street and even fewer inside. It was a bar-cum-café. There was a couple eating burgers by the windows, one guy, wearing plaid and a trucker hat at a counter nursing a beer and one other guy, probably late twenties in a polo shirt sitting on a couch against the exposed brick wall watching them enter. There was a small stage were a young woman was strumming a guitar and singing sadly. She had blonde hair pulled into a bun, with a few stray hairs stuck a bit to her brow from sweat before curling away from her face. Merle had gone over to the man on the couch, and Daryl naturally followed. The girl looked at him and smiled as she finished her song, putting the guitar down and moving to the bar. Talking to the trucker hat man and nodding before handing him a bill then walking across the room to Daryl and Merle. Her smile was huge, and it was the most entrancing thing Daryl had seen, following her big and bright blue eyes.
"Can I get y'all something to eat or drink?"
"Beer please, sweetheart," Merle said undressing the young thing in his mind, she was thinner and definitely lacking in the breast department for his taste, but he wouldn't turn her down given half a chance.
"Any kind in particular?" She said still smiling, Daryl was bewildered, to be honest, he'd expect her to be cringing by now given the predatory look on Merle's face, maybe she was a dropped as a child or something, or she was just stupid.
"What you got to offer me, sugartits?" That made her smile drop instantly; she just kind of blinked at him her eyes going wider. Merle had his signature leer on and added licking his lip to unnerve her. He may not have wanted to fuck her, but fucking with the little girl was just as much fun, in his opinion.
"Millers is fine," Daryl said, and she nodded her head and scampered off. Daryl watched her go around the bar, until he realized he was staring and then he turned back to Merle, who was back to talking to the yuppie. Daryl decided to sit on the couch, they'd been riding most of the day, moving what little they had from Macon, it wasn't a long trip but doing it a couple of times and dealing with Merle in the interim had left him worn out. He gave his body a little stretch, flexing from his feet to his neck as he rolled it. God, he was getting old.
He didn't want to be here in Milledgeville, it was a tiny town which he preferred, but it was also a college town, and that was not something he wanted to deal with, but once Merle decided on their plan of action it was either you agreed or you did it anyway. Daryl had learned that there was no point in arguing.
The girl returned, two new beers, handing the first to Merle, who was standing in her way to Daryl. "Why, thank you," Merle ever the subtle person he was, raking his eyes over her little body. She nodded her head, again, not making eye contact. Then wedged herself between Merle and the table to lean over and hand Daryl his beer. He took the chance to read her name tag, Beth. "Thanks," he said quietly, which she returned equally hushed and with a small smile, "you're welcome".
She maneuvered herself far less awkwardly, now that she wasn't balancing a beer, back in front of Merle, looking at the three men. "If ya'll want anything from the kitchen you should order soon, it closes at 8."
Before Merle could jump in with an innuendo or blatant harassment, Daryl jumped in "we're good."
"Ok." And then she wheeled around getting last requests from the burger couple and picking up the trucker's payment and tip.
Merle and the Polo Douche, drained their beers had gone outside, probably to get high, or swap drugs and information. Leaving Daryl alone and it was a blessing.
Beth took the stage again, and started strumming and tapping her foot.
Crickets are chirpin' the water is high
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry.
Daryl found himself mesmerized; her voice was pleasant to be sure, but nothing truly special as she spoke/sang the lyrics. What kept him riveted was when she'd make eye contact with him, he could see in his periphery the couple were watching her too, clearly enjoying the music and she'd smile at them, but when she met his eyes, she'd smile, look down at her guitar and blush.
And that sent current after current of electricity through him. He couldn't get enough of it, this foreign, wonderful feeling. He felt powerful.
Preacher was talking there's a sermon he gave
He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved
You cannot depend on it to be your guide
When it's you who must keep it satisfied
It ain't easy to swallow it sticks in the throat
She gave her heart to the man in the long black coat.
Beth could feel herself blushing, it was like her face was on fire, it hadn't been this bad since she and Maggie walked in on Shawn with his girlfriend, and she felt so embarrassed for those two and was laughing so hard at their shocked faces that they spent the whole afternoon feeling like they were going to puke from laughing. Beth felt like that now, her stomach was rioting. She could have a crush on a guy who had only spoken two words to her, especially considering the company he kept. Though Beth had to mentally chastise herself for judging strangers. But there was something about the man, his dark hair was disheveled and he had holes in his jeans, but those were some mighty fine arms he was using to lift his beer and he watched her with hooded eyes.
There are no mistakes in life
Some people say it is true sometimes
You can see it that way
But people don't live or die people just float
She went with the man in the long black coat.
Beth finished up her song and put her guitar away in its case, before she grabbed a rag and started wiping down and already clean counter. She moved around to bus the table and drop off bills, she blushed again as she handed Daryl his, he was leaning forward and had his hand out, their fingers grazed each other's in the slightest of touches, and this time Daryl felt his face heat up. "Thanks," He said again. Another smile and "Sure," was what he got from Beth before she made her way to put chairs on the tables.
Putting down enough to cover his and Merle's beer as well a sizeable tip, something he'd never done before, but of course without Merle hovering over him saying, "If you're just going to give that cash away, I'll take it".
Daryl left the bar or whatever the hell it was, and lit a cigarette. It was the beginning of August in Georgia, which meant it was hotter than hell, even if it was 9 at night, the sun had only just set and its presence was still making itself known. Daryl looked around the street to find Merle's bike gone, big surprise. He walked up to his bike, swinging his leg over the black Triumph he gave the... Oconee Café (as he read the sign on the window) a last look, his eyes quickly finding Beth's, again.
Beth's head immediately dropped to her work and smile spreading across her face, and a tumultuous feeling in her belly that matched the rumble of the motorcycle that her mystery man had just started. That man was going to be trouble for her, if she ever saw him again, she thought. It brought a sudden sadness to Beth to think that perhaps the man with nice arms might just be passing through. "Which is completely crazy, Bethany Greene. You shouldn't have a crush on a man you've only said two words to," She shook her head, wondering when she became such a hormonal girl. That was her sister Maggie's thing, boy crazy, super popular, and just in general passionate. "You're the kind, calm, and reasonable one," Her father had always said.
Who would have thought a redneck with ill-mannered friends would ignite the dormant girly-ness in her?
Beth watched as Mr. Arms (she had dubbed him) pulled away and made his way down the street, she gave the floor a quick sweep, locked up the café and then walked the ten blocks to her house. Beth couldn't tell if it was the summer heat of the constant blush she was sporting but she felt like she was sweating up a storm by the time she made it to the house she shared with Amy she needed a shower, a cold one. For reasons.
Daryl needed gas, but figured that at the rate this town rolled up its sidewalks at night he'd be shit out of luck finding a station open, not to mention the fact that he didn't much feel like investigating this crappy town tonight. So he made his way to Merle. Twenty minutes on the highway and a frontage road later he was at the house he and Merle were all but squatting in.
The one bedroom, one bath "cabin" was a step to the side of being a trailer, but "whatever," Daryl thought, "free is free." He pulled in front of the building; Merle's bike was there, as was a small late model sedan that had seen much better days.
Daryl cut the engine of his Harley, and rather than a blissful silence he heard the makings of a party. Or the closest that the Dixons had ever gotten to. There was hootin' and hollerin', Merle making bad and/or offensive jokes and come ons that were followed by squeals of laughter. Those women must have been as high as Merle if they thought he was that funny.
Daryl could go in or he could chance a Georgia summer night. Having decided that he'd rather feed a million hungry mosquitoes than deal with Merle antagonizing him and having to fend off a strange woman, he trudged into the woods, far enough that the sounds of the cabin were dim enough that he could sleep.
Daryl laid his tired body on the ground; he shimmied a bit, trying to get comfortable. He was familiar to uncomfortable "beds" but it didn't mean he was used to them or liked them any. He closed his eyes, thankful for the first time today that it was warm, and that he didn't have to suffer through another cold night outside. As he fell asleep his mind drifted to Beth. The way she blushed so prettily when their eyes made contact. Had he really been responsible for that reaction? He didn't think he'd ever made a woman blush, and he sure as hell had never blushed that way, outside of Merle embarrassing him. It was an entirely different feeling. His head felt light, his heart beating something ferocious. He couldn't tell if he liked it or not, being unnerved by such a wisp of a woman.
But his last thought was of the smile she gave him, and how inclined he felt to return it.