A/N: Let me make it clear that I absolutely love Merle and I love him and Beth together but I wanted to try something a little different for this.

Let me know what y'all think!

WARNING: Possible triggers for abuse, drugs, violence, etc.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or it's characters.


Playin' the Missus

Chapter 2


Beth was lying in bed reading a story to her son when her phone rang.

She picked it up off her nightstand and answered it.

"Bethie," Maggie began before Beth had the chance to say 'hello', "you need to come home."

Seeing how late it was, Beth began to feel sick at hearing her sisters words. Somethin' had to be wrong for her to call this late.

"What...what's wrong?" She finally managed to get out.

"That piece of shit husband of yours went to daddy's an' kicked in the door," Maggie told her.

"Did he do anythin' else?"

"No. Thankfully mama and daddy weren't home but Shawn was. They got into a pretty bad fight."

"How bad?"

"Bad enough. He was drunk so it didn't take much for him to give up but you need to come home. Divorce him or somethin'. Jus' make sure you get full custody of Cody. Though I'm sure it won't be a problem with his record."

When Beth hung up, she started cryin'. She had been gone for nearly six months and Merle hadn't tried to come after her.

He didn't call her, he didn't call her sister or brother, he didn't call her mama and daddy. No, he went to their house and kicked in the front door.

"That's some man you're in love with," she berated herself.


The next morning as she drove back to Georgia, she tried to keep her mind off of Merle but she couldn't.

She looked over at her son and had to force herself not to cry. She didn't want him around Merle and the drugs but she knew he missed his daddy. He asked about him everyday and at night he would pray for his daddy to get better.

That was Beth's own fault she supposed.

She had to give a reason as to why they left and why his daddy wasn't there so she told him he was sick and as soon as he got better, they could see him again.

Before she realized it, she was already pulling up to the farm house.

After everyone greeted her and Cody, she had to address the reason she had come home.

"What're you gonna do?" Maggie asked.

"I'm not...," she was cut off by Shawn.

"I'll tell ya what I'm gonna do if I see him again," Shawn started.

"That's enough," Hershel stood up and walked over to Beth, "we will stand behind you no matter what you decide. But the decision is yours, Bethie."

Beth waited around for a few hours before she decided to talk to Merle. Maybe he would get clean if she told him he could move to Tennessee with them?

She shook that thought away. There's no way in hell Merle Dixon would ever change. She had seen that for herself but somethin' inside her wouldn't give up the hope that he would.

She didn't bother with tellin' anyone where she was goin', she knew they'd know.


Beth pulled up to the old trailer she had shared with Merle and sat in her truck for a few minutes before getting out. She was extremely nervous.

She sighed and opened the truck door.

Making her way up to the front door, she said a little prayer to herself.

Noticing the front door was slightly ajar, she pushed it open and stepped inside.

It was no surprise to her to see the trailer in the same, if not worse, condition as when she left. What did surprise her though, was seeing her brother-in-law, Daryl, passed out on the couch with a needle stuck in his arm.

Beth began to panic and rushed to his side. He was clammy but had a faint pulse.

Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed 911 but just as she pressed send, the phone was knocked out of her hand and she was pulled up by her hair.

"What tha fuck're ya doin' 'ere?" Merle asked as he slammed her against the wall.

For the first time in all the years she had known him, she was scared.

Merle pinned her to the wall with one arm and gripped her face tightly with his freehand.

"Answer me!" He demanded.

Looking into his eyes she stuttered, "I...I thought you...maybe you would like to...to see your...your son."

"Ya think I wanna see 'im? Ya took 'im from me ya lil' bitch!"

She closed her eyes but quickly opened them back up when she felt his hand connect with her face before he shoved her to the floor.

She laid there, curled up in shock as he walked away.

She looked in his direction when she heard a woman giggle and then slur as she talked.

Beth closed her eyes and didn't open them until she heard sirens. She didn't move from the floor until she was being pulled up by a police officer.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" he asked.

Beth stared at him blankly and shook her head.

They called for a ambulance for Daryl but several cops began questioning her.

She was oblivious to the blood running out of her nose, her busted lip and the bruise that was forming on the side of her face.

"Ma'am who did this to you?" She heard another cop ask but she couldn't reply.

Merle busted into the living room cussin' and yellin' for tha cops to get out of his house and to take Beth with them.

She was staring at Merle with wide, fearful eyes when the cops looked at her again.

"Ma'am, did he do this?"

She shook her head 'no' but the cops didn't believe her. They saw the drugs that were all over the coffee table and arrested Merle.

If they couldn't arrest him for what he did to her, then they could arrest him for something, anything else.


At the police station, Beth sat there waiting for them to talk to her.

When asked if she would like to press charges against Merle, she told them no.

She was still sitting there with her head in her hands when somebody walked up and put their hand on her shoulder. She didn't bother to look up.

"Beth, I've called your daddy," he told her. She recognized the voice as that of Rick Grimes, her brother Shawn's uncle.

She looked up at him and he was visually taken aback when he saw her face.

Beth didn't know what to say or do. There was a good chance her daddy would throw a fit when he got there and she knew Maggie would fly off the handle.