AN: THANK YOU so much to everyone who showed interest in this story. I can't wait to keep it going.

Chapter 2

Headlights

10 months before

He was down by the creek inlet the first time he saw her; she was bathed in the dim glow of his F520's headlights.

No, not the first time he saw her, not a chance of that in a town like theirs. Colter was the kind of place people walked around like their heels had split open and rooted themselves to the soil, like they'd whiter up and die if they tried pulling up stakes and planting themselves somewhere else.

He wasn't special, Daryl Dixon would live and die in Colter just like the family tree of trailer folk who's most recently sprouted branch he hung from; moonshiners, meth heads and woman beaters. He'd itched his whole life to get out, felt it in the scars his daddy left on his back with that old leather strap, in every inhale of a Marlboro Red like the one that burnt his mamma up to nothing in that bed.

At least he was self-aware which he figured made him at least a fucking inch better.

Sometimes, when he was a kid he'd thought enough of himself that he might leave one day, might go somewhere with more than just enough light and water to keep a thing alive.

The thicket of woods that held Colter together was where he'd always felt the only peace of a home. Before his Uncle Will got too bad with the pills he wasn't a half bad guy. He made a habit of trying to be a role model, taught his nephews everything he knew about the wild, about hunting, about following the land.

When Daryl got older, after Will OD'd, he started going into the woods on his own. More than once he'd stood where he knew their borders would lead him somewhere else, spill him out on the other side in some other town or city if he kept walking.

Yet here he was, 21 years old and he'd never even seen the ocean. Here he was, down by the creek inlet sitting on the hood of his truck like he did every Friday night. Here he was, with Theo and Aaron and a warm case of Buds.

He'd spent hundreds of nights out on this same patch of dirt road. Someone brought music, someone grabbed beer, occasionally someone brought a girl. For the most part though, it was rinse and repeat.

So, it was weird how Beth Greene looked like a place he'd never been standing there in front of him.

He'd seen her plenty. She was just coming out of the junior high into the big building when he'd graduated by the skin of his teeth. He'd stood in the back once at the county fair when he got hired on for seasonal work, watching her show piglets all proud and mothering the little squirming things. Most girls in town got all dolled up for the fair, painted their faces so fucking overwhelmingly for that stupid beauty pageant or spent the whole thing pushing their tits out trying to get some shmuck to win them a dumb prize tossing shit at bottles. Beth had been real sweet though, mud all over her coveralls while she held her little pigs out for the kids to pet.

He'd driven Glenn up to her farm a few times to pick up Maggie. He'd seen Beth then, long legs folded under her on the front porch doing homework and watching after her sister with a concerned frown as she darted down towards the truck. That had been before, Maggie didn't need a ride now that she'd started driving her dead brother's old Civic.

But the first time he saw Beth Greene, she was standing in the twin beams of his headlights. Her light wash jeans had smudges of dirt along the thighs, right in the spot one would swipe their hands as they worked. Her brown leather boots were the pretty kind, with intricate flowers stitched along the sides but they were scuffed just enough to know they weren't just for show. The faded yellow t-shirt she wore had sleeves but her arms were so long it didn't seem to matter, miles of smooth pale flesh before the hands that she didn't seem to know what to do with, fingers of one clutched tight around a dark blue mound of cloth.

Top 40 country radio was playing on the big Dewalt water resistant radio Theo kept in his car and used at job sites. When she made a little noise in the back of her throat Aaron looked up from the deck of cards he was shuffling and reached for the volume adjustment.

Out of the three of them he looked the least fucking trustworthy. Everyone knew Theo spent most of his free time volunteering at his granddaddy's church, driving old folks to and from services and fixing odds and ends around the place. And well shit, girls flocked to Aaron like stray dogs to a piece of meat. There wasn't a chance he could tell them it was their brothers and boyfriends he preferred, not in a place like Colter.

The point was he was the last choice any girl alone on a backroad would probably go looking for help from. He was greasy, had barely bothered to splash water over his face in the shop bathroom before he clocked out for the day. Appearance aside, just like he knew who the Greene's were, Beth Greene knew damn well who the Dixons were.

Yet, for a reason he'd never understand it was his gaze she met as she spoke. He'd never seen the ocean but her eyes were like two of them, big blue pools that looked right between his friends and met his; her chin jutting any nerves she might have had out of the way proudly. Her hair was a shiny platinum gold, not the kind from a bottle and it hung over her shoulder in a long ponytail with all kinds of little braids woven through it. Her pink lips parted once to speak, then fell shut and then once more after a beat, opened again.

"I was lookin' for my sister," she announced simply.

A small giggle slipped between Theo's lips and like there was a contagion in the air Aaron followed suit. Daryl might have laughed too, if he didn't watch the pinch of pink swallow Beth's cheeks. He probably looked indifferent, smoke still tucked under his lip where he'd been about to light it before she walked up. Her eyes ticked towards his friends and then back to him and he felt a familiar tug in his stomach even if he didn't let it show on his face. She thought they were laughing at her.

The shake of his head was so small she might not have seen, but she did, her expression begging him to explain.

This little universe standing in front of him, speaking to him without words like she could see right inside his head.

"She's with Glenn," his voice elaborated and he nudged a shoulder towards the dark road behind them. He hoped he didn't have to explain any further. Figured she could put two and two together and come up with the solution that her sister was preoccupied in the most personal way. He wasn't in the business of exposing his friend for wanting to be alone with his girl, not with Glenn's parents always riding his ass the way they did and Maggie's….well Maggie's situation being what it was.

Her face fell for the briefest of moments although she recovered it quickly, jaw tightening and wiggling her button nose to will away any further emotion. Even though he'd only told her the truth he felt a gnawing guilt, he might as well have slapped her.

"Oh," she sighed and began wringing the fabric between both hands, "she was supposed to pick me up at work is all. She never showed so I started walkin, figured I might as well check down here."

The fabric unraveled slightly, two strings escaping it to hang down by her feet and he recognized the familiar Big Spot logo on the apron.

"Walked all the way here from The Big Spot?"

She just shrugged, sharp shoulders rising up and down. She took a long breath and bounced up and down on her heels, peering over his truck into the blackness. Her cheeks puffed up with air and then released. Without another word she turned on a heel and started back down the road, taking a few long strides out of the light.

"Greene," he found himself sliding off the hood of truck, making quick work of dumping the contents of his beer into the dirt as she glanced back over her shoulder. By now Aaron and Theo had quieted down, watching the exchange with interest. He did he best not to meet the inquiring expressions as he retrieved his unlit cigarette and tucked it behind an ear. He tilted his head towards the truck. "Can give you a ride, if ya want."

Her upper lip quirked for the smallest of seconds than she was talking to him in his head again. Her eyes darted to the beer can by his boot and then back at him with an almost raised eyebrow. He nodded, he was fine to drive.

Girl had no reason to trust him. The whole town knew his daddy and his brother were drunks, knew his mamma had been one too.

But she smiled a smile with every single tooth, sharp canines on the side glinting in the light.

He knew his face read blank, he was good at keeping it that way. But she sure was something worth seeing when she smiled that like.

"Ok."

Daryl hefted the case of Buds from his hood to replace it on Theo's and ignored the jabbing elbow his friend threw against his rib cage.

"Alright Dixon, I see you."

Beth must have heard the comment because a blush swallowed her face as she climbed into his passenger side, needing to hoist herself up with some effort to get up into the thing and use both hands to pull the door shut behind her.

"Go fuck yourselves," he hissed in both men's directions once she was inside the cab and they both erupted into a drunk laughter that was drowned out when he climbed in the driver's side and slammed his own door closed.

He tried not to look too hard in her direction as he guided the truck off the dirt road and back out onto the highway, hit his blinker for the left turn to take him towards the Greene farm.

He didn't realize how dirty his truck was until she was in it. The cab smelled like grease, the console cluttered with crumpled cigarette packs, the floor littered with half empty Gatorade bottles.

There was a long few minutes of silence before she spoke, her pale face like a little moon watching him from the passenger seat.

"Thank you, ya didn't have to."

"S' a long walk," was all he managed, drumming fingers along the steering wheel to keep them from finding his mouth in an old nervous habit.

And then, after a beat, he dared at a glance at her.

"Big Spots far out, kinda shitty of Maggie, leavin' ya hanging like that."

Ditching your sister to fuck your boyfriend, hardly seemed right. He liked Maggie enough, didn't mind her hanging around. He got a kick out of the way Glenn trailed after her. She was funny, not in a trying too hard way like most girls and she was content drinking a beer and shooting the shit. And after her mamma and brother he'd held a certain amount of sympathy for the girl. Still, the little glint of rejection in Beth's eye hadn't been lost in him.

He knew all about that, being Merle Dixon's baby brother and all.

When she turned there was something a little harder in her, something sharp.

"I'm not mad at her. She probably just forgot. I know she gets all crazy where Glenn's concerned."

He recognized that too. Merle might have been a piece of shit but only he could say that.

"Besides," the hardness was gone from her voice that quick and she shifted a little in his seat and reached for the radio dial, "it's not a big deal, walkin' is good exercise."

She was still spinning the knob, flying thru snippets of songs with a curious ear when he snorted. She opened in her mouth in a grinning attempt at contempt.

"What? It is!"

"Bout' as big as a minute girl, think you'll live without walkin' yourself to exhaustion."

"Well I never did think it, Daryl Dixon has a sense of humor."

She settled on a song, something he didn't know with a guitar and a female singer. Her knee bounced a little until he spoke.

"And what did you think of me?"

The question came out faster and harsher than he meant. Her lips closed around her smile and her hands went back to fidgeting on that apron.

Fucking idiot.

"Sorry," he grumbled, forcing his eyes on the road before him.

He had a pretty girl like Beth Greene in his front seat, the kind of girl who ought to have been in those beauty pageants because she wouldn't have needed a lick of makeup to win, and he'd managed to yell at her for absolutely no reason.

Just like the rest of the Dixons, self-aware or not.

"I just know how most people probably think of me," he forced out, mostly because he couldn't stand the thought her of sitting there being nervous. Being afraid of him.

Out of his peripheral he could see her long fingers still on the apron and feel her eyes burning into the side of his face.

"I think you're a real good guy who offered to give me a ride home when he didn't have to. That's what I think about you Daryl Dixon."

The rest of the ride was silent, Beth humming real quiet but pretty under her breath. His intestines were working themselves into knots as he pulled down the drive towards the Greene farm, not only because he didn't know what to say to the girl when she got out but because he didn't want to see her go.

She'd called him a good guy and even though it wasn't true it sounded like the it was from the mouth of the Lord coming from her.

In about 80 seconds the moment would be over. Beth Greene would go back to just being Maggie's sister and he'd be back down at the inlet with his friends and that's how it would stay.

Their house was big and old, well-kept but lived in. The dirt drive curved off the road and was about half a mile surrounded by grass until you reached the house. Sean Greene was older than him, they'd never been friends. He'd never set foot on the farm until Glenn forced him there but he could tell it would have been a picturesque place to grow up. The kind of place towns like Colter ought to have been full of.

He stopped about half way down the drive, let the truck slow real easy until he finally put it in park.

Daryl figured she'd hop out, probably thank him again. Instead she shifted again in her seat, stared up at her house for a long breath.

"My daddy's selling some of the land."

The admission came out of nowhere, sad and quiet.

"Why?"

He was genuinely curious. He couldn't imagine having something as sprawling as the land before him and ever wanting to let it go. Beth had impressive posture, her shoulder blades and lines of her throat made perfect right angles but when she started to speak they slouched in on themselves in just the slightest.

"Just hard for him, keepin' up with. Things are different since…"

She didn't have to finish the sentence; since cancer stole Mrs. Greene and the sadness and a sawed off shotgun let Sean join her.

There was a wrestling match on his tongue between words he should say, the kind of things a good guy would be able to mouth off with without having to think so hard.

"You mind if I just finish this song?" she asked before he could fumble over any of them, "I just really love this one."

He nodded, mute and dumb and a little claustrophobic all the sudden with the realization that she wasn't dying to be out of his company.

The girl on the radio was singing something about being lonely, about letting something go; some country tune with a pop beat behind it. The song was kind of sad but the look in Beth's eyes when she started singing along was anything but.

Took him a long minute to realize his already bitten down thumb nail had found it's way between his teeth as he watched her sing. She was sparing little glances in his direction, drumming her fingers on the seat beside her.

"What're you doing at the Big Spot with a voice like that?"

It was the right thing to say, the kind of thing Aaron would say. She blushed and grinned but kept on singing.

Until there was a clatter off somewhere to the right. They both sat forward in their seats and Beth reached out to turn the volume down. There was a small, storage type barn set close off the house and a motion sensor light over the wooden double doors had turned on.

Hershel Greene braced himself on one door as he sloppily closed the other behind himself. When he stumbled he reached out to apologize to the air that had tripped him. The sides of Beth's mouths turned downward. Neither of them spoke as the farmer made his way across the front lawn in a zig zag pattern. About half way to the house he sat down in the grass and didn't move again.

Daryl didn't know a lot, but he knew what fall down drunk looked like.

"I better go get him."

She was quiet, a little hoarse all the sudden.

Hershel wasn't an overly large man but she was a small girl.

"I can help," he reached for the door handle, "help get him to the porch."

"No," Beth reached out and her palm touched his forearm, just for a second, "he's too proud. It's better if I do it alone."

She stuck her apron under one arm and opened her door, holding it with one hand for balance when she hopped down into the dirt. She lingered there for a second.

"Thanks a lot Daryl."

"Ain't nothin'," he mumbled. It was one insane second of courage, maybe powered by the place where his arm was still hot from her touch, that made him speak up again.

"If ya get off the same time tomorrow, I could just pick ya up. Save Maggie the time."

She smiled, not with all her teeth this time but small and like she knew something he didn't.

"I'm off tomorrow," she almost sounded regretful, "but Sunday I'm done at 4….if ya ain't got nothing else to do."

"Nah, nothin' important."

There weren't any more words or smiles, she just nodded and shut the door behind her.

In the glow of his headlights Beth crouched down beside her daddy in the grass and laid a hand on his shoulder. Hershel waved her off a few times, like an irritated toddler. When his shoulders trembled and she wrapped him up in both arms Daryl knew the old man was crying.

Her tiny frame held him like a crutch all the way to the porch and when they disappeared thru the front door Daryl finally released the breath he'd been holding.

Colter had just gotten a little bigger.