Chapter 2

Bayanne was sure that she had never ever been this tired before, but still she fought falling asleep. She was scared of having nightmares and having to relive those awful minutes from earlier that night in her dreams. At the same time she wished for some hours of sleep and escape from her thoughts and from the burning and throbbing pains she was experiencing. It wasn't just her face and that cut on her chest that were causing her discomfort, actually the pain from those injuries were pretty bearable compared to the wicked throbbing in her knee. She had banged it up good during her fall to the concrete of the sidewalk and she winced every single time she shifted her leg just a little and it scraped against the fabric of her sheets or her blanket.

She had kept her promise to Daryl, she had cleaned up the cuts and scrapes,... but probably not in the way he had meant for her to do it. When she had said that she didn't have much, she had really meant it. She just had the bare necessities, and while for most people a first-aid-kit and some pain medication counted as some of those bare necessities, Bay hadn't ever considered getting those things for herself. When moving into your very first apartment, there were so many little things a person needed, the list was crazy long. It wasn't just cooking equipment and plates, mugs and silverware, or towels and washcloths and soap, no, there was so much more. A lot of young people still had their families around to help them out with this stuff and give them advice on what to get, but Bay had been on her own. She had asked her girlfriends from school what would be most important, but their replies had been less than helpful.

"Make-up, so you always look good. Condoms, because now you can have boys over whenever you want. Booze, so you can drink your problems away."

Bay hadn't bought any of those items and she also hadn't bought things like a pair of scissors, or cotton swabs or band-aids; the thought that she might cut or burn herself never even crossed her mind, let alone the thought that she might get raped and banged up in the process. Note to self: If I ever have a daughter, make her a list of necessities and add 'after-almost-rape-first-aid-kit', Bay had thought wryly as she had lowered herself into her bathtub full of warm water. That's how she had eventually cleaned her wounds, by taking a bath. The water was quickly tinged with a bit of red, but Bay didn't notice right away, because she was busy scrubbing her skin raw in the spots Gus and Clint had touched her. She only stopped when she had the feeling of being clean again and only then did she notice that her cuts didn't quite stop bleeding. She carefully climbed out of the tub again and dabbed at the wounds with a clean towel to dry them. She didn't bother drying the rest of her body, she just grabbed her oversized sleep-shirt and put it on before she curled up on her couch. For the first time in almost a year she felt truly alone and helpless. She missed her grandmother dearly, especially in that moment. Mamaw Eva had been the best. Whenever Bay had been sad or had hurt herself or had just plain needed it, she had curled up on Mamaw Eva's couch, with her head in her grandmother's lap and had listened to the calm and soothing voice that told her that everything was going to be just fine, while getting her head petted.

Bay touched the cross around her neck when she thought about her grandmother. Mamaw Eva had been the one to give her this necklace when Bayanne had been 12 years old and her father had lost his job and had started drinking and doing drugs. 'Always keep your faith, the good Lord will make everything alright', Eva used to say. Yeah right. I lost everything, but sure, He's gonna make it alright again. Whatever...Bay scoffed audibly. If today had taught her anything, it was that nothing was alright and that it would stay that way for years to come.

She managed to sleep for about two hours, surprisingly without nightmares, but of course she felt like shit in the morning, and to make matters worse, she had another morning shift at the carpet factory. The last one in the morning for a while, thank goodness, and tomorrow she wouldn't have to go there at all. Finally, some much needed rest for her body. She washed up, got dressed and had her usual glass of water. This time though, instead of leaving right away, she walked back over to her couch and pulled on the back of it with both hands, moving it away from the wall. Getting down on her knees was a bitch, but she gritted her teeth and reached for the duffel bag that was hidden behind the couch. This was her most prized possession: her bag of money. Every cent she was able to save went into this bag. Mamaw Eva had always told her to never trust a bank with her money, that was why she kept her savings hidden in her apartment. Today she would have to sacrifice a couple of dollars to buy some pain pills and a first-aid-kit for her small home. Spending money unplanned like this always put a little damper on her mood, but at least it was just a little and not a hundred dollars or something. She took out a couple of bills, zipped the bag up again and stuffed it back behind the couch. She pushed the sofa back into place and left earlier than usual in order to have time to go to the pharmacy before work.

Daryl felt like a stalker when he watched the front door of her building like a hawk in the morning, but he had the urge to make sure that she had survived the night. He sat in his truck, drank flat soda from the bottle and kept his eyes glued to the heavy wooden door. He didn't really register the sigh of relief that left his body when the door opened and Bayanne exited the building. He wasn't able to see her face since she was walking the other way, but that was exactly how he had planned it. He didn't want her to see him and his truck, he just wanted to check up on her real quick before he went on his way to make some money. He noticed that she was walking with a bit of a limp, but she was up and walking and headed to work, so she had to be okay. His slightly frazzled nerves now calmed, he lit a cigarette, started up the engine and pulled into traffic to head to the meeting point to get together with his friend Patrick. Today they would drive through some neighborhoods and try to make some money by painting numbers on the sidewalks where they had become almost unreadable. The girl was fine, the rapist bastards wouldn't go near her again, he'd made sure she was still breathing this morning, time for him to move on and forget all about the incident. He had other stuff to worry about after all.

Work at the factory was hell that morning. She had expected it, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant. She was slower than usual and when sweat started to form on her skin and ran down her cleavage, the cut made itself known time and time again. Bay had bought herself some Advil and a small kit that contained everything she would need for all kinds of small home injuries. She had popped two pills in the locker room of the factory, and they took off the edge, but with some movements she definitely felt that her body was injured.

"Bayanne, for God's fucking sake, shove some Duracells up your ass and move! We ain't got all day around here. If you want peace and quiet, join a damn knitting circle." Tony, the foreman and macho extraordinaire, kept yelling at her to step up the pace. He didn't care about the bruises on her face or her hobbling. They had a goddamn job to do and if the carpets wouldn't get delivered on time, the boss was going to come down on him and give him hell. No, he wouldn't let that happen just because some stupid girl who was too lazy and weak to move her ass a little faster. Never send a fucking woman to do a man's job. That was his opinion and he had no idea what the boss had been thinking by hiring this lightweight.

Bay tried to drown him out and ignore his words and especially his tone of voice. Getting yelled at had never been something she had dealt well with, it made her cry faster than she would like to admit. She couldn't let that happen, if the guys saw her being weak (or weaker than they already thought she was) then working here would get even worse. Tomorrow I'll get the paper again. There's gotta be something better with equal pay out there. She still had hope that she would find another job that would have the same hours and make the same money as being a material handler in the carpet factory, even though it had been months and months and nothing had come up. However, she was known to not give up easily, and she sure as hell wouldn't give up on her dreams. If her grandmother had taught her anything it was, that she would be able to achieve anything if she only worked hard enough, and even though she might have lost her faith in God, she would never loose faith in her grandmother.

"I need some beer. Stop at Willy's store, will ya?" Patrick, one of Daryl's friends, asked of him when they were on their way to pick up some burgers. They had been able to make about fifty bucks each, not too bad for three hours of easy work, and now they were hungry. Daryl hadn't eaten in a whole day, except for the Lucky Charms, and his belly was growling loudly at the prospect of burgers and fries. Daryl gave his friend a nod in reply and pulled his truck into the left lane to turn onto the street that would lead them to the store. He parked right across from the store and killed the engine as his eyes casually looked through the store window.

"The hell?" he muttered with a frown, making Patrick, who was about to leave the car, stop in his tracks.

"What?"

"Ain't that Mary behind the register?" Daryl asked and squinted his eyes. Why was Mary here? He'd seen Bayanne leave for work this morning, she should be here right now, so why the hell wasn't she?

"Yeah, that's her. Why?" Patrick was confused for a short moment, but then a grin appeared on his lips. "I get it... You were expecting Bayanne Moore, right? Look at you, you dog! You got the hots for her? When did that happen?"

"Ain't like that." Daryl blushed nonetheless. He wasn't one to brag about doing good deeds, but he felt the need to explain why he had wanted to see Bayanne stand behind the register. "Last night,... I bought some stuff here. Parked down the road to eat. Heard screams. Grabbed my gun and checked it out and there were two guys pinning Bayanne to the ground, beating on her, cutting her clothes open with a knife..."

"Holy shit!" Patrick was stunned. "They rape her?"

"Nah, stopped it in time. Kicked the living shit outta them. Held ma gun to the head of one of 'em, made them promise not to go near her again or Merle 'n me would fuck 'em up. Took her home after. She didn't want to go to a hospital, just wanted to be home, so I took her there and left."

"Left? Dude, I don't know a lot, but you don't leave a girl all by herself after she got attacked like that."

Yeah, I fucked up. Daryl thought and sighed deeply. "Checked in on her this morning. Saw her limping to work. Looked like she was doin' alright, but now she ain't here."

"Wanna go check out if she's home? Or want me to ask Mary 'bout her?" Patrick offered. He'd known Daryl all his life, he knew the guy had a good heart and probably worried that something had happened to the girl after all.

"Dunno. Nah." Daryl shrugged. A bit of worry was indeed nagging at him, but he didn't want Patrick to know that. If his friend would ask him directly if he was worried about that Bayanne girl, he would deny, deny, deny. He didn't want to look like a pussy in front of his friend, worrying about a girl he barely knew.

"Alright. It was good of you to help, but other than that the girl ain't none of your business I guess. Be right back." Patrick got out and only smirked when his back was turned and Daryl wasn't able to see his expression. They were guys, they had some weed and some booze here and there with their group of friends. They talked about girls. They discussed who was hot and who was cute and who was a stuck-up bitch and not worth the trouble, and with pot and alcohol in his system, even Daryl took part in those discussions, being a bit more outspoken than usual. Patrick knew that Daryl thought Bayanne Moore was cute. The whole group had agreed that she had killer eyes and a pretty mouth and that both of those features would have the power to bring a guy to his knees when she had her mouth wrapped around his dick and her large eyes would look up at him while she sucked him off. Daryl hadn't been one of the guys to yell 'hell yeah!' when that fantasy had been mentioned, but Patrick knew enough to know that Daryl had noticed her on some occasions when they had all been at the same party every once in a while. Did he think Daryl had a serious thing for her? No, he didn't. But if they would start interacting more it could totally go in that direction; that he was sure of.

"Hey Mary. Bayanne not working today?" Patrick asked casually when he paid for his beer.

"She's coming in for the late shift. I got an appointment in the afternoon so we switched it around. Why? Need me to pass on a message?" Mary, Bayanne's 36-year old co-worker, asked politely. Just like Bay, she grew up here in Dalton and she knew all the boys and girls around the neighborhood. They could be hellions, yes, but they were still good boys for the most part. Boys will be boys, or so had her mother always said.

"No, just used to seeing her here in the mornings. You have a nice day, Mary." Patrick winked at her with a big smile, getting a little giggle out of the older woman for flirting with her a little, then he jogged back out to the truck. "Alright, let's go eat."

Daryl nodded and pulled into traffic, seemingly cool, but Patrick could sense that Daryl wanted to know whether or not he had asked Mary about Bayanne. Patrick wasn't offering up any info, though. He wouldn't make it that easy for Daryl. If he wanted to know, he had to ask. He had to fight his smirk hard, though, because by the time they were sitting in the burger joint, Daryl was literally squirming in his seat. The curiosity was killing him and Patrick was enjoying the show. As soon as he had finished his burger and was just picking at his fries he offered Daryl an opening. "Just ask, man." he shook his head chuckling.

"Ask what?" Daryl tried to play dumb, although he knew it was of no use.

"You wanna know if I asked Mary 'bout Bayanne. It's written all over your face, dude. What's the big deal? If you wanna know, just fucking ask. You saved her, think I'd give you shit for wanting to know she's okay? Everyone would worry 'bout that . Ain't just you."

"So ya asked?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"And what?" Patrick asked with a straight face, making Daryl clench his fists as his temper rose.

"You know fucking what! She know something? Why's that Bayanne girl not workin'?"

"That Bayanne girl,..." Patrick emphasized that part, because he noticed that Daryl wanted to make it sound like he barely even knew who Bayanne was, and he couldn't help making a liiittle fun of him for it. "... is working the late shift today."

"What the damn hell?" Daryl burst out in anger and disbelief. "Late shift again? After last night? What is she, insane? That girl's just askin' for it..."

"Mary's got an appointment, so Bayanne sure didn't ask for it. Relax, dude. Ain't your problem, remember?" Patrick grinned, making Daryl narrow his eyes.

"Shut up. Wipe that stupid grin off your face, 'fore I do it." Daryl threatened and bowed his head, making his long blond hair fall into his face and his eyes, shielding himself from Patrick's knowing looks.

"Just kidding, D. Like I said, if it was me in your shoes, I would have been worried, too. But now you know."

"Yeah. Now I know." Daryl agreed and decided that it was time for him to forget about it. For real this time.

She was so nervous her hands were shaking when she started closing out the register. She was afraid of going out there at this time of night again, but she knew it couldn't be helped. If her knee would have been okay, she would have run at full speed until she would have reached the safer part of her route. Tonight she would be slower, instead of faster, though, and that thought wasn't exactly comforting. She stalled a little and recounted the money one extra time, before she decided that leaving even later would only make things worse. After getting her things she went outside and locked up, taking three deep breaths before she turned around, keys wedged between her fingers, so she could use them as a weapon, only to drop them a moment later, when loud honking shocked her into freezing and stopping cold in her tracks. She was shaking even harder now as she picked up her keys and looked around warily. Suddenly her eyes locked with Daryl's, relief flooding her system so hard that she could have cried.

"Come on." he called out to her through the open window of his truck and motioned her over. Bay hobbled across the street and got into his truck. Daryl looked at her closely, studying her face, and a slight blush crept into Bay's cheeks.

"Thank you." she murmured with shy gratitude. Bay wasn't incredibly shy by nature, but she didn't have too much experience with the opposite sex. She had kissed two boys in her life, but that was at parties and it had been more out of curiosity than anything else. She had no problem talking to boys or being around them, but the fact was, that Daryl was so incredibly cute and good-looking, that it was downright intimidating. She had always thought of him as cute, so now sitting this close to him and having him look at her this intensely, it made her nervous. It was nervous in a good way, but she still had no idea how to deal with it or how to act.

"No problem." he said in his soft voice. He had a nice voice. It wasn't deep, but it wasn't high-pitched neither,... it was just right and enjoyable and she liked hearing it.

"You sleep?" he asked on the ride to her building.

"A little. Hour or two."

"Nightmares?"

"No, surprisingly none. Not yet, anyway. Can't say I'm looking forward to falling asleep, though." Bay sighed quietly.

"Sorry for leavin' ya like that." Daryl mumbled an apology. He'd come to terms with the fact that he couldn't have know that she was going to get attacked, but he knew he could have helped her out with taking care of the wounds.

"Oh no, no, no. It's okay. I didn't expect you to stick around. No need to apologize. Really."

"Sure?"

"Yeah." she smiled and noticed the corners of his mouth lifting a little bit, while he chewed on his bottom lip.

"Your face don't look too bad. Ya clean those wounds?"

"Mhm,... I didn't have anything at home so I just took a bath. Best I could do."

"Ya took a bath?" Daryl's voice rose in volume and he stepped on the brakes to gape at her. "Are ya crazy? You don't take a bath when you're cut up! Could'a bled out! If those wounds would'a been any worse... You got a deathwish or somethin? Taking a damn bath and then walking home alone again? Nobody ever tell ya not to take a bath when ya got cuts?"

"No."

"No, what?"

"No, nobody ever told me." Bayanne said, a little taken aback by his outburst.

"Damn, girl. Jesus fucking Christ..." he muttered and suddenly froze. "Sorry." he mumbled while he looked at the cross that was nestled in her cleavage. That had Bayanne laughing a little.

"It's just jewelry. Don't worry. Guess I'm fresh out of faith these days."

"Who could blame you?" Daryl scoffed and resumed the drive. From what he knew Bayanne had been some kind of shitstorm-magnet, what with losing her parents and her grandmother within months of each other about a year ago. Had been the talk of the town for a while. Father, high as a kite, jumped off a building thinking he could fly. Mother, heroin overdose. Grandmother, heart attack. That's what him and the guys had heard from girls she was friends with. And now this shit yesterday. Sucked. She looked like a nice girl, who didn't deserve a shitty life. "Working late again tomorrow?"

"No. Today was the last time for a while."

"Good." Daryl was very happy with that answer. It meant he really, really, could stop worrying about her ass now. He hadn't given her a ride home out of guilt tonight, no, he'd wanted to make sure that she made it home safe and help her out by not having her walk home in constant fear of what was lurking in the shadows.

"You sure that I can't offer you anything as a thanks? I'm very grateful for your help." Bay tried again when he pulled up to her apartment building.

"No it's okay. Don't you worry." he said with those turned up corners of his mouth, then he pressed his lips together and chewed on them, feeling awkward and not knowing what to do now, again.

"Okay, but if there's anything... I'm about to make dinner."

"Uhhm... I... uh,... it's nice of you to offer, but you should really rest, Bayanne. Don't need me sticking around and keepin' ya from sleeping. Come on, out and up ya go." he wasn't kicking her out of his car, he simply didn't want to be a bother and he wanted her to get her rest, since she looked so tired.

"Okay. Well, thanks again, Daryl. I'll see you around."

"Yeah." he nodded and watched her climb out of his truck and enter her building. "See ya."

The next morning was a Wednesday and Bay only had to work the morning shift from 6 am to 2 pm today. Shortly after 5 am she stepped out of her building to go to work, and like the night before, she dropped her keys on the ground before she had even taken a step on the street. She crouched down and picked it up and when she straightened and turned back around to be on her way, she had the weird feeling of having seen something familiar out of the corner of her eye. She turned back around and looked down the sidewalk, frowning when she noticed Daryl's truck parked about a hundred feet from her front door. She noticed that the windows were fogged up and she walked over to investigate. She cupped her hands against the glass of the passenger side window and peered inside, but the car seemed to be empty. Maybe he lives nearby? Or one of his friends?

She wanted to leave again when she thought she had detected movement coming from the backseat. She took a couple of steps over to the window of the backseat and looked inside again. What she saw evoked many different emotions inside of her at once and she wasn't able to name all of them, but there was Daryl curled up on the backseat of his car, his head on a big fluffy pillow, one hand stuffed underneath that pillow, the rest of his body huddled under a quilt that looked like it had seen better days. One question swirled through her mind in an endless loop. Is Daryl homeless?

Thank you for reading!

You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for all these positive responses to the first chapter. I hope you liked the second one just as much.

As usual, I will try to update regularly and those who know me know, that I update at least once a week unless circumstances change around my house and me or my son get sick.

Snowbird: Oh I missed you! I really did. Thank you so much for your review, and the first one at that:) I'm happy that you like it. I don't like supergirls, so she will definitely have her weaknesses and limits. I think it will be nice to see how young Bay and Daryl will survive together for a while:)