Episode 2
The coffee wasn't warm anymore. It was cold. Stale. The smoke wasn't swirling up into his nostrils anymore, filling his sense. It was gone. Nonexistent.
Daryl watched the man beside him ask for a refill and momentarily considered asking for a new beverage himself, but got caught up in his thoughts once more. He mulled over the invitation to the wedding. Did Hershel have an ulterior motive? Of course not, the man was as pure as fucking Jesus himself. Daryl groaned and slid his head that was resting in his palm down into the crook of his arm when a voice that sounded like honey and sweet tea broke his train of thought.
"Daryl? Daryl Dixon?"
Resisting the impulse to look up at the owner of the voice, he croaked out a grunt in hopes that it would ward off the unwanted person.
"Oh come on," said the voice. In fact, it had the audacity to pull his arm out from underneath his forehead, and Daryl lost his balance for a second before straightening up. He looked into the crystal blue eyes of a girl with long, blond hair and smooth, unblemished skin. Not being able to help himself, Daryl's eyes swept over her body, noting the curve of her waist and breast. The girl must have been the sweetest thing in Senoia, and Daryl smirked when a blush graced her features. Her skirt reached just above mid-thigh, so Daryl let his eyes linger there as she spoke again, "It's me. Beth Greene."
Immediately, Daryl snapped out of it, turning so that he was facing straight forward in his seat. Now he was the one to blush, embarrassed at being caught checking out Hershel's daughter, the barely-legal one at that. "Hm," he said.
"Now don't say you don't remember me," said Beth as she slid into the seat opposite of him. Daryl's eyes traced her shirt collar, and he bit his lip to hold back a loud exhale. Beth noticed, of course, but didn't pull up her hemline and instead gave him a smirk.
"I remember ya," grunted Daryl. "You just looked a whole lot different three years ago."
"I was a sophomore then, Daryl," said Beth, rolling her eyes. "I'm in college now."
Daryl grunted.
"Aren't you gonna ask where I go?"
"Where do you go?"
"The freaking community college," said Beth. "I couldn't leave the farm. You were right, all that time ago."
"Didn' wanna be."
Beth smiled and shook her head. "I'm glad you were," she said. "I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else."
The waitress decided to approach them at that time and asked Beth if she would like anything. The girl asked for a sweet tea, and Daryl let a smirk bubble to the surface as the woman walked away.
"What're you smilin' at?" said Beth.
"Ya still like sweet tea. Nothin's really changed."
Beth pondered this for a moment, her head tilted towards the ceiling and teeth gnawing on her bottom lip. Daryl had to force his eyes away. "You're right. Nothin's changed. I'm still with Jimmy. Probably gonna marry him at this point. Oh! Did you hear? Maggie's gettin' married!"
Daryl grunted, biting his thumb.
The waitress sat Beth's sweet tea down. "Can I get you a refill, sweetie?" she gave Daryl a toothy grin and crossed her arms in front of her chest to make her boobs look bigger.
"Check's fine," said Daryl, eyes remaining on Beth.
The waitress huffed and turned away. Beth's eyes widened after her. "Good Lord," said Beth. "Ya think she coulda hit on you harder if she tried?"
Daryl decided this wouldn't be the best moment to mention that he's hooked up with that very waitress. Twice. In the diner's bathroom.
Beth kept babbling. "But yeah. Maggie's tyin' the knot. Never thought she would though, because Glenn's kinda sensitive. Not really her type. She spent all day yesterday goin' on and on about how they were only a 56% match. Whatever that means. Daddy wasn't too happy when Maggie announced that they were engaged, but I saw Glenn with his watch the other day, so they're making progress. Oh God… I haven't asked you anythin'. How're you doin'? Anythin' new?"
Daryl took a moment to reply. "I got an invite to that wedding you won' shut up about."
Beth's jaw dropped a little bit. "You mean… Maggie invited you?"
"Hmm," said Daryl.
"Oh," said Beth. She blinked, obviously processing the mere thought of Daryl back on the Greene farm.
"Damn," grunted Daryl. "Someone don' look too happy 'bout it."
Beth rolled her eyes. "I told Maggie she should invite you. I didn't think she would is all."
"You what?"
"I told Maggie she should invite you," said Beth promptly. She reached out and grabbed her sweet tea. Daryl watched as her lips wrapped around the straw, and for what felt like the thousandth time that night, had to avert his eyes. "So," said Beth as she put the tea back on the table, leaning forward so Daryl could see straight down her blouse, "Are ya comin' or what?"
Andrea situated herself behind her desk, noting the out of place pens and spare paperclips that littered it. Pressing a finger to her forehead, she let out a heavy sigh, exhaling the stress that the day had entailed. Picking up Governor Blake from his wife's funeral had been an occasion, but trying to get him to talk to her was a whole other ballgame. Upscale clients like himself were reasons why Andrea had tried to get away from the corrupt side of the law and immerse herself into environmentalism, convincing herself that she was trying to save the planet and create a better place for people to survive.
"Look at how well that turned out," muttered Andrea, checking her phone. It beeped with two unread text messages, and she sighed yet again when she saw who they were from. Her boss, the infamous Gareth.
I need you to set up another appointment with Blake if we are going to keep this ordeal under wraps.
Seriously. Text me when you can. You owe me.
Andrea's fingers hovered over the keypad, twitching impatiently. Finally, she threw her phone to the desk just as her associate, Dale Horvath was passing by. Instead of strolling by with a quick wave and friendly smile like he normally did, the man actually walked backwards to put himself in front of her open door again.
"Long day?" he asked.
"You could say that," said Andrea. She pulled her hair free from the restraining ponytail and let it frame her face. The tightness in her skin was relieved, and she lolled her head back at the feeling.
"I know what you mean," said Dale, waving papers in front of him. Andrea gave him a polite, but tired smile. Apparently, the older man took that as a cue to walk in and seat himself in front of her desk. "There was this client that I'm representing and earlier-"
"It's Dale, right?" said Andrea. She leaned forward and propped her elbows on the desk.
"Uh, yeah."
"Dale," said Andrea, "I really hate to say this, but I really don't have time for small talk right now. I'm in the middle of a big case."
To Andrea's surprise, Dale didn't blush or stutter or do any of the things that her associated normally did when she shut them down. Instead, he gave a nod in the form of a head bobble and pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket. He set it down on the desk in front of her, and Andrea recognized it as a business card.
"If you ever need to talk, or just…" Dale waved his hand in front of him a little helplessly, "whatever. I'm always available."
And with that, Dale left the office, smiling at every co-worker that he passed.
Rick watched Shane's eyes widened by a fraction of an inch. He saw his pupils dilate and mouth open to let a fresh stream of air into his lungs. And he knew. He knew the moment the words "Lori's pregnant" left his mouth.
"Lori's...Lori's pregnant?" said Shane.
Rick nodded.
"Well congratulations, buddy!" said Shane, clapping him on the back a little too forcefully. "Baby number two."
Now Rick shook his head. "It ain't mine."
Shane paused for a moment, the smile going still on his face. His features were stone, and it took him a moment to recover. He fell back into his smile; his arm drifted to his head, scratching the back. "Whaddya mean it ain't yours?"
"I mean what I say, which is more than I can say for Lori," he said. "She's been lyin' for months...about where she's goin', who she's seein'. Doin' stuff...and thangs."
"But you don't know for sure she's been cheatin'?"
Rick's hands were firmly planted on his hips as he shifted his weight. "Call it a feelin'."
Shane nodded, processing the information rather quickly for a man who just found out that he was going to be a father.
"'Sides...we haven't had sex in weeks."
"I'm...I'm sorry, man," said Shane, falling against the police car adjacent to them. His lungs let out a whoosh of air.
"Yeah," said Rick, joining him against the car. His eyes never left Shane's face. "Me too."
"Maggie...this dress is too tight...I can't-"
Maggie looked away from the mirror that she was currently staring at and rushed over to free Tara from the lavender dress that was indeed, at least five sizes too small. Tara let in a large gasp of air and smiled shyly at Maggie as she did. "Thanks," she said. "I guess that Beth and I got our dresses mixed up."
Maggie turned and looked at Beth who was frowning at her reflection. The dress slumped around her figure, and Maggie giggled at the sight of her sister wearing what looked like a sack. Rosita, Sasha and Amy had managed their dresses fine, admiring themselves in the mirror.
"Abraham's gonna love this," chirped Rosita, turning in a circle.
"Same with Bob," said Sasha. Every girl in the room 'awed' at that; they had only learned an hour ago that Bob had returned from his duty at the army.
"What about Jimmy, Beth?" asked Rosita.
Beth frowned, pulling off her dress when she realized she had the wrong size. "Things with Jimmy have been...distant lately. Nothin' serious. He's just actin' kinda immature."
Maggie rolled her eyes, "Well we always knew that about him." She walked over and switched the dresses, walking back over to Tara.
"Thanks," said Tara.
Maggie sensed her hesitance and gave her a small smile. "Hey. No need to be shy. I know you don't know these girls-or me-very well, but any friend of Glenn is a friend of ours."
"I know," said Tara, stepping into the dress. "It's just weird. It was just me and Glenn for a long time when ya'll were on your break or whatever. Like, as friends though dude. I like chicks."
Maggie laughed, "I know, Glenn told me."
"Word," said Tara, finally breaking out of her shell. "Pound it."
Maggie looked down at Tara's outstretched fist and bumped her own to it. She signaled for Tara to turn and face the mirror and zipped up the dress. Tara smiled at her reflection and strained her neck to look at the other girls. With a soft smile, she said, "I gotta feelin' this is gonna be a great wedding."
A/n: Soo that's chapter 2! Let me know how you like and if any character was OOC. Please please PLEASE favorite, follow or review...let me know this isn't too terrible ;)
