Hail was bouncing off from Beth's windows as she scurried to bring in her freshly planted flowers. The yellow and lime green pots brightened up the small apartment, which was cast in shadows due to the dark storm roaring outside. Rain dripped from the ends of her hair when she finally pulled the balcony door shut. "Whoof!" she exclaimed. She pattered into the bathroom and grabbed a towel to dry her hair. There was no way the maintenance guy was going to bring back. It was 4:30 and it didn't look like the storm was letting up any time soon. She pulled on her oldest, comziest hot pink sweatpants and a tank top and padded out to the kitchen.

Singing a folk song to herself, Beth pulled out a frozen pizza and bottle of wine. She preheated the oven and sat on the smooth part of the counter tapping away at her phone until it beeped. The oven door creaked shut as the front door creaked open.

"Sorry- had to dig for the sealant. Bured under some other shit."

Beth slid off the counter and landed with a thud on the floor. "Oh! I didn't think you were coming back." She peeked around the corner and giggled. The man was soaking wet, but had an armful of supplies in tow.

"Yeah. I ain' an eight to five guy. I do the work when it needs done." He scuffed his boots on her rug, praying he wouldn't make a mess, then walked in and set the tools on the broken section of the counter. Small droplets of water were falling from the end of his nose and fingertips, but he pretended not to notice.

"Oh, well, I just popped a pizza in the oven. Why don't you dry off, then you can eat it with me and then get started?" Beth crossed the small apartment and fetched a hot pink towel from her linen closet. "Here," she offered in a sweet voice.

Daryl stared at the girl in surprise. "Naw, you don't gotta-"

"Well, you're just going to drip all over otherwise. You really can't start while I'm cooking anyway," Beth declared, one hand on her hip and the other holding the towel out to him. "I don't want counter dust or whatever in the air while we're eating!" She flashed a small smile. The man was painfully shy, and she liked that. Jimmy had stuck his nose into everything and made sure everyone knew his opinion and how important he was. Chatting with a man who wasn't talking over her constantly was refreshing.

Daryl took the towel and dabbed at his hair and face, then cleared his throat. He could usually chat with any resident while he was fixing things. Old, young, ugly, beautiful. But sitting across the table from a beautiful blonde woman? Unlikely. "I don't need to eat your food." He tried not to look the girl up and down, but the way she was casually leaning her long, lean body against the table made it hard not to.

"You ran through a thunderstorm. Sure you can." Beth scoffed at his staunch stance against eating with her before suddenly wondering if the man had a wife waiting for him at home."Oh," she quickly added, her eyes snapping down to check for a wedding ring, "unless you have dinner plans later or something." She shrugged.

He snorted. "Just my own frozen pizzas."

"Oh, good," Beth stumbled. Why is this so embarrassing? She wondered. Get over yourself. It hasn't been that long since you've spoken to a man. "As long as no one's going to be mad at me for keeping you here past dinner."

Daryl cocked his head at the girl. Sure is friendly. Wonder if she'd talk to me if I wasn't standing here waiting to fix her kitchen? "Nope." He handed back her towel. "Thanks."

"Welcome!" Beth sang, taking the towel and flopping it over the shower rod. "So how long have you worked here? I just moved to town this past weekend."

"Few years," Daryl replied sheepishly. He was leaning lightly against the wall, praying the pizza cooked faster so he'd know what to do. Normally he didn't give two shits what anyone thought of him, except perhaps Mrs. Hudson, but girls had always vexed him. He didn't know what to do or say around them. He contributed that to the fact that he'd grown up with his brother Merle and they hadn't exactly attracted female friends.

"Well. Maybe you can show me around town some time," Beth replied breezily before she realized what she was saying. The words spilled out easily, and she almost wished she could snatch them out of the air. Dating wasn't on her mind, but the sudden freedom of no longer being engaged was exhilarating. She could go out with this quiet man if she wanted. Regret immediately melted away and she gave a confident grin.

The mainteance man grunted and gave her a nod that looked more spastic than he intended. When the oven dinged, he let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Oh, good! I'm starving." Beth snatched paper plates and beers from the fridge.

"I can't drink-"

"While you're on the job?" Beth finished his sentence. "You've got another call after this?" she asked in susprise as she pulled the oven open and fished out the pizza.

"Naw," Daryl replied, studying her ass as she bent over.

"Oh, then you can drink a beer. This stuff is the best with pizza." Beth slid the pizza onto a trivet on the table. She turned for a bottle opener, but Daryl had already popped the lids off. "Those weren't twist off," Beth exclaimed.

"Rough hands," Daryl said gruffly.

"Oh," Beth giggled. Something like lust or rebellion flowed through her. She was young. She was cute. She wasn't under the thumb of her father or Jimmy or Maggie. She was in charge of herself for the first time in her life.

As they scarfed down the pizza in record speed, Beth tried to engage Daryl in conversation. He kept his answers short and rarely looked up from his plate. The tips of his ears and the back of his neck were burning in anxious embarrassment. Once they'd eaten the entire pizza, he stood and reached for his tools. "Thanks. Really. You didn't have to-"

"And you didn't have to come back through the hail just to fix my counter!" Beth laughed. "We're even."

Daryl grinned, then turned to the counter. "I can have this resurfaced in about an hour." He stole a glance when he thought Beth had turned to walk away, but caught her eye. She flashed him a large smile and winked before turning back to the living room. Daryl stared after her, marveling at how different she was than anyone he'd ever met.

When he'd finished with the counter, he strode into the living room where Beth was sprawled on the couch, tapping her cell phone screen furiously. "Done. Don't set anything on it for twelve hours." He turned and scooped his tools back up.

"Thanks, Daryl," Beth sang out.

"Welcome," Daryl replied. He hesitated, then looked up into her big blue eyes. "Greene, isn't it?"

"Beth."

"Beth," Daryl repeated.

"I mean it. You'll have to show me around town sometime. Let me know when you get a free night. I work days over at the King County Tribune."

"No kidding? One of the residents' daughters works there," Daryl replied. "Carol."

"She's my boss. What's she like? Seems nice."

Nodding, Daryl agreed. "She's decent. Her mom lives in 624A. Sweet lady. Got a nice girl, Sophia. Mrs. Hudson watches the kids some days. Carol left her shithead husband about a year ago. Finally." He scowled and pursed his lips. "I keep an eye out so he don't try to show up 'round here while Carol and the girls are here. Tossed his drunk ass out more than once."

Beth's lips twisted upward into an involuntary grin. "Aw," she cooed. "Really?"

Daryl waved a hand at her and turned for the door. "Okay, so twelve hours, remember."

"Twelve hours," Beth repeated. "So you'll let me know about dinner?"

"Dinner, like-?"

"And drinks! Take me somewhere local. No, I've got it. Let's go to the best barbeque place. That's how you get to know a town." Beth beamed. "Yeah? I was serious about having someone show me the town. The only other person at the paper is some Amy girl and a teenaged intern."

"Yeah," Daryl said. This has to be a dream. He blinked and yet the girl was still there. Say something, dummy. "To-tomorrow?" The bright expression that lit up Beth's face shocked him. "What, did I-"

"No! Tomorrow's perfect! I'm excited."

"I'll be by, then, after work," Daryl stuttered. He tried his damndest not to roll his eyes at himself. Pull it together, Dixon. "Twelve hours."

Beth giggled and locked the door behind him. She laughed even harder when she heard Daryl groan in the stairwell.