Pretty short chapter but it's the second update in one day so just be thankful for that ;)

Daryl was thanking his lucky stars it was finally Friday. To say he was having a bad day would be an understatement. To start off, he woke up an hour late for work and it was then that he knew the day wouldn't go according to plan. Once he finally arrived he realized they were two people short meaning he had to pick up the slack and they were swamped.

To make matters even worse, Daryl had been reaching inside the engine of one of the big trucks and ended up catching his arm on a hose clamp tail that someone had left long and jagged, resulting in a nice sized gash about 4 inches long on his forearm. He was currently sitting in the office with a dirty rag wrapped around his arm, trying to explain to his boss that he didn't need stitches when in reality he knew he did.

He was about to give in and head over to the hospital to get it checked out when he looked up out the window. He saw that fucking blonde hair popping out from what he guessed was now her truck and stood up. He stormed out the door, still holding the dirty rag to his arm, blood dripping as he walked out to her.

Beth froze as she saw Daryl's glare, knowing he was probably wondering what the hell she was doing here. Her eyes trailed down to his bleeding appendage and she rushed forward. "Oh god, what happened?" She tried to get a look at his arm but he yanked it away.

"S'just a cut. What are you doin' here?" Daryl didn't waste any time inquiring as to why Beth would be showing up at his work of all places.

Beth stared at his arm with wide eyes before she snapped out of it and reached back into the truck to pull out a bag. "Brought you some lunch...thought we could talk about some stuff."

"I'm workin' Beth." Daryl's stomach was growling at him, trying to persuade him to take the meal from her. He'd forgotten to grab or pack a lunch in the rush of the morning with him being late.

Beth nodded, "Yeah...looks like you need to make a run to the hospital now though. I uh...could take you if you want. Might be kind of hard to drive with that."

She did have a point and they both knew it. "Shit..." Daryl was reluctant, clearly not wanting to be in such an enclosed space with Beth at the moment, especially now that the blood loss was starting to get him light headed. "Fine." With that, he went over to the passenger side of the truck and yanked it open before hopping in.

Beth was happy he had accepted but tried to play it cool knowing he really didn't have many options. She started up the truck and looked over and was pleased to see that Daryl was actually trying to be polite and not bleed all over her rental, instead letting the small crimson droplets fall onto his already filthy coveralls.

"Try not to get it on the seats, it's only a rental." That answered Daryl's question as to whether or not this was her new truck. He saw her pick up the bag and pull out a sandwich, unwrapping it for him. She put it in his bad hand so his good one could hold the rag in place. "Chicken salad, mama made it for you." Daryl's stomach growled again at the words, knowing this was his favorite and Annette knew it.

It ended up working out pretty while, eating his sandwich with his bad hand. Bringing the sandwich to his mouth kept his arm elevated and helped stifle the blood flow. He finished the sandwich as they were pulling up to the hospital. "Tell yer mom I said thanks." Beth nodded at him. "And uh...thanks for bringing it to me...and driving me here." Daryl did at least know when he should be polite.

Beth smiled at him as she shut off the truck. "Not a problem." She opened the door and Daryl gave her a confused look.

"You don't have to stay, I'll just call one of my buddies to come get me." Beth was already out of the truck by the time he finished, giving him a look as to say 'don't even try that with me'. He sighed and opened the door, exiting the vehicle.

They walked in to the small emergency department and signed in. It would be a few minutes of waiting and Beth had the sense to ask for something a little more clean to help stop the bleeding with. The receptionist came back with some paper towels for her and Beth knew it would at least do the job for a couple minutes.

She walked over to Daryl and held out her hand for his arm. He reluctantly held it out and Beth crouched down and put her hand on the bloody rag. She quickly pulled it away and pressed down with the paper towels. It was weird to Daryl that he felt comforted with her hands on him but it was also awkward so he quickly put his hand over the thin cloth and nodded at her. Beth threw the rag in the trash, knowing that it probably shouldn't be left in there but didn't really care all that much.

She sat next to him in silence until a nurse came out and called his name. Beth didn't even give him a choice of going on his own, opting to follow them back to a bed that was sectioned off by a curtain. Daryl plopped down on the bed, ready to get this over with so he could just go home.

"Alright Mr. Dixon, let's take a look." Daryl grunted and held out his arm. The nurse slowly peeled back the paper towels and tsk'ed. "Oh yes, you'll definitely need stitches." Daryl had a look on his face like he wanted to say 'no shit' but opted to keep his mouth shut. "Let me just clean this and I'll send the doctor in to put in some sutures." The nurse spoke to Beth, like Daryl wasn't even there which pissed him off to no end. He wasn't an infant and Beth wasn't his keeper.

After she irrigated the wound, she ran and got the doctor. The older gentleman came in and greeted them before sitting down and pulling out the suture kit. He began work quickly, making small talk with both Daryl and Beth. Neither of them were really grossed out by the wound or the sewing but they both hated hospitals. The doctor quickly finished and must have noticed Beth nervously picking at her cuticles because he looked over at her and spoke. "Oh don't worry, your husband is gonna be just fine." Beth blushed and before she could even get a word out, Daryl decided to choose this time to speak up.

"I'm not her husband." His voice was cold and it stabbed Beth's heart.

The doctor apologized for his assumption, gave Daryl a prescription for antibiotics because of the dirty conditions at his work and was told he could be on his way.

Once back in the truck, Beth saw it was already after three in the afternoon. "Am I taking you home or back to work?"

Daryl looked over at the clock. "Need to get my truck." Beth nodded at him before starting the engine and taking off. The drive was silent, Beth still hurting from Daryl's comment about not being her husband but knowing it's what he thought was true. She wanted so badly to blurt out then that he was still in fact her husband but she had other plans.

Arriving back at his work, Daryl was opening the door after thanking her again. As he started out of the truck, Beth caught his attention. "Daryl..." He looked back at her. "Can we talk tonight? I have a lot of stuff I need to get out."

Daryl huffed, knowing he didn't owe her shit, but he was curious as to why she was back here again and why she had decided to show up at his work. He looked at her for a moment before giving her a single nod. Beth smiled at his response. "Okay I'll meet you at your house tonight at seven."

Daryl nodded again and shut the door behind him. Beth watched him walk over to his truck and get in before she left back onto the road towards the farm. She had some preparations she needed to take care of to make the night perfect.

Chapter 5 will be Beth meeting up with Daryl that night.