HELLO EVERYONE! I know, it's been a REALLY long time. I had an incredibly severe case of writer's block (accompanied by several personal things that just drained me, so I didn't feel like writing), but I'm in a MUCH better place now (my semester from you-know-where is almost over, I got a new job, etc) and I decided with my snow day today that I'd finally buckle down and finish Chapter 7 because y'all deserve it. The best news is that Chapter 8 is basically almost written, so it should be out soon (I promise :) ).

We're back to Daryl with this chapter. If you guys have any questions on some of the background events or people mentioned, don't hesitate to ask so I can explain when I post the next chapter. This world is huge in my head.

Enjoy!


Poker night was the closest Daryl got to doing something religiously.

Every Thursday night for the past seven years, ever since Rick had dragged him over to his house for 'just a round', Daryl would go over to the Grimes' house to play poker with his friends. It was the one night of a week where he didn't have to constantly be in dad-mode, as Lori took Ann-Marie while the men were playing for them both to get their dose of girl time. Daryl loved his daughter, but he had to draw a line at having his fingernails painted.

The usual players were already there. Rick, Shane, Tobin, Tyreese, and Daryl sat around at the table on the Grimes' back porch, enjoying the cool night that signaled the arrival of fall and even colder weather to come. Luckily, the weather hadn't turned cold enough for them to have to move their games inside, where they would have to watch their language around the kids.

"Can't believe you stood Lori's friend up." Rick said again, frowning at Shane. "I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"Sorry, brother. I got a better offer." Shane smirked, taking a final pull of beer before throwing the empty bottle in the trashcan in the corner, almost hitting Morgan as he came out onto the porch.

"See you still have piss-poor aim." Morgan quipped, sitting down at sole empty chair at the table. "Surprised Daryl let's you go hunting with him."

"Yeah, when's the next time we're going?" Shane asked, turning to Daryl.

"Soon as you can learn to keep your big-ass feet quiet. You scared off all the game last time. Ann-Marie's quieter than you and she's only five." Daryl responded.

"Why're you late, Morgan?" Tyreese asked, leaning back in his chair on two legs. "You're usually on time."

"Jenny's been on my ass all week about coming tonight." Morgan said, tossing his jacket over the back of the last empty chair and sitting down. "I was barely able to get out of the house."

"Why so eager to get away? You're the one who cancels on us the most." Rick smiled wryly as he dealt him in.

"Jenny's mother is visiting."

All the men, minus Daryl, groaned. They all had grown up in Coleson, and from what they told Daryl, Jenny's mother had been a terror when it came to anything fun. Any parties were busted by the sheriff if she caught wind of them, and she had campaigned the school district to vet all music that had "sexual undertones" at school dances, claiming it was fouling the minds of the town's youth. Little did she know, her golden daughter had been sneaking out with Morgan and partaking in all the things her mother forbid. Daryl had been around when Mrs. Miller and her husband finally retired to Florida, and Morgan threw one of the craziest parties the town had ever seen.

"God be with you, Morgan. By the way, I can't help you move your fridge. I'm busy." Tobin announced, taking a swig of his beer.

"Coward." Morgan answered. "Can't blame you. I thought about faking my own kidnapping until she left, but Jenny would kill me for real." Morgan smiled. "Daryl, can you help? If you're not busy like Tobin."

As Daryl opened his mouth to speak, Rick cut him off.

"Nah, he's going on a date with Beth Greene." He smirked.

Daryl's head whipped around to frown at Rick. "What the hell you talking about?" Going to the diner with Beth wasn't a date, was it? They were just hanging out. As friends. Or people who wanted to be more than friends. Shit, it's like I'm in high school. Should just ask her out and see what she says.

"Lori said you two have been making moon-eyes at each other. And you'll have to do something to make up for ditching her like you did. A date seems appropriate."

"You gossip more than your wife." Daryl told him, calling Tobin's raise. "And I don't make moon-eyes. I'm not a damn teenager."

"Whatever you say, man." Shane laughed. "When's Glenn getting back into town? I need some actual competition."

"Eat crow, Walsh, because I just won." Morgan cackled, laying down his four of a kind and taking the pot as the rest of the men groaned and cursed.

"So when are you calling Beth?" Rick while he dealt another hand.

"Lay off it, okay?"

"Carol said she saw you two at the diner last week." Tobin said nonchalantly, refusing to look at Daryl as if he could feel the glare boring into the side of his head. He and Beth had gone out to the diner for a late lunch while Ann-Marie was at soccer practice the Saturday after the football game, but Daryl didn't know if he would have called it a date. The diner wasn't exactly the most romantic place, and Beth had been her same, bubbly self, talking almost non-stop when Daryl asked her about the dresses she was working on, and how school was going. Daryl didn't mind. He liked listening to her talk. And she looked so damn pretty in her dress with the little stars.

"Wait, what? Why didn't I hear about this?" Rick demanded.

"Surprised you didn't. You gossip more than Lori." Shane grumbled, earning a punch in the arm from Rick.

"Well? How did it go?" Rick pressed, setting his new hand face-down, focusing on Daryl.

Daryl shrugged. "It was just lunch. Wasn't a big deal."

"Figures the one day I'm not at the diner." Tyreese grumbled. "Did y'all make plans for a next time?"

"She didn't mention anything about a next time."

"What did you talk about?"

"We talked about Ann-Marie and the lessons. She asked about the construction business. She really did most of the talking."

"Did she make a move at the end of the date? You know, moving closer, leaning in, that sort of thing?" Shane asked eagerly.

"I didn't notice." Wanted to kiss her, just to see what it felt like, but there were people around. Don't give a shit what people say, but Beth might. Don't want to cause drama for her over something she might not even want.

"Goddammit, Dixon, you're killing me." Shane groaned.

"She probably didn't think it was a date." Rick suggested. "Did you pick her up at her house?"

Daryl frowned. "Was I supposed to pick her up?"

Shane smacked a hand on the table. "Do you know anything about dating?" He demanded.

"Obviously not as much as you. Who's the love-of-your-life this week?" Daryl frowned.

"None of your business. This is our business now. If I have to watch you stare after Beth Greene one more time, I'm going to vomit. Go call her again."

"Fuck no."

"If you don't do it, I'm never going to hear the end of it from Lori." Rick said. "If I get a better hand than you for three rounds, you have to call Beth right after and ask her out on a real date."

"And what if I win?" Daryl questioned, crossing his arms.

"Then you finally get my Triumph in the garage that you've had your eye on for forever."

"Deal. This is gonna be easy." Daryl smirked.

An hour later, Daryl was standing near the edge of the porch, glaring at his friends as they watched him expectantly while he called Beth Greene.

"It's ten at night. She's not even going to pick up." He hissed as the phone rang.

"Then leave her a message, you baby."

"Daryl? Is everything okay?" Beth's voice sounded from the other end of the line, sounding concerned. Probably from getting a call in the middle of the night just because someone lost a bet.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Did I wake you up?"

"No, I'm working on Maggie's birthday dress right now. It's almost done, but I just can't get the flare on the skirt to look right." She paused for a moment. "But I'm sure you don't want to hear about my dress troubles."

"No, tell me." He said, walking into the house to sit in the living room, away from prying ears. He poked his head into the Grimes' spare bedroom quickly to check on Ann-Marie, who was already sound asleep on the bed, her stuffed octopus tucked safely in her arms. Daryl smiled slightly before closing the door behind him and making his way to the living room while Beth continued to speak.

"Well, it all started with the fabric I ordered…"

Just hearing Beth's voice made him calm down from the ribbing his friends were giving him. He sat on the couch, rubbing Beau's ears when his companion sat down next to him and rested his head on his knee. Daryl didn't know shit about anything Beth was talking about, but he tried to follow along and ask questions he didn't think were too stupid when there were pauses, just to show he was actually listening and to keep her talking.

"So I don't know what I'm going to do." Beth finally said once she had finished. "I can't scrap the dress, but I have no idea how to make the skirt look right. I might ask my mom for help. She makes her own dresses sometimes." She let out a sudden hiss."Oh, crap."

"You okay?" Daryl asked, shocked at Beth Greene cursing, even mildly. She seemed too good for that.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Almost stabbed a pin through my finger though. It's fine. It's not bleeding too bad."

"You gonna lose the finger?"

Beth laughed lightly. "No, I think we don't need to resort to amputation. A bandaid should be fine. As long as I can find one." She let out a long sigh. "Sorry for rambling on, but thanks for letting me rant. It feels good to get it off my chest." She explained."So, why'd you call me?"

"I wanted to hear you rant about your dress." Daryl deadpanned.

"Hardy har har, very funny, Mr. Dixon. Seriously, though. You're sure everything is alright? Did Ann-Marie's ear infection come back?"

"No, everything's fine." He swallowed to clear the lump forming in his throat. "I wanted to call and ask if you wanted to go to Savannah with me Saturday night. If you're free."

"Sure! That sounds like fun." Before Daryl got too eager about her accepting the date, however, Beth continued. "I've been meaning to go into Savannah for a while to pick up more sewing supplies. It's almost fate that you asked. We can carpool and save on gas."

What the hell. That's not what I meant. "Beth—

"Oops, I'm sorry, Daryl, I have to go. Maggie's screaming bloody murder downstairs. I have to see what it is so I can help. And make fun of her for it later. I'll see you on Saturday?"

Daryl took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose while he squeezed his eyes shut. "Yeah. See you then." Daryl let his head drop to the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling after Beth hung up the phone. Got no clue how to do this shit.

The following Saturday, Daryl and Ann-Marie arrived promptly five minutes before the start of her piano lesson, parking in Beth's driveway. Daryl noticed several empty moving boxes, plastic planters, and a few paint cans stacked next to Beth's front door, along with a few flower pots freshly planted with mums on the windowsill.

"Shit!" Daryl heard Beth yell from inside her house, breaking him out of his observations as he and Ann-Marie stopped on the front porch. Her shout was followed by several loud banging noises.

"Is Miss Beth okay?" Ann-Marie asked, her eyebrows pulled together with a small frown.

"I'm sure she is." Daryl answered, knocking loudly. "Beth?" He yelled through the door.

"Come in! Give me a second!" She yelled back.

They stepped into the living room, finding some unpacked boxes lying near the hallway and several hampers of laundry sitting on the floor near the couch. It definitely wasn't messy, but it looked hectic compared to how neat Beth's classroom looked when he went to visit her. He heard a commotion coming from somewhere to his right where he remembered the kitchen was.

Beth was bent over the sink, gripping a towel around the faucet with all her might as water spewed from a broken handle forgotten on the counter next to her. She looked over her shoulder and gave the two of them a smile. "Hey! Just give me a second, I'm trying to figure out how to turn the water off." She looked to Daryl. "Help please?"

Daryl slipped slightly trying to maneuver across the slick floor to the sink, where he quickly dived under the sink to shut off the water. The water stopped spraying out of the broken faucet handle a few moments later, pathetically bubbling from the open handle until it stopped completely.

"Thank you so much." Beth panted, running a hand through her soaked hair. "The faucet was leaking this morning and I tried to follow the instructions in this how-to book, but I guess it didn't work because the handle just came off in my hand, and then..." She gestured to the water covering the surrounding cabinets and pooling on the floor, and the soaked book to the left of the counter. "Guess I can't return it to the library now."

"Don't worry 'bout it." He told her. "Nobody goes to libraries anyways."

Beth rolled her eyes at him and wrung her hair out over the sink."I probably should have asked my dad about house maintenance before I moved out." She laughed nervously. "I think I might be in a little over my head."

"You could get another book."

"Hey, poke fun at my how-to books all you want, but I was able to fix my railing with a woodworking one I picked up from the library."

Daryl looked out through the kitchen window where she was pointing. "It's crooked."

"Everyone's a critic. At least I still have all my fingers." She held up both hands towards him for proof.

"What's that bandage on your thumb from?"

"None of your business." She said quickly as Daryl smirked. "Let me go change into something dry and I'll be back out. Ann-Marie, if you want to go into the room and practice your scales while I change. Daryl, I finally got my cable hooked up so you can watch television in the front room if you'd like."

"Okay!" Ann-Marie quickly slipped off her shoes and placed them by the front door before running back into the practice room, the sound of a meticulous playing beginning just a few moments later. While Beth disappeared after her, Daryl searched the kitchen, finally finding some towels to start cleaning up the water that doused the area around the sink.

"Okay, let's get this—Oh, you're already done." Beth said, walking back into the kitchen just a few minutes later to find Daryl already finished with cleaning the kitchen. "You didn't have to do that."

Daryl shrugged as he stood while gathering the towels he had used to clean up the water around the kitchen and throwing them in a laundry basket around the corner. "Wasn't doing anything. Figured I'd help out."

"Thank you." Beth smiled, and Daryl felt that pull in his stomach return. "Help yourself to anything in the fridge. I should get to Ann-Marie."

Beth disappeared down the hall to join Ann-Marie in the practice room, leaving Daryl alone in the kitchen. He wasn't much of a TV person; the only reason he had one was so Ann-Marie would have something to do when it was too cold or rainy outside for her to go out and play, and even then she hardly ever watched it, so watching television while he waited wasn't very appealing. He looked around the kitchen and saw a faucet box sitting near some unpacked boxes on the counter. Must be why hers broke. She needs a new one.

Thirty minutes later, Daryl was almost done installing the new faucet after going out to his truck to get the necessary tools. Everything else usually fell away while he worked, besides the occasional thought about if Ann-Marie was okay when he didn't bring her to job sites to keep an eye on her. But the past several weeks he found his mind drifting to Beth Greene, almost injuring various appendages as he distracted himself by thinking of the way she smiled at him at the football game, or how Beth kept unintentionally scooting closer to him to combat the unexpectedly chilly Georgia night until their legs were almost touching because she hadn't brought a sweater, but Daryl hadn't been complaining.

"What are you doing Daddy?"

Daryl jerked slightly at the sudden noise breaking him out of his thoughts, hitting his head on the U-bend of the pipe.

"Shit." Daryl hissed, holding a hand to his head. "Ann-Marie, what did we talk about?"

"Grape popsicles are the devil?"

"Besides that."

"I need to stop sneaking up on people." She answered, adding "But that's no fun." under her breath.

Daryl shimmied out from underneath the sink after turning the water back on and grabbed a towel to wipe his hands, looking to Beth. "The faucet should be good. Let me know if it gives you any more trouble."

"Did you install the new one?" Beth squeezed past him to the sink, testing it before turning back to him. "Daryl, you really didn't need to do that. I have someone coming out next week to install it."

"Well, now you don't need to waste your money." He started packing up his tools, looking over at Beth and seeing her frown. "What?"

"Oh no, you're not doing this again. You wait right here. Let me find my wallet." Beth ordered, rushing back to her bedroom. Daryl knew there was no way he was getting away from Beth this time. Ann-Marie wouldn't let them make a getaway like they had last time, telling him in the car that leaving without saying goodbye was 'rude'. Sure Karen taught her that. She's always rattling on about how I can't just sit there at dinner without talking because it's 'rude'.

Beth reemerged several minutes later, thumbing through her wallet. "Sorry, I had a hard time finding it. I thought I had left it at school." She handed him three 20s with a smile.

Daryl took them and frowned. "What's this?"

"What? That's how much the other guy said it would be."

"Then he's trying to rob you blind." Daryl set it on the counter. "Install for a lesson."

"Daryl—

"I know you Greene's won't take no, but keep your mouth shut for once." Daryl attempted to cut the bite of his words with his version of a smile. Beth responded by pressing her lips in a hard line, obviously not happy with keeping quiet.

"Fine. Are we still going to Savannah tonight?"

"That's what I was planning. You still want to go?"

Beth rolled her eyes, a smile spreading across her face, making a knot of worry Daryl didn't know had clenched his stomach unwind. Damn, got to stop acting like this.

"Of course, silly. I'm excited. It's been a long time since I've been able to go to Savannah. Is Ann-Marie—where did she go?"

Daryl looked down at the empty spot where his daughter had been standing a few moments ago and let out a low growl. "Every time…" He walked to the door and turned back to look at Beth. "I'll pick you up around six. Is that alright?"

"Six sounds fine. I'll see you then."

After wrangling Ann-Marie back into the truck and back home, ignoring her protests that 'It was Beau's fault' that she had wandered off, again, Daryl set to finding things to keep Ann-Marie occupied while Grace, Tobin's youngest daughter, came over to watch her while Daryl was gone for the night. Sophia, although old enough to watch Ann-Marie, was usually her accomplice whenever they got into trouble. Carol and Daryl were still trying to figure out who was the mastermind behind their antics, but they always kept quiet whenever questioned.

"Can you promise me you'll be good for Grace tonight?" Daryl asked, cleaning up after an early dinner while Ann-Marie watched him from a barstool.

"I don't make promises." Ann-Marie said with a devilish grin.

"Where'd you get that from?"

"Someone said it on TV."

"Grace'll be reporting back to me, so I better not hear anything about you acting up. You know better." Daryl ordered, lifting her off her perch and directing her into the living room to

"But the blood trick was so fun!"

"And you got grounded for two weeks."

"That was no fun." She grumbled.

"And it'll happen again if you mess with Grace. You know she can't handle it. I had to bribe her to get her to watch you tonight."

"Can't I come with you?" Ann-Marie asked, climbing up next to him when he sat on the couch.

"It'll be past your bedtime when I get back. You need to get your sleep."

"But who's going to read me my bedtime story?" Ann-Marie climbed into his lap and rested against his chest, already looking a little tired after the long day.

"Grace will read it to you. She always does."

"But she doesn't do the voices like you do."

Daryl's phone rang, interrupting Ann-Marie's protests while he extracted the flip phone from his back pocket and seeing Grace's name pop up.

"Mr. Dixon, I'm so sorry." was the first thing Daryl heard, and the rest poured out in an unbroken stream of word vomit. "Hannah came back into town with her new boyfriend, and she and Dad got into a huge fight and Claire and I are afraid that if we leave they're going to kill each other."

"Do you need me to call Rick?" Daryl asked, standing from the couch with Ann-Marie holding onto him like a monkey.

"No, it's—-" The sounds of breaking glass interrupted Grace followed by Claire yelling "You BITCH!" in the background. "Yes please. No lights." She relented quietly.

"I'll let him know. You want me to come over?"

"No, we'll be fine. Hannah sobers up when the law gets involved. Besides, I don't want you missing your date."

"It's not a—" but Grace had already hung up before he could finish his sentence. He looked down at Ann-Marie, still clinging to him with a wide smile. "Looks like you're coming with me to Savannah."

Daryl quickly called Rick to explain the situation ("You're shitting me. Again?!") and twenty minutes later he pulled into Beth Greene's driveway with Ann-Marie in the back seat, practically bursting that she was going to go on a road trip with Miss Beth.

Beth was already on the porch when they arrived, flashing a bright smile Daryl could see through the evening twilight that made his stomach clench the way it normally did when Beth Greene all but looked at him. She bounced to the passenger's side of the truck, hopping in before it registered that Daryl probably should have opened the door for her. She was still wearing the same clothes from earlier in the morning, but she had curled her hair and put on perfume, from the faint smell of flowers that entered the cab with her.

"Ann-Marie, I didn't know you were coming." Beth said, turning to smile at her before smiling at Daryl. "This'll be even more fun."

"Grace couldn't watch me because her sister's a bitch." Ann-Marie parroted to Beth.

Beth looked to Daryl, her eyebrows knit together in worry.

"Watch your mouth." Daryl said.

"But Claire said it first." Ann-Marie protested.

"I don't care what Claire said, I'm your dad and I'm saying you're not allowed to talk like that until you're at least sixteen."

"Sixteen seems pretty young." Beth teased while Daryl turned around to back out onto the street.

"Based on how you was talking this morning, I'm sure you started way before sixteen." Daryl quipped back.

"How dare you insinuate that, Mr. Dixon. I'm a good, God-fearing Christian who would never speak like that." Beth looked down in her purse. "Oh crap, I forgot my phone."

"Miss Beth said it!" Ann-Marie exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger.

"I said no."

The rest of the hour-long drive was just as borderline chaotic, with Beth and Ann-Marie talking nonstop about anything and everything; where they were going, what Beth needed to buy, was the 'fabric lady' nice, why did Beth make her own clothes ("Are you Amish?"—A question that made Daryl snort a laugh despite himself), and of course, music.

"Can I turn on your radio?" Beth asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "Unless you don't usually listen to music in the car."

"We always listen to music in the car." Ann-Marie piped in.

Beth looked back to Daryl, waiting for confirmation, smiling when he nodded. Damn, can't even say no to her. What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Country Gold should be on by now." Beth said, fiddling with the dials of the old school radio in Daryl's car until the sounds of Patsy Cline's I Fall to Pieces flowed through the cab.

"I love this song." Beth smiled, leaning back in her seat. "I wish I could sing like her."

Daryl didn't respond, instead stealing a glance at Beth from the corner of his eye, her eyes partially closed while she listened to the radio. A strand of her long blond hair had escaped from her braid and fell to obscure part of her face. Daryl felt the strong urge to reach over and tuck it behind her ear so he could see her better, but he fought it by gripping the steering wheel more tightly, staying silent and keeping his eyes on the road for the rest of the drive.

Once they got into Savannah, he let Beth guide him down the narrow streets, admiring the craftsmanship of the old houses they passed until Beth pointed to a low-standing building sitting near downtown. "You're going to love Jacqui. She's the best. And there are so many different fabrics in there, and she'll order anything you need." Beth climbed out of the cab once Daryl was parked and went to Ann-Marie's door to help her out of the car before Daryl could make his way over there. He watched silently while Beth helped her put her jacket on and took her hand before they came around the front to meet Daryl on the sidewalk. He wondered if Ann-Marie would ever have someone to act as a mother-figure for her. She doesn't need anyone else. She's got me.

"Daddy." Ann-Marie said, dropping Beth's hand once they were on the sidewalk and holding her arms up to be held.

"Your legs break?"

Ann-Marie frowned at him but continued to hold her arms up, stretching up on her toes for emphasis.

"Told you you was going to be tired." Daryl said but lifted her up onto his hip, letting her rest on his shoulder while he followed Beth into the fabric shop, blinking at the sudden burst of color when they stepped through the door. The quiet tinkling of a bell announced their entrance and a few moments later a tall African-American woman with high cheekbones and alert eyes emerged from the back and grinned when she saw Beth.

"I didn't know you were coming in tonight. I would have made something for you to take back." Jacqui hugged Beth tightly and gave Daryl a smile before stepping back and moving around the small counter, piled high with different bolts and scraps of fabric stacked precariously on top of one another. "And who did you bring with you?"

"Jacqui, this is Daryl and Ann-Marie. This is Jacqui, fabric connoisseur and my soundboard whenever I think I'm about to lose my mind." Beth smiled. "Jacqui went to high school with my mom."

"Beth, you've never mentioned your family before. What a beautiful little girl. She looks just like her daddy. She has your smile though." Jacqui crooned, tickling Ann-Marie under her chin. The little girl, uncharacteristically shy, turned and buried her face in Daryl's shoulder, her grip on him tightening.

"Oh, she's not—I mean, we're not…" Beth gestured between her and Daryl, finally standing still and clearing her throat with her arms ramrod straight at her sides. "We're just friends. I give his daughter piano lessons." Is she blushing?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I could have sworn…" Jacqui shook her head and smiled. "I'll get your order from the office."

Daryl looked at Beth as the owner disappeared, interested in her shoes and looking around the shop instead of looking at Daryl. She's definitely blushing. Her cheeks ain't usually that pink.

"Oh, look, Jacqui got some new denim in." She said suddenly, walking quickly to the other side of the store, keeping her back to Daryl. "I could make a pair of jeans for Shawn. He usually has to get a new jeans every few months because he just runs them ragged, but if I used something like this he might be able to use them for longer. But I don't have recent measurements—"

"You usually talk this much when you're nervous?" Daryl smirked when she looked back at him.

"Who says I'm nervous?" She retorted. She grabbed the bolt of fabric and held it in a way that obscured her face, but Daryl could still see—she was beet red.

"Okay, I have everything right here." Jacqui set three bolts of fabric and a small paper bag on the counter. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I'm all set. Thank you." Beth leaned across the counter and gave Jacqui a hug before turning back to Daryl. "You ready?"

"Here, let me." Daryl set Ann-Marie down, to her protest, and grabbed the bolts from the counter, leaving the bag for Beth. "Come on, sugar bean."

They let Ann-Marie lead the way out of the shop, starting the short walk from the store to where they parked Daryl's truck.

"Gosh, I love going in there. I always get so many ideas just from looking at all the different patterns. I could design all day." Beth sighed.

"Why don't you do this stuff full-time then?" Daryl asked, shifting the bolts of fabric in his arms to have one hand free as Ann-Marie reached up to grab his.

"Because I want to feed myself." Beth quipped.

"So you became a teacher. Makes sense."

Beth shot hm a look. "When you're only having to take care of yourself, the pay is fine sometimes. I can see why teachers with families worry though."

"Do you like it though?"

"Do you like being a contractor?"

Daryl shrugged. "I like working with my hands. Seeing the results of something and knowing you did it. Hard work feels good. And it pays good money. I'll be able to send Ann-Marie to college if she wants to go."

"I want to go to University of North Carolina." Ann-Marie announced, smiling up at the adults. "I want to play soccer for them."

"Still trying to convince her to go in-state, else I'll have to be working till I'm sixty to pay it off."

"You sure it's not because you want her close?" Beth teased.

Daryl merely grunted in response. "You didn't answer my question."

Beth sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "In a perfect world, this is what I would be doing. Designing. Or a singer. Maybe both. But being successful enough to have your own company and make a decent living off of it is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. And I didn't want to take that chance. I wanted to be able to provide for the family I'll have someday. Who knows, maybe I can make clothes for them. It would save money."

They finally reached the truck, just in time for Ann-Marie to declare she was tired. While Beth helped get his daughter into her booster seat, Daryl situated her sewing supplies next to Ann-Marie in the back before climbing in the driver's seat to drive them home. Ann-Marie was out before they even made it out of the city.

"Wait, don't you need to get your stuff too? I thought that's why we came." Beth suddenly said once they were on the open road, looking worried that they had forgotten something.

"No. I didn't need to get anything." Daryl said, glancing over at the puzzled look on her face.

"But, I thought—

"Just thought it might be nice to go to Savannah together. See if you'd be up for it." He explained, feeling his ears growing hot. Damn it.

Beth let out a quiet "oh", turning back to look out the windshield. "So when you called me on Thursday, you were asking if I wanted to—

"Yeah."

"Oh." Beth breathed. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"Don't worry about it."

They kept quiet for the rest of the ride. Daryl pretended it was because they didn't want to wake up Ann-Marie, but she could sleep through a stampede of elephants. He could feel that Beth was uncomfortable, and he didn't want to add on to it by his piss-poor small talk. Shit, Dixon, you ruined it. Went and opened your fucking mouth and now she doesn't even want to be in the same car as you. Fuck. Need to apologize before it gets worse.

Daryl finally pulled into the driveway of Beth's house, shutting off the engine and climbing out when she did.

"This is definitely a step up from getting left on the cub." Beth said, breaking their silence with a small smile, giggling when he frowned. "I'm just kidding." That's a good sign.

He didn't really know how to do any of this. The last date he had been on was a disaster. Lori had sprung it on him when he went to meet her and Rick for dinner. His date just so happened to be Lori's college roommate, who told Daryl she loved him in the parking lot outside the restaurant and tried to go home with him, an idea which quickly went up in flames as soon as he told her he had a daughter while trying to keep her hands off of him. It had been four years, and he still had to watch when he answered the phone to make sure he didn't accidentally answer one Crazy Candi's calls, as Shane aptly named her.

Daryl stopped in front of her door, waiting for Beth to unlock it. Before she did, she turned back to him with a shy smile, looking down at her shoes. "Thank you, for tonight. I had fun. It's always better to drive with someone."

"Sure you just didn't want a chauffeur?" Daryl asked.

"You've figured me out. I was just using you to get a ride." Beth rolled her eyes at him for the second time that day. "Maybe we could do it again, sans Ann-Marie?"

Daryl's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest. He nodded, giving her a half-smile. Fuck yes.

Beth moved forward so quickly Daryl thought she was going to knock him down but instead, she hugged him and he felt a ghost of her lips move on the stubble of his cheek before she pulled back with a small smile. "I'll see you later." She said, disappearing inside her house and turning off the front porch light so only the warm glow from her windows leaked outside.

"Shit, you better not fuck this up." He muttered to himself, rubbing his cheek where Beth had kissed him. Gonna do everything I can not to.


Things are heating up! Daryl's plan for a date might have not gone as planned, but they still got a little closer.

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Thank you for reading! Until next time~