A/N: Hey Guys! So I'm sorry it's been two weeks since I last updated! Life has been busy! But thank you for all the Reviews / Favorites / and Follows! You guys are awesome!

So before I get into the story... OMG have you seen the past couple of episodes of The Walking Dead?! Soo much crazy shit has gone down! Sundays' episode with Lizzie and Mika was just heartbreaking... such a sad episode, an I have to admit that Melissa McBride's performance was amazing... she did such a great job in that episode! Also, the previous weeks' episode, with Daryl & Beth... OMG... lol I was like screaming at my TV 'Dude just make out with her already! Before something bad happens!' LOL and of course, something bad did happen... dammit! I was so sure Daryl was gonna 'get some' finally! Haha!

But anyways, so enough of that... This chapter is a sweet one for Daryl and I was happy for him while writing it, but just a preview to the next chapter... things are going to really start spicing up for Daryl and Beth... I know your all waiting :) With that being said... Enjoy!


Daryl stared up at the clock hanging on the red painted wall of the car garage. It was Saturday, which meant the shop closed early, at 1pm and closed the following day, on Sunday. Daryl didn't even know until he came in that morning and Glen told him, but nonetheless, he wasn't complaining. Saturday also meant payday, and being that this was his first check, he couldn't wait to receive it. All he had left to his name was a mere thirty two bucks, and an inside pocket filled with loose change. He couldn't wait to get his hands on some cash, especially so he could head straight to the nearest wireless dealer and pick himself up a cell phone. It had been almost a week since he'd been able to contact Sophia, and getting a cell phone meant that he didn't have to try and figure out a way to call her any longer. He hated the lack of communication between them since he left, and was really looking forward to being able to call her whenever he felt like it.

Glen came out of the office door with a big grin on his face; but Daryl had become so used to the kids' weirdness, that he just ignored him.

"Let's start cleaning up" Glen announced as he began throwing the tools back into the red trunk and prancing around like it was no one's business.

"It's only 12:30" Daryl said with a raised eyebrow.

"I know" Glen walked over to the chains on the garage door and began releasing them, "Boss says we can lock up early"

"Why?" Daryl asked as he wiped the oil stains off his hands with a rag.

"Why not?" Glen answered, his voice sarcastic, "Don't ask questions dude… I don't want to be here for another half hour"

Daryl agreed. He didn't mind leaving early neither, so the kid was right… why ask questions?

"What are you doing tonight? Any plans?" Glen asked as he pulled the closed and locked the bottom latch.

"Nah, nothin' planned" Daryl latched the top hook, "why?"

"Maggie and her sister are having people over their house tonight, nothing to crazy; but their dad went out of town for some convention and they decided to have, kind of like a party"

"Sounds fun" Daryl said sarcastically, in no way meaning it at all.

"You should come" Glen said, ignoring Daryl's cynicism, "hang out, it'll be fun"

"Nah, I'm good" Daryl said as he unzipped his uniform and stepped out of it, "but you wouldn't happen to know where I can find a mobile shop or somethin', would ya?"

"To buy a cellphone?" Glen asked, and when Daryl gave him an 'obviously' look, he quickly realized he asked a dumb question, "yeah, there's an electronics' depot about three miles out… they probably have the cheapest ones"

"Three miles out? Damn, do you always gotta travel to get things?"

"Yeah kinda", Glen chuckled, "I'll drive you if you want, being that you don't know where it is"

"How 'bout you jus' give me directions?"

"It's kind of hard to explain, I'm a GPS kind of guy" Glen joked, but Daryl didn't return the laugh, "I got to pick up something anyway, I'll just bring you"

Daryl sighed; this kid was so damn clingy, "Fine"

"Alright cool" Glen smiled, and then reached into his back pocket and pulled out two envelopes, one of which he handed out to Daryl, "I almost forgot, here's your pay… Dale gave them to me this morning"

Daryl took the envelope from his hand and slit open the top, sliding his fingers inside of it to get a peek. He quickly ran his fingers through it and approximated close to seven hundred dollars. His face creased in response and he looked up at Glen confused.

"There's a lot in here"

Glen laughed, "Dale's good like that, he pays great"

"Yeah, but I jus' started, and we haven't had more than three cars in here each day?"

"It's just been a slow week, trust me, the place makes decent money. You'll see, it'll pick up, watch"

Daryl nodded his head, but he honestly couldn't even wrap his head around how much money he earned. He was thinking he would make no more than two, possibly three hundred tops; but there was definitely over seven hundred dollars in the envelope and he was completely shocked. At that rate he could possibly get himself into an apartment by the end of the month. We're things finally beginning to look up for him?

Glen could see that Daryl was shocked, yet extremely happy; but he didn't mock him, he just smiled. "C'mon man, let's go", he said to Daryl as he shut the garage light and the two of them made their way out the shop door.

XxxxX


Daryl and Glen were pretty quick in the store, basically going in for what they needed and leaving once finished. Daryl managed to get an older version IPhone for a decent price and a plan as well. Glen picked up a couple of Zombie movies that he and Maggie could watch together, he seemed to be real into those kinds of things and Daryl thought it was pretty odd; but didn't even bother to ask… he didn't want to know.

On the way back, Daryl agreed to stop at Glens' house with him for a little while. Glen wanted to change and get ready before heading to Maggies' house, and dropping Daryl off first would have been out of the way for him. So even though Daryl wasn't thrilled, he agreed… Glen did do him a favor by taking him to the store, so he wasn't going to be a jerk about it.

When they pulled up, Daryl recognized the truck in the driveway and knew that Dale must be home as well. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about being at his bosses' house, and had actually forgotten that Glen lived with him up until that point.

"I forgot you live with Dale" Daryl said as Glen pulled behind the truck and shut the engine off.

"Yep. Don't worry though; he's probably engrossed in some fishing show on the TV anyway. Probably won't even notice you"

Daryl nodded, and the two of them got out the car and headed up towards the front door. Daryl scanned the property, looking around and observing the house. It wasn't anything too fancy, and was actually quite small, like a cape-cod style of some sort. It was pretty much what he expected of Dale, and was kind of surprised with how perfectly the place fit with his personality.

When they walked into the house, Dale was to the left, just at Glen said, watching TV.

"Hey Dale" Glen said as he and Daryl walked past. Dale didn't even look up, but instead waved a hand to acknowledge him, without saying a word.

Daryl followed Glen into a small kitchen with a bay window. Daryl looked around as Glen opened the refrigerator and pulled out a can of Coke.

"Want one?" Glen asked as he extended a can towards Daryl.

Daryl grabbed the can of Coke and said "Thanks", before cracking it open with his thumb, "This is a nice house"

"Yeah, I like it" Glen said, "its home for me, ya know?", Daryl didn't respond, he couldn't relate… he didn't know, "You never told me… where do you live?"

Daryl sipped his Coke slowly, his eyes hesitant to look up, "Nowhere right now", he said, almost ashamed.

"What do you mean nowhere?" Glen seemed confused, "where have you been staying?". Daryl looked up at Glen without answering and within seconds Glen realized, "Oh… what do you just sleep in a park every night or something?", Glen joked, but Daryl didn't find that very amusing.

"Jus' until I make enough money to get a place" Daryl said before downing the rest of the soda.

"Wait, you're serious?" Glen instantly felt bad for making a joke that clearly wasn't funny, "sorry dude, I didn't know"

Daryl shook his head, "Don't be… it ain't that bad anyway"

"What ain't that bad?" Dale said as he entered the kitchen, completely catching both Daryl and Glen off guard.

"Nothing" Glen said, and looked at Daryl for reassurance.

Daryl looked at Glen and then back at Dale. He didn't want to lie to his boss, especially being that his livelihood relied upon the job that the guy gave to him.

"Not havin' a place to live right now" Daryl finally answered, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

Dale grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and then leaned up against the counter as he opened it, "Is that so?" Dale seemed very casual as well, "I lived out on the road for a while, right outta' high school. Me and Irma, my late wife, we had this crazy idea that she and I could leave town and start a new life somewhere, in a city or somethin', so we headed for Atlanta"

"And what happened? How'd you end up back here?" Daryl asked.

Dale chuckled at the memories, "We found out very quickly that we really weren't all that into the city livin'… too expensive, too much traffic, everyone's always on the go… lasted maybe three months livin' out of my fathers' RV, and then one day we jus' decided to head back to Senoia", Dale took another swig of his beer and smiled, "I inherited my fathers' shop, and Irma started working for a local nursing home… and that was that, we jus' built a life here, and you know what? I loved every minute of it… but sometimes being out there in a place where you don't know anyone, and you have nothin', makes you realize what it is in life you really want, that's the beauty of it really"

Daryl nodded, he respected the timeworn man. It was obvious that he had a lot of wisdom and a good heart, which was hard to come by, "Ever regret comin' back?"

"Nope, never" Dale said confidently, "like I said, we built our life here and it was the best years of my life"

"If you don't mind me askin'," Daryl bit his lip, "what happened to your wife?"

"Cancer" Dale said softly, "she fought it for a long time; but eventually it jus' took her under"

"Sorry" Daryl said delicately, looking down at the floor.

Dale shook his head, "She went out smiling though, strongest woman I've ever met"

The kitchen became very silent, both Glen and Daryl were unsure of what to say to such an emotional subject. Dale remained silent as well for a few seconds, obviously reminiscing on the memories of his wife. After a few small smiles, he eventually looked up and grinned at Daryl.

"Well, enough about that" he said with a smile, "Are you lookin' to rent a place in particular?"

"Nah, haven't looked yet" Daryl said, "waitin' to save a bit and then I'll figure it out"

Daryl nodded, but it was clear that he was thinking about something else.

"Hey guys" Glen suddenly interrupted, "I'm gonna' jump in the shower real quick so I can get cleaned up, I'll be right back"

Daryl nodded and Glen exited the kitchen to do as he said. The room became somewhat quiet after, Daryl fiddled with the top of the Coke can, and Dale stared, still obvious that something was on his mind.

"Come with me Daryl" all of a sudden Dale spoke, and began walking towards the front door, "I want to show you something"

Daryl looked up puzzled, but followed the man anyway. They exited the house and began walking past the driveway, and towards a wooden door on the side of the garage. Dale bent down and slipped a key out from underneath the door mat in front of it. Daryl's face furrowed in confusion, still unsure of why he asked him to come with him.

Dale turned the key and opened the door, flicking on the light switch. The room lit up, revealing a light blue pull-out sofa, a small TV, an old wooden desk with a chair, a mini-kitchen, and a bathroom. It was obviously out dated and lacked any kind of usage, but nonetheless, a cozy little living space.

"What is this?" Daryl said, as he scanned the room.

"This was Irma's unofficial office I guess" Dale said as he swiped his hand across the back of the blue couch, "She liked to write, always dreamt of being a professional author; but it never really worked out. I built this for her shortly before she developed the cancer… she never got much use of it though"

"So why did you want to show me this?" Daryl asked, still confused.

"Well, you said you didn't have a place to live right?" Dale smiled, "It's yours if you want, for now… It doesn't have much use anyway these days"

Daryl's eyes widened, he couldn't believe Dale was offering the room to him. And why? Why was this man so generous to him when he didn't even know a thing about him?

"Oh, I can't accept that from you…" Daryl started; but Dale quickly interrupted him and placed a hand up to stop him from talking.

"Yes you can" Dale laughed, "consider it a head start, until you save up enough money to get a place of your own"

Daryl didn't know what to say, his face still confused. He again, scanned the entire room. It was small, kind of like a studio apartment, but it had heat and air conditioning, a couch to sleep on, a bathroom, a kitchen. It was actually all he needed, but still, he couldn't wrap his head around why Dale was being so offering to him. Anyone who ever offered something to him, always expected something in return, that's just how his life was.

"Why would you do this for me?" Daryl asked, trying not to come off to skeptical.

Dale shrugged, "Why not?"

"Because you don't know anything about me" Daryl stated.

"Ehh, who really knows anything about anyone?" Dale chuckled but became serious when he realized that Daryl was extremely confused, "listen, I have it, so why not offer it. I would have killed for someone to offer me something like this, back in Atlanta. Just think of it as something I would like to do for myself, my contribution to someone who is going through something I experienced many years ago"

"But you gave me a job, trust me, you've helped me out more than you know" Daryl insisted

"And I'm glad I could help" Dale said as he threw Daryl the key to the garage apartment, "but I insist on helping more"

Daryl caught the key in his hand and looked down at it for a few seconds. Dale smiled as he watched him, he could tell that Daryl needed this, even though he was kind enough to try and decline it.

Dale started making his way out the door and Daryl looked up, still completely in shock.

"Dale?" Daryl said just as Dale was about to walk out the door, "I'll pay you for this"

Dale smiled, "You do what you can Daryl" and he exited the door, leaving Daryl alone inside the apartment.

Daryl just stood there, completely shocked by what just happened. Was this real? Did Dale really just give him a place to stay, with no strings attached? He almost felt like pinching himself because things like this didn't happen to people like him, at least it never had before.

As he stood there examining his new home, he couldn't help but let a smile appear across his face. He definitely had the utmost respect for Dale, and if there were any thoughts that he might not be as nice of a guy as he claimed to be, Daryl knew for sure now that he was. He'd helped him more in the past seven days than anyone had ever helped him in his entire life, and he was extremely thankful.

XxxX


At least an hour had passed since Glen had gone to get cleaned up, and Daryl spent at least the first half hour in shock, trying to comprehend what had just been given to him, and the remaining half hour trying to get acquainted with his new cell phone. He wasn't very 'tech-savvy', so the thing was actually pissing him off more than it was intriguing him. As he was trying to figure out a way to store his contacts, really only Carol's number for Sophia, a text message appeared on the screen.

"Congrats Dude! Dale just told me, we're roommates! Well kinda"

Daryl shook his head but before he had a chance to respond, there was a knocking on the apartment door, and he knew it was Glen.

He got up an opened it, and sure enough Glen was standing there with the biggest smile across his face.

Daryl rolled his eyes and a small smirk appeared, "What did you swipe my cell number as the tech was writing it down for me?"

Glen walked into the apartment behind Daryl and laughed, "Maybe, figured you'd be hard to get it out of, so I may have peeked"

Daryl sat back down on the couch, "Yeah, well don't be blowing it up either"

Glen followed, "Don't have to" he chuckled, "I can just walk over and talk to you, roomie"

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Lucky me".

Glen laughed, "Oh come' on, I'm not that bad"

Daryl raised an eyebrow, and smiled.

"So, I think you should come tonight… to Maggie's" Glen said with a smile.

"Nah, I'm good… not into house parties"

"It's not a house party per say…" Glen said, "just a couple of people… and besides, Beth will be there"

Daryl's face furrowed, "and?"

"And, I mean c'mon man, you two hung out last night, you obviously like her"

"We didn't hang out, I took her for a ride because otherwise all she'd do is nag the shit outta' me until I did, ain't never said I like the chick"

"Whatever, either way… c'mon it'll be fun" Glen insisted.

"Yeah… fun… right" Daryl answered sarcastically, "jus' do me a favor and take me to get my bike and I'll think about it"

Glen's face hardened, "You're a liar… I'm gonna take you to get your bike and then you're gonna' come back here with no intentions of even thinkin' about it"

Daryl gave him a sideway stare, "jus' take me to get my bike"

Glen sighed, "Fine… but I'm telling you dude, it'll be fun… you should jus' think about it"

Daryl ignored him and the two of them got up and headed out of the apartment towards Glens car.

XxxxX


When they reached the diner parking lot, Daryl jumped out of the car and started heading over towards his parked bike. Glen sat there for a few minutes observing with a sneaky smile on his face, but Daryl didn't notice.

Just as Daryl approached his bike, his cell phone began buzzing. He grabbed the phone and looked at it confused; no one except Glen had his number, so he had no idea who could be calling him.

He slowly lifted the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

"Daryl?" a cheery southern voice came through the receiver.

"Who is this?" Daryl asked, his eyes narrowing.

"It's Beth"

Daryl's face hardened and he spun around to see Glen laughing in the drivers' seat of his car as he pulled out the parking lot shouting "I had to dude, you should come!" out of his window.

Daryl swung his head back in frustration; he was going to kill Glen later.

"What do you want?" he said annoyed.

"Well it's nice to talk to you too, jerk!" Beth said sarcastically, "Glen told me the news that you are movin' into Dales' garage apartment… congrats"

"Yeah, thanks" his tone still hardened.

"Anyhow, you should celebrate… your settling in to Senoia and all" she suggested.

"Oh yeah?" Daryl said sarcastically, "let me guess, by comin' to you and your sisters' little fuckin' house party?"

"Maybe, yeah" Beth answered, "or maybe you could jus' swing by and take me out on the bike again?"

"You know, you're gettin' a little annoying girl… I did it once, I ain't never said I was gonna' do it again"

"Oh come' on, you had jus' as much fun as I did" she scoffed.

"Yeah? Says who?"

"Oh stop being such a hard ass… is it so bad to say that you're makin' a friend?" she insisted. Daryl didn't answer so she continued, "jus' come by later… we can jus' hang out"

"Why do you want me to come so bad?" he asked with a partial annoyance in his voice.

"Cause' I do" she insisted, "and besides, I like hangin' out with you… you're different from everyone else around here"

"I'll think about it" he said, his voice softening up a little.

"Fine", she said, "but if you don't, I'll jus' call you a hundred times anyway… remember, I got your number now" she joked.

"Bye Beth" Daryl said, rolling his eyes.

"Bye Daryl" she said, still laughing.

As Daryl hung up the phone he shook his head. He was definitely going to kill Glen later; but he had to admit, Beth was sort of funny, in her own weird annoying way. Maybe he'd go… he'd decide once he got back to the apartment.

And with that he started his bike and took off down the road, back towards his new… home.