"Holy. Shit." Rosita said for the tenth time since Beth had begun telling her about the previous night. The two girls sat Indian style on Rosita's bed, Beth biting her nails nervously.

"Holy shit!" Rosita repeated.

"Stop saying that!" Beth exclaimed. "Tell me what you think!"

"What I think is 'holy shit!'" Beth flopped back onto Rosita's pillows with a groan. "I just thought you didn't like him!" Rosita defended. "I mean, he's kind of a jerk."

Beth sighed. "At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I think he's just misunderstood."

Rosita burst out laughing, "I mean, it's not unheard of for a guy to actually be misunderstood and not just an excuse that girls use when a guy treats her like shit."

"That's the thing though, he doesn't treat me like shit! Not since that first night. Actually, I think I make him kind of nervous."

"But he's like forty," Rosita looked unconvinced. "No offense, how exactly is an eighteen year old girl going to make him nervous?"

Beth shrugged, not having a definitive answer for her. "Maybe he's just never had a girl who's expressed real interest in him before. Plus I don't exactly know what I'm doing! What if I'm projecting my nerves onto him and the whole thing is just in my head?"

The night before, in the dark and heat, Beth had felt so sure of herself. Now in the harsh light of day she wasn't feeling quite so confident. Daryl was a lot older than her so it was more than likely that he just found her obnoxious. Last night she had been the one to initiate both meetings at the diner. But then why had Daryl agreed to go?

"Gah!" she groaned, "This whole thing is making my head hurt."

Rosita laid down next to her. "Okay, not to downplay your emotional crisis or anything but can you get the scoop on that Abe guy for me? Daryl's gotta know something useful about him."

"Abe? Really? With the mustache?"

"Excuse me!" Rosita scoffed. "Daryl's hair is just as ridiculous as Abe's mustache!"

"I like his hair!" Beth defended.

"Well I like Abe's mustache. I bet it tickles when he's… you know." Rosita motioned to her vagina with a smirk.

Beth gagged, "I did not need to hear that!"

"Plus, Abe's a real man, not some dumb freshman boy. I bet he knows exactly what he's doing."

Beth felt embarrassed about just how embarrassed this conversation was making her. It wasn't like she had never done anything sexual. Her and Jimmy had done… Hand stuff. Christ, she couldn't even say it! There was no way that Daryl would be interested in her once he knew what a baby she was. Older guys liked girls her age, but only ones like Rosita who knew what they were doing.

Shoving her head underneath Rosita's pillow, Beth smashed her face into the mattress to try and distract herself. "I need to take a nap," she finally said, her voice muffled through the pillows. "Bars don't open until later, right? I've probably got another few hours before Daryl shows up at the café.

"I'm going to meet Hayley for lunch. Just stay in my bed, hon. I'm gonna set an alarm on your phone." Rosita patted Beth's back and she felt the bed shift as Rosita stood up.

Beth nodded, feeling drained by the whole situation. Maybe she just shouldn't even go…

Not even waiting until Rosita left the room, Beth curled up into her blankets and let herself drift off.


Daryl had been sitting alone, starting at his half empty cup of lukewarm coffee for almost an hour. Beth wasn't coming. He shouldn't have been disappointed, this was exactly what he had known was going to happen. Exactly what he wanted to happen. He didn't know much about Beth, but what he did know made it clear to Daryl that she was too good for him.

Beth was young and hopeful, she had her entire life ahead of her. The scars on Daryl's back tingled at the thought. She was still whole and he had never been. Beth not meeting him here today had been the right choice. Really, he didn't even know what they had expected to happen.

Chugging down the last of his coffee, Daryl waved down his waitress. The woman rushed over and quietly cleared his mug from the table before placing his check down. Something about her was familiar but he didn't know what it was, and he didn't care.

"Wait." He stopped her as she began to walk away. "I got the money for ya now."

She stopped and Daryl was aware of her studying him as he searched around in his pocket for cash.

"You work at The Moonshine Shack, right?"

Daryl examined her more closely, still not remembering her. Before last week female visitors had been few and far between at The Moonshine Shack. If she had been a customer then Daryl would have remembered her.

When he didn't respond to her question the waitress finally explained herself, "My husband is a regular there. I've had to pick him up a few times."

"Thought you looked familiar. Karen, right?"

"Carol." She corrected him.

He remembered her now, should've recognized her the second he had come in here. Her husband, Ed, was one of The Moonshine Shack's most frequent patrons. The guy came off as nice enough, but he had a mean temper. Ed had been kicked out of the bar on more than one occasion since the Dixon brothers had started there. Daryl noticed a carefully covered bruise on Carol's cheek and understood that Ed's temper wasn't confined to dive bars.

"Keep the change," he remarked as he handed her a twenty-dollar bill. Carol's eyes widened in surprise until she saw Daryl's knowing expression.

"Thanks." She muttered under her breath and hurried back into the kitchen.

Daryl left clenching his fists, imagining Ed laying his hands on his wife. For the second time today, he became hyperaware of the scars that marred his back.

He didn't need to be at the bar for another hour but wandering aimlessly around Atlanta didn't sound appealing, so he decided to head in early. There was probably inventory to take stock of or cleaning activities that Abe had slacked on. Something to get his mind off of Beth and that Carol woman.

As he got closer to the bar, Daryl found himself wishing that it would be a busy night. Glaring at college kids was a surefire way to keep his mind occupied. Considering that the bar had been packed every single night since school had started up, it was a pretty likely scenario. And if not, there was always Ed to take out his aggression on. Everything would be fine.

It hadn't been fine though, the night had been fucking miserable. Apparently the college kids had wised up and realized that partying ever single night wasn't gonna fly. Ed hadn't shown up either, so Daryl had had no distractions. Abe and Merle hadn't exactly been helpful either, they had picked up on his bad mood and immediately pounced. As soon as the bar closed Daryl told them to get the hell out, that he would clean up himself.

The one perk about the night being slow was that it didn't take long to close up. It was barely 2:30 when Daryl stepped outside, and froze.

Beth was there, pacing back and forth. She was clearly in her own head because she hadn't even heard him walk out. Plus, she was muttering rapidly to herself. That, combined with her disheveled appearance, probably would have made people passing her on the street assume that she was insane.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, unsure that he wanted to hear her answer.

She jumped at the sound of Daryl's voice, rushing over to him once she realized who it was.

"Oh my god, I am so so sorry! Really! I fell asleep! I set an alarm and everything but I must have slept through it."

"Oh."

"I just didn't want you to think I was blowing you off. When I woke up I thought about coming here right away, but you were at work and I didn't want to bother you and… I don't know." Beth let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm just sorry."

Daryl worked to keep his face neutral as he considered her words. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, Beth really didn't seem like one for lying. Not to mention her wrinkled sweatshirt and ponytail that had more flyaway hairs than not.

"You're wearing two different shoes." He pointed out.

Beth looked down at her feet, she was wearing one flip flop and one of those slipper shoes that women liked so much. "Oh god," she moaned, smacking her forehead. "Why do you even like me?"

"Who said I do?"

Beth's gaze shot up, a mortified look on her face, but she visibly relaxed when she saw that he was smirking at her.

"Guess I was mistaken." She responded with a smile that mirrored his own. Holding his gaze, Beth bit her lip and tugged at her ponytail nervously. "So…"

Daryl tried to answer her right away, but her mouth held his gaze. Bright pink lips, except for a small bit of white where she bit down. For a split second Daryl considered leaning down to kiss her, taste her. As quickly as the thought passed through his brain he shot it down. Beth liked him, for some strange reason, but still Daryl couldn't bring himself to do something as simple as close the distance between the two of them.

Coward.

"Wanna have a drink?" He finally blurted out, motioning to the dark bar where he'd just come from.

Beth looked past him at the empty building. "Is that even allowed?"

Daryl simply shrugged, "I got the keys and Abe'll probably never find out anyway."

Beth broke out into a small smile. "Sure," she agreed. "Gotta live on the edge."

Without another word, Daryl unlocked The Moonshine Shack and held the door as Beth walked through. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he tried to imagine how this whole thing was going to end.

At that moment Beth turned back towards him, her smile so wide that he stopped caring how it would end.

Hoisting herself up on the bar, she finally spoke. "So, are you gonna make me a drink or what?"


A/N: I'm really sorry this took flipping forever to put up! This week hasn't even been that busy, so I've got no excuse. How did everyone like last Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead? I actually enjoyed it! I haven't read the comics so I was shocked when Eugene admitted he wasn't a scientist (even though I sort of suspected).

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, the next one will be up a lot faster than this one. Definitely by Sunday afternoon (scout's honor!). Oh, and thank you guys so much for the wonderful comments you've all been leaving. You guys are the absolute best!