A/N: Ermmm...WOW GUYS! Totally wasn't expecting the response that last chapter got. Thank you so much for all the amazing feedback, and for the well wishes. I love how everyone on this site turns into a little family. When one member is down and struggling, everyone is so quick to comfort them, so for that, I really am grateful oxoxoxo

Again, terribly sorry for the delay in updates as of recent. I have been working all the hours God sends, and it has been draining. Starting to feel a wee bit more human now lol. Hopefully that is me out of my rut once and for all lol.

I want to specially dedicate this chapter to mookibe. Thank you so much for all those amazing reviews (for all the stories lol). Thank you for taking time out your day to read all that :o)

And last, but certainly not least, thank you once again to my wonderful beta, Nicole (Scifigirl22). You're amazing! :o)

Chapter Six

Daryl couldn't help the roll of his eyes as he sipped on his coffee; his muffled grunt of annoyance doing little to quieten the deafening laughter coming from his brother.

When he had stumbled from his bedroom that morning; his intentions being solely to grab a glass of water before stumbling back; he had been both startled and pissed to find Merle and Martinez raiding his fridge and running up his cable bill. Four days on from the little 'Prius' incident without a word from either one of them, he felt his irritation had been slightly justified.

Neither one of them had wasted any time in ordering him to get dressed; an angered flip of the bird before he silently marched off into his room letting them know exactly how he was feeling about their little visit. But knowing that the two morons were most likely eager to get out and start their day, Daryl took it upon himself to dress slower than a week in the jail.

In the end though, his jeans hadn't even made it past his hips before he found himself being hauled out of his apartment by the scruff of his neck.

With five o'clock shadow in desperate need of a trim, and Ray Bans fixed firmly in place, Daryl hadn't even made it five minutes down the street before the need for caffeine became too great. With a grumbled 'ugh' and a flippant wave of the hand, he less than gracefully fell into the seat outside the small coffee shop; a soft tut from Martinez and an amused chuckle from his brother enough to have him burying his head in his hands.

Two cups of coffee and a half chewed 'piece of crap' (a.k.a, croissant) later, and Daryl felt the demon within him slowly recede back into its cave. It was during his third cup however, that Merle chose to bring up the little blonde fireball from across the hall, and to Daryl's surprise, he found that he wasn't totally opposed to the change in conversation. They had went over the generic 'how is she?' and 'drivin' you to insanity yet?' questions, and before he knew it, Daryl found himself opening up about their little night out on the town.

Merle had hardly been able to contain himself at Daryl's vivid and colourful description of the 'Dancefloor Bitch'.

"So let me get this straight…" Merle scoffed through his laughter; Daryl lifting his mug to his lips "She sat there, took all that shit thrown at her, and still left with a smile on that pretty little face of hers?"

"I know. Weird, right?" Daryl mumbled, pushing his sunglasses further up his nose "If it was me, I'd have left with some bruised knuckles."

"If it was you, you'd have left in cuffs." Martinez grumbled, glancing at his watch in annoyance "Look, as much as I'm enjoyin' our girly catch-up here, are we actually goin' to do anythin' productive today, or are we just goin' to sit talkin' about Daryl's new girlfriend while braidin' each other's hair?"

With the dirtiest scowl he could conjure, Daryl launched the half chewed croissant in the direction of his friend; a disgruntled 'Fuck You' bringing a smile to his brother's lips and a rumbling cackle from his chest.

"Ooh." Martinez smirked before tossing the croissant back in his direction "Someone's a little testy. Sounds like Wheels' keepin' you up at night?"

Trying hard to ignore him, Daryl brought his coffee back to his lips, the steaming cup of sludge becoming a sorry excuse for a shield as Martinez dropped his voice to a just above a whisper.

"You ever need a break from her, feel free to call me. M'sure I could take her off your hands for a while. If y'know what I mean."

At the dirty waggle of the eyebrows, Daryl slammed his cup down; the bitterness spilling over the sides as he got to his feet. And that's my cue to leave.

Popping a cigarette into his mouth while throwing a few bills on the table, Daryl gave a mock salute before turning back in the direction of his apartment; the humourless chuckles from Martinez followed by the 'C'mon, I was just kiddin'!' acting as nothing but an empty apology. As far as he was concerned, Martinez deserved a fist to the face on the best of days, but whenever he opened his mouth about Beth, he was finding that he was more than happy to deliver on that.

Stalking through the streets, his head bowed, Daryl made it back to his apartment block in record time. As he stormed through the doors – The Idiot popping his head of greasy curls out his office long enough to rant about his 'guests' disregard for noise level – he knew that the day was unlikely to get any better. That was unless his sorry excuse for a friend decided to go and get hit by a bus. Then it might get a little better.

"Good for nothin' piece of shit." He muttered angrily, each thundering stomp up the stairs a warning to his landlord to back off "Should'a just knocked his fuckin' teeth out."

Beer and bed. That's all Daryl was wanting by the time he reached his floor; the annoyed grunts from The Idiot fading away to a dull mumble as he slammed the door to the stairwell shut. There's gotta be more to life than this. Heaving a deep sigh, Daryl finally felt his anger subside as he slowly traipsed his way to his door, a small glance towards Beth's apartment leaving him with a feeling of sorrow.

He didn't know why he felt so bad at Martinez' 'joke'; his disgusting innuendos still ringing out loud and clear. After all, it wasn't as if she had heard them. He bet that if he knocked the door there and then, she would answer with that dazzling smile of hers. Totally oblivious to the words that had been spoken about her only moments before.

With a clear of the throat and a small shake of the head, Daryl turned towards his own door, the thoughts of climbing back into bed sending a warm fuzzy feeling throughout his body. Door flying open, he had barely made it two feet inside before he moved to undo his belt, his coat quickly finding a place in a heap as he hurried in.

Kicking his boots off, Daryl let his jeans fall to his ankles. He couldn't deny that pantless and drunk sounded like a good combination for the rest of the day.

Pulling the chain lock across – thoughts of Merle and Martinez returning sending a quickening to his heart – he almost believed that he had made his escape from the world, the sound of silence a God send.

Well, that was until…

"Y'know, I wouldn't say no to a strip tease, but if you're goin' to entertain, at least try and make it a little bit more excitin'."

Eyes widening in horror; a flustered yelp ringing out; Daryl quickly found himself turning to face none other than Beth, her big blue eyes trained on his as he hurriedly tried to tug his jeans back up.

Stumbling over the legs of denim, his knees drawn tightly together in embarrassment, Daryl soon found himself sprawled on the floor. Beth could hardly keep her laughter at bay as she wheeled herself over to the heap he had created.

"Beth!? What the hell are you doin' here!?" He finally managed to cry, his ears a delightful shade of pink as he wrestled his way back into his clothing.

Elbows propped on her knees, her chin resting snuggly in the palm of her hands, Beth's laughter spilled out once again.

"Why, Daryl Dixon, I was waitin' for you!" She happily beamed.

"Yeah?" He quizzed, quickly getting to his feet as he buttoned up "Well, y'ever heard of the term 'Breaking and Entering'?"

Again, her laughter sounded, her wild trade mark curls bouncing in perfect time. Daryl struggled to stop the crack of smirk from escaping past his lips if he was totally honest; the lower of the two quivering slightly as he tried to hold back his own chuckle.

"Oh of course I have silly." Came her reply "But in my defence, your door was already open, so technically it was just enterin', and somehow I highly doubt that enterin' could be classified as a crime in itself…" Clasping her hands together into the shape of a gun, Beth pointed at him "Freeze, dirt bag! You're under arrest for entering!" Pulling her 'weapon' back to look at it, she gave a small shrug "Mind you, it does have a nice ring to it, so maybe it'll catch on…For the sake of prisoners everywhere, I best be careful."

Arms crossing over his chest, Daryl finally let his smirk escape, Beth's seeming to grow at the sight. It was almost as if making him smile had become a personal mission of hers; the genuine look of happiness dancing in her eyes sending a feeling unlike any he had ever experienced coursing throughout his body.

A feeling he'd be lying if he said he didn't like.

"Y'know you never fail to shock me, Beth." He chuckled, making his way past her towards the sofa.

Letting his gaze slowly cast over the living area, Daryl's smile began to drop, confusion soon taking over.

"Hey, Beth…did you…clean up in here?"

Turning to face him, Beth gave another small shrug, her musical giggle spilling out once again.

"Well…I didn't not clean up." She blushed, batting her long lashes with a small smirk "But then again, I didn't not break in either, so really, it's open to interpretation."

Rolling his eyes, Daryl's smile only grew. With a chuckle rumbling deep in his chest, he snatched the remote off the arm of the couch, the TV coming to life as he flopped back onto the battered cushions.

But what a mistake that seemed to be.

Eyes wide in shock, Beth let out a loud gasp; her hands flying to her hair, clutching at her wild curls in alarm.

"What?" Daryl asked, panic lacing his words as he sat back up "Is there a spider on me!? Please don't say there's a spider on me!"

But all she did was wheel herself right up in front of him, her knees bumping his as she reached out and grabbed hold of his face. Cheeks puffed together – his lips pursed open with teeth on display – Daryl stared up at her with a mix of fear and curiosity.

"Daryl Dixon! What are you doin'!?" She finally bellowed, pulling his face closer to her own, their noses mere inches apart "The day's just beginin' and you're sittin' down to watch TV!? You've got the whole world out there just waitin' for you!"

"I'm…Sorry?"

"Sorry!?" She carried on, dropping his face to cross her arms over her chest "Daryl Dixon, after very little deliberation, I think it's about time that I wheeled in and intervened in your life."

Rubbing his jaw, Daryl straightened up. He couldn't deny that there was a part of him that was terrified of whatever it was that was going on inside Beth's mind; the look of pure excitement in her eyes sending his stomach into a churn.

"Intervened in my life?" He quizzed, an eyebrow raised in wonder.

"Yes." She stated proudly "As of this very spectacular moment, on this very beautiful October day, I hereby declare that you, Daryl Dixon, are to learn the true meanin' of a very important, sometimes fantastical, and sometimes not so fantastical but boo-hoo worthy experience that I like to call, living!"

"…Excuse me?" He smirked "Beth, I really don't think that –"

"Daryl, shut up..." She cut in, turning her chair away until she was in the middle of the room; a bright smile cast over her shoulder silencing him "Every day, before 8 o'clock – and before you even ask, yes the mornin' one – you will be faced with a single, yet very important question from Moi that will leave you with the option of answerin' in five seconds or facin' the consequences of bein' indecisive…In other words, if you don't answer it, I will."

Sitting back, Daryl couldn't help but smile at the bubbly blonde before him, the seriousness and determination in her voice a little too cute for him to handle. Or admit.

"Ok…" He drawled out through a chuckle "Well please do share, Beth, what this 'very important' question is."

"Why, I thought you'd never ask." She smiled, her hands clasped on her lap as she cleared her throat "…So, Daryl Dixon…what're we doin' today then?"

A/N: Well guys, I really hope that you enjoyed this (I'll admit, short) chapter. It was originally supposed to be a lot longer, but I really felt to leave it there. Leaves a good opening for the next one :o)

Please leave me a wee comment and let me know what you all thought. Been out of the writing game so long, I need all the advice you can give xoxoxoxo

P.S - For those reading The Road To Happiness, Chapter 12 is in the works now :o)