AN: This is the penultimate chapter. The next one will be pretty long and it will be the last. Thanks so much for the reviews. I really appreciate all of your feedback and I'm glad you've enjoyed the story! xx


"Hey, are you okay?"

Daryl jumped in surprise at the unexpected voice right behind him, smacking his head on the hood he was busy working under. He cursed under his breath, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his skull as he turned around to see Suzette looking concerned.

"What?" he grumbled, digging his grease rag out of his back pocket.

She was wringing her hands, biting her lip, "I-I heard your brother the other night. He was telling Billy what happened and I was just wondering if you were okay?"

"Fine," Daryl answered flatly.

She was quiet as he bent to pick up the wrench he'd dropped. When she didn't speak up again, he ducked back under the hood to continue his work.

"You know, you should get out of it while you still can."

He felt like kicking the old Aerostar. Or maybe drenching it in gasoline and setting it on fire.

"What?"

"You should get out. You're too good for that kind of business, Daryl," she said softly, looking like she might cry as he turned around to face her again, "You're not like Billy and Merle."

He squinted at her, "What you mean? Merle's my brother. I'm just like him."

She shook her head vehemently, "No, no you're not. I know you love him but…he's no good, Daryl and he's gonna drag you down with him."

He squeezed the grease rag tight in his hand, painfully uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was headed in as he muttered, "If he ain't no good, I ain't no good either."

She took a step forward, extending her hand towards him, and he took a step backwards, his cheeks burning.

Her fingers curled back into her palm and then dropped uselessly at her side.

"No, listen to me, Daryl. I know you think you're like him and I know you think you need him, but that's not how it is. He's the one that needs you, don't you see that?"

She took another step forward, backing him up against the front of the Aerostar. He suddenly felt cornered, trapped by her pleading eyes. Anger and confusion battled inside him, clawing up through his chest.

As usual, anger won out.

"What the fuck do you know about it, huh? You don't know shit about us!" he exploded, slamming the wrench into the floor just beside her feet with all the force he could muster.

The sound of metal crashing against concrete echoed through the garage. She didn't even flinch, lifting her chin to stare him down.

"I've seen it happen, Daryl," she pressed her lips together tight as if steeling herself before she added, "Billy was sweet once too, believe it or not. Back when we first started dating…before he started working with his big brother."

She let her words hang in the air, staring at him expectantly as if they should be meaningful. As if they should change something.

Heart pounding, he spat out, "Why the fuck do you even care?"

She stared at him for a long moment then shook her head sadly. He saw her throat tighten as she swallowed hard.

"Because, sweetie, I like you. I know you've noticed…I haven't exactly been subtle," she smiled weakly, looking a little ashamed, "You're the first good man I've met in a long time and I just...I don't want to see you ruined like all the rest of them."

Her words sank into his brain, stinging and prickling, and suddenly it was all too much. She didn't know what the hell she was talking about. He was already sick and fucking tired of women sticking their noses in where they didn't belong. Why did they care? Didn't they have anything better to worry about than his sorry ass? It was him and Merle, that's all it had ever been. All it would ever be.

He turned away from her, ducking back under the hood as he muttered just loud enough for her to hear, "Mind your own goddamn business."

He stared down at the twisted mass of metal without really seeing it, thinking the garage seemed eerily silent all of a sudden. He heard the clock up on the wall ticking off the seconds. Those seconds turned into minutes before finally her footsteps finally headed for the door and then faded away.


Daryl was just finishing up for the day when the sound of a revving engine drew his eyes to the parking lot.

Shielding his eyes from the brilliant orange late-afternoon sun, he stepped out of the garage and immediately found the source of all the commotion.

A brand new, cherry red 1983 Mustang GT. And behind the wheel, wearing that shit-eating grin as if nothing had happened, sat Merle.

"Hey, little brother!" he called out, punctuating his words with another rev of the engine, "Come take a ride with ol' Merle!"

Daryl took his time wiping his hands clean on his grease rag as he crossed the parking lot towards the Mustang, stopping to run his fingers over the shiny hood of the car.

"You heard the big news today?" Merle asked just loud enough to be heard over the engine.

"What news?"

"Cops picked up Tina's ex-husband," Merle was watching Daryl's face carefully, "They're charging him with murder."

Daryl's hand froze on the hood and he turned to meet his brother's eyes, "What?"

An odd little half-smile appeared on Merle's face, "Yeah. I heard she was pregnant and he was jealous. If he couldn't have her, nobody could…you know, all that soap opera bullshit."

Daryl felt a weight suddenly lift off his shoulders that he hadn't even realized he'd been carrying, leaving him almost weak with relief.

He wasn't going to prison. Neither was Merle, at least not this time. And Merle hadn't murdered an innocent girl. That meant something.

He met his brother's eyes and Merle's smile broadened.

Daryl thought of the poor desperate girl with the pink laces in her white tennis shoes. He thought of her moment of kindness to him, whatever her reasons for it were, and finally found the words.

"Shame. She was a nice girl."

Merle didn't argue.

"Come on. Jump in, little brother."


"Damn nice car," Daryl muttered under his breath, running his fingers over the leather interior that he could feel but barely see in the growing darkness.

"Hell yeah it's nice," Merle crowed, "Oughta be, as much as it cost."

Daryl drained his beer, the first of the night from the six pack Merle had bought him, and eyed his brother.

"Uh huh. You think I ain't noticed the screwdriver sticking out of the ignition?" he raised a brow as Merle grinned over at him.

"That's a new feature on this model, Darlena," Merle cackled, slapping the steering wheel in his amusement, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."

The car roared around a corner, taking it like a champ, and Daryl just shook his head.

"Bet you can't hit the county limit sign up the road with that bottle there," Merle glanced over at him, changing the subject adeptly, "You ain't never had much of an arm on you, boy."

Daryl snorted dismissively and rolled down the window, shimmying his body out through it as Merle jeered at him from behind the wheel.

The narrow door frame bit into his ass as he perched precariously on it, fingers scrabbling for purchase on the slick roof of the Mustang. The wind whipped by his face too fast for his lungs to suck it in, taking his breath away, but he suddenly felt giddily alive. Maybe for the first time since he was a kid.

Merle swerved the car suddenly and Daryl's grip tightened on the window frame, knuckles turning white as his weight tipped backwards. He could hear his brother's laughter echoing through the car and it brought a smile to his face. That was typical Merle.

The road stretched on ahead, narrowing down to a point in the yellow glow of the headlights.

He saw the outline of the sign looming ahead and drew back his arm, aiming the bottle and letting it fly.

It hit the sign square in the middle. He could see the brown glass shattering into a thousand glittering pieces as they roared past.

Sliding back through the window, he caught a glimpse of white metal, bright in the darkness, tucked up in the shadows just behind the sign.

"Fuck, Merle. I think that was a-"

The sudden, sharp whooping a siren cut him off and even through the darkness Daryl could see the blood drain from his brother's face.