I am really not proud of this chapter, and it took some serious convincing (light threats if were being honest) from my favorite bethylers to get me to actually post this. I might go back and re edit this when I'm feeling better but right now I have a bad cold and I just. Yeah. I'm rambling. Ignore me lol.
WARNING: There is some racial commentary in this chapter. Courtesy of my second favorite Dixon, of course.
Typical merle. Love that dude though. RIP :(
This chapter was completed with the help of one of my very good friends. Her name is Moscato. And she tastes very nice. Also, I may or may not be drunk right now.
You'll never know.
A big huge giant thank you goes out to Christy/Hearts1989 for beta-ing this chapter for me, cause otherwise i don't know how the hell I would have completed this chapter, let alone corrected all of my heinous grammar mistakes. She is an angel.
Song Credit: Treacherous - Taylor Swift
Reviews and thangs make me happy. Leave me some stuff and it'll make me happy. Ya know. Stuff and thaaaaangs. Stay in the damn house, Carl. Jeeze.
Alright, anyway.
Less than 30 days till the season premiere I'm so exited I can't even handle it shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit
Love you guys, talk to ya soon!
-Stephanie
How to Save a Life
Chapter Eleven - "Two Headlights"
"Pull the fuck over." Daryl growled from the passenger seat, grinding his teeth together. The anger and rage was boiling harshly in his veins.
Merle's antics might as well have been a daily god damn routine by that point for him, and usually, Daryl just kept his mouth sealed shut and went right along with whatever the hell it was. But this time, he'd crossed the fucking line.
"Calm down, little brother!" Merle replied back with a full on laugh laced throughout his words. "Actin' like a little pussy boy over nothin'.
"Nothin'?" Daryl shook his head, grabbing his wallet off of the beaten up dashboard, shoving it in his pocket angrily; "The fuck, Merle. Do ya even got a fuckin' clue what ya done?"
Merle shrugged his shoulders, readjusting his grip on the steering wheel; "Fuckin' nigger shoulda thought twice before he stole from a Dixon." He said nonchalantly. Like he was talking about the weather.
Daryl had stood at the end of the alleyway, standing guard like always when Merle had dragged some young kid by the collar past him and down into the darkness. He'd known what had happened, at least according to Merle, anyway. Young kid just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, if you asked him. One of the guys he was hanging around allegedly 'stole his shit'. And by shit, he meant drugs.
Poor kid was merely guilty by association more than anything else.
And Daryl had expected what happened, Merle beating the shit out of the poor kid who couldn't defend himself worth a good god damn. Merle kicked him in the stomach as he curled around himself in a desperate attempt to shield his body from the blows. However, Daryl hadn't expected Merle to pull out a gun, let alone shoot the poor fucking guy in the side of his head.
"I said pull over, Merle. I'll jump out of this damn thing if ya don't." Daryl said, unbuckling the poor excuse for a seat belt and tossing it behind him blindly. "Ya got five seconds. I ain't fuckin' around."
Merle swerved the car to the side of the desolate road, becoming hostile in the blink of an eye and slamming so hard on the brakes that Daryl had just managed to brace his hands on the dash to prevent himself from being launched forward and smashing his head onto it. Due to the fact that Daryl had been so startled and caught off guard by his immediate and unforeseen reaction, he barely noticed that Merle had jumped out of the truck himself, only realizing he had done so when his own door was yanked open and he was being pulled out of the vehicle by the collar of his shirt.
"Ya listen, here. And ya listen real good, little brother." Merle growled in a low tone with a finger pointed directly at his face. He had him pinned to the side of the truck with his forearm in the blink of an eye, resting it halfway on his breastbone and halfway on his neck. Daryl swallowed hard, as best as he could as the pressure on his throat increased steadily with every word he said.
"First," he said, emphasizing the word with a rough shove that made Daryl grunt in pain at the force against him, "You's gonna shut your mouth, cause I'm tired of ya bitchin' at me like the little girl ya really are."
Merle glared at him with darkened eyes that were squinting at him so hard he was surprised he could even see. Daryl never would admit it to anyone, but never pushed Merle, at least not often. He knew his temper and he knew what he was capable of. But he didn't need to admit it to merle anyways, because Merle knew just how intimidating he was. He also knew damn well that it didn't take much to get Daryl backed into a corner far enough so that he'd listen and do whatever he said.
What Merle didn't know, though, unfortunately for him, was that the particular stunt he had pulled earlier that night had been the proverbial nail in the coffin of him aimlessly being Merle's wingman and shadow. He'd about had it with this bullshit. And he wasn't about to let himself get thrown in prison for life just because of Merle and his erratic behavior.
Daryl raised his right arm and shoved Merle away from his hold on his upper body. He faltered a little bit, whether that was because Merle was obliterated or it was because of the force of his movement, he wasn't sure. Merle glowered at his little brother, teeth clenching together hard as he watched his jaw twitch back and forth.
"You keep your fuckin' hands off'a me." Daryl seethed, walking to the back of the truck to put some space between himself and his brother.
Daryl was seeing red. Seeing nothing but the anger that was coursing through his body because he was so fed up with this kind of bullshit. Twenty three years on this earth with Merle was enough to make this a daily routine.
Merle rounded the side of the truck in an attempt to get Daryl's attention. And he said something, but truthfully, he was done listening. He hadn't even heard a word he had said.
"Am I the only one in this family that's got half a god damn brain?" He said, throwing his hands in the air at his brother. "I swear Merle. I'm fuckin' done cleanin' up after your dumb ass."
"C'mon, Daryl. You's gettin' all worked up over-"
"Don't c'mon Daryl' me!" He snapped, feeling his face heat up as it flared with anger. "We ain't kids no more, Merle. This ain't about me coverin' for you with the old man. This is some serious shit." He shoved Merle backwards again.
"What you gonna do then? Huh? Where ya gonna run off to?" Merle asked, stepping back into Daryl's space. Daryl looked down and fell silent at his words. Merle cackled again. "That's what I thought. Y'ain't got nowhere else to go, Daryl. We's all each other's ever had."
"You never were there for me, Merle. Stop actin' like you were and like you actually ever gave a shit."
"Ain't true, little brother. And ya know it."
"Don't mean you can still do stupid shit like that and expect me to pick up the pieces, Merle. Have you lost your god damn mind?"
"I ain't lost shit, Daryl!" Merle exclaimed, slamming his hand on the tailgate next to Daryl. "Don't get me started, little brother. Y'aint got a damn clue what I've done for you. You don't know how bad shit was before your ass even was born."
Daryl shook his head. "Merle." He stated, "You killed that kid, for no fuckin' reason! He didn't even have anything to do it!" He shouted. "That ain't got shit to do with me, or the old man. That shit was you."
Daryl walked to the door of the truck, yanking it open with force; "I ain't going to Riverdale or wherever the fuck you're thinkin' about going. First exit, you're dropping me off."
Merle climbed into the driver's side just as Daryl shut the door and buckled himself in, shaking his head and looking out the window.
"I'm sayin' this, and I'm only sayin' it once." Merle said quietly, not breaking his gaze from the darkness outside. "Ain't no one gonna care about you like I have 'cept me, little brother."
Daryl awoke to a knock at his hotel room door and it was loud; Unnecessarily loud for Daryl's liking.
He rolled over on the bed, his eyes locking in on the digital alarm clock beside him. It was almost 10 AM - on the day he was supposed to meet up with Beth at her album release party.
He wasn't sure why he had agreed to do it exactly; and honestly he felt pretty on edge about the whole thing. From what he understood, it was going to be a huge room full of people he didn't know. Important people, for that matter. People that were likely going to pass judgment on him as usual, and that just started to irritate him immediately.
There was another impatient knock on his hotel room door, louder this time, he noticed. Daryl forced himself out of bed with a frustrated groan, chucking the blankets off of his body and swinging his legs off of the side, ready to growl at what he assumed was housekeeping at the door. However, when he opened the heavy door quickly, he was met instead with an eager looking Glenn Rhee with a grin, stopping him in his tracks.
"Hey man." He said, pushing the door to the hotel room open and letting himself in, ducking under Daryl's arm in the process. Daryl watched him do so, rolling his eyes and rubbing a hand over his face, shutting the door behind him.
Glenn placed a bag on the table, then pulled open the tall white curtains, letting the afternoon sun brighten up the room. Daryl shielded his eyes.
"The hell ya doin' here?" He grumbled quietly, picking up the corner of the blanket that had fallen onto the floor and tossing it up onto the bed. He pointed at the bag; "and what's that?"
"Maggie sent me." He said, pulling what looked to be clothes out of the small white shopping bag. "She said, and I quote, 'If Daryl shows up tonight in a T-shirt I will strangle him, then I will strangle you.'" He mocked Maggie's demanding tone. Daryl snorted.
"I ain't wearin' no damn suit." Daryl grumbled, opening the door to the balcony a pulling a cigarette out of his pocket, "and I sure as hell ain't wearin' no tie, neither."
Glenn followed him outside to the patio just as Daryl lit up the end of his Marlboro, sucking the smoke through the filter. "I figured as much."
"When's this thing start, anyway?" He asked.
Glenn sucked in a breath, running a hand through his raven colored hair; "Around seven." He said, "But we're all supposed to be there by five at the latest."
Daryl grunted, leaning over the balcony railing on his elbow, snubbing out the end of his cigarette on it and flicking it out into the wind.
"Don't worry so much." Glenn said, clasping a hand onto his shoulder. Daryl only then realized just how obvious he was being about his discomfort about the whole thing. "It's not gonna be as bad as you think it will be."
"Just ain't my kinda people." Daryl replied quietly, staring off into the busy downtown area below. If he were being honest with himself, going to this event wasn't much of stretch from all of the other things and events he'd been doing and going to in Beth's favor. Problem was, Daryl found himself saying yes to absolutely everything that Beth wanted. He was powerless when it came to her.
"C'mon." Glenn said, breaking the silence that had formed between them and opened the door to the inside of the hotel room. "Get dressed, we gotta get goin'"
"Thought you said we ain't gotta be there "til five?"
Glenn smiled deviously, and Daryl instantly felt apprehensive.
"It's gonna take Beth hours to get ready. Maggie even longer." Glenn said, rolling his eyes when he said his wife's name. "I figure if we have to wait, we might as well go grab a drink to pass the time."
Daryl felt himself relax at his words. He liked the sound of that.
By the time 4:30 in the afternoon had rolled around, Daryl had no choice but to get up off of the barstool and follow Glenn to the car outside.
He had felt a little less apprehensive at the bar downstairs; but that feeling quickly dissipated as soon as the double doors to the event hall were opened by security a few hours later.
Inside was nothing short of a madhouse. The second the doors were even a fraction of the way open, the loud noises hit Daryl's ears instantly.
There was too much for Daryl to take jn all at once. The noise of people shouting and talking and yelling orders back and forth, the noise of equipment being moved in and set up. It was a lot to process, and Daryl knew he probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. Probably because he felt like a deer in headlights.
"Dixon!" A hand with freshly painted fingernails snapped in front of his eyes, and he jerked his head towards the direction of the woman whom it belonged to. "You okay over there?"
Maggie was standing in front of him, and he was struggling to figure out just how long she'd been standing there. She had an amused look on her face and Daryl crinkled his nose at her, knowing she was laughing at him spacing out as usual.
He was actually alright with it, considering the last interaction he'd had with Maggie the day before was less than pleasant. She was seethingly angry at not only Beth, but Daryl himself for the photos that had been all over the internet in a matter of hours. Photos of Beth tugging Daryl up the stairs of her apartment lobby by his hand. Photos that Maggie had described as 'careless and irresponsible'. But Daryl didn't really care all that much. That night in her apartment, just the two of them being together, it was more than worth listening to Maggie bitch for an hour and a half.
He nodded, shaking his head to try and collect himself. He wasn't sure if it was the Budweiser or the chaos around him making everything difficult to process. But it was probably a combination of the both of them.
"M'fine," Daryl barked out over the noise of all the commotion, looking around the large room; "Beth here yet?"
"In the back," Maggie replied, signing off on some form that was placed in front of her face by some company representative. "Want me to bring you to her?"
"Nah," he replied with a wave of his hand. "I'll find 'er."
Daryl turned on his heels to head towards the double doors leading to the back, only to be stopped by Maggie's voice again.
"Daryl!" She called, and he turned around to face her with a raised eyebrow. She reached down into her bag that was off of her shoulder and tossed him a laminated object attached to a lanyard.
"You're gonna need that." She said as he unraveled the lanyard from the laminated piece, a photo of Beth with her Epiphone was adorning the front, with the words 'Full security clearance - Dixon' on the front of it.
He nodded to Maggie and Glenn , taking off in the direction of the backstage area. He weaved back and forth through the staff and the guests and the venue workers until he was able to spot Abe, Beth's security guard.
"Daryl." Abe greeted with a nod to which he returned, eyeing the lanyard strung around Daryl's neck briefly. He reached down and swung open the double doors to the backstage area, and Daryl set off towards Beth's room at the end of the hallway.
He stopped in his tracks outside it, though. Mostly because lately it took a lot of mental preparation in order to make sure he didn't feel like a complete idiot every time he talked to her.
It wasn't always this way, it had only recently became this way after he had kissed her a few nights ago.
He hadn't planned on doing it, and honestly, he was surprised that he had done it in the first place. And besides that, he was even more surprised at how she had responded to it, kissing him with fervor and kissing him like her life had depended on it.
He often caught himself thinking about things he had no business thinking about, things like what noises she would make if he took her small pink lower lip between his teeth and pulled gently. Things like how soft her thighs would feel if he could run his fingers down the back of them and lift her up around his waist. Things that were not likely to happen, not in this life anyway.
He found it difficult now to think about anything other than the blonde, but more than anything else, he found it difficult to push the clouded thoughts out of his head. It pissed him off sometimes how much control she had over him, even though she didn't know that she did. He couldn't seem to think straight when she was within ten feet of his breathing space.
In the midst of him contemplating what he was going to say to her, and trying to push the thoughts of what he wanted to do to her out of his head, the door swung wide open and Beth stood in all her glory, make up done to perfection and her long hair curled and flowing around her shoulders.
"Hey!" She chirped, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him into the room. "I was just gonna go look for you."
Daryl smiled through his startled state, not fully knowing how on earth to form words because he was completely taken back by how beautiful she looked. She was wearing a dress with an off red skirt piece that touched her knees, a brown corset piece that hugged her curves perfectly matching her standard brown cowboy boots.
"Beth." He said quietly, reaching to grab her hand. "You look.."
"Oh my." Beth said with a giggle, "Daryl Dixon, are you blushing?" She let go of his hand to wrap her arms around his neck, stepping up on her tip toes to press her lips to his own. Snaking her tongue ever so gently past his teeth, almost innocently, and he groaned.
"I missed you." She said, pulling back and smoothing her hands over his silk dress shirt.
"It's been three days." Daryl said with a smirk on his face, reaching up and twisting one of her golden pieces of hair between his fingers. He didn't know what exactly they were to each other, but he knew that she held a special place in his heart. God only knew how he had managed to get so god damn lucky.
"I know." She said, picking up the laminated tag on the end of his lanyard and toying with it, leaning her body against his, forcing him against the wall. It was such an innocent thing from her perspective, not really knowing what she was doing, but more importantly, what it was doing to him.
"It's almost time." She said, "You gonna watch from the table, or are you gonna stay with Maggie and Glenn by the curtain?"
He knew she was talking about her performance, a mandatory thing of sorts when it came to these kinds of events, he had come to find out.
"I'll be off to the side with 'em." He said wrapping an arm over her shoulder and behind her back. "Unless you want me in the crowd?"
She leaned in, brushing her lips against the shell of his ear; "the closer the better."
Beth had been playing songs that were on her new album for the past 30 minutes for the gathering of what looked like at least two hundred people. And Daryl simply stood beside the long velvet curtain next to her family in awe.
He heard about it before, how when someone means a lot to you it ends up seeming like absolutely everything they do or say is perfect, but he never knew that he'd feel that way about anyone. Much less a girl he'd saved a few months back.
"She's great, isn't she?" Maggie had whispered during a quieter ballad in Daryl's direction. He didn't take his eyes off of her, but merely nodded in agreement. Great was treading lightly. The girl had the voice of an angel as far as he was concerned.
"I want to thank y'all for coming out tonight." Beth said towards the end of her set, and Daryl didn't miss the look she sent in his direction, a smile on her lips that he simply knew was only for him. That earned a nudge in the ribs from Glenn to which he rolled his eyes, but never once wavered from his focus on the girl on the brightly lit stage.
"I've got one more song for you tonight, one I wrote pretty recently." She said, adjusting the clip on the top of the guitar. "I hope y'all like it."
Daryl smiled at the words, and the melodic flowing of her voice, not realizing at that moment just why she was singing what she was singing, and why she was sending glances in his direction until the song picked up for the bridge. When her head turned to face him, and she sang the words directly to him. And he felt frozen.
Two headlights shine through the sleepless night
And I will get you, and get you alone
Your name has echoed through my mind
And I just think you should, think you should know
That nothing safe is worth the drive and I would
Follow you, follow you home...
I'll follow you, follow you home...
The rest of the performance was a giant blur to Daryl at least. He fought through the crowd after she exited the stage a little while later to find her, finally reaching her after what seemed like decades.
"Hey." She said softly, turning her head upwards to look at him affectionately.
"Hey yourself." He said back, not recognizing his own voice.
"You havin' a good time?" She asked innocently, running her hand up and down the shirt he wore, feeling the goose bumps break out from her touch even underneath the expensive shirt.
"That was some song." He said, ignoring her question completely. She nodded, throwing back the last sip of her alcohol from her glass, slipping her fingers through the belt loops of his dress pants and dragging him closer to her.
He raised his eyebrows at her boldness, knowing it was probably from the wine but he found that yet again, he didn't really mind.
She smiled up at him, batting her eyelashes innocently before she leaned in close to his ear, the same way she had in the dressing room.
"You wanna get outta here?"