He got a call from Hershel one day, completely out of the blue too. He didn't recognize the number that had showed up on his phone when it was pulled out of his back pocket, but he had answered it anyways out of suspicion, which was an unusual thing for Daryl. Getting the random telemarketers wanting to sell him stupid shit or upgrade something was not the way Daryl liked his day to be interrupted. But when he answered gruffly and Hershel was on the other end, the first thing he had thought about was if Beth was okay, if something had happened, and those were the first words to spill out of his mouth to the older man, who then quickly assured him that absolutely nothing was wrong with Beth and she was still in one of her college classes that day.

After that, Hershel got right to the point and asked Daryl if he would be available anytime soon to help with a few things around the barn that required another man to get the job done so that the farm could transition into the winter months that were quickly approaching. He agreed without hesitation and said he could make it over anytime Hershel needed him. So when he said that on the very day he had called would work out perfectly, Daryl also agreed on that, and an hour after work, he was headed down that pathway to the Greene's farm in his truck.

When his old truck that had several scratches and dents in it hit a few bumps in the road down to the farm, muddy water splashed up onto the side in a thick coating, those bumps that the recent rain had made larger and deeper, and Daryl made a mental note to mention it to Hershel later to get them filled in.

When he came to a stop in front of the house, Hershel was already outside waiting for him patiently, overalls and the whole outfit ready to go for the day. Once he was out of the truck, Hershel greeted him with a smile and a, "I'm glad you could make it on such short notice. I hope it wasn't any trouble."

"Wasn't any trouble," he replied truthfully. Sure, he had worked all day and had been up since five in the morning, but Daryl didn't mind. "Anythin' I can do to help, I'm here."

Hershel nodded, eyes clearly displaying a form of respect for Daryl. It was shocking to him, and without even thinking about it, Daryl ducked his head down awkwardly out of the sole reason that he wasn't sure why he felt good about being there at the farm with Beth's dad and how he looked at him with this look like he knew exactly who he was but decided, like Beth did, that he was a good person despite all the numerous flaws and shitty backstory.

Sometimes he didn't get it, didn't understand the logic of it all.

But sometimes that just didn't fucking matter.

His thoughts all got jumbled once at the barn doors and the noise of them being pulled back brought Daryl out of the other world he had been in.

The barn had an interesting character to it, wooden beams strong but worn in color, a few discolorations from the rain water getting in and dripping down the sides where it dried. The hayloft was big and wrapped around the upper part, hay stored up there and also along the bottom part. Large farm tools hung on the walls, some now already collecting dust. It was darker in there too, only a few places letting in sunlight, but some cracks between the structures outer part allowed in more light.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. It triggered the memory of Beth saying her and Maggie would bring books out there in the summer and lay in the hayloft and read until Annette came calling for dinner.

And the barn was where most of the work needed to be done, he was told when Hershel said he hoped Daryl was ready for this, given that Daryl's lack of experience on farms. But with a pitchfork in hand, he got to it, even though he had never worked on a farm a day in his life. But with Hershel's directions, he managed it and found that his muscles were being put to good use.

However, he could only imagine how he looked, especially while using that pitchfork for part of the time. But really, he was grateful Hershel hadn't further insisted on his own set of black suspenders. Daryl would have never recovered from that.

It was probably about two hours later that they stopped after moving some heavy equipment from the far part of the farm fields and into the barn, Daryl wiping his brow free of more sweat that had built up through the strenuous labor. He had never realized how much work running a farm took. "That should do it for now," claimed Hershel, stretching out his torso and placing a hand on his lower back in the process. "My bones 'll start to ache soon if I don't stop. I'm not as young as I'd like to think I am," he added with a chuckle, smoothing his white hair back into place.

Daryl twisted around to survey the area. "I can keep goin'," he offered, seeing that there was still remaining small jobs to be done around the barn.

Hershel chuckled again and shook his head, waving at Daryl to stop for the day. "No, no. Today's work is done." He put up one finger and tapped it to his head. "A man needs to know his limits."

It was a good point so Daryl didn't dare argue with it. Stopping was the knowledgeable choice.

"Come along this way," instructed Hershel, headed back for the two doors of the barn. "I have to show you something I've got a feelin' you might like to see."

Daryl walked on through the stray pieces of hay on the solid barn floor to where Hershel had moved to, which was in a place standing in the open doorway, hands placed firmly on his hips, front facing the outside. He strolled up next to him slowly and saw what it was that Hershel was looking at.

The view itself was enough to make any person stop dead in their tracks and take a second glance. Colors of red and yellow were splashed together across the sky, melting into each other, reflecting light off the clouds. The farm was on the perfect patch of land if you asked Daryl. It was quiet, peaceful, and acres could be seen at a time. Nothing but nature. All that could be heard was the rustling of the leaves on the ground as they tumbled past. It was things like that in which Daryl appreciated. He was a very nature oriented kind of person. Sounded cheesy but he saw the beauty in things that others were too busy to notice.

"Tell me about yourself, Daryl," Hershel interrupted the silence, glancing up at the sky. "Beth had lots to say but I would like to hear it from you personally. You're a rather quiet fellow."

It was one of those moments where he was just scrambling to find something worth sharing. "About myself?" he mumbled, trying to make a good effort in retrieving something worthy.

Hershel must have noticed. "Beth said you have an older brother," he helped him along, noticing the struggle it was for Daryl. But the subject brought up wasn't a particularly relieving one for him. Just more memories he'd rather run from.

"My brother and I don't have the best relationship," he explained, basically sugarcoating what he and Merle had, and instantly regretted having said anything about the nature of the relationship, if that was even what it could be called. All that it did was open up the dark cracks in his exterior for Hershel to see in and see how wrong Daryl could be for Hershel's daughter. If he were Hershel, he'd sure as hell be skeptical of Daryl's shady past and relationships. "Never really did."

Hershel pondered what he had said for a few moments which the silence was deafening to Daryl, who awaited some sort of response as he bit at his nails despite the dirt that was layered in them.

"He was a disappointment to you."

It was worded so bluntly that Daryl took a second to choke out the response to what was really a statement and not a question. "Yeah," he confirmed, rubbing a palm against the back of his neck. "You could say that."

He fought back the urge to tell him the details of why Merle had ended up with the thick label of a disappointment to Daryl, a label that was clearly marked and stamped in red, one that was permanent. See, opening up wasn't his strong suit so knowing when and when not to say something was a battle for him, a constant question mark. Hershel would have been understanding, Daryl thought, maybe. But Hershel didn't ask about the details from the past so Daryl offer them up on a golden plate and hand them over like a prize. However, he assumed that Hershel didn't need to know the causes behind Daryl's lack of affection for the older brother, he just knew that something went down for him to feel that way and that was enough.

"Yeah," Daryl slurred again, reiterating because he can finally say the following words out loud, even if they were filled with spite and a side of anger. "Merle ain't anythin' but a disappointment and a lousy brother."

"That may change one day."

Daryl considered it, but ultimately denied it after making a face. "That ain't ever gonna change."

"Never say never. That is what my mother, god bless her soul, used to tell me when I was just a young boy, and that was a long, long time ago," he chuckled. "Things change, people change. You see, Daryl, the world around us is constantly evolving. There is no stopping it. And in order to keep up with it, we must change, adapt to what's new. Change is inevitable."

Daryl used the back of his forearm to wipe the rest of the accumulated sweat from his forehead that had collected from heavy lifting, stumped as to what to think or even to say.

"You know, my father was one abusive son of a bitch," Hershel said, shocking Daryl, not only by the language used, but because of the confession. A level of caution returned to him because of the subject, his own memories coming back. "Left this all behind because of it. " He motioned out to the fields. "Left all this behind and didn't look back. Couldn't. Not even once and not even when my father was on his death bed. He didn't deserve to see me again, not after all that had happened. There are some fathers in this world that are not deserving of a son's love or their care."

It felt like he was speaking directly to Daryl, but he knew better than to think that Beth had disclosed that information about himself to any of her family members.

Hershel was to the side of him but looking directly at Daryl when he spoke again. "You try to hide it, but I could tell what had happened to you the moment you walked in. You and I are more alike in that way than I'm sure we'd wish to be."

It was only then that Daryl looked over at Hershel and saw a very different man. Sure, he looked the same with his white beard and kind eyes, but Daryl imagined him younger, more afraid and unable to protect himself, just as Daryl had been.

He got away from it though, escaped the torment, Daryl had the fleeting thought. Walked away and put it behind him.

Why had he never had the courage to do that with his own father?

A strong hand then landed on his shoulder, offering support, and Daryl thought that his facial expression must have gave away his thoughts. "I've learned a lot in my many years and one of the most important lessons I've come by is that you can't let the past define who you are, not completely. It's part of you, but it doesn't rule your life. You can't let it. Remember that."

The overwhelming sensation of belonging and clarity struck Daryl like a bolt of lightning hitting a stray tree in a field of dead grass. It was strong, came out of nowhere, yet was exactly what he had been searching for his whole life and didn't quite know it. There was this understanding that the two men shared.

Hershel's hand remained there in place on his shoulder. Daryl tilted his heat to the right to look at the strong grasp that seemed to be telling him that everything was going to be alright.

In the distance, the sun was setting and disappearing below the horizon altogether. Leaves that had turned brown were falling from the trees that protectively guarded the farm, falling delicately until placing on the ground, where they would remain until the disintegrated into the soil again. Blades of tall grass were swaying in the fields, brushing up against the barn.

"I hope that one day Beth will move back here," Hershel confided in Daryl after some moments of silence had passed. "When I'm gone of course," he then laughed. "Her and Maggie managing the farm, taking care of Annette. That Glenn boy here too. I have a feeling he'll stick around long enough."

"I think you've still got some years in you," Daryl mentioned.

"That may be true…but when my time is up," Hershel started again, a new, stronger tone to his voice. It didn't have that same cheerful sound to it, not this time, indicating a more serious topic they ventured into. "You have to make sure my Bethy isn't sad for too long now. Because, you know, you'll still be around by then too."

The confidence that came through will the statement made Daryl look over, hand placing itself onto the length the barn door next to him so he could lean on it and support himself. "How do you know?"

He was quick to come up with an answer. Hershel offered a grin and said, "Old man's wisdom, I suppose."

Daryl offered up a smirk back, accepting the answer, and rubbing some dirt off his hands and watching it fall to the ground below where he let his foot dig up some holes into the ground. Again, he got an overwhelming, good feeling from being told that Hershel thought that he was going to stick around, living his life with Beth.

He wanted that.

So much.

So much that it hurt. The idea of life without her now was Daryl's personal hell—something that he did think about here and there, whether Beth would ever get tired of him. He would stare at the ceiling in his room for a couple hours at a time and think—obsess—over the idea of her leaving, figuring out that he wasn't the right guy for her and that there was someone who was better suited to make her happy.

Daryl took things a little too far sometimes, obviously. He understood that about himself. But what Hershel said resonated with him.

He could see it for the first time, the possibility of a life there on the farm with Beth. He realized then that it might be something that never left him.

"There is a family motto that I use," Hershel continued, waving for Daryl to walk alongside of him as they cut through the grass and towards the dirt path that led to the house. "Treat my girls right and there aren't any problems by me. If they're happy, then I'm happy. It's quite simple, you see? My girls mean everything to me."

He got the message loud and clear: do right by Beth. Or else.

Lucky for him, Daryl already intended to do just that, no matter what, so he nodded along with what was being said.

He also admired that Hershel was protective of Beth, but at the same time trusted her to make decisions for herself, trusting her judgment, even when it came to Daryl.

Daryl never had realized how much a father could care for his children, and though he had never personally felt the love a parent should give, he knew that Hershel got it right and both Maggie and Beth were lucky to have him. And also Shawn, who Daryl had yet to meet but heard updates about whenever new information came to the family.

"Beth has always been a dreamer," Hershel sighed as they came around the back of the house and by the set of matching white chairs that looked out the back way towards the trees. He halted, bending over to pull away some of the dead flowers out of the mulch so new ones could grow next season. "She never gives up on anything or anyone. She puts one hundred percent into all relationships. And she sees something in you. I've never seen her happier to be quite honest."

Daryl kneeled down next to Hershel into the mulch that lined around the house and began to help him peel away the dead layers of summer flowers and plants that had browned and flattened against the soil. It wasn't like he was afraid of getting a little smudge of dirt on his pants. Practically everything he owned had some kind of stain on it.

"I'm happier with her," Daryl admitted to, feeling as if it was the right thing to say.

Hershel continued to pick away the flowers. "Then promise me right here and right now, on my farm, that you'll always take care of her, especially when I'm gone."

He tried not to cringe at the thought of Hershel in a grave somewhere and he wasn't sure if he succeeded in hiding it, but he still managed to nod his head and say, "I promise."

There were very few promises he had made in his life, but this one Daryl would keep until his last breath.

"You're a man of your word, Daryl," Hershel acknowledged. "Thank you. I needed to hear that."

It was really Daryl who should be thanking Hershel, and for so many things. For beginning to incorporate him into his family, for accepting him, for the blessing on the relationship with his youngest daughter.

"I'm getting up there in age. Things could go wrong at any time and I want to make sure that my girls will all be taken care of. Not that they can't take care of themselves, I'm not sayin' that." He pointed up to the house. "Strong women were brought up in this home. But as a father, I need to know that a worthy man will be there along the way to love and care for my daughters the way they deserve to be. Lucky for me that you seem up to the challenge of that with Beth."

The moment got interrupted when Annette, with her hair fizzy in a bun on top of her head, a stained apron, and red oven mittens still on her hands threw open the back screen door and gave a welcoming smile to both men in the back as she walked out onto the porch in bare feet. "Are you forcing him to do your gardening now?" she lightly accused with a laugh to her husband.

"Just a quick stop on the way back inside, dear."

They got up from the ground and dusted themselves off. "I should get goin'," Daryl added. "I got a bit of a drive back and it's getting dark."

"Oh, stay for dinner," Annette insisted.

"Oh no, I can't," Daryl explained, turning down the nice offer. "But thank you."

Annette looked disappointed but Daryl, after all, was uncomfortable with the idea of eating dinner alone with Hershel and Annette without Beth there with him. But there was also another reason, a furry reason that remained back at home waiting. "The dog don't like it when I'm away too long," he shrugged.

Hershel waved him off. "Then you best get going. Thank you for your time, Daryl."

"Come again anytime!" Annette enthusiastically added in before Daryl was headed away.

—

Over the sound of the engine, Daryl got to thinking about his time there when he was driving down the dirt road away from the farm and onto the solid paved road when he finally got the feeling that Hershel never really needed him to help out on the farm in the first place and it was never the reason why he called him out here, but instead just wanted and excuse to get Daryl over there to talk alone.

Things change, people change.

But the man's words buzzed around in his head the whole ride home. Daryl couldn't disagree, not when he himself had changed in ways ever since meeting Beth. But he wasn't too sure that the whole concept of people changing could ever apply to his brother, not after all the shit Daryl had seen and had been through with his older brother. There was too much.

It wasn't the only thing that stuck out in his mind though, the other words, the more meaningful ones are louder in his head on the ride home.

You can't let the past define who you are.