…

"Shawn."

Shawn Greene turned away from the gas pump just in time to see the bag flying through the air, right for his face. He caught the Funyuns before they made impact and Annette smiled, coming back to the car.

He hadn't needed gas, but his mom had to go to the bathroom so he figured he'd fill the tank up the rest of the way while he waited for her. She still hadn't told him where they were going; just the general direction. She hadn't even told Hershel and Maggie about where they were going. She had just come to her son that morning and told him that he needed to drive her somewhere.

He assumed it was to the library or Jo-Ann's. But no. His mom pointed to the expressway and they've been here for forty-five minutes now, taking I-20W. Still, she wouldn't tell him where they were going.

"Are you going to tell me now?" Shawn asked once they were back in the car. He turned the engine back on so the air-conditioner could be blowing, but he didn't drive away from the pump. Instead, he opened the bag of Funyuns and popped onto into his mouth.

Annette looked to her son and there was something in his mom's eyes that made Shawn stop in mid-chew. She looked a mixture of so many things – scared, hopeful, nervous. And Shawn had absolutely no idea as to why she would be feeling any of that. Where the Hell were they going?

I-20W… This would take them right into Birmingham if they kept going. It only just now dawned on him. Birmingham – and he felt like an idiot for not figuring this out forty-five minutes ago.

"Did something happen to Beth?"

He asked the question in a whisper; as if he was afraid to ask it any louder than that. Or maybe it was because the question scared the shit out of him. He hadn't said his sister's name in years now. He thought of it – and of her – but there always seemed to be some unspoken agreement among them all, especially in front of Hershel, that they weren't supposed to talk about Beth.

She had broken Hershel and Annette's hearts, leaving the way she had; choosing that dickhead over them. And yes, she had been eighteen and what eighteen-year-old didn't act irrationally from time to time? Especially when that said eighteen-year-old thought they were in love and their parents were against it? Hell, that's what teenagers thrived off of. Impulsive decisions, hormones and sticking it to their parents.

Shawn had thought it was so much worse with Beth though than if he or Maggie had done the same thing because it had been Beth. Her older siblings had loved to tease her all of the time for how perfect she was and how their parents loved her so much more than Shawn and Maggie. Beth had always been the quintessential Southern daughter – always listening to her parents, polite and kind, going to church and singing in the choir, school clubs and volunteering at the nursing home.

That was so why Beth leaving right after high school graduation with some dropout loser – even after Hershel told her that it was the them or him – had been taken so hard by all of them. Shawn knew, then and now, that it wasn't fair to Beth. No one was perfect and why would they have held her to such higher standards? But that was what they did and all of this time later, Hershel didn't want to hear her name.

Annette looked at Shawn as if deciding what she should do. She then reached down to her feet for her purse. He watched as she pulled out a manila folder and without a word, she held it out for him to take. Shawn admitted that he was terrified of taking it and seeing what was inside.

A large part of him was expecting to see a picture of his sister's dead body and he was driving his mom so they could identify her. Why Beth would be dead, he didn't know, but he had no idea what had happened to her over the past few years.

He had been tempted to go to Birmingham and track her down more times than he could count, but what was he going to do once he found her? He never had an answer? Scream at her? Drag her back to Georgia? None of that would have done any good. Everyone had been too angry and hurt and shoving them all back together wouldn't fix anything.

Finally, Shawn took the folder and set his bag of Funyuns aside. After another moment's pause, he gathered his courage and opened the folder. They were black and white photographs, but not of his dead sister's body. Of his sister, very much alive and well – at least in these photographs.

He slowly went through them, wanting to ask his mom where she had gotten them, but that didn't have to be asked right now. Right now, he was staring at his sister after five years.

The last few pictures in the collection made him stop. He lifted one of the pictures closer so he could study it. Beth and a little boy. He knew the answer – already, he knew – but he looked to his mom anyway for her to explain it to him.

"We're going to Orson, Georgia. It's a little town just at the border. Your sister and her son are there," Annette explained to him and his mom had always been like that; saying things simply and almost bluntly no matter what she was saying, but now wasn't the time for simple, in Shawn's opinion. Right now, he had about a million follow-up questions.

Shawn opened his mouth but before he could get even one of those questions out, Annette reached over and took the pictures and the folder back from him.

"I'm not sure what I want to do yet," she went on. "I think this first time, I just want to see both of them with my own eyes. I don't…" she visibly swallowed. "I don't know how she is feeling after all of this time or what she thinks of all of us. Ambushing her and George could be the absolute worst thing to do."

"George," Shawn whispered to himself. Somehow, saying it and hearing Beth's son's name, it made perfect sense to him. Beth had always loved George Gershwin and George Harrison.

Up until just this second, Shawn had forgotten that about her.

He put his seatbelt back on and got himself comfortable. "Orson?" He asked his mom. She nodded. He had never heard of it. He wanted to know how long Beth had been there and how she had found it. Two of the million questions he had. "Tell me how to get there."

…

Daryl had planned on deer, but when the wild hog crossed his path, he had taken a shot at that instead and with Merle's help, the two of them carried the heavy beast back to the trailer park. It wasn't the biggest hog Daryl had ever seen, tearing through the woods of Georgia, but it was the perfect size for everyone to eat up later that afternoon. The tables were already being set up and Gary and Greg were getting all of the grills ready. Those who had grills brought them to the large area of grass when the park had barbecues so they could cook up a lot of the meat up at the same time. They also had a massive flattop made of a sheet of steel that Gary had gotten "from somewhere". He never gave up details and they never asked because it was perfect for cookouts and if it had been stolen, it had happened so long ago, it didn't really matter.

(Daryl had to wonder though that if it had been stolen, if Gary did go to the police academy, did that mean that he would give it back?)

"A hog!" Lot Leesman was the one to see them first and the boy's excited exclamation echoed in the air.

Daryl smiled a little once he and Merle dropped it on the ground with a grunt. Kristy was there, laying down a plastic sheet and they rolled the animal onto it.

"Figured some pork sounded pretty good today," he said.

"It sounds amazing," Theresa smiled, too. "I'm going to go call Bridget. We'll need more barbecue salt and maybe some more salt." With that, she went back to her trailer.

Bridget, Beth and Ms. Mackey – with George – had gone to the store to buy paper plates, cups and plasticware. Merle had already knelt down at the pig's body and was just about to make the first cut with his knife, but he stopped when Ruth Leesman, the oldest, knelt down next to him.

"You got the stomach for this, girl?" He asked her.

"I bet my stomach's stronger than yours," Ruth quipped back. "I'm the oldest of seven and have changed too many dirty diapers to count."

Daryl grinned at that, kneeling down with them, and Merle let out a snort.

It took him and Merle about a half hour to clean the hog and cut out the sections of meat. They burned everything they didn't need or want in a barrel fire and they hosed off the blood from the plastic sheet. (They set aside the head for Theresa, who made a hog's head soup). Ruth stayed with them the entire time, Lot and Thaddeus joining them, and Daryl would smile a little to himself as one of the kids asked a question about what they were doing and Merle would answer them. He did it, growling as Merle always did, but he didn't snap at the kids to shut up. And with Merle answering their questions – as patiently as someone like Merle could – it only encouraged the kids to ask more.

"Alrigh'," Merle sheathed his hunting knife again. "'m gonna go wash up."

Daryl nodded and helping Gary and Greg, they began laying the different cuts of meat out on the grills. It would take a few hours to cook and hopefully, the others would come back with the barbecue sauce and the salt so all of the flavors could cook up just right.

"It smells amazing already," Rosita said as she crossed the grass with Coco on her hip. The baby had just woken up from her late morning nap and her black hair was a tornado on her head.

"Ever have wild hog before?" Greg asked her and Rosita shook her head.

"I'm excited though. I saw an episode of one of Gordon Ramsay's shows where he had hunted wild hog in Georgia and cooked it up. It looked amazing," she said.

"Maybe you should lower your expectations if you're expecting any of us to be Gordon Ramsay. We're a humble trailer park who cook humble barbecue," Gary said and Rosita just smiled, stepping closer to the flattop to watch some of the meat sizzling away.

"Not from what Siddiq's heard at the clinic," she said and her eyes went to Daryl. "He said no less than five patients have told him that they are always so jealous when they hear and smell that Dixon Trailer Park is having one of their cookouts. Everyone in Orson knows what's happening here today."

"Bullshit," Daryl said because he didn't know what else to say and his face felt a little pink.

He never knew what to say when someone said something nice about his trailer park.

Merle came out of the trailer, freshly showered and wearing clean clothes, and Daryl excused himself to now take his turn in the bathroom.

Not that Daryl would know, but being locked up made people keep things a little neater; with guards always checking their cells and making them keep things in order. Merle staying at the trailer with him wasn't as big of a deal as Daryl would normally think it might be. He sure as Hell might not look at it, but Merle liked to keep things in an orderly manner. The bed in his room was made, the few clothes he had were folded on the bookshelf and his dirty clothes were in the hamper. He hadn't even left his wet towel on the floor – hanging it on the proper bar on the wall in the bathroom to dry.

The only thing that would even begin to annoy Daryl was Merle kept forgetting to recycle his beer bottles and kept throwing them in the regular trashcan, but when it came to Merle, that was something so small and something Daryl could easily deal with it.

Daryl took a steaming shower, surprised that Merle hadn't used all of the hot water up, and made sure every bit of him was scrubbed clean before stepping out again. He rubbed the towel over his hair a few times and then wrapped it around his waist. Going into his bedroom, he looked out the front window and saw that Bridget, Ms. Mackey and George had returned and the kids were playing and the adults were sitting or standing together, drinking beers or sodas. Cassie had brought her I-pod and speakers and was playing music for everyone. Right now, a Van Morrison song was playing and for as many problems as that girl might have had, her taste in music wasn't one of them, in Daryl's opinion.

He tossed the towel onto his bed for the moment and tugged on a fresh pair of boxers.

He heard the front screen door open and then "Daryl?"

"Yeah!" He answered Beth without thinking about it.

He didn't think about it as he opened his dresser to get a clean tee-shirt, but then he heard nothing. He sensed her though and turning, Beth was standing in his bedroom doorway. Of course she was standing there. He had called out to her and Beth had had no idea that he was only there in his boxers. But being only in his boxers, Beth could see him; every scar that he hid on his body was now out in the open.

She began to turn away – to give him privacy – and her cheeks were tinted pink, but then she stopped herself. Daryl was about to tug the tee-shirt on over his head to hide his torso and back, but when she stopped, so did he. He didn't know what she was thinking or what she was going to do and he watched her closely as she turned back into the room.

Her eyes met his and then she began to cross the room to him. She moved slowly – so Daryl could tell her to get out if he wanted – but Daryl didn't say anything. He watched her, still not sure what she was going to do. His body tensed ever so slightly as she came to a stop in front of him, feeling too exposed, and he needed to pull that tee-shirt on over his head, but with Beth standing so close to him, he couldn't move.

Still moving slowly, Beth then lifted her hands. He didn't flinch as her fingertips touched the first scar. What was she thinking right now? Was she disappointed or disgusted that he had so many scars? Did she feel sorry for him?

Daryl already knew the answer to all of that. A simple and resounding no. Not Beth. He knew that if he showed his scars to anyone, it would be to Beth. He felt himself stop breathing when Beth's other hand came to a rest on another scar and slowly, she lifted her eyes to look into his.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm sorry," she whispered.

He shook his head. She was right. He didn't want to hear that.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you," she said and she took a step closer to him, the space just about all gone from between them. "I'm so sorry, Daryl." Her eyes were wet now and she was about to start crying. Daryl couldn't stand that idea.

His old man did this to him and that piece of shit didn't deserve any more thought. Honestly, Daryl saw his scars every day, but he didn't think about his dad anymore. And he didn't want Beth to look at his scars and think about the guy who gave them to him. Will Dixon was long dead and burning in Hell and that was exactly where he deserved to stay. People in Hell didn't deserve anymore thought.

But Beth was emotional and loving and she felt so damn much. Too damn much.

Before she could start to cry, Daryl dipped his head down and pressed his lips to hers. His hands were on her cheeks, framing her face, as he moved his lips against hers. Beth's hands remained on his chest, her skin's touch burning into his skin and it made him kiss her a little harder. Over and over again, his mouth moved against hers and when he felt Beth's tongue hesitantly touch his lips, he parted them open for her. And when the kiss deepened, they both moaned.

But Daryl was just in his boxers and that could quickly lead to something he didn't necessarily want to do when everyone was right outside and his front door was wide open for anyone to walk in.

He felt it happening and he knew Beth could feel it, too, because her lips paused over his.

"Yeah," he gently pulled his head back. "We're not gonna do this right now."

Beth smiled, her eyes no longer looking on the verge of tears and instead, they sparkled. "Right now?" She then asked.

Daryl stared at her and how pretty she looked. He still had no idea why this girl was here, kissing him; wanting to be here with him, but he sure as hell wasn't going to question it. Beth was already one of the best things to happen to him and he wasn't going to be stupid enough to ask her why she was here.

Instead, he leaned in and kissed her again. "Yeah, not right now. If you want…" he trailed off. He didn't know how to read women and he sure as Hell didn't know what they wanted.

Beth took pity on him. "I want," she whispered. "But not right now."

Daryl didn't want to admit that and he hid it, but he was relieved that they weren't going to sleep together right this second; or even any seconds soon. He knew he wasn't the best at it and he didn't want Beth to think it was going to be something amazing. He could postpone her disappointment for a while longer.

Beth smiled and took a step back. She didn't look down and kept her eyes on Daryl's. "I came in to tell you that we have a couple more hours until everything is ready and the Leesman kids wanted to know if you could put their soccer net up."

"There's a million other people out there," Daryl said, his voice muffled as he finally tugged his tee-shirt on over his head.

"I guess you're the only one who puts it up right," Beth shrugged with a smile. "And Mr. King is going to go to the liquor store with Merle because you apparently haven't bought enough beer."

Daryl frowned, taking out a pair of blue jeans to tug on. "Everyone in this trailer park has gotten too damn spoiled for me. Think I need to serve some evictions and start over."

Beth just laughed – which wasn't exactly the reaction he wanted when he made a threat – but he supposed Beth laughing was far from the worst thing in the world.

…

Thank you so, so much for reading and please take a moment to comment!