There seriously isn't a number high enough to thank all of you for the response and support you have shown with this story. I can only say thank you so, so much and I hope you all know how much it means to me.

…

Part Three.

There is something about Evergreen, Georgia. Maggie used to find their small town absolutely stifling and couldn't wait to go away to college. It had surprised everyone when she graduated and came back home to stay.

But Beth has always loved living in a small town. She doesn't like the small town gossip but she loves knowing almost everyone and exchanging smiles and hellos when she walks down the sidewalk. She loves the feeling that comes with it. She has never been able to explain it but she loves the feel she gets when she wakes up and feels the sun on her face and hears the birds singing and there are no other noises than that. In the small town, she feels like they're the only place in the world.

She has been in Evergreen for over a week now and has handed Axel and Oscar another eighty-five dollars for five more days to keep her room at the motel. She certainly doesn't have that many expenses. Being the only waitress at the Tree Top for the dinner crowd is certainly nice and all she needs to buy really is food. She no longer drives her car, not really needing to since Evergreen is so small, and it's not like she has utility bills to pay.

She talks with Maggie and Maggie finally must be feeling brave enough because she asks if Beth is going to be staying there. Beth waits for only a moment before she smiles a little. All she can say is that things are going pretty well for her here.

…

Daryl comes in every night. Usually around nine and Beth wonders what he is doing that he can't come until such a late hour when they are so close to closing for the night. But she doesn't ask because she doesn't ask him anything except what he would like to eat and drink. She makes sure she never forgets him to ask what he wants to drink ever again.

And he doesn't speak to her either except to grunt out his order. Sometimes, when he needs a refill, he'll just lift his glass and shake it back and forth, the ice clinking from side to side, and she goes to get it, filling it with more Coke and then bringing it back to him, all without either of them ever exchanging a word with one another.

He still leaves her tips but he never stays for change and she never takes them, always putting all of the money into the cash register.

…

She can't explain it but like Evergreen, there's something about Daryl Dixon, too. As she keeps staying in room two, he is still staying in room six. Sometimes, she will see him sitting outside, smoking a cigarette or just sitting and not doing anything and he seems as if he's in deep thought but she never approaches him.

She still feels flutters in her stomach every time she's near him and she is still convinced that she has never heard a voice better and every time he speaks, she still gets those damn goosebumps fleshing across her skin but the truth is, he makes her nervous. It isn't because Axel had said he is the worst news. Even if she thinks he is an incredibly rude person, she doesn't believe for a second that he is a bad man.

But still, when he stares at her, his face is blank and she has no idea what he's thinking and it makes her nervous because she knows if he actually does say something to her, she won't be prepared. One thing about him that she does know is he doesn't seem to like her. She isn't entirely sure what she did to him except forget his drink order her first night at the diner but she feels that didn't warrant the comments he had made about her to Martinez or the way he always seems to be scowling whenever she is near.

Beth has always hated the idea of someone disliking her or even hating her. She has always been the sort of person who just needed everyone to like her if not love her. Her dad had said she had to stop trying to be a people pleaser but she had never been able to help it. She didn't see what was ever wrong with wanting to be liked.

But with Daryl clearly disliking her so much, she tells herself that for the first time, it's okay that someone can't stand her.

Can't win them all and she thinks of this quote by Dita von Teese that she always loved. You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches. She tells herself that Daryl hates peaches.

That's what she tells herself anyway.

…

Lori invites her to a Sunday afternoon barbecue and Beth is only too eager to go. She has spent a little bit of time with Lori Grimes since meeting her and she has grown to really like her; maybe even consider her somewhat a friend even though they are still getting to know one another.

She shows up to the Grimes' house with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of sunflowers that she had gotten at the grocery store – but she won't tell Lori that – because she knows that sunflowers are Lori's favorite and Lori answers the door with a bright smile on her face and she exhales a soft sigh of relief.

"You came," she says and steps aside so Beth can enter the house.

"Was I not supposed to?" Beth laughs. "Got the night off and everything."

They both know that isn't true. The Tree Top café is closed on Sundays because even though T-Dog knows how much money he would be able to make from Sunday breakfasts, he is also a deeply religious man and is at his church the whole day and doesn't believe that any of his employees should work on the Lord's Day. Her daddy probably would have really liked T-Dog.

"No, no," Lori smiles. "I knew you would come. I just was worried especially since I felt like I had maybe bullied you into coming."

Beth smiles and shakes her head. "You didn't bully. You were firm," she says and Lori laughs. "And I don't have a kitchen at that moment so I couldn't bring anything. I miss baking," she then admits.

Lori takes the wine and flowers. "You did not have to bring anything, Beth."

"It is rude to show up to someone's house empty handed," Beth recites what her mother always used to say and Lori smiles.

"Well, thank you so much. And anytime you want to bake, you come and can use my kitchen and make anything you want. Trust my. Rick and my kids will love you," Lori says and Beth laughs and knows that Lori truly means it. "Come on. I'll take you to the back and you can meet everyone here."

Beth follows Lori through the home, into the kitchen and through the back patio door. She recognizes Lori's husband, Rick, the Sherriff. He has been in the diner a few times during her shift, always taking his dinner meal with Daryl. It had surprised her the first time it happened just because of what Axel had said but if the Sherriff was friendly with Daryl, honestly, how bad could the person be?

And knowing of their friendship, that isn't why she's surprised when she sees Rick standing at the grill on the back deck and Daryl is standing next to him.

Apparently, she can't get away from him.

…

Lori's best friend, Andrea, and Rick's best friend and partner, Shane, are both there as well and apparently, this whole barbecue is a ruse to set the two of them up. Lori whispers it to Beth as she and Beth go to the cooler for a drink.

"Shane sleeps around a lot but so does Andrea, to be honest," Lori tells her. "Rick and I think they should just sleep together. They have more in common than you would expect. Hopefully, they realize that."

Beth nods and won't comment on how she has felt Shane's eyes scanning her body up and down and lingering on her breasts and ass ever since she got here. The whole thing makes her uncomfortable and she is sure to keep her distance from him.

And occasionally, she will look over to Daryl to see him looking at her, too, his jaw always clenched and his face constantly in that pissed off scowl that she hates and she frowns back at him. She wants to walk up to him and ask him what his problem is with her but she knows that even if she does, he'll just keep scowling and not answer. So she keeps her distance from him, too, and reminds herself that she doesn't care and Daryl Dixon can just keep glaring at her if he wants to.

…

Judith Grimes is the most adorable baby she has ever seen and she seems to take an immediate liking to Beth from the first instant she picks the baby girl up. Lori warns her that Juju can be a bit cranky when she wakes up from her nap and she is more than a little surprise when Beth lifts her from the crib and Judith does nothing but smile. After that, the only time she is fussy is when Beth tries to set her down again.

Rick has grilled hamburgers and chicken breasts and they all sit down at the picnic table, Judith insisting on sitting in Beth's lap, and someone, Daryl has wound up sitting next to her as Rick and Lori have pushed Shane and Andrea to sit next to each other in what they thought was a subtle move.

Beth ignores the slight tugging in her stomach with Daryl sitting right beside her and his arm brushing past her on occasion. Seriously. Doesn't this man have any shirts with the sleeves still on them?

"You sure you wanna eat this, Dixon?" Shane says from across the table. "You didn't actually kill anything on this table did you? Didn't think you would eat anything if you didn't put a bolt through it first."

"Chicken's a lil' dry," is all Daryl says.

Rick smirks and shakes his head. He then looks to Shane. "Daryl brought over the deer meat that I bought half of from him but we're saving that for another occasion," he says.

"You hunt?" Beth hears herself ask before she can stop herself.

Daryl doesn't answer. He just keeps chewing his food and gives his head a slight nod.

"Everyone knows Daryl's the best hunter and tracker in the county," Andrea speaks up. "If you ever get lost in the woods, you won't really ever be lost with Daryl on your trail," she says.

Beth feels a little surprised but she's not really sure why because hearing that Daryl is a hunter and a tracker, it just makes perfect sense.

"I've never tried deer," Beth then says.

That starts a conversation between Rick, Lori, Shane and Andrea about some of the best deer they've ever had and Shane starts telling his own hunting stories and Beth sits there and notices that Lori is laughing a little too much at what Shane is saying and she notices that Andrea's eyes keep resting on Daryl and lingering on him. She notices these things and wonders if she is the only one to.

Judith wiggles on her lap then and smacks her hands on the table, giggling to herself in baby talk, and Beth is grateful to her for the distraction.

…

At the end of the evening, she hugs Judith tightly and the baby grips on the braid in her hair until Rick gently detaches her fingers and pulls his daughter into his arms. Lori gives her a hug and Beth smiles at Carl Grimes, their oldest, promising the boy a scoop of ice cream if he comes to visit her in the café. She pretends not to notice his blush.

She parts them all good night and steps into the warm dark night and hears the front door close behind her.

"Need a ride?" Daryl grunts behind her, startling her.

"It's not a long walk," she shakes her head and she won't tell him that riding on the back of his motorcycle is terrifying since she has never been on one. She looks at the bike now he has parked in the driveway and she suddenly remembers that she has moved away from home on a whim so she can start over and maybe try new things.

She looks at Daryl climbing onto his bike and she isn't sure why he offered but she knows that the second he rides off, she is going to regret turning his offer down.

"Yes!" She calls out to him and he looks at her as she hurries over. "Yes," she says again, nodding her head.

"Get on then," he said and jerks his head to signal to her to climb on behind him.

Beth hesitates for only a moment before she climbs onto the bike, sitting close behind him but making sure she's not that close. She waits but he doesn't turn on the bike and she starts to feel herself begin to frown, wondering what's wrong.

"You gotta hold on," he then says as if reading her mind. "Don't want you flyin' off."

"Oh!" She laughs a little at herself, embarrassed, and her cheeks flush when she realizes what she has to do.

Slowly, her arms slip around his waist and her heart is pounding in her chest as she feels his hard body beneath her grip. And the second he feels her arms, he takes off with a roar and she is convinced that she can feel him smirking when she shrieks.

…

She wants to ask Daryl about Shane because there had seemed to be some tension between them and she wants to ask him about if anything has ever happened between him and Andrea because she was looking at him like maybe there had been, but she doesn't ask him a thing. It definitely isn't her business.

When he comes into the diner the next night, she just asks him what he wants to eat and if he wants his usual Coke.

…

She has just gotten out of the shower when there is a knock on her door. She wraps the towel around herself and squeezes the access of water from her hair into the tub and she hurries from the bathroom, assuming it's just Oscar or Axel for one thing or another. They both like to check up on her though Axel is the only one who has come right out and said that that's what he is doing while Oscar just grunts and says they never get girls staying by themselves in the motel and he doesn't want people to think it's not a safe place.

But when she opens the door, she sees that it's Daryl. He looks surprised for a moment, staring at her with his mouth slightly hanging open, and she remembers that she is standing there, dripping wet and only wearing a towel. She feels her entire body explode in a blush and she tightens the towel around herself.

"Here," he thrusts something into her hands – a plastic container – and he will no longer look at her.

She looks at him curiously for a moment and then down at the container. She lifts the corner of the lid and is hit with such a savory aroma, seeing a few pieces of smoked meat inside. "What is this?" She asks, almost closing her eyes as she is hit with the delicious scent.

"Deer," he answers in his usual grunt and without another word, he turns and walks away and she only thinks of thanking him when he is already long gone.

…

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