Sweet Georgia Belle:
Peaches and Cream
Chapter 3
[Freed]

She was so naïve to believe that Jeff would be able to spend his money wisely—that she was safe to go out into the public for even a short while. She would've never accepted Karen's offer to spend the rest of the day with her and her son after breakfast had she been more careful. Maybe if she did refuse, maybe then, they would be safe and sound in Karen's apartment.

Like her, Karen started out in prostitution when she was barely of legal age. Like her, she was brutalized by her boyfriend and whatever men he brought home at the time. But unlike her, Karen was rescued by Joshua's dad—Tyreese. Unlike her, Karen was able to get out of the shitty situation when they got married six months ago. Unlike Karen, Beth believed she was going to either die as prostitute or beaten to death for trying to escape.

That is, until she saw him again.

Beth recognized him the moment her eyes fell upon his form. There was no mistaking the cold steel blue color of his eyes, his rustic dark brown hair and his deep baritone voice. For the second time this week, he saved her from Jeff's brutality. For the second time this week, she felt as if maybe, just maybe she can leave this life of hers behind.

"Di… Dixon," her soft stutter echoed in the clearing.

His eyes never broke contact with hers as he made his way over to her on the dirty concrete floor. There was something in his eyes she couldn't read though he seemed tense and rigid.

"You okay?" he crouched in front of her, his knee pressing against the concrete floor.

"Mhm…" she managed to reply, nodding her head stiffly. Truth be told, her back and arms ached. She has had worse beatings than this, but having wooden chairs tossed at her back was no walk in the park either. "I'll survive," she supplied, her voice wavering as she tried to ease herself into a standing position.

"Beth, I'm taking you to the hospital." She felt Karen's trembling hand on her shoulder, preventing her from getting up.

"No, no hospital. I'll be okay," Beth countered, her eyes still glued to his.

"She's right, princess. All of y'all need to go to the hospital after that shit. You okay, ma'am?" Another man walked up behind Daryl, and shrugged off his leather jacket and handed it over to Karen. "Name's Merle, this here nice fellar's big bro," he gave her a large grin before slapping his brother on the back.

Normally, Beth would scowl at the term 'Princess' but she hardly had the time to respond. Before she knew it, the sound of a gun reloading echoed behind the two men who rescued her, Karen and her son.

"You got some friends now, huh, Beth?"

She froze on the floor, thoughts of regret for these good men dying because of her. Knowing Jeff, he wouldn't bash an eye at murdering someone—not to mention that these men pulverized him, twice by one man.

The man, her last customer, Daryl raised his arms to the sides of his head, his voice firm and convincing he called to Jeff. "Easy there, pal. You don't want to do that," he said, slowly rising to his feet and turning around to face Jeff.

"Oh, lookie here. Sugar, isn't this that guy who fucked you last week? What are you doing here now, boy? Looking for a second go at my bitch?"

God, she wanted to smack that nasty smirk off of his bruised face. It didn't matter that she was stuck in this situation. What mattered to her was that he dragged two innocent people into this clearing and ordered his goonies to attack them too. An innocent woman and child. Her friends. It didn't matter that she was beaten by him nearly every week, what mattered was that he was aiming a gun at the only man who defended her dignity in over a year.

She wasn't going to let Daryl and his brother get killed because of her. She wouldn't be able to bear the guilt—it would kill whatever sanity she has left. "Jeff, leave them alone. You want me… I'll go with you… just don't hurt them," she didn't know how she managed to stand on her feet, but she did—unsteadily. She placed a bloody hand on Daryl's shoulder and slipped past him, shielding his body with hers.

"Put the gun down, Jeff… I'll go with you… don't hurt them… please," Beth bit back the sob that nearly slipped from her lips. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, threatening to fall any second now. "Please…"

"Shut the hell up, bitch!" Jeff sneered, alternating the gun point between her and Daryl's head. "Get your slutty ass over here, NOW!" He bellowed, pointing the gun to the ground right beside him before turning it back on her. "Before I kill everyone here!" His eye twinkled with a certain malicious gleam that she knew, would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

Beth took an unsteady step towards Jeff, thinking that today will be her last day on earth.

"Don't go," she heard Daryl whisper behind her, his calloused hand wrapping around her wrist.

"I have to," she turned to face him, her tears now falling freely from her eyes. "I can't get you guys killed. I can't live knowing I killed my best friend and," her voice cracked causing her to inhale sharply. "And you…"

"There are other ways to handle this… do you trust me?"

Beth stared at him through her blurred vision. Could she trust him? He hadn't given her any reason to not to trust him. What was he planning though… could she trust the validity of his plan? She continued to stare into his eyes, shining with determination and confidence. Still, she was hesitant.

"What the fuck are you doing? Get your ass over here now!" Jeff bellowed at Beth, taking an angry step towards them.

Above Daryl's shoulders, she could see Karen's petrified face, carrying Joshua, peeping from behind Merle's protective body. Even her best friend and Bubba had to rely on the protection of a stranger because of her. All because of her. She returned her gaze to Daryl's face and shook her head, "It doesn't matter… I have to go."

She was half way from turning fully around and taking another step towards Jeff when Daryl's grip on her wrist tightened, and jerked her back to him.

"Just trust me. Alright?"

She felt his eyes burn his way into her soul, looking for that tiny shred of trust that she needed to put in him. Could she trust him? Maybe… she could trust him with her life only, but not the lives of Karen and Bubba. Could she really? Again, he didn't do anything for her to not trust him… so she nodded.

"Yes… I'll trust you," she whispered, her eyes never leaving his. She saw him nod and allowed him to pull her behind him, shielding her with his own body.

"I got a deal for you," Daryl began, reaching into inner suit pocket. "How much?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? Just give me that bitch before I lay one in your head," Jeff snarled, jerking the gun angrily at Daryl's direction.

"She ain't going with you, so let's strike a deal. Right here, right now," he pulled out a checkbook, flipped a few pages and clicked his pen to expose the ink tip.

She could feel the blood in her body slowly freeze. Was this man going to offer money to Jeff? As if it'll solve this situation? How was she going to return money? Was she just being transferred from one evil to another?

"How much you offering?" Jeff nodded at the checkbook, his anger dying down a little.

"How much are you asking for?" Daryl countered, his voice never wavering.

"Five big ones. Thousand. Five thousand," Jeff jeered, possibly thinking that Daryl would never give him that much money for a prostitute.

"Ten thousand, and you leave Beth, this woman and her child alone. Us. Forever," Daryl demanded, pointing his pen at Jeff, he continued. "If I ever, find you harassing these people again I will make sure you get locked up in prison for life. You understand, me boy?"

"No, no! You can't do give him that much money. That's insane!" Beth cried, pulling at Daryl's arm for his attention. She was torn—she wanted her freedom from Jeff and his goonies but knowing that she'll owe her life to another man… it felt as if her life is a never-ending, vicious cycle. "Don't do this, Dixon. It's not… I'm not worth ten thousand dollars," she begged.

He was ignoring her up until she mentioned her worth. He turned abruptly to face her; his hand with the pen gripped her wrist. He lowered his head down until he was a few mere inches away from touching their noses together—his eyes piercing into hers.

"You," he began in a harsh whisper, "you, your life is worth far more than any amount of money. Don't ever say you aren't worthy to live a free life."

Beth shook her head in self-doubt and disbelief, large tears cascading down her eyes. Her lips parted to tell him that it wasn't necessary, that she could handle herself but her words failed her. She watched mutedly as Daryl scribbled on his checkbook and tore out the piece of paper worth ten thousand dollars.

Jeff lowered his gun and headed towards them with an arrogant smug, "You sure, bud? She's really worth ten big ones to ya?"

Daryl held out the check, wedged between his index and middle finger. "You better write your name on there too. Oh and you best believe if you try to shoot any of us as we're leaving, you won't get a speck of dust from me even if you have this check. Got it?"

"Alright, bud. Whatever you say, man. You can have her," Jeff snickered and pulled the check from Daryl's fingers. "I'm sure am glad I got rid of this bitch, she ain't that good of a money maker anyway." He walked past Daryl and stopped besides Beth, looking at her. "Well, sugar. It's been one helluva ride. Been nice knowing ya," he rubbed a finger against her cheek, when she flinched he laughed and strolled into the alleyway as if he was strolling through the park.

Beth could hardly believe that was the last of Jeff. A part of her knew that the moment he was done with the ten thousand dollars, he would be back to harassing her or worse… Daryl. She felt numb—cold to her core. She didn't know what else to think other than the fact that she had been transferred to Daryl. What was he going to do with her? Should she go to the police and admit the whole thing? Wouldn't that put Daryl in a sticky situation as well?

While she was going through all the possibilities and worse case scenarios in her head, she felt Daryl's hand around her wrist again, pulling at her. Blindly, she followed.

"Bethany?" Karen's voice called out to her in concern.

Beth stopped walking to turn to face her, "I'll be okay Karen… I'll call you later… okay?"

"Are you sure?"

It was obvious that Karen worries for her, especially since she witnessed what Daryl and his brother could do, and she didn't know either one of them. Beth, however, didn't want to put anymore burden on Karen. If she stayed with her, there was a chance Jeff may come back and harm her and Bubba. "Yeah, Karen. I love you and I'll be okay. I'm sorry… for what happened to you and Joshua. I'll see you later, okay Bubba?" The young toddler in his mother's arms gave her a watery nod.

"Merle, can you take her and her son to the hospital to get them checked out?"

Beth turned to Daryl with a confused, curious frown. Why was he so generous and kind? Without giving her an answer or waiting for one from Merle, Beth allowed him to lead her to his car. He opened the passenger side door for her, but she was apprehensive to get in.

"Go on, we've got to get you cleaned up."

Beth shook her head, "I don't want to go to the hospital…"

She watched him sigh, dropping his head for a brief second before he looked up again. He walked around the car door and placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle push.

"We ain't going to the hospital, alright? We're just going to get you cleaned up."

After a moment of hesitating, Beth finally consented and eased herself onto the passenger seat. Daryl slammed her door shut before going around the front of the car to get into the driver's side. He was about to buckle his seatbelt when he glanced up at her. Without a warning, he closed the distance between them and reached over her shoulder, grabbing the seatbelt strap from behind her.

Beth sucked in a sharp breath, turning her head to avoid facing him so close. She didn't say a word when he buckled her seatbelt for her, and then his own before starting the engine and driving away. She said she said she'll trust him—so she shouldn't doubt his intentions.

She once believed there were good men out in the world before this mess she got herself into. After giving up on her pride… her life and allowing herself be a prostitute, she believed that no men out there were good. She believed that all men were dirty, perverted assholes only looking to satisfy their own greedy needs and not anyone else's.

And now… now… this man called Daryl Dixon and his brother saved her. He freed her… for now. Maybe forever. This thought alone comforted her. Gone are the days of selling her body to continue living. Gone are the nights of lying awake in pain from the beatings. Those days were behind her now, and hopefully forever.

Knowing that, Beth was lulled asleep in her seat by the gentle rumble of his car with a small smile of hope on her battered face.

/

J.R. – Rescued! I hope it's not too hard to believe. Stay tuned for next chapter!

Thanks for reading, please review!