The Heart Won't Lie
Chapter 7
Beth smiled to herself when she spotted Daryl at the bar.
It had been a few days since she had seen him under their tree and she had swore to herself that she would make him talk to her.
He was hunched over, staring at the glass of whiskey in front of him.
"Daryl," she put her hand on his back and he stiffened, "we need to talk."
He glared at her as she climbed onto the stool next to him.
"Ain't nothin' ta talk 'bout."
"Yes there is. There's a lot to talk about actually."
She sighed upon seeing he wasn't going to talk.
"Look, Daryl. I gotta get home. Can you meet me tomorrow at Jenny's diner at five. If you don't show up, I'll never bother you again."
Daryl didn't reply, he didn't even look up from his glass as she left.
Beth's day drug on slowly.
She constantly thought about what she was going to say to Daryl and if he would even show up.
After an endless cycle of parent/teacher conferences, she was finally able to leave the school at five thirty.
Praying she hadn't missed him, she rushed to the diner only to find him sitting in a corner booth.
Daryl couldn't help but to be nervous when he saw Beth walk in. And as nervous as Beth had been all day, she was relieved to see him.
She sat down and they were both silent until the waitress came over to take their orders.
Daryl stared out the window while Beth kept her eyes on the table.
"Ya wanted ta talk, so go 'head," he mumbled.
"Why...why did you leave? Why didn't you...?" she couldn't make herself finish that question.
Daryl shook his head and looked at her.
"Ain't none of yer business why I left."
Beth took a deep breath, trying to hold back the anger she could feel surfacing.
"Why tha fuck ya with him?"
Beth was a little taken aback by his question but she shook it off.
"I love him," she said just as the waitress brought their food over.
Daryl scoffed and flicked his hand, "Ya fuckin' love 'im?"
"Yes."
Daryl leaned back in his seat, staring at her and shook his head.
Beth saw the hurt on his face and that pissed her off. He had no right to be hurt when he was the one who caused this.
"I'm leavin'," she stood up, placed cash on the table and looked at him, "You're the one who left, Daryl. So don't act like it's my fault. Like me fallin' in love with someone else hurts you!"
She grabbed her untouched plate of food and threw it at him.
He could feel everyone's eyes on them as he stood up, letting the food fall off of him and continued to stare at her.
"You know what tha fuck he was like!" Daryl yelled in her face.
The whole diner fell silent. Beth was too angry to be embarrassed.
"You left! You never called, you never did anythin' to let me know where we stood. So what if I moved on? I didn't forget about you as easily as you forgot about me!"
Beth turned and ran out the door, Daryl did the same.
Beth put her elbows on the kitchen table and rested her head in her hands as she cried.
She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"I heard about what happened at the diner," Phillip said.
"Oh God," Beth mumbled under her breath and squeezed her eyes shut for a second.
"Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is, Beth? As if it wasn't embarrassing enough to find out you were having lunch with Daryl Dixon, I had to find out the two of you had a fight. In public!"
Beth downed the glass of wine she had and poured another one.
"What is it with you and him? Am I missing something?"
"No," Beth quickly said.
Phillip sighed and sat down next to her.
"Beth, I know the two of you were...close. I just don't understand how close you were to him."
"It's like I told you, Phillip. We were friends. He was my best friend. That's it."
"I don't think that's it. I'm starting to believe everything I heard about you and him."
Beth's eyes snapped up to him.
"Excuse me?"
He shook his head.
"No, Phillip. You need to explain to me what the hell you mean. You can't just say somethin' like that and not explain yourself."
"Fine," he cleared his throat, "Everyone knows what his father was like. It was said that you were friends and possibly more with Daryl because you were scared of him. He beat you, didn't he?"
Beth's whole body tensed and her fists clenched at her sides.
"You had friends, Beth, but you spent a lot of time with him. Too much for your own good if you ask me."
"Daryl never laid a hand on me!"
"He's his father's son, Beth. I don't want you to see or speak to him anymore. You got lucky this time, but if there is a next time, I don't want to think about what he would do to you."
"You have no right to talk about him that way," she yelled, "and you cannot tell me who I can or cannot see!"
She calmed herself down quick enough to speak again.
"You need to leave, Phillip. I don't care where you go but you're not stayin' here tonight."
"Beth, you're overreacting. You need to calm down."
She huffed, "I am not overreacting! How's this for calming down? There was more to us than what I told you! I love him. All of this," she waved her hand around, "I was supposed to share with him!"
"I was going to marry him," she cried, "but he..he just left. Never gave me a reason, nothin'."
Phillip put his arms around Beth while she cried on his chest.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to her.
He was angry, jealous and hurt, among other things but he didn't show it. He noticed she said she loves Daryl, not that she had loved him but that she still does.
He needed to find a way to get rid of Daryl Dixon. He wasn't about to lose Beth.