Ok, well this ends with some abusive violence between his Daryl and his father. It wasn't exactly easy to write, and I hope it comes across ok, please review, and help me to keep things straight in my head. Oh and if anyone out there would like to recommend or become a beta for my story I would very much appreciate it. Thanks x

Beth jumped out of her truck, Sapphire and Mary-Jane came running over.

"Oh Beth did you hear?" she looked at the girls confused by their excited faces.

"Hear what?" what had she missed this time? Every time she left a party early, something life changing happened.

"Ok, what did I miss?" she asked.

"You know that kid?" Sapphire started, she raised an eyebrow, they were in a reasonably big school, there were lots of kids.

"You know the new one." Mary-Jane said "The one that you seem to have taken a liking too, even if he is a bit well weird." she teased.

"I have no idea what your talking about" she glared at Mary-Jane then turned to Sapphire. "Well what about him?"

"He beat Zach up at the party last night, laid him out cold. I have honestly seen nothing like it. Poor thing, when the rest of the team catches up with him they are going to really do him a number." she looked genuinely sad for him "Oh well nothing to do with us shouldn't of come round our group like he was a part of it." she shrugged.

"You are telling me that Daryl 'I am half the size of Zach' Dixon beat him up?" she asked genuinely shocked, she thought he had some anger issues but the timid creature she had spoken to didn't seem capable of doing it, the girls nodded in unison.

"And best bit Zach never got a hit in, just went down. He was so pissed." they giggled, everyone enjoyed teasing Zach but she knew that in Sapphire's and Mary-Jane's head if he offered it to them they would go for it, because he was the quarter back, he was buff and had dark hair that always seemed to fall just right.

They walked together towards the main entrance Beth dreading her first class, she hated Biology, she positioned herself behind the desk and looked at the tools that were set in the middle, great jump straight in, dissection, oh yay, she felt her stomach flip a bit. The chair next to her pulled out and she looked up, she never had a Biology partner before, but then she remembered Daryl, she gave a small smile, then took in his face, he had a bruise down the side of his face, it went from his hair line, down his cheek, finishing before the jaw bone, her mouth dropped open.

"What happened to you?" she asked

"Tripped." he shrugged looking at her, she frowned.

"Heard you got in a fight last night." she said with caution.

"Weren't a fight, just hit a dick" he went back to searching the contents of his bag as the class began, frogs were handed around so the dissection could start, Beth picked up the scalpel with shaking hands feeling the bile rise into her mouth, she felt the scalpel being lifted from her hand and let it go. She watched as he made expert work of dissecting the frog carefully lifting the parts onto the board that had been asked for, so as he worked she filled out worksheets they had been given, labelling everything perfectly, they were the first to finish which made her smile usually she would be the last, having to go back and forth to the bathroom.

"Where you learn to do that?" she asked he looked up eyeing her.

"Hunting" he stated.

They sat at the lunch table, Beth's eyes glued to the table.

"Hey are you sure Daryl didn't get hit back?" she asked the girls suddenly, something had been really bugging her about their little talk this morning.

"Yeah, honest he just walked up tapped Zach on the shoulder, Zach turned around and bang he had him." Sapphire said.

"What did Zach do to make him hit him?" she asked

"No idea, don't think they even spoke, it was right after you left though" she shrugged.

"Why do you care anyway?" Mary-Jane asked.

"I don't, just don't want to be sat next to a psycho." she said quickly, she plastered a huge smile across her face, concentrate Beth! She shouted to herself. The lunch bell caught her unawares and she jumped at the sound.

"Come on slow poke" the girls laughed, pulling her out of the chair.

"Got gym next" they laughed "If we don't get this routine right we won't be able to use it on Saturday night, they all ran off together giggling, discussing the excitement of Saturday's big game. She ran out onto the field, standing in line, the girls doing stretches warming up their muscles before starting on their routines. She looked over to the football field, trying to spot Zach but he had his helmet on so she couldn't see his face, she pushed it all away as she concentrated on the routines, after a few times she walked to her bag taking a bottle of water out drinking deeply, she gazed around the stands, sat at the back staring straight down at her she saw him, a book loosely in in hands, she shifted under the weight of his stare, her eyes not leaving his she felt like a deer trapped in headlights.

"Beth!" she turned snapping out of her reverie.

"Coming" she called back, chancing another look up in the stands, he had his head buried back in his book, she ran over to the girls and they began to practice again.

Study hall was silent, she was working on a paper for English, he was scribbling in his note book opposite her she hadn't said a word to him since they had got in there, she pulled a peach from out of her bag rolling it around in her hands, she fired it across the table at him, his hand flew out and snatched it up before it reached the end of the table.

She put her hand into her bag and pulled out another one, as he eyed the fruit in his hand, he placed it on the table next to him, picking up his pencil he continued to scribble in his book, every now and again his hand reaching out to brush the soft surface of the peach, after awhile she noticed his pencil had stopped moving and she looked up at him, he was looking at her from under his hair.

Then he threw his note book at her across the table, she looked down and in his blocky script had written.

Why?

Had a spare one.

She shrugged, looking back at her paper she carried on, till the bell rang, then she stood up walking from the room, the heat of his presence following her she went immediately to her friends and walked away, not looking back once.

She made her way to her truck, the dusk of the night falling over head, she unlocked the door throwing her bag onto the back seat and climbed in putting her keys to the ignition, she noticed something small sat on her dashboard, a small hand carved squirrel sat, she picked up the object running it through her fingers, it was beautiful, intricate, she knew instantly where it had come from, she squinted her eyes in the dark looking out of the window of her truck looking for a sign of anyone but no one was there.

Taking another look at the small animal in her fingers she pushed it into the glove compartment out of sight, starting her truck up she pulled off out of the parking lot, making her way home, back to normality.

She walked in and the silence engulfed her, she had hoped Maggie would be here, she really needed to talk to someone anyone, but nothing, no-one, she made her way across the kitchen and fixed a sandwich then went upstairs to hide in her room, after twenty minutes she ran back out to the truck flinging the door open she grabbed the squirrel and raced back indoors, she placed it on her bedside table settling down for the night, she pulled the covers up to her chin staring at the figure as her eyes closed.

Daryl stood back, listening to the Jock prick being a loud mouth, trying to prove what a man he is by being crude, he stepped forward, to reach for him but Beth suddenly turned around running into him, spilling beer everywhere.

"Shit Sorry." she said looking up at him, she had beautiful dark blue eyes, he could feel her shaking and his anger peaked.

"Look where your going next time." he grumbled, he saw the shocked look on her face.

"Your an arse" she shouted at him, then pushed him out of the way, he allowed himself to be moved, by her, then threw behind him as she passed.

"And your a Barbie" he listened to the door open and then close, then he turned back to the jock looking at him throwing himself around like some God, the rage over took him and he marched over to the dick, tapping him on the shoulder his fist connected with the boys face and he stood back as he hit the ground, glaring up at all his so called little buddies, Daryl walked from the room, what the hell had he been thinking? Who did he think he would impress by trying to go there trying to fit in, with the in crowd? Stupid fuck. He jumped on his bike and rode back to the shit pit he called a home, slamming in through the door, he saw his brother and his father sat playing cards and drinking, shit he had thought they would have passed out by now.

"What's up lil brother?" Merle asked him.

"Nothin" he went to walk passed but drunk as his father was he saw the moment he spotted Daryl's busted up hand.

"You been fighting?" No point denying, he would know so Daryl nodded.

"You win?" Merle smirked Daryl nodded again.

"I set ya to a new school and your scrapping already boy!" his father shouted. "Suppose I will get a call from them telling me you ain't nothing but trouble next" he screamed rising to his feet.

"No, I ain't been in no trouble at school, Old Man" he explained.

"Now you ain't going to run are you little Darllena?" Daryl started to back up, he looked at his brother to appeal for his help but his brother just stood up and left the room, knowing full well what was coming, he heard his bike start up outside and spin off, fuck. That's when Daryl felt the fist smash into the side of his face, he hit the deck, rolling onto his front, trying to crawl away but the belt slammed against his back hard, taking the air from his lungs, he tried again to pull himself to his knees, to get away from the instrument of torture that slapped against his now naked back, his father having torn the shirt grabbing at him to pull him back to the ground, Daryl bit against his lip learning from years of experience not to shout out, it only encouraged him, to make it worse.

He felt the sting of the belt over and over, till his back became numb, then it stopped just like that Daryl led on the floor for a few minutes, breathing deeply trying to find the strength to stand, knowing if he stayed here much longer his father would start again, only when he heard his father leave the room did he stand up on weak, wobbly legs, using the wall to find his way down the hall towards his bedroom, he fell onto the covers leaving his back to the open, he could feel the blood seeping from the wounds, he closed his eyes trying not to retch at the pain, thinking only one thing, this time it was worth it.