Beth Greene is panicking.
She is mumbling out a slew of curses that would surly make her Daddy roll over in his grave if he heard her as she all but tears apart the bar, tossing rags and moving bottles and banging her head on the counter just as she hears the small bell ding over the front door, signalling someone was here.
"Sorry we don't open for another hour!" she calls, not bothering looking up as she continues her search.
Only when she doesn't hear the bell ring again does she finally look over, ready to tell off the poor soul who decided to ignore her warning in her very agitated state, but the words get caught in her throat as she sees Daryl Dixon standing at the opposite corner of the bar, looking awkward and very uncomfortable. He shifts on his feet when he notices that she finally saw him.
"Oh, hi," she says with surprise, temporarily abandoning her search with the potential of finally talking to the elusive Dixon brother.
He clears his throat and gives a gruff, "Hey," before he sets something on the counter and seems to look anywhere but at her.
Her eyes glance down to the object he placed of the counter and she grins and releases an audible sigh of relief that draws his attention back to her.
"Oh thank god," she sighs and makes her way toward him, picking up her wallet that she had spent the better half of the day searching for.
Without saying anything she quickly unclicks the latch and begins to rifle through her mess of receipts and nonsense and she briefly scolds herself for not keeping it more organized before she comes across the shiny gold credit card and grins in both triumph and relief.
"I didn't steal nothin," she hears Daryl mutter roughly and she glances up at him, seeing an almost hurt look in his eyes behind the annoyance.
"Oh, no, I wasn't," she begins, realizing that he believed she was checking to make sure all of her belongings were still in place, probably assuming like he said, the she thought he would steal from her. She decided to hold up the gold credit card.
"This is the bar credit card, I used it yesterday at the store and I realized I never put it back and I thought for sure I lost it. Maggie would have given me hell if she found out." she explains and smiles when she sees Daryl's shoulders relax, though not by much.
"Thank you, for bringin' this to me," she says then, holding up her wallet.
Daryl shrugs stiffly. "Saw it this mornin' as I was leavin' for work. Musta dropped outta ya bag or somethin'."
"Damn, I never even thoughta that," she muses before she glances back at the Dixon, who is once again glancing around the bar. "Sorry again bout this mornin'. How is Merle?"
Daryl shrugs again. "Pretty pissed he woke up in his own bed, 'parently ya make a mean hangover breakfast."
Beth smiles as she sees the hint of a smirk cross his lips though she also sees something else, a hint of disbelief maybe and she assumes that Merle never got around to "explain' things to him".
"Well not ta brag but...I do." she teases and then walks back over to the cash register and quickly punches in the code for the small safe below the counter, throwing her wallet and credit card inside - she would move them to the office safe before the crowds came in but for now it would do.
She turns back around and she almost laughs at what could only be described as an inner turmoil going on in Daryl Dixon's mind as he decides what he should do next. Just as she sees him about to turn to leave she picks up her drink and starts to walk back over towards him.
"Can I get ya a drink?" she asks and he pauses before shaking his head.
"Got work in tha mornin'," he answers but she's pleased that he takes a seat on the stool beside him.
"I asked if ya wanted a drink, not if ya wanted to get drunk, Daryl," she laughs, leaning against the counter in front of him and realizes that the two Dixon brothers aren't as much alike as she had assumed. "C'mon, its the least I can do." she urges and he just shrugs and she takes that as compliance.
She reaches behind her and pulls a beer out of the fridge and expertly twists the top off before placing it in front of him.
"Besides, you're at The Green Room now, no one leaves without at least finishin' one drink. It's a rule, even us workers can't close up shop without takin' a swig." she gestures down to the mason jar next to his beer, housing a clear liquid and she is surprised when Daryl lets out a snort as he picks up his beer.
"Hardly call water a drink, darlin'," he teases after takin' a gulp of his beer and Beth smiles, noticing that he is getting even more comfortable around her.
"Oh that ain't water. Ain't vodka either." she smirks and he narrows his eyes at her. "Go on, take a sip." she juts out her chin and Daryl just rolls his eyes but he does pick up the jar and takes a hesitant sip.
"Jesus girl, that moonshine?" he asks incredulously, keeping a straight face but she can tell it was the last thing he expected.
She nods with another smirk and takes the glass from him, taking a rather large gulp herself and Daryl watches with wide eyes.
"Damn, how'd a girl like you even end up in a place like this anyway?" he asks and then his eyes widen again and this time he looks away and Beth is sure she sees a hint of pink begin to color his cheeks, almost as if he is ashamed to have asked that out loud.
The blonde just giggles though. "I'm part owner of it actually. My sister Maggie and I opened it up about a year after our Daddy died. Growing up he had a drinkin' problem and it may seem weird and maybe even a little disrespectful but we just didn't want to spend the rest of our lives livin' on a farm, ya know? So we did some research and convinced Glenn to help us out - he's Maggie's fiance and he's also in charge of the kitchen, makes the best damn pizza in Georgia in case ya were wonderin' - and The Green Room was born and it's been a little bit of a success."
The blonde beams and Daryl smirks.
"Braggin' again are ya?" he teases but she can tell he also seems to have a brand new respect for the young blonde.
"Maybe." she caves and he lets out a small laugh, one she barely hears as he ducks his head and takes another drink of his beer.
"So, ya think ya will be comin' around here more, ya know now that ya know what this place has to offer and everythin'?" she smirks and gestures around the bar but it doesn't go unnoticed by her how for once, the quiet Dixon's eyes look at nothing but her.
"Maybe." he finally mutters quietly, taking another drink and Beth can't help but hope he means it.
Author's Note:
Hello! First off let me just say Thank You! I am blown away by the response so far and it means a lot :) and now a little bit of info on how I plan to go about this story is basically just a collection of stories, little snippets of events that will go in chronological order, though there might be some time jumps in between and will basically tell the story of how Beth and Daryl fall for each other in this world. Reviews are appreciated and welcomed, even if there is something you don't like please let me know!
Once again, thank you :)
xo, monica