I'm going to apologize ahead of time for this chapter. I've had a bad case with this story as a whole. But I know I have to get something out. I don't want to disappoint you guys. Anyways, enjoy it and please leave a review.

"I knew you'd be stickin' 'round," Merle drawled, throwing his dirty rag aside. "She's a nice catch, little brother," he smiled at Daryl, praising him for the blonde he managed to catch. Shivers had run down Beth's spine. She was worried about Daryl's brother showing up and here he was in the flesh. He was even creepier the second time around. It was even worse that he thought she was attractive. At the moment, the only person she wanted thinking that was Daryl.

Merle sauntered further into the garage. Glenn had dropped his gaze, though he liked Merle for the most part. He partly remembered Merle talking about the blonde to Dale and T-Dog. He didn't get that vibe from Beth at the moment; surely she wouldn't have been all over him. "Leave her alone, Merle," Daryl threatened, leaning against the hood of his truck.

Merle threw up his hands in surrender. "I'm just pokin' fun. You know that, right, Sugar Tits?" He asked her. She didn't answer to Sugar Tits. It was Beth and nothing else. He turned his gaze onto Daryl's truck noting the two blown out windows covered with plastic wrap and duct tape. "More car trouble?" He asked, crooking an eyebrow even if it wasn't Beth's car, he could poke fun. "You seem to be a magnet for trouble."

Daryl shrugged, his façade not fading. "Baseball, went straight through," he lied through his teeth. He wasn't about to tell Merle the real way it happened. That was for only Beth, Jimmy, and him to know. But they weren't fooling Merle. He gently ran his hand over the ragged edges of the window ledge.

His brow wrinkled in suspicion. "Baseball you say?" He asked shooting a skeptical gaze to his brother. Daryl nodded. "I call bullshit. The way this glass cracked…" Merle said, running his fingers lightly over the sharp shards of glass still stuck in the bottom part of the window. "Someone bashed these in."

Beth blanched. There was no way that he could possibly notice that. She thought Merle was stupid, especially after the way he acted around her the day he picked her up in his tow truck. Beth shook her head. "That's not what happened." But Merle had broken into a few cars in his younger days and knew exactly how windows shattered from being hit hard. Besides, a baseball wouldn't grow all the way through. Even Merle wasn't that gullible.

"Sugar Tits, you might wanna watch how yah talk to me. I might be able to help yah out here. If anyone messes with my little brother, he messes with me, too." Glenn had sunk back next to Beth. He didn't like to admit it, but Merle intimidated him. The farther he was from Daryl's brother the better.

Merle took a step towards Beth, but Daryl grabbed his bicep. "Baseball," he urged, letting his hand fall. "Nothing's going on, Merle," he said, his gaze piercing. He wasn't going to drag his brother into the world dealing with Beth's exes. Only God knows what would happen then, but Daryl wasn't going to find out.

Merle let out a small chuckle. "If that's the story you wanna stick by," Merle shrugged. "By all means go ahead. But if something worse happens, don't come cryin' to me, little brother." With that said, Daryl's brother left the garage and went into the adjoining office and waiting room, slamming the door behind him. Leave it to Merle to have the best and worst entrance to a room.

A silence had fallen upon the three of them. Glenn didn't know what to believe. He didn't want to believe Merle, but he did make a good point. Given the source, he didn't know how reliable it was, but it still made sense. Merle always like to tell a good story. Daryl's eyes flickered to Beth's and then to Glenn's.

"It was a baseball, Glenn," Daryl said quietly, sensing his hesitation. "Merle wasn't even there, how would he know?" He asked. Glenn shrugged, but went to work again anyways. He didn't care how the windows broke; they would need fixing either way. Beth took that as her cue to retreat to the seat Daryl told her about next to the heater.

She settled into the chair, wrapping Daryl's jacket around her shoulders. She wished she had brought her purse with, or at least a book of poems, but she hadn't. All she had was her cellphone. It would have to do for now. She slipped it out of her own jacket pocket and unlocked it.

For the next hour and a half, Beth fiddled around with her phone while Daryl and Glenn worked on his truck. She watched from over the top of her phone from time to time to see what exactly they were doing. She watched as they peeled back the interior of the door to get to the windows innards mechanisms.

From then on, she was confused as to what they were doing. But in the end, they had got the glass changed and fixed both windows. They were both in full working condition now. Daryl exchanged a handshake with Glenn once they were finished. Even if he was a rookie, Daryl knew he could count on him. "Beth?" Daryl asked.

She perked up at the sound of her name. "Are yah ready to get goin' home?" He asked. Beth nodded, standing and stretching from the chair. With the windows fixed, they had no other reason to stay there. "I'm just gonna drop yah off. You probably want some time to yourself before yah have to get to work."

He was partly right. On the other hand, Beth didn't want to be alone. She was scared that Jimmy was going to show up anywhere she went. He showed up at the diner once, what was keeping him from showing up again? The night shift she was taking tonight, she and the cook would be the only people in the diner for wait staff.

With a goodbye wave to Glenn, Beth climbed into the truck, thankful that the windows were fixed. Once they backed out of the bay and were on the road again, Daryl spoke. "I'm sorry about Merle. He'll warm up soon. He's just mad that I've finally found someone more than a casual fuck and that I found you before he did." He gave her a sideways glance, judging her reaction.

"It's okay," Beth said. She didn't know what more to say. They rode the rest of the way in silence until they pulled into her driveway. "Thank you," Beth said looking at him. Daryl nodded. It was no problem to him. "Will I be seeing you tonight?" She asked.

Daryl shrugged. "Do you want to see me?" Beth blushed and nodded. "Then you'll see me." He leaned across the bench seat and kissed Beth's burning cheek. Beth then jumped out of the car and walked up the path to her house and left Daryl sitting in his truck.

For the rest of the day, Beth read, researched and memorized more poems, cleaned, showered and danced while she made her lunch before she headed out to work. Instead of letting her hair down naturally curly, she piled it on the top of her head in a messy bun. It was just one of those days.

With one look in the mirror before Beth headed out the door, she sighed. Her hair was dull, her eyes were lifeless and it almost looked as if she was gaining bags under her eyes. She was barely twenty-five! She knew it was all because Jimmy had sewn himself back into Beth's life. And she knew the only person who could help her out of this rut was Daryl.

Although Merle still seems like a bad guy, he's going to be a key character later on in the story.