"S'after my mom… died. It got bad then."

They were sitting across from each other, she was cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. Daryl had the pocket of Beth's high water flannel pants pulled inside out and was tugging at the loose threads on the seam, looking everywhere but at her. He still felt uncomfortable with the way his breath had hitched at her touch and the way he had stood awkwardly in her embrace for longer than he had ever done before.

"I mean… he was never… it wasn't like things were… it just got…worse… after."

He got quiet then, seemed intrigued by the blue and green plaid fraying on his knee. She could see the conflicting emotions cross his face.

Beth knew what she was about to say would seem inconsequential after seeing the marks on his body, but the way he pressed his mouth into a tight line gave away the fact that he was closing himself off and it was all she could think of to give him.

"My mom hit me once. With a spoon. I swore at her." Beth caught his eye, "I felt awful after."

"Mmhmm."

"Like I would done anything to get her to take it back and not be mad at me."

Daryl felt his chest tighten with every word she spoke.

"Is that what you're doing?"

He pulled in a deep breath and dropped his head, "I dunno."

Beth didn't say anything else. Her hand moved to find his where is rested on his knee and she just sat beside him until he asked if she had more coffee.

He stayed a few more hours, they sat close together on the futon and watched a movie that had been edited for TV. Daryl muttered the actual script and Beth laughed at the ridiculous dubbing. He was relieved that they didn't have to keep talking about him. She gave him back his keys and he promised to call her later. Before he turned to go out the door, Daryl pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you."

His voice was low and his words were mumbled, but Beth heard them and pressed herself closer.

She waved to him when he turned on the sidewalk to look back at her before climbing into the cab of his truck.

The past few days had been good but emotionally draining. After learning everything that was going on with Daryl and seeing him after he got off work everyday, Beth felt guilty about agreeing to play with Zach. Daryl did nothing aside from grunt at the reminder she gave him.

She made herself warm up her voice a bit on the walk over to the coffee shop. Daryl had already told her he wasn't going to be there, which only made her feel worse. He couldn't get an aid to come on Friday's anymore, not since his father had ripped out his IV trying to grab that last one. She smiled at Maggie and Glenn from where she was adjusting the microphone stand. Playing at the coffee shop was different, the crowd was a strange mix of people. Zach was next to her, she heard him drag his stool over and turned to see he was setting up nearly in front of her.

The set was a predictable mix of Top 40 hits. Beth sang, trying to keep up with Zach's unpredictable rhythm changes but she knew it just sounded off. Maggie and Glenn went outside after she finished to bring the car from around the corner.

"Sounded pretty good, huh?" Zach appeared in front of Beth as she left the bathroom. "I knew those songs would be good for your voice."

"Yeah, it was good. Maggie's probably waiting outside…"

She went to move around him, but was stopped by his outstretched arm.

"Why don't you stay? I can bring you home later." He smirked at her, "There's some people you should meet, things we should talk about."

"I can't, I'm meeting my boyfr…"

Zach snorted and cut her off, "You mean that redneck you sang with at Hook's? Seriously, Beth?"

"Look, my sister's waiting…"

His hands grabbed onto her arms and pushed her against the wall. She turned her head to see his friend blocking the entrance to the hallway where they stood. She knew whatever was about to happen wouldn't be good. Beth stood frozen still as Zach moved closer to her.

"Zach." Her voice came out as a pleading breath instead of the firm tone she had hoped for. "Please, let go."

The next thing she knew he was moving in to kiss her and her hand was stinging from the slap she gave him.

He turned back to her with ice cold eyes and smacked her hard across her mouth just as she brought her knee up into his groin. Zach's friend came over and helped him up as Beth pushed past them and ran to the door.

She threw herself, gasping for air, into the backseat of Maggie's decade-old Toyota.

There was a decent amount of crying and yelling about police and lawyers and calling dad on the drive home. Beth was able to placate Maggie by promising to tell her if he ever came near her again. She spent the night on Maggie's couch and didn't cry until she saw the text Daryl had sent her when she was onstage.

'good luck wish i could be there'