Wife Swap
Chapter 2
"Daryl, please just hear me out," Beth pleaded over dinner. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't think it could help us. We need this."
"That's bullshit," Daryl shouted. "We don't need someone tellin' us what ta do."
"She won't be tellin' us what to do. She's just goin' to try to help us. Don't you want to see if whatever is wrong with us can be fixed?"
Daryl sat down his cup and pushed his chair back from the table.
"That's what this shit is 'bout? You think you can fix me? Well I got news for ya, Darlin', I'm too damn fucked up ta be fixed!"
Beth pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. "It's not about fixin' you, Daryl. It's about fixin' us! I don't know what the hell's goin' on with you anymore. Every time I try to talk to you or if I bring up the wrong thing, you run away. I can't keep doin' this so either you come with me to this appointment or you find somewhere else to stay."
He huffed. "You ain't kickin' me out of my own house!"
"I hate to break it to you, Darlin', but this is our house," she shouted back. "But you know what, if you won't leave, I will!"
She stormed out of the room before he could stop her even though he had no intentions of doing that anyway. If he did, they would just end up right back here in a few weeks. That's really all their marriage consisted of lately, one of them leaving or the other threatening to leave. It never did them any good so he just couldn't see the point in going after her.
He grabbed the six-pack out of the fridge and headed out to the garage. He knew she wasn't leaving, neither of them were, but she was still pissed off and so was he. They needed their space.
Beth slammed the bedroom door shut when she heard Daryl going outside. They always did this, fight and run off to their own corners. But not tonight. She was tired of running, tired of him running.
She swallowed her pride and hurried out to the garage.
"Daryl?" she called out as she swung the garage door open. As soon as she stepped inside, she froze. "Oh my God, Daryl! What the hell are you doin'?"
He shrugged. "What's it look like I'm doin'?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, trying not to let herself cry. "It looks like you've been around Merle lately. You do remember what happened last time, don't you?"
"It ain't…."
"No," she held up her hands. "No excuses, no tellin' me it ain't what it looks like, or it ain't as bad as I think. I don't care if you drink, Daryl, but when you start mixin' alcohol with that, you know how you get. Oh God, how could you?"
He leaned back in his chair and stared at her but didn't respond.
She took a hesitant step forward. "Daryl, you don't need to do this. If you need to relax or whatever, there's other things you can do. You and I both know that Merle's stuff is always laced with somethin', so why are you even doin' it?"
"Jesus fuckin' Christ," he mumbled. "It's one God damn joint an' it ain't laced with shit."
"Yeah," she nodded. "Keep tellin' yourself that and you'll end up in jail again and I won't be the one to get you out this time and neither will Rick. And Merle, he won't be there, not like you think he will."
"Ya know what, Beth? Maybe you was right earlier, one of us should leave."
When he stood up, she took a couple of steps back and kept her eyes focused on his.
She couldn't help the small laugh that escaped as she watched him.
"All of this because I asked you to go to marriage counseling," she said incredulously. "I was wrong, wasn't I? We can't save our marriage."
Before he could answer, she had rushed inside and quickly threw some things into her bag before she could change her mind about leaving.
He wasn't this guy, never really was but when things got tough Merle always seemed to be around and he always had his own way of helping his brother. No matter what it cost him.
She shouldn't be surprised though. Even without Merle in the picture, it was always like this. She never wanted to leave and she never really wanted him to leave but that's what it came down to. Her main concern was that he would react as he always did, like he didn't care what happened to them or himself.
She knew he wasn't all to blame for their problems, they had both done and said things they couldn't take back, but for the life of her she just couldn't see why it had to be this way. Why were things so damn difficult for them? Why couldn't they talk out their problems like a normal couple?
After things were said and done, she knew they would eventually sit down and say they were sorry, they forgive each other, but this would happen again and it would continue to happen unless they found a way to fix it.
He didn't immediately follow her inside, he gave her enough time to get to the bedroom before he went in. He wanted so badly to go into their room, tell her he was sorry and that he'd work on being a better husband to her but of course, he didn't. He didn't know how to say those things to her. Sure, the words were there in his head, he thought them every time he screwed up, but he just couldn't get them to come out.
He waited there in the kitchen until he heard her slam the front door before he got up from the table and went to the living room window. He watched as she got in the car and when she cranked it, his heart started to beat faster. As far as he could tell, she didn't look back as she drove away. That was a good thing he supposed. At least he wouldn't feel guilty about not going after her knowing she didn't expect him to.
After she had left, he did the only thing he could, he packed a bag. He wasn't so hard or screwed up that he would just stay here after she left. How could he? This was the home they shared, they'd built. It was the place they were supposed to build their lives, raise the babies she wanted and grow old together. He didn't want to be there alone no matter how many times before he had been in this situation.
He threw his bag into the passenger seat of his truck and headed to Merle's house.
Beth had been driving around for over an hour when she pulled into a gas station parking lot and sat there, trying to calm herself down.
She had decided the second she pulled out of their driveway that she wasn't going home to the farm and she sure as hell wasn't going to Maggie's. So instead of trying to find a place to go for the night, she was sitting there praying.
As she did, she started thinking about what Dr. Linson had said and she was right. There was only one way things were going to get fixed and that was if they were both committed to working things out, not running away.
She sat there for a while longer before turning her car around and heading home.
All the lights were off when she pulled up but it wasn't until she got of her and started towards the porch that she noticed his truck was gone.
She sighed. There was no need for her to go inside, he wouldn't have left a note, though she knew where he was. She had no intentions of going there anyway. Why would she? If she did, she would just be putting herself though a lot of pain.
Merle handed Daryl beer and sat down across from him.
"Damn it, boy, I told ya not ta marry 'er," he said. "Hell, we both know she wasn't as perfect as ever'one thought she was."
"Shut tha fuck up, Merle," Daryl muttered.
"Naw. I ain't shuttin' up fer nothin'. Ya came here cryin' 'bout yer wife so don't think I'ma sit here an' not say nothin'. You knew what what you was getting' into when ya married 'er."
Daryl took a sip of his beer and leaned his head on the back of the couch.
"She may have been sweet an' all but that's how she fooled ya. Got ya seein' stars an' shit, baby brother. Me an' you, we ain't tha type of guys who can be with a woman like her. I told ya she only saw ya as a project. She wanted someone she could fix up an' change. You was jus' stupid enough ta fall for 'er."
Daryl closed his eyes. He never liked hearing Merle talk this way about Beth, never wanted anyone to talk bad about her, but he couldn't tell him to shut up or that he was wrong. He had been thinking about these things long before Merle said them.
"I'm tellin' ya, Darylina, that girl you ran 'round with still ask 'bout ya. That's tha type a girl ya should be with. I got 'er number, ya should give 'er a call. She ain't gon' care that you're married."
"I ain't payin' one of yer whore's, Merle," Daryl grumbled.
"Who said anythin' 'bout payin'? She'll do anythin' fer free an' she'll do anyone. Now that's tha kinda sister in law I want," Merle chuckled.
A while later, Merle had gone into his bedroom and Daryl had just finished his beer when there was a knock a on the door.
He jumped up and without looking to see who it was, he opened the door. He'd be lying if he said he was expecting it to be Beth but he damn sure hoped it would be.
Standing there in front of him was a tall brunette. She wasn't wearing much but what little she did have on didn't leave much to the imagination. Daryl would've recognized her even if he were blind. She was wearing the strongest perfume he had ever smelt, it was nothing like Beth's sweet perfume. He'd be damned if that didn't make him wish she was there more.
"Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna let me?" she finally asked.
"You shouldn't be 'ere," he mumbled.
"Oh sweetheart, I'm not here for you. I'm here for Merle."
Daryl stepped out of her way and watched as she walked inside. He shut the door but stood close to it in case he needed to make a quick getaway.
The woman stood there smiling, staring at him, until they heard Merle coming down the hallway.
"There ya are, sweetcheeks. Was hopin' ya'd get 'ere quick," Merle said as he grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her to him, and kissed her sloppily.
Merle chuckled and grinned Daryl's way when he saw how uncomfortable his brother was.
"Go on an' have a seat, Darylina. Heidi's gon' show us a good time."
"Naw," Daryl shook his head. "I'ma go, head on home."
Heidi leaned up and whispered something to Merle, making him chuckle again.
He raised his hands and told her, "Alright. I'ma be in tha bedroom."
As soon as Merle's bedroom door shut, Heidi was pulling Daryl over to the couch.
She had managed to plant a few kisses along his neck, jaw and cheek before he was finally able to push her away.
"I ain't doin' this, " he mumbled and started back to the door.
He stumbled out to his truck and got inside.
Beth was already in bed when Daryl returned home.
He tried to be quiet so he wouldn't wake her, he didn't know that she hadn't been asleep, that she had been waiting for him to get home.
She didn't have to be close to him to smell the smoke that was clearly not from cigarettes and the smell of alcohol lingering on him.
He staggered towards the bed, nearly falling over before he was able to sit down to remove his shoes.
"Can we talk about what happened?" She asked as she moved to sit up in the bed and turned on the lamp on her nightstand.
"Ain't nothin' ta talk 'bout," he mumbled.
She scooted closer to him and reached out to touch his arm. "There's plenty to talk about, Daryl."
He looked up at her questioningly.
"Maybe we could talk about the lipstick on your face," she said.
He slapped her hand away from his arm and tried to stand up, instead falling back onto the bed.
"Daryl, I'm not mad. If you did something with whoever that was, it doesn't change the fact that I love you and I want to work our problems out. I don't care if you go out and fuck a different woman every night, or if you go out with your brother and get high, as long as you…."
"As long as I what, Beth? Come home to ya?"
"No. As long as you find a way to work out whatever is botherin' you. Believe me, I don't want to know that my husband is cheating on me but if that's something you need to do, then do it."
This time, when he tried to stand, he was able to without swaying on his feet.
He just stood there, staring at her in disbelief while she tried to hide the tears and pain in her eyes.
"I'ma sleep on tha couch," he muttered.
Beth nodded, slid back down in the bed, and closed her eyes as she silently berated herself for sounding so stupid.
Daryl knew she wouldn't put up with that kind of behavior but yet, here she was, giving him the greenlight to do whatever he wanted to do.
Nearly a week had passed since Daryl came home that night with neither of them saying a word to the other.
Daryl had taken to sleeping on the couch and leaving before Beth got up in the mornings and coming home well after she would be asleep, during that time Beth had tried her best to give him as much space as he seemed to need.
Beth spent as much of her time volunteering for after school activities as she could and to the best of her knowledge, Daryl was working late.
"Maybe you should just go see a lawyer," Lori suggested as she and Beth walked through the park.
"No. I love Daryl and I don't want a divorce."
"Sweetie, a divorce doesn't mean that you've stopped loving someone. It just means that you're trying to find your own sense of happiness and that just happens to be without the one you love."
"That has to be one of the most confusing things I have ever heard."
Lori and Beth both let out a little laugh.
"Confusing but true," Lori finally said. "So, what about Dr. Linson? Did you cancel your appointment?"
"Of course I did. I'm not going to see a marriage counselor without my husband."
"Either way, Beth, you need to figure out what you're going to do. You're either going to stick by his side and fight for what little bit y'all have left or you're going to take matters into your own hands and do something that will make you happy."
"So, Mr. Dixon, where would you like to begin?"
"I don't know," he mumbled and shrugged. "I ain't never done this before."
"Regardless of whether or not you've done this before, you should at least be able to tell me where you would like to start. We can start at what happened yesterday, two years ago, fifteen years ago. You get to choose what beginning you tell."
Daryl quickly looked up at Dr. Linson, then looked back down.
"Maybe it would be easier if I started off with some questions. Would that be alright with you?"
A/N: Okay, so we got to see a little bit of Beth and Daryl's life together and some of their problems.
How do y'all think Daryl's meeting with Dr. Linson will go?
We'll get to see more from Daryl in the next chapter and a glimpse into Rick and Lori's lives.
Please Review! :)