…

"Have fun!" Lydia called out through her open window and Max cringed as she did.

Abby noticed and pursed her lips together to keep from smiling at his obvious embarrassment. There was no reason to be embarrassed. They all had parents.

Max reached the door of Marco's Pizzeria and pulled it open for her. She was sure to give him a small smile as she stepped inside. For a Thursday, it was slightly crowded inside, but Marco's was usually crowded any day of the week. It was the only pizza place in their little town besides the Domino's and the food was good, but even if it wasn't, it would still always be crowded.

Abby was surprised when Max went to the hostess stand and talked with her for a moment before the woman took two menus, beaming at them. He had thought to make reservations.

"Right this way," she said and Max stepped aside so Abby could follow first and the hostess led them through the dining room to a booth against the back wall.

It was loud in the dining area that evening and Abby fidgeted with her fingers because her first instinct was to reach up and turn her hearing aids down so everyone would become a murmur of voices. But she couldn't do that. She was out on a date with Max and he would want to talk and she couldn't talk if she couldn't hear him and when she was out with her family and it was like this, they knew and would sign as they talked so she could be included in the conversation, but Max didn't know sign language.

She sat down on one side of the booth and Max slid in across from her and gave her a small smile; one she did her best to return. When standing in the front hallway, she had been excited and comfortable because she had been at home and her parents had been nearby, but now, it was just her and Max and they were alone and Abby had no idea what to do. Her stomach was knotted so tightly, it was growing painful.

Did all other girls know how to do this? Did they know how to go on dates and talk with boys one-on-one? Abby sat there, feeling like she was missing out on something that every other girl already knew what to do. She should have talked with Becks more about this. Or her mom. Her mom knew everything and her mom and dad still went out on a date together once a week. They had to talk while out. What did they talk about?

"Hi, guys," their waitress appeared at their table with a smile. "Would either of you like something to drink?" She asked and Abby realized that she and Max hadn't exchanged a single word with one another since arriving there.

Max was looking at her now, letting her know that she should order first.

"Water, please," Abby ordered, but the room was too loud and her voice was too soft, but she didn't like to talk too loud because she hated how her voice sounded.

Even with her hair covering her hearing aids – and if this wasn't a small town with everyone knowing about her deafness already – a person could hear her voice and know that she wasn't exactly "right".

The waitress leaned in a little closer. "I'm sorry, hon, what was that?" She asked.

"Water," Abby repeated, her face on fire now, her voice a little louder and she just hoped that she wasn't now screaming without realizing it.

"You got it," the waitress smiled and then looked to Max to see what he wanted to drink and Abby stared down at the menu on the table in front of her; the menu she still hadn't opened because her stomach was so tight, she honestly didn't know if she'd be able to eat anything.

This was already such a disaster. The room was too loud and she hated it and she couldn't clearly hear herself talk and she hated it and Max was probably sitting there, wondering why he had ever asked Feral Abby to go out on a date with him. She didn't doubt that this would be her first and last date in her life.

She lifted her head when she saw Max slide from the booth and stand up and Abby felt her stomach sink to her feet. She wondered if his mom would give her a ride home or if she should just walk home. Home was over two miles away and it was getting dark and her parents would be furious at her for walking that alone, but her parents mad would be better than this.

But then Max came to stand next to her seat and she looked up at him, wondering what he was doing, and then he began to sit down next to her.

…

"What the hell is he doing?" Hunter asked, watching from the crowded bar area in Marco's; the bar that he was only allowed to be in because he was Merle Dixon's nephew and Merle knew the bartender and waitress in that section that night; naturally.

Merle watched his niece and her date with a frown as he broke open another peanut, leaving the crushed shell parts sprinkled on the bar. Looked like the kid was getting fresh with her, but he didn't move from his stool. He saw the way Abby was smiling up at the little snot and moving further over onto the bench so he could have more room to sit down next to her.

"I think he's trying to talk with her," Merle admitted – reluctantly – but that's what it looked like to him. Maybe the kid wasn't trying to get fresh after all.

"You want a refill, Merle?" Charity, the waitress, asked him with her usual smile as she took away his empty beer bottle.

Merle nodded without taking his eyes off of Abby and the kid. Max was his name. What a stupid name. Max sounded like a dog's name.

Hunter nodded when Charity asked if he wanted a refill on his root beer, also not looking away from his sister.

"I wonder why dad didn't think to do this," Hunter wondered out loud.

Merle actually smirked at that, but he wouldn't tell Hunter his theory. Daryl would have been here – for sure – because nothing was more important to him than his kids, especially Abby, but Merle caught the looks Daryl was giving to Beth a couple of nights ago in the kitchen before dinner and if Abby hadn't dropped her own bombshell, Merle would have been ribbing his brother without stop.

Abby and Max had been talking and Abby had been smiling, but then she stopped and she lifted her eyes. Both Merle and Hunter grew still. Her smile faded and they watched as she looked around the dining room of Marco's, looking for something. And even though the bar area was crowded, Hunter found himself ducking behind the closest man, hiding himself from Abby's view.

It was as if she knew she was being watched.

And that shouldn't surprise him. With her losing a little bit more of her hearing every year, her other senses only grew stronger. It was actually pretty incredible. Despite his name, hunting wasn't his favorite thing to do, but he would sometimes go with his dad and Abby when they went out into the woods – usually for rabbits or a deer – and nobody could rival Daryl's hearing, but Abby seemed to see things no one else did.

"You're makin' yourself more obvious," Merle informed him as he took the beer Charity was holding out to him and he took a quick swig.

Hunter turned back to his uncle and frown. "If Abby finds out we're here, she'll kill us. And then she'll tell mom, and she'll kill us."

Merle gave him a little smirk before taking another swig of beer. "Afraid of your mama?" He ribbed him.

Hunter's frown grew deeper. "Don't act like you're not afraid of her because we both know that you are."

Merle's smirk faded, but he didn't say anything to argue with that because Hunter was right. Beth may have been a little thing, but that didn't mean that she was frightening. More times than not, Beth reminded Merle of some fierce mama bear, ready to attack anyone who attacked her own.

Merle sighed heavily and looked back to the dining room. "What are they doin' now?" He asked, not able to get a clear view as both the dining room and the bar area got more crowded. With no school tomorrow for teach meetings, it seemed like every family in town had decided to come out for a pizza dinner.

Hunter, still hiding behind the man, peeked out to check if he could see and he could see his sister smiling as Max talked to her. She looked happy. Hunter would probably never admit that out loud if anyone asked, but she did look happy. He couldn't deny that. It wasn't as if Abby was never happy. She was happy a lot – especially lately since Becks moved to town and they become such close friends – but she was sad or melancholy just as much and when she was happy, it was obvious to just about anyone.

"They're talking," Hunter answered, almost reluctantly.

…

"So, what are you reading now?" Max asked, pleased that he had found Abby's kryptonite of what would make her comfortable; not that it was hard to figure out.

Girl was always reading and was carrying at least two non-school books at all times. She read between classes. If she got to school early, she was always sitting at her desk, reading. Even when she and Becks sat together at a table in the cafeteria, there would be a book open in front of her. Sometimes, it looked like she was able to read even while listening to Becks talk because she would smile or laugh at what was said. And Max knew all of this because he watched her.

He couldn't say how long he had been watching her. It had been a long time though. He didn't want to say he had an obsession with Abby Dixon. He would just say that he really, really liked her.

And she was smiling now as if he had just asked her the greatest question anyone had ever taken the time to ask her.

"So many things," Abby answered and he heard her speaking slowly, as if she didn't want him to hear her voice clearly. He could see her fingers clenched together, making fists as they rested in her lap. He knew she did that because she wanted to sign instead of talk, but he didn't know sign language and she knew that.

He was learning, but he didn't know enough to carry on a conversation with her and he hated that he was such a slow learner.

"I don't really read," he decided to confess to her. "Besides what we read for school."

Abby nodded as if she already knew that. Maybe she thought that he was like how people usually thought of football players. Dumb jocks with rocks for brains.

"Have you liked anything we've read?" She then asked and she was still smiling and he looked at her for a moment, nearly forgetting that she had asked him a question.

Girls weren't supposed to be pretty. Cute, sure, but at thirteen, they were all so damn awkward. That was what his mom said anything. Puberty and acne and growth spurts and the whole package. Some fared better than others, but still, Abby Dixon wasn't just cute or attractive. She was actually pretty in a way that no other girl in their school could claim.

He shook his head slightly as if to snap himself out of it. "I really liked Johnny Tremain," he managed to answer.

Abby smiled at that and nodded. "I loved that one, too."

Max smiled, too. Finally. He found something he had in common with her.

"What do you like on your pizza?" He asked.

"Pepperoni," Abby said and her fingers moved and he wondered if she even realized that she was signing as well when she answered him.

His smile grew. Something else. "Me, too."

…

Beth sat up and he unhooked her bra and brushed it down her shoulders and arms, tossing that aside and looking down to her naked body as she laid back down. She smiled faintly up at him and he removed himself from the bed only so that he could remove his own clothing. He then returned to her open arms and welcoming mouth.

"Daryl," she whispered his name as if in the middle of fevered prayer, tangling her fingers in his hair as he pressed his lips to her throat and then moved lower.

She gasped as his warm mouth suckled around a nipple, his tongue bringing it to a hard pebble. He then moved his mouth to the other breast for the same treatment. He lifted his head and pressed his lips to hers again as his hand followed the length of her body and slipped between her thighs, she spreading them in invitation. She gasped his name again as his fingers began to rub at her and two slipped inside of her. He moved them slowly, almost torturously, and he lifted his head, freeing her mouth so he could hear her moan and gasp. He rubbed against her inner walls and her hips began moving against his hand, her hands holding onto his shoulders.

He stared down to her as her eyes were closed and her mouth was open with cries of pleasure. His thumb began to circle her nub and Beth's back arched and her cry shattered the night.

Daryl's mouth found hers again and her fingers dove back in his hair, holding him close, her lips trembling against his. His hand pressed to the inside of her thigh and she spread them further apart for him, his hips setting between them. He found his hardened cock and stroking it, he began to press it into her, her gasp catching in her throat. No matter how many times he entered her, she always gasped through the process; as if every time was their first time and she was getting used to his size.

He thrust into her tight heat, she moaning beneath him in response, her hands on his back and nails in skin. His hips immediately began to pump again and again, diving in, keeping their bodies connected. Her hands fell to his hips, her thighs spreading wider, her cries growing louder. He braced himself above her, watching her face, overcome with his own pleasure as he felt his end building up within his body. He held it off as long as he was able to though that was proving to be damn difficult as Beth kept squeezing herself tightly around him.

Their bodies rocked and crashed together and he slammed into her, causing her to shatter and for him to groan and shudder as he spilled himself into her. He couldn't help himself from falling on top of her and Beth encircled her arms around him, holding him close.

"So good," her voice was soft, lips to his shoulder.

Daryl smiled, his face pressed to the juncture of her shoulder and throat, trying to return his breathing to normal. He lifted his head to look at her, his eyes falling into her own, and she smiled softly, lifting hands to brush his hair back from his face.

"Had it really been that long?" She asked, her own breath labored.

He smirked. "Well, it ain't been like we've had all the time in the world," he said.

Beth gave him a faint smile and her fingers continued playing with his hair. She then turned her head on the pillow to look towards their nightstand before looking back at him with a smile.

"We have two more hours," she told him and then giggled as Daryl broke into his own smile before leaning his head down and fusing his lips to hers again.

…

Max stayed sitting next to Abby and they ate pepperoni pizza and he asked her all of the questions that he had been wanting to know the answers to for months now.

Favorite movie? The Secret Garden.

"I've never seen it," he said and she smiled as if that wasn't surprising to her at all.

"I don't think you'd like it," she replied with a shake of her head.

Max pretended to be offended and she laughed softly which only made him smile.

He made her laugh. Hell, yeah.

Favorite food? Strawberries.

"Out of everything… strawberries?" Max asked, trying not to make a face.

Abby just kept smiling and she nodded her head. "We have wild strawberries growing in the woods around our house. They're the best thing in the world."

Max thought that over for a moment. "I've never had strawberries like that."

"I can bring you some," she offered and Max smiled at her.

"That'd be awesome," he said and Abby felt her stomach's knot tighten a little as that smile of his settled on her.

No one had ever smiled at her like that; no one she wasn't related to. Max was smiling at her as if perhaps she was the best thing he had ever seen. She could be wrong. Maybe she was just seeing something in his smile that she wanted to see. He had no reason to smile at her like that.

Max was one of the cutest boys in their class and she certainly wasn't the only girl who was aware of that. She didn't really understand why he was out – with her – where anyone could see them together and she knew that a part of her was still bracing for the joke or prank that might be coming, but the rest of her was knotted and fluttering all at once and she was smiling and laughing softly and her cheeks were warm with a blush. He had actually come and sat next to her as if he could sense her discomfort with talking too loud and that had to mean something.

"Did you get enough to eat?" Max asked her, breaking through her thoughts.

Abby looked down to the medium pizza pan in front of them that was now empty except for a few wayward crumbs. She looked back to him and smiled and nodded.

He smiled, too. "You want to go to the arcade now?" He asked and she nodded again.

He turned around, trying to find their waitress so they could pay the check, and Abby's smile faded as she got a slight itching on the back of her neck. She was sitting next to the wall and yet, she was getting that feeling again. She had gotten it before their pizza had come and she was getting it now.

Her eyes looked past Max and she began to scan the crowded dining room. Abby knew she wasn't imagining it. Her instincts were burning and her dad had taught her to never ignore her instincts. They had yet to steer her wrong and she doubted that they would begin to do so tonight and right now, her instincts were telling her one thing.

Someone was watching her.

…

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