Call for a Good Time

Chapter 4

His phone ran from across the room and he quickly walked over and picked it up. Beth's name lit up on the small screen and he quickly answered. "Hey there," he mumbled into the receiver, rubbing his eyes.

"Did I wake you?" she asked; her voice hoarse, like she'd been crying.

"What's wrong?" He ignored her question. Something didn't sound right.

Her heard loud banging in the background. "Beth, open the fucking door!"

"Who the fuck is that?" he asked.

"My ex," she whispered.

Daryl growled and grabbed his keys and his jacket, all but running to his truck. "Your door locked?"

"Yeah," she whimpered as the banging continued.

"Beth, I'm gonna fuck you up if you don't open this fucking door!"

"Stay on the line, I'm comin'," he told her as he started his truck and peeled out of the drive way. "You at the dorms?"

"No, apartment."

Daryl headed to the apartment buildings she'd moved into last week. "I'm comin'." He pushed the gas pedal down harder, ignoring all of the laws of the road, breaking at least three on his way to her. He heard Beth scream and the sickening sound of wood splintering, the door slamming against the wall as her ex kicked it in.

"You fucking slut!" Daryl heard her ex yell before she screamed.

"Beth? Beth!" He drove faster, cutting off people and swerving in and out of traffic.

"Who the fuck is this?"

Daryl growled, his knuckles going white around the steering wheel. "I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch," he growled into the phone.

"Better hurry, your biker slut won't be innocent much longer."

The line went dead as Daryl turned down the street her apartment was on. He was surprised he didn't have cops on his tail as he pulled into the parking lot, slamming on the breaks. His eyes shot to her apartment as he climbed out of the truck and ran to it. The door had been kicked in and he could hear Beth screaming. He ran up the stairs and looked at what was happening. He had her pinned to the floor and Daryl walked in just in time to see him punch her in the face. He growled, his vision going red. He grabbed the son of a bitch by the hair and dragged him off Beth, slamming him into the wall. "You're gonna die," he told him.

He smirked and looked past him at Beth who was slowly getting off of the floor. Daryl didn't take his eyes off of him. "She got what she deserved."

Daryl growled and started punching him, blind with the rage running through him. He didn't stop until the asshole had stopped moving and Beth placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach. Her lip and nose were bleeding, she had cuts on her cheek where it was already starting to swell, and her shirt had been ripped open. He looked at the flat, smooth plane of her belly and growled. The sick son of a bitch had started to carve slut into her belly, only making it through the 's' and 'a' before Daryl had stopped him.

He stood up, giving the fucker another good kick to the head. "Go pack a bag, you ain't stayin' here." She nodded and went back to her room, putting her things in a bag. Daryl dragged her unconscious ex out of the apartment and dropped him outside in the parking lot. For all he cared he could bleed to death. He walked back in and looked at her. "Ready?" She mutely nodded her head and grabbed her coat, pulling it on over her shoulders and zipping it up. He led her down to his truck and helped her inside before getting in and driving back to his place. Merle was there, but he would deal with him.

She stared blankly out of the window the whole ride back to his house. It was in a shittier neighborhood than the one she'd just come from, but with himself and Merle there, she'd be safe. He pulled up and parked, getting out and going around to get Beth as Merle walked out. "Who's this?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.

Beth tensed up, staring over at Merle. "S'alright," he told her, scooping her up in his arms. "He's an ass, but he ain't gonna touch you." She nodded her head as he carried her inside. He set her down on the table and pinned Merle with a look. "Don't give her shit," he warned.

"Didn't answer my question," Merle commented as he went to the fridge and pulled out three beers. He opened one and handed it to Beth who took it and just held the cold can against her cheek.

"Beth," she said softly. "My name's Beth."

Merle rested against the counter, setting Daryl's beer beside her as Daryl got the first aid kit down. "What happened sugar?" he asked, sipping on his beer.

"My ex…broke into my apartment." She winced as Daryl started to wash the blood from her face with a rad soaked in warm water.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"You kick his ass, baby brother?" Merle asked, watching Daryl with a knowing look.

"And left him for the dogs." Daryl finished wiping the blood from her face and looked at her, his hand going to her coat. He asked her silently if she wanted Merle to leave. She hadn't taken off the ripped shirt before she'd left. She nodded her head, giving him the okay to open her coat so he could look at her stomach. He slowly pulled the zipper down and she shrugged it off her shoulders, letting it fall against the table. Merle growled when he saw what had happened on her belly.

"You shoulda killed the prick," he muttered, chugging his beer."

Daryl sighed as he gently started to wipe the blood off of her skin. "The marks aren't deep," he said more for himself than anyone else. "It'll scar, but it'll be faint." She nodded her head, taking a drink of the beer Merle had handed her. He tossed the rag to the sink as he rifled around for the medication in the kit to put on her open cuts. "Gonna sting," he mumbled, before slowly rubbing it into her skin.

She winced, her fingers tightening around the can. Merle walked over and stood next to her and she automatically reached out with her other hand, fisting his shirt in her hand. Daryl glanced at him but didn't say anything. He wasn't used to seeing this side of Merle. Usually he treated women like crap; then again, the women he was usually with were nothing but hookers he paid. It was weird for him to see the way he was with Beth, like he actually gave a shit.

"Tough little miss," Merle commented as she chugged her beer.

Daryl stood up after finishing with her belly and gently started to put medication on the cut on her lip. She stared up at him as his fingers brushed over her skin, her blue diamond eyes digging into him. He grabbed another salve from the kit, momentarily taking his eyes off of her before he looked back at her, rubbing the salve gently into her cheek where it was cut and swelling.

When he was done and had done what he could for her she hopped off the table and grabbed her bag. He watched her walk back to his room to change her clothes. He sighed and started to put the things away before he chugged his beer, leaning on the counter. "What's going on between you two?" Merle asked.

Daryl shrugged. "I wouldn't say dating, but something like that."

Merle nodded his head. "You take care of what's yours," he muttered before walking back to the couch, lighting up a cigarette. Daryl sat down beside him, a fresh beer in his hand. Beth came back out, but she hadn't changed into her clothes. She'd found one of his shirts and had pulled it on, and that was all she was wearing. Her bare feet padded across the threadbare floor as she came to sit next to him, curling her body against his side as he wrapped his arm around her. They didn't say anything the rest of the night, they just stared at whatever bad movie Merle found to watch until they fell asleep, her body curled against his and his arm around her protectively.

Merle stood up, his joints cracking from sitting in one position too long as he turned off the TV and tossed his empty beer can on the ground. He looked over at Daryl and Beth and shook his head. He knew his brother was falling for the sweet southern bell wrapped against his side. Merle went to bed, smirking to himself. Daryl had finally met his match.