Call for a Good Time

Chapter 5

Beth slowly started to wake, the smell of coffee and bacon teasing her. She could hear Merle in the kitchen singing the most redneck rendition of Ring of Fire she'd ever heard in her life. She slowly started to sit up, her muscles sore from falling asleep on the couch. Daryl's arm wrapped just a little tighter around her waist as she attempted to sit up, keeping her right where she was. She couldn't help but smile a little as she looked at him. He almost looked like a small child when he slept. "Don't wnna give you the wrong idea or nothin' missy, but ya might wanna cover up," Merle commented as he walked around, picking up empty beer cans from the night before.

Beth blushed as she realized that the shirt of Daryl's she was wearing had rode up past her hips at some point in the night and she quickly pulled it back down. "What time is it?" she asked, slowly prying herself away from Daryl.

"Almost nine, we gotta get to work, but breakfast is on the table." Merle kicked Daryl's foot. "Rise and shine Darlina, time for work."

Daryl groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Shit," he muttered, looking at the time. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" he asked as he got up and shuffled back to his room, still half asleep.

"I tried to, four times!" Merle called after him as he sat on the couch and pulled his boots on.

Beth smiled to herself, shaking her head as she padded into the kitchen. She grabbed a paper plate and threw some bacon on it and quickly made up two egg sandwiched, adding them to the plate and pored two cups of coffee into Styrofoam cups. "Should'a tried harder." Daryl walked back into the living room, his coveralls for work unzipped down his chest as he shoved his feet into his boots.

Beth brought the plate over and handed it to him, passing the coffee to Merle. "Eat on the way," she told him.

"You gonna be okay by yourself?" he asked, taking the plate from her.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She pushed up on her toes and gave him a kiss. "Have a good day."

Daryl growled as his hand slipped off the wrench, the corroded bolt he'd been trying to remove stripping. "Son of a bitch," he swore, throwing the wrench onto the table. He hated exhaust pipes, he really did. He started digging through his tool box, looking for something to pull the stripped bolt off with when he heard the rest of the guys in the shop whistling and catcalling. He rolled his eyes. "Bunch'a horn dogs," he muttered.

"You might wanna take a look, baby brother," Merle called out.

Daryl sighed and turned around to see what all of the commotion was about. Beth was walking towards them, but Daryl couldn't remember her ever looking so damn sexy before. She'd pulled on a pair of short denim cutoffs; the ends tattered and frayed, teasing her creamy thighs. She'd fond one of his plaid button downs and had left it open, trying it in the middle and rolling the sleeves up to her elbows over a black tank top. The fact that she was wearing cowboy boots, aviators, and had curled her hair only made him want her even more. She smiled, taking her glasses off and hooking them on her tank top. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey yourself, what are you doin' here?" he asked, not that he wasn't happy to see her.

She held up a couple of bags from Taco Bell. "I brought you lunch." She smiled, looking over at Merle. "You too."

"Hot damn!" Merle clapped his hands together, smirking. "You're gonna soil a man sugar."

Daryl shook his head and led Beth to the picnic tables outside where the crew took their breaks. She passed out the food while Merle got drinks from the vending machines. "You didn't have to do this," Daryl told her as she sat beside him.

She smiled, and shrugged her shoulders. "I wanted to, I mean, it's the least I can do."

"What do you mean?" Daryl asked taking a bite of his food.

She laughed lightly as Merle sat down and pushed a coke at each of them. "I mean, you didn't have to come get me last night. You could have lost my number and told me to beat it that first day, but you didn't."

Daryl shrugged and looked away from her. He was no good with emotions, and especially thank yous. Unfortunately, Merle was just fine with them. "That's cause little Darlina here is in love," he teased, making them both blush. Daryl didn't know if Merle was right or wrong, but he knew he did care about Beth and what happened to her.

That night when he and Merle pulled into the driveway he was dog tired and just wanted to take a shower and sit on the couch with a cold beer, maybe hold Beth if she was still around. He honestly wasn't expecting her to be. There was no reason for her to stay. Her apartment might not be too safe, but she still had her room at the college for another week before she had to be out for the summer. He walked inside and both he and Merle just stared around the living room. The whole place had been cleaned, top to bottom, and it smelt like something good was in the oven.

Beth walked out from the kitchen and looked at them. "Dinner is almost ready," she told them, wiping her hands on a dish cloth.

Merle whistled low and shook his head. "Finally figured out what this place was missin'," he said walking over to Beth and putting his arm around her. "A woman's touch. We can keep her, right?"

Daryl glared at his brother. "She ain't a dog Merle." He kicked off his boots be the door. "I'm gonna take a shower."

Beth frowned as Daryl walked out of the room. She looked up at Merle. "Did I do something?" she asked.

"Hell no, Daryl just ain't good with women…or emotions." He smirked a bit and followed her to the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it, taking a sip before offering her one. "Give him some time; he'll warm up to ya." Beth took the beer Merle offered her as she checked on dinner. "What're we havin'?"

She smiled, looking over her shoulder at him. "Steak, green beans, and baked potatoes."

Merle smirked as he headed towards the living room and turned the television on. "Yeah, we're keepin' you."

Beth just smiled as she finished up dinner. Merle had scared her at first, he didn't really seem like a nice guy, not to mention he just plain old looked scary, but the more time she spent with him the more she liked him. Not to mention she was head over heels for his brother. Daryl came into the kitchen for a beer after his shower. Beth took one look at him and nearly dropped the green beans all over the floor. He was still dripping wet and his long dark hair was sticking to his shoulders and neck. He hadn't found it necessary to put a shirt on and for that Beth was thankful as she watched a bead of water drip from his hair and fall down his board chest, disappearing in the waist band of his jeans.

He smirked when he caught her staring. "See somethin' you like?" he asked, teasing her.

Beth blushed and set the table. "Dinner is done," she told him. He called Merle over and sat down. On her way to her chair beside him, she decided to be a little bolder. She bent down and whispered, "Yeah, I do see something I like," in his ear before taking a seat. Daryl smirked and looked at her, shaking his head.

"Sugar, that was the best damn meal I've had in ages," Merle said, resting back in his chair. "Where'd you learn to cook like that?"

Beth shrugged as she started to clear the table. "After my mamma died and my sister went off to college it was just me and daddy. He was usually out in the field until dark, so I did all of the house work and cooking." She smiled a little remembering all the nights she'd had to go pull her daddy off the tractor to eat. Daryl walked over and helped her with the dishes before they both joined Merle on the couch. "It's alright if I stay again…right?" she asked, looking up at Daryl.

"Sugar, you can move in," Merle said smirking from his spot on the other side of her.

She smiled, but looked to Daryl. She wanted him to tell her it was alright. She wouldn't stay if he didn't want her to. He nodded his head. "Yeah, you can stay."

Nodding her head she cuddled against him again, watching whatever Merle had found. At least, until Merle tossed the remote to Daryl and stood up, cracking his back. "Night ladies," he mumbled before heading off to his own room.

Daryl sighed and turned off the television. "You should probably go to sleep too," Beth whispered, looking up at him. With Merle gone she realized just how close they were, how their bodies seemed to fit together.

"Probably," he agreed, his head lowering just slightly.

"It was a long day." He hummed in agreement, the arm that was around her moved, his hand gently cupping her face and tiling her head just up a little bit more. Beth blushed, staring up into his eyes. Slowly he bent his head and kissed her. Beth's hands were almost shaking as she slid them up his still bare chest to his hair. He wrapped both arms around her, pulling her onto his lap before standing up. She had no idea how they made it to his room without stumbling and tripping since he didn't stop kissing her, but when she felt her back hit the mattress of his bed, excitement and fear flooded through her. She looked up at him as he hovered over her.

"We ain't gotta," he whispered, his hands playing with the ends of her top.

Beth bit her lip. "I'm just…not ready," she whispered, suddenly ashamed. Daryl nodded his head and lay down beside her, pulling her against him. He kissed her until she couldn't stop yawning. They kissed and held each other for hours, every now and then taking a break to talk, but by the time they fell asleep, Beth knew that she was in love with Daryl Dixon.

He watched her sleep in his arms and sighed. He didn't know how it happened, but somehow, this sweet, innocent southern bell had stolen his heart and ran away from it. As he fell asleep with her in his arms, his head atop hers. He knew he was in love for the first time.