Hi!

So I can't believe how many people are enjoying this story... I was so shocked to receive so many alerts for reviews, favorites, and follows already! I am so glad that you all are interested, so thank you! I just wanted to clear something up real quick before it came into question... the ages in this story are different from the show... Daryl is only about 25 or so, and Beth is 21... Glen is about 23, and so is Maggie... Lori is also older, at least late thirties to early forties. I just wanted to make sure no one became confused over mentioning of age.

So with that being said, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or the characters; just my story line :)

Daryl brought his motorcycle to a halt in the diner parking lot. He'd driven around for a while to pass some time, mainly stopping to get gas, and picking up a pack of smokes; but his stomach was growling by then, and he needed to eat something, even if it was a piece of buttered toast. He figured there was no better place to grab something to eat than the diner he'd went to yesterday. The place was convenient to the shop, well-priced, and not to mention the fact that they served free coffee, so what the hell?

He made his way up the steps and into the diner, where the same hostess from the day prior, greeted him and directed him to a booth. A hot cup of coffee was waiting for him on the table, just as expected, and he downed it within seconds.

"Well, look who's becomin' a reoccurin' customer now", Lori said with a smile as she walked over to the table with her hand on her hip.

Daryl smiled a little bit, "Can't pass up a free cup of coffee"

"And here I was thinkin' you jus' wanted to see little ol' me again", Lori said jokingly and Daryl let a slight chuckle escape his mouth, "so what can I get for you today Hun?"

"Same as yesterday" Daryl said as he handed Lori the menu and she refilled his cup of coffee.

"Alright, two eggs and southern style grits comin' up"

"Thanks" Daryl said in a low tone, and then hesitantly bit his lip for a second, "Oh and thanks for puttin' a call in over there yesterday", he referenced towards the car shop.

"Don't mention it Hun, Dale's been looking for another mechanic for that place for quite a while now. I didn't do much to sway his mind; jus' mentioned you were heading over there, that's all"

"Well, either way… thanks" Daryl said, a little uncomfortably. He wasn't used to people helping him out, so thanking someone was almost foreign to him. Lori just smiled in return and left to place the order.

Daryl thought about things for a while as he waited for his food. The people in this town seemed very welcoming so far, and he could really get used to things around there. However, as anxiety would always play a part, Daryl wondered if it was just a matter of time before things turned sour… as they always seemed to do in his life.

After eating his food and finishing up his fourth cup of free coffee, it was almost nine o'clock. He figured he had just enough time to have a quick cigarette before heading over to the shop; so he quickly threw some money on the table to pay for his meal, and made his way out the doors, to the parking lot.

As he swung open the glass door and walked down the steps while lighting a cigarette, he was startled by Lori, who was also leaned up against the wall having a quick smoke.

"Was the food good Hun?" Lori asked, before exhaling.

"Yeah," Daryl took a deep inhale and blew it out, "Left the money on the table"

Lori nodded, "So first day huh? Nervous?"

"Nah, ain't no reason to be nervous… jus' gonna do one of the things I know how to do best, that's all"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine", she said as she took one last drag of her cigarette before flicking it on the ground and squishing it with her foot.

"Yup" Daryl glanced over out the corner of his eyes.

"Aright, well I better get back in there", Lori wiped her hands along her front apron, "don't be a stranger now alright?" Daryl gave a quick nod and a small smile; he thought the woman was very nice.

"By the way…" Daryl flicked his cigarette out into the lot and looked over at Lori who was starting to make her way up the steps, "the name's Daryl"

Lori gave a wholesome smile, "Well Daryl, good luck and I'll see ya around then". Daryl nodded and Lori went back inside the diner.

Daryl checked his watch again, which read '8:57 am', and figured he better head across the street and get to the shop, "Here goes nothin'" he said to himself as he quickly proceeded across the road.

When Daryl reached the wooden door to the shop, he attempted to open it; but it was locked. Suddenly Glen appeared through the small window and unchained the latch from the inside.

"Morning new guy!" he said sarcastically with a beaming smile; but it slowly vanished when Daryl did not laugh. He knew the guy was very kept to himself, he got that from their two minute conversation the day before, but a little humor wouldn't kill him.

"Yeah, uh hi" Daryl muttered as he walked through the door and into the closed garage, his face perplexed once again by the over excited Asian, "is Dale here?"

"Nope", Glen said as he re-latched the lock, "he doesn't come in till about ten usually, it's just you and I until then"

Daryl rolled his eyes, and mouthed the words great to himself.

Glen walked over to a small chair and grabbed a dark blue jumpsuit, identical to the one he had on himself, and handed it to Daryl.

"What's this?" Daryl said, eyeing the clothes in his hand.

"Uniform" Glen said, "Boss's rules… says he doesn't want to be blamed if we get oil all over our clothes"

Daryl nodded, but wasn't exactly thrilled. It reminded him of a prison jumpsuit, which wasn't exactly his style of choice, "Is there a bathroom?" he asked.

"Yeah, through the office and to the left" Glen answered as he began pulling the chains down and lifting the shop garage door open.

Daryl walked into the office and to the left, as directed, opened the bathroom door and flicked on the light. He quickly changed into the ugly blue get-up, and returned back into the garage with his clothes in hand.

"You could put those over there on the bench" Glen suggested, and Daryl again complied.

"So, this Cadillac over here", Daryl pointed towards the red car Glen was working on the day before, "What's wrong with it?"

"Oh that piece of junk?" Glen chuckled, "what's not wrong with it? I just try and work on it to kill time, when there are no customers in the shop"

Daryl looked confused, "So it don't even belong to anyone?"

"Nope," Glen said as he tried to tidy up some loose tools and place them in a big red box, "I take parts I need from it every now and then, but it's basically a dummy car"

Daryl walked around the red Cadillac, examining it, "It's a classic car, ain't it? Gotta be more than fifty years old"

"Sixty four actually" Glen said as he took a seat one of the white plastic chairs next to the garage door, "It's a 1950, series 61"

Daryl nodded, "So why not do something with it? For yourself or somethin'?"

"I don't know" Glen said with a slight chuckle, "I don't exactly see me as the type to drive an old muscle car"

Daryl raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Yeah, you're right"

Glen knew that was somewhat of an insult, but he was happy the guy was at least making some kind of conversation with him.

"So, you said yesterday that you weren't from here. How did you end up here?"

Daryl leaned up against the garage door and rolled his eyes, the questions were beginning, "Jus' did"

Glen's eyebrows creased, "So where did you come from?"

Daryl took a deep breath, "North Georgia"

Glen nodded, "I'm from Chicago. Came here about six years ago when my parents were killed in a car accident"

Daryl looked over at Glen through the corner of his eyes, "Sorry"

"Nah, don't be" Glen shook his head, "I've accepted it… took me a few years; but I'm okay now"

Daryl nodded; there wasn't much he could really say. He knew what it was like to lose a parent; but those were different circumstances that Glen probably would never understand, "So why'd you come all the way down here?"

"My Dad used to live here when he was younger… Dale was an old family friend and when he found out about the accident, he flew out for the burial, and then he took me back with him… said he owed it to my Dad"

"That was nice of him" Daryl said simply.

"Yeah, Dale's a great guy. He's got his rules and what not, but if it wasn't for him…", Glen paused for a second, "…I'm not sure what I would've done… I had no other family"

Daryl thought about what Glen said for a few minutes, maybe the kid wasn't so bad after all. Yeah, he was a little over enthusiastic sometimes; but maybe that was just because of what he'd been through. Maybe it was a way of coping with the things he'd experienced.

Suddenly a brown pickup truck pulled into the garage and over towards the far right, where it parked and the engine shut off. Daryl looked confused for a few seconds, until Dale jumped out of the drivers' seat. He noticed the weird fisherman-type hat right away.

"Good morning" Dale said as he grabbed a crinkled up newspaper from the truck and slammed the door.

"Mornin'" Daryl said and gave a quick nod.

"You were here at 9:00 sharp right Daryl?" Dale asked with a smile.

"Yeah, he was" Glen answered for him.

"Good, well I'll be inside if you boys need anything" he said as he made his way into the office and closed the door.

Daryl looked over at Glen, "He just sits in there all day?"

"Pretty much" Glen said with a light laugh.

A few minutes of silence passed and Daryl was already beginning to realize just how dead the place actually was. Not one car in sight and he had no idea how long it would be before they would even get an inquiring customer.

"So are there ever any customers?" Daryl couldn't help but ask, the boredom was already getting to him.

"Yeah, usually a couple a day", Glen kicked some dirt underneath his sneaker, "this weeks been a bit slow though"

Daryl took a deep breath and stared out onto the quiet street. It was going to be a long day.

It was just past four thirty and the shop only had a short while before closing. The day had been relatively the same as the morning, besides about three cars here and there for minor things like an oil change and a tune-up. Most of the day Glen just talked, and even though Daryl nodded his way through the conversations, he barely heard much of what Glen was saying. He wasn't joking when he said he was looking forward to having someone to talk to.

Glen had finally stopped rambling and was cleaning up the garage to prepare for closing time. Daryl grabbed his clothes off the bench and made his way into the office towards the bathroom to change back into his normal clothing. Dale was standing up, tidying up his things, and also preparing to leave for the day, when Daryl walked past him.

"So Daryl?" Glen asked, and Daryl paused at the bathroom door, "How was your first day? Not too much to handle right?"

"Nah" Daryl said, "it was fine"

"Good" Dale smiled, "so it's safe to say that you'll be back tomorrow then right?"

Daryl let a small chuckle escape his mouth, "Yeah, I'll be here"

Daryl closed the door and Dale exited the office towards the garage.

"Leaving?" Glen asked as Dale made his way towards his truck.

"Yeah, I'm gonna head on home. You're goin' to Maggie's for dinner right?"

"Yeah, I shouldn't be back too late" Glen answered.

"Alright, well make sure you close up before you leave" Dale said as he jumped into the drivers' seat and starting the truck.

"I will" Glen yelled out, and Dale backed up out of the garage, then disappearing onto the street.

Daryl walked out a few minutes later, now back in his normal clothing, a pair of grungy jeans, a green t-shirt and a leather vest over it.

Right as Glen was about to pull the chains on the garage door, a blue pick-up pulled up out front, with a blonde woman in the passenger seat and a brunette woman in the drivers' seat, who was honking her horn. Glen smiled and extended one finger out, to tell her he'd be there in a few minutes. Immediately Daryl recognized the truck, it was the same one that had pulled out of the driveway by the farm he sneaked out of earlier that morning.

"You know them?" Daryl said, his curiosity growing.

"Yep" Glen said as he pulled the garage door down and latched the bottom, "That's my girlfriend and her sister"

Daryl nodded; but he had to admit he was a little shocked that the kid even had a girl in the first place.

"We're actually about to go get something to eat down at the BBQ shack, you want to come with?" Glen suggested, "The food is unbelievable"

Daryl hated to admit that the thought of food was really appealing; however, he really didn't have the money to blow on it, "Nah I'm alright"

"Oh come on', I insist" Glen waved his hands, "My treat, come'on"

Daryl wanted to argue against it, but before he could they were making their way out the door of the shop, where Maggie, Glen's girlfriend was already waiting. As soon as Glen locked the doors, she hugged him passionately and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Hey hot stuff", Maggie winked and Glen laughed as he kissed her on the cheek, "you ready to go eat?"

"Yeah I am", Glen looked over at Daryl, "Uh Maggie, this is Daryl, he just started working for Dale today… you mind if he comes and hangs out with us?"

Maggie smiled at Daryl and extended her hand out to shake his, "Nice to meet you Daryl". Daryl awkwardly shook Maggie's hand and nodded, and she looked back over at Glen with a smile, "I don' mind. Beth is comin' with us too… Jimmy apparently bailed on her again, and she isn't in the greatest of moods this afternoon", Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Really, it's alright, I'm not all that hungry anyway", Daryl lied.

"Nonsense", Maggie said with a smile and grabbed Daryl's arm leading him over to the car, "Come on' I insist"

Daryl raised an eyebrow, this girl was a little too touchy for his liking; but he brushed it off and got in the car anyway, it didn't seem like he had much of a choice.

As he and Glen piled into the small backseat of the truck, Daryl caught a glimpse of the blonde's pouting face in the front seat. She had wavy blonde hair and milk white skin. She didn't even notice that more than one person had entered the car; she was too busy crossing her arms and staring out ahead.

"Beth this is Daryl, Daryl this is Beth" Maggie said as she jumped in the driver seat and slammed the creaky door shut.

Beth barely looked back and just muttered "Hi" in a slightly annoyed and depressing tone.

Daryl raised an eyebrow and muttered back in return, "Nice to meet you"

"Mhmm" Beth mumbled still looking ahead.

Daryl turned to Glen as they drove past the diner parking lot, "I'm gonna have to come back this way after… my bike is in the lot over there"

"Oh don't worry, we'll give you a ride back over there" Glen assured and Daryl nodded.

Suddenly Beth raised the volume on the radio, it was obvious that she wasn't in the best of moods, just as her sister mentioned.

Daryl just watched out the window as they drove down the streets towards their destination. He wasn't exactly comfortable hanging out with people he didn't really know, and not to mention the fact that he had illegally crashed in the sisters' barn the night before. But he was already in the car with them, and he pretty much had no choice but to make the best of it at that point. It wasn't like he had to become best friends with these people or anything… a quick meal wasn't going to hurt...