Thank you all for such an amazing response to the first chapter! I'm excited that you are all interested! Here is the next chapter, it's a long one :) enjoy!

Chapter Two – Daryl

I hadn't walked far before the smell began intensifying; assuring me that I was indeed getting closer to the house the smoke was coming from. Not only did the smell thicken, but I could also hear the faint sound of a radio playing and a motor of some sort being turned on and then turned off again every few seconds. At least I knew someone would be there, and hopefully it wasn't going to turn out to be Jason from Friday the thirteenth or some weird guy with half his face hanging off and a massive chainsaw. I had to admit that even thinking about that as a possibility started to freak me out a little; but, I just prayed to god and hoped that it would turn out to be some normal folks who would quickly let me use their telephone and then be on my way, otherwise I was just a dead girl walking.

Not after too long, I finally began to see a medium-sized cabin in the distance and through the trees. As far as I could tell it didn't look too bad, and the front door was wide open. The sound of the music increased the closer I got; whoever was listening to it was obviously into some serious classic rock. There were songs playing that I hadn't heard since I was a little girl.

As I finally reached the ending of the trees and slowly approached the little house, I didn't see anyone in sight; not in the front of the house at least. I didn't want to just intrude and walk to the back end of the house, even though that was where the music was coming from, so I decided to take my chances with knocking on the front door first. Maybe someone was inside the house as well?

I made my way towards the stairs, slowly creeping up them as I observed the small porch. There wasn't much of anything, besides an old wooden rocking chair and a couple of crushed beer cans in the corner.

"Hello?" I said questionably as I lightly knocked on the screen door.

I could barely see anything inside, just a hall leading to a kitchen on the far end; not one person coming into view.

"Hello?" I said again, although I already knew that whoever lived in the house had to have been around back, and even though I didn't want to just walk around their property, I had no choice; I didn't walk that far for nothing.

I made my way back down the stairs and cautiously began walking through what looked like freshly raked soil. I figured it was a garden that must have been recently tended, so I tried my hardest to be careful and tip toe around it. Once reaching the side of the house, there was a small wired fence that I carefully stepped over. I stopped momentarily as I noticed a shot gun leaning up against the siding, causing a wave of anxiety to roll through my veins. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to take another step further, wondering if there was more of those things lying around anywhere else, and whether they were being used for hunting animals or people.

However, I swallowed hard and decided to keep walking; making a mental note of where to grab the gun if I needed to, not that I even had a clue on how to use the damn thing anyhow, but still. As I finally approached the back corner of the house and slowly peeked out from around it there was a man sitting on the dirt, singing along to the music and pulling apart a bunch of different objects from a motorcycle, which explained the motor sound I kept hearing as I was walking there. His back was facing me, and the only thing I could really see was that he bared no shirt and had brown shaggy hair, about chin to shoulder length. He didn't look like a psycho, and there were no chainsaws in sight, so that was a plus.

"Uhm, excuse me?" I said lightly, a little nervous as I slowly and carefully began approaching him; but the music was so loud that he must not have heard me at all because he didn't even budge.

I walked closer towards him, but I didn't want to scare the man either, people act in self-defense when someone sneaks up on them, and I sure as hell didn't want to startle him.

Just as I was about to try and say something again, I took a step forward and something snapped around my boot, causing a wave of intense pain and my body to crash onto the ground.

"Shit!" I yelled out as the pain ran through my foot like pine needles.

Suddenly the man turned around and jumped to his feet; his face completely confused as he looked towards me and then my foot which was clamped in one of those god damn bear claw traps!

"Tha' fuck? Who the hell er' you?" he shouted as he dropped a wrench from his hand a walked towards me.

"I- ah, I was jus' walkin' over here to ask if I could use your phone, 'cause my tire blew out on my truck, and – ah, ouch…" I tried to keep explaining, but the increasing pain from the clamp was making it hard to speak.

"Aright, shit – hol' on a sec'" the man said as he shook his head and ran over towards the motorcycle, picking up a pair of pliers from the ground and quickly running back over towards me. He quickly latched them onto a screw at the bottom of the trap and began losing the bolt, allowing the pressure to release and eventually slipping it off of my foot.

I quickly unzipped the top half of my boots and rolled up my jeans to get a view of the area it clamped down on. It was immediately swollen and turning a slight purplish color. "Damn it" I breathed out as I tried to circulate movement in it, but I could after moving it for only a second that it was pretty bad.

"Don't look good" the man said as he eyed the swelling area of my leg, "but ya' lucky you had boots on, otherwise it woulda' cut right through yer' leg"

"What the hell do you have bear claw traps around your house for anyway?" I said, with a slightly irritated tone. I mean seriously, who puts them there?

"Not mine" he said in response; but his face quickly jerked and he raised an eyebrow, "If you weren't sneakin' up on me and my property, I coulda' warned ya'"

"I tried to knock on the front door" I spat back, but then quickly softened my tone, "sorry, I jus'- can I please use your phone?"

"Yeah; but let's see if you can get up first aright?" he said as he stood up and extended a hand towards me. I hesitated for a second, simply because I didn't know the man, but eventually I placed my hand in his and he pulled me up and to my feet.

"Ah, ouch, ouch" I whimpered as I barely put any pressure on my foot.

"C'mon inside" the man said as he grabbed ahold of me, allowing me to alleviate the pressure of standing on it, "I can wrap it up and get ya' some ice"

I nodded and the scruffy-faced man led me towards the back door. I wasn't going to argue; I knew damn well that my ankle and foot were swelling more and more by the second.

After helping me up the back steps and into the house, he led me over towards a chair in his kitchen, where I took a seat and he pulled another chair in front of me to place my foot on top of.

He left the room for a second and returned with a bandage to wrap my leg. As he knelt down beside me I could feel my stomach twinge a little as he tried to unzip the rest of my boot, partially due to the pain, and partially because it was a little strange to have some man I barely knew that close to me.

"I'm Beth by the way" I said, my voice a little uneven as he slid the boot off of my foot. He just looked up at me through the top of his eyes and slowly rolled my pant leg up, revealing the even darker shade of purple spreading from the heel of my foot to the front of my calf.

"Daryl" he stated; slowly beginning to wrap the bandage around my foot and ankle, pausing every so often when I would wince a bit, "You ain't from here are ya?" he asked.

"Nope. I'm from Atlanta… was jus' out here for work until my tire was slashed by one of those torture traps". His eyes furrowed in confusion, and I clarified, "One of those bear claw traps… there was one up by the road and I ran it over. Slit my whole tire wide open"

Daryl shook his head and a small chuckle escaped his mouth. I had no idea what could possibly be funny about that, so I just stared at him with a puzzled expression.

"That's my brother, Merle… he sets those things up all over the place. Say's it's easier to catch a hunt; but I don't agree"

"That's jus' sick" I blurted out, not realizing that my opinion would fly out of my mouth so fast, "that's torturing the animals for no good reason"

"Yeah, well my brothers a sick fuck sometimes, so, what are ya gonna' do? I personally think a nice clean head shot gets the job done quicker, and plus, it's less of a fuckin' mess"

I didn't respond, and honestly, after experiencing my own foot getting caught in one of those traps, I didn't even want to know what it felt like on a poor animal's bare skin. It wasn't that I was against hunting and eating animals, that wasn't it at all. I wasn't a vegetarian or anything, I ate meat, in fact I believed that it was a part of life; but torturing animals just too eventually kill them and eat them anyway was just horrible. Just shoot the poor thing and get it over with, don't torture it and then ultimately kill it anyway after it's suffered.

"So I assume the shot gun I seen on the side of your house is yours then?" I asked

"Oh that? Nah, well kinda'… we both use it; but I'm more of a bow and arrow kinda' guy… I can shoot a crossbow with my eyes closed and hit my intended target right in-between the eyes if I wanted to"

I wasn't going to lie, it was quite nerve wracking to hear the guy say that, especially being that I was sitting inside his home and had no idea who he was and whether or not he could turn into some kind of psycho path in a split second.

"Your intended target?" I asked a little weary, "You do mean whatever animal you're hunting right?"

He looked up at me and chuckled, "Yeah… that and if someone tries to come creepin' up on me and my property"

My body stiffened, and by the look on his face I could definitely tell that he knew I had become extremely nervous.

"I'm jus' messin' with ya girl" he said another chuckle left his mouth and he placed a piece of tape over the final wrapping on the bandage, "Lemme' get ya' some ice". He walked over towards the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables, "This'll work" he said as he handed it to me and I placed it on top of my foot.

"Thanks" I said in a soft voice, still calming my nerves, "Can I use your phone please?"

He gave a quick nod and then grabbed a cordless phone off the counter and handed it to me, "Go ahead; but I'm jus' warnin' ya darlin', it'll be hours before anyone from triple A gets over to this area"

"Great" I said while glancing down at the time on my cellphone, "is there anyone around here I could call? Like a car shop or somethin' that can fix it for me?"

"There is; but again, you're gonna' be waitin' quite a while… we're in the sticks sweetheart, there ain't nothin' but trees for miles on end. The closest shop is in town, and that's close ta' forty miles away"

"So, what do I do then? I need ta' get my tire changed somehow" I asked, starting to feel the stress rising as I worried I wouldn't get back to Atlanta till god knows when.

"How far's ya' truck?" he asked.

"About a mile down, on some road. Why?" I asked, massaging the temples of my forehead as I felt a headache creeping up my neck.

"Cause I can change it if ya' want… that is, if ya' got a spare"

"You can?" I asked foolishly, of course he could, he's a man, and I'd seen him working on the motorcycle before my foot was almost chomped off. "That would be great… really; I could pay you if ya' want"

He shook his head, "I don't need ya' money girl; just' tell me what kinda' car it is and what color and gimme' ya keys and I'll drive it over here and fix it"

I immediately searched my bag and pulled out my keys, leaning over to hand them to him, "It's a dark green Mercedes GL-SUV; it should be pulled right on the side of the road there"

Daryl's eyes widened and the expression on his face changed as he nodded with a surprised look, "Mercedes huh? Flashy ain't it?"

I didn't answer right away, and honestly I was kinda' confused. It wasn't flashy, it was just a car… okay maybe it was a little flashy; but, still… I didn't like being referred to as 'flashy'.

"I don't think so… it's jus' a car"

He laughed inwardly for a second but didn't argue, "Alright well, I'm gonna' go get it then… jus' sit tight and ice that for a bit"

"Wait" I immediately shouted, not meaning to yell at all, "You jus' want me ta' wait in your house?"

"Yeah, I ain't gonna' take very long" he said with a confused tone.

"But… you barely even know me" I said and looked at him as if he had three heads, "How do ya' know I ain't some kinda' thief or somethin'? Not that I am… I'm jus' sayin'"

Again he chuckled, as if he was attempting to make fun of me in some way, "I'll take my chances" he chortled, and then joked, "besides, like I tol' ya… I got killer aim. You ain't gonna' get very far darlin'"

I didn't respond, but rather gulped at the words. That was pretty scary, knowing that the guy could slaughter something in one blast.

"Sit tight – I'll be right back", he said as he made his way out the kitchen and eventually out the door.

I just sat there, staring around at the very old fashioned, kinda' out of date kitchen. It wasn't very big, and honestly, compared to mine, it was about the size of my guest bathroom, which wasn't very spacious at all.

However, I had to admit that it was quite homely. It had a nice country feel to it, very warming if anything. It reminded me of the houses I used to say I would buy back when I was in college, that is, before meeting Phillip.

I had always wanted to move into some cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere, where I could conduct a bunch of studies all day long and not have to travel anywhere to get to them. Where I could sit on my front porch with a cup of coffee and just read, listening to nothing but the birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees.

I could feel myself imagining it and floating off into some dreamland far away, as I sat in complete silence, resting my head onto my hand and leaning on top of some strangers table, that I hadn't known more than a half hour. Snap out of it, I remember telling myself. It was crazy, and what was I doing? How unsafe was it for me to go on this expedition alone? Great job Beth. Seriously, great friggin' job. For all I knew, this guy was planning on murdering me and no one would ever know where the hell to even look for me.

As I continued scolding myself for my unwisely made decisions, I was distracted by a loud engine outside, eventually cutting off. It sounded nothing like my truck, and therefore, my stomach began to get queasy again. But that wasn't anything compared to the deep bellowing and the nervousness I felt the minute I heard the screen door open and a voice that sounded nothing like Daryl's.

"Daryl? Where you at little brother? I got dinner!" the deep voice said with a sinful laugh following. I bit my lip as I contemplated getting up and making a run for it; but of course, I never act quickly enough.

"Dar-" the man appeared into the kitchen and his words cut off as he caught sight of me sitting at the table. He was a heavier man, sporting a bald head and grey stubble on his face. I couldn't lie, he was pretty frightening looking. "Well, who in the fuck are you?" he said with one eyebrow raised as he walked over and slapped a dead baby deer onto the counter, with a bullet wound on the side of its' head.

I cringed at the sight, and I truly thought I was going to puke for a second. "I- uh, I'm Beth" I said; my voice shaky and intimidated, "I'm waitin' for Daryl to get back with my truck"

The man just stared at me. He stared like I was a piece of meat. A small helpless piece of meat. Eyeballing me up and down in a very sleazy and perverted kind of way. It was actually beginning to gross me out, and I immediately crossed my arms as if I was shielding myself in a sense.

"Waitin' on the baby brother huh?" he said with a devilish grin, "well now, I think I'm gonna' have ta' find out where the little brothers' hangin' out now'a days to get himself a pretty little thing like you"

I instantly felt my face furrow in confusion, "Oh, I'm not- I jus' found him when I got a flat tire; I needed a telephone to use- that's all"

His eyes continued scanning me, eventually stopping at my wrapped up ankle, "And that? Lemme' guess, he patched that up fer ya' too?"

"Yes" I looked down at the bandages and then back up at him, "I got my foot caught in one of those claw traps"

He let out a laugh and I couldn't help but feel a little defensive. Was he laughing at me? Because I didn't find it very funny at all.

"Well ain't that a pickle?" he said very sarcastically and I felt my face tightening and my eyes narrowing at him, "Oh don't get defensive blondie, I jus' find it entertainin' ta' know that I do in fact hide them suckers pretty well"

"Yeah well, maybe you oughta' re-think about where you put em'" I blurted out of anger, "I coulda' lost my damn foot"

"Well aren't you ballsy?" he said mockingly, obviously still amused for some reason unknown to me, "What are ya' some city girl or somethin'? Ya don't know that you shouldn't be wanderin' around wooded areas and not checkin' ya surroundings for things?"

I was about to answer back with another smart remark, but I stopped myself when I heard the screen door open again. Two seconds later Daryl walked into the kitchen with my keys in his hand.

"So uh, we got a problem girl" he started, but came to a halt when he caught sight of his brother in the kitchen as well, "I see you met Merle?" he said as he looked at him with narrow eyes, as if he already knew how obnoxious the guy was to me.

"I have" I replied; clearing my throat, and making it noticeable that I didn't enjoy the mini conversation I had with him very much.

"Oh yeah, Blondie here was jus' tellin' me about how her foot was caught in the trap" he let out a very loathsome snicker, "gave me a good laugh"

"Cut it out Merle" Daryl snapped at him, unamused by his sarcasm, "leave the girl alone"

"Oooh, baby brother says leave Blondie alone" he laughed again and Daryl's eyes once again narrowed at him, "Alright, alright… I gotta' go skin this fucker anyway" Merle said as he forcefully slid the fawn back off of the counter and began walking towards the back door, "See ya' later sugar tits" he scoffed before closing the door behind him.

I was taken aback; did he actually just say that to me? What I a fucking sleazebag!

"Don't mind him, he's an asshole" Daryl said, clearly embarrassed by his brothers behavior, "But what I was tryna' say before, is that we've got a problem… you ain't got a spare in your truck"

"Wait, what? What do you mean? It's in the undertow in the back" I said arguably, and he shook his head in disagreement. Then suddenly it hit me. I didn't have one, because a couple months prior I had hit a pothole somewhere downtown and had to use the spare after my tire blew out. Shit! I kept saying I was going to get another one, and of course, I never did. Way to fucking go Beth. Brav-fucking-oh. "Damnit, you're right" I finally said, once again feeling the headache and the anxiety creeping up my neck again.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is to ask a friend of mine if he can grab one up for ya' and bring it here… but it might take a couple of hours"

A large sigh fell out of my mouth, "Well I don't really have any other options right now, so I'd appreciate it if you could do that"

"Aright, I'll call him" he said as he grabbed the phone and walked into the hallway for a few minutes to call the person.

I grabbed my cellphone and checked the time again, it was approaching 3pm already, and a couple hours meant that I wasn't getting home until after dark, that was for sure. Between waiting for this person to bring the tire, Daryl actually changing it for me, and then driving the couple of hours back to Atlanta, it was going to be late without a doubt.

"Aright, he said he can bring it; but he ain't gettin' here till about six" Daryl said as he reentered the kitchen.

"Well, I guess there ain't much I can really do besides wait then, huh?" I said blatantly, there weren't any other alternatives, "I appreciate your help, and I just feel bad that I'm intruding on you like this. I could wait back outside in my car if you'd like, I don't mind"

Daryl chuckled a little, as if I'd said something so completely out of this world, "its fine, you ain't intrudin'; although technically you were when ya' tried to sneak up on me" he joked and I couldn't help but laugh at his humor. What else was I going to do in that moment? I might as well have found the humor in the situation, and besides, as far as I could tell, Daryl seemed like a decent guy. At least the guy was helping me out, and wasn't belittling me like his jerk brother was.

"Thanks, really. I appreciate it" I said with a smile, genuinely meaning it.

"It's nothin', so how's the ankle feelin'" he asked; leaning down and removing the frozen vegetable bag from it, to undo the bandage a little bit. "Damn, got you good. You ain't gonna' be able to put much pressure on this leg for at least a couple of weeks, until it heals"

That was obvious, and the pulsating in my entire leg was making it even more apparent.

"I'll live" I said, trying not to complain too much, "at least I can bend it, otherwise I woulda' had an issue drivin' back on my own too, and that would've really sucked"

"Yeah, you woulda' been shit outta' luck on that one girl, I wouldn't of drivin' ya' home too" he said, with a bit of humor again as he finished re-wrapping the bandage up again.

I just smiled, but didn't say a word as I watched. I don't know why I was watching, in fact, it was almost sinful that I was in the first place; but for some reason, I couldn't really help it. He was very attractive, and not to mention the fact that he'd never once put a damn shirt on made it even harder not to let my eyes travel to his broadened shoulders, defined arms and well-sculpted chest.

Ugh, but just as quickly as I found myself checking him out, I snapped myself out of it. That was wrong, very, very wrong. I was married, and had a husband, and… but there was no harm in just looking right? Ah, stop it! Yes it was wrong, it was extremely wrong!

"Beth did ya' hear me?" Daryl asked and I immediately refocused my attention on him speaking. I was in such a daze that I didn't even hear him talking to me? Good Lord, what is wrong with me?

"I'm sorry, what?" I said, trying not to be too obvious.

"I said, Merle is grillin' up some food out there, do ya' want some?" he said as he stood back up and leaned against the wall, his face a little puzzled by me.

"Um, uh, yes. Thank you." I said, because it was the only thing I could really think of to say. I was positive that they were eating deer, which again, I didn't really have an issue with. I wasn't against eating animals at all; but I honestly hadn't had venison in years, and I wasn't really sure I'd even like it anymore. It always had such a potent taste; one that you became more used to over time. However, I was a guest in these peoples home, and my father always taught me that rejecting food in someone else's home was an insult, so I guess I was eating venison… whether or not I really wanted to.

XxxxX

It had been a while since eating dinner, which honestly wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated, besides having to deal with Merle and his obnoxiousness; I wasn't feeling as uncomfortable as I had earlier. Daryl and I had talked pretty much the entire time we waited for his friend to show up, and I was finding that he was a pretty interesting person. My first impression of him was definitely turning out to be nothing like I thought it would, and I was discovering through the passing hours that he was a decent guy after all.

He'd told me a great deal about what he does for a living, and how he buys old beat up motorcycles, completely repairs and reconstructs them, and then re-sells them for a whole lot of money. He told me how much he enjoyed doing it, and how it was something he'd really had a passion for. When I'd asked him why he didn't go to school and get licenses in it and move to the city where he could make a lot of money, he told me how that stuff didn't matter to him, and how he didn't want to just uproot his life and force himself somewhere he didn't want to be, just for the money. He loved the quietness that the country brought, and it wasn't something he was willing to compromise to save a buck. He wanted to be happy doing what he loved and not miserable. I admired his desire and his determination to be true to himself and his roots, and it honestly began to make me think about my own.

As I sat in the chair on his front porch and watched him and his friend, Glen, change the tire on my truck for me, I couldn't help but really enjoy the calmness of the area around me. It was so serene, so peaceful, so relaxing, so unlike Atlanta. It made me really think about and question why I hadn't persisted on trying to get Phillip to compromise with me on what it was that I really wanted. Even if we'd just bought a second house… a quiet little cabin in the woods somewhere… a safeguard… an escape from all the madness of the city.

I made a mental note to bring it up at some point, mention it to him and suggest that maybe we look into it in the near future perhaps.

"Alright, all set" Glen, Daryl's friend yelled as he made his way back towards his pick-up truck, "Nice meeting you again"

"You too" I yelled, attempting to bring myself to standing position, which was getting a little better with time, "Thank you so much"

He waved as he drove off and Daryl quickly jogged over to me, helping me as I slightly hopped down the stairs on one foot.

"Careful there darlin'" he said politely as he grabbed a hold of my hand to make sure I wouldn't fall. I normally would have corrected a man for calling me a pet name; but for some reason, I could tell he wasn't meaning it in an offensive or intrusive way, and I actually kind of enjoyed it a little, to be honest.

He helped me towards my car, holding the door opened as I struggled to get into the seat without putting a lot of pressure on my injured foot.

"Again, Daryl, thank you so much for helping me out today. I truly appreciate it, really" I said through my rolled down window, after he closed my door shut.

"Glad I could help Beth. It was nice meetin' ya'" he said as he leaned against the door, his eyes very focused on mine.

I almost found myself dazing out again; but quickly refocused myself and gave him a smile, "Take care Daryl"

"You too Beth" he said as I started my engine, lightly tapping the side of my truck as I slowly pulled off.

I watched him in my rearview mirror for a bit, as I maneuvered my way away from his little cabin and back towards the road, eventually his image disappearing from my view.

XxxxX

I had driven for about two hours before finally reaching Atlanta, and eventually pulling into my parking garage. My foot was throbbing and I honestly couldn't wait to get upstairs and into my bed, I was truly exhausted and it had been an extremely long day.

After parking the truck, I took a few minutes to rest before getting out and pulling my phone out of my bag to check the time. I had three voicemails and close to five text messages from Phillip, worried about where I was and why I hadn't called him. I didn't even think to call him on the way back because I was so focused on trying to get home as quickly as possible; but something was telling me that I probably should have. He was probably a nervous wreck.

As I grabbed my tote and prepared to get out of the truck, I noticed a piece of paper sticking out of my center console, and I immediately grabbed it and unfolded it.

"555-2585 – Call me if ya' ever in my neck of the woods again darlin'"

As I looked down at the handwritten note, I couldn't help the childish grin that spread across my lips. I shouldn't have even smiled at all, but I just couldn't avoid it… something about the note made me giddy, almost excited even. I couldn't explain the feeling, but it was unlike anything I'd ever felt before… it was sinfully provoking almost.

I'd never use it of course… I was married; but that didn't mean that I couldn't entertain the thought for a moment.

I slipped the note into my tote, for reasons unknown really, and continued on my way towards the building, trying to completely fight back the glowing smile on my face. The feeling I had was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before… it was indescribable and almost impossible to put into words, but something about it was thrilling and enticing all at the same time.

XxxxX

After a lengthy explanation of my whereabouts and how I was injured, of course leaving Daryl out of the equation just to save myself from even more explaining, Phillip and I finally laid down to go to bed, and I couldn't wait to drift off to sleep. My eyes were so heavy and burning from wanting to close that I could barely keep them open any longer. Phillip wrapped his arms around me, as he always did, and within minutes he was fast asleep. Me on the other hand, as tired as I was, I found myself drifting off into thought about everything that had happened throughout the course of the day. It was such a confusing feeling, but part of me couldn't stop thinking about Daryl, and about the note he'd left me. Maybe it was the fact that my once predictable life, had suddenly taken a turn into unpredictable; but whatever it was, it had completely thrown a curve ball towards me… and as I contemplated back and forth about how wrong I was for even fantasizing the thought, I couldn't help but want to see him again.

XxxxX

Hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. What do you think is going to happen next?