A/N:Oh my goodness, I know, I know... it's been forever since I've updated this, and I am sooo very sorry I left you all hanging for so long! I've been sooo busy with school work that I just haven't had much time to do anything else. So, again I apologize and I won't burden you with a long authors' note, so here we go. Enjoy!

Chapter Four: Headin' Back to Northern Georgia

"Bethy, don't tell me it's nothin' okay, I seen the pictures. What happened out there? And why do you always do those things alone for anyway?"

Maggie's voice ran through the Bluetooth speakers in my car as I drove. Always so protective, my sister.

"Maggie I'm fine, I jus' twisted it up a bit. Got it caught in between two rocks, that's all" I lied; but Maggie was no fool.

"You keep sayin' that like I'm gonna' believe it, and again, you didn't answer my question Beth… why did you go out there alone?"

"Oh my goodness Maggie, will ya' jus' drop it already? I'm fine! And I went out there alone because I wanted to finish my assignment alright? Geez, it's not that big of a deal"

"And what? Phillip jus' lets you go wanderin' out in the middle of the woods three hours away alone? He thinks that's okay?"

Maggie's sarcasm was no hidden detail; she never was too fond of Phillip even though she pretended to be.

See, Maggie always wanted the best for me and sure I appreciated it and all, I loved her for it even; but there was no covering up the fact that she resented him. She resented him for pulling her little sister out of Senoia, and forcing us into some estranged relationship where we only see each other on holidays and surprise visits. It was something Maggie feared when we were little, something she'd asked me to promise her I wouldn't do. But I was just a teenager when I made that promise, I had no idea what my life would be like later on, who I'd be, who I'd meet, who I'd fall in love with. I felt my thoughts drift back to those years as Maggie's voice became more and more distant from my present hearing.

We lost our mother young. Maggie was sixteen and I was fourteen, and even though we had each other and Daddy, things were never the same. Daddy fell into a deep dark depression, turning to binge drinking to cure his pain, and Maggie and I were lost. We needed our parents more than anything, and Mama was gone and Daddy was spiraling out of control. All we had was each other.

The night my Daddy finally realized he'd gone over the edge, he was in a terrible accident, an accident that almost cost him his life. He'd left a local bar in town and stupidly gotten' behind the wheel to drive home, as he'd foolishly done many nights; but this particular night was the worst he'd ever been.

See, a couple months prior to the accident, my Mama, she was murdered…

It was seven o'clock in the morning and Mama had just gotten off her shift at the hospital. She worked overnights there; she said she enjoyed it, and it gave her more time to spend with her family during the day.

As she made her way to through the parking lot and to the car, a man came up behind her. The cameras in the parking lot were facing her and the man's back, so there was never a clear enough image of the mugger. All anyone could make out was that he was a hefty white man, pretty decent build, and bared no hair on his head. That was all anyone could go by.

The man walked up to her from behind, reaching his hand around and placing it on my mother's mouth to prevent her from screaming. He tried to grab her purse from her arms, basically prying it from her; but Mama, she was a tough cookie. I always admired that about her, she was courageous, always.

In the videos we could see her fighting back, struggling to peel herself from the man's grip. She fought back and fought back, eventually turning herself around and kicking the mugger in the groin. He buckled for a few minutes, and Mama seized the opportunity to run, to bolt to her car before he could catch up; but unfortunately… she never made it.

The next part was the hardest to watch for my family, and even most of the jury. I remember seeing their faces cringe as the tape was displayed in the court room during one of the first evidence hearings.

Mama ran as fast as she could; I could see how scared she was, I could feel it by just watching.

And then all of a sudden it happened.

The shot was fired and it hit Mama. It hit her right in the back of her head, causing her to fall straight to the ground without a single movement following, and the darkening of the blood rapidly spread around her on the pavement.

Sometimes I wish Maggie and I never would've pressured my Daddy to let us go to that hearing, actually seeing it displayed on camera in front of us was a million times worse than just reading about it in the newspaper. If Maggie and I would've just listened to Daddy and stayed home, we would've never had that image in our head, and we wouldn't have to bear the memory in our minds forever.

Following that hearing, Daddy's drinking got worse. He was gone all the time, coming home in the wee hours of the morning, stumbling over things and waking Maggie and I up. It was like he was drowning in it all, drowning in the fact that he wasn't there to help her that day. Even when he was sober, Maggie and I didn't even recognize him anymore. He was quiet, distant, and just seemed to be shutting out everything and everyone around him.

But, those days were nothing compared to the day of the accident.

It was the final hearing. The police had a suspect in the case and all the prosecutors had to do was prove that it was the man that killed my mother. The case dragged on for months, and finally this was the day the verdict would finally be determined. Maggie and I never actually seen the guy, or the 'suspect' as the court liked to say. We didn't want to. After seeing the tapes, after seeing what this horrible man did to our mother, we just couldn't be there, and we couldn't look at him… it was too painful.

Daddy left that morning and barely said two words to us. We knew he was worried, and everything involving Mama's murder was all finally coming to an end, an end that everyone hoped would end with justice.

But justice never came.

Because the video was unable to provide the face of the mugger, and there was nothing to completely link the suspect to the crime, he walked… completely free. The jury ruled not guilty, for insufficient evidence and that was it. The man was free to go, to walk away without any punishment.

Daddy was devastated, and when he came home to change his clothes afterwards, Maggie and I could tell that it was his breaking point. He didn't say a word other than telling us that the man was released, but yet his face had pain written all over it. He'd hit rock bottom and we weren't sure if we'd ever get our Daddy back; not the one we used to know at least.

Daddy disappeared that afternoon, leaving Maggie and I home alone. We had no idea where he was going or what he was doing; but we knew he was just as much of a mess as we were. He was gone for the remainder of the day and well into the night. Maggie and I couldn't sleep, between the thought of the man who murdered our mother still out there, and our daddy nowhere to be found was enough to keep us from sleeping ever again. Every time our eyes shut, the images from those videos would return and cause shivers down our spines, there was no fighting the fear.

We sat in the hayloft of the barn for hours that night, looking up at the sky and saying absolutely nothing for a while. It was a quiet night, and the weather was nice. Every star in the sky was lit up, and yet all Maggie and I could do was cry. After hours of silence and small glances at each other, she finally looked at me long enough for me to see every single ounce of strength she had start to diminish.

Maggie was always the stronger sister, she had done so well to keep it together for me, to be the big sister who comforts the little one; but as she stared into my eyes and her face started to clench, I could tell that she'd been strong for too long. She was at her breaking point; she needed someone to be strong for her this time, and I was ready.

I grabbed her into my arms and hugged her as tight as I could. Her emotions poured out, and she soaked my shirt with her tears. It lasted a long while, her crying in my arms, and me trying to hold myself together for her; until finally she calmed down enough to catch her breath.

She leaned up and looked at me with her tear soaked face and said, "Beth, promise me that we will always stick together, you and me. That will never leave each other okay? I can't lose anyone else… I can't"

I remember looking at my strong sister, her strength completely breaking before my eyes, and just nodding, pulling her into a hug again.

"I promise Maggie. I promise." I whispered to her and we shared a hug that lasted for what felt like hours, "I'll never leave you"

About ten minutes later, a pair of bright headlights came down the driveway, and both of our stomachs dropped when we saw the police siren on the top of the car and realized it was Officer Shane. He pulled to a stop right in front of the house, and Maggie and I looked at each other with complete fear, both of us knowing that something was wrong and it had to be Daddy.

We climbed down from the hayloft and ran out of the barn so fast that I can still remember the numb feeling in my knees. Everything went into slow motion as my nerves bubbled up inside of me, and as we approached Officer Shane we knew we were right. The look on his face confirming it… something definitely happened to Daddy.

Maggie looked at me, and I could tell that she was just about ready to collapse right there on the pavement. She wasn't ready to hear what Officer Shane was about to say, she didn't want to hear it; but it came anyway.

"Maggie, Beth" he looked down towards the ground, avoiding all eye contact with us both, "I've gotta' get you two down to the hospital… there's been an accident"

"No" Maggie whispered as her bottom lip quivered, "No… Daddy?"

He just nodded his head, it was obvious that he hated having to tell us what was going on.

"Is- is he okay?" I managed to get the words out of my mouth, but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer or not.

"He- he's in surgery right now. They're doin' everything they can for him; but his leg was severed in the accident. He lost a lot of blood and the doctors, they're just… they're not sure if he's gonna' make it" Shane could see the tears swelling in my eyes, and Maggie, she was already broken, her crying pulled her straight onto the ground.

That was when I knew that I had to be there for her, I had to be strong, like she'd done for me when Mama passed. I swallowed hard and then grabbed a hold of Maggie, holding her tightly as I peeled her from the floor.

"C'mon Maggie, we gotta' have faith. He can make it through this, I know he can. We gotta' have faith. Mama's watchin' over him Maggie, she's gonna' protect him, I know it" I wasn't very confident as I spoke the words to Maggie, but I was confident in knowing that my Mama was looking over us. Something in me told me that she wasn't gonna' let anything happen to Daddy, I could jus' feel it.

Maggie finally stood up, and Officer Shane and I helped her to the car. We sat in the back of the cop car together; Maggie leaning on me as I rubbed her back and prayed the entire way to the hospital.

Thankfully, Daddy did end up pulling through; but his leg was severed so badly that it required amputation. Maggie and I couldn't believe that Daddy actually had his leg removed; but we were grateful that he was still alive, and that he made it through, leg or no leg.

Following that night, Daddy finally realized the severity of his alcohol problem, and after months of strong-willed resistance, and weekly AA meetings, he quit drinking for good. He said that he saw Mama that night, while he was in surgery. He said that she told him to get his act together for the sake of the girls, and that she was okay.

Maggie and I thought that he was going crazy at first; however, if that was what kept him sober, than Maggie and I weren't going to argue against him.

From that point on, our family slowly repaired itself. While things never went back to the way they were when Mama was alive, we moved on as best as we could.

Maggie and I were always together, she was my best friend and I was hers; but when I met Phillip, things started to change. It wasn't that I didn't want to be with my sister anymore, or that I wanted to leave her, I just found love. Maggie tried to be happy for me, she never acted mean to Phillip or anything; but I could see right through her smiles. She'd always make comments to me about things, especially when I made the decision to move to Atlanta. I knew she was hurt, but I couldn't go against my husband just because I wanted to be close to my sister. She needed to understand that my life was leading me in other directions.

Maggie never actually said the words to me, but I knew she felt betrayed. That I'd gone against my word of never leaving her… that I'd broken my promise.

"Hello? Are you gonna' answer me or what?" Maggie's voice broke me sounding through the speaker brought me back out of my thoughts and I reached over to the passenger seat and pulled a cigarette out from the forbidden pack resting there.

"Yes Maggie, I'm here" I said as I rolled my eyes and then removed one hand from the steering wheel to light my cigarette. I inhaled deeply and then finally released it, answering her initial question, "Yes he knows and he can't control me Maggie, I'm gonna' do my studies regardless of what anyone wants, even if that means going alone"

"Gosh Beth, you are so stubborn you know that?! You could've been seriously hurt and with no one there to help you!"

"I'm fine Maggie! Now look, I'm driving, I've gotta' go. I'll call you tomorrow or somethin'"

"Fine. Jus' don't go on any more of these expeditions alone Beth, please?"

I wasn't agreeing to that; but, I knew if I didn't that Maggie would never get off of the phone.

"Okay" I said simply, "Love you Maggie, Bye"

"Thank you… and I love you too Beth, Bye"

I didn't technically lie. I wasn't going alone, I would be with Daryl; but I wasn't going to tell her that of course. But I didn't lie, so I didn't feel guilty.

As the call disconnected, I glanced down at the GPS which showed less than twenty minutes left before arriving at Daryl's cabin. I still wasn't sure what I was doing and why, but for some reason I just couldn't stop myself. It was a feeling that was hard to explain, a feeling that I just couldn't let go of.

Just the thought of spending the day out in the middle of nowhere, without any press, was like a dream come true.

I dialed Daryls' number from the Bluetooth and the phone rang twice before he answered.

"Hey" he said in a slight growl, almost making me wonder if I was bothering him.

"Hey, I- uh, I'm almost there" I said as I bit my lip nervously, maybe he didn't really want me to come. Maybe I just put him on the spot and he didn't want to hurt my feelings, "you said to call when I was close"

"Wow" he said and a light chuckle followed.

My stomach dropped and instantly I felt like an idiot. He must not have expected me to actually come, he probably thought I wouldn't really come back and that's the only reason he agreed at all. "Sorry. If you don't want me to come, you can jus' tell-"

"Beth, its fine. I want you to come… I jus' didn't think you actually would, that's all"

"And why's that?" I raised a brow as the curiosity rose, and I felt a slight bit defensive.

He laughed, and I couldn't help but sense a bit of smugness, "No reason, I'm jus' surprised"

"Well I said I needed your help, didn't I?" I asked with a hint of arrogance.

"Yeah, you did. Calm down alright, I didn't mean nothin' by it. How far are you?"

I flicked the end of my cigarette and then took a deep breath, "About fifteen minutes"

"Aright, I'll see ya' when ya' get here then", he let out another scoff before the line ended.

He hung up, and my mind started going in circles again. Was I doing the right thing? Was this wrong of me? Why was he surprised that I'd come back? Why did he sound so smug about it? I just wanted help from him, to get some more observations of the area, that was all. Nothing to be so surprised about.

The thoughts fought back and forth in my mind, right up until I stopped in front of his cabin. The sound of the classic rock playing from behind the house causing deja vu from the day before.

I sat there for a few minutes after shutting the engine off, staring at the quiet little secluded cabin that sat there. The front door was opened again, and the same chimney smoke hovered above the rooftop. It almost saddened me to look at it, because I wanted more than anything to purchase one just like it of my own. A place for Phillip and I to run away to, and to escape the madness of the city together; but for some reason, that wish seemed to be drifting further and further away from reality.

As I wallowed in my own self-pity for a brief moment, I was unexpectedly interrupted by a loud tap on my window.

"Well, if it isn't little Ms. Blondie, back to for another visit" Merles' thwarting grin greeted me with a smug laugh to follow.

I opened the car door and he mockingly held a hand out, insinuating I was some sort of princess or something.

"Hello to you too" I said without grabbing a hold of his hand, and reaching my foot down from the car to carefully get a footing on the ground without hurting my already injured ankle.

"Nice little Mercedes you got here Blondie" he scoffed as he took a long hard look, "fancy"

I crossed my arms and grimmaced, I didn't understand what the big deal was… it was just a stupid car. "Where is Daryl?" I asked, not playing in to his comments.

"Oh, here to see the baby brother huh?" he said with an unpleasant smirk, "And here I thought you jus' couldn't resist my charm"

Again, ignoring his stupid attempts to humor me, "He's supposed to help me with my observations. I spoke to him about fifteen minutes ago, is he here or not?"

He let out a snarky laugh, "I don't know, why don't you go walk around back and see if you can find him? Maybe you wanna' get your foot stuck in another trap or somethin'?"

I didn't respond, but just gave him a very purposeful eye roll instead.

"Oh lighten' up blondie, I was jus' jokin'" he walked a little closer, "looks like ya' healin' up pretty well"

"Yeah, considerin' I had on hiking boots, otherwise I probably wouldn't have a foot to stand on right now, thanks to you" I scoffed.

He laughed and his eyes focused directly on me, his grin quickly disappearing from his face as he placed a hand on the side of the truck, causing my back to press against the door, "You're quite the smart ass aren't ya' darlin'?"

I'm not going to lie, just the presence of his alcohol stained breath that close to my face was a bit frightening. Thankfully though, Daryl's voice interrupted Merle and he let his arm fall, slowly backing away from me as I caught let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Daryl walked towards us, and Merle smiled with a very toothy grin.

"I was helpin' Blondie out of her car here, didn't want her to fall tryin' ta' get out of this big ol' truck with an injured foot"

I narrowed my eyes at Merle, and I could tell at that moment that I didn't like him very much. He was a bully, it was obvious; but why? What did I do to him?

Daryls' eyes scanned back and forth between Merle and me, and I quickly straightened myself up, putting in a bit of extra effort to disguise my tension.

"Well, I'm goin' ta' head out little brother" his eyes turned back towards me, "You stayin' for dinner blondie? I plan on bringin' back somethin' fresh" that toothy smirk appeared again.

"Probably not, but thanks for the offer" I said trying not to snap back with one of my snarky remarks.

"Too bad" he said before tapping Daryl on his back and slowly walking away.

Once Merle got into his old beat up pick-up truck and sped off, I looked over at Daryl and couldn't help but let out a sigh, "Your brother is quiet the charmer isn't he?" I said it with a very obvious hint of sarcasm.

Daryl chuckled, "Ah, he's harmless. He jus' gets a kick outta' messin' with people, don't pay attention to 'em"

I nodded but something about Merle wasn't sitting too well with me, and I couldn't help but feel bad for Daryl for having to live with the man. He seemed a little too frightening for my liking, like he was a man capable of doing some really shady things.

"So, ya' ready to go?" he pulled out a cigarette from his ripped jean pocket and placed it in between his lips, "deer watchin' that is" a mocking laughed escaped his lips as he lit his cigarette.

"Are you making fun of me?" I said as I crossed my arms defensively.

He placed both his hands up and smiled, "Not judging" blowing a cloud of smoke from his mouth and turning to walk towards the woods, "C'mon Snow White" he said sarcastically as he turned his head a little with a smirk on his face, "the forest critters are waiting".

I couldn't help but laugh a little, even though I thought his comment was very mean. "You're a jerk, ya' know that?" I said as I followed a smile on my face.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet" he laughed, "I've got pretty good talent for sarcasm"

"As do I" I snapped back playfully and he turned towards me with a grin and a raised eyebrow, a small laugh following.

I was actually excited for what the day had in store for us. I knew he'd help me get as much info as possible, and I had to admit that I honestly enjoyed his company. He was funny, and kind, and considerate. We were going to make good friends, I thought as we made our way deeper and deeper into the woods.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think. What's Merles' deal? Why did he seem like he was ready to snap at Beth? What do you think is in store for Daryl and Beth's day in the woods? What about the flashback of her and Maggie at a younger age, and everything surrounding her mothers' death and fathers' accident? Let me know your thoughts! Xxx