Chapter Four

"Beth, hunny, I'll be home in a little bit okay?" Annette called from the bottom of the stairs, "I'm takin' your father his lunch and then gonna go meet up with Gladys and Pearle for our book club meeting!"

"Alright, Mama! Be safe!" Beth called from her room where she was sliding into a pair of old blue jean shorts, the pockets faded and worn and the bottom hem starting to fray.

"I will, love ya!"

"Love ya too!" she called over her shoulder, hearing her mom walk out the front door. She peeked out through her lace curtains and saw her waving goodbye to Daryl who was loading bales of hay onto the trailer attached to her father's old John Deere tractor. He managed a nod and a quick wave before grabbing another bale from the barn and walking it back to the trailer. She chewed on the pad of her thumb as she watched him, seeing his arms which were already starting to brown from the summer sun, flex as he worked. Luckily for her the man wasn't a fan of sleeves and cut off all of the sleeves from the workshirts her daddy had given him, which gave her a chance to admire them.

She caught herself blushing and shook her head as if to shake the thoughts from her mind, stepping away from the window and grabbing a royal blue short sleeved shirt, throwing it on quickly and walking back to her make up table. She was quick to apply her make up for the day before running a brush through her hair and braiding it, letting it lay over her shoulder. She felt her stomach growl with hunger and stood, grabbing her small sleeveless white lace vest to throw on over her shirt before heading down into the kitchen. She grabbed her phone from the charger on the counter, packed a quick lunch into the picnic basket, slid her black wedge heeled flip flops on and stepped out the back door into the summer heat that was relieved every few moments by a gentle breeze.

"Daryl!" she called as she cupped her hands over her mouth, waving at him when he looked up, "Lunch!" He nodded and stood straight, sliding his gloves off and shoving them into his back pocket as he started towards the picnic table. She was already laying out their sandwiches and chips, fishing ice cold bottles of water out of the basket and as always, fresh cookies baked right after breakfast.

"Thanks." Daryl said as he grabbed one of the waters off the table, uncapping it and taking a few large gulps of it before leaning over and pouring the rest over his head.

"I'd figured you'd be ready for a break with how hot it is today." Beth answered before taking a bite of the sandwich, her stomach seeming to thank her.

"It's hot as seven hells out here. Why didn't you go with your mom?" he asked as he sat down opposite her, popping his chips open and shoving a few in his mouth.

"I didn't want to go to her book club meetin'. I went a few times, ain't for me. I enjoy readin' in peace and not hearin' a bunch of ole' bitties argue over the book." she answered, managing to crack a smile from the tough redneck, "Plus, I need to go to Walmart and Maggie is the one with the car so I'm jus' waitin' on her."

"When she gon' be back?"

"Who knows with her? It may be an hour, may be just before dinner and I'll have to go after."

"By yourself? That don' sound too safe."

"I should be fine, I've done it before. Park as close as I can to the front and just load the car up quickly when I'm done."

"We'll go after we eat." he said and nodded towards his truck, "I gotta put gas in it anyways."

"You sure?" she asked and he nodded, stuffing his sandwich in his mouth for another bite of it.

"Yeah I'll jus' work a bit later tonight to get it all done."

"I'll help ya, in exchange for the ride."

"Girl, you don' look like you could lift a stick without breakin' your arm off, how you expect to help me finish?" he asked and saw her face turn a slight shade of red.

"I'll have you know I ain't no fragile little thing, I have helped daddy many times out here before you came along." she answered as she placed her hands on her hips and straightened her back. Daryl only smiled and shook his head, chewing his food and watching her.

"Alright, I'll see what you can do. I've been doin' good for about two weeks, don' ya mess me up tonight."

"You've got yourself a deal, Daryl Dixon." she said and stuck her hand out, Daryl smirking and shaking it, "Ew, you have mayonnaise on your hand!" she cried out. He only laughed and tossed her a napkin, watching her wipe it off quickly with her tongue stuck out in disgust.

Maggie sighed as she pulled into a parking spot and opened her phone.

Be home in an hour

Luv u,

Mags

She stepped out of the car she and Beth shared and managed to get across the busy parking lot and into the even busier Super Walmart. She grabbed a shopping cart and made a beeline for the clothing department, hearing her phone ding in her pocket at the incoming text message.

Ok see u soon!

Luv u 2!

Beth

She smiled and slid her phone back in her pocket. Even though she didn't agree with her sister talking to Daryl all the time and wanting to hang around him, she still loved her little sister to pieces and would do anything for her. Maybe she and Beth needed a few new cute shirts to cheer them up and lighten the tension between them that started when that criminal showed up. She turned the corner of a shelf and stopped when she saw a young man, not much older than her, looking at a few shirts he had draped across his shopping cart. He looked confused, running a hand through his short black hair before rubbing his forehead.

"You tryin' to figure out what color you look best in?" Maggie teased, the man jumping and turning to look at her.

"What? Oh! Oh, no, no I'm trying to pick out a shirt for one of my sisters. It's her birthday today and I forgot to get a present." he said with a sheepish laugh, "I'm not entirely sure I know what to get her."

"Want some help?" she asked and pushed her cart next to his before he could answer, "Do you have a picture of her?" He nodded and pulled his phone out, scrolling through it before handing it to her, "She's beautiful. She has the same light tan you do, which means she'll look good in these three shirts." She took away two of the shirts, putting them back on the rack and looking at the last three.

"If it helps her favorite color is pink." the man said and Maggie smiled, taking away another shirt.

"Alright, well, these two are really pretty and one is really pink, and the other has little splashes of pink in the flowers, so if you're not on a tight budget I'd say go with both. And because you decided to wait until the day of, a pair of cute earrings or a necklace wouldn't hurt." Maggie said and the man's face lit up.

"You're a lifesaver! Thank you! How do I know what type of earrings to get her?"

"Just basic hoops, silver would look best."

"You're the best. I'm Glenn, by the way. Glenn Rhee." he said and she laughed softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Maggie Greene. Well good luck, Glenn Rhee and I hope your sister has a happy birthday." she said as she started to walk away.

"Wait! Is there anything I can do to thank you for your help? Maybe buy you lunch?" She mulled it over in her mind for a minute, biting her bottom lip before shrugging.

"Sure, why not. I could go for a quick bite to eat." After going through the check out line with Glenn, and laughing at a few of his cheesy jokes he had, they were sitting at the Subway at the front of the store.

"So, you've lived in Atlanta your whole life?" Glenn asked before taking a sip of his sweet tea.

"I've lived in King's County, just outside of Atlanta. My daddy owns a farm and I've lived in that house my whole life."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I have an older brother, Shawn, who's away right now, and my little sister, Beth. She and I aren't on the best of terms right now, and I guess that's my fault." Maggie said as she pulled a banana pepper off of her sandwich and popped it into her mouth.

"What happened? I mean, if it's okay for me to ask. If not I'll shut up right now and you can forget I ever asked that."

"Daryl happened." she answered, sighing and scratching behind her ear.

"Who's Daryl?"

"He's the new farmhand my daddy hired to help out. Long story short he broke into my daddy's vet clinic with his brother and is now workin' on the farm to pay back his damages. Now my little sister seems to be so caught up with him and I'm worried he's going to hurt her."

"Are they dating?"

"What? No! No, they seem to just be friends, but still, I don't want her being caught up with a criminal. What if he decides to hurt her?"

"Maybe he's not so bad. People do things for reasons. Not always good reasons, but still maybe he had a reason for doing what he did. And maybe he has a good side and won't hurt her. Has he hurt her yet?"

"Well...no. They are almost always around each other. I guess I'm okay with them being friends, I just..."

"You don't want her hurt. I understand. I don't always agree with the guys my sisters date or are friends with, but it's their decisions and if anything happens I'll always be there to protect them and help them."

"You're a smart man, Glenn." Maggie said and saw him blush softly, "Speak of the devils." She heard the voice first, the voice of her little sister as she walked through the front doors. She saw Daryl leaned against the handle of a shopping cart as he pushed it for her, Beth with her list in her hands and pointing out things that she needed.

"You know what we should do? We should get ice cream after we leave here. I love ice cream and it's been so long since I went out and got some." she heard Beth say and saw Daryl shrug as he turned his head away from Beth to look where he was pushing the cart. But she saw the small smile that was pulling across his mouth and she couldn't help but for a second feel sorry that she doubted him. He seemed to be enjoying Beth's company.

"That must be the little sister and the burgler." Glenn said before taking a bite of his buffalo chicken sandwich.

"Yes, yes it would."

"Maggie! Hi! I didn't know you were gonna be here!" she heard Beth shout and saw her rushing up to her in the small restaurant, "Hello, I'm Beth. I'm Maggie's younger sister." she said as she held a hand out to Glenn.

"Glenn. I've already heard a bit about you from Maggie." he said as he shook her hand, "It's good to meet you."

"Daryl, come here and say hi." Beth said and motioned towards him. He walked slowly over to her and stood next to her, shaking Glenn's hand as he introduced himself, "We'll let you guys be so you can finish your lunch, but if you'd like we're getting ice cream after we leave here and you both are welcome to join us. Just send me a text. Bye Maggie! Bye Glenn, it was nice meeting you!" Beth called as they both walked away, waving to them.

"He's not very talkative, is he?" Glenn asked and Maggie shook his head.

"Not at all. It's a struggle to have a conversation with him at dinner."

"He seems comfortable around Beth though."

"She's able to get more than two words out of him. She actually made him laugh the other day. That was the first time I ever saw him smile much less laugh." Maggie said and glanced over at the produce section of the store, seeing Beth laughing at something Daryl was telling her, "He makes her smile. Alot more than normal."

"This is so good, I can't even begin to tell you the last time I went out for ice cream. I remember it was with my daddy I think after school one day." Beth said before taking a lick from her mint chocolate chip ice cream, "What 'bout you?"

"My parents never took me out for ice cream." Daryl said as he looked down at his ice cream cone, licking some of the melted chocolate off of his hand, "Hell, I was lucky if they took me with 'em whenever they went out to eat."

"Oh." she said softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Ain't nothin'. You didn't know, I don't ever talk about myself with anyone else."

"You never talked about any of this with your friends?" she asked and he shook his head.

"I ain't got no friends. Never did trust anyone enough to be friends with 'em, much less trust 'em enough to tell them about my shitty childhood." Daryl said and felt Beth's hand on his arm. He looked over at her, saw he big blue eyes looking up at him.

"If it means anythin' to you, I enjoy bein' your friend and if you ever wanna talk, I'll always be here to listen." she said. He didn't know how to respond, didn't know how to react at her words. Never had anyone offered to listen to him, never had anyone ever said they were there for him. He wanted to say something, but what? What do you say to someone who offered something so precious to him that no one in his life ever offered before. Before he could reply, before he could say anything at all he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Hey, lil' brother."