Chapter Five
"Stay back, Beth." Daryl said as he handed her his ice cream, pushing her behind him as Merle walked up to them, "Whatdaya want, Merle?"
"Well well, lookie here at the lil' shit that left me to fend fer myself in the shitty lil' prison. Whatcha got behind ya back there, Daryl? What a pretty lil' thing. Hey, sweetie."
"Leave her alone, Merle. She ain't got nothin' to do with you." Daryl warned, eyes narrowed and fists clenched.
"She's a young un', Daryl. That's not usually the types you go for. Must be a good lay, huh?"
"I said, shut the fuck up and leave her alone!" Daryl shouted and Beth winced, taking a small step back from him.
"You don' mind sharin' do ya? She looks like she don' have much experience though but she is-."
"Hey!" Beth shouted, tossing the ice cream cones to the side and stepping around Daryl.
"Beth, I said-."
"I don't give a damn who's brother you are, Merle is it? But I won't accept you standin' here talkin' down about me like that! I am not a piece of meat for you to ogle over, and jus' so you know, I have never let a man touch me in ways they shouldn't!" she shouted, her usually pale face red with anger. Daryl had never seen her so worked up and to be honest, he didn't like it to much. He liked sweet and calm Beth, not Hulk Beth.
"Well well, fiesty aren't we? Daryl ya need to control your woman. But if ya can't I'll gladly take her off your hands for ya." he said with a sly grin.
"Shut the fuck up!" Beth saw Daryl move by in a blur and in a split second he had Merle shoved up against the concrete wall of a building, the man's head boucing off of it.
"Daryl!"
"Shut up, Beth!" he snapped and she looked at him wide eyed, "The fuck you doin' here? The hell do you want? Answer me, now!" Daryl demanded as his grip tightened on Merle's jacket.
"Easy, lil' brother." Merle said with a laugh, clearing his throat and patting Daryl's shoulder, "I heard you were some Farmer's bitch now, doin' everythin' he wants you to do, and I guess that means babysittin' his lil' girl."
"I'm not a little girl." Beth said through clenched teeth.
"Girl, I could break you with my pinky, don't test me." Merle said and looked back at Daryl who still had a firm grip on him, "The fuck you thinkin' leavin' me behind at that jail? If you had stayed overnight we would have jus' packed up and left in the mornin'."
"I'm stuck at the fuckin' farm until they need their damn harvest to pay back for the damages your stupid ass did." Beth looked up at Daryl and bit her bottom lip, "Once I'm done there my ass is leavin' this stupid fuckin' town. I'm tired of bein' on the farm, and I'm tired of bein' here. But I don't want no trouble outta you until then."
"You sure 'bout that? I figured you was sittin' nice and pretty with ya new friends."
"I ain't got no friends, Merle."
"I'll meet you back at your truck." Beth said and turned away from Daryl, kicking one of the fallen ice cream cones on the sidewalk out of her way and walking down the sidewalk, arms crossed and tears stinging in her eyes.
"Hate to see her go, love to watch her leave." Merle said with a grin, "You got a piece of that tail yet, lil' brother?"
"Stay away, Merle." Daryl warned coldly.
"When is this season supposed to be over?"
"Mid September."
"I'll meet you here October first, then we'll be outta this shithole, alright?"
"See ya then." Daryl said and let go of his brother, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked away.
"I better see ya here, too! Don't you flake on me again, boy!"
"So maybe he's not that bad." Maggie said as she and Glenn walked through the parking lot, her hands hooked into the tops of her pockets.
"He didn't seem all that bad. I'd just wait it out and see what happens." Glenn suggested and Maggie smiled, nodding in agreement with him as they made it to her car. She looked down at the bags on his wrist and smiled, holding her hand out.
"Let me see 'em. I'll go ahead and take away the torture of wrapping the presents." she offered and Glenn sighed with relief as he handed the bags over, "Make sure the wind don't blow the tissue paper away, I will not chase that down for ya."
"Maggie, you're amazing." Glenn said as he opened the hot pink tissue paper, Maggie removing the price from the tags on his sister's new shirts.
"You can't tell me that enough." she said as she looked over at him and winked, turning back to her car where all the birthday supplies were laid out on her trunk. In just a few short moments she stood back to admire her work on the gift bag, pulling a pen out of her purse and handing it to Glenn, "Now, sign your sister's card and you'll be done."
"Thank you!" Glenn exclaimed and hugged the surprised girl, Maggie laughing and patting his back.
"You're welcome. Tell her a random stranger said happy birthday for me, will ya?"
"I will, but I'll be using your name. Uhm, would it be okay if I asked for your number?"
"You want my phone number?"
"I-If that's okay." he said shyly and scratched the back of his neck.
"Why not?" Maggie said and took her pen back from him, jotting her number down on his forearm.
"I'll text you!"
"I prefer calls!" she said over her shoulder as she unlocked her car.
"I'll call you!"
Beth flipped the flashlight on and walked out towards the barn across the front lawn, trying to get to it quickly. A summer downpour had started and that would mean thunderstorms, and she hated to be out during a thunderstorm. Daryl hadn't finished dinner yet by the time she had, but she was done faster than normal since she hadn't said a word during the meal. In fact, she hadn't said a word since they pulled out of the parking lot of the ice cream shop. She slid the barn doors open and flipped on the lights, apologizing to their horses as they shifted around in their stalls and quickly pushed soaking wet hair out of her face. She had gathered some carrots from the kitchen, setting them aside as she walked to the feed bin. She grabbed the food pail and filled it, grabbing a carrot and walking to the first stall. As soon as she entered she pet the horses neck before giving her a carrot, filling her food bucket and checking her water.
She didn't notice Daryl enter the barn at first, but heard him sliding one of the horses' stall doors open. No matter how irritated she was, she couldn't help but steal a glance at him. She felt the blush spread across her face as she watched him soothe Commanche, the most difficult horse they had. She was easily startled and easy to get worked up but Daryl stood there in her stall, soothing her with soft words as he ran his hand slowly down her nose. She finished up in her father's horse's stall and moved on to the next one, seeing him watch her out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to feel those tough hands caress her skin just as softly, she wanted to hear him whisper in her ear just as tenderly as he had that horse. She wanted to stand right in front of him and have him look in her eyes just as deeply.
"Beth?" she heard him ask behind her in his thick, husky voice.
She wanted to turn around and deck him.
"Yeah?" she asked sternly, handing a carrot to the horse before patting his neck and filling his feed bucket.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. 'Scuse me." she said and pushed past him out of the stall, walking back to the food bin and filling up her pail again. Thunder rumbled so loud it shook the barn and she jumped, gripping the lid to the bin and slowly letting out a breath.
"Dammit, Beth." he huffed and shut the horse's stall, "Somethin's wrong and you won't tell me what."
"Maybe you should think back to your conversation with Merle and I'm sure you'll figure it out...shit!" she shouted as another loud clap of thunder shook the ground, flickering the lights in the barn. Commanche whinnied and stomped in her stall, quieting down after a few seconds.
"You're all roughed up over that?" Daryl asked as Beth set the pail down, shutting and locking the feed bin.
"You know, Daryl, I had thought you were a really great guy, and I had also thought you were actually enjoyin' bein' out here by the way ya acted. But I was wrong and we really are just an inconvenience to you, aren't we?" Beth snapped as she pushed past him, making sure the stalls were shut and secure as she walked back to the barn doors. He was quick to follow her as she went outside and he slid the doors shut, trying to keep up with her.
"Beth!" he shouted and reached out, grabbing her arm. She whirled around and jerked her arm away, the rain pounding hard around them and making it hard to hear.
"What, Daryl? What do you want? Just leave already! If you're so damn miserable just leave! I'll explaing to daddy that you were just too damn miserable and decided to go off with your asshole of a brother!"
"You don't know him!"
"I don't need to know him after hearin' him talk the way he did about me! And thanks for standin' up for me by the way! Oh wait! You didn't! Only friends do that for other friends but I'm guessin' you was right since you said you ain't got no friends!" she shouted over the roar of the thunder, lightning ripping across the sky as the rain pummeled the ground and their bodies.
"I didn' think you'd be so damn worked up over that!"
"I thought we were friends, Daryl." she said, her voice cracking, "I thought you considered me a friend."
"I'm not good with friends, Beth! I've never been good with havin' friends!"
"Because you don' open up to anyone, Daryl! You don't show any other part of yourself except this tough guy! You don't show any emotion, you don't let anyone in! What's so bad about letting someone in once in a while? What's so bad about opening up to someone, having someone to talk to and be there for you? What's so bad about that!"
"Because ya get hurt, Beth! Because when someone finds out all your secrets, when someone finds out more than you let them, they leave! Or they mock you or beat you down! And I don't want to have to deal with any of that shit!"
"I wouldn't do any of that, Daryl!"
"You would if you knew me!"
"You won't give me the chance!" She caught her breath, hot tears pouring down her cheeks but she hoped they blended in with the rain. She pushed her sopping wet hair out of her face and turned to walk away from him. He was quick to grab her arm and turn her around, taking a deep breath before placing his other hand on her other arm.
"I...Dammit Beth...dammit..." he muttered and looked down, then back into her questioning eyes, "I shouldn' have said what I did to Merle. I didn' wanna hurt you and I feel like a fuckin' jackass for that but...I'm not good at makin' or keepin' friends."
"You don't give anyone a chance." she said softly as he let go of her arms, stepping back a bit.
"I don' know how." he said and reached up to scratch his head. Suddenly Beth moved to him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her hands up against his back as her head tucked under his chin. Daryl froze, looking down at her as she embraced him in a tight yet gentle hug.
"Daryl, I said earlier I enjoyed being your friend, and I'm not changin' my mind." she said, and even though it was hard to hear over the rain, he heard every word, "I'm not gonna run away if you open up to me, I'm not gonna make fun of you or mock you or treat you like crap. I'm not like that. And if you can't see that, then you don't know me well either." He lowered his hand, nervously placing it on her arm. His other hand came up and rested against her mid back, closing his eyes as he felt her body, cold and soaked with the summer rain, press against him and hold him to her. He slowly moved his hand on her arm to her back and tightened his hold slightly, feeling like he'd hurt her if he squeezed her too hard.
"Let's get changed. We're gonna catch our death out here if we stay outside any longer." Daryl said and Beth laughed softly, agreeing with a nod and walking back towards the farmhouse with him.
To everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited and followed, you guys are amazing and such a great support system! You guys are the reason I'm keeping up with this story! Thank, and hope you enjoyed chapter five!