Chapter Twenty-Two

Beth opened her eyes slowly at the sound of her alarm going off and reached over to shut it off, a smile spreading across her lips. She had woken up to thinking about him, but she hadn't had a dream about him. And waking up without reliving memories, without seeing his face or feeling his lips against hers, didn't hurt as bad as she thought it was.

"It's getting better." she whispered as she watched her ceiling fan spin. October was creeping by, and that morning she had planned on going to the costume shop in Atlanta to help Sam pick out a costume for a Halloween party she was going to next week. Sam was also going to help pick out an outfit for Beth for that weekend. King County was having it's birthday festival down by the Cafe and she was asked to sing along with a few other local artists. She had accepted, realizing she hadn't performed in front of a live audience in a long time, and needed some nice new clothes to perform in.

"Beth, I'm done in the bathroom." Maggie said from outside her door and Beth thanked her, sitting up and looking out her window. It had been almost a month since Daryl had left, and day by day Beth could feel the open wound over her heart slowly healing. That morning she sang in the shower, not too loud, but enough to lift her spirits and put her in the mood to get ready for the day. She did her make-up that morning, nothing more than foundation and mascara but it made her feel good and refreshed. After sliding on jeans and a thin long-sleeved white shirt, she dug through her closet and found her shoes when her phone started ringing.

"I'm in your driveway, Miss Elizabeth, you ready to go?" Sam asked after Beth answered the phone.

"Yeah, I'm on my way out." Beth answered, pulling on her white wedge heels and grabbing her brush and sunglasses. She hurried through the kitchen, grabbing a banana and a bottle of water before kissing her mother's cheek and hurrying outside where Sam was waiting from the new shiny silver convertible her father had bought for her birthday.

"What's up, Lush?" Sam teased and Beth shot her a look.

"I had one beer."

"I know, I know. I'm teasing you because you have never drank before. You ready to go?"

"Of course." Beth said and flipped Sam's mirror down, running her brush through her hair and leaving it down for the day. She slid her sunglasses on and kicked back in her seat as Sam lit a cigarette and cranked up the music on her Ipod. They tore down the highway, singing at the top of their lungs and laughing when they fumbled over lyrics.

"I gotta question for ya."

"What's that?"

"You remember that rinky dink lil' bar near the Applebees we went too?"

"Yeah, that lil' hole in the wall place you said looked like we'd get roofied in if we went there." Beth said and watched Sam crack a grin.

"It went under new ownership and re-opened after getting all cleaned up and it looks like it's gonna be loads of fun. It's called The Cherokee Rose Saloon. I heard they added in a dance floor, and my cousin is one of the bouncers for the place. He can get us in because it's a twenty-one and up place."

"So we're gonna lie about our age to get into a bar?" Beth asked and raised an eyebrow.

"We can only get in when he's working. He said if we hand him our ID's, he'll act like he's checking them and then let us in. I've already talked Jimmy into it so you have to come Halloween night. We get to dress up in our costumes!"

"That's not a question, that's a demand!"

"No, my question was if you remembered the place." Sam said and looked over at her with a wide grin before they pulled into the costume store parking lot.

"What if we get caught?"

"We're not gonna get caught. Come on, you'll have fun, and it'll get your mind off of...him. Unless you have something else planned for Halloween." Sam said as they got out of her car, grabbing their purses and walking inside the store.

"No, I have zero plans Halloween."

"Thought so! Alright, help me find something sexy for Halloween."

"It's gonna be so cold though, you're gonna freeze." Beth said as Sam grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the adult costume section.

"I'll be fine the party is inside. Ooh! Look, I can be a nurse, or a sexy SWAT girl, or hey! Instead of Candy Striper it's called a Candy Stripper! How clever."

"Oh boy." Beth mumbled with a small laugh and looked through the costumes, pulling out a woman's pirate costume and tossing it to her, "You'd look pretty in that color."

"I love it! Let me go try it on." Sam said and hurried to the back of the store. Beth kept walking and browsing the costumes, finding a zombie costume and wrinkling her nose.

"Who wants to be a nasty zombie?" she asked herself with a smile as she kept looking.

"That's a really popular costume. Apparently there's some huge zombie fad going around, and we're sellin' out of those costumes and the make up for it like crazy." Beth turned around to see a woman, who seemed quite a bit older than her, restocking an empty shelf of vampire fangs and fake blood. Her dark red hair was pulled back tight into a bun, and though she sounded and moved like a younger woman, her face was aged. Even then though Beth could see the beauty her face still held, and knew she must have used to have a dazzling smile.

"Really? Zombies have never really been my thing." Beth answered, trying to catch a glimpse of her name tag.

"Me either." the woman answered with a grin, showing off a few missing teeth, the rest yellowed and aged, "So can I help you with anythin'? I just started the other day but I can do my best to help."

"I'm just waitin' on my friend to finish tryin' on her costume, I don't really dress up for Halloween."

"Really? I think you'd look really good in these costumes. How about one of the Disney costumes? Here's an adult Sleepin' Beauty, Ariel, Cinderella." The woman said as she flipped through the costumes, "Tinker Bell would look pretty. Your skin tone would go great with this green, and you already have the bright blonde hair so you wouldn't need a wig."

"I'm not sure ab-."

"You were right, Beth! This costume is perfect I'll take it! Ooh! Are you getting that one?" Sam asked as she came around the corner of the aisle, walking up to the two and looking at the costume the employee held up.

"I don't think so." Beth said and held up her hand.

"Oh come on, Greene, have a little risky fun!"

"It's so short though."

"So we'll buy you some tights to go under it. Live a little, girl! You're young, and beautiful, let's have some fun! Come with me to the Halloween party!"

"Sam..."

"Come on, sweetie we'll have so much fun! Look, if you're not comfortable with that one there's always this lovely zombie costume."

"I am not gonna be a zombie!"

"I can't believe you talked me into getting that costume." Beth said as they sat on Sam's bed, Beth looking at the Tinker Bell costume she now held in her hands, "If my daddy sees me in this I'm dead."

"So leave it here and you can change here. I'll hang it in my closet so it doesn't get torn up." Sam said as she pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail, dampening a cotton round with makeup remover and flipping her lamp on.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Beth, sweetie, it'll be fine. I promise. You need to go out and have fun."

"Maybe I should return this. I mean, this little scrap of fabric called a dress was fifty dollars." Beth said and laid the package next to her on the bed.

"You go wings with it to, don't forget." Beth giggled and Sam cleaned her face off, moving to sit next to Beth on the bed and placing her hand on her friend's knee, "Beth, babe, I know you're upset and that you're hurting, but that's what happens when you fall in love. But you can't put your life on hold because things didn't work out with one guy. So what I'm going to do is find you a pair of pretty heels, dye them the color of your costume, glue a bell to the toes, and find you some tights. We're gonna go party, we're gonna go have fun."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Beth asked as she crossed her legs and played with the hem of her shirt.

"Yes, now stop stressin' it. Now get changed. It's popcorn and movie time." Sam said as she stood up, tossing a spare set of pajamas to Beth and a hairband. Beth smiled and watched her friend walk out of the room to go start the popcorn, looking down at the costume on the bed. She'd go, and she'd have fun just like Sam said. She'd dance and forget all about Daryl Dixon.

If only it were that easy.

"You're back." Sarah said as she opened up the door, seeing Daryl leaning against the wall of the hallway.

"Yeah, I was out and figured I'd stop by." he said and walked in when she stepped to the side, "How was work? You still hangin' on at the costume shop?"

"I'm doin' better than I thought I was gonna. Say, I met this really cute girl today there."

"Didn't know you swung that way."

"Oh shut up, Dixon. I was lookin' at her for you."

"Me?" he asked as he sat down on the couch, kicking his legs up on to the coffee table and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes, you. What, ya goin' deaf on me, boy? Anyways, she's goin' to Carol's bar on Halloween, and I figured you could go, I'd go with ya if ya'd like. Her friend, who was a total babe but seemed too high maintenance for your taste, convinced her to go. Daryl, this girl is a total cutie, and I think she'd take ya mind offa whatever's been botherin' ya lately."

"I think I'm gonna pass."

"No, you're goin' with me. I haven't seen ya use blow in a few years, and when I came out here the other mornin' a good bit o' mine was gone. We're gonna go out an' have a good time, and I'm gonna see if this girl actually shows up. She'll be in a Tinker Bell costume and I can't wait till ya meet her. She's not your usual type that ya go for, but I think she'd be good for ya. So come on, Daryl, whatdya say?" Daryl took in a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling fan, exhaling hard and laying his head back against the back of the couch. Should he? Would this help him get over Beth? To move on? Maybe she was over him already too and moving on to someone that would be better for her, more accepted.

"Yeah, fine. It's Halloween night?"

"Yes."

"I ain't dressin' up."

"I didn't ask you too. I can't wait for you to meet her! I don't remember her name, but I'll make sure we swap introductions."