Author's note explaining this chapter at the end. Just please remember that this is my opinion. I don't want to get flames from anyone about this character.

…

Chapter Twenty-Four. Date.

"Daryl and I would love to, Merle," Daryl heard Beth say to his older brother as he stepped into the kitchen from the backdoor where they both were, Merle leaning against one of the counters, his arms crossed over his chest, Beth stood at the island in the center of the kitchen, cutting potatoes and carrots and Luke was at the sink, washing out some of his paintbrushes under the running water.

Daryl looked to Beth and then to Merle before heading to the sink, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and sticking it under the tap for a few seconds before letting Luke resume his work. He turned and leaned against the counter beside him.

"How's the car?" Beth asked him.

"Think it might be time for a new one," Daryl answered, almost reluctantly.

Beth had had that Subaru for over ten years now and it seemed like every other weekend, he was working on it, fixing something else that wasn't functioning right. He didn't really want to buy a new car but when the time came that a person was putting more money into a car to keep it running, it was usually the time to throw in the towel and trade it for something else. And he didn't want Beth driving something that wasn't necessarily safe.

"What am I gonna love to do?" He finally asked, looking to Merle again.

Merle grinned at him and Daryl knew that whatever it was, he actually wouldn't love it at all and he frowned at Beth, wondering what the hell she had just volunteered him for. It was one thing to volunteer him before talking with him about building the stage props for Hunter's play at school but this involved Merle and Daryl could just imagine what it was. He doubted anything good.

Beth smiled at him though. "We're going on a double date with your brother and his new lady friend," she said.

Merle smirked at the term and kept looking to Daryl. "Met a girl at Joe's bar. Asked her out but she's not like the other girls I've gone out with. Not too sure how to go out to dinner with a girl like her. Beth offered to help."

Daryl didn't say anything; just stared at Beth.

And knowing that he wasn't exactly pleased, Beth put down the knife and came around the island, standing in front of him, her arms sliding around his waist.

"It'll be fun," she smiled up at him.

"Not exactly sure how it's gonna be," Daryl grunted.

"It will be," Beth insisted. "Besides, Merle needs us."

"Yeah, Darylina. I need you," Merle grinned at him and Daryl looked past Beth to his brother, watching him as Merle made a cracking whip motion with his hand. Daryl narrowed his eyes at him and then looked back down to Beth.

She was doing that thing she sometimes did. She wasn't being manipulative. Beth didn't have a manipulative bone in her body. But she was looking up at him with her big blue eyes – silently asking him and hoping he would say yes even though they both knew that he would. He wondered what it was in this world that he would be able to refuse her. It's not like he could get angry at Merle for the hand motion. He was a damn whipped man when it came to Beth and everyone knew it.

Including Beth.

And he didn't say anything now and just sipped at his water but Beth knew the answer and she stood on her toes, kissing him on the cheek. She went back to the island to resume cutting up the vegetables and Merle snagged one of the carrots, taking a loud crunching bite from it.

Daryl looked to Luke as he was now using one of his rags to dry the brushes.

"While your mom and me are out with your uncle, you think you old enough to handle your brother and sister?" Daryl asked him.

Luke's head whipped to him, clearly surprised. "Seriously?"

"Almost a freshman in high school now," Daryl said with a shrug. "Gettin' to be too old to have a babysitter watchin' over you."

"I can handle Abby," Luke quickly said with confidence. "And I can handle Hunter if I'm allowed to lock him down in the basement for the night."

Daryl smirked a little at that and took a sip of water. He looked to Merle. "If this girl isn' like the other girls, what was she doin' in Joe's then?" He asked.

Merle was still chewing on his carrot and shrugged his shoulders. "You know how girls get. Sometimes, they just need a lil' excitement in their lives. Don't understand how Beth's happy with your stick in the mud ass."

"I love his ass very much, thank you," Beth quipped back to him with a smile as sweet as sugar and Merle chuckled as Daryl felt the back of his neck heat up.

"Her name's Jessie and she's just separated from her husband," Merle added.

"So you're datin' a woman still married to her husband?" Daryl asked him dryly.

Typical Merle. And so far, this girl didn't sound that different than the other girls Merle had gone out with. Not that Merle actually went out with anyone. Hooked up was probably the better term to use and Merle's usual crowd hung out at Joe's – a dingy, dirty biker bar that not even the cops liked going to when they got a call. A girl didn't just go to Joe's for a drink.

"Got two kids, too. I think the oldest one's 'round Luke's age," Merle said. "She seems like she just needs a night out away from everythin'."

"You gonna marry her, Uncle Merle?" Luke asked, joking around with a grin.

Merle hooted with laughter. "Not even if they make polygamy legal."

"Well, I'm excited to meet her," Beth said, tossing all of the vegetables in a plastic baggy and then pouring in the olive oil. She then began shaking the bag in her hands, making sure all of the vegetables were coated before she spread them out on the baking sheet and sliding them into the oven. Roasting vegetables were the only way they were ever really able to get Hunter to eat his and Daryl admitted that he had gotten used to all of their vegetables being roasted and was starting to prefer them that way, too. "I'm definitely curious about her, that's for sure. I'd be curious about anyone you asked out to dinner."

"Where we goin'?" Daryl asked.

"Just for burgers somewhere. Nothin' fancy. Don't want to put any ideas in her head," Merle said, finishing his carrot and brushing his hands off.

Daryl smirked to himself. Still sounded a hell of a lot like Merle to him.

…

They went to the Terminus Tavern – not a fancy place but still a step up from some of the other restaurants in town – and by the time Daryl pulled the pickup truck into the parking lot of the restaurant, he recognized his brother's truck already there.

Inside, they saw Merle sitting at one of the tables with a blonde woman next to him – probably in her mid-thirties – and Daryl followed Beth as they made their way over.

"I'm sorry we're late," Beth said as way of a greeting. "We're letting Luke babysit for the first time and we had to go over everything with Hunter of what he can't do and Daryl had to show Luke how to use the fire extinguisher again."

Merle grinned at that as they sat down in their seats – Beth taking the other chair beside Jessie and Daryl sitting in the chair across from her.

"How old is your son?" Jessie asked with a smile.

"Luke is going to be thirteen in a couple of weeks and will be graduating from eighth grade. Abby's our youngest and she's five and Hunter is eight," Beth answered, also with a smile, usually smiling whenever someone asked about their kids. "And Merle mentioned that you had two yourself."

"Yes. Ron is twelve and Sam is ten," she said.

And as Jessie and Beth talked about the kids, laughing as they shared stories, Merle leaned in close to Daryl.

"What d'ya think?" He asked him in a lowered voice.

Daryl shrugged, glancing at the woman across from him before lowering his eyes back to the menu. He could note a lot about a person just with a look and he had instincts that he had learned to never ignore. They were usually never wrong.

With Jessie, he noticed that she was still wearing her wedding band on her finger – which wasn't the worst thing in the world but if she was separated and already dating men, why hadn't she taken it off? And if she had just separated from her husband, why the hell was she already going out with guys? Especially guys with Merle? No offense to his brother but it wasn't like Merle had money or looks. There was something in her eyes that Daryl saw that he just didn't like but he didn't say any of that because Merle would want him to explain and he wouldn't be able to.

The waitress came and took their drink orders and Beth ordered the mozzarella stick appetizer for the table to begin.

"How long have you two been married?" Jessie asked Beth.

"We just had our ten-year anniversary," Beth said and smiled at Daryl and his lips twitched at her in response before she looked back to Jessie. "What about you with your husband? Before you separated?"

"I got pregnant with Ron so that's why we got married. So twelve years," Jessie answered. "Pete used to beat me up," she then said and it was said so nonchalantly, Daryl found himself looking at her and not really believing her.

And in the pit of his stomach, he felt shitty for not believing her but he had a hard time. Most women had a hell of a time admitting something like that out loud. They didn't like to talk about it – especially to two people they just met – and most were embarrassed or ashamed of it happening, tending to blame themselves for it.

He glanced to Merle and saw if he thought the same thing but Merle was sipping his beer and didn't seem to be thinking of much of anything as he looked at Jessie.

Daryl frowned to himself as he continued studying his menu.

He remembered his and Merle's mom. The way she did her best to hide the bruises and didn't meet anyone's eye and Daryl remembered his grandma, she dying when he was eight, but before then, he remembered her coming to the house to talk to his mom but his mom would never admit that anything was going on. That the bruises came from her own clumsiness. She didn't just announce to everyone that her husband was using her as his own personal punching bag.

Maybe he was just reading too much into it though. Maybe Jessie had just come to terms with what her husband had done to her and was moving past it. Daryl couldn't sit there and presume to know her after looking at her for ten minutes.

The mozzarella sticks came out and the waitress went around the table, getting their orders, and Daryl didn't even really hear himself order the catfish dinner. Beth leaned over to him then and her arm was light on his arm.

"Are you alright?" She whispered in his ear.

"Yeah," he grunted in a rough, low voice and met her eyes. She just looked at him for a moment though, clearly not believing him, and for a moment, he hated that Beth was the one person in this world to know him better than anyone else.

He looked back to Jessie. She wore a loose tank top that exposed plenty of skin and Daryl found his eyes raking over all of it. He didn't know how long she had been separated from her husband but he saw absolutely nothing on her skin except a tattoo. No scars or bruises – fresh or fading. He saw nothing and he felt like a dick but he couldn't help it. He just didn't believe that Jessie had been a battered wife.

Beth and Merle were used to Daryl being practically mute and it seemed like Jessie understood that as well for very few questions were directed towards him. Daryl just sat and ate and listened to everyone else just like he always did. Jessie was a hair stylist and a part-time artist who had gone to art school and she laughed, explaining that she had wanted to go to Joe's that night to see if she got any inspiration for some new art. Now that she was away from Pete, she felt free to pursue as many art projects as she wanted.

She asked Beth about her job at the daycare center and making a promise to her that she would come to the coffee shop to hear her sing and then she began saying that there was so much that needed to be done around the house that Pete hadn't been able to do. When Merle volunteered Daryl, telling her that his baby brother would be more than happy to help her out, Daryl didn't hide his frown this time.

He honestly didn't want to be around this woman again. She gave off a vibe and he couldn't trust her and he had no idea how in the hell Merle didn't see it. Probably just saw Jessie as this pretty girl paying attention to him and it was getting in the way of Merle seeing through the bullshit.

Daryl was grateful when the check came and Merle made no arguments when Daryl paid for everyone's dinners.

"Well, thanks for this, you two. We're gonna head to Joe's for a nightcap," Merle said as he stood up.

"Yes, thank you so much and it was so nice to meet both of you," Jessie said, also standing up, smiling at them.

They all said their goodnights and goodbyes and once they left, Beth and Daryl sat down again. Daryl spotted their waitress and held up his beer bottle, signaling he wanted another one. He usually only had one while out – especially when driving – but tonight, he felt drained and exhausted and he needed a damn beer.

Beth sighed, sounding equally tired, and Daryl looked at her with surprise as she sat back in her seat, finishing the rest of her cherry coke through the red straw.

"I didn't really like her," Beth said rather suddenly and Daryl's eyebrows shot up at that. Except for a few people in the world, his wife pretty much liked everyone.

"You two were talkin' like best friends," Daryl pointed out to her.

The waitress came to their table with the beer. "Anything else for you two?" She asked as she began clearing away the dirty dishes.

"Hot fudge sundae," Beth promptly ordered. "Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, cherry and nuts."

The waitress smiled. "You got it."

Beth sighed again. "I was being polite, Daryl. I don't know what it is but she was making the back of my neck twitch."

And Daryl almost smiled at that because maybe Beth had been married to him for too long now and her instincts were beginning to take after his.

Beth looked at him. "What did you think?"

He shrugged and took a sip of his beer. "Didn' like her much either," he said but he didn't say anything more than that because his reasons for not liking her were purely speculation and had absolutely no proof. He'd keep it all to himself – even keep it from Beth. And he sure as hell would never mention it to Merle. Hopefully, Jessie wouldn't be around long and there would be no reason to ever mention it.

"I was so excited at the thought of Merle finally maybe starting to settle down a little. But… I don't know," she then laughed a little. "I was imagining showing up here and seeing that he was sitting with Carol."

"Carol?" He immediately pictured the receptionist at Dr. Stookey's office.

"Yeah, Carol," Beth laughed again. "I've always thought Carol and Merle would be good together. I don't know. Maybe one day…" she trailed off then as the hot fudge sundae arrived and was placed in front of her. "Do you think the house is still standing?" She then swiftly changed the subject, pushing the sundae so it sat between the both of them and she picked up her spoon.

Daryl picked up his own spoon. "If it ain't, I ain't buildin' it again," he said.

…

If you follow me on tumblr, you know already that I am not a fan of Jessie. At all. In fact, I have seriously been considering not watching S6 just because of her. And back when she first appeared on the show, there was this amazing long theory going around that SHE was the abuser and not the one being abused and I thought of how amazing and different that would have been if the show actually wrote it that way. But obviously, they didn't. This chapter was going to be different but it kind of just wrote itself and I like to think that Beth and Daryl are too smart to like actually like her.

Thank you so much for reading and please review! Not my best chapter but I guess I needed to get it out.