I think this story is going to end with thirty chapters.

And I'm not sure what is going on with me lately. I don't know if sad is the right word but it's really the only word I can think of right now. I really am feeling so lost and sad and I have no idea what to write anymore for any of my stories and I don't know what to do to fix it.

…

Chapter Twenty-Six. Competition.

Beth didn't think anything of it when she called the garage for Daryl and a woman answered the phone.

"Thank you for calling Dale's Auto Service Garage. How may I help you?"

"I'm calling for Daryl. Is he able to talk?" Beth asked, snapping her fingers and giving Hunter a sharp frown just as he was about to reach for a pudding cup in the fridge. Hunter gave her an innocent grin and scampered away.

"I'll check. Who is calling?" The woman's voice asked.

"Beth, his wife," Beth answered.

She walked across the kitchen, stretching the cord as long as it could go, poking her head out and trying to look into the living room where she had left Luke lying on the couch. They had an old rotary phone on the wall in the kitchen and not for the first time, she reminded herself to get the phone a longer cord. It didn't stretch nearly long enough.

"Hey," Daryl grunted into the phone a minute later. "Everythin' a'right?" He asked.

"Luke's fever is only getting higher. I'm about to take him to the clinic," Beth said.

"I'm almost done here. Wan' to wait for me and I'll go with you?"

"You want to meet us there?" She asked. "Lori's over here right now and she's volunteered to stay with Hunter and Abby until we get back."

"I'll meet you there."

And though she hadn't been expecting him to come to the doctor's with her, she felt relief that he had made the offer.

She let out a soft breath. "See you there," she said and she then turned, hanging the phone up and ending the call.

Lori sat at the counter, a cup of coffee between her hands, and she gave Beth a smile. No matter how long she had been a mother or how old her children were, she still got a bit frazzled when one of them got sick. She understood perfectly how Beth was feeling right now – especially since Luke had gotten sick so suddenly the night before, it seeming to have come out of nowhere.

"Thank you so much for doing this, Lori. I know you didn't exactly plan on this," Beth said as she took her purse and looked inside, making sure she had everything. Lori had come just to buy some of their fresh eggs and had been pulled into babysitting two kids on Saturday afternoon for a few hours.

"Don't worry about it, Beth," Lori smiled at her. "We'll be just fine."

"Um," Beth scratched her forehead, her mind racing. "No pudding for Hunter. He's going to try and sneak one past you so keep a close eye on him. He knows he's getting ice cream tonight after dinner and he doesn't need that much sugar. And Abby… well, Abby is never a problem," she says and Lori smiles. "Thank you so much, Lori," she said again.

"Stop," Lori shook her head, standing up. "I'll help you get Luke to the car."

At thirteen, Luke had a sudden growth spurt and was about as tall as Beth now. She helped him to his feet and kept the blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he shuffled with her to the door in his socks and no shoes. Beth didn't stop him as they made their way from the house, down the steps and to the car in the driveway.

"Here, Beth," Lori said and Beth turned around, seeing her holding Luke's shoes.

"Thank you for everything," Beth said, taking the shoes and placing them in Luke's lap as he was already dozing again the front passenger seat. "I'll give you a call in a little bit to let you know what's going on."

"No rush," Lori shook her head and gave a smile and held her hand up in a wave as Beth started the car and drove down the driveway, heading towards town.

When she pulled into the parking lot of the walk-in health clinic, she saw Daryl's bike already parked and he was sitting on a bench outside, waiting for them. Before Beth could even unbuckle her seatbelt, Daryl was already opening the passenger door and helping Luke out.

"You didn't have to rush over here," Beth said once she had signed Luke in and they were sitting, waiting for his name to be called.

Daryl shrugged. "Said I was almost done. No reason for me to stay when I can just finish up anythin' else on Monday."

Beth gave him a small smile of thanks before looking to Luke beside her, brushing some of his hair off his sweaty forehead.

They waited for ten minutes before a nurse called them into the back and were shown into a small examination room. She took Luke's weight and height – asking him if he was going to play basketball at his height – blood pressure and finally, his temperature. The doctor came in another few minutes later and began his own examination, asking Luke and both Daryl and Beth questions about symptoms and when it all started.

"I think you've eaten something that hasn't agreed with you," the doctor said and then looked to Daryl. "You hunt your own meat, correct?"

"Careful 'bout it though. And we always make sure it's cooked all the way through before eatin' it," Daryl answered, his back straight, feeling as if maybe he had to defend himself and what he fed his family.

And Beth could sense it. "Luke's been eating fresh meat from the woods since he was four and this has never happened before and no one else in our family is sick and we all ate the same deer last night."

"Hmmmm," the doctor murmured as he peered down Luke's throat again. "Might just be one of those short stomach bugs. We'll give you some antibiotics and get it all cleared up for you. How does that sound?"

"Thank you," Luke croaked.

It was only after they got home and Luke got his first dose of medicine and was sleeping upstairs in his bed and they had thanked Lori again for her help and gave her more eggs than she had asked for, did Beth remember the earlier phone call.

"Who was that woman at the garage?" She asked.

"What woman?" Daryl frowned, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"The woman who answered the phone."

"Oh. Her. Dale's niece or somethin' like that. Hired her to answer the phones," Daryl explained and went back to drinking tea with Abby from her pink teaset as they sat on the floor.

Beth wasn't done though. "What's her name?" She asked and in the back of her mind, she wondered what she was doing. Why was she so interested in some random girl who answered the phones at the garage where her husband worked?

Daryl looked at her again. "Hillary or Haley. I don't know. Didn' even talk to her."

"Is she pretty?" Beth asked before she could stop herself and she nearly slapped her hand over her mouth. What on earth was she doing?

Daryl lifted his eyes to her again and he was close to smirking, clearly thinking the same thing she was. Beth stood there and commended herself for being able to keep looking at him even though she felt a flush rise up her face.

They both knew she wasn't like this. Neither of them really were. There had been brief moments of jealousy throughout the years that they had been together but those had all been fleeting and they both knew it was always so pointless to get jealous over anyone of the opposite sex when it came to their partner. They had been together for so long now, had three kids and everyone knew they were together and nothing was going to come between them. There was never any reason to get jealous. It was just a waste of energy.

Beth told herself all of these things and yet, she couldn't help herself. At the time, she had barely paid attention to it because she had been so distracted with Luke and taking care of him but now, time later, she recalled Hillary or Haley on the phone and she had sounded young and pretty and now, Beth was curious.

Daryl wasn't the sort to notice things like that. There had been one time when Miss Georgia had been driving through their little town and her car had broken down and had gotten it towed to Dale's Garage. All of the guys had been tripping over themselves to try and help her but Daryl hadn't even known who she was and instead, muttered about how it wasn't that damn hard to get an oil change when the car was over five hundred miles, due for one.

Daryl just never seemed interested in women and it was such a surprise when he had noticed Beth and allowed himself to be pursued by her. Beth knew she was the only woman Daryl had ever noticed and asking him about some woman at the garage was so stupid and yet, she couldn't seem to get herself to stop thinking about it. It didn't matter how old she was or how long she had been married to Daryl. Maybe it was something a person never was too old for.

Stupid jealousy, she frowned to herself.

"Don't even know what color her hair is," Daryl answered and he still looked on the verge of smirking at her, obviously so damn amused by this.

"Shut up," Beth narrowed her eyes at him and she heard him chuckle as she turned and left the living room, heading upstairs to check on Luke.

…

She knew there was no reason for her to be there and she told herself that she was just being stupid and ridiculous and she was going to hate herself if she went through with this. But telling herself any of that didn't stop her and she walked up to the front office of the auto garage, the bay doors closed against the brisk fall air but she heard the noise of tools from within.

Beth stepped inside and her eyes instantly fell on the woman standing behind the counter where Dale usually stood. She was young but not as young as Beth had been hoping. Probably around twenty-two or twenty-three with long dark brown hair with dark red highlights going through it and bright green eyes. She had a tan that was slightly unnatural looking and had Beth thinking she went to a tanning bed but for the most part, she was a pretty young woman.

Damn it.

"Hi, may I help you?" The woman smiled.

"Hi," Beth remembered herself and smiled, too. "I'm Beth Dixon."

"Oh! Daryl's wife. I'm Hattie," she kept smiling.

Beth wanted to shake her head at just how unobservant Daryl was around the opposite sex and she told herself for the countless time that coming here and "scoping" out the woman in her husband's workplace was just so stupid.

"It's nice to meet you, Hattie," Beth said, stepping to the counter and shaking her hand. "Are you working here from now on?"

"Yep. My uncle is Dale and he gave me the job. I used to live in Montgomery but I just had a nasty breakup and had to get away from there for a while," Hattie explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Beth said, genuine.

"Don't be," Hattie shook her head. "My ex-girlfriend is a terrible person."

Ex… girlfriend. Now, Beth just wanted to drop her head down and hide from herself. Why had she ever come here? To scope out the female close to Daryl's workspace? She wasn't a jealous or possessive person by nature and when she did decide to be that kind of person, she got that way over a lesbian. Fantastic. Pathetic.

"How's your son?" Hattie asked. "Daryl rushed out of here on Saturday but I overheard him tell Dale what was going on. Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's feeling much better now, thank you," Beth smiled. "Just one of those bugs. I took the day off from work to be with him just in case though."

"Good," Hattie said with a head nod. "I'm assuming you're here for Daryl. Let me go get him," she said and Beth stood, watching as Hattie stepped back from the counter and turned, heading back into the garage.

The shirt she was wearing had no back and Beth saw the large detailed tattoo of a dragon that covered the entire expanse of Hattie's back.

Beth wished she could just turn and leave without having to see Daryl. He would take one look at her and know why she was there. They had been married for over ten years now but apparently, Beth still had to scope out women in case she thought they were competition when it came to her husband. Just thinking it to herself, Beth hated herself a little.

"Hey."

Beth lifted her eyes and saw Daryl step into the front office, wiping his hands on the rag he always kept in his back pocket.

"Wha's goin' on?" He asked but Beth could see the twinkle in his eyes and she knew that he knew exactly why he was there.

Without a word, Beth turned and left the office, heading back outside, and Daryl followed her. He came to stand in front of her and without a word, Beth exhaled a deep breath and then leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his chest. She didn't see his face but she knew that he was smiling and he lifted a hand, resting it on the back of her neck.

"I'm so pathetic," she mumbled.

"No, you ain't," Daryl said, quick to disagree in his low tone. "I kind of like it."

Beth lifted her head at that and tilted her chin up so she could look to his face. "You like me acting like this over a woman who won't ever have any interest in you or any man for that matter?"

His lips twisted in a smirk. "Yeah. I like it. Makes me feel important."

Beth sighed and shook her head. "I'm an idiot."

Daryl didn't argue that and kept looking at her, smiling a little. His fingers were still curled around the back of her neck and he pulled on her gently so she stepped into him, her body pressed to his.

"We both know I'd be doin' the same thing if the daycare hired some new guy to work there," Daryl said, looking into her face.

Beth let out a soft sight and didn't say anything but slid her arms around his waist.

"How's Luke?" Daryl asked.

"At home, sleeping, not able to witness his mom making a fool of herself," she said.

Daryl didn't say anything to that. He just leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"I guess it's just because you didn't even mention there was a woman working here. She picked up the phone and I didn't know you guys had a receptionist now and I let myself overreact. A lot."

"I didn' say anythin' 'cause I didn' think it was that important. Just some girl answerin' phones." He shrugged and Beth nodded because he was absolutely right. It wasn't important at all.

Beth raised herself on her toes and kissed him on the lips. "Pizza for dinner okay with you tonight?" She asked.

"Sounds good," he nodded and then dipped his head down so they could kiss again. He looked at her. "We good?" He asked her.

Beth nodded. "We're always good. Still hate myself a little but of course we're good. There's no reason for us not to be. You married an idiot."

Daryl smirked and shook his head. "Nothin' wrong with you. Like I said. I like it. And I've been an idiot plenty of times since we've gotten married."

That made her smile. "Well, I suppose that's true. And that's a good thing. Us idiots need to stick together."

He smirked again at that and lowered his head so they could have one more kiss.

"I need to get home to Luke," she said and he nodded though both of them seemed reluctant to part ways just yet. "Your brother hasn't been around for a while. I think I'll try and track him down and invite him to dinner, too."

"If you do that, I'm gonna wan' to invite Haley," Daryl said.

"Hattie," she corrected him and couldn't believe that she would ever think Daryl would notice another woman around him. "Why?"

He smirked, almost giving an actual smile. "Somethin' hilarious to me imaginin' my brother tryin' to flirt with a lesbian all night."

…

Thank you so much for reading and please review.