Coping Mechanisms

"So… it went well?" AJ smiled, desperate to get the details from Daryl about his first proper meeting with Brianna.

"Yeah. Well, I think so. She seemed to have fun." Daryl nodded, "We had a tea party. And she made me wear a tiara. I think she was secretly making fun of me." He said as AJ chuckled.

"Yeah, kids will do that." AJ chuckled, "But that's good. It sounds like you hit it off."

"She is a cute little thing. She kept telling me she liked my stories." Daryl said as AJ smiled, "My mom seems to think I did well." He shrugged.

"Daryl, you're not being assessed or anything." AJ reminded him.

It was Monday and they were setting up to open up the coffee shop, slicing up cakes and baking pastries for the morning rush.

"Kinda feels like everyone is watching me, though." Daryl admitted, "Waiting for me to fail or something."

"Of course they're not." AJ said.

"It's probably just paranoia. These nicotine patches are not working." He concluded, "I'm sorry but I had to get cigarettes last night."

"Daryl." AJ rolled her eyes.

"I know. I know, I will stop. It's just… I'm a little stressed and anxious." He defended, taking a tray of pastries out the large oven.

"You know smoking makes that worse. Ask Lyla." AJ said.

"Ask Lyla what?" Lyla asked, coming into the kitchen with yellow rubber gloves on, "The toilet is clean." She announced.

"Smoking makes anxiety worse, yes?" AJ nodded to Lyla.

"It's a difficult question. It makes it worse for the long haul but it's so great in the moment." Lyla said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Not the advice I was hoping you to give." AJ said as Daryl chuckled.

"I was thinking… you know how Becca has the outdoor patio with the log burner. Why don't we toast some marshmallows on Saturday?" Lyla asked, "The thought occurred to me whilst I had my hand down the toilet." She said as AJ made a face at her.

"Disgusting." AJ concluded.

"What's happening Saturday night?" Daryl asked, "You guys having a work night out without inviting me? I thought I was a Brewberry girl now?" He questioned.

"You are." AJ nodded, looking to Lyla, not knowing what to say, "We're having a little girly night at Becca's. Me, Becca of course, Lyla and Shiv." AJ nodded, "We haven't had one in so long. Not with the four of us anyway. It's a sleepover."

"Aren't you a little old for a sleepover?" Daryl scoffed.

"I am not too old for anything." AJ made clear as Daryl put his hands up in defence.

"I bet I'll be conversation topic number one." He mumbled.

"Speak up." Lyla said loudly in his ear as he rolled his eyes.

"This is actually the first time Shiv has willingly wanted to hang out with us since she came back here." AJ told him.

"Nothing like your ex getting out of prison to rekindle your friendships." Daryl nodded.

"We've never stopped being friends." AJ made clear, "She's just been… distant." She said, "She knows we've always been here if she needs us."

"I remember her mentioning it now. Last night when she picked Brianna up." Daryl nodded.

"Maybe you could hang out with Phil and the twins." AJ suggested, "He was going to invite his friend to town for the weekend since I'm abandoning him."

"He has other friends?" Daryl scoffed.

"Yes." AJ said, "You remember his friend Cole? He came to one of the Fairs?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, vaguely." Daryl nodded.

"You could hang out with them. Take Finn with you." AJ shrugged, "The twins will definitely annoy you but it's better than spending Saturday night alone."

"Gee, thanks." Daryl scoffed, "Maybe. I don't know."

"Was Cole hot? I'm trying to remember." Lyla said, thinking to herself.

"He thought you were hot." AJ remembered, "And I hinted to you about a double date at the time and you got all defensive. Then you told me about Lewis." She reminded her.

"Oh, yeah." Lyla nodded.

"Morning, bitches." Becca said, walking into the kitchen and shrugging her jacket off.

"Morning." AJ chuckled.

"Guess who I just saw?" Becca asked them.

"Who?" Lyla asked with interest.

"Luke." Becca nodded, "Coming out of the store."

"That prick still lives here?" Daryl shook his head.

"He was gone for a year. Living in Tennessee somewhere." AJ said, "What does he look like?" She asked.

"Tired and depressed." Becca smirked, "And he was with a woman. Maybe a wife. I couldn't get a good enough look at their fingers to see if there were rings." She said.

"Has he given you any more grief? Before he left?" Daryl asked.

"No. He stays well clear of both the coffee shops." AJ said.

"I also saw that little tart Christina. I swear she never smiles. Why work in a grocery store if you don't like people?" Becca shook her head.

"Christina as in… the girl I went to school with?" Daryl asked.

"Think so. She's about your age, I guess." Becca nodded, "Bitch needs someone to tell her a joke or something."

"You're the worst." AJ chuckled, "We're doing toasted marshmallows on Saturday night. Lyla's idea."

"Oh, good." Becca smiled, "You're not bringing the twins, are you?" She asked.

"No but thank you for the subtlety." AJ scoffed.

"It's girls night. No rugrats allowed." Becca said.

"I told Daryl he could hang out with you on Saturday night. I hope you don't mind." AJ said, sitting up on their bed with her glasses on her nose, having been reading her book since the minute she got the twins to sleep. Punk had been downstairs watching sports. She didn't know which one. She enjoyed the fact that sometimes they had their alone time. Mostly with her reading or baking, and with Punk watching sports and checking up on their new house.

"I was gonna ask him anyway." Punk said, stripping his t-shirt off as AJ looked over her glasses at him, "What'd he say?"

"Didn't give me an answer, but I'm sure he'll come. Did you talk to Cole?" She asked him as he pushed his shorts down, so he was just standing in his boxers.

"Yeah, he's gonna come for the weekend." Punk nodded.

"Cute. What are you guys gonna get up to? Get pizza and watch some tough guy movies? She smiled as he chuckled.

"More like spend the whole night being annoyed by our children." Punk corrected, "It'll be good to see Cole. Haven't seen him in a while. He's super interested in the new house. He works on building sites all the time."

"Oh, yeah. Maybe he can tell you if everything looks ok so far then. Peace of mind." AJ said.

"Too late now if it doesn't." Punk said, getting into bed beside her.

"I think it went well with Daryl and Brianna yesterday. I mean, he still seems in shock by it all, but it sounds to me like Brianna had a great time with him. And he's seeing her again this Sunday." She told him, sitting her book and glasses over on her nightstand.

"That's good. I didn't get much out of Shiv but she seemed to be in a good mood." Punk nodded, "It's a little step, but it's a step in the right direction."

"He still seems so harsh on himself. Says he feels like everyone is watching him and assessing him to see if he'll fail." AJ said, "We need to keep a check on him. His mental health, I mean. Who knows what happened with him in prison."

"Yeah, he's probably got some anxiety now that he's trying to figure out normal life again." Punk nodded, "We got our tabs on him. He ain't gonna suffer in silence." He assured her.

"Guess who Becca saw today coming out the grocery store?" AJ asked.

"Who?" Punk turned to her.

"Luke." AJ said as Punk rolled his eyes.

"I thought we were rid of that fucker for good." Punk shook his head.

Although no huge incident had occurred with Luke since he put Daryl through a window and spent some time in jail with community service, there was still very much distain and hostility whenever they had crossed paths, even from across the street. They had been so excited to know he had left town a year ago.

"Yeah, I did too. Becca said he was with a woman. Maybe a wife." AJ said.

"A wife from Tennessee? That can't be good." Punk said as she chuckled, pushing his arm, "As long as he stays away from you. I don't care what the prick does."

"That's what I told the girls." AJ nodded, "I'm on breakfast and drop off duty tomorrow, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. Good luck." Punk smiled to her smugly, "When I took them this morning, Thomas kept trying to trip Rudy up on the way. Then they got into a shoving fight. And Rudy took her braids out, again. So, she looked like she'd been electrocuted." Punk nodded as AJ chuckled.

"It's all so wonderful, isn't it?" AJ smiled, kissing his cheek as he smiled, pulling her on top of him as she giggled, straddling him and wrapping her arms around his neck, face to face and in perfect position for a kiss.

"I think we're well overdue a child-free weekend away." He said as she smiled.

"For what reason?" AJ smirked, moving her hips a little against him, feeling him already hard.

"What do you think?" He asked her.

"Umm…" She pretended to think, "So we can go touring? Go to the beach? Try a nice restaurant somewhere?" She asked him, even though she knew that was not on his mind.

"I was thinking more so we could just fuck all day in a hotel room." He shrugged.

"So poetic." AJ nodded.

"Don't tell me I don't know romance." He said as she chuckled, pressing her lips against his and kissing him passionately as he ran his hands up her torso.

"Daryl! Wake up! You're gonna be late for work." Finn called the next morning, making himself coffee in their kitchen, pouring Daryl some and sitting it over.

It was a great set-up. Living together. He was so glad to have his friend back. Someone to watch sports with at night and order too much pizza with. It sure beat having a strange roommate he didn't really like.

"Daryl!" Finn yelled louder.

He normally didn't have to become his best friend's alarm clock in the morning. In fact, most often than not, Daryl was awake before him and already showered. Today was the first he'd not come out of his room.

"Bro, AJ will fire your ass if you're late." Finn said, walking over to Daryl's room, about to bang on the door when it opened.

He stepped back a little with confusion, watching someone who was very much not his best friend, coming out of the room.

"Sorry." Christina said awkwardly, holding her shoes and jacket in her hand, running her hand through her messy hair as Finn stood watching her, not knowing what to say.

"I'm awake. Quit your yapping." Daryl said, coming out of the room next as Daryl watched him with confusion.

"See you later." Christina smiled, making her way over to the door and leaving quickly whilst Daryl headed to the kitchen and picked up the mug of coffee.

"Ok." Finn said to himself, making his way into the kitchen, "I didn't hear you come in with her last night." He said.

"You must have been passed out." Daryl shrugged.

"And… this was just… what? A hook-up?" Finn asked.

"Yeah. Probably." Daryl nodded.

"Ok." Finn nodded, trying to act normal, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as Daryl watched him, taking a sip from his coffee.

"Is there a reason why you look like you're having a stroke?" Daryl asked him as Finn made a face at him.

"I'm just… a little shocked, that's all." Finn said.

"Why? I haven't had sex in four years." Daryl reminded him, "What were you expecting me to do?"

"I don't know." Finn admitted, "It's just… well, there's Shiv." He said.

"Me and Shiv are over. I think that's pretty obvious." Daryl said.

"Ok, but… why her?" Finn scoffed.

"What's wrong with Christina?" Daryl shrugged.

"Please, she's the town's resident mean girl. Don't you remember how she was in school?" Finn shook his head.

"School was a long time ago." Daryl rolled his eyes, "C'mon, are you really going to lecture me? Four years is a long time, dude." He shook his head.

"I'm not giving you a lecture I'm just… surprised." Finn said as Daryl took another sip of his coffee, neither of them saying anything as an awkward silence fell over the kitchen.

"Come on, let's go." Daryl finally said, "We're going to be late."