Dealing With It

"Hey, there he is." Punk said, watching Daryl walk into his coffee shop where they were all sitting around.

"Daryl." AJ smiled tearfully, feeling so overwhelmed seeing him back home after all this time. She immediately ran over to him and gave him a tight hug as he hugged her back.

"Hey." Daryl said.

"It's so good to see you." Lyla smiled, stepping in and hugging him after AJ.

"And you don't look terrible." Becca said, hugging him from the side as Daryl laughed a little.

"Thanks, I think." Daryl said, spotting the twins sitting at one of the tables with their toys. These little people he held when they were just a few hours old. He hated that he hadn't been around to see them grow. And then he suddenly remembered the little girl's face as she clung to his mother in the doorway, his heart rate immediately spiking again as he rubbed his chest anxiously.

"You alright?" Punk asked, patting him on the shoulder as Daryl just nodded, "Hey, you two. Come over here." Punk called over to the twins as they both turned around.

Rudy got off her chair first, skipping over to Punk whilst Thomas followed behind.

"Is this your friend?" Rudy asked Punk, "The one who made the chocolate fountain?" She asked as Daryl smiled.

"Yeah, this is him." Punk said, "This is my friend, Daryl."

"Hello." Rudy grinned at him whilst Thomas waved a hand.

"Hey, guys." Daryl nodded, crouching down in front of them, "I've heard so much about you."

"Yeah? Like what?" Rudy asked him curiously.

"Like you love pastries and cakes like your mom. And you love drawing." Daryl said off the top of his head, "You know, I held you both when you were just tiny babies."

"I don't remember that." Thomas said.

"You were only a few hours old." Daryl said, "And now you're at pre-k, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Rudy nodded, "Did you know this is my daddy's shop? And my mommy's is across the road?"

"I did know. I used to work here with your daddy. I was the first person he ever hired." Daryl nodded.

"Will you work here again?" Thomas asked as Daryl just smiled to them both.

"Maybe." Daryl nodded.

"Ok." Rudy said, satisfied with his answers so far, "Daddy, when is dinner?"

"Finn is cooking some stuff just now. Shouldn't be too long." Punk told her, "Why don't you two go back and finish your drawings. You can show Daryl when you're finished." He said as they both nodded, running back to their table where their toys, pens and paper where.

"They're adorable." Daryl nodded, standing back up and putting his hands in his pockets.

"How'd it go with your mom?" Punk asked him.

"Oh, you know. Lots of crying." Daryl nodded.

"You want some pop? Or a coffee?" AJ asked him.

"You uh… you got anything stronger?" Daryl wondered, scratching the back of his neck. All he could see in his head was the image of the little girl he'd just seen. His little girl. It was making him sweat, his head going fuzzy as he tried to put on a brave face.

Until he thought harder about it and suddenly realised, they all knew. If Shiv had been working here for two years like Punk told him earlier, then they all had to know about Brianna. And yet, here they were, not one of them ever having the decency to tell him. His anxiety and confusion quickly started to turn sour into anger.

"It's just pop or coffee, I'm afraid." AJ said.

"I can run to the store and get something stronger. I don't blame you." Becca said as Punk looked at her, unhappy with her offer.

"Might be better sticking to the soft stuff just now." Punk suggested as Daryl looked at him.

"I think…" Daryl said, placing his hand on Punk's shoulder, "I'll be the judge of that." He nodded as Punk looked at him.

"I'm just saying. It's been a long day for you." Punk said.

"Yes it has." Daryl agreed, "Would you mind, Becca?" He turned to Becca.

"No. Not at all. I'll be back in five." Becca nodded, leaving the shop with her purse to head to the store.

"I'm gonna take a look around this place. Is that alright?" Daryl asked.

"Sure." Punk nodded, watching as Daryl wandered around the counter and into the kitchen where Finn was cooking.

"I thought you said he was ok." Lyla whispered to Punk, "He looks wired to the moon right now."

"He wasn't like that earlier." Punk said, "It's probably just been a long day for him."

"Yeah, and him drinking isn't going to help." AJ sighed, "Do you think he had a fight with his mom or something?"

"Or he ran into Shiv again." Lyla said.

"I'm pretty sure she's staying clear of him just now." Punk said, "It's going to take a lot of time for him to adjust to being back. We just gotta take it easy with him."

"Hey, when is the next fair?" Daryl asked, coming out from the kitchen after wandering around, joining them back in the main sitting area of the shop.

"We've not long had the Spring Fair. It was three weeks ago." AJ said.

"How'd it go?" Daryl asked, taking a seat at one of the tables, "You still join up the shops for it?"

"No, actually. We've done it separate the past couple of years." Punk said, taking a seat whilst AJ and Lyla joined them.

"Why?" Daryl asked.

"Just to change it up, I guess." AJ shrugged.

"So… fill me in on everything. What's been happening with everyone in the town? I see the bookstore is now a tailoring shop. Weird." Daryl said.

"Yeah, I was mad about that." AJ nodded.

"Nothing has really changed, honestly." Lyla admitted, "Last Summer we got a storm so bad. We lost power for three days. Everything was shut."

"C'mon. You mean to tell me I've been gone four years and there's not been one ounce of gossip worth telling me?" Daryl asked them, looking at them all intently, "No affairs? No deaths? Shit, is Linda still alive?"

"She is." Punk laughed a little, "Still comes in every day to read the paper by the window. She'll be glad to see you."

"How is her health?" Daryl asked.

"She's still got the walking stick, but she's doing ok." Punk nodded just as Becca came back through the door with a bag of clinking bottles.

"Ok. I didn't know what to get so I just got beer, vodka and tequila." Becca said, sitting the bottles down on the table, "I'll get glasses."

"Thanks." Daryl nodded.

"Just take it easy, yeah?" Punk told Daryl.

"What are you? My dad?" Daryl snapped a little before forcing a smile to Punk.

He didn't know how to feel. Trying to process the news which Shiv had dropped on him, whilst also trying to process the fact his friends and family all knew about this secret. He felt completely in the dark. Like his life wasn't his own. Part of him wanted to run back to prison to escape these awful feelings of anxiety and panic.

Becca came over and poured a drink for her and Lyla, whilst Daryl reached for a beer and cracked it open, taking a long gulp as Punk watched worriedly.

"So… what's the deal with your parole?" AJ asked Daryl.

"I gotta meet with my parole officer once a week. And make sure I don't get arrested for anything." Daryl said, "That's pretty much it."

"You know we'd be more than happy to have you work at The Brewberry with us." AJ offered as Lyla and Becca nodded.

"I think it's probably best I look elsewhere." Daryl said, "Thanks, though."

"Rudy! Thomas! Come get your dinner!" Finn called from the kitchen as the twins darted from their chairs and ran off behind the counter to collect their dinner.

"They must love it here. Growing up between the coffee shops." Daryl smiled, "Your aunt still here?" He asked AJ, taking another swig from the can of beer.

"Yeah, she's still at my old apartment. She's a great babysitter. We don't know where we'd be without her honestly." AJ said as Punk nodded in agreement.

"She's a yoga teacher now." Lyla added, "Teaches yoga at the community centre a few mornings every week. She's the coolest lady I know." She said as AJ smiled.

"And guess what?" Becca said to Daryl.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"Mister Eckles has given the farmhouse over to me and Patrick. It's ours now." Becca smiled.

"Oh, yeah. Phil said." Daryl nodded, "How are my cats?" He asked her on a more serious note.

"Oh, they're fine." Becca waved her hand.

"Wrong. Maple is incredibly overweight." Lyla inserted.

"She is not." Becca said, "She's just… enjoying a life of luxury." She defended.

"Did you sell any of the kittens?" Daryl asked.

"Just Laffy." Becca nodded, not knowing what else to say, considering it was Shiv who took Lafayette in.

"Where'd he go?" Daryl asked, "He was my favourite. Crazy little guy."

"Oh, just a family nearby." Becca nodded, "Patrick came home with two new cows yesterday." She told them all, changing the subject.

"Aren't you a lucky girl?" AJ grinned.

"I'm sorry I missed your wedding." Daryl told Becca, "And yours." He looked between AJ and Punk, "Really wish I was there."

"At least you'll be there for Lyla's." AJ smiled positively, placing her hand on Daryl's knee comfortingly.

"You'll be waiting a while then." Becca scoffed.

"Oh, shut up." Lyla snapped at Becca as Daryl watched them bicker. Part of him was starting to feel at home. Starting to feel the remanent of what used to be. And then all he could see was the little girl's face.

"So…" Daryl said, taking another can of beer and cracking it open, "At what point were any of you going to mention the fact I have a kid?" He asked them, looking at them all as their faces dropped and silent swept over the coffee shop.

"I went with fries and burgers." Finn announced as he walked out of the kitchen with the large plates, heading over to where they were all sitting and dumping them down, "The twins like them so it must be alright." He shrugged, beginning to realise there was an awkward, tense silence in the room which he had interrupted.

"Daryl." Punk sighed, running his hand over his face.

"What's going on?" Finn asked whilst the girls stayed quiet.

"Just asking when you guys were gonna tell me I have a kid." Daryl nodded to Finn calmly as Finn turned to Punk with a nervous frown.

"We didn't think it should have come from us. And you… you never mentioned Shiv in prison when we visited. Whenever we mentioned her, you would just sidestep around the subject." Punk said.

"I'm pretty sure I would have liked for someone to tell me, though." Daryl nodded angrily, "You're all sitting here with me right now, joking around, asking me how I am… knowing fine well that I have no idea." He said.

"We tried our best to get through to Shiv but… like you, she never wanted to talk about it, or you." AJ said.

"How did you find out?" Punk asked.

"I was leaving my mom's house and Shiv showed up with her, before I came here." Daryl said, "I mean… I feel like I'm losing my mind." He laughed a little, taking another drink from the beer can, "And my mom knew." He spoke to himself, shaking his head.

"We're sorry." AJ sighed, "We just didn't think it was our place to tell you. Shiv has been… vulnerable and… not herself. Not since you left."

"There's no excuse." Daryl concluded, "This is a fucking kid we're talking!" He shouted, standing up so quickly his chair went flying back behind him.

"Swear piggy." Rudy whispered to Thomas who nodded to her, both of them eating their burgers.

"I know." Punk stood up, "I know. It's awful. And we're so sorry we didn't tell you but… we didn't want to hurt Shiv-"

"So it was her who wanted to keep it from me?" Daryl asked.

"No, it wasn't like that." Punk sighed. Truthfully, he didn't know what to say.

"Then what was it like? Enlighten me, please." Daryl nodded.

"Shiv disappeared after you went to prison. She didn't show up here until two years later and… that's when she had Brianna. No one heard from her. She didn't talk to us anymore." AJ said, "She still doesn't. She just… hides. We couldn't tell you about Brianna because we didn't know how she'd react. We didn't want her to run off again. And like Phil said, it should have been Shiv who told you. Not us." AJ said.

"We're sorry, Daryl." Lyla sighed whilst Becca took a sip of her drink stressfully.

"And you guys are supposed to be my friends, huh?" Daryl nodded to them all, grabbing the two bears left in the pack from the table and heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Punk asked.

"I don't know." Daryl answered, walking out of the shop and slamming the door shut behind him.

"What if he doesn't come back here tonight?" Shiv asked, sitting in the living room of Carol's house.

After Daryl had walked away from her, Carol invited her in and told her to stay a little while in hopes that Daryl would come back. She'd put Brianna to bed and for the past hour Shiv had sat in nervous silence, wondering how badly this was all going to play out.

"He'll come back." Carol nodded, "He's just going to need some time. It's a lot to process."

"I had my reasons for not telling him." Shiv defended.

"I know." Carol said, "But it's time to face it now."

"Maybe I should have waited. I should have given him a few days. He's only just got back. It was too soon." Shiv shook her head, doubting everything.

"No. It had to be now. Or you would have talked yourself out of it. Avoided it or ran away." Carol said as Shiv sighed, "Am I right?"

"Probably." Shiv nodded, lifting her head as she heard the door opening and closing.

She stood up immediately, her chest already heaving as she realised, he'd come home sooner than she thought. Was he really going to give her a chance to explain? Was he coming back to see his daughter? To ask questions about her? She could hear her heart beating in her ear.

Daryl walked into the living room, crushing the empty beer can in his hand. The lack of food and the fact he hadn't touched alcohol in over four years was making his head extremely lightheaded, even just after four beers.

"Why are you still here?" Daryl looked at Shiv, standing across from her in the living room.

"Daryl." Carol said, standing up from the sofa.

"Don't even…" He pointed to his mom, "You should both just… leave me alone right now."

"What use is that going to do?" Carol said, "You need to hear what Shiv has to say."

"Do I?" Daryl questioned, "You visited me every week for four years and you didn't say a single thing." He looked at his mother with tears in his eyes, "I'm your son."

"And what could you do from prison? I was scared you'd lose yourself completely. I didn't want you to know you had a kid you couldn't get to see. And it was Shiv's choice. She is Brianna's mother, so I respected it." Carol said as Daryl just shook his head, running his hand through his hair and pacing a little, "Let her talk." His mother said before leaving the living room and going upstairs.

"I'll… I can come back in the morning." Shiv shook her head. She could see he was in no frame of mind to hear her speak.

"No… no, go on. Tell me everything. Fill me in." Daryl said with a smug tone, "Tell me how you literally had my kid, and didn't tell me." He said.

"I didn't want to hurt you." Shiv said.

"Are you kidding me?" He shook his head, "Did you think this way would hurt me less?" He screwed his eyes up, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"You're angry and drunk and I'm not having this conversation with you right now." Shiv said, grabbing her jacket from the sofa.

"You dropped out of college." Daryl stated, "Why?"

"Because I was pregnant." Shiv shook her head, figuring that part was obvious.

"So… you ruined my life by getting me put in prison for something you did, then you ruined your own life, dropping out of college to have a baby." Daryl nodded as Shiv looked across at him, swallowing the lump in her throat. She had no idea who she was even looking at right now.

"Fuck you." She whispered, walking past him and leaving the house.