AN - So I've hit a complete writer's block with 'The Arrow Inside You' (Don't worry it's still being written!) so I decided to try my hand at a Modern AU, where one day I update this story and the next I update 'The Arrow Inside You' Or considering I'm feeling ridiculously creative today I may write until three am to upload the first chapter of this one and the next of 'The Arrow Inside You'. I've had so many ideas flying around for these two at the minute, it's crazy!

The town they live in is called Woodbury, it has nothing to do with The Governor or anything like that.

I'm gonna make this one quite long to make up for the lack yesterday!

Beth Greene enjoyed her job working at Dale's bar. She enjoyed the conversations with Sheriff Rick where he told her about his new girlfriend, Michonne and she enjoyed the live music her sister's boyfriend, Glenn played on Fridays, she even enjoyed the weekend atmosphere which was usually full of drunks who just never knew when to quit drinking. She didn't, however, enjoy dealing with an intoxicated Merle Dixon.

Merle was slumped over the bar leaning on one of his arms as his hand holding his glass raised, demanding more drink. Beth was the only one in the bar apart from Tyreese, the only security guard Dale would allow. He cast her a look as if to say 'are you really surprised?' Beth shrugged slightly and gently plucked the glass from Merle's hand, but unfortunately he was still sober enough to be outraged by the sudden thievery of his glass.

"What'chu doin' blondie?" He murmured, eyes almost rolling into the back of his head.

"It's closin' time, Mr Dixon." Despite not liking a drunk Merle Dixon, Beth found the sober Merle Dixon much more to her liking. He was mean to any who dared get close to him and was consistently cruel to anyone of colour, being the racist he was. But if Beth pushed through that (and she had to push far) she found that in spite of his racial slurs and sexist comments, he could be funny and she knew he'd protect her against any other drunken brute that stumbled through the doors and for that, Beth had a level of respect for him.

"I'll call Daryl." Tyreese chuckled softly and shook his head before shifting his way behind the bar to reach the corded telephone to call Merle's brother.

Beth had never met Daryl even though she'd handled a near paralytic Merle on numerous occasions. She knew that Daryl was more respected than Merle and according to Dale was 'the only good Dixon to walk the Earth.' but he kept himself to himself, spending most of his time working in at T Dog's garage or passing the time hunting up in the woods that backed off of her father's farm. She had found it surprising how they could live in such a small town, but never cross paths.

"You 'aint callin' no one, nigger." Merle's words struck a chord in Beth as Tyreese simply shook his head.

"Merle Dixon, you apologise. Now." Her doe eyes focused on him and a leaden silenced filled the room as Merle stared down the small slip of Beth Greene.

"I 'aint got nothin' t'apologise for." Merle threw out his arms, as though he had been the victim of the greatest travesty known to mankind.

Beth continued to stare.

"Alrigh', alrigh'." A small silence and then a mumble, but the word 'sorry' was definitely said.

Tyreese nodded once in appreciation to Beth before he dialled the phone. Daryl's number was scrawled across a piece of paper that had obviously been torn from a pamphlet that belonged to the garage and was now tacked onto the cork notice board. The most troublesome customers of Dale's bar had their next of kin's numbers up on the notice board in case of a situation such as this arose.

"Daryl …? It's Merle …" Beth knew Tyreese was talking to Daryl, but she couldn't quite make out what she was saying.

At 21 years old, Beth Greene was the sweetheart of Woodbury.. She was the youngest child of Herschel Greene, arguably one of the most well respected men in their town. The Greenes had owned the rustic farm for decades, ensuring profit flowed through the veins of all that worked hard. His wife Annette helped out around the farm, she set up charity events and fun days out for the children to enjoy. Her eldest brother Shaun wasn't doing all too bad either, helping their father with the animals, Herschel was teaching him everything he knew about the veterinary practice and Shaun was eager to someday handle the farm. Next came Maggie, one of the most sought out women in town, though many were surprised when she settled down and married scrawny, travelling musician Glenn Rhee.

Beth was the black sheep of her family. She'd never been a problem child, not in a million years, but she certainly wasn't content with the life she had. She had grown up sheltered from the world by her father, something that had cost him dearly when she was at high school and found herself being constantly harassed by male classmates who all wanted some of the youngest Greene girl if she was anything like her older sister. Beth's features were also markedly different from the other members of the Greene clan. Her blonde hair was wavy and when she was younger had been in ringlets down to her shoulders, but age and the weight of her hair and smoothed the curls into wavy locks. Her blue irises were a sky blue, as opposed to the rest of her family's ocean blue and she wasn't at all curvy like Maggie or her mother. Her was just a slight frame with not much breast and not much butt as she liked to say.

Tyreese hung up the phone and nodded at Beth, assuring her that Daryl was on his way. Beth busied herself by keeping Merle conscious, it'd be a lot harder for his brother to get him in the car with him completely KO'd. She asked him questions about Daryl, what he was like. If there was something Beth knew about Merle Dixon, it was that the only person he cared for (other than himself, of course) was his baby brother.

"Why d'ya wanna know, blondie? D'ya wanna fuck 'im?" Merle wheezed and continued to lay with his head against the bar.

"No …" Beth felt her face burn hot. "I haven't even met him." She shook her head slightly, knowing Merle was trying to wind her up.

"Good. I 'aint ever seen him with a lady friend anyways, so ya'd be outta luck." His drunken state made his words slur and it felt as though Beth was trying to communicate with a brick wall, but she still pursued.

"He's gay?" She frowned as her head tilted in awe. She went on regular gay rights marches with Rick's son, Carl and enjoyed the overall vibe of the parades set up by the community, but she had a feeling Merle and Will Dixon wouldn't be as supportive.

"He 'aint a faggot!" Merle sat up a little too fast and Beth held the bucket under his head so he could be sick.

Thankfully, as the smell of sick began to linger in the air Daryl Dixon strode inside.

"The fuck is tha'- Aw shit, Merle …" With a heaving sigh, Daryl made his way to his elder brother and helped him stand.

His hair was windswept and Beth assumed that he'd been driving with the window down. He was wearing a worn leather jacket with angel wings embedded in the back which reminded Beth of the old school films Shaun kept in his room about biker gangs. He wore a plaid shirt underneath the jacket which consisted of a colour palette of brown and green, matched with the jacket they probably would have clashed, but on him it seemed cool. His trousers were baggy, but had rips in the knees and the ankles of his trousers were tucked into a pair of combat boots that were laced to the top. The thing Beth found most exciting about the stranger was the crossbow that was strapped across his back . Beth had no clue what type of model it was, but she was certain it was used for hunting deer.

"You been lookin' after him?" His voice was gruff around the edges, but pushing past that his voice was mellow and soft with concern.

"Hardly lookin' after, sir." She smiled slightly and shrugged it off. Beth had handled Merle on multiple occasions and Tyreese had always sent her home before Daryl arrived, but Tyreese wanted to be there when his sister Sasha woke up as it was her 23rd birthday tomorrow, so Beth had ushered him home before Daryl arrived.

"You mockin' me?" He cast a glance her, eyes narrowed as he tried to decipher what she meant.

"What? No, I-" His accusation confused her, all she did was call him 'sir'

"Leave her alone, baby brother." Merle shrugged softly and his voice seemed to calm Daryl.

"Sorry, I'm Daryl Dixon." He didn't smile, but his voice didn't hold the same hostility it did a moment ago, I was surprised to see his hand outstretched for me to shake. It appeared to Beth that Daryl only trusted people that Merle liked.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Beth Greene." She smiled and shook his hand firmly. She noticed he was wearing fingerless gloves and the realisation came that he was probably out hunting when Tyreese had called.

It was late, around 1:30 and usually Tyreese would give her a lift home, her daddy never liked her taking the car to work. Beth held out her arms in order to help support Merle to the truck Daryl had brought.

"You gonna pick her up in the morning?" Beth nodded to motorcycle that was dotted with racist stickers that could only belong to Merle. She'd seen him beat people for even looking at the bike in the wrong way, so she decided it would be best if she simply left it be.

"N'aw. Can'ya do me a favour?" Merle was in Daryl's truck, safely strapped in the passenger seat with the seat belt on.

"Sure." She shrugged as she locked up the bar, Dale had gone to bed an hour or so before. He was getting old and Beth hated to see him so stressed.

"Shouldn' be so ready t'answer." Daryl said, though Beth could detect a hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips.

"Why?" She put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow back at him. She liked the new territory she was coming across, the fact that Daryl didn't treat her like she was still a child like the rest of Woodbury knew her.

"'Aint safe t'talk t'no rednecks." He chuckled softly and sat on Merle's bike.

"What are you doin'?" Beth frowned and quickly stepped towards the cycle, her arm outstretched towards an unconscious Merle in the truck.

"Ya said you'd do me a favour, didn't'ya?" Daryl smirked and chucked her the keys to his pickup.

Beth sat inside the pickup and glanced at Merle who sat shotgun. The car smelled strange, different to what she had expected. She'd assumed she'd be overwhelmed by the smell of stale sweat, musty car seats and who knows what else, but she was pleasantly surprised to notice the car smelled like it had just been bought. A lemon scent wafted through the car as she started it up, it was quite pleasant to drive in too, apart from the smell of cigarette smoke that remained.

Beth followed Daryl on a winding road that twisted around a sort of cliff. She knew the Dixon's shack was on the outskirts of a mountain, but she never realised she'd have to drive up to get there. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Beth got to the top and frowned. Where was Daryl?

She hesitantly stepped out of the truck and looked around. It was dark and cold, she was only in a vest as the bar got so hot and was only made worse when she went to collect glasses. Her breath swirled in front of her and goosepimples raised upon her flesh, she rubbed her arms in a feeble attempt to warm up.

"Daryl …?" Her voice echoed and cast an eerie atmosphere. She suddenly didn't feel very safe anymore.

The door to the shack opened up and she cautiously stepped across the dark terrain expecting to see Daryl, but was instead greeted by Will Dixon.

Will Dixon had almost become an urban legend among the town, nobody had seen him in so long. Herschel remembered him still, knew him when he used to go drinking everyday down at Dale's though it was Dale's father's at that point. Beth was surprised to see he didn't have a gut from all the drink he'd consumed over the years, though his skin was tinged yellow and his eyes looked pale white in comparison.

"Oh … Hello, Mr Dixon, I just-" Beth had begun to motion towards her car to show the eldest Dixon where his son was.

"Get the fuck off my land, bitch." He snorted hard and spat a glob of phlegm at Beth's feet.

Repulsed, Beth quickly backed away until she hit something hard and whirled around and realised she had backed straight into Daryl. His hands caught her by the shoulders to steady her and his touch was gentle on her soft skin, but somehow managed to radiate a warmth through her.

"I'm sorry … I- I was just leavin'. Your daddy, he-" Beth was clearly shaken by Will Dixon's attitude and Daryl only made it worse.

"I'm sorry, I though' you'd be longer, I went round back for somethin' quick." Daryl spoke to her, but his eyes were locked on his father. "Just wai' here a sec, I'll get Merle inside and give you a ride home."

Beth nodded and got back into the truck to keep herself warm as Daryl leaned forward and spoke to his father. Obviously she couldn't see, but it looked heated. Daryl's head was tilted, talking down at the seemingly frail old man, though a glint in his eyes told Beth he wasn't as defenseless as he seemed. Merle stirred beside her and she shook her head with a knowing smirk as his eyes lit up at seeing her.

"Mmmhmm … Have I died an' gone'to heaven, lil Greene?" Merle tried to lick his lips seductively, but his clouded mind just made it seem as though he was trying to lick the side of the chair.

"Maybe so, Merle. Maybe so."

Ten minutes and awful lot of Daryl dragging Merle later, Beth was sat in the passenger seat of the rusted car.

"It smells nicer than I thought it would." Beth wondered aloud, before almost faceplanting the dashboard from sheer embarrassment. Here she was in Daryl Dixon's truck, a man who most women Beth knew would kill their first born child to be even this close to, commenting on the scent of his vehicle. Great one.

"Uh .. Thanks." Daryl breathed out a chuckle and started the drive home.

It was a comfortable silence and as they passed the streetlights Beth watched the levels of concentration in his face shift.

"How come I 'aint ever seen'ya before?" Daryl asked, sparing a glance at the blonde next to him.

"You never come to the bar and I never go to the mountains?" She smiled over at him and saw him smile wryly.

"False. I'm always draggin' their asses outta tha' bar," He responded, keeping his eyes on the road. "Ya'just 'aint been workin' the righ' times."

"Oh really?" Beth asked, turning in her seat to focus on him better.

"Yup," Daryl popped the 'p' as he spoke and gently drummed his finger on the steering wheel as he drove. "You still live on the farm?"

"Yeah, daddy isn't even nearly ready to begin even thinkin' about me movin'." Beth chuckled softly and shook her head, slightly saddened though she refused to let it show now.

"Your daddy's a good man." Daryl nodded slightly and Beth examined his features as the passed under a large stretch of light.

He had to be either late 20's or early 30's judging from the way he handled himself. It seemed odd to say, but he had a certain air of wisdom about him that suggested he was somewhat older than her but his facial features and muscled arms said he wasn't too old for her, not that she was thinking like that. He had a little facial hair growing that he obviously shaved regularly and Beth could see a faint scar that travelled from the left corner of his mouth up to the opposite side of his nose, running across the bridge too.

"I know I'm a sweet sight, but ya'don't need t'stare." Daryl raised an eyebrow as he spoke and despite being so standoffish, Beth realised that he was actually a flirtatious person.

"You should know I only got eyes for Merle." She joked and stared out at the road ahead of her, thankful Daryl hadn't tried to embarrass her too much. "So you work for T-Dog?"

"How d'ya think I got this lump of junk?" He thumped the dashboard, though Beth noticed it was an affectionate pat. "Merle'd stole somethin' offa him, an' we didn't have no money to replace it an' I saw this baby all broken outside, told him I'd work on the car to pay off what Merle took. A year later the truck's mine." He shrugged softly as they pulled up to the farm, though they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Thanks for the ride …" She said after a long while as she undid her seatbelt.

"Not a problem." Beth felt his eyes linger on her as she got ready to exit the truck.

"You should come to the bar more, you know to actually drink, not to pick up intoxicated family members." She smiled softly and got out of the car.

"You should be so lucky." He smirked as Beth gently shut the door and went into the house.

Groaning as she realised her father was still awake and sitting up for her, Beth slipped through the door and tried to discreetly go upstairs to her room.

"Beth Greene, you stay put." Her father's voice carried through the house, so he wasn't concerned about waking the rest of his household.

Beth winced and slowly turned to the kitchen where her father sat, eyebrows raised accusingly.

"You're home late." His tone spoke volumes despite being barely above a mumble.

"Merle Dixon got too drunk again, so I had to wait for his brother." She shrugged and went to the fridge, scanning its contents for a midnight snack.

"You know I don't like you working there so late." He sighed as he sipped his water.

"Daddy …" Beth sighed as she turned to face him and leant back against the kitchen counter, unable to find food that suited her fancy.

"No, Beth. You know how much I appreciate Dale setting you up, but you're a young lady…"

Beth knew how opposed her father was to her chosen profession, but it wasn't like it was permanent. She was trying to spare the money in order to move out of Woodbury and go somewhere bigger to achieve more, perhaps have a job in animal rights.

Beth did understand her father's reservations about her job and reflected upon when she had told him she had landed the position. Herschel had had his qualms due to his previous alcoholism, but he'd straightened himself out as soon as Maggie was born. He'd frequented at Dale's bar when he was younger and was familiar with the types of men his daughter would be dealing with daily, or in this case, nightly.

"It's nothin' I can't handle." Beth shrugged softly and smiled at him, she had always been a sweet kid.

"No, I know … Tyreese give you a lift home?" He let the matter drop and smiled at his youngest child, though she wasn't much of a child anymore.

"No, he had to get home for Sasha's birthday," She answered which prompted a raised eyebrow from Herschel. "Daryl Dixon dropped me off, I helped him get Merle home."

"Don't be getting to close to those boys." Her daddy said with a worried tone.

It wasn't that Herschel Greene didn't trust the Dixons, it was that he didn't trust the Dixons with Beth. Had it have been Maggie, he was certain that she would handle herself if it ever came down to … That. But his little Bethy was different, she was a sweet soul and didn't have a bad bone in her body. The Dixons were different. Herschel knew Will, knew what he had done to his two boys but simply figured he best stay out their way. He knew his eldest son Merle too and suspected he would end up like his father. Daryl, however, appeared to be the only normal one. Herschel was aware the youngest Dixon kept away from others and spent most of his days in solitude or cleaning up his family's mess and was the only Dixon to have a job, but that didn't mean he liked him anymore than the others.

"I won't daddy, anyway I'm goin' to bed now, is that alright?" Beth sweeped down to give her father and kiss of the cheek before retreating to her bedroom where she flopped onto her bed after stripping from her work clothes.

Beth lay in bed for a while, thinking about the events of the night. She liked Daryl Dixon and it appeared that he liked her also, but he sent a strange feeling through her that felt an awful lot like butterflies.