Chapter 1

You can do this. You will not fuck this up. This might be your last chance at a normal life. Don't run. Go in, learn and do the best motherfucking job you can possibly do. No more sabotaging yourself. Oh, and no more cussing. Not at work. Samina Webber stood in an alley, at the back entrance of her new workplace. Her fingernails were digging painfully into her palms as she fought the urge to have a cigarette. Smelling like nicotine on her first day would probably not be appreciated. Or maybe nobody cared. Patsy's Diner wasn't exactly an upscale eatery, but as long as she couldn't be sure how her new boss ticked, she would refrain from lighting up a smoke. She took a deep breath, digging her fingernails even deeper into the skin of her palms during her inhale, only to loosen the grip when she exhaled. She opened her eyes and took two steps towards the door. Her heart started beating faster, her stomach felt like it was suddenly filled with lead, and her mouth went dry while she lifted her hand to knock. She couldn't remember ever having been this nervous in her entire life, and maybe it was ridiculous to be about to throw up over starting a waitress job, but to Sam, this was one of the most important days of her life. This was supposed to be the day on which her new life truly started.

"Good morning. Right on time." Patty Newton smiled upon opening the back door for Sam. The chubby redhead, who Sam presumed to be in her early 50s, was Sam's new boss and also the daughter of Patsy Newton, who'd opened the diner here in Blue Ridge a good 40 years ago. "Ready for your first day?"

"I guess... yeah." Sam smiled nervously, but Patty was able to tell that the young woman was genuinely happy and excited to have landed that job.

"Come on in, then." Patty waved her in and closed the door once Sam had stepped inside. "Don't look so worried, sweetheart. We all started out at one point, and it ain't rocket science." Patty smiled encouragingly with her southern drawl. "There's the lockers. I already put your name on that one and a couple of shirts and aprons are inside. Always make sure to come in clean and to have a clean pair to change into in case you spill something all over yourself."

"Yes, ma'am." Sam nodded quickly, making the older woman laugh.

"Please, call me Patty. We're all family here. Now, where was I?"

"Clean clothes."

"Right. If you wanna smoke, do that outside in the back alley. Now, as your boss I'm telling you to only smoke on your break, but if you get along with the other girls, they won't mind covering for you for a couple of minutes, but they expect you to return the favor."

"Sure." Sam nodded again, soaking up every word Patty was saying.

"I'm turning a blind eye to that. We all got our vices." Patty kept talking while Sam took off her jean jacket and hung it in the locker. "Now, today nobody's gonna expect too much from you. Just watch the others. The most important thing to remember is that the customer is always right, to stay on top of the refills, and if anyone slaps your ass, you can punch their lights out."

Sam, who was in the process of changing out of her top and into her work t-shirt, froze. Her head whipped around to stare at Patty, while her hands stopped right when she had lifted her top up over her bra-covered breasts. "What?"

"The customer might be king, but not even kings get away with everything, sweetheart." Patty chuckled. "Ha, I see the good Lord has been generous to you. That helped ya at your last job, huh? Or are those puppies fake?"

"Umm..." Sam looked down at her cleavage, amused, but still a little thrown by Patty's free and easy attitude. "No. Real." she muttered. A little shudder went through her when Patty mentioned her last job, which the older woman must have noticed.

"That's behind you now, Sam. Two of my other girls, Becky and Jess, they come from pretty much the same background. I'm sure they'll help you out." Patty smiled. "I've been there myself, but I had my mother to kick my ass and set me straight again. That's why I'm helping girls like you out. I know not all of you are as lucky as me. The only condition is, that you stay clean and sober. We're gonna be attending meetings together every Wednesday morning at 10 am, right around the corner. Giving you a job and making sure you go to meetings is my part. Showing up and making an effort is your part. Alright?"

"Alright. I intend to. Very much so." Sam vowed, meeting Patty's gaze straight on.

"I believe you. I know people. You just lost your way for a while. I get it. Happened to me, too, like I said. Now we just gotta make sure it won't happen again."

"Right. Thank you." Sam smiled gratefully and finally started to relax a little. She had donned her shirt and apron in the meantime, and Patty put a warm hand on her shoulder.

"You're welcome. Let's meet the other girls, shall we?"

"Yes."

"Come on. Now, where was I?" Patty asked again, but this time she remembered the answer without help. "Oh yeah, punching someone's lights out. You see, this is a small town and we have a lot of regulars. That's the good thing. After a week or so, you'll know most of your costumers and their usuals, which will make this job easy-peasy. Some of them like to get cheeky with new girls. It's all in good fun and they don't mean any harm, but if someone starts being a jerk, don't be afraid to put them in their place."

"I'll manage. I had a lot of that at my last job, remember?" Sam scoffed lightly.

"Right. You'll do fine, I'm sure."

After Patty had introduced Sam to her new colleagues, it was time to go to work. The girls had been very nice, and Becky had immediately taken Sam under her wing. She showed her how to work the coffee machine, where they kept things like syrup, ketchup, sugar, etc. for whenever they needed to refill those things, and explained to her how the whole system in general worked. While they did that, the diner slowly filled with a couple of patrons, who were there for their breakfast.

"Like Patty said, there's gonna be a lot of regulars. Over there is Frankie Miller. Retired. Comes in every morning for his black coffee, eggs and bacon. Good tipper. That over there is Joyce Harris. Maybe you know her, she owns the salon two streets down. She comes in every morning for a quick breakfast before she goes to open her salon. She likes quick service, so make sure not to let her wait. Otherwise you won't get much trouble from her. And there's the Dixons. Merle and Daryl. They practically live here. You'll see them around a lot, so you better get used to Merle quick. He's not all that bad, though, but he can come across as pretty crass at first." Becky told her in a hushed voice, not noticing how Sam had tensed up as soon as she had laid eyes on the two men.

"Oh, I know Merle." Sam sighed.

"Right. Should have figured." Becky laughed quietly.

"Don't know the other one, though." Sam curiously eyed the other Dixon.

"Daryl? Yeah, he's Merle's younger brother. He's quiet. Unlike his big bro." Becky said. "If you have a thick skin and don't get offended by some of the things Merle says, then they shouldn't give you much trouble, either."

"I'll be fine." Sam reassured her with a smile.

"Let's get to work then." Becky returned the smile and handed Sam a notepad and pen.

"Hey! What's it gonna take for a guy to get a refill here, sugar?"

Way too soon Sam heard Merle Dixon's unmistakable voice call out for her, when she was making the rounds to refill some coffee cups. She fought the urge to sigh, instead she kept her polite smile firmly plastered on her face and walked towards the small booth the Dixons were occupying.

"Damn, ya serve fries with that shake, sweet cheeks?" he leered at her while she made her way over.

"For an additional $1.99, sure." Sam said smilingly. She fought a grin when she heard the younger Dixon brother emit an amused scoff. She looked at him, expecting to share a smirk, but the man named Daryl wasn't looking at her. He kept his head down, shoveling eggs into his mouth like it was his first meal in weeks. So far she hadn't seen his face at all. His long, dark hair kept shielding his features from anyone getting a clear view. It made her want to push his hair out his eyes. She didn't know how he did it. She wasn't able to stand having hair falling in her eyes for even a minute. She would be pushing and blowing at those strands constantly. Daryl didn't seem to be the least bit bothered by it, though. She shrugged to herself and refilled both their coffees. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed Merle looking at her. Well, studying her was more like it.

"Say... don't I know you?" he asked with a frown.

He doesn't recognize me? Guess he was too stoned or drunk all those times. Good for me. Sam relaxed a little. She hadn't even noticed that her shoulders had been tense. "I don't think so." Sam lied through her teeth. "I haven't lived here very long." That wasn't an outright lie. She had been living in Blue Ridge for close to a year. To some that wasn't long at all.

"Huh..." he was still studying her. He felt like he knew her. He just wasn't able to put his finger on it. "What's your name?"

"Sam."

"Hm... Sam, huh? Don't ring a bell, but you sure look familiar, girlie. Where you from?"

"South Carolina. Can I get you guys anything else?" she asked politely.

"Hey Daryl... help me out. We know her?" Merle addressed his brother without taking his eyes off of Sam.

Sam looked over at Daryl just in time to see him look up and shake his head lightly, finally getting some hair out of his eyes. She saw a flash of what might have been blue eyes. It was hard to tell. He had kind of droopy eyelids and on top of that he had them narrowed to slits when he looked at her. The rest of his face seemed to be all sharp angles, but once again, it was hard to tell, because he looked back down pretty quickly. "Nah." he replied with a shake of his head.

"Anything else?" Sam repeated her question.

"Nah. That's it for now, sugar." Merle said, letting his gaze follow her when she walked off. "I've seen her before. I'm sure of it."

"Let it go, man. Ain't never seen her before." Daryl mumbled around a mouthful of eggs.

"Yeah, maybe you ain't seen her before, but I'm sure I have. I'll figure it out. Always do."

"Whatever." Daryl shrugged. He wasn't interested. He wasn't much interested in women in general. He wasn't gay. He'd jacked off to Victoria's Secret catalogs (and later porn) more than enough, but he'd never really shown interest in real women. Mostly for the sole reason that they never showed any interest in him either. When he was younger he'd briefly entertained thoughts of kissing a girl or getting to second base, but over the years those thoughts had popped up less and less until they had vanished completely. He didn't have anything to offer a woman, so he didn't even try. He was just Merle's quiet younger brother. Nothing more than an ugly, piss poor redneck jerk.

Sam went home later that day, feeling accomplished, and happier than she had in a long time. Her nervousness was gone and now her excitement shone through full force, painting a beautiful smile on her face and making her blue eyes shine and twinkle. Her shiny brown hair, which she had pulled back into a ponytail, bounced with the little spring in her step on her way home. She leaped up the couple of stairs that led to the front door of the small house she was renting, for the first time not dreading returning to her dark and empty home.

She took off her jacket, kicked off her boots, and walked straight into the kitchen with her phone in hand. She opened the music player and quietly sang along to "Kickapoo" by Tenacious D, while she "beheaded" some fresh strawberries. She tossed them in the blender and added some milk, making herself strawberry milk; all part of her trying to return to a better and healthier life, which is why she had politely declined Patty's offer to take home some pie. When the blender had done its job, she poured herself a glass, grabbed a straw, and started slurping the delicious drink on her way back to the couch. She was near breathless with excitement when she opened her laptop and let it boot. She bounced her knee up and down impatiently while she waited for the damn machine to be done. "Come on..." She murmured when about 20 seconds after she clicked on Skype, it still wasn't opening. Needless to say, she wasn't the most patient person in the world.

"Finally." She breathed a moment later and double-clicked on the button "Mom & Dad" to start a video chat. It took a moment until they accepted, but when they did, Sam's face hurt from smiling so broadly and she had to fight back tears. "Hi baby! Hi! Oh look at you, you're getting bigger every week. And you're wearing the Cars shirt I sent you."

"Say 'hi mommy'." Sam's mother Liz was holding her 18 months old grandson on her lap. She grabbed his hand and made him wave at the camera. "Do you see mommy, River? You wanna wave and say hi?"

River smiled and started waving frantically at the screen, making his mother giggle. "He's still not saying anything?"

"No." Liz smiled. "But he's a boy. They take their time, it's alright."

"Mhm." Sam was not convinced, but she didn't feel like getting into an argument over it again. Not today. "I had my first day at the diner today."

"How was it?"

"It was great. I actually can't wait to go back tomorrow. Everything is going great." Sam beamed, not taking her eyes off her son, who seemed to be touching the screen now, trying to touch his mother.

"That sounds good." Liz smiled, albeit a little reserved.

"It is. I think this will work out really well. Maybe you can bring River sooner than we thought. Maybe even next month..."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Samina. It was only your first day. Let's wait to see if it actually will work out."

"It will. I've been sober for 6 months. It's fine."

"Maybe, but up until two weeks ago, you were still working as a stripper. Let's wait and see if you actually manage to leave that behind you for a while, before we bring your son back into your environment."

"So what? You want to keep him for another 6 months? He's my son. You can't keep him from me forever. He needs his mother." Sam got upset, but she quickly lowered her voice again, not wanting River to witness another shouting match between his mommy and grandma.

"What he needs is a mother, who can provide a safe environment and stability. You know it's for the best if we wait a bit longer. Until you're more settled in your sobriety and your new job." Liz argued as gently as possible, not wanting to upset little River.

"Yeah... you're right." Sam nodded and pressed her lips together in a hard line. Gone was her happy mood. "How has he been this week?"

"A little cranky. We think it might be the next set of teeth coming in."

"Yeah that's possible." Sam agreed. "Maybe some cute little fangs or his first molars."

"We'll see."

"Do you need something for him?"

"Don't you worry about that. You didn't have to send those clothes. You should save your money." Liz admonished her slightly, making Sam having to resist the urge to roll her eyes. A couple of shirts for 2 or 3 dollars each won't make her go broke.

"I saw them at the store and thought he'd look cute in them. And he does. I can afford some t-shirts, you know?"

"Well, he's got more than enough now." Liz said and carefully let River slide off her lap. "Looks like he's done for now. I was just about to give him a bath, too."

"Alright." Sam sighed sadly. Unfortunately kids' attention span at that age wasn't very big, but she was happy with whatever she got whenever she was able to see him via Skype. "I love you, baby." She said, even though he wasn't looking at her anymore, but maybe he still heard it. Whatever, it was important for her to let him know. "Give him a big kiss for me."

"I will. Don't stay up too late. You don't wanna be tired in the morning."

"I know, Mom. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Bye Sam."

They ended their chat and Sam finally allowed herself to shed some tears. She missed her son terribly. She was missing out on so much and she had no one to blame but herself, which made the whole thing hurt even more. She slumped back into the sofa and slurped the rest of her strawberry milk, but as soon as that glass was empty, she picked herself back up and went into the empty room in her small house. Empty except for a bucket of light blue paint and some paint brushes and other DIY supplies. She didn't waste any time and started covering up the floor and taping off the room. She was determined to make things work out and to get her son back sooner rather than later and when that happened, this room had to be finished and just perfect.

A smile crept back onto her face when the first splash of blue color hit the wall. She would soon have a family and a real life again. She was sure of it.

Thank you for reading.

Y'all can thank PrincessPears for this one:) Thank you for being a genius, bae.

Please tell me what you think. And don't worry, more Daryl in the next chapter and even more in the one after that:-)