Leave Out All The Rest (Bethyl AU)

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"Should of known better to fuck the farmers daughter." Merle said hitting Daryl on the back of the head as he sat in the passenger's seat of their father's old pick up truck.

Daryl finally got it working again and as he sat in the passenger's seat he wanted to do anything but think about Beth but he couldn't. If Merle wasn't bringing her up then he saw something that reminded him of her, like the diner they were passing now.

"Don't worry baby brother, we'll get the bitch off yer mind real soon." Merle said and Daryl shot him a look for calling her that but didn't have the energy to fight with him. Merle had just gotten them kicked out of the house and now they had nothing but the clothes in their suitcases and Daryl's bike and savings to their name, which wasn't much. Merle still had to do his community service so it wasn't like they could just skip town.

"I know a place we can go." Merle said driving towards the more rural part of their town. He stopped at an old run down bar off the highway that had a small shack behind it. "Tommy and Danny own this place. Said I could crash in the shack whenever if I ever needed a place. It just needs a little TLC is all."

Daryl shut the door to the rusty old truck and could smell the odor coming from the shack. He knew he didn't really have a choice though so he followed Merle around the bar and into the shack. There was just a refrigerator, not working, a small bed, with holes in it, a couch, probably infested with roaches, and a table, with no chairs.

"Home sweet home." Daryl mumbled as Merle claimed the bed. Daryl threw his bag on the floor and watched his brother slip off his boots. He knew this was going to be a long night.

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Four days. It had been four days since Daryl took Beth home and four days since he's seen her face. He tried to fill his time with working over time down at Jax's garage, hell, he even ran around with Merle a couple nights trying to ease the sting of loss he felt whenever he thought of her. He forced away the idea of her every time as Hershel's words replayed in his mind. Now, he was driving to his old shack where his father was sure to be drunk and his mother passed out. Merle had told him not to go. Merle told him that there was nothing left for them there, not anymore but Daryl couldn't just leave his mother alone with that monster of a man. Merle wasn't stupid; he knew that's where Daryl went every night. He would sneak in the back door to check on her every night since they were kicked out and every time their father was oblivious. Daryl made sure she was still breathing and kept a glass of water next to her bed. He found himself sitting on the bed next to her stroking her hair silently hoping she would just wake up and ran away. He knew she never would. He was stroking her hair, damp with sweat, when he heard the roar of his father's laugh in the next room. The shack was impossibly small and there was only one room his father could be heading to next. Daryl quickly pulled the covers over his mother and slid out of the glass door before his father could see him. He stayed against the wall near the door for a moment as his father started cussing and throwing things around.

"Wake up, wake up, you good fer nothin' whore!" His father's words cut Daryl deep whenever he spoke to his mother like that but he knew he would just make it worse if he went charging in like some hero. It was better to be invisible in their family. He heard the muffled tones of his mother's voice, obviously not all there, as his father slapped her across the face. Daryl couldn't listen to anymore. He knew what he was about to do would probably get him beat to death but he didn't care. He shoved open the glass door and charged his father, pushing him into the door that lead to the front of the shack. He watched his father fall down and onto the floor. He used this chance to jump on his father and punch him one good time across the face. His father was much stronger than him, even drunk. He pushed Daryl off of him, cussing the entire time, and began wailing on his son. Daryl took each blow and felt the iron taste of his own blood drip from his nose and lip into his mouth. He tried pushing his father off of him as his vision was covered in blood but couldn't get a hold of him. His father took the bottle in his hands and began hitting Daryl all over his body. Daryl quickly got up and staggered over to the wall trying to regain his strength. He saw his mother in the corner of the room crying. He hated seeing her like this. She was shaking and Daryl's father spit out the tiny amount of blood from his lip that Daryl had caused.