Claimed

Chapter 17

•{[Daryl]}•

I froze. I know that voice anywhere. It's my dumbass brother, Merle.

"Now why don't you come out here, little brother! And bring that little girlfriend of yours, huh? Did she like that little necklace?" He laughs.

"How did you know about that!?" I yell. I stand, ready to beat the shit out of him. I feel Beth's hand on my arm. I look down at her. She shakes her head no, telling me it's a bad idea. I crouch again.

"Well, I've been watching you! Any friend of my brother should be a friend of mine!" He gives another sickening laugh.

A little bit of background on Merle:

He's a jackass. He's my brother. He's really the only family I have, even though he sucks ass. He's an alcoholic and drug addict. Even though he's all of those things, I still love him. Sort of...

"Now come on out little brother!" He says. I turn to Rick. He hands me his gun and nods. I slowly stand and walk outside.

"Haha little brother! Where's your little girlfriend!?" He laughs yet again. For some reason, I felt extreme anger. Merle always took what he wanted, and never really cared about anyone.

"She's. Not. My. Girlfriend." I say between gritted teeth.

"Really!? Ha! You never were one with the ladies, were you?! You never had my good looks!" I clenched my fists.

"What do you want Merle..."

"Oh that's what you think of me?! I come to pay my little brother a visit, and you think I WANT something?" I stare at him, full of rage. "You know me to well little brother. I want this farm."

"That's not gonna happen." I say.

"What? Why? Let me just tell you, I have enough fire power to kill every single one of you and then some." He gestured to the men behind him, rifles in hand. "So, what do ya say, hmm?" Rick walks out, Beth behind him.

"If you want this farm, we all have to live here together. Which means you follow Hershel's rules. But, you don't seem like that kind of man." Merle smirks.

"And you are?"

"Sheriff Rick Grimes of King County, Georgia."

"And who's this pretty little one?" He smiles wide.

"Beth."

"Beth. What a pretty name! You got a pretty girlfriend, little brother!" I clench my fists. "Now about that deal you had, Officer Friendly? I'll take you up on that." Rick nods.

"You follow our rules, and you stay away from the house. You can set up camp near the barn." Merle nods. I give Beth a nervous glance.

"Not the barn!" She blurts out.

"Why not? It's a completely goo-"

"Uh, I need to talk to you for a sec, Rick. It's, kinda important." Rick nods.

"Daryl, watch your brother." I nod and Beth and him walk off.

"Well well well, little brother!"

"Shut it, Merle." His face hardens, but then he smiles.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of bed, huh? Your girlfriend dump you?" He laughs. I'm done with his shit.

"She's not my girlfriend! She's just some random girl I don't even care about, ok!? She doesn't matter..." I lie.

"W-What...?"

•{[Beth]}•

"Y-You don't care...?" Daryl turns around, and realizes that I just heard everything he just said. I feel my eyes burn. Why do I care?!

"No... No no no! I didn't-"

"Save it..." I storm off to go clear my head. A tear rolls down my check. When I'm finally away from everyone, I lose it. Why do I even care!? It's not like I have feelings for him! He sure as hell doesn't for me.

I lean on a tree and look over the the river. The night air is cold, but I don't really care right now. Now that Rick knows about the whole barn situation, he's gonna find a new spot for Merle and his group.

I stare at the necklace Daryl gave me, my mind swimming with thoughts. I sigh and stand. I'm walk back to the farm, wiping my eyes so I don't look like I've been crying, even though it's pretty obvious. Everyone's settled down now, and Carl's back in his spot on the couch. Maggie gives me a sympathetic look, but decides I need space. She probably already knows what happened.

I walk into my room (I still haven't healed fully, Hershel says, so I still need a proper bed) and place my necklace carefully on my dresser. I sigh and plop in my bed.

And cry myself to sleep.