Sometimes, I hate, the life, I made
Everything's wrong every time
Pushing on I can't escape
Everything that comes my way
Is haunting me taking its sweet time

25 May 1998

"Bayanne! Come on, get a move on. I need to take this out to the truck right now."

"Unff!" Bayanne Moore released a very unladylike grunt as she dropped the newly packaged and labeled carpet pad roll on one of the pallets she had packed full of the rolls during her shift. She bit her lip and kept herself from rolling her eyes at Gary, the forklift operator, as she threw her whole weight against the roll to push it into place the rest of the way. "Here, there you go." she shouted over the noise of the factory and took a couple of steps backwards while she pulled off her work gloves. Having placed the last roll of the order on the pallet signaled the end of her shift and she made her way to the locker room to get her bag. Her body was aching all over and she had the urge to just drop to the floor and crawl into the locker room, but she held her head high and squared her shoulders, not letting all those men around her see her weaknesses. She was one of the only women working down here and getting respect was not easy, even if she was able to hold her own and lift the heavy carpet rolls that weighed almost as much as she did (with difficulty, yes, but hey, she was still able to get the job done). But on top of being a woman, she was also only 18 years old; still a kid in the eyes of the guys around here and they had a hard time taking 'the kid' seriously.

"Oh how I hate the morning shift around here." she muttered when she had reached the too brightly lit confines of the locker room. She put her hand on the back of her neck and slowly moved her head in a circular motion, trying to stretch out the knots and kinks before she grabbed her bag from inside her locker. She slammed the metal door shut again, slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder and hurriedly left the carpet factory. She had just enough time to make herself some lunch and eat before her shift at her second job started. Thankfully she just lived two blocks away from the factory, maybe she would even be able to squeeze in a quick shower while the rice boiled on the stove.

That was how most of her days went. Usually she would get up in the morning, wash up, drink some water and head to the little convenience store she worked at. There she would have her morning coffee in the break room, where it was for free, and maybe have a granola bar if she had been able to snag one from the shelves. Then she worked her shift before she would head straight to the carpet factory four times a week and work a shift there. The job as material handler was physically tough, but it paid well for being part-time. The manager hadn't wanted to hire her, because of her small physique, but she had promised him than she was stronger than she looked. He had tested her, letting her lift a couple of the carpet rolls she would have to pack up for delivery and she had proved to him, that she was able to do it. He'd still had his doubts about letting an 18 year old girl work this job that included working in hazardous and unpleasant conditions due to airborne particles, lots of noise and the moving of mechanical parts, but she had been so eager and he had desperately needed somebody, so he'd caved.

After her shift at the factory she always walked straight home, had a meager dinner of rice or pasta with ketchup, or a PB&J, if she was too hungry to wait, then she soaked her body in a bath with Epsom salt until she felt better and was able to fall asleep on her pull-out couch in front of the TV, only to repeat her daily routine the next day. She wasn't so much okay with her routine, as she was used to it. Humans were creatures of habit and this was how things were. She had accepted it for the time being, because it all served a bigger purpose. So she tried to stay positive and was content with how things were going, except for the days when her shifts got moved around and she ended up having to go to the factory in the morning and then drag her aching and tired body to the convenience store for the late shift without being able to let her body recuperate and rest a little. Those days just plain sucked. If it happened, she was so tired at night, that she was barely able to think straight, let alone, hold herself up and walk home. She pretty much collapsed on her couch as soon as she set foot in her 1-bedroom apartment and fell asleep right away, still dressed.

Bayanne knew that tonight would be no different: Hell, she was ready to fall asleep right now. She hated the late shift at the store. The crowd got more and more unpleasant, the later the hour. Also, walking home late at night in the dark wasn't very high on her list of favorite things to do, since the store was farther from her apartment than the factory, but there was nothing she could do about it today. She needed the money, every penny counted and she gladly sacrificed everything she could in order to save up her hard-earned cash. Today after her meal of bland rice with generic brand ketchup, she treated herself to a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup she had stolen from work the day before. She wasn't proud of it, but sometimes it was necessary, and the little treat kept her motivated to keep living and pushing on, on days like these. She savored the rich taste of chocolate and peanut butter, closing her eyes in a moment of bliss before she carefully folded up the packaging and placed the remaining Peanut Butter Cup in the fridge for another day. Looking at the clock she put her still damp hair up in a ponytail, took a deep breath, squared her shoulders once more and left for her shift at the store.

"Ooooohh lookit here, we're bein' treated to the sweet little church mouse today, Clint." the dirty middle-aged man whose beer gut peeked out from his too tight and too short hole-y wife beater leered and grinned at her with yellow teeth. "How you doin' sweet cheeks?"

Bayanne swallowed down the bile that had started to rise in her throat, but she wasn't able to force a smile for Gus and his friend Clint. One of the many reasons why she hated being here at night, if she worked the morning shift she was able to avoid the drunkards for the most part. "That all?" she pointed towards the six-pack of domestic beer on the counter, while she nervously fingered the cross necklace around her neck with her other hand.

"Gimme a pack of Marlboro's, honey butt,... and why don't ya pop one of those buttons, girly? Might be a generous tip in it for you." Clint winked and made a show of licking his lips suggestively, having Bayanne shudder in response. She yet had to get used to men acting like this. She was still young, just out of high school, and before she had been on her own, she had made her money just by babysitting and not by selling creepy old men alcohol and cigarettes.

"I'm a cashier, not a waitress." she said in what she hoped was a neutral tone. She didn't want to antagonize the men, but she also didn't want to encourage them. When she was about to turn around to grab the pack of smokes, she heard the chimes above the door jingle, announcing that somebody else was entering the store.

'Please not another boozer.' she thought as her gaze shot towards the door. She was relieved when she recognized her next customer, and shot him a quick nod in greeting. 'Thank God, just Daryl.'

"That'll be $12.42, please." she announced after ringing up their purchases.

"Aw, you ain't fun at all tonight, girly. Give some old men a little lovin', woulda made it worth your while." Gus grinned and let his fingertips graze over her fingers when he gave her the money. Bay tried hard not to cringe, but on the inside she was shaking, because the guys made her uncomfortable. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of showing them that they were able to get to her, though, so she stood up a little straighter and ignored Gus' words as she handed him back his change.

"There you go, thank you for your business and have a great night." she managed the hint of a smile and hoped to God that the guys would just leave.

"Coulda been a great night, mousey... " Gus tried again, but Clint had given up.

"Ah come on, let's go. Ain't nothin' gonna happen with her. Little virgin's too stuck up to open her legs for a good man." Clint scowled. "Bitches, all of 'em." he muttered and ushered Gus out of the store.

Bay exhaled deeply in relief now that they were gone. Her shift was almost over and she hoped that Daryl would be her last customer for today. Her eyes sought him out and she saw him standing by the cereal. He came in often and she knew that Daryl wouldn't cause any trouble, she knew him from school. Well, not exactly 'knew'-knew, but they knew who the other one was, it was a small world after all and there was always a friend of a friend of a friend who knew everybody. They had been introduced at a party a couple of years ago, one of her first parties ever, he had nodded coolly at her, while she had smiled like an imbecile at the cute slightly older boy. Daryl had been two grades ahead of her in high school and had been with a group of troublemakers. Bayanne had seen him raise hell with them, but most of the time he'd been the quiet one in the group and had kept himself in the background. He had never been mean to her or anything, so she had no reason to assume that he was a bad guy. Peer pressure was hard to go up against and most didn't even try. She herself hadn't been exempt from that, so who was she to judge. She had no idea what he was up to these days, he had dropped out shortly before the end of his senior year and she hadn't seen him for a long time until she had started working after graduating last summer.

"Hey." he mumbled when he had stepped up to the register. He shook his head to the side to get his shaggy, blond hair out of his eyes and counted the money in his hands.

"Just the Lucky Charms?" she asked politely with a little smile, even though he wasn't looking at her in that moment.

"Uuhhmmm... yeah." he mumbled with a furrowed brow as he focused on the coins in his palm.

"That'll be $2.98, pl-"

"Yeah, I know. Here." he interrupted her and handed her the money. He finally looked up at her and chewed on his bottom lip while he did it. "Off soon?" he surprised himself by asking. He never talked to her really. It must have been a spontaneous reaction to his thoughts. He had thought about how it was almost 10 pm and how it's been dark for some time. He didn't know where exactly she lived, but he knew it wasn't in the immediate neighborhood. He'd seen her walk home often during the day, which let him know that she didn't own a car. Maybe that was why he encountered her during his morning trips to the store most of the time, because she took the day shift so she wouldn't have to walk home in the dark.

"I'm off in about half an hour." she replied as she closed the drawer of the register. "Do you need the receipt?"

"Nah, toss it." he looked like hesitant to leave for a moment, but he got over it quickly. " Bye." he grabbed his box of cereal and left the little store rather abruptly, barely giving Bayanne a chance to utter a goodbye in return.

She shrugged her shoulders and crumpled up his receipt in her fist and tossed it into the trash can by the door to the break room. Just a little bit longer until she would close up and go home, throw herself on her couch and fall into a deep blissful sleep. To keep herself awake for the last half hour, she grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floors of the handful of aisles. However, her sweeping didn't just serve the purpose of staying occupied and keeping the store clean. By now she new all the blind spots of the security camera and she used it to her advantage and swiped some small items and stuffed them into her pockets quickly. She felt guilty for stealing, she had never done it before she had been responsible for herself, but she couldn't afford to pay for little luxuries like candy, but she also couldn't live off of rice and pasta all the time. Karma would get her one day, she was sure of it, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind for now.

She got one more client who bought a soda and some chewing gum, and when he left she turned the sign on the door around, telling people that they were now closed.

"Thank God." she breathed quietly into the empty store on her way back behind the counter to close out the register.

She made quick work of everything and exactly 15 minutes after closing time she was on her way home. Bayanne was thankful for the slightly cooler night air and a little breeze that refreshed her momentarily. She stopped for a heartbeat to breathe in the fresh air and to steel herself for the walk home. She intended to keep a brisk pace while she walked past the numerous dark and dank alleys, until she had reached a more well-lit and busier part of town and she was so focused on getting there, that she didn't see the two figures looming in the shadows until it was too late.

"Well, well, well... look who it is. Miss 'I'm-too-good-to-have-a-good-time-with-y'all'." Clint, one of her earlier, and quite unpleasant, customers from earlier stepped into her path to block her way.

"Get out of my way." Bay made to walk around him, but he kept stepping into her path.

"Not so fast there, Missy." he sneered. Bay turned around and chills ran down her spine when she found Gus right behind her, already up in her personal space.

"Someone should teach you some manners, girly. Pretty girls like you shouldn't play with grown men. Don't be a cock tease, sugar tits. It's not nice." Gus grinned and took another step towards Bay, making her step back into Gus. Chills ran down her spine and when Clint grabbed her upper arms in a bruising grip she felt panic and disbelief flood her system.

"No!" she started struggling, trying to wriggle out of Clint's grasp. Her movements were quick and jerky, like a fish out of the water, when she tried to jam her elbows sharply into Clint's ribs, but he didn't budge. He only let go of her in surprise, when Bay kicked Gus in the nuts, making the man double over in pain. She didn't waste any time and started running, she knew she could outrun them, but before she got too far, a heavy weight suddenly slammed into her back and she got knocked to the concrete ground of the sidewalk. Black dots clouded her vision as all air rushed from her lungs, leaving her gasping and desperate for air. She was roughly turned on her back and suddenly pain exploded on the left side of her face. Clint had backhanded her hard, dazing her even more. Before she could gather her bearings Gus was kneeling above her head and was pinning her arms to the ground.

"Little virgin Mary's got some fire in her. Who woulda thought, Gus?" Clint chuckled.

"Ain't it fun when they fight back? Makes it all so much sweeter." Gus was giggling almost maniacally. Bay slowly came out of her haze and once again realized what was happening, just in time to see Clint producing a wicked looking knife. Her eyes widened and she forgot all about the pain she was in and she used all the breath she had left to scream as loud as she possible could.

"HEEEEEEELLLLPP! FIIIIIRREEEEEE!" she screeched as she started struggling again. Clint pressed his dirty hand over her mouth and pushed the tip of his knife against her throat.

"Shut up you stupid cunt! You ain't gonna ruin our fun again!" he backhanded her again for good measure, making her cry out in pain as tears finally leaked out of the corner of her eyes. The next thing she felt was a sharp pain and burning sensation between her breasts, right before the cool night air hit her naked skin. She tried to mentally prepare herself for what was to come, she tried to make herself slip away inside her head, but suddenly she noticed that nothing was happening anymore. Neither one of them was touching her anymore. What were they doing? Were they just staring at her? She opened her eyes again, her forehead crinkling when she knit her brows in confusion. The scene in front of her wasn't making any sense. The guys were about to rape or kill her, or both, and now someone was beating them up like they were the Tasmanian Devil, unleashing a tornado of hurt on her attackers. Or maybe she was just really, really dizzy from those punches. Where had that person come from? Bay hadn't noticed anyone running up. On shaking hands she pushed herself up and turned over onto all fours, crawling over to the wall to seek protection until her legs would function properly again and she would be able to run home.

Daryl Dixon had somewhat of a sixth sense. He knew when trouble was afoot. It felt to him like he could literally smell it in the air. That sense was probably born out of necessity and it may have saved his life a couple of times, making him run and hide before his father came home drunk off his ass and took his frustrations out on his youngest son, adding some new masterpieces to Daryl's growing collection of thick, ropey scars. He was done with that shit now, though. He had gotten out of there as soon as he had been able to, dropping out of school and drifting around with his older brother Merle after he had returned home from his stint in the military. Life wasn't perfect these days, far from it, but it was still much better than living with his alcoholic, sadistic asshole of a father. Merle was gone right now, too, off to Atlanta to take care of some business as he had called it. He'd been gone for a while which was why Daryl hadn't tasted that bitter taste of doom on his tongue in quite some time. Too bad that his superpower never told him what exactly to expect. When he had still been living with Will it had been easy, run and hide or catch a beating, but now that Will was out of the picture it wasn't that easy to predict what kind of bad thing would happen.

He must have had some gut feeling, because usually he didn't stick around the store after he had made his purchases, but tonight something had made him park his truck (his most prized possession, no matter how old and beat up it was), just a little ways down the street. The hunger had made him stop and dig into the box of Lucky Charms right away. He had leaned back in his seat, listened to the radio and slowly munched the dry cereal, washing it down with some leftover soda from the bottle that had rolled around on the floor of the passenger side all day. His calm exterior didn't betray how restless he was on the inside. His eyes darted around the dark and empty street ahead of him, but there was nothing. Suddenly the idea came to mind that maybe he should get out of there, before some asshole tried to car-jack him or something, and he was just about to start up the engine, when he heard the bone-chilling screams of a woman who was begging for help. That's when he knew that his sixth sense truly never failed.

He tossed the cereal box on the passenger seat and opened the glove compartment, quickly getting out his gun. Merle had left him a .44 Smith & Wesson revolver to protect himself with while he was gone. Daryl jumped out of his truck, tucked the revolver into the waistband of his jeans and took off running in the direction the screams had come from. He soon saw three shadowy figures and from the positions all three were in, it didn't take long for him to figure out what was happening and Daryl saw red. White-hot rage build inside his body at supersonic speed and it exploded with extraordinary force. Quick and explosive anger was one of the Dixons' special traits and sometimes it was a damn good trait to have. In his book rapists and child molesters were the biggest scum that walked the face of the earth and there would be no stopping him until he'd smashed their faces to bloody pulps. He wasn't the tallest guy and he was pretty thin, but he knew how to fight and his anger fueled him and turned him into a redneck-version of the Hulk.

The guys didn't know what hit them. Daryl had quickly kicked Clint in the side of the head, making him fall to the ground and off of Bayanne like a sack of potatoes, the knife falling out of his grasp and cluttering to the ground as well. In that split-second he looked down and realized that the victim was that Bayanne girl from the store, his rage grew tenfold. How dare they touch someone he actually knew? The second attacker who had her arms pinned gaped up at him in stunned surprise, not fully realizing what was happening. That they were both drunk also worked in Daryl's favor and he quickly had him on the ground as well with a hard punch to his face. He followed up with swift kicks to Gus' ribs and groin and when he heard the other one, Clint, groan in pain next to him, he quickly switched and gave him the beating of a lifetime. Daryl didn't stop delivering punches and kicks to the both of them, until he was too out of breath to dole out even more. He got down on one knee, yanked Clint's head up by his air and pressed the muzzle of the gun against his jaw.

"I know who you are! If you fucking show yer ugly-ass faces around here ever again, me 'n my brother will hunt down your asses and we'll cut off your sorry excuses for a dick and put 'em down your throats, ya got that?" he didn't get an answer right away, so he cocked the gun and pressed it against Clint's jaw a little harder. "I asked ya a question. You know ma brother, don't ya? You know he's gonna do it. So I ain't askin' but once more, you dickheads get all that?"

"Y-yes..." Clint sputtered, blood mixed with saliva spraying from his mouth while he tried to talk. "Never comin' near the girl 'gain."

"That's what I wanted ta hear." Daryl let go of Clint's hair, but slammed the butt of the revolver against his temple, knocking him out cold. He stood back up and delivered on last kick to Gus's unconscious form, tucking the gun back into his jeans before he walked over to the shocked girl who looked like she was trying to press herself into the wall of the building she was crouched against. She was quiet, but she was shaking and tears ran down her face as she stared at him with wide eyes. "Can ya walk? Bayanne? That's your name, right?"

Bay nodded mutely, but that was all the movement she was able to manage. Daryl looked down, his eyes widening a little when he found himself confronted with her bare breasts in the dim glow of the street light a couple of feet away. He was about to avert his gaze when something caught his eye. Something dark ran down from the cross on her necklace, which rested between her small breasts. It almost looked like the cross was bleeding, but he knew that wasn't possible, it was her that was bleeding.

"Shit, did the bastard stab you? Bayanne? Did he stab ya?" he didn't want to touch her and examine the wound in such an intimate place himself, the girl almost got raped for crying out loud, but she wasn't responding and he was panicked that she was about to die on him. The wound was close to the heart after all. Fuck it, I'm sorry, he thought and gently and carefully pushed and prodded at the wound and deemed it to be just a shallow cut, because of the little amount of blood. "Imma take ya to the hospital." he announced and grabbed both sides of her cut-up blouse and covered her up.

"NO!" Bayanne suddenly shouted in a surprisingly strong voice, startling Daryl a bit. "No hospital, please. He didn't,... they didn't... I don't want anyone looking there... no, please... I just wanna go home, please."

"Alright." he agreed. "I'll give ya a ride, okay?"

"Thank you." Bay whispered fiercely.

"Come on,... up." he moved his hands towards her slowly as not to startle her. When he had his hands tucked underneath her armpits he helped her stand. Her shirt fell open once more, but this time she noticed and quickly clutched the fabric back to her chest. She was shaking like a leaf and Daryl wished he could do something to make it stop, but he knew that right now there was nothing he could do but make sure she got home safely. He guided her to his truck and opened the door for her. He quickly cleared the seat, throwing everything in the back, before he helped her inside. She gave him her address and they drove there in silence, but Daryl's eyes kept flicking over to her every couple of seconds to make sure she was doing okay, considering the circumstances. Once they arrived he supported her and helped her up the stairs and all the way to her apartment, until she was seated on her couch. "Uhm..." he looked around, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. "You should put some frozen peas on that..." he motioned to her face. "Clean up that cut. I don't think it's too bad,... just bled more 'cause of yer rapid heartbeat I reckon..."

"Thank you, Daryl. Really, thank you." Bayanne said empathically while she clutched her shirt in one hand and her cross necklace in the other hand. "If you hadn't been there... I-I need to give you something... you risked your own life... I-I have gummy bears,... do you like gummy bears?" she asked in a small voice as she pulled the bag of gummy bears out of her pants pocket.

Daryl almost laughed, but the situation wasn't funny. Bayanne was in shock and didn't quite know what she was saying. "It's alright. Everyone would have done that. Don't need to give me nothin'."

"Take it... please. I-I don't have much... maybe a sandwich? Or money? Do you want money?"

"Girl, calm down. Don't want your money, alright? Jus' relax." he gently pushed her arm back down that had been holding out the bag of sweets for him. He took another look around, taking in her living arrangements while he pondered what he was supposed to do now. He was hesitant to leave her alone, but at the same time he very much wanted to get out of this situation. "I'm... uhm... I should... I don't know... you gonna be okay?"

Bayanne nodded and put on a brave smile, even though tears were still streaming down her face. "Just another shitty day, right? Gotta push past it and keep moving on. I'll just sleep." she was terrified of being alone, but she couldn't expect her savior to save her ass AND watch over her at night. She was strong, she could do this. She had to.

"Those guys won't bother you no more. I promise. Don't worry 'bout them." Daryl slowly inched closer to the door. "Imma get going. You get your sleep. Put ice on that and clean that cut first, though."

"I will. Thank you so much, Daryl."

"Was nothing." he waved her off and then left as abruptly as he had left the store earlier and got back in his truck. He saved a girl from getting raped and maybe even from getting killed, he should feel proud of himself, shouldn't he? However proud was not what he was feeling. He was kicking himself for not offering her a ride earlier. 'Off soon?' he hadn't even realized where the question had come from earlier, but it must have been his gut, telling him that something would happen if she would walk home alone. Hell he had thought about the whole thing while he had been in the store and had witnessed the end of the conversation with the two rapists, but he'd done nothing.

This was on him. At least he'd stopped it before something even worse had happened.

Thank you for reading!

We will stay in AU territory a bit, enjoying young love until (of course) something goes wrong.