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Emmalyn Tate once had it easy in her life, she had a sweet mother and a playful father that created the perfect memories from moments. But then their lives were uprooted when Zacharias Tate lost his job and was left to drag his family off to Alice's family home in a small redneck town of Georgia. And Zacharias turned to drinking which came with anger and shame that lead to him losing his patience with his wife. Emmalyn had been stunned to a frozen state the first time she watched her father put his hands on his wife; then she found her mother in the attic with no breath on her lips and a rope that held tighter than her will to live in the monster house.

With Alice safe in the meadows of Angels, Emmalyn was left behind under the harsh glare of her empty father. And it was only bound to escalate further which lead to a night that resulted in Emmalyn meeting Merle and Daryl Dixon. Emmalyn knew of the stories her mother told her about Hank Dixon and the man he used to be, she could see some of the positive traits in the boys mixed in with the outcomes of living with an abusive father. With the shared demons, Emmalyn and the Dixon brothers had become the best of friends; especially Emmalyn and Daryl who were closer in age compared to Merle who played protector for both of them.

But the positive moments they shared didn't last forever for Emmalyn's artistic skills lead to an amazing opportunity for her in the city where she could study and improve her skills. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, she could take the opportunity and head into the city to change her life and escape her father's way completely or she could stay and hold strong against him in order to not leave the Dixon boys and their other friends behind. Emmalyn had a limited time to make the decision and so she knew exactly who to go to for the advice she needed, someone who had been helpful in the past and is surely to be honest and blunt in regards to her uncertain mind.

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Emmalyn fixed her hair into a ponytail before wrapping her hand with tape, she lifted her gaze to her opponent with a smirk. She dodged his first punch and managed to swipe his side with a kick, he attempted to throw another punch towards her stomach causing her to step back before throwing a right hook into his face making him stumble back. She smiled lightly before focusing on the fight at hand, they both continued getting a few hits while dodging others.

After an hour of training, Emmalyn was removing the tape from her knuckles as sweat dripped down her forehead. "Ya getting a lot better," A light Southern voice made her turn, Jason Smith stood there with an impressed smirk on his face. She smiled, "Guess I got a good teacher though he could stand to quicken his reflexes and lessen his strength in hits." She rubbed her ribs playfully before her smile faltered as she looked at her reflection, a dark bruise rested on her face from the night before; a mark of her father's anger.

Ever since the loss of her mother, her father started taking his aggression out on her. Usually, he did his best to keep the bruises hidden but she had provoked him by fighting back. "He'll get what's coming to him, Em," Jason assured her with a determined nod. Jason Smith was the cousin to Negan Smith, son of Nick Smith. Jason was Emmalyn's good friend, he looked out for her and did his best to keep a smile on her face. They had met through Negan and the girl had practically demanded Jason to teach her to fight when he mentioned he was professionally trained.

Emmalyn turned to Jason, "Shouldn't ya been teachin' ya little brother instead'a me?" Jason laughed before shaking his head, "My brother can handle himself." Jason had a younger brother named Jakob who often got up to no good though he had a good heart, they just hoped he'd find his way. Emmalyn smirked before attempting to throw a punch at Jason, he quickly dodged and laughed. "Come on, let's get you home now," Jason spoke as he picked up her bag, she looked down but followed behind him.

"Hey Jase," Emmalyn spoke up during the drive to the Tate residence. "What is it?" Jason asked her. "I got the internship," Emmalyn told him, he stopped the car in the middle of the empty road and turned to look at her with a grin. "You got it!?" Jason asked with pure excitement and pride. "I just..." Emmalyn trailed off telling Jason all he needed to know about the situation. "You don't want to leave us, Merle and Daryl, huh?" Jason asked with a frown on his face, she sighed and looked out the window as Jason began driving again. "Pretty much," Emmalyn answered him before huffing in annoyance, "I don't want to leave him."

Jason smirked at her words, "You seriously need to tell Daryl how you feel." Emmalyn snorted at his words, "Are you crazy!? Daryl would probably laugh and then tell me he sees me as a sister. Besides, I'm certain that he pays no mind to women that way. Scared he'd turn out like his dad." Emmalyn frowned at her words, she had heard Daryl's fearful words about becoming his father, even Merle held those concerns and its why Merle adored Emmalyn being around Daryl because it gave him a light in the dark shadows. "Or he could feel the same way?" Jason suggested with a certain look that Emmalyn did not catch.

"Not worth the risk of ruining our friendship," Emmalyn argued, "And this hasn't helped my situation, Jase." Jason frowned knowing she was really struggling with this choice. "When do you need to let them know by?" Jason asked her. "By the first of next month," Emmalyn replied to him. "Okay, so you've got two weeks. Take some time to think about it -- I mean, really think about it and then talk to the boys. I'm sure they want what is best for you," Jason advised bringing a smile to Emmalyn's face. "Okay, I'll do that. Thanks Jase," Emmalyn leaned over and kissed his cheek, he smiled at her.

They pulled up out front of her house and she noticed her father's car wasn't in the driveway. "At least he ain't home yet," Emmalyn spoke before looking at Jason. He smiled at her, "Ya'll be fine, you're a strong girl." She fist-bumped him before climbing out of the ute with her bag, "See ya, Jase." He waved to her before driving off leaving her to walk into the house she claimed her nightmare. She really took Jason's words to heart and took the time to think it over, she wanted to take the opportunity but knew she needed to discuss it with Merle and Daryl before making any final decisions.

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tw: panic attack

Life has always been strange in the way it throws you for a loop and hits you with something completely unexpected. Emmalyn had been hanging out at the Dixon home for drinks, their father off on a bender allowing them to do as they please. They were enjoying themselves listening to music playing from the radio, a campfire in front of them and drinks all around. So it was a concerning shock for them as two officers approached the group of redneck hooligans as they were so lovingly known as. It was assumed that Merle or Richie were under arrest leaving Jason, Emmalyn and Daryl glaring at the two. "Ain't us," Richie defended before drinking his drink.

"Miss Emmalyn Tate?" One of the officers spoke up leaving the group confused. "That's me," Emmalyn nodded as she stood up handing her beer to Daryl. "I'm officer Hayes, can we speak with you?" Officer Hayes asked with a sorrowful look, one that made Emmalyn's heart fall into the pit of her stomach. "What about?" Merle asked getting protective. "It's not regarding you, Dixon," Officer Weston spoke, he was a familiar face to the group as Merle's usual arresting officer. "It's fine, Merle," Emmalyn assured him, she squeezed his shoulder before making her way towards the officers, the three of them stepped away from the group.

"What's happened?" Emmalyn asked them, her eyes wide in concern. "There was an accident, Miss Tate... involving your father," Officer Hayes informed her, he lowered his head for a moment before looking back at her. "He died on the scene," Officer Hayes told her knowing better than to beat around the bush. Emmalyn froze at those words, the nineteen-year-old had no clue how to respond or what to think. On one hand, Zacharias Tate was her father who once loved her and surely deep, deep, deep down he still did. But on the other hand, he had been her abuser since she was only twelve.

Emmalyn stepped back, whatever words of condolences that were leaving the officers mouths sounded like far-off muffled words as she turned away from them. She felt like all of her oxygen had been taken from her lungs, her eyes stung with tears and she felt light-headed as she stumbled on her feet, falling to her knees. Daryl was the first to respond, he jumped up from his seat dropping the beers in hand not caring about the splatter of alcohol. He dropped to his knees in front of her and tried talking to her, he knew better than to touch her during a panic like this.

"Emma," Daryl's voice was gentle when it finally reached Emmalyn's ears. The moment she realised it was his blurry figure in front of her, she reached out and placed her hand on his wrist to feel for his pulse; much like herself, human touch wasn't the same as it once was and Daryl was not a fan of physical touch and Emmalyn -- even in her panicked state -- knew that. Daryl kept his breathing steady as Emmalyn focused on his heartbeat through the pulse in his wrist, she slowly began calming down allowing Daryl to initiate the five things technique; point out five things she saw, four things she could hear, three things she could feel, two things she could smell and finally, one thing that she felt.

"T-thank you," Emmalyn breathed out, Daryl nodded his head before standing up and holding his hand out to her. "He's dead..." Emmalyn told him, she looked up at Daryl, "My father is dead and it hurts... why does it hurt? He was a cruel, evil, abusive bastard who pushed my mother to suicide and treated me like a punching bag with every drunken bender... so why does it hurt!?" Daryl felt his heart break at the destructive look in his best friends eyes, "Because he's your father... and he wasn't always like that." Emmalyn bowed her head at that and everyone stayed silent allowing her to mourn in her own way.

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Zacharias Tate's funeral had many, many faces that showed up to share their condolences and preach about how amazing Zacharias was as a man and as a person. Emmalyn felt like she was drowning in the "I'm sorry's" and "He was such a good man" comments from people who didn't even know the man he became behind the curtains. And when she was called up to speak in front of everyone to share a few kind words for him, she had nothing to say. Her eyes glistened with tears and to others it may have seemed like pain but for her, it was relief and perhaps him dying was the final closure she needed for her future.

"My father, Zacharias, was a family man. He didn't like frowns, he didn't like when someone mumbled because people should be heard and he especially didn't like vegans," Emmalyn spoke making people chuckle, she took in a deep breath and locked eyes with Daryl who sent her an encouraging nod. "He was proud, he was vain at times and he..." Emmalyn trailed off as she looked to her left, her eyes landing on the large photo of her father smiling. "He changed... the rich took away his job and the smile on his face..." She stopped herself before sighing, "He was a man with many faces but none of it mattered in the end... just like everyone else, Mayhem caught him."

Emmalyn walked out of the church, people watching her in worry and confusion as Nick moved forward to talk about Zacharias and Alice. Merle had been the one to follow the ginger out of the church, finding her sitting on a bench away from the doors. "He didn't deserve words of kindness and ye didn't have ta share your troubles," Merle assured her as he sat down next to her, "Jay told me 'bout that intership in the big city." Emmalyn turned her head to him as he continued, "You should go. You have an opportunity to get out of this cursed town. Take it." She shook her head at Merle's words, "You and Daryl need me." Merle chuckled, "Lass, we need you happy."

Emmalyn furrowed her brows at his words, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're not happy here, Em. We all see it. You're a free bird who should be out in the world showing off ya talent, not wasting away here in this backwards town." She lowered her head at his words, she didn't realise they all saw it. "Just get in that car and go, Em. Don't look back, don't question if its wrong or right. Just go," Merle told her as he stood up, "Tomorrow morning, I'm coming over. I'll knock on that door and we'll see what happens." Merle nodded at her before walking away, whistling to himself while Emmalyn leaned back against the bench thinking hard about her next step.

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Rosemary Speaks

Okay, sue me... Merle isn't a bad guy in this story. I've changed his character a little bit and took away some of his traits from the show.

Yes, he is out of character but I like the concept of grumpy/unlikeable characters having that one sunshine/puppy-like character they grow attached too. Its fun to write.

Also, the last conversation between Merle and Emmalyn was inspired by the movie Good Will Hunting. The conversation between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's characters is one of my favourites ever written! So beautiful!

And I've made major changes to this chapter!
Honestly, I like this so much better than the original version I had.

What did you think of this chapter!?
Old readers, better than the original?
New readers, what'd y'all think?

See you in the next chapter!