When Merle skipped out on him one too many times, Daryl took a job on a campus bar in Atlanta. One week into the job, and the beginning of the semester, he meets Beth Greene. She's a second year student who comes in during the slow period to study and drink a Shirley Temple at the bartop. He's a bit grumpy at first. Why the fuck does she come here to get a Shirley Temple. Surely one of the campus coffee shops can make better shit than his half assed Shirley Temple. But she starts telling him about her lectures and even lets him read her notes. It's an odd sort of friendship, but it works for them. Most days she even stays after she's done studying, just to chat with him. By the time midterms roll around she's having him quiz her every day. Hell if he wanted, he's pretty sure he could pass all the damn classes she's taking.
She's so focused on passing she asks him to turn off the TVs he's supposed to keep tuned to sports or news for as long as the bar is open. But he figures her grades are more important than who caught a ball or which politician is lying about what, so he shuts it all down.
It doesn't matter much anyway. The campus had been experiencing decreased numbers in the past weeks so they determined they'd close the bar until the next semester. Maybe college kids are starting to get serious about studies rather than binge drinking? But Daryl isn't about to let this friendship go. At their last study session before the big midterm exams, (and the shutdown of the bar) Daryl gives Beth his number.
"Call me when you're done, Girl. I wanna know if my study buddy skills paid off."
She does call. It's not the triumphant declaration that she crushed it. She's sobbing that she needs his help. She went to her exam but the lecture hall was deserted. She's pretty sure theres no one on campus at all. She was going to leave, but when she left the room, she ran into a professor who attacked her! She fought him off, she swears she did. But Daryl, she ripped off a chunk of the skin on his hand doing it. He didn't feel a thing. He tried to fucking bite her Daryl!
He tells her to run to the bar. They'd just switched to a pin pad system for the security gates. She's gotta put in the code then snap the gates shut again.
"Hide behind the bar Beth. If there's someone in there, don't go in. Hide in the supply closet next to the doors. Code's the same. I'm comin' to get you."
—
He finds her behind the bar. Her pale arms already bruising. Daryl grabs the first aid kit and looks her over. It's not easy, she's shaking so hard he doesn't get the best look at her. But as far as he can see there were no bites. No scratches. Just a torn shirt and bruises.
"Daryl, he took my cardigan"
She says it like she's confused. Looks up at him with glassy eyes and all he wants to do is cradle her in his lap and feed a few drinks to calm her down.
"What?"
"My professor. He grabbed my cardigan. The blue one you liked. He grabbed it and I almost didn't get away but I didn't button it up today. So he just pulled it off. And I ran."
He pulls her against him, wrapping her up in his arms.
"I'm so damn glad"
—
Beth didn't want to go back to her residence and Daryl was reluctant to leave her alone, so they made their way back to his apartment. Nothing fancy, a basement suite with the top half of the home still un-rented.
She sleeps in his bed that night. Insists he's gotta stay next to her. She's gonna wake up scared and he needs to be there so she knows what's real and what isn't. Girl nearly got bit by a rabid professor so he obliges.
He wakes up to Beth tucked neatly into his arms. His chest pressed into her back, legs tangled with hers. Her is breath slow and steady. No nightmares yet for either of them.
He doesn't let go.
—
The power fails shortly after they wake up. (Daryl for the second time). They gorge themselves on cereal and milk. Beth giggles at his taste for sugary kids brands.
"Laugh it up, Girl. But these fruity pebbles and milk might be the last of this kinda thing we get. Might as well enjoy it."
They decide they need to get out of the city. Too many bodies.
"Should we try to go back to my building? Maybe we could take the stuff from my cupboards, and get some clothes?"
She looks so hopeful, but he's not risking that detour.
"I'm sorry Beth. We can't. We get out now or we don't get out at all. You can wear my shit. It's the best we got."
To soften his denial, he eases forward to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. If he can sleep using the girl as a teddy bear, he can kiss her. No time for bein' a coward anymore.
He packs his hunting bag with essentials and some canned goods. Gets his bow and bolts. Beth tries on his smaller fitting clothes and settles on a few flannels and undershirts. They both ignore the underwear issue. They stuff the clothing into Beth's book bag along with the rest of Daryl's dried meats supply, and two bottles of water.
Beth steps out the door first but he hesitates on the threshold. This was his first place after parting ways with Merle. His first step in making what he wanted for his own life a priority. Now the world is going to shit in a way he'd never expected.
He feels a stab of guilt mixed with grief. Grief, because the life he gave up so much to reach for, dies when he steps out this door. Guilt because Merle, the bastard, is out there. Simple minded piece of shit is probably too high to realize what's going on isn't just a bad trip. But the guilt isn't enough to go looking for Merle. Daryl burned that bridge.
Beth reaches out to take Daryl's hand and gently guide him through the door. He may be leaving the old life behind but Beth is in his future. He's certain of that. So he lets her guide him forward, taking a deep breath as he swings the door shut. No point locking it. They're not coming back.
—
Their loose destination is "away from the city" but that seemed impossible. His apartment wasn't exactly the suburbs but it wasn't urban either. It had never been more complicated to leave. Abandoned cars and bodies turned the outer boroughs of Atlanta into a maze of burning, looting, and death. Daryl repeatedly checked the doors were locked. Beth folded in on herself on the bench seat of his truck, laying her head onto his lap. She needs to face this eventually, but he'll let her hide for now. Shit, he wishes he could do the same.
He plays with her hair to calm them both and drives.
It takes a full day to get out of the city. They nearly abandon the truck after being stuck in a four hour traffic snarl just before a crucial offramp. It was during this time Beth whispered she had to pee, forcing them to carefully exit the car, like so many others.
He kept her tucked into his side, bow ready as he took her to the side of the road. She blushed dark when he wouldn't let her leave into the decorative shrubs lining the road for privacy. He apologized, but the risk of losing sight of her was too great. She understood. Peed right there in the open. But she brought some tissues so at least she had that luxury. Daryl gave her the crossbow and quickly relieved himself as well.
They made it back to the truck with little incident. A few people tried to talk to them, ask for information but Beth averted her eyes as Daryl hustled them faster toward the vehicle. No one had touched their belongings as everything was locked in the cab. Too many witnesses kept opportunists from breaking the windows. Or maybe the way he held his bow, ready to use it. Either way, their things were safe.
—
They got stuck in another traffic jam pointed toward greater Atlanta. No getting out of it. Just after midday, people began panicking. Screaming about helicopters and lies about safe zones. Mob mentality took over as people began using their cars as battering rams to get out of the three lane standstill. Daryl waited until the perfect moment to get outta dodge. An old winnebago made it across the the ditch beside them and onto the opposite lanes pavement. Several other smaller cars made the same hairpin turn before Daryl decided to chance it.
And just like that, they were free, speeding away from Atlanta.
"Follow them" Beth urged.
"Nah, Girl. I'm getting you somewhere safe. They have as much an idea of where they're going as we do."
But then she's got her hand on his thigh, turned in her seat to plead her case.
"Just for a little while Daryl. Please. Trust me."
Well…when she puts it like that.
—
They end up in a goddamn old quarry. Cars all parked in some kind of haphazard circle. Beth and Daryl sit quiet in the truck until everyone else emerges. They don't look like a dangerous bunch, but they do look scared. And fear could turn anyone into a threat.
"We'll stay the night, but we're gone by mornin' Beth."
He doesn't mean for his tone to be so sharp but his anxieties were getting the better of him.
Beth leaned forward to press a kiss to the side of his mouth. "Ok."
Introductions were made hesitantly. Daryl is pretty sure they wouldn't have happened at all unless the cop, Shane, had insisted on it. Everyone went 'round the circle like they were at some bible camp. When it got to be their turn, Beth spoke up.
"My name's Beth. This is Daryl."
And in the most uncharacteristic move of PDA, Daryl took her hand and looked the cop straight in the eye. He didn't want any kind of question as to their relationship.
—
They sleep in the truck. Some of the others in the group put blankets next to the small fire he made, but Daryl wanted walls between the woods and Beth. He stays awake a long time after Beth dozes off, curled up on the seat with her head on his lap. He and Beth had talked it over. Despite his proclamation that they'd leave by morning, they still had no plan. No solid provisions either.
"Maybe we stay?" She asks. "Just for a few days. You could hunt somethin' down, and then we could go. I just…I think this could be a good thing."
"Ok, Girl. We'll stay a few days until I can hunt somethin' down."
—
Everyone settles into roles quickly. Glenn and a few other men make a run back to an old hunting store they'd seen on the way up the quarry road. The area must've prime hunting ground once upon a time. They bring back a few tents, cots and even a number of sleeping bags. Beth claims the widest sleeping bag for them.
"Big enough to share, right?"
He smiles at her, presses a kiss to her forehead. First smile he's managed since she called him terrified. Felt like a lifetime ago. But she's holding up a sleeping bag and he's smiling and there's a happy feeling in his chest that expands like a balloon.
"We'll have to get cozy."
She goes such a lovely shade of pink when she's pleased.
"I'm good with cozy."
—
She's good with a lot more than cozy.
They were given a small two man tent and a cot, alongside the sleeping bag. With the cars pulled in tight and the two man watch established over the night meal, Daryl lets himself be distracted by Beth.
He'd been sitting on the floor in front of their cot, cleaning his bow until her small strong hands started worked away at the tense muscles in his shoulders.
His deep moan of appreciation got her right in the core. She wants to hear that sound as he sinks into her. Wants to hear that sound as he tastes her.
She wants so much.
It doesn't take much for him to twist around, raising up on his knees to kiss her. And it does't take much more than a few deep kisses before he has her naked under him, one leg hitched high on his hip.
The rest is almost a blur. The rattle of his buckle as he finally focuses enough to get his own pants off. The feel of her gentle fingers skimming over the ruined skin of his back. He freezes at that. Beth soothes his fears with a few well placed kisses against his neck and one gentle nip to a space near his collarbone that she must remember to fully explore later.
They fumble until everything on him is off. Until her heated skin is pressed against his and her wish is granted.
She hears that fantastic moan again.
He tries to push her over before him, then alongside him, but she's just not quite there. He swears loudly as he pulls out. Comes hard across her stomach.
She cradles his head against her neck and shoulder. Loves the feel of his hot breath puffing across her skin. She wasn't expecting him to try to get her off once he got his, so she makes an almost undignified squeak at the feeling of his fingers plunging into her. Thumb working her clit. His cum still warm across her belly, smeared now by his clumsy hands, his own stomach.
She comes so hard she can't stifle her cries. Lucky for her Daryl was on it. Kissed her sloppily, partly to keep her quiet, partly just to kiss her. Whatever his motivations it works for Beth and she's left shaking from head to toe.
—
They redress when they come down. It's too dangerous to be caught naked, even if the afterglow promises to be spectacular. The sight of Daryl, naked and relaxed, lazily sucking on the fingers that so delightfully worked her is nearly enough for Beth to forsake clothing altogether.
But that isn't their world anymore. So they get dressed. Daryl cleans off her stomach, kisses her gently then leaves the tent.
"Gotta check the perimeter, Greene."
"I can come?" She asks, not quite wiling to give him up yet.
He urges her back toward their cot.
"Nah, you're tired. Sleep. Tomorrow you can come with me."
She smirks a little at that, a glint in her eyes. Now Daryl is the one pink in he face, ears burning.
"That too." He kisses her quickly one more time then departs.
—
The perimeter is quiet. Shane tried to make a comment but Daryl pointed his bow at him.
"You say shit, I put a bolt in your eye."
Shane looks pissed but says nothing. Daryl is back in bed, pressed tightly against a warm sleeping Beth in under thirty minutes. They sleep the whole night through.
—
The next day Daryl has Beth start practicing with his bow and knife. He'd left his place with three of them but was now down to two. He gave her the best of the bunch. It goes into the skull easier than the others he has.
(They found out it's gotta be the skull driving out of the city. Watched men shoot at an advancing thing until a bullet shattered the skull. Only then did it stop moving.)
Glenn makes small runs almost daily. Their plan to leave after a good hunt falls away. He might not trust all the people there, but the group did make things easier for now. Daryl takes Beth into the woods to learn tracking.
She's feeling pretty damn good about herself as she follows a rabbit trail, softly telling him that "Pretty soon I won't need you for anything but orgasms Daryl."
He snorts softly.
"That's the plan girl. Now keep on trackin'."
—
Things are good for about two weeks. Then Glenn decided to take a big ass group back to the city and return with one more.
Course Daryl and Beth didn't find out until they made it back to the camp and found the deer Beth tried bringing down being gnawed on by a walker.
Daryl's mood turns. His girl's kill is ruined...and the dead are making their way up the mountain now. Beth won't like it but they ain't gettin full naked anymore. One leg out only for her. He'll just drop his pants enough to get in her.
He gives the walker a vicious kick. Poxy bastard.
—
The new man turns out to be the missing Grimes, presumed dead by his wife, son, and former partner.
Daryl can feel the whole dynamic shift, but he's not the only one.
"Looks like we got a new sheriff in town Daryl." Beth whispers over their shared can of beans.
"Yeah. Shane ain't gonna like that."
Beth frowns, setting the can aside. "Lori's sleepin' with Shane Daryl."
He knows what she's getting at. "Yeah. Shane ain't gonna like this at all."
—
Now they have a decision to make.
Daryl had wanted to get Beth away from these people since they joined the convoy. But Beth has faith in people. She'd formed a tentative friendship with Carol and Sophia. Daryl was watching Ed like a hawk.
The day after Rick made his grand appearance, Ed knocked into Beth's shoulder, hard, as he made his way to the designated daylight bathroom area.
Daryl immediately had him pressed back into a tree, getting cozy with the bolt end of his bow. Told him if he touched Beth again, even accidentally, the rest of the group would find his stayin-dead body floatin' in the quarry waters.
Shit was going bad. But Beth and Daryl disagree on what to do. Daryl saw everything between Rick, Shane, and Lori as a timebomb. It was only a matter of time before all the details came out, and when it did, it was going to have casualties. He wants them out before the powderkeg blows. Beth wants to see if it settles.
"We can trust most of these people Daryl. I don't want to give this up over a possibility it might go wrong."
"Nah girl. Most ain't good enough, and I promise you, that whole love triangle shit they got goin' on will go wrong. My only priority is lookin' after you, and I take that very seriously. The rest of them? They got their people. We got ours."
Beth sighs. "Who are our people Daryl."
"Us. You an me. That's all we need Girl." He presses a kiss to her forehead. They both know it's settled.
They'll leave.
—
The next morning they say their small farewell, pack their shit and drive out of the quarry.
"Where to girl?" The one detail they never settled on. Where to?
"Home I guess?"
The farm. He'd been trying to avoid that. Beth doesn't doubt her family will be there. She once told him that two hundred years of Greene's lived on that farm. He sure as hell hoped he wasn't driving her back to find out she was the last.
—
They'd been driving back roads for two days when a mass of walkers forced them to flee the car. They'd tried to drive away, but that had been their near fatal mistake. They'd gotten on the main highway only to find an impassable blockade of ravaged cars. With no other option, they run deep into the Georgia woods, until Daryl deems it safe enough to loop back.
It was getting dark, he wanted them back in their truck before night fell completely, but a sound drew them away from their path.
Beth saw her first. Crying and splashing through the Mucky creek.
"Sophia!?"
She wet and scared but so relieved to be wrapped up in Beth's arms. She sobs out how she got lost. Something about a walker and Rick telling her to stay put but she was so scared and she ran anyway.
Daryl handed Beth his bow before dropping down so Sophia could clamber onto his back. She's in no state to be trekking back to the truck, so he's gotta piggyback her there. He prays their supply bag, which had been left behind in the panic, was still there. Better yet, Sophia's mom.
They weren't that lucky. The road was eerily silent but their truck remained untouched. Without a shuffling hoard to deal with, Daryl was able to manoeuvre over to the "wrong side" of the road, avoiding the large traffic snarl that originally stopped them. Beth spots Dale's Winnebago. It hadn't been there when they'd run days earlier. She nearly asked Daryl to stop but when she saw his tense face, she kept quiet.
Instead, Beth focused on Sophia. Poor thing was exhausted and scared out of her mind. Under Beth's care, she was able to fall asleep for the rest of the drive to Beth's farm.
At the mailbox, Daryl reached for her hand.
"We'll find the others tomorrow, Beth. For now, I want walls and a door between you and all the other shit out there."
—
Hershel, greets them with a shotgun, a stiff hug and tears. They're so exhausted Beth pleads her room and rest. They'll talk it through but not now. Please, not now.
Beth tucked Sophia in on the couch. The small girl was so exhausted she didn't wake as Daryl carried her in from the truck. When Beth is sure she is settled in for the night, she leads Daryl up to her old room.
They strip down and sleep naked between the cotton sheets.
Tomorrow. They'll deal with it all tomorrow.
(End Part 1.)