A/N: I've never shipped Daryl & Beth (hell I've never shipped Daryl with anyone), but 4.12 put this in my head. So, here it is.
Also: I have no clue how old Beth is or how innocent; I didn't pay much attention to her in the earlier seasons. So, if I've got any canon violations here on that score, sorry.
Beth was nursing a glass of whiskey, a lot slower than she'd taken the moonshine. She made faces as she sipped.
"Has this… gone bad or somethin?" she complained at last. "It can't be supposed to taste like this."
Daryl had been planning to sit this round out, but whatever. "Gimme that." He took her glass and swigged a big gulp, without flinching, then shrugged. "S'okay."
She giggled. (She'd already gotten a bit into her.). "I should do it like that? Chug it down half a glass at a time?"
"Naw. Not if you don't wanna choke on it. Drink it slow and chase it with water. You'll get used to it."
"Yes Mr. Dixon." Her sass was cute. After she realized he'd taken it easy on her the other day she'd been raging, and that was cute too, stomping around and demanding to be taught to really drink. He'd tried at first to say no... but entertainment was hard to come by these days. So, here they were. New camp, new liquor. They'd burned all the hooch from the cabin, but it hadn't taken long to find some more when they put their minds to it.
He watched her take a tiny sip and then look to him. He nodded.
Beth perked up – the way she always did when you taught her something and she got it right. She learned most things pretty quick. He should really pass on something more useful than how to drink and swear.
She smiled at him, looking sort of wistful and hazy. Drinking did that to her. "I've never been to a bar before," she said.
He snorted. "Missed your chance on that one."
"Never been to anywhere nasty, really."
"I have. You ain't missed much."
"I've never really gotten into trouble at all. Not with the police, or my parents, or anybody."
Suddenly he was much less entertained. Not this again. He didn't answer... and then she looked down into her glass and said: "I've never even done anything. With a guy."
What? A surge of adrenaline, or anger, or something (panic?) sprung him to his feet. "The hell you just say?!"
"N-nothin. I didn't mean-." Her eyes were huge. "Sorry, okay, I'm sorry. Don't be mad, Daryl, I didn't mean-. I'm sorry. I swear. I'll shut up now."
He didn't like her stammering around looking for something to calm him with. He'd heard more than enough of that from himself once upon a time, and the tone still made him wince.
(He knew he had only himself to blame. He'd lost his temper the other day and been a real asshole. No wonder she was nervous.)
"Hey. It's okay," he said. Best attempt at sounding gentle. He knew it wasn't that great but hopefully she'd get the point. This was important, much more important than telling her off for the sex thing. "Relax. I ain't-..." Going to hurt you? That sounded so... He couldn't say it. "I ain't drunk tonight," he improvised instead.
She tried a tiny smile. "And you're only a jerk when you're drunk, huh?"
He nodded.
She relaxed all the way and sipped at her drink again. "You're not that bad, Daryl. Even when you're drinkin."
"You don't know," he said. But he wasn't some teenage drama queen pretending to be more fucked-up than he was, so he added: "But I ain't my dad or my brother, and no matter how pissed or how drunk I get I'm not gonna hurt you." He frowned. "If I ever do, you run, you hear? No second chances. You run – or you pick up the crossbow and put me down."
He wasn't kidding. So far he'd never beat on a kid, ever, but he wasn't going to turn into somebody who did.
Her eyes were big and sort of hurt-looking. "That won't happen," she whispered. "I trust you."
"Don't be an idiot."
Out of nowhere she laughed. "And, I don't know how to use the crossbow anyways."
He made himself relax. Sat back down and took another sip from her drink. "I'll teach you sometime. When we're cold sober."
Beth woke up a little later than usual, and feeling a little fuzzy and worn-out. But she didn't think she was hung over, exactly; she'd heard it was a lot worse than this. When she said so to Daryl he laughed at her and told her a couple of stories.
It seemed like a good time to try again. The sex thing. She refused to feel ashamed about it; it was normal to have urges, and considering there was nobody else even around she didn't blame herself for urging after Daryl. Anyway he really wasn't such a bad choice - his looks were okay, he had a good heart, and when you saw him stick up for Merle of all people you knew that he was loyal to his core.
She'd never tried seducing before and would probably suck at it, so that was out. Instead, since she'd grown up taught that honesty is the best policy and that there's no surer way to compound a sin than lie about it, as they broke camp that morning she just said: "Don't get mad again, okay? But. Last night I said I've never done anything... sexual."
He ignored her, and just kept putting the fire out.
"But in case that wasn't clear enough for you: I want to."
He started kicking dirt over the fire with a little more force.
"And in case that still wasn't clear enough: I want to with you."
She wasn't sure how to be any more direct than that. But he still ignored her… and suddenly she was furious. Normal men said yes right away when you offered sex to them!
"Is there somethin wrong with your hearing, Daryl Dixon?"
He stopped attacking the firepit, but he still wouldn't look at her. He shook his head.
"Then is there somethin wrong with me? Because you're obviously saying no to me, and I don't know why."
He sniffed and spat onto the ground. "I don't fuck kids, is why."
Her first instinct was to snap I'm not a kid, but now she was feeling a little overwhelmed. Even scared. Very much like a kid, actually, and very in over her head. "I- I didn't say I wanted to fuck," she backtracked. The idea was making her heart hammer and not in a good way. "I just said I-... I've never done anything. Not anything. I just wanted to do a little."
He didn't answer – but he was tense now. She thought maybe she was getting somewhere. "My friends used to play a game," she began, timid. He huffed and shook his head.
It seemed like he was just laughing at her, though – he didn't sound mad. She took heart, a little. "You roll dice, different colors," she began. "Everybody's got a number. The white die says who you're goin into the closet with, the red one says for how many minutes. I think the rule was only above the waist. Um. I don't know for sure, though – I never played."
Finally he turned and peeked at her from under his bangs. "I've been too old to do shit like that since before you was born."
She sincerely doubted that. "Fine," she said, and stood up. Maybe her intent was obvious, because he started backing away immediately. She followed him, chased him really, until he fetched up hard against a tree. "Then what aren't you too old for?" And she put a hand on his crotch.
"Jesus – knock it off!" He shoved her and tried to get around her, she tried to block him, and they scuffled.
"Come on," she was whining. Giggling, because annoyed or not he didn't feel dangerous today. He was swatting her hands away without force, and holding her wrists loosely enough to pull free of. "Daryl. If I'm old enough to drink I'm old enough to mess around, you know it's true-"
And then they heard birds. Noisy, a bunch of them all taking off at once.
Instantly Daryl swung her around, slammed her hard against the tree, one hand over her mouth and his whole body pressed up against hers. "Shh," he breathed into her face.
He turned to look over his shoulder, where the birds had come from – without moving off her.
He was only sheltering her, she realized that. But still. He was flush against her and it felt good. It felt like what she'd been craving for.
They stood without moving for a long few minutes. He was keeping his breaths quiet, but she could feel from his chest that he was breathing hard. Was he scared?
"Guess it's nothin," he whispered, eventually. "Guess it was just us scared em – not a walker."
He turned to her again and his face was so close... but there was nothing she could do about it because he was holding her still. When he finally took his hand off her mouth, he was already moving away, already out of kissing distance. "Daryl..."
"I said no," he said. Firm now - no more mumbling. "No more of that shit, you hear me?" His mouth twitched. "No means no, ain't that the rule now?"
She sincerely hoped that that had always been the rule, although from the boy-warnings people had always given her she supposed maybe it hadn't been. She crossed her arms. "I don't want to die without ever doing anything."
He shrugged. "Then we'll just have to make sure you don't die for a while, won't we."
She scowled. Admitted defeat – for the moment.
TBC.
I'm thinking probably 1 or 2 more parts. Let me know what you think so far!