A/N: Takes place while Daryl and Beth are traveling alone. There is no kidnapping, and Daryl doesn't join up with Joe's group. I'm not sure how much time they've all spent on the road, so sixteen weeks is a guess. As for the idea itself, I'm not sure where it came from-maybe a dream.
Nausea churned in her guts, and the acidic burn of bile made its way up her esophagus. Beth didn't even try to stop it, knowing she would feel better when it was out. She heaved until her stomach was empty before leaning back to rest her butt on her calves.
"Damn, girl, you look awful." Daryl had stopped in the middle of gutting a rabbit to watch her. "That's the third time today."
She shrugged. "I guess rattlesnake don't agree with me." It was hard to find a clean patch of cloth on her torn T-shirt, but she managed by turning the hem inside out and dabbing at her mouth. She stole a glance at him after she'd cleaned up.
He was shaking his head, and she idly noted his hair needed a good trim. "That's the fourth day in a row, Beth. If I didn't know better, I'd think you was pregnant." His expression darkened, and he lifted his knife with an air of menace. "Did Zach knock you up?"
Her eyes widened at his question, along with the subtle violence she could sense in him. Even if he had, it wasn't like Daryl could do anything to him now. Rinsing her mouth again, she just shook her head, thankful when he let the subject drop.
###
Beth huddled in the sleeping bag, her body aching from exertion. The walking was no worse than usual, but she was hurting in her pelvis. It felt like the joints had separated. She didn't know if it was the same in a human, but she remembered reading about it in one of Daddy's veterinary books. It might be normal, but it sure hurt like hell.
Daryl grunted as he turned over in his sleeping bag. They were close together for shared warmth, and his chest pressed against her back. She closed her eyes with a whimper that he must have interpreted as pain. "You hurtin', girl? Some kinda woman troubles?"
Beth just nodded, surprised and moved when he started rubbing her lower back. "Thanks," she whispered. It didn't really help the pelvic pain, but it was nice to have his warm hand stroking her back, even through the sleeping bag.
"Had a girlfriend for a short time, and you'd'a thought she was dyin' each month. This used ta' help her."
Beth grimaced and scooted away, not liking the idea of him touching her the same way he had some nameless skank in his past. "I'm better now."
He whistled through his teeth. "Damn mood swings just about killed me too."
Resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, she started softly crooning to herself almost absently picking a lullaby her momma used to sing to her. Tears came to her eyes when she remembered her momma. Not that Walker in the barn, but her real momma. She could use some advice from her right now, and a big ol' hug from her daddy.
###
The periodic vomiting persisted for more than a week, and she saw Daryl grow more concerned as the days passed. "Next town, we're gonna find you some medicine, girl." She just nodded, knowing she wouldn't mind something to relieve the nausea, but not sure if she could take it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to look. She wouldn't mind a new bra either, to support her swollen breasts.
They came to a small one-horse blip on the map later that afternoon. It looked fairly well picked over, but they scavenged anyway. The small drugstore was right in the center of the main block of businesses that all shared connected entryways, so customers could pass right through to the next one. She grasped her knife as she followed Daryl into the dim interior. Beth wished she had the strength to use his crossbow as she stood guard while he lifted the metal shutters protecting the windows.
With them rolled up, more light entered the room, and she blinked. The familiar moan of Walkers set her teeth on edge, and she adjusted her stance to press her side against Daryl's as three shambling corpses came into view. Daryl got a clean bolt through the hulking male's eye, and Beth managed to take out the smallest female by driving her knife through the top of its head. The girl had probably died younger than her own eighteen years. She suppressed her pity, knowing it did no good and only served as a distraction.
Black fluid sprayed her shirt, making her curse. Even in the midst of putting down the Walker he'd been grappling with, Daryl laughed. "What would Herschel say if he'd heard such language from ya', girl?"
It was the first time Daryl had mentioned her father in such a casual way since his execution, and it felt good. Her heart lifted a bit at the reminder of the good times before The Governor took out their home. "He'd tan my hide."
"Maybe I should do the same."
The thought of Daryl's large, rough palm on her bare bottom made her stomach quiver, and moisture pooled between her thighs. She didn't guess she'd mind a spanking if it came from his hand. Clearing her throat, she said, "I'm eighteen. I can cuss if I wanna."
He made a scoffing sound. "Girl, that wouldn't hardly cussin' at all. You need to expand y'all's vocabulary."
She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you say you was goin' to check out the hardware store next door?" At his nod, she asked, "Do you want me to come with you? If not, I have some…personal things to find here."
He looked undecided. "Well, all right, but only 'cause there's a connecting door. I'll leave it open, and you keep your eyes peeled for Walkers. You yell like there ain't no tomorrow if you get into trouble. Okay?"
She nodded. "You do the same, and I'll come runnin'."
Daryl smirked at her hunting knife with the sharply serrated edge. She'd found it a few towns ago and had taken it despite his mockery of the pink camouflage handle. "I'll keep it in mind, girl."
Beth parted ways with him a bit fearfully, though he was only going to be a few yards away, in the store next door. She kept her eyes open, as he'd instructed, but saw no more Walkers. However, she did find a small clothing section that hadn't been too ransacked. There were no bras, unfortunately, but she thought maybe the tightly woven cotton undershirt tank tops might work. They'd sure be a lot softer than the scratchy lace bra she'd been busting out of for the past couple of weeks.
Keeping her knife within easy reach on the closest shelf, Beth stripped off her T-shirt before undoing the bra with a sigh of relief. Her nipples burned, and she spent a moment rubbing them to ease the ache. She decided that the tank tops would have to do, because there was no way in hell she was putting that old bra back on again. She was still cradling her breasts when angry words made her freeze.
"Beth, what the hell?"
###
Daryl had made quick work of the hardware shop, mainly because someone else had picked it over real good, and there wasn't a Walker in sight. His prizes had consisted of a package of matches and a screwdriver with part of the handle missing. After shoving them in his satchel, he'd come back to find Beth.
To find Beth without her top on. Naked from the waist up, holding her breasts like she was some damned centerfold he used to stare at in the old days while jerking off. The familiarity of the sight had caused a hard-on, even though it was Beth. Being honest with himself, maybe because it was Beth.
He'd stood frozen in shock as he'd drunk in the sight of her feminine curves. It took him a moment to realize Beth's curves were lusher than they'd once been. In particular, her stomach was gently rounded, and her breasts looked too large for her petite frame, even squashed in her hands like that. He spoke without thinking. "Beth, what the hell?"
Daryl strode over to her, not letting her put on the top she had hastily reached for. Her glorious breasts spilled in front of his eyes for a minute before she folded the cloth over herself, but he didn't allow the pink areolas and berry-sized nipples to distract him. "You're pregnant." Very fucking pregnant, at least far enough to start showing.
She glared at him a minute before her lips trembled. "Yeah."
Senses returned, and he stepped back, turning his head so she could get dressed. When he looked again, she wore an oversized black T-shirt, but he could still see the subtle stretching over her baby bump, now that he knew it was there. "You told me you wasn't pregnant."
Beth narrowed her eyes. "I did not. You asked me if Zach knocked me up."
He tossed a hand in the air with frustration. "And you shook yer head no. That's the same as tellin' me you wasn't."
She wrapped her arms around herself, as though feeling defensive. "I wasn't lying. Zach didn't get me pregnant."
He stared at her belly. "Then what the hell is that?"
"Not Zach's," she said softly.
Daryl's eyes widened. If there'd been anything more shocking than finding out she was pregnant, it was learning her boyfriend, the only man that he'd known she'd been with for months, hadn't been the father. Beth wasn't the sleeping-around type. His hand reached for his knife without thought. "Which sumbitch hurt you? Was it someone at the prison? Someone we trusted?" He felt sick imagining another scenario. "Was it those bastards with the Governor?"
Beth shook her head. "No, it wasn't them."
Rage bubbled in him as a sharp dart of betrayal shot through him. He hadn't liked everyone at the prison, but he'd thought they were all good enough folks not to do something so terrible. "Someone from the prison forced you?"
She chewed her lip. "No, not exactly."
He pinched the bridge of his nose in response to a headache forming. "How do ya' mean, not exactly? You was either raped or you wasn't. Which is it?"
###
Beth stared at Daryl, biting her lip some more, until she could taste blood. That was a hard question to answer, and the main reason she hadn't tried to bring up the topic of conversation before now. She'd known at some point she'd have to tell Daryl about her pregnancy, but the awkward questions that would follow had made her reticent.
"It wasn't rape. It weren't planned or nothin', and it all just sort of happened." He looked even more confused, and she sighed. "The…man I was with was at the prison. I was real worried about him, so I went to check on him."
She closed her eyes, remembering how she had slipped into his sleeping space to find him unconscious. At first, she'd been worried he'd come down with the sickness, but she'd soon seen the cause of his passed out state. A large, empty bottle of some cheap alcohol she didn't recognize lay beside him. She'd understood what had led him to drink. Everyone being sick, Karen and David's deaths, the fallout from that…it was no wonder he'd indulged in a way she'd never seen him lose control before.
It was nice just looking at him. She'd had feelings for the man for a while now, even though she knew he didn't see her as much more than the girl who cooked and minded Judith. She'd been okay with loving him from afar. It was kinda like the crush she'd had on her sophomore chemistry teacher, only with Walkers and death around every corner.
Tempted by his lack of awareness, Beth had sat down on his bedroll, looking her fill at his face, softened in sleep. There was something innocent and vulnerable to be found there, unguarded while he slept. During the day, he kept it all hidden, though she'd seen an occasional glimpse of it here and there.
Her fingers itched to touch his face, and she let her hand rise to stroke his hair, before trailing her fingers down his forehead, over his nose, and to his firm lips. Sighing his name, she'd stroked the contours of his lips, savoring his moist breath caressing her fingertips.
Acting like an idiot, she had peeked over her shoulder to verify they were alone before giving in to the temptation to bend over him and touch her lips gently to his. She'd known then it was stupid, but had truly thought he was too unconscious to respond.
It had been a shock when his lips molded to hers, at first gentle. It had kept her from jerking away and leaving his sleeping space. And then things had taken an unexpected turn. He had kissed her thoroughly, the way a man kisses a woman he wants, not the weak way Jimmy had kissed, or the coaxing kisses Zach had given her as they got better acquainted.
His hands had been just as firm as his mouth, pulling her down on top of him. Beth had gasped at the feel of his hard chest against her breasts, at the way his erection had pushed into her stomach. As soon her lips parted, his tongue swept inside, making her head spin and quieting the voice of common sense in the back of her mind.
His facial hair was raspy against her soft cheeks, but she enjoyed the sensation. It hadn't taken long for her, an enthusiastic pupil, to reciprocate the dart and thrust of his tongue against hers. Beth could have spent hours just kissing him.
He'd had other ideas, his hands tugging and pulling at her clothes as he murmured sexy things to her. Naughty things she'd never imagined a man could say. If someone had told her what a man might whisper in the heat of passion, she would have expected to feel disgusted by the crude language. Instead, it made her hot, soaking her panties and causing her to arch mindlessly against him.
"Hang on, girl," he'd muttered, his fingers dealing with her skinny jeans and tugging them down, along with her underwear. Beth had cried out with shock, pleasure, and maybe a bit of shame when his calloused finger plunged inside her wet heat, stroking her clit and spreading her slippery fluids. He'd touched her with confidence and experience, bringing innocent Beth an orgasm in no time. "Damn, you're hot. So responsive." His praise had mingled with the afterglow of her release to leave her suffused with warmth.
It had seemed perfectly natural to grasp his shaft in her small hands when he'd shed his clothes, to touch and stroke him with curiosity. The way he'd hummed and bucked his hips filled her with a sense of her feminine powers. When he'd first pushed her hand away, she'd protested. "I wanna touch you," she'd whispered shyly.
"Let me be inside you, girl." He'd grasped her hips and probed her entrance with his erection, pushing in gently, as though he'd known she was a virgin. Beth had bitten her lip as he'd stretched her slowly. There had been a flash of pain, but the gentle thrust of his hips, as his hand ghosted over her clitoris, had soothed it away.
Beth had given in to instinct and matched his pace, thrusting and grinding against him. She'd clutched his chest hairs, making him hiss with pain even as he rocked harder against her. She lost track of time and didn't know if they had made love for minutes or hours before her sheath tightened around him, and she squeezed her thighs, locking them around his, crying out his name as she climaxed. He'd held her tightly, with what seemed like fierce possessiveness, as his cock spasmed, and he'd spilled his seed inside her.
She had lain against him for a long time following their joining, listening to his heart racing against her ear. His hand had tangled in her hair, holding her close as though clinging to her. It made sense, considering he'd lost just about everyone or everything he'd ever cared about. Even when he returned to his unconscious state, she'd stayed a while longer, reveling in the experience, in knowing she was now a woman in every sense. His woman.
Finally, as dawn streaked across the sky, she had slipped from his grasp to dress and go back to her cell, wanting to avoid any whispers or confrontations, knowing her sister wouldn't approve. No one would probably be thrilled, but she figured her daddy might support them, since he respected her lover. Plus, it would be a bit hypocritical of him to say the age difference was wrong when he'd been several years older than Beth's momma.
Beth had waited with anticipation all throughout that day to have a moment alone with him. She'd caught his gaze a couple of times, giving him a sweet, secretive smile that seemed to confuse him. As the day wore on, she'd been the one feeling confused, especially after she had sat beside him at dinner, and he hadn't done more than nod at her as he ate the beans and cornbread like a man who'd been starving.
When he'd left without a word, she'd been hurt. Determined to confront him, to find out why he was pretending like last night hadn't happened, she had followed him onto watch and found out why he was acting that way.
"Well?"
Daryl's angry prompting abruptly returned her to the present. "We didn't plan it, and then he didn't remember it."
He scoffed. "You didn't buy that bullshit, did ya', girl? Ain't no man gonna forget being with you."
She glared at him. "I bought that shit because it was obvious. When we talked the next night, he told me had a headache, and he'd been a damned fool to drink so much." Daryl's eyes widened, and she pressed on. "He told me he'd been worried about Carol, pissed at Rick for just decidin' to banish her, and scared for all the sick people at the prison."
"Beth—"
She was too riled up to stop now. "The man who'd taken my virginity had been drinking himself stupid over another woman, and he didn't remember what we'd done. It sure seemed genuine to me, but was it? Why don't you tell me, Daryl, if it was all a lie? Did you really forget fucking me, or was it just a load of horseshit you sold me?" Tears streamed from her eyes, and she stormed away, too angry to be around him right then.
It had hurt that he'd made love to her without remembering. It had been awful that she couldn't tell him she was pregnant, that she'd had to hold on to that secret for the past sixteen weeks, but it enraged her that he was now calling her naïve for believing him. She knew to her core that he had forgotten, because she was just Beth. Nothing special. No one he would have looked twice at if she hadn't gone into the tower to check on him. If she hadn't initiated the kiss, she wouldn't have ended up with Daryl Dixon as her first lover. She couldn't regret that, but she hated the circumstances.
Her first time should have been with someone who loved her as much as she loved him. Since they had made a baby, it seemed doubly wrong that their encounter had been little more than itch-scratching for Daryl, who'd been too drunk because of Carol being missing to realize he'd taken a virgin. Whatever his feelings for, or relationship with Carol, he'd been thinking about another woman when he had sex with Beth.
###
Daryl stared after Beth, his jaw hanging open like a dumbass redneck. As she'd spoken, the memories had started to return. Flashes of images came to him—the soft glide of her skin against his, the full roundness of her breasts in his palms as she had ridden him, and the throaty way she'd cried his name when she came. Dammit. He had deflowered Beth Greene and didn't remember more than the very basic details.
He shook his head, wanting to deny it, but knowing she hadn't lied. His own vague memories confirmed that. He had made a baby with that young woman. Not only that, but he'd hurt her, leaving her thinking she meant nothing to him, and that he'd been thinking about Carol while having sex with her.
God, he wished he could remember the particulars better. Even with it all being sketchy, he was absolutely sure he hadn't been dwelling on Carol with Beth sitting on his cock. Carol was his friend. She was like a sister. Sometimes even a mother. It was complicated with them, but not because of sex. There was no spark between them.
Not like there was with Beth. Hell, did she really think he hadn't noticed her? He was a dumb redneck, but he wasn't addled or blind. Of course he'd noticed her coltish slimness and her youthfulness. He'd noticed how tender she was with Judith, and he'd noticed the way she'd snuggled up with that Zach. Seeing her let another man touch her the way he wanted to had left him frustrated and angry.
No way in hell would he have ever acted on it though. Sleeping with a teenage virgin was the kind of shit Merle would have pulled. Hell, his own piece of shit father had liked 'em young too. More than once, he'd walked in to their trailer to find his father fucking some girl just a few years older than Daryl. One time, he'd taken a severe beating when he'd pried his dad off a clearly unwilling girl. She'd dropped by to get high with Merle, not get raped by his father. He'd gotten her out and taken the whipping with the belt with pride, knowing he'd saved her from about the worst thing someone could do to another person.
Now, he was disgusted with himself, thinking he'd taken advantage of an innocent girl in a drunken state. Spitting out the sour taste in his mouth, he followed her, not sure how, but knowing he had to make amends.
She stood with her back to him, her shoulders stiff, as he stopped a step behind her. "Beth, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I'm sorry for taking you like that, and for not rememberin' it." He touched her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry for givin' you a baby when I ain't got no idea how to be a dad." He let his guard down a bit as he put his hands around her upper arms, pulling her rigid back against him. "I s'pose I should say I'm sorry for fuckin' you, and I am, in a way." She sighed as he stroked her arms. "I'm sorry it was so animalistic, and I was drunk. I'm sorry I didn't treat you the way you deserved."
He turned her to face him, pleased when she didn't resist too much. "But I ain't sorry I had you. I want you again." He felt just like a damned virgin himself as he blushed, having a hard time meeting her gaze. "I been wanting you for a while, ever since you started takin' care of Little Asskicker. It made me see you in a different light than just a little girl."
Her lips trembled. "So, what do we do now?"
Daryl curled his lip. "Fuck if I know. I ain't never gotten a girl pregnant before, especially with no recollection."
Beth's pink tongue traced her mouth, as though she was nervous. "Maybe we should refresh your memory?"
He pretended to give it some thought. "Maybe so, soon as we find someplace safe and clean, where we can do it proper." It felt natural to slip his arm around her waist, his other hand cupping her slightly rounded stomach. Finding someplace safe was now a priority. No way was he risking taking his girl and their baby to Terminus right now, without knowing more about it. For now, they'd hunker down, find somewhere secure—as protected as anything could be these days—and concentrate on turning themselves into a couple. Thank goodness he had at least a few more months to figure out how to be a partner for Beth and a father for their kid. Those prospects scared him more than facing a whole herd of Walkers in his underpants, with just Beth's girlie knife for defense.