Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Authors note: This will not be an exact rewritten chapter of the episode. It will merely be revised and tweaked to fit my own smuttish desires. Thank you, and enjoy.
(Season four, episode 1: 30 days without a accident rewritten)
Beth Greene had a way about her, a way, while appreciated, not many of them at the prison understood. Especially not the ones from Woodbury. Like how she could turn any stranger into a friend, or how she could turn a dark, hopeless hour into something you should feel grateful for.
Maybe that's why Daryl and Rick were so drawn to her.
She was one of the last rays of light left in this world, and to them, sharing her- her company, her presence, her light- was a lesser sacrifice than experiencing none of her at all.
They didn't share her in the sense that it was openly acknowledged. It was something they knew they were subconsciously doing without saying. A sort of hushed, silent agreement.
While others in their group would never understand it. It was, in actuality, based primarily on a rare innocent nature.
After all, she didn't flip flop between their cells in the middle of the night. They never argued over her. In all reality, they'd never so much as laid a single finger on her.
No. It wasn't like that at all. It wasn't physical.
Besides, Beth had made herself a little boyfriend who joined them after Woodbury.
Zach.
He was a good kid. He was naive, but a good kid.
Every one recognized them as a couple, but Daryl and Rick knew better.
Couples kissed, held hands. Especially the teenage kind. They didn't. The boy was interested in that stuff, they could tell.
She wasn't, and that was okay.
Beth reserved her subtle affections for them. They were innocent, nervous flirtations, so slight that they could be missed by the naked eye, but they were meant to be experienced solely by them, and secretly, that meant something to them, even if it wasn't right.
Their affections ran deeper than touch. It was more than flesh. It was the idea of her. It was the concept of her being, and the gift of her hopeful nature and undying innocence.
Innocent gestures didn't change the fact that they still had to hide it.
What they were doing, what they could become- It was still blooming. Still developing. Still very much a state of mind.
Maggie, Herschel and the others wouldn't see the innocence they felt though, nor the happiness they got from it, only the danger it could invite if they didn't tread carefully.
As confusing as it all was, none of them planned any of it. One day it just sort of happened, and since then it's been a bittersweet battle trying to figure it all out.
"This way." Daryl gestured with his bow, after inspecting some fresh tracks in the dirt with his earth stained hands.
They were outside the prison, just along the outskirts of the gate hunting for food.
The three of them went out at least once a day. That's probably how all of this started to begin with. You stick three different people together for long periods of time and anything could start to happen.
"Rabbit?" Beth asked through a few loose stands of blonde hair, trying not to show her concern.
Daryl nodded and put his finger to his lips.
Beth hated killing the rabbits more than anything, but she understood they had to eat. They hadn't had anything decent in days. Carol could probably throw together a stew with some fresh vegetables from the garden if Daryl got lucky enough to catch one.
"Its clear up ahead." Rick whispered, not wanting to scare off the potental of fresh game. "Beth and I will wait here."
Daryl nodded his head and continued without them.
They decided in the beginning that anyone going beyond the gate would go in pairs. One to hunt. One to spot. Then one day Beth argued that she earned the right to tag along. She had claimed she wanted a more important job. That she was more than capable. So she helped spot, but more than that, she helped the mood.
Everything was brighter when she was near. Everyday they went out, they went out hopeful, even if they came back empty handed.
"Keep ur eyes sharp." Rick reminded her, his eyes never leaving Daryl as he treaded carefully through the thick brush.
"Look." She pointed brightly toward a large unnamed tree.
Butterflies. Mostly orange, and possibly hundreds of them rested on it's thick, chipped bark.
"Its beautiful." She whispered in amazement.
It took a couple seconds for serious Rick to soften just enough to appreciate what she was saying. When he did, he couldn't prevent the smile that was created as he looked at her innocent face in adoration. Something as simple as seeing her smile filled him with a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.
She was still staring at the butterflies when he felt her small hand graze his arm, before slowly, yet boldly entwining her fingers with his.
Last time she had done this he hesitated. This time he didn't. Instead he took a breath and let the beauty of the rare innocent moment embrace him.
Time stood still, and for a moment the world was beautiful again as he stared into her bright blue sparkling eyes.
"No rabbits." Daryl called back at them, yanking Rick from his thoughts causing him to pull his hand away as if woken from a daze.
"Maybe you'll have better luck next time." Beth smiled back at him. It would have been hard for anyone else to see, but she was bluffing.
"Yeah." Daryl murmured, knowing better. "Maybe."
"It hasn't rained in days." Rick added. "If we wanna find good game we're gonna have to find some fresh water."
"Can we take a break first?" Beth asked, leaning back against a small tree. "I'm a little hungry."
"You're in luck sunshine." Daryl said before taking a seat next to her. "I brought some dried rattlesnake."
"Just what I wanted." Beth made of face of disgust, but took a piece anyway.
"Well, if you'd stop scarin off all the rabbits we'd have somethin better to eat." Rick teased, adding to the play.
"If my memory serves me right it was Daryľs bow locking up that caused us to lose the rabbits." Beth stated matter of factly before taking a bite of the tough meat.
"Right." Daryl chuckled dismly. "And yer squeals had nothin to do with it."
Rick smiled before taking a swig of water. He lived for the easy, lighthearted moments like this.
The next day back at the prison Daryl helped the boys load up one of the trucks to do a quick run in town.
Zach was going with them this time. It was a chance for him to prove himself. To prove he was worthy of Beth. Daryl knew better though, and he could already sense a recipe for disaster brewing.
"Hey." Zach called.
Daryl turned. It was Beth.
"I was just gonna come find you." He told her. Beth smiled, before doing something that shocked even Daryl.
She leaned in to kiss him.
Daryl tried to conceal his disappointment by continuing to load the truck. He'd never seen her kiss the boy, and now she had to go and do it in his face, like it didn't matter, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"What's up?" She asked him sweetly, when their mouths disengaged. She gave him a confused, questioning look.
That's when he gave her some shit story about the council pulling everyone off the coal crew, and how he was gonna be a hero and help out with the run.
Beth didn't look impressed though. In fact her expression stayed the same through much of the conversation.
"Its Just, you know, wanted to make sure that I saw you before." He told her, while searching her eyes for a hint of despair.
"kay." She smiled, almost not understanding.
"Yeah, just cause ya know, it's dangerous." He told her, puffing his chest out a bit.
Daryl smiled and rolled his eyes. 'This kid', he thought to himself while shaking his head.
"I know." Beth smiled at him before planting another kiss on his cheek and walking away.
"You gonna say goodbye?" He yelled after her.
"Nope." She replied, back turned.
When her lovesick puppy eventually turned away, her attention turned to Daryl and all the color rushed from her face.
He held her gaze, and when she passed him her hand grazed his for the briefest of moments.
It was a wordless plea. One Daryl recogni zed without the need of a conversation. She was worried about him.
As skilled as he had proven to be, she was still concerned. That meant something to him. He'd never get a chance to kiss her lips. He could never allow himself to do such a thing. He was much too old for her, that was a damn given, but to him, the simple fact that she cared was priceless.
(The watch tower)
"You aren't going with them?" Beth asked Rick. He was leaning against the outside rails of the tower.
Rick shook his head.
"Someone's gotta watch things here." He told her as he watched the old pick up truck pick up dust in the distance.
"I always feel more comfortable when the two of you are out there together." She told him, as she leaned against the rail next to him, her blonde ponytail falling to the side .
"Oh yeah." He chuckled. "You that desperate to get rid of us?"
He didn't mean it like that. That words had come out to playfully desperate.
"No." She said simply. "I just know that neither of you would ever let anything happen to each other."
Rick looked at Beth for a quick moment, something he tried not to do in public. He was always afraid someone would see the truth in his eyes if he did.
"I care about you two." Beth breathed, more to herself than to him.
"We all care about each other." He told her his eyes back on the ground below them. "We're a family."
"Maggie's family." Her small voice explained. "Daddy. Glenn. Carol. They're family. You and Daryl..."
When she said their names her voice trailed off.
"You're more than just family." She eventually said. "But you already know that." She smiled.
Rick's hands went limp on the bars he held in his grasp. They had never really acknowledged it, and until now he could have convinced himself it was a one-sided assumption. It was too late for that now.
"Beth." Her name sounded foreign on his lips. Almost wrong.
"It's not wrong." She told him before he could voice his concern.
It took a moment for him to find his voice, but when he did he managed to conjure a bit of clarity.
"Not yet at least, but we're all walkin on thin ice here." He warned her in a low voice, as if anyone down below could here.
"At what point does it start being wrong?" She asked him, as if she was blind to all the chaos that could ensue.
"You're wise beyond your years, but when it comes down to it, you're just a child Beth." He said. A hint of shame in his voice. He was finally acknowledging it.
He could feel her eyes on him, and he just knew in his heart that it was a scathing look.
"Do you wanna fuck me, Rick?" She asked. Her once sweet voice hard with a tone he'd never heard come from her innocent lips.
Ricks stomach fell to his feet. He'd never heard her use language like that before.
"Beth." He said her name again, this time more cautiously.
"Zach wants to fuck me." She informed him. Her filter nonexistent. She was trying to get a rise out of him, and it was working.
That's when a burning, jealous feeling started to rise in his gut.
"Do you wanna fuck him?" He asked her. Turning to look at her head on. He never imagined he'd use that kind of language with her, but she picked the fight.
She fell back just an inch before firing back.
"No." She told him boldly. "It doesn't mean I wouldn't let him."
"Why are you telling me this?" He finally asked, searching for reasons among the chaos they were causing with hurtful accusations.
"Because I want you, and I want him." Her voice eventually broke.
"This ain't right." He told her, shaking his head. "Daryl's not gonna think it's right either."
Beth just smiled.
"No one else has to know." She assured him with the big blue promises that were her eyes.
"It doesn't work like that." He told her, trying to sound firm.
"I kissed Zack today. In front of Daryl before they left." She said, continuing to counter his argument. "Daryl didn't like it. I didn't like it either. He's a boy. You two are men. Big strong men who I know would never let any harm come to me."
"Why are you doing this?" He asked, his anger brewing stronger the more he lost his composure.
"I want you to understand what it is I want." She pleaded.
"We can't give you what you want." He exclaimed. "You're still a child. I was a Sheriff before all of this. I would have arrested the sadistic bastard you're asking me to be."
"I'm not a child." Beth spat. The hurt in her voice evident.
"This has to stop." He told her.
She nodded, as if she was throwing in the towel and giving in. "Stop it then. It's all up to you. I can't really stop somethin that hadn't really started."
Later that night the supply crew came back one man short.
"You gonna make me tell her alone." Daryl asked Rick. He sounded nervous. He wasn't good at stuff like this.
"I don't think seeing me would make her feel any better right now." Rick told him.
"Why?" Daryl asked him. "What happened?"
Normally trivial things didn't matter to him, but this wasn't trivial. This was Beth.
"I told her it had to stop." He said, looking to the fields as if searching for his reassurance.
Daryl knew exactly what he meant.
"We ain't hurtin nobody." Daryl murmured. A response that surprised even himself.
Daryl's response didn't help Rick's resolve.
"Forget about her age for a moment, and all the other factors involved and you still have a pretty big thing people would have a difficult time wrapping their heads around. Theirs two of us and only one of her. Maggie, Herschel and the others aren't going to just accept a innocent threesome no matter what kind of world we are livin in." Rick told him, head tilted, just enough to get his point across.
It took a moment for Daryl to respond, but he knew Rick was right. Whatever the hell it was they felt for her- It would never work.
"Alright." Daryl eventually agreed. "I'll go talk to her."
Authors note: Sorry. I know. I know. No smut. It will come. Promise. ;)
