Heavy eyelids spring open and then immediately sink back down as Rick is abruptly thrown into consciousness. The room is still dark around him as he peels his reluctant lids halfway open and rolls his tongue around his dry mouth.
The darkness is far from silent, and he's grateful for the familiar sound that soothes him as he's pulled further from sleep. He turns towards the low rumble as he stretches the stiffness from his body.
Face buried in the pillow they're sharing, Daryl is snoring loudly, passed out in an orgasm induced slumber. Rick's mouth twitches at the sound; the sound of someone so deep in sleep. He isn't surprised.
Earlier, Rick had spent an hour edging Daryl before he finally let him come. When his release hit him there were tears in his eyes. Reducing Daryl to a begging mess may indeed be the greatest pleasure on earth.
Seconded by getting to see him like this: sprawled out with all the tension gone from his face and his body. Usually furrowed brow smoothed out, corded muscles lax. He looks so much younger when he isn't frowning.
It's striking, even now, how beautiful he is. Sharp cheekbones illuminated by light from somewhere. It clings to his face like he's the moon and Rick look at him with the same awe, is drawn to him by the same magnetism.
He's pulled from his thoughts as roughly as he was from sleep, adrenaline coursing through his blood stream as his gut responds to the muffled sound his mind is struggling to place.
He hears it again. A sob. Not Judith, no, it's too low, too adult. He should ignore it really, let whoever it is have their privacy. Curl around Daryl's furnace of a body and drift back into sleep. But he won't, he can't.
The cop needs know who it is; the man needs to help them if he can. It's only when he tries to move that Rick finds himself trapped under Daryl's arm. God, he's huge. Sometimes Rick forgets, but it takes no small effort to push his way out from under the weight of Daryl's ridiculous muscles, enormous even when relaxed.
It's a startling reminder of how powerful Daryl is, and that when he submits to Rick it's because he wants to. Eventually, and with more effort than he'd willingly admit, Rick slides out of Daryl's sleeping embrace.
It's indicative of how out of it the usually fiercely observant hunter is that he just buries deeper into the pillow and continues to snore. Even so, Rick pads silently out of the room, opening the door just wide enough to slide out but not enough for the hinges to groan.
As he steps out onto the landing he hears it again. A sob. Two in quick succession. It's coming from the bathroom and as if by some magnetic field he pads silently down the landing. He hesitates when he reaches the door, wondering who he's going to find crying behind it.
He'd be lying if he said he didn't already know. That he just didn't want to admit it to himself, hoping there might somehow be another explanation for the broken sounds. He takes a deep, steadying breath before pushing the door open and stepping inside.
When he sees her she takes his breath away.
Hands braced on the sink, wild golden hair obscuring her face and bare legs that go on for days. For a moment he allows himself to be taken in by her beauty. Then she turns her head, her haunted eyes catch his and he feels his heart crawl into his throat.
It physically pains him to stare into the hollow orbs where her eyes should be. Because Beth's eyes are stunning; bright, sparkling blue and gleaming with warmth he feels in his soul. Not these eyes; these are empty, so drained of life they make his soul shiver. Wet streaks mar her face beneath the red and swollen eyes that aren't hers.
Somehow even with snot painting her upper lip she's still beautiful. But she looks like a ghost, and for a moment he fears that he's slipped back; that she isn't really here, that she never made it out of that prison come hospital. That she didn't make it and she's haunting him, just like Lori.
He blinks harder than he needs to, clenching his jaw to the point of pain. Physical efforts to anchor himself to the cliff of his sanity as he feels himself sway. Pushing down his own panic he focuses on hers and it's then that he zeros in on the fact that her chest is pulsing too rapidly.
She can't catch her breath. She's gulping for air, racking her tiny frame with sobs that keep getting louder, more fraught. Loud enough to wake the others. And if she does that he won't be able to do what he wants to do, which is to wrap her up in her arms and soothe her.
To hold her a little closer than would be appropriate and kiss her face as he holds her in his lap. He doesn't just want to comfort her, he feels a burning need to wipe the tears from her cheeks and do whatever it takes to stop any more from falling.
"Come on."
He motions to the door with the tilt of his head and holds out his hand. For a torturous moment she regards his open palm warily. As though it might hurt her, and seeing that expression pass over her face causes Rick's gut to drop out through his feet.
Then her face crumples and she tumbles forward, grabbing his hand and crashing into his chest. He wraps his arms around her in an instant, pressing his closed mouth to her hairline.
He squeezes her tightly in her arms in a futile attempt to stop her falling apart, but the shivers racking her cool skin tell him that he's too late. She's unravelling in his arms and for all his strength he is powerless to stop it from happening.
When her fingers fist in his t-shirt and he feels another tremble rack her body he scoops her up in his arms. She's heavier than she looks, made of pure muscle, but she loops her willowy arms around his neck and holds on, burying her damp face in the cradle of his shoulder.
Backing out of the bathroom as quietly as he can, he feels the hot tears from her eyes on his neck, as she continues to cry soundlessly. With the same quiet tread he pads across the landing, holding his breath and saying a silent prayer that nobody else heard and chooses this moment to investigate. He isn't sure he'd be able to find an explanation as to why he's carrying Beth bridal style towards his bedroom in the middle of the night. He isn't sure he could summon two fucks to even try.
It's jarring, seeing Beth like this. She's always so reliable, so resilient. There was something on the farm but they all went through something there and came through it stronger. This level of distress in anyone would be upsetting but in Beth it scares him. She's a constant in their unpredictable lives; she's not supposed to fall apart. The way that she's always getting on, caring for his daughter after everything and through everything, it's easy to forget how young she actually is. Or choose to ignore it.
He's glad to have left the bedroom door ajar in his haste as he stumbles back into the room and pushes it closed behind him with a soft click. Daryl stirs, blinking up at Rick blearily as the mattress sinks and he sits down on the bed.
Carefully, he lays Beth down on the warm patch Daryl has just created between them. With her arms locked around Rick's neck Beth rakes in a breath and the sound slaps Daryl into full consciousness.
Every muscle in his broad shoulders tightens as he pushes up on his palms, eyes pulling white and flying up to catch Rick's. His wide hand comes up to hover over Beth's back, like he wants to touch her, to comfort her, but doesn't think he's allowed.
Propped up on the elbow of one arm, Rick reaches forward with the other to take Daryl's hand, guiding it to rest on Beth's quivering ribcage. He watches as confusion clouds Daryl's stormy blue eyes before another sob rattles the ribs beneath his palm. His gaze flies up in search of Rick's, and when their eyes catch his is drowning in panic and questions.
What happened? What are we doing about it? Tell me what to do. Please.
He looks lost and Rick gets it because he feels a little lost too. Rick gives Daryl's hand the gentlest of squeezes, rough knuckles twitching beneath his palm, as if to say It's okay, I've got this which he isn't entirely sure he has. Even so, the almost crazed with look in Daryl's eyes dulls slightly and they focus their attention on the body between them.
Beth has caught her breath, the haphazard rise and fall of her chest slowed to a stutter, and tears on her cheeks are starting to dry as no more are falling. However, the white knuckle grip on his sleep shirt is unwavering.
Leaving Daryl's fingers curled around her rib cage, Rick slides his hand slowly up her back to her clenched shoulders. She jerks away from his hand violently and nobody breathes. Waiting for her next cue, Rick remains still, breath caught in his chest and Daryl's eyes drilling holes on the side of his face. There's a beat and then she leans into his touch as though she just remembered where she is. With caution, he slowly rubs soft circles into the tight muscles with the heat of his palm, and after a moment or two he feels them start to loosen beneath it. At some point Daryl's hand starts to mirror Rick's gentle motions and Beth's breathing evens out.
They could just fall asleep like this, he thinks she might drift off eventually under the lull of their soft strokes, but he knows she needs more from them than that. Feeling a little more confident that he at least hasn't made things any worse, Rick decides now is as good a time as any.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asks, voice barely above a whisper but somehow deafening in the silence that surrounds them.
Beth sighs heavily. There's a beat. Two. Three. Maybe she doesn't after all.
"It was just a bad dream," She offers, voice small and tired, "But it was so real. It felt like I was back there."
The words catch in her throat, straining with emotion and fresh tears. Daryl's hand stills
"The hospital?" Rick asks.
Beth nods, tilting her head to look up at him with haunted eyes.
Fuck. He'd never asked her what happened at Grady. He should have. He saw the scars, deep and violent on her doll face. But she'd plastered cream on the abrasions to stop them scarring along with a smile on her face and it had been easier to just move forward.
Easier for him not to think about what she might have been through alone with those people. Not easier for her it seems; the cuts healed but the real wounds were left to fester.
"What did they do to you?" Rick asks on a breath, forcing the words out because he has to know, but at the same time his stomach is tying itself in knots.
Beth holds his gaze for a moment without blinking. Something washes over her face, maybe relief or resignation. Then her eyes close on a blink, and she lowers them to stare blankly at the hollow of his throat directly in front of her.
"One of the cops – Gorman –" Beth's mouth twists as she says the name and Rick files it away as the next person he's going to kill.
"He…" She falters, taking a moment before she's able to continue, "He put his hands under my shirt."
Rick feels his mouth tighten, heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline and bloodlust flood his body. He fucking what?
"They were everywhere, touching me," Beth continues, lowering her voice as though the admission shames her, and something inside him breaks. He wants to pull every ounce of shame out of her because that isn't something she should ever have to feel. Not about this. Not about anything. Not here in front of them.
She scoffs without humour, "He said that it was lucky for him that... I'm not a fighter."
Daryl growls and Rick feels it rumble through Beth's chest like an engine. He can tell by the guttural pitch to it that there's going to be a fight over who gets to kill this sick fuck who laid his hands on their girl. When their eyes catch, Daryl's are burning cold and in a look it's already decided they'll do it together, like they do everything else.
"I knew what he was going to do," Beth's voice drags his gaze back downwards.
"A girl killled herself because she couldn't take it anymore. I knew he was gonna rape me," She says, her voice hollow and matter-of-fact, stripped of all emotion. Daryl and Rick both wince at the word, at the mental image it invokes. They're reeling, spiralling in cold anger and violent disgust when Beth pulls them back.
"So I killed him," She confesses lifelessly.
For a moment all of the air is sucked out of the room. Nobody breathes as Beth lets go of the secret she's been harbouring alone for months, and it stops being her cross to bear and becomes something shared.
On his next inhale, Rick's chest floods with something akin to relief. That as bad as it had been, as dark and as cruel as it was for her, she hadn't had to endure that. His heart swells and he doesn't care that it might be a little fucked up but he's really fucking proud of her. He's proud that she fought. Proud but not one bit surprised because if she's anything at all Beth Greene is a fighter.
"Good," He says firmly, "Saves us a trip to Atlanta tomorrow."
Beth blinks up at him, no longer glazed over her eyes are bright and bewildered.
"I don' care, I'm still goin'," Daryl states gruffly, "We should burn it down."
At that Beth turns her head and when their eyes catch there's something shared in their gaze that's lost on Rick. Something that makes Beth's eyes soften with fondness as though caught in a memory. Daryl's own gaze is burning so brightly Rick isn't entirely sure he couldn't set the hospital ablaze with the intensity of it alone.
There's a lull where the weight of Beth's words sink in. Without the burden of them on her shoulders alone she seems visibly brighter, breathing easier under their palms as they resume their soft strokes.
Beth's revelation weighs heavily on Rick's conscience and he can't shake the feeling that he's made things worse for her. If he'd known, if he'd only known. Maybe he could have done something. Maybe he could have not done some things. The guild gnaws at his gut until he can't contain it.
"Beth, I'm so sorry," Rick says thickly.
"No, it's nothin'," Beth drags a hand over her face and through her hair, "I'm being stupid. We've been through so much worse."
"Girl, it ain't nothin' an' you ain't stupid."
Daryl leans forward, squeezing his hand on her hip and Rick mirrors him, trapping her between their bodies as he covers Daryl's hand with his own.
Feeling her small, pliable body against his, Rick's stomach clutches and bile hits the back of his throat as he remembers the way he threw her up on the kitchen counter and used her as a fuck-hole.
Not for the first time either. No, his hands have been everywhere, touching her. It shames him, the way he's treated her, dragging gasps from her body with how rough he is, his demanding hands grabbing and twisting. Fuck. He's a piece of shit.
He swallows it down. "Beth, sweetheart, I'm so sorry, if I'd known, I'd never have-"
Her fingers silence him as they come up to cover his lips, "Don't."
"I like the way you touch me," She says, her voice clear and steady, doe eyes boring into his before swinging to catch Daryl's, "Both of you."
Daryl looks unsure, some of the guilt Rick's feeling coming off of him in waves. Seeing this, knowing words were never his strong suit, Beth's fingers curl around Daryl's thumb and drag his hand up to cover her breast. His fingers tremble for a moment then instinctively curling around her before he lets his head drop and groans into her shoulder.
She tips her head forward just enough to meet Rick's thumb and suck the tip into her mouth. His breath catches in his chest as she slides off achingly slow, dragging her teeth across the pad of his thumb.
"Please, daddy," She whispers, as their eyes lock and burn.
"Anything, sweetheart," He croaks.
He means it; he, they would do anything for her, anything at all.
"Make me feel good," She says, commands with the raw need that laces her voice.
She moans hot against the pad of Rick's thumb as Daryl teases her nipple between his rough fingertips.
"S'all we wanna do, girl."
Rick's pupils expand with Beth's chest, watching her breathing become laboured under Daryl's touch. Where he was frozen before now he's melting against her, sure in the direction she's given him, clear in his purpose.
Touching Beth is something Daryl knows, is good at, takes great pleasure in. She's asked and he's answering without hesitation. Rick might have expected Daryl to be spooked, but he's touching her with the same fevered devotion he always has. He knows it's different. He's not like that with her; he doesn't take.
It's Rick's turn to be unsure. Watching them, need and arousal coming off of them in waves, he feels his body grow hot with want. He wants to touch her, pull moans from her throat like Daryl is doing. But suddenly it doesn't seem okay, knowing some creep grabbed her and tried to take her.
Isn't that what you do? Grab her? Take her and use her how you want?
Only in the ways she wants. She would say if she didn't. Wouldn't she?
How can she say anything with your cock shoved down her throat?
Almost crazed with anxiety it takes him a moment to realise Daryl is looking directly at him as he mouths his way across Beth's shoulder. She lets her head fall back and her eyes flutter closed, tight muscles slowly unfurling under the heat of his mouth. When Rick's eyes meet his for once he doesn't find a question but an answer in Daryl's gaze.
It's ok.
Rick's brows knit together. But I-
"Do you want your daddy to touch you, sweetheart?" Daryl asks, mouth turned into Beth's throat but his eyes remain locked on Rick's.
The sound of Daryl's voice tickles her eyelids and they flutter open. Lust-blown pupils take a moment to focus on Rick before understanding softens her face. Rick ducks his head, uncomfortable under her soft gaze and feeling utterly undeserving of her understanding.
"Yes," She says, reaching forward to curl her fingers around Rick's hand, "I love it when he touches me."
His eyes flick up to hers, the warmth they exude chasing away his anxiety like a shadow.
Daryl circles the peaked nipple through her thin camisole and Beth hums, eyes never leaving Rick's. Despite his misgivings, his cock twitches when it hears her; mind and body refusing to sing from the same hymn sheet.
"What 'bout me?" Daryl asks, giving her breast a gentle squeeze.
Rick's eyes swings over Beth's shoulder and his unruly cock strains against his boxers when he sees the playful glint in Daryl's eyes. It's not often Daryl feels relaxed enough to play but when he does Rick comes undone. His smile is magnetic and Rick is caught in his orbit.
"I love that too," Beth answers Daryl but she's smiling at Rick, "I like it best when you're both touching me."
Daryl hums in approval, "I bet you do."
Rick's nostrils flare as he watches Beth's head roll loosely under Daryl's touch. Tentatively, he reaches out to gently stroke the fabric covering her mound with the tip of his finger.
"Do you want me to touch you here, princess?" He asks, his voice sounding naked without its usual cockiness.
Her smile widens. If she notices the change she doesn't let on. "Yes please, daddy," She whispers softly.
Rick drags in a breath. It's the please that floors him. Every. Single. Time.
He clears his throat and nods.
"Take these off," He somehow manages to grate out, tugging loose the string of her sleep shorts, "And let us show you how much we love you."
Beth's smile freezes and her breath hitches. The words, the irrefutable sincerity behind them, catch her off guard.
There are other times to tell her, other ways to show her, sure, but he doesn't want anymore secrets. Fuck that. Not here in this bed, this is where they strip everything away and just are.
Like a deer caught in the headlights, Daryl looks overcome with emotions Rick can't place, thrown out of his comfort zone once more. They don't do this, haven't done this. Not out loud.
But they show each other all the time.
Suddenly, and without really meaning to, Rick leans forward to where Daryl's head is rested on Beth's shoulder, seeking his mouth and curling his hand around the nape of his neck. Daryl barely has a chance to respond before Rick is turning to press his lips against Beth's, still tingling from Daryl's whiskers.
As Beth teases her tongue along the seam of Rick's lips, he tightens his grip on the back of Daryl's neck. A whimper escapes the other man's throat as he presses his forehead to Rick's temple.
When Rick pulls back, slowly running his tongue across his bottom lip and tasting them both there, he finds two pairs of lust blown eyes eagerly following the motion across his mouth.
There's a beat, breaths held tightly in pounding chests, and then Rick swallows with an audible click and the sounds is like a starting gun, sparking their shared lust into motion. Beth shimmies her sleep shorts down her thighs and Daryl pulls them the rest of the way off her long legs.
Bringing his hand down to cup her mound, Rick feels her damp curls against his dry palm. He watches as Beth's hips buck up into his palm and her mouth falls open in a gasp. She threads a hand into Daryl's hair and guides him forward to cover her open mouth with his.
As Daryl slides his tongue between her lips and into her mouth, Rick teases a finger along the familiar landscape of her slit. Gliding through her wetness he dips a finger between her lower lips and softly strokes her labia.
With Daryl's huge hand cupping her jaw and swallowing her moans, Rick is spurred on by Beth's fluttering walls and the tremble of her hips as she jerks towards his touch. He slides his finger in deeper and starts to move, massaging her soft walls until he feels them tighten around him.
He's a little distracted by the way that Daryl is kissing the life out of Beth just a breath away from his face. They part on a gasp, Daryl's head falling to pant heavily against her throat. Beth's eyes catch Rick's as he adds another finger, and she threads her fingers into his sweat dampened curls, dragging him up for a biting kiss.
He screws his fingers into her until she's keening and writhing and panting into his mouth. Daryl's knuckles graze Rick's as he begins to softly stroke Beth's clit while Rick rotates his rough fingers inside her, stretching her quivering walls and making them pulse with ecstasy.
It takes Rick a moment to realise that he can hear hushed tones and another to realise that they are coming from Daryl's mouth; that he's talking. Rick leans back just enough to make out the words.
"We got you, girl. We're here for you. God, you're so beautiful, you know that? You're amazin', dunno what we ever did to deserve you," Daryl murmurs against her throat, peppering the words with open mouthed kisses across her sensitive skin.
Beth has one hand softly stroking Daryl's scalp and the other tightly fisted in Rick's hair, when he curls his fingers and takes her apart. Her back arches against the mattress and she cries out as though transcending her body. Consumed by raw pleasure, he feels every tremor of her orgasm against his fingers as though her walls were wrapped around his aching cock.
Another time he might keep going, screwing his fingers deeper and harder until she's screaming in sweet agony. But when he feels the soft sigh of contentment hit his cheek he knows she's got what she needed and he stills his fingers before sliding them out of her tight wet heat.
Stroking the wild pillow-mussed hair back from her forehead, Daryl kisses the side of her face gently as she takes long slow breaths. She doesn't look anything like the weeping girl that Rick carried in here, now with her eyelids fallen to half mast, her cheeks and chest blooming with colour.
Her body is slowly melting into the mattress as the force of her orgasm turns her bones to liquid. As she settles her head on the pillow next to Daryl's she looks peaceful. So does he; head sinking along with his eyelids. A good fuck will do that to you, but he doesn't think it's just that. He knows it isn't.
He jolts with a yelp when he feels Beth's hot palm curl around his painfully hard cock through the thin fabric of his boxers. His hand comes up to grab her wrist tightly and when his eyes meet hers she's blinking back at him in confusion.
Lifting her hand up to his mouth he presses a kiss to the back of it and out of the confusion rises a smile, lighting up her eyes.
"In the morning," He promises and watches as her eyes flutter closed and she falls out of consciousness.