All, I am excited to start this new story, a sequel to my previous story, A Man on the Beach. If you haven't read that story, I encourage you to start there, although I have tried to review/outline some of the main events of that story here in this first chapter (but I'm unsure if someone who didn't read the first story could glean enough from this to follow it!). This chapter isn't an active one, but it serves to introduce you to the story and to give a background on where Daryl and Beth are currently.
I hope to hear from each of you as I progress through this story – I love receiving feedback, as well as ideas for the story. I have many ideas for this story, but not necessarily a clear cut path, as I did with the last one. So I'd love to hear what each of thinks about what you'd like to see happening here.
Enjoy! And happy new year!
Daryl was pleasantly surprised with how easily he and Beth fell into a routine, finding a new sense of normalcy together. In those first days after they'd returned home from staying with Beth's parents in Georgia, she told him a great deal about her stay in the recovery center in Florida. It seemed that she had a very positive experience there and was feeling good about the progress she'd made. And Daryl hoped that if she was faced with another traumatic event, which he knew came to everyone in life sooner or later, that she'd be able to cope better than before, when she'd sunken into herself and struggled even with normal daily tasks. He hated thinking about that time, right after that little girl's drowning, when Beth had been almost catatonic and he'd stayed with her, making sure she ate, slept, bathed, had clean clothes to wear and things to try and occupy her mind. It had been a difficult time for him, maybe one of the most difficult of his life, he thought, especially at first when Beth hadn't wanted to even speak and he'd been left to only guess what he should do to try to help her. He still worried now that she'd been suicidal, after finding out that she'd attempted suicide once before. But she'd assured him that she hadn't been and that she had too much to live for. And Daryl believed her.
And even though it was just a couple of months prior, it seemed to Daryl as if all of that was a lifetime ago. They'd had quite a journey since then, and Daryl often thought about all of those things, and that time, just a few weeks ago, when everything had been so different between them. That, of course, was before they'd started a relationship. Sure, they'd had the one night together, all instigated by a night out with friends and running into Daryl's ex, Andrea, and a consequential plan on Beth's part to make her jealous. That was the night that Daryl realized just how deep his feelings for Beth were. Over the six weeks that they were apart while Beth was in treatment, he'd often found his mind drifting back to that evening. Beth had been so uninhibited and he always smiled thinking back to that first time she'd kissed him, perched on his lap, and how her bare legs had felt under his fingertips. Things had gotten pretty heated between them then – Daryl had touched her, but she'd freaked out before anything else could happen, telling him it was a mistake and starting a fight with him that he feared then would ruin their relationship forever. And those days following, when Daryl had drunken himself into a stupor, but failed miserably at his attempts to forget about Beth, Daryl hated to think about those. He was glad, though, that somehow, someway fate had intervened and made sure that he just happened to be at Wal-mart that night, after the drowning, when Beth had been in such a traumatized state and needed him. After that, all the worries about that uncomfortable situation between them had melted away in light of Beth's state and Daryl's need to help her.
Those days and weeks after the drowning were somehow some of the best and worst of Daryl's life, he thought. He'd been miserable seeing Beth in such a terrible state, and it'd been incredibly frustrating not knowing exactly what she needed or how he could help her to come out of the dangerous cloud of depression that encircled her. But over time, she got better and better, and those quiet times they shared together then, particularly their nights snuggled together on the couch watching movies and reading aloud together, had really laid a pathway for their current relationship, although Daryl hadn't recognized it then. That was also the calm before the next storm, when Beth's uncle had walked in on them and things had gotten ugly quickly. And before he knew it, just as their relationship had really just gotten started, Beth was off to Florida to go to the treatment center, and Daryl was left lost and confused, unsure how to deal with her sudden absence and his inability to communicate with her.
But in the last days and weeks, things had seemed to settle down a bit, although Daryl still worried that it was all too good to be true. But, as the weeks passed, he grew more and more comfortable with this new life – and he also knew that he'd never let it go without a fight. He loved sharing his life with Beth, and never imagined that living with someone could be this way, as it certainly hadn't been with Andrea. With Andrea, she'd held all the power and control in the relationship; but with Beth, their relationship was a true partnership, and he couldn't help but think about their future and how much he couldn't wait to make her his wife. And he was excited to know, after their conversation back in Georgia, that that's what she was hoping for too.
Beth had seemed quite anxious about starting her student teaching, but she'd quickly adjusted to the new schedule and the school where she'd been assigned. Daryl never saw her in action there, of course, but he could only imagine that she was truly in her element – and the way that she talked about the school and the students made him assume that she had only grown more confident about her choice of a profession. Every night during dinner she'd talk and talk and talk about what happened that day, telling him stories about funny things students had said or done, or interesting things that happened. Daryl enjoyed listening to her, loved seeing her so happy, especially after everything that the past few months had entailed.
In some ways, Daryl thought, their days often mirrored those first days they shared together, right after they'd first met on the beach, when Daryl stayed with Beth during that first week after his breakup with Andrea. They got up and shared breakfast together every morning before both departing for school and work. And they'd have dinner together every night, telling each other about their days. Beth had taken to cooking their dinners most nights now, insisting that it was much healthier for them than always eating take-out and it would also be much cheaper too. But they continued to get to know more about one another in those moments, just as they'd done all those weeks ago, sitting at the breakfast bar in Beth's uncle's kitchen. They told each other much more now, though, both of them having now completely let their guard down for the other, telling secrets and memories from the past, not wanting to hold anything back from the other.
Daryl couldn't help but smile thinking also about the differences in their daily routine now compared to the one all those weeks ago. The biggest difference, of course, was their commitment to each other. They were truly together now and making plans for a future, a future together. Daryl still wasn't quite sure what that looked like, but after his and Beth's conversation about their future during their last night in Georgia he was starting to get a clearer picture in his mind.
Of course, there was also their physical relationship, which was now much different than it was before. Daryl had assumed that Beth's horniness and constant need for sex would slow down over time as she adjusted to her medication and to finding a daily routine with Daryl – but that hadn't really been the case. Sure, things weren't like they were that first weekend they spent at the house, but that was probably only because they both had things to do during the days and couldn't stay in bed together all day like they had then. But even with their work and school schedules, Beth's appetite for Daryl had definitely not decreased. Almost every morning Daryl would wake up to Beth rolling on top of him, or her hand snaking its way around his cock. She seemed to love that he was always hard in the morning when he woke up, and never wanted to pass up a chance to take advantage of it. And some days, Daryl could barely get out of the door to head to work without Beth's advances dragging him back in for a quick second round of the morning. He also always knew what to expect as he headed home at the end of the day – Beth would be in the kitchen, starting to get everything organized for the dinner she planned to cook that night, but as soon as Daryl got home, she'd be on him, needing and wanting to be as close to him as physically possible. And he could never turn her down, although sometimes he'd stave her off until he could shower off the dirt and grime of his day on the construction site. Or, on days when work had been particularly taxing, he'd take care of her, often dropping down onto his knees right there in the kitchen, licking Beth into a frenzy, before heading off for a shower and a brief nap before dinner. It was almost comical to Daryl how scared Beth had initially been about letting him put his mouth on her – because now, all of those inhibitions had certainly been left behind. And, at night, when they'd go to bed, they'd always make love. Daryl treasured those times the most – in those moments things were always slow, sweet, and loving. There was no rush, their actions being much more about love than about lust. And Daryl loved the way he and Beth would stare into each other's eyes, exchanging slow kisses and soft whispers of love, and how they'd fall asleep naked and holding one another tightly. And Daryl always thought, in those particular moments, that life couldn't get any better and he overflowed with feelings that he never thought he could have, knowing that he'd found the person he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.
Yes, things were good between them. They'd settled into the new house well, and Beth had enjoyed putting some "homey touches" on what Daryl had already done with the house. She'd initially been amazed at how well he'd done at getting everything and arranging it, although he'd assured her that her father had played a very large part in that. Beth had been very conscious about spending money on things for the house, but had drug Daryl along to a few area thrift stores to find a few things that were very reasonably priced. He'd tried to assure her that money wasn't as tight as she had convinced herself it was, and that they could go somewhere to buy new things, if she wanted. But she'd been hesitant to do so, trying to assure him that she liked things that were "vintage" – Daryl just thought that word meant used, although he'd come to see what great bargains you could find at thrift and consignment stores.
Beth had been incredibly anxious about money in those first few weeks they'd been back in Hilton Head, and Daryl worried that her anxiety would overtake her. She'd been so fixated on it, always talking about finding a job or questioning him on how they'd "make ends meet", and his concerns only grew when she didn't seem to respond to reason, even after he shared with her that he had over $60,000 in savings and that his salary, of about $100,000 a year, would be more than enough for them to both live off of and continue to save.
Daryl had already started working on plans for the house he planned to build for them on his father's land, back in Georgia, telling Beth that the whole process would take much longer than you'd think and not wanting to lose some of the ideas that he'd already come up with about the house. But when Beth saw some of the plans Daryl had sketched out, her concern about their finances had hit an all-time high. He was determined to build them the nicest, best house they could afford to, which he was sure would allow for quite a bit, since he'd be doing most of the work himself. But Beth seemed incredibly anxious about it all, and he'd continued to try to convince her to just trust him, although he wasn't sure she really was.
Right after he returned to work when he and Beth had come back from Georgia, his boss had given him a sizable bonus, since the first construction project he'd overseen had been completed, and they had actually come in just under the timeline, something not particularly common in construction. Tyreese, his boss, had been particularly impressed with how Daryl handled the project, and promised big things would be coming down the line for Daryl if he continued to perform so well. Daryl was excited to tell Beth about the bonus, knowing how she'd been fixating, unnecessarily on money. He gave her an envelope with several hundred dollars in it, telling her to use it for new school clothes and anything else she wanted or needed. She'd been particularly excited about that, and Daryl was glad that she'd accepted the money – he'd prepared himself that she'd refuse it, given her constant concerns about how they could afford to live. He'd done some math and figured that his bonus was enough to compensate for any small part-time job she'd be able to get, especially given her school schedule, trying to assure her that she didn't need to work and that she should focus on her student teaching and her own mental health. Daryl knew they didn't need that money anyways, not really – the bonus was nice, but he made more than enough for them to live very comfortably. Beth had seemed a tad bit relieved when he'd told her that he didn't want her to try to find a job, at least in that moment, but he wasn't sure if that was because of the bonus, or the promise that she wouldn't have to spend any more time away from him that she had to.
Daryl had noticed that Beth was seemingly very attached to him and always wanted to be around him during any free time that they both had. Everything Beth did seemingly revolved around Daryl and while he loved spending every minute he could with her, it also concerned him a bit that she didn't ever want to be away from him except when it was absolutely necessary. Other than the couple of friends that had been given the same student teaching assignment as Beth, she hadn't seen any of her friends since returning. When Daryl questioned her about it she got a bit defensive, telling him that she just didn't feel quite up to it yet and that she also wanted to be with him as much as possible. And even after he'd offered to go with her to meet up with them, maybe for dinner over the weekend, or that she could even invite them all over to their house, she still shrugged it off, giving him a very noncommittal "yeah… maybe" in response. Daryl worried that Beth was growing incredibly co-dependent on him and he knew how unhealthy that was for her. He also knew, based on a book that he'd secretly read about depression and anxiety, that that was a common tendency for those who struggled with those types of conditions and that it could hamper their progress and overall ability to function somewhat normally.
And overall, although there were those few things that did really worry Daryl, he felt incredibly happy with him and Beth's new life. At times he tried to think back to what his life had been like before Beth, but always found that he'd rather think about what it'd been like since he'd met her, all those weeks ago on the beach. Then, she'd pulled him out of the darkness and brought him back to life, reminding him that he was strong and could move past his heartache. And he found that she still did that for him, everyday – she was his sunshine, the reason why he worked so incredibly hard, and, the more he thought about it, the source of the totality of all his happiness.