"Daryl?" Beth called softly, creeping down the stairs.
She had been laying awake in bed, unable to sleep. Her stomach was full and settled, but her mind wouldn't shut off. Beth rounded the corner to the couch, where he was just sitting up, looking for her. Beth forced a small smile, trying assure him everything was alright.
"Why ain't ya sleepin'?" Daryl asked her.
"You know," Beth said, sitting down next to him, "- same old, same old."
Daryl grunted in response.
"It's not like I don't want to sleep," Beth said. "I mean, my body is dropping in and out of situations enough for you t'know that. But when I'm up there, just listening to my own thoughts..."
"Alright, girl," Daryl said, standing up and offering her his hand. "C'mon."
"What?"
"I'll go up with ya," Daryl said easily. "This place is lousy with books. I'll read ya something."
"I guess that'd be alright," Beth said, trying not to let relief sneak into her voice. The knot of dread in her stomach started to unfurl. "What are you gonna read?"
"I've been readin' this one," Daryl said, stopping in front of the bookshelf to grab a worn copy of Fahrenheit 451. "But y'can pick whatever, girl."
"No, that's fine," Beth said.
Daryl pocketed the book and they climbed up the stairs in comfortable silence. Beth opened the door to the bedroom, stepping in and letting Daryl follow her. For a second, she glanced out the window, but only saw their reflections off the glass; the candlelight threw shadows.
"Which side?" Beth asked.
"Huh?"
"Of the bed. Which side of the bed do you want?" Beth clarified.
"Oh, I was just gonna sit on that chair," he said, hooking a thumb to the rocker in the corner.
"You might as well just stay," Beth said, trying not to worry about the physical contact, "I mean, we've... y'know, kissed and all. It's silly to act shy now, right?"
"... right," Daryl said slowly. "But if you ain't comfortable with me..."
"Just pick a side, Daryl Dixon, or I'll make you sit in that rickety ol' rocker, and you'll wish you'd said nothin'."
"Uh, left then, I guess," Daryl muttered, sitting down on the bed.
"Closer to the door," Beth commented. "Thinkin' about making a speedy exit once I'm asleep?"
"Shut it, or I'll make you sit in the chair," he muttered.
"No you wouldn't."
"Y'want me to read or not?" he asked, stretching out with his back against the headboard.
Beth nodded and laid down next to Daryl. She turned onto her side so she could see him. Tucking her hand under the pillow, she watched as he tried to get comfortable, and then opened the book. He read for a while, but it took Beth a few minutes to tune into what he was saying, instead of just staring.
"...He glanced back at the wall. How like a mirror, too, her face. Impossible; for how many people did you know that refracted your own light to you? People were more often - he searched for a simile, found one in his work-torches, blazing away until they whiffed out. How rarely did other people's faces take of you and throw back to you your own expression, your own innermost trembling thought?"
"Daryl?" Beth interrupted.
"Yeah?" he said, looking over to her.
"Thank you."
"For what?" he asked, sounding confused.
"Just thanks," she said in a small, warm voice. "Will you keep reading 'til I'm asleep?"
"Uh-huh," he responded.
"Okay, keep going," she said through a yawn.
"What incredible power of identification the girl had; she was like the eager watcher of a marionette show, anticipating each flicker of an eyelid, each gesture of his hand, each flick of a finger, the moment before it began. How long had they walked together? Three minutes? Five? Yet how large that time seemed now..."
Beth had slept long and hard. She hadn't dreamed - not that she could remember, at least. When she woke, her arm was numb from laying on it; Beth sat up in the bed, rotating her shoulder, trying to get some of the feeling back in it. Daryl was gone, but that wasn't surprising. She figured it to be early afternoon.
Suddenly, Beth heard shouting from the yard. Springing up, tripping slightly on the blankets, she fought her way to the window. She couldn't see anything, but she could hear voices - crying. A woman. Beth scrambled for the door and went downstairs, grabbing her knife as she went.
"She... she's here?" Beth froze outside the kitchen door, recognizing the voice immediately. "You found her? - Glenn, he found her!"
"Where is she? Is she alright?" Glenn asked.
Beth's stomach sunk all the way to her knees. Maggie. Glenn. They were here. They were in the kitchen. They were talking to Daryl - oh God, had Daryl told them? What did they know? Beth itched to run - both away, and to them.
"She's fine," Daryl assured them gruffly. "You'll be wantin' to see her, then, I s'ppose."
"If you don't get out of my way, Dixon, I will lay you out," Maggie said her no-nonsense voice.
"Just..." Daryl started, "lemme get her. I'll bring'er down. It'll be like a... surprise. She's was on her own for a long while. It'll be nice to do this for her."
"If you want to surprise her then you better move fast!" Maggie warned.
Beth quietly ran back to the stairs, skidding on the hardwood in her socks. She took the two at a time, cursing their creaks. It wasn't long after that Daryl showed up, looking worried as hell, trying to spit out what she already knew.
"Maggie's here," Beth said.
"Yeah," Daryl admitted. "Y'heard 'em?"
"Yeah, hard not to," Beth said. "Did you... did you tell them? About me? About what happened?"
"Hell, girl," Daryl cursed. "No. I didn't say nothin'. They barely been here for more than a minute."
"I'm... I'm gonna have to tell her," Beth whispered more to herself than to Daryl.
"It'll be alright, Beth," he assured. "She'll understand, after what she went through with..."
"No," Beth said in a stronger voice, "I'm gonna have to tell her about us - that we're... together. Eventually about this... my... our baby, Daryl."
"Damn it, Beth, she's gonna kill me!" Daryl exclaimed.
"... we are together, aren't we?"
"Shit," he cursed, slipping his hand into hers for moral support, "tell her whatever y'want, girl, but I ain't takin' off my crossbow."
"... that's probably for the best."