OK, so I attempted Daryl's POV and tried my best to move on the interactions for these two as I didn't want to drag it out too much. I'm also trying to involve other characters in this story as I do want there to be *some* plot as well as Bethyl in here, and I can't do that without writing their interactions with other characters.
I am really not as confident when it comes to writing from Daryl's perspective as I am with Beth's, so please be kind!
P.S: sorry for any little spelling mistakes/grammar issues. I've written this whole chapter in one go on my iPad so I'll check it over when I get chance later on. Until then - enjoy! And thanks as always for all of the amazing reviews, plus the favourites and follows! :)
Thirty eight days after seeing her for the first time in his life, Daryl Dixon finally concluded that Beth Greene is a straight-up cock tease.
Up until this precise moment, the man had been wary of labelling her as such because he genuinely did not believe that the girl really had any idea about just how crazy she was currently driving him (and probably countless other men, too, but he really didn't want to think on about that). There had been three occasions so far that he could think of when the two of them had bumped into each other - and Daryl was pretty sure that he would remember if he had seen this girl more times than that - and every time that he had laid his own eyes upon her, the blonde seemed to have been looking straight back at him, too.
And fuck if he hadn't wanted her since the very first moment that he saw her. There had been women in his life before, sure - hell, Merle made it practically impossible for him not to have a woman around at least once in a while - but there had never, ever been anything like this before. The problem here was that this girl didn't even look to be a day over the age of eighteen, and whilst there was a lot of shit that Daryl found himself involved in (primarily guns - a fucking lot of them, too), he still had his boundaries, had his limits.
Jail bait had never been something that had tempted him.
Well, at least it hadn't ever been before her.
And in all fairness, for all of the innocent looks that she had ever thrown his way with those big blue eyes and those long, batting eyelashes of hers, Daryl Dixon was pretty damned sure that this girl was anything but experienced when it came to self-awareness. Beth Greene sure as hell was not like him and his useless ass who couldn't even decide whether he was upset or angry when things got a little tough. Despite the fact that he had seen her (twice) struggling to deal with her alcoholic daddy, there still seemed to be this sort of easy-breezy air about her that made it perfectly clear to him that she had not been raised in the same way that he had been: with a belt and a hard fist.
Whilst there were a lot of things that Daryl couldn't admit to himself, one thing that he managed to was the fact that he was actually glad that Beth Greene seemed to have had at least a half-decent upbringing. The one that Merle and himself had had wasn't something that he would wish upon anyone else on this fucking planet; never mind some sweet-ass girl who didn't seem to really bother anyone at all. And whilst everything about her seemed to physically pull him into her general space in a way that he had never experienced before; the knowledge of just how different the two of them were - not just in the ways that their pasts had been, but also the way that their lives were now - kept him as far away from her as he possibly could be.
If he was a different person - his brother, perhaps, or one of the other guys from the club - then he sure as hell wouldn't have even bothered wasting a fucking minute of his life when it came to approaching her. The guys he called family went up to random women all of the time, and if they got them then it was great, and if they didn't then it was just a case of having a laugh about it and moving on. But Daryl had never really been like that - his brother always did call him the sweet one - and if anything, this girl was something else.
He didn't know her and probably never would, but Daryl knew as soon as he saw her that she deserved a lot better than that. Knew that the tiny slip of a thing deserved more than to be in some shitty bar dragging her drunk dad home like she was his damned mother. Knew that she deserved better than to be getting oggled by some redneck biker who frequented this bar at least a couple of times a week.
But when she looked at him in the way that she did - with her light blue eyes dancing, practically twinkling as they took all of him in - had Daryl thinking that maybe this damned girl felt the exact same thing that he did, too. Whenever her eyes lingered upon his, it almost seemed as though she wanted the same thing that he did, that she had the same thoughts as he was.
Like they were sharing this experience together.
Like the tension wasn't all just on his side.
Like he wasn't some sort of sick pervert for even looking at her in the way that he was.
Compared to all of the previous times that they had seen each other, tonight was... well, it was different, all round. For a start, it was - for once - him invading her space, as opposed to it being the other way round, which he had actually grown accustomed to, to the point where he kind of expected her to come bursting in at any moment. That's the way that it had been on those three times before, with Beth coming to him - either when she entered the bar that he and his gang spent a lot of time at in search for her father, or when she came down to the garage that he fucking owned to get her truck fixed, it was always her coming towards him.
But tonight - for the first time - it had all been him.
And sure, it wasn't as though Beth actually owned the coffee shop that he was currently sat at the back of (at least, he didn't think that she did), but it was her who was stood up on a small makeshift stage with a guitar in her hands, singing some soft song into the microphone that had been put there for her. And it was her family and friends who filled out the majority of the front tables, all cheering her on; smiling and clapping loudly every time that she finished a song.
As Daryl slouched down in his seat at the back of the coffee shop whilst he waited to meet with the town's Sheriff - who, for the record, should have been meeting him at least twenty five minutes ago, which would have made this thing look a lot less creepy since he wouldn't have been sat on his own when she got up on stage and started singing - Daryl tried his best not to feel too uncomfortable.
But since she had first stepped onto that small little stage, her light blue eyes had been lingering on him a little too much for his liking, and it seemed that with every passing minute the blonde was getting bolder and braver. It was quickly becoming far too much for him to simply ignore her - not when he could feel her eyes burning straight into the side of his head - and when she sang some of the lyrics to the songs (whether they were her own original ones or not, he had absolutely no idea), she stared right at him as though they were meant for him and only him.
He's so tall, and handsome as hell/He's so bad, but he does it so well.
Time is only wasting so why wait for eventually?/If we're gonna do something about it, we should do it right now.
The words were sang so softly and so innocently but all that Daryl had to do was look up and meet her eyes to know that she definitely meant anything but by all of this. It wasn't as though he could tell whether or not she actually wanted him, because Daryl Dixon had never been the best at understanding what was going on in a woman's mind; but he was one hundred percent sure that this girl knew what she was doing to him right now.
And fuck, she was loving every second of torturing him, he could just tell.
(Or, maybe his mind was running a little bit wild with this one, and maybe he was losing it just a little bit).
By the time that Rick Grimes finally makes an appearance in the coffee shop and drops himself into the seat beside him, Daryl has plucked up the courage to just sit here in his seat and watch Beth Greene as she performs. He had only ever heard her name as a random whisper before - some sad words about her mama who had passed away - but he had put two and two together when she showed up at the bar that first night. It was obvious that the blonde was one of Hershel's daughters (mostly because there was no way on earth anyone else would care enough to show up and help the old man like that), and since he knew that the older one was going out with his pizza delivery guy, Glenn (who described his girlfriend Maggie Greene as having brown hair, not blonde), he figured that she was Beth.
After her visit to the garage with her truck, his suspicions of her name were confirmed, but even if he hadn't been as confident as he was, then the sound of a young man sat at the front of the coffee shop shouting out "Go on, Beth!" every time that she finished a song was enough to clarify it in his mind.
The next song that she sings is a cover of a Sinatra one - Under My Skin, he thinks it might be called, or something like that anyway - and the blonde has grown in confidence, too, because she is literally looking directly at him (all hooded blue eyes and everything) the whole time that she sings the fucking song. There is definitely nothing at all discreet about the small smiles she offers to him as she sings the chorus, and her breathless giggle once she has finished might as well have sent him under.
Despite the fact that he practically missed the whole fucking performance, Rick Grimes claps loudly along with the rest of the people gathered in the coffee shop from where he is sat beside him. The noise irritates him a lot more than it probably should - hell, if he was a better person then he would probably clap for this girl, too - and Daryl finds it within him to turn his attention away from the blushing blonde and instead focuses on the Sheriff.
"The hell took you so long?" Daryl snaps in his direction, narrowing his eyes at the man. It wasn't as though the two of them were necessarily friends or enemies, per se, but the two of them had what Daryl liked to think of as a mutual understanding when it came to matters about the safety of this town and it's inhabitants, and also when it came down to the club.
Despite being President of the club, Merle was... well, Merle, and he never really did have a way of getting along with law-abiding citizens (and law-enforcement officers) at the best of times. So his big brother seemed to think that it was a much better idea to send Daryl to talk with the Sheriff whenever he damn-well pleased, and if he was being honest, Daryl supposed that it was a better idea to have him here instead of Merle.
But tonight had been different in more ways than one, because tonight had been on the Sheriff's terms, not Daryl's.
The thing was that even if Rick was an officer, he wasn't a bad guy - actually, he was a pretty damn decent guy - and unlike his partner, Shane, Rick understood that the guys who were part of Merle's club weren't bad people, either. There had even been a few times where Daryl had felt as though the two of them were working together, not against each other, even if nobody else around them could really see that.
Shrugging his shoulders, Rick sat back in his seat, looking as though he was trying to get comfortable in it. "Wife," is all that he says in lieu of an explanation, and Daryl's shoulders slowly relax some as he mimics Rick's posture.
It isn't as though the mechanic actually understands all that much about relationships because he has never really had one that hasn't fucked up (and hell, he sure hasn't ever been married before), but he can appreciate the fact that keeping someone happy at all times whilst still trying to look after yourself and your own happiness sure isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. It isn't as though Daryl feels sorry for Rick, because he made the choice to be married, after all, but he supposes that he can understand where he might be coming from with his frustration.
Wanting to change the subject, Daryl clears his throat. "So," he says, ignoring the sound of Beth's gentle voice as she announces that this next song will be her last one of the evening. "There any reason you asked me to come down here, or were you jus' plannin' on us havin' a coffee an' a chit-chat about our feelin's like some old gossipin' ladies?"
Shaking his head, Rick lets out a low chuckle, his blue eyes darting between where Beth is stood on the stage and where Daryl is sat beside him. If the man think anything much of the fact that Daryl is currently sat with his hands balled into fists - one by his side, the other on the table between them - and his jaw locked tightly, then he doesn't voice it or even hint towards it. Instead, Rick pulls his Sheriff's hat down from his head and looks at it thoughtfully. "Nah," he says, shaking his head again. "There was a reason."
It's a little bit dramatic for Daryl's liking, this whole conversation, and for a good few seconds it's quiet between the two of them. The sound of Beth singing some song about being good fills his ears, and Daryl fights the temptation to just steal a quick glance at her as much as he possibly can. The mechanic refuses to turn and face the young blonde's direction because he thinks to himself that if he does, then he loses whatever it it that they're playing each other on, and if not giving her attention helps to push her to back off, then that's a win-win for him.
(It's not a win-win for him, though. Of course it isn't. Not when he wants her as much as he does.)
"We need to talk about your brother," Rick says as his eyes dart up from the hat to Daryl's, interrupting the man's over-active thoughts about Beth fucking Greene.
Those words immediately grab his attention and straight away Daryl seems to be even more tense than he was before, which he personally hadn't thought would be possible. "What about him?" Daryl asks, his voice low and hoarse, words coming out slow despite the fact that he wants to rush them all. His breathing is steady and deep, but Daryl knows that it is also heavy - not the way that it is when he's hunting, when he's trying his best to be composed and quiet - and he also knows that Rick can sense the fact that he is suddenly on edge.
It's the mention of Merle, though - it just does this to him, no matter how many years the two of them have been doing this. The club itself tries it's best to stay clean and good and even though it's impossible for it to always be that way, Daryl didn't think that there was some sort of huge problem with the law (at least at the moment, anyway). They're all pretty good at covering up their shit, even the Prospect's, and Daryl wonders what it is that has Merle in trouble with the cops this time.
Sighing, Rick looks back to the hat in his hands. "There's been a problem down at the station."
Narrowing his deep blue eyes in the Sheriff's direction, Daryl is surprised that he isn't physically shaking but this point. He wants nothing more than for Rick to just get to the fucking point here, to just explain to him what on earth is going on with his brother. "The hell is that supposed to mean?" he spits out, his tone bitter and angry.
But Daryl is seething, burning with anger that he can't even describe or explain, and he knows in the small, rational part of his mind that he's panicking; that he's worried and scared and confused. But it doesn't come out that way, and at this point, Daryl is distracted enough by what is being said between Rick and himself that he doesn't even register the fact that Beth has finished her last song and is thanking everyone who came down to the coffee shop to support her.
On his face, it is more than evident that Rick is battling emotions, and despite the fact that the man is only silent for a couple of seconds, Daryl's poor temper and general lack of patience means that he is struggling to hold back angry demands regarding his brother. Just before he can open his mouth to say something that he will most likely regret at a later time, though, Rick finally decides to take the opportunity to speak; heaving out a long, drawn-out sigh before he chooses to explain himself fully.
"It's Candy," Rick says, rubbing a hand over his freshly shaven face. "You know, the -" he looks around at everyone briefly, seeming to be satisfied that they are too busy cheering for the blonde who is still stood on stage with a bright smile on her face before leaning in over the table towards Daryl, his voice low and his body suddenly tense. "The escort."
He is still as tense as he was before, but Daryl cannot help himself but to snort loudly and shake his head. "Tha's one way to put it," he mumbles, not necessarily under his breath, but quiet all the same.
Rick doesn't say anything to the sarcastic comment, but Daryl can tell just by his facial expression that the Sheriff knows exactly what it is that he means and that the man actually agrees with him on it, too.
"Yeah, her," Rick says, leaning backwards in his seat once again. "She paid a visit to the station, earlier on this morning. Wasn't there myself, so can't be sure that everythin' I'm gonna tell you is one hundred percent accurate, but it's everythin' that Shane has told me so far, an' I'm pretty sure he wouldn't lie to me about it."
Nodding, Daryl doesn't even think of anything to say to Rick right now. Instead, he carries on staring straight at the Sheriff, waiting for him to get to the point of all of this so that he can just deal with it sooner rather than later. The sighs are getting a lot heavier and a lot more frequent, and Daryl takes it as a bad sign. "She's sayin' that she needs some help, some... advice on what to do, how to testify against your brother."
It's not the worst news that Daryl has ever heard in his life - hell, it's nothing even close to the way that he felt when he realised that his mama had burned herself and their house straight to the ground - but his heart is still pounding in his chest all the same and still swallows thickly as he processes the information. "For wha'?" Daryl asks, his voice low and rough, worry evident on his usually unreadable features.
"Rape."
The bar is that he is in is sticky and sweaty and warm. Daryl has never been here before, but now that he's perched on a stool by the bar, he understands exactly why nobody has ever encouraged him to set foot in this place.
It's not to his tastes or liking in the sightest bit, and Daryl smirks to himself at the idea of coming to somewhere like this with any of the guys. It's located in a basement of a property, the upstairs of which is a restaurant that serves late night food, and the drinks here don't come in bottles, or even classes - they come in mason jars.
What Daryl considers to be even worse is that a big curly straw is places in each drink, and every time that the bar maid plops a fresh drink in front of him, he rips out the straw and tosses it beside him on the bar - just to make a point. (He never said he wasn't a dick, especially when he's drunk).
This place actually has a drinks menu, too, and Daryl naturally pulls his face and throws daggers at every person who comes near him and orders something from that stupid menu. It's just not a place that he's used to despite the fact that it's really pretty harmless, and Daryl never has liked change, yet for some reason unbeknown to him, he sits here as though he's waiting for something.
And then at the sight of Beth Greene descending the stairs a good hour or so later, he finally registers why.
This whole thing between the two of them is getting frustrating as hell, and Daryl hasn't even had a real conversation with the girl. It's all long, drawn out looks from her side that he can't help but return; and despite the fact that Daryl never has been all that confident with women or even bothered regarding them, he suddenly finds himself wanting to approach her.
And he's pretty damned drunk right now, so that would definitely be a bad idea - but as soon as her eyes lock onto his as she walks past him, linking arms with another girl that he doesn't recognise, Daryl has a feeling that it's going to be practically impossible for him to stay away from her tonight.
The biggest issue tonight is the fact that his head is a fucking mess. And it's usually that way anyway, but tonight is just extreme, especially after the conversation that he's had with Rick Grimes. The Sheriff's words buzz around in his head over and over again, and although Daryl really needs to have an important talk with his big brother, he finds himself rooted tightly to his seat at the bar.
And now that he's here, most of those negative thoughts that had been swirling around in his mind - about his brother and what he was going to do, about that bitch and her fake rape charge (because Daryl knows that Merle, despite being a pretty horrible person when he wanted to be, would never do that to a woman) - disappear. It's bad, that he knows, and he doesn't want this girl to have any sort of affect on him.
Not like this.
But this girl - Beth - she has this pull on him, some sort of magnetic effect that he just can't explain or understand. It's not just because he thinks she's hot, because he's thought that of other women before and never felt like this. And it's not like it's all just sexual tension - even though that's a pretty big part of it - but he doesn't really know what it is, and feeling this way about a girl he has barely even spoken to just makes him feel all sorts of pissed off.
(Daryl can't really deny the fact that he isn't very good at dealing with his emotions, either.)
It's another torturous twenty minutes of drinking and playing on his phone before Daryl decides that he needs to leave this place. The thought of her being there when he's in this sort of state is just too much, and he heaves out a sigh before pushing himself up and heading towards the men's bathroom.
This is also the sort of place that has three bathrooms; a men's, a women's, and a unisex. At the sight of the ones in the middle, Daryl rolls his eyes, not sure why the hell there was a need for a fucking unisex bathroom.
Once he's ready to leave, Daryl quickly exits the bathroom, not really paying attention to his surroundings and walking directly into someone else's much smaller body. It's not like he's really effected by the contact, but the other person is, and he quickly reaches out despite himself to steady them, his eyes unfocused in the smokey darkness of the bar.
"Watch where you're goin'," he bites out, his tone harsh.
The body stiffens under his grasp and Daryl immediately lets go at the sound of their voice, the realisation of who it is hitting him straight in the face. He drops her arms like they've burned his skin, and his eyes widen for a brief moment before they dramatically narrow instead.
"Sorry," Beth says, shaking her head and blinking up at him. "I didn't mean to."
The music playing in the bar has been pissing him off the whole time that he's been here, practically encouraging his head to throb violently because it was that loud. But all of a sudden it feels incredibly quiet, and now that she's stood here in front of him, it's like everything around them has slowed down.
His eyes are still narrowed and his posture is still tense and defensive, but the pull comes over him once again and Daryl can't help but relax ever so slightly after a second or two. From where she's stood in front of him, Beth does the same, and even though he figured that she was supposed to be going to the bathroom, that seems to have been forgotten as she blinks up at him.
"I'm Beth," she breathes out, unexpectedly breaking the silence between them. Perhaps it's the alcohol that's slowing down his reflexes, or maybe he's just not as observant as he's getting older, but he stands there looking all dumbfounded as Beth reaches one of her small hands out to him.
Daryl frowns down at the sight of it before his eyes flicker up to meet with hers again, but even the soft, nervous smile on her face isn't enough to encourage him to touch her again. Now that he know how she feels underneath his fingertips - all smooth and soft - Daryl isn't sure that he'll be able to sleep tonight, and he doesn't want to add to this weird thing that's going on between the two of them.
Instead, he nods his head at her. "I know," he says, not bothering to introduce himself to her in return. Daryl might be a lot of things, but he sure as hell isn't stupid; and he doesn't even have to be any sort of genius to figure out that everyone in this town knows who he is - Beth included. It's not like he likes it, in fact, it's quite the opposite - Daryl can't stand people knowing who he is, and the last thing that he wants is for someone he doesn't even know to be poking around in his business, acting like they know everything about him because they've heard stories or seen him pass in the street.
The girl is quiet again now, and Daryl doesn't know whether it's a good or bad thing. Even so, he tries not to think about it too much and instead shifts around on his feet, trying to make it clear to her without it being incredibly awkward that he's going to move away from her now.
But then her hand is wrapping around his arm and she's stepping closer to him, and Daryl can't do anything but tense up, freezing on the spot in pure and utter shock. This time, he doesn't try and hide the fact that she's surprised him, but just when he's about to lash out at her for getting all up in his personal space, Beth seems to realise what she's done and drops her hand.
The blonde isn't drunk, not like him - he can just tell. He can tell by the fact that she's standing perfectly fine on both feet, by the fact that her breath smells minty and fresh and her eyes are wide and twinkling.
"I saw you at the coffee shop," she says, her voice low now, her eyes raising up from where they had been lingering on his bare arm so that she's looking directly at him. She's nervous, he realises - her words are a little shaky and her eyes are wider than usual.
When he doesn't respond, Beth visibly swallows. "I didn't know that you knew Rick."
He snorts at that. "Girl, you don't know shit about me," he says, and Daryl is actually a little bit surprised at just how harsh his tone is.
(Yeah - he really is a dick when he's drunk.)
For a few seconds, her expression turns angry, and Daryl is expecting her to reach out sand slap him with her hand or bite some harsh words back at him. Instead, the blonde inhales and exhales deeply before offering him a soft smile, looking as though she has suddenly turned calm.
It's actually annoying, because a big part of him had wanted that sort of reaction from her. There's probably no use trying to push this girl away but he can't help himself but try, despite the fact that she doesn't seem very interested in his intentions.
"Guess I don't," Beth breathes out, her voice soft and low. Daryl doesn't feel guilty for the way that he has spoken to her, but he exhales a deep breath of his own anyway, trying his best to compose his wild thoughts before they drift off too far.
Because before he can actually register what it is that he's doing, Daryl is staring directly at her lips and nowhere else. If the look on her face is anything to go by then Beth knows exactly where it is he's looking and exactly what it is that he's thinking, but she doesn't move her own eyes away from his.
The pattern of her breathing is something akin to hypnotising him as he watches her chest move up and down, watches her lips twitches slightly every time that she breathes in and then out. In a way, it's calming to him, and his own breathing is soon matching hers; although that had never been what he had intended, never been what he had been looking for.
He is mesmerised as he watches her tongue creep out and swipe against her bottom lip, wetting it with her spit so that it shines all of a sudden. At the sight of her doing it, Daryl sucks in a breath, and his earlier suspicion is now confirmed: Beth Greene is definitely a cock tease.
She knows what she's doing, he's sure of it, but it doesn't stop him from creeping closer towards her. Daryl is a little bit taken aback by the fact that she's still standing here in front of him, especially after the way that he's spoken to her, and he can't help but think to himself that he hopes that she knows he didn't mean to be that way towards her. If he could somehow find the words then maybe he would apologise (but fuck, he's a dick, so he probably wouldn't) so instead Daryl clears his throat.
"'M a dick," he murmurs, edging closer towards her so that he can feel her breath on his face now. "When I'm drunk."
He's leaning down, further and further, being pulled in by her and he just can't stop it. Even if he wanted to, Daryl knows that he's too far gone right now - too drawn in by the temptation of her lips and the steadiness of her breathing and the moistness of her tongue. Beth breathes out a little laugh, and the sound actually forces him to smile, but the moment isn't very long-lived because then his lips are covering hers.
Her mouth is soft against his own and even though it had to be obvious what he was doing, Beth still sags in relief against him as though she wasn't expecting this to ever happen. As his lips move against her own, Daryl knows for sure that she's not had a drink, and the knowledge that he's not taking advantage of this tiny slip of a girl makes him feel a tiny bit better.
(If anything, it's her taking advantage of him, but he's not going down that route right now, not going to think too much of it.)
When his tongue slips inside of her mouth Beth lets a little moan escape her, and the sound vibrates through his throat in a delicious manner. It encourages him to move closer towards her, and after a few clumsy and mindless steps backwards, Daryl has Beth pinned beneath him against the wall. One of his legs moves so that his thigh is resting between the both of hers, and she quickly shifts against him; taking the bait and rubbing herself onto his leg, whining into his mouth as she does so and raking her fingers through his hair.
This whole thing between them has never been innocent, and this kiss sure as hell isn't innocent, either. Their lips move together at a quickening pace, and as Daryl sucks and bites and nips at her lips and her tongue, Beth moans more into his mouth. It gets to a point where the mechanic worries that he's being a little too rough with her - particularly when he grabs her hips and yanks her further up his thigh, dragging her impossibly closer to him in a way that has her letting out a surprised squeal - but Beth doesn't seem to be bothered by his actions, so he doesn't think any more of it.
At the start of this kiss, his hazy drunken mind had considered that maybe this would help things between them die down, that maybe it would quell the fire and desire that had been building inside of him since the first time that he saw her. But now that he has touched her and tasted her, Daryl knows for a fact that this won't make anything between them any better.
If anything, it will surely make them worse. (It won't stop him kissing her, though - not at all).