The entire evening at the fair had felt like a dream in so many ways. A hazy pleasant dream lit with the glow of twinkling lights and filtered through with laughter and the tinkle of lilting music and the low murmur of the crowds. In the midst of all that haze, only one part of it had stood out sharp and clear. Beth.
Everything about her that night was as clear as the sun in an otherwise hazy sky: Her smile, the flush to her cheeks, the way her eyes lit up each time she looked at him, the sound of her laughter or the warmth of her body close to his own. And of course the press of her lips to his and the shiver of heat that had gone through Daryl's body in that moment; fireworks under his skin to match the real ones in the sky beyond them.
He had felt the same fireworks later that night when he dropped her back off at home and walked her to her door. She'd turned to him and leaned up on her toes and then his lips were on hers again and he felt a sort of fluttering fizzle within him, like the bubbles in a glass of soda only a hundred times better. They hadn't even faded as she'd slipped inside and he'd climbed on his bike to head home. He'd fallen asleep with the faintest fizzle in his belly and woken up with thoughts of her on his mind.
The next day Daryl would have wondered if it were all a dream except in his mind every second of Beth remained crystal clear. Like it was etched into him forever like the tattoos inked on his skin that would never fade. He couldn't stop running over it again and again in his mind; tossing rings, her delight at him winning her that bear, cotton candy stuck to his tongue, the way his jacket had hung on her slender frame, the lights spread out beneath them on the ferris wheel… every perfect shining moment again and again, like the night was playing on a loop in his mind and each replay only seemed better than the last.
He had the day off, and so despite the fact that a part of him wanted to just sit and relive last night a little longer, he'd decided to run a few errands and pick up some things for Mrs. Wilson. He wasn't the type of man to sit still, after all, and he could remember Beth's happy laughter just as easily out at the baker's as he could back at home. His last stop of the afternoon had been the hardware store in Carrolton, but as he stood in the lot loading paint cans into the trunk of the car he'd borrowed from Mrs. Wilson, Daryl looked up and unexpectedly spotted a cell phone store across the street.
In a flash he was back to last night and the memory of Beth holding up her phone and snapping a picture of them both. He saw the happiness on her face and his own and he remembered how he'd thought it might not be so bad having a new phone if it meant he could fill it with pictures like that. He was moving before he even realized it.
Though he had strode determinedly across the street and into the store, that was about as far as Daryl got. Face to face with a store full of bright white lights and fancy and confusing devices, he instantly balked. It didn't help that a salesman was almost immediately at his side asking him questions he barely understood about contracts and 'data' and how many minutes he used. With a grunt he turned on his heel and strode right out of the store, leaving the salesman behind him still babbling something about if he was an 'eye-phone man or an android man' whatever the hell that meant.
In the parking lot, his battered old phone was in his hand before he could even think about it, and without hesitating he selected one of the few contacts in there: Beth. Only after he hit send did he feel that squirm of nervousness taking root. What if she didn't want to talk to him? Was he even supposed to call her the day after a date? He'd never really gone on dates before but he was pretty sure he'd heard some bullshit once about there being 'rules' about calling someone after a date. It all seemed like shit to him, but he was still relieved when the phone clicked over and he heard her bright voice exclaiming, "Hey! I'm so glad you called. How are you?"
"Good," he remarked simply, with a scuff of his foot on the ground. He paused a moment and then with a shrug of his shoulder that she couldn't see, he went on, "Listen… you, uh, busy right now?"
"Nope!" It was funny but he swore he could hear her smiling through the phone. Hell he could almost envision here right now, swaying a little in place the way she did when she was on the diner phone, absentmindedly twirling her hair around her finger or toying with her braid. Just like he could imagine the little smirk on her lips as she giggled and asked, "Why? Missing me already, Dixon?"
"Always." The low reply came out all on it's own and the tips of his ears instantly burned with embarrassment as he hastened to go on, "It's just- Well I was out runnin' errands and I found this cell phone store, only I ain't got no idea what any of those phones are or which I should get. And the guy in there kept going on about if I like, uh, phones for my eye or androids or somethin', and I ain't got a clue what none of that means. So I was wonderin'-" The words had spilled out of him like they never really did, and it was only when he got to the question that he stuttered and stammered and couldn't quite get it out.
But Beth always knew how to pick up where he'd trailed off, or fill his awkward silences. "-if I could come help you out?" She giggled softly. "I'd love to, Daryl, honest. Did you think I'd say no?"
His brow furrowed as he tried to explain, "S'just… I know our next date was supposed t' be huntin', or whatever…"
"Well it still can be," she murmured, her voice softer and a little more intimate. "You know, we can spend time together and hang out and it doesn't have to be a date."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Actually I'd really like that, to just get to hang out with you."
"Me too." He wasn't even sure why he'd been so nervous; it seemed so simple and obvious now that she'd put it that way. Beth always had this way of simplifying things. Just like she had last night when he was so damn nervous about that stupid fair and she'd cut right to the heart of the matter and laid it out nice and easy. The tension eased from his body as his hunched up shoulders relaxed, and after a second he added, "So can you meet me here, maybe? I'm in Carrolton, by the hardware store."
"Yeah, I know where that is!" In the background he could hear rustling noises followed by the clink of what he thought were her keys, like she was already at her door and almost on the way. "I'll be there in like, fifteen minutes, okay? See you soon!"
Sure enough it was only fifteen minutes before he spotted Beth pulling into the parking lot in the old beat-up Ford she shared with Amy. He'd thought the dreamy-haze feeling was just the result of memory, but no. The moment she stepped out of the car Daryl felt it again, like everything around him went a bit hazy and nothing stood out but Beth. It reminded him of those moments in the woods when everything around him seemed to fade away as he'd fix on a track in the mud, or a doe standing in the clearing. Except Beth wasn't prey, she was something far better.
She was clear as crystal in the haze of the rest of the world, a bright pop of perfect color in a blue and green sundress and cowboy boots, with her blonde hair long down her back and her big blue eyes fixed on him. A smile curved up her lips as she came towards him, and he couldn't help but return it even if his own smile was naturally fainter.
There was a moment where he felt awkward all over again, standing with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slightly hunched as he scuffed his foot on the ground. Was he supposed to greet her somehow special? Hug her? Kiss her?
Maybe his confusion showed in his eyes because she neared him he saw something soften in her expression, as if she saw and understood and was yet again smoothing the way for them both. Her hand slid up his arm as she leaned up onto her toes and pressed a simple, easy kiss to his cheek, and when she drew back she greeted him simply and brightly, "Hey there."
"Hey." He relaxed almost instantly, the tension in his shoulders easing as he slipped his hands from his pockets. Then she was right beside him, sliding her arm through his and leaning against him with a smile that made everything seem so much easier. One of these days maybe he'd ask how she did that. How she made everything seem so damn simple. But for now he just wanted to drink in the sight of her on his arm again as she guided him back towards the entrance to the store.
"Alright. Now let's find you a phone, okay?" If it had been anyone else he would have scoffed, but when Beth said it in that easy tone, it felt like it really would be easy. And somehow, it was. She breezed into the store and fixed the salesman with a smile, and the man's furrowed brow instantly faded at the sight of the bright young girl on Daryl's arms. Daryl might have been an intimidating mystery but Beth was, well, sweet as peach pie.
"Hi! I'm Beth, and this is Daryl," she remarked warmly. "Daryl here is need of a new phone, which I think he might have already told you. The thing is, I don't think a regular phone would be right for him. What we need is a more rugged phone. You know, waterproof, shatterproof, one of those ones with the really sturdy frames you can drop without a problem?"
Daryl blinked and turned to look down at her in surprise. "They make phones like that?"
"They do!" The warm smile that curved up her lips made him want to kiss her right there in the middle of the store, but for now he settled for letting his hand drift to the small of her back as Beth went on, "Perfect for an outdoorsman like you."
"Oh, an outdoorsman?" The salesman's eyes lit up now that he could finally peg Daryl. "I think we have just what you need, sir. Let's go take a look, shall we?"
A half hour later they were exiting the store with Daryl's phone held in Beth's slender little hand. He had to admit the phone looked tough, even if the name- "Cat S50"- had him chuckling a bit. Granted, that might have been because earlier, Beth had tipped her head back and mewed at him when he'd made a joking remark about it and continued to do so each time the salesman mentioned the phone name in the midst of his spiel. (It had been really hard to focus on the man's droning voice about all of the phone's capabilities when Beth kept leaning up to meow in his ear and then giggle all silly.)
Despite the name, the phone sounded like it was perfect for him. At least it had once the salesman had repeated some of it's best features. Waterproof, shockproof, and apparently pretty shatter-proof too. It sure as hell looked like it was tough; he couldn't help noticing how out of place it looked in Beth's little hand.
"This is just perfect for you, honest, you're gonna love it once you get used to it. You can take it with you hunting. It's got GPS!" She looked up at him and before he could even protest, her blindingly bright smile brushed that away. "Not that you need it, I'm sure. Maybe I'll borrow it when we go, I'm sure I'll end up lost."
"Nah. I ain't ever gonna let you get lost." His simple reply had her beaming again and he was surprised and pleased by the way she instantly leaned closer to his side as they walked towards her car. He was only saying the truth, after all. There was no way he'd take Beth out in the woods and let her get lost and he didn't need no fancy GPS to manage that.
Of course, being waterproof and shatterproof wasn't reallywhy he'd wanted to get the phone either. His own phone had been fine for shit like that, ancient as it was. No, it was something else that had prompted it; the same thing that had him clearing his throat to ask, "So this one… it takes pictures, right?"
"It does!" Beth looked excited as she brought the thing back to what he figured was the main screen (it had way too many for his liking, to be honest). "See right here? This little camera icon brings up the camera." She showed him what the buttons were and made sure it was set nice and simple, and then offered it to him. "Here, try it out?"
Daryl lifted the phone as she'd shown him, nervously training it past her into the parking lot. Which of course wasn't what he really wanted a picture of. But standing there trying to work up the nerve to take a picture of her suddenly made him feel all awkward and nervous again. He shifted the camera over to train it on her only to pull it away after a moment and awkwardly clear his throat, repeating the movements several times until the tips of his ears were burning all over again.
But then Beth just softly laughed. "C'mon," she murmured, pulling his attention back to her. "Look I'll give you something good for your first ever picture, huh?" She flashed him a grin and then posed with one hand on her hip as she leaned in and blew him a kiss. Her silliness made him chuckle, and without hesitating he lined up the shot and pressed it with a 'click' of the phone camera.
"There you go!" Beth came up beside him again, arching up onto her toes to peer over his arm and down at the phone. "See, then you press that square in the corner and you can see the picture you took! Aww, that came out cute." She was right, without a doubt. It was a damn cute picture, though he'd never been the type to think of things as 'cute' before Beth Greene. "You should take more,"she remarked brightly, "What else do you wanna try to get a picture of?"
"Um." He cleared his throat again and shrugged one shoulder. "Us?'
Just like that her face went from curious to radiant again and a smile curved widely up her lips as she breathed out softly, "Perfect." He thought she'd lean against his side again like on the ferris wheel, but instead he watched in surprise as she came around and stood in front of him. With a grin she guided her arms around him and leaned until her back was pressed against his chest and damn, it was hard to think about taking a picture when she was close like that. She was just so damn small and yet somehow she fit right back against him like this. Especially with his arms around her waist, holding her close. He'd never been one for holding anyone before and if he'd been thinking clearly he'd have realized that he'd pretty much never held anyone like this before.
But Beth wasn't anyone and besides, he could barely think straight like this.
Dimly he registered Beth lifting his hand and pressing the phone into it, giggling at his slow movements until finally he blinked away his distraction and managed to focus. "C'mere," he murmured low and gruff, his arm tightening around her belly and his hand splaying there as he held her back against him. He didn't fail to notice that the press of his hand to the flat of her belly had her inhaling just a little bit sharply as he lifted his hand and tilted the phone to line up the shot.
"I think you're too tall," Beth teased as he stretched out his arm trying to get them both in shot.
"Well maybe you're too short, hm?" He chuckled, but the truth was she wasn't 'too' anything. Everything about her was just right.
"Well I can't get any taller, so you gotta lean down, maybe?" Beth spoke in between giggles, even as she tried to arch onto her toes.
"Shush," he murmured back, a smirk on his lips as he leaned down a bit over her shoulder. "There. Smile for the camera."
"Take more than one, just in case!" Beth exclaimed, seconds before her lips curved into a happy smile. He snapped the first one easily but she caught him off guard on the second, turning to kiss his cheek just as he took the shot. By the third he was turning to meet her too, and their noses grazed before slotting together, their eyes meeting in one breathless moment before his lips pressed to hers just as he fumbled to press the button to take the picture.
When he pulled back, blinking and a bit flustered, it was to see the flush on Beth's cheeks as she turned back to his phone and reached carefully for it. "Let's see…" He looked down as she brought up the gallery and flipped slowly through the three pictures he'd taken, each one better (in his mind) than the last.
"This one is my favorite," she murmured as she came to settle on the one of them kissing.
With a hint of a frown, he leaned over her shoulder and murmured, "Came out a bit blurry…"
"Doesn't matter." She hummed. "Still my favorite." After a moment she twisted in his arms to look up at him, craning her head over her shoulder. "Can I send it to myself?"
"Sure." His hand was still pressed to her stomach and he had no desire to pull it away just let. "As long as you send me the one from last night."
"Deal." He watched with curiosity as she showed him how to forward the picture to her number, then pulled out her own phone and sent the one from last night. It was all a bit confusing but he'd figure it out eventually. Especially if he had Beth's help, like he did today.
"So I was thinking," Beth murmured with a nibble on her lower lip as she slipped her own phone into her pocket and turned to face him. "I know we said our next date would be hunting and I still wanna do that, but um… I'm having a lot of fun is all, and I don't really wanna go back home alone?" As soon as she got the questioning words out her cheeks went pink again and if it hadn't been for the burning of his own ears he might have chuckled as she hurriedly went on, "I just meant, um- Amy is out for the day visiting her sister, she's not gonna be back till really late or something and I thought, maybe you'd wanna come over and watch a movie with me? We could get something to eat, or cook something… it might be nice."
It only took him a second for the corner of his lip to tug up into a hint of a smile. "Alright, yeah. Better to hunt on a weekend, anyway…"
Beth rested her hand lightly on his arm, fingers toying with the sleeve of his shirt for a moment as she said,"Okay. So hunting will be our… whatever date number we're up to by the time a good weekend comes along, yeah?"
Whatever number date we're up to. The flush on her cheeks as she said that made him wanna smile all over again, and so he just nodded without hesitating. "Yeah. Sounds good to me."
The truth was that Beth being so open about them having multiple dates to come was more than good. It was great. A little bit scary, sure. But also great.
Since they were in two cars and his was full of things he'd picked up for Mrs. Wilson, they had to split up for a short while. While Beth headed to her place, Daryl went back to Mrs. Wilson's house to drop off the paint cans and other supplies in the garage.
He was just about to climb onto his bike to drive to Beth's when Mrs. Wilson caught him. She stood in the doorway between the garage and the back hallway, peering out at him with an eyebrow raised and one hand curled around her cane. "You heading out again already, boy?" Looking him up and down, she added, "You won't fit much of anything on that bike of yours."
"Already got everything you needed, Ma'am." He added the last a bit gruffly, but no less mannerly. "Not runnin' errands no more."
"Mhm…" Arching another grey eyebrow, she remarked knowingly, "Going to see your girl again?"
"She ain't…" He trailed off as if he could feel the phone burning in his pocket now, full of those pictures of her tucked to his chest or pressed cheek to cheek with him last night on the Ferris Wheel, right before they kissed. Maybe she wasn't 'his girl' yet, but she was something… they were something, anyway. So after a moment he shrugged and settled back on the bike as he nodded. "Yeah, goin' to see her."
"Well I still think you should bring her flowers." She lifted her cane and pointed it emphatically at him. "It's just mannerly, boy. You hear me?"
He chuckled, low and rumbling in his chest. She had this way of scolding him that would have made him fit to snarl if it were from anyone else,, but with her it just made him feel… well, somethin' like he thought it might have felt like to have a Ma or maybe a Grandma, or any sort of family that cared about you more than they cared about getting their next drink. "I hear you." Daryl rested his hand on the handlebar of the bike and gave a shrug. "She ain't a fan of flowers, though. Not picked, anyway. Thinks it's sad the way they die so quick, I think."
"Hm." Mrs. Wilson narrowed her eyes for a moment, but when she nodded there was a smile on her lips. "Sounds like a good girl you've got there." She started to turn back into the house but then stopped to jab that cane at him again as she shot back, "But you know, that doesn't mean you can't bring her flowers that haven't been picked yet, boy."
He had to laugh. She said it like it was so obvious and of course it was. He'd have wondered why he hadn't thought of it before, but he knew. Because Daryl had never been the flower-giving type, picked or otherwise.
Until Beth, anyway.
It was about twenty minutes later that he pulled up to Beth and Amy's little house next to the church. Ignoring any urge to imagine everyone in the neighborhood with their eyes on him, Daryl parked his bike in the driveway and headed up the walkway, one hand behind his back as he lifted his hand to knock on the door.
When she opened it a few seconds later she looked so damn pretty in that sundress with her hair down and a smile on her lips that he almost forgot he was holding something for her behind his back. Almost, at least. "I… hey. I mean…" He cleared his throat and ignored the burning tips of his ears as he went on, "I brought you this." From behind his back he drew out his gift: a small, round yellow pot from which sprouted a leafy green plant with several pink buds and one little flower already blooming.
"It's, uh, an African Violet?" Feeling unexpectedly nervous, Daryl ran his free hand through his hair and went on, "The lady at the store said it would grow well inside maybe by a window. I figured maybe you'd like it, since it'd keep growin', you know, cause you said you didn't like flowers that had been picked already…"
"Daryl-"
"I can take it back, though, if you don't like it."
"Daryl…" He broke off to look up at her, all light up with that radiant smile that made his stomach feel funny again. "It's beautiful, honestly. I love it. Thank you." With a soft smile she leaned in and pressed her lips softly to his for just a moment before pulling back. "Don't you dare take my beautiful violet back, okay? Now come in here, c'mon."
She took the pot gently from his hands and he followed after her, heading into her home for the first time. He'd never seen it before, though he'd imagined it whenever she told him stories, so he couldn't help taking a moment to drink it all in. The truth was it looked about like what he'd imagined her place would be. Clean and bright with comfortable furniture, fluffy pillows on the couch, and colorful rugs on the floor. It looked like the perfect home for a girl as sweet as her.
It looked like her, too, from the guitar he saw propped up against the wall to the bright little bowl by the doorway with her keys in it. The photographs in frames all around on the coffee table and side-table were very Beth, too, judging by the colorful hand-painted frames with things like 'best friends' and 'love' and 'family' drawn on in her looping handwriting.
"So uh, this is the living room," she remarked as she set down the violet on a table near the window. "The kitchen is through that archway there, it's pretty small but it's not so bad. That doorway there goes to Amy's room, there's a bathroom in between that we share- or try to, you know Amy is a total bathroom hog, I told you about that time she almost made me late for work because she took an hour to do her hair, right?"
He chuckled and nodded, remembering the way she'd raced in their with her hair still damp and the top button of her dress undone, her apron trailing behind her from her hand. Like a little panicked whirlwind until he'd calmed her down and promised her she hadn't been late.
"Right. Well anyway yeah, and that right there is my room." She gestured to an open door and the flash of yellow he saw from beyond had him taking a step towards it without thinking.
"Wait, don't!"
He grinned down at her when she stepped in front of him, her hands pressed to his chest. "What? You hidin' something in there, Greene?"
Her cheeks went all pink and she shook her head, "No, it's just messy that's all! I didn't get a chance to tidy up-"
"Well I ain't exactly afraid of a little mess," he murmured, leaning into her hands a little bit; not just to tease her, but because the feeling of her slender hands against his chest was admittedly a good one. "You too embarrassed to show me, is that it?"
"No!" She flushed and nibbled on her lower lip as her gaze dropped to stare at her hands where they pressed to his chest. He had a second to wonder if she felt what he did, that same warmth from the touch, and then she was biting her lip and asking, "You really wanna see it?" She blinked those big eyes up at him when he gave her a slow nod. "Why?"
"Dunno." Daryl slipped his hands into his pocket and gave a shrug of his shoulders. His head tipped down, hair falling into his eyes before he glanced up through it, but he was serious rather than teasing as he admitted, "Imagined it sometimes, I guess. What your room might look like. Y' don't have to show me, if you don't want to."
But she smiled shyly up at him, a warmth in her eyes that was pretty damn distracting in his opinion. "You imagined my room before?"
"Well yeah. Not inappropriately, or nothing…" Of course now that he'd said that, he couldn't help thinking about what might be inappropriate ways to imagine her in her room. Judging by the flush to her cheeks he wasn't the only one, so despite his burning ears Daryl quickly went on, "Just thought about it before, what your bedroom might look like. Kinda things you might keep in it, I dunno."
"It's honestly not that exciting…" But she hooked her fingers around his room and tugged him inside, and he kinda thought maybe she was wrong. It wasn't exciting in a jump up and down sort of way, not that he'd ever been the type of person to jump up and down. But seeing it was nice, because it was like seeing a part of her. This was where she slept every night, where she dreams, where she played her guitar and did her homework and gossiped with Amy.
(And maybe it was where she'd thought about him sometimes, too. Not that he'd admit to wondering, just like he probably wouldn't admit to the nights he'd laid in bed with his hands behind his head unable to sleep, just thinking about her in the diner singing or laughing or smiling at him. Wondering if a girl like her would ever really look twice at a guy like him. He'd always thought no and yet here they were in her bedroom.)
"Yeah this is definitely your room," Daryl remarked with a chuckle as he rocked briefly back onto his heels.
"Hey!" She stood beside him with her hands on her hips and a hint of fire and feistiness in her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
But Daryl just gave her a hint of a smile back. "Ain't a bad thing, it's just… you. The yellow walls, the fluffy white bed, the pictures everywhere, all them books…" He walked over to her desk, the surface around her closed laptop covered in papers with doodles and musical notes and what he guessed were lyrics. Definitely Beth's, without a doubt.
After a moment he felt her come up beside him and curl her fingers around his arm again, her slender fingers just barely reaching around his bicep. "You know, I've imagined what your room might look like, too."
"Yeah?" Daryl looked down at her in surprise.
"Mm. But it's hard, imagining you in Mrs. Wilson's place. Not that I don't think you fit there, I just… I dunno. When I imagine you in a place that'syours, you know, like you think this room looks like it's mine… I don't imagine Mrs. Wilson's place."
"No?" He turned a little towards her, fighting for a moment before giving in to the urge to reach out and tug a stray bit of hair behind her ear. His fingers grazed her cheek in the process and he cleared his throat at the little shiver of heat that went up his arm before he asked, "What do you imagine?"
She pursed her lips together musingly for a moment as if considering it before she answered, "I guess the woods. Ever since you told me you like to hunt anyway, that's what I see. You out in the woods."
"Alone?" He swallowed and discovered there was something unexpectedly thick in his throat, something caught there all heavy and unsure as if brought on by the image of her imagining him all by himself. He didn't know why. Half the reason why he enjoyed hunting was the peace it brought, away from all the prying eyes. Yet for whatever reason, he didn't like the thought that when Beth imagined him somewhere he belonged, it was in the woods all by himself.
But then she gave him a shy little smile and murmured simply, "No. Maybe not alone, not always."
Before he could think too much about mental images that sprung into his head of the two of them in the woods together by themselves (just him and her beneath the tree-awnings, surrounded by nothing but the babble of a brook and the distant chorus of chirping birds), Beth was curling her fingers tighter around his arm and tugging him back through the door. "C'mon! I figured we could make something to eat and then maybe watch a movie. How does that sound?"
He smiled, and this time when he swallowed that thick sensation was entirely gone. "Sounds perfect. Though I gotta say, I ain't a much of a good cook if it's not burgers or fries.."
"That's alright, my Mama always said I was a great teacher. I guess I'd better be, right? Even if I don't plan on teaching cooking when I graduate!"
A half hour later and he was pretty sure her Mama was right; Beth was a great teacher. Then again, maybe she was just good with him. The truth was it didn't even feel like teaching or learning, it just felt like having fun with her. They made chicken and veggies, a recipe Beth said was her Mama's and was probably even better back on the farm with fresh veggies from their garden and fresh chicken, too.
Daryl didn't think it was bad at all, but then again he figured just about anything would have been good if he'd cooked it side-by-side with Beth. She was damn near adorable in the kitchen. (Well she was damn near adorable everywhere, honestly.) She has this pretty purple apron she insisted on wearing, with 'kiss the cook' written across it in loopy handwriting (she laughed and teased him he couldn't kiss the cook just yet because it was too distracting), and she insisted on listening to music apparently whenever she was in the kitchen.
"It's just more fun this way," she exclaimed as she plugged her phone into her speakers and pressed played. Something with a hint of twang came through the speakers and he just watched, amused as she began to sway back and forth in front of the counters. She hummed along to the music as she worked, pulling the defrosted chicken from the fridge along with a couple vegetables from the farmer's market that she placed on a cutting board.
He did his best to help her because the truth was, he was an okay cook. He did it for a living now after all, and he'd picked up more than his self-deprecating tendencies let on. The thing was, it was a lot more fun to watch Beth cook than to help her. She was kinda mesmerizing. There was something he just liked about the way her hair fell into her eyes when she cooked and how she'd brush it back only to leave a stray curl across her flushed cheeks. Or the way she moved with such ease, how she'd intersperse her instructions with stories about her Mama or her sister or her Daddy, or even her friends; this bright and easy chatter.
His hand kept inching towards his new phone, pulling it out as if to take a picture only to get all nervous and unsure and stick it back to hide it away again. In the end Beth was so subtle about a solution that he didn't even realize it was her attempt at a solution until she was laughing and the spoon she'd balanced onto her nose ("quick, get a picture!") had fallen off. After that she kept posing and making faces and he kept taking shots with his camera, and by the time the chicken and veggies were sizzling away on the pan half the photos on his camera weren't even of her posing they were just simple, candid shots of Beth stirring the veggies, Beth staring dreamily out the window, Beth dancing and singing to herself… just like she was right now.
"Oh I love this song!" She laughed happily as the track changed over and began to hum along with the first verse as she swayed into place. "I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June..." As the song switched to the chorus, Beth's humming slipped right into singing and she turned to face him, a smile on her bright face as she crooned, "...If you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too. No, I'm not asking much of you, just sing little darling, sing with me…"
"Beth-" He broke off in a laugh as she stepped close and reached for his hands, "What are you doing?"
"Dancing with you," she murmured, guiding his hands to her hips as she sweetly sang on, "Now so much I know that things just don't grow, if you don't bless them with your patience. And I've been there before I held up the door, for every stranger with a promise…" Her hands slid up his chest as she began to sway with him, guiding him into the best awkward attempt he could manage at meeting her rhythm.
"I told you, I ain't much for dancing," Daryl remarked roughly, fighting the urge to pull back and break away. The truth was that awkward and nervous as he felt, he didn't want to ruin this moment. Didn't want to lose the warmth of her body close to his and the light in her eyes as his hands settled on the gentle curves of her hips.
"You're doing fine, Daryl. Better than fine, honest." The smile on her lips was soft and sweet, just like her voice as she held his gaze and sang in a hushed, quietly intimate tone, "I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June, if you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too. No, I'm not asking much of you, just sing little darling, sing with me…"
He was dimly aware of the sizzle of the chicken on the stove and the smell of it in the air, just as he was faintly conscious of the music playing in the background behind them as Beth's voice trailed off. But he was far more acutely aware of her fingers sliding up his chest to curl behind his neck, toying with the long strands of his hair as she tilted her head and looked sweetly up at him.
What he was most aware of was the look in her eyes all warm and affectionate and a little bit longing, and the soft pink of her lips as she parted them in a soft sigh and leaned up on her toes to meet him. He didn't need any further hint than that to meet her halfway and soon his hands were spanning her lower back as he drew her close, leaned down, and pressed their lips together in a soft kiss.
Unlike the others, this one lingered. It was slower and deeper, her lips parting against his until he could taste her against his mouth and right on the tip of her tongue. His hand brushed up to splay against her back as she murmured soft, content little noises into his mouth. It was all he could do not to give in to the urge to step back and press her to the counter, pin her between his body and the hard surface. His fingers curled into her shirt in anticipation just as he felt hers curl tighter into his hair. But as she arched in more and fitted her body against his, all soft curves against his hard lean lines… he heard a sizzling noise behind him and suddenly Beth was pulling away.
"The chicken!" She turned around and rushed to the stove leaving him standing there breathless and baffled, but only for a moment. Because as she reached down to move the pan off the flame she glanced over her shoulder at him and gave him a slow smile that had him riveted again, even more when she teased, "Next time we do that, we need to make sure there's nothing on the stove. Sound like a plan?"
He nodded, and grinned with lips that still felt warm from her kisses. Hell yeah, that sounded like a plan.
Then again, anything that involved kissing Beth sounded like a plan to him.
**A/N: Sorry this took so long to update, I hope it's not a disappointment after that long wait. (Also sorry I'm so self-doubting over my writing lately, blargle, anxiety sucks doesn't it?) The song Beth sings is Emmylou by First Aid Kit. I can't stop listening to it so neither can she! Hope you all enjoyed.
