I do not own any of the TWD characters. Flashback is in bold. This chapter has been revised quite a bit.
Sweet Dreams – Not!
Daryl had always been a light sleeper – it didn't take much to wake him from a deep sleep. So when Beth was crying and kicking and thrashing in her sleep, Daryl knew right away what was going on. It had been a really long time since Beth had had this dream. Daryl wondered if Jimmy asking about Shane earlier in the day had triggered it.
Beth moved back home on a Saturday morning – she had taken Silas, and they had moved back home with Hershel and Annette. Beth had given Shane until the end of the week to make a decision, and seeing that he hadn't even come home that Friday night when he got off from work had only proven to her that she and their son was not a priority to Shane Walsh. Beth decided to go through with what she had promised.
Beth returned to Shane's house on Sunday afternoon to retrieve the last of her belongings when she realized her mistake. Shane's shift had changed. Beth was expecting Shane to be at work, but instead he was still at home – but he wasn't alone. Apparently, he'd taken the news of her departure pretty badly, or pretty well, depends on how you look at. Shane had company at the house, of the female persuasion. Beth was unfortunate enough to walk in and witness it with her own eyes.
As Shane and his visitor – Beth was pretty sure it was one of the dispatchers that worked for the sheriff's department – scrambled for clothing, Beth tore into Shane.
"You son of a bitch!" she started. "I can't believe I've wasted three years of my life on you – you're a worthless piece of shit."
Shane really didn't have much to say as a response – just stood there and looked at Beth with that smug ass smirk of his. Glenda, or Wendy, or whatever her name was had made her exit, hastily putting on her clothes as she left.
"Beth – ya knew what I was when ya moved in here – told ya I wasn't gonna be the husband and play house" he growled.
"You didn't mind playing house when I's cooking your meals, doing your laundry, and sucking your dick" Beth screamed.
"Yeh, well, at least you did a good job on two of those things" Shane said in a smart ass tone.
"Hard to suck a dick if ya can't find it" she snapped.
"You fuckin bitch!" he screamed. Shane raised his hand and smacked Beth across the face – striking her so hard that she went flying across the room. Beth of course, was shocked as hell. Shane was a lot of things. A womanizer, a drinker, and an asshole, but he had never raised a hand to her. Beth felt warm liquid oozing down her chin – she put her fingers to her mouth and felt her lip. That dipshit had busted her lip. Beth scrambled to get to her feet.
"You make me sick – absolutely sick to my stomach Shane Walsh" Beth said through tears "I'm glad I left – I'm glad I took Si and left. He deserves better – I deserve better."
"Beth, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have hit you." Shane offered and walked towards her.
Beth backed away as Shane got closer and closer to her. "Is that all you're sorry for Shane?" she asked, still wiping at her bloody lip.
Shane stood there for a minute with that dumbass expression of his. The same one that Beth used to think was cute. At the moment, however, it was just pissing her off.
"Well, that's all I can think of right now" he smirked.
"You're not sorry you were fucking some other woman when I walked in here?" Beth screamed.
Shane scoffed at her. "I'm sorry I got caught" he said.
That's about all Beth could stand. She went at Shane like some wild woman. With Beth's small stature, and Shane's hulking body – she was no match. He quickly turned the tables on her and just shoved her down to the floor. By this time, Rick was pulling into the driveway. Misty – that was the skank's name- had called Rick to tell him that things were likely to get nasty over at Shane's and that he should probably go over and check on the situation. Rick had walked up onto the porch to hear the following exchange.
"Just stop it Beth – go get my boy and ya'll come on back. You're not takin my boy away from me" Shane told her.
"Shane, I'm walking out that door and I'm never coming back." Beth told him.
"Ya know ya don't mean that" Shane bargained as he snatched her back up towards him. "You'll be back."
"I most certainly do mean it. Take your hands off me" Beth demanded. Rick walked on into the living room when he heard the panic in Beth's voice. Beth was struggling to get away from Shane now. "I mean it Shane – let me go."
"Shane" Rick spoke firmly. "Let go of her." Rick tried to calm the both of them down, but they were so caught up in the moment they didn't pay much attention to him. Shane did let go of Beth though at Rick's insistence.
"I'm outta here" Beth screamed. "You'll never see Silas again if I have anything to do with it."
"I don't really give a fuck if you ever come back – ya fuckin bitch – cold ass bitch is all you are! But, I will have my son – ya can't take my son away from me." Shane was yelling at Beth as she ran to her car parked in the driveway.
"Ya ain't takin my boy from me" Shane kept yelling.
"Shane!" Rick barked. "Get a hold of yourself and quit all that damn yelling. Maybe ya'll can talk tomorrow when you've both calmed down."
"Get tha fuck outta here Rick – this has nothin to do with ya" Shane said through gritted teeth as he pushed Rick out of the way. Shane grabbed his keys to the Jeep from the breakfast counter and took off out the front door.
He moved closer to Beth and pulled her in tight and began to speak in a low tone into her ear.
"Beth" he said "Beth. It's okay it's okay girl. I'm right here – nothing's gonna hurt ya." Beth whimpered and continued to thrash around, kicking and scratching at the covers. Then she suddenly sat up, gasping for air.
"No" Beth cried out. "No, you can't have Silas. No!"
"You're okay Baby, I've got ya" Daryl pulled her back to him. He was sitting up now as well, and he began to rock her back and forth slowly – whispering into her ear. She slowly began to calm down.
"Daryl – it was so real. I swear, I thought it was happening again. It was just like that night" Beth said through tears. "My lip. Is it bleeding?" she asked.
Daryl looked at Beth and rubbed her lip gently, he placed a tender kiss there. "No Baby, it ain't bleedin. Same dream?"
Beth nodded but turned her head in to Daryl's chest.
"It was so real Daryl" Beth's voice was trembling. "I was almost to the farm. Shane had chased me all the way from town – we ran every red light and stop sign there was."
"Yeh?" Daryl had heard this story many times now, but it always seemed to help if she talked through it and as much as he hated to hear it, he was going to let her do what she needed to do. Daryl swears in his own head that if Shane hadn't died that night, he would choke the life out of him himself. Who the hell chases someone through town and then down a two lane country road?
"Beth, Girl" Daryl said calmly "Ya gotta calm down. Ya don't want to wake Si and get him upset, do ya?"
Beth shook her head no that she didn't want that.
"Okay, then. Let's just lay here and snuggle – I ain't lettin nothin happen to ya. I ain't lettin nothin happen to Si. Ever – simple as that." Daryl told her as they settled back underneath the covers and Daryl peppered her with kisses.
Beth was already calming down again – and scooching closer and closer into Daryl's strong chest. "Love ya Girl – love ya so much" Daryl told her.
"I love you too" Beth said as she drifted off to sleep. Beth's body had finally relaxed and she felt like a rag doll in Daryl's arms. He couldn't go back to sleep for anything. His mind was going a million miles a minute.
Daryl landed his life flight chopper in the middle of a muddy field – one of his least favorite places to do so. There was no mistaking where his services were needed. At the far end of the field was a car that appeared to have flipped and rolled several times and it was intertwined with some kind of farm equipment. A Jeep was on the other side of the road with very little damage. The lights from fire trucks, Georgia State Troopers, and the local guys had the entire country side lit up. It was past dusk and the last bits of purple, pink, and orange were quickly disappearing from the horizon.
Daryl had no idea who his passenger was until the next day when Rick Grimes had filled him in. The night before he'd only been provided with a few sparse details. An enraged boyfriend chasing his girlfriend in a separate vehicle, eventually causing her to wreck when she'd overcorrected when slipping off the shoulder. Her vehicle had become airborne and flipped before landing into some irrigation equipment. The boyfriend was killed instantly when he was ejected from his vehicle. Apparently in his haste to chase the lady, he had not buckled up.
Daryl had made a point to go and visit Beth while she was in Atlanta recovering. He didn't visit all of the patients he transported, mind you, but this was Hershel Greene's baby girl. He had long respected Hershel Greene – ever since his grandmother had taken him to church services and Hershel had made the extra effort to make Daryl feel welcome. Daryl had gone to school with Maggie, and had run around some with Shawn. Beth, was off limits back in the day. She was way too young for the likes of Daryl Dixon, but that didn't mean that he hadn't noticed her. And remembered her. Daryl Dixon had found it damn near impossible to stay away from Beth Greene's hospital room. If he were being completely honest with himself, he probably fell in love with her the day Annette had snuck little baby Si into the hospital to see her. She lit up like a Christmas tree when she got to hold her baby in her arms again, and Daryl thought she was the prettiest thing he'd ever seen – even with that busted lip, cuts, and bruises.