Chapter Seven: No One Lays A Hand On Ya
Beth was stunned. The meeting about Rick had went nothing like how she thought. The group was speaking out in defense of Rick's character. Beth had voiced her opinion as well. "Rick Grimes is a good man. If him and his group hadn't of come to our farm, we'd all be dead. He saved us all. He saved my Dad. We owe Rick everything." Beth had said with conviction.
Suddenly Rick had come charging in with dead walkers as proof that no place was ever truly safe. He was right. As much as the group needed this place, it wasn't foolproof. Then Pete had come in crazily waving Michonne's katana. The situation was getting out of control again and before she could blink, Pete had sliced the katana through Reg's throat. Everyone was terrified, Deanna was screaming, and Beth was just trying to figure out some way to rein things in. She heard Deanna give Rick the command and Rick shot Pete through the head without hesitation.
Then she heard a voice she didn't recognize say Rick's name. She turned toward the voice and there stood Daryl with Aaron and another man she didn't know. Without missing a beat, Beth was running to Daryl. He dropped his bow and opened his arms for her. She collided with him wrapping her legs around his waist as he pulled her up into his arms. They were both panting and whimpering with relief. They continued to hug one another as everything around them disappeared. It was just them in this moment and Beth wished it could last forever. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was in-love with Daryl. "Are you okay? Are you alright?" Beth was asking frantically while kissing his temple. She heard Daryl chuckle. "I'm good. I'm good." he said. Beth breathed out a sigh of relief.
Daryl slowly lowered her to ground as he took her face in his hands. But then she felt him freeze. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched as he took in the gruesome bruises that mottled her face. "Beth?" he asked as his thumb gently caressed her busted lip. "Who the Hell done this to ya?" Beth looked down in shame. "It was Pete. He was hitting Jessie. Rick and I tried to help and...I got in the way." Beth whispered. She was afraid to look at him. She knew he'd be furious. "That son of a bitch!" Daryl roared as he began to pace in front of her. "Daryl I'm alright. I'm fine. Rick took care of it." she assured him. Daryl was panting and eyed her wearily. He took a moment to calm himself. "It's a good thing he did. I'd have killed the bastard myself. No one lays a hand on ya. Ever." Daryl growled. Beth just nodded. "Yeah." she said to herself. Daryl picked up on her unconvinced tone. "I mean it girl. No one touches ya. If anyone tries to hurt ya in any way, I will beat their ass into the ground." he seethed out. Beth was turning to watch the scenes around them but no one was paying them any mind. They were all preoccupied with what had just went down between Rick, Pete, and the rest of the Alexandrians. She turned to Daryl again and the look in his eyes scared her. He was feral. It was at that moment that she realized just how dangerous Daryl could be when it came to her.
Without thinking, she ran into his arms again and buried her head in his chest. She felt all of his rage just melt out of him at her touch. She loved him so much her chest was physically aching. She was thanking God for this incredible man. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve him but she was going to make sure he knew just how much she loved him. "We need to talk Daryl. Go wait for me back at the house. I'll be there in a minute I've got to talk to Maggie." Daryl pulled away and gave her a tender look. "Alright. Just please be careful." he begged as he gently leaned down to kiss her bruise. Beth nodded. "I'll be there in a few." she told him. Daryl nodded, picked up his bow, and began making his way to the house.
As Beth made her way through the crowd looking for Maggie, Aaron stopped her. "Beth." he said. "I've got something to tell you and I don't want you to get mad but...I feel that you should know what happened while I was out there with Daryl." Beth's heart sank. What had happened that was so important that Aaron felt the need to tell her about it but Daryl had failed to mention it to her?