Quick Update: Daryl has begun to teach Beth how to ride the bike. Beth, with a little help from a couple of glasses of champagne, decided to kiss Daryl...
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His lips felt soft compared to his scratchy beard. His lips were moving against hers. He was kissing her back. He was. Beth felt his tongue brush her lips and taste her. She let her tongue flick against his and heard herself moan, she had never made a noise like that before. Full of nervous excitement she edged closer to him, her hand gently touched his thigh.
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This was wrong and Daryl knew it. She was Hershel's daughter, his youngest, grieving daughter, she'd been drinking, he was suppose to be taking care of her, but not like this. Her hand brushed his thigh and didn't move away. Finally he came to his senses, he turned his head and stood, almost climbing over the arm of the chair to get away from her.
They both stared at each other, trying to catch their breath until he spoke, "Beth, this ain't right."
"What was wrong? That wasn't wrong?"
"It was wrong! I can't be like that with you, not after you been through so much."
"You kissed me back!"
"I shouldn't have, I'm sorry."
She was standing, facing him now, her face stricken and when she reached for his arm he stepped back. Beth was beginning to understand, he had kissed her, but he didn't want her. Had she made a huge mistake? She took a small step, closing the gap between them but she didn't know what to say except, "Daryl, please?"
There were tears in her eyes, blurring her vision. She shouldn't cry in front of him, that would make everything worse.
Daryl saw the tears and felt a wave of guilt. He couldn't stop himself brushing from one from her cheek, "Sweetheart, don't..."
"Don't call me sweetheart, not in that voice, not when you're pushing me away! Don't call me nurse or angel either! It's not fair!"
Surprised at her temper, Daryl held up his hands and stepped back from her. "I'm sorry... What voice?"
"Stop it! Just stop being so damn nice!" Beth ran from him, she bolted to the dressing room and slammed the door between them.
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Daryl was shocked that everything thing had gone from good to bad so quickly. He had to talk to Beth, but a closed door was a closed door. He couldn't go barging in there, but she couldn't stay in there forever either.
He needed some air and went to the balcony taking the barely drunk bottle of champagne with him. He threw it from end to end over the balcony wall and listened out for the thud as it hit the lawn below.
He was trying to recall what she had said, but the main thing he remembered was that he had kissed her. She had kissed him first, but he had kissed her back and that was so wrong. He could taste her on his lips and his new work trousers were becoming uncomfortably tight. She'd kissed him! Beautiful, little Beth had kissed him and he could feel where her hand had touched his thigh as if it were scorched.
The last woman he kissed had been long forgotten, that part of his life had been put away. There were more important things now: staying alive, keeping his new family alive and more recently getting their group back together.
When he thought about it, which was rarely, he had come to the conclusion that there was no point trying for any type of relationship. Relationships were difficult enough before everything had gone to shit, now they were just impossible. Rick and Lori were an example of how difficult it was and they were together before. Tyreese and been with Karen ten minutes and she had been killed. He wasn't going to put himself through that.
What the hell was he thinking about relationships for? This was nothing like that, nothing.
Why had she gotten it in her head to kiss him? She had been talking about Carol and Michonne, she thought he had been with them, did she think he was like that? Moving from one woman to another? Did she think that now they were away from everyone that he expected that from her?
The next thought sickened him. Maybe Beth thought she had to offer herself to him or he wouldn't take care of her?
Beth was probably the sweetest, nicest girl he had ever met, if she thought that then surely everyone else with dirtier minds and more experience would too. Had the whole prison thought he was sleeping around, using their women?
Bleak thoughts were coming too fast now. Had someone warned her about him? In his head he could hear Hershel, 'Bethy, you stay away from that old redneck, he's great for getting us food, killing the walkers and doing the dirty work, but I don't want my darling daughter getting caught alone with him.'
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When he heard the door to the changing room open he went to stand in the open doorway. "Beth, I'd like to talk to you."
"I... I'm really sorry I shouted at you. I shouldn't have done, but please, I need to sleep. Can we talk tomorrow?"
Her voice was clearly shaking, was she scared of him now? He knew he couldn't force her to talk. "Okay, tomorrow. I'll go sleep somewhere else."
"No, there's no need. Unless you want to."
Daryl thought gloomily 'She probably thinks I'm gonna run off and leave her.'
"I'll stay, I'm gonna have a smoke, give you some space," he said out loud and closed the door to try and give her some privacy.
She had looked miserable, he felt the same as he stared out into the darkness. He broke his new rule of one cigarette a day more than once that night.
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Eventually Daryl went inside, they were going out of the house tomorrow, he shouldn't risk that on no sleep. Beth had a lit candle in a glass holder on her bedside table, he was relieved that at least she was sleeping, one of the benefits of a little alcohol.
The sofa was comfortable and he did drift into a light sleep, until Beth got up to use the bathroom, he saw her hurry past the end of his makeshift bed in a huge, white bathrobe.
By the time she returned he was stood at the opposite side of the room to her bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Embarrassed," she muttered.
"I meant after the drink?"
"My head's a bit fuzzy, but okay, I suppose."
"You'll feel the benefit of the painkillers and the water tomorrow." He nodded to her bedside table, where he had put what she might need.
He gave her a little time to take the pills then launched into saying, "I know you want to sleep, but I got to tell you something, Beth. If I don't, I'll never sleep and I just need to say this."
"Okay," Beth looked like she was preparing to have her teeth pulled.
"You didn't need to do that tonight. I ain't expecting anything like that from you... I don't know what you might have heard about me, but I'm not like that. I ain't gonna leave you. You don't need to offer yourself to me to make me stay." Even as he said it, it sounded dumb.
"You think I kissed you to keep you here?" Beth sounded astounded. "Daryl! I know you're not expecting anything and I know you're not going to leave me. That's not you!"
"Well why then?"
"I like you Daryl, I told you that. You are actually nice, I know made that sound horrible earlier, but you are the good kind of nice. And, and, well I had a silly crush on you back at the prison and I suppose I just wanted to know if you liked me."
Daryl was still stood at the other side of the room, looking at his feet. Beth wasn't sure how to get a reaction from him. "You did kiss me back," she said in a whisper.
"Beth, you'd had a drink, you weren't falling down drunk, but you weren't sober either. What kinda douche does that make me? Kissing you back like that."
"You don't want me at all do you?"
Daryl moved across the room, he was beginning to feel ridiculous stood in the furthest corner from her. "I didn't say that. I just don't think we should be thinking about this. We just got to concentrate on finding everyone."
"I'm not saying we should stop looking." Beth was tired and frustrated, but at least he seemed to be willing to talk so she tried to work out what his problem was. "Do you think I'm just a kid?"
"No, I know your not, I watched you grow up remember. I am a lot older than you though."
"I might be only eighteen, but I've not just spent two years in high school. Living like we're living now makes you grow up so much faster, just a month like this must be worth years in the normal world."
"Don't use that equation on me, I'd be ancient." Daryl huffed out a laugh and shook his head at the thought. He sat on the arm of the sofa that he should have be sleeping upon and decided to carry on. "I know you're not a kid but you are too nervous though, scared even."
"Of course I'm nervous. I never… well…" Beth froze, looking down at her bed covers.
"Beth, you can't even say it."
"I'm a virgin. Okay, I said it."
"No!" Daryl's voice was so high pitched in surprise he sounded like he had back when he was a virgin. "I didn't mean that you should say it. It's none of my business."
"It is your business. I want it to be your business." She looked him straight in the eye, her heart pounding so hard she thought he might see it.
Daryl had to admit to himself that she was making him nervous. She was taking this way too fast and he thought that could be disastrous. "What if we try this and it goes wrong? We might end up hating each other, stuck together in this house."
"You're talking about us breaking up and we aren't together yet."
Daryl couldn't help but smile, she probably had no idea she was paraphrasing a sappy song from back when he was a kid. Beth was looking tired and he felt the same. They were not going to get anything resolved tonight, but he hoped that they would at least be friends in the morning. "Lets get some sleep. Busy day tomorrow."
"But I still don't know where I stand with you."
I took Daryl a moment to speak. "I'm surprised and flattered and... really surprised, so I don't know. I need to think about it. You need to think about it. Until then nothing's changed, we're gonna find our people and stay safe, and right now we're gonna sleep."
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Beth awoke to a strange sweet smell as a mug was put on the bedside table by her head. Daryl stepped back as she sat up. "Morning, how's the hangover?"
"Ahh, okay, I think. I'm fine."
"Your fruit tea is supposed to rehydrate, sooth headaches and settle upset stomachs. It's a hangover cure in everything but name. I was reading up."
It was too early for this amount of information, Beth felt very confused. "Thank you. How long have you been awake?"
"Quite a while, breakfast is on, you got five minutes to get up." He was walking out to the barbecue on the balcony.
"Aren't we gonna talk about last night?"
"Nope, we did enough talking last night. Today is all business, we have a sign to paint… and we gotta get some powdered milk, not enjoying tomato soup for breakfast, but fruit won't keep us full all day." He had his back to her and was dealing with the barbecue.
Beth got the message, he was definitely not talking about last night. She looked around for her dressing gown from the night before, it was just by her bed but then she had an idea. She was wearing one of Mr Grant's huge t-shirts as a night shirt, it was longer than a few skirts that she had once owned, but she had only worn pants since leaving the farm. She decided to leave the robe and went to the door of the balcony. "Mmm, smells good," she said brightly.
"Really?" Daryl turned around in surprise and saw more of her than he expected.
She could see his eyes lingering on her legs, a thrill of excitement ran through her. "I'll be ready in a second," she managed to say then turned to go into the bathroom. All of a sudden she was very aware of her bottom as she walked away from him, was he still watching? She daren't look back to find out.
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Daryl's bike was laden down with provisions for their trip into town, as usual he had his crossbow and various weapons but he also had the can of pink paint strapped to one side. He had taped it up in a plastic bag so he wasn't risking getting paint everywhere. He would have taken the car, but couldn't be confident that the road was clear all the way. At least the paintbrushes didn't take up much space.
Beth had her backpack and more plastic bags just in case they came across useful provisions, but they weren't in desperate need of anything and there were three other houses in their little estate to go through soon. He knew she had the ladies handgun zipped in her jacket pocket, it was too small to tuck in a belt, and he was really hoping she wouldn't need it. Once dressed she had sat and had breakfast with him, neither of them mentioned her little show, but he had a feeling he might recall her long legs a little too often.
"Am I gonna have a practice run before we go?" Beth asked, Daryl had said the day before that she should ride the bike everyday until she became proficient.
"Maybe not today, it will heavier with the paint and might unbalance you."
"Okay... but if I ever do need to ride it, the bike probably won't be empty, it's always carrying something. Shouldn't I practice when it's heavy?"
He had to admit, she had a point. "You need to be even more careful than ever, off you go. Let's see what you can remember."
Beth concentrated on the bike and tried to put it's owner out of her mind. It felt different as soon as she got on because she had put her boots on today rather than yesterday's training shoes. She had decided the day could get messy so she put her cut off denim shorts on too. They hadn't washed very well, if she got paint, or worse, all over them, she would give in and throw them away.
She was pleased that she remembered what she needed to and road the bike around the top corner of their estate then parked while Daryl caught her up. "Why'd you stop? You okay?"
"Did I do alright?"
"Sure."
"It is really different with the different weight. I need to try with you on the back." Beth decided.
"No way!"
"If we were outside and you cut your hand again, I wouldn't be riding off without you, I'd need to be riding off with you on the back of the bike. That shouldn't be the first time we try it." He still looked undecided, so Beth continued. "Daryl, don't you trust me? You taught me."
"Just to the gate," he insisted as he got on the back of the bike. "And careful, if both of us get hurt we'll regret this."
Beth had anticipated the change of weight on the bike, but she hadn't realised just how close Daryl would be. Even though he chose to hold the back of the bike, his inner thighs were against her butt, if she wasn't leaning forward his body would be against hers.
The short ride to the gate brought a huge change to Daryl that Beth hadn't quite expected, but she realised she should have done. He was hard against her bottom and lower back, he had tried to move back but she knew he had no where to go.
Daryl had expected this would happen as soon as he sat behind her. If he the kiss hadn't happened the previous night, maybe he could have stayed in control but more feelings than he was used to experiencing were filling him. A beautiful blonde in denim and leather, on his bike, was enough of sight to interest him, no matter how much of a cliché it might be. He concentrated on her thick ponytail, but the memory of her lips against his was too fresh in his mind. She had said she liked him, that she had been thinking about him a long while. He was stunned. How had she gone from sweet to sexy in twelve hours? And how was she still sweet?
Once Beth stopped the bike, Daryl didn't move other than to put his feet down to steady them. Beth sat a little straighter, putting herself even closer to him. She put her head to one side and spoke softly, "Are you thinking about last night?"
"I'd have to be a machine not to be," Daryl replied gruffly.
"I want us to be together," Beth whispered, while thinking should I kiss him? Should I touch him?
"I'm still just thinking, Beth. Slow down."
"But..."
"I ain't no saint, Beth. It would be impossible not to react, but slow down. Okay."
Beth turned back to face the front of the bike and nodded, miserably.
"Could you get the gate? We got work to do." Daryl knew he sounded rude, but he had to get her off the bike before his resolve broke.
He kept his eyes off Beth as she opened the gate and locked up again after he had gone through it. He was remembering all the stupid ways he learnt as a kid to get control in awkward situations. The alphabet backwards was a good one, but his mind was a blank on what came before z.
He realised Beth was looking awkwardly at him, she wasn't sure whether to get on the bike or not. He nodded behind him, so she climbed onto her usual spot and put her hands on his waist. "That okay?" she asked anxiously.
"Fine. We need to concentrate out here, neither of us should get distracted." He felt her head nod in reply as he set off towards town.
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No cliffhanger this week, although I can't promise there won't be more of them. You've got to trust me, I won't desert them or this story!
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Huge thanks for the Follows and Favourites (and Kudos on AO3) ~ Loving the comments too, they are huge motivation!
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Next chapter see's them leave the house! It's been a while.
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31st January 2014 ~ FanOTheFang on Twitter and Tumblr
