Graduate

Chapter 10 - The Last Session

He'd kissed her forehead and she'd felt something strange. A jolt, deep in her belly that rose up and filled her chest with butterflies. The familiar feeling of anxiety spread through her like wildfire. Her eyes snapped back and she was suddenly very aware of herself and how forward she'd been with Daryl and she flushed, instantly, with embarrassment.

She'd retreated into the tent. Probably the wrong move but, Jimmy had been it for her for so many years that she didn't know what she was doing. He was her first boyfriend. Her first kiss. Her first time with a man. Her first love. Or so she'd thought.

Her first thought was that Daryl felt sorry for her. And the next day she wanted to make it abundantly clear that Beth Greene was not someone to feel sorry for. And they'd be friends. And that was what she wanted.

Wasn't it?

The week passed and Beth couldn't get through a class, or an errand, without thinking about Daryl. She hated herself for it, but couldn't help to keep checking her phone to see if he'd called or texted. Every time her phone vibrated in her pocket or her purse, she'd lunge for it, her heart racing, hoping she'd open the device and see his name.

She wondered if maybe, she should text him and racked her brain for an excuse as to why. Maybe she would move their tutoring session. So she typed out a message, and then deleted it. She thought, maybe she would ask him to lunch and after typing out a paragraph leading up to asking him to lunch, she deleted that message too. Why did talking to him suddenly feel so impossible?

And then, on Friday, her phone vibrated again. Exhausted after a week of wondering if Daryl would text her, she tried to not get her hopes up. When she clicked open her phone, her heart did pick up its pace again, but not in any good sort of way. It was just a number she hadn't expected to see.

Jimmy.

She let out a groan as she opened the message.

I gotta come get my stuff.

She knew that would happen eventually and wasn't sure why she felt surprised. Or why she felt so angry about it. The man may have been a cheater, but he still had a right to all his things.

It's all packed up, she responded, after a few minutes.

She wasn't lying, she had gone down to the grocery (in hopes of seeing Daryl, but he had been on his lunch break) earlier that week to get some free boxes so she could start packing his things away. Glenn was nice enough to give her the boxes that held all the smelly cheese.

Once she started packing him up, she was surprised to find that Jimmy didn't have much in the small closet he had claimed as his when they first moved in. A few suits, jeans - but many of his things were already gone. It made her wonder if he'd been moving out slowly, keeping his things elsewhere, with someone else, and it made her mad all over again. Not just at Jimmy, but because she hadn't noticed.

Beth was fearful that after Jimmy left, their apartment might feel bare or empty or not like home, but in fact, she found it quite the opposite. She found she really enjoyed where she lived. The kitchen was all hers. The fridge, free of the usual case of beer had so much space. The bedroom, where, to be fair, she usually slept alone, somehow felt more spacious knowing he wasn't there.

She sang. Turned the radio up and sang to the music that played, as loud as she wanted. She started writing again. She pulled back the curtains that hung over their windows (Jimmy always complained it was too bright,) to let the sunlight in. The place was brighter than she ever could imagine. At night, she opened the windows, listening to the sounds outside, enjoying every single one of them.

This wasn't at all what she imagined calling off an engagement would feel like. What a breakup would feel like. She felt an intense sort of relief - a weight lifted, a sort of freedom she hadn't ever felt before.

I'll be by next week, Jimmy answered.

K.

Asshole, she thought.

She placed her phone on the kitchen counter, and looked to the radio that she'd left abandoned next to the kitchen sink earlier that morning. She turned it on, increasing the volume and toying with the radio channels. Static grew, then a pop song that sounded familiar came through the speakers. She turned the dial again. More static, and then…familiar drums, guitar and the raspy, distinct voice that could only be AC/DC.

Narrowing her eyes at the radio, she glared. Hard. "Seriously?" she asked to nobody.

Gone shootin'

My baby's gone shootin'

She shrugged then, dancing to the rest of the song, shimmying her shoulders as she twisted and grooved all the way around her kitchen island, pointing her finger at the walls, singing into an invisible microphone and letting herself go.

Saturday finally came and Beth was glad for it, not sure if she could stand another day without seeing Daryl after their camping trip. She thought it fascinating that when she wasn't thinking about him, he'd popped up all over town, but when she'd wanted to see him, he was nowhere to be found.

But today - today, she knew where he'd be. At the school, to have their tutoring lesson and she was more nervous than she'd ever been to see him.

Something had changed after their camping trip. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but the way she felt about Daryl had changed. She'd always noticed him - his muscles, the features of his face, his husky voice. She thought any woman who came near him would notice those things.

But she hadn't really known him or spent time with him. She'd gone from spending a few hours once a week with him to a whole day and night. And that was new for Beth. She knew they were friends, but…did friends really have to keep telling themselves that they were just friends?

She wasn't sure.

Choosing a plain, loose black shirt and a pair of jean shorts to wear, she combed through her hair, brushed her teeth, grabbed a granola bar and wandered out of her apartment with her backpack of tutoring things to find her bike. It sat, faithful, chained to the bike rack and she methodically unchained it, stuffing the lock into her backpack and climbed on.

The bike ride was soothing, even in the Georgia summer heat. There was something about being on her bike, the wind surrounding her, the sun pouring down on her skin, that was so comforting and familiar. Beth knew how to drive, she'd gotten her license at sixteen, much to her father's dismay. But Jimmy had taken the truck and Beth had been strangely okay with that. She hadn't been able to use it much anyway.

She arrived, leaving the sidewalk and entering the parking lot of the school, riding right up to the bike rack, noticing Daryl's motorcycle already in the parking lot. She'd been coming to meet him so she was surprised when her heart picked up its pace again as she climbed off, locking it up.

The high school was cool, the air conditioning cranked up high to balance out the heat outside. The cafeteria doors were open and Daryl was already sitting at a table, his feet propped up on another chair, head buried in one of the GED training books they'd picked up at the bookstore, a pencil twirling in one of his hands.

"Hey Daryl," she called into the empty room and he perked up, looking at her from over the large textbook, his eyes wide and a little surprised.

"Hi Beth," he responded, looking back down at the book. He stuck the eraser of the pencil he was holding in his mouth. "Think we can work on science today? Keep gettin' stuck on these questions."

Relief hit her like a brick. His tone wasn't awkward. The question wasn't strange. It was normal. Just like it had been before. So why did she feel like she needed to remind herself to breathe?

"Of course," she answered, sitting down beside him. From her backpack she pulled another workbook, pens, pencils and a few pads of paper. "What's the question you're stuck on?"

He frowned. "A cook decides to recover some table salt that has been completely dissolved in water. Which of the following processes would be the most effective method of extracting salt from the solution?" he read from the book. "And I can't decide if it's boiling away the water, pouring the solution through cloth or dripping the solution through a paper filter." He stared up at her, puzzled.

Beth nodded at him. "They all seem like they would work. But do you remember when read about how salt is created?"

He thought for a minute. "Right, mining or…" he paused, "evaporation."

She grinned as the answer came to him all on his own.

"So, boil away the water?" he questioned.

She motioned towards the book. "Check the answer."

He flipped to the back of the book and a grin lit up his face. "Sweet," he said.

They continued the lesson, going over question after question and he surprised himself every single time, hardly needing Beth's help. Watching Daryl learn and improve was incredibly rewarding so when he finally checked his watch and told her they'd been sitting there for almost two hours, she couldn't believe it.

"Sorry," Daryl shook his head. "I didn't realize - I know we're only supposed to be studying for an hour."

It was her turn to shake her head. "No, it's fine. Time got away from me, but it's good. Well, good and bad." Beth gave a sigh and met Daryl's eyes. "I think this might be our last session," she said softly, closing up their books and stuffing her things back into the backpack she had.

"And why's that?" he asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

She flashed him another smile. "Because I think you're ready to take the GED test."

Daryl looked a little nervous, glancing back at the textbook he had brought. "You think?" he asked. "I might need another…session. Not sure I'm ready." He was fumbling with his hands.

She shook her head at him. "You're ready. Just don't second guess yourself so much. I know you'll pass. You're a lot smarter than you think." He seemed to accept the compliment, but also shy away from it, and from her, running his hand through his beard.

"Look," she said. "Go online and register for the exam and they'll tell you where you can take it. It's a long test, so prepare to be there for most of the day."

"But," he was hesitating now, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "What if…I don't pass."

She cocked her head at him, and then without thinking she reached over and grabbed his hand in her own. "Don't worry about that right now. Just do your best. We can deal with that if we need to. And that's a big if."

He was looking down at her hands that held his own, staring at them like he was trying to understand. "You know," he said suddenly, as she pulled her hands back into her own lap, "I'm sorry if I came across as too forward the other night."

"What?" Beth asked, processing his words.

"I just…" he took a breath, "wanted to do something nice, to, you know, cheer you up. And it just felt good to be close to someone and I'm sorry. I'm not tryin' to replace your fiancé or anythin'. I wanna be friends."

Her mouth was open, she was fully aware of that as she listened to his words. "Oh Daryl," she said. "It's not you. You didn't do anythin' wrong. I'm a mess. Just a full blown mess. I'm tryin' to figure out…my life." It sounded dramatic, but it was true. "And I want to be friends. I like spendin' time with you." She hoped that wasn't too forward.

He gave her a half smile at that and she warmed to it, happily. "Alright. And if you think I'm ready to take this damn test, I'm gonna take it," he said with new found confidence.

They sat there for a minute just smiling at each other and she wished he would smile more. When his mouth opened, showing his teeth, it did something else to his face. His eyes creased up into slivers, his cheeks lifted, his lips looked plumper and he looked younger somehow. She was fully aware of her own mouth smiling and his eyes on her and she involuntarily gave a nervous chuckle, before looking away to pull the backpack over her shoulders.

"Will you let me know when you're taking the test?" she asked. "For moral support," she added.

He cocked an eyebrow. "Alright. And when I pass, I fully expect a huge party in my honor," he joked.

"Done," she responded, not missing a beat.

A/N: First, sorry for the short chapter. I have to travel before the wedding so I'm hoping on the plane and at night I'll have some time to write and get a little further before I totally go MIA for 2 weeks. Also, I think at first I said this story might be like 14-15 chapters or something, but it's going to end up being a little longer. Next chapter will be Daryl's POV.

Second, I want to apologize for the inconsistencies in this story. I've said this before in other stories, but I'm a little bit of an impulsive writer which is something that I need to work on and hope to with future stories. But I also want to give a big shoutout to all of those people keeping me honest because it helps me understand where I need work. And that's a big part of growing as a writer! So I appreciate it. :) And I think the ones that were caught were fixed. I have a long list of notes now, along with my outline so hopefully that will help.

I'm trying to stay on top of these things, but my head is all over the place right now. ANYWAY, thanks for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! You all are so wonderful.