Don't own TWD

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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TEN

After

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Neither of them spoke about what had happened in the attic. It had been several nights and each one was sure the other didn't remember a thing. Beth was too embarrassed to even bring it up and Daryl was ashamed that he had allowed himself to touch Beth when she was under the influence. She had been so vulnerable but so willing. The sheer thought made him unable to look at her. He wouldn't bring it up unless she did and Beth didn't.

They continued to survive the winter going from place to place. Their first stop after the warehouse had been a tiny house at the edge of a small town. They had only been there for a single night until they moved on and finally moved into the back room of a tiny bookstore in the main square of the town.

The room was small but they managed to get comfortable during the cold nights. At first they slept separated but in the mornings, they'd find each other in a close embrace. Walkers were scarce during the winter. Once or twice a straggling one would bump against the store's boarded up front door but would wander off without causing much attention to itself.

Daryl slept a lot during those last winter days while Beth moved from book to book. She would read them and comment parts to Daryl while he tried to doze off. He'd make a single sound or a simple, "Oh, yeah?" but not much else. And with the passing days and all the chapters passed, the two began to leave the night in the attic behind, not letting it bother either of them. What had happened, happened and no harm had been done.

On one particular day, Daryl had begun to drift off from a long night of keeping watch. The night before they had heard some sounds coming from the parking lot behind the building. Daryl wasn't sure if the living were involved in the racket but he decided to stay up to keep watch. Beth was hesitant to fall asleep but did so eventually.

In the morning, they switch places and Daryl went to sleep while Beth ventured through the bookstore for her next book. When they had arrived the place was practically untouched. She guessed it was because a bookstore would be the last place someone would want to go during an apocalypse. She went to the boarded up windows and took a peek through one of the cracks to see snow flurries forming outside. Winter was coming to an end. She was sure they were towards the end of February.

Beth pushed from the window and blocked the crack with the drape. She then continued to roam through the store in search for another book. She lifted the lantern to be able to see the titles of books. Uninterested in any of the books in the adult section, Beth wandered to the small corner of the store that was filled with children's books. She plucked one from the shelf and sat down at the tiny table meant for the children that would never use it and looked through the colorful pages. Beth smiled as she looked through the book. It was so simple yet so entertaining. If only all things could be so simple.

"What're ya doin'?" Daryl's voice came and Beth glanced up.

She became nervous and quickly closed the book, "Nothin'. Just readin'."

Daryl walked over and plucked the book from the table. He eyed it and then raised a brow at her, "Nothin' else catch your eye?"

Beth snatched the book back, "What are you doin' up? Shouldn't you be restin'?"

Daryl shrugged and went around the children's section, picking up books and placing them back. "Nah, ain't tired."

Beth watched him and then smiled giddily, "Want me to read to you?"

"What?"

"I said if you want me to read to you."

Daryl looked at her like she was crazy.

"C'mon, Daryl. Don't be a sour puss."

"I ain't—"

"Then sit down."

Daryl shook his head and took a seat on one of the tiny chairs. Beth giggled, opened the book and began to read out loud.

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When the snow began to melt, Beth felt like their hope had been renewed. She stepped out from the back of the bookstore and took in a deep breath, inhaling the fresh spring air. "Oh, wow. It smells grand, doesn't it Daryl?"

She turned around. Daryl emerged from the back door, squinting his eyes from the sun. He looked around the back building parking lot and nodded to himself, "Better than freezin' half to death."

"What day do you think it is?" Beth asked him.

Daryl shrugged, "Dunno."

Beth counted the months on her fingers, "Mid-March maybe?"

"Your guess is as good as any."

Beth sighed, "I wish I knew."

"Well, winters over that's for sure. Huntin's gon' be easier. C'mon." He nudged her and the two ventured across the parking lot, across the field and into the forest.

They didn't make it half a mile into the woods before Beth began to slow down. She felt a little fatigued and began to lag behind. Daryl noticed her footsteps linger behind him and stopped. He eyed her as she leaned against a tree for a moment.

"Ya alright?"

Beth nodded. "Yes. Just a little tired."

"We ain't even goin' uphill."

Beth shook it off and continued after him. For some reason the short trek felt exhausting and Beth wanted to stop. The longer they kept walking the more out of breath she became.

Daryl managed to shoot down three squirrels and a duck. He said they'd eat the duck first and preserve the squirrels for later that night. He said something about trying to make jerky now that the sun was out but Beth let the words pass right through her. She wasn't paying much attention and only wanted to go back to the bookstore to rest.

Daryl secured the perimeter around the back door and set some traps. Without the snow to make much of a barrier.

"How much longer are we gonna stay here?" Beth sat on an upside down bucket out on the lot while Daryl plucked the duck.

"Ya don't like it here?"

"No, I'm not sayin't that. I'm just askin'."

Daryl didn't say much and continued to pluck. Beth glanced behind him to beyond the lot to see a walker slowly making its way over. She stood from the bucket and grabbed her knife out of her back pocket, "I got it."

Daryl didn't protest and instead watched just in case she needed help.

Beth went under the wire that Daryl had put around their perimeter and went to greet the walker. It had been a man, much older than Daryl with white hair and missing teeth. Its skin had a grayish tint and it smelled something awful. Beth suddenly felt nauseas and stopped. She wasn't even that close to it to fully smell it but its stench was overwhelming. So much it sent her a step back and she covered her nose with an arm.

After a short moment, she steadied herself and went to raise her knife just as the walker approached her but before she could strike it, her head began to spin something fierce and Beth lulled to the side, falling over.

Daryl watched it all happen. "Beth!" He threw the duck to the side, jumped up on his feet and ran to her. The walker fell to its knees and reached to grab her, ready to take a bite out of her neck when Daryl tackled it back to the floor. Daryl elbowed its chest to the floor as the walker snapped up at him. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a knife, tabbing the walker through the neck and up into its brain. Daryl jerked the knife to the right and heard something snap. The walker's body fell limp.

Daryl pushed off the corpse and went to Beth. He picker her up in his arms and carried her back into the bookstore. He laid her on top of her sleeping back and roused her, "Beth. Ey, wake up! Beth!" he tapped her cheek.

Beth began to mumble, "D—did I get it?" She slowly opened her eyes.

Daryl sighed, relieved she was fine, "Yeah...ya got it." He helped her sit up and then reached over for a bottle of water and handed it to her. "Drink."

Beth obeyed and drank from the bottle. She sighed, "What happened?"

"Ya fainted."

Beth rubbed her head and groaned. "And the duck?"

"The duck?—ah, shit." Daryl jumped back up to his feet and went back outside to retrieve the duck.

By the time the sun set, the two were in the backroom munching down on some left over duck. Beth had barely touched her share but Daryl was on his second helping. "I'm just not very hungry." Beth admitted. She was still feeling rather dizzy from earlier that day and only wanted to sleep. Daryl was persistent that she finish her first share at least and so she picked at it the best she could.

She then checked the candle inside the lantern and was satisfied by how much longer it would last them. She had been avoiding going around town scavenging for supplies now that the walkers weren't frozen in the snow. Still, they still had some supplies to last them another three days or so.

Beth lay back down on her sleeping bag that was right next to Daryl's. She lay her head on a pillow she had made out of her red sweater and took in a deep breath. Daryl noted this and spoke up, "Ya sleepin' already?"

"Yeah, I'm tired…"

"Tired of what? Ya barely did anythin' today."

Beth scoffed softly, "Get off my back, Daryl."

"Just sayin'…"

Beth rolled around and turned her back to him. She simply wasn't in the mood to deal with him. Not to mention that her headache was coming back. Beth had been having the same throbbing headache for the past week and a half and she wasn't sure what it could be.

After a few minutes, Daryl got up, checked the front of the store and then the back door and when he deemed it safe enough, he blew out the candle in the lantern and laid down next to Beth in the dark. He thought of scooting closer to her and letting her squirm her way into his arms but realized that the night wasn't as cold as it had been during the winter. In a way Daryl damned the spring for now he didn't have an excuse to warm up to her.

The night in the attic suddenly crawled back into Daryl's mind and he wondered why. He began to repeat all the little things he could remember like the way Beth giggled when his hand went up between her legs or the way she bit her bottom lip when he entered her for the first time. All those little moments were the last things on his mind before he fell asleep and when he woke in the middle of the night to still find her fast asleep, Daryl scooted closer to her. He watched her sleeping face for a moment and wondered if deep down she remembered too. And if she did remember, he wondered if she liked it as much as he had.