Chapter 10

He was dreaming about her. She was wearing the same tank top she had on when he first met her, but it wasn't ripped. It was clean, as if it had just come out of a washing machine. Her legs were being shown off in a pair of cut-off Jean shorts. She was barefoot, her toes painted cotton candy pink. Her hair was down, falling well past her shoulders, framing her face. She was simply standing in front of him, her eyes looking deep into his soul. He felt as if there wasn't a care in the world. He wasn't worried about walkers, if they were going to find shelter, or what they were going to eat and drink. All he cared about was her. He reached his hand out to her, but she suddenly seemed further away. He took a step towards her, but she backed up. Every time he got closer to her, she was that much further. No matter how many times he tried, he could never reach her.

Daryl awoke with a start. He sat straight up. He glanced around, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He was still on the couch in the living room. He could see his crossbow on the table in front of him right where he had left it. Daryl rubbed his face, trying to get the image of Beth standing in front of him out of his mind. There was something about it that just felt so real. He was about to lie down again when he heard Beth shout. One shout is all it took for Daryl to grab his crossbow and jump off the couch. He bounded up the steps.

"Don't!" She shouted.

Daryl turned to the left. It was hard to see where he was going in the dark in such an unfamiliar place, but he zoned in on a door down the hall.

"Come on, sweetheart," he heard Merle say.

Daryl knew immediately what was going on without having to see a thing. He burst through the door. What he saw made his blood boil. Merle had Beth pinned against the wall. He was holding her wrists together with one hand high above her head. His hips were pressed against her, keeping her still. He was grinding against her. His free hand roamed down her body. He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned away.

"Get off of me!" She yelled, trying to push against him, but she was no match for his strength.

Daryl lunged at his brother. He ripped Merle's hand away from her wrists before tackling him to the ground. Daryl could smell the immense amounts of alcohol on Merle's breath.

"You son of a bitch," Daryl shouted. He held Merle down and began to wail on him, hitting every available spot he could find. Merle fought back, but barely. He was still so intoxicated he barely had much fight left in him.

"Daryl!" Beth shouted. "Stop!"

Daryl didn't stop. All he could see was Merle hurting her and it made him want to kill him. As Daryl geared up to take another swing, Merle took the opportunity to slug him in the nose. With the force, Daryl fell sideways. Merle scrambled to his knees. Even with blood pouring from his nose, Daryl managed to wrap his hands around Merle's neck. He began to squeeze, wanting to squeeze the life right out of him.

"Stop it!" Beth screamed when she saw he wasn't going to stop. "You'll kill him!" She pulled on his arm. "Daryl, stop! He's your brother!"

Daryl finally let go. Coughing and sputtering, Merle sank to the floor.

"You son of a bitch!" Merle roared, his words slurred.

"I'm the son of a bitch? You attack her and I'm the son of a bitch?"

"She wanted it."

Beth grabbed Daryl's arm before he could lunge for Merle.

"Get out," Daryl commanded. "You're nothin' but a lousy, drunk. Get the hell out or I swear to God, Merle, I'll..."

"You'll what? You gonna take sides with sweetheart? You gonna put out your own brother so you can get in her pants? Tell you what, little brother, you can have her first. We can share. Just like we did with that stripper. What was her name? Carmen? Cameron? Hell, it don't matter. It's been a long time since either of us had some tail. Men can't live without a woman's company. Sweetheart might not be as good as Carmen or Cameron, but…"

"That ain't…" Daryl began.

"I can speak for myself," Beth interrupted angrily. "I am not here to be shared for sex!"

"Just get out," Daryl said to Merle, putting emphasis on every word.

"It's too bad…we could have had fun, sweetheart," Merle said before finally leaving the room. Daryl slammed the bedroom door shut and propped a chair up against the door, fortifying it. He turned to Beth.

"You ok? Did he hurt you?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but you're not. Sit."

"I'm fine," Daryl insisted, rubbing some of the blood off his face that had poured from his nose.

"Just sit."

Daryl sat on the edge of the bed. Beth grabbed a T-Shirt from the closet in the room and placed it against Daryl's nose, trying to stop the bleeding. As she stood in front of him, Daryl looked her over. She seemed relatively unharmed. She brushed a piece of hair away from his face. That's when Daryl saw the beginnings of a bruise on her wrist. He gently took her wrist in his hand.

"He hurt you," he said.

"It's nothing. Just a bruise."

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"He's my brother."

"And you can't control his actions."

"I knew he was a lousy drunk. I should never have let him be so close to you."

"Daryl, you couldn't have known he would barge in my room in the middle of the night and…" she cut herself off, thinking that just twenty minutes before she had been having a peaceful night's sleep. She had even been having a pleasant dream about Daryl.

"I won't let him hurt you," he said.

Daryl brought her wrist to his mouth and kissed the spot where the bruise was forming.

"You gotta hold that to your nose or it won't stop bleeding," Beth said, taking the T-shirt from Daryl and pressing it against his nose. "Good news is I don't think your nose is broken."

"That's good. Wouldn't wanna mess with this handsome face."

She smiled. "Think you should go check on Merle?"

"I ain't checkin' on him. Whatever pains he got, he deserves them."

Beth looked down at the floor. "I tried to fight him, you know. I was asleep when he came in. When I woke up, he was…next to me on the bed. I tried to run away, but he caught me. He was just too strong, but I did try."

Daryl could see her trying to hide her emotions from him.

"It's ok…to cry. You know, if you gotta let it out or somethin'."

She met his eyes. "I don't cry anymore, Daryl."

Daryl opened his mouth to convince her that she could cry, but he didn't. Somehow he knew that she would never cry in front of him. It was pride. And that was one thing he understood.

"Still got a couple more hours 'til sunrise," he said. "You should get some sleep."

Beth sat down beside him and scooted herself back on the bed. Daryl stood up, presumably to leave.

"Don't," she said. "Stay. I'll feel safer if you stay."

"Alright. I'll stay on the floor."

"No. Stay with me."

"Beth, I don't think…"

"Please?"

It was the please that got to him. Even if she no longer cried, he could hear the vulnerability in her voice. She was scared. Daryl slid back on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Beth immediately sidled up next to him. She rested her head on his chest. On instinct, he put his arm around her. He pulled the blanket up from the bottom of the bed and covered them both with it. She closed her eyes. Daryl waited until he was sure she was asleep before he allowed himself to fall asleep with her.