Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Walking Dead'.

Iris

Chapter 10

Lunch didn't consist of much talking between Daryl and I. Mainly I was forcing myself to choke down the food in front of me. I wasn't feeling up to it but I needed the energy especially with the training I would receive after lunch. It was fascinating though watching Daryl eat. He ate like he was always starving and unless it was soup he would eat with his fingers too. It made me wonder if he even tasted his food half the time.

I looked down to my food blandly; wish I had his gusto to eat right now. Carol and one of the older lady's from Woodbury learned how to make bread recently so it was two slices of bread and some rabbit meat from Daryl's last hunting trip. It was real good but I couldn't stomach more than half of the sandwich before I was done. I pushed my plate over to Daryl silently asking him to finish it for me.

He looked at the plate then me for a second before picking up the sandwich and devouring it in one bite. If I had blinked I would have missed it. Daryl then eyed me over briefly before commenting, "Ya need ta eat more girl. Barely any meat on them bones." I scoffed at this words, folding my arms over my chest.

"I know that! I just can't put anymore in me." Daryl looked unconvinced but didn't push the topic further, instead he stood up stretching his arms over his head displaying his lean muscles just under his skin.

Discreetly I checked my chin for drool cause that was definitely drool worthy. "A'right lets head out fer yer trainin'." I nodded putting our plates together then followed him out.

By the time we got out there the sun had reached the highest point in the sky. My clothes were still a bit damp from my trip into the river so it helped to keep me cool under the heat. That was the south for you, it could be cool and windy one day then hot and humid the next.

We came to a stop by the usual place where unfortunately I had to go through my warm-ups. Instead of barking out orders Daryl opted to stay quiet, observing me as I ran my sprints. During the full thirty minutes of my warm-ups he barely said a word and when he did it was just to tell me to do another set of push-ups after my sit-ups. I hoped he approved of my progress cause I worked so hard on getting myself this far.

Luckily for me Daryl was in a giving mood and allowed me a ten minute breather. I was sweating profusely under the beating heat of the sun and it left me out of breath. I should have grabbed a bottle of water before hand but I forgot. I was regretting my forgetfulness now.

"So the basics of gittin' out of most holds is ta catch yer opponent off guard." Daryl said as I sat with my legs crossed in front of him. I probably looked like a little kid just staring up at him as he talked. "Since yer little and unintimidatin' ya can use them underestimatin' ya ta yer advantage." I nodded pressing my lips together to not yell back. I was not that little and I can be intimidating! Daryl noticed my expression cause he snorted bluntly like he was holding back from laughing in my face. That only made me frown angrily at him.

"Anyway," he started, "if yer caught even when tryin' ta evade them ya can still escape. Git up." Daryl waved, gesturing me to get to my feet. As I stood I noticed I wasn't the only one sweating bullets. "Now reach over and grab my arm."

I hated this. I knew once I did Daryl would show me what to do but it would be at my expense. Reluctantly I placed my hand on his arm. "Come on Beth, tighter." I internally groaned and tighten my grip then quick as lighting he twisted his forearm that I gripped onto and twisted right out of my grasp. I blinked rapidly, that had to be like two seconds before he was released. It was that fast.

"See how I did that?" I shrugged uselessly. "Barely." I mumbled out.

"Watch closely then." Daryl drawled letting me grab his arm again. "The same time ya git grabbed ya twist out of thair hand, catches them by surprise." No kidding, it caught me by surprise and I knew it was gonna happen. Daryl showed me step by step (there was only two steps) on getting out of that grab before testing it on me.

I wasn't as quick as him and his grip was much tighter on my arm than I was on him. My first few tries at breaking his hold were unsuccessful, at one point I felt like I was getting whiplash in my arm. His grip was realistic I'll give him that but I knew at the end of the day I would have a red hand print on my arm. Finally though as Daryl grabbed a hold of my arm, just a slight grip I found my cue and twisted from his hand before it found any real purchase on my arm. Daryl looked proud and I did it a few more times breaking the hold each and every time.

"Good job Beth, now that was a simple frontal hold. I wanna do a frontal choke hold." I placed a hand on my neck. "Yah, fer someone yer size if I can't grab yer arm I'd go fer the throat." I nodded, logically this hold would be the next step, that didn't make me anymore excited to learn it.

There's something intimate yet violent about grabbing a person's neck that sent shivers down my spine. It's such a vulnerable area that one wrong move could either kill you or damage you. "I won't hurt cha Beth." Daryl stated softly. I felt sucked in by the emotions swirling in his eyes that any fear and apprehension I was feeling disappeared completely. I trusted him and I just knew that he would rather hurt himself over me any day.

"Okay." Daryl nodded once.

"Now a choke hold will be harder fer ya ta break but it ain't impossible. Ya just need ta know how. Fer this one tho ya can't use me as a demonstration, yer too short ta reach." I rolled my eyes. I wasn't that short but I get that it wouldn't be as effective.

Daryl then walked up to me, we were standing almost toe to toe and his gaze was burning into me like the heat of the sun was on my back. "Ya trust me…" He wasn't asking and even if he was it seemed like he was too afraid to know the answer.

I only smiled gently, encouragingly looking up at him. "Of course I do." Whatever tension that built up as he waited for my response cleared up like Daryl was releasing a held breath. He nodded stiffly then proceeded to lightly grab my neck. His hands were loosely placed there encircling my throat entirely between both of his hands. His thumb lightly brushed my pulse point as though reassuring me.

I breathed deeply through my nose waiting for him to tighten his grip but it never came. I felt stunned that he hadn't gone through with it yet and peered up at him. "Daryl?" he coughed dazedly squinting his eyes at the sun first before connecting with mine. "Ya might bruise."

I rolled my eyes, now who was the one hesitating? "I'm prepared for that." Daryl still looked unsure so I grabbed his wrist giving it a squeeze, "Come on Daryl, don't wimp out on me now." He snorted.

"I ain't wimpin' out." I was about to call bullshit when the thought came to me out of nowhere.

I hadn't thought about it for weeks since that day but now seeing how hesitant he was with going through this, the strain in his muscles as he held his hands on my neck, there was even a fear in his eyes as I stared into them, it all came to me like an epiphany. I thought Daryl had been sexually abused when he was younger by the way he acted and how he didn't like being touched but I think I wasn't on the right track of abuse. If he was having a hard time holding me on my neck then obviously he had to have been in this position before only on the receiving end.

He wasn't sexually abused, he was physically abused.

It felt like my throat had thickened as realization dawned on me. Why hadn't I noticed it before? Growing up my Daddy had been sort of like this, he would never lay a hand on us and the one time he did on Shawn there was so much shame and fear in his eyes I think Shawn felt worse about bringing the rage out of Daddy than the slap on his butt. Honestly I felt like all the air around us was sucked out of the atmosphere. It was so hard to breathe and the sudden sensation to cry came over me. I don't know if I was just emotional from yesterday and the events of today but my eyes started to blur as I stared up at him.

Slowly Daryl's hands released my neck pulling away from me but not stepping back. I wanted to ask so many questions, hell I wanted to demand answers! Daryl is so caring, strong and loyal, I can't imagine someone hurting him. It made me wonder who it was that would lay their hand so violently against him. Merle came to mind but I was pretty sure he wasn't it. As much as his brother angered him Daryl still cared about him even after his death so logically that only left two other people...

His parents...

"I'm so sorry Daryl." Tears rolled down my cheeks and my lips trembled as I gazed up at him. Without thinking about the consequences of my actions I wrapped my arms around him burying my face into his chest. Daryl froze at my touch with his hands limp at his sides. By now he had to have known I figured him out. I only knew the basic of his past but that was enough. It was more than enough for me.

His chest moved up and down in a deep breath then a hand gently touched the middle of my shoulders. It wasn't hard just lightly pressed there. "Ya don't need ta be sorry. It was years ago anyways." I nodded but that didn't change the sympathy I felt for him. It didn't change the hurt I felt deep inside my chest when I thought about what he went through. The pain that was mental, emotional, and physical that had been inflicted on him so carelessly. How could I have missed it?

Really thinking about it clearly now it all made sense, the fact that he knew how to fight, how to break these holds and everything else blended together smoothly. His distrusting behavior, the flinching from any physical touches even when it was all good-natured and the fact that more times than not he held people at arm's length. He maybe close to the others like Carol and Rick but he still kept them out in some ways, I wonder if I'm the first to realize this about Daryl?

Does Carol know? I found that hard to believe she doesn't, she knows more than anyone else what it feels like to be oppressed upon physically and mentally. But does Rick know? My head throbbed painfully as my thoughts swirled around my mind.

I feel like I'm seeing Daryl for the first time. I know I can never fully understand all the implications of his pain or abuse, really I just barely scratched the surface of who Daryl Dixon really is. But I wanted to know, I wanted to be the comfort that he didn't even know he needed. I wanted to show him that I would be here for him I just didn't know how to tell him, so instead I held on to him. I hoped he understood what my actions were saying.

Finally after a few minutes I pulled away smiling a watery, red-eye smile at Daryl as I stepped back to give him space, I'm sure he needed it. I pushed my hair back then wiped away any remaining tears from my cheeks. "You okay?" Daryl's voice came out quietly, subdued and sober. He was watching my face, gauging my expressions like he was waiting for disgust from me. Well sorry to disappoint but I wasn't disgusted, at least not with him.

"Yeah…yeah I'm good, are you?" I had to ask, he looked fine at first glance but his eyes looked so tired and exhausted. He nodded though and everything shifted back to normal. It was almost like it didn't happen, I just wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or a blessing in disguise.

We settled back into the hold after another moment of collecting ourselves. Daryl's hands grasped my throat like before only this time though he tightened his grip but not enough to choke me, "First, ya wanna spread yer legs fer balance."

I looked down to my feet and spread them apart. "Now the next step ya'll move to the right or left, dependin' on yer dominate hand ya'll go the opposite way." I nodded.

"I'm right-handed so I go left." Daryl smiled with a nod. It looked strained but he was pushing it in the back of his mind, he would probably deal with it later when he was alone. "Right." I gave him my full attention hoping that maybe this would assure him that I wasn't going anywhere, not any time soon if I could help it that is.

"Now the tricky part is breakin' free. When ya take the step ta yer left ya gotta bring yer right arm over mine." Daryl let one hand off my throat to reach over taking a hold of my right wrist. "Ball yer hand inta a fist." I did so and he directed me to bring my arm over his locking his wrist in the crock of my elbow and as he shifted my hand to go downwards it forced his hand to loosen up on my neck pretty much releasing me from his hold.

"Ya do that when ya take that step to yer left that way yer pullin' away from my hold and usin' yer arm to completely break it, now do it." I went back to the beginning taking my step to the left and brought my arm over both of his wrists. "Good now the last step is ta bring yer elbow down breakin' my hold and fer extra measure either punch yer attacker in the face or slam yer elbow inta their chest."

I nodded trying to absorb all the information the best I could. We repeated the steps a few more times so I could memorize the movements so it came out more naturally and fluid. Daryl as always was a strict teacher, pointing out my flaws as we practiced but he also pointed out when I was getting it right. He wasn't much for praising me on a regular basis but when he did I felt hyped up, happy and more eager to learn.

Ten minutes had to have gone by before we got serious on the choke hold. Daryl came at me like a real attacker would. We mixed in the arm grab with the choke hold, so when he came at me he grabbed my arm but I already deflected it, twisting out of his reach. Then as quick as I broke that hold did his hands grab my throat. The hold didn't crush my windpipe but it was close. I wrapped my right arm over his as I stepped to the left bringing my elbow down to break the hold then like Daryl instructed earlier I stepped forward slamming my elbow into his chest hard.

Daryl stepped back coughing as he placed his hand on the center of his chest. "Shit girl!" He commented breathlessly. I smiled with a bit of uncertainty, I know he wanted me to think as though this attack was real but I hope I didn't hurt him at the same time.

"So…how'd I do?" I asked with a hint of excitement. Daryl brought his hand from his chest up to rub his chin thoughtfully. He was going to make me wait for it I just know it! "Come on Daryl!"

"A'right, a'right! Ya done good, real good." I felt relieved but also happy about my accomplishment. My smile was literally splitting my face as I beamed at Daryl. He shook his head trying to hide the amused smirk on his lips but I saw it.

"Oh don't be so modest over there! 'Ya done good, real good'." Daryl snorted giving me this expression that just shouted, 'seriously'.

"The hell? If yer tryin' ta copy me ya ain't got it right." I laughed brightly feeling so feather light now. It was like all the emotions, tears, and sadness of the last day and a half was washed away from me. If I wasn't so obviously grounded I'm sure I would start floating in the air from the way I felt right now.

"Sorry, not everyone can have your country drawl." I commented teasingly giving Daryl a flirtatious wink. He just stared at me with an arched brow before rolling his eyes to the sky.

"If I ain't known any better I would have thought ya was flirtin' with me." My cheeks burned under his stare that bore into me but I somehow managed to shrug.

"Well I guess it's a good thing you know better huh." He just shook his head at my antics and I let my glowing smile help lighten the mood between us.

Today is a good day.

From there on we moved to frontal and back grabs which were a bit trickier but I got the hang of it, eventually. As Daryl pointed out so long ago I needed to have confidence in my ability to fight, to know I would win in the end regardless of the situation. With him teaching me I felt pretty confident I could, he's an excellent teacher.

I found with the back grab I needed to get him in front of me quickly. Daryl showed a multitude of ways I could escape the hold like jabbing my elbow to their gut, stomping on their foot, and quickly as I'm being grabbed drop to a crouch to slip out of their arms but also I can kick my leg out knocking them off balance. We practiced and practiced all afternoon and I was seriously getting tired. Not to mention I was sweating something awful and in major need of a shower.

I was really looking forward to that shower.

At the end of our training session Daryl stated that he wanted to do an overview of the holds I learned to break and such. At this point I didn't really care as long as it led to us being done cause I had a sinking feeling I had a sun burn on my shoulders. They felt tender and tight as we got ready to cycle through everything one last time. "Ya ready?" Daryl barked out flexing his fingers and rolling his shoulders.

I nodded mentally preparing myself for one last go.

He ran at me without warning throwing a punch to my chest. I managed to block it with my forearm where he reached over to grab my blocking arm. I twisted to release from his grasp just as he reached to grab a hold of my throat. This time he did crush my windpipe. I gasped as air was locked from my lungs but I didn't panic, instead I went to the left wrapping my arm over his then my elbow went down.

Daryl pulled back as I went to shove him away causing me to lose my balance. I stumbled forward where Daryl pulled my arm towards him then twisted me around so my back slammed into his chest. He brought the crock of his arm around my throat once more cutting off my oxygen supply. I choked then rammed my elbow as hard as I could into his gut getting my escape.

Just as I went forward to spin around on him I felt it. Warmth squeezing firmly on my butt cheek. I was already out of breath so now I was near gasping for air as I felt Daryl's hand close down and grip my butt. In slow motion as it felt like to me I spun out of his grasp falling to my behind with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

Daryl Dixon did not just grab my butt!

Daryl looked just as shocked as I was with an equally red face. I was gaping like a fish out of water, I couldn't even begin to think up what to say much less speak it. Daryl opened his mouth to speak but closed it slapping a hand to his face in utter embarrassment.

I felt like I could see his thoughts without him saying a word to me. 'Oh shit! I ain't meant ta grab 'er ass! Shit! Fuck!' Maybe I've just been hanging around Daryl a little too long, his thoughts were becoming predictable for me.

"Fuck! Beth I…shit I…for fuck's sake I went ta grab yer hip not yer ass!" He all but shouted out flinging his hand in a wide arch from his body. I don't think I've ever seen Daryl so flustered, if I wasn't still in disbelief I would have found this situation very funny and amusing but right now I just wanted to bury myself face first into the dirt and hide away.

My butt tingled from the touch and though unexpected it wasn't unpleasant. I didn't know what to say to him so I just sat there in my stunned state as he stood before me. After a minute of silence he just turned on his heel and left me there.

You know one of these days it's going to be me leaving him alone and confused…

A/N: I know I said this would include what I was suppose to put for this chapter but evidently I realized the next chapter was going to be a biggie too, and somewhat have important developments in it for both Beth's relationship with Daryl and with Carl. Plus another appearance of Lizzie, this time with her sister!

Anywho I hope you guys like how this went. I figured with Beth's realization of Daryl being abused she could pick up that he was physically abused especially since going back in the seasons Hershel mentioned his father being a mean drunk and all. I know a few people who've been abused and I know talking to them that they would be more upset at hurting their child in the same way they were or even close to that way then possibly the child themselves, so…that's where I got that from. I hope Daryl didn't come off 'out of character' (OOC). I mean it was only a matter of time before Beth figured out his abuse.

This is also a turning point in their relationship, now instead of just Hershel's youngest daughter and Maggie's little sister Beth has a bit more meaning to him. She knows him a bit better and understands enough to be there for him. It's a quiet we don't talk about it but I'm here for you type of thing, especially with what happened in the other chapter. It's not love just yet but she's more important to Daryl than she had been before and that's a start!

Review and let me know y'alls thoughts please!

ALCzysz17