Okay y'all. It's been a night lol. If you're reading my other fic then just know I haven't forgotten it. I'm working on getting some things straight for the next chapter and it's coming along, but it won't be out tonight. My feels were stronger for this one at the moment and I felt like I needed to get this one out.
Where are all my readers? I know y'all are out there so don't be shy! Come out and drop me a line, it really does help. :-) I know some of you were expecting Beth and Merle to get it on, but I just couldn't yet. I feel like they could be oh so good together, but first they've got to get on the same page. So here's the next chapter and I hope y'all enjoy it! Please send me some love if you do! Thanks!
Beth kept glancing at the doorway all through dinner, but Merle still hadn't shown up yet. She tried not to let it get to her, not to let it make her feel guilty, but it did. She wasn't sure what she had been thinking, but it was done now. Except he still wasn't back yet.
"Beth?" Rick's voice interrupted her thoughts and she blinked back to the present. She noticed that he was staring at her with a concerned look and had now attracted the attention of Maggie and her Daddy.
"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Beth blushed at having been caught daydreaming.
Rick smiled at her gently, "I was asking how your training was coming along?"
Well she was pretty sure her training was over, but there was no need to mention that yet, "It's going pretty good. I feel more confident and I think I've gotten a handle on taking down the walkers," She said.
Rick nodded and Beth's attention was momentarily diverted to the doorway as Merle entered the room. She tried to read his expression, but his face was still blank. He served himself a plate of food and went to sit at his usual spot at the bottom of the stairs. Daryl and Rick were the only ones who paid him any attention.
"We need a couple more supplies for Judith and we could use another vehicle and some gas for the others so I was thinking you could go on a run for us and see how you do. You could take Merle with you," Rick suggested to her.
Daryl, who was seated across from her and next to Carol, paused and looked at Rick, "Ya sure that's such a good idea Rick?" He asked.
Rick shrugged, "Well we can't afford to send too many people out and I just figured since he was training her that she might be comfortable going with him."
Beth was quiet, not sure how to respond to this. Ultimately that would be up to Merle and right now she wasn't sure how he was going to react.
"No way! I don't want my sister going with him. Not after what happened last time," Maggie chirped in from beside her.
"Well I just figured-," Rick began.
"She don't need me. Let 'er take someone else. Got some stuff ta do 'round here anyway," Merle's deep voice spoke up over Rick's.
Everyone was silent for a moment and Beth snuck a glance at Merle. He stared back at her blankly and then looked back down at his food. She felt herself choking back tears again.
"I'll take 'er. Damn. Ain't that big a deal," Daryl said.
She felt his eyes on her curiously but she didn't look up at him from across the table. She knew that Daryl was already suspicious of herself and Merle. She figured she would be pretty easy for him to read at this moment too. She toyed with the food on her plate, not really seeing it and not at all hungry.
Seconds later Merle stalked past the table and tossed his plate in the trash before exiting the kitchen to go outside, slamming the door behind him.
Rick cleared his throat, "So, uh, Beth are you okay going along with Daryl?" Rick asked. Beth nodded, her eyes still on her plate. "Well it's settled then. After dinner, we'll get a list together of last minute supplies and you two can leave at first light."
Merle stabbed the eye of the walker over and over through the fence. It had gotten a piece of its clothing caught on the fence after the first stab and Merle had just decided to keep on stabbing it as long as it hung there. It was proving to help relieve some of the irritation he was feeling, not to mention the blue balls he was struggling with.
The girl had done a number on him. He would admit he should have known better, but he had thought that he had an accurate read on the situation. He had went out on a limb for her, thinking that she wanted it too. Then she had pulled away just as things were beginning to get good and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.
She was technically an adult and they both wanted sex so it made sense to him for them to do it together. It wasn't like they had many other options anyway. He laughed harshly as he stabbed the walker again, it's face beginning to resemble something akin to the consistency of ground beef. Fuck, he had wanted her so bad. He had been tasting the sweetness of her pussy all over again and he had been so close. He growled and turned away from his walker punching bag and was startled to see his brother standing a few feet behind him. He shouldn't have been surprised though. If there was anyone that could sneak up on him, it was Daryl. After all, Merle had been the one to teach his brother how to move silently.
Daryl had his crossbow slung over his shoulder. His brother never went anywhere without the damn thing. He supposed that he could say the same about his blade though. Merle looked down and flicked the tip of his blade, slinging some of the blood onto the ground around him. He spit before looking up into Daryl's gaze.
"What tha fuck ya doin' Merle?" Daryl's voice was low.
Merle chuckled, "Not a Goddamn thang brotha! What you doin'?"
Daryl sighed, his expression clearly indicating his annoyance at the moment, "What's goin' on with you an' Beth? Somethin' happen?" Daryl crossed over until they were almost nose to nose. "Because ya told me ain't nothin' happened between tha two o' ya so did somethin' happen recently or was ya lyin'?"
He regarded his brother warily and sucked his teeth before responding, "Ain't nothin' goin' on lil' brotha. Not a single damn thang."
"So why ain'tcha takin' 'er on tha run tomorrow? Ya was all gung ho ta train 'er an' now ya jus' tossin' 'er to tha side?" Daryl asked.
Merle shrugged, "She don't need me no more. She's got this. Don't worry brotha. I trained 'er right," He said.
Daryl studied him for a few minutes before speaking again. "Ya better be right Merle. Cause if I find out that shit ain't like it should be, then you an' me gon' have a talk. I ain't tryin' ta pick up for ya slack," Daryl pointed his finger at Merle.
Merle's eyes narrowed, "Ya best be takin' a moment ta consider whose face ya pointin' that finger in there brotha'." Merle gave him one last look and brushed past him, leaving him standing there staring.
Beth had just lay Judith down in her crib and entered her cell when she saw Merle stalk past her cell. From her cell she had a view of him as he climbed the stairs. He didn't look at her, but she knew that he would know she was there. Not much got past him or Daryl.
She really didn't want to go on this run with Daryl tomorrow, but no one had really seemed too interested in her input after dinner. She was still overlooked just as much as she had been before. The person she really wanted to go with was in the cell directly above hers and she could hear him moving around as she listened for it. She knew he was mad. She had hurt him and she understood that. She just didn't know how to tell him that she wanted her first time to be more than some foray in a dingy cell. It would help if she knew that he cared for her at least a little bit.
She cared about him. After spending most of their days together lately, she had come to care for him a great deal. Sure he was a little rough around the edges, but she found that side of him appealing. At least, most of the time she did anyway.
She sighed and leaned back against the wall as she waited on everyone to settle down in their cells. She was planning on sneaking to his cell to talk to him. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say yet, but she wanted to say something. She hadn't ever done anything like this before and she wasn't sure how to approach him now. That was probably why everyone always looked at her as a kid, the same as Carl. That irritated her.
It was sometime later before everything had grown to the restless quiet that had become the normal at the prison. Beth padded softly to the doorway of her cell and peered out. There were no signs of anyone anywhere and she quietly made her way up the stairs. Only two people slept upstairs: Merle and Daryl. Fortunately for her, Daryl was sleeping soundly on his bunk as she crept by.
There was a soft light spilling out of the cell that Merle occupied and as she came to a stop in front of it, she saw that he was sitting on the edge of his bunk fiddling with something in his hands. He wasn't wearing a shirt and the sight of those muscles once again distracted her and she lost her train of thought as he looked up. His steel blue eyes met hers and he regarded her silently before turning back to the object in his hands.
"Got somethin' ya wanna say?" He asked finally.
She slipped inside of his cell and walked over to lean against the wall in front of him, "I know you're wondering what happened earlier and I-"
He snorted, "Ya ain't gotta explain nothin' ta me suga. If yer thinkin' my feelin's was hurt, think again," He muttered.
She shuffled her feet, "I didn't mean-"
He stood up so quickly that her sentence was cut short. "Ya didn't mean what? Ya didn't mean ta let me touch ya? Let me run my hand down yer body?" He trailed his hand down from the curve of her breast to her hip. "Or did ya not mean ta moan an' whimper when I sucked those pert tits a yers?"
She winced a little at his harsh words. She was very aware of his hand resting upon her hip and now she was second guessing her decision to come into his cell. Clearly she should have waited. He was angry at her and she didn't know how to come back from that now. Tearing her eyes away from his, she pushed his hand off and brushed past him. She hurried down the stairs and crawled into her bed, pulling the blankets around her. She refused to cry again. She was done being quiet, nice, Beth. Done.
What do you think?