I really love writing something so different for this pairing and the characters involved.
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Chapter Ten.
He wanted to kiss her. Badly. Probably more than he had wanted to do something in his life. He wanted to kiss her and tangle his fingers in that long hair of hers and he couldn't remember the last girl he wanted to kiss like that. He didn't think there had ever been a girl who made him want all sorts of things like Beth Greene.
After the garage was closed and they left for the night, Beth's arms were back around his waist and her cheek was against his shoulder blade and he drove them away, cutting through the darkness, not heading towards his trailer this time but just driving because he didn't want this ride with her to end anytime soon.
He hadn't planned on asking her for another ride so soon after the last one but he had stood there and watched Zach as the kid smiled and flirted with Beth and she had smiled back because Beth was too polite not to smile back and Daryl could hardly stand any of it. He hated the way Zach smiled at her; like she was ice cream on a too hot day and Zach wanted to lick her up. Daryl wondered how he smiled at her. He didn't smile but with her, he had felt his lips twitch more than once and when Beth Green smiled, it was like the sun coming out after a rainstorm. Did he smile at her like that? Like she was the sun? Or like she was an ice cream cone?
He told himself that he wasn't jealous – especially of some annoying kid like Zach. A kid closer to Beth's age than him. Zach didn't stand a chance with Beth. She may have smiled at him but he was able to see that she wasn't interested in him. Daryl had to remind himself that she wasn't interested in him, either, and he stood as much of a chance as Zach did. She had called him her friend and wasn't looking to screw any kind of friendship up that he had with her.
He wanted to kiss her but he knew he wasn't going to because she looked to him as a friend and friends just didn't go around, kissing each other when one had showed absolutely no interest in the other doing that. He didn't know what Beth did to him because he never thought about a girl like this. He honestly never thought about girls at all. That always had been more of Merle's thing. His older brother lived to flirt and hook up with anyone of the opposite sex who crossed his path and struck his interest. He had been able to change over the past few years but Daryl knew his brother would still probably flirt up a storm if he was ever to meet Beth. Not that there was a reason for Merle and Beth ever to meet.
The thought made him frown because he had tried so hard to stay away from Beth Greene and now, all he wanted to do every day was find a reason to talk with her.
He saw a gas station ahead and he began to slow down, pulling into the lot and coming to a stop beside one of the pumps. Beth slid off first and he followed. She was taking her hair down and putting it up into a ponytail again and she smiled faintly at him when she saw him watching her. He looked at her, studied her, and he tried to imagine the girl she used to be. The girl who hid food underneath the bed. He didn't understand a person who willingly starved themselves and not for the first time, he wondered if he should go back to the library and get that book from Carol.
She stood nearby as he put more gas into the tank, humming a soft song that he didn't recognize and looking up at the few stars visible in the black night sky. He told himself that he was being creepy, looking at her all of the time, and he kept his eyes focused on the numbers of his total as they ticked upwards.
He had no idea where it came from but he suddenly found himself thinking of his mom and old man. He never understood how his mom had fallen for a guy like Will Dixon and he wondered if it had been normal for them once; almost like this. If his dad had actually liked her and had gone after her like a guy did when he liked a girl. Had they done this? Spent time together and when they weren't together, Will thinking about her all of the time?
Daryl shook his head at how stupid he was being. His dad was the meanest son of a bitch he had ever met and had beaten his wife and kids every day, Daryl carrying the scars on his back to prove it. The man hadn't known how to love anyone except himself and Daryl was sure the man had passed that down to his sons. Daryl didn't know the first thing about love or even basic human emotions. He looked at Beth and knew she wasn't like that; knew she didn't have a mean bone in her body and probably didn't even know how to hate anything in this world.
The tank was full and he put the gas cap on one more. "Wanna get somethin' to eat?" He asked and she looked away from the stars to look at him and she nodded with the damn small smile of hers that made the back of his neck itch. "Come on then," he said and began walking towards the gas station, Beth skipping a couple of steps to catch up and walk at his side.
He reached the door first and held it open for her and followed her in to see that they were the only ones in there besides the clerk working. Beth looked around at all of the junk food lining the shelves and then looked at him.
"Gas stations got your four food groups," he said, stepping forward and she followed him. He grabbed a bag of Funyuns and a Hostess cherry fruit pie. "Fruits and vegetables," he said and almost smiled when he handed them to her and she giggled. He grabbed a loaf of Wonder white bread. "Grain." He went to another aisle. "Meat." He handed her a stick of beef jerky.
"And dairy," she smiled, playing along, holding up the pack of jerky that also came with a few small blocks of cheddar cheese.
She was smiling so wide and laughing still and she held their dinner in her arms. He looked at her and she looked so damn pretty, standing with him in a gas station beneath the harsh fluorescent lighting, smiling up at him as if she didn't want to be anywhere else in the world right then.
And he wanted to kiss her.
The urge was tightening in his stomach, rising up his chest as if it was going to make him throat up, and he forced himself to look away from her then. He rubbed the back of his neck and wished that there was anything that could offer him a distraction right then because he was about to do something stupid he wouldn't be able to take back and it would just ruin whatever the hell this thing was between them.
If Beth noticed anything strange from him, she didn't act like it and she shifted all of the food in her arms. "This is a regular feast," she said, looking down at what he had chosen and he wondered if she would actually eat a single of those things if he was to buy it all. Girls like her didn't eat from gas stations. "You want to hear something?" She looked at him and lowered her voice as if to reveal the secret location of the fountain of youth and he saw the way her eyes were sparkling. "I have never tried a Funyun."
He actually cracked a smile at that, taking the yellow bag from her arm. "Well, then you haven' truly lived yet, girl."
He went to the counter and Beth giggled, following behind. She placed the rest of the food on the counter and Daryl grabbed his wallet from his back pocket. As the clerk rang everything up, he watched her as she turned a display of cheap sunglasses and he smirked as she slid on a yellow pair, the lenses too big for her face, and when she looked at her reflection in the warped mirror, she smiled, thinking the same thing.
"Those, too," Daryl told the clerk.
"Daryl-" it was no surprise when Beth began to immediately protest, sliding the sunglasses from her face, but Daryl just ignored her and when the clerk gave him the total, he handed him the money, taking the plastic bag in exchange.
"Excuse me," Beth spoke up. "Where's your bathroom?"
The clerk pointed towards the back and Beth looked to Daryl.
"I'll wait for you outside," he said and she nodded, brushing past him.
Outside, the sun was completely set now and he set the food in the bag hanging at the side of the bike. He leaned against the seat and lit a cigarette, waiting for Beth and listening to the cicadas. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Not just here but here with her. What the hell was this girl doing to him? He wasn't exactly the kind of guy who deserved to be even breathing the same air as Beth Greene.
She came out again, her own plastic bag in her hand, and he dropped the cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out with the toe of his boot.
"Smoking next to a gas pump?" She teased him and he smirked, shrugging. "I got some water to have with our dinner and I got you something, too." With that, she pulled out a black trucker cap and he gave her a look, trying not to smirk again and she stood on her toes, dropping it onto his head. "Perfect," she smiled, almost laughing, and he frowned at her though he didn't really mean it and she must have known that because a bubble of laughter did escape past her lips that time.
He kept the hat on his head as he asked, "Where you wanna go and eat all this?"
She shrugged, her smile softening into the one it always was. "I don't really know this area…" she trailed off, looking around as if waiting for an idea to present itself.
"Come on. I know a place," he said and climbed back onto the bike.
She put the bottles of water in the bag with the other food and then climbed on behind him, her arms slipping around his waist, and he swore he could feel her palm rubbing the slightest circles around his stomach. He almost sucked it in as if that would escape her touch but he closed his eyes for a moment, reveling in it for as long as he could without making it obvious even though he knew he was just imagining it and she really wasn't touching him like that.
He drove them to the Yellow Jacket Creek – one of his favorite fishing spots – and it was dark and even though their eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, he wound up holding her hand as he led her carefully down the side towards the water. He tried to think of something that he had ever touched that was as soft as her skin felt. The water was rushing past them and something splashed nearby – probably a frog – and he watched as she settled herself down on one of the rocks.
He watched, knowing he wouldn't be able to look away for anything, as she took one of the Funyuns and guided it to her mouth, crunching on it, taking a moment to focus on how it tasted on her tongue.
She looked at him after a moment and smiled. "Where have these been my whole life?" She asked and Daryl had no idea why he felt so relieved that she liked them.
…
During a stint in prison, Merle had met a woman through a prison pen-pal program and when he had talked about it, Daryl couldn't help but be a little doubtful. He could just imagine the sorts of women who pursued men when they were locked up. But once Merle was released, he seemed to settle down into a nice little life with his pen-pal, Annie, who became his wife two days after he was let out. They lived in a house that Annie had inherited once her grandmother had passed away and it still confused the hell out of Daryl when he went over and saw Merle doing yard work.
It had taken years – too much booze and too many drugs and too many laws broken – but it seemed like Merle finally had gotten himself together. He was still rude and crude as hell, still Merle, but he was a man who was earning his money through an actual honest-paying job – a garbage man – and who came home every night to the same woman and sometimes, Daryl wasn't sure he even knew who his brother was anymore. Who would have ever thought that both Dixon boys would turn out somewhat alright in life because they had had a hell of a reputation when they were younger.
"Hey, baby brother," Merle grinned when he opened the door and Daryl stepped into the house, Merle slapping him on the back.
"Hi, Daryl," Annie came from the kitchen, smiling, and it had taken Daryl some getting used to but Annie was a hugger. She hugged him now as she always did every time she saw him and Daryl never hugged back because he definitely was not a hugger but that never seemed to bother Annie. "Dinner's almost ready. You want a beer?" She asked and then without waiting for a confirmation or refusal, she went into the kitchen to get him one.
Merle sat down in his recliner and Daryl sat on the couch and Annie came back, handing Daryl a can and sitting down beside him. Annie had the kind of body that Merle loved in a woman – a large chest and a flair of hips – with red hair and too much lipstick in Daryl's opinion but she wasn't his wife so why did he care? She had always been so nice to him and Daryl liked her and thought she was good for Merle. And Merle certainly seemed happy being with her.
"Tried callin' you last night," Merle said. "Roller Derby's next weekend and a couple of Annie's friends are in it. Wanted to see if you wanted us to get you a ticket."
Daryl shrugged. "Yeah." He took a sip of his beer and a thought occurred to him then even with him trying to shove it out again. "Think you can get me two?" He heard himself asking even though he told himself he didn't really want to and Merle looked at him for a minute before breaking into a slow grin.
"You got someone you're wantin' to invite along?" Merle asked and he was smiling and from the corner of his eye, he could see Annie smiling, too.
Daryl just shrugged and took another sip of beer.
"This the someone you were with last night instead of answerin' your phone?" Somehow, Merle's smile seemed to grow even wider.
And again, Daryl just shrugged, not speaking, and ignored Merle's laughter.
"We will definitely get you two," Annie swiftly promised, her own smile big and happy and Daryl couldn't help but frown at the both of them.
"Stop. It's just a bunch of women on skates tryin' to kill each other and I have a friend who might like it," Daryl heard himself explain though he didn't know why he was bothering because all Merle and Annie were hearing were wedding bells.
And maybe Beth wouldn't like it at all. Maybe he just wanted to spend even more time with her.
…
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