I made the mistake of going back and reading over the old chapters…so I had to fix a bunch of stuff in every single one of them instead of doing anything new. Maybe I should just wait a month to post these damn things so I can make it decent the first time.
CH10
After an hour of deliberation, Michonne reluctantly trudged upstairs to see to the source of her insomnia. She entered the cell, nearly tripping over the man asleep on the floor. Daryl unintelligibly grunted, clenching his fists as he toss and turned. She hesitated for a moment, and then reluctantly nudged him lightlywith her foot.
"Hey," she kept her voice soft not to startle him.
He flinched, but remained unconscious. Well, that didn't work out too well. Michonne put her hands on her waist eying the knife, kept just a foot beside him. She knew better than to get that close and shrugged her shoulders. What other choice did she have?
Daryl awoke abruptly, thrown from a nightmare into a pain-laced reality.
"Mer..le," the name left his mouth before he realized he spoke it. His side ached with a dull throbbing pain. A dark figure stood over him and adrenaline flooded his veins as Daryl reached for a weapon.
"It's just me," Michonne's voice stopped him from lunging at her.
"What the-fuck," he breathed out hard and forced himself upright. He forgot he slept on the floor and started to regain his bearings.
"You were havin' a nightmare, makin' all sorts of noises," Michonne said crossing her arms.
"So you kicked me awake?" He impressively deciphered her actions from where she stood.
"I wasn't gonna risk gettin' stabbed being too close." She smirked. "And you deserved it."
Daryl glared at her, as he stood and pushed back his sweaty, shaggy hair. Sleep was futile at this point. He pulled off his soaked through shirt, disgusted at himself for being seen like this.
"Deserve it? What the hell did I do to you?" He couldn't think of a damn thing he ever did to offend Michonne.
She casually looked him over, "Nothing. It's for the poor girl down there cryin' over you. Between the two of you it's a miracle anyone gets any sleep 'round here."
Daryl still wasn't completely alert so the added confusion only put him off further. "Why the hell was she cryin?"
He started for the catwalk, but Michonne blocked his exit. "You need to get your head straight, Dixon."
"Excuse me?" Daryl towered over her. He didn't need warrior princess coming in his room to start shit that didn't involve her in the first place.
"You're too damn old to be playin' these games with that girl."
"What the fuck does this have to do with you?" He sneered; on the offensive for being backed in a damned corner.
"Why don't you look around and realize that what you do affects everyone else here too. What the hell are you aimin' for anyway? You ain't the type to string people along."
"I ain't the type?" He was shocked at her presumption and laughed disdainfully. "You barely fuckin' know me." Perceptive bitch; unless he was that damn transparent.
Her dark eyes stared right into his, not even slightly intimidated. "You don't make it this long without being able to read people. Go ahead; tell me I'm wrong then." She tilted her head and waited for his response.
"You come up here to tell me I'm a horrible person? Because I already know that."
Daryl could feel that old familiar rage rising to the surface, and was tired of pushing it back down. He began to miss the rush of hot, white fury, and fuck, just lose himself in it. Since Merle died he felt like a ticking time bomb. Beth couldn't handle it? She fucking begged for it in the first place!
"I'm tryin' to keep this from becoming the disaster it's inevitably gonna be. Ya'll want to end up hatin' each other? The two of you ain't even actin' normal anymore; the others are gonna start noticing. You can play around like she's your toy if that's ya'lls thing, but you're fuckin' with her head. She's sure as hell too emotionally immature to handle that kind of relationship, especially if you ain't gonna be there for her."
Daryl grabbed a new shirt and pushed by her before the last shred of his control disappeared. He went straight outside, pulling his shirt on, but far too undressed for the winter weather. He felt around in his back pocket for a lighter and deeply inhaled the first drag of smoke. The chill of the pre-dawn air on his damp skin stung, but he welcomed it. The biting pain fit for such a shitty night. Did Michonne really think that he didn't know all of that? Jesus, they must really think he was fucking stupid. Maybe that just made it worse. He rubbed his eyes, still exhausted and had no idea how god-awful early it was outside.
Something compelled him to sabotage his relationship with the girl. Fuck, he expected Carol to back off when he attempted to drive her away years ago, but she didn't. But Carol was pretty fucked up too, and she understood him even though he didn't want to admit it. Beth wasn't going to keep taking it.
Throughout the day, Daryl unconsciously kept grabbing his shoulder. It was the spot Beth bit yesterday, and the ache didn't get any better with pressure, but self-inflicted pain kept his mind off of Michonne's lecture.
A pair of hands touched his shoulders from behind; he tensed and quickly twisted away.
Carol sighed, and put her hands on her hips. "Sore?" She asked.
"No," he said quickly. "It's nothin'."
"Don't be weird, I'm not trying anything," she punched his arm playfully and sat beside him. As soon as she looked over to him Daryl darted his eyes away. "Daryl, what's wrong?"
He wished her concern didn't bother him as much as it did. 'Don't give half that much thought to Beth,' he thought bitterly.
"I know you've been through a lot recently, but you aren't acting the same."
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then looked at her. "I did something really stupid…"
Carol searched his eyes for a second, and paused. "You didn't…" she looked around and lowered her voice, "sleep with anyone did you?"
Daryl blushed and hated himself for it. He wasn't nervous about sex around Beth, but that unfortunately didn't translate to anyone else. He shouldn't have said anything.
"No! Of course not." He attempted to appear as offended as possible, but realized she was kidding. His face still burned with embarrassment.
"Alright. Just thought we could talk about it since I've been sleeping with Rick."
Shock crossed his face for a second before he figured she was fucking with him, again. "Very funny," he shook his head and Carol smirked at him.
"I don't like how you aren't falling for my jokes anymore." She sighed and leaned back. "But, I was serious about talking."
Beth and Michonne walked by together, both dressed for the cold. "Where are you two going?" Carol asked. Daryl was thankful he didn't have to.
"Going for a walk outside the perimeter," Michonne said.
Daryl couldn't figure out what it was about Beth. She pulled her knit hat on, and shifted the rifle slung over her shoulder, not unlike his crossbow. With her shoulders back, she looked taller and older. The cold weather forced them mostly indoors so her pale complexion bordered on sickly.
"Mind if I join you?" Carol's question surprised him.
"Sure," Beth didn't hesitate responding.
Carol nudged Daryl with her elbow. "Looks like you're babysitting."
"Psh, she likes me better anyway," Daryl saw Beth smile. He stood up, took Lil Asskicker into his arms and waved her one of her little hands at them. "We'll be havin' fun here, just the two of us."
Beth waved at the two of them over her shoulder as they left. If Michonne was right, then Beth played it off pretty well. She seemed fine.
Living in close quarters with so many women took a toll on him. Daryl looked down at the Judith. "You ain't gonna cause me trouble, right?"
Beth pushed the chain-link fence back into place, grateful Michonne dragged her out to do something other than wallow in negativity. Even if it was out of pity.
"Rick should really be looking after her more." Beth hated how little he spent with his daughter.
"You should see his face when you hold her, it's so sweet," Carol said.
"I'm not her mother," and Beth didn't want to be either. She picked up her sharpened piece of metal rebar, but Michonne already killed the three walkers outside the gate.
"I got the next one," Carol smiled at them, and walked ahead wielding her machete.
Once Carol was out of earshot Michonne finally spoke. "So what's with you and the redneck?"
Beth stumbled. "It's complicated."
"Everythin's complicated. Listen, you can do whatever you want, but don't beat yourself up over him. Men like that need to figure out what they want."
"There's nothin' between us," Beth's voice was cold. "I ain't that stupid." Romance was dead to her anyway. The fact that Maggie and Glenn got engaged irritated her.
"Din't say that," she sighed. "Look. It would be one thing if it didn't bother you, but it obviously does. You're just gonna end up hatin' him."
Beth already knew Michonne was right. She wasn't asking to openly date or anything like that, but it would be nice if Daryl acted consistently towards her.
In fact, when was the last time they had a normal conversation? Part of that was her fault too; she got addicted to the sexual tension, and went along with whatever he wanted whenever the whim hit him. All of her flirting and teasing didn't help her case.
"You're observant," Beth whispered to Michonne and nodded towards Carol, who was slightly still up ahead. "Do you think there's something going on with them?"
"Why don't you ask her?"
Beth sputtered at the absurdity of Michonne's answer, and turned to face her. "That's not helpful. And what am I supposed to say anyway? Hey Carol, have you and Daryl hooked up?"
"Well, that would be the most direct way to put it," Carol answered, standing right behind her.
Beth froze.
Michonne coughed and ducked out. "I'm gonna check around….things." She trailed off putting as much distance as possible between them.
Beth timidly turned around. "I..uh.."
"So when did my love life become a point of interest?" Carol raised an eyebrow.
Her brain raced. "Well, isn't everybody's?" Beth tried to laugh it off. "I mean, you know Maggie and Glenn, Michonne and Rick-"
"What was that?" Michonne called out.
"N-nothing!" Beth shouted back and dug herself deeper into the hole she made.
"Those two? Really?" Carol asked quietly.
Where were walkers when you needed them?
"Anyway," Carol sensed Beth's distress. "I'm not sure that man is capable of a healthy romantic relationship, at least not yet."
Not the straight answer Beth preferred, but she wanted out of the awkward conversation more.
"But, you know when it's just for the sex, it doesn't really matter," Carol said.
Beth almost keeled over. The air disappeared off the planet.
"Oh come on, I'm joking!" Carol hit Beth's shoulder. "You are just as easy as Daryl. Well, he's wising up to it now. It sure doesn't make it as fun anymore."
Beth cracked a smile then laughed along with her. A fleeting uncomfortable thought struck her. Why weren't Daryl and Carol together? The woman was pretty great, they had close bond, and knew each other a long time. Her guilt resurfaced. Why did it feel like she was the 'other woman' in an adulterous relationship?
Michonne warily made her way back over to the two women after witnessing their laughter, and they continued on their route. "Rick and I are supposed to go on a run tomorrow. You two need anythin' in particular?"
"More blankets, I might have to wear my coat to bed tonight," Beth said.
"It is pretty hard to regulate heat in there," Carol sighed and glanced back at the prison.
"So it's just you and Rick?" Beth asked. "Why don't Daryl and I go along too?" She teased.
Michonne scoffed. "Nooope! I'm taking a break from the both of you."
Carol looked at her questioningly. "They causing trouble?"
"The two of them together are bad news."
Beth jumped in front of them. "Hey now!"
Carol smiled at Michonne. "That sounds about right."
The next day
Rick and Michonne came back with a ton of bags. Beth and Maggie dug through the last of it, mostly a hodgepodge of random livestock supplies, when Maggie pulled out a couple horse related items.
"Kind of got everything at the tractor supply, didn't they? Well, this would be nice if we had our horses," Maggie sighed, missing their pets.
Beth made a face pulling out equine medicine. "Are we gonna be desperate enough to have to use this?"
"Who knows," Maggie sat back and whipped the table with the riding crop she found at the bottom. "Guess we can store some of the things that are more useless."
"That's useful," Beth snatched it from her hand and gave her sister a wicked grin. "Watch this."
Daryl ignored the giggle from across the room. Those damn girls, always laughing at something.
Thwack!
"Ow!" Daryl jumped at the sting on his ass; he felt it even through his jeans and spun around. "What the-hell?"
Beth cackled and ran to a safe distance. Maggie held her hand over her mouth laughing.
Daryl glared at the two women. "Where the fuck did you get a riding crop?"
"Hey, Daryl?" Glenn asked as he walked in the room, holding some of the prison schematics he found. "Think you could look this over with me?" Daryl turned his head.
THWACK!
"Fuckin' hell!" Daryl shouted. Beth dodged his attempt to grab at it, laughing manically, and hid behind her future brother-in-law.
Daryl looked her dead in the eye over Glenn's shoulder. "You touch me with that thing again you're gonna get it."
"Uh, what's goin' on man?" Glenn asked curiously.
"What the hell does it look like?" Daryl asked annoyed.
"Looks like you got your ass whipped by a little girl is all," Glenn smirked, but saw Daryl's glare and backed off a little. "I mean, not 'little' per say, she's about average height."
Oblivious to Glenn's attempt at humor, Daryl returned his attention back to Beth. "Give it to me now," Daryl demanded.
"Psshh, you even know how to use it?" She stepped out behind Glenn. It felt good too, especially in front of the others.
"I've ridden a damn horse." Her playfulness really threw Daryl off. 'Snarky bitch.'
Beth tapped the implement on her chin in thought. "I recall you nearly died the last time, right?"
Glenn sided up to Maggie. "What did I just walk into?"
"I don't know, but it's gettin' good," Maggie whispered back and watched intently.
Daryl kept his voice low. "Girl, you best hope I don't get ahold of that, cause I'm gonna -"
Beth took a sudden step towards him, and he jerked back cautiously.
"I'm sorry, what was that you were gonna do?" She asked haughtily. Was that supposed to dissuade her? Much to her confusion Daryl smiled at her taunt.
"Beth!"
Oh. That was why. Hershel's voice echoed off the walls
Wh-what?" Beth's hands went behind her back, even though she was obviously busted. She blushed and looked to her dad in surprise.
"Is that how you were taught to behave yourself?" Hershel looked upset and disappointed.
"I was just playin' around, Daddy." Her voice raised a few octaves. Beth doubted Daryl would back her up. He didn't disappoint, and smirked at her scolding.
Hershel shook his head. "I thought you were a grown woman, but now you're acting like a child again."
Beth fought rolling her eyes at her father. Geez, it wasn't that big a deal. Can't anyone have any fun around here? She knew what she had to do to make it right, and turned to Daryl.
"I'm sorry," she said loudly, then lowered her voice. "That you're terrible at ridin' horses."
Daryl ignored her sarcastic apology, "Don't worry; she'll make it up to me." His eyes pierced Beth. Her fingers twitched around the crop, but Daryl eyed her threateningly.
The two continued to look daggers at each other in a silent war, until Hershel turned away from them to regard his older daughter.
"Maggie, the least you could do is say something instead of just watching your sister act out."
The quick shift of blame blindsided Maggie, and moved everyone's attention to the dark haired woman.
"Me?!"
Beth bit her tongue to keep from cracking up, while Daryl snickered beside her.
"Yeah, Maggie, keep your damn sister in line." Daryl shouted, grinning from behind Hershel.
Maggie conveyed a clear message to him with a glare.
Daryl received her 'go fuck yourself' ocular memo. He coughed into his fist to hide his laughter and quickly left the room.
Glenn smiled at his annoyed fiancé, temporarily safe from repercussions in Hershel's presence. "You're right, it did get good."
End note:
Well that was kind of a wacky chapter, wasn't it? This story is a rollercoaster of all kinds of feels!