…

Chapter Ten.

Beth took a shower, trying not to linger and hog the bathroom though the hot water cascading down on her body felt so good after working for hours outside, she couldn't help but groan when it first made impact with her skin. She had plenty of shampoo and conditioner from the different motels and Carol had given her a wash cloth to use and Beth unwrapped one of the small bars of soap, lathering the towel and rubbing it all over her body.

When she stepped from the shower, she felt so refreshed, she smiled at herself in the mirror's reflection after wiping the steam and condensation away with her hand. The bathmat was soft beneath her feet and she couldn't help but dig her toes into it. It was something so small and she had only been gone for a week and she would never expect it but she really missed mats in the bathroom. None of the motels had such a thing – sanitary reasons, probably – and Beth would have never thought she would miss such a thing. But she stood there, combing the tangles from her hair and rubbing it with the towel and her feet reveled standing on something so soft.

Her mind began to wander to Daryl as it tended to do so often. She had been caught off guard with the extra room only have one bed but she was quick to make the best of it. This road trip was all about the unexpected and adjusting to it and it was like she had told Daryl. They were both adults. Two adults were more than capable of sharing a bed and having nothing happen. Why would anything happen? There didn't seem to be a part of Daryl interested in such a thing – especially with her – so why should there be a problem about sleeping for a few hours beside one another? They had shared motel rooms together and nothing had happened in all of that time and tonight wouldn't be any different. They would just be a little closer than usual.

Beth looked at herself in the mirror's reflection once more, studying herself a bit more closely. She knew she wasn't ugly – not that she really thought anyone was absolutely ugly. She knew she was pretty. It was something she had been hearing for her entire life. Not just from her family but from everyone. Neighbors and acquaintances and other boys and girls at school. And Beth had enough confidence in herself to believe it.

She couldn't help though but look at herself now and wonder what Daryl saw. She imagined the girls he was usually attracted to and she thought of the girls in the Bullfrog Bar. Tight clothes and predominant breasts and hips and before she could stop it, she began to feel disappointment. She would never have any of those things and it was obvious that Daryl wouldn't even look at her because of that.

Beth had never been the sort to change herself for a guy. She was who she was and she thought she was pretty great, to be honest. And she hated that, for one of the first times in her life, Daryl Dixon was making her doubt herself so much.

Tightening the towel around her body, Beth left the bathroom and hurried back to the guest bedroom, closing the door behind her. Daryl wasn't there but her eyes instantly fell upon his bag and crossbow so she knew that he hadn't just left – which she realized was actually a fear of hers. She didn't know where he was going and he didn't know either and she was worried that one day, he would just be gone, heading someplace else on his own; without her.

She hoped he would come all of the way to California with her because although she had just met this man, she already didn't want to apart from him.

Beth hummed an Etta James song to herself as she got dressed in a fresh bra and underwear – she was so glad she and Daryl had done laundry. It was so lovely to be so fresh and clean from a shower and put on fresh and clean underwear. She then pulled on a pair of jean cutoff shorts and the NASA tee-shirt. It was large on her – hanging down and making her look like she wasn't even wearing shorts – but the cotton was so soft against her skin, she instantly fell in love with it.

There was a light knock on the door and Beth, in the middle of braiding her hair, went to go answer it, turning the lock and opening it.

No matter how much time she spent with Daryl, her stomach always flipped around him. Even knowing that she didn't stand a chance in this world with him, her stomach insisted on flipping as if she did.

"Hi," she smiled and stepped aside so he could enter. "The shower is all yours," she said, going to the bed to collect her wet towel.

"Thanks," he grunted and went to his bag, picking it up from the floor and swinging it up onto the bed. "Been talkin' with Carol downstairs," he then said.

Beth looked at him, waiting for him to continue and she felt her heart speeding up. In her mind, she suddenly had an image of him telling her that he was going to be staying here and their little journey together was ending – just like that.

She wondered exactly when it was that she had gotten so attached to this man.

"She leaves for work around six in the mornin' so I figure that was a good time for us to leave tomorrow, too. Get on the road and get into Louisiana. Anythin' else you wanted to see in Mississippi?"

Beth felt herself releasing a soft breath, not even realizing she had been holding it in.

She shook her head rapidly. "No, I actually am excited to get to Louisiana."

"Carol said she was gonna pack some provisions for us," Daryl said, not looking at her as he grabbed some clothes and made his way to the door. "Told her she didn't have to do that but she's not too keen on listenin'."

"That's nice of her," was the only thing Beth could think to say.

She looked at him but he seemed to be doing everything he could to avoid looking at her. She couldn't help but begin to feel frustrated. It wasn't as if they actually had kissed. He had put a stop on that and made it clear that it was never going to happen and Beth had agreed to herself to just pretend it had never happened in the first place. She thought Daryl was pretending, too, and things had been easy between them so far that day. What had changed?

The bed. That's what this was. Sharing a bed with her was clearly the worst thing to ever happen to him and he was acting as if he was being put to his death.

She let out a short huff and without a word, she pushed past him and left the bedroom, ignoring the way she had to brush against his chest and the way her entire body felt as if it was engulfed in flames from just the short contact.

Downstairs, she found Carol and Sophia in the kitchen.

"Hi," Beth smiled at them both, stepping in the room.

"Hi," Carol smiled in return. "How was the shower?"

"So wonderful. Thank you for letting me use it. Daryl's taking his shower now."

"Is Daryl your boyfriend?" Sophia asked with a giggle in her voice.

Beth managed to keep smiling though she would rather be punched than answer that particular question. No, not my boyfriend. He's absolutely repulsed by even being within inches of me. "No," Beth said, shaking her head. "He's my…" friend? She had called him her friend but did he think the same of her? They were traveling together and that was why there were together. They were getting away from Georgia together and nothing more than that. "He's my traveling companion," she decided on even though the words didn't sound right to her own ears.

"Daryl said that you love coffee," Carol changed the subject and Beth wondered if the woman could sense her discomfort. "I make a big pot every morning before I leave for work. I'm addicted, too," she gave Beth a quick wink and Beth instantly relaxed, smiling easily now. "I have a thermos you can take with you tomorrow morning."

Beth instantly opened her mouth to argue. "Carol, you've already done so much for me. I can't take anything else from you."

Carol just gave her a look. "It's a plastic thermos, Beth. Not the holy grail."

Daryl was right about Carol not wanting to listen.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Beth asked, watching as Carol worked on layering the noodles, meat and cheese in the pan to be baked for the lasagna.

"Yes, actually. Can you help Sophia outside? We're growing green beans and I know that we have plenty that are ready to be picked," Carol said.

"I would love to help," Beth smiled and followed Sophia out the back door.

"Don't you want to get your shoes?" Sophia asked her as they stopped on the top step of the small concrete steps.

Beth just smiled again and shook her head. "I've had this habit since I was a little girl. I have such a hard time wearing shoes in the summer."

Sophia looked down at her bare feet and then at her own shoes, seeming to be thinking about something. She then sat down and pulled her own shoes and socks off and Beth hoped Carol wouldn't mind.

Sophia led them down the steps to the vegetable plants they had growing alongside the back of the house. Green beans and tomatoes and cucumbers. Green and lush and obviously cared for. Sophia showed her the green bean plants and they kneeled down together in the soft grass, warm from the sun, beginning to comb through the plants, plucking the beans big and fat enough to be picked. Beth began humming to herself as they worked and Sophia looked at her with a small smile.

"Are you a singer?" Sophia asked.

"I am," Beth smiled brightly at that. "I sing and play the guitar and write my own music. Daryl and I have gone to a couple places already to let me perform."

"Can you sing something for me?" Sophia then asked eagerly.

Beth didn't hesitate in nodding her head. "I didn't write this one but it's been stuck in my head for most of the day," she said and Sophia smiled, sitting up, waiting. Beth continued looking for more green beans and picking as she began to sing.

"It was a close call/Sitting in the back of the room/With a ball I had thrown at you/And you didn't know/Close in on my black eye/I feel safe at times/Certain emblems/Tell me it's time/Serpents in my mind/Looking for your crimes/Everything changes/I don't want mine to this time."

"Wow," Sophia breathed and Beth smiled, not continuing to sing but resuming in her humming. "Are you going to be a famous singer?"

Beth laughed a little at that. "I'm not sure. I don't even know if I want that."

"But you could be!" Sophia insisted. "You could be Taylor Swift or someone like that if you wanted to be!"

"Daryl said the same thing," Beth said, recalling one of their conversations as they drove. "But really, I just want… I'd be happy on any stage, anywhere in this world. As long as I got to sing for someone."

"You can sing to me any time you want," Sophia said.

Beth laughed again. "Thank you," she said and leaned in, kissing the girl's head. "I think we have them all. What do you think?" She asked, looking to the pile of beans.

Inside the kitchen once more, she saw that Daryl was there now, too, wearing jeans and a tee-shirt with slightly damp hair. His eyes instantly fell on her as she came through the door and she wondered if he could hear her singing.

"Look, mom," Sophia dumped all of the green beans on the counter and smiled as Carol looked them all over. "The tomatoes are almost ready to be picked, too."

"Beautiful," Carol smiled and kissed Sophia on the head. She looked to Beth. "Dinner is going to be ready in about an hour and I've told Daryl that I can give his hair a cut. Would you like be to cut your hair, too."

"Oh, no, I'm alright. Thank you though," Beth said, her fingers going to the ends of her braid, hanging over her shoulder. She then looked to Daryl's hair, a little on the long side, and she wondered how short he was going to cut it. She never thought she liked longer hair on guys but there was something about it on Daryl's. She hoped he didn't cut it too short. "I actually am going to go upstairs and check in with my dad."

She smiled at Carol and Sophia as she left the room but she made sure she didn't look at Daryl again.

…

Daryl told himself again and again that it was no big deal. It wasn't as if Beth was completely ignoring him. At dinner, she had asked him for his plate so she could scoop some more lasagna onto it for him and she had handed him an extra napkin and had sat next to him at the table during the meal. But every time she looked at him, it was no longer with that sunshine brightness and Daryl wondered how he could miss something after only having it for just a few days.

He knew it was his fault. Things like this were always his fault. He had a tendency to screw up most things in life – according to his old man and Merle, anyway, and since those were the two he had spent most of his life around, he believed what they said.

Beth wasn't an idiot and she was able to pick up on his moods – but he wasn't going to dwell on how she got so damn good at reading him in just the short amount of time they had known one another – and she knew that he was hesitant now around her. So it seemed like Beth was doing him a favor and keeping herself away.

And having her right next to him but knowing she wasn't there at all, it left him with an ache in the center of his chest he had never felt before. He didn't know what the hell it was. How could he miss her when he was looking right at her?

After dinner and helping Carol clean up and playing a couple of games of UNO with Sophia, the long day caught up to them all and they all went to bed pretty early.

Beth changed into her pajamas first and when Daryl came back into the bedroom, she was already in the bed beneath the covers, her back turned to him and lying as close to she could to the edge without actually falling off. Daryl was quick to pull off his jeans and left himself in his boxers and tee-shirt. He stood at the side of the bed, staring down at the wide expanse of space that Beth had left him. She had ensured that not an inch of her body would touch his.

And yet, he still found himself hesitating. He had never shared a bed with a woman before. Especially a woman like Beth. Even standing there, he could smell her and she smelled so damn good and he had the urge to just bury his nose in her hair and inhale her as if she was a line of coke; as if he wanted her running through his veins.

Those thoughts scared the shit out of him.

He then heard Beth sigh softly.

"It's just for a few hours, Daryl," she told him in a quiet voice and he could have sworn that she sounded almost sad.

"Think I'll just sleep on the floor," he said before he could stop himself and she sighed again. She didn't roll over to look at him and he looked at her back, waiting to see if she would say anything. He didn't know what he wanted her to say though.

But when he reached for the second pillow, Beth suddenly sat up and looked at him.

"You know what?"

She threw the covers back and stood up and he almost blushed because she was wearing that NASA tee-shirt and nothing else and he couldn't help but look at her long pale legs. How could someone that short have legs that long? And did she shave them today? Even in the dimness of the bedroom, he swore he could have seen how smooth they looked, too.

Daryl remembered himself and his eyes snapped up and stayed on her face though he almost flinched and looked away again. She was pissed. He recognized the look of anger well on anyone's face.

"I'll go sleep downstairs on the couch. You can have the bed," Beth said, snatching her pillow and hugging it to her chest.

"The couch's broken," he heard himself remind her.

"A few springs in the back would be better than enduring this night with someone who wanted to be nowhere near me," she snapped at him and began to stomp around the bed and storm past him to the door.

And he didn't know what it was. He really didn't. He should just let her go and be angry and only hope that in the morning, things would be fine again between them. He told himself to let her storm out and he would still sleep on the floor.

But he didn't do any of that.

Instead, when she tried to storm past him, Daryl reached out and took hold of her arm. Not hard or tight but in a grasp firm enough to stop her. He wasn't surprised when Beth tried to wrestle her arm free again and he told himself to let her go.

But again, he didn't listen to himself.

Because what he did was the complete opposite of letting her go. He looked at the fire burning in her eyes and the flush of red across her cheeks and all he seemed capable of doing was lean down and press his lips to hers.

And within a second, Beth had stopped struggling and her arms were thrown around his neck and his own hands were grasping her hips.

…

Hopefully not too predictable.

Thank you so much for reading and please review!