I was a little worried about this one because I just couldn't get it to flow like I wanted too...but I hope you like it anway!
"So who is this Deanna woman and why do I need to interview with her?" Beth asked as Daryl opened the door for her and she walked out onto the front porch, smiling at his gesture.
"She runs this place. Seems nice enough, but I'm still not sure" he mumbled as they started walking down the sidewalk slowly, their arms bumping into each other as they walked.
"And that guy at the gate yesterday? What is his name again?" she asked as she looked around at the rows of houses. She watched a little girl play on the lawn of one of the houses with a small dog. A part of her wanted to smile at it but another part of her wanted to grab all of these people and make them see that nothing is safe anymore.
"That's Nicholas. He aint real happy to have us 'ere" he answered gruffly. Beth did not miss the disgust in his voice.
"He seemed like a real dick" she replied, causing Daryl to spin his head toward her and raise his eyebrow at her words.
"Did Beth Greene just cuss?" he asked with a smirk.
"Guess I did, cuz that's what he is. I could tell when I first met him" she replied with a chuckle, loving the smirk on his face.
"Think I might be a bad influence on you Greene…but yeah, him and his friend Aiden are asses. Just stay away from both of them if you can" he said they passed by another house with a lady in the garage making some crazy looking thing out of what Beth thought was metal.
"You know I can take care of myself right?" she said as she stopped and looked at him, her eyebrow raised at him.
"Course I do Beth" he said as he took her hand in his "Just giving you a heads up on who to watch out for" he added as he gently ran his thumb over her knuckles. She looked down at their intertwined hands and smiled. She remembered another time, when they were in that cemetary and she grabbed his hand for the first time. So much had changed since then, but somethings had stayed the same. She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of somebody calling their names. She looked up to see Maggie running toward them.
"I'm so glad I found you two" she panted as she caught up to them. Her hair was windblown and her eyes bright from running.
"What's up Maggie? Is somethin' wrong?" Daryl asked, his voice tinged with worry as he dropped Beth's hand like it was on fire. Beth tried to not take it personally, knowing he was not the best at public displays.
"No, nothings wrong. Just needed to find Beth for Deanna. She really wanted to get the interview over with so Beth can settle in and I wanted to find you before Glenn and Tara left cuz I need to say goodbye to them" she replied as her breathing went back to normal and she turned her attention to Beth.
"That's were Daryl and I are headed now" Beth replied with a smile to the archer standing beside her.
"Oh I can take you. I'm sure Daryl has things he needs to get done. I know you gotta work on the bike more" Maggie replied with a smile.
"Naw, that's ok. I want Daryl to take me" Beth replied instantly, her smile almost faded completely from her face. She really didn't want to leave Daryl's side till she got more comfortable in her surroundings.
"You sure Bethy? I kinda thought we could catch up some after the interview since Glenn and Tara will be gone" Maggie asked. Beth raised an eyebrow at the fact that it seemed like she only wanted to catch up since her husband and her friend were not going to be around. She pushed down the thought and turned a smile to her sister. Daryl could tell instantly that the smile was forced, it didn't light up her face and it didn't make her eyes sparkle. He wondered if Maggie noticed too, but if she did she didn't say anything.
"I'm sure we can find some time to catch up Maggie." She exclaimed, her tone light but the sparkle in her eyes still gone. " Where are Glenn and Noah at? I would like to say goodbye to them too before they leave" she added.
"Come with me, I will show you" Maggie beamed as she started walking ahead of them.
"So you got a new bike huh?" Beth whispered as she nudged Daryl's arm with her own.
"Yeah, Aaron had collected parts from all over and said if I could build it, I could have it" he mumbled back to her.
"I'm so happy for you Daryl. I know how much leaving Merle's bike upset you" she said as she grabbed his hand and squeezed. He squeezed her hand back to say thanks.
"I've never been on a bike before. I used to watch you leaving and coming in on yours and always wonder what it would be like. Actually started to ask you for a ride a few times but Daddy would've killed me" she added with a chuckle, the twinkle back in her eyes.
"I'll take ya for a ride if ya want" he said, his ears instantly going red at the double meaning of his words. But Beth just beamed up at him like he had just given her the moon.
"Really?" she exclaimed as she bounced up and down excitedly. She was going to hug him but as they rounded the corner, they saw the group they were looking for loading a van. She recognized Glenn and Noah and Tara, and the douchbag from the gate yesterday, but not the other guy.
"Hey Honey! Hi Daryl, Beth. It's great to see you out Beth. How are you feeling?" Glenn asked as he came over and gave her a quick hug. Beth smiled, she really did love her brother in law. He was a sweet guy and adored Maggie and that was all she could ask for her sister.
"I'm feeling great, thanks Glenn" Beth said sweetly as she smiled at him.
"Where is Eugene?" Maggie asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the group.
"We decided that this run will be for other supplies. We are going to go in a few days for the solar stuff. That will be the run he has to go on" Aiden said as hecame up beside of them, a charming grin on his face as his eyes ran over Beth's body. "Hi, I'm Aiden, you must be Beth. I have heard so many things about you already. But your even more beautiful in person" he said as he took her hand and brought it to his mouth. Before he got the chance to actually kiss her hand, she jerked it away and she heard a growl from beside her that sent a shiver down her spine.
"Don't touch what aint yers boy!" Daryl growled as he moved between Aiden and Beth.
"Hey man, just introducing myself to the lady! No need to get all possessive" Aiden said as he put his hands in the air and wisely moved back from Daryl a few paces.
"He didn't mean anything by it Beth, he's just an ass" Noah said with a glare to Aiden as he came up beside of her and touched her arm. She smiled shakily back at him, both of them knowing why she would not be fond of people eyeballing or touching her. She gently placed her hand on Daryl's arm, his shoulders instantly going less tense as he turned to look at her.
"Why don't we go onto Deanna's?" she said softly, running her fingers just barely on his forearm. He just nodded at her and placed his hand on the small of her back to start guiding her toward Deanna's house.
"You and Glenn be safe ok" Beth whispered to Noah as she started to walk away.
"We will. You be safe too" he replied back with a smile.
"Great meeting you Beth. We will have to get together and talk really soon" Aiden called out when they were halfway down the street. She heard Daryl let out a low, animalistic growl that sent another shiver down her body. She grabbed his hand to keep him from going back and leaned up toward his ear.
"He is just a dick too" Beth whispered to him. She watched as a small smirk formed on his lips again at her cussing and he turned back around to keep walking with her. She heard Glenn in the background asking him if he wanted to end up on his ass again with a broken nose, because that was what would happen if he looked at his sister in law again like that.
"And that would be mild compared to what Daryl or I would do to you" Maggie added, causing a smile to form on Beth's face as they continued walking, Daryl not letting go of her hand this time.