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Chapter Eleven. Vanilla Bean Glazed.
Beth woke up with a flush on her face and an ache between her thighs. This was the third time she had had that dream and each time she woke, she had to lie in bed for a few more minutes with her eyes closed in an attempt to catch her breath.
But even lying there, now wide awake even with her eyes closed, she could still feel it; feel him and he was everywhere. Her bed was small – just a double – and she could imagine how much smaller Daryl would make it if he was there with her.
And three times, she had dreamt that he was. His body tangled with her, his hands running down the sides of her body as his lips took liberty and dragged them everywhere he could. His hands gripped her hips as his face was pressed to her stomach, kissing her there and brushing his lips along her ribs and making her shiver and moan softly.
She imagined, she dreamt, that his facial hair would gently scratch her.
She wanted to kiss Daryl Dixon so badly but she always made sure to hold herself back from making a fool of herself and acting on her desire. She could just imagine the way he would push her away and why wouldn't he? She was just some stupid girl who dragged him into her messed up life without giving him much of a choice on the matter. He had no loyalty to her. No obligation. And yet, he remained and she wasn't quite too sure as to why. But she was too terrified to ever think of asking.
It had been just a few weeks since they had seen one another for the first time and already, she couldn't quite remember how everything had been before Daryl Dixon. He was surly and grouchy most of the time and didn't talk that much but there was just something about him that Beth couldn't get enough of. She wanted to be around him all of the time and when she wasn't, he was usually the main thing on her mind.
She wondered if he ever thought about her when they weren't together.
It wasn't as if she expected him to be having sex dreams about her but she hoped… she didn't know what she hoped.
She knew she liked him; wanted him. And she wanted to imagine him maybe wanting her in the same ways. She told herself not to hold her breath for it though. There was a particular way Daryl looked at her sometimes. Like she reminded him of someone and he didn't necessarily like the memories. Sometimes, she would catch him looking at her and his eyes would seem far away but his frown was heavily weighing down his lips. She wanted to ask what or who was on his mind but she knew that even if she asked, that would definitely be a question he wouldn't answer.
Beth knew absolutely nothing about Daryl Dixon except that he liked doughnuts and took his coffee black and he seemed to like birds and he worked in a warehouse. Other than that, she had to piece everything else together herself because he certainly wasn't the sort to just open up and tell her everything she wanted to know. And with Daryl, Beth definitely wanted to know everything.
Once her body had calmed down, Beth finally pulled herself from bed. She had a morning class to get ready for and then, that evening, she had her night class. She still didn't know what she was going to do about that. She had come so far and to just drop out of the education program now, when she was so close… maybe she could stick it out and get her education degree but that didn't mean that she had to be a teacher once she graduated. She had always though she wanted to be a music teacher but she just couldn't imagine it anymore. She used to think her future was so clear – especially when she met and began dating and falling in love with Zach.
She would graduate and become a music teacher – preferably at the nearby elementary school – and she would play piano and guitar and put on recitals with the children for beaming parents in the audience. And at night, she would be at home, writing and working on her own music and Zach would come home from his job at the fancy law firm he got a job at after graduation and they would spend their evenings together and it would be such a happy little life.
But obviously, that wasn't going to happen now and now, whenever Beth tried her hardest to imagine what her future would be like, she saw nothing but fog.
And Beth didn't know who in her life she could talk to about this. Her daddy, Maggie and Shawn would probably just tell her she was nervous as she got closer to the end of her college career and it was natural to have doubts about her life and she'd feel better about it in time. And all her friends were in the music education program with her and they seemed to have no doubts whatsoever about the path they had chosen. And Zach wasn't allowed within twenty feet of her and even if he was, she was never going to speak to him again.
She supposed there was Daryl but she shook her head at herself as soon as his name popped into her head. No, she couldn't talk to Daryl about this either. Most times, except when he was coming into the hardware store and asking her out to McDonald's or burying his face to the side of her neck, he seemed to barely be tolerating her. When she met him in the doughnut shop in the mornings and sat across from him, she talked and talked and he never said a word. He just looked at her and she could just imagine the way he was telling her to shut up in his head.
She took a shower and it was a brisk fall day outside that day so she bypassed shaving her legs. Instead, after drying her hair and braiding it and twisting it up, pinning it around her head, she pulled on a pair of grey tights and a dark maroon dress to wear. She tugged on her brown boots and grabbed a black cardigan sweater and her black fall coat. Out in the kitchen, she made herself a pot of coffee and poured it all into her thermos. She'd stop to eat something along the way.
Wednesday and Friday mornings, she had her global music studies class and in all four years of college, it was one of her favorite classes that she had ever taken. At the moment, they were learning about the music of the Appalachian Mountains and she found it utterly fascinating. The way these people lived so isolated and kept music alive from Great Britain from where they had immigrated and hadn't changed it hardly at all since the eighteenth century, Beth couldn't get enough of it.
The teacher had brought in some recordings and videos of Appalachian musicians and as soon as Beth heard the songs, she knew she wanted to learn them for herself.
She sat down in the middle row of the small lecture auditorium where class was held and as she was pulling out her notebook from her messenger bag, her friend, Amy Harris, plopped down beside her.
"Ugh. You look so damn cute today," Amy frowned at her.
Beth just smiled. "I just didn't feel like shaving my legs."
"Me, neither," Amy said and then lifted one pants leg of her black cotton pajama pants with the white skulls and crossbones on them and rubbed her hand up and down her calf, making Beth laugh. "We're seniors, Beth. Leave the dressing up to the freshmen who still give a crap."
Beth laughed again and shook her head. "I'm not that dressed up, Amy."
"It looks like you're going on a date," Amy said and then looked at her for a moment. She gasped suddenly. "Are you going on a date? When? Today after class?" She then hissed in an excited whisper though Beth was still certain the others around them could still hear her.
"Of course I'm not," Beth couldn't help but frown a little. "After Zach, trust me. I won't be dating anyone for a very, very long time."
Unless Daryl wants to take me to McDonald's again, a voice from the back of her head whispered to her and Beth frowned to herself. That hadn't been a date. That had been just him wanting to celebrate with someone because something good at happened to him at work. Daryl did not want to go out on dates with her. But didn't he have someone else in his life with who he would want to celebrate? He seemed to be friends with Sheriff Grimes. Why had he come to her?
And why did he give her a ride home after her night class and go to the police station with her and hold her hand and why did he bury his face in her neck as if he wanted to breathe in nothing but her scent for the rest of his life?
She hadn't been imagining any of that.
But maybe she was just reading too much into it because he seemed to frown all of the time when she was around him.
Daryl Dixon was just very talented at confusing the hell out of her.
After the class let out for the day, Beth and Amy walked out of the room and down the stairs, heading for outside. As soon as they were on the top step, Amy pulled a pack of cigarettes from her purse and lit one, turning her head so she didn't exhale the stream of smoke in Beth's direction.
"I have a vocal lesson I have to get to," Amy said before taking another drag.
Beth pursed her lips together to keep from laughing. Amy smoked like a chimney but it worked for her because when she sang, it gave her that sultry lounge singer voice that drove some people crazy. Amy would probably never give smoking up because of that. Beth thought Amy was a great singer but it definitely wasn't for her. When she sang, her own voice was clear and concise and everyone always understood her. Her music was as far from lounge music as the sound could get.
"I'll see you in class tonight," Amy said as she bounced down the steps and Beth felt her smile fade from her face at the words.
She really didn't want to think about class tonight. Was she really going to torture herself in going there for three hours when she didn't even know if that was something she wanted to do? She wished she knew exactly what she wanted to do because before she did, yes. She was going to go and sit through a three hour class she hated because she didn't know what else she was doing.
She headed down the stairs and one of the paths that led off campus. There was a small deli in the downtown business district that sold all sorts of sandwiches and salads and she stood in the lunch line, looking at the chalkboard menus, trying to decide what she wanted. And then she couldn't help but begin to wonder what Daryl would like to eat. He got an hour for lunch – noon to one. She knew because she had asked him Monday morning when they had met at the doughnut shop. No longer working nights, they were able to meet at the somewhat decent hour of six.
He had grunted where he worked and what his hours were when she asked and she memorized the information as soon as he told her.
She had a car but the only times where she really ever drove it were when she was heading out to the farm or heading into Atlanta with her friends. Other than that, the town was small enough to walk everywhere and Beth enjoyed the fresh air. After picking two sandwiches at random as well as a bag of potato chips and a beautiful looking red Macintosh apple, Beth left the deli and began her walk across town.
She headed into the office's front door, a small sensor dinging out at her arrival. It was quiet and she couldn't see anyone because of the cubicles but then a man popped up as if a gopher coming out of his hole. He was around her age – probably a few years older with mousy brown hair – tousled from probably having run his fingers through it continuously – and his tie was hanging loosely around his neck.
"Can I help you?" He asked.
"I'm looking for Daryl," Beth said. "I wasn't sure he was here because of lunch…" she noted how quiet the office was and figured that most everyone was out to lunch.
"This way," the man said, stepping out of his cubicle and beginning to walk towards the back of the office and Beth skipped a couple of steps to catch up.
He led her through a door that opened up to the back of a warehouse with rows of tall metal shelving, filled with all different sizes and colored boxes.
"Daryl!" The man called out.
From one of the rows, Daryl popped his head out and Beth smiled the instant she saw him. His eyes landed on her immediately and she kept smiling as he stepped out, a clipboard in his hand. He wore jeans and a dark blue tee-shirt with the white "GE" General Electric logo on the left breast. Beth tried not to stare at his biceps.
"Thanks, Spencer," Daryl grunted after a moment of staring at her and neither she nor Daryl turned to watch Spencer leaver the warehouse, closing the door behind him. "Wasn' expectin' you," he then said to her.
"I know," Beth said. "I hope I'm not bothering you. I got out of class and thought I would bring you lunch. Have you already eaten?" She asked as she held up the brown paper bag from the deli.
Daryl looked at the bag as if he had never heard of such a thing and Beth felt as if she was holding her breath because she knew that he was probably going to refuse her. But then he shook his head.
"Thanks," he grunted and Beth couldn't help but beam.
There was a counter near the front of the warehouse where customers could come and pick up their products if they didn't want to wait for the company truck to deliver them. There was a computer system and a stack of papers as well as a roll of packaging tape. Beth sat down on one of the two stools there and Daryl sat on the other. She could feel his eyes on her as she set the bag down on the counter.
"I wasn't too sure what you liked so I went as simple as I could. Ham and cheese," she said and pulled out one of the sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. She handed it to him and watched as he took it and she wondered if he made the conscious effort to make sure that their fingers didn't touch.
"Thanks," he said again. "Ham and cheese is actually my favorite."
Beth smiled at that. Ham and cheese. She'd remember that, too.
"You didn' have to do this though," he said, still holding his sandwich, not unwrapping it, looking at her instead.
"I know, but I wanted to," she said with a slight shrug. "I also brought you chips and an apple. No dessert though. The deli sells brownies but I think they're way too overpriced and not that good. I can make much better brownies than that."
"You didn' have to bring dessert. Prob'ly should be watchin' it anyway. I've been eatin' too many doughnuts," Daryl said with a small smirk and Beth laughed at that.
She nearly told him that he was the most handsome man she'd ever see and he definitely didn't have to worry about something as stupid as weight but she thankfully was able to swallow the words down before she could give them voice.
"How's work going?" She asked, swiftly switching topics in an effort to save herself as she unwrapped her own tuna salad sandwich.
He had just taken a big bite of his sandwich and he waited until he chewed and swallowed before answering. "The guy before, he knew he was settin' to walk out so everythin' in here just went to hell. Gonna take me a while to set it right again."
"You'll do it," Beth said in a confident voice. "Your boss knew what he was doing when he put you in charge out here."
He wasn't looking at her, his eyes lowered, but she swore that she saw the tips of his ears poking out through his hair turning red, as if he was embarrassed with her compliment. He took another bite of sandwich and they were quiet for a few minutes. Beth took the time to look around though there wasn't that much to look at. Just a large warehouse that sold electrical supplies.
"Don't know product that real good yet," he spoke again and she instantly set her eyes on him. But he was still staring down at the sandwich in his hands. "And there's a ton of paperwork I don't think I'll ever get through." He glanced towards the stack of paper beside the computer's keyboard before taking another bite and her eyes followed his gaze.
She couldn't help but frown when she looked. It was a rather thick stack of paper.
She took one more bite of her sandwich and then set it aside, wiping her fingers and standing up. Daryl turned on his stool to look at her as she walked around him to stand at the counter. She looked down at the stack of papers, still frowning. And then with a deep, determined breath, she looked at the first paper on top. She then moved it aside to look at the second. She then began flipping through the entire stack, her eyes quickly taking in the list of seemingly meaningless words and numbers listed on every one.
"Beth-" Daryl began to protest, getting to his feet.
But Beth ignored him and continued until she had gone through the entire stack. "Okay," she then took a deep breath. "This is easy," she told him, looking up at him.
He stood beside her with his brow furrowed but she smiled despite that.
"Really. It's easy. This is what we'll do," she said and then looked through the stack until she found the paper she was looking for. She held it up for Daryl to see. "See this one? It's…" she read the title. "Daily customer report. Every daily customer reports ends in 445. See?" She held it out for him and he took it, looking it over, and she then handed him another and another. "It looks like each customer has a number and this is what that particular customer bought that day. We'll put all of these in one stack. And then… daily inventory report. This one ends in 756 and it looks like a list of everything the warehouse sold that day. This is another stack and definitely the one that's important to you."
She could feel Daryl's eyes on her – never leaving her – as she talked through each report as if she knew exactly what they were but she supposed the title across the top was rather self-explanatory. There were so many though, it wasn't hard to see how Daryl had gotten overwhelmed at just the sight of them.
Feeling his eyes on her, Beth felt both like shivering and like she felt a flush spread across her cheeks. She wondered if he knew that it was because of him. She didn't doubt that he was able to see the color on her cheeks that hadn't been there just moments before. But she stood there and was very aware of his presence next to her. He was so close, she could feel the warmth from his body; could almost feel the front of him brushing against her arm. Beth heard herself wishing as hard as she could – harder than she could ever remember wishing for something before – that his body would brush against hers.
But unfortunately, Daryl seemed very aware of where her body was and he seemed to be making a very conscious effort to not put himself too close to her. And she hated for being so disappointed. Of course he wasn't going to put himself too close to her and she had to stop expecting him to make a move.
They worked together for a half hour, making different stacks, separating all of the reports and when they were done, it was ten minutes until one and they had five different, much smaller and manageable stacks.
Beth looked at him and smiled. "There," she announced. "Much better."
Daryl looked at the paperwork for a moment and then looked at her, shaking his head with a small smirk. "'m thinkin' I need to take you out to dinner again. To thank you for helpin' me with this," he said.
"You don't have to thank me, Daryl," Beth shook her own head. "We're friends and friends help each other."
Daryl looked at her and didn't say anything and she wondered if she had just made some huge blunder in calling them friends; in putting any type of label onto this. She didn't want to be friends but what she wanted was just never going to happen. She recalled her dream the night before of Daryl's body over hers, his breathing heavy and warm on her skin, his hands digging into her helps, his face buried in her stomach as he inhaled her scent. She had that dream and she couldn't wait to go to sleep at night in hopes of having that dream again.
She couldn't have that so she could only hope that they could be friends.
Beth wondered if something was wrong with her. If she was one of those girls. One of those girls who always had to be with a guy. She had just gotten out of a serious relationship. Her boyfriend had slapped her and she had gone to the police and she knew she should have just been on her own for a while. She knew that. She told herself that. But whenever she was around Daryl, she couldn't help it. She could so easily imagine herself being with him and it would be a good relationship because Daryl was a good man. She may not have known nearly enough about him but she already knew that – without a doubt. A man who didn't want her walking alone at night and held her hand at the police station when she needed him and took her to McDonald's was nothing but a good man.
But she couldn't be with him. She knew that. She had to be on her own for a while.
"What's your favorite candy bar?" Daryl asked her suddenly and she looked at him, blinking as if she didn't understand the question and for a moment, she didn't because it was so random and out of the blue.
But then she remembered herself. "Um… Kit-Kat," she said.
"Wait here," Daryl said and Beth watched as he walked from the counter and headed towards the warehouse door that led into the office.
He was gone for a few minutes and she stood there, having absolutely no idea what to do. She looked at the clock on the bottom right hand corner of the computer screen. There ere just a few short minutes left of Daryl's lunch hour and she supposed she had to go so he could get back to work.
Almost reluctantly, she grabbed her messenger bag and slung it back on over her head so the strap was across her chest. She then wrapped the remainder of her sandwich in the wax paper and wondered where Daryl had gone. She wondered if she should just leave.
But as she was debating with herself, the warehouse door opened again and Daryl came back. She watched as he walked towards her and good god, that man had an insanely good body. Lean but muscular and powerful legs and muscular arms and she had never been as close to a man like him as she was now. No wonder she was having less than pure dreams about this man hovering above her in her bed.
"Here, "Daryl said once he was close enough to her and he held out a Kit-Kat bar in his hand for her to take.
A giggle bubbled from her throat as she took it from him and she made sure that her fingers brushed along his.
"Thanks for helpin' me. I couldn' have done this on my own," he said.
"Yes, you could have," she said with confidence and Daryl stared at her as if he had never heard words like that before in his life. She gave him a small smile. "I should head out before I get you in trouble with your boss."
Daryl nodded and didn't argue and he took a step back as Beth walked past him to walk around the counter.
"Find out where your office supplies are kept," she added, quickly looking back towards him and she really didn't want to leave him even though she knew she had to. "You're going to need file folders to keep all of those reports separate."
Daryl nodded and his eyes never left hers as she took backward steps towards the front door, not wanting to turn and break their eye contact yet.
"Got your night class tonight?" He asked.
She nodded. "Every Wednesday."
Daryl nodded, too. "See you at eight then."
Her smile grew and her stomach fluttered at just the idea of seeing him again in just a few more hours. "See you at eight," Beth said and she could have sworn that she saw him smiling a little, too.
…
Thank you so much for reading and please review!
I hate putting long notes like this but since there were so many comments about it, I lowered Daryl's raise to thirty dollars. After college, I worked for a couple of years at General Electric and I know that the warehouse guy made serious bank. It was hard to find someone willing to do such a demanding and physical job and it seemed like it was hard to find someone who could pass random drug tests. I think Daryl would be perfect working in that warehouse :)
Also, the next update is going to be an entire chapter flashback of Chris and Liv. It's important to the story.