"I heard Beth is moving back home today." Aaron looks down at Daryl, extending his hand to take the license plate from him. Aaron had begged and begged Daryl to help him put the remaining plates on the wall to surprise Eric, it almost being their anniversary or something. Daryl agreed, only because he didn't have a way to get out of it this time. Bike's finished, his jacket in Beth's custody, bad weather moving in, he had no choice but to remain inside the walls of the safe zone, and Aaron was a hard person to evade.
Daryl nods, placing the plate in his hand.
"It's good she made a quick recovery." Aaron hangs the plate from the perfectly spaced nails with a smile.
"Month and a half ain't exactly quick."
"Considering the position we're in, I'd say it's quick." Aaron turns around and looks at him, pointing to the green plate in the line-up of three. "New Hampshire."
Daryl hands it over. "Guess so."
"Thought you'd be more excited."
He was as excited as a Dixon could be, he guessed. Beth was safe, she was in the group's care. She wouldn't be leaving them anytime soon. It was a huge, and unbelievable, accomplishment. In the pit of his stomach, an unfamiliar feeling of pride formed, something he hadn't known before, a side effect of knowing Beth Greene was knowing a slew of new emotions you didn't even know you could feel.
"But you are Daryl Dixon, so I guess a higher pitched grunt is all I'm going to get out of you." Aaron teases, placing the plate below the first one. "How's it look?"
"Like you got plates on the wall."
"I mean does it look good; you think Eric's gonna like it?"
"Guess so."
Aaron lets out a small sigh before climbing off the ladder. "I'll go get him, you mind putting that ladder back in the garage?"
Daryl nods, anything to get out of this situation. He really didn't want to be in here when Eric undoubtedly started crying.
"Thanks for your help." Aaron smiles before heading to the hallway, patting Daryl's shoulder as he goes. Daryl sighs, lifting the tabs on the supports of the old ladder to fold it up. He hears Aaron jog up the steps, his steps a lot quieter than his own. He picks up the ladder and heads to the office to make his way in the garage. He somehow maneuvers the ladder into his right arm so he can open the door with his right, huffing as he makes his way into the garage. He was happy. As happy as a Dixon could be, Beth was going home, it was almost normal again, almost like she hadn't been taken, like he had been complete all these months.
"Jessie sent over some things." Maggie smiles, setting the basket down on the bed she now shared with Beth. "Some cute stuff, might be borrowing it." She lifts a white t-shirt out of the basket, it's covered in little blue hearts.
Beth grabs a pair of jeans from the basket and holds them up to her waist, deciding that while they're a size too big, she can find a belt somewhere to make them work. "That was nice of her."
"She said to swing by anytime, she knows where all the hidden gems are." Maggie folds up the shirt before walking over the pine dresser across from the bed, a flat screen TV perched upon it, surrounded by candles and picture frames, all of which were empty, save for one which had a poorly developed picture of her and Glenn in it. "Cleared out the bottom drawer for you and some room in the closet, too."
"Thanks." She was trying, focusing on what Rosita had said last night, about how Maggie would've stayed. Maybe she was being too critical, the world was different now. She walks over to the dresser and picks up the picture, a smile tugging on her lips. She didn't think she'd ever get to see a photo of the two of them together, it reinforced what she already knew—they were made for each other.
"Aaron took it a couple days after we got here." Maggie tells her. "I'm sure he'll take one of us if you want."
Beth nods, smiling growing. "I'd like that."
Maggie grabs her sister's hand. "I've got to go help Deanna, Abe has night shift tonight with Glenn so he's taking a nap, but if you need anything he told me to tell you he'd be willing to help."
"I think I've got it."
She nods, looking at her sister, believing her. "Okay, I trust you."
Maggie leaves minutes later, Beth following her out to the main room of the house once the front door had clicked shut. Glenn and Maggie had somehow scored the master bedroom on the first floor, and while it was large, it still felt tight to her. She was itching to get out in the house, explore what she hadn't seen. Closing the bedroom door softly behind her, not wanting to wake Abraham. She walks over to the kitchen, a smile forming on her face. She'd always wanted a setup like this, granite counters, plenty of storage. She runs her finger along the counter top as she walks, stopping in front of the sink to take a deep breath, this was her home now, though it didn't feel like it. Everything was different here, something she hadn't experienced before. Even the smell was different, stale cigars and burnt spam lingered just so in the air, a scent imprinted on the house by Abraham, according to Maggie.
The front door opens and she looks up, a guy with dark hair and a confused look on his face stood staring at her. This must be Eugene; the liar, the thief.
"Hello." His voice is deep and uncertain, in his hands a laundry basket filled with food and blankets.
"Hi."
He sniffs, attempting to clear his sinuses. "Extratropical cyclone's coming, Olivia sent this with me." He studies Beth as he comes closer to set the basket on the table, careful, not knowing her all that well.
"What?" She asks, watching as he sets the basket down with a light thud, inside are a few extra blankets, a couple cans, and a few large candles.
"Snow."
She nods, not knowing what to say to him. He stares for a few minutes longer, looking at the small scar on her forehead, making Beth feel extremely self-conscience as she shifts on her feet, looking towards the door to her room. "I'm gonna…" She trails off as she begins making her way towards the door, leaving Eugene standing there in his awkwardness.
Moving to this new place was supposed to be easier, was supposed to be better. Sure she was a little letdown by having to share a room with Maggie, but she didn't think it would be this hard. Back at the infirmary she knew Denise and Rosita, they made it bearable, but here with Abraham's cigar and spam smell and Eugene's everything, it was a little much. It didn't feel like home, like the prison, like the funeral home could've been. It was just a place, like she was staying at a friend's, a really bad sleepover she couldn't leave.
She spent the next couple of hours folding the remaining clothes that Jessie had sent over and reading a tattered copy of The Indian in the Cupboard that she found on the built in bookshelf when she heard Eugene's heavy footsteps head up the stairs. She was already desperately bored, Eugene was right, the sky was starting to spit snow, not even close to the severity she was thinking when she heard the term cyclone.
"How does soup sound for dinner?" Maggie pops her head in the door, a smile on her face.
"Fine."
"Clam chowder?"
"Gross." Beth smiles back, remembering a trip down to the Georgia coast when she was little, four hours in the back of a cramped car with Maggie and Shawn, barely any room to color or to get away from Maggie's loud discman playing some music their daddy would never approve of. It ended with Beth wanting to try some fresh clam chowder and throwing it up in the back of said car, soiling her coloring book and socks.
"Vegetable it is."
Beth and Maggie sat at the counter, splitting a can of vegetable between the two of them. They didn't really talk, Maggie deciding to pull back her overbearing nature for a night, instead letting her mind drift to Glenn out in the snow watching the gate. Beth's was drifting to Daryl, what was he doing tonight.
Beth slurp the stock up, before setting her bowl down in front of her. "I think I'm going to turn in."
"You sure? You could help me go over some stuff Deanna sent over."
"I'm definitely sure."
"I've got to start thinking about a job for you, you know." Maggie tells her as Beth slides off the stool, grabbing her bowl and heading over to the sink to wash it out. "I was thinking you could watch the kids? Like you did at the prison? There's a few more little ones here, so it wouldn't just be Judith."
Beth nods, she wanted to be useful, but she also knew that Maggie wouldn't let her on guard duty or let her go off on runs. She was going to have to stay put in Alexandria, at least for a little while. "Sure." She didn't have to like, but she knew that realistically, it made sense. She even agreed a little bit.
"I'll let Deanna know, then. She's been looking for someone to take that over."
She was on page 140 of her book, but she couldn't concentrate on it, thinking about Daryl. It'd been three days since she last saw him since all hands were on deck to prepare Alexandria for winter, for a night like this when a little bit of snow started falling from the sky, daring more to come down with it. She might not get another chance. She tosses the book to the side and slides off the bed and walks over to the window and pulls it up slowly at first, not wanting a bunch of noise to startle Maggie and bring her in the room. Inch by inch she raised it until it was large enough for her to crawl out. She grabs Daryl's jacket from the bench at the end of the bed and she's gone, hoping she remembers the way to Aaron and Eric's.