All I Ever Will Be

Chapter Fourteen - Discovery

Author's Note: Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Sorry that this chapter is a bit of a transition chapter, but hope you all enjoy it just the same. As always your reviews, follows and favorites are very much appreciated! Also, so looking forward to (but also very nervous for) the last two episodes of the Walking Dead!

Merle sat in the recliner, a beer on his knee, staring at the TV. He was cackling at something and Daryl watched him from between the door and the wall - his childhood bedroom. It was something he did often, watched his brother from beyond. Admired him in a way he hadn't admired his father. Merle had always protected Daryl. His father hadn't.

Daryl shifted in the door and caught Merle's eye, the light of the TV in his pupils. His big brother gave him a look that told him to go back to bed, but he didn't want to. He wanted to be with someone - be close to someone, even if it was just sitting on the couch with him. He craved it. Exiting his room, he walked slowly, dragging his hand across the wall beside him, as though he was worried he'd lose his way.

Behind him he heard the familiar thud of footsteps and panic shook his heart which started to beat out of his chest. Merle was sticking out his finger angrily, pointing to the door behind Daryl from where he'd come and he scrambled back to his room knowing their father was seconds behind him.

He heard them yelling, then fighting, then fists meeting skin and bodies meeting walls. Daryl laid on top of his mattress, pulling covers over his head, wishing it would stop. It was his fault, he knew it. All he wanted was not to be alone.

Daryl woke with a start, his leg twitching involuntarily underneath Beth who lay with her arm draped over top of him, her face squished up against his side and sunlight illuminating her naked back. Just one glance at her had wiped away the dream, leaving it forgotten in his subconscious.

Barely awake he saw Beth's lips turn upwards in a smile, feeling her cheeks shift on his chest. "Don't move," she said in a strained voice, sounding sleepy. "Not yet." She put her hand square on his belly and pushed, pretending to hold him down.

"Hmph," Daryl laughed despite himself. "Okay, but we can't lay here forever."

Beth looked up at him then, her eyes half open with hair falling in her face and frowned. "Why not?" she whined.

He sat up on his elbows then and she grunted, sitting up beside him. She pulled the blanket they'd shared up to her chin, but from where he was sitting he still had a view of her bare chest from underneath the blanket. She wasn't making a move to hide herself at all. And he was okay with that.

"We need to figure out where we are. And we need to cover up that...entrance in the forest," he said uncomfortably, trying to be polite and avert his eyes. "Not sure 'bout this house, but least we know the bunker's safe - don't want nobody finding that back entrance."

Beth sighed. "You're right," she said, leaning towards the floor. She had picked up her shirt and casually slid it over her head and pulled her arms through. She looked at him then, her face level with his bicep. Big blue eyes under long eyelashes stared at him and he was lost again, so he grabbed her cheek with his hand and brought her face to his to kiss her. A soft kiss, barely touching her lips with his own, just to make sure she was still okay with it. She inhaled deeply, like she was savoring the moment before the kiss ended. When it did, she pressed her nose gently against his and moved it back and forth before she swung her legs over the side of the couch to stand up.

Daryl followed suit, stretching his arms behind his back. He watched her as she walked to the bathroom, running his fingers through his hair.

She was acting so mellow. Like the night before was just something that happened between two people. Like she was okay being so intimate and close to him. Like things were somehow normal and they hadn't been fighting and killing non-stop for god knows how long. Daryl had never felt normal a day in his life. Everything was always chaos, it was always shitty. Feeling pleasure or happiness or safety - it just wasn't something that happened to him. He was still on fire, every part of him alive - still reeling from how she'd touched him and explored him. Beth had healed something inside of him last night and he wanted more.

The blueprints laid forgotten on the long wooden table next to the ridiculously large kitchen. Daryl sat at the table munching on some kind of granola bar that Beth had thrown to him out of the pantry. It was strawberry something-or-other, but it tasted like ass.

She plopped down in the chair next to him, her hair wet from another shower she'd taken. They'd been denied the luxury for so long he didn't want to tell her to be stingy with the water. She broke a piece of the granola bar off with her teeth. "So what's the plan?" she asked.

He stood up and reached for the blueprints, spreading them across the table. He flipped through them, landing on one that showed the lay of the land. From the paper it looked like a few acres or so. They'd be able to sweep that in a few hours.

"We need to sweep the perimeter of this land," he said, pointing his finger to the piece of paper and dragging it along the edges where the forest met the open grass. "We should see what's beyond the forest - if there's anything protecting us here or if we're in the middle of open land where anyone can sneak up on us."

Beth nodded, watching him as he talked over the paper.

"Gotta find the place where we first came in too. It'll be somewhere out in the woods, so we'll need to look closely to see if we can track the path we made." He looked at Beth who seemed relaxed and focused. "You still got your knife?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah," Beth said, pulling it from her jeans. He was relieved she hadn't relaxed too much. Being here, it was easy to change and feel a false sense of security. The possibility of safety was exhilarating, but it was almost too good to be true. They still needed to be careful.

The day was bright and cloudless, though there was a notable chill in the air. Fall was threatening its welcome and Daryl knew that winter would be their worst enemy. If they could ride out the winter here, they could really make something out of it. Not just surviving, but maybe even enjoying this place. Enjoy being together. Just him and Beth.

Beth was still in her short sleeved t-shirt and as they walked out of the house he noticed the hair on her skin stand up on end. "You cold?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant, shifting his crossbow on his back.

"No," she lied, rubbing her arm. "Well, I won't be once we get movin'," she said, determined.

"Hmph," he said, closing the door of the house behind them. He moved down the stairs and to the left to make his way across the grass, his boots feeling heavy on his feet. Beth stayed by his side, keeping pace with him as they walked. He wanted to say something to her, but Beth broke the silence first.

"Daryl?" she asked.

"Mmhm?" he replied, looking straight ahead across the grassy lawn, towards the trees ahead.

"Thanks," was all she said.

He slowed his steps then and turned towards her. "For what?" he asked.

"For pretendin' everything was normal last night," she responded. "I needed that."

Daryl almost stopped as he was walking then. Why was she thanking him? Didn't she know what she'd done to him last night? How good she'd made him feel? "Beth," he said, not knowing how to start. "I didn't do nothin'..." he trailed off. "You...were so..." Why was this so hard for him? He didn't know what to say. "You didn't need to..." He couldn't find the ends of his sentences.

"I need you," Beth said, grabbing his hand. She looked up at him and he thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest. "I wanna be with you."

"Me too," he managed to mumble. "Listen," he sighed, stopping now and turning to look at her. "I'm not good at lettin' people get close," he said, finally finding his words. "It doesn't come easy to me."

She moved her hand up to his elbow and squeezed his arm. "You're just fine at gettin' close," she said, a blush forming on her cheeks. She looked away, embarrassed then. "I mean, I like it when you get close. To me." She was the one who was getting flustered now, and he relaxed a bit.

"I like it too," he offered. There was something about actually saying it. Actually hearing the words out loud that made it real. They started walking again, Daryl gripping Beth's hand and happiness welled up in his chest and he swore he could have floated away in that moment. Is this what it felt like to be this close to someone?

They'd reached the edge of the woods now, and Daryl returned to being on guard, looking up and down the tree line. It was eerily empty and silent. "Let's head out a little further," he said, pulling Beth forward with him.

The forest was beautiful and deep, spread for miles beyond them with no end in sight. The leaves were hinting that they were starting to change color now, turning the landscape into a beautiful sea of green, yellow and orange. Sunlight broke through, sending strands of light across the forest floor, covered in twigs and dirt. There were no walkers in sight, which Daryl found oddly worrisome, but he decided to ignore it.

They walked a ways until the house was no longer visible behind them. Daryl tried to see if he recognized any parts of the trees they'd seen before Beth had fallen into the hole, but things were starting to look the same. He wasn't picking up any sort of tracks here. He needed a point of reference.

He was so wrapped up in his quest to find the hole that when he tripped over the ankle length wire he was legitimately surprised. He stumbled, falling to his knees, feeling the wire snap underneath him.

Oh fuck. A trigger.

Fear erupted inside of him and for a split second the world stopped as he heard himself yell, "BETH - RUN!" and scramble to his feet. He saw Beth in front of him in the distance, turned towards him still. She was still, quiet, although her face was screwed up in panic as he started to move his legs.

Why wasn't she moving? "RUN!" he yelled frantically at Beth. Finally, he saw her understand his words, and she turned, her feet kicking the dirt up around her as she started running.

His legs were moving and he willed them to move faster knowing he wasn't going quick enough. Danger was seconds behind him and he wasn't going to be able to get out of the way in time. He sucked in a breath of air and suddenly the world slowed down and hot fire erupted behind him and he knew he'd triggered a bomb. He was so close. Too close. The force of the explosive pushed him outwards into the air so forcefully that he slammed into solid bark and hit the ground of the forest floor.