Chapter 14

When they heard the knocking and after Daryl recovered from his surprise, Daryl got up soundlessly, motioning for Beth to be quiet, and pulled on his clothes hurriedly. He quickly pulled on his boots, thinking that anybody on the other side of that door would not take him seriously if he showed up barefoot. He looked back to the bed. Beth had already put her clothes back on and grabbed her knife. Daryl grabbed his bow and headed to the only window on the front of the cabin. Daryl motioned for Beth to hide in the bathroom. She had a scowl on her face.

Beth was frustrated that Daryl was making her hide. Again. She looked at him angrily but the look he had on his face left no room for argument. She went to the bathroom and left the door cracked open so she could see what was going on.

Daryl crept the rest of the way to the window and pulled back the curtain slightly to see if he could see who was there. The knocking continued. He heard a voice from the other side of the door. "We know somebody's in there. We heard laughin'". Daryl put his bow down and let out a huge breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. He would know that voice anywhere. He called out to Beth the all clear and wrenched open the door. Rick was standing in the doorway, gun cocked and ready pointing at Daryl.

As soon as Rick saw Daryl, he eased his gun down and clicked the safety back on, tucking it into his waistband as Daryl extended his hand out for Rick to grip.

Rick's face was a collage of emotions. He looked sad, relieved and happy all at the same time. Rick took his hand and pulled him in for an awkward, but constricting hug.

Daryl clapped Rick on the back. "Man, it's good to see you brother," he said to Rick sincerely, stepping back and allowing him to enter. He took in Rick's companions. There was a girl who looked all of 23 years old, a young guy about the same age and a girl about the age of Carl. And speak of the devil, Daryl thought, grinning as Carl trailed after the girl. They all walked in the cabin, Rick's crew soaked to the bone from the relentless storm outside.

Beth stood back in surprise and once recovered, she ran over to Rick and hugged him fiercely. "Rick, we thought we had lost everyone!" Beth couldn't help herself. She had tears springing up in her eyes. She let them fall unbidden and wiped them away with a laugh. She took in the sight of the others that Rick had with him. A girl about Maggie's age and a guy about the same age as him, maybe a little younger. Then she saw Carl and she ran forward and grabbed him up in a hug. Carl blushed slightly but returned the hug heartily. "Beth, is Judith with you?" he began.

Beth pulled back and felt the tears threatening to return. "No, I'm so sorry. We got separated before we even left the prison" She look at him and her heart felt like it was broken in a thousand pieces. It all suddenly came back to her, losing everyone. I keep hopin' the kids made it out okay. Maybe somebody has them safe somewhere."

They all sat down on the sofa, the bed, and on the floor, wherever they could find a space. Everyone wanted to talk at once. The mood was serious but overall hopeful. They had never thought they would see each other again. Even small victories as these deserved a celebration, Beth thought. They had so few things to celebrate these days. She looked over at the newcomers and noticed they were very quiet, especially the other girl. She looked like she was mad at the whole world. She was pretty and very tall with long dark hair pulled up in a sleek ponytail. She had a lovely olive complexion and her dark steel gray eyes were stunning, especially when accented by her dark full lashes and high arched brows. She was stunning really, Beth thought. She didn't look like the end of the world had affected her at all. Beth introduced herself, "I'm Beth and this is Daryl". She motioned to Daryl and then looked back at them expectantly. The guy spoke first. "I'm Liam and this is my sister Lily" he motioned to Lily. Everyone looked at Jenna. She looked up and said "Jenna" and that was it. It wasn't so much that she didn't mention her last name. No one did anymore. In one fell swoop, their society had been reduced to first name status only. Nobody cared what your last name was. Chances are you weren't going to confuse peoples names and need the distinction of a surname nowadays, Beth thought pragmatically. They all finished the introductions and went back to talking amongst themselves.

Beth thought she looked about Carl's age. She was all legs and was slightly taller than Carl and had soft dark blonde curls that wisped around her face and fell over her shoulders. She looked like she had seen her fair share, which she probably had. They all had. Beth noticed that Carl kept stealing glances at Lily and she smiled to herself. She thought it was cute. She remembered it hadn't been that long ago that he had a crush on her.

Daryl and Rick were chatting amicably and talking about the events of the attack at the prison. Rick filled Daryl in on what he knew. They were able to put everything together between the two of them. It had been so chaotic they weren't sure what all had happened. Daryl looked over at Beth and noticed her studying Carl and the girl, Lily was her name. He looked back and forth between the two. The girl was completely oblivious to the situation. Carl kept sneaking looks over at her. Oh boy, he had it bad. Daryl chuckled softly. Poor kid, he knew how he felt. At that thought, Daryl was surprised at the revelation. He looked up at Beth suddenly and felt his heart stop in his chest. She was smiling at something Lily was saying. He swore her smile lit up a room. As if she felt him looking at her, Beth looked over at him, subconsciously tucking one strand of hair behind her ear and smiling at him. Her signature ponytail had been abandoned days ago. He liked her wearing her hair down. That way he could runs his fingers through it as he claimed her body as his, he thought and felt his thoughts traveling down a road that was going to lead to nowhere right now. Not with everyone here. He wondered what the hell they were going to do now. They had been holed up in this cabin for days now and it had become easy to forget if anyone else existed. It had been just the two of them for near a week now. It changed a perspective, he thought to himself. A look passed between him and Beth and he knew she was thinking the same thing.

Beth could feel Daryl watching her. She smiled at him reassuringly. Suddenly she was self-conscious of the fact that she was sitting on the bed that she and Daryl had made love in not even hours ago. She wondered if anyone could tell what was going on with her and Daryl. She knew Daryl was concerned about what everyone might think of their new….arrangement. Relationship? She wasn't sure what they were to each other. She just knew she loved him with all her heart. She hadn't told him yet because she was afraid he wasn't ready to hear it. Afraid she wasn't ready to say it. Afraid because neither of them wanted to burst the perfect bubble that they were in. But the fact of the matter was, that bubble had burst the moment they heard the knock at the door.

Rick had never been so happy to see anyone in his whole life, except for maybe when he was reunited with Carl and Lori before everything else had happened. Sometimes it seemed to Rick that his life with Lori was a whole lifetime ago. Sometimes he felt like it had been someone else that had that life, not him. The way things were nowadays, you couldn't help but change with each circumstance. You really couldn't help it, he thought to himself. They had been on the road for days. They had come across Liam and Lilly and Jenna about two days ago. They had been setting up camp in the woods and they came strolling up looking worse for wear but alive and Carl and Rick had shared what little bit of food they could find. Both groups were happy to have found one another. It was scary out there. Rick and Carl had gotten overrun by walkers at the last house they had found. They had barely made it out alive. They had had to climb out the top window and go down the trellis on the side, praying it didn't break and praying that there were no more walkers to meet them at the bottom. They had run off in the night, leaving behind the flash light they had found and the sleeping bags. It had been a cold night that night. They nearly froze and found themselves huddling under a bridge, staying together to stay as warm as possible.

It was the next night that Jenna and her crew had come across them. He knew a little of their back story. Liam and Lily were brother and sister, he knew that, and their parents had been killed at the beginning of the end. They had gone on the road and got in with a group for awhile but after they got overrun by a herd, they had gone off on their own until they ran into Jenna a month later. They had been together ever since. No one seemed to know Jenna's back story and she certainly wasn't volunteering it. He only knew her weapon of choice was a scythe. That was hard to miss. She carried it everywhere and watching her wield it on walkers was a sight to behold. She was fierce and emotionless when she was killing walkers. She was also efficient as hell. Rick had decided early on that Jenna, for all her stoicism, was someone he definitely wanted in his corner.

Rick noticed Daryl was rather quiet. He knew this was normal for him but when he looked over at Daryl he noted that he was looking in Beth's direction. From what he gathered, it was just he and Beth since the prison fell. Daryl was looking at Beth and Beth's glance at Daryl he recognized in an instant. Oh man, he thought. He didn't?! I mean he couldn't really blame him. Beth was a beautiful woman but she was barely 19. He knew Daryl was nearly twice her age if not more. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. He just didn't want to see anybody get hurt. He knew if Maggie knew she probably wouldn't approve. Nope, he thought, she would probably beat the hell out of Daryl and Beth both if she knew. Maggie was fiercely protective of Beth. Rick would talk to Daryl but honestly he wanted to stay out of it. He saw the way Beth looked at Daryl. Whatever was going on between them, it was clearly mutual. Rick could never deny Beth any happiness. She had been invaluable to him in taking care of Judith all the time. She was a mother, or had been he thought with a pain hitching in his chest, to his little girl and a damn good one at that. Ah, hell he didn't know how he felt about it. He kept wondering if he was imagining things but there was something in the way they were around each other that made it obvious there was something going on. He noticed the way he looked at her when he thought no one else was looking. It was also hard to miss the way she would casually touch his arm. He recognized the looks they had been exchanging. He shifted his gaze to the only bed in the room and then glanced back to the sofa. The cop in him was putting the puzzle together in his mind. He noticed that there were no blankets on the sofa but the blankets and pillows on the bed were all askew. That most likely meant that Daryl and Beth were sleeping in the same bed. He had to admit, he was very curious and supposed he would have to wait until he and Daryl were alone so they could talk. Man that was going to be an interesting conversation, he thought. And he couldn't wait.

Okay there it is guys, that's who was at the door. Are you surprised ? Jenna, Liam and Lily were characters in my head that were just dying to come out and play. I am very excited for what is in store for them all. I hope you will be too. Sometimes I am just as surprised as you guys with the direction this story takes. As always, thank you, thank you, thank you for your loyal readership and for your reviews. You are so very kind and I am so pleased that everyone is enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. I am getting ready to go and respond to a bunch of reviews now. Let me know how you like the new developments and how things are with Rick and Daryl and of course Beth and Daryl. Ahhh, Rickyl! Yes! Sorry, they are just so cute. Fangirl moment. Okay my dears, enjoy and review if you feel inclined. Ciao!