Thank you so much of your continued support of this story. I have veered away from my original outline a little bit and I think I need to get back to it starting next chapter.
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Chapter Twenty.
He had done drugs before. It wasn't as if he was proud of it but he was a Dixon and Merle's little brother and of course he had done drugs before. Mushrooms and prescription pills and pot. Nothing too heavy. He stayed the hell away from most of the other stuff, especially meth – seeing firsthand what it did to too many people around him, including Merle. He liked his pills and his booze and it always gave him a swirling buzz that lasted for hours.
He hadn't done anything like that in years though. He still had beer, yes, but he didn't drink like he used to and he sure as hell didn't pop anything into his mouth anymore like he used to. He didn't really see a reason to and he never felt that desire to. That was when he was young and stupid and thought those were things he thought he had to do for some reason.
And then Beth Greene came into his life and he tried to stay the hell away from her because he knew. He could tell with one look at her. She was more dangerous than anything he had swallowed into his body. He looked at Beth Greene and knew that that girl could fucking kill him if she wanted to. When he finally talked to her and they started spending all of this time together, he knew, without a doubt, that this girl was going to be the death of him. She more addicting than any pill he had ever come in contact with and the more time he spent around her, he just wanted more.
He always wanted to be touching her or kissing her or just being near enough to her to smell that sweet buttercream scent of hers. In just a few weeks, he had touched Beth Greene more than he had ever touched another person in his life and his fingertips just seemed to crave only more. He was the junkie and she was the fix.
When he woke up with her in the bed, her head was near his shoulder. Not resting on it but close and he laid there and looked at her, listening to her soft breathing and looking at the way the rising sun filtered in through the window behind them to cast over her and make her blonde hair look like it was shimmering. Who was this girl and why the hell was she lying in bed with him? She was too beautiful to be anywhere near him and he didn't get why she didn't understand that; didn't get why she seemed to crave him as much as he craved her.
Daryl wasn't the sort to linger in bed but this morning, he laid beside Beth and watched her sleep and he hated that they both had to get up and go to work because this morning, he just wanted to lie in bed with her and not leave for any reason.
But then – too soon after – her eyes began fluttering and then they opened. She looked at him tiredly and murmured a good morning to him and he watched as she stretched her arms before she slowly sat up. And after that, he sat up, too. They took turns in the shower and ate their bowls of cereal and drank their glasses of milk because neither were the biggest fans of coffee. And when she went into the bedroom to get dressed and came out again in one of her dresses and cardigan sweaters, she gave him a small smile and he smiled a little in return.
He had decided that he really loved her always wearing dresses before he shook that thought from his head because it made him sound like some dirty old man.
It was another insanely busy day at the garage – all of the appointments Beth had made for the four mechanics for the rest of the week beginning today and there was hardly any joking around or talking as there usually was as Daryl, Axel, Martinez and Zach all kept their heads down, seeing one customer after another.
Occasionally, he would look to the office to see Beth on the phone or totaling a customer's invoice, smiling as she took their form of payment. She was always smiling and he couldn't help but be a little amazed at that because she had gone through so much shit – was still going through it – and she still found a reason to smile and be happy with the world around her. The scars on his back and the scars buried inside of him, Daryl rarely saw a reason to ever like anything in this world.
But then, Beth Greene came. He wondered if that was how it was going to be for him from now on. Pre-Beth and post-Beth. Because post-Beth, maybe he was finding himself not hating everything like he used to.
As suspected, he wasn't able to look over the Hybrid in a half-hour as well as he normally would have and he told Andrea that she would be better off taking it to the dealership in Atlanta where she had gotten it from. He walked to the office with her and Beth smiled when she saw him, taking the paperwork he handed her.
"Don't charge her," Daryl told Beth. "Wasn' able to do anything."
"Thank you, Daryl, "Andrea smiled gratefully. "Is Dale in his office?"
"He is," Beth nodded. "Been cursing over his computer for most of the morning."
Andrea laughed at that and then saw herself to the back of the shop where Dale's office was. The two had an unlikely friendship but it was one that had lasted for many years now and despite the differences in almost every aspect of their life, their friendship was close and strong and seemed unbreakable. Most understood that Dale looked to Andrea in the same way he looked to Beth – aas the daughter he never had and Dale was Andrea's father figure.
Once it was just the two of them, Beth looked to Daryl and smiled. "Your eleven just called and they're going to be a few minutes late. They're stuck by a train."
He nodded and reached into his back pocket, pulling out his pack of cigarettes. "Better take advantage then," he said. He would ask her to come out back with him but he knew she wouldn't want to leave her desk. "I've been thinkin' 'bout somethin'," he then told her.
"And what's that?" She asked and he could see her cheeks stained a faint pink.
"Thinkin' it's time I take you out on that date," he said.
She laughed a little. "I guess," she shrugged. "You've already had your hand between my legs. I suppose you could buy me dinner now."
He let out a cough, shocked that she had just said something like that, and he looked at her. He saw the sparkling in her eyes but the deep blush sweeping across her face and he couldn't help but give a crooked smile.
"You can't say things like that to me while we're at work," he shook his head. "It'll make me wanna do all sorts of things to you."
She bit down on her bottom lip for a moment and then smiled at him softly. "Promise?" She asked and Daryl wondered why the office felt a thousand degrees warmer than it had just a few seconds earlier.
He tried to think of something to say but all he had in his head right now was the softness of Beth's skin and how wet and tight she had been the night before and how his own body felt like a tightly coiled spring, ready to burst apart. He almost felt like shaking. He needed his Beth Greene fix.
"Hey, Beth," Axel came into the office then, a customer behind him. "Here's the paperwork. Smoke break?" He then asked, looking to Daryl and the pack in his hands and Daryl nodded, casting one last glance to Beth but she was smiling and speaking with the customer, all of her attention off of him right now and Daryl couldn't help but feel relieved.
He had a ton of work to do and Beth Greene was too damn good at distracting him even if she didn't know that that was what she did to him. It was such a foreign concept to him – to have himself to be intertwined with someone else and he never thought of himself having a person like that in his life but as he smoked with Axel in the back lot behind the garage and listened as Axel was bitching about his wife and sister-in-law making a mess of the house the night before, Daryl wondered if he would have that, too. Not the bitching part but a woman to talk with the guys about.
He knew he had Beth. He wasn't going to wonder about that and he knew that the guys – except Zach – were curious about what he and Beth had going on between them but he didn't know if he would ever talk with them about her. Everything between him and Beth just felt too private – even the talks and the motorcycle rides to nowhere in particular. Daryl wouldn't feel right telling anyone anything about what he and Beth did together. Not even Merle or Annie or Rick.
He wasn't ashamed of it but for the first time in his life, he felt like he had something entirely his own. It belonged to him and he didn't have to share it with anyone else as he had to do with everything else in his life before Beth. He didn't want to open up and talk about it to anyone because this was his. Just his. And no one was going to be taking her away from him.
…
"Daryl," she whimpered softly even though everyone was gone and the garage was locked up for the night. Her hands tightened around his shoulders and his fingers moved a little faster inside of her, his hand buried between her thighs as his other hand rested on the small of her back, keeping her perched on the bathroom sink.
Neither of them had exactly been planning this. The other guys had left and then Dale had bid them goodnight and Daryl had finished cleaning his bay and had come into the office to wait as Beth finished cleaning her desk. It had been just like any other night. But then she had smiled at him and he had kissed her and now, they were locked in the small staff bathroom, her dress pushed up around waist and her underwear pushed down around her knees. He had absolutely no control around her and he couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or not.
"Daryl!" She cried out softly and he watched her head fall backwards as she stiffened in his arms.
She was so tight and wet now and she squeezed herself around his fingers as she came. She sat there for a moment, breathing heavily, and he couldn't help but lean into her and press a kiss to the side of her throat. It was only the second time he had done that for her but already, he knew it was just another thing he was addicted to. The voice in the back of his head telling him that he shouldn't be doing this with her was growing fainter and fainter until he could barely hear it and all he could do was tell himself that he hadn't broken his promise to Hershel.
Beth was still a good girl. The best girl.
She hummed from the back of her throat and then brought her head forward, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and she buried his face in his neck. She kissed him there as he had kissed her and he slowly pulled his hand out from between her legs, his arms sliding around her waist. She was still a bit out of breath, her body still trembling slightly, and Daryl couldn't help but press himself against her.
It would be so easy. Her sitting on the edge of the sink with her legs spread and all he would have to do was unzip his jeans and push forward but there was no way in hell he was going to do that. Beth was a virgin and she was not the kind of girl who had her first time in some dirty garage bathroom.
She moaned softly when she felt him and she pulled her head back, looking into his face. "I want to," she said almost in a whisper as if she could read his mind.
Daryl just shook his head. "No," he said and it didn't matter how hard he was right now. He had never been a girl's first before and he couldn't really believe that Beth would want him as hers but no matter what she said, it wasn't going to be right now.
He expected her to protest but she didn't say anything and he reluctantly stepped back, taking Beth's hand and letting her slide down from the sink to her feet again. And like some perverted version of Cinderella, Daryl guided her underwear from her knees back up her thighs and she laughed a little, adjusting it and smoothing the skirt of her dress as it fell down again.
"Wanna get a burger?" He asked.
"Alright," she smiled up at him, her cheeks still rosy and her eyes shining and she looked so damn beautiful, he couldn't help but lean in and kiss her.
They got on his bike and he drove them to the diner in town, a little surprised when Beth reached over and slipped her hand into his as they crossed the parking lot but he didn't pull his away. Her hand was cold – as she always was – and her skin felt smooth and her hand was probably one of the nicest things he had ever touched. He even pulled the door open for her and let her go through first and she smiled up at him as if he had just given her diamonds.
"Daddy," Beth beamed and Daryl saw Hershel, Shawn and Maggie sitting at a table in the middle of the diner. She didn't let go of Daryl's hand and instead, she seemed to pull him over to the table where her family sat. "Hi!" She then greeted as if she hadn't seen any of them in days. She finally let go of his hand but only so she could hug Hershel and Shawn and she and Maggie kissed one another on the cheek.
"Sit," Hershel smiled when he saw the two of them and Daryl found himself lowering himself into a chair between Shawn and Beth.
He did his best to look at Hershel across from him and not look so damn obvious about anything but he swore that the man would be able to take one look at him and know what he had just been doing to Beth in the bathroom.
As the waitress came to take their orders, Beth looked to Daryl and gave him a soft smile, leaning in closer to him.
"I hope you don't mind eating with them," she said in a quiet voice.
He shook his head. "Course I don't. Not much of a first date though," he grunted.
"Don't worry. We have plenty of time for that," she said and then kissed his cheek.
The waitress came to Beth and she ordered a burger with no cheese or anything else on it and French fries with no salt and to drink, she ordered a water as she always drank. Beth was sitting between Daryl and Maggie but Daryl was able to see the way that Maggie stiffened slightly at Beth's order and he felt a little ashamed when he found that a part of himself actually agreed with Maggie's reaction.
He knew Beth ate. He had seen her eat so many times by now and apparently, she was so much better now than she had been but still, there were these moments where Daryl watched her and wondered if she was eating enough. He never said anything about it – not wanting to anger or upset her – and she had her family, especially her sister, to stifle her when it came to her eating habits. He didn't want to add to it and he didn't think he had any right or say when it came to things like that.
But the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. "That all you gettin'?" He asked and his eyes instantly flew to her because he couldn't believe that he had just asked that and judging by the slightly wide of her eyes, she couldn't believe that he had just asked that either.
He could feel the eyes of her family watching them but Daryl kept staring at Beth and she kept staring at him. He opened his mouth to apologize to her but Beth sighing softly cut him off.
"Yes," was all she said before she turned her head away and Daryl kept staring at her, still trying to bring himself to apologize.
He had no idea why he couldn't because she looked so damn disappointed and hurt by him asking her that and just minutes ago, she had been smiling at him and so obviously happy.
He didn't even remember what he had ordered and when their food came, he looked down and saw that he had the cheeseburger with the works on it. He didn't feel hungry at all anymore though. Beth hadn't looked over to him once and he watched from the corner of his eye and held the burger between both hands, taking small bites but eventually, finishing the whole thing. Shawn dominated most of the conversation, talking about something that had happened at the farm and how he and Otis had tried to cover it up before Hershel found out but of course, Hershel had found out because he always did and Beth would smile occasionally at the story but Daryl noticed that these smiles didn't reach her eyes.
He didn't remember eating but he had eaten his entire burger when the waitress came to clear their plates and Hershel paid the bill despite Daryl reaching for his wallet and telling him that he could cover himself and Beth.
"You taking good care of her?" Hershel asked as they all stepped outside and Beth walked off with her brother and sister for a moment.
Daryl nodded once. "I'm tryin'," he said, watching after Beth.
"I never expected you to be her babysitter, Daryl, and I'm not asking you to be. Beth doesn't need one of those. I thought we agreed on that," Hershel continued.
Daryl looked back to the man. "We do," he said.
Hershel gave him a small smile. "Just apologize to her. My daughter's crazy about you and it's pretty obvious you feel the same about her. Apologize before this blows out of proportion between the both of you and it becomes something more than it should be."
Old instincts almost had Daryl immediately denying what Hershel had said but the thought was only momentary. And with that, Hershel carried himself away on his crutches to his children and Daryl watched as Beth hugged all of them goodbye before turning and coming back towards Daryl. He admitted that he was relieved when he saw her coming towards him. For a second there, he thought she would go back to the farm tonight.
"Daryl," she began to say, her fingers fidgeting in front of her.
"'m sorry, Beth," Daryl said quickly before she could say anything past his name. "'m really sorry," he said and she stared at him for a moment without saying anything.
It felt as if they were the longest few seconds of his life and he felt as if the burger he had just eaten was threatening to come back up.
"I just need you to trust me, Daryl," Beth said in her soft voice, looking into his eyes, and he nodded his head. "I know it doesn't look like it but I am getting better-"
"I know you are," he couldn't help but interrupt. "I know you are and I don't know why I said that in there." He looked at her. "'m sorry," he said one more time.
Beth looked at him for yet another moment and then without a word, she stepped up to him, her hands sliding onto his cheeks and lifting herself on her toes, she gave him a light kiss. Daryl instantly responded, nearly sagging with relief as his hands lifted to her head, fingers buried in her hair, and he kissed her back.
She pulled her lips back from his just far enough to give him a soft smile and to look into his eyes. "Let's go home," she said.
Home. She had never called it that before but the instant the word fell from her mouth, he had never heard anything better or anything more true. Home. The trailer was his place but it was now hers, too. Home. Their home.
When the hell had that happened?
And when he smiled at the thought, at that realization, Beth smiled a little wider too as if she could read his mind and she kissed him again.
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