Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait in getting this chapter out, but with the actual TV show releasing new episodes, I am sure y'all haven't been missing out too bad. I have been having a crazy semester but am almost done with it and hopefully afterward can start writing more consistently again. Hope you enjoy!
Daryl's POV
Daryl sat by the fire cooking squirrel while everyone finished the gigantic reunion. He had already spent the last thirty minutes hugging Carol and he figured it was about time to make himself useful, not to mention let other people greet the woman.
The redneck didn't think Rick was ever going to let Judith out of his sight again. Beth and Carl followed the leader around, cooing at the precious baby. Sasha was introducing Tyreese to Bob, who seemed apprehensive of his girlfriend's intimidating brother. Tara was hanging awkwardly back from the group, but smiling nonetheless. Maggie and Glenn were laughing with Carol, something about walker blood messages. Daryl felt content, his whole family was together, no walkers were attacking, there was food to eat, things couldn't get much better than that. It took Daryl a few minutes to realize that he had called everyone family and when he did it shocked him. Here he was in the middle of the apocalypse, where no one and nothing was safe, and yet he felt more content than he ever had before. A small grin rose to his face as he turned the sticks, making sure the squirrels cooked evenly.
"Need some help," came a familiar voice. Daryl froze in the middle of his work. He couldn't believe that after the way he had practically bit her head off earlier that Beth would even want to be within ten feet of him, much less come up to him. Then again, she always managed to surprise him.
"Sure," he replied gruffly, wanting to apologize but not knowing how, "just turn the sticks for the squirrels that look a little burnt."
"Okay," the blonde replied. She set about turning the ones closest to her while Daryl finished the ones on his side. Usually Beth was quite talkative, but she didn't say a word and the redneck could guess why.
"I was a dick," he muttered into the fire as he finished turning the squirrels.
The blonde looked up at him with surprise in her eyes and both their minds went back to the night at the shack after drinking moonshine. A small smile came over her face and Daryl knew that she had accepted his form of an apology.
"I should get that in writing," Beth teased, but then she turned serious again, "Do you wanna talk about what's bothering you? Cuz your really should talk about it, it's not good to keep it all locked up inside. And you don't have to talk to me about it, you can talk to Carol or Rick. We are all here for you."
Daryl shifted on the log he was using for a chair, looking anywhere but at those mesmerizing blue eyes. After a while of silence, he murmured just loud enough for Beth to hear.
"I will, but not yet," he answered, knowing that it was inevitable, but not wanting to see the disgust in Beth's eyes when he told her what kind of men he had befriended. He didn't want her to push him away when she realized that he hadn't changed from his former life, or at least hadn't changed enough. He was going to be selfish a bit longer to keep her by his side, but she deserved the truth.
"Okay," Beth said, not pushing him, but accepting the fact that he took time to open up about things. Unexpectedly, Beth stood up and walked over to him. He stiffened, unsure of what she wanted. Then, suddenly the blonde was hugging him.
"I missed you," Beth whispered, her breath warming his ear, "I can't tell you how happy I was to see you again, and not just because you were saving me."
That last statement caused Daryl's mind to blank out. Could she mean it in a way that was more than just friendly? Despite being on the road, Beth smelled good and her hair felt so soft where it fell across his cheek.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Dixon," the hunter told himself, Beth was so innocent that she probably didn't realize how her words could be taken. Daryl was just about to respond, whether that be to push her away or hug her back even he didn't know, when a throat cleared behind them. The two of them immediately separated and if Daryl wasn't mistaken, he thought he could see Beth's cheeks reddening.
"Can I have a word with you Daryl," asked Rick.
The redneck didn't answer but stood up and followed Rick away from the camp, leaving Beth to finish cooking the squirrels. As they walked, Rick didn't say a single word, which made Daryl nervous. Was it about Beth? Was Rick going to call him out for the pervert he was? The redneck felt like slipping into the forest and remaining invisible for the next week. However, all of Daryl's worrying was for nothing, because when Rick finally did talk, it had nothing to do with Beth.
"It's Gareth," Rick said, his eyebrows drawn tight in concern.
Daryl nodded, he was prepared to do whatever he had to do to keep the group safe, to keep Beth safe.
Beth's POV
Beth frowned at the squirrels as she turned them. She should have known her and Daryl's relationship wouldn't be the same once they were back with the group, but she hadn't expected him to shut her out so completely. He wouldn't talk about whatever was bothering him, he didn't take Beth to practice hunting anymore, heck he was barely even around. The young blonde muttered to herself as she added wood to the fire. She had been so sure sitting in that kitchen, watching Daryl eat those disgusting pig's feet. His eyes had practically been screaming that he had feelings for her, but now Beth was second-guessing herself. Maybe he had just needed comfort and she was the only one around at the time to give him that. Now that he had his two best friends, Rick and Carol, to rely on again, maybe he didn't need her. Both Rick and Carol were much older and more mature than Beth was. Beth bit her lip as it quivered at the thought. Even if he didn't have the same romantic feelings as she did, the idea that he might not even want to be friends worried her. She had really begun to think of him as a friend and then some during their time together. You didn't make friends every day in the apocalypse, especially ones that you trusted with your life.
"How's cooking squirrels going," asked a warm voice. Beth looked up to find Logan standing over her.
"Ya know," Beth shrugged, since she wasn't currently feeling very social. Immediately she felt bad though. Her and Logan had never been friends, but it wasn't every day that you met someone you know from before the change.
"Want me to show you how," Beth offered.
"Sure," Logan replied, giving her a big smile and taking the seat Daryl had been using.
"Alright, you just watch them and turn them occasionally when they look done on one side," Beth instructed, "it's really not that hard."
"Haha," Logan laughed, "never thought I would see sweet Beth Greene teaching me how to cook squirrel. It's funny how the world has changed."
Beth couldn't help but grin, Logan's amiable personality was contagious.
"Well, I….,"Beth began, but she was distracted mid-sentence. At the edge of camp, Daryl and Rick were holding Gareth between them as they left camp. Beth had known this was coming, but she couldn't make herself okay with allowing it to happen.
"Watch the squirrels for me," Beth ordered, before heading out to confront Rick and Daryl. She had to jog to catch up with them but when she did, she knew that her instinct had been right. They weren't taking Gareth on any casual stroll.
"Beth," Daryl said quietly but firmly, "go back."
"No," Beth said resolutely.
"Beth," Rick tried, "It has to be done, you know it does. He is a danger to everyone and we can't put this group through anymore."
"This is wrong," Beth argued.
Gareth looked up from Rick's side and stared at Beth. He looked so defeated and sad that Beth couldn't tear her eyes away.
All of a sudden, a stout body was blocking her view of their prisoner and Daryl Dixon was right up in her face. "Look Beth," he growled, "This guy has done horrible things to lots of people, he was going to let horrible things happen to you. He isn't one of those good people you always talk about. He is going to get what was coming to him."
Beth took a breath and refused to be intimidated. "Gareth may not be one of those good people, but we may not be either if we keep doing things like this. Doesn't he at least get a say, doesn't everyone else in camp get a say? Y'all can't just go off and make decisions like this for the whole group!"
"I don't know why you are raising hell to protect this piece of shit," snarled Daryl, his voice raising to a shout, "I am trying to protect your dumb ass. What the hell else am I supposed to do? Let the guy who has been holding you hostage and was going to have you sacrificed like some animal continue to threaten everyone's safety until the whole group comes to an agreement on what to do with him? Or should I just hand him back over to Terminus so that they can continue cannibalizing people while we go on our merry way? Or since you seem so fond of him, why don't I let him just walk around camp and act like one of us? Hunh?"
By now, the rest of the camp had heard the commotion and were gathering around, none of them seemed surprised by what was going on. The scene they were making caused Beth to cringe, but she wasn't going to let the issue drop.
"Hey," a voice cut in, "why don't you get out of Beth's face."
Beth turned around to see Logan making his way over. Beth groaned internally, Logan had the worst timing. She also noticed that most of the new additions to the group looked very concerned. They hadn't had time to get used to Daryl's mood swings and Beth could only imagine what they were thinking.
"Logan, don't…," Beth began as her old-schoolmate pushed through the small crowd, but she didn't get to finish.
"Who the hell are you," snapped Daryl, looking ready to punch the next person that moved.
Beth could see the fear flash in Logan's eyes and although he slowed his approach, he didn't stop.
"I said to back off," Logan repeated.
Daryl started towards the younger man and Beth grabbed his arm to stop him, but she might as well have been trying to hold back a bulldozer.
"Listen here punk," Daryl growled as he pushed Logan back a few steps. "If you ever interrupt me again, I am going to…"
Just as the archer was about to make his threat, two gunshots rang out and Logan fell to the ground with a cry, blood gushing from his right shoulder. Immediately, the whole camp jumped into action mode. Daryl had his crossbow up and Rick had a machete in one hand and a gun in the other. The duo placed themselves closest to the direction the bullets had come from, trying to shield the group. Beth's hand went for her knife, when she realized that she had set it down while she had changed clothes and forgot to pick it up again. She was about to panic when Carl pressed a handgun into her palm. She gave him a short nod and turned her attention towards the trees.
"Show yourselves," ordered Rick as he glared into the forest. Suddenly, men appeared from behind trees, armed to the teeth. However, that wasn't the most disturbing part. Their leader was someone Beth had hoped she would never see again.
"Hello songbird," said Seth sweetly, looking straight at Beth, "Long time no see."
Beth shuddered as she remembered his slight caresses and little pet names for her. Anger and fear grew as she remembered how John had promised her to Seth, she could only imagine what the psychopath had planned for her.
She raised her gun and pointed it right at his head.
"Hey, hey," Seth said, sounded affronted, "what kind of greeting is that? Didn't you miss me. Don't worry, we will have plenty of time to catch up once I finish with your group."
Beth's allies looked fairly confused by Seth's ramblings, but they caught the gist of his evil intentions.
"I don't know who y'all are," Rick cautioned, "but I am warning y'all, you do not want to mess with us, because you will lose."
"Ah, so you must be the leader," Seth said in a congenial tone that didn't match the setting at all, "I respect that, I respect people with strength. How about we strike a deal? If you give us what we want, then we will let y'all go, then neither of us has to suffer any casualties. Everyone wins."
"I don't negotiate," Rick answered plainly, cocking his gun, "not anymore."
"That's a real shame," Seth commented, "to think we could have gotten along so well. Alright men, have at it, but save the blonde one for me."
Gunshots rang out and everything became a flurry of motion. Beth fired, but didn't manage to hit anyone. The group was clearly outnumbered and outgunned, they weren't going to hold out long. Not only were there men to fight, but the noise was drawing walkers as well. Logan had gotten up and was struggling to fight off a walker with one arm. Beth raised her gun and shot the animated corpse right through its left eye. The creature fell to the ground and Seth shot her a look of thanks mixed with a bit of awe.
"Beth," yelled Daryl, and the blonde instantly turned, searching for the archer in the midst of the chaos. She finally spotted him by the edge of the forest, hiding behind a tree to avoid the gunshots.
The blonde started heading towards him but was cut off by a crowd of walkers. Soon, almost everyone was fighting walkers instead of other humans.
"Retreat," Beth heard their attackers call as they slipped back into the forest, leaving her group to deal with the mess they had created. The young woman's anger rose and she picked up a knife that had been dropped on the ground and shoved it with more force than necessary through a walker's skull.
The group managed to clear out the walkers, but with all the noise, more were going to be headed their way.
"Everyone, gather up any of your belongings," ordered Rick, "we are leaving, NOW!"
Each person ran around tiredly as they collected what little they had. Beth ran back and got her knife. She was about to leave her tattered dress, it held so many bad memories, but then she decided that it might turn out to be good for binding wounds or something.
After a few minutes, the group, led officially by Rick and unofficially by Daryl, headed north in the hopes of finding shelter. No one talked, the only sound that could be heard was the occasional moan of a walker or the shuffle of feet. Beth noticed Logan struggling to carry his backpack, wincing in pain at how the shoulder strap dug into his wound.
"Hand it over," Beth demanded as she walked over to Logan. He handed the backpack off gratefully with a nod of thanks.
"Here," Beth offered as she held out the dress, "at least hold that on the wound to stop the blood from flowing. How bad is it?"
Logan took the tattered material and tenderly held it to his shoulder. "It isn't that bad, it mostly grazed the top of my shoulder, bullet went straight through I think."
Beth nodded. "Bob, in our group, he is good at fixing wounds. Whenever we stop, I am sure he can help you."
Logan gave Beth a grateful smile for the tip and the two of them lapsed into silence. As the miles went by, the backpack started feeling heavier, but Beth wasn't about to complain, for all they knew, Seth and his men were right on their trail. She just adjusted the straps and kept going. If it hadn't been for her time with Daryl and the strength she had gained from using his crossbow, Beth didn't think she would have been able to keep up with the group.
Thinking of Daryl made Beth flashback to the argument they had been having right before Seth's men had fired on them. She felt a twinge of guilt for the conflict. Daryl intentions had been to protect her and everyone else in the group in the only way he knew how. Even Beth had to admit, it was a tough situation, but she couldn't just let them kill Gareth….and what exactly had happened to Gareth. Beth's eyes widened as she realized that the leader of Terminus was not among them. The blonde ran up to the front where Rick and Daryl were clearing a way through the trees and bushes.
"Rick, Daryl," Beth gasped, "what happened to Gareth?"
Daryl's mouth hardened at Beth's inquiry, but he didn't start yelling again.
"As we were leaving," said Rick, "I looked around and he was gone. I don't know if those people took him, a walker got him, or if he ran off. But I get the feeling he is going to show up."
Rick didn't say it, but Beth knew he was worried about Gareth's disappearance. She felt partially responsible for the new threat to the group, but not enough to regret her actions. Gareth, no matter how bad he might seem, was only doing what he felt he had to do to protect his people, no matter how demented his definition of protection was.
"Think this is as far as we are going to make it today," Rick stated, before turning around and ordering the rest of the group to start making camp. That left Beth and Daryl alone. Beth stood there awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say after the day they had just had. It had gone from Daryl snapping at her this morning to both of them yelling at each other this afternoon to fighting humans and walkers alike.
"Want to come help do a perimeter check," Daryl said so quietly Beth almost thought she had imagined it. She looked up surprised and found Daryl's eyes on her. The tough man immediately averted his gaze and then stalked off. The blonde stood in shock at his including her before handing off Logan's backpack to Carl, who happened to be passing by. Then, she raced after the angle wings that were quickly disappearing into the woods
Daryl's POV
Daryl scanned the unfamiliar territory, looking for any signs of walkers or humans. He wanted to make sure that the campsite was clear for a half mile radius. If he wasn't so used to the sounds of the forest, he wouldn't have been able to pick up the light steps that followed him. The archer felt like he was hyperaware of everything Beth did. He told himself that his attention towards Beth only came from a desire to make sure she was safe.
"Ooohhh," came Beth's soft voice, "Look Daryl, pecans!" The young woman had a big smile on her face and Daryl couldn't help but smile back. He watched as she knelt to the ground and began plucking the brown nuts out of the grass. Daryl fished around in his pockets and found a plastic Wal-Mart bag. He slowly sat down, his joints aching from the fight today, and began helping Beth. They sat mostly in silence until Beth started humming. Daryl dared steal a peak at her from beneath his long bangs.
The young woman looked like some forest pixie, both beautiful and one with nature. Her blonde hair was spilling out of her ponytail and framing her face. Her bright blue eyes sparkled even after everything she had been through. Daryl wanted to preserve that image of Beth in his mind and never let it go. At that exact moment, Beth looked up, her blonde hair falling into her face. Without thinking, Daryl reached over and pushed her hair back. The young girl's eyes widened just a fraction but it was enough to bring Daryl back to reality. He immediately withdrew his hand like he had been burned and stood up.
"I think we gathered enough for right now. We can tell others in the group and they can come back with something better to carry the pecans in," Daryl said as a way to cover his embarrassment.
Beth just sat on the ground staring up at him.
"Beth," Daryl called, trying to get her attention.
"Oh," The blonde gasped as she came back to reality, "Right, I think we have enough, wouldn't want the bag to break." She stood up and lifted the bag full of pecans, making sure to place one hand on the bottom to support it.
"Led the way Mr. Dixon," Beth said with a gigantic smile, waiting for Daryl to lead her back towards came.
She was so bubbly that Daryl couldn't help but mess with her.
"I brought you along so you could pay attention to where we were going and take us back," Daryl smirked as Beth immediately pouted, "I was teaching you to track back at the house, why don't we see if you remember anything I taught you."
"Of course I remember," Beth shot off, "I can get us back just fine." With that, the blonde turned on her heel and headed back in the direction they had come.
Daryl grinned a little at Beth's sass, he had to admit she had a backbone. Most people would be too scared to disagree with him, much less sass him, but Daryl liked that Beth wasn't at all afraid of him.
The hunter followed behind Beth, allowing her to look for their old footprints and other clues. Occasionally, he had to point her in the right direction, but she was doing pretty good on her own. As they made their way back towards the campsite, Daryl's mind drifted to the attack from earlier. The leader of the group that attacked them hadn't made much sense in his ramblings, but the words had mostly seemed to be directed at one person in particular. The man had called the person songbird and Daryl had been fairly sure he heard an order not to hurt a blonde. Beth often sang and she was the only blonde person in the group, which meant she somehow knew that guy. Daryl's fist clenched as he considered under what circumstances the young woman must have meet the man. He wanted to ask, but wasn't sure he could stand the answer. Daryl ground his jaw in frustration, but finally managed to spit the question out.
"The guy that attacked us earlier, you know him," Daryl asked, trying to keep his voice level.
Beth froze in front of him so fast that he almost ran into her. Her actions were an answer in itself. Daryl wanted to punch the tree next to him, he wished for once that a walker would show up so he could get his anger out. Of course out of all the people in their group, Beth was connected to not only Gareth but also being targeted by the leader of a hostile group.
"Yeah, Seth," Beth whispered, "I know him."
Daryl waited for her to continue, but she didn't.
"And," Daryl pushed, his anger seeping into his voice.
"He isn't good people," Beth said sorrowfully, before turning around and continuing to track their footprints.
Daryl didn't think a single calmly worded sentence had ever made him see red before, but this one did. It took a lot for Beth to believe someone was bad, she had even stood up for Gareth, the leader of a pack of cannibals that planned to sacrifice her. If Beth thought this man was bad, then what had he done to her? Daryl's mind jumped from scenario to scenario, each more unsettling than the next.
"Beth," Daryl growled at the girl's retreating back. When she didn't stop, he followed after her. "Beth, what did he do?"
"Daryl, you are already mad, me telling you won't make this any better," Beth argued.
"Dammit Beth," Daryl cussed as he grabbed the young woman's wrist and forced her to face him.
"Now," Daryl began in a deep voice, separating each word with a pause, "I want you to tell me what he did."
Beth big eyes stared at him in shock but he didn't look away. After a moment, she seemed to realize that he wasn't going to let the issue drop.
"Daryl, you remember the night when we were separated," Beth began. Daryl nodded, remembering his stupid mistake with pain.
"Don't even think about blaming yourself Dixon," Beth ordered, guessing at how his mind worked.
"Just tell me what happened," Daryl insisted, his grip on her wrist becoming tighter.
"Well," Beth muttered, looking down, "I escaped out the window just like you told me to and ran to the road. This guy jumped me and knocked me out before stuffing me in the back of his car. I woke up again chained to wall and surrounded by these men. I was confused for a long time and there was another girl there I became friends with. Seth, the man who we saw today, was one of the men at this place and he would bring me food and stuff. However, he was a bit too friendly…"
The blonde hung her head lower and Daryl could feel his heart pounding to fast.
"Beth," he managed to ask, "did he touch you?"
He watched as Beth shivered at his question.
"No," she managed to croak out, "not in the way you mean, but he would have if I had been there longer."
Daryl's hand clenched into a fist and he knew that he would do whatever it took to watch this man suffer. The idea of anyone hurting Beth was unthinkable; she was so pure and innocent. He was going to personally make sure that Seth paid for it.
Suddenly, Beth started sobbing and Daryl realized how hard this must be for her to tell him. Without another thought, he pulled the girl into his chest and just held her like he had that night on the couch after she had had a nightmare. He let his hand rub her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner. She fit so perfectly against him and Daryl tried to tell himself how wrong it was to have thoughts about Beth when he was supposed to be comforting her about almost being raped. Daryl felt a tug of guilt as he remembered that it was his fault she had been kidnapped in the first place.
"Beth, I'm so sorry, I should have never let them take you…," Daryl began, but he was abruptly cut off.
"Daryl Dixon," Beth said harshly, pulling out of his arms, "don't you ever apologize to me for that. You are such a stupid idiot sometimes. If you think that was your fault then you must be crazy."
"But, I…," Daryl tried to work in.
"No," Beth said firmly, "It is not your fault anymore than it is mine. Things like that happen in this world we live in now and you can't go around blaming yourself anytime something goes wrong. Believe it or not, you can't prevent every bad thing from happening to everyone in our group. So you need to get over yourself and accept that."
Daryl didn't try to argue, he knew it wouldn't do him any good. Beth was too wise for her age and always seemed to be right. He had been raised his whole life with his father blaming him for everything that went wrong, whether that was his mother's death, Merle's delinquency, or the fact that there just was not enough beer in the house. However, Beth had planted herself firmly in the middle of everything and was going against the self-ingrained guilt that he had had programed into him by his father's words and beatings. He didn't know how she managed to do it, but she always seemed to see right through things and cut to the truth of the matter. Daryl wanted to tell her so, but he was never good with words.
"Okay," Beth asked, as she put her hand on his chin and gently turned his face towards hers, "no more of that self-blaming."
Daryl nodded and she let go, but he could still feel her soft touch lingering on his skin. Suddenly, her small hand was in his and tugging him forward.
"Let's go back to camp," Beth said. Daryl nodded and let himself be led back. He gave her hand a small squeeze to show his gratitude. The blonde smiled at him, but didn't comment on his allowance of this physical contact.
"Do I look okay," Beth asked as they reached the edge of the camp. It took Daryl a moment to realize that she was referring to the fact that she had been crying. A more romantic part of Daryl wanted to tell Beth that she looked beautiful, but the typical Daryl smothered the very idea of saying such a thing.
"Look like you have been through hell and back," Daryl taunted with a slight grin to let her know he was teasing.
"Well thanks," Beth said as she rolled her eyes, "Although I'm pretty sure I have bathed much more recently than you."
The young woman leaned in and sniffed Daryl's shoulder.
"Whew,' she laughed, pretending to hold her nose.
Daryl let go of her hand and gave her a light playful shove.
"Better watch who you are mocking little girl, maybe you should pick on someone your own size," Daryl threatened.
"Ohhh," she giggled, "I'm just shaking in my boots."
"I'm sure you are," Daryl replied with a snort, "Now make yourself useful and go drop those pecans off."
"Yes Mr. Dixon," Beth said with a mock salute before sashaying off.
That girl was going to be the death of him Daryl thought with a grin before he went off in search of Rick.
Hope you enjoyed. It has been a while since I have written, but that made me eager to put a lot into this one chapter. Hopefully I will have the next chapter out in the next few weeks.