A.N. - You guys are all wonderful, I hope you like the chapter, I miss summer.

Happy Reading :)

Chapter 20

Sunday, September 17th

"Maggie, I'm not leavin' work just 'cause some old lady made me cry."

The other end of the line was quiet as her sister no doubt swallowed down a few choice expletives and worked out a more persuasive argument that didn't include so many four letter words that had probably come to mind. The wood under her butt pressed in uncomfortably, and Beth scootched around in hopes of finding a more forgiving patch of bench. Wiping self-consciously at her nose, she grimaced at the slight moisture that ended up being rubbed off onto her pants.

"Beth, ya ain't never been late or sick ta' that place-"

"I left early that time when Daryl was findin' out paternity."

"And if ya ask me, which you won't," Maggie continued, unfazed by her interruption. "You should just quit that damn store anyway. You've got zero bills, two jobs is ridiculous. Didn't ya say Daryl was payin' you plenty?"

"Not according to him," she sighed, while glancing around. It wasn't terribly hard to understand why she'd escaped to the smoker's area that was located off to one side of the store. The familiar smell of tobacco and burned bits was far more comforting than she could have ever imagined it to be. "An' I don't really want him payin' me at all…"

"Now that ya'll are gettin' frisky with one another?" her sister had had no end of funny little quips about Beth and Daryl's relationship. Or at least, the brunette sure seemed to find them humorous. "Now there's an idea ta' cheer ya up."

"Maggie."

"I know, I know, it's still freakin' you out that he slept aroun-"

"I did not say he did that!"

A mild scoffing sound had her rolling her eyes in irritation. Laying her head along the back of the bench, Beth let her sight go a little out of focus, the bright car-packed parking lot and small collection of token trees going pear shaped and blurry. A month almost of dating Daryl Dixon and she had somehow found it in her power not to sleep with him. And for that matter, he'd found it within himself not to pressure her into anything either. It was almost maddening, the way he never made a first move, but then after what she'd told him and what he'd heard…But Friday nights were getting incredibly tension filled, and Beth didn't know how much longer either one of them would be able to hold back.

Which brought her back to what Maggie had said.

She hadn't managed to get over the amount of women she'd imagined him sleeping with. It wasn't the promiscuity of it, or that she viewed Daryl in anyway as being unclean, she just had…issues when it came to sex. Maybe it was the mentality she'd been raised with, maybe she was building it up to something it wasn't. But the more time she spent with him, the worse the idea seemed, of getting to the act itself and not knowing what to do. Well, honestly she got the friggin' mechanics of it, but she wanted to be able to have more than that. Wanted to leave him as thunderstruck as the night she'd come to the hospital in that red dress. There was just no way that was going to happen. He was going to have to put up with her fumblings and awkwardness, and the uncertainty and embarrassment of that was gnawing at her.

Stupid.

They'd continued using hands only as a way to work out the building frustrations. It was awful of her, but she had this internal clock ticking, of when the time would come when it wasn't going to be enough for him. Shocking really, that he seemed more than happy with it so far, but then she had jumped straight in when it came to the touching with Daryl. One could even hazard to say enthusiastically so. Jimmy had gone through months of kisses only, before the subject was broached about perhaps going further. But then, he'd been a virgin too so maybe that all evened out somehow and…

"Look. I'm not telling you to sleep with him Bethy, of course not. I'm sayin' though, you should call him." Her sister's voice became slightly muffled as if she were speaking through a stiff mouth or not quite focused on what she was saying. "He's your guy right? Get him to come pick you up, take ya out, make ya smile an' forget this shitty day you're havin'. That's what he's there for."

Her cheek was scraping repeatedly on the rough wooden bench back, tongue sliding against her pulled in lips. They were able to spend most of the week together these days, between her watching Auri, staying over Friday nights, and then seeing him briefly at the farm now and again when he came to pick up the baby. Sundays were for him and Auri. And yeah she was having one of the worst days since she started at the store, but it seemed selfish to elbow in on Auri's time with her daddy.

"I'll be fine sis, just a' bad day. Nothin' I can't handle." She didn't need to go running to her…wincing away from anything involving the word boy and Daryl in the same train of thought, Beth straightened and blinked skyward. This sadness wasn't near as bad as what she'd felt before. She just hoped Maggie's concern was only mild, and didn't harbor any deeper worry that her little sister was too fragile to handle confrontation.

It'd be fine, just because she couldn't remember being talked to in such a manner in her entire life…Like she was worth less than nothing, and all over a vacuum too. The day was half over, she'd make it through. Definitely not the worst thing she'd experienced in her life, she told that to herself again for good measure. Eyes watering and nose threatening to sniffle at the memory of the pinched face and greyed hair of the woman, she locked her sight onto a swirling flock of birds that were whirling away above the parking lot. She wondered idly what species they were, seemed like something Daryl would know.

"Mhmmm." Maggie was muttering distractedly, small tapping noises in her ear alerting Beth that her sister was in fact no longer listening to her whatsoever, and was actually texting. "Whatever you say Beth."

"I gotta go, might as well go an' get somethin' ta' eat before my lunch is over." Barely waiting for her sister's reply, she hung up, and continued watching the puffing churning cloud of feathery bodies for several more minutes.

No denying it, she wanted to call Daryl more than anything. They'd texted back and forth all day like usual. As in, she texted him when she woke up, on her break and lunch etc. And he replied with short messages that usually involved some kind of question, which she'd kind of come to think of as his way of telling her he didn't mind her bothering him repeatedly. Today had been tricky. He'd asked her how everything was going when she let him know she was on lunch and going to call her sister. And Beth had felt terrible about the carefully worded answer she'd sent back, because it felt like a lie. He was the last person she ever wanted to keep things from, but he was still working so hard and handling his insane balancing act…

Sighing, she got to her feet, mildly dragging them on the way back inside.

She hated that the idea of sleeping with him still wigged her out so badly. It wasn't fair to him, the man had never done a single thing that warranted her anxiety. And he'd never brought it up, not once, about doing more, or about when she thought she might be ready. Maybe Jimmy had given her a skewed perception on when and how doggedly men pursued the subject, but Daryl was either incredibly patient or Beth still hadn't gotten a handle on reading him.

Passing by row after brightly colored row of merchandise, first clothes and then the houseware items, not to mention the customers that she did her best not to make eye contact with. Beth thought about the day first day they'd spent together as a couple, and smiled slightly for the first time since that old bat had made it to the front of her line. It had shocked her something fierce, that she'd found the dang moxie to grab Daryl's hand and – mother have mercy it still made her bashful just the memory of it.

It'd taken almost a full day for the disquiet to set in.

How in the nine hells had she managed to take things so far so fast? And here she'd been the one talking of moving slow and maybe not sleeping together at all, which she'd meant…at the time.

Heck, she hadn't with Jimmy.

She had other but just as substantial reasons for hesitating with Daryl. But then they'd been tucked together all cozy on his couch, and she'd breathed him in and felt that solid weight of his arm drawn around her in a lazy kind of possession. She'd thought her touches were innocent enough until they weren't, and her body was all nerve and carbonated bubbles and sweet lord just imagine what those large hands could do…

Cheeks prickling, Beth avoided some more direct gazes as she made her way to a vending machine in the employee area. And after casting her eyes down the list of choices dully, picked a Coke and made her way to Daryl's table. Except it was without its usual occupant, sending a pang through her as flashes of their first lunch times began popping up in her mind's eye.

Seated, and beginning to sip her drink, she wondered how bad it'd be if she went to his place when she got off of work. Auri recognized Beth as readily as she did her daddy, and from her excited little kicks and swinging arms, it was pretty clear that the baby didn't mind having her around.

When her lunch was over and the monotony of scanning item after item had started up once more, Beth felt herself go on autopilot as face after face came into her line. Some she knew vaguely, or a little more if they were regulars or coworkers, but she'd officially checked out for the day.

Just want it done.

After finishing with an impossibly long order that left her thin arms aching, Beth scanned a half dozen cold deli items before bothering to look up at her next customer. Freezing immediately when a set of worried blue eyes met hers, and Daryl scanned her body more thoroughly than the laser in her register had ever hoped to do to a barcode. Opening and closing her mouth in surprise, she looked around quickly before locking onto him once more. It was against company policy to ring up anyone you were friends or anything above with. And there were quite a few people that had seen them in here now and then to pick up groceries for dinner.

Hands moving as if powered by mechanized gears, she continued through his order without paying much attention to the things he bought. Auri was nowhere to be seen, and Beth was having a hard time picking which emotion to feel at the moment. Panic was a front runner with shear bafflement coming in at a hard second. When she parted her lip to speak, she clipped them just as quickly closed once more when Daryl shook his head at her. Jerking a shaggy nod towards the employee parking area, he slid first his discount card, and then his debit, before gathering up the few bags and striding towards the entrance.

What in the world?

It took her a bit of maneuvering and embellishes about the state of her bladder, but she was finally allowed to sign off her register and go jogging outside. No doubt Karen would have a few things to say to her, since it was hard to miss her blatant bypassing of the bathrooms and beeline for the exit. Slight heat kicked up off the pavement onto her khaki covered legs as she weaved her way through a few vehicles.

He was leaning carefully against his bike, flicking away a cigarette quickly as he straightened after spotting her. The concern still narrowed his eyes and pulled at his mouth, she watched as a corner of it pulled back and bunched his cheek, unsmiling. Beth noticed too, the way he hooked his thumbs into his pockets as she eyed the compact expanse of chrome and leather that was parked behind him.

Opening her mouth, the first reaction she had was to ask him what in the heck he was doing here, and would have – if he hadn't picked that exact moment to readjust his weight and blink away from her for a moment before settling back. There was no way she wanted him to think she wasn't glad to see him, because the opposite was true. She was thrilled. It was safe to say that Beth had missed him like some severe case of homesickness that had threatened to swamp her, and still felt as though it might.

"You're here," she'd have perhaps gotten a teasing response from him usually, but now he seemed happy enough to nod. "Did Maggie?"

Thumbs leaving the well-worn pockets he shook his head a twitch before crossing those dang arms of his over his chest. "Nah," he informed her succinctly. "But she texted your mom, an' Annette showed up t' take care a' Kit so I could come pick ya up." He started chewing on the inside of his lip in a distracting kind of way that almost made her miss his next words. "Said you were havin' a rough day. Some bitch upset ya or somethin'?"

Beth shook her head but stopped at the wave of confusion that trickled over his features. "I mean, yeah. That did happen, but they shouldn't have went an'…" She fumbled for the right terminology, hands gesturing towards him ineffectually. "Made ya go ta' all this trouble."

Her eyes flicked to his bike in explanation, which he'd saddled with a bag that no doubt held his buys from the store just now and, hopefully, some cold packs to keep the things from spoiling in the warmish weather. Somehow her statement seemed to make him even more uncomfortable, biceps flexing to hug around his chest as his gaze once more slipped from hers and he nodded while fixating on the newly painted asphalt under his thick black boots.

"Figured." He half muttered, with a jerk of his shoulders that managed to look like both a shrug and continuation of his nod. "Told 'er if ya wanted me here, ya'd 'ave called."

Boy howdy, I am dumb.

Closing the small distance, Beth glided light fingers along his jumping forearms, feeling the tickle of surprisingly soft hairs against her pads as she did. It took a few moments of this before he grudgingly dropped the barrier so she could clasp onto a pinkie from each hand, use the hold to knock his wrist bones together lightly. His head tipping to one side, Daryl rolled his tongue around his mouth before dragging stormy looking blues back to hers.

"I just gotta tell 'em I'm leavin' ok?" she questioned, chasing that gaze of his. She'd thought for a moment to ask him to come when her shift ended in a couple of hours. But she'd made some kind of relationship faux pa that had managed to put little rents into her guy without her meaning for the wounds to appear. Not to mention, his proximity was tickling adrenaline along all the best places and she couldn't imagine sending him away now that he was so close. "Don't leave without me alright?"

She'd meant it jokingly, but he only ticked a miniscule smile her way before she was pressing up on tiptoes and hoisting by way of his vest to kiss him lightly. Meeting with stiffer compliance than she was used to, Beth dropped down enough to see him flick a quick search behind her to the storefront.

- Doesn't like public displays of affection.

Dang it.

That was something she already knew, but he was making her all uneasy, and she already felt frazzled enough. Knowing no good could come of it, she couldn't stop a small simmering of agitation that was unfortunately directed at him. She was doing her best not to apply any pressure, to make this thing between them a good thing and not something that made him stressed out. It was always present in her head how busy he was, how hard he was trying, and how quickly everything could become too much and she'd lose him.

Maybe both of them.

But he'd come here for her, or so he said, and yet she was getting the distinct feeling of having to fret and worry over how he was doing. Again. Tossing a slightly upturned mouth his way, she spun and walked as briskly as she could without jogging. Ducking under squat trees that were planted in red rock covered beds it wasn't exactly clear to her, as she skipped to first one side and then the other out of the way of busy customers, if she were hurrying to get back to him or to get further away.

Thank all things holy, Jesus was back from whatever meeting had tied him up and kept him from taking care of the disgruntled woman that'd broken her earlier. He offered a quick nod and pat to the shoulder when she told him about leaving. Beth knew it wasn't possible, but it still seemed as though she could see the water marks on his shirt that her embarrassed tears had left. It was all so ridiculous and cringe worthy, over such a stupid issue. How much longer she could take dealing with this kind of thing she wasn't certain. It was beginning to grate on her nerves already, and it'd been hardly a few months…Well, closer to five but still, that wasn't that long.

It felt like years.

Half-skipping on her way back out, the thrumming in her chest eased when she spotted him clocking the same flock of small birds that she had been earlier. About to ask him, the words slipped back down her throat when he blinked away from the curved and swooping figures to watch the rest of her approach. Without a sound he handed her a spare helmet, knocking away her tepid fidgeting hands and snapping the thing into place. She was surprised when he put one on his own head, for some reason basic safety seemed liked something Daryl Dixon would scoff at. Taking his hand to mount up behind him, all such wayward thoughts evaporated into the baked air around them as he started the bike up.

As they rode away from town Beth could easily admit that the experience was one of the greatest she'd experienced. Shawn and his friends had had a kick while in high school, where they all had dirt bikes and the girls had been allowed to ride along now and then. With their brother at least. So she'd kind of been expecting something similar to that. Being puzzle pieced to Daryl's back was nothing like hanging onto her brother, pinching him when he tried to scare her by going too fast. The thick frame that was under her hands now felt pliable but unwilling to give as much flesh as her brother's baby fat once had.

No, now the energy of the machine trembled its way through her as they left even the country roads and he took them over dirt switchbacks that took careful maneuvering to manage. Stalled the thoughts of her spider crawling the slack of his shirt up, just enough for her to warm herself on his always heated skin. Getting into a wreck this far out would probably do very little to lessen this tension that was happening. Plus they'd both blush themselves silly if someone had to come get them, or if she had to explain to her parents how it wasn't her redneck's fault that they'd laid the bike down.

When he coasted to a stop, she pried herself off his back, unable to contain the shiver that trampled its way through her when she lost his considerable amount of body heat. They were, as far as she could tell, out in the middle of nowhere. Trees stretched up Heavenward all about them, and as the raucous grumblings of the bike cut off, the noises of the woods started up slowly but adamantly. Staggering once she dismounted, even with the help of first his shoulders and then his hand, Beth fumbled and clawed at the safety gear on her head until she could yank it free.

The air smelled and tasted a little heavy, layered with steaming bark and the greenery flavor of the ferns that lined the forest floor and whose taste cloaked the sides of her tongue as she breathed in deeply. The tall grass was losing a lot of its former color, but still lent a sage hue to the overall picture. Bad day peeling off like burnt skin, she turned in time to see her guide glance away from her. The business of removing his helmet and swinging a long leg over his bike dragging out the critter and bug filled silence between them.

"It's friggin' beautiful Daryl," he bobbed an answer, shouldering the packs that had straddled the motorcycle as surely as their own legs. "Ya come out here a lot?"

Chin dipping once more, he paused, looking between her and the timber pines ahead of them. It was just getting to be late afternoon and the first tipping shadows were hollowing out his cheeks as he seemed to realize how quiet he was being. The rutted dirt road that had brought them this far continued on ahead of the bike's front tire, but where they stood to the right of the slowly ticking machine, there was only green and barely there shade.

"Used to," he motioned back towards the way they'd come. "B'fore Auri an' everythin'." Giving a quick clearing of his throat, he brushed fabric catching finger pads across her shoulders, making her shiver once more before pressing her forward lightly and beginning to trek into the growth beside her. "Won' look like this much longer, fall'll be comin' quick."

As they walked, she noticed how loud everything sounded in comparison to him, remembered how he'd said he was a hunter, made any doubt she may have ever felt about his ability disappear immediately. Her own steps cracked every branch and dried bit of vegetation they went over. Daryl's feet moved in odd ways without him breaking stride, successfully bypassing noisy footfalls. Doing her best to mimic him, Beth viewed his tracking eyes that clocked each rise and fall of her legs. She also saw when he started gnawing on that bottom lip again like he had been in the store parking lot. It bristled the hair lining his chin, drew avid attention to thin lips that were just the right amount of chapped to send nerve endings over the edge.

Beth stumbled and her foot came down hard on a thicker branch that snapped like a shot.

Muttering kid friendly curses under her breath, she refused to look his way again and focused instead on their path and the sounds around them. There would never be a point where she moved as silently as he did, but at least she succeeded in lessening the decibels of her freight train footsteps. Just as she was starting to sweat, more than what was strictly desirable while out with one's smoking hot significant other, the tree line broke and they came to a halt on the edge of a clearing.

Merle's words from several weeks ago came trickling back, and Beth was only able to breathe out a word of recognition, "Oh." It was roughly outlined and meandering in its perimeter, logs scattered here and there throughout the thigh high grass.

"S'better in spring," Daryl muttered from beside her, before setting across the softer looking ground.

Doing her best to keep up with his longer strides, she hazarded a question. "Why's that?"

"S'a…" Coming to a particular long-dead trunk that had lost the majority of its bark, he hooked a leg across it not unlike his bike and took a seat. "Flowers," the admission eked its way from his mouth so quietly she'd have thought she imagined it if it weren't for the tightness in his shoulders and the pinking of his ears.

Mirroring his position quickly, she scooted forward until their knees knocked. "You'll show me?" she asked, doing her best not to let an ounce of teasing enter into her tone. Maybe when he wasn't feeling so on edge she could rib him about it, noticing and enjoying some pretty flowers, but right now she wanted it clear how much she loved the idea of coming here with him when the whole area was in bloom.

His jerking answer wasn't as satisfying as she'd been looking for, and getting mildly stubborn, she bumped her knees into his. She found it necessary to repeat the motion, harder, when he in no way registered or reciprocated the gesture. Daryl had just finished unzipping one of the pouches to the saddlebag-like carrier, eyes peering up at her through his hair with one hand buried wrist deep.

Lord, but the man knew how to work that gaze of his into something dangerous, while still daring the focus of it to go just a little bit further. If only to see what would happen. Skin humming and the tips of her abused caps stinging slightly, she grinned at his blank expression while opening her legs wider than before and cracking once more into him. There was a muted thunking noise as the road battered pack hit the ground and then her calves were being hauled over his thighs as he dragged her over the blessedly smooth log. Once he'd achieved a certain closeness, he kept drawing her in by grips on her own thighs until he was scooping broad palms under her butt and sitting her astride him.

"The fuck're you bustin' m'caps for girl?" his question was asked through a somewhat twisted jaw, like he was doing his best not to smile. "Tryin' t' hobble my ass or somethin'?"

Grinning down at him all flashing teeth and curved lip, Beth steadied herself on deliciously broad shoulders. Her muscles clenching from her thighs that pressed into his, to those in her pelvis that fluttered inquisitively at this new development, all the way to her biceps that flexed in order to keep a hold of him. The nature smells and sounds still filtered in around them and it occurred to her how fitting he looked out here, like she'd always viewed him while something was missing without even knowing it. There was still a thing or two bothering him she knew, but out here there was a looseness to his rangy frame that she enjoyed, a calmness that put a stop to his normally fidgeting moves.

His hands tightened on her rear end making Beth suck in a quiet gasp, his whole body going timber pine still when she did. That guarded look came over his features once more and she muttered in irritation on the inside. Had her not calling him really bothered him that badly? Part of her wanted to ask him, demanded it of herself really, she wasn't the kind to stay tightlipped about this sort of thing anymore. But there was still a feeling of fatigue from the day that kept the words she needed to speak buffeting about the close space of her lungs.

Opting instead for more of a show than tell, Beth bent down in one quick move and covered his mouth with hers. He continued to exhibit wood-like characteristics as she went about capturing first his top and then bottom lip with her own probing set. His whiskers tickled along her mouth and chin, made her nose want to scrunch and face feel tingle covered and ticklish. At first her main goal was to get him to kiss her back like he normally did, like he wanted to lick all the way down to her heart and back. But as the seconds past, she really just began to enjoy the friction of his beard and the heat of him that baked its way into her. The power of him was coiled with trembling restraint all throughout the abdomen that met hers like a slab of negligently hewn stone. It was in his hands too, the ones that clasped and held her in place but cradled where they may have otherwise probed.

When Beth's lips felt liquid enough to seep anywhere she might choose for them to go, she parted them and worked the crease of his mouth, kicking out a light-ish grunt when he didn't immediately allow her access. Adrenaline lined fingertips scrubbed and scratched themselves along that rugged growth clinging to the sharp planes of his face until he loosened his jaw enough to murmur something close to a moan into her waiting mouth. A high tone of inquiry rolled out from the back of her throat, and Beth continued her ministrations while he puffed answers back to her and gripped firmly once more to her backside.

She loved his tongue, the broad course track of it that offered the same increased level of stimulation as the rest of his roughness did. It was becoming a need of hers, to pull it into her mouth and suck on in it while twirling her own around the tip. It was fun too, to nibble and bite at it until he'd growl and mutter things to her in a way that she couldn't really hear to make out but knew their meaning all the same. Beth figured it was fair play, the way he'd employ the dang thing on her neck, flick her earlobe with it after sucking the innocent bit of flesh into his mouth.

What made her realize she was grinding against him, was the moment when Daryl shifted her awkward circling hips to one side and she felt him hard and pressing against their jeans. Neck tipping back like it was suddenly hinged, Beth took great struggling breaths, unable to stop the small continual rocks her body seemed to insist on without conscious approval from her. The gusting waves hitting her sternum spoke of Daryl's own attempts to get a handle on the overheated strings pulled taught within him. It was a bit of a rush when he didn't hesitate to follow her requesting tugs to the long strands of his hair. Lips and tongue worrying the sweat slicked space his uneven breaths had already assaulted.

After he'd made a slow dragging trip to her throat, his journey stopped, and her eyes finally managed to open to the peach and passion fruit hues of the sky above them. Blinking dazedly, Beth massaged her way through lengths of damp strands, keeping him held close, praying that her body would settle down. Praying a little bit too that it wouldn't, that it never would around him. Daryl nuzzled his way up a little higher and ran quick pinching teeth against her jaw before drawing back, cuing her to do her best to focus on more than just working them into some sort of frenzy.

"I go too far las' time?" he asked, throwing her into muddied confusion with only a handful of words. Zeroing in on his gaze, Beth stared at him for what felt like several seconds past too long as he met her sight in return.

It took moments only for her memory to pull up the last time he was referring to. It'd only been a couple days ago, their last Friday night, and like usual it had led to them single-mindedly triggering the release of the other. She'd insisted on getting him off first, wasn't even sure she could answer if asked why. It curled up something unsure and snagging inside her, to know that she was able to do that for him. That she wasn't failing him in that way. But almost as if in retaliation, Daryl had pumped surer fingers all along her walls, bending thick knuckles and prodding the soft flesh at the crook of her neck with that damn tongue until she'd came with a scream muffled through clenched teeth and pursed lips.

As she spiraled back down, he'd swirled a contemplative couple of fingers against her clenching and spasm-prone muscles, thumb idly rubbing at her clit until she'd whined out a watery sounding cry from the sensation. It'd been, without a doubt, the greatest orgasm of her life. The peace that had migrated itself from toes to eyebrows was something bordering glorious, and Beth had kept him where he lay for longer than was probably comfortable or necessary. It wasn't until he pulled those fingers, that he swore weren't skilled but sure as heck didn't feel that way to Beth, out of her that she was aware of any kind of issue.

Considering the low light she wasn't sure how he'd even been able to see anything, but he'd stood quickly with a curse, and the light had sent iridescent spots against her sight before he was back on the bed and pulling at her languidly closed legs. About to ask, she'd paused as he held up a slightly bloody hand in response, face all shrouded darkness and apprehension. There'd been a bit of pain at one point, but after readjusting herself it'd gone away and it really hadn't occurred to her to care about it. And after going to the bathroom and doing a minor investigation herself, still hadn't seen a reason to.

She'd thought they'd agreed that that was just the kind of thing that happened when dealing with virgins. Daryl had insisted on sleeping near the middle of the bed, on his left side like always, except with the marked difference of her being snuggly wrapped up and held against him. But that had just seemed…sweet.

"Boy," she chided, returning his snort before shaking her head. "You fishin' for compliments or somethin'?" Daryl remained fixed and unsmiling, and she tried her best not to notice the stiffness that still pulsed under her. "What's got ya thinkin' that?"

Ticking his head in a shake, her guy dropped his eyes, hands sliding up to keep a loose hold on her waist. Beth thumbed soothingly at the nape of his neck, waiting for him to get back around to meeting her gaze. Daryl shrugged a little, chewing again on his bottom lip until Beth couldn't handle it any longer and ducked her head to kiss him hard. The surprise had him motionless until he freed the bit of skin he'd been troubling, and she was able to suck it into her own mouth, letting it drop away only when it had scraped out passed her teeth.

"Had t' hear 'bout that stupid ol' bitch makin' ya cry from yer mama." He was pulling the puffed flesh in once more, not biting or nibbling now but tasting it while she watched. "Figured me," a troubled look clouded his expression, "bein' too rough like that-"

"Daryl, frick sake," she got a good chunk of his hair and pulled until his eyes went all to slits and flashing before she continued. "You really think I wouldn't tell ya?" she allowed a slight beat for him to think it over. "Me. Of all friggin' people?"

Rubbing apologetic circles into his scalp, she waited. "Why then?"

"It's your day with Auri, an' it seemed so stupid, cryin' about it in the first place."

Watching her for at least a minute without making a sound, Daryl nodded, even as his brows continued to furrow. "Yer always wantin' me t' tell ya when shit happens," his tone wasn't accusatory but she frowned at the words regardless. "Can' be sayin' that an' then not do it yourself."

Beth had to admit to feeling a little surprised at the clear logic of his statement, not to mention the added sense of embarrassment that she hadn't realized that's the way he'd look at it to begin with. After receiving an answering nod from her, he went back to his attentions along her neck, vibrating a halfhearted order to tell him everything that had happened at the store today while he did so. It took a while, as she explained how at first the baby boomer in question hadn't wanted to wait for the line at customer service, and so had come to Beth's lane to return a vacuum.

There was a lot of sighing exhales while she explained the conversation the two of them had then had about return policy and the issue with the woman not having a receipt. It had nosedived after that, and the line of impatient customers behind the wicked old witch hadn't helped. The floor managers had been running like mad and none had shown up after her repeated codes requesting assistance. It had then devolved into Beth standing with blazing cheeks as the woman berated her and called her everything from stupid to a thief.

Over a vacuum.

The whole exchange melted away under Daryl's careful attentions, large hands rubbing up her sides and back down until he could slot them into her back pockets. It felt like her body was doing its best to rid itself of her bones, laying languid and heavy onto him as he continued in a patiently thorough manner. He whispered insults about the customer now and then, grunting and grasping at her when something really irritated him. Some more of that desired peace dribbled into her as the story concluded and his arms still encased her sides securely, his nose nestling now and again into her hair.

Well, when Maggie was right, man was she ever.

"Hey Daryl?" she breathed, hips starting that rock that would surely cause something she didn't know how to handle to happen.

"Hmmm?"

"Ya know those birds that were flyin' above the parkin' lot earlier?"

His mouth left her ear slowly, and she sighed at the lost contact. "Mhmmm?"

"What kind are they?"

More stillness before he eased back to eye her in a slightly unsure way. "Chimney swifts. Why?"

Smiling at him like a complete idiot, she shook her head before kissing him with the curving lines of her mouth set tightly to his straighter ones. "No reason, just curious."

"Yer crazy," he grumbled into her, only making her smile wider until he was scoffing against her teeth. "Christ girl, ya really are fuckin' insane."

"Why's that?" she laughed, lighting little pecks along the ridges of his cheeks.

"M'fuckin' hard as shit under ya an' yer thinkin' 'bout some goddamn birds." His put out tone mixed with a kind of wary amazement made her almost giddy, and Beth didn't stop the urge to grind into him, squeaking with a loss of any smugness she may have felt when he dropped back suddenly. "An' now yer tryin' ta' make me jus' as bat-shit loony by doin' that shit."

Meeting his hooded gaze, she did her best not to openly gape at the view of him laid out underneath her, broad shoulders outspanning the width of the log they straddled. His hold had moved to her thighs with the change of position, and he used it to steady her while he arced and shifted, searching for a more comfortable stretch of wood. Beth's air caught and tripped on its way out as she had to ride him not unlike one of her horses in order to keep her seat and not end up sprawled on the forest floor. She was too short by some reach to meet solid ground with her toes let alone her feet, so she eased her way around his lap until there was a good amount of certainty that she wasn't about to go pitching off.

Daryl's appreciative groan made the backside of her skin tingle and burst along countless nerve endings. Swallowing, she blinked down at him, taking in all she could of the frame his hair made and the rays that highlighted the small white patch on his chin and the hollows and planes of his face. Her hands had wound up braced against his chest, and she did her best to balance between the two points so that no one part of him dug too harshly into the trunk at his back.

"This can't be comfortable."

Her accusation didn't seem to bother him any as he looked at her. "Feels alrigh'," and from the evidence making her shiver where their bodies met, she had to take him at his word. "How about you? Feelin' any better?"

It took her a good clip of time to figure out what he was actually asking about, she'd nodded immediately, but it took his lifted brows for her to know he'd meant the question to be directed at her work day, and not him right now. Easy mistake. Her stomach waited long enough for her to nod once more before making an ungodly loud rumbling noise. Eyes widening in shock, she almost toppled right off him when he huffed out a laugh and sat back up with a groan.

"C'mon, brought us some food." Her mind was a little reluctant to change gears, and Beth remained where she was. Earning her a shy peek, of what might have been pleasure, from him at her unwillingness to dismount. "Quit tryin' t' jump me. Out here in the middle a' damn nowhere, they still fine for that kinda thing in Georgia ya know."

Public indecency.

That startled a laugh out of her, and she smacked him in the shoulder as he settled her back onto the seat that wasn't him, blushing a bit at the slickness that met her consciousness once she was parted from Daryl's lap. She hated that anxiety that inhabited her spinal cord anytime she thought about going further with him, it was what she wanted, that much she knew but it was the when that still felt cloudy. Waiting quietly, she found herself memorizing his sure and measured way as he went about unpacking the saddle bag. Did Daryl get freaked out? Thinking about how close they were getting, knowing that it wasn't and never had been anything approaching casual between them. Because he had to know that, had to, she didn't care the amount of small remarks her daddy had made. She knew her dad didn't dislike Daryl not really, he just wasn't blind, knew where this thing between them was going. And who could blame the father who didn't like that idea not one bit?

A snack-sized bag of Cheetos landed on the towel he'd draped between them, and Beth reeled her thoughts back and grinned at him in thanks. Daryl stacked a small hill of food in front of each of them until she had to laugh at the staggering array of items. Each had sandwich and chips, there was what looked to be hummus and flatbread, individual salads, varied containers of fruit, and cheese curds – for some odd reason.

"Shit," he muttered, a bottle of water rolling with a glooping sound in his palm as he peered at it in irritation. "Should'a got ya lemonade or somethin'."

- I love him.

It almost came out of her mouth, got gulped back with some saliva and made her cough. His quick sight snapped to hers with concern, but she smiled the best she could and snatched the drink from his hand. Cracking the seal and giving herself a few moments while she drank, Beth beat back the inclination to tell him her newest list entry. They'd just had some couple talk. He'd been doing everything he could, was teetering between being ok with them, and being certain he was hurting her in some physical or emotional way. Now would not be the time for her to tell him. No, she could just…wait.

Until…

Maybe until after they slept together, or maybe until he said it first or…

"Water's great," she half-gasped, catching some stray liquid with the back of her wrist and forearm, glancing between him and the food before continuing. "Thanks for all this, can't believe ya bought out the whole deli."

"Tchuh," he scoffed, releasing her from his gaze to grab up his sandwich. "Didn't even get any of the fried stuff, since ya have a coronary over it every time."

Watching him squeeze mayo down the length of a hoagie roll, Beth shrugged, offering him a relenting smile when he flicked a look back up to her. "Guess it wouldn't be awful if we got it every now an' then."

His lips quirked in a content little Daryl-grin that made her chest ache like it would no doubt do after she made it through even a quarter of the meal he'd gotten for them.

But then…she figured that wasn't too awful either.

I'm not sure how good it reads but y'all let me know if you get a chance. Thanks as always.