**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS. This chapter is a special gift to you all. Please note, I've raised the rating on this fic, partially for this chapter but also for what is to come. Enjoy!
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Daryl stood behind Beth in the mirror, and she could see the frown etched in the lines of his face as she tried to slide the blade of the scissors under her cast. She paused, lifting an eyebrow at his reflection, where he was watching her from under the long bangs of dark hair that fell into his eyes. "Cutting off my cast? Why not?"
"Dunno." His brow furrowed, and she could see him thinking it over, the gears turning in his head as he tried to find the right thing to say. Finally, he went on hesitantly, "Y'need time to heal. Don't wanna cut it off too soon. None of us can put it back on, after you cut it off."
"I know that." Beth sighed in frustration. She wasn't even sure where it came from; it wasn't like he was being ridiculous or anything. "Look, my wrist feels fine, honestly Daryl. And it's actually annoying me more, keeping it on. I need to stretch my wrist, you know, let it move!"
He scruffed his palm over his face, and she could read him well enough to tell he was both concerned for her, and also baffled at her annoyance as he softly added, "I just ain't sure, that's all."
Beth groaned. Some part of her knew he was just trying to take care of her, but for some reason the itch underneath the cast seemed to be bubbling up within her, too, making her twitchy and agitated, and she couldn't seem to help the tiny snap to her voice.
"Daryl, it's fine-"
"I just don't want y' getting' hurt-"
They spoke at the same time, and broke off together, as Daryl's gaze instantly dropped away from hers. In an instant, the tension began to ease from Beth's body as she breathed out a sigh, but the same couldn't be said for Daryl. In the mirror behind her, she could see the tightness in the lines of his body, and a flash of hurt across his face, and Beth felt a twinge of guilt low in her belly. What was she doing, snapping at him? He was so good to her to begin with, not to mention she knew he didn't do well with people being snippy or angry at him. (She could only imagine it would bother him more, coming from her.)
With a faint smile, she leaned back against him and softly murmured, "Are we really having our first argument over my cast?"
He lifted his eyes slowly to hers in the mirror again, and his eyebrows raised slightly. "Is this our first argument?"
Beth shifted in place and gave a slight shrug of one shoulder. "Well, you know… as partners, it is." She flushed just faintly, the pink stealing across her pale cheeks. "That whole drunken scream fest we had was uh... pre-partnership, and all." Beth could remember it well. The way he'd grabbed her and tried to force her to stab that walker, the way she'd fought free to kill it herself, the way her frustration and anger at him (and, really, all the pain she'd been holding inside since the prison) had just come bursting out of her in a torrent of angry words... she had never been like that before, never screamed or shouted or sobbed like that before at anyone. Part of it was that she'd been a bit drunk, part of it was that he'd just made her so upset (both with his insults, but also the sight of seeing him in so much repressed pain), but a large part of it, she knew now, was just that Daryl could pull things out of her that no one else could.
There was a long few seconds of silence where she felt her stomach just slightly twist, and then she felt Daryl's arm reach around her. His fingers curled around her cast, thumb stroking over the hard material as if it were her skin instead. "Was pre- losing you, too," he murmured in her ear. When she glanced into the mirror, his eyes had that sad, almost soulful look she'd come to see more and more in him. It was the one he got sometimes when he was thinking about how they'd almost lost each other forever, how they'd been separated almost permanently. It was the one where she always knew he was remembering the sight of that car speeding away, the pain of his feet as he pushed himself to run, the sight of her blood on the floor of the hospital hallway...
"You were trying to push me away, back then," Beth said in a hushed, careful voice. It was a night they almost never talked about, since it had happened. She worried sometimes, about pinpointing certain things about him out loud. She was always anxious she'd press the wrong button and he'd snap again, even though she'd gotten a lot better since that night at knowing where Daryl's buttons lay.
But he just nodded as his fingers skated lightly over her cast. She saw him mulling over his thoughts for a moment, another thing she'd noticed in him lately. He was trying more and more to get better at expressing himself, at least with her. It was something they'd been working on together a little, at night when they read that book together. After a few moments, he started, "I thought I wanted to push you away, back then. I thought it would be better. Safer. Cause… if you couldn't get close, we couldn't hurt each other." He sighed, and looked into her eyes again. "Stupid."
A faint smile crossed her lips. "Maybe a little."
Daryl shook his head and dropped his eyes from hers. "No, it was. Cause then I almost lost you, and-" He broke off with pain in his voice, and she felt him press more firmly against her back. His other hand came to rest lightly on her hip, thumb circling over her hip bone as Beth leaned back into him to try and reassure him with her warmth. Eventually he managed to get out in a low voice, "Maybe if I hadn't been trying to keep you at a distance, I wouldn't have lost you the way I did."
That had her brow furrowing. "Daryl. You were trying to keep me safe, that night. You weren't trying to push me away." If anything, that night right before she'd been taken had been the closest she'd ever felt to him; the candlelight flickering across his face as he looked so deeply into her eyes.
"Shouldn't have sent you off like that, left you alone with your injured ankle. Should have stayed with you." His gaze flicked up to hers under the fringe of his hair again, and there was a pain in his eyes that Beth didn't think she'd seen since the hospital, when she'd catch him looking her like that sometimes, full of guilt.
(One night, she'd woken up only for a few seconds, just long enough to see him gently tuck some of her hair behind her ear and whisper that he was sorry as his fingers brushed over her heavy white bandage. The next morning, she hadn't been sure if it was a dream or not, so she'd never mentioned it, although she hadn't forgotten either.)
"Daryl…"
He broke in with a frown, his voice rougher and tighter as he grunted, "Ain't just cause I think you need protection. S'cause I think we're safer together. Stronger."
Beth rested her hand over his arm where it had slipped across her waist. "We are stronger together. We know that, now."
"Wish I'd known that then, instead of being an idiot," Daryl replied gruffly, his lips turned down in a frown.
With a faint smile, she brushed her fingers across the back of his hand. "Yeah, well we're all idiots sometimes, can't be helped. Just like we can't change the past, and we can't hang onto our guilt over it forever. We'll never know what might have happened, if we'd stayed together that night. Maybe it would have turned out worse." Her voice was soft, but intimate in their closeness and the small space of the bathroom they were standing in. She laced her fingers lightly through his and pressed their hands together against the flat of her belly, and her eyes held his in the mirror as she murmured, "We're here together, now. That's what matters."
That furrow was in his brow again and though he nodded slowly at her, he added a little roughly, "Just don't want you getting hurt. Don't wanna be the one hurting you, pushing you away."
It wasn't the first time she'd heard those words from him, and Beth had a feeling it wouldn't be the last. She understood that. Given everything he'd gone through in his life and the people he'd spent most of it around, it was no wonder some part of him thought he was unworthy, or worried he might hurt her. When it came to Daryl, Beth had an unending sense of patience for moments like this; especially because in a way, it was a sign of how much he cared.
A little smile crossed her lips and she nudged back against him. "Daryl…" She squeezed his hand. "You would never hurt me. Not on purpose. I know, cause it's the one thing you're most afraid of. You worrying so much about it, you being so concerned about it, that's how I know how youdon't want to do it." Her mind flashed back to that day out at camp, when Maggie had cornered him and attacked him with the prospect of hurting her. She could still remember the things he'd shouted at her sister: If y' think I'd hurt her, willingly or otherwise, than you don't know a damn thing about me.
Her head tipped back against his shoulder as she breathed out a sigh. "We've had this conversation before," she murmured, waiting until she felt his nod before she went on, "I meant what I told you then. I know you won't hurt me. Just like I know you wouldn't push me away." Not that she hadn't worried, in the beginning. After the hospital and in the days that followed, the worry that he'd push her away had plagued here even every morning when she woke up in his arms.
She swallowed hard, and admitted in a near-whisper, "A part of me was afraid of that, you know. For a little while, a small part of me was so sure you would push me away. Not because you wanted to, necessarily, but because… I dunno. Cause you don't like it when people get too close. Cause you always worry you aren't good enough. I thought… I guess I thought you'd believe that enough, convince yourself to push me away again."
"No." He said the word so firmly that she raised an eyebrow and a faint little smile crossed her lips. "How could I push you away again, after…" He shook his head, but Beth didn't need him to go on that time, to know what he'd meant. That soulful look of loss was back in his eyes again and it was mirrored in her own as they both remembered the pain of losing each other, the constant awareness of the ache of absence.
"I know," she whispered, turning her head away from the mirror to nuzzle her nose just underneath his jaw. "I don't wanna lose you again, either. I couldn't ever push you away, not after that."
His hum of agreement confirmed that she'd spoken what was in both their minds, as did the curl of his fingers against her stomach as he tugged her back against him. They'd never push each other away. How could they, when they knew what it was like to almost lose the other forever?
"We might disagree, on occasion, but that's normal," Beth murmured softly, although she'd noticed that for the most part they seemed to agree, and they each had a tendency to be aware of each other's emotions in a way that prevented misunderstandings. "Plus, you know what they say about little arguments…"
Daryl chuckled behind her, the sound rumbling through his chest. "What?"
Beth turned in his arms in a smooth motion, her hands sliding up his chest to hook over his shoulders as she pressed close with a slow smile. "You get to make up after."
Again his low laughter rumbled through both of them, making Beth hum and pressed closer, even as he teased, "Does that even count as an argument?"
She pursed her lips, drawing out the silence for a long moment as if she needed to think it over. Then with a flash of a grin, she replied, "Definitely."
Not that either of them needed any excuse to kiss each other when they were alone these days, but it was surprisingly fun to come up with silly excuses like this. It made her giggle briefly against his mouth as she leaned up and pressed her lips slowly to his. There was no hesitation on Daryl's part, either. His hands shifted to grip her waist and hold her close as their lips parted and the kiss deepened. Keeping it playful, Beth dipped her tongue into his mouth with a little smile, though she couldn't help the little gasp she gave when Daryl's reply was to sharply tug her closer and slide his tongue against hers.
"Mmm," she murmured into his mouth, teasing his tongue with her own until all she could taste was him. God, that had to be her favorite taste in the world, now. Each time they did this, it only got better, and that low coiling heat only seemed to build more and more, until she was breathless against his lips.
"About that cast…" Daryl murmured the words against her mouth, where she could feel the faint hint of a smile on his lips.
"Tell you what." Beth kissed the corner of his lips. "Let's make a deal. If you let me cut it off today, I'll wrap it with the extra ace bandage, nice and tight, and keep that on for awhile longer." She paused a beat. "And I'll give you two kisses."
"Two?" He quirked an eyebrow at her and kissed lightly at the soft line of her jaw.
"Mmm… three? Four, if you let me take off the bandage on my head, too."
"Five. And you can take off th' bandage an' the cast, but only if you wrap your wrist." His lips brushed back towards her ear as he added lowly. "An' make sure to go easy on it."
Beth curled her fingers into his hair, and pulled back to smile up at him. "Deal."
Since she wasn't one to renege on her half, Beth stayed facing him and leaned up on her toes for the first kiss. Her hand came up to cup the back of his head, fingers tangling in the dark strands of hair as she pressed her lips gently to his. This first kiss she wanted to be nice and slow and lingering, and she was determined to make sure it was. Beth's lips parted against his, gradually deepening the kiss as she leaned in nice and close to him. The soft curves of her body molded to the hard lines of his, everything slotting right into place as if she were meant to be pressed against him like this. Maybe she was.
She heard him groan softly, exhaling it right into the kiss as his hands found the curve of her hips and gripped them firmly, just enough to try and draw her even nearer to him. All she could do was oblige, even though she was pretty sure there was no way to get her body any closer to his than it already was. Beth twisted her fingers into his hair a little tighter and breathed a moan back into the kiss as they drew out the kiss as long as they could, all parting lips and teasing tongues and whispered low sounds until Beth's lungs were burning and she had to pull away with a sharp gasp. Her lips were slightly swollen as she looked up at him, cheeks flushed and chest rising and falling sharply with her panted little breaths as she teased, "One down. Four to go."
His little smirk had heat coiling low in her belly, and as she brushed one hand slowly down his chest to curl in his shirt, she heard him murmur, "No rush. Gonna savor every one of 'em." He reached around her, and she felt acutely aware of the shift and press of his body against hers as he pinned her lightly to the counter with the weight of his body in the process. For a moment, Beth thought he was gonna kiss her; his mouth was certainly close enough that she could feel his breath across her lips. But then his fingers curled around something behind her, and he pulled back with a little smirk on his lips that suggested he knew just what he was doing to her. "Cast time," he murmured, holding up the scissors she'd found earlier in a kitchen drawer. "You let me do it, alright?"
A bit breathless, all Beth could do was nod as he gently drew her hand down in front of him and began to slide the scissors carefully underneath the cast. It was fascinating to her how a moment like this could feel almost just as intimate as their kiss a few moments before. Daryl's rough and work-worn hands were gentle as he cupped her wrist with one and used the other to gently work the blade of the scissors under the cast. His eyes were intent with focus and care, and a faint dimpled line had appeared between his eyebrows as he put the entirety of his attention on doing this for her and making sure to do it right. Beth was suddenly struck by the thought of all the other ways he could put this intense focus of his on her, like the way he did at night when he was kissing her, when she was pressed down to the blankets underneath him.
See, Daryl Dixon had a way of focusing so intensely on something that everything else around him faded away, and Beth had a feeling that any way he might turn that focus on her was bound to render her into some sort of mess of emotions; be it the complete and total safety and sense ofrightness she felt when he was intently focused on just holding her and comforting her, or the rush of heat and need and happiness that she felt when his focus turned to kissing her. Lately though, she'd started to imagine all the other ways he might turn that focus on her beyond just kissing or holding her, and it was bound to get her all flushed and flustered every time.
Now, with his touch so gentle as he began to gently snip at the cast, Beth just felt so very cared for. If anyone had asked her a year or so ago, she never would have guessed that Daryl Dixon could be the caring type but he was, at least with her. He treated her like she was the most precious thing he'd ever seen and yet the strongest, all at the same time. It sounded like a contradiction and yet she couldn't imagine wanting to be treated any differently by him.
As he began to cut through her cast though, Beth still felt that faint itch, the one that bubbled through her whole body and caused her to squirm a bit before a look from him had her settling.
"Did I nick ya?" He looked worried as he peered up at her, and Beth was quick to shake her head and reassure him.
"No. It's like... I dunno. I've had this itch all day. Like it's just under my skin and I can't pinpoint it."
His eyes held hers and Daryl raised his eyebrow nice and slow, quirking up a corner of his lip at the same time in a silent, teasing question. She hesitated for just a moment, and then her cheeks flushed as she remembered his kisses and the feeling of being pinned between him and the little sink, and the heat that had bubbled up inside her as a result. "No, not like that." She bit her lip and then smirked a little back at him. "I mean don't get me wrong, I'm definitely feeling that, too, but it's something else."
She rolled her shoulders faintly, and felt that little itchy sensation go right down her spine. "I thought it was the cast, I dunno. Like it was itching me and making me all frustrated and agitated, but..." She trailed off, searching her mind for a moment to try and pinpoint the sensation, only to shrug. "I dunno. I dunno what it is. I can't pinpoint it, I just feel... itchy."
"Well." Daryl looked back down to focus on cutting slowly through her cast, right up towards her hand. His voice was reassuring as he went on, "You keep feeling that or it changes in any way, you let me know, okay?" He hesitated for a moment as if considering something, and then gave a little shake of his head. "Been on edge a bit today, too, but I dunno why either." The corner of his mouth tugged up briefly as he flashed a look up at Beth from under his hair. "Figured it was just you, and all your kissin' every time we're alone."
"Hey!" She nudged her hip against his, but settled at his stern look, not wanting to distract him too much when he was cutting her cast open. "S'not like you mind all my kissing."
"Nah." He looked down at her cast and focused intently as he made a few more cuts up the center, but she didn't miss the pleased sound of his voice as he added lowly, "Don't mind it at all."
The smile on her lips lingered as Daryl made the last final, careful snip up her cast to the very top and split it open. His touch was so gentle as he brushed the rough pads of his thumbs over the slightly-pink skin beneath the opening in her cast and slowly opened it wider to lightly slide it off her arm. "How's it feel?" He looked up at her with concern heavy in his eyes, and Beth found herself mesmerized as always by the sight of how much he cared for her. It was always both unexpected and heartwarming at the same time, a reassuring reminder that everything she felt for him was returned.
After a moment she remembered that he was actually asking her about her wrist, and Beth looked down with a little chuckle to gently try and roll it. "It's... It's okay, I think." She frowned slightly. "A little tender, but okay..."
As soon as she'd frowned, Daryl was reaching for the ace bandage and unraveling it. "C'mere," he murmured roughly, concern lending a softer, warmer quality to his voice as the warm pads of his fingers smoothed over her tender wrist. Every touch from him, even the simple ones, seemed to send little sparks of heat through her, warming her, encouraging the butterflies in her tummy to flutter out a merry rhythm. He gently began to wrap the bandage around her wrist, keeping it tight enough to give her support but not enough to cut off circulation, and his focus never broke the entire time until he'd tucked the extra bit of fabric away to finish off the wrapping.
"There." His fingers curled around her wrist, and when he looked up into her eyes Beth saw a hint of a smirk on his lips again and lord, she just wanted to kiss that smirk of his. Maybe Daryl could read her mind, or maybe he just wanted the same damn thing, because after a moment he leaned in towards her and murmured, "Time for my second kiss, Greene?"
She breathed out the words in a grateful rush, "Lord, yes."
The second kiss was even more heated than the first. No sooner had her lips met his than Beth felt his hands on her hips, pressing her back against the sink until it dug into her lower back. Her tongue teased along the seam of his lips, begging entrance he was more than willing to give her without a moment of hesitation. As soon as his lips parted, Beth's tongue dipped inside to slide along the wet heat of his mouth, the taste of him filling her as she moaned against his lips. Her head spun at the rush of just kissing him, making her feel dizzy as she pressed as close as she possibly could. She wondered if he could feel her heart racing away against his chest. She was pretty sure that if she focused, she could feel his, beating out the same rapid rhythm.
Again when they broke the kiss it was with two desperate gasps, and this time they stayed close, his forehead resting against hers and his thumbs brushing soft circles over her hips. Each upward circle of his fingers had them just lightly grazing her skin under her t-shirt, sending a faint little shiver through her as she melted against him.
"Three to go," he murmured, in a voice so low and raspy that Beth thought it was unfair how good he sounded. "Bandage next, Greene. C'mere, lemme see it." It baffled her how he managed to seem so calm and straightforward when just kissing him had her head spinning; but when she looked up him she saw the darkness in his eyes and a hint of a catch to his breath that told her he was feeling just as dizzy as she was. Her breath hitched in her chest again as his fingers graze over her cheek on their way to her temple, and Beth wondered if it was always gonna be like this with him. If years down the road his touch would still make her shiver and flush with heat, and make her breath catch in her throat.
She didn't for a moment doubt that in a few years or longer, she would still be with him. The thought was easy and natural and it feels right as it sinks down into her bones.
His touch was as gentle as always as he gently slipped his fingers under the small white bandage and tugged it away from her scalp, bit by bit. She winced, but only faintly, and it's more for the way the tape tugs at her short strands of hair than anything else. The area around her wound had been shaved short, but the hair still got caught a bit in the bandage every time it got pulled off to be reapplied.
"How's it look?" Beth felt unexpectedly nervous, until she felt his hands smooth down comfortingly over her hips and gently turn her around to face herself in the mirror.
"Have a look yourself."
It wasn't like she hadn't seen the wound before, every time she'd changed the bandage. But usually someone else had done it (often Daryl, with those same gentle touches of his rough fingers), and if she'd done it herself she'd just leaned in close so the wound was all she could see. Now, staring in the mirror, Beth got her first good look at the other scar that marred her features. She still had the two, dark slashes across her cheeks that had healed but would always remain. The one on her head was newer, longer, a reddish gash that slashed from her temple and back to where the harsh line of it stopped above her ear. The hair had been shaved off over it, though it had grown in a bit fuzzy in the time since. Beth couldn't help noticing how awkward it looked; that patch of short hair right on the side of her head where everything else was as long and thick as always.
"So many marks," she breathed out, sorrow thick in her voice as she looked at her reflection. It was almost like there wasn't an inch of her not marked in some way now, though she knew that wasn't true. Especially compared to Daryl, standing behind her, his body a patchwork of undeserved scars hidden beneath his clothing. When she spoke again it was almost a whisper. "Do you ever look at yourself in the mirror and think that it's like... like you almost don't recognize who you are, anymore? Do you ever just wonder where the old you went?"
"Sometimes." Daryl's hands rested on her hips and he drew slow circles with his thumbs as he leaned in until his cheek pressed to her ear. "But I don't wanna find th' old me, anymore. Don't wanna go back to who I was, all... angry, and alone. The world is shit, but for me it's almost now better than it was. I'm better." His head turned, lips grazing her ear lightly as he murmured in a near-whisper, "You're better, too. Might not seem like it sometimes, but y'are. You're stronger. Braver. An' so full of hope."
Beth knew he was right. There are so many things she had gone through that she wished she could change, so many people she wished she could bring back; her Mama, Shawn, Otis, Patricia, her Daddy. Yet losing them had turned her into who she was now. All the things she'd suffered through- trying to take her own life, losing the farm, losing the prison, losing Daryl, almost losing her own life again at the hospital- it had all made her who she was today, too. She had never thought of herself as strong before all of this. She had never thought of herself as much of anything beyond a sweet farm girl with reachable dreams, who loved music and family and simple things. She never would have guessed back then that she'd become the woman she was now, that everything she'd gone through would tamp her down, fire her and shape her, until there was a part of her like tempered steel.
Her fingers grazed over the scar on her wrist, hidden beneath her bracelets as she looked up at the scar that now cut a line across her temple, too. "Twice," she murmured. Her eyes flicked to the side in time to catch the questioning look in Daryl's eyes. "Twice I almost died, and I've got scars to remember both of them by."
As she toyed with the ridge of scar tissue on her wrist, Daryl's fingers slipped under her chin and turned it until his lips could brush lightly against the newly formed scar across her head. When he spoke, his voice was low, with a hint of amusement that rumbled deep within it as he said, "Third times the charm?"
It was half a joke and half serious, but Beth liked it. She liked the idea that this was her third chance, in a way. Third times a charm, three strikes and you're out, three times lucky. She looked up at him in the mirror, and rather than a song lyric springing to her lips, she remembered a story her Mama had read her years and years ago, back on the farm when stories at night were the one thing guaranteed to get her to sleep. "I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then." She smiled as she sensed the question he hadn't even asked, and added, "It's from Alice in Wonderland. It was my favorite book, when I was younger."
"Ain't never read it, but sounds 'bout right." Daryl's voice was quiet now as he pressed a soft kiss to her temple again.
"I actually think you'd like it," Beth murmured, her eyes half-shut as he began to kiss softly down her cheek to her jaw. He had this hesitancy to him sometimes when he kissed her, as if he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing but he knew what he wanted to do. The hesitancy was so very him that it only made it all feel better. In a flash of memory, she thought of another quote that reminded her of him and said with a little smirk, "If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does."
He snorted just like she'd known he would but then, just as his lips grazed the line of her jaw and pulled a sigh from her lips, a loud knocking came from the bathroom door and a voice called loudly through, "Hey lovebirds, you almost done in there?" It was Sasha's voice, and Beth instantly stifled a little giggle.
Daryl rolled his eyes as he drew back, but whispered just for her ears, "What was that about everyone mindin' their own business?"
"Mm." With a shake of her head she took his hand, casually lacing her slender fingers through his much larger, rougher ones. She hesitated at the door, knowing that Sasha (if not more of their family) was right outside, and public displays of affection weren't really their thing. She wouldn't have been hurt if he'd tugged his hand free, but he didn't. Instead he just reached around her to open the door and nudged her outside. Thankfully they didn't have to face too many people. It was their turn to have the master bedroom tonight, and since most everyone else was either on watch or settling in for the evening in one of the other rooms, they could just duck down the short hallway to their room.
They did have to face Sasha's mischievous little smirk as they came out, though, and she made sure to tease them a bit, joking about what they'd been doing hogging the bathrrom like that. Beth was flushed and giggling, until Daryl grunted and began to tug her down the hallway, and the giggling turned to laughter at how impatient he seemed to be to get away. She got one flash of Sasha grinning at her and Michonne further down the hallway looking on in amusement, and then she was in the bedroom and Daryl was closing the door firmly behind them.
"Much better," he grunted with a decisive nod.
"Oh yeah?" Beth felt that flutter of heat in her belly return, daring her to be bolder like that night when she'd been drunk on moonshine, only this was 100% her. "You got something in mind that you couldn't do out in the hallway with people watching, Mr. Dixon?"
It was all well and good to tease him boldly, but it was another thing to see the sudden shift in his blue eyes as they darkened with heat and he fixed that gaze on her again that made her feel like she was the willing prey to his hunter's gaze. Just one of those looks from him and she was all flustered, pinned beneath the warmth of his gaze as he stalked slowly closer. His hands slid up to cup her face, one thumb brushing over her lips until he leaned down, hovering just inches away s he whispered, "You still owe me three kisses, Greene. Y'gonna bail on our deal?"
A grin flashed across her lips as she leaned right back into him. "Never."
The third kiss made her feel like he was putting fire into her veins, and she ached to just burn up with it. Her arms were twined around his shoulders and his hands splayed against her back before slipping up under her shirt to press against her warm bare skin. The sensation had her breathing out a moan as she nipped at his lower lip, teasing the warm flesh with her teeth before soothing it over with a slow playful flick of her tongue. Her reward was his low, rumbling groan, and the slide of his hands slowly up her back to bring her shirt with them.
There was only a moment of hesitation on both their parts. She felt his fingers curl into the hem of her shirt and then felt him pause just long enough to seek out approval in another silent but understood question. She knew without a doubt that he would never do anything without being sure she wanted him to. And lord, did she want this right now. "Please..." She whispered the plea against his lips and looked into his eyes for just a second, before he was drawing the shirt up over her head and tossing it aside. She wore a bra underneath, a faded and slightly dingy white, worn through from months use and scattered attempts at washing it in whatever water sources they'd happened to find. If it had been anyone else, she might have been embarrassed, but this was Daryl.
Dimly Beth was grateful that she was at least clean today. They'd gone for a swim in the pond earlier, a large group of them taking the chance to rinse themselves off, even if they hadn't used soap. She was pretty sure Daryl wouldn't have cared either way, judging by the reverent look in his eyes as he drank her in. She didn't think he even noticed how ratty her bra was, or if he did he certainly didn't care.
He didn't have to say anything. Neither of them did. The words were in the slide of his hand up the curve of her hip, the way his rough palm felt brushing over the soft skin of her side, the way he hesitated for just a moment as his thumb came to rest just beneath her curve of her breast. Beth didn't need to speak, either. His other hand came up to cup the side of her face and she tipped her head into it with a low hum, before giving him a slow, inviting nod.
That was all the response Daryl seemed to need. One little shift, and she felt his broad palm cupping her breast for the first time; the only thing between them the thin fabric of her bra. She thought for sure he must have been able to feel her heart racing away, like a little dove fluttering against the palm of her hand. For his part, Daryl was looking down at her with awe in his eyes; awe, and heat, and something akin to reverence again as he gently cupped her breast and caressed it through the thin fabric, brushing his thumb over the curve until her nipple hardened beneath his touch, a tight little bud dimpling the fabric of her bra.
Both of them were inexperienced in this, but Beth found that she didn't mind. There was hesitancy in the way she arched into him or the way his hand paused before shifting, or hesitated before giving a little tentative squeeze, but it only made each moment sweeter. It seemed easier though, when they were kissing again. The fourth kiss was all lips parting against lips and the slide of tongue against tongue and the incredible heat flashing between them that seemed to make them more capable of letting their hands move instinctively. Daryl's hand became more confident as he cupped and squeezed her sensitive little breast, pulling breathy moans from her lips and making her very aware of how perfectly she seemed to fit against his palm. His grip made the fabric of her bra brush against her tight little nipple, coaxing soft little moans from her lips at the teasing of such a sensitive spot.
The kisses combined with his touches to make her more bold, too. Her hands brushed down over his chest, lingering briefly over the muscles she could feel bunching and tensing under her touch. She found the hem of his shirt and began to slowly tug it up, inch by inch over his chest, her hands brushing round to his side so she could draw it even further up. She looked up at him in question when the kiss broke, ready to stop the moment he asked her to. He had taken his shirt off every night they'd stayed in this room, but it had never been like this; he'd always stripped it off and slid into bed, and she'd tucked herself up against them and they'd drifted off to sleep.
After a long moment his arms lifted and she stripped the shirt slowly off him, pleased and proud that he was trusting her like this, that he wantedher like this. The movement required to strip off his shirt had her stretching up on her toes to get it over his arms, and when she swayed and nearly tripped against him in the process, a giggle spilled from her lips. It broke the tension in an instant, Daryl chuckling against her as he helped to toss the shirt aside and let his own hands slide around to her back to tug her close. Suddenly she was pressed up against him, skin against skin and flushed with heat as her body molded back to his with far less in between them.
There it was again, the fire in her veins, and her laughter turned into a moan as she looked up at him and saw the desire reflected in his deep blue eyes. His hands brushed lower to curve under her ass and grip it gently to lift her up closer to him. Beth barely had time to gasp and then he was turning towards the bed, lifting her up to bring her with him. The look in his eyes was equal parts care and desire as Beth found herself laying on her back on the bed with Daryl hovering above her, his palms pressed flat on either side of her head and his hair spilling into his face as he looked down into her eyes.
"Daryl..." She breathed his name out all plaintive and worshiping and everything seemed to slow around them as she saw a smile curve up his lips. Not a tug at the corners, not a quirk of his lips, but a real honest smile.
It was without a doubt one of the best things she'd ever seen.
"One more kiss left," he murmured as he lifted one of his hands to tuck a stray bit of hair behind her ear. "Gonna make it a good one, Greene?"
A smirk crossed her lips as she slid her hands up over his bare chest. "Isn't every kiss a good one with us?" The look in his eyes told her all she needed to know in response, but Beth was still determined to make this one incredible.
And it was. With his body a warm weight above hers, Beth pressed her lips to his in an equally warm kiss that quickly deepened. Soon they were kissing each other passionately, almost hungrily, lips parting and tongues tasting and soft moans and little gasps passing between them. He shifted to wedge a thigh between her legs, and Beth hesitated just a moment before she gave in to instinct and rocked her hips slowly up. The firm press of his thigh between hers had this exquisite tension building low in her belly, and she couldn't resist doing it again.
Apparently she wasn't the only one that liked it. Daryl groaned into the kiss as he pressed down a bit more firmly, and suddenly, she was veryaware of just how she was affecting him. Everything all began to blur as soon as she felt the hard press of him against her thigh. She nipped at his lip and hen his tongue dipped into her mouth to taste her. He slid his hand up her side to cup her breast between them, and she brushed her hands slowly up over his warm back. He flinched at the touch of her hands over his scars, but only for a moment, before he breathed out her name like an awed prayer against her mouth, "Beth."
The kiss became almost frantic, everything between them was suddenly frantic; all nipping teeth and heavy panted breathes and roaming hands and the slight bite of her nails into his back as he pressed down into her and pulled a moan from her lips. She was on fire, she was burning up just like they'd burned down that house together, only it was all on the inside. It was consuming her, consuming them both, but together they were a phoenix and they would rise together from the ashes, reborn, stronger.
The heat was so much that she could almost smell smoke, coiling in the air. Something twinged deep in the back of her mind, something itched, only to be swamped under a wave of desire as Daryl pressed his thigh right against that sweet aching spot and made her moan his name in near-rapture, "Daryl..."
In the distance, someone screamed, like a flash of lightning cutting jaggedly into her mind. There was a loud bang, followed by the crash of glass shattering, and suddenly Beth realized that the scent of smoke wasn't just in her mind but heavy in her nose and ashy on her tongue and- "Daryl?"
He pulled off her, eyes wide in panic as he cursed. "Shit." She heard a shout, another crash of breaking glass, and then Beth heard a noise like awhoosh, followed by the sharp crackle of flames. Daryl rolled right off her and to his feet, and Beth sat up sharply in the bed, her eyes wide. She seemed to have forgotten that she was bared to the waist, her little breasts heaving against her bra with her sharp breath as she struggled to disassociate from the haze in her mind and figure out what was happening. There was smoke in her nose and in her lungs, and when she breathed it in she thought of that night, drunk on moonshine, middle finger thrust up against the sky and silhouetted against the crackling flames; rebirth, rebirth.
But this was nothing like that, and it only took a few seconds for her mind to sharpen, catch up, and see it. To see the smoke, curling under their door. the glow of flame lighting up the window to their left, to hear the screams coming from beyond the door; shouts and cries of 'help!' and 'fire!' and then, just barely audible, 'Daryl! Beth!'
"Beth!" Daryl's voice was frantic and rough with panic beside her as he picked up her shirt and tossed it at her hard, reaching down to shake focus into her until her eyes met his. "Beth! We gotta move, now!"
The taste of smoke was thick on her tongue when it finally hit her in a sharp crackling rush: the flames weren't just boiling in her veins anymore. It was here. It was real. It was licking at the front porch and greedily devouring the feast of wood that had been provided for it tonight.
The house was on fire, and they were all trapped inside of it.
**A/N: OOPS I did a cliffhanger. DON'T BE MAD! It wasn't time just yet, but I hope you enjoyed what you did get!
On another note, I recently plotted out the rest of this story. From what I can tell, there should be about 10 more chapters, including this one. If things go as planned, "She's Breathing" will end with Chapter 30. (Although I may already have an idea for a sequel, so I hope everyone isn't too upset.)
Things are gonna get very hot in the next chapter, but judging by the cliffhanger, probably not in the way ya'll would like. ;)