AN: General response to everyone who reviewed last chapter – You are all wonderful, awesome, amazing and supportive. This one's for you. I hope you like it.
...
Daryl was leaning against his bike, wondering where the hell Michonne was. In addition to being a walker killing ninja, Michonne was punctual. Carol was up in the guard tower but apart from that there wasn't another person in sight. Rick had asked him and Michonne to go find some more food, just in case they got stuck in a siege like situation. He was happy for the opportunity to escape. His head was still reeling from yesterday with Beth.
Daryl had found Beth's attitude odd. She was so calm but just briefly yesterday; he had felt that connection between them, that underlying spark. And now Daryl was confused about whether he was glad or not.
He saw the door to the prison open.
"Finally," he groaned. His eyes narrowed when he saw Beth.
"What do you want?" Daryl growled at Beth, crossing his arms.
"Michonne isn't feeling well, so I'm coming with you."
"The hell ya are!"
Beth pushed past him and sat on the bike. "You can come with me or not."
Beth ran her hands teasingly over the handles and Daryl ignored how good she looked straddling his bike. She was bluffing, she couldn't ride a motorbike.
Daryl sighed. Short of dragging her off there, Beth didn't look like she was budging. Daryl didn't want to touch her any more than was absolutely necessary. Maggie was going to lose her mind when she found out they'd gone on a run together.
"Scoot back." Daryl jerked his thumb.
Beth's smile was triumphant. She moved back so Daryl could sit in front of her.
Daryl started the bike. Beth slid forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. Was it his imagination or was her grip a little tighter than it needed to be? Daryl could feel her breasts against his back and colour crept into his cheeks.
Beth leaned forward, her cheek brushing against his neck. "Where we going?" Beth shouted over the roar of the engine.
"Rick found some farms on a map. They're a ways out. We're hoping they'll have some food."
Thankfully that was the last question Beth asked. She settled back and Daryl could actually enjoy the ride. He hadn't had a chance to get out on his motorbike. The last few runs they'd had to take the car.
Rick wasn't expecting them to find much. But then, every little bit counted at this point. A few more cans of food could make the difference between living and dying.
Daryl began to feel comfortable with Beth. It was hard to describe but as soon as they left the prison behind a sense of normality grew between them. It was like Daryl had turned the clock back a few weeks to when he and Beth were still happy.
...
Beth had every intention of maintaining the hard to get act but when they reached the first farm it had already melted away without her noticing.
Beth's legs were shaky from sitting on the bike. She just wasn't used to it. When she had swung off the bike, she had stumbled. Daryl had grabbed her to keep her on her feet.
It was hard to play the suave seductress if she couldn't even stand up without assistance. The tiny smirk Daryl tried, and failed, to conceal didn't help.
They had searched the farm and found some powdered milk which would come in handy.
The next few farms revealed some soup, one tin of baby formula and a packet of cigarettes. Daryl hastily pocketed the cigarettes. Beth rolled her eyes at his sheer enthusiasm.
"I thought Rick said essentials," Beth pointed out dryly.
"They're essentials!"
"Whatever. Enjoy your lung cancer."
"I live long enough to get lung cancer, I'm gonna count that as a win," Daryl said with a lopsided grin. Beth shook her head and headed upstairs to search for more baby supplies.
By the time they headed toward the last farm circled on the map the sun had angled towards noon and it had developed into a nice, warm day.
Daryl looked at the last farm house and cursed out loud. Beth was silent behind him. The structure before them had striking similarities to Beth's home.
Beth got off the bike looking like she had seen a ghost. All the blood had drained from her face.
Without thinking, Daryl reached for her hand. "I can do this one on my own."
Beth jerked her gaze away from the house and shook her head. "I'm fine," she said, with false confidence. She tugged her hand free and walked towards the house.
Daryl hastened to follow her. The instant they entered, they both clamped their hands over their noses. They had grown accustomed to the smell of walkers but the smell of decomposing, human corpses was still much worse. Especially since the house had been boarded up.
Grimacing, Daryl moved further into the house.
Beth turned in a slow circle taking in her surroundings. The shape and colour scheme of the house was frighteningly close to what hers had looked like. But apart from that there were no real similarities. Beth pushed through to the kitchen and began examining the contents of the cupboards while Daryl did a sweep of the house.
Beth found a few odds and ends, stuffing them into a bag. They hadn't expected to find much but this was still less than they'd hoped for.
Daryl came in behind her. "Don't look in the dining room," was all he said and Beth took it to mean that was where the smell of death was coming from.
Beth opened the pantry and paused. Unbidden a small smile crossed her lips.
Daryl stood to attention. "You find somethin'?"
"What? Oh, no." Beth glanced over her shoulder. "This woman wrote labels on all the shelves so everything would go in the right spot."
"Sounds like a pain in the ass," Daryl said.
"My mother used to do that," Beth said quietly. Beth hadn't been offended at Daryl's offhand comment but she did enjoy his face as he realised his blunder and tried to recover.
"What was she like?" Daryl asked hesitantly.
"My mother?" Beth laughed. "She was like all mothers, y'know?"
Daryl looked at her blankly. He really didn't know.
Sadness coursed through her. She had been remarkably lucky with her family compared to some people.
Pretending not to notice Daryl's pause, Beth smiled. "She used to sing a lot. No matter what her mood she was always singing. I don't have a lot of strong memories of her," Beth confessed sadly. "I was young when she passed. Maggie remembers her better than me.""
"That where you get your pretty voice from?" Daryl asked to distract her.
Beth glanced at Daryl shyly. "You think my voice is pretty?" He'd never said.
"Sure, Daryl said gruffly. "Everyone likes it when you sing. What else do ya remember 'bout your mama?"
"I remember she used to bake delicious cookies and she was kind."
"She gave you that bracelet," Daryl added, remembering the story Beth had told him.
"She did," Beth smiled. Her eyes were over bright but it wasn't from grief. She'd had a lot of time to come to terms with her mother's death so it was nice to tell someone about her.
"What about your mother?"
Daryl's jaw clenched but Beth didn't balk at the question. She wanted to know more about Daryl and why he was the way he was.
"She was the woman who gave birth to me, she didn't do no raisin' though," Daryl said bluntly.
Beth regarded him steadily. "No little boy thinks that about his mother."
Daryl stared back at her before shrugging. "I didn't know any better back then. She was my mama an' I loved her. But it's a sorry state when someone dies and it doesn't hardly change your life any."
"I'm sorry," Beth said. It was heartfelt.
"She was a drunk. Too wrapped up in her own sorry existence to pay much attention to me or Merle."
"My daddy was a drunk for a bit," Beth said in a matter of fact tone. "Didn't mean he loved me any less."
"He loved y'all enough to change," Daryl countered. "Her addiction meant more to her than me." His voice was raw.
"You deserved far better than that," Beth told him emphatically.
"Yeah well, past is past. Being deservin' ain't gonna change it."
Beth could see that Daryl carried around the weight of his mother still. Her death may have taken her away from him physically but he had felt abandoned by her long before that.
Daryl was starting to twitch and Beth knew the stuffy kitchen and the severity of the topic was making him feel caged.
"God, it stinks in here," he said, effectively changing the subject.
Daryl opened the backdoor to let some cleansing wind through.
Beth cocked her head. The sound of the wind was different than normal. Recognising the sound, she pushed past Daryl to go investigate.
Daryl let out a long suffering sigh, bent to pick up the supplies Beth had abandoned and followed her outside.
Beth emerged onto a sun drenched back patio. It was overlooking a pond. The reality wasn't that impressive but to Beth, who spent all her days in a grey, dingy prison, it looked like the most beautiful pond in the world.
"I'm going swimmin'," she stated impulsively.
Daryl looked uncertain. "We ain't really got the time."
Beth ignored him, not interested in knowing when Daryl had become such a stickler for schedules.
The dust of the ride was clinging to her and now Beth was acutely aware of the scent of decay that had seeped into her skin. It was probably all in her head but the idea stuck.
Beth tugged off her shirt. Daryl averted his eyes quickly. For once, how Daryl was reacting to her body was barely important. She quickly wiggled out of her pants and made a dash for the water.
"Anything could be in there!" Daryl called after her, casting a wary eye around the property. He couldn't see any walkers but that didn't mean there weren't some close by.
"If I see a 'gator, I'll let you know," Beth called back teasingly. The pool of water was quite clear and small. Beth didn't imagine anything more dramatic happening than a fish nibbling her toe.
Beth tip toed into the water and gave a little squeak as the water turned out to be very cool.
Not wanting to retreat and give Daryl the satisfaction of being right, she waded further in. The muddy silt at the bottom felt squishy but nice on her skin.
"You should come in," she invited Daryl.
"I'll pass."
Beth quickly acclimatised to the temperature of the water. She found the coldness refreshing. Beth floated on her back, staring up at the blue sky, letting the gentle movement of the water lift her up and down. The world felt very big and she, very small.
Some groans in the underbrush attracted her attention. Five walkers came skulking out.
Daryl looked more annoyed than anything. He had taken a seat on the stairs, supervising to make sure Beth stayed out of trouble.
Daryl pushed himself to his feet, almost lazily. Gone were the days when five walkers could induce any real fear in Daryl Dixon.
"You need help?" Beth called.
"Nah. Stay put!" Daryl easily shot one with his crossbow. He then used his knife, throwing it expertly to nail another of the walkers.
"Show off," Beth muttered. Now he had no weapon but Daryl didn't look overly concerned.
Daryl spotted the pile of wood and the axe at the same time Beth did.
Beth whistled loudly and the walkers' attention was diverted towards her. Daryl took advantage of the distraction and ran for the axe.
Beth had never seen a walker swim but she knew from stories that they would wade into water for a meal.
Daryl had the axe and used it to split the skulls of two of the walkers. The last walker was stronger than it looked. It had been a tall, muscular man when alive. It managed to force Daryl back a few steps.
Daryl fell back, using the handle of the axe as a bar across the walker's throat. It snarled at him, snapping its teeth.
Beth started to swim towards the edge of the pond, feeling a rush of panic. Despite everything, Daryl's face was calm. Or as calm as it ever was in a fight. He didn't look overly concerned at being this close to the jaws of death.
Moving faster than she had ever seen him, Daryl unsheathed his large knife. He drew it hard against the walker's belly. It obviously didn't kill it but the absence of a torso bowed the creature backwards, giving Daryl the leverage he needed to sink the blade into its head.
With a disgusted grunt, he rolled the walker off him.
"Asshole," Daryl grumbled and kicked the corpse. He was covered from shoulder to hip in walker guts.
Beth sank to her nose in the water to hide her grin.
"Don't think I can't see ya smilin'," Daryl snapped at Beth.
"My mouth was underwater, how could you tell?" Beth called back, after popping her full face up.
"Call it a hunch."
Daryl looked down at himself, distinctly unimpressed. "Guess I'm comin' in after all."
...
Daryl had to admit that Beth had the right idea. After a day on the bike, the water looked very inviting. But he wasn't a fool. He was not getting semi naked in the water with Beth.
Daryl had been relieved when she had only stripped to her underwear. He half expected her to go completely naked. That would have just been his run of luck lately.
Daryl told himself he was only watching her to keep her safe but he was lying. Stretched out on top of the water, Beth looked like an angel, or maybe a mermaid. Daryl didn't know much about which mythical creature belonged where but he did know that Beth looked supernatural, floating like that with her golden hair fanning around her.
The arrival of the walkers had irritated him no end. They were interrupting his first moment of peaceful voyeurism in far too long.
The first four were easy kills but the last one actually had some fight in it. It made Daryl work to kill it but after a provoking week of not being able to touch Beth, he had some frustration to work off.
Daryl ended up executing it in a messier, more brutal style than he anticipated. The innards of the walker decorated his front. Beth ducked lower in the water but not before Daryl snatched a glimpse of an amused smile.
Daryl contemplated just heading back to the prison as he was but the ride would be particularly torturous if he had to smell himself the whole way back.
Daryl carefully pulled off his shirt and threw it away. The material was heavy with gunk and was not salvageable. He was thankful for the spare he kept on his bike.
Looking anywhere but at Beth, he pulled off his pants and tentatively walked into the water. Once he got over the shock of the cold he had to restrain himself from moaning in pleasure.
Daryl ducked under the surface, running his hands through his hair when he was submerged. He tried to get all the blood out of his hair.
When he re-emerged, Beth was closer than he would have liked.
She was examining clinically. "You've got something between your shoulder blades."
"What?" Daryl asked, trying to feel behind him.
Beth made a face. "Bits," she said expressively. Daryl half imagined walker intestines down his back but he couldn't see it or feel it.
Beth sighed and swam behind him. "Stay still," she instructed him.
Daryl tensed waiting for her hands on his back.
Suddenly he felt twin pushes on both his shoulders. They weren't very hard but the unexpectedness of it sent him under the water.
Daryl came up with a gasp. He glared at Beth but it was hard with water streaming down his face. He could vaguely identify her location through her giggles.
He narrowed his eyes. If she wanted to play it that way, then that was her own fault. Beth guessed what he intended from his hard stare and tried to swim away. Striking fast, Daryl snagged her foot and dragged her closer.
Daryl grabbed her around the waist unceremoniously. Beth barely had time to protest before he dunked her under the water.
Beth came up spluttering and Daryl let her draw a lungful of air before pushing her down again. He wanted to annoy her, not actually drown her.
However, Beth had managed to clutch a handful of his hair unbeknownst to him and the sharp tug on his scalp meant he was forced to go down with her or endure her ripping a fistful of his hair out.
Under the water, Daryl tried to untangle himself from Beth but she was more determined than he anticipated. When he finally surfaced, Beth had her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms around his neck.
"You try anything and I'm taking you down with me," she threatened. Daryl had to laugh at her serious expression, her blond hair sticking up at different angles.
"Guess we're at a stalemate then," he suggested mildly.
"Please, I could turn this around if I wanted," Beth said cockily.
"Oh really?" Daryl quirked an eyebrow, taking in Beth's thin arms. He had trouble imagining she could do too much damage. "I'm quiverin' with fear."
Beth's eyes heated and Daryl only figured out what she planned to do a microsecond before she acted. Beth ducked her head and pressed her lips to his.
Daryl froze for a second but then he kissed her back. His hand ran down her back and his other grasped the back of her head, holding her to him. Daryl poured all of his desperation and heartache into that kiss. Beth had bound him to her body, clutching him tightly. Her slick skin was burning against his.
Daryl could practically taste her need for him and it made him groan. She had been so pleasant to him that he had thought she didn't miss this. The power of her lips on his told him different.
They broke for breath but remained close. "That was stupid," Daryl muttered, not meaning a word of it and not moving away from her. "It'll just be harder to stay away from each other."
"I don't want to stay away from you," Beth said. "Not now and not ever."
Daryl's whole body thrummed with the force of her words. He wanted to argue with her but it went against everything he felt in his core. Besides who was he to argue with someone as perfectly good as Beth?
Beth's glare told him that she expected him to fight against her. Instead he leaned forward and kissed her neck softly, his lips brushing over the wet skin there.
Beth exhaled at the contact.
Daryl flicked his eyes up to met Beth's. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."
AN: This one had a bit of a lighter tone than the previous few chapters and I enjoyed writing it a lot more. I tried to give a few positive Beth/Daryl moments. I think the moment where they talked about their mothers was a good bonding moment for them.
Just to repeat what I said earlier, you are spectacular reviewers. You've all made me so happy.