"I ain't leaving. C'mon open the door." Daryl said, the frustration in his voice subsiding. Beth didn't answer him. Daryl groaned and slid down the door, putting his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands.
Beth quickly completed the tests and capped them. She sat them on the floor in front of her and waited for the outcome, staring at them and chewing on her thumb nervously. This was going to be the longest two minutes of her life. She hoped to god that she'd be lucky this time. Being pregnant was not an option, especially if Daryl were to be the father. Daryl. A father. This couldn't happen. It just couldn't. He'd be livid, she's seen him angry but not when he's reached his limit. She tried not to think about it.
Beth knew he was a good man, but what would he do if she put him in the father position? She'd like to think that he'd step up, but there was some part of her that felt like he'd run in the other direction and never look back. The night in the barn, she had lied and told him she was on birth control. She wasn't thinking, the lie just kinda slipped out. Then there was last night, she had kept up the birth control lie and totally scrapped the thought of protection from her mind. Bottom line, she lied to him about something serious and it could be coming back on her right now. 'If I'm pregnant, I'll just leave again. If I'm not, I just won't tell him about the scare.' Beth thought, making up her mind. In Beth's stressed out mind, drastic times called for drastic measures.
The two minutes ticked by and now it was the moment of truth. Beth fidgeted a little before slowly reaching for both of the tests. She turned them over in her hand and looked away, trying to stay calm.
"One...two...three." Beth whispered before looking at the tests quickly.
Silent tears rolled down her cheeks when she read the digital print: NOT PREGNANT. Beth dropped the sticks in front of her and burst into tears. 'Thank god, thank god, thank god.' Beth repeated over and over in her head. Beth sat there for a couple of minutes to regain her senses. She tossed the boxes and sticks in the trash can before stuffing all of the items back under the sink. Daryl heard the rummaging again and stood up, lightly knocking on the door.
"Beth? Would ya open the fu- I mean..-" Daryl was about to finish, but the bathroom door swung open and Beth launched herself onto him. Daryl stumbled back a little with an 'oomph' and wrapped his arms around her waist. Beth buried her face in his neck and began to cry.
"Woah there. What's the matter?" Daryl asked softly. Beth sniffled and and stepped back.
"Nothin'." Beth replied, wiping her eyes. She couldn't look him in the eye after what had just happened knowing he was oblivious.
"Is there a reason why you locked the door?" Daryl asked, crossing his arms. Beth bit her lip and shook her head.
"I just didn't want you seeing me throw up is all." Beth said, meeting Daryl's eyes. He raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes like he knew she was lying. Beth instantly lowered her eyes and skirted around him.
"Where are ya goin'?" Daryl asked as she opened the door. Beth stopped in her tracks and turned around.
"I'm thirsty." Beth responded shortly. She didn't want to be snappy or short with Daryl, when he didn't even know what was going on, but she didn't know how else to go about it. It wasn't his fault that she lied to him. After all, he was just trying to help. Daryl furrowed his brows and put his hands up. Beth turned around resumed walking.
"Whatever." Daryl muttered as soon as she was out of earshot.
She was acting weird all of a sudden and it was starting to make him itch. He wakes up to Beth in the bathroom rummaging around and raising hell and on top of that the door was locked. Most of all, he wanted to know what the hell was with her sudden change in demeanor.
Daryl shifted from foot to foot before curiosity got the best of him and he nudged the door open with the toe of his boot. Daryl scanned the bathroom and nothing seemed out of place until he looked on the floor by the sink. His eyes stuck on a small rectangular box peeking around the corner. He bent down and picked up the box to examine it. The breath was smacked out of him as he silently read the label. 'Pregnancy test? Is that why she looked so freaked out? Is she..-' Daryl thought, but was snapped out of his thoughts by Beth's voice.
"Daryl, what are y-.." Beth started, but Daryl whirled around to face her holding up the small box.
"What the hell is this?" Daryl asked in a straightforward tone. Beth's mouth went dry and her whole body tensed, all she could do was stand there wide eyed.
"Are you pregnant?" Daryl asked, taking a step towards her. Beth shook her head and jerked backwards. Daryl gave her a pained expression and stopped in his tracks, Beth just shrank away from him. She looked scared of him and he hated the look she was giving. He knew he could be pretty intimidating when he was pissed and the last thing he wanted to see was Beth flinch away from him like she did.
"Beth, I ain't gonna hurt you. Just tell me what's goin' on." Daryl said, trying to push the anger out of his voice. He let an exasperated breath out of his nose and tried to lock eyes with Beth.
"I lied," Beth said, her voice small, "I lied that night in the barn. Daryl, I'm not on birth control." Daryl looked like he was either going to throw up, cry or rampage all at once. Daryl's face went blank and he walked over to the edge of her bed and sat down.
"Are you pregnant?" Daryl croaked, he kept his expression even and put the box on the blanket beside him.
"No." Beth replied quietly. A few moments ago she didn't want to even have eye contact with him and now she'd give anything for one word, one glance, for him to yell. Just something.
"Daryl, I'm sorry." Beth said, stepping closer to him. Daryl stayed in the same position, his face placid. Was he in shock? Beth didn't know why'd he would be in shock if she wasn't pregnant.
"Please say somethin', Daryl!" Beth said raising her voice. Daryl lifted his eyes to meet hers and she froze.
"Is there a fuckin' reason why you lied?" Daryl asked harshly. Beth bit her bottom lip and shifted uneasily.
"I didn't want you worrying about anything," Beth said keeping eye contact, "I didn't want to make you mad."
"So, you didn't think to mention that when I was fucking you last night? You know what would've really pissed me off? If I would've actually knocked you up." Daryl said his voice rising.
Beth visibly winced, his words stabbing into her gut like a hot knife. Beth swallowed the lump in her throat and kept her eyes glued to his. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to, his dark blue eyes were burning into hers, refusing to let her look away.
"I gotta go." Beth said, choking up. Daryl stared at her and opened his mouth to protest, but quickly snapped it shut.
She grabbed her keys and slipped into her shoes before darting out of her room and down the stairs, leaving Daryl behind. It was a complete downpour outside, Beth ran to her car and got in. She took a couple of deep breaths and started the car before leaving the farm.
Beth drove for about thirty minutes on the stretch of county road before she found the small memorial attached to the barb wire fence. Shawn's memorial. Beth took a deep breath and got out of the car. She was instantly drenched from head to toe as she trudged over to the white cross. She dropped to her knees in front of the cross and started to sob. The last time she had been out here was two weeks after the accident. She refused to go to to the cemetery because that wasn't where he truly left. He left this world in this ditch on the side of the road.
"I miss you Shawn, I really do." Beth whispered, her voice hoarse.
Beth reached out and traced his name that was engraved into the wood, and continued to cry. Beth was soaked, her hair was dripping, her yellow dress was clinging to her body and the hem was caked with mud. The rain drowned out the sound of Daryl pulling up and getting out. He shouldn't have followed her, but he did anyway. She was sitting in front of a two foot white cross, sobbing and drenched. If she were to have gotten hurt, he would felt like it was his fault. He moved close enough to hear her and he stopped in his tracks and listened.
"You and Maggie were always the first people I came to when I was troubled. You're not here anymore and Maggie is trying but she has enough things to worry about." Beth said, hiccuping. She could almost hear Shawn, 'Spill it, Bethy.'
"I really messed up with this guy. His name's Daryl, and I think I've screwed things up for good. I lied about something huge and it could've been bad. Like, really bad. I don't know if he'll ever talk to me again. What do I do, Shawn? I don't think I can deal with losing someone else." Beth confessed. Listening to Beth talk to her dead brother about this made him instantly feel like an ass. He barely listened to her side of the story and she deserved more than being yelled at.
"You're gonna get hypothermia or some shit." A low gravelly voice spoke from behind her.
-READ THE AUTHORS NOTE-
Sorry guys, but there won't be any little Dixons running around anytime soon. It's waaaay to early for Beth and Daryl. I got a ton of reviews last chapter! Thank you guys so much for all of the support! Like whoa. Thank you soooo much for all of the reviews/follows! I'm already thinking about a sequel, so let me know how y'all feel about that. I hope this chapter cleared some things up. I got some really good questions in the reviews, so I think I should answer them. Okay, I didn't think I'd have to explain this to all of you...but here it goes. Guys, you have to wear a condom, period. Never take a girls word for it when she says she's on birth control unless you are 100% sure (make that 183747827386472% sure.) Pulling out DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK. Believe it or not guys, you release sperm during the process. Yes, there are a lot of lucky cases where people didn't use protection at all and came out on top, but those are just simply lucky. And THANK GOD Beth and Daryl were one of those lucky cases!Anyway, DROP ME A REVIEW! Love you guys! ~BethylAddixon~