AN: Did you guys miss me? I hope this chapter makes up for my absence. I didn't get to reply to reviews last time but I read and appreciated them.
Beth was tired and sore by the time they had made it back to the cabin. She had lost count of the walkers they had ended up killing in the store. The sun had set and it was dark by the time they got out of the car. Daryl started to unload the trunk. The sentries watched their movements placidly from the shadows.
"Hi Curtis," Beth waved.
Daryl looked up wincing. "Don't name 'em."
"I didn't name all of them. Just Curtis."
She could see the mental divide Daryl was experiencing. One part of him wanted to ignore her but the other part wanted to ask questions. Sighing, he eventually inquired, "Which one is Curtis?"
"The first one I got."
"That's weird. You're weird," Daryl said passing her a bag of clothes.
"You ever get the sense they're thinking something?" Beth asked, watching their guards.
"Yeah, they're thinking about eatin' us." Daryl brushed past her and unlocked the cabin.
Beth shrugged and decided Daryl was right. It was just that, every now and again, she thought she saw something more in their eyes.
Beth's arms were straining as she carried in their haul. It was mostly warm clothes but they had found some more canned food and some over the counter medication. They didn't know if they'd ever need it but it was better to have it just in case.
Daryl was rifling through the bag of clothes and found the sweater Beth had teased him with. He pulled it out with abject disgust.
Beth had to cover a smile with her hand. She had known it would annoy him and that's why she grabbed it. She also wanted to remind him of her victory. Daryl pretending he could go a day without arguing was absurd. If she wasn't here, he would have found a way to argue with the wall.
Daryl's eyes cut to Beth and the sharpness stole all the giggles away. His gaze made her feel hunted and turned on all at once.
"I hadn't forgotten," he said. Then he threw the ugly sweater onto the fireplace.
"You're just a sore loser," Beth said, hoping her voice didn't sound as breathless as she felt.
Daryl raised an eyebrow before standing. He pulled two of the beers out of the cupboard and handed her one, standing too close to her when he did.
Beth took a hesitant sip when Daryl turned his attention to getting food. She grimaced. She hated beer, always had. But sharing one seemed like an adult thing to do. Anything that would make Daryl look at her as a grown up. Defiantly she took another mouthful. Prepared for the taste, she was able to keep the shudder off her features.
"Go easy on that," Daryl instructed her.
"It's light beer."
Daryl crossed his arms. "You have an extensive history of drinkin' I don't know about?"
"I'm sure I'll be fine," Beth replied tartly. It wasn't exactly sexy if he felt the need to parent her about responsible drinking. To show her rebellion she tilted the can back and drank as much as she could without needing a breath. It made her eyes water and she felt the bubbles overwhelm her.
Daryl watched her with a wry expression but didn't say anything until she put the can down on the table. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."
Beth was about to scold him for being a drama queen when she had to grab the back of the chair and steady herself. Her head felt impossibly light and the alcohol sat heavily in her stomach. With a knowing look, Daryl slid a heated plate of beans across to her.
"You get something in your stomach."
Beth wanted to argue with him some more but couldn't get her thoughts straight. So instead she cooperated and ate some warm but bland beans. Daryl took a swig of his own beer, eyes locked on her even as he drank. His amusement was grating and Beth struggled to get her thoughts clear. She had thought him so practical, stipulating they kept their physical relationship separate from their day to day activities but she didn't wonder now if it was so, at moments like this, he could still patronise her and make her feel young.
"I've drunk before, y'know."
"Sure," Daryl agreed indulgently.
Beth glared at him. "At a party, I had some vodka." She had one drink, which she'd loathed, and she'd thrown it up but that wasn't relevant.
"Then there was a game of spin the bottle," Beth added casually. Daryl's eyes sharpened. She pretended to be focused on the food. She hadn't actually played herself but if Daryl wanted to draw his own conclusions then Beth wasn't going to correct him. It worked, the smirk vanished and if Beth didn't know any better, she would say Daryl looked a little jealous.
He finished his meal with no more conversation, just constant glances as he tried to figure out how much of the story Beth told was fact and fiction. For performance, Beth made a grab for Daryl's unfinished drink but he caught her hand before she could. He kept her fingers firmly in his, trapping hers against the table. Locking eyes with hers, Daryl slowly and deliberately took a sip. He was taunting her and Beth knew it.
She wrenched her hand free and stood up, feeling furious and embarrassed all at once. Daryl was on his feet immediately after. He wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her back.
"Let me go!" Beth demanded, raging over the way he manhandled her. Daryl ignored her and silenced any further protests by bending his head to kiss her. Both his rough hands held her firmly against his body.
Beth's anger shifted immediately into something else. She grabbed two fistfuls of Daryl's shirt and used that to give herself leverage. Her body ran the length of his. Beth kissed him back with all the aggression and electricity that he sparked in her. His kiss was equally brutal. Beth opened her mouth to his as they both battled for dominance. Eventually Beth yielded, hooking her arms around his neck and moaning as he assaulted her mouth, finesse abandoned in their reckless attempt to get as close as possible.
Daryl broke the contact and Beth drew in a hasty breath, while his hands slid down the backs of her thighs, roughly lifting her up. Beth wrapped her legs around his hips and kissed him again with her new advantage. Daryl tilted his head up to meet her, still not backing down or easing the intensity.
Daryl walked the pair of them towards the bed and put her down with no gentleness or care. For a second Beth was on the bed by herself but then Daryl's body covered hers. Her hands explored his taut, lean body while Daryl looked down at her with burning eyes.
"I don't like hearing about you kissin' other men," he growled. Beth felt his words impact physically, igniting her skin until it was blazing beneath him. A warmth pooled low in her body as his territorial words washed over her.
"There's never been another man," Beth clarified, dismissing all the others that had come before as boys and irrelevant. She pulled him down to her, capturing his lips with her feverishly.
Daryl's hands raked heavily down her body, grazing the sides of her breasts and making her gasp against him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a logical voice reminded her that they were reaching the point of no turning back. She didn't care.
Her shirt had worked its way up around her ribs and Beth could feel the bare skin of Daryl's torso against hers. Beth wanted more of that. Something hard pressed into her when Daryl ground his hips against hers. She realised what was happening instantly. It made her freeze. Did she really want to do it now, with her mind buzzing from alcohol? It was hard to think with her attraction to Daryl riding her body so strongly and maybe she would have thrown caution to the wind but Daryl was more in tune to her responses. He pulled away almost instantly, resting his forehead against hers, breathing ragged.
Beth's hands were shaking as the sensations rose and ebbed in her body like waves. Daryl sat back on his heels and Beth instantly felt colder. She kept his eyes on her face, unable to look lower despite her curiosity. Her inability to overcome her embarrassment and confront his maleness told her she wasn't ready. She covered her face with her hands. Her skin was flushed and hot to touch.
"I let that go too far," Daryl said, his voice deeper than usual. Beth lowered her hands to look at him. Daryl didn't have the same reservations she did; his gaze was roving over her body, taking in every inch of her.
He reached up and gently tugged her shirt down, covering the soft flesh of her stomach. "Hard enough to stop as it is," he teased. He was taking all the responsibility for stopping things even though Beth knew him sensing her freeze was the cause of it. She had gotten to know him and his cues so well but she didn't ever think that it worked both ways and maybe Daryl knew her better than she'd care to admit. He was going out of his way to not make her embarrassed about her apprehension.
Beth sat up and wrapped her arms around his body. Daryl looked surprised but he let her into the circle of his arms. Beth's head fit neatly under his chin, his hand rubbing soothing circles in her back. A minute ago, his touched had shifted the world on its axis, making reality fall out from underneath Beth's feet, but now he was stable and comforting and solid. Beth felt a rush of warm affection that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with Daryl.
"I think I drank the beer too fast," she confessed and Daryl chuckled, his chest vibrating under her ear.
"I'll get you some water."
...
Beth was still dead to the world when Daryl got up to check the walkers and perform a cursory surveillance of their surroundings. That was pretty typical, he always woke first. He was surprised when she was still asleep when he got back.
He shook her awake gently. She opened bleary eyes at him, her face paler than usual.
"I don't feel so good," she mumbled.
"That's because you drank alcohol," Daryl replied with a smirk. He liked being right, even if it would cost Beth a headache.
"Is this a hangover?" Beth groaned. Daryl started rummaging for food; she'd feel better with something in her stomach. Beth was a light weight clearly. One measly beer and she looked like she'd been doing tequila shots all night. Daryl reminded himself that she was slim and had no history with alcohol.
"'m I supposed to feel so hot?" Beth asked weakly. Daryl straightened and looked at the girl properly. She was ghost white and she was shaking. Daryl felt something change in his gut. If she had drank more, the shivering might make sense as the alcohol left her system, but no matter what kind of tolerance she had for drinking that shouldn't be happening to her.
Daryl crossed to her and put his hand on her head. Her forehead felt ridiculously hot under his palm.
Beth blinked slowly at him. "Something wrong?"
Daryl shook his head. "Ain't nothing. Just get some more sleep and you'll be good."
Beth closed her eyes and was asleep soon after. Daryl took a seat and put his chin in his hands. She was burning up but there was no need for him to panic just yet. It might turn out to be nothing. Daryl didn't go far from the cabin that day and returned regularly to coax Beth to eat and drink.
By the afternoon she was trembling violently and Daryl was getting worried. He had layered blankets around her but it was doing nothing to stop her shivering and he was concerned because her fever was just going up.
Daryl rubbed his face with his hand and watched her. When Beth opened her eyes of her own accord he was relieved but then she said, "I think I'm gonna be sick."
Beth's shoulders lifted as she tried to control her retching, she was struggling to get out of the bed and towards the bathroom. Daryl threw back the covers and got his arms under her knees and under her back. He deposited her in the small bathroom just in time. Beth could barely support her weight and she threw up in the shower. Daryl grabbed her hair with one hand and held it away from her face. His forearm wrapped around her waist and he kept her from falling over completely.
Daryl had done as much for his brother once or twice when Merle had gone too far but Beth was different, she felt so frail in his arms, nothing like the feisty creature she'd been last night.
When she was done, Daryl slumped back against the wall and held Beth. The bathroom tile was cool and it seemed to give Beth some temporary relief from the fever, but soon she was shaking again. Daryl lifted her up and carried her back to the bed. She weighed next to nothing in his arms.
Daryl started to panic. He didn't know how to look after someone this sick. Was he supposed to try and stop her from feeling cold or did he focus on breaking the fever? Eventually he decided that all his attempts to warm her were failing anyway so he had to try and lower her temperature. Daryl stripped some of the blankets away. He found a towel and soaked it in cold river water. He laid it over Beth's forehead gently. The whole time the girl slept.
He rinsed out the shower with a bucket of water and contemplated his next move. It seemed absurd that only a few hours ago she had been healthy. Kissing her on the bed was like a lifetime ago.
Daryl pulled out all the medications they had managed to steal and read all the information. He woke Beth up to give her two paracetamol hoping that it would combat the fever and give her a more restful sleep. He just crossed his fingers and hoped that she didn't throw them up.
He made himself comfortable in a chair and prepared for a sleepless night.
AN: I think I should just clarify that this isn't the virus from the show. Different time line, too early etc. I found it hard to get back into the flow of writing after being away (drinking, no sleep and what not) so I hope the character motivations translated. In my head, Beth still doesn't feel like Daryl looks at her as a grown up and so she's trying to prove it but in ways that just confirm she's actually young. Are you all feeling the gradual shift and progression into a more physical relationship? The kiss was hopefully enough to tide you over. Side note, I'm up to date with the show currently and willing to discuss it with people here and on the twitter machine.