AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you to the readers and the reviews from Guest, brinxb, vickig75, malzateb, DarylDixon'sLover, TWDXXX, angelicedg, Ameliya86, Guest, Noellelm and Maddyeline – thank you guys for reviewing the last chapter.
WARNING: SUPER LONG CHAPTER - TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE! OFF ON A BREAK SO WANTED TO GET BOTH CHAPTERS UP SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TIL I GET BACK...DARYL & BETH EXCHANGE WORDS, DARYL IS VERY PROTECTIVE OF BETH AND SOME MORE.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Walking Dead or its characters
Apologies in advance for any spelling and grammatical errors. Thoughts are in Italics.
The Journey
Chapter 36
Dale and Olly inspect the fish and Olly points to the handsome looking salmon and trout.
"We'll take the two dozen of each good sir!" Dale grins to the Fishmonger.
"Excellent choice Olly, my little man! One day you'll be runnin' the restaurant, I'm gonna teach you everythin' you need to know about the business and fishing but starting with having some fun!" He turns to Olly and tickles him.
Olly fidgeting to stop the tickles, he shakes his head frantically whilst silently giggling, it was too much and Dale stops and places Olly's cheek to his and kisses the warm air. Life didn't get much better than waking up to a beautiful day, a rainbow in the sky after the rain now the sun was shining, stomach filled with home cooked breakfast, spending best part of the morning at the market with Olly just looking at what the stalls had to offer, then they'd grab some lunch before Olly had to be dropped off to his sitter and he was off to the apartment block to see how the renovation works were going and lastly to the restaurant before opening time to welcome Glenn to the family and to check how smoothly his kids ran it whilst he was able to take a back seat and rest. He could feel the aches in his bones and decided he was getting old and therefore wanted to enjoy everything and everyone in it.
Olly stretches with a yawn, looks down into a barrel when movement catches his eyes, he leans down practically hanging off from above Dale's waist to see. The Fishmonger laughing, takes his pen, holds it down and then claws snap and takes a hold of the end. Olly jumps and grabs hold of Dale's face pressing his cheek back against Dale's whilst his little hands covering the older man's eyes making everything black for a while.
"Who turned out the lights?" Dale jokes "Olly?"
The Fishmonger lifts his pen up and Olly waits in anticipation of what was to come. His head lifts watching anxiously, his little mouth open and widening as he looks up and then he begins making noises. Olly finds his voice and begins to babble reaching over to try and touch the crab's legs dangling down, he's seen this creature on Sponge Bob Square Pants. Dale finally able to see daylight again follows Olly's gaze and raises his brow in thought.
"I'm thinking Astoria Crab Pasta smothered in brown buttered sauce - Mmmmm!" Dale says smacking his lips together. "Or how about some T-Dog's Special Funky Crab cakes and Tartar Sauce with chunky fries!" Dale licks his lips with a naughty grin and Olly tries to copy and he and the Fishmonger laugh.
"How old is your grandson, he's quite the little character?" The Fishmonger asks winking at Olly.
Dale looks up still laughing and gives a sad smile.
"Regrettably, he's not-" Dale attempts to clarify that Olly wasn't his grandson when a woman comes rushing over.
"Oh he's so adorable in his little fishing hat just like his granddaddy!" The Fishmonger's wife says cooing at Olly and Olly points to the crabs.
Dale just stands there not able to correct her, his heart didn't want to acknowledge it, he holds on to Olly and looks at him with adoring eyes If only you were, I'd be the happiest granddaddy there ever were!
"Honey, you can have a dozen all on me, just for being such a cutie!" She says to Olly and grabs a box and orders her husband to pack her gift "Yes you are, you're just the cutest little thing my eyes have fallen upon!" She smiles and Olly smiles back giving her his pacifier in return and they all laugh.
Dale hugs Olly and sways with him in his arms as everyone dances around them.
"We're just goin' to snoop around if that's ok?" Dale informs the woman.
"Oh go ahead honey, we'll keep these in the cold box, you go ahead. You should go over to the farmer's stand, lots of livestock today, real southern bred beauties!" She notifies him and now leans in and whispers "The butcher's stand - they've got some beautiful pieces of joints and steaks!" She notifies him hoping Olly doesn't hear.
"We need some of those as well, thank you!" Dale says quietly as he and Olly leisurely make their way towards the busy butcher's stand.
They stand in queue and wait patiently as the line moves at a snail's pace but they didn't mind, they enjoyed the atmosphere of the hustle and bustle and they enjoyed their own company as Dale pointed to all sorts of treasures that the men and women were selling. Olly loved the market, it was colourful and vibrant and he gets to have some chocolate, the samples that are being handed out, Olly's eyes light up on impact of the treat on his tongue and so does Dale's.
Dale looks over at the livestock and he couldn't agree more, the cattle were beautiful and looked well taken care of.
Olly sees a big brown suede cowboy hat when he turns around and his hands become twitchy and he reaches over and pulls at the back rim at the leather ribbon flapping in the little breeze. He loved to yank and pull and he continues until he can put the ribbon into his mouth and suck on it.
The hat spins around, the young woman beneath looking up ready to thump whoever it was yanking at her mother's hat. Her cold hazel eyes land on small blue inquisitive eyes and she's taken aback at the sight before her. Hazel and blue stare at one another uninterrupted, blue eyes blink amused at the startled hazel spheres. Olly cocks his head to the side giving her a cheeky smile. The hazel eyes soften and become lighter as the blue dance in wonder and innocence, an innocence she recognises but hasn't seen in such a long time. Her hazel eyes are fixated and don't falter, she takes a few steps forward, her hands reaching out to take hold of Olly. Her face forgot how to smile but one smile from the baby it was contagious and she smiles like she never forgot how to and then an elderly man calls out after her.
"Maggie, c'mon honey, the stock is selling well, Otis and Jimmy will finish up, we've got a long drive home ahead of us and I want to check on the foals, Patricia will have been attending to them all day, she'll be glad to be relieved!"
The old man says dryly, there was no hint of thrill or emotion that his livestock was selling well. The biddings were underway and the sums of money for each cattle was more than they could have asked for.
Maggie doesn't turn around to her father. She continues to observe the tiny baby now with reflecting eyes. She feels like she recognises the baby, she shakes her head thinking she was seeing things. She thought she saw a little bit of Shawn in the baby and the baby's smile, his shyness but yet cheekiness, the kindness in his eyes reminded her of her sweet little sister, Beth? Her eyes widen in hope, her heart begins to pound faster, just maybe?
"Olly?" She whispers and her face breaks into a humongous smile at the thought, her body shakes a little when he looks up and laughs "Olly!" She laughs back covering her mouth, it had to be him, she continually tells herself nodding.
"Maggie?" Herschel calls putting his hand on her shoulder before she took off running like she looked like she was going to do.
Maggie turns around to her father and points. Herschel follows Maggie's finger but he doesn't know what he's looking at, he looks back to Maggie puzzled.
"Daddy, don't you see!" Maggie uncovers her mouth in joy, her eyes become moist.
She steps out of Herschel's hand and look back at Olly but there was nobody standing there, her face drops dramatically, her heart pounding faster at the thought, she'd just lost him. She immediately turns around in every direction looking back and forth and then makes a dash into the crowd as she holds onto her hat whist she runs.
"Maggie!" Herschel yells watching his eldest daughter run off in a mad rush and he takes off after her but slowly, he had aged dramatically in the short period of time, his age finally catching up to him.
Maggie stops and scans the area, praying and then she sees a little fishing hat bopping along amongst the crowd and she makes a dash towards the crowd keeping her eyes glued on the fishing hat, her own hat goes flying off and lands on the floor. She was now pushing and shoving past everyone not caring, she had one goal and that was get to the baby. When she reaches Olly, she jumps in front of the man and snatches off the fishing hat and her heart breaks and she nearly falls to the ground.
"Miss, can I help you?" The man asks grabbing hold of Maggie's arm stopping her from falling and then moving back once she regains her composure holding the table next to her for support. The man holds his son against him protectively away from Maggie thinking she was going to snatch his child.
Maggie looks at a baby with ginger mop of hair and green eyes not the dark brown hair with curls at the ends or the baby blue eyes that she recognised. Tears threaten to flow from Maggie's eyes.
Herschel reaches Maggie out of breathe holding his late wife's hat protectively in his hand.
"Maggie, what's wrong, why did ya take off like that?" He asks concerned.
Maggie's mouth just moves but nothing comes out as she fights the lump forming in her throat and reality sets in, her mind was tricking her like it had done since Rick Grimes revealed Beth did in fact give birth to a baby boy. Rick had described him and she has a mental image of her nephew in her mind. Olly had Rick's features but Beth's smile and her playfulness, she knew she recognised the baby. Maggie looks at the baby in front of her looking a little frightened.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you!" Maggie says to the baby "I just thought," She shakes her head.
"It was a mistake, mistakes happen!" The man say reaching over and taking his son's hat back and once he has it, he give Herschel a look and then takes off with his son putting as much distance between them and an emotional Maggie as he can.
Herschel comes over and puts his arm around Maggie's shoulder to comfort her. After a moment, she shrugs him off taking back her hat and putting it on her head to hide from the snickering people watching her. She didn't want to speak to anyone especially not to her father. Right now she was an emotional wreck and she feared she'd say something she may later regret. She loves her father but cannot forgive him for the decision he made for them all, turning his back on his baby girl, their sweet baby girl, Beth. She'll always love him but will never forgive him if she never sees Beth again.
Wiping her eyes, she makes her way towards the truck with Otis and Jimmy watching from behind their stall wondering what had happened. Maggie hasn't stormed off like she did in years but she looked like she needed to get away and be by herself and Herschel saw that and stayed back taking a seat on the bench looking down at the floor feeling defeated once again.
Once Maggie was in the truck, she gets out her cell.
"Shawn! I really could do with my big brother right now! I feel like I'm losing my mind! I thought I saw Olly but it wasn't him!" She says into the phone "Please come home even if it's just for a couple of hours!" Maggie pleads resting her head against the steering wheel.
"Bethy, where are you?" She asks looking at the leather bracelet Beth made for her and tied around her wrist.
Amy was giving Glenn the tour around the hotel and the restaurant. At first he wasn't that enthusiastic but when he takes a look around seeing the benefits of the gym, sauna and a bar, he begins to warm to the idea of working there. Amy had listed the famous people who have dined and used the VIP rooms, he had grinned hoping one his heroes would stop by and Dale had said they'd see whether the diners wouldn't mind him to do stand-up comedy on one of the nights of the week and he'd pass Glenn's details to other local bars, clubs and restaurants.
Beth left them to it, she goes into the kitchen to find out what The Chief's Specials were and T-Dog enquiries after Carol and wanted to know when she was fit to start working. Beth wasn't sure. Carol was healing better than the doctors had expected but she was still on bed rest. However, she was itching to get started as T-Dog's Sous-Chef and Jim was more than happy to help train as they'd be job sharing.
Beth puts on her apron and Daryl enters the staffroom. She looks up and gives Daryl a big warm welcoming smile when she sees him.
"Welcome back!" She sings walking over to him "It's so good that you're back, we've missed you!" Beth tells Daryl stopping by the table looking up at him.
Daryl just nods and walks straight past her to the fridge and Beth's smiles falls watching him but she shakes that away and turns and continues.
"Dale's given a friend of mine a job. His name's Glenn, you'll like him, he's staying with me at Rick's place," Beth informs "Glenn's a hard worker, he doesn't show it all the time but he is and I have a feeling it's all gonna work out!" Beth beams.
Daryl observes Beth whilst he leans back against the counter and drinks the milk straight from the carton. The last time he saw and spoke to her was the day he left the city to go back home. The first place he went as soon as he got back in town was straight to her apartment. After the time he had, he needed a friend and Beth was the only person who came to his mind, her and Olly, he missed them more than he thought he would and what greeted him at her apartment vexed him and crushed him to the core.
Not able to finish the milk, he throws the carton into the bin and turns to leave the staffroom. His heart filled with joy that Beth was happy and smiling but for the reason and for how long, it troubled him that this was only going to be short lived and Beth was going to be heartbroken all over again. He knew guys like Rick Grimes and those guys never changed. He wanted to remind Beth what Rick had put her through, they had all watched her struggle. Remind her that Rick Grimes was a married man and his wife walked around like she had Multiple Personality Disorder or was a world class actress and the people around her were world class dumbass fuckwits but seeing Beth's face all lit up, he turns around to go back to work. He was tired and just wanted to get the first shift over and done with, it had already started off as a shitty day!
"Daryl are you ok? Beth asks, stepping forward seeing Daryl looking tensed but he just moves his head making his shaggy hair bounce.
"You sure you're alright, you're awfully quite, quieter than normal?" Beth asks laughing a little. Everyone knew Daryl only spoke when he needed to but his complete silence and quiet demeanour was concerning her.
"Doors will be openin' soon, no time ta chat!" He responds wishing Beth would quit asking and he makes to go.
"Daryl?" Beth calls again worried grabbing his arm, she wanted to see if he was ok, he came back more sullen than when he first left.
Daryl frustrated, turns around and steps straight up in front of Beth and stops inches away from her.
"What Beth? What d'ya want?" He snaps.
Beth's gentle look of concern fades and she looks at Daryl taken aback, he's never once raised his voice at her and he looked pissed and intimidating but she stays put not budging just staring up at her friend with more concern now, something was definitely wrong, she places her hand on his shoulder looking up into his eyes trying to read what was going on up in that lost head of his.
"Daryl?" Beth almost whispering with worried eyes, she knew there was something wrong, she wipes his fringe out of his eyes and he lifts his eyelids up and stares at Beth.
"Why Beth, why?" Is all Daryl asks trying to not show any of his emotions but failing.
"Why what?" Beth asks confused not understanding.
"Why'd ya go back to him?" Daryl asks frowning, Beth sees hurt now in his eyes.
"I haven't gone back to Rick, we're friends. He's letting me and Olly stay with him until my apartments been sorted, a pipe burst and it flooded. I needed somewhere to stay and I have Olly and Rick's his father and he offered and I said yes!" Beth clarifies taking back her hands and clutching them together.
You could have stayed with Carol, with Amy or Dale, heck if you'd called me, you could'a stayed at my place, you didn't need to go with him, Mrs Gupta would have let you stayed with her!" Daryl says backing away flicking his hair and it falls back over his eyes.
"Daryl, I didn't have time to think, a pipe burst! If Rick hadn't have turned up when he did, then I don't know what I would have done, what would have happened, he stopped it and handled everything, I needed his help!" Beth re-clarifies and goes back to her locker shoving things in and slamming it shut not liking where this conversation was now going.
"Did he force ya? he's in a position of power!" Daryl questions narrowing his eyes watching Beth's back. He wanted to see any tell-tale signs, the signs he's seen before in a vulnerable woman, someone sweet like Beth.
"Rick's not like that, you've got him wrong, he's the kindest man you'll ever meet!" Beth turns around looking at Daryl frowning "If you get to know him, you'll see how great he is, he'd never use his power and authority over me over anyone! That's not Rick, Rick wears his badge proudly, he believes everything he stands for and I believe in him too!"
"You're delusional if you think that's ever gonna happen!" Daryl gave a short bark of laugh "And you trust him or people?"
"I see we won't agree, I have nothing more to say on this topic!" Beth begins to leave, it was pointless "I'm sorry to have badgered you!" She says upset and cross.
"Rick Grimes doesn't deserve ya! You deserve someone who will love and take care of ya without fail for the rest of your life, not for just a time, once you love, you never stop loving!" Daryl snaps irritated trying to get through to Beth.
Beth goes to argue back but doesn't, she wanted to end this discussion. Beth's eyes hardened, she strode out the room leaving Daryl glancing back at her chewing his bottom lip. He didn't mean to snap but he cared more than maybe he should do.
Beth stands out in the alleyway taking a moment and Daryl comes out and she turns away.
"You don't need a guy like Rick Grimes!" Daryl says knowingly.
He clenches and unclenches his fists at the thought of Rick waltzing in and walking off with Beth and Olly and then abandoning them and leaving Beth slumped in a heap on the floor crying.
"Guys like him, fuck ya over and then leave ya once they've had enough, they ALWAYS go back to their wives!" Daryl warns Beth "I'm telling ya, they take advantage and you believe them and they do it over and over until ya can't stand it no more!" Daryl says in bitterness and he looks over at Beth breathing in and out and she stares back as she sees regret and sadness in Daryl's eyes.
"Daryl, are you alright?" She asks as he walks past her, her hand reaches for his arm and he stops.
"Daryl? What's wrong? You can tell me! I know something's up and whatever it is, it's bothering you, you're shaking!" She says now worried looking at his lips trembling.
"What d'ya care?" He snaps back not liking Beth seeing him like this, he looks down at her hand on him.
Beth looks at Daryl upset at his tone, he was pushing her away.
"I care!" Beth whispers detaching her hand from Daryl.
"Yeah ya care! Care so much, you go runnin' back to him!" Daryl reminds Beth.
Beth looks at Daryl in disbelief wondering why he was acting like this.
"Daryl, I didn't go runnin' back to Rick!" Beth sighs.
"I should'a broken the good Detective's legs when I had the chance! The smugness when he told me you and Olly are staying with him, if his partner weren't there!" Daryl trails off tight lipped.
"No you wouldn't have! What on earth's wrong with you, what happened when you went home, your bein' a complete jerk!" Beth demands to know.
"There's nothin' the fuck wrong with me!" Daryl shouts storming off.
"That's bullshit!" Beth yells after Daryl "If there was nothin' wrong, then you wouldn't run away from me!" Beth stares at Daryl.
"I ain't runnin'!" Daryl says between gritted teeth.
"Somethin' happened, I can see it in your eyes!" Beth says staring straight into his eyes when he turns around.
Daryl tears his eyes away from Beth, his bangs cover his eyes.
"Daryl, what is it?" Beth asks stepping slowly towards him cautiously as he turns away from her looking into the main road from the alleyway.
Daryl can hear her light footsteps, he stares at the floor breathing in and out heavily, he sees Beth's shadow approaching him.
"What happened when you went back home?" Beth whispers again with concern now, she's never seen Daryl like this, he was scaring her.
Daryl's back was to her and it was stiffened, she sees the tension, she feels the tension approaching. His hands clenched together, they'd turned white. When she gets closer, she sees Daryl's downturned jaw. She could see he was angry, hurt and lost. She slowly reaches out to put her hand on Daryl's shoulder, she hesitates but she steps closer.
"Daryl?" Beth calls quietly.
Daryl standing there suddenly kicks the bin and then the next, he picks one up and chucks it in the air and it smashes against the wall. Beth watches and flinches.
"Just get outta here!" Daryl hisses to Beth with gritted teeth.
Beth takes one last look and obeys Daryl leaving him alone in the alleyway. Daryl groans sliding down the wall and slumps to the ground with his head bent staring at nothing.
Rick had picked Olly up from Mrs Gupta's at 7:00pm and they grabbed some dinner from the little dinner Beth regularly went to and they ate sitting at one of the booths. Olly enjoyed the Chicken and Mushroom Risotto much to Rick's joy as Sylvia had suggested fussing over Olly.
"He must have been on a fast today?" He jokes to Sylvia as Olly licks his hands "Don't let your momma see you doin' that!" He laughs watching Olly munching looking up at him looking so innocent and hungry, Sylvia wipes Olly's hair back and attends to one of her other customers.
"Shall we go all out and get desert?" Rick ask and Olly waves his spoon in the air.
"Chocolate Mud Cake?" Rick asks seeing it on the specials board.
Olly continues to wave his spoon in the air swaying to the music.
"We will have a large slice of your Chocolate Mud Cake to share, please." Rick orders and Nikki comes back within seconds with the biggest slice of cake Rick has ever seen.
"We'll attempt it!" He and Olly look down at the desert.
Rick lets Olly stand on his lap and they dig in, Olly's face was covered in chocolate as were his tiny two front teeth that were growing, he was humming at the taste and feeding Rick at the same time.
"There's more on us than in our mouths!" Rick laughs as Olly thrusts another spoonful into his mouth "I need to finish the mouthful I've already got in my mouth buddy!" Rick mumbles as Olly's hand goes straight into the cake.
"It's like we've never eaten!" Rick tells Sylvia who laughs and then tuts at the mess they were making of her booth.
"I would love to see the face on Beth right now, it would be a picture!" Sylvia says looking over both Rick and Olly.
"I'm gonna have to get back to running and hitting the gym again!" Rick says patting his stomach as Sylvia cleans up Olly on the seat opposite.
"You look real fine from where I'm standing!" Nikki replies leaning behind Sylvia eyes running over Rick now with a grin.
Rick doesn't notice the young girl flirting, he was too busy watching Olly trying to feed Sylvia the last piece of cake he rescued from his bib. Olly was relentless and was on a mission to feed everyone who sat with him.
When they get home, it was too late to skype or call Carl. He would be asleep now. Rick sighs but thankfully the weekend was looming closer. Carl and Judith would be here on Friday night and he couldn't wait, he has butterflies in his stomach, he was going to have all three of his children together for the first time and he was nervous and excited and was just counting down the time and he had planned to spend the whole weekend with them all.
He called Shane and their chat was brief much to Rick's disappointment. Shane was pulling a late shift so he could come down for the weekend and that increased the excitement in Rick. He was wondering how everyone was going to fit into the apartment, it didn't seem so big now when there will be seven people living in it but he wasn't worried, he'll figure something out. Shane informed Rick he was going to Lori's for dinner tomorrow and said he'd skype with Carl and Judith before bedtime.
Rick and Olly sit by the window and look out into the busy street watching people coming and going and just playing and talking.
"I had a very productive day!" Rick informs Olly and goes into all the details of what he found out and what he planned to do "Your Landlord is goin' to realise he's screwing with the wrong people!" Rick tells Olly "Daddy's gonna make him pay!" He promises looking at Olly holding his hands whilst he bounces on his thighs.
THIS IS THE NEXT CHAPTER
Beth tugs the tablecloths off the tables and throws them into the laundry bag and drags the large bag to the door ready for the guys to take it away.
"Beth you ok?" Zach asks taking the next bag out of her hand, he throws it over his shoulder and dumps it over by the door. He walks back to her help with the next table.
"I'm fine, just gotta get this done and get home, it's been a long night, just want to be home!" Beth says thundering around the table in a sweat, wiping her brow on her sleeve reaching for the centre piece, candles and placing them on the trolley.
Rick and Olly were watching Dora the Explorer when she called to check in on them, she wished she was with them on the couch listening to Rick trying to attempt to speak Spanish. She looks at her watch it was 11:30pm, they'd both be asleep when she got in. Olly would be sleeping in the crib in Rick's room, so she'll be sleeping alone tonight, she sighs frowning, she hated sleeping alone.
"Daryl's been snapping at all of us since he's been back, don't take it personal!" Zach says watching Beth, she looked upset but was working at high speed and stops scrunching the cloth up, Zach takes it and places it into the bag.
Beth takes a deep breathe, grabs her bottle of water and takes a sip. She hadn't eaten and her stomach was filled with water, she was too busy to stop and eat her dinner.
"You better go clean the bar, I can do this myself!" Beth smiles at Zach for helping her but she didn't want to talk, she just needed get this done and leave before Daryl came back from the office.
Zach nods taking the hint and makes his way to finish off his chores.
Amy comes over with the vacuum swinging in and out as far as her arms can reach out vacuuming as fast as she can.
"David Cameron! Steven Spielberg! Martin Scorsese! Quentin Tarantino! SOMEBODY needs to walk through that door and say; AMY, WE WANT TO OFFER YOU THE LEADING ROLE OF OUR NEXT HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER, WE'RE GONNA MAKE YOU A STARRRR!" Amy shouts over the noise.
"But look at me, still here, cleaning, serving rich people, I should be the one being served!" She huffs, taking her frustrations out the floor working harder and faster.
"Or I just need my Mr Right to walk through those doors!" Amy points towards the double doors leading from the hotel "He'll be a hardworking man that everyone looks up to and he'll fall in love me, get down on one knee and present me with a diamond ring and spoil me and," Amy stamps on the hover turning it off, leaning on the stick.
"We'll have a few kids, a boy and a girl and another one which will be a totally big surprise ten years after the second baby and I'll already be a glamorous yummy mummy!" Amy says imagining her in her cute maternity clothes.
"We'll name them; Ashely and Aubrey and Angel!" Amy says dreamily.
Daryl come barging through the double doors.
"C'mon - Y'all not got homes ta go ta?" Daryl gruffs to everyone.
"If ya want things done, gotta do it ya self!" He huffs seeing the stools still on the ground, the floor still had to be mopped. He moves at a speed of light turning all the stools upside down on top of the long curved bar.
Beth stops her task in hand watching Daryl.
"Ya kids need ta get your heads outta ya asses and stop dawdling mooning at each other!" Daryl says staring straight at Zach flirting with Rosita.
"Move! Move! Move!" Daryl barks smacking his hands together at the dawdlers slacking.
Rosita pushes Zack away and makes a dash to grab the mop and starts mopping. Daryl had the same demeanour as her Sergeant back in the Cadets, she didn't want to get on the wrong side of him especially after today.
"And that ain't him!" Amy says staring at Daryl jumping up on the bar and leaning back to grab a cloth.
She looks back at the double doors wishing for her Mr Right to walk through looking for his wallet or jacket, for her but nobody comes. She looks over at Daryl, he had his white shirt sleeves rolled up as high as they'd go. She watches him working, his biceps evident through his shirt and Amy frowns and looks away when Daryl spies her standing there.
"Pamela, stop daydreaming and start vacuuming!" Daryl says jumping down off the bar.
"Call me by my name or my stage name if you must!" Amy kicks the vacuum on and picks up the stick thrusts it in the air pretending to vacuum Daryl up into it.
The vacuum catches something and pulls Amy and she trips landing on top of Daryl and they tumble on the floor, the vacuum had just caught and suctioned up Daryl's shirt.
"Amy!" Daryl moans trying to stop Amy thrashing out, he tries not to touch her but accidently does.
"Get off Daryl Dixon!" Amy screeches smacking his hand which landed on her bottom "I'm not that type of girl!" She says scrambling to her knees and trying to pull off the vacuum from his shirt.
Beth turns off the vacuum and rushes over hovering above them and helps Amy up once they'd untangle themselves off of each other.
Daryl jumps to his feet and picks up the vacuum stick.
"Guys have gotten tardy, been gone few days and the place turns to a fuckin' zoo!" Daryl moans.
"Hey, we practically ran this place and the books say we did good, so stop being a dick!" Amy marches up to Daryl staring up in his face.
Daryl stares down, thrusts the stick into Amy's hand, lifts his two hands up, places them on Amy's arms, lift her up off her feet and turns placing her back down so he can get past, he storms off.
"Hey!" Amy yells.
"Clean up and just go home!" Daryl says over his shoulder disheartened.
"He needs to get that stick outta his ass otherwise I'm just gonna kick it up higher!" Amy threatens.
Amy and Beth watch Daryl stalk off towards the staff room. Amy watches Daryl now upset, she didn't know why she felt something pull inside her watching his retreating back, he seemed different. They'd become friendly and polite to one another up until he returned back from wherever it was he came back from, he hasn't said where he went but he returned in a foul mood, one hundred times moodier than he normally is but he usually had an in control calmness which was missing tonight. Daryl could be very intimidating with his hard and rough exterior but tonight everyone was avoiding him for fear of having their heads torn off their shoulders.
What's wrong with him? Amy wonders and resumes vacuuming.
Ben finishes laying the new tablecloths on the table and places the centrepieces in the centre. She takes one final look around, all the tables were laid and ready for the next day. Sighing that this was done, she looks around for Amy and Rosita informs her that she's finishing up in the VIP room.
"Can you let Amy know, I'll wait for her outside, I need some air!" Beth calls out and Rosita puts her thumb up confirming she'll pass the message on.
Beth rushes towards the staffroom taking off her apron and dumps it into the wash basket. She opens her locker, grabs her jacket and purse. Slamming the door shut, she turns round and bumps straight into Daryl and he catches her from falling. Beth looks up at Daryl and he stares back down at her through his long bangs blinking, neither saying a single word. Beth finally averts her eyes, attempting to stand on her feet. Daryl snaps out of his deep thinking, looks away from Beth feeling awkward and helps her to stand straight. Beth takes her hand back and adjusts her purse on her shoulder and begins to make for the door, she didn't want to speak to Daryl.
Without a single word, Beth exits the staffroom, walks down the corridor and steps out into the cool air taking a deep breathe of the fresh air, she felt like she can breathe again. She walks over to the wall of the neighbouring establishment where the lights falls down onto the narrow alleyway and she leans her head up against the cold bricks closing her eyes taking in a deep and heavy breath and letting it out again.
It felt like there wasn't going to be a day that goes by that she truly feels like life was going to calm down and just be normal and like other people's lives – happy and stress free. She never dreamt that at twenty-two, she'd be a single mother, working in a restaurant up until midnight in a still foreign city, estranged from her once close family and pretending to the man she is still in love with, that she is not and only wants to be friends. She was frightened of the past and the past happening to her all over again, she couldn't bear that again, the pain and disappointment she felt ran too deep, deep enough for her to be deeply guarded from everyone.
Beth stands there staring at the door. Her life was forever chaos, drama and some type of hurt and Daryl was now in that mix. He's been so good to her the past year or so, it had taken about the same amount of time for him to be comfortable around her to actually talk to her without grunting or gesturing with hands and eyes, to be able to spend time hanging out with him, he dotted on Olly like an uncle. He never pushed her to do anything that she didn't want to do, never raised his voice at her and never expected anything from her, she considered him one of her close friends like Amy, Carol and Dale even if he didn't. And now, even he had become someone who could hurt her whether intentionally or not, he did.
She wipes the tear that runs down her right eye and turns around leaning with her back against the wall. She wished she was back on the farm, she wanted to badly run home and into the kitchen to find her mom standing at the stove making one of her homely stews. She wanted to run up to her and her mom would turn around and just know, she'd know what to do, she'd pull her into a hug and tell her, she and Rick would be okay, Olly would always have both his parents forever and that life did get easier with time, she'd find her happiness. She wondered how long the journey would be because every step she takes, it's harder to take.
Beth hears a noise to the side of her further down the alley, there was movement in the darkness. She stares off into the distance squinting thinking it may be a stray dog or a cat prowling for leftovers but then she hears heavy footsteps approaching.
"Who…who's there?" Beth shouts grabbing her nurse.
Beth steps back more into the light trying to control her breathing, she sees the silhouette approaching slowly towards her, taking intimidating steps, she steps back as the darkened figure looms closer. Beth opens her mouth trying to scream, yell but nothing comes out, she's frozen terrified as the figure steps into the light. Beth waits for the face that will emerge and then the restaurant back door bangs open and she jumps back against the wall. Daryl appears and steps out.
"Beth?" Daryl mouths seeing Beth with a look of terror etched over her face, she was trembling, he sprints over to her.
"What is it, what's wrong?" Daryl asks putting his hands on Beth's shoulders concerned.
"Th...there's someone over there!" Beth stutters pointing back into the darkened alleyway.
Daryl turns towards the direction Beth is pointing scowling. He lets go of Beth grabbing the mop leaning against the wall, he stamps off the mop head and takes the pole into his hand and begins to make his way into the alleyway, he was angry.
"DARYL!" Beth cries grabbing his arm "Don't go!" She pleads.
"Stay here!" Daryl tells Beth pulling her hands off of his arm and puts her hands down her sides.
Daryl sees Henry the local friendly tramp and calls him over.
"Henry stay with Beth and if anyone tries any thang, you kick the shit outta them, ya hear me?" Daryl snaps but trusting the tramp to keep Beth safe whilst he sorted out the dickhead creeping up on girls from dark alleyways.
"Sure that Daryl!" Henry says searching through the trash and picks up a sharp meat bone and grips tightly on to it.
"Miss Beth, step behind me!" Henry orders Beth and Beth runs and steps behind Henry, one hand on his back.
Beth turns to Daryl but he's already run down the alleyway and she feels sick.
"Don't worry, Daryl's a tough son of a bitch, whoever they are, they'll regret tryin' to do anything!" Henry assures Beth and she nods frantically swallowing hard.
Henry looks over at Beth.
"And a pretty girl like you, shouldn't be standin' alone in the dark, there's muggers, murders and rapists out here!" Henry scolds Beth.
"I needed and air and I was waiting for Amy!" Beth explains feeling stupid knowing not to stand alone late at night but her mind was a mixture of emotions, she just needed the air.
"Next time, stand under one of those fancy ACs and wait for your friend inside!" Henry suggests.
They both look up when she hear light footsteps, Henry pushes Beth behind him gripping the bone in case he needed to use it and then he relaxes when he sees Daryl making his way back towards them.
"Whoever the shit was, he's long gone!" Daryl informs them "I'll check out the CCTV footage, it goes all the way round the back!"
"You ok miss?" Henry turns to Beth.
"Yes, thank you Henry for staying with me!" Beth tries to give Henry a small smile but fails, it comes out forced, she was still shaken and she tries to regain her senses.
Henry smiles back and waves walking off with the bone and slips it into his pocket.
"What the fuck was ya thinkin'?, how many times do I have ta tell y'all never to wait out here on ya own!" Daryl tells Beth angrily "There's tons of freaks out here, promise me you'll never walk around alone in the dark!" Daryl ask standing in front of Beth with pleading eyes.
Beth nods her head and then Amy comes out humming searching for her car keys.
"And you!" Daryl turns around placing his hands on his hips witnessing Amy walking out on her own as well.
Amy looks up and pulls a face at Daryl saying whatever! She ignores Daryl and sees Beth standing there, she was relieved to have found her and then she gets a better look at Beth as she steps closer.
"Beth?" Amy calls when she sees Beth upset and rushes over and puts her arms around her "What did you say to her?" Amy asks looking up at Daryl.
"Nothin!" Daryl snaps "There was some freak lingerin' around in the dark!" Daryl tells Amy looking at Beth now regretting his outburst earlier, he didn't mean to upset her, now she was doubly upset and had a scare.
"WHAT?" Amy says looking around nervously.
"The same goes for you, I don't wanna hear or see ya standin' around alone in the dark, ya got me?" Daryl warns Amy seriously.
Amy just nods her head not wanting to say anything, the colour looked to have drained from Daryl's face and he looks back down at Beth trying to find something to say and then he looks back at Amy.
"You driving?" Daryl asks and Amy just nods her head again.
"Where ya parked?" He asks.
"Down the end of the street." Amy answers too afraid to argue back that they can make it to the car themselves.
"Lead the way!" Daryl suggests with his hand looking at the floor.
"Come Beth!" Amy pulls her arm around Beth and they make their way out the alley.
Beth looks over her shoulder back into the alleyway and at Daryl who was looking over his shoulder. Amy shakes her hand in hers and she faces forward being guided to Amy's car.
Beth unlocks the door and walks into the apartment, relieved to be home.
Amy had dropped her off in front of the building, the concierge who Beth recognised rushed out and opened the door for her and walked her to the elevator. Rick had asked him to watch out for her and the old man promised to make sure Beth got into the building and then he would lock up and set the alarm.
Beth told Amy, she was home now and could manage the rest of the way and that Mr Riley was there so there was no need for her to get out the car and escort her up. Amy had given Beth a look when she said home but blew it off kissing Beth on her cheek and telling her to take care of herself and she'll see her tomorrow plus it would be Glenn's first day and he would be shadowing them both on his first shift.
Beth slowly makes it to the lounge, stands in the dark and remains there unmoving. Not but a second later, the light comes on and Rick walks out of his bedroom half asleep rubbing his eyes.
"Beth?" He calls when he spots her standing there clutching her purse to her chest.
Rick senses became alert, he recognised that there was something wrong and before he knows what he's doing, he rushes over to Beth and holds her arms crouching slightly in front of her so they're face to face, he scans Beth's face trying to read what was wrong.
"Beth?" Rick calls again gently.
Beth looks up at Rick, just staring at him. Rick's eyes arched up in worry now seeing Beth's features contorting and before he knows it, Beth's purse drops to the floor and she just buries her face into his neck. Rick straightens up and wraps his arms around Beth holding her, slightly taken aback by the impact of Beth's body ramming up against his but he didn't care, he just holds her.
"Baby, what's wrong?" He asks rubbing her back concerned. Beth had left the apartment happy this morning and now?
Rick hears small whimpers coming from Beth and now he becomes alarmed looking down at her. Why is she crying, his mind races. He hated seeing Beth upset and it hammered inside him when she cried. He pushes his feelings aside, composing himself and remains calm stepping back. Rick takes a seat on the couch and manoeuvres Beth to sit closely beside him. He holds on to Beth tightly against his chest knowing she'd finally calm down and relax there like she always did. He presses his lips into her hair and rocks her slightly, her tears finally subside but she still clings on to him.
"Beth, you've gotta tell me what the matter is?" Rick says gently as he caresses her face and lifts her chin up to look at him.
Beth lowers her face back down and presses her face now into Rick's chest putting her arm around his waist. Rick gathers Beth's ponytail into his hand and runs his hand over it in calm and repetitive strokes making Beth relax and her breathing eventually goes back to normal.
Beth remains as she is and finally tells Rick what happened and that she had frozen on the spot and how angry she was with herself for not running away, for not trying to fight back if she needed to, how stupid she was for standing out there late at night on her own and how scared she was when the man wouldn't stop approaching her when she told him to stay away and he felt Beth's body become stiff again.
Rick leans back on the couch taking Beth with him and holds on tightly. He rests his chin on her head thinking about the possibilities and outcomes had Daryl not have appeared, he has to shake away the thoughts knowing a lot of the outcome were not good for victims he has dealt with. He couldn't bear anything like the thoughts running in his mind ever happening to Beth. His blood boils knowing that someone had the audacity to try and hurt his Beth! He can hear the tremble in Beth's voice and he can feel the frustration and disappointment in herself.
Rick looks down and presses a kiss into Beth's hair, stroking her face back and forth.
"Do you still remember the self-defence training I taught you?" Rick asks and Beth doesn't answer.
He knew sometimes people's body's just stop and are unable to react in some situations and that had happened to Beth, he needs Beth to remember what he taught her.
"You remember the first time you gave me a bloodied nose?" He asks Beth to stop her thinking about the incident.
Beth turns her head and looks up at Rick, he sees her eyes trying to remember.
"I sure remember!" Rick smiles "And Shane for as long as I can remember was on the lookout of my attacker, stupid sap was out searching for somebody who looks like Side Show Bob when I should have pointed him in your direction – The female version of Bruce Lee! You practically nearly broke my nose and some more! I couldn't smell for a week!" Rick chuckles to himself.
Beth nudges her elbow into Rick's stomach for laughing. It hadn't been funny when it happened, she felt terrible for days but now, she doesn't feel bad looking at him, she thought he deserved it!
Rick watches Beth in his arms as they both look back in time.
Flashback
Rick rushes into The Tea Room and shuts the door, peeping through the net curtains. He sighs with relief. Shane was distracted by the girls from the florist, he didn't see which way he had escaped off to. Wiping the side of his face, he takes off his hat as he turns around and walks straight into a solid foot and someone yelling "Hi-Ya!" all he could think of was – Ninja and holy fuck that fucking hurt!
Beth kicks out with another Lightning kick and then punches up in the air. Rick falls to the floor clutching his face with one hand and the other to his crouch.
Beth was rushing from adrenaline not realising what she had done but feeling something solid at the end of her moves. She looks down satisfied and then in horror to see Deputy Rick Grimes on the floor with his face in his hand and holding his privates and she sees blood dripping down on to the floor.
Beth covers her mouth in shock and flies down next to him, hand on his thigh whilst he tilts his head up trying to stop the blood running down his nose. Her hand reaching to his hand on top of his crouch to help soothe away the pain for her only to snatch her hand back realising what she was trying to help soothe.
"I'm so, so, so, so sorryyyyy! I didn't mean to!" She blabbers hysterically "Officer, I'm sorry!"
He holds out his hand, telling her, he was fine scrunching up his face trying to smile but failing. He looks away hoping a tear won't escape from his eyes, not the manly thing if it did! That would be embarrassing, as if what just happened wasn't embarrassing enough.
"Fuck, she's actually gonna kill me one of these days!" He swears beneath his breathe.
Rick starts to get up and Beth helps him to his feet and helps him into a seat. She rushes to get a box of tissues and an ice pack. She's back at the speed of lightening handing a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel to him. He stares at it and then up at Beth taking it in his hand not sure if he should do this in front of a lady and wishing she wouldn't watch. Beth averts her eyes looking up at the corner of the ceiling. Rick was hoping for more privacy than that but he couldn't hold off any longer, he places the peas in the towel to his crouch and lets out an audible sigh which doesn't go unnoticed by Beth.
"Oh No!" She mumbles with furrowed brows.
She's just assaulted a police officer and envisions herself spending the night in jail and having to call Glenn to come and bail her out - she wants to kick herself.
Beth hovers over Rick and watching him trying to clean his nose, she knows she had to help him, he had most likely come in for a coffee and ended up with a bloodied nose. She grabs some tissues and helps him. When the bleeding finally stops, Beth grabs two tissues, twists them and sticks them up his nostrils to stop any further bleeding. Rick looks cross eyed at the white tissues sticking out of his nose and then up at Beth thinking really? And she shrugs.
Beth was looking down worried, upset and embarrassed. He reaches over and touches her hand. She looks up and goes to apologise again but he squeezes her hand.
"It was an accident." He tells her to stop blaming herself.
Beth grabs some more tissue and dips it into some water and moves closer to him. She holds his face whilst she wipes away the now dried blood. Beth continues to dip clean tissue into a cup of water and dabs away. Rick watches her now slightly amused and with his ego a little hurt - actually really hurt looking down at the peas wondering whether he was going to be able to walk out of the shop or would he have to visit the emergency room and have to drop his pants for some medical student to exam the extent of damage Beth had done, she had one hell of a kick.
Beth gets up to discard the bloodied tissues. She walks behind the counter and washes her hands. He watches her moving around silently, her mouth was moving, he reads her lips and makes out the little curse words at herself and has to laugh, she swore in private.
Beth fills a mug up with something hot and she brings a plate over with her.
"Peace offering!" she says setting the mug and plate down on the table in front of him.
He smiles seeing steaming coffee and a slice of his favourite Pecan Pie.
"Who taught you to kick and punch out like that?" He asks her taking a mouthful of coffee watching her.
"Play Station - Street Fighter 2 and my older brother!" She says finally managing to meet him in the eyes.
"Any thang else that I should be wary of when I'm in the same place as you?" Rick asks with open wide eyes "You don't carry a gun do ya?" He asks eyeing her cautiously.
"No!" Beth laughs "Don't be so ridiculous…I only carry a bazooka in my guitar case and nun-chucks in my purse!" Beth replies rolling her eyes "Duh!" She laughs chucking the tissue into the bowl and looks at Rick amused.
Rick just watches nodding and Beth can feel his gaze burning straight through her.
"I see you're still playing games!" Beth nods towards the door to get his attention of her.
Rick turns his head toward the direction she was gesturing towards and he lets out a small laugh at Shane and the two girls.
"I just needed ten minutes to myself and this is where my feet took me!" He says looking around a little embarrassed "A woman's tea lounge!" He shakes his head and laughs knowing Shane wouldn't step foot in here, too frightened of who was lurking behind the door or the one night stand he never called back the following day or thereafter.
"Not that there's anything wrong about this quaint little shop!" He jumps up in his seat seeing Beth's reaction, her raised brow told him, he may have offended her - again!
"It's rather different inside than it looks outer, it's rather deceiving, you wouldn't have guessed if you didn't enter these doors that it's welcoming and inviting!" He adds.
His eyes land on Beth's slender neck and toned arms glistening from the mini workout she must have been doing "you find somethang ya never knew you were lookin' for!" He says a little throatily averting his eyes from her body now looking down at the plate.
"Peacon Pie?" Beth answers slowly twitching her nose seeing Rick eyeing his plate, he actually had just come in for peace and the Pie.
"Yeah, best Pie I've seen, pretty damn fantastic Pie, kinda hard not to keep comin' back for more!" Rick replies.
"Oh" Is all she says and his eyes go back on her.
"No book club today?" He asks feeling his forehead beginning to sweat.
He couldn't for the life of him stop staring at the young blonde standing up gathering the mess on the table in her figure hugging jeans, sleeveless shirt knotted up at the front revealing her hips and toned stomach and he sees a bellybutton ring sparkle catch his eyes. He wasn't into bellybutton rings but maybe the ring needed to be on the right bellybutton he began to think, he was staring longer than he should have and feeling something he hasn't felt in a long time, he swallows and quickly stands up clearing his throat.
"Nope, not today!" She answers and looks up at him questioningly as he nearly trips "Are you okay?" She asks almost laughing reaching out.
"Maybe you need a bigger space and not The Tea Room to practice!" He looks around avoiding her eyes "You can sure kick hard and you've got a good right hook but you're just thrashin' out and not concentrating!" He says seeing the kickboxing pamphlets on the side "But maybe you need someone with experience to show you how to do it, I've seen what these classes teach, you're not gonna learn much more than you already know!" He says turning around and bumping straight into Beth.
"Maybe you could teach me, show me?" She asks blinking up at him "Who better than a cop to teach me unless," She says in thought.
"Unless?" He repeats in question tilting his head to the side, was she backing out of asking him for his help, he hoped not.
"You're a busy man, I don't want to burden you!" She says stepping away from Rick and begins pushing the chairs back beneath the table "I did nearly knock you out and I'm sorry!" Beth frowns turning pink in the face.
"You may have straightened my nose and knocked the bone back in its place!" He says feeling it "I'm sure I can make some time, you could drop by at the station and we could use the gym there?" Rick suggests taking the tissue out of his nose.
Beth smiles nodding her head..
Rick reaches into this pocket and pulls out a card and hands it over "Let me know when you want to start."
"I'll be sure to call you soon!" She smiles looking at the card and then over at him giving him a smile.
"Thank you for the coffee and pie and for beating me up," He says "If Shane comes to take your statement, it was a 6ft 6"- 250lb man with hair like Side Show Bob in clogs!"
Beth snorts at the comparison of herself and Side Show Bob and she bursts out laughing.
Rick joins her with a glint in his eyes as he hands back the towel and peas and walks slowly towards the door. Beth follows him holding the door open, he turns.
"Have a nice afternoon Miss Greene!" He puts his hat on his head tipping it down as he walks out into the street.
Beth shuts the door and stands in front of the window watching him. Shane meets him in the centre of the road and points towards his nose and his weird walk. Rick says something pointing towards the end of the road gesturing height, width, wild hair and pointing towards his feet stomping. Shane looking angry, pulls up his sleeves and begins to stomp in the direction but Rick pulls him to help him to the car. Shane begins to talk into his radio and Rick stops him and they both have a little tiff. Shane opens the door for Rick shaking his head and makes his way around to the driver's seat cursing. Rick bends to get in and before he does, he looks towards the window and she sees a smile on his face whilst he gets in. Watching Shane turn the car around and he drives down towards The Tea Room, Beth meets Rick's eyes as the car turns left, there was just pure amusement and a huge smile on Rick's face. She turns around and looks at his chair and walks over taking a seat where he sat. She smiles to herself, he was something else, she's never met anyone quite like him and she'd like to see him again and she looks at the card.
"My ticket to get up close and personal with Deputy Rick Grimes!" She grins.
Flashback Ends
Beth's mouth turns up to one side remembering the one on one sessions. She closes her eyes to happier thoughts.
Beth's stomach grumbles and Rick's hand presses down against it. Beth's old habits, too busy working to stop and fuel up, drinking water wasn't going to fill her hunger. She was always forever feeding everyone but forgetting herself, he was going to force feed her if he had to.
"You haven't eaten, have you?" He asks knowing Beth wouldn't answer.
Beth doesn't answer, even if she was hungry, she wouldn't say, she'd go hungry so not to bother anyone, she was tired and just wanted to close her eyes.
Rick stands up and takes Beth's hand in his and walks her to the kitchen. He turns the light on and makes her take a seat on one of the stools. She watches Rick grabbing two slices of bread from the bread bin, places them on a tray. He looks at the two ovens on the wall wondering which one was the grill. He looks over his shoulder at Beth and she points, he smiles turning around and turning it on. Then he's over at the fridge and pulling out other ingredients. He places some ham slices on each bread, covers them with grated cheese and drops some Worcester sauce all over and then he places the tray under the hot grill. Rick then makes a start on warming up some milk for the hot coco he was going to make.
Five minutes later, Rick places the ham and cheese toasties in front of Beth and a cup of steaming hot coco. Beth looks at the items and then up at Rick, it was sweet of him but she honestly didn't think she could stomach anything but Rick was already lifting up a toasty and places it to her lips and she manages to take a small bite.
"Rick, why didn't you tell me about you and Daryl fighting?" She asks.
Rick moves the toasty forward and Beth takes another bite watching Rick, he rubs his brow with a sigh taking a stool opposite handing the toasty to her to eat. He waits for Beth to finish and then he hands over the second. Content she'd eaten something, he looks at her opposite the small counter.
"It started off as a misunderstanding, he thought someone had broken into your apartment and he grabbed me from behind, then I butted my head against him to defend myself and then it all went out of control. Then and, well you remember the first time me and Daryl met - it was Part Two, neither one of us come out unbloodied!" Rick says regrettably watching Beth's facial expression.
"Douggie and Glenn had to pull us apart!" Rick reveals watching Beth chewing slowly and looking upset, he didn't want to tell her but he wanted to be honest, Beth wanted honesty not a cover up story, not that he would have given one.
Rick sighs, he knows he shouldn't have fought but Daryl rubbed him up the wrong way and had interfered in his and Beth's personal issues, issues that didn't concern him.
"He said some stuff, I said some stuff back!" Rick remembers back to their exchange.
"I know he's your friend and he's watching out for you but I don't want him comin' in between us and Olly! Whatever happens between us, I want it to be just between us, no third parties, the last time I let that happen," Rick looks down knowing that was his fault, the results were catastrophic for them all "It's hard enough as it is," He trails off and Beth looks down too knowing what was going through Rick's head.
Beth slides the cup of coco over for Rick. He picks it up, takes a sip and slides it back. Beth holds the cup in both her hands and takes a sip and when she looks in, she sees a couple of marshmallows floating in the coco. She looks over the cup to Rick sitting there lost in thought, she continues to drink and lets the marshmallows melt in her mouth. They sit there in the light of the kitchen in silence, both lost in their thoughts.
Rick clears up, Beth slips into her room to find Glenn snoring. She quickly dresses into her PJs and quietly enters Rick's room to check on Olly, he was fast asleep in the cot. Beth kneels down and looks at him between the bars and kisses his hand holding onto Woody. Olly mumbles something in his sleep.
"Are you happy Olly?" She asks him and Olly smiles.
Beth stands up and reaches into the cot and bundles Olly up into her arms and sits down on the bed looking at him. Looking at Olly, everything was okay, she thanks god that Daryl came out when he did otherwise she didn't know if she'd be sitting here rocking her baby in her arms. She pulls Olly up to her face and gently hums pressing her lips on his warm cheek. Feeling exhausted not able to keep her eyes open, Beth lays down on the bed with Olly nestled at her bosom.
Rick walks into his room and finds Beth and Olly asleep in his bed. He approaches and looks at them both lying there in his sheets, it was always meant to be like this. He covers them both up and as he makes to move to go and sleep on the couch, Beth's hand reaches up and grabs hold of his hand. Rick looks behind him staring down at Beth and then he realised she was holding his hand opening her eyes in between sleepy eyes.
"Rick!" Beth whispers gripping his hand tightly in hers like she never wanted to let go.
Rick opens the bedcovers and climbs in and lays down on his side and moves up close covering them all up and kisses Olly's head. Olly turns in his sleep and reaches over and grabs hold of Rick's ear, Rick smiles resting his head on his arm and his other hand still in Beth's hand. He stays still listening and watching them both sleep. He moves his face closer to Beth's making sure Olly wasn't being smothered, he looks at Beth's now serene beautiful face. The fear and worry gone for now, he closes his eyes and joins them both in their sleep.
A/N – Rick and Beth getting close but it won't be plain sailing.
I'm off relaxing and shopping in London for a couple of days! Can't wait!
Anyone reading The Rookie and The Deputy - I've written the chapter but it needs editing and I won't have time until I am back at the end of the week, it should be up then :)
See you soon and take care xoxo