A/N: Maggie's wedding as finally arrived! And we see the return of Daryl now, who Beth has missed very much even if she doesn't realize it.
The morning of the wedding bloomed bright and golden.
Beth was up at dawn to help her sister get ready, but even as the sun was rising it was clear that it was going to be a very hot and sunny August day.
She had spent the last few weeks running around Atlanta with Maggie, picking up last minute things for the wedding, arranging centrepieces, and writing place cards. And now the big day had come at last.
She had driven back home from Atlanta yesterday with Maggie and Glenn and had had a family dinner with Hershel, Patricia and Otis, and Glenn's parents and younger sisters. Glenn's parents were so kind and had hugged her warmly when they met. His sisters were extremely pretty and very sweet, one in college for animation, one still in high school but obsessed with makeup and had already volunteered to do Maggie's wedding makeup.
Beth was glad for a quiet night with just the family before the chaos of the next day, and she knew Maggie and Glenn were too.
But now, the wedding was here. In a few hours, the caterers and florists would start arriving to set up, and then the guests after that. Beth could hear other people in the house up and awake, despite the early hour. Everyone knew there was a lot to get done today.
As she sat at the windowsill in her room, she could see the entire sweep of the fields around the farmhouse, and the morning sun washing over the green grass. It was quiet, save for the sounds of the morning birds chirping and the muffled sound of the farmhands feeding the animals and tidying up the property; farm work never stopped, even on the day of a wedding. She smiled. She had missed this, missed the peace and gentle sounds of the farm at work, missed the land she had grown up on and knew like the back of her hand. She had enjoyed being in Atlanta and spending so much time with her sister, but she knew she could never be comfortable there. Whatever life she had been building in Atlanta while in nursing school five years ago would not come again.
A gentle knock on her door shook her from her reverie.
"Bethy?" Maggie asked, poking her head into Beth's room. "Are you up?"
"Yes," Beth said, smiling at her sister. "How did you sleep last night?"
Maggie made a face and threw herself onto her sister's bed. "I didn't. Too wound up for today. And I can never sleep without Glenn."
Maggie hadn't cared about the old tradition, but Patricia put her foot down and said it was bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other at all before the wedding, even the night before, so Glenn and his family were staying at an inn in town.
"Daddy's making breakfast, if you want any," Maggie said, fingering her short shower-damp hair, still in her bathrobe.
"That's nice of him," Beth said warmly. Hershel wasn't the usual cook in the house.
"I think he's just trying to avoid the chaos of everyone getting ready. I passed Sarah in the hall and she told me she's already laid out a colour palette for my bridal look," Maggie said with a grin, naming Glenn's seventeen year old sister.
Beth smiled at that as well. "Well I better jump in the shower. I wouldn't want to keep everyone waiting."
"I barely got in as it is," Maggie said, climbing off Beth's bed and heading for the door. "The line is building."
Beth promised to meet her sister in her room in a few minutes, and then hurried to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When she got out, Glenn's mother was waiting in the hallway in her own bathrobe. They shared a quick laugh, before Beth was running downstairs to grab a quick breakfast.
Hershel was the only one in the kitchen at present.
"Morning Daddy!" Beth chirped, beelining towards the coffee pot.
"Good morning doodlebug," Hershel said, "Want some breakfast?"
Beth smiled at the lopsided pancakes and slightly burnt eggs. "Sure, thank you."
Beth knew she had to hurry back to Maggie and help her get ready, but she could spare a minute to sit with her father. She had missed him in Atlanta.
Hershel was quiet for a moment, lost in thought and gazing out the kitchen window where they could see the farmhands arranging the seating for the outdoor service.
"If only your mother could be here," he said quietly.
Beth swallowed the lump in her throat, the scar on her wrist suddenly burning like a brand. But before she could sink into pain and grief, she remembered her mother's smile, her kindness. She could almost hear Shawn's laugh, feel her mother's hands stroking her hair.
"She is," she said. "I can feel it."
Hershel's blue eyes, the eyes they shared, were bright with grief and love. He squeezed her hand, and she gripped it tight.
"Your mother would be so proud of you," he told her solemnly, sincerely.
Beth's eyes welled with tears. She quickly blinked them away, not wanting to be lost to sadness that day.
She hitched up a smile and said brightly, "Well I better get back to Maggie. I think she's almost ready to do her hair and makeup."
She refilled her coffee cup, pulling out another one from the cupboard for Maggie.
"Don't give your sister anymore coffee," Hershel warned. "She's wound up enough as it is."
As if to emphasize his point, there was a sudden crash, a shriek, and the sound of running feet above them.
Hershel and Beth both looked to the ceiling where several women's panicked voices could be heard. They exchanged glances, and Beth sighed before heading for the stairs.
"Good luck!" Hershel called after her. She could hear him chuckling.
Beth found her sister in her room with Patricia, Glenn's mother Renee and two sisters Molly and Sarah all talking at once. Through the noise, Beth could pick up that Molly had accidentally dropped Maggie's hair dryer and broke it and no one else had another one with them, leaving them without a way to do their hair.
"It's okay, you can use mine!" Beth shouted over the chaos. She ran to get her hair supplies from her room and then hurried back to squeeze into Maggie's room with everyone else. It was a tight fit with six women crammed into Maggie's little room; Molly and Sarah sat cross-legged on Maggie's bed, Maggie was at her vanity talking to everyone through her reflection in the mirror as Patricia brushed her hair, Renee was sitting on a kitchen chair that had been brought in, and Beth found a spot perched on the window sill, leaving her a good view of the mayhem of the bridal party inside , and her father and Otis attempting to arrange the wedding aisle outside.
The noise level did not die down with the relief of a new blow dryer, in fact, it only seemed to get louder as the day went on. The constant hum of the hair dryer, Maggie's loud music over the dryer, the noise of the set up drifting in from outside, and the chatter of six women crammed into a small space filled the house.
At some point, Patricia brought up a tray of mimosas to the cheers of the half-ready group of women.
"One!" she shouted to Maggie, already holding one in each hand. "You can have one! Don't be drunk on your wedding day!"
That set Maggie and Beth off into peals of laughter, especially when Renee told an eyebrow-raising story about her own wedding day. Behind their backs, Beth saw seventeen year old Sarah sneak her own mimosa. She froze when she caught Beth's eye, but Beth only smiled and looked away.
In all the chaos, it was several hours before Maggie and Beth had a moment to themselves. Everyone's hair and makeup was finally done, and Renee and the girls had gone to get changed. Patricia had left as well, off to bully Otis and Hershel into showering and changing before the guests arrived, leaving Beth and Maggie alone in the room.
Beth had already changed into her bridesmaid dress. Maggie hadn't cared what the dresses looked like as long as they were yellow (she wanted sunshine colours at the wedding), so Beth, Molly, and Sarah's bridesmaid's dresses all looked slightly different.
Beth looked at herself in Maggie's full-length mirror and adjusted the strap on her dress. The dress was a soft yellow, with thin straps and a sweetheart neckline, and fell below her knees. Patricia had done her hair in a loose braided updo and had wound wildflowers into the braided coronet of her hair. Beth smiled a little, standing slightly taller in her high-heeled sandals.
"You look beautiful Bethy," Maggie said quietly behind her.
Beth turned to see her sister in her wedding dress. The late afternoon sun gilded the white lace of her dress.
"Zip me up?" Maggie asked, turning around.
Beth gently zipped up her sister's dress, remembering all the times they had done this before, zipping up each other's dresses, fixing each other's hair and makeup before the many church functions and backyard barbecues and Christmas parties their parents had hosted in their childhood. It made her feel a little sad, like another small part of her was forever out of reach, but she was also overjoyed for her sister, and so happy that she could cherish this memory, that it wasn't one of the many events of the last five years that was lost to her forever.
They paused, smiling at each other's reflection in the mirror. Maggie's smile slipped as she turned to face her sister fully.
"Beth," she said seriously. "I need to tell you something."
Beth felt worry sink into the pit of her stomach.
"Before… everything happened," she said slowly. "We invited Daryl to the wedding. He was your husband, so of course he was invited, but he also became our friend too. He accepted his invitation months ago, with yours, but I hadn't heard anything since about it. A few days ago though, Glenn told me that Daryl called him and asked if it was still alright if he came to the wedding. He said it was."
At Beth's blank look, Maggie continued, "Daryl is going to be here this evening. I think he wants to see you."
Beth's face was still expressionless with disbelief, though her mind whirled. She hadn't even considered the possibility that Daryl might be at her sister's wedding. And faced now with the reality that he would be in her backyard in less than an hour, that she would see him for the first time in months, she was at a loss. She felt her heart kick into overdrive, and her hands shook. But she met Maggie's eye, saw her frown with worry, and forced herself into calm. This was Maggie's day. Everything would be fine. It had to be.
When the bridal party was finally, finally, ready, they gathered in the front hall of the farmhouse. Patricia had burst into tears when she saw Maggie in her wedding dress, and even Otis had welled with emotion. Hershel was smiling at Beth and Maggie both with such warm love in his eyes, that Beth worked hard not to burst into tears herself.
They could hear the murmur of the guests outside, and the late summer setting sun filled the hall with golden light, heavy as syrup. Otis, Patricia, and Glenn's mother went to join the other guests, and Molly and Sarah readied themselves for the procession.
"Are you ready?" Beth asked her sister, adjusting her skirts.
Maggie nodded wordlessly, with wide eyes. Hershel took her arm, the girls gathered their bouquets of marigolds and sunflowers, and they opened the front doors to begin the walk down the outdoor aisle.
"Here we go," Hershel said as the music struck up, signalling the time to walk down the aisle.
Beth didn't have to force a smile or pretend to be happy in the service. She was filled to the brim with love and happiness for her sister and Glenn. She didn't think about Daryl watching somewhere from the crowd and what she would say to him when they inevitably met up that night. She only focused on her sister, one of the people she loved best in the world.
Glenn and Maggie were married in the last of the summer sun, and Beth was proud and honoured to stand beside her sister as she watched her be married. The sun was setting by the end of the service, and the first of the stars were springing up in the vivid orange, pink and indigo sky.
Maggie and Glenn were taking pictures, laughing with their arms around each other, as Patricia and Otis led the guests along the lantern lit path to the old barn on the outskirts of the property where the reception would be held. The humid heat of the day was beginning to fade, and the cool evening breeze caused Beth to wrap the white shawl she had brought with her around her shoulders a little tighter. She watched her friends and family laughing and talking as they filed into the old barn, and smiled at the smell of honeysuckle and hydrangea drifting by on the breeze, the smell so familiar to her from her childhood.
"Hey Beth."
She turned, and time seemed to stop. Her heart skipped and her breath caught in her chest.
"Hi Daryl," she whispered. "How are you?"
He hadn't changed much in the time she had been away. His hair was a little longer and his eyes seemed tired and weary, but Beth could tell by his clean shave and slightly rumpled suit jacket that he had made an effort to clean up for the wedding. Something twinged in her chest, and she hurriedly blinked away the sudden blurriness in her eyes.
"Fine," he said quietly. "How've you been? How was Atlanta?"
She flinched, though she knew that wasn't his intention.
"Daryl, I…." She didn't know what to say. The moment between them seemed to stretch and extend. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, but his gaze was piercing.
She opened her mouth to speak, to say what she had no idea, but the band had started up in the barn and the music cut through the quiet. She jumped, and said hurriedly, "I-I have to go! I'm – I'll see you later!"
And before he could say anything, she ran off down the lantern path to the barn.
The barn had been beautifully decorated with several round tables circling the makeshift dance floor. Bouquets of wildflowers decorated the tables and garlands of twinkle lights hung from the rafters and twined around the wooden posts. Vintage lanterns and tea-lights gave the old barn a romantic and intimate glow. But Beth hardly noticed the delicate beauty of the barn, she was so consumed with her sudden meeting with Daryl.
Her heart was racing as she took her seat beside Maggie at the table. She shook her head slightly at Maggie's questioning look, and her sister knew her well enough not to press the issue. Especially when Daryl walked into the barn only moments after Beth, taking his seat beside Rick and Lori Grimes.
It was an effort to keep herself from glancing over in his direction throughout the dinner and speeches. The entire evening, it was as if her heart was pounding out of her chest. She could feel his eyes on her, making her breath catch.
Finally, it was time for Maggie and Glenn's first dance as a married couple.
They had ended up vetoing both of their first dance songs in favour of having Beth sing for them. She was nervous, but so flattered and honoured that they had asked her.
As she stood up in front of the crowd, taking her spot in front of the band, her mind jumped back to the last time she had sung in front of a crowd at the bar in town. Her eyes met Daryl's in the crowd, and she froze only for a moment before the band started up, pushing her to action.
"Love me tender," she sang. "Love me sweet. Never let me go. You have made my life complete, and I love you so."
Every eye in the room was on Maggie and Glenn dancing alone in the centre of the floor, but Daryl only had eyes for Beth. She could feel his searing gaze on her while she sang, his intense focus like a physical presence.
It was a beautiful reception, full of laughter and happy tears, and Beth was genuinely happy throughout it all. It was near the end of the night when she finally had the chance to speak to Daryl again.
She had just waved off her sister and Glenn, with much hugging and crying and laughter, and was now sitting at an abandoned table inside the barn. Many of the guests were now departing, with Hershel and Glenn's parents seeing them out, and the waiters had come out to start organizing and clearing up the dishes. The bright overhead lights were thrown on and the golden candles were being blown out. The night was over. She kicked off her heels under the table and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes momentarily from exhaustion, feeling the tired ache in her legs from being on her feet all day.
"Beth."
She started in surprise, and looked up to see Daryl standing before her with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He had left his jacket somewhere and had untucked his white dress shirt and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. She was surprised that he had stayed so long, that he hadn't taken the opportunity to leave as soon as it was polite, but had instead stayed until the very end. But maybe he had been waiting until the end, until he found a quiet moment to speak to her privately. Her heart stuttered as she stood up.
"Do you want to dance with me?"
She paused for only a moment. He was tired, she could see that, but his eyes were kind and warm, as they always were when he looked at her, and there was a touch of hope in his small smile.
She smiled. "Sure."
He took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. The band was packing up, and there was the low chatter of people gathering their things around them, but there was a CD player on playing something slow and sad and sweet, and she moved into the dance with no hesitation.
They didn't speak for a moment. She was in her bare feet after kicking off her heels and her hair had almost entirely slipped from its neat braided coronet, but he didn't seem to mind her disheveled appearance. In fact, he seemed relieved to be there with her at all, that they could share this moment.
She was exhausted, physically and emotionally, after her long day, and was glad that Daryl was there to hold her up, that she could lean on his strength and steadiness. He held her tightly and never faltered. She had missed him, she realized suddenly. The thought surprised her, and it sent a strange ache through her chest.
She looked up at him to see that he was already looking at her. But whatever he found in her eyes made him let go of her and step back.
"Daryl…"
"You look sad," he muttered, looking away from her. "I know what that means."
She let out a breath and raised her hands a little helplessly. "I'm… I've missed you. I missed you while I was in Atlanta. I thought of you often. But – but I…"
She didn't know what to say, or even what she was feeling.
She nervously met Daryl's eyes again and was relived to find no anger there, only a kind of weary sadness and a bittersweet smile.
"C'mon," he muttered. "I'll walk you back to the house."
She nodded wordlessly and gathered up her things. Her feet ached too much to be put back into shoes, and so she carried them with her purse and walked barefoot through the fields back to the house. Daryl walked in silence beside her, but for the first time, his silence didn't worry or confuse her. He seemed tired and sad, she would not deny that, but there seemed to also be a kind of calm about him, as if he knew that whatever she said, he would be okay. And despite the turmoil in her heart, she felt that he understood her better now and saw her more clearly despite, or maybe because of, their months apart.
He stopped at the bottom of the short white steps by the porch.
"You look beautiful, Beth," he said quietly.
She stood in front of him with dusty bare feet and her hair a mess and makeup smudged, and suddenly felt as if she was going to burst into tears.
He turned to go, and she blurted, "Wait!"
He turned back around and the expectation in his bright blue eyes cracked something in her chest.
"Here," she said, scrambling to open her purse. Her fingers closed on the object she had hidden within, tucked away there when Maggie told her she would see Daryl that night.
She placed the wedding ring on his open palm, and both of them stared at it in silence for a moment.
"I'm not her," she said quietly. "I can't go back to who I was in Atlanta, but I'm not her either. I need time to figure out who I am. I need… I need to start fresh."
She instantly remembered him telling her the same thing the night of their date to the picnic grove, that they could start fresh together. She flinched at the memory, but before she could say anything else, pull back her words or apologize, his fingers closed over the gold ring that looked so small and fragile in his work-hardened hands. He nodded once, more to himself than her it seemed, and finally turned to go.
"I wish," she said, a little desperately as she felt tears rising in her eyes, "I wish someday that I could love the way you love me."
He didn't turn back again as he said, "Goodnight Beth."
She stood there and watched him walk down the long dirt path that led to the empty field that they had used as a temporary parking lot. He didn't look back once. She didn't really expect him to.
There were lights on in the kitchen behind her, and the warm golden light spilled out the window and cast her shadow in solitary darkness. She wasn't quite ready to rejoin her family yet. She knew that her daddy and Otis and Patricia would be putting on a pot of tea and going over the details of the day, but she wanted one more moment to sit out in the cool, dark night alone and accept the choices she had made.
She sat on the front porch steps under a wide open sky and listened to the familiar sound of crickets and the wind in the trees.
A/N: Daryl didn't say 'Goodbye', he said 'Goodnight' - something to note. :) I hope you enjoyed that chapter, I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to leave a review if you like!