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Beth reached blindly for her phone as the alarm blared through her peaceful sleep. So peaceful in fact, that she had forgotten her injury and whacked her wrist on the corner of the nightstand after shutting off the bastard alarm. She groaned loudly, biting her bottom lip hard. "Dammit."
She half-expected Maggie to pop her head in with her typical nosy manner and there was a brief moment of panic at how she would explain her wrist. It was as Beth sat up with a deep inhale that she remembered her sister had made herself scarce the night before in hopes that Beth might get laid. Beth blushed, remembering the intensity and surprise of the night before. Everything had been so unexpected.
With tender care, Beth got out of bed and took the most difficult shower of her life. She had always spent a lot of time and attention on the maintenance of her hair in the shower, and doing her routine one handed was a bit of a trick. Regardless of the dull throbbing pain in her wrist, Beth was in good spirits when she grabbed her phone and made her way to the kitchen for a nutritious breakfast of Lucky Charms.
"Five text messages?" Beth murmured to herself as he looked over the screen with a curious eye, spooning some cereal into his mouth. She was thankful that she had swallowed her bite before reading the first text from Merle.
The phone slipped from her hand and hit the counter with a clatter while Beth sat there wide-eyed and ghostly white, her mouth half open. She had to fight. She actually had to fight. It's not that she hadn't expected this day to come sooner or later, but she thought she still had time. She still needed time.
Holding her panic attack at bay, Beth scrolled to read the other texts, hoping that they would be from Merle, clearing up the mess and saying that the fight wasn't going to work out. But no, the next was from Maggie asking if it was safe to come home yet, and the rest were from Daryl...
Beth didn't bother texting him back, but instead clicked the 'call' button. Her heart pounded in her chest as the ringing of the phone seemed to gradually intensify.
"Hello?" came Daryl's gravelly voice.
"Did I wake you?" Beth blinked in confusion, having seen that Daryl's latest text had come from just an hour before.
"Hell no, I haven' slept all night.." Daryl sighed deeply and Beth frowned.
"If I had seen Merle's text before I fell asleep, I wouldn't have either."
"Well, he called me right after I left yer place.." Daryl cleared his throat a little uncomfortably. "I woulda came back in ta tell ya but I knew ya needed rest, an'..."
Beth couldn't help the faint smile that grew on her lips. "Well, thank you."
"How's the wrist?
"It's..." Beth pursed her lips, attempting to move her wrist side to side for a moment and subsequently to hide the hiss of pain that resulted.
"Not good, I reckon. Shit..." Daryl breathed into the phone and Beth could hear the sound of teeth grinding through the reciever.
"Hey, it'll be okay. I just need to give it a little time," Beth nodded to herself, putting herself in a purposeful state of denial about how little time she actually had.
"I could kill Merle fer givin' ya a fight so soon. He knows what little experience ya have. All he cares 'bout is money an' a good fuckin' show," Daryl grumbled and Beth closed her eyes in an effort to calm herself. She needed to take the reigns and prove to Daryl that she could do this.
"How long until you think I can start hitting again?"
"Uhh...That all depends on how ya feel, Darlin'," Daryl replied slowly.
"Screw how I feel, how long until it's safe for me to start hitting again?" Beth rephrased.
There was a moment's pause on the other side of the line. "I suppose five days, at least. That's if ya take really good care o' yer wrist.."
"Alright then, five days," Beth murmured. "Until then, what can we do to for me to prepare without using my right hand?" That would leave only two days to actually hit before the fight, but at least it was something.
"We can work on blockin' an' footwork," Daryl's voice seemed to be growing with confidence. "Ya, an' we can go over yer opponent's details an' shit."
With a sigh of relief Beth replied, "We will do everything we can. I'm not entirely useless, and I heal really fast. My mom used to tell me about how clumsy I was when I was little, always getting hurt but always ready to go again the next day. Once I even busted open my head on the sidewalk."
"Wait, ya hit yer head as a small child? That explains a lot," Daryl teased and Beth relaxed. If Daryl was joking then that meant this situation wasn't as detrimental as she'd thought.
"Yep, and what's your excuse?" Beth shot back playfully and earned a small chuckle from Daryl.
"At least ya haven' lost yer feistiness," Daryl sighed softly and Beth could hear him swallow hard. For some reason the sound was a catalyst for chills up her spine.
"What are you thinking about?" Beth was unable to suppress the question.
"Jus' how sorry I am that ya got mixed up in this shit.." Daryl's answer surprised Beth.
"It's not your fault at all, Daryl. Really, I got myself into this mess, I agreed to fight and.."
"An' if ya never met me, if ya hadn' o' recognized me that night when ya saw me fightin', ya would have never even met Merle. Ya wouldn' be here right now," Daryl said morosely.
Beth collected herself with a deep breath. "Maybe this isn't ideal, maybe I'm in way over my head, but I don't regret meeting you. I mean, I really should, but I don't. If I have to handle all of this for the chance to know you, I think I will do my best."
Beth expected Daryl to freak out at the sentiment but Daryl's voice didn't falter when he replied, "We will do our best."
"We?" Beth's lips turned upward.
"Yeah, we." Daryl responded resolutely.
_
Plans were made to meet up that night to go over Beth's opponent. In the meantime, Beth was doing everything but enjoying her Sunday afternoon. Typing one handed had proven very challenging and it had taken Beth nearly an hour to type her one page assignment. Monday was coming way too fast and though Beth was still managing to stay on top of her schoolwork and training, she knew that the balance would break at some point.
"Asshole, you never texted me back!" Maggie slammed the front door with her foot after coming in, a large pizza box in her hands. "I mean, surely you aren't still fucking. I know you don't have the stamina. You're a virgin."
Beth looked up from the couch, her face incredulous. "How the hell do you even know that?"
"Um, I share a wall with you. Why do you think I didn't want to be here last night? If you moan that much by yourself I can only imagine what it would be like with someone else." Maggie wiggled her eyebrows and set the pizza on the counter, leaning her elbows on it before putting her chin in her hands and batting her eyelashes like a little girl.
"So, Beth, tell me everything! Was he just dreamy and so romantic? Omg, did he hold your hand?" Maggie's little girl voice was scarily realistic.
"We didn't have sex," Beth glared but couldn't help cracking a smile at how stupid her sister looked. "We just talked a bit," Beth shrugged and looked back at her laptop, wishing Maggie would slink away to devour her entire pizza and then slip into a food coma.
"No way. You would have texted me back before if that were the case," Maggie plopped down on the couch next her and Beth casually hid her wrist under the throw pillow beside her. "I'm guessing he barely left."
"Really," Beth looked at her seriously. "No sex, no staying the night. I didn't text you back because I'm had a lot on my mind today. You know, school and the mundanity of my life. The usual," Beth lied smoothly.
Maggie wasn't buying it. Beth could always tell when Maggie didn't believe her because her eyes would turn into tiny narrowed slits and her nostrils would flare slightly. "Who is this guy, anyway?"
"Just someone from a class I'm in," Beth replied far too quickly and Maggie's eyes became impossibly small.
"Babe...You don't usually lie to me like this, except for that time you ate my poptarts."
"I didn't eat your poptarts!" Beth shot back, offended.
"You ate them! God, why do you even still lie about that? I found the crumpled wrappers on your bedroom floor," Maggie replied bitterly.
"I told you, Carl passed out on my floor that night and he got the munchies in the middle of the night and.." Beth huffed. "You know what? I'm not getting back into that again. Point is, I'm not lying now. Yeah, I'm not telling the whole truth, but I just don't want to jinx something so new."
Maggie thought about that for a moment and when her eyes returned to normal size, Beth knew she was in the clear. "Alright, fine, fine." Maggie clapped her on the back. "But I do want to meet him before too long, okay?" She stood up, picking up the pillow obscuring Beth's wrist and whopped her in the side of the head with it, blinking as she spotted the wrapped injury.
"It's nothing," Beth defended before words were spoken, holding her wrist to her chest.
"That's not nothing.. What the, did he hurt you? Beth, you better tell me the fucking truth right now." Maggie's was rarely this serious unless it was about food or sex. Beth knew that her sister cared for her a lot and would do anything for her, but sending her off to ultimately get her ass kicked by Daryl was not what she wanted to happen.
"It's.. I.." Beth scrambled to come up with an adequate excuse. Lying was starting to wear her thin and her cheeks began to turn red in the moment of stress.
"Wait.. Are you blushing?" Maggie raised her eyebrows and then let out a burst of laughter, which surprised Beth greatly. "Holy shit, did you sprain your wrist while jerking him off, or something?"
Beth opened her mouth for an indignant response but stopped herself when she realized it was her only option. The shame would hurt but it would be better than risking Maggie or Daryl. "Uhh.. Yeah. I did. We were...trying something new," Beth mumbled, looking down at her lap as her sister laughed loudly.
"Oh man, I'm sorry you hurt yourself but damn, that's fucking funny!" Maggie shook her head, walking to grab her pizza. "You really need sex. You truly do," she coughed through her laughter, looking back at Beth. "I'm leaving you a slice because I feel bad for you and your masturbation injury." Maggie grinned at her and took the rest of the pizza into her room, still chortling.
Beth scowled at her and then buried her face against the arm of the couch. Great, Maggie would never let her live this down. She would forever be known as the girl that fucked up her wrist while jacking off a guy and she had only herself to blame for it. These lies couldn't go on forever, she just hoped this shameful tidbit would keep Maggie off her back until at least after the fight.
_
Nobody should look that good in a wifebeater and worn out jeans, but that's all Beth could think about when she walked into the warehouse later that night to find Daryl sitting on a crate with his elbows on his knees while he looked through papers in his hands.
"Hey," Beth smiled warmly, wiggling the fingers of her good hand.
Daryl pulled a crate over to place across from him, gesturing for Beth to sit down with a faint smile, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Hey, I see ya made it here without hurtin' yerself, clumsy."
"I'm not clumsy anymore," Beth huffed and sat down, nudging Daryl's foot with hers before self-consciously pulling it back.
"No, jus' stubborn." Daryl smiled and took a moment to squeeze Beth's knee. "Relax.. I don' take back any o' what I said last night er this mornin'," Daryl looked her in the eyes sincerely and Beth's mouth went dry.
"That's good because.." Beth wet her lips, briefly biting the bottom one, "neither do I."
Daryl's gaze turned downward but his hand lingered on Beth's leg before slowly dragging back to the papers. "Alright, what I have here is all o' the information I could gather on yer opponent. Her name is Sneaky."
Beth creased her brow, rubbing her lips together. "Um.. Is she one of the seven dwarves, or?"
Daryl rolled his eyes and smirked. "Look, the names are jus' part o' the territory. I know some o' them are fuckin' goofy but it's what we got an' they are the least important aspect here. But if ya want ta see her as a dwarf as a technique ta minimize the threat then by all means, go on."
Beth shook her head quickly. "No, no, sorry. I'll focus now."
"Wow, there's a first," Daryl said bluntly.
"Hey, screw you," Beth flicked the bottom of the papers.
"Hey, ya know where that kind o' talk leads.." Daryl licked the corner of his lips and Beth bit back a soft groan at the sight.
"Fine, fine. Just.. Talk," Beth spoke in a strained voice and looked down while Daryl chuckled.
"Wait.." Daryl murmured and flicked the cigarette out of mouth, before stubbing it out with the toe of his boot. Beth felt a rough hand gently cup her chin and warm breath over her lips. She dared to look up at Daryl's face only millimeters away from hers, her lips puckering when Daryl kissed her softly. Beth barely had a chance to respond to the kiss before Daryl pulled away. "Sorry, I.. Don' think I could focus properly until I got that outta the way," Daryl cleared his throat.
In an effort to play it cool, Beth kept her mouth shut. There was a 100% chance that something embarrassing and cheesy would have come out of her lips in that moment. Instead she slowly walked her fingers down Daryl's forearm and flashed him a gentle smile.
"Ya don' have anythin' ta say?" Daryl lifted a brow. "Hold up, did my kiss shut ya up? That's all it takes? Fuck, I'm definitely goin' ta have ta 'member that. I been tryin' ta think o' a way ta do that fer weeks now," Daryl smirked and his shoulders shook in quiet laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, cocky," Beth pushed at Daryl's shoulder lightly and pointed back to the papers, hiding her inward fluttering over the fact that Daryl had voluntarily and so easily kissed her. "So, what is Sneaky good at?"
Daryl made a humming noise, his teeth grazing his lips in a distracting way while he read over his notes. "Her name is pretty self-explanatory. She's really stealthy an' quick. However, she lacks strength. She mainly relies on wearin' her opponent out by dodgin' their hits an' then goin' in fer a jab in the stomach er sternum ta knock the breath out o' 'em."
Beth should have known this but she was never great with anatomy. "Where is the sternum?"
Daryl looked at her with a hint of teasing surprise before taking his hand and pressing it to the center of Beth's chest, rubbing his thumb over it softly and murmuring, "Right there.."
Beth's breath caught as if she had in fact been jabbed there and she swallowed thickly. "I see.. That would hurt," Beth whispered back.
Daryl nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving Beth's as while his hand slid slowly over to Beth's breast, his fingers grazing her nipple through the fabric of her shirt. "No bra?" Daryl mumbled with slight awe in his voice.
"Uh," Beth replied dumbly, barely able to respond at all.
"Hmm," Daryl chewed his lower lip, his eyes traveling to Beth's lips as his finger curiously circled her nipple.
Beth shivered visibly, her hand gripping Daryl's arm and her forehead pressing against Daryl's. "Be careful.."
"What will happen if I don' stop?" Daryl asked in a low and husky voice, his lips brushing very lightly against Beth's when he tugged gently on her breast.
A moan escaped Beth's lips and her eyes shut tight. "It.. It turns me on a lot."
"'nother thang ta remember.." Daryl murmured before pressing his lips hard on Beth's, making her jump a little in surprise and wrap her arms around Daryl's neck so she wouldn't fall straight off the crate. Beth parted her lips and Daryl took the hint, sliding his tongue inside Beth's warm and waiting mouth. Their tongues gently rubbed and twisted together as their lips met with varying pressure.
Feeling Daryl like this, so raw and uninhibited, was something new. There wasn't any tension in Daryl's jaw when Beth slid her fingertips along it, and the way he moved his tongue against Beth's tongue showed experience and need. Daryl wasn't going to pull away this time.
With that realization, Beth boldly stood up, her lips not leaving Daryl's while she carefully straddled Daryl's lap, immediately grinding down against the man as hands held tightly onto her hips. Daryl growled against Beth's lips and lifted his hips up into her, making Beth shudder hard at the sudden contact.
Daryl's hands hand just begun to explore the curve of Beth's ass when the familiar creak of the sliding door started. Beth immediately moved from Daryl's lap and back to her crate, her heart pounding in her chest while she tried to make sure she looked presentable. Daryl was flustered and frustrated as he smoothed out his hair, adjusting his jeans near his crotch to conceal an excited part of him that made Beth blush to even think about.
"Who the fuck is it?" Daryl called out in a strong southern drawl that Beth was surprised he could muster.
"Yer daddy," Merle cackled, walking in with a smug grin. "I missed beatin' yer ass up."
"Fuck you," Daryl laughed faintly but it wasn't even close to genuine. "What's up?" Beth watched the way Daryl's entire demeanor tensed up at the mention of his dad and the presence of Merle.
"Oh, ya know, jus' comin' ta check on our little protege here," Merle walked up and put his hand on Beth's shoulder, squeezing it harder than necessary. "Why ain't ya sweaty an' hittin' somethin'?"
"We were just.." Beth looked to Daryl helplessly as she did her best to hide her wrist.
"We was jus' goin' over some stats on Sneaky, thinkin' up the best approach ta get Be.. Priss ready," Daryl swallowed visibly, standing up strong next to Merle and eyeing his hand on Begh's shoulder.
"Smart choice, but I wan' ta see this kid hit. It's been a while," Merle put his free hand on Beth's other shoulder, moving her to stand and face him.
Beth was beginning to panic and Daryl could sense it. "She's already hit enough tonight, we don' wan' ta wear her out.."
Merle looked at Daryl incredulously. "Since when da ya not wan' ta see someone hit, Dixon? Don' tell me ya gone all soft. Come on, I'll even let ya hit me, Priss."
With a deep sigh, Beth held up her hurt wrist. "I can't hit because I have to wait for this to heal.."
Daryl shook his head, a look of regret on his face as Merle raised his voice. "What the fuck were ya thinkin', lettin' her git hurt like that? Do ya not realize how much I have goin' on her fight? God, maybe ya are useless," Merle spat on the ground, glaring and shoving Daryl on the arm roughly.
"And you, maybe I need ta do somethin' ta make ya take this more seriously.." Merle slowly backed Beth up, making her stumble a little over the crate.
Beth could see Daryl start toward them but she shook her head quickly. She didn't want to get Daryl in more trouble tonight. So she set her face hard and pushed Merle back with her good hand. "I know how serious it is, thanks. It was an accident. It will be healed in a week and then I'll be ready to kick my opponent's ass and then yours after if you still need more proof that I'm serious."
Merle blinked and then raised his thick eyebrows, a slightly pleased but bitter smile growing. "I'm goin' ta pretend like I didn' see this shit. Do what ya have ta do but we ain't pushin' the fight back, even if yer wrist is still fucked. This ain't a game, kid. The stakes are much higher than ya realize."
Daryl was looking down at the ground and clenching his fists as Merle left and Beth didn't know what to do. She wanted to hug the shit out of him because of the horrible things Merle had said to him, but something told Beth that it wasn't the right thing to do in that moment.
"I so look forward to the day I get to kick that guy's ass," Beth cleared her throat, speaking smoothly. "So, show me how to block."
Daryl's gaze slowly drifted upward, a hint of an impressed smile on his lips. "Alright."
Beth smirked back lightly, licking her lips and taking a deep breath to expel all of the negative energy Merle had brought in with him. "I promise I'm not going to let you down."
"I know ya won'.." Daryl nodded gently, his deep blue eyes set on Beth's face. "Hey, I was thinkin'.." Daryl puffed out his cheeks, rolling his eyes at himself before speaking. "Maybe tomorrow night after we train, ya could come over ta my place. Ya know, so we can talk more 'bout the fight."
"To y-your place?" Beth couldn't conceal her surprise. She had almost forgotten Daryl actually lived anywhere. He just seemed to show up places and fuck with Beth's head in good and bad ways.
"Ya, my place. I live alone so no roommates will be askin' questions an'..." Daryl trailed off, his expression starting to look a little nervous and unsure.
"That sounds great. Let's do it," Beth nodded quickly, putting her hand to her forehead and grimacing. "I mean, not it, that's not what I meant. We don't have to do that, obviously, I just meant that.." Beth began to ramble and Daryl let out a low laugh.
"Relax, eh? I knew what y meant. God, yer a mess," Daryl flashed a wide grin and Beth couldn't help but smile back.
"Alright, alright. Let's do this," Beth huffed, bringing her arms up and moving her body into a fighter stance. "Try to hit me."
"Sure ya can handle what I do?" Daryl flexed his fist, a smirk playing on his lips.
Beth really fucking hoped she could.