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Chapter Six. Fish.

He had kissed her. Well, technically, she had kissed him but damn if he didn't kiss her back. And now, the next day, that kiss was all he was thinking about and when could he kiss her again?

Beth wanted to pick mushrooms and the best times to pick mushrooms were in the early morning so that was when they headed out. Beth had found a wicker basket in the house that she brought with them anytime she was picking something and it swung in her hand now as they walked. From their house and backyard, down the slope of grass that led into the woods, Jack was in front of them, the fox already on the hunt. Daryl watched him one eye – knowing that Jack would let him know if he needed his crossbow or not – and his other eye was on Beth. She was smiling – a small smile but one he could see anyway.

She seemed happy and that made Daryl happy.

In the woods, they walked while keeping their eyes open for not only mushrooms but anything else that Beth had read about in her books and might need. They were getting to know these woods. These were their woods now but Daryl could tell they hadn't even explored a fraction of them. He looked around and could just tell that they stretched on for quite a bit of ways. Beth was searching as they walked, looking for just the right mushrooms and not the sort that would kill them. She was still so scared about that but she was teaching herself – though eating poisonous mushrooms didn't give them much of a learning curve.

Daryl clicked his tongue and Beth instantly lifted her eyes to him. He cocked his head and she nodded, both falling in step with one another as they began to walk further among the trees. Jack had been sniffing at the ground but when he sensed them moving away, he hurried after them.

As they walked – and walked some more – Beth didn't ask him what they were doing or where they were going. She trusted him and even if she did ask him those things, Daryl wouldn't have any answers. He knew they couldn't walk too far today. He didn't want to get them away from their house when he didn't know what they would find in these woods. He just wanted to walk as far as it was safe and get a bit more comfortable with where they were now settling themselves.

He heard it first. Well, technically, Jack heard it first and then Daryl and a minute later, Beth heard it, too. A rush. They had a small creek right behind their house, just as the woods began, and it was good enough for bathing and washing clothes but this was a rush of water that sounded nothing like some little creek. Daryl looked to Beth and she looked to him. They didn't have to say anything to know that both wanted to check it out. The more different supplies of water they had near their house, the better. Daryl figured they were about two miles out from their house and two miles was nothing when a person needed water. Better two miles than twenty.

They both moved closer and through the trees, they came upon it. It wasn't just a creek. It might have started that way but now, it was closer to being a river now, the banks being eroded away to make more room. It was wide and Daryl could tell that there was a good bit of depth to it. Beth looked at it and burst into a smile.

"This is good," she said and Daryl smiled a little and nodded.

Where there was a river, there was life. In the river, on the banks of the river. Animals would come to this river to drink. Plants would grow all around that they could pick and use. Two miles from their house, they had just hit a jackpot. There was a log that had fallen and Daryl went towards it for a closer inspection. Beth followed after but at a smaller pace as she took note of where she was stepping and if there were things she could gather. Jack had gone towards the bank of the river, resting himself on a jagged rock, staring down at the water. He was a skilled little fox and grabbing fish from the water. Beth hoped he'd be able to get them at least two.

She gasped when she found a cluster of mushrooms – her mushrooms – growing in a shady spot of soft ground underneath a canopy of trees. She could feel the mist of the river water in the air and she could see why the mushrooms had chosen this prime spot to sprout. She knelt down and as she picked, she watched Daryl. He was testing the log's stability and he slowly inched forward. Beth bit her tongue. She knew he was being careful but she still wanted to tell him so. Thankfully, she was able to stop herself. Daryl was nothing but careful these days.

Hearing a splash, she looked to Jack who had just dove his head into the water. A second later, he pulled it back with a fish flopping in his mouth. And like any other animal, proud of their catch, he turned and trotted it to Beth. He dropped it on the ground next to her and she laughed.

"Good, good job, Jack," she commended the fox and kissed his wet head. "Can you get another?"

Jack didn't dignify that with any kind of reaction. He just turned and headed back towards the river. Daryl had gotten himself across the log and was now on the other side of the river, exploring that side. Another splash and a minute after that, Jack returned to Beth with another fish. She clapped and rubbed his ears.

"You're so good," she let him know. "We'll go home and roast some fish and throw in these mushrooms with it for flavor and have a delicious dinner." Jack seemed happy with that.

Daryl came across the log, a bit faster than he had gone across the first time. Something about it made Beth stand up, at attention. She found her chest tighten. He obviously had seen something.

"What is it?" She asked him. A walker? More than one walker? A herd?

"There's something through the trees. I think it's a hotel. We should check that out."

"Alright," she agreed. A hotel kitchen could be very helpful but they would have to make sure it wasn't teeming with walkers. There was only two of them and getting killed over a Holiday Inn or Marriott just wouldn't be worth it. "Jack got us fish and I have our mushrooms so we have dinner."

Daryl looked down to her basket and smiled. He lifted his head to look at her and Beth smiled, too. She still found this whole thing amazing. Running from the prison, just the two of them, and what they had been through to be here, at this exact moment – still just the two of them. She felt guilty because she was thinking of their family less and less. Each day, she thought of them less than she thought of them the day before. She and Daryl had decided to stay here and make something here for themselves. It might have been too early to think that but Beth couldn't stop the thought that they were building a life here. Like at the prison but perhaps being just a little smarter about it. Not too many people – the more people, the more the walkers could smell – not relying so heavily on things that they used to know but teaching themselves this new world and how to live in it.

They were growing vegetables and baking bread and scavenging.

And kissing.

When could she kiss him again? Did he want her to? He definitely hadn't seemed to hate it.

Beth looked at him and far from the first time, she wondered what Daryl Dixon was thinking. Finally, she just did it because this was part of living and that's what she wanted to be doing.

Raising herself on her toes, she pressed her lips to his for a kiss and this time, Daryl seemed to be ready for her. He didn't freeze like he had yesterday in their yard. This time, he raised his hands and framed her head and kissed her, too.

"You gotta stop doin' that," he murmured against her lips.

For a moment, she froze. "Stop doing what?"

"Kissin' me first. Gotta let me kiss you first one of these times."

She smiled at that and gave him one more peck. "Want to head back?" She suggested.

Hiking back through the woods, they arrived back in their backyard and later that afternoon, Daryl was the one to handle dinner. He started a fire in the pit and set the grate over it. He took the time preparing the fish, removing the fins and all of the scales and then cutting it from the anus to the gills. He had tried to show Beth how to do this and she wanted to learn how to do most things but gutting fish just wasn't for her.

Once that was all done, Beth had brought the iron-skillet pan out to him. He dropped a little olive oil into it and before setting the pieces of fish in. He rested it on the grate over the flames and after she had washed and cleaned all of the mushrooms, Beth then dumped them into the skillet, too, to cook with the fish and all of the flavors could mix together.

Daryl watched the fish closely, turning pieces over with a spatula. It could be just seconds for a piece of fish to overcook. Beth had come with their plates and forks and was now sitting on the other side of the firepit, waiting and watching him. She smiled and his stomach tightened at the sight of her. The prettiest damn thing left in this shit world and she was sitting right across from him, smiling at him. They could have gotten out with any other person from the prison but instead, it was them. Just the two of them and damn if he didn't want it to be any other way.

"Are we going to the hotel tomorrow?" Beth asked as he began scooping the fish and mushrooms divided evenly onto the two plates. He made sure to toss a piece of fish towards Jack, too.

"Yeah. We'll pack some supplies. Check it out from a distance. See what kind of place it is."

"If it hasn't been hit up yet, there is going to be a ton of stuff there for us."

"That's what I'm countin' on," Daryl gave a nod.

…

THANK YOU!

I had this idea of Beth and Daryl scavenging through a hotel and figured this was a good story to write that in. We'll see it in the next chapter!