Chapter 5 Wedding Day

The day of the wedding, Beth woke up early to help Maggie get ready. With every hour that passed by before the wedding, it seemed more and more ethereal that this moment was coming. "Six months of walker-free existence. And just another six hours before you're Mrs. Maggie Rhee again," Beth told her while curling her hair.

"Yeah." Maggie stared into the mirror at her younger sister. "Aw Beth, what's the matter?"

"Nothing. I'm a little bit overwhelmed and happy by all of this." Beth wiped away a tear. "This might be the only time we're all here together like this. After the wedding, all our lives will go back to normal."

"That's not true at all. We're different people, Beth. You've changed a lot too." Maggie held onto her hand. "Becoming a city girl and all that. You're definitely a lot less innocent than you used to be."

Beth smiled at her sister appreciatively. If only Maggie knew about the two bottles of moonshine tucked away in her suitcase at this moment.

"So how's the city been? Meet any cute guys yet?" Maggie asked as they put makeup on together.

"I made a lot of friends. I think some of them are thinking of starting a band, so I might try that for a bit. I think by winter, I'll start on college applications."

"If there aren't any cute or nice boys, I'd be more than happy to introduce you to some of Glenn's friends. They ain't bad looking."

Beth's eyes widened. "Are they going to be here tonight?"

"Oh yeah. Everyone's gonna be looking at you."

Beth scoffed. "No way, the focus is gonna be on you, Maggie. You've got the spotlight. No amount of drama from the group is going to mess that up."

Maggie and Beth started giggling. "It's silly how these adults, twice our age, are in so much teenage drama," Maggie laughed. "To be fair, a situation like theirs has never happened before."

"What about you guys? I heard Glenn had a close encounter with someone he knew previously. Was it the Governor? Or maybe that man, Negan?"

Maggie shook her head. "Just someone we disagreed with at one point, but definitely not Glenn's murderer. We're not worried at the moment."

Sometimes Beth wondered if people holding grudges might come back for them.

"What else do you need from me today?"

"Just two things. Make sure Rick doesn't have a meltdown, and that Dad actually sits down to relax at one point."

Beth nodded. She could do that. It was simple enough.

She went downstairs to the kitchen to grab Maggie some toast to eat. That was where Daryl sat at the table, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Daryl," she greeted, trying to make eye contact. He glanced at her briefly and took a sip of coffee. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he muttered into his coffee. "How's the bride doing up there?"

"She couldn't be more excited for today. We never had a proper wedding for them at the prison, so this is going to be great," Beth said while grabbing stuff from the fridge.

"We barely even had things like coffee at the prison."

"Remember the day you and Michonne brought back toilet paper and gum? That was the highlight of our week," Beth reminisced, her eyes sparkling.

This was the first time in six months where someone was able to casually talk about their time during the apocalypse so casually to Daryl. It felt natural and relaxing, a little bit cathartic. He felt a little less tense. He tried to think about those days, years ago.

"That was also the day you found flowers and made everyone wear those dumb little flower crowns."

"Hey! You wore a flower tiara too!" Beth pouted slightly.

"Only because I got to put one on little Asskicker…" Daryl trailed off. Beth realized it too, how awkward it was to address someone who no longer existed. "You took really good care of her."

Beth still was beaming, happy that Daryl remembered. "Maggie's told me stories about everyone, but I can't wait to hear what you've been doing. I ran into Merle, who said you were working as a guidance counselor."

Taken back, Daryl finally met her eyes. "What?! You've been in contact with my brother?"

"He and Michonne stumbled upon my workplace. I'm living in Atlanta now, on my own."

He raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Daryl worried slightly about Merle still. He was friends with a few people back from Woodbury.

"They fast-tracked my high school graduation. I'm taking some time off to have fun, that's why I'm living on my own in the city and working a job." Beth gestured to the house and the farm. "This isn't what I want to do in the future. At least, not anymore."

They were the most odd and unlikely pair to be having a conversation at the time in the morning, Daryl observed. The two had only become close friends during their time in the woods. Since it felt like ancient history to him, he still felt that awkwardness and nervousness from before. However for Beth, she seemed to talk to him with ease and comfort.

"You wanna help people?" Daryl inquired.

"Maybe. I'm just not sure how I wanna do it."

Beth finished prepping Maggie's meal tray. "Hey Daryl?" she said before leaving the kitchen.

"Mmh?" he grunted.

"I'm glad you remember me. And I'm glad you came." Then she went upstairs before she could spot the crestfallen expression on Daryl's face.

An hour later, Beth had barely finished putting on her dress when she heard a knock on the door.

"Beth? Can I speak to you?" It was Jimmy. He stepped in wearing a navy suit and bowtie. He'd been invited by Annette and Hershel to attend the wedding, as Maggie and Glenn invited the neighbours and people from the community.

Beth froze and her voice clamped up. She'd been avoiding his phone calls for months now. They hadn't officially broken up, but it was clear to both of them that Beth wanted nothing to do with their relationship. Still, Beth felt guilty about how she was treating him so unfairly.

"Hey Jimmy."

"Can we talk? I just want to make sure you're alright. I know nothing's been the same since "the wake up". I just thought…"

Her shoulders were tense, her anxiety was acting up, and she felt a desire to get away. "Listen, I'm sorry Jimmy. I should have called or something."

"Yeah, no it's okay. There were so many things going on. I just wished I knew you had moved to the city."

She didn't know how to answer him. Beth just gave him an apologetic look. "Again, I'm sorry. I hope we can still be friends."

"Oh, um, sure."

"I think Maggie needs my help with something. If you want, we're serving lunch in the barnyard and getting some festivities and games started. Carl has volunteered to be the unofficial MC." She then excused herself quickly, leaving Jimmy standing there dumbfounded.

Her heart ached terribly. It wasn't Jimmy's fault that she wasn't able to fully move on yet. Beth thought to herself, if she was going to get through this day, she needed something to soothe her nerves.

Break

Daryl spent the rest of the morning helping Hershel with errands around the farm. There were still chores to be done, but with the guests' help, they could finish early on and spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying celebrations.

"You have a knack for getting things done around here," Hershel remarked.

"I just don't like sittin' 'round doing nothing." Daryl tossed the last piece of equipment over his shoulder to bring back to the shed behind the barn. "And none of these slackers are much help."

"I beg your pardon," Rick and Sasha protested at the same time, both staring at each other.

"Yeah, yeah, you're all busy avoiding people. I gotcha."

Walking to the shed by himself, Daryl felt light. This week had been unexpected for him, he didn't realize so many people were attending. It was almost like things were back to normal. Like Beth, however, he wondered how things were going to be after the wedding.

And he had successfully managed to avoid letting Beth know he'd forgotten. Daryl cursed himself when Beth was being sweet and kind to him, but realized he'd gotten through the greatest hurdle. There was no need to let Beth know and hurt her feelings. He would make it up to her without her realizing it, somehow.

His sixth senses started tingling. Daryl glanced around the shrubbery and trees on the farm feeling as though he was being watched. Seeing nothing, he casually made his way to the shed and continued his errand as normal.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure move within the leaves, just outside of the farming landscape. His years dedicated to spotting walkers made him convinced there was a person out there. There were many guests on the property, but Daryl had a nagging feeling he ought to check up on this suspicious movement.

Daryl headed to the woods and crutched down within the leaves. The figure had not noticed him nor had he moved. As Daryl snuck up closer, he saw that it was clearly a young male figure wearing his hoodie up and backpack on his shoulders. The figure stared intently at the farmhouse and outdoors, where most people were gathered chatting and playing games.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Daryl called out.

Before he knew it, Daryl had grabbed onto the scruff of his hoodie and pulled it over his head to reveal his face. The figure was a young man, no more than twenty, who freaked out.

"I'm sorry! I'm not doing anything, I swear!"

Daryl let go of him and he fell to the ground. Daryl didn't recognize him.

"You're not a guest," Daryl stated as a matter of factly with a slight growl. "What's your name? Why are you here?"

"I-I- I just heard that Maggie Greene was getting married. I'm an old college friend of hers, I wanted a chance to chat with her." The boy whimpered under Daryl's glowering stare. "My name is J-Josh."

Daryl glanced at the items Josh dropped. A pair of binoculars and a notebook. "Why don't I take a look to see if you're telling the truth?"

Right now, Daryl wasn't packing any weapons, but he was confident he could take the kid out if he wanted to. He picked up the notebook and read a few of the pages. The handwriting was messy and hastily scribbled, but the most recent entries included a number of people, the descriptions of most of the people (Daryl figured he was the one described as 'large, strong man, brown hair, deathly look').

Daryl waved this page in Josh's face. "What's this?" he demanded.

"It's nothing!" Josh said a little too fast.

Not convinced that Josh's espionage was merely an expression of love for Maggie, Daryl figured he needed to do something about him. Kicking him off the property didn't guarantee that he would return.

"Look! That's Maggie's sister, she knows me." Josh pointed desperately. The longer he stood in Daryl's presence, the more intimidated he felt. "Please!"

They spotted Beth walking out of the house carrying baskets of flower petals. She wore a long light-green dress and had her hair braided in a half up-do, decorated with white flowers. Oblivious to their stares, she skipped over to the gazebo where the wedding ceremony was taking place.

Daryl didn't want to add fuel to the fire and have Glenn find this guy and beat him up. Or worse yet, having Maggie discover him and beat him up. "Stay here, I've got your phone, your bag, and all yer stuff. Will be right back."

Marching over to Beth, he took a minute to fully observe her. She looked livelier than he remembered. He wasn't sure if he'd witness all of his other friends change and grow hard, thick shells, but Beth pretty much appeared as innocent as when he first showed up on the farm.

"Hey Beth, can I bug ya about something?"

Startled, Beth jumped a little bit out of her skin. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I have a small situation." Daryl quickly explained and gestured to the huddled figure in the trees. "I don't want it to blow up and be a big deal."

Beth was speechless. "I remember Josh. He did have a crush on Maggie back then."

"That doesn't explain why he's scoping out this entire place. Something don't feel right."

"Let me go talk to him first."

Beth and Daryl took Josh further out into the woods where they would be unseen by the group. Beth found Josh nervously glancing over his shoulder.

"Beth! I'm not doing anything, I just wanted to see if I could catch Maggie before she got married."

"I don't believe him at all," Daryl muttered. "Why write about the people here? Man, I wish we could just waste people like we used to be able to."

Shaking her head, Beth pulled Josh aside kindly. "You know Maggie isn't just getting married now, right? She was married to Glenn before too. I think it would save you heartbreak if you just go now."

"I think that's a good idea," Josh said breathlessly, glancing at Daryl anxiously. "I can go now."

"Hang on a minute. Beth, are you sure he's a good guy?" Daryl asked, holding out a hand.

Nodding for a moment, Beth wanted to send him off quickly. Josh seemed embarrassed and scared shitless. "I don't want problems for her today. It's better if we pretend this never happened."

"I'll leave them alone, her kid and Glenn and everybody.."

Her eyes darted back. "How do you know about her baby?" she asked sharply. "Not everybody knows about that. She's been keeping that a secret."

Josh hesitated. This prompted Daryl to take a step closer. "Answer the question, boy," he growled.

"I-I survived with Maggie at the camp."

"No you didn't, you little shit," Daryl snapped. "I woulda recognize yah. What are you hiding?"

"Check his phone," Beth suggested.

Daryl made Josh unlock the phone and scrolled through his messages. "Gregory. How do you know this person?"

Beth didn't understand the significance of that name. "Give him a chance to explain."

"No." Daryl grabbed Josh by the scruff of his collar. "Talk. Now"

Josh broke down easily. He explained that he'd been contacted not too long ago by a man named Gregory, who'd heard he went to college with Maggie. "He paid me and kind of threatened me to find out where Maggie lived and worked. About four months ago. I couldn't do anything about it at the time, since Maggie was abroad for a while, but then we heard about this wedding. He wanted me to scope out how many people there were gonna be at the wedding."

"Did he say why?" Beth asked. Josh shook his head.

"I bet I can tell you why. That man wants revenge, plain and simple." Daryl started pacing back and forth.

Beth understood immediately. She figured it was about time somebody from their past would catch up to them. "We can't let this ruin Maggie's wedding."

Pulling Beth aside, Daryl talked to her in a low voice. "This is their lives we're talking about. Clearly those two asshats have something going on, and we gotta let your dad know so he can take care of it. We can have Rick arrest him."

"I think Josh has honestly no idea what Gregory is planning. And other than trespassing and spying, he hasn't done anything to anybody," Beth sympathized. "He hasn't done anything wrong."

"That's looking at it lightly, Greene."

Both frustrated with each other, they sat down on a tree trunk. Josh was still slumped over by himself a few feet away.

"Maybe we need another set of eyes on this," Beth whispered.

The two talked for a few minutes, before Daryl finally agreed he was going to grab Rick or Hershel, whoever was free at the moment, to help. Beth sat down across from Josh.

"Hey," she spoke softly.

Ever since her time in the hospital, Beth's own senses and guard had heightened. She still trusted people but also learned how to read them better.

"I wouldn't do anything bad to Maggie, I swear. I didn't realize Gregory has a grudge against her."

"Yeah, they knew each other in the apocalypse. There's bad blood there," Beth admitted. "I think this guy wants to hurt her."

"I don't want to see anybody get hurt."

"Josh, he's probably gonna kill her. If he does, you're just gonna go to jail too."

Josh grew defensive. "I haven't done anything. Hell, I can stop texting him at any time. And you don't have anything real on me. That friend of yours nearly injured me," Josh said bitterly. "You can't keep me here."

"You're right. We're not living under the apocalypse anymore. There are laws and rules," Beth agreed. She let out a sigh. "I think Daryl's still inside the house. You can probably take off now."

Josh's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'll say you ran away fast. It'll give you a chance to get away." She gave back his phone and wallet. "And you snatched these out of my hands, but everything else I managed to keep a hold on. Sound okay?"

"Thanks Beth, you're the nicest person ever."

Beth gave him about thirty seconds to run from the scene before heading back to the house. Daryl raced up to her promptly.

"I think he's innocent here. He honestly doesn't think Gregory's up to anything sinister," Beth told him. Rick also appeared behind Daryl, his cop-face on.

"He's gone?" Daryl asked.

"Yup."

As part of their plan, Rick took out his phone and started texting a number from it. "He didn't notice that you swapped out Gregory's contact info for ours?"

"Not a clue."

Rick: Sanderson, do you have what I need? Send it ASAP. I want the address and all names.

About four minutes later, they got a text back from Josh, thinking it was Gregory.

Josh: They gave me the wrong information. The farm was empty when I got here, I think the wedding is someplace else.

"Well well well, sounds like that boy isn't gonna go running. You're right, Beth," Rick commented. "I'll hold onto this for evidence when we look into stalking charges on Gregory. For now, I think we're in the clear."

"Not yet, once T-Dog comes back with that idiot's phone."

Daryl had taken the plan one step further and sent T-Dog to the highway where he'd be ready to mug Josh. Sure enough, Daryl got the text back that the phone was back in their possession. Beth gaped at him.

"He'll be stranded!"

"He has his car keys still, he's gonna be fine."

When T-Dog returned, Daryl gave him a good handshake, appreciating the "no questions asked" attitude that his friend had.

"Not a problem, man. I trusted there was a good reason behind it, and nobody saw my face. Whatever we have to do, right?"

Beth disapproved of Daryl's modification to the plan, but was in no position to keep arguing about it. She was glad it was dealt with and done. "Once the wedding is over, we'll let Maggie and Glenn know about it."

"Sounds like a plan." Rick and T-Dog also nodded in agreement.

The reception was about to start, which meant Beth was needed. Before she could leave, Daryl pulled on her arm for a minute.

"Nice thinking with that, Greene," he said.

"Well, everyone's always been cleaning up my messes for me. It's time I returned the favour." Beth smiled, actually relieved that it was over with. She recalled she hadn't craved a drink in at least a few hours. "It'll be one day soon where I do the same for you, Daryl Dixon."

"Yeah, you'll have lots of chances to pull your weight. I have a lot of enemies."