"Better Days"

Author: carmen_085

Disclaimer: I don't own any Walking Dead characters. Original characters are mine

Author's Note: Thanks for reading ! It's been long time coming but I finally finished this one. Bigger thanks to all those who hung in until the end.

Epilogue

'So take these words

And sing out loud

Cause everyone is forgiven now

Cause tonight's the night the world begins again'

As the days and weeks passed Daryl began to settle into an easy routine at the prison. In the beginning it was strange not having Carl and Sophia trailing behind him all day, but he knew they were safe and this was the way it was supposed to be. They were back with their folks, he had kept his promise, albeit much delayed, and they were safe. What else could he want ?

Leaning back against the picnic table he pretended to concentrate on his crossbow as Carol stared at him from across the courtyard. He understood her gratitude, although he assured her it was unnecessary. She wouldn't leave him alone, though, and he was beginning to get annoyed with her. Not only did he have no desire to play house he also didn't care for her one bit given some of the things he learned from Sophia while on the road. Any woman, who chased after a man that abused a kid, was a weak piece of shit in his opinion. Turning away he began to walk toward the gate not caring to acknowledge her persistent efforts to get his attention.

The sun beat down on his back making the sweat bead up as he headed toward the fences. Walkers were starting to build up and he needed something to do. That was the trouble with this place; there were long periods of time when nothing needed done. Comfort was beginning to build within all of them as Daryl saw it the moment he arrived. Fresh from the road; he, Carl and Sophia looked like animals compared to the rest of them. Even Rick had forgotten, to an extent, what it was like out there. Daryl snorted to himself as he walked down the gravel path; Rick didn't even carry a gun anymore. What the hell.

Biting his tongue Daryl felt a pang of guilt. Lori was dead; died giving birth to the baby who looked just like Shane if anyone was asking. But nobody asked and Rick took the high road, like always, and went on about life as if he was sure that she was his. He didn't know everything that had happened while he was gone. Hershel had filled him in on bits and pieces; like why he had one leg, why Rick was standing out in the field staring at plants, and why Beth was carrying a baby around. A lot was left out and Daryl didn't press. He understood the sanctity of suffering and how the gory details belonged only to those present. He didn't tell Rick or Carol everything that happened while they were on the road and they didn't ask. A year out in the wild with two young kids, one of them a girl, and he guessed they assumed things happened that they just didn't want to know.

Setting the crossbow to the ground he picked up one of the melee tools and began stabbing rotting brains through the chain link. He needed to find his place here; it had been so simple out there. He was their protector, their provider…their everything. Now they didn't need him although they still wanted to be around him as much as possible. Carl, in particular, seemed especially conflicted. Sophia didn't have a dad so her wanting to be around him made sense; Carl had a dad, and a good one too. Being with Daryl felt like he was picking one over the other. Further complicating matters, while he was gone ,Rick had turned into someone completely different. Daryl knew the boy didn't understand it so usually he let him hang out a little while before redirecting him toward his old man.

Black blood splattered as he poked and pulled over and over again. Stopping for a moment he pulled a cigarette out of his vest and lit it staring up at the dark clouds that were beginning to roll in. Flicking a glance back at the courtyard he shook his head as he saw people milling about. It seemed so normal, the way it used to be…before, the way it should be now. Turning back toward his work Daryl could't completely buy into the idea of a normal life anymore. Living like this bred complacency and comfort. Two things they didn't have the luxury of anymore. Funny though, the whole time on the road all he wanted was a place like this for Carl and Sophia. Now that he had found it, he wondered if it was more dangerous here than out on the road.

"Got another of those?" Shit…he was so busy chiding all of them in their head for being relaxed and here he was not even aware someone had walked right up on him. Turning around, the tension in his shoulders relaxed when he saw Beth. Grunting he began plunking walkers again. She wasn't going away, though. Chucking his head toward the pile of tools on the ground he stole a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Plenty right there." Beth laughed a little, the same soft laugh he remembered from the farm. Picking up a crow bar she looked at him with a smirk on her face. A smirk? When the hell had sweet, innocent Beth begun to smirk. Turning to face her fully he cocked an eyebrow as she stool there full of determination and rebellion. Reaching over, she plucked the smoke from his mouth and inserted it into her own taking a drag before coughing . Daryl smirked his usual taunting smirk as he shook his head. "You ever smoke before ?"

Putting the cigarette back into her mouth she turned toward the fence. "I've done a lot of things that you don't know about." To say he was taken aback would have been a gross underestimation. Taking out another cigarette he lit it while carefully studying her. Sure she put on like a hard ass but underneath that was an unmistakeable air of hesitancy. Rolling his eyes, Daryl went back to the fence. This place had become so comfortable that there was even room for something like teenage rebellion.

They worked side by side for a while before she finally spoke up again. "Everyone treats me like a little girl that can't handle herself when it suits them. But then they expect me to raise a baby that ain't even mine." He stopped for a moment taking drag on the cigarette before letting it rest at his side. "Carl was a scared little boy, hiding in his mother's shadow before being with you. Now…." She gestured toward the other end of yard where Rick was bent over the tomato plants. "Now he's more of a man than his own father." Daryl winced a little. God, when did she get so blunt…so realistic. "Sophia too….she's a warrior and a survivor. I never knew her before but the way you guys looked for her…. I couldn't imagine she knew the first thing about survival"

"What do you want?" Daryl didn't care for beating around the bush, although this particular diatribe struck a cord inside of him. She wasn't saying anything he hadn't already thought. Stopping from her work at the fence she turned to him, tossing the cigarette to the ground and stamping it out.

"Everyone here thinks we're safe. That nothing bad will ever happen. Then something bad happens and they all run around in panic. Like when my daddy lost his leg…" Her eyes filled with tears reminding him that the Beth he knew was still under this newly acquired charade. "I didn't know what to do but I didn't give up on him…Maggie was ready to take him out back and bury him. Told me I needed to be realistic." Stopping she leveled her gaze at Daryl; truly staring him down for the first time. "I was being realistic. If he died the rest of us would have been screwed." Daryl couldn't argue with that. Hershel was the glue that held this place together; not to mention he was also the de facto Medic, Pediatrician, Obstetrician, and whatever the hell else someone needed. With Rick out in deep space, there was no leader. Glenn was trying, he could see, but the kid couldn't take the emotion out of decision making.

Stepping back he threw his own smoke on the ground stamping it out. "So what do you want…" Wiping the sweat from her brow she stared at him.

"I want you to take me out there and show me how to survive. To do with me what you did with them…" Shaking her head she let out a wry laugh. "I don't think this place will last forever. No matter how much I hope for it…I just don't think it will happen."

Daryl stared back at her for a second before dropping the tool. "Nah…Can't do that."

"And why not?" Whatever happened on the road last winter had ripped the innocence right out of her. Wondering for the first time how bad it really got, he looked at her.

"Because this is different…This place is safe. Weren't that way out there. Carl and Sophia had to become what they are to survive. To make it to a place like this." Beth nodded staring down at the ground as he turned to leave, satisfied that he had quelled her teenage rebellion.

Her voice stopped him cold. "It's easy to give up…isnt' it ? To say the hell with it?" He kept his gaze to the ground as she walked around to face him, the bloody melee tool still in her hand. "I know you were ready to give up that day…." She stopped letting out a deep breath as she shook her head. "Can't say I was much better." His eyes involuntarily flicked to her wrist, now covered with bracelets and walker blood. "We are all weak, sometimes, Daryl." His eyes met hers for the first time. "I'm not that person anymore and neither are you. I can do more here, I don't want to be a burden to anyone or rely on others to protect me."

He watched her walk back around to the fence and continue her work without another word. The sky began to darken as a few raindrops fell. Turning he walked back toward her as he leaned on the fence next to her studying her carefully before speaking.

"After the farm was lost…I thought everyone else was dead. Kept telling Carl and Sophia that we would find them but in my heart I just knew they were gone." Taking deep breath, he looked at her seriously not really believing he was about to say this. "You're right. I was going to give up that day in the church." He couldn't say the rest, what her just sitting next to him meant in that moment. The hope she gave him and how the sweet sound of her voice kept him going just one more day. Biting his lip, he looked back up to her. "You want me to show you how to survive…alright. It ain't going to be easy, though, and you need to ask your Pa first." Hershel was one of the few men he had real respect for. Staring back at him she nodded.

"Alright…" Feeling uncomfortable, he turned on his heel and began to walk away before stopping for a second.

"Oh yeah…and Beth ?" Putting the tool back into the pile, the rain began to pick up as she wiped her bloody hands on the front of the apron. He stood there looking at her not sure how to form the right words.

Nodding she smiled that sweet Beth smiled her remembered. "You're welcome…". Nodding he walked away from her as his mind began to spin. He never had these…what do you call these…relationships…with people before. To care about someone or feel something; it was all new to him. Reaching the courtyard Carl and Sophia came running over eager to tell him all about the survival lessons they had been imparting on the other kids. Today was building a fire…laughing Daryl pulled on Sophia's ponytail as Carl walked backwards in front of him making sure to emphasize how impressed everyone was with him.

He never wanted to care about anyone, just didn't make sense to him. No one cared about him a lick most of his life. But if his year on the road taught him anything, he learned it was unavoidable to not care, to not develop affection, to remain emotionally closed off. And with that, a part of him he thought had died long again under the relentless abuse of his old man came back to life. And he came back to life….a good life…a life worth fighting for…and a life he never thought he deserved but always wanted.

THE END

GOO GOO DOLLS "Better Days" lyrics above

Thinking of doing a Bethyl sequel. Let me know what you guys think !