One Shot # 6

Trust Your Gut

It wasn't like Daryl didn't have a reason to not trust Beth, but the perverts that couldn't keep their eyes off of her? He didn't trust them at all. He didn't share with others, and his overly nice and friendly girlfriend made it hard. She humored guys who, even if she were single had not shot but listening to them, smiling and politely turning them down. She got hit on everywhere, even if he happened to be standing right beside her, with his arm over her shoulder. He wasn't exactly thrilled when he pulled into his driveway and saw her standing along side the fences handing out glasses of water to a few rough looking hunters, two of whom actually had the decency to at least look guilty to be ogling her, the taller dirt bag just smirked at him and touched Beth's arm to thank her. She stepped back and smiled at Daryl and waved.

"Hi Baby! I'm glad you're early! Maybe you can help. They're camping by the lake; I can't remember how to get there. They got turned around somehow." Beth said smiling as he walked up and pulled her back from the fence.

"You guys got lost?" Daryl snickered. "Sun sets in the west, lake is that way." He added reaching out for their glasses and taking them back and dumping them out. Beth looked at him and he pointed to the house. She bit her lip and walked towards the house. "You don't actually think I buy you being lost right? Get the fuck off my property. If I see you around here again I shoot." Daryl said stomping back to the house. He walked through the door and found Beth facedown on the bed crying. "They hurt you?" Daryl said seething. "I'll fucking kill them."

"Daryl you just don't get it." Beth said sniffling. "Don't you trust me at all?"

"I don't trust them!" He yelled. "God didn't you see them? Would you ever think me or Merle would get lost in the woods?"

"They're not from around here Daryl! They said they were from Louisiana!" Beth said. "I bet you might get lost in the woods if you'd never been there before. They were just walking along and I was in the garden and they asked for help. Should I have said no?"

"Yes!" Daryl said, "You don't got to offer them beverages and make small talk!" He sat next to her and rubbed her back. Beth flinched away to the other side of the bed, rolling over to turn her back.

"How are we ever going to make friends if you hate everyone?" Beth asked quietly.

"I don't want to be friends with them!" Daryl said. "I don't want you having any guy friends either! We got enough friends!"

"Why don't you trust me?" Beth asked again. "You know I'd never cheat on you."

"I'm a jealous guy. You know that. I don't even like sharing my time with you with anyone we know. I sure as hell ain't sharing my time with dirt bag rednecks that lie to you." Daryl added rolling over and grabbing her. "I didn't mean to make you cry though." Beth ignored him and hugged the pillow tighter. "I wasn't worried about you cheating, I was worried about them hurting you." Daryl kissed her neck. "Let me make it up to you."

"Daryl I'm not in the mood." Beth said.

"Not that, clean your dirty mind you pervert." Daryl teased. "Let's go out tonight."

"You hate going out." Beth said. "I only have fun when you have fun too."

"We can go shoot some pool I'll teach you, have some wings, some drinks." Daryl said. "I like pool." Beth rolled over and lifted herself up and stared down at him. "What?"

"Last time we went to the pool hall you punched a guy out." Beth said dropping down again.

"I forgot about that." Daryl said rubbing her back. "We could go for a hike."

"And run into those guys again?" Beth asked. "We could go shopping!" Daryl groaned and covered his face. "I only need a few things."

"Every time we go to the damn mall every store has some guy that follows us around, staring at your ass." Daryl said.

"Daryl not everyone is staring at me and my ass!" Beth said burying her head in the pillows.

"Look, just trust my instincts. Those were bad guys and your beautiful and everyone is staring at your ass when we go out. You don't get it women don't hit on me. They stay away."

"I didn't stay away." Beth said. "Women look at you too, you just usually ignore them."

"Like you should do with those perverts." Daryl said. "Look I don't think I can stomach shopping. What if we go out to diner?"

"You tell the waiters off!" Beth said laughing. "What if I make up some sandwiches and salads and we have a picnic in our own yard, no one else around to bug you?" Beth asked. "Just you and me?"

"Sounds good to me." Daryl said. "I could go pick up a bucket of chicken." Daryl offered. "You don't have to cook."

"I don't mind cooking. You could pick up some beer though. I don't think we have any left. Merle drank it all."

"Of course he did." Daryl said. "I don't need beer."

"I made a fresh pitcher of tea." Beth offered as she rolled out of bed and wiped her face off. Daryl held his hand up and waited while Beth reluctantly took it and let him pull her closer.

"Can't let anything bad happen to you." Daryl said rubbing her hand. "I'll try not to yell so much." Beth squeezed his hand and smiled.

"Thank you." Beth said leaning down so he could give her a hug.

"Love you girl." Daryl said letting her pull him from the bed and following her out to the kitchen. Beth started pulling veggies and leftovers from the fridge and Daryl grabbed a tablecloth and their picnic basket and took their picnic utensils, plates and cup and went out to set the table. Beth hummed to herself as she made a quick grilled chicken salad, a pulled pork sandwich, a steak sandwich and a BLT. She cut the sandwiches into quarters and staked them on a little tray with carrot and celery sticks and cherry tomatoes. Daryl brought the empty basket back in and started setting the table with the food that Beth had finished. He let a small grin settle on his face when he noticed that Beth was making a sweet tray.

"This is for dessert. Not for snacking." Beth said when Daryl reached for one of her brownies. "Don't spoil your dinner." She said as she drained the pasta she had cooked for a warm pasta salad.

"I could eat everything you made even if you weren't helping me out." Daryl said taking the ice from the fridge and filling each glass with three cubs each. "You want a water glass too?" Daryl asked as he filled another glass from himself. Castor and Pollux started barking from the yard and growling.

"What are those two getting into?" Beth asked as she wiped her hands off on her jean shorts and made her way outside with her salad. "Daryl!" she screamed. Daryl rushed out side and saw Beth standing back and Pollux guarding her while Castor had the tall dirt bag backed up against their fence, snapping at him every time he made any type of movement.

"What the fuck did I say?" Daryl growled as he grabbed a shovel Beth had leaning against the house and advancing.

"Castor, come to me!" Beth said slapping her thighs. Castor joined his brother and kept his eye on the intruder.

"Where are your friends?" Daryl snarled out. "Don't lie and tell me you came here all on your own." Beth looked around and thought she saw movement in the woods. "Go on inside and lock up." Daryl said without taking his eye off the stranger. Beth turned back around and quickly locked the patio doors and ran to the front and just flipped the lock as the two other men made it onto her porch. She grabbed her cell and quickly called 911. The operator told her to stay on the line and that help was on the way. She heard thuds coming from the yard and let out a cry when she saw that they were kicking and hitting Daryl.

"Leave him alone!" Beth screamed rushing for the door. The taller man turned around and mockingly beckoned her into her own yard, bowing and extending his arms in a welcome.

"You weren't very hospital." One of the men said. "You were right to suspect us though. If you had been about 10 minutes longer you would have walked in on us taking turns with your woman in your own bed." The man said with a sneer. "We cut your phone lines. Ain't no one coming to help you. We're going to leave you conscious though, let you watch. She's going to want you to know how to please her after she has us." Beth let out another whimper and thanked God she had used her cell. She backed away from the patio doors when one of the men started advancing on her and the dogs with a grin on his face.

"Don't you fucking touch her." Daryl drawled out as he grabbed at the man closest to him and hauled him down in the dirt and started landing blows again. The other men turned back and hauled Daryl off the man and socked him again in the stomach once before grabbing his arms so the man he'd hit could land a few free shots.

"They're beating him to death!" Beth said into her cell phone. "Hurray!" She said placing her phone back on the counter and rushing to Daryl's gun cabinet. She picked up one of her paperweights from the desk and smashed it down on the handle, breaking it off so she could get it. She grabbed one of his handguns and a box of bullets and dumped them on the floor and dropped to her knees and load the chambers before making her way back to the patio doors. She watched as the men holding Daryl tossed him back to the ground and all three started towards her. Beth aimed the gun at them through the glass door and stood her ground.

"You don't have it in you." One of the men taunted as they advanced. Beth gripped the gun tightly to stop her hands from shaking and pulled back on the hammer with her thumb, keeping both eyes open the way Daryl had told her to when he taught her to shoot. "Open the door and we won't all get on you at once." He sneered.

"Leave now and I won't shoot you." Beth said, voice trembling and not sounding the least bit threatening. Daryl coughed and rolled over, pushing himself up to his knees and groaning.

"Son you need to learn to stay down." The older man said as he turned back to Daryl. The taller man kept advancing to the door. Beth knew if he pulled hard enough he'd be able to get it off it's tracks and she really didn't want him to make it into the house with her. What if she missed? What if she just grazed him and made him angry? Castor and Pollux growled at her side as the man reached the door.

"I will shoot you gladly." Beth said again with her lip quivering. The man smirked and hauled really hard on the doors a few times before he was able to pull it off the track. Beth purposely aimed over his shoulder and let off one shot. "I said stop!" The man paused when the shot rang out.

"You missed sweet heart." He said stepping into the house. He looked on the counter and saw her cellphone. "Shit." he said running from the house. "She had a cell!" he said. The other two men stopped their assault on Daryl and looked at each other. Daryl lifted his heads and squinted towards the road. Two vehicles with flashing lights were making their way quickly towards them. "Shit!" He screamed again. Beth stepped to the door and carefully aimed, shooting one of the men in the leg and pointing the gun quickly and shooting at the one closest to Daryl. He fell back and she wasn't sure if he had been hit or not before turning back to the tall one and aiming carefully, pulling the trigger and hitting him in the shoulder. The one that she had as it turned out not hit, pulled a knife and throw it directly at Beth. Thankfully he had no talent and the handle hit her in the side of the head, the blade scrapping her cheek as it feel. Daryl roared with a second wind and tackled the man to the ground and pounding him with his fists and elbows. Rick and Shane rushed into the yard with their weapons drawn.

"Freeze!" Shane screamed pointing his gun. Beth dropped the gun she was holding and fell to her butt on the ground clutching her face sobbing. Rick quickly called for ambulances and two deputies that Beth didn't know started slapping cuffs on the men as Shane and Rick hauled Daryl off one of the men.

"Look at what the fuck this asshole did." Daryl said crawling quickly to Beth and gently touching her face, inspecting it through one eye, his other one was swollen shut.

"That slut shot at me!" He said as if he was completely innocent.

"Shut your God Damn mouth!" Shane said roughly forcing the man on his stomach. "We heard you and your friends through the radio on her cell phone." The two Beth didn't know kept their guns trained on the suspects and Rick rushed forward with his first aid kit and opened a sterile gauze and helped Daryl hold it to Beth's cut as Shane treated the other two with compresses for their gun shot wounds. Shane started reading them their rights off a little card. "O'Hair put this piece of trash in the squad car. These other two need to be stitched up before we throw them in jail." Daryl swatted at Rick when he tried to hold an ice pack to his face.

"Take care of her!" Daryl said sitting back and holding his side. Beth took the ice pack and held it firmly to his eye.

"You're hurt worse!" Beth sniffled. "I should have got the gun sooner and shot them."

"You'd have shot me if you tried while we were fighting." Daryl said as he held still as the ice numbed his face. "Merle's beat me worse than this." Rick and Shane started collecting evidence and taking statements once the ambulances arrived. Daryl and Beth got checked over and luckily they didn't appear to have any broken bones. Beth needed a few butterfly bandages to close her cheek and Daryl needed to have his nose set. "I'll drive us to the hospital. She need stitches? Those bandages enough?"

"A doctor should look you both over. Let us take you to the hospital." Rick said. "I'll bring y'all home after, help you get the door back on its track. I'll even stay if it'll make you feel safer Beth."

"I feel safe with Daryl. You don't need to stay." Beth said immediately. "He's always kept me safe." Beth said squeezing Daryl's hand.