A/N- here's my post for today, the prompt was joy. I probably won't be posting tomorrow but I'll be back Saturday! I hope you enjoy, please review!
Joy spread through her every limb, every fiber, every thought. She watched Daryl sleeping, his hair falling across his face, stubble speckled with grey, and was tempted to wake him up again. She knew he wouldn't refuse her. If anything, he'd ask what took her so long to get him up for another round.
They had spent days like this. It had started with some light petting, her giggles, shared kisses, but quickly escalated as they realized how much they craved each other's touch, how much they needed to be closer. Now, they were nearly out of food, having finished their meat supply, and only had the canned vegetables from their emergency packs left. Beth knew today would be the day they would have to attempt to return to normal, whatever that would be. But she was going to delay that shift for as long as their stomachs and low wood supply would allow.
Rather than waking Daryl, Beth slipped out of bed, pulling his flannel shirt on rather than her own. After tending the low fire, she snuck to the other side of the one room cabin, approaching the stack of boxes she and Daryl had set aside as useless during their first night.
It only took moments of searching to find it. One dented cardboard box, filled with cheap and mostly broken Christmas decorations. When she originally opened the box, Daryl had given her a "don't you even think about it" look and cracked that it was useless to celebrate anything to do with heaven in a world that had clearly gone to hell. But now Beth believed Daryl knew otherwise. There was still good. There was still joy. There were still things worth celebrating.
Beth silently made her way around the room, hanging up random bows, plastic garland, and putting out a frosty the snowman plush on the loveseat by the fire.
"What th' heck you doin, Greene?" Daryl asked groggily, sitting up in the creaky bed and shaking the hair from his eyes.
Beth just smiled over her shoulder before focusing on centering a chipped nutcracker above the fireplace.
"We decidin it's Christmas?" He asked, his voice more accepting than annoyed. Beth loved that he now used "we" when discussing her decisions. The transition had happened so quickly, yet seemed so seamless.
"Yup." Beth chirped, stepping back to examine her work before turning back to the bed where Daryl sat, the worn comforter and quilt haphazardly covering his lap. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him and felt the blood rush to her cheeks.
"Whatcha' thinking bout now, Greene? Still Christmas?" He asked, a smug smirk playing across his lips.
Before she could think of a flirty answer her stomach let out a loud growl, ruining any chance at a romantic moment.
Daryl just laughed, jumping into action and pulling on his pants from the side of the bed. "Damn, you're getting demandin' now that we got this thing goin on."
"Well, I AM burnin a lot of calories."
Daryl walked over, grabbing the small of her back and pulling her closer so she could feel the heat radiating from his body. He leaned in, teasing her lips with his, "Give me back my damn shirt and we'll go huntin'. Then you can have more energy."
Beth closed her eyes, kissing him before answering, "As long as I get the bow."
They caught a rabbit shortly after heading into the woods. Daryl shot it but Beth got a clean headshot on the only walker they encountered, so he spent the walk home praising her for her skill.
As Daryl gutted the rabbit a safe distance from their camp, Beth carted a few buckets of clean snow inside to melt for fresh water and fill their empty jugs. She then took to cooking the rabbit while Daryl went out for wood, promising a nervous Beth not to venture far from the cabin, even if the walkers were slow. Daryl was gone just long enough to make Beth consider going after him, but returned before she had actually made a move to exit the cabin.
"Got us some wood." Daryl announced as he kicked snow off his boots in the doorway, sounding a little too proud of himself for completing an everyday chore. Beth didn't look up immediately but got suspicious when she heard the pine needles scratching on the wooden floor.
"Daryl!" She almost jumped for joy, seeing the small evergreen tree Daryl had haphazardly stood up in the corner.
"What?" He tried to act innocent, "I just figured we could cut it down as we needed more wood."
Beth replaced the lid on the pot hanging above the fire and practically skipped over to Daryl, wrapping her arms around his cold jacket.
"Can we put the ornaments from the box on it?" She asked, biting her bottom lip in an attempt not to look too excited.
Daryl laughed, "You get on that. I gotta grab the other firewood from outside. Pine don't burn too well." Daryl pecked the top of her head before turning to walk back out the door.
For the first time in years, Beth was glad they no longer knew the date. That just meant the holiday joy could last for as long as they wanted it to. And at this point, she figured they deserved a lot of joy.