Guys, this was so hard to write. Like, so hard. I hope you can still appreciate it :) Daryl is such a difficult POV to write for me, compared to Beth.
At least, it's done! I hope you enjoy it and thank you to everyone who comments-favs-follows :)
He was screwed.
He knew he never should have let Rick drag him back on the ice rink, and he had no idea why he had let him do it.
One simple answer was that he missed skating. Every day since the day he had decided to quit, he had missed it too damn much.
Daryl sighed, tossing and turning in the hotel's bed, trying to get some sleep but failing miserably. Fuck. He couldn't shake the sensation being back on ice had given to him, it was like an addiction, an adrenaline rush.
He was sore, too. He definitely was out of shape, one more reason why he shouldn't be doing this. Rick had to be pretty fucking desperate to think that he was his best chance.
When his old friend had called him a couple days ago asking him to be Beth Greene's new partner, he had thought it was a joke. Rick was serious, though, and he had pushed and insisted, reminding Daryl of all the times he had had his back. Daryl had to admit it was a pretty long list.
Still, he had refused. And then he had refused again, and again. He had even refused after Lori had tried to talk him into it.
Rick had hung up the phone, but two days afterwards, a box had been delivered at his door. In that moment, he immensely regretted Rick being one of the few people to know his address, a cottage buried in the woods of Georgia.
In the box, there was a USB pen and a letter.
The letter was short and simple:
"Watch this. If you still wanna say no afterwards, that's your stupid decision".
Jesus Christ. And he thought Rick was a level-headed person.
He had taken the USB pen and reluctantly inserted it in his computer, and had found himself staring at one of the most beautiful skaters he had ever seen.
Beth Greene was elegant, clean and incredibly expressive, not to mention those legs who seemed to go on for miles and the fact that she clearly was an amazing skater. Her partner, Zach Gallway, he read, wasn't too bad himself, but he was definitely outshined by Beth's presence.
Daryl had caught himself imagining Beth Greene skating with him: the movements, their different styles merging together, it all came to him without effort.
Terrified, he had tried to shake all of it out if his mind, throwing away the damn USB pen and tearing Rick Grimes' letter to shreads.
Fuck this, he had told himself. He had retired, he wasn't gonna come back to that same world that had made him want to leave the thing he cared the most about in the first place.
And yet, here he was, lying awake in a bed in a small town next to Boston, after his first day of practice.
His mind was full of a thousand different thoughts: how as soon as the press would have found out they would have destroyed him, and with him Beth, and Rick. How he wasn't good enough anymore anyways, so he should save everyone some time and get the fuck outta there before this became an official deal. How he hated the way everyone looked at him after what he had done to Andrea, and how he hated the way people used to look at him even before, like he was some vicious wild animal.
All of these things though, weren't enough to erase the incredible feeling he had had there, flowing on the ice once again.
And the main reason why he had decided to quit, his secret, well that couldn't be used against him anymore.
As much as he denied it to himself, he wanted to go back to skating so bad. As terrified as he was, he couldn't wait to practice more tomorrow. That is, if Beth Greene ever wanted to see his face again.
He had been such a dick.
What he had said about Beth being a Barbie Princess and not worthy of his time was absolute bullshit. Sure, she looked like a bit of a spoiled princess, but the way she had welcomed him had been so different from the suspiciousness or superiority he was used too.
She had been kind, and nice to him, and it was obvious that she was trying to get to know him.
She was really hard working, Rick had described her to him as a bit of an OCD kinda person, but he appreciated that. He, too, had always been a perfectionist when it came to skating.
She had been nice, and she was so talented, and even if he would have rather died than admit it to himself, the way she had blushed when he had first touched her had made him want to smile.
And now, she probably hated him. And that was all his fault for being such a foul mouthed dick.
If she had been Andrea, she would have probably killed him right there and then.
But then again, he had a feeling that Beth was a completely different sort of person from his ex-skating partner. Andrea and he were way too similar under a lot of aspects: both were reckless and short tempered. They used to fight all the time, and even though they obviously cared about each other as partners, they had never gotten along well in real life, they never were close.
Daryl had grown up surrounded by very nervous, angry people. The way Andrea always snapped at him and called him names only made him want to be more of a jerk to her. They had been good partners, but they brought out the worst in each-other whenever they stepped off the ice. That had been just one more reason for him to quit.
He didn't know Beth Greene, but he could tell that if she wanted him back, things would have been completely different from the way they used to be with Andrea, and he liked the idea.
Now, he only had to hope Beth was gonna have him back. Of one thing he was sure, though: he was never going to apologize.
He showed up to the ice-rink at 7.30 am, and he was surprised to see that the Asian guy was already there, warming up on the gym-mats placed on the sides of the ice.
When he saw him, the guy stood up and walked towards him.
"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to introduce myself yesterday. I thought you were gonna join us for lunch! Anyways, I'm Glenn"
Daryl stared at his hand for some time. He didn't like new people, but he was trying not to be a dick today.
"Daryl"
"Yeah, I know. Dude, how crazy that you're skating again!"
Glenn exclaimed. Daryl didn't say anything, focusing on not telling this kid to fuck off for reminding him he wasn't supposed to be there.
Glenn tried again.
"You're gonna love Beth, you'll see. She's a really sweet girl, and she's crazy talented, too"
"Ya datin' her?" he grunted. He didn't mean anything by it, just a way to interrupt the guy's rambling. Now that he had asked though, he found himself to be interested in the answer.
"What?! No! Absolutely not! We're just friends. To be honest, neither of us really has time to date anyone. Even though if her sister Maggie ever agreed to go out with me I would find the time for that"
Jesus, was this kid ever gonna shut up?
Right then, the locker room door opened and Beth was there, a bright pink hoodie and black leggings, hair up in a messy bun.
As soon as she saw Daryl, her big baby blues turned to ice. Her eyes were so big and expressive, he felt immediately compelled to make them go back to their usual warmth.
"You're here" she said, coolly.
"Yeah" he replied, lamely.
Glenn kept shifting his eyes from him to her, as if he was following a tennis match.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Yeah. We gotta train if we're gonna be ready for the qualifications"
"Do we? I thought I was a Barbie Princess unworthy of your time"
Glenn turned towards him "Dude, what the hell?"
He didn't look at him. He kept looking at Beth.
"I thought you said you were leaving" she continued, crossing her arms.
He wasn't gonna apologize. He could only hope that him showing up was gonna be enough for her to have him back. God, he really hoped so.
"Well, 'm here now. So do ya wanna train or not?"
She didn't say anything for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, still without a word, she sat down on the mat and started stretching. When he didn't move, she looked at him with a raised brow.
"Well? I thought you wanted to train"
The first time he skated with Beth Greene was something he wasn't gonna forget easily. The girl was fast, and it didn't surprise him considering her long legs, but it was an amazing sensation nonetheless. She was quite a bit shorter than him, and still she could perfectly keep up with his pace.
When he had stopped, a bit abruptly, she had bumped into his chest. She smelled like vanilla, but she had looked up at him with wild, sparkling eyes. He had felt the back of his neck go hot.
"That was incredible" she had breathed out smiling at him. "Zach could never go this fast" she had admitted, looking a bit guilty.
Rick had smiled knowingly, while Daryl felt a surge of masculine pride at her words, feeling like a simpleminded idiot because of it.
As he had imagined, Beth was easy to work with, and adjusting to each other was turning out to be much easier than they had expected it. It was almost as if it was meant to be, and he tried not to think about the way her petite body fit perfectly against his every time he had to hold her.
The lifts were working well: she wasn't as powerful as Andrea had been, but her technique was so on point and she was so graceful that it was working anyways.
The jumps were more problematic. It wasn't her best element and she was struggling to adapt the height and the speed to his, while he still struggle with triples. It was only the second day though, and he could tell by Rick's face that it was going pretty fucking well.
When lunch-break arrived, Beth waited for him at the edge of the ice.
"Hey" she smiled at him "Do you wanna have lunch together with me and the others?" she asked, looking hopeful.
He really didn't want to. The Asian kid talked way too much, he could tell that Carol still didn't like him by the way she stared at him, and Karen looked at him as if he was some rare species.
He just didn't like strangers.
"Nah, thanks. I'll just go grab some food and head back"
"Oh." He could tell she was disappointed, and he hated to keep doing this to her. She tried to look unaffected and gave him a small smile "Well.. I guess I'll see you in an hour, then?"
"Yeah."
She nodded, and started walking away from him, looking a bit defeated.
He didn't like strangers, but Beth wasn't a stranger. Or at least, he didn't want her to be, if he had to be his partner. He needed to get to know her.
"Beth" he called at her, and she turned around immediately with a hopeful expression on her face.
He cleared his throat, before saying: "I dunno this town well. Come with me an' help me.. if you want to?"
She smiled and her eyes sparkled. He was quickly getting addicted to that too.
"Sure!"
They were driving in his beat-up truck. There was silence, but somehow it didn't feel awkward. Beth had shuffled through stations until she had found one that she liked, and she had started humming along to the music.
Her voice was soft and sweet, just like her, and Daryl found that he liked listening to her, and that he didn't mind her company.
"Turn right now and park in front of the Diner. My friend Tara works there as a waitress and I promise you they have the absolute best milkshakes you'll ever have"
He nodded and followed the instructions, parking in front of a colourful and cosy-looking diner.
They walked in and sat down at one of the boots. It wasn't really busy, but then again it was a small town.
"BETH!"
A waitress, tall and with dark hair, hurried towards them
"I've been trying to call you all weekend! I heard what happened with Zach.. sweetie, why didn't you tell me?"
Beth looked a bit embarrassed.
"I'm sorry Tara, it was just some crazy last few days" she explained. Tara seemed to finally notice him, and Beth quickly introduced him.
"This is Daryl, he…" she stopped, looking a little panicked. They had decided they weren't gonna announce this until it was gonna be definitive, and they hoped that the press wasn't gonna find out before then.
"I'm a friend of Rick's" he said, hoping that his usual stare would have worked and made Tara run away.
It did, she asked for her orders and, with one last curious glance, she left.
"Sorry, I forgot that we aren't supposed to say anything" Beth said, and her cheeks were red. He couldn't help thinking she looked really cute when she was flustered.
"'s alright" he answered, quietly.
"So, uhm… I haven't thanked you yet for accepting to do this. I know you didn't want to, and you're really saving me, so thank you" she said then, looking at him with sincere eyes.
He shook his head, feeling the back of his neck go warm again.
"Don't thank me. Haven' skated in years, and when the press finds out, they're gonna think yer crazy for doin' this."
"I don't care what they think" she stated, firmly.
He looked at her then, and he could tell she was stronger and more determined than she looked. After all, she had stood her ground with him this morning.
"Good. 'cause they're not gonna have no qualms when it comes to talkin' shit about me. And they'll drag you in, too, an' Rick"
Hell, just thinking about it made him wanna bolt. He really did hate the press.
"I don't care" she repeated "All I care about is that we're gonna shut their mouths when we place for Nationals".
He stared at her. He couldn't really help it.
"D'ya really think so?"
"Yes, I do. Rick does to." She affirmed. "Do… do you?"
Tara came back with their orders and he didn't reply. Truth was, he really didn't know what to think.
When they came back to the rink after lunch, Rick gave him a grin that made Daryl wanna go back to his truck and drive away.
But he didn't. He really liked Rick Grimes, and he liked Lori, too. They were good people, and they were some of the few people in the industry that had never believed any of the prejudices against him. They had gotten to know him, and slowly he had let them in. He considered them to be some of his very few real friends. They had been so mad when he quit.
"I see Beth has managed to get the bear to leave his cave"
"Shut up"
Rick laughed, before telling him and Beth that Carol had come up with a Short Program for them to learn, while she was still working on the Long.
"When the hell did she do that?"
"She's a genius, trust me. Let's go see her so she can show you guys. It's really good, I think you'll like it"
Rick was right. Carol Peletier was indeed a genius. He didn't wanna say it, but her program was really good. No useless dance moves just for the sake of it. It was elegant and powerful, and he really liked it.
Beth, on the other hand, was silent.
"What do you think Bethy?" Carol asked, looking at her.
They were in her dance studio, all sitting on the wooden floor.
"I love it" she confessed "It's so different from what we did with Zach"
Carol smiled, knowingly "Honey, he isn't Zach" she said, giving him an unreadable look.
He didn't know if he was meant to feel offended or not, but what mattered was that Beth liked it, and he did too. Hell, it was a solid program, probably the best one he had ever been offered to do, and full of difficult elements he hoped he could still pull off. He was sure that Beth was more than capable.
The music was a classical cover of some modern song he didn't know, but Beth seemed to be very excited at the idea.
"Alright" Rick said "Let's go back to the rink. Carol will come with us and direct you guys. Let's make this happen."
They walked down the stairs and soon, they were flying together on the ice again.
I hope this didn't suck. I don't know if I'll be able to update daily cause the next few days will be hectic. I have classes to attend and assignments to do! Hopefully it won't take very long :)
Let me know what you thought! And, if anyone's interested, the music for their SP is Aston's terrific cover of ET by Kanye and Katy Perry!