I'm so so so sorry for the longer wait you guys! Y'all have been so amazing reviewing this thing (I'm also really sorry I couldn't answer all of your lovely comments personally) and I'm just overwhelmed! Sadly, though, I have essays to write, and assignments to do, so this just took longer to write. I hope it was worth it :)
Rick had dragged her inside, making sure she didn't get harassed by the photographers and the paparazzi, shouting 'NO COMMENT' repeatedly while they made their way into the building.
As soon as they did they were greeted by Glenn, Karen and Jacqui, all of them looking shocked and stunned.
"Man, this is awful" Glenn said, putting an arm around Beth's shoulders "You okay?" he asked, gently.
"Yeah. Just… I wasn't expecting this to happen when the news broke" she said, looking at the others.
Karen shut the curtains. Beth could tell that she was pretty mad about the whole situation.
"Well I was" she stated, turning towards Rick "And you did too, and you lured them here by making Dixon come skate with Beth, and now they're never gonna leave."
Rick was about to say something but she continued: "My skater can't afford to be distracted or stressed by this whole situation!"
Glenn looked like he was going to protest, but Beth stopped him.
Rick quirked his brow "And mine can? Look, Karen, this situation is not what I want. I don't need this attention on Daryl and Beth right now. I need them to feel comfortable during their trial period, not pressured from the outside. This is not what I wanted."
Karen didn't budge "Then do something about it, Rick. You know I like working with you in this place, but I can't accept this situation."
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Rick asked, his face severe. "I didn't call them, I didn't want them here"
"I want you to issue a statement. People are talking, the news that Zach isn't gonna compete anymore is out, and now they know about Daryl. The only way to make this better is for you to be honest with the press and give them what they want"
"It's too soon for that. I'm not gonna issue a statement before the trial period's over."
Beth sighed. She thought Karen was right, and she knew a statement was the best thing to do. At the same time though, announcing Daryl was her new partner when they still were unsure about it would have done more bad than anything, and if the trial period didn't work it would have been double as humiliating for her.
"We can't wait and stand this situation. You know rumours are gonna spread quickly, I can't even think about what the newspapers and blogs will say tomorrow."
Rick was staring at her looking angry, but the fact that he didn't have anything to say to her meant that he didn't have options.
Karen took a step towards him.
"Fix this. Fix this, or there will be consequences."
As soon as Karen left, Carol arrived, making her way through that human sea with her usual class. She was such a badass, and Beth really admired her for that. She didn't take anyone's bullshit, and she knew that if a paparazzi would have tried a mean move, she would have not hesitated to flip them off.
"This is a nightmare" she said, shaking her head "Is Daryl here already?"
"No, but I called him and told him to try and arrive from the backdoor" Rick replied, shaking his head.
Karen and Glenn had gone on the rink to start their training, while Beth and Rick sat in his office waiting and discussing the situation.
"Karen think we should issue a statement" Beth said, looking at Carol "What do you think about that?"
Carol sighed.
"I think she's right, but you're gonna have to talk to Daryl and make sure he's convinced and determined in doing this. We all know that he hates the press, you wanna be sure he's not gonna bail after this"
Rick nodded.
"We'll talk to him as soon as he arrives" he decided, looking resigned.
"Do you think… is he still gonna want to do this?" Beth asked. She hated the edge of desperation in her voice, but the truth was she really liked skating with Daryl, especially now that she had started becoming… friends with him, or at least she thought so. They were friends, right?
"We can only wait for him and hope he won't have changed his mind" Rick said, and to Beth's horror he didn't sounded convinced at all.
Daryl was fucking furious.
Not that he expected anything different from the people who had tormented him for years, digging into the past he so desperately wanted to leave behind.
Hell, he had known this was gonna happen since the moment he had accepted Rick's offer, but he still damn hated it. More than anything, he hated that their presence was gonna affect other people around him. Rick, and Carol, and Beth.
His stomach clenched at the thought, and he felt so incredibly stupid.
How could you not have a crush on Beth Greene? She was sweet, and kind, and baked cookies for everyone, and she was such a hard worker and a talented skater. She had not complained once yesterday, enduring endless falls. She trusted him.
No one had ever trusted him like that, it hadn't been like that with Andrea. He and Beth had only skated together for a few days and she trusted him.
Her face had lightened up when he had brought her that balm, yesterday. The thought of her kissing his cheek made his neck burn and his stomach clench.
What the hell was he doing? He couldn't fall for her. Daryl Dixon didn't fall in love.
But how could you not fall in love with someone like Beth?
He told himself that the reason why he had come to training despite the paparazzi was that he wanted redemption, but he would be a damn liar if he didn't admit that a huge part of him coming back was so that he could see Beth, skate with her again, see her baby blues sparkle, her smile.
He pushed his way through the screaming journalists, suppressing the need to punch each and every one of them in the face, but he was furious at them for not minding their fucking business. He could already picture the things they were gonna write in their damn blogs, bashing him, and Beth, and Rick.
He hated them, but he was gonna try and deal with them, not letting them affect him. He was gonna try, 'cause Rick had trusted him, Beth was relying on him and he felt a sense of duty to them that he had never felt before.
"Daryl! Are you okay?" Beth, in her skates and warming up, jumped to her feet when she saw him enter. He looked pissed off, and he had every reason to.
"Hate those fuckers" he grunted.
Beth nodded, with a sigh.
"That was horrible, when I saw them out of my house, and here" she said, quietly.
"'m sorry"
"Daryl." She couldn't believe he constantly took the blame for everything. It was like this man had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He looked at her, almost shyly.
"Daryl, it's not your fault."
He didn't say anything, but he looked as unconvinced as always.
Rick walked up to them, and Lori was with him. As soon as Daryl saw her, he bowed his head, looking embarrassed for some reason.
Beth remembered Rick telling her that Lori had been so hurt when he had just quit the sport and pretty much vanished, and that she had been the first person to give him a chance in that world. Beth was ready to bet that they hadn't seen each other since.
"Hi, Daryl" she said, and she sounded kind and patience, as if she was talking to a kid that had misbehaved.
He looked at her, and the glimmer of hope that Beth saw in his eyes broke her heart.
"Hey" he said, almost a whisper.
Lori smiled at him and took a step towards him, hugging him.
He looked uncomfortable as hell, and stiff, but Lori didn't seem to care, as she told him "It's good to have you back"
Rick was smiling, but when the hug was over, his serious business face was back.
"So, I have talked to Lori, and Carol and our publicist, and we think the best thing is issuing a statement. I know we had decided to do it after the trial period, but now that the news has spread waiting could really damage us." He said, looking directly at Daryl.
Daryl didn't seem at all pleased with the news, putting on his usual frown, that had temporarily disappeared when Lori had hugged him.
"Why do we have t'issue a statement?" he asked, gruffly.
"Because people are gonna speculate, and it's bad for our image in front of the judges. You know they pay attention to this sort of stuff"
Daryl looked like he was gonna say something, but Beth interrupted him, putting a hand on his arm.
"I know it's soon" she said, softly "But I really think this is gonna work out" she declared. She felt herself blush, still thinking about that exchange last night.
Daryl was looking at her intensely, and his eyes were unreadable, as usual.
"I believe in.. in this thing. And if you want to, I'm ready to announce this to the public" she finished, her cheeks burning and her heart beating a bit faster.
What if he was gonna say no?
Why wasn't he saying anything?
Rick was looking at him, a bit worried himself. Lori's eyes, instead, kept shifting from her to Daryl, and she looked pleased with whatever it was she was seeing.
Slowly, Daryl nodded.
"Good. That's really good, man" Rick was smiling, and he went to them and put a hand on each of their shoulders "I'm happy to call you two my new team. Really" he said.
Daryl didn't say anything, but Beth could swear that his lips had twitched in what was almost a smile.
Lori looked absolutely thrilled.
"Rick has been telling me amazing things about you guys. Why don't you show me something?" she said, a warm smile that extended to her dark eyes.
"Yes!" Beth exclaimed, excitedly. She loved it when Lori came to training, giving precious suggestions, especially to her.
"Good. I'm gonna go call the press and issue a statement. We might have to hold a conference, later on, but for now it'll do."
"I doubt it's gonna keep the paparazzi away, but it might stop the speculations" Lori agreed.
Beth nodded, her stomach was still full of butterflies from Daryl deciding he wanted to be her new partner, and who knows how long for.
She was just happy he was gonna stick around.
"This choreography is gonna be beautiful when it's complete." Lori was sitting next to Beth on the benches. Rick had decided to work more on Daryl's jumps to make them sharper, and she was getting some rest.
"I know. Carol has really outdone herself. I can't wait 'til the Long Program is ready as well" Beth nodded in agreement, with a smile.
"That's true. It's not just that though" Lori said, staring at Daryl, skating in front of their eyes.
"What do you mean?" Beth asked, turning towards her.
"I mean that you and Daryl really do work together. When Rick first told me I thought he had gone crazy, but I see it now" Lori explained "Your styles are so different, I thought it was gonna be a disaster, but it's quite the contrary. You both are very emotional, raw skaters, and you give him that precision and grace, while he gives you that… edge."
Beth blushed, feeling strangely happy at her words.
"Do you really think so?"
"I do. And I see the way he followed your lead today, too. When you said you wanted him to be your skater." Lori said, now looking at her with knowing eyes.
Beth smiled embarrassed, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"I guess things are getting better between us" she murmured.
"I can see that. I'm proud of you for not letting you scare you away" Lori said, placidly.
"You were right, you know. He… he is a good person. He just doesn't really know it." Beth said, a small smile on her face.
Lori smiled too "He really doesn't."
The statement was out, and Beth had started getting calls from newspapers, blogs, and family and friends too, and every single person asked her the same question: why Daryl Dixon, an unreliable retired skater with a terrible temper?
She didn't reply to the press, telling them they would have had to wait for the conference. To her friends and family, she said that she knew what she was doing and that they would have had to trust her.
Maggie hadn't been thrilled at the idea: ever since Beth had told her about the way Daryl had treated her on that very first day, she had decided she didn't trust him. All the negative stuff she had read about him online didn't help either, and Beth could only hope that when her sister came to visit she would have given Daryl a chance. Maggie could be really stubborn, and when she decided she didn't like someone it was really difficult to change her mind.
Surprisingly, Hershel had given Beth his full support.
"I trust your judgment, Bethy. And I trust Rick Grimes, too" he had said, simply.
Lying in bed that night, Beth couldn't stop thinking about that day's training. Lori had been enthusiastic of the way the Short Program was turning out, and she had murmured something in Rick's ear that had made both of them grin.
She had to admit, even though she was never fully satisfied with her work, being a perfectionist, even she could tell that the program had the potential to be great. She knew that she and Daryl worked together, that there was that x factor that you couldn't make up.
Beth came to the shocking realization that, despite them being a great team, all the years of training with Zach would have never given her that spark that was there with Daryl.
Skating with him was exciting, it was enchanting. Every time they flew on the ice together their eyes were locked, their bodies already in sinc, both of them feeling that same raw emotion in their performance.
She knew it was special. She knew that it could be great, even though now it was still at a very embryonal state.
Beth thinked about all of these things and she tried not to think about the way she was developing a crush on Daryl Dixon.
Thank you for reading and please review if you liked it :) Hope to submit soon! :D