So, I'm really sorry about how slowly the new chapters are coming in! It's just a really, really busy period for me, so be patient :) Thank you so so so much to everyone who's reviewing and following, it means so much! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
"I can't wait for you to see the new programs, Mags. They are unbelievable, and did I tell you that Carol picked a song from The Phantom of the Opera?"
"Only like thirty times."
Maggie was giggling, on the phone with her while Beth was getting ready to go to the rink.
After her fight and make up with Daryl, everything had gotten back to normal: not only that, but training was going better than ever and Daryl had finally started joining the rest of them for lunch, even though he sat there saying barely anything.
"I'm sorry! But when you'll see it you'll understand why I'm so excited about it, I promise."
"I'm sure it's great, Bethy. So, how are you feeling about tomorrow?"
"So nervous. I hope I won't faint or screw up somehow."
The press conference had finally been set, their public debut in competition being less than a month away now, and Beth had been having nightmares about it for the past few days.
"You're not gonna screw up honey. You're amazing at that kind of stuff, journalists and newspaper have always absolutely loved you!"
"Yeah, but that was before Daryl became my new partner. They hate him, Mags. You've read the sort of stuff they write about him!" Beth felt sick only thinking about it, so she tried desperately not to.
"You seem to like this guy, and Rick does too. If they question your judgement you just flip them off and leave" Maggie said, firmly.
"Yeah, right. Cause that's a great way to face the press. Why don't I just pull a Tom Cruise and start jumping on a couch next, that way I'll be sure my reputation is completely dead."
Maggie sighed.
"Sometimes I really don't envy you, having to be this careful with what you say in public."
"I know, it's not the best."
"Yeah. But look, I think you still have to stick up for yourself though, especially if they start asking mean questions. I'm sure daddy would agree with me, apart from the flipping them off thing."
Beth smiled. She was glad she had such a supporting family, especially in moments like this: she knew that no matter what was gonna happen in the conference, or during competition, they would always have her back.
Suddenly, she wondered if Daryl's family was like that, or if he even had a family. Since the day they met she had never heard him mention any of his family members, not even once.
It had to be horrible, not having that kind of support system.
"Beth? Are you still with me?"
Maggie voice brought her back to reality.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. Look, I gotta go, but I'll text you later! Have a good day!"
"You too, little sis. And don't stress too much about the conference, okay?"
"I'll try my best."
Lori had come to the ice rink the following day, as a moral support for the press conference they were gonna hold in a few hours.
Daryl and Beth were wearing matching tracksuits sponsored by Adidas. The company hadn't been enthusiastic when Daryl had joined Beth as a partner, but the publicist had pulled some strings and the sponsorship had been maintained, luckily.
Daryl looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else but there, and Beth saw Lori sitting next to him in the empty room, where everything was set for the conference, and starting talking to him.
She couldn't hear what the woman was telling him, but she could guess that they were encouraging words: it was what Rick and Lori Grimes did best, encouraging people, motivating them.
"Hey."
Glenn gave her a playful bump with his shoulder.
"Hey back."
"You know you'll be fine, right?" Glenn asked, looking at her with a serious expression on his face.
"Everyone keeps telling me that, and that's making me worry even more, if that's possible."
"Sorry, I'm sure it must suck."
"A bit." Beth took a long, deep breath before talking again. "I just know that they're gonna try and make us say something that they can use against us. Especially with Daryl, and he's so uncomfortable during interviews, he really hates them."
"That doesn't surprise me" Glenn said, a small smile "And I think they'll pick on him as well. If they do though, you can step in."
Beth looked at him, feeling very uncertain.
"Can I? I don't think he would appreciate being defended by… well, by me."
She blushed a little, and hoped that Glenn wouldn't pick up on it.
"I think you're wrong. And remember that Carol, Karen and I will be here supporting you guys. And Lori, too. I'm pretty sure if any of them acts too rude Carol will literally rip their head off."
Beth laughed a little, and Glenn giggled too, before giving her a hug.
"You go up there and conquer them, Beth."
"Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for being here."
Sasha, who had been their publicist and dealt with sponsor and contracts since day one, was there to guide the conversation. The night before, she had sent them a very detailed email reminding them of what they had to say and, especially, what they didn't have to say.
Beth liked Sasha, and she trusted that she was gonna make things smoother for them than they would have been without her.
She just hoped that Daryl had read the email, too. He was sitting next to her, Rick being on her other side, and she could actually see his hands fidgeting under the desk and she could sense just how tense his body was.
Ready for the attacks. Ready to defend himself.
She saw this, but she was sure that to anyone else in the room apart from maybe Lori, he just seemed angry and ready to attack.
She realized that was the same exact impression she had had too during that first day, and she wondered whether he had been nervous in that instance too, and she just hadn't known.
"We will take a maximum of twenty-five questions today. Sir, you're first."
Sasha pointed at a bald guy sitting in the front row, and he stood up.
"Thank you. So Daryl, what made you decide to un-retire and come back to the sport after five years? And do you think you are physically able to handle the rhythms that skating at such a high level demands?"
Daryl stared at the guy as if he was going to shoot an arrow through his eyes. After some seconds, when Beth could sense Rick's panic, he replied.
"Rick asked me if I wanted t'skate with Beth, an' I said yes. An' if my body wasn' ready t'handle this, I wouldn' be doin' it" he grunted, an edge of menace in his tone.
The guy turned towards Rick.
"Mr Grimes, why did you decide to call a retired skater instead of a younger, in better shape one? Was there no one else willing to join your team?"
Beth glanced at Rick, and now he looked like he was gonna be the one to kill the guy. But he answered smoothly, and with a polite smile as usual. Somehow, that made him look even more dangerous.
"I asked Daryl because I knew that he still had something to give to this sport, and after a short trial period we agreed that he was perfectly capable of competing at high levels in this sport. I never even thought about asking anyone else" he answered, firmly.
The bald guy looked like he was gonna ask something to Beth as well, but Sasha called a different reporter, and Beth was very grateful for that. This time, a blonde woman got up.
"So Beth, what did you think when Rick told you that you were gonna skate with Daryl Dixon? Did you have any reservations because of his reputation?"
Beth took a deep breath, and saw Glenn giving her a thumbs up in the audience.
"I was surprised at first, but I trust Rick and his judgement. And when Daryl and I started skating together I saw how right Rick was, and I'm glad I trusted him. I don't care about what people have said and written about Daryl: he is an incredible skater and a really nice person to work with."
She was satisfied with her answer, and she could tell from Lori's smile that she was too.
Sasha pointed to a different reporter, a pretty young guy.
"What did you guys think about Andrea Harrison's comments about the choice of having Daryl skate with Beth?"
Rick, knowing that Daryl wasn't gonna answer first and wanting to start this the right way, answered first.
"Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. We are very happy with our choice. We wish Andrea and her team the best season possible, and just wish to give them a good competition to skate against."
"Beth?"
"I agree with what Rick said. Andrea is entitled to her opinion, and that's okay. All that matters to me is that I'm happy with my team and I am."
"And Daryl? Do you want to comment on that?" the guy asked, expectantly.
"No" was Daryl's harsh reply. Beth turned towards him, a bit worried, and he seemed to notice that, cause he reluctantly added: "If that's what she thinks, 's good for her. I don't care."
Beth tried not to sigh. It would have been better if he hadn't said anything.
Sasha hurriedly called a different reporter.
"Beth, you seem very confident in having Daryl as your new partner. How has training been going so far? How are you guys getting along? And can you tell us your thoughts on what happened to Zach?"
"What happened to Zach was a terrible accident, and uhm… my heart still breaks thinking about it. He's a great friend and an amazing person, and I'm sure he'll be successful at whatever comes next for him. As for skating with Daryl, at first we had to learn how to work together, obviously, and to adapt our skating techniques to each other. It was hard work, but like I said before, he is a really nice person and he is very hard working. I like skating with him and I hope you will like our new programs for this season."
"Daryl, why did you decide to retire years ago and what's changed now? What made you think 'I can do this, I can come back'?"
Beth kept her eyes on the desk in front of her, tensing up in waiting for Daryl's reply. She just prayed he wasn't gonna blow up.
"Had my reasons to quit years ago" he said, quietly. His tone, not angry or threatening, surprised Beth and made her finally look at him. "I came back 'cause Beth's an amazing skater, and Rick's a great coach an' a friend, an' they're both good people. Can't get much better 'n that."
She could feel Rick's sigh of relief, and she couldn't hold back a smile.
From then on, the questions became more technical and less threatening, and the rest of the conference seemed to flow fast, the last question being whether they thought they had a shot at going to Sochi with only one year to prepare.
Rick replied firmly that if he hadn't believed that they could make it to Sochi, he wouldn't have formed this new team.
Then, it was over. They had made it.
After the conference, they had all gone out for dinner to celebrate, picking a sushi restaurant because the athletes couldn't eat anything that wasn't allowed on the diet.
Sasha had complimented them, and Beth could see how relieved she looked: she definitely hadn't thought that they could have handled it this well.
If she had to be honest, she was very surprised too. Of herself, because she usually got pretty shy during interviews, while this time she had managed to say what she thought with confidence, even when it came to the trickier questions.
Most of all, though, she was really surprised with the way Daryl had answered to the reporters. Sure, at first he had come off surly and harsh as usual, but the way he had replied to that question about leaving and coming back had surprised.
She was absorbed into her thoughts, still sitting at the table with the others, when she noticed that Daryl, who was sitting at the corner of the table next to her, was looking at her.
She smiled at him, blushing a bit, and his eyes went to the plate before looking back at her.
No one was paying attention to them, all too busy celebrating, and so no one could hear him when he leaned over and told her, a gruff whisper:
"Thanks for what ya said 'bout me. I, uh… I really 'preciate it."
She smiled, seeing his ears turning red while his eyes were staring into hers.
"That's what we do. We're a family now, and what you said about me and Rick was really nice too."
"Meant it."
She nodded, and was about to turn towards the others because she was starting to get butterflies and didn't know how to handle it, when he put a hand on her wrist, lightly, and she turned to look at him again.
"I trust ya too. Just wanted ya to know it" he said, an intense look in his strikingly blue eyes.
Beth blushed furiously and when he noticed his hand was still on her wrist he pulled it away fast, the back of his neck turning red, too.
That day just couldn't have been more perfect.
So! the Conference is over, and soon we'll have Maggie visiting and then the very first competition! I'm really excited about it and scared about writing the skating scenes! But we'll finally meet the competition :) Please review if you liked it, and I'll try and update as soon as possible!