Hey everyone! More than 100 reviews, that's so amazing and I wanna thank each and everyone of you for it :) You guys make me wanna write better! In this chapter Maggie finally arrives! I hope you enjoy it :)
"That was wonderful guys, really. I'm so impressed with how little time it took you to get to this level with your Short Program"
Rick approached them, catching their breath after having performed the Short once again that afternoon. He had a huge smile on his face, and Beth knew that could only mean he was really satisfied with the results.
Carol followed him, a big smile on her face as well.
"He's right. That was quite something else" she said, nodding.
Beth could barely hold her excitement, jumping up and down, and she glanced at Daryl to see if he felt as happy as she did.
As always, he didn't show any emotion on his face, but she could tell by the slight upturn of his lips that he was feeling it too.
"Take five, and then we'll keep working on the Long" Rick told them.
The Phantom choreography was stunning, but they had started working on it quite late, and despite the fact that they had focused on it after the Conference, a week ago, they were a bit behind with it.
Their first competition was barely three weeks away, and the pressure was starting to make Beth nervous. She wished Daryl would open up to her, so that she would know she wasn't alone in this.
They both skated to the edge of the rink, and went to sit on the benches drinking generous amounts of water. They were often silent when they were alone together, but Beth liked it.
It wasn't a tense, embarrassed silence like it had been in their first few days together: it was comfortable, it was comforting.
She looked at him, and she couldn't help but noticing how handsome he was, like always. The slightly tan skin, blue eyes and rugged dark hair, his strong arms. And what made him all the more beautiful to her was, he had no idea that he was.
He noticed her staring at him and he turned towards her. Beth smiled at him, before looking down towards the rink.
"Do you think we'll be ready on time for the qualification cup?" she asked, pensively.
"Mhh"
"Daryl. Don't 'mmh' me. Tell me what you think" she reprimanded him gently.
He didn't answer for a while, just looking at Glenn skating on the ice, elegant as always.
"We'll be ready" he said, in a low, gruff voice.
"How do you know?" Beth couldn't help but ask, and she found herself looking at him again.
"Cause 'm willin' to train all night 'til the competition starts, if we hav'ta. An' I know y'are too" Daryl replied, simply.
Beth gave him a small smile, feeling reassured. He didn't look at her, but she could swear he had leaned in a little bit closer.
He hadn't been too far from reality saying he was willing to work all night. Rick seemed determined to have them know the Long Program choreography by heart by the end of the day, and they had been training way past the usual time.
He could tell Beth was tired, could see it in the way he had to hold her a little tighter during lifts 'cause she didn't have that much energy left, and he could feel her slipping a bit. He could see it in the curve of her shoulders and neck, and in the paleness of her face.
He had believed it when he had told her they could make it. He would have never lied to her.
At the same time, he was fucking terrified at the idea of being the one letting her down.
Hell, all his life he had never wanted to win for anyone but him. It had always been his personal revenge against the son of a bitch of fate that had dealt him a shitty family and a horrible childhood.
Not anymore. Sure, he wanted redemption, but he knew he would be fine if it didn't happen. What he wouldn't be fine with would be seeing Beth Greene losing because of him.
Him of all people, Daryl fucking Dixon, wanted to win to make a girl happy.
She wasn't just any girl, though. No, Beth Greene was everything he had never dared to want for himself, and now that he had fallen he didn't know if there was a way out of this damn mess.
What was crazier, Beth didn't put him any kind of pressure: he felt completely comfortable and at ease in her presence. When she was frustrated, she didn't take it out on him or anyone else.
"Let's do the second half once more and then we can all go home and rest" Rick said, firmly.
Daryl immediately looked at Beth, studying her to see if she was gonna be able to do this.
As they skated towards the centre of the rink, he put a hand on her arm, and she looked at him with those big blue doe-like eyes.
"Y' okay? 'f you're tired we can tell Rick we'll do this tomorrow" he said, seriously.
She gave him a tired smile "I'm okay, I can do this. I need to get over the tiredness if we're gonna train every night until the Cup" she said, with a smirk on her face "Or are you too tired, Mr. Dixon?" she asked, smugly.
He tried to ignore the shiver that the nickname sent through his body and nudged her lightly.
"Smartass"
Rick's voice interrupted the conversation, and they started skating. Beth was giving it her all, and he couldn't help but feel admired of her determination.
He would have never said it out loud, but he really liked this choreography, and even if the music was musical theatre shit he found himself liking that too. He had to admit it, Carol was damn good at her job.
They finished, and he had to hold Beth's arm to make sure she didn't just fall asleep on the spot.
"Good job. Great job, you're really starting to be in synch with the music the way I want to" Rick told them, patting his back, as they left the ice.
"I really love this program, Rick" Beth was saying, "I can't wait to pick the costumes and-"
She stopped dead in her tracks, and Daryl followed her eyes to try and figure out what was it that had made her lose the ability to speak.
On the benches, some stairs above them, was a tall, brunette girl. She was staring at Beth with a grin and her eyes sparkling.
"I come visit you and you're not home. Is this how you treat family, Bethy?" the girl, who Daryl assumed was Beth's sister, asked.
"MAGGIE!" Beth squealed, and she seemed to have forgotten that she was exhausted because she flew in her sister's arms, and the two of them started screaming and jumping, hugging each other.
And, Daryl didn't know why, but he felt a pang of jealousy at the idea that Maggie was here. He thought of Merle, gone. He thought about the family he didn't have, and about the fact that Beth was probably the pupil of her folks.
He shook his head, feeling like a complete, fucking jerk.
"You were right, Bethy, that choreography looks really cool"
Maggie and Beth were lying next to each other on Beth's queen-sized bed, eating marshmallows and watching some random romantic comedy, but really all they were doing was talking and catching up. Beth had missed her sister so much, her lively and mischievous temper, her really loud laugh, and how they could talk about anything with each other.
"And you haven't seen anything yet! I can't wait for you to be at the rink tomorrow! Oh my gosh, Glenn's literally gonna die. He will probably break something trying to impress you!" Beth laughed to herself thinking about her friend's reaction, and Maggie giggled too.
"I really need to have some fun scaring this guy" she said, shoving a marshmallow in her mouth. "Also. Daryl didn't seem very friendly- he basically frowned at me and barely shook my hand."
Beth sighed. Why did Daryl had to make that awful first impression on everyone?
"I know. I thought he was so rude when I first met him, but you just have to get to know him! He can be very sweet when he wants to" she explain, and as soon as she did she highly regretted her choice of words.
As expected, Maggie was already grinning.
"Oh, can he?"
Beth felt herself blush and tried to babble something in her defence.
"I mean… what I mean is that he's not as uh… as rude as he seems, you know. He can be a nice person when he tries, you know."
Maggie just stared at her, with her don't-try-to-fool-me look. And it always worked: Beth always broke under her sister's stare.
"Don't judge me, Mags" she said, voice small.
Maggie smiled then, pinching her cheek.
"Never. And I've seen his arms. Plus, everyone has had a crush on the bad guy, it's perfectly normal. Just… is it a crush, or do you actually like this guy?"
Beth fell quiet for a few minutes. At first, she had thought it was a crush, but now… now she knew it was much more than that. She had fallen for Daryl, no matter how surly and gruff he could be. She had seen the kind, protective person under the shield, and she had fallen for him, hard.
"I think I do" she murmured, burrowing her face in a pillow.
Maggie put a hand on her shoulder.
"Bethy, you don't have to be ashamed of it! It's not uncommon at all, just look at Rick and Lori! I mean, Daryl doesn't seem a charmer to me, but I'm sure there's a reason you like him. You're a level headed person, sis, much more than I am"
Beth felt a wave of relief washing over her, and lifter her head to look at Maggie.
"Really, you don't think I'm being stupid?"
Maggie nodded, an encouraging smile on her face.
"I would never think you're stupid, Bethy. But, I have to tell you, you gotta be careful about this. You're gonna have to skate with him for at least another year and a half, and if anything happened between you, it would make things much more complicated" she said, a calm voice.
Beth laughed sarcastically at that.
"Maggie. Nothing's ever gonna actually happen. I'm pretty sure Daryl sees me as some little girl. He even called me a princess Barbie, remember?"
"Don't be silly. He would be a complete and total idiot if he didn't like you back. Especially with the temper he has and the reputation he has. Plus, I saw the way he was looking at you when you were skating, and even before that."
Beth tried to put at bay the wave of hopefulness that completely filled her at Maggie's last affirmation.
"What… what do you mean?" she asked, attempting not to sound as desperate as she was feeling.
"Oh, Bethy. You were always so oblivious when it came to boys."
And with that, Maggie refused to say anything more.
Beth had purposefully avoided telling Glenn that Maggie had arrived, and she couldn't wait for his reaction. She was also hoping that during lunch Daryl showed her sister a more civil side of himself, but for that she wasn't getting her hopes up.
She parked her car in front of the rink, and they got off. Jaqui greeted them warmly, and they made their way to the rink. Beth had decided to go in a little early, so they could surprise Glenn better.
"Okay, I'm gonna go change super quick, just wait for me here!" she told Maggie, and her sister nodded sitting on one of the lower benches.
Beth rushed to the locker rooms, and did her best to change as quickly as she could, and then she sprinted back to the rink.
She opened the door, but she stopped when she heard voices.
"So, Glenn. I hear you wanna go on a date with me."
Beth had to put her hands on her mouth to avoid bursting into a laugh. Glenn had arrived, and Maggie was standing right in front of him, her arms crossed and her best icy cold expression on her face.
Glenn was as red as a tomato, and he looked completely out of words.
"I…I uhm, I mean… no, I never said that, but… yeah"
"Oh, so you don't wanna go out with me?"
Poor Glenn. Maggie could be really intimidating when she wanted to.
"Yes! Yes of course I… of course I wanna go, I mean, if you want to… do you? Want to?"
"Are you asking me out, Glenn? After we've only met for what, a minute?"
Beth was about to go out there and save him when Daryl's gruff voice behind her made her jump, and blush a little.
"Your sister's the devil, Greene. She's givin' the guy one hell of a hard time" he looked very amused, and he shook his head "Kid's not tough enough t'handle it."
Beth smiled "I think he can make it" she replied, while both of them went back to spying from behind the door.
"I mean, I… yes?" Glenn was blabbing.
"So is that how you ask me out?"
"No. No, you're right, uh… will you go out with me?" he finally said, and he was starting to sweat and he looked like he was about to cry, or faint.
Beth really hoped that Maggie was gonna say yes, and she waited anxiously for her answer.
"Okay. I will. Come pick me up tonight at 8 sharp" her sister said, still with a glacial tone. But Beth knew she was loving it, and that she was just having fun with poor Glenn. She was willing to bet that tonight Maggie was gonna be a lot nicer to him and actually try and get to know him.
She heard Daryl grunt in disbelief behind her, and she immediately grinned at him.
"You were wrong. You owe me five bucks!"
He looked at her, trying to frown but still looking slightly amused.
"When did I ever bet five bucks? You Greene girls are dangerous, I'll tell ya that"
Beth was nervous.
They were all sitting in the cafeteria together, having lunch.
Glenn still looked shocked from the conversation before, and he was sitting as far away from Maggie as possible, much to everyone else's amusement.
Maggie, instead, had decided to sit right in front of Daryl, and Beth knew it was because she wanted to determine whether he was good enough for her little sister or not. And this was why she was nervous: Daryl just wasn't a sociable person, and he was replying in grunts to all of her sister's questions, mouth still full.
When lunch was over, he still hadn't had a proper conversation with Maggie.
Feeling a little disappointed and frustrated, Beth got up first and made her way to the ice, walking with Rick and discussing the spins they had to try that day with him.
She was back on the ice and ready to skate when she saw Maggie talking to Daryl, just outside the ice.
She couldn't hear anything they were saying, but she saw Daryl nodding, and actually talking. And, when the conversation ended and Daryl was back on the ice, she cought Maggie's satisfied smile.
Maybe he had won her over, after all.
I hope you liked it! I am not sure whether the competition will be in next chapter or the one after! We'll se what the Muse says :) In the meantime, review/follow if you like it, and if you wanna be friends on tumblr I'm francescadb! :)