The Heart Won't Lie
Chapter 3
"Elizabeth Greene."
Beth walked across the stage to receive her diploma as the principal called her name.
She looked out into the crowd and smiled at her family.
After the ceremony she hugged her friends, took pictures and congratulated everyone.
When she turned to her family, she felt her heart break into smaller pieces than before.
He wasn't there and hadn't been for a couple years now. She still wore the ring he had gotten her but the last birthday they shared together was the last time she celebrated it.
It didn't hurt any less, time just made it worse.
Back at the farm, Beth and her family celebrated.
She put on a fake smile and forced herself to be cheerful. She forced her laughter at Shawn's stupid jokes, she even forced her tears at her daddy's speech.
For two years she had cried for Daryl but she eventually dried her eyes and closed her heart off to the world.
Her family wasn't blind to what she was doing, nor did they try to pretend everything was perfect. Yes, they believed things would get better and Beth would be able to move on but they knew it would happen in time.
Beth's plan was moving in with Maggie and starting a new job and then in the fall, college.
She needed her independence and a change of scenery and quite frankly, this place held too many memories of Daryl and broken promises.
That's why, two weeks after graduation, Beth was alone in her room packing.
She had her clothes, electronics, books and other necessities packed and in the truck but she didn't have anything else packed.
She placed in her last box a photo album which contained nothing but family photos, several knickknacks her mother had given her along with a few stuffed animals.
Though one reason she wanted to leave so badly was because of Daryl, she couldn't move away and not take anything that reminded her of him. So, she pulled a photo album out from underneath her mattress and a shirt of his that she had taken from the guest room a few days after he left.
With one last look at her childhood home, Beth was off to become her own person.
Daryl may have only been eighteen but that didn't stop him from drinking. He drank day and night, occasionally doing whatever drugs Merle had on him.
All of it was to forget, to quit feeling ashamed and heartbroken. But it never helped.
He would always see Beth, just as she had been. He wondered how much more beautiful she was now, if she was going to college, if she had found someone else to love and that loved her back.
That last part always pissed him off. He was jealous of whoever held Beth's heart now though he knew he had no right to be.
He was the one who left. He was the one who had broken her heart, at least he hoped he had. Not that he meant to or wanted to do that but the thought of her not being heartbroken just meant that she didn't love him and he just couldn't bear to think that.
She use to be his but he would always be hers.
With his and Beth's birthday coming and going and the reminder of promising to marry her and give her the world weighing heavy on his mind, he decided to take one of Merle's girlfriends up on their offer of a good time.
It was just another way to numb himself but again, it wasn't fool proof.
Every time he looked at the woman, he was reminded of Beth. She didn't look like Beth, she was covered in makeup and other things he didn't want to think about and she was older and it showed.
This was something he never got to share with Beth and the thought of her made him stop before either of them had finished.
The woman was disappointed but Daryl didn't give a shit.
Knowing Merle would no doubt make fun of him once he heard about this, and he knew he would hear about it, Daryl went home.
Home, it wasn't his home at all. It was just a rundown, two bedroom hole-in-the-wall apartment that he shared with Merle and their mother.
He would never be home, he would never have a home to go to.
Home to him was Beth.
A/N: Thank y'all for reading and reviewing. Despite the shortness, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter.
As always, please leave me a review. :)