8/10
Hey guys, sorry for the delay in updating, and in letting you know that it'll be new year at least before I update again. I manage a Jewellery store, and we're in full fledge Christmas mode. That's a seventy hour work week for me, and I've only just come off a thirteen day stretch since my last day off. I am very tired. But I wanted to say Thanks for such positive feedback, and to wish you all a lovely Christmas, and I'll see you on the flip side. Enjoy. xx
"Oh God…"
Beth breathed it into his ear, and Daryl hissed out a breath through his teeth as her arched back slowly relaxed, and she melted like warm candle wax beneath him. Her thighs, however, were still tightly clenched either side of his hips, and Daryl slowly lifted his head to peer down at her. Her eyes were slitted, all blue smoke and dark lashes against her flushed cheeks; he shifted his weight, and Beth swallowed in response and tilted her head back against the arm that was supporting her neck in invitation. Not one to ignore such an offering, Daryl skimmed his mouth over that smooth column of flesh; he could taste the sweat that was beaded on her skin. Licking lightly at her pulse, Daryl began to move again. The heavy scent of sex hung in the air; thick and heady. But under that, he could smell himself on Beth's skin, a scent that was rapidly becoming his favourite. The muscles in his back and shoulders bunched and shifted as he moved; he could feel his stomach tightening, and as Beth's voice broke on a fractured sound, Daryl buried his face in her neck again and laced his fingers with hers. Beth's nails dug into the skin of his arm as her head lifted slightly, and she turned her face into his throat. Her breath gushed over his heated skin, quick and jagged, and Daryl groaned deep in his throat as the motion of his hips began to lose all semblance of rhythm. Her soft sounds spurned him on, and when he finally jerked within the cradle of her body, Beth shuddered. Time grew heavy for them; slow and quiet and Daryl gradually relaxed as Beth drew light designs over his side with her fingertips. Muscles lax, Daryl rubbed his lips over her throat slightly, before sighing heavily.
"Don't you go falling asleep on me again, Daryl."
Daryl's laughter huffed breathlessly from between his lips, and reaching between them, he carefully withdrew from her body; he tossed the spent condom with a slight grimace, before collapsing facedown beside her a minute later.
"Guy does it one time…." he mumbled finally as he slung his arm over Beth's stomach, and she snorted softly as she turned onto her side to face him.
"…and he never lives it down," she finished for him, and Daryl cracked one eyes to look at her.
Her face was schooled into one of innocence, but he could see the laughter dancing in her eyes. Shaking his head, he simply closed his eye again.
"What time do you have to be up?" she murmured, and Daryl yawned into his pillow before answering.
"Dawn. Got tower duty tomorrow morning; I'm relieving Michonne."
Beth nodded, and as Daryl rolled onto his side, he pulled Beth into the curve of his body. He felt her drift off; sleep, however, continued to hover just out of his reach. Trailing his fingers lightly over Beth's belly, Daryl yawned as he shifted. Normally, a bout of sex like that with his girl was a sure fire way to knock him out cold. It had been since the first time. Daryl smiled slightly; he'd planned on taking it slow with her. To take his time, ease them both into it. That had lasted all of ten days. Maybe it was the fact that he was so used to having Beth in his space; maybe it was because she already trusted him with her life. Maybe it was because they already loved. Whatever the reason, his resolve had melted away as their exploration of this new aspect of their relationship deepened night after night. Kiss after kiss. Each kiss they shared led a little deeper; led to a little more. Each touch lingered a little longer; the skim of his hand over her side, or the touch of her fingertips to his chest. The way her lips lingered against his, even after he'd eased himself away from the temptation her body held.
And before he knew it, before he could quite figure out how to slow things down again, she was lying beneath him; naked and flushed, with swollen lips and trusting eyes as he'd fumbled for a condom. He was sure there were better men out there for a girl's first time. But he hadn't hurt her when he'd eased into her that first time, and the night had been filled with soft laughter and her breathy moan echoing beautifully in his ear as he lost himself in her. Spring had been a time for discovery. Beth had turned nineteen, and they'd spent the night exploring each other. She'd laughed when he'd given her another little pot of lip stuff as a present; orange flavoured this time, along with an apple he'd been eyeing off in the woods behind the prison. For the last three weeks, they had shared a bed in every sense of the word. They shared the space and Beth shared her body with him as easily as he shared his with her. As his girl had once said; sex was as natural as breathing between them.
He liked the sounds she made; the softness of the skin on her inner thighs, and the fact that she was so open with how he made her feel. He liked that she would spend hours running both her fingertips and her mouth over his skin; touching scars, both newly healed and ones that were almost as old as she was, and went bone deep in pain. She would ask questions as she explored – did he like this, or how about this - while watching him from beneath her lashes. He had told her on more than one occasion that she was his own little nympho, and Beth had arched an eyebrow and simply grinned as she told him quite matter of factually, that if she was a nympho, what did that make him? Daryl had grinned, and told her that it made him very, very smart. Outside the privacy of their cell, not much had changed between them. They occasionally ate together at meal times, and they still read in the library. Their sex life was private, and as Daryl had told Hershel all those mornings ago, he wasn't Glenn and Beth wasn't Maggie; they didn't need public displays of affection; those they shared within the privacy of their cell. Maybe his fingers would linger on her side briefly, or she'd touch the back of his hand a little more than usual, but for them, those casual touches spoke volume.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
The days grew warmer as summer threatened to burst onto the scene. But with the warmer weather came new people. Not a lot –a dozen at most. And amongst those people came a boy; late teens, very early twenty's at most. Daryl had sat back and watched as the newbies integrated into prison life. They worked hard, and stayed out of his way; but by God they made his brain hurt. Lisa was sweet, and tended to stay close to the women. But her eyes – large, trusting and filled with kindness – would follow Liam whenever he was nearby; the blonde had arrived several weeks after Rick and Daryl had taken Sam and his family in.
"How'd it go, Liam?"
Liam… Young, blonde, and all Dude!'s and Like Totally!'s, Daryl thought with a sneer and his ever present sidekick Mikey… Lisa's brother was younger, brunette, and just as dumb. Not a hard day's work done between them before this had all started – he was willing to bet his smokes on it.
"She like… just smiled at me, all soft and pretty, before walking away."
Mikey laughed, and Daryl clenched his jaw when the sound grated on his nerves. For ten seconds, he allowed himself the fantasy of firing a bolt between the kid's feet and watching him scamper away, but that fantasy faded when he thought about having to go and collect said bolt before climbing back up the tower. But when Mikey spoke again, Daryl seriously considered his options.
"Dude! Shot down by the prom queen! How many times is that now? Like, a dozen?"
"It'd be so much easier, if we were just allowed in where the main group stays; I kinda get why Rick said we had to bunk in another section for now and all, but if I could get inside, I could totally speak to her in a more private location."
Liam's tone screamed petulance, and Daryl rolled his eyes as he lit a smoke and scanned his eyes across the perimeter fence.
"She runs this way, doesn't she? Isn't that why we're out here at the ass-crack of dawn?" Mikey asked, and Daryl straightened up when he put two and two together.
"Yeah, every morning she runs with…Michonne?" Liam mused, and the sound of rock hitting the tower told Daryl the young man was kicking at the dirt in boredom. Across the yard, Glenn walked out of the main room in the prison and headed towards the tower to relieve Daryl from watch duty.
"Now that's one woman you wouldn't wanna piss off!" Mikey crowed, and Liam snickered.
"Nah, man, it ain't her you gotta watch out for," he said finally. "It's totally the kid with the attitude and the scary dude with the crossbow."
"How'd you figure?" Mikey asked and Liam shrugged.
"Dude! It's a crossbow! I thought he was her Daddy at first, but he ain't; they're close though, him and Beth; same as she's close with Michonne.As for the kid, he told me to back off of Beth; she was spoken for."
"By who?" Mikey asked, and Liam shrugged again.
"Dunno. Maybe Carl was lying; I figure he's got a crush on her and all. It's a bit pathetic if you ask me. I mean… I've never seen her with anyone like that. There ain't anyone here her age other than us. Hey…here she is."
As Beth came running around the corner with Michonne, Glenn drew level with the tower and murmured a quiet greeting to the two young men. Daryl made his way down out of the tower as Beth braced her hands on her knees and panted, while both boys swaggered across the yard towards her. With his crossbow was slung across his back, Daryl jerked the tower door open; Glenn paused to speak with him in the doorway, his voice a low drone of information as Daryl stayed within the tower and watched as Liam and Mikey spoke to Beth. Their full attention was on Beth, who waved Michonne on; Michonne glanced at Daryl as she headed towards the fence line for a bit of stab and release, and she tilted her chin in greeting as Glenn finally stopped yabbering and entered the tower. The quietness caused Liam's voice to drift towards him on the warm breeze, and Daryl rolled his eyes as he headed towards Beth on silent feet.
"So I figure we could… Ahh… like, you know… spend some time together… totally get to know each other."
Daryl knew Beth well enough to know that she was laughing on the inside as she shifted her weight. Boredom was evident in her eyes, and her amusement was solely focused on how stupid the boy sounded. Suave, this kid was not. Her eyes drifted over his shoulder and met Daryl's, and he was treated to the full force of her grin, before she glanced back at Liam as Daryl jutted his hip and waited patiently.
"I'm busy; I've got a garden to tend to with Carol, because that's what we do if we wanna eat. And after that," Beth said when it looked like Liam was going to interrupt, "I've got fence duty with Michonne. Sorry," Beth said gently, and brushed past the boys without another word.
Daryl couldn't help himself; he snorted with laughter as Beth drew level with him. The sound caused the boys to turn, and they both took a step backwards when they saw him. Smirking slightly, Daryl turned on his heel as Beth passed him, and he nudged her lightly with his elbow as they made their way back towards the main section of the prison.
"Wanna go on a run wit' me in the next day or two?" he asked, and Beth grinned again.
"Like…totally!" she mimicked quietly, and Daryl snorted again as she shook her head. "Like, learn to speak!" she continued, and Daryl snickered as he unslung the crossbow and reached for the door to pull it open. Motioning Beth ahead of himself, he followed her towards the mess hall for breakfast.
"They been bothering you?" he asked quietly when they sat down together, and Beth shrugged slightly as she absently handed Daryl a spoon.
"A bit; it wouldn't be so bad, if he could buy a clue and figure out that when I say no, I ain't flirtin'; I really do mean no. But not in the way you mean," she said gently, when Daryl's eyes narrowed. "Liam's harmless; he's a Bill and Ted's excellent adventure reject, and most the time he's too busy stuttering or staring at my boobs to ask me to spend time with him. Believe me, Daryl; if he was bothering me, you'd be the first to know."
Daryl relaxed under the hand she rubbed along his thigh and spooned some more of his breakfast up as Beth ate silently. But as she finished up and went to stand, Daryl glanced up at her as Liam's earlier statement echoed in his head.
"Moron one said that Carl told him to back off… he said you were spoken for," he said quietly, and when Beth snorted at Daryl's assessment of Liam, Daryl looked back down at his bowl.
"I am spoken for, Daryl." When his gaze snapped back to hers, Beth smiled slightly. "It just ain't Carl I'm spoken for by."
She tossed him a quick smile that promised him all sorts of delight later that evening, before she turned and walked away.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Fuck, Beth…"
"Shhh…"
Her nails dug into his chest at the same time that his dug into her thighs; Daryl's hips arched at the light pain, and he hissed out a breath as Beth tilted her head back and bit back the moan that trembled on her lips as she fell over the line that blurred pleasure and pain together. He could feel the rhythmic clenching of her inner walls, and as she continued to tremble, Beth curled down across his chest. Little twitches of her thigh muscles told Daryl his girl was spent; even her purr sounded tired when he flattened his hands across her lower back, and then skimmed them up her spine. Arching his hips in a testing thrust, Daryl groaned hoarsely as Beth shuddered.
"Hold on."
He bit it out, and carefully rolled them to the side; the need to thrust, and hard, was still there, and Daryl dragged Beth beneath him with a curse as her limp hands slid from his back and fell to the mattress. Hitching her thigh further up his side, Daryl gave another testing thrust, and when Beth couldn't hold back the sound that spilt from her swollen lips, Daryl settled the width of his palm over her mouth to muffle her voice and then moved again. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, Daryl continued to move; smooth motions of his hips that gradually roughened, and he lost all semblance of rhythm as his own release burned down his spine like liquid fire. And as it coursed through him, he wrenched his hand from her lips and held Beth close as he shuddered; held her tight within the circle of his arms, as her lips brushed softly across his pulse as it hammered in his throat. The come down was slow; the relaxing of clenched muscle was gradual, and Daryl continued to lay there and breathe her in. By the time he could move again, Daryl could only peer down at Beth and smile; nearly asleep, with flushed cheeks and a drowsy smile on her mouth. He couldn't think of a better sight, and tucked the picture she made into the box that was reserved only for her.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Ahh…like, is there anything I can do to help?"
Daryl wiped his wrist across his brow as he looked up; Moron one was standing by the grave he was digging. Fear turned his tan a slightly muddy colour, but his knees were locked, and Daryl shrugged and gestured to the ground beside the hole he was digging. The boy picked up a shovel, and began to break the hard earth up without comment; for an hour they dug, and by the time Daryl hoisted himself out, Liam had dug a fairly neat shallow grave. Daryl headed to the other end of it, and continued to deepen the hole. The boy kept his mouth shut right up until the second grave was finished and without comment, he helped Daryl bury the dead. They'd lost the last two elderly people from Woodbury last night; unused to the heat and the hardness of prison life, their hearts had simply given out. Tapping the dirt back into place, Daryl leaned against the shovel and blew out a hard breath.
"So, uh… you know Beth right?"
Daryl cut his gaze towards the kid; dirt was smeared across his face, and sweat had darkened the blonde of his hair to brown. Bright blue eyes flickered away from the chill in Daryl's own gaze, and Liam shook his head slightly. Perhaps fate smiled down at Liam that day – or maybe Daryl had just spent far too much time with Beth, so much so that her wicked sense of humor had rubbed off on him - Daryl could never be sure. But as the kid went to walk away, Daryl hid a grin and spoke.
"Yeah, I know Beth."
Liam glanced back at Daryl, and after squaring his shoulders, he nodded.
"What does she… uh, you know…like to do?"
Daryl shrugged slightly as he shouldered the shovel, before turning his gaze and peering out across the yard. Unbidden, an image of her bracing her hands against his chest as she slowly rode him the night before entered his mind, and Daryl licked the corner of his mouth at the memory.
"She likes to draw," was all he said, and the Liam's shoulders slumped slightly.
"I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler," he muttered, and Daryl snickered softly.
"I uh…heard she has a boyfriend," Liam said finally, and Daryl paused.
He wasn't a boy, and the last time he'd checked, he was pretty sure he and Beth were more than just friends. She was his woman. He was hers, in every sense of the word. But did that make him her boyfriend? Daryl shook his head slightly in answer to his own question. No; that made him her lover, her confidant. Boyfriends held your hand, fumbled with where to put their own hands when kissing, and jerked off in the dark as they thought about you; a lover, however… Daryl sucked in a breath, and then shook his head when Liam looked at him expectantly.
"Nah…no boyfriend," Daryl murmured, and when the kid grinned, Daryl felt a moments stab of guilt. That guilt flickered out pretty quickly as amusement won out, and he shook his head.
"So, uh… you recon she'd like to take a walk?" Liam asked, and Daryl shifted his weight as the dangerous though of burying the kid where he stood flashed through his mind.
"Ain't many places to walk too, kid; scenery's pretty shit," was all Daryl said, and Liam sighed again.
"I just wanna get to know her," Liam said with a frown, and Daryl mentally groaned as he scrapped his hand down over his jaw.
"She wanna get to know you?" he asked finally, and Liam toed some dirt away from the grave he'd been digging.
"She seems pretty busy," Liam said finally, and Daryl shrugged.
"Ain't we all," he said, and then shrugged again. "If Beth's sayin' that, maybe she ain't interested," Daryl said finally and Liam's shoulders jerked again.
"She needs to be cherished," Liam said fiercely as he scuffed the dirt with his foot. "She needs to be looked after; girls like Beth need to be cared for. That's all I wanna do."
Daryl felt his shoulders tense up, and blew out a harsh breath; the kid was skating on thin ice here, and didn't even know it.
"Lisa seems to like ya," he bit out, and Liam snorted.
"Please, she's fifteen. I'm twenty; she's a kid."
"Age is irrelevant out here, kid," Daryl said dryly, and Liam shrugged. But he nodded his thanks to Daryl and walked away; when he was out of earshot, Daryl let out a sharp bark of laughter. He wouldn't have to do anything; if Beth didn't set the kid straight, Michonne would eat him alive.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Daryl's legs threatened to give out; he could taste the sweat that ran down the side of Beth's neck, and he licked it away without thought. His fingers were still tightly laced with her own, where Beth had gripped the shelf of the stack in front of her. Another memory added to the box; another fantasy replaced Daryl thought wryly as Beth continued to tremble slightly. She'd been too short to face him here in the stacks; but the curve of her hips had spurned him on, and when she bent slightly from the waist, she was the perfect height. With sunshine playing over her bare shoulder, yet her body hidden by the clothing she wore, Daryl had shown her the delight of a quickie in the library. Even though she'd blushed at the possibility of being caught, she hadn't been able to keep her hands off him when she'd tugged him down this stack; the wolfish grin that had crossed Daryl's features had caused the blush to deepen when he'd knelt down and tugged her panties down her thighs from under the long skirt she wore so low on her hips. But when he'd delved between her thighs with his fingers, she'd been slick enough that he'd commented low in her ear that if knowledge and learning was her kink, it was one he fully supported if this was the result.
"Never gonna look at the irrigation system the same way again."
Daryl huffed out his laughter as he carefully withdrew from her body, and after disposing of the condom, he tugged his pants back up from where they had sagged around his thighs. Glancing back at Beth, he watched as she looked around and frowned; he knew what she was looking for, and crossed his arms as he leaned against the shelves and grinned. Beth only had to look at him once; she scowled at him and held her hand out for her panties. Daryl had tucked them into his pocket when he'd removed them, and his husky laughter confirmed her suspicions. But it was the opening of the library door that caused him to near choke on laughter when Beth's face flamed bright red.
"Daryl!"
Slinging his arm around her neck, he brushed his lips over her temple.
"Relax, will ya," he said quietly. "Ain't like you can tell."
Letting Beth go, he continued to lean against the stack as Beth blew out a frustrated breath of air and pulled the book about water irrigation off the shelf. She had just opened it and was tracing her finger down over the page when Liam walked around the corner. He stopped still when he saw Daryl and Beth, and his cheeks reddened slightly.
"Ahh…Carol asked me to come and tell you that dinner was ready," he said finally when Daryl cocked his eyebrow, and Beth shot Daryl a dirty look as she nodded and Liam looked at Beth.
"Ahh…Beth? You wanna…maybe…like…eat together?" he asked, and after shooting Daryl a look that promised retribution, Beth sighed.
"I'll be there in a minute," she said finally, and Liam nodded as confusion darkened his eyes.
But he walked away when Daryl and Beth lingered where they were, and Daryl took pity on Beth as she shifted from foot to foot; pulling her panties out of his pocket, he handed them to her without a word. Beth smiled slightly then, and raising up on tiptoe, she brushed her lips over his. Skimming his hand down her side, Daryl closed his eyes and breathed her in for a moment.
"Got a council meeting tonight after dinner," was all he said, and Beth nodded as she tugged her panties back up her thighs.
"How do I look?" she whispered, and Daryl grinned.
"Well and truly fucked," was all he said, and Beth snorted back her own laughter as they turned and walked out of the library.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Dinner was a fairly subdued affair; losing people, no matter the cause, always put a dark mood over the prison. Daryl sat on the stairs as he ate; Carl sat on the step above him, and as Daryl swallowed a mouthful of vegetables and grain, Carl snorted.
"Douchebag," he muttered, and Daryl glanced at Carl before following his gaze and snorting in agreement.
Liam was sitting beside Beth and chatting away as she ate her dinner. He could see the slightly glazed look in her eyes, and chuckled softly as he continued to eat.
"Why haven't you told him to back off and leave her alone?" Carl asked, and Daryl swallowed his food before speaking.
"Beth don't need me to fight her battles for her, Carl," he said finally. "She's more than capable of takin' this guy on; she don't need me marchin' over there and causin' a scene, beatin' on my chest and pullin' some hero type shit; girl'd kick my ass for me if I tried."
"Doesn't it make you angry?" Carl asked, and Daryl hurried to swallow the food in his mouth.
"Nah, the guy's as harmless as a puppy; what's he gonna do, Carl? Talk her ear off? Beth'll walk away before that. Nah; kid don't bother me, none, so don't let him bother you."
Carl jerked his shoulder and then scowled.
"He is harmless, ain't he?" he said finally, and Daryl hummed quietly in agreement. "What if he tried touchin' her?" he asked, and had the immense satisfaction of seeing Daryl's eyes ice over.
"I'd break his hand off at the wrist," was all Daryl said, and Carl nodded. "Anyway, ain't like I have to worry 'bout Beth when she's got a rabid pit-bull like you in her corner," Daryl said quietly, and when Carl grinned and nudged Daryl's shoulder with his knee, Daryl simply smirked and continued to eat.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
"Ummm…"
Daryl sucked a breath in between slightly slack lips as Beth purred; his hands slowly relaxed against her hips, but not before he knew he'd left marks on her creamy skin. They all had a sexual trigger; for him, it was the curve of her spine, and the naked length of her back. Add in her looking at him over her shoulder in the half light of their cell, and Daryl had been helpless to stop what had happened next. By touch and taste he'd explored the shifting muscle of her shoulders, back and the long length of her legs, before curving her down onto their bed. The sight of the scar on the back of her neck had been the next trigger, and Beth had muffled the sounds that spilled from her mouth in the pillow as Daryl had simply shoved his pants down his thighs and entered her as she knelt before him. He'd known the scar was there; it had caused many a moment of guilt in the past, before Beth had finally put him straight. It was the scar he had given her, when he had saved her life; it was his mark, one no other man had ever put on her. A mark only they knew the cause of; a mark that showed he was willing to do whatever it took to keep her with him. With his eyes on that mark, Daryl had simply given into base instinct, and had, in Beth's own words, fucked the hell out of her.
His legs shook slightly as he reached between them to hold the condom in place as he pulled out of her; Beth hissed in response, before letting her body fall flat as Daryl shoved up onto his feet to throw it away. Tugging his pants back up, Daryl stared down at Beth as she lay there silently. Sweat beaded along her skin; the concrete walls retained the relentless heat of summer, and Daryl shoved at his own sweat soaked hair impatiently. Beth's laughter whooshed out of her lungs in a gush when he bent down and hauled her up on her feet, but her hand went to his willingly when he mumbled that a shower would do them both a world of good. Gathering some clean clothes, she wrinkled her nose as she redressed, and then followed him down to the shower block. It was empty, as he had known it would be in the middle of the night, and Daryl had stripped silently as Beth turned the water in the corner shower on.
Under the cold stream of water, Daryl washed away a days' worth of grime; sweat, blood, and the tacky remnants of his own release. It was only as he shoved soap covered hands through his hair that he began to settle. Beth's arms slid around his waist; her arms were slick and cool, and when she brushed her lips without comment over his back, Daryl stilled slightly. They'd never spoken about his scars. Probably never would. But he could finally handle her touching his back, and not step out of her way. Instead he nudged her out of the steady stream of water as he ducked his head to rinse his hair, before pulling her back into the circle of his arms. The water sluiced down over them; chilling their skin and cooling them both as Beth tucked her face into his shoulder. Daryl sighed once; a heavy sound as he bent his own head so that the water ran down the back of his head and across his neck.
"You make me feel like you could eat me alive some nights," she murmured, and Daryl shivered slightly as her lips rubbed over his skin.
"Considerin' I've still got a pulse and all, I can't see that happenin'," Daryl said dryly, and then chuckled when Beth slapped the back of her hand lightly against his stomach. Beth tilted her head back to peer up at him, and Daryl smiled slightly and lowered his mouth to hers.
The need that always warred with lust in his blood flared, and Daryl mumbled softly under his breath as he eased her away from him and then reached out to turn the taps off. He'd always been careful with Beth in this aspect of their relationship; he always made sure she was soaked before he entered her, that his movements were easy within the cradle of her body. But how he'd taken her in the library only that afternoon and again earlier… he knew she'd accept him into her arms again. Knew he could make her bone weak and helpless under his hands and mouth. But knowing she would ride with him tomorrow for over an hour? Daryl slicked his hair back and grinned at her as she reached for a towel. She wouldn't be able to walk properly by the time they got back, and Daryl just wasn't willing to do that to her. He wasn't willing to do anything to put his girl at risk.
"You scare me."
He mumbled it, and Beth glanced at him sharply, before she relaxed and nodded.
"How you make me feel, Daryl? Scares me too," she said quietly.
Relieved she'd known what he meant, Daryl took her hand when she held it out to him, and let her lead him back to their cell. Pausing in the doorway, Daryl peered down at Beth. His lips parted, and Beth simply smiled as she laid her fingers over his lips.
"I know. Me too."
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Liam stood within the crowd that had gathered that morning to see the run party off. Sweeping his gaze over those going, he watched as Daryl bent slightly and made an adjustment to his bike; Sasha and Michonne were readying one of the cars, while Daryl made sure his bike was in working order. Tyreese was hidden beneath the bonnet of the car that the women worked on, and when he stood up and slammed the bonnet shut, he locked eyes with Daryl and nodded before he, Michonne and Sasha slid into the car. But it was Daryl that Liam continued to watch; he saw the sawn off shotgun that Daryl slid into the holster on the side of his bike, before attaching his crossbow to the front bars of the bike; the bike started with a powerful roar, and Liam felt the slow curl of jealousy as Daryl slung his leg over the bike and settled onto the leather seat – what he wouldn't give to ride that bike he thought, as Daryl shifted the bike and then let it roll down the hill slightly. Shifting his weight, Liam caught sight of Beth and smiled slightly as the sun glinted off her hair; moving through the crowd of people, he sidled up so that he could get closer to her.
Beth was standing with Hershel; his arm was wrapped around her shoulders, and she was nodding seriously at whatever he was saying. And as Liam paused behind Rick, Carl and Carol, Daryl stopped his bike in front of Hershel and Beth. Hershel nodded in greeting to Daryl as Beth reached up to kiss her father's cheek; it was in that moment that Liam was forced to open his eyes, and he watched in confusion as Daryl held his hand out to Beth. Beth took the hand Daryl offered and walked to his side; she stood between his thigh and the bike, and Liam's jaw dropped as Daryl casually ran his hand across the curve of her ass, before looping his arm around her hips as she leaned into his side. Disbelief warred with curiosity, and Liam remained where he stood as Daryl peered up at Hershel, while Beth absently toyed with the hair that curled down over Daryl's collar.
"You a'ight?" he asked, and Hershel nodded.
"She's grown up on me, Daryl," was all he said, and Daryl nodded as he shifted his eyes up towards Beth's face.
Beth tucked her hair behind her ear as she grinned at her father, and as Daryl looked up at her, she turned her eyes towards him; she lowered her head and brushed her lips lightly over his as her father shook his head but grinned all the same. Quick, but deep with love, and words unspoken, and Daryl gripped her hip lightly, before Beth shifted away from his side and swung her leg over the back of his bike. Looping her arms around his waist, Beth settled herself, and then tightened her grip.
"You keep our girl safe, Daryl; bring her home," Hershel said, and Daryl nodded.
"Always do, Hershel," he said, and Hershel reached out to skim his hand over Beth's hair briefly before he stepped back as Daryl restarted his bike.
Liam continued to stand where he was as Daryl skimmed his hand across Beth's thigh; words unspoken again, but a language they seemed to understand as Daryl glanced over his shoulder at Beth briefly and she nodded to his unasked question. A rev of that powerful bike, and then they were moving. And as they left, Hershel moved to join Carol as Rick walked away with Carl.
"You all right?" Carol asked, and Hershel nodded. "You know Daryl'd die before he let anything happen to Beth," Carol said gently, and Hershel nodded again.
"I know," he said finally. "I know how much he loves her, Carol; a man'd have to be blind to not see it. But she's my daughter, and I feel like I've only just gotten her back."
"I know that she's your daughter, Hershel, and that for a while there we all thought she was lost to us. But she's his lover," Carol said quietly. "You know the lengths he's gone to in the past to protect, Beth; hell, Hershel, he tore Woodbury apart to find her; he brought her home, and in one piece. A run is the least of your worries where that man and your daughter are concerned. I rightly recon Daryl'd tear hell apart to find her."
Liam breathed in sharply and turned away as Carol's words caused a pain to spread in his chest; all the missing pieces fell into place for him in one fell swoop. The looks shared between Daryl and Beth. The fact that her cell sat empty, when he'd finally seen it. The fact that they always seemed to be only a few steps away from each other. The sharp warning Carl had given him that Beth was spoken for. And the look of pity in the older man's eyes when Liam had asked him about Beth while digging graves; the gentle suggestion that maybe he was better off leaving Beth be, and that Lisa seemed to like him. Swallowing his humiliation, Liam turned and melted into the crowd as all fantasy of getting to know Beth shriveled and died in the morning heat.