I'm horrible, I know. I haven't had the energy, motivation, or mind set to write and I hate it and it sucks. :/ But Colt And Katana requested this for her birthday and how could I say no? Happy birthday babe, hope you enjoy it!
The Alexandria Safe Zone was not what you would expect it to be. Walking into the walled "sanctuary", Daryl was surprised to see it looked like nothing more than a small neighborhood. There were a couple streets of houses, a few community buildings, and a whole mess of curious faces staring at the group. He felt uncomfortable, fidgiting under their gazes, but his face remained stoic. After all they had been through, a few questioning sets of eyes weren't going to really affect him.
They were welcomed in, allowed to keep their weapons, as if Rick's group would have it any other way, and now they were standing there with a few of the zone's higher ups so to speak. The other members were paying attention to the words coming out of the man in charge, while Daryl casually scanned the surroundings, always on alert. He caught a flash of blonde hair, such a familiar shade, on top of the head of a girl exiting one of the houses, most likely coming out to catch a glimpse of the newcomers. The flowing locks made him think of woman he had lost, making his body immediately tense. He quickly turned his gaze towards the ground, trying to keep the feelings at bay that were bubbling up inside of him.
It was often that he was reminded of Beth, seeing bits and pieces of her in everyone and everything. The pain he felt with the reminders had just gotten worse after the hospital. When she was first taken from him, Daryl kept hope in his heart that they would find her, she'd be okay, and everyone would finally be reunited. Every day, he had struggled to keep that spark of hope alive inside of him. When he had seen that car, the second one with the white cross, the adrenaline took over his body. Jumping in the car, he raced after them with Carol.
They ended up in Atlanta, fighting off walkers and remaining survivors. Carol hadn't made it back with him the first time. She was taken by the same people who had Beth. He had felt the excruciating guilt once again, allowing one of his family to get ripped away from him once more. He had went back to the church for back up, to find that some of the members had left to head to DC. With those remaining, they headed back to the hospital where Daryl had seen the car go planning on fighting their way in to reclaim their own. When they arrived, however, they hadn't even made it to their planned entrance when Carol literally ran into them.
Carol's usual level headed mindset was missing, replaced with a frantic mess. She was covered in blood and soot, babbling on about how she had tried. When they had finally calmed her down enough to form real words, she had confirmed what Daryl had already suspected. Beth had been inside, they had formed a plan to escape, and it had failed, at least for Beth. She explained that they had gotten separated and when she looked back, walkers were swarming.
That had been a low point for him, one of the lowest of his life. Up until that point, he had held onto that little piece of hope that they'd find her and she'd be safe.
That had been months ago, and while he thought she was dead, she was in his thoughts everyday. Now here they were, the entire group back together again, minus her, and Daryl couldn't help but feel that this whole thing was a little unfair and bittersweet.
Apparently, his thoughts of her were getting more intense, because with his gaze still turned towards the ground, he could have sworn he'd heard her voice yelling his name. He bit his lip and shut his eyes, trying to drown the noise out with his own thoughts, but it wasn't going away. Instead it was getting louder. It wasn't until he heard Carol mutter an "Oh my god" in disbelief that he actually opened his eyes and looked up.
"Daryl!" His name actually was coming out of her mouth. She was running towards him with that familiar blonde ponytail swaying behind her. His eyes scrunched up trying to put her into focus, and it took a second for him to realize that hot tears were blurring his vision. When she was about ten feet away from him, his legs suddenly began working and he ran the rest of the way to her. She was still yelling his name when they reached each other. Her eyes were wide and tears left wet trails down her rosy cheeks.
They threw their arms around each other, both of them holding on for dear life, like the contact was the only thing anchoring them to the real world, as if they were to let go, the moment wouldn't be real. With his hand pushing her face into his chest, his mouth buried into her hair, they held each other. Neither of them knew how long they had been standing like that when Maggie interrupted. "Beth?" Disbelief, grief, and guilt laced in her tone.
Hearing her sister speak made Beth pull away from Daryl and he had to stop himself from reaching out for her again. The young woman's tears were coming down harder now as she wrapped her arms around her sister. Maggie's face wore a look of shock while she cradled her sister close.
During the entire heartwarming reunion with the rest of the group, Daryl couldn't take his eyes off of her. Months of thinking she was dead had taken a toll on his mind, and now he wasn't quite sure what to think.
Later on, after everyone had been caught up on what they had missed, Beth and Daryl sat alone on the porch of the house that the group had been assigned. They were sitting close, much closer than they would have been a year ago, and Beth was telling the more detailed version of her time away. She had just gotten to the part of her story where she met up with another group. "I figured they couldn't be too bad, they were a few women...there was a child." Daryl wanted to scoff, knowing she would definitely have a soft spot for a child. "Guess it was pretty stupid though, looking back...trusting people like that."
"You're here, ain't ya?" As much as the survivalist inside of him wanted to scold her for some of the choices she had made, he knew that everything she did is what got her here and reunited them. Beth nodded in response. Her eyes met his and it was the that Daryl noticed that they were different. The look in those big blues made him come to the conclusion that this was not the young, slightly naive, innocent Beth Greene. This was a woman who had grown from the suicidal girl on the farm. She had become a fighter, and a survivor. She didn't need anybody to save her, and that thought made Daryl a little bit sad, though he would never admit it, not even to himself. He did find himself wishing he could have been the hero, but he had given up. "I stopped looking. We thought you were dead, Carol was sure of it..." He mumbled but Beth understood him just fine.
"Don't, Daryl. Just don't. You all had every right to believe I was dead, but I'm not. That's what matters right? Let's just not..." She didn't want to think about it. She knew her family would think she was dead, and that was a thought she had been carrying with her everyday. But now they were back together, and that was what she wanted to think about. "Can I try something?" Daryl looked at her with questioning eyes, unsure about what to say. Instead of speaking, he opted for a nod.
Beth hopped off the porch railing and walked over to stand in front of where he was sitting. The usual immediate instinct in his head, telling him to lean away, never appeared as Beth leaned forward, between his legs, and put her hands gently down on his thighs. There was no spark, there were no butterflies, no defining moment of clarity. It was just comfortable as Beth closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his. There was no hesitation when Daryl kissed her back.
Soon their mouths were open, their tongues fighting for dominance, as his hands gripped her hips and her nails were digging into the leather vest atop his shoulders. They separated, only to catch their breath. With the hot air visible between them, they panted and stared. Neither knew exactly what to say, but they both knew what this meant. Daryl would be the first to try and voice his feelings. "I-" Before he could even really begin his sentence, Beth interrupted.
"I know." She smiled softly. "Me too."
What the future would bring, they didn't know, but right now, everything was okay.
Sorry if it sucks, I think I might have lost my touch.