"That's new," Maggie said, grabbing Beth's wrist. The sisters were busy filling as many containers as possible from the cleanest stream they'd come across in days. They'd still boil the water, of course, but being able to see the stream bed did wonders to calm their worries.
"Yeah. It was a gift." Beth offered no more in the way of explanation. Maggie had noticed how much quieter and reserved she'd been since returning to them.
"A gift, huh? Let me guess - a certain red-blooded, dirty-as-hell redneck type, am I right?" Maggie smiled at the tiniest hint of pink dusting her baby sister's cheeks. It was weird seeing Beth so tight lipped about a boy. In the past, she'd always sought her sister's opinion and advice in the love department, so Maggie was a little confused on where Daryl and her sister stood. But clearly, something was happening or had happened.
"It's just a bracelet." Beth continued to avoid her sister's eyes, focused on the task at hand.
"A bracelet and a lot less hiding." She watched as Beth paused and glanced down at her scar. "Y'all got close, I get that. He's a good man, Bethy. I'm not judging."
"There's nothing to judge." Her voice was quiet and filled with a sadness that squeezed Maggie's heart. Beth's lips tucked up into smile that didn't reach her eyes. "He just feels protective of me is all. Especially now that Daddy's gone. And guilty from what happened before no matter how many times I tell him it wasn't his fault."
Maggie sighed. "He's a complicated man, that's for sure. And, I'd imagine, a lot to take on emotionally. But that doesn't mean it's not worth trying."
Beth finally raised her eyes to her sister's. "How exactly is that supposed to work? It's not like it was before. When it was just the two of us. To be honest, I'm not even sure what that was. Or if it was anything."
"Did you - do you - want it to be?" Maggie sat searching Beth's eyes and saw a multitude of thoughts, of feelings pass through the face she knew so well but that had somehow changed into something she barely recognized these days.
Beth's brows furrowed and her gaze fell to her hands which were busy screwing and unscrewing the bottle top of a half-full milk jug. Her thumb unconsciously drifted to her scar, passing over the healed flesh that was beginning to darken now that the sun could finally reach it. "I don't think it's about wanting it to be anymore, Maggie. I think it's about needing to it to be."
Maggie hugged her sister to her then. Because she understood that need only too well. It was probably the whole reason she was still alive. As the two sat there on the bank of the stream holding each other, lost in their own thoughts, the sun began to set and the woods grew louder and louder with the croaks of frogs and the song of cicadas. Maggie soon began to feel her sister shake beneath her.
"What's wrong?" She pulled back ready to comfort whatever new wrong needed comforting. But Beth wasn't crying - she was laughing. Giggling, uncontrollably. Tears streaming down her face, melting the loosened strands of her blonde hair to her already dampened, sweat-streaked cheeks.
And God, it was contagious. So Maggie joined her and together their eyes lit up, their faces turned red, and their breath came in short, quick gasps. Loud as hell, walkers be damned. Maybe they didn't know what they were laughing about and maybe they did. Anyway, it didn't much matter. What did matter, at least for the Greene sisters, was that this horrific world filled with terror and blood and absurdity couldn't, wouldn't keep them from living their goddamn lives - from feeling their hurt and their joy, their hate and their love.
Even after their laughter had ceased, they still sat side-by-side, grinning like fools. Beth grabbed Maggie's hand and laced their fingers together. "I held Daryl's hand like this, back at the funeral home."
"And he let you?" Maggie was honestly shocked.
"Yep. He even held mine back. We were standing at a grave of someone else's father. I missed Daddy so much in that moment. And it's like he knew that I needed him to do that without my even asking. For the first time, I didn't want him to let go." Beth was blushing again, even if the darkness wouldn't allow Maggie to see it.
Pulling Beth of her feet, Maggie smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "If it makes you feel any better, from where I'm standing, I'm pretty sure he never did."
They turned together and started back to the group. Before long, they heard the tell-tale rustling of nearby leaves which immediately raised their guard. Standing back to back, they grabbed their knives and hoped there would only be one or two. The sound was growing louder and closer, almost determined if they let their imaginations free. The bushes closest to Beth parted and just as she stepped forward, knife raised, a crossbow emerged cleanly aimed at her head.
"Jesus Christ, Greene. You trying to get an arrow between the eyes?" Daryl lowered the bow and glared.
"Me? You think sneaking up on people in the woods is ever a good idea these days?" Maggie and Beth sheathed their weapons and sighed in relief. "What are you doing out here, anyway? I thought y'all were strategizing back at camp."
"Got dark and you two weren't back yet. Rick and Glenn got worried." Maggie snorted at this.
"If Rick and Glenn were so worried, then why aren't they the ones aiming arrows at our pretty little heads?" Maggie smirked at Daryl knowing full well he was full of shit.
"Whatever," Daryl growled and turned on his heels.
Maggie leaned over and whispered to her sister, "See, Bethy. Still holding on." They giggled and followed Daryl back to the highway.
