The next morning Beth awoke to the cling and clang of pots and pans in the kitchen. Maggie, Carol, and Tyreese were busy cooking breakfast for everyone. Beth's eyes searched the living room where she'd left Daryl the previous night, but he was no longer there. Rick was busy cooing to Judith who had actual toys spread across the floor. Michonne and Carl were in a corner laughing over some magazine or comic book. The others were still sleeping.
Beth helped set the table for breakfast, but once the food was prepared, Maggie pulled her aside and suggested they go next door to their own home. A super secret sister breakfast, she called it. Beth smiled and followed without protest. She missed her sister and their closeness more than almost anything else. She was happy Maggie had Glenn, but that left little time for just the two of them anymore. Glenn gave them a little wave as he watched them leave.
Skipping the table altogether, Maggie dragged her sister upstairs. They crawled into Beth's very own queen-sized bed and just marveled at the luxury for several minutes before diving into their food. For several moments, the scraping of forks was all that could be heard. The hunger of the previous months was something that they just couldn't easily forget. Once they'd both cleaned their plates, Maggie laid the dirty dishes aside and looked at her sister.
"So, how are things with Daryl? I've been dying to ask." She grabbed her bottle of water and took a swig as she waited for an answer.
Beth was slow to respond. Maggie watched as varying emotions warred across Beth's face. "I don't know what I'm doing. Like, seriously, Maggie. No clue. He just looks at me and that's it. Maybe I'm reading those looks wrong. How am I even supposed to begin to know?"
"You could just ask? I know that's scary, but that's kind of like what I did with Glenn." Maggie gave her a small smile. Beth picked at the duvet.
"Ask what, exactly? Hey Daryl, do you like me? One nod for yes, two for no? I'm pretty sure he'd just bolt. Abraham called us lovebirds the other day and that didn't go over super well. And that was just a joke." Beth looked up at her sister wanting answers or help or just something to calm her down and ease her worries.
"Just Beth him to death. You're good at that," Maggie teased. "Y'all spend a lot of time around each other. Just keep batting those blue eyes and long lashes at him until he crumbles beneath your fingers. And then kiss the shit out of him. Here." Maggie reached in her pocket and pulled out a handful of condoms.
Beth's eyes grew wide and she swallowed loudly. "What am I supposed to do with those?"
"You're supposed to not get pregnant with them." Maggie grabbed her hand and forced her to take the condoms. "Time will come when you'll need them, Daryl or not."
Beth blushed and shoved them into her pillowcase. "I think condoms are a little too advanced for us at this juncture."
"Maybe I could talk to him? I'll be working with working on expanding the town everyday. I could just casually mention you a lot. Get a feel for where his head's at?" But Beth shook her head at this.
"That's too obvious. I'm not sure it even matters. Something tells me he's going to just disappear into himself here. Get up, go to work, get the job done, and then hole up in his own space. That's essentially what he did at the prison. Except there we lived on top of each other. But once he has his own space, once we spread out, he won't even need to see me ever. I'll be locked up tight inside the school with all the kids. And then back here with you and Glenn." Maggie could see the realization of these words hit her as she said them. "Plus…," Her voice trailed off.
"Plus, what?" Maggie started running her fingers through Beth's hair. Knowing the soothing motion would calm her like it always had. She hoped one day Daryl Dixon's hand would replace hers.
"Now that there's all these new people, maybe he'll meet someone else, you know? Like someone older and prettier and more like him. Someone with more experience." Maggie wondered how long Beth had been considering this. It was unusual for her sister to succomb to insecurity, especially when it came to boys. But Daryl was an entirely new thing. A much realer thing. For the first time, Maggie truly believed Beth had fallen in love.
"Hey," Maggie said gently, tugging Beth's chin upward, "He couldn't do better than you if he tried. Do you hear me? We've got several long nights ahead of us all cooped up in this house together. Just let it happen, Bethy. I don't think for a single second that any man on the face of the earth could resist a Beth Greene in love. You'll know what to do when the time is right." Maggie kissed her cheek.
"You think I'm in love?" Beth blushed again.
"Aren't you?" Maggie asked in return. Beth looked at her sister for a few long beats and then threw her arms around her.
"I love you, Maggie." Beth squeezed her tighter. "And thank you."
Michonne found Daryl walking the perimeter of the safe zone. He looked so awkward and lonely without his bow. She understood the feeling since she no longer had her katana hanging from her shoulders. The sense of loss was almost overwhelming.
"Hey, Dixon. Find any holes yet?" Daryl grunted at her. He was nothing if not eloquent.
"Did you even wait for the sun to come up before you bolted? What happened to you? Back at the prison you were busy telling me how important it was to stick with everyone and now you're running away quicker than a spooked cat." Michonne eyed him with concern.
"I ain't running away. Just wanted some time to think without all that chatter." He ran his fingers along the metal paneled wall as they walked along.
"Think about what?" Back when they were out searching for The Governor together, Michonne and Daryl had shared a very easy and open friendship. She was hoping that hadn't changed.
"Nothing." He mumbled his answer. And though his mouth said one thing, his eyes said something else entirely.
"I'm going to risk my life here, I figure, by suggesting that perhaps a certain Greene sister is at the top of your nothing list?" Michonne nudged him with her elbow and smiled. She hoped she hadn't overstepped some boundary.
Daryl stayed silent.
"It's all right, you know. To get close to someone. I know that now. And I hope you do, too. Besides, there's a certain amount of poetry in the redneck and the farmer's daughter. Don't you think?" Michonne stopped and faced him.
Daryl stopped walking but continued to fidget and avoid eye contact. "Give her a few days and some young guy will swoop in. Trust me on that. I'm gonna head back and check in with the others. I think Rick was thinking about having a sit down with several of Douglas's group. We should be there for that. Come on." And with that, he ended their conversation.
They returned to the house to find nearly everyone gone. Abraham and Rosita were in the back just sitting around drinking beer. Daryl still felt like he was in a dream and that shit was going to fall apart at any second. But clearly no one else was burdened by these worries. Neither one had any clue where everyone else had gone. Michonne disappeared inside the house and left him to his own devices.
Daryl wandered around outside for a while before settling on the front porch of the house he'd been assigned. He grabbed the first sturdy stick he found and took out his knife to whittle the end. Just to pass the time, to fight off the boredom, to give his hands and mind something to do. A few minutes later laughter broke through his silent concentration. He looked up and saw Maggie, Glenn, and Beth rounding the corner.
"Hey, man. You gotta check out that armory soon and their food stores. It will take your breath away," Glenn remarked as they joined him on the porch.
"That's where y'all been?" Daryl squinted up at them from his seated position. The sun was blazing overheard adding a pleasant warmth to the otherwise crisp day.
"Douglas and his wife just took us on a tour. Everyone's been so nice." Maggie took Glenn's hand and led him inside. Beth took a seat on the porch steps across from Daryl.
"They're hosting a block party tonight in our honor. An actual party with food and music and dancing and happy people. I wish Daddy was here." She stretched her foot out and toed his shoe when he didn't immediately acknowledge her presence. He stopped his whittling, leaned his head against the porch column, and looked at her.
"I'm glad you're happy and like it here. I wish your Dad could be here with you, too." He spoke so softly she had to really concentrate to hear him.
She kept tapping her foot against his, smiling all the while. "Are you going to go?"
He looked down at where their toes met and back up at her. "I ain't much for parties. Maybe I'll just patrol the perimeter and keep watch in that lookout tower they built out of that old deer stand."
"If I asked you to come, would you?" She looked at him eagerly.
He toyed with the bottom button on his shirt. "You don't need me there."
She scooted across to him until their knees were touching. "The thing is, Marley, one of the girls here, she's got this really pretty blue dress she's going to let me borrow and makeup and I just thought it'd be nice to get dressed up for a change. And then to go to that party and dance and maybe even sing a little. Forget about all the shit we've been through for a while and just have a good time. But then I got worried about no one wanting to dance with me so I just thought that if you were there, I wouldn't have to worry about that 'cause I'd make you dance with me. And you would, wouldn't you? Dance with me?" She was talking faster than she could breathe and blushing from her temples down into her neck, but she kept going because this is what she wanted.
"I ain't never danced with anyone before. So you might want to think about a Plan B. Which is silly 'cause you ain't gonna have trouble finding a dance partner, Greene. And you know that." She looked at him then. He quirked his lips up into a half smile, but she didn't smile back. She wasn't in the mood for smiles and pretending what was happening wasn't happening. She wasn't in the mood to pussyfoot around all his defenses.
"Daryl Dixon, you will go to that party tonight and you will dance with me. And then you will walk me home and kiss me goodnight." With those as her final words, she stood, turned on her heels, and walked into the house, slamming the door behind her.
