All I Ever Will Be
Chapter Eleven - No More Running
A/N: Hey readers - thanks for sticking with this story! This chapter is a little slow, but I wanted to build up a little bit to the next chapter which is going to lead to some interesting new things for Beth and Daryl.
Whether morning had come or gone, Daryl had no idea but he woke up sore and stiff on the floor with Beth curled up in his arms. He shifted, trying not to wake her up and got to his feet. Gingerly, he lifted her up and placed her on the couch. She stirred slightly, but stayed asleep.
He could still feel her on his lips. He had been so tired and so distraught, he thought it might have been a dream. But now he was awake and alert and he knew it had been real. So real. And she had tasted so good. He lingered for a minute, admiring her beauty as she slept. Even after the hell they'd been through, she still was making him feel something. Was it happiness? He hadn't felt that for so long, it was hard to recognize.
As he walked away from her, Daryl's stomach growled against his will. They were going to need to eat soon. First, he needed to find Beth a weapon that she could use, just in case. He went into the kitchen and over to the counter, scattered with trash. Old food, wrappers, Playboys and cigarette butts were haphazardly laying across the surface. There were liquor bottles everywhere - on the counter, the floor, the table. All these guys must have done was get lit.
Daryl searched the counter, finding another gun which he stowed in his back pocket. As he searched further, he found a few packets of beef jerky. Breakfast. He tucked the packs into the crook of his elbow, then moved to the table surrounded by four chairs. The light hit something that caught his eye and he cleared away the trash, revealing a familiar knife. Beth's knife. He picked it up in his hands, knowing that it was hers, the small hunting knife that she wore on her hip.
He brought it back to her, cradling it in his hand. To his surprise she had woken up when he came around the pillar. She looked back at him over her shoulder, her eyes blue and beautiful. He could just run over and kiss her again - couldn't he? It took all his strength to walk over and not touch her.
"Hey," she said, still sounding sleepy.
"Hey," he replied back, feeling shy. He held the knife out to Beth and she looked at it in bewilderment. "Look what I found."
She smiled then, her grin spreading all the way to her ears. "Awesome!" she exclaimed. She grabbed it from his hand and looked it over.
Daryl stood there watching her, not knowing what to say after the night before. He still wasn't sure how she was feeling. People do all kinds of crazy things in times of anxiety, despair or fear. He realized he was afraid their closeness hadn't meant anything to her.
"How'd you sleep?" he asked uncomfortably.
She looked up at him with a lopsided grin. "Okay, I guess," she said. "I was so exhausted. Sorry I fell asleep on you," she said, not sounding sorry at all.
Daryl shook his head. "Ain't no need to be sorry," he said, a flush rising to his cheeks. "It was nice, ya know." He shrugged.
Beth looked away. "Yeah," she responded. "It was." He wondered if she was talking about the sleep part or the kissing part.
"You hungry?" Daryl asked. He held up the packs of jerky.
Beth looked up at him and shook her head an emphatic yes, reaching out for one. Daryl threw two to her, then sat down on the couch next to her, opening his own and biting into a stick.
He looked over at her as he chewed hungrily and saw that she was tearing off large chunks with her teeth. Damn. Girl must have been hungry.
"Whoa, slow down," Daryl said with a laugh.
Beth smiled, her cheeks full of food. "Sorry," she said, holding her hand over her full mouth. Daryl grinned at her.
They ate the rest of the jerky in silence, both ravenously hungry. When they finished, Daryl got to his feet. "We should search the rooms," he said, "For extra weapons or food." Beth nodded, standing up beside him.
They began their task, both moving into different open rooms that they knew were empty. Neither of them were quite ready to deal with the bodies yet. Daryl's head was still racing from the night before. From shooting the unnamed woman and then kissing Beth, it was a lot to take in. And Beth had kissed him back. She didn't pull away or tell him no - she'd actually kissed him back. She told him she needed him. God, it felt so good to hear her say that. He just hoped that she'd meant it.
The room that Daryl entered was darker than the rest. He looked up to see that one of the lights was missing the from wall with only one on the other side remaining. There were two mattresses, both in different corners of the room.
To the left Daryl found a mattress with stained sheets. The wall beside it had dirty magazine pictures decorating the concrete wall beside it. Beside the mattress were more empty alcohol bottles, cigarette butts and prescription pill bottles. Their most loving possessions - naked women with big tits, drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. If Daryl hadn't know any better, he might have been in Merle's bedroom.
He flipped the mattress over, finding nothing of real value, spare a lone bullet or two. He put them in his pocket for later. On the other side, the scene was similar. Instead of naked women, there were chalk marks written sloppily on the wall. Daryl counted twenty-seven in total. Kills? Prisoners? He had no idea. Beside it, there was a nail hanging from the wall with a small key dangling from it.
The door, Daryl thought, his senses heightened. He grabbed it from the wall and went outside to find Beth.
He found her back to him, standing in the doorway of the room where he'd shot the woman. Her shoulders were trembling. Shit. He should have closed the door.
"Beth," he said, coming up behind her. She turned around quickly, wiping her tears hurriedly against her fists.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking at the floor, embarrassed.
"Don't you go sayin' sorry again. C'mon here," Daryl said, pulling her around to face him. "Don't go lookin' at that. I'll take care of it later."
She looked up at him, her gaze stopping him and rooting him to the ground where he was. Being so close to her was electrifying. Every time he touched her, his senses ignited and he felt so very alive. He took his hand and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, wanting her to be happy again. Every time he thought of the world they lived in and that Beth had to endure this pain, it killed him.
"Daryl," his name rolled off her tongue so smoothly. Her tongue, pink and sweet and soft - he wanted to taste her again. "I don't wanna keep runnin'."
"We're not gonna keep runnin'," he said. He placed his hand over hers, and it landed over his heart. It was unintentional, but he let it rest there anyway. "I promise." He looked around the room. "Look at this place - it's...what'd that woman say...impenetrable. I think we might be safe here."
She let out a soft cry which made him unsure if she was going to start weeping or laughing. So he wrapped his arms tightly around her and squeezed. She nuzzled her head into his chest, bringing her arms in against him. Daryl put his nose down into her hair and inhaled, breathing her scent in and savoring it. Then, after a little bit of hesitation, he kissed her forehead and released her.
"We should get to know this place if we're gonna stay," Daryl said, turning away, afraid to see if she'd reacted to his gesture. He moved then towards the locked door. He still held the lone key in his hand. "We got one more thing to check out."
"What's that?" Beth asked curiously, following him. Daryl laid his palm flat, showing her the key in his hands. "This door over here's been locked. Couldn't open it with the other keys, but I found this one in the other room." He grasped it in his hand. "Grab your knife," he instructed her, taking the gun out of his back pocket and moving to pick up his crossbow. He slung it over his shoulder.
Beth nodded, straightening her posture and going into fight mode. She was so much stronger than she realized and Daryl had to make her see that someday soon. He came upon the door and stuck the key in the lock, turning it. The lock clicked open on the back end.
He pushed the door open, surprised at how heavy it was to open. He cracked it and yelled "HEY!" loudly, and it echoed into the room followed by silence.
"Hang on," Beth said next to him, disappearing for a moment. She returned with one of the chairs from the kitchen in her arms. "Here," she said, offering Daryl the chair.
"Good idea," Daryl said with a nod and he pushed the door open with his back. He stuck the chair underneath the handle propping the door open on the inside. It stayed put and they both entered the room together.
The room was small and cold, lit with a single light to the side of the door. In the center of the room rose a tall spiral staircase made from black metal. Daryl looked up and saw that the end disappeared into the dark ceiling.
Beth had made her way to the bottom stair and was squinting into the distance. She looked at Daryl who met her eyes. "Well?" she urged him. "Are we going up or what?"