Chapter 2
They walked up the polished wooden staircase in silence, only able to hear each others breathing and footsteps, not to mention the occasional creak of a floor board. Beth gripped her torch with cold hands. Despite her anxiety, a spacious landing presented itself to them at the top of the stairs. Four dark oak doors were set into the wall at equal intervals. It was neat, too neat. "Told you someone's been tendin' to this place." Daryl said, opening each door in turn and scouting inside for threats. "Ain't nothin'." He whispered, half expecting a nasty surprise behind the last one. He turned the handle. And slowly swung the door inwards. Nothing. He went inside. Beth followed, not sensing any immediate danger. "Woah…" she gasped. A makeshift bedroom had been set up, very basic, no finery, with plain white sheets and cream unsmattered walls. There was no sign of any recent wear and tear.
Daryl looked out of the window towards the graveyard beyond, there was nothing scary about it, not even in the dark, the folks buried there weren't no monsters. He thought about Hershal, the flowers from earlier, the way Beth had held his hand. 'Shiit, the most women ever did was hold my dick.' He mused to himself, trying to distract from the pain in his chest when his mind wondered to Rick, Maggie, Carl, their family. Light from the full silvery moon shone through the glass, highlighting the shape of his jaw beneath his facial hair. Beth asked herself how it would feel beneath her soft fingertips. She looked away quickly, gulping.
Daryl turned back towards her and noticed that she'd begun burning emergency candles instead of fumbling with a torch, he drew the curtains. The room was well lit now. Enough to see she'd taken off her boots and socks, little bare feet padding along the wooden floor, one was half bound in gauze. He was no foot fetishist, but for some reason, he found them cute. "Your ankle feelin' any better?" he asked. "A little, I can put more weight on it now, thank you for fixin' me up Mr. Dixon." She said sweetly. Daryl nodded in response. Her smile faded. "Well I'm goin' to try getting' some sleep, even if you're not." She jibed affectionately as she hastily took off her gun belt and unfastened her pants. Daryl looked away, not wanting to embarrass her. She blushed bright red and pulled them down her pale legs. "Can't get comfy with jeans on…" she tried to laugh. "Yeah…" he wished he could have looked, and had no idea how he'd stopped himself. Clearing his throat, he shifted from one foot to the other.
"It's okay Daryl, I'm still decent." Beth said quietly. He faced her, and saw that she was wearing tiny pink panties, partially covered by her shirt, nothing too racy, but it didn't soften his growing curiosity. She climbed into the plain sheets and let out a satisfied mew. "I'ma just sleep over here." He said. "Nooo, Daryl, stay with me. Please." She said, holding out her hand. He tensed visibly. Their eyes locked. His fingers played around his lips and he looked deep in thought. The candles flickered in his blue eyes as he stared at her. His gaze seemed to soften. 'What the fuck am I doing?!' his inner monologue shouted. Beth felt the knot in her chest give way as Daryl stood, shrugging off his jacket and outer layers. She watched as he pulled off his heavy boots, and was left in old ripped jeans and a sleeveless shirt. "You're freezin' girl." He said as he took her hand in his, letting her pull him in.
He lay next to her on top of the thin duvet. "You're not getting' in?" she asked. "Naww, I gotta keep watch." Came his reply. "Mkay.." Beth whispered as she melted against his side. He realised this was the first time he'd been on a bed with a woman and not fucked.
Her head came to rest gently against his muscular shoulder. He paused for a long moment, looking across at her. 'She's beautiful…' he thought, then grimaced, feeling like a pussy. "I've been thinkin'." She broached suddenly. "Yeah?" A beat of silence filled the air. "About everyone, if they're… Like you said.." Beth edged, sounding tearful. This bothered him a whole fucking bunch. He put a strong tanned arm around her and held her there. She looked up at him, tears beginning to spill. It made him angry, that she had to suffer at all, he didn't want that for her. "Just ignore me, I can be a dick, not just when I'm drunk." His voice was low and deep, vibrating in his throat. Beth's proximity to the source of this sound made her body heat up considerably. She tingled somewhere too rude to mention.
Sometimes he was so incredibly masculine. It was unnerving. She wondered if he knew it.