When I cross posted this story to AO3, I added two chapters. They take place between chapters 27 and 28. Its mostly Beth/Daryl so you can opt out now if that's not your thing. The song lyrics in this chapter are a slightly altered version of Elliot's song from the show Euphoria.
Bonus Chapter One: Beth and the guitar
Beth was surprised at the amount of people that offered to accompany her on her way back to the cabin. Even Glen showed some interest. And she knew from speaking to her sister that their dad basically forced him to go along the last time. This time Hershel sent Rick and Carl with her. Beth didn't ask why, but she could guess. Glen and Merle seemed to have been able to come to some sort of truce during the last visit. Now Hershel just needed to work on Rick. The more issues that were settled and put in the past, the easier things would go when Merle and Iva came back to the prison to live.
Beth rode in the cab of the truck with Rick. Carl and Toby opted to ride in the bed of the pickup. It didn't seem safe for them to be loose back there. Beth was happy Carl's dad at least made them sit down instead of riding standing up while gripping the frame of the back window for balance.
The closer they got to the cabin, the more nervous Beth got. She hadn't seen Daryl in a week. And when she left it was without even a goodbye. She wasn't sure what the status of their relationship was or even if there was a relationship between them at all. And she was scared that maybe she had built up what happened between them into more than it really was.
Toby took off out of the truck the moment it stopped moving, running full force at Iva since Merle wasn't around to thump him for it. Iva hugged the boy, but Beth could see the girl peeking around him trying to see who else was in the truck. When Iva saw Beth, her face lit up with a giant smile. Then the girl immediately started hollering for Daryl.
"Iva, I know Beth's here," Daryl grumbled, "I can see her."
Daryl woke up early. He had been impatiently waiting on Beth to show up since sunrise. But he hadn't said a word to Iva about it. He was doing his best to act nonchalant, making excuses to hang around outside where he could see the gate. How Iva figured out what he was doing, Daryl had no idea. And now she was embarrassing him.
To Daryl's relief, his embarrassment was short-lived. Beth gave him a quick hug. But she and Iva were much more focused on the large duffel bag Beth brought with her from the prison. Daryl noticed the girl also had her guitar case slung across her back and he was secretly delighted. He loved listening to Beth sing. She had a beautiful voice. And even if she was only mediocre, they didn't have much in the way of entertainment at the cabin. Any break from the everyday grind was a welcome one.
Beth didn't want to go back to the prison. And once she knew her dad was fine, she didn't want to stay. But going back had afforded her the opportunity to grab some things she left behind. And to bring herself and Iva some clothes.
"Iva like," Iva said, running her hands over the soft silky fabric of a long printed sundress, "...English woman wear dress?"
Beth nodded. Women didn't wear dresses much anymore. They weren't very practical for the apocalypse. But before the turn Beth used to wear dresses all the time. Seeing that Iva was ready to change into her dress right then, Beth put a hand on her arm and stopped her.
"Let's wash up and change after everyone else leaves," Beth suggested. Iva was quick to agree. She still had some gardening to do and she didn't want to spoil the pretty things Beth brought for them. "...And I was hoping you could do me a favor later?," Beth asked, keeping her voice down to almost a whisper. Iva leaned in close, already eager to help Beth in any way she could.
Outside, Toby and Carl were buzzing around the new girl, asking her a million questions at once. Rick was sitting nearby, surprised and slightly disappointed to see Carol was the one in the kitchen preparing a meal for everyone. Not that she couldn't cook. But part of the payoff for having to visit with Daryl's brother was supposed to be Iva's cooking. And speaking of Merle, Rick saw he had not bothered to come up to the kitchen and greet anyone. Instead he was scooping buckets of water from the fish pool and dumping it over the sections of the garden that were looking dry. Rick sighed. He knew why Hershel sent him here. He and Merle didn't need to be friends. But they needed to sort out their differences at least to the point where Rick wasn't worried the man might stab him in his sleep.
Rick grabbed a bucket and dipped it into the fishy water. Merle's only acknowledgement of his presence was a tick of his chin. Rick supposed that was mildly better than being cussed at or punched. So he decided to run with it.
"Hershel sent me here…," Rick started to say. Merle cut him off.
"I know why the Doc sent ya," Merle announced with a wave of his stump. It wasn't a well kept fucking secet that Hershel wanted everyone to kiss and makeup. Merle set his bucket down and moved towards Rick, leaning close into the other man's personal space. Then he pointed towards Carol. "You get that nosy old bitch outta here and outta Iva's kitchen 'fore Iva kills 'er and I'll consider us fuckin' square," Merle offered.
"Carol?," Rick asked. He bit his bottom lip, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah. Carol. She won't stop fuckin' around with Iva's food and shit. Tellin' her she's not doing shit right and saying shit to her about me hurtin' her ribs. Acting like I'm some kind of a fuckin' rapist. Never laid a hand on that girl that she didn't want there," Merle spat.
Rick nodded. There was an obvious age gap between Iva and Merle. And after what happened with Maggie, Rick could see why Carol would be concerned for the girl. But Rick had not seen any indication that Iva was being coerced into the relationship. On the contrary, for reasons unknown to Rick and probably everyone else on the planet, Iva seemed completely smitten with Merle.
"I'll make sure Carol goes back with me," Rick agreed. If that's all it was going to take to bury the hacksaw between them, Rick was perfectly fine with it. Merle clapped him on the back with a little more force than necessary before he added to his request.
"And take that fuckin' kid we found with you too," he said, "I think she's got fleas."
Rick just shook his head as he watched the man walk away. Merle headed for the cabin.
"Princess!," he hollered in Beth's general direction, "yer back!"
Beth laughed. She was happy to see Merle again too. But not as happy as she was when Rick finally packed everyone back up in his truck and started backing down the dirt drive towards the road. The moment the truck was out of sight, Iva snached up the casserole Carol left them for dinner and dumped it directly into the compost bin.
"Make fire?," Iva asked, pointing toward the grill. Daryl nodded and started dumping fresh charcoal into the grill. Iva went into the cabin and returned with a platter of small pieces of marinated meat and veggies on sticks. She set them near the grill so Daryl could toss them on the fire once it was ready. Then Iva and Beth headed for the makeshift shower area to wash up.
When the girls came out of the cabin, Daryl's mouth fell open. He burnt his finger on the grill and yelped, making his brother laugh. Daryl assumed the girls were just washing their hands and faces up before dinner. He wasn't expecting them to come out of the cabin in dresses. He couldn't remember the last time he saw a woman in a dress. And when he had, he was sure she wasn't as pretty as Beth. She was dressed in a white cotton sundress that fell to just above her cowboy boots. Her guitar case was slung over her shoulder until she pulled the strap off and set the heavy instrument on the table.
Beth smiled. Iva only made it halfway down the steps before Merle was on her, lifting the girl off her feet and carrying her over to the table to hold her in his lap. He was being very vocal about his opinion on how good he thought Iva looked in her dress. Beth turned to Daryl, feeling hopeful that the younger of the two brothers might pay her a similar compliment.
Daryl sucked his burnt finger, trying to think up something to say. Because you look like you're not wearing a bra and I hope you don't have panties on either probably wasn't going to go over well. His pants were getting tighter by the second and he turned back towards the grill so he could adjust them. Once he got the cooked meat and vegetables off the grill and onto the plate, Daryl had regained some control over himself.
"You look pretty," he said. Daryl sighed and wished he thought up something better to say. But Beth was smiling at him. So maybe it wasn't so bad.
Merle and Iva each had a little to eat. But they seemed more interested in each other than they were in the food. Beth picked at her plate, her body filled with nervous energy. She kept glancing between Daryl and her guitar case. Finally she reached for it and began to unclip the latches. Iva immediately jumped up from her seat.
"Good weather," Iva announced. She grabbed Merle's hand and began pulling him up with her. "Merle, Iva, sleep treehouse," she added. Merle looked at the girl like she was crazy. That tree house smelled like BO and goose shit. And they had a perfectly good bed in the cabin. He opened his mouth to object. But then he saw the look that passed between Iva and Beth. And he also noticed that Daryl looked as surprised as he did about Iva's sudden desire to sleep in the treehouse. So when Iva kissed Merle hard on the mouth and started pulling him away from the table he followed her without complaint.
Once they were inside the treehouse, which thankfully had aired out a bit since Toby left, Iva surprised him again. Merle pulled the girl into his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back, but then pushed him away and laid down on the mattress.
"Iva listen," she told him.
"Listen to what?," Merle asked. He didn't hear anything. Except the sound of Daryl not getting laid. And that was nothing new. She could listen to that all day.
"Beth make song," Iva whispered like she was telling him top secret information, "...make song for Daryl." Merle started to laugh but Iva hushed him up with her finger pressed against his lips. He did his best to quiet down and let Iva listen. And he figured it wouldn't hurt for him to hear the much anticipated song either. If nothing else, it would give him something to make fun of Daryl for later. Merle settled down next to Iva and held her close, letting her rest her head on his chest.
Beth felt nervous until she got her guitar in her hands. Music was soothing to her. It was her escape. She glanced up at Daryl. He was leaning back in his chair, smoking a cigarette.
"Whatcha gonna play?," he asked. Beth lied and said she wasn't sure. Then she started with a song that was familiar to her. That one was a warm up. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly through her nose. The melody to her new song was one she had been toying with for a long time. But the lyrics finally came to her over the last week. She didn't need to pull out the written version. She already had the song memorized.
Daryl relaxed in his chair, enjoying the sound of the music and Beth's sweet voice. The song wasn't familiar to him. And he didn't catch what the actual lyrics were until about halfway through.
I know this world is broken,
So I leave my door wide open.
One when I get older,
I'll come lean on your shoulder.
Tell me the storm is over,
The day we meet again…
Feels like you fell right in my head,
I'd give it all to see you smile again,
I hope it was worth it in the end.
Daryl felt an odd sensation down in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't just the words of the song, it was the way Beth kept sneaking glances at him. She was watching to see what his reaction would be. To the song that he now realized she had written for him. No one ever wrote a song for him before. No one ever did anything for him before. Nothing like this. Daryl felt his hand get hot for the second time of the night. He had been holding his smoke so long it burned right down to his fingers. Daryl dropped the cigarette butt on the ground. Then he stood up.