for a Tumblr prompt by deseraysmiththings
"Eggs Maggie. I need eggs!" Beth cried as she fluttered her flour coated hands in the air, wooden spoon coming dangerously close to hitting her face. Her sister looked around the kitchen with a look of unbridled horror as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, clearly not sure if she was dreaming or not. Beth didn't blame her, if she had woken at sunrise to see her sister standing in a powder white kitchen (the first flour bag she opened had exploded) with batter in her hair and screaming for eggs, it would have taken her a moment to process everything as well.
But Maggie seemed to take it in stride because after a moment she merely shrugged and grabbed her jacket off the hook on the other side of the wall. "I'll go next door and ask Daryl. He should be up this early."
"NO!" Beth cried, dropping the wooden spoon she was clutching with a clatter as she lunged towards her sister. "He can't know about this! Go ask Carol."
Her sister's brow crinkled as she looked around the disaster of a room. "What's this about?" she finally asked, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that made it very apparent she wasn't going to find Beth eggs until she explained herself.
Beth let out a sigh, shuffling her bare feet in the flour coating the floor. Parts of it were sticky where she had spilled oil and there were small white clumps stuck to her bare calves.
"Its Daryl's birthday." she finally admitted, still staring at the floor. She knew if she looked at Maggie her sister would be able to see all of the emotions she tried so hard to keep hidden when it came to a certain bowman. "At least if the calender here is right it is." she shrugged and tried to scrape some flour off her foot as she mumbled. "I just wanted to make him a cake is all."
Finally Beth looked up at her older sister who merely sighed and finished pulling on her coat. "I'll go ask Carol." she called over her shoulder as she left the room.
Beth squealed in delight and went back to figuring out the electric oven this house had, grateful as always for the solar panels that lined all of the houses in Alexandria's roofs.
The sound of the front door opening filled her ears and Beth called back to her sister as she tried to find more sugar to make frosting with. "Did she have any or do we need to go ask Rick?"
"Rick's on watch." a masculine voice suddenly filled her ears and Beth let out a small sequel of surprise before whirling around, banging her knee on the counter as she did so.
Daryl, with his leather jacket and and scuffed boots, often looked out of place in the nice houses of the safe zone. But here, in her explosion of a kitchen, he looked so out of place that it was nearly comical. He stepped into the room, looking down in confusion as a puff of flour rose in the air with his footfall.
He looked over at her questioningly but Beth merely gaped back at him, trying to figure out a way to explain without ruining her surprise.
"What the hell are you doing Greene?" Daryl finally asked as his eyes scanned the room with a look of near horror.
"Umm." Beth had not planned for this encounter and she was not fit to come up with a plausible excuse. She was running on twenty six hours with no sleep and more sugar than she had consumed in three years. She fought to come up with a believable reason but with Daryl staring at her like that her mind seemed to be wiped blank. It was not lost on her that this was the first time they had been alone in weeks.
Not knowing what else to do she merely flung her arms out, trying to ignore the fact that a rain of flour fell off her as she did so, before exclaiming, "Happy birthday?!" She had meant for it to come out excited but half way through it had morphed into a question as Daryl kept staring at her.
For a moment neither of them said anything and Beth bit her lip as a blush began to heat up her face. Daryl looked around the room in silence again before he locked his eyes onto her.
"This is for me?" he finally whispered.
Beth's blush deepened and she looked down at the floor. "I'm trying to make you a cake but there's been a few…mishaps." she admitted before looking back up at him.
Daryl let out a snort at her understatement before shoving his hands in his pockets. "No one's ever made me a birthday cake before." he finally announced, his gaze flickering back to her as she toyed with the hem of her shirt awkwardly.
"Well if I can't find any eggs that'll still be true." Beth let out a small laugh and Daryl gave her one of his small smiles before he took another step into the room, this time ignoring the flour puffing up to coat his pants legs and boots.
"Still, you tried to make one." he said as he approached her, his voice seemed to be a rough whisper and Beth suddenly felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest as he came ever closer. "That means something." he was right next to her now, but he still kept coming closer. Daryl reached his hand up to cup her face, undeterred by the cake batter sticking to her face as he peered down at her. "Thank you."
Beth found she couldn't quite remember how to form words as Daryl bent his head down to hers. Their lips were just about to brush when the front door crashed open and Maggie called out.
"Beth! We've got eggs!"