Ch. 4
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Merle expected them to keep it a secret and sneak around like any other atypical pairing, but much to his disappointment, Daryl sought out Hershel Greene and laid it all out on the table two days after it started. He told him about his innocent crush that morphed into something bigger and unexpected, that he would never disrespect Beth or lay a hand on her, and that he would protect her until his dying breath.
Well, what he had managed to get out ended up meaning those things, but his brother was a man of very few words and none of them were flowery bullshit, so the real conversation had been a lot shorter.
Hershel took the news pretty well for a conservative, old codger.
First thing he asked was if she was knocked up. Daryl had almost swallowed his tongue trying to choke out that "no" answer.
In the end, Hershel had sighed and tapped his fingers on his desk. "You're a good man," he had said. "Maggie won't like it."
Merle knew all of this, not because Daryl took him for backup, but because he had taken to ease dropping on things he felt were interesting.
It was damn prison for fuck's sake. There was only so much to do in a given day, and he wasn't like his brother, who was practically a damn squirrel for all the time he spent in the woods around them.
Hershel had been right, too.
Maggie had pitched a fucking fit when Beth told her, but she had managed to calm her down and pull her away. That was why Merle was surprised to see Maggie storming down the driveway to the fence where Daryl and him had been clearing off walkers.
She let into him as soon as she got close enough, calling him all sorts of names. Daryl stood there and took it for a while, and when she saw he wasn't going to holler back, she got real quiet and stared him down.
"Aren't ya gonna say somethin'?"
Daryl shrugged. "Don't really think it's any of your damn business, to be honest."
"She's my sister," she said like it should have been some kind of magic phrase to get him talking.
"Yeah," Daryl agreed and went back to slamming the pole through walker heads with a lot more force than before.
"What do ya have to offer her? Ya can't even hold a conversation!" She huffed and threw her hands up in the air. Then Merle saw something click on her eyes, and she pointed a finger at his back. "Are ya bribin' her? Ya keep her safe if she keeps your bed warm for ya?"
Daryl tensed up and dropped the pole to ground before turning around and looking her dead in the eyes.
Merle saw the pure fury simmering under the surface. He knew that kind of anger. It had gotten him into trouble many times, so he kept himself at the ready to step in. He might have been an asshole, but he knew better than to let his brother do something he would come to regret.
"Ya really think I'd do that to her? Use her like that?" He took a few steps forward but stopped short of where she was.
"You're twice her age. What am I supposed to think?" She shouted at him, and Daryl clenched his hands into fists.
"If that's what ya think, I guess that's just what ya think." He muttered as he side-stepped her and started walking toward the prison.
"What're ya lookin' at?" Her voice was tight as a bowstring when she finally looked to Merle. "You're trash," she said in a sure voice. "Families tend to be cut from the same cloth so I can only assume the same about him."
Merle hummed and nodded. "Well, you're theory's got a hole in it. Beth ain't a judgmental bitch, and y'all are kin."
She flinched. "It's just a matter of time before he shows his true colors."
"And what're they?"
"Bein' like you," she said in a harsh whisper.
Merle chewed on his bottom lip then said, "I did some pretty questionable shit when I's with the Governor and even before that. If that's what's got ya all worked up over Daryl gettin' with your sister, stop. He ain't me. Never has been." He paused. "Didn't say it before, but I'm sorry for what happened to ya 'cause of me."
She didn't look convinced at all, and he wasn't surprised when she turned from him and went back up the yard toward their cellblock.
He didn't let it bother him too much as he went back to thinning out the walkers along the fence. Merle did worry about Daryl, though. If Maggie pushed too much, he would back off Beth faster than they could blink.
He hoped Beth was ready to put up a fight.
She heard his heavy boots walking down the corridor and smiled to herself.
They were settling in pretty well in her opinion. Her daddy had been supportive and didn't make a scene about it. Maggie had been a tougher sell, but after a few hours of talking several days in a row, she had left Beth's cell with a quiet resignation earlier.
The rest of the group didn't care one way or the other.
Everything had been great so far, and he was so present when they were together.
Daryl might not have been a naturally affectionate man, but she could tell that he had feelings for her. When he was teaching her a little something about fighting, his hands would linger on her shoulders or her hips. He smiled a lot more than before. Not full blown, show his teeth smiles, but little grins where the corner of his mouth would quirk up.
After his watch the last two nights, he stopped by her cell before going off to his own. Beth wanted to ask him to stay with her, but she didn't think he was ready for that yet, even if it was just sleeping side-by-side.
Beth finished folding up Judith's blanket right as he walked through her door. Her eyes met his, and she knew instantly something had happened.
"What's wrong?"
He shook his head and looked at his feet. "This ain't gonna work."
"What ain't?" Beth knew the answer, though, and her heart started racing as she clutched at the blanket she was still holding.
"Whatever the fuck this is," he said as he motioned between them. "'M sorry."
Before she could speak he walked out, leaving her staring at the spot he had just been standing. She let out a small gasp of air as her heart broke then sat aside Judith's blanket and sat heavily in the chair next to her desk.
Just this morning before he went off to the fence, he had mentioned her going hunting with him later, and now he was backing off?
Beth shook her head and stood up.
There was no way she was going to let him call everything off without him giving her a real reason. She stood up and started out the door right as Maggie walked in.
"I don't really have time right now," she said and tried to go around her, but Maggie blocked her exit. "Seriously, move."
"I went and talked to Daryl. I think I got this all straightened out for ya," she said, her voice full of conviction.
Beth rolled her eyes and laughed humorlessly. "Well, thank ya for screwin' stuff up. I'm off to try and fix it again."
"You can do better than him, Beth."
She stood up tall and met her sister's eyes. Beth knew that she meant well, that she was trying to look out for her, but treating her like a child was getting old.
"Ya don't know him like I do," Beth said quietly. "And ya don't deserve to know the kindness that he has if ya pass judgment so quick. You take care of you, and I'll take care of me, okay?"
Maggie shook her head. "When ya make the wrong decisions, I have to step in."
"No, if I was makin' the wrong decision, it would be up to me to get out of it. If I was makin' a bad decision, then daddy woulda voiced his concern. Just leave it alone, Maggs. Let me see where this goes for us."
"I don't like it," she said in a huff.
"Ya don't have to," Beth said with a sigh. "Don't go near him about this again. There's only so many times a person can hear they're not good enough before they really start believin' it."
That made Maggie's shoulders slump a little as guilt settled over her features. She didn't say anything else as Beth walked through the door and turned to the right.
She had her knife at her hip, and figured that he didn't have too much of a head start on her. She dodged all the others that lived in the prison as she made her way out a side door and then down to the first gate. She slipped through and waved to Merle as he stared her down.
"That way?" She asked when she got close enough. He nodded his head and killed the last two walkers that had been pushed up against the fence. "How many where along the fence when he went out?"
"Ten," he answered and propped the pole against the chain link.
"He's pretty upset," she said and looked to the woods.
"He'll be even more pissed if ya head out that way lookin' for him, too."
Beth smiled and slid the gate open just enough to get out before pulling it back into place. "Lock up," she said. "I'm goin' huntin'."
Merle snorted and put the carabineers in place. She could feel his eyes on her until she disappeared from view and into the trees.
It didn't take her long to find Daryl. He wasn't hunting like he was supposed to be doing; he was sitting on the ground, back to a tall pine tree.
"So," she said quietly, and he tilted his head up. "Wanna tell me why ya broke up with me?"
He flushed and looked away. "Just think ya deserve better's all."
Beth sighed and sat down beside him. "Daryl, I'm old enough to decide what I want, and I want you. I think you're amazin'. You're sweet and kind, but ya look at me sometimes like I'm somethin' ya'd like to eat right up." That caused his ears to turn even redder. "I don't mind that at all. In fact, if ya're up for it..." Beth bumped her shoulder with his.
"Beth, girl, I don't got good blood. I'm bound to do somethin' real stupid one day."
"And when that happens, we'll figure out how to get past it. Besides," she said and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Merle thinks we'd be perfect together, and I'm sure he's right."
"Merle ain't never been right about anythin'," he scoffed but tilted his head against hers.
"He's right about this," she whispered and turned her face towards him. Daryl didn't say anything else, but he didn't need words when he used his lips like that.