Ch. 6
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I hope you like this one, and {{hugs}} to everyone for tonight's episode!
Beth watched from a distance as Daryl shook the boy's hand. He was probably Carl's age and seemed like a nice enough kid. Beth had seen him around the library for Carol's story time, but he didn't seem like he had a terribly strong stomach for the gore around them. She couldn't blame him. It wasn't something you just rolled with. Everyone had an adjustment period, and some people didn't ever get there. Or sometimes, they saw so much blood and loss that they closed back in and tried to remember what life had been like before killing had become an every day occurrence.
It had been a few days since their run to the Big Spot, and Daryl seemed to be getting better. She was beginning to wonder if he had reached the point where he realized that it wasn't just him he had to worry about anymore. And not in a "I provide food for the group" sort of way, but a "There's a person that loves me and needs me back in one piece" kind of way.
Not that she had told him that yet. It had been nearly three months since they had officially began their relationship, but the flirting and interest had been there for weeks before that. Maggie still wasn't completely on board, but she had told Beth that she didn't need to have any regrets when it came to her relationship because none of them were guaranteed tomorrow.
Beth had taken that advice and held onto it for a couple of days. All the while, she went about her daily routine: caring for Judith, hunting with Daryl, rolling around their tiny bed with him after the sun set.
Beth shook those thoughts away and watched as Carol said something to Daryl that made him cut his eyes at her before walking toward Beth.
"What're ya lookin' at, arrow?" He asked as he took a set beside her, pushing his plate over toward her.
The nickname had come about after a tracking lesson, and she didn't mind it at all. He had been telling her about directions and how to find her bearings in the woods when she didn't have a compass.
"Ya know, I wanted to get a tattoo of an arrow on my wrist," she said and held out the wrist that was layered in bracelets.
"Why?" he asked as he took her arm. Daryl slipped his thumb under the bands to find the scar that puckered her skin.
"Ya know, so I could look down at it and remind myself to find my own way," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Guess it's kinda ironic that I've got somethin' there now that reminds me the same thing."
His thumb rubbed over the line of skin, and he shook his head before letting her go and pulling her to stand in front of him. He handed her his bow and put both hands on her shoulders. "Put us goin' back the right way, arrow."
She laughed and proceeded to get lost in the woods for a couple of hours before finally making her way back to the prison with him in tow.
"You and Carol," she said. "Oh, and Patrick. I think he's got a man crush on ya."
Daryl shook his head. "Ya tryin' to start shit."
"No, I'm really not," she said with a grin. Over his shoulder, she saw Merle walk up beside Carol and start talking to her.
He didn't wear his knife because it was still bothering him, but he seemed to be in good spirits, at least around Carol. He smiled a little when he talked to her, and Beth wondered if Daryl noticed or if Merle talked to him about it.
"Ya know that you're brother helps with story time?" She asked and Daryl nodded. "Ya know it ain't really story time, right?" She asked quieter.
"I know," he said with short nod. "Carol's tryin' to save them kids like she couldn't save Sophia."
"Good," Beth said and took a piece of the deer meat off their plate. "Someone needed to realize these kids need guidance. We can't just ignore it."
"Seriously doubt that those Woodbury parents want to know that Merle and Carol are teachin' them weapons usage durin' readin' time." Daryl said and lowered his head to catch her eyes. "Anybody else know?"
Beth shrugged. "I don't think so. No one else goes that way durin' the day. I only know 'cause Judith was bein' fussy so we were walkin' the other day."
"Carol gonna watch her this afternoon?" He asked and took a thick strip of meat off their plate.
"Yeah," she said and nodded. "She's givin' me a free day since Rick and Carl have been out in the garden so much."
He grunted and tilted his head back toward the fence. "Ya wanna go out?"
"Absolutely." She kissed his cheek quickly and stood up. "I've gotta grab our laundry, but we can leave whenever after that."
"I'll find ya," he said.
Beth tried to see if he would look back up at her, but he didn't. He tried to make himself seem so unaffected around everyone else, but the truth was, Daryl had one of the softest hearts she had ever known.
She hated to think of him as a little boy with the kind of father he had. It was a miracle that he had kept his empathy through that.
As she walked by the grill, she waved to Carol and Merle, smiling to herself a little when she thought of them together. It wasn't official, and she wasn't too sure that either one of them were going to press it into something romantic, but they had seemed to find something in each other, and Beth really loved that.
The world was just awful, but occasionally, there would be little glimpses of good things. What she had with Daryl, Carol and Merle's friendship, Judith's smile, her daddy's understanding, quiet way, Rick and Carl mending things between them, Maggie and Glenn and their love.
Given the fact that, at any moment, the fences could fall and they would be on the run again, life was going pretty well for them. She let the big grin overtake her features as she entered through the prison doors and came face-to-face with her daddy.
"What's got ya lookin' so happy, doodlebug?" For as long as she lived, she would always want him to call her that. She was a complete daddy's girl since the moment she was born, she figured.
"Me and Daryl are gonna go out into the woods."
He paused for a moment then asked, "What're y'all doin' out there?"
Beth laughed, blushed and shook her head all at once. "He's teachin' me how to track and hunt. Ya've seen how good I am with a bow now."
Daryl had set up a target for her to practice with and most evenings, he would sit out there and coach her up. Sometimes her daddy was there, sometimes it was just them. Daryl hadn't really gotten the hang over being around him since he told him about their relationship. It was all new for them.
"I know," he whispered. "So, Daryl's treatin' ya well?"
"Yeah, daddy." She nodded. "He's a sweet man."
"I never thought I'd hear the day someone called Daryl sweet," he said then kissed the top of her head.
"He really is."
He took a step away and went to open the door but stopped. "When did ya grow up, Bethy? It seems like I looked away for just a second, and now, you're all grown."
"Well, the end of the world tends to push things along."
He shook his head. "Nah, ya've always had a good head on your shoulders."
She wanted to argue that and show him her wrist, but she just shrugged instead. At that moment, Daryl walked through the door, almost hitting her dad since he was standing right at it.
"Shit, sorry," he said and helped steady him.
"I'm all right," he said and pressed a hand against the wall. "The strap keeps comin' loose." He pulled up his pants leg and went to mess with the strap, and Beth started to kneel down to look at it, but Daryl beat her to it.
"This is a piece of shit," he muttered and pulled the strap they had attached to it tighter before pulling out his knife and poking another hole in the leather. "We're gonna have to find ya somethin' better than this, Hershel. It ain't gonna cut it if we gotta move fast."
He stood up and her daddy shrugged his shoulders. "Don't really see how we can do much better. It took y'all a while to find this one."
Daryl chewed on his bottom lip for a second. "We just didn't look in the right places."
"These things are specially made, ya know?" He said and placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder. He looked up at her dad from under his hair and nodded. "We take what we can get." Then he looked to Beth before back to Daryl. "Y'all be careful out there."
"Yes, sir," Daryl said almost on instinct, and Beth grinned as he seemed to turn into a teenage boy before prom.
Once her daddy was gone, Daryl took her hand and pulled her along to the laundry room where they collected all their clothes then back to their cell where he just dropped his stuff on the floor, and Beth folded up what little she had an sat it on the desk.
"Ya ready?" He asked. He was chewing his thumbnail and seemed nervous.
"Yeah. Ya okay?"
"Umhm," he said and pointed at her bow. "Get your shit, and let's head out."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Dixon," she said with a laugh and did as he said.
Daryl was already outside the cell when she turned back around, and she trailed after him. Right as he opened the door to the outside, she took his hand in hers and squeezed. "Hey, Daryl?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Things are gonna be just fine," she said, and he turned to face her with a small, unsure grin on his face.
He nodded and led her out, and Beth wondered what had him all twisted up all of sudden.
"There they go," Carol said and pulled his attention to the gate as she tilted her head toward it. "They spend so much time out there."
"Little brother's comin' back a man from this trip," Merle said with a laugh and a smirk.
Carol scoffed. "You don't know that, and besides, it's none of our business."
"Oh, I know," Merle said and went back to cleaning the grill. "He asked me if I'd ever been with a girl like her."
"Like her?" Carol asked incredulously. "What does that even mean? And you know he told you that in confidence. He doesn't want you goin' around tellin' his business."
Merle rolled his eyes. "I ain't tellin' everyone. I'm tellin' you. I wouldn't just say this shit to anyone, you know that," he said and sighed. "And he don't mean shit by 'like her'. He just couldn't get out the word 'virgin'. He can't get the words out sometimes."
"Please, tell me that you actually gave him good, solid advice."
"Yeah, told him to stop bein' such a pussy. If she's really one, it'll hurt a little, but she'll live."
"If she's really one," Carol muttered under her breath before turning to face him fully. "You know that whatever you tell me, I'd never tell a soul. You just admitted that. So, really think about this a minute before you answer. Do you really think it doesn't matter? Or that it makes Daryl less of a man to really care about the comfort of the woman he's bein' intimate with?"
Merle kept scrubbing the grill rack, probably a little harder than necessary as he thought about the answer. He didn't like the pity that crept into her voice when he talked about Daryl and Beth. She thought he brushed it all off with crude humor, but the truth was he didn't get her point-of-view, and he really didn't understand how Daryl had picked up on the little things. Not all of them, but a good many of them.
He swallowed. "I dunno. I don't get it. Who thinks about this shit? It's just fuckin'."
"It's not, though," she argued. "They love each other. It's important and special to both of them."
He tossed down the rag and shook his head. "Why? Just 'cause they attach a feelin' to it, doesn't change the fact that it's still the same as when the feelin' ain't there."
After a few seconds pause, Carol whispered, "You've never been in love."
He looked over at her and it was like a light bulb had flickered on in her eyes.
"Whatever," he said and started to walk away from her. The whole conversation was making him twitchy.
She grabbed his wrist and tugged him to a stop. Had he wanted to, he could have yanked his hand right back and kept walking, but he stopped just like she wanted.
"I'm not pickin' at you, but Merle, it's different."
"Yeah, 'cause ya got so much experience with lovin' relationships."
Carol pulled her hand back and stepped away from him. She pursed her lips for a second before she said, "I was a different person before I met Ed. I know what love can be, and I thought I could change him." She seemed to shake thoughts away as she said, "I won't make the same mistake twice."
Then she walked away and left him standing there.
He ignored the voice in the back of his head that told him to follow her—that told him that she was talking about him.