I hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for some sexy loving next chapter ;)
Song used is Yours by Ella Henderson. Beautiful tune, with some amazing Bethyl vibes in my opinion!
A long exhale of air escaped her lungs as she stood with her back to the partition door, her mind running at a million miles a minute. She couldn't help but feel empathy for this poor woman, who had survived the inevitable and had stumbled across their home by chance. In the entryway, the clock chimed noisily to signal midday. The noise shook Beth from her thoughts, and she glanced down to notice that Grace's soiled clothes were grasped in her fists.
She sighed, making her way towards the kitchen the filling the sink with soap and water. The least she could do was try to rinse out the filth and blood that had accumulated from her travels through the woods. Beth's mind wandered as she scrubbed absentmindedly at the stained garments, vaguely curious as to who the blood stains belonged to.
Her heart ached at the thought of Grace's baby. She did not want to know what had happened to that innocent life, was not prepared to imagine the atrocities of this world. Did the blood belong to her child? Did it die in her arms? Beth hoped – for the baby's sake – that it did. If they now lived in a world where infants were to be taken, at least God should have the good grace to let it be in their mothers embrace.
She could hear Sophia's soft gurgles over the musical chimes of the mobile, and the clattering of Maggie in the shed out back as she reorganized their rations and re-calculated the duration of their supplies now that there was a new group member. Maggie was fair like that. She shared the same rational mind that Beth had inherited from their father.
The sink gurgled as it swallowed the remainder of the dirty brown water. Beth grimaced at the discolored material, the blood stains faded but still very visible. Oh well. Maybe Grace wouldn't mind having these thrown out now that there were new clothes to share. Beth wrung out the clothes as best she could and hung them over the kitchen chair for Grace to decide their fate.
Beth was itching to check on the woman. She was still a complete mystery, and although Beth was respectful of how completely exhausted and weak Grace must be, she still fidgeted while waiting for an opportunity to bombard her with questions about her life. Her age. Her hometown. Her family. Her friends. Her story.
She tiptoed cautiously past the partition door, unable to resist the urge to peek through the small crack in the door to check that Grace was alright. The woman was sighing in her sleep, twitching ever so slightly with a pinched expression on her face.
"No, no. No, please. No, please don't. No!" She bolted upright, lungs fighting for air and eyes blown wide in fear as Beth flung open the partition door and ran to her side.
"Grace, you're safe. You were having a nightmare. You're fine," she rushed to soothe the woman, because she felt it was the least she could do after everything that Grace had lost.
"But- Isabella! I tried! I couldn't- I couldn't save her," she was mumbling somewhat incoherently, eyes suddenly glazed and her hand wrapped painfully tight around Beth's wrist. Beth didn't have to ask who Isabella was. She could only suspect that her own Isabella lay sleeping, safe and peaceful, in her cot upstairs.
"I know you tried, Grace. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Take some deep breaths," Beth perched on the piano bench adjacent to the couch, leaning over to pat the back of her hand in comfort.
"I'm- sorry, Beth. I can't- I have dreams sometimes. They're so vivid-" her voice cracked on the verge of tears, and Beth hushed her immediately.
"No apologies, Grace. Can I do anything for you?" Beth's eyes flashed around the room, looking for any activity of past time that could take the woman's mind off of her dead child and allow her frazzled brain to rest.
"Not unless you know any lullabies," she stammered, Beth's spirits lifting at Grace's attempt at humor to lighten the mood.
Beth turned to the piano that she hadn't played with since before Sophia was born. She wasn't a composer, or a musician. She was a young girl who had taught herself a few notes many years ago. But perhaps she knew enough to wing it for Grace, because she needed something to take her mind off of the inner turmoil that twisted her dreams.
"I could sing for you. I'm not really any good, but sometimes it's the only thing that will get Sophia to sleep," she offered halfheartedly.
"I'd like that," Grace's reply was fast and sure, as though she were waiting for Beth to offer her musical skills.
"Any requests?" Beth flexed her fingers uncertainly over the keys, her mind currently raking through the files and folders of internal storage searching for information on playing the piano.
"Whatever works for Sophia, perhaps?" Grace suggested kindly, a faint smile on her face as she watched Beth from the couch.
"Alright, here goes nothing," Beth returned her smile as her fingers idly plunked a few keys, testing the waters and being quite impressed with the speed at which her fingers remembered the notes to the song she often whispered to Sophia in the early hours of the morning when she was fussing and colicky.
I'll wear your winter coat, the one you love to wear
So I keep feeling close to what's beyond compare
The moments waking up, you catch me in your eyes
That beauty on my pillow that holds me in the night
Beth heard the soft click of the front door signaling Daryl's return, but she did not stop singing. Her fingers danced across the keys, now familiar with the notes and tempo of the music. Her voice, although initially a little dusty from lack of practice, was now pouring like honey from her lips as she sang the words.
And I would find my strength to untape my mouth when I used to be afraid of the words
But with you I've learnt just to let it out, now my heart is ready to burst
It was a love song, and perhaps not entirely relevant to whatever Grace was battling against in her mind, but as she chanced a quick glance at the woman on the couch, she found that her eyelids had drooped shut and her breathing had deepened.
Heavy footsteps fell in the hallway outside the small living room, and Beth did not have to turn to know that Daryl was standing in the doorway and listening to her voice. She could always sense his presence moments before he physically arrived in any room.
Cause I feel like I'm ready for love
And I wanna be your everything and more
And I know every day I say it, but I just want you to be sure
That I am yours
Daryl sighed quietly as he watched her play and listened to that sweet voice he'd been denied for so long. He loved it when she sang. Quite frankly, he loved it when she did anything. He was fairly confident that she could sit and watch paint dry and he'd still find her beyond fascinating. She looked dwarfed in comparison to the piano, and he wondered idly how her tiny hands managed to travel across the expanse of keys without error.
And if I've been feeling heavy, you take me from the dark
Your arms they keep me steady so nothing could fall apart
And I would find my strength to untape my mouth when I used to be afraid of the words
But with you I've learnt just to let it out, now my heart is ready to burst
Fuck, he loved her. It didn't matter that he reminded himself of this on a daily basis. He loved her so intensely that it terrified him, because he had never known he was even capable of that level of emotion. He realized with a stab of guilt that Beth was his fiancé. He had proposed to her – it felt like years ago – and she had said yes. She wanted to spend her life with him, to share herself with him. Him. Daryl fucking Dixon. Against all odds.
He made a mental note to talk to Maggie about planning something. Calling it a wedding seemed a bit of an overstatement, after all there was nobody around who was capable of officiating it. It wouldn't be a legal binding, but the law was pretty much nonexistent now anyways, and it would be the thought that counts. Daryl's stomach dropped in anticipation of marrying her. He let his head rest against the door frame as she continued her song, focused only on singing Grace to sleep.
'Cause I feel like I'm ready for love
And I wanna be your everything and more
And I know every day I say it, but I just want you to be sure
That I am yours
The song ended as her finger struck the final note, the hum echoed in the small room before fading into silence. Grace's deep breathing filled the air as Beth watched over her. Daryl was unsure of whether she was aware of his presence until she spoke, addressing him.
"Did you like it?" she whispered, her head tilting just enough for Daryl to know that she was talking to him.
"Loved it. I've missed you singin'" he murmured in response, his eyes raking over her as she climbed out from the piano and gave Grace's blankets another quick tuck before turning to face him, slipping out of the room and sliding the partition closed behind herself.
"I missed it, too. Thought I'd forgotten how to play the piano," she smiled shyly up at him from under her lashes and he bent his head down to kiss her gently, her lips soft and sweet against his.
"It was beautiful. You're beautiful," he mumbled almost incoherently, pulling her body into the warm embrace of his arms. She stifled her giggle against the material of his vest.
"How was the hunt? You were quicker than I expected," she was talking about stupid things that he didn't want to discuss, because all he really wanted to do right now was to kiss her so hard and for so long that she forgot every last word of English.
"Fine. Nothing big. Squirrels. 3 of them." He punctuated each sentence with another kiss against those willing lips of hers, his hands firm on her shoulders to stop her from pulling away.
"D-Daryl, I need to talk to you about Grace," Beth was murmuring between kisses, her breath catching in her throat each time he claimed her mouth with his own. He pulled back, knowing that Beth didn't do things half-arsed, and that she most likely had something relevant and important to say about Grace if she was determined enough to interrupt his affections.
"What's that?" he pressed a comforting kiss to her forehead.
"I really want her to stay. A-and before you say anything, I know you expect me to say this, but-" Beth's voice broke and her eyes darted back towards the living room to confirm that Grace was still unconscious on the couch.
"She was a mother," Beth whispered, her eyes burning into Daryl's as though begging him to read the undertone in her voice.
"What?"
"When she was getting changed, I saw her stretch marks. I commented before I even realized what it meant. I think her name was Isabella, because she was dreaming earlier and screaming her name," Beth blinked, and Daryl could see the tears threatening to spill down her face.
"I know you're cautious of newcomers, and I know why. You have family to protect here. I love you for protecting us. But when I saw those marks on her stomach I just- I couldn't help-" a tiny sob escaped her and she let Daryl pull her close, his hands rubbing at her back soothingly until she regained her voice.
"It could have been me." She finished, eyes wide in fright.
"Beth, you know I'm never gonna leave you," he began, but she cut him off with a frantic shake of her head.
"I know that. But what if I lost you? What if I lost all of you? And Sophia? Oh God, Sophia. All it takes is one stroke of bad luck, one stray walker. Grace had a family, and now she's alone. She was a mother who has lost her child and her partner and God knows what else. We can't turn her back out into the woods. I couldn't forgive myself," she wiped at her wet eyes frantically.
"Beth, nobody's throwing Grace out, alright? She can stay with us, that's not a problem. The only reason I'd ever threaten something like that is if she tried to hurt one of us. But she hasn't. She seems like a good person. You don't need to worry about that," Daryl murmured soothingly, carding his fingers through her golden curls and inhaling her sweet scent that he had come to know and love.
"Promise?" Her eyes were shining as they gazed up at him.
"I promise. Besides, it'd be a shame for her to miss the wedding," he continued, attempting to lighten the mood. She look of intense confusion that crossed Beth's face only served to entertain Daryl.
"What wedding? Who's getting married?" Beth looked around the expanse of the empty funeral home as if expecting to find a bride and groom sitting at the kitchen table playing poker.
"This is awkward. I was under the impression that we were," he paused as he watched it dawn upon her face.
"Granted, it's been a while since I asked you, but-" Daryl was cut off when Beth shrieked in excitement, leaping into his arms to press kisses to every square inch of his face that she could reach.
"Jesus girl. Calm down, you'll wake up Grace," he murmured into her hair, thoroughly enjoying the reaction that the topic evoked from his girl.
"I know, I'm sorry. I hadn't forgotten, I swear. There's just been so much happening, and Sophia was born and-"
"I ain't mad. Maybe only at myself for not organizing this sooner. Should have made an honest woman outta' yer a long time ago," he grinned.
"I love you, Daryl," she breathed into his ear.
"Love you too, Mrs. Dixon," he replied, his voice rough and causing an involuntary shiver to run down Beth's spine.
"Say that again," she gasped, pupils blown wide.
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