A/N: Okay, not going to lie – this was one of my favorite chapters to write. I love letting the ladies talk!
Thank you so much for all your reviews and comments! I hope you enjoy!
"What is going on between you and Daryl Dixon?" Maggie asks.
Beth stares at her sister and then says, "We got out together. We stayed together. He taught me how to track and how to hunt. We're…together. I don't know how else to put it."
"Together?" Maggie repeats. She frowns. "Is that a good idea?"
"How is that not a good idea?" Beth asks, walking over to set Judith down on the ground by Michonne and Carol.
Maggie follows and Beth cringes internally. Everyone's watching them, although they're trying to act like they aren't. A part from Carl, that is. He's paused by the door and is just flat out staring at them.
Beth gives him a look and says, "I thought you were supposed to be setting snares?"
"Yeah, but this looks a lot more interesting," he says.
Beth glares and Michonne gets to her feet. "Out," she says to Carl. "I'm sure someone will fill us in later."
Carl rolls his eyes and walks out of the greenhouse, Michonne following. She turns to Beth and mouths, "Good luck." Beth makes a face at her.
Carol hands Beth a wet rag for Judith and says, "She might like to gnaw on this for a while."
Beth sits with Judith on her lap and offers the rag to the little girl. She gnaws for a few minutes, then makes a face and pushes it away with a whimper. Beth sighs.
"We're still talking, Beth," Maggie says firmly.
"I know," Beth says. "But, I don't know what you want me to say. Daryl and I got close. We're something now. That's kind of it."
"Something? Together?" Maggie repeats. "Beth, if you can't even be specific about what y'all are, isn't that a sign?"
"A sign of what?" Beth asks looking up at her sister.
"That maybe it's not as important to him as it is to you," Maggie says.
Beth goes cold. Carol closes her eyes and shakes her head and Beth thinks she hears Glenn mutter, "Oh, crap."
Calmly, Beth hands Judith over to Carol and then gets to her feet to face her sister. She's hyper aware that everyone has given up on any kind of pretense and they're all watching. Rosita and Tara in one corner, Bob and Glenn over by the door, Carol on the floor with Judith.
Beth looks Maggie in the eye and asks, "Why would you say something like that?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Maggie says. "Beth, you're so young and he's not and you have no idea what he might want out of this and it's entirely possible it's not as serious as you think it is."
Beth'll give her credit, Maggie looks sad and her voice is kind as she's talking, so she's not deliberately trying to hurt her. Beth'll give her that. Maggie's still wrong, but Beth knows she's not trying to be cruel.
Doesn't stop what she's saying from cutting like a knife in her belly.
"You're right," Beth says, trying to stay calm. "I don't know how serious he is about this, but I know him well enough to know that it's pretty darn serious."
"Do you? Do you know him?" Maggie asks.
Beth frowns. "Of course, I know him! You know him! We've known him for two years now! He's not some jerk who's going to use me and then fly away."
"But you're so young," Maggie says.
"Stop saying that!" Beth says loudly. The words echo off the greenhouse windows. She bites her lip and squeezes her eyes shut.
"Bethy." Maggie reaches for her.
"No," Beth says, opening her eyes and stepping back. "I don't know what to call what I have with Daryl, but it's not one-sided and I'm not a child who doesn't know any better. We're figuring this out together, so just leave it, Maggie."
"I can't!" Maggie says. "Not when it comes to you. I don't want you jumping into something so fast."
"Excuse me?" Beth says, her calm quickly deserting her. "I am not the one who went up to some guy she'd just met, handed him a condom and said, 'Hey, let's bang!'"
Bob snorts but tries to cover it up with a cough while Glenn mutters something and Maggie's eyes widen and then narrow.
"You do not get to judge me on what I do," Maggie says pointing her finger at Beth.
"Then why do you get to judge me?" Beth asks incredulously.
"Because I'm your big sister," Maggie says. "Because I'm looking out for you."
"Then why didn't you look for me?" Beth cries. "Why wasn't my name on those signs next to Glenn's?"
Beth's mouth snaps shut as Maggie goes pale and her lips tremble. Oh, hell, she really didn't mean to say that. She really, really didn't. It just came out. She doesn't want to hurt her sister, she just wants her to understand.
"Beth," Maggie says, her voice tiny and breaking just a bit.
"No," Beth says, crouching down to take Judith who, along with everyone else, is looking at Beth with big eyes. "It's fine. I'm fine. I'm going to go outside. The fresh air might be good for Judith."
"I'll come with," Carol says, grabbing a bottle and getting to her feet.
Beth turns to go, feeling her sister watching. Maggie isn't saying anything and that hurts. But Beth isn't going to stand there and defend her choices when Maggie's not listening to her anyway.
Carol grabs a pitchfork from beside the door to the greenhouse for protection and they walk outside, Beth absently rocking Judith in her arms.
They walk quietly and Beth breathes in and out and oh, dear Lord, she wants Daryl nearby. If only to just give her that look that says, 'These people and their drama. Good Lord.'
Beth spots Michonne and Carl walking back towards them and she heads that way. Judith starts fussing and Beth absently offers her thumb again.
Carl spots them and says, "Four snares set up. What happened? Did you yell at Maggie? Was there hair-pulling?"
Michonne tips his hat into his face and Beth has to laugh.
"No, there was no hair-pulling," she says, adjusting her hold on Judith. "I said something awful, but there was no hair-pulling."
"It wasn't that awful, honey," Carol says as they all take a seat on the ground, Judith in the middle of them. "It was honest. And probably needed to be said."
Beth sighs. "I don't want to hurt her."
"Even though she's hurt you?" Carol asks.
"I'm sure she had a reason," Beth says hesitantly watching Judith attempt to crawl towards Carl. "I mean, who'd of thought I'd make it this far?"
"Hey, now," Michonne says.
"No, it's okay," Beth says earnestly. "I sure didn't think I would." She looks out at the woods that line the edge of the property. "But I did and I want that to mean something. Everything I've done. That I've had to do and been through. It needs to mean something. Because…"
"Because what was the point of it all if it doesn't mean something," Carol says quietly, looking down at Judith.
"Yeah," Beth says sadly. "Yeah, exactly."
"Maggie still sees you as her little sister," Michonne says. "The one she has to protect."
"And I don't mind that, I don't," Beth says, tugging at the tall grass by her knee. "But I'm not that same girl taking care of Judith. I'm…more than that."
"You don't want to take care of Judith anymore?" Carl asks, his face going blank and not looking at Beth.
"It's not that," Beth says, tapping the brim of his hat. "I love Judith, with all my heart. And I love taking care of her, but that's not all I'm capable of."
"If you don't want to take care of her, just say so," he says harshly.
"Hey," Beth says sharply. "I'm saying nothing of the kind." She thinks for a second and then says, "Your daddy asked you to set snares this morning. What if that's all he ever asked you to do? Not to clean the critters after they're caught or to cook them up or to go hunting with Daryl or to help plan out a route to travel. Your only job was to set the snares."
He glances up at her. "Be kinda boring."
"But important," Michonne adds. "After all, we're going to eat whatever winds up in them. But what if that's all you're ever asked to do?"
He frowns. "It'd suck." He looks at Beth. "So…you want people to not treat you like a kid?"
"Yes," Beth says laughing a little at how simple that sounds. "That's precisely what I want." She makes a face and looks at Carol. "Is that really childish of me?"
"No," Carol says smiling. "It's a very grown-up thing for you to want. And I think people are going to start treating you more equally. You're an adult now, they won't be able to help themselves."
"Except Maggie," Carl says, picking Judith up and helping her to dance on the grass. "She's always going to think of you as her little sister, like I do Judith."
Beth sighs. "Yeah. Not sure what to do about that."
"Talk to her," Carol says. "Let what you said sink in and I bet she'll come to you."
"I guess," Beth says. Judith looks over at her and Beth smiles at her. Judith makes a high-pitched shriek and bounces in Carl's arms.
Naturally, that's when there's a loud rustling in the woods nearby and three walkers stumble out.
Everyone gets to their feet, Carol shoving Carl and Judith behind her and holding up her pitchfork. Michonne has her sword drawn and advances steadily towards the walkers. Beth takes her knife out of its sheath and follows. Michonne decapitates one of them swiftly and Beth takes on the slightly smaller of the three, stabbing her knife into the skull. The walker falls as Michonne takes out the last one.
They stare at the woods looking for more walkers, but it appears it was just these three.
Rapidly approaching footsteps make them turn, holding up their weapons. But it's just Glenn, Bob, and Maggie.
"You okay?" Glenn asks.
"We're fine," Carol says, lowering her pitchfork.
"We should move these though," Beth says, prodding a walker with her foot.
"We got it," Bob says giving her a grin. "Y'all did the hard part, we'll do the clean-up."
Beth grins back and wipes off her knife, then re-sheathes it. She looks up and Maggie is looking at her, her lips pressed together. Beth stares back. Maggie looks away first and Beth suppresses a sigh.
Judith lets out a cry and Carl makes a face. "Ugh. I think she did something gross."
"Give her here," Beth says holding out her arms. She wrinkles her nose. "Ooh, smelly girl. Let's get you clean."
"I'll come with you," Carl says.
"Don't forget your snares," Michonne says.
"I won't," Carl calls back as Beth and he head towards the greenhouse.
The rest of the day goes quickly and quietly. Carl's snares manage to catch two rabbits and, miracles of miracles, a quail. Maggie shows him how to de-feather the quail and Beth skins the rabbit while Carol looks out for Judith.
Rosita and Tara join Carol and Judith seems to enjoy the company, smiling at everyone and tugging on Rosita's pigtails.
Maggie doesn't say anything to Beth but she can feel her watching her as she skins the rabbits quickly and efficiently. Beth wants to say something to her sister, but she just doesn't know what. The tension stretches between them so tight it practically hums in the air.
An hour before sundown, the rumbling of vehicles gets everyone looking out the windows and tense. But when they pull up to the greenhouse and Daryl steps out of one of them, Beth grins.
Everyone goes out to meet the others.
"Got some wheels, I see," Glenn says looking the trucks over.
"Don't know how long they're going to run," Daryl says. "The battery on one is shot and you've got to jump it. But it'll get us a ways."
"If we can make it to a bigger town," Rick says. "We might be able to switch it out for another one."
They pull out bags of stuff from the truck beds and it's not much – some cans and some warmer clothes, a few things for Judith - but the rabbits and the quails are cooking up nicely on the spits nearby.
Everyone's busy getting things sorted to head out in the morning, as Judith seems to be feeling better.
Even though there isn't enough to have more than a bite or two, the quail tastes amazing and Carl looks proud when people congratulate him on his catch.
After dinner, Beth reaches for Judith who Rick had been holding while he ate.
"I'll get her ready for bed," she says.
"I can do it," Carl says, beating her to it. He smiles a little at Beth. "We can mix it up. You can set the snares tomorrow."
Beth grins at him and sits back down.
"You always take care of Judith," a voice says quietly. Beth looks over at Maggie who is staring at her like she doesn't recognize her.
"Not always," Beth says firmly, meeting Maggie's eyes. Maggie doesn't look away and once again, Beth doesn't know what to do. She's filled with hurt and frustration and everyone's looking at them and why doesn't Maggie just understand that she's different now?
For the second time that day, Maggie looks away first.
The air feels too thick and heavy in the greenhouse and so Beth gets to her feet, mumbling, "Just gonna get some air."
She makes sure she has her knife and steps outside. Not going too far, she walks down the side of the greenhouse and leans against the wall, looks up at the sky, and tries to calm down.
It's not like she and Maggie haven't fought before. There was a huge dust-up over who got to ride Nellie when Beth was fourteen. They didn't speak to each other for a week after that one. But this is different.
Near silent footsteps approach and she smiles.
"Hi," she says turning to look at Daryl.
"Hey, yourself," he says coming to lean against the wall next to her. "What's with you and Maggie?"
"Why, I had a lovely day, thank you for asking," Beth says giving him a look. "How was yours?"
"Long and I'm damn near ready to take that Abraham and shove him and his goddamn quest off a cliff," he says, nudging her shoulder. "What's with you and Maggie? She looked madder than a wet cat in there."
"She's not mad," Beth says with a sigh. "She just doesn't know what to do with me and I don't know how to make her see."
"See what?" he asks.
"See me!" she says pushing off the wall and pacing a little. "I'm not who I was! I'm not just going to take care of Judith and keep quiet. Not when I can do more. I've done things. Hard things. And I'm not going to be treated like a kid."
She looks at him and he doesn't say anything, so she keeps going.
"And she thinks you're going to just run off on me. That you don't take this as seriously as I do. And that's not fair to you." She eyes him as she paces, but he's just watching her and not saying anything.
She continues, "Although it does feel like I haven't seen you in days and we haven't even done anything since that night you kissed me and so I don't even know if one good kiss is enough to call this anything, since you haven't—"
Suddenly he's right there in front of her, his hands cupping her face and his mouth moving hot on hers. She makes a tiny squeak of surprise that quickly turns into a sigh as she clutches at his waist and pulls him close. His tongue pushes past her lips and she stumbles a bit, but he walks her slowly backwards. Her back gently hits the wall of the greenhouse and his hands cradle her head as his tongue strokes slowly and languidly against hers. One hand slides from her head, down her side to hitch her leg up on his hip and he rocks slightly against her and she rocks back. They groan into each other's mouths.
Her insides are twisting and curling up with pleasure and when he pulls back, she whimpers.
"Well," he says, roughly, his eyes dark. "Hopefully that's me off your shitlist."
"Not sure," she says reaching up and tracing his lips with her fingers. "Might need to do that again to make sure you and me are square."
An honest-to-God growl comes out of his throat and she's grinning when his mouth descends firmly and fiercely on hers.
She sighs happily when he pulls back a second time and she says, "Yeah, we're good now, Dixon."
"Girl, I swear," he says, stepping away just a little. "Had you all in my head today."
"You were in mine," she says. "Even when I was busy, you were there."
He looks pleased, but tries to hide it by looking away. "So, Maggie doesn't like what we've got going on?"
Beth shrugs. "I don't think she knows what to make of it. And I don't know how to make her understand."
"Can't help that you're pissed off at her," he says.
"I'm not pissed off at her," Beth says shocked.
He stares at her. "Yeah, you are."
"I'm not!"
"Baby, she thought you were dead," he says bluntly. "You can be pissed off about that."
"But I understand why she thought that," Beth says.
"Don't mean you can't still be angry at her," he says shrugging.
The simplicity and truth of what he's just said hits her smack in the solar plexus. Because it's true. That's what this is. She's hurt and she angry. Oh, she's so angry at Maggie for not looking for her. For not believing in her. God, did Maggie even miss her at all?
"Oh," Beth breathes. "I am. I am so angry at my sister."
A noise off to the side has them turning, Beth's hand on her knife, Daryl on his.
Maggie stands there, her eyes wide and startled. She's just staring at Beth.
"Can I-" She has to clear her throat. "Can I talk to you?"
Daryl glances at Beth and she nods. "Yeah. Of course."
"I'll just be inside," Daryl says, touching the back of his fingers to Beth's arm. He heads back in, pausing next to Maggie. He looks at her and says, "You have a problem with me, take it out on me. Not her."
"I don't have a problem with you, Daryl," Maggie says meeting his eyes.
Daryl nods, then with one last look at Beth, goes inside.
They just stand awkwardly for a moment before Maggie says, "Beth, I'm so sorry."
"I know," Beth says softly, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I get it, I do. I'm not the obvious candidate for survival out here."
"That doesn't mean I shouldn't have believed in you," Maggie says. She leans against the wall but keeps her eyes on Beth. "Every time I thought about you, I remembered seeing Daddy and what happened to him and I just…pushed it from my mind. It hurt so much."
"I know," Beth says again nodding. "I did the same."
"I should've looked for you," Maggie says, her voice cracking.
"You couldn't've have known where to start," Beth says coming over to her and leaning against the wall beside her.
"Doesn't matter," Maggie says shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Beth."
"It's okay," Beth says. Maggie gives her a look that immediately calls her on what she's just said. "Okay, it's not okay. I'm still mad that you didn't have faith in me. That I could make it. You're my sister, you're supposed to be on my side."
"I am," Maggie says firmly. "And I always will be. I don't know how to make things right between us."
"Time," Beth says shrugging. "And putting your money where your mouth is. Prove that you believe in me."
"I will," she says nodding. She faces Beth and takes her hand. "I will, I promise. I'll make this up to you."
"Good," Beth says. "You can start by not judging me and Daryl."
Maggie makes a face. "I'm not judging you, I just don't want you to get hurt. You're still my little sister, you know."
"I know," Beth says squeezing Maggie's hand. "And I want you looking out for me. But I'm looking out for me and Daryl's a part of that."
"Okay. I understand," Maggie says. "This is me, believing in you and trusting your judgment. I just…" She sighs. "I didn't want you to change on me. You were always a constant for me. You were always inside, locked away, taking care of Judith. You were safe there. Seeing you now, just makes me miss how things were. Makes me see how unsafe we all are."
"I know, but I've done things, Maggie," Beth says quietly, looking down at their hands, knowing that hers have killed a man. "I'm not the same. None of us are. Because things are so unsafe. And we've got to change to keep up. That's the only constant now, I think. Change."
"I guess," Maggie says.
They stand there in the dark, holding tight to each other's hands and listening to the soft murmurs from the group inside.
"So," Maggie says, attempting a lighter tone. "What's it like kissing Daryl Dixon?"
Beth burst into giggles. "Pretty darn amazing, actually. And that's all I'm saying on the topic!"
"Have you gone beyond kissing?" Maggie says grinning. "Do we need to have the talk? Does Glenn need to threaten him?"
"I think I'd pay cash money to watch that," Beth says still giggling. "And no, we haven't done anything other than a few kisses. Not," Beth says tugging on Maggie's hand, "that that's any of your beeswax."
"I'll butt out, I promise," Maggie says crossing her heart. "But don't knock the whole handing the man a condom and then jumping his bones. It'll get results."
Beth has to cover her mouth to keep her snickers quiet and Maggie joins in. And it feels good. Laughing with Maggie. The air's been cleared and while Beth still feels sad that Maggie hadn't believed in her before, she's pretty sure that she does now. And that will have to be good enough.
They head back into the greenhouse, Beth's eyes immediately finding Daryl's. She grins when he arches an eyebrow at her.
Maggie heads over to Glenn and Beth heads towards Daryl.
"You two good?" he asks.
"Not as good as we were earlier," she murmurs. She's delighted when a blush creeps across his face.
"Knock that off, woman," he mutters, looking away.
"What's going on?" she asks when she sees Rick and Abraham consulting the map again. Another map beside them and Beth thinks it looks like one for South Carolina and folks look to be a mixture of worried and excited.
"Trying to figure out where to head next," Daryl says. He looks at her. "Looks like we're going on a road trip."