...
Daryl woke up with a crick in his neck from staring at the ceiling for too long and grit in his eyes from lack of sleep, still fully dressed. Forcing himself up and out of bed, he shoved his boots on, yanking on the shoestrings and tying them into double knots. He grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting it to his nose, and sniffed. Could probably get another day out of it, considering he wasn't doing anything but killing walkers today, anyways. He shrugged his vest on and gathered up his bow and a couple knives, stowing them in a couple of different pockets, just in case. It'd probably be a pretty quiet day around the prison, like most of the days had been lately, but he wasn't about to take any chances. All his steel wouldn't do a damn bit of good sitting pretty in his cell.
He left his red rag in his pocket, still wrapped around Beth's restrung necklace. Still hadn't figured out what to do with it yet. It'd bothered him all night, and when he did a walk of the cellblock late that night, he'd nearly just tossed it into her cell. Only thing that stopped him was the fear the noise would wake her up and she'd catch him running down the cell block like some sort of asshole. Daryl hadn't flung something at a girl since elementary school, and he wasn't about to start repeating the experience now.
A few folks were up and moving around the prison, from what he could hear. It was still early yet, and when he pushed his door hanging out of the way, he saw the whole place was lit up with a pale yellow light streaking in through the windows. He made his way down to the bathroom, hearing all the sounds of people slowly waking up: Glenn's grumbling, Hershel's creaks and sighs, Carl's dead-to-the-world snores, Judith's giggles and happy cries. Daryl nearly stopped at Beth's cell just then, more than ready to just hand the damn thing off, but he heard Carol's voice talking to Lil' Asskicker from behind Beth's curtain, and that was enough to send him on his way. Last thing he needed was Carol seeing and asking questions. The damn woman always saw and said too much.
After a quick trip to the bathroom, he headed out to do a quick perimeter check. It was still a little cool out in the mornings, so he jogged a bit as he checked the fences and gates. One side of the fence had quite a few walkers piling up, and he figured that's where he'd be spending the morning, trying to get rid of as many of them as he could. Depending on her mood, he figured he could ask Carol to help him out. She'd been getting tough since they'd been at the prison, willing to do the harsh things more and more. She wanted to face everything now, it seemed. Never used to be like that, and he was proud of her.
A few people were sitting in the cafeteria by the time he got in there, a yawning Rick sitting with a fuzzy headed Carol. Beth was there, too, Judith in her arms, sitting right across from Carol and Rick. Grabbing a bowl of oatmeal and ignoring any buzzing in the back of his mind, he sat down with the rest of the group, careful to keep a respectful distance between him and Beth. He nodded at the group before digging in. Everyone was pretty quiet, still waking up. Judith chattered a little bit, making eyes at Daryl and Rick as they ate, cooing up at Beth, who was managing to eat and hold onto Lil' Asskicker pretty easily. Beth would talk to the girl quietly from time to time, smiling down at her with that soft look in her eyes. The morning light was pale and made Beth's skin glow, lighting up her tangle of clean hair all pulled up in a ponytail. She still wasn't wearing that bird necklace Zach had grabbed for her on that last run with Daryl. Maybe the kid hadn't given it to her yet. Or maybe Beth had told the kid to just go to hell already.
Not fucking likely.
Rick nodded over at the two girls, his eyes on Judith. "Hey, Beth. Why don't you give me Judith for the day? I gotta spend the day in the library anyways, might as well have my girl keep me company." He stood and held his hands out for his daughter, smiling at the pair. "You probably could use with a break."
Beth stood as well, hoisting the girl with a single strong arm. "Here you go," she said, leaning over Daryl to hand Judith into Rick's waiting arms. He felt the brush of her small hip against his shoulder and he shifted away, mostly out of habit, but he didn't move too far and caught the scent of her, something floral and a touch of clean baby, all mixed in with some vital and raw human scent, something that made the blood rush in his ears. He kept his eyes on the congealing oatmeal in front of him, the smell still lingering as Beth sat back down next to him. He barely noticed Rick taking off towards the library.
Daryl looked up when he knew his face wasn't betraying anything and met Carol's eyes. He felt better when he saw nothing out of the ordinary in them, no questions or raised brows. "What are you up to today?" he asked her.
"Pauline and I are going through the kitchen this morning. Want to get a proper inventory going. We never got to properly organizing it, and with the number of people we're trying to feed, we want to make sure everything's in place. It'd make it easier to figure out what we need, what we're running out of."
He hmm'd a response, before going on to say, "I was gonna see if you wanted to help me take down some walkers at the fence."
Before Carol had a chance to reply, Beth spoke up. "I can help you. I've got nothing going on, now that Rick's got Judy."
Daryl opened his mouth, but didn't really have a damn thing to say. He snapped his mouth shut and looked at her wide blue eyes, nodding. "Sure," he mumbled, before going back to his oatmeal. Carol looked pleased that everything was sorted out, so at least that was something.
They all finished up their meals in relative quiet before heading off for their day, Carol heading off into the kitchen and leaving Daryl and Beth in silence. After taking care of their dishes, Daryl led her out to the yard, over to a bin where they kept weapons and gear. He remembered she'd not really been on fence duty for a while. Everyone had been off doing other things since all the people from Woodbury showed up, usually just leaving her to take care of the baby or other household shit. He wondered how she felt about that, if she felt stuck or if she didn't mind. He knew she loved that little girl, because it was written plainly all over her face. But didn't mean she didn't want to be out doing more, or just doing something different from time to time. He watched silently as she gathered up her gear and threw an apron on over her clothes.
"Can't imagine this is what you'd like to be gettin' up to on a day off," Daryl said, studying her face as she pulled her hair out of its loose ponytail before pulling back tightly, sweeping tendrils away from her face and off her shoulders. That hard look was coming into her eyes again, that one she always wore when working on the fences. It'd never been just them out here before, they'd always been out here with a few others. Felt strange to be paired up with her for something like this.
"I don't mind," she said, as they both grabbed the heavy crowbars. "It's good to be useful, anyways. Don't like sitting around too much." Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl saw her looking over at him, brow furrowed. After a moment, she spoke again. "You ever get sick of having kill walkers all the time?"
Daryl thought a moment, looking out at the fence that loomed before them and all the walkers trying to get in and have a go at them. Ain't gonna happen, he silently told them, fixing his stare on them. I'll get you 'fore I let you get us.
"Guess not," he finally replied, flicking his eyes over to her. "Killin' walkers don't mean much. Dangerous, sometimes. But ya just do it anyways." Beth's eyes felt heavy on him, and he made himself meet her eyes. They were bright blue, like always, but there was a look in them Daryl had never seen before. It was almost appraising, like she was trying to sort out something about him. Wasn't like a judgment, though. Her eyes weren't cold or hard, and she didn't look like that timid girl he'd seen on her daddy's farm. Beth didn't look like anybody's momma, either. With that crowbar held tight in her small hands and that look on her face, she looked like something fierce, something that could burn a man up with one touch. Daryl couldn't figure out what she was trying to sort out, looking at him like that. Finally beginning to feel antsy under her baby blues, he turned the question back on her. "You ever get sick of having to take care of Lil' Asskicker?"
They had reached the outer fence by the time she answered, and the walkers started really getting worked up, moaning and reaching out in earnest for the two of them. "I always wanted to be a momma. Didn't reckon I'd be so young and that she wouldn't be mine," she said, wryly. "But I'm glad to be takin' care of her. Carol said I'd get a chance of my own, someday. But I don't know that I will, or if I could even take that chance if it came knockin', even if I want to." Her eyes met his when she said that, and Daryl saw she was wearing her mother-eyes again, saw the change in her body that always overtook her when she had that Judith in her arms, made her look like the perfect woman, steel under all that softness. "Just 'cause we got a little girl with us don't mean that the world's all better now, even though I can almost forget when I'm with her. I gotta remind myself, and that's why I'm out here. I ain't strong like everybody, like Maggie. But I gotta know what I'm up against."
"You're strong," he said, taking her measure from blonde ponytail, down to strong arms, thin waist and long legs and scuffed up cowboy boots, so small and delicate looking compared to her sister. "Ya ain't gotta be like Maggie to be strong. Can't say if you'll get a chance of your own or if ya should take it, but I reckon you've got a chance now and you're makin' do. More'n that."
Daryl saw the blush starting on her cheeks, felt it in his guts. He looked down for a moment, at the hands he had wrapped around the crowbar, sun-dark skin and dirty nails, little cuts and scars littered across his hands, ones he couldn't remember getting. "Well," he finally said, looking up at her through the hair falling across his face, "Ready to get to work?"
Beth rolled her eyes. "Ready as I'll ever be." She shifted the crowbar in her hands, getting a feel for it. He knew without looking that her eyes would be hard again, all that softness melting away and bleeding out. She was a tough girl. Beth could do what had to be done.
They stuck pretty close to each other, Daryl keeping an eye on Beth. She'd talk to him, telling him about how Judy was doing, cute tales of smiling at the ribbon mobile her and Maggie had put together for the baby's bassinet, or stories about being kept up all night by a fussy baby in no mood to be sung to, fed, changed, or played with. Beth's stories made him feel better about spending hours stabbing walkers through their decaying eye sockets. She talked about other things, too, and was more observant than she ever let on, more than anyone gave her credit for. She mentioned offhand that Carol had been getting really busy with her lessons for those kids. She said it was real good that Michonne had been bringing back Carl those comics. Rick was doing real good with all that farming, and she hoped he'd find a spot to plant some more sugar snap peas. Glenn was fooling around with his camera again, taking pictures of everything that moved and catching everybody at bad angles. Maggie was a real neat freak when it came to that engagement ring, getting all worked up anytime something got stuck on it, even just a bit of fuzz. That last one struck Beth as especially funny, because Maggie hadn't been known for being too neat when they were kids, always leaving her clothes everywhere, losing her hairbrush and stealing Beth's.
She saw all the little things, he noticed. Beth cared about what made people happy. And she was finding her way of saying that everybody was pulling themselves back together after the hard times that had been haunting them lately. That's what she cared about. She was a little like her daddy in that she wasn't just about just barely surviving and filling your belly. They were about the heart of things, what made people good or bad or just empty. They were about being good, and making what happiness and hope they could.
They took it pretty easy, figuring they had a while to be out there. Daryl didn't want to be wearing her out, and he was enjoying listening to her. She didn't ask too many questions, and didn't seem to mind that he mostly kept quiet. Beth would look over at him and smile, and he figured she knew he was listening, even if he didn't have anything special to say. It was strange how comfortable it all felt. Wasn't like it was the first time he'd talked to her. But it was the most time he'd spent alone with her all at once, and given how on edge he'd been since she told him how mad he'd made her, it was easier than he reckoned it'd be.
They lapsed into silence after a while, just the sounds of the walkers, the wet sucking sounds of the crowbar as it went into a walker skull before getting yanked out again. He could hear her breathing, the quiet grunts and sighs she made as she worked, sometimes humming broken bits of that melody she'd been singing for the past couple weeks. The sounds she made, whether it was talking or singing or just the sounds of hard work, it all felt nice to him. Daryl felt warm, and it was like he'd been thinking the other day: Beth Greene was like lying out in the sun and feeling it all the way to your bones. Not hot, not like being stuck outside in a heat wave with no water. Just warm, all the way through.
By the time they'd finished off all the walkers at the fence, the sun was getting near to the center of the sky. They'd had a couple of breaks, resting their arms and moving to different parts of the fence until they were all taken care of. Daryl was starting to get a little sweaty, hair sticking a bit to his forehead. He dug around for his handkerchief before remembering it was wrapped around Beth's necklace in his front pocket. Figures the only thing that could make him forget about the fucking thing would be the girl it belonged to. He watched her for a moment as she shed her apron and tucked their crowbars back away with the rest of the makeshift walker-killing tools they'd collected.
"Saw college boy brought you something back, last run." Beth glanced over at him sharply at that, although he noticed she kept her features even, only a little bit of something crossing over her face, though what he couldn't say. He kept himself real still, waiting for her to answer.
"Yeah. He wanted to get me something to replace my old necklace." She pursed her lips a bit, tucking an errant blonde curl behind her ear. "I guess I still haven't given up hope the old one's gonna show up somewhere." A small smile formed on her lips before she continued, "Probably silly of me, really."
"Nah," he said. Daryl tucked a hand into his pocket, trying to decide if he was too chicken shit to hand it to her right then. Something a lot like Merle's voice growled in the back of his mind, asking him if he'd had his balls taken off by a walker or if he was just born a pussy. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the rumpled rag out of his pocket, shaking the necklace out into his open palm. Beth's brow was furrowed at first, her pink lips parted in surprise and he caught a flash of her tongue. Her eyes darted between the necklace coiled up in his palm and his face, a wide smile working its way across her flushed face. "Found it last night, out by my bike and all my shit."
At first, he found it easier to look down at the necklace rather than at her happy and surprised face. Then, as she picked it up, her tiny hands gentle as they hovered over his big, dirty palm, he started feeling uneasy and looked at some odd space over her right shoulder instead. "I should've just let you string it on somethin', but I figure I probably broke the chain somehow, dragging stuff around out there, and that's probably how thing got bent to shit, too. Least I could do is fix it up."
"Oh, my…" she breathed, slender fingers holding onto the necklace like it'd disappear. She ran one finger over the big heart, then over the smaller heart. Beth looked up at him, and he met her gaze. "I thought I'd never see it again."
Beth's eyes started looking a little shiny, like she was going to cry, and Daryl started feeling really uneasy. She looked so young in that moment, more little girl than woman. But she just pulled the necklace over her head, the cord getting stuck in her hair for a minute before it finally hung around her neck, the heart charms coming to rest against the breastbone. He didn't have to squint to see he'd hung them a little crooked.
"Thank you," she said, and her eyes were clear again. Beth touched her fingertips to his bicep briefly, and he couldn't stop the damn shiver that spread under his skin. After she pulled her hand from his arm, her fingers found their way to the leather cord and silver charms hanging against her chest, sliding over the leather and worrying the silver charms between her thumb and forefinger. Daryl's eye caught on the bit of collarbone exposed by her blouse, the black of the leather stark against her pale skin, only a little flushed. He met her eyes, and she looked peaceful again. She looked less tired, her smile a little fuller.
"It's nothin'," he finally managed. Daryl watched her fingers run over the necklace, studying the way it fell across the curve of her chest, the red staining her cheeks and the fall of hair coming down over one shoulder. Beth had that look in her eyes again, that look that was hard but not cold, that look she'd been wearing that day out by the laundry, and just this morning as they were walking out here. He was trying to find some way to ask her what she'd been doing out by his part of the yard in the first place, trying to find some way to put all the damn questions he'd been trying not to think about into words. Why did she have to tell him she was pissed at him? What was that damn song she'd been humming for over a week now? And how'd she manage to lose her necklace over on his side of the yard in the first place?
She was silent too, just looking at him with those big eyes that he couldn't figure out how to read any more. Not since he brought her back that damn book. They might've been standing there for days, just staring at each other, for all Daryl knew. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was a fool, thinking too much about Beth Greene for his own good.
Finally, Carl's voice broke the strange moment, calling them in for lunch. She gave him one last smile, fingers still curled around her necklace, before heading off inside. His own fingers mimicked hers, curling around the strap of his crossbow, and he followed her inside, always just a few steps away from her.
…
Daryl spent the afternoon with Sasha and Tyrese spent the afternoon taking care of the walker corpses, using a truck and flatbed trailer to get them a ways from the prison so they could be burned. Between the three of them, it was pretty quick work. The siblings seemed to get on well, knowing without looking what the other was up to. They worked hard, too. More than the other people from Woodbury, they were earning their place at the prison. The two of them didn't shy away from the hard shit, didn't complain, offered to help whenever they saw something needed doing. They could be trusted to help out with watch, and were each pretty handy with weapons. Working with them meant Daryl had some time before dinner to get washed up and work on cleaning up his crossbow, checking the string and making sure the bolts were all in good working order.
Dinner was quiet, until Maggie noticed Beth's necklace. A bunch of them were all at a long table, the original group and a few extras, including Sasha, Tyrese, and Zach, who'd somehow managed to get a seat right next to Beth.
"You found your necklace!" Maggie exclaimed. "Where was it?"
Beth's right hand came up, tugging on the smaller heart and smiling. Her eyes flickered over to Daryl for a moment and he froze, nearly choking on a bite of biscuit. "It was out in the yard," she finally answered, looking back at Maggie. "The chain broke, but I reckon I was asking for it, with the way I was always pulling on it. This'll hold up better," she said, giving the cord an experimental tug.
"I'm glad it turned up for you, Bethy," Hershel said, patting Beth's hand and smiling, and the girl smiled back at him.
Daryl finally managed to swallow the biscuit when Maggie started talking about something else. His eyes kept going back to Beth, who was watching her sister talk, keeping pretty quiet as usual. And in watching Beth, he couldn't help but notice that Zach was sitting awful close, letting his arm brush against hers, and probably his leg under the damn table, too. Daryl sawed at his meal, shoving food into his mouth with less grace than usual.
Just as he'd shoved a rather large piece of meat into his mouth, Beth turned her head and smiled at Daryl for a quick minute, her warm eyes snagging on his. He felt that heat crawling up his face, and he struggled mightily to chew normally. By the time she looked away, turning back to the conversation going on at her end of the table with a faint smile still on those pink lips, he was feeling like his throat was made of sandpaper and the rabbit meat in his mouth had turned to rubber. Finally swallowing, he guessed he better start using some table manners or risk getting laughed at for choking on his own goddamn catch.
Daryl spent the rest of the meal feeling grateful she'd kept her mouth shut about him being the one to find her necklace and fix it. Last thing he needed was the entire prison knowing about it. Didn't need anyone thinking he was doing arts and crafts with Beth. Wasn't any of their business if he found it and hung a broken set of hearts on a bit of leather just had laying around.
He ducked down to the library after dinner, figuring on doing a bit of reading. He sprawled on the dusty couch they'd put in there, halfheartedly flipping through some car manuals before picking up that book Beth had picked out for him. Daryl ended up reading for a couple hours, not really caring that it might not be the best use of his time. Everybody could use with a little time to themselves every once in a while, reasoned. He'd been with people all day, and it was starting to grate on him. Beth had his brain running everyway but right, and it was eating at his patience for everyone else. So he enjoyed kicking his boots up on the ragged upholstery, throwing one arm over his head, and propping the book up on his sternum, and just read until the natural light faded. Wasn't too often he made time for this sort of thing, but Daryl figured finding and repairing Beth's necklace was enough of a good deed to earn him a few hours of solitude. When it got too dark to read without turning on any of the lights, he shuffled off to the main part of the prison, figuring he'd take a quick lap of the prison and the yard before seeing what Rick was up to.
Daryl had just made his way out to the main part of the yard and was about to light up a cigarette when a pair of familiar voices caught his attention. His thumb stilled on his Zippo, the thing only half open, cigarette sagging against his lip, and he swiveled his head around.
Beth and Zach were a ways away at the picnic table, sitting next to each other and staring out at the fence, oblivious to his presence behind them. He took a few quiet steps into a gloomy corner, not really thinking much about the why, just figuring it'd be less embarrassing for everyone if they didn't know he was aroun.
"I'm real sorry, Zach. I really am." He couldn't see much in the shade, but he could see her pushing a curl behind her ear. Her voice was soft, and she sounded a little sad.
"I guess I just don't know why, Beth." College boy sounded frustrated, and Daryl kept his eyes trained on him, in case the fucker made any sudden moves towards Beth.
Beth was quiet for a minute, and he thought he saw her running her tiny hands up and down over her upper arms. "I don't really have one," she finally said. "It just ain't somethin' I can give to you. You're a good person. I just can't be your girl. An' I'd rather say that to you now than hurt you later by trying to be." She was silent for a moment before she moved again, turning towards the kid, one thin arm reaching out towards him. Daryl squinted, trying to figure out what she was up to, but before he could, Zach moved, standing over Beth. He tensed in the shadows, ready to run out there if he had to.
"Just keep it," he said. "Nothing I can do with it." And Zach turned around, already striding towards the cell block door, forcing Daryl to move further into the shadows to avoid being seen.
Beth stayed where she was, and he watched her for a moment, wondering if he should just leave her be and come out to do a quick inspection later in the night. Daryl shifted the crossbow on his back, still squinting and feeling less and less sure as the moments ticked by. One part of him was gunning to get back inside, get as far away from all this as he could, but a larger part, the part that had really enjoyed seeing Beth tell Zach it wasn't going to happen, was telling him to get his ass out there and take care of his inspection.
Finally moving out of the gloom, he kept himself quiet until he got right up close to her. "Hey," he said, looking down at her, finally lighting up that cigarette. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail, a few messy, soft-looking curls brushing against her face. Daryl inhaled a lungful of smoke, feeling himself relax bit by bit.
"Oh, hey there," she said, looking over at him, a small smile crossing over her tired features. "Out here to walk the fence?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said, and she stood up, facing towards him. She'd put a cardigan on since dinner, and one side was hanging off her shoulder, tugging at the neck of her t-shirt, showing off that bit of collarbone he'd been eyeing this morning.
Daryl was forced to look elsewhere when she righted the cardigan and he somehow ended up looking at her eyes. "Mind a bit of company? Still got some time before I have to take Judy offa Rick's hands."
He nodded at her, and they set off. Beth was pretty much silent the whole time he was doing the perimeter check, just tagging along after him, their arms occasionally bumping in the dark. Daryl could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't feel brave enough to look and try to figure out what look she was giving him, if it was that hard one or that appraising one or something else entirely. Figured it was easier to keep his eyes on the fence, checking the locks and the bolts and looking for any potential weaknesses that might've cropped up since he'd been out here this morning. His kept his eyes trained on his flashlight's beam or on the few straggling walkers that had shown up since the earlier culling, moaning and groaning just beyond the fence.
They were just about to head back through the second row of barbed wired fencing, still keeping to themselves, when Beth stopped short beside him, standing next to the gate. He automatically stopped too, turning his face to meet hers.
"I just wanted to thank you, again. For finding my necklace." Daryl couldn't see much of her face, and he found himself taking a step closer to her. He could see better now, the blue of her eyes darker and the shadows holding steady across her pretty face.
"It's nothin'," he said. He cast his eyes on his shoes, then looked back up at her, squinting a bit to make out her features. "I appreciate you not saying anythin'."
Daryl didn't have to squint to see the smile on Beth's face. "It's nothing," she answered, using his own words against him. She smiled up at him for a moment before something sad came into her eyes, and she started talking again, the words pouring out of her in a quiet rush. "I didn't want someone else's necklace, someone else's story of how they got it and who gave it to them," she said. "I know it ain't right to get hung up on stuff, especially now. I just couldn't wear it, no matter how nice it is. So I'm really grateful to you, Daryl, for getting me my necklace back, and for fixing it up."
Beth dug her hand into her pocket, and he saw what was in her hand before she closed her small fist around it. The silver bird necklace, a tangled heap in her palm, and he suddenly realized that she must've been trying to give it back to Zach. She looked at Daryl, and he couldn't see anything but those blue eyes, hard like stone, looking up at him. "I've been thinking about what you said to me, earlier today about taking care of Judith and chances I might get, might not. And I don't want someone else's story. I'd rather take what I have right here than settle for something that I don't want. Too much of this life is decided for us. I don't want to be afraid of hoping for something good."
Daryl just kept on staring at her, trying to work out all she was saying to him. Would any of this make a damn bit of sense to him if he hadn't seen Beth telling Zach she couldn't be with him? Probably not. Wasn't much for talking about shit like this, and he'd done an awful lot of it today. "Give it here," he said quietly, snagging her small wrist with one hand, and using his other hand to open her fingers with some gentleness he didn't often use. He grabbed the necklace from her palm, her warm skin still pretty soft, feeling only a few callouses under his fingertips.
Beth looked just as confused as he had felt listening to her talk, her brows coming together as she bit her bottom lip. Daryl let his eyes roam her face, his gaze stopping at that sure-to-be-soft bitten lip before travelling down her neck until he saw the heart necklace resting against the rounded curve of her chest, black cord and sliver standing out against the cream color of her cardigan. Something about seeing that necklace, knowing he'd put that necklace there, woke something in him that felt awful similar to all those times he'd gone crazy, but maybe more intentional. More like he was right to feel crazy, not just plain crazy in general.
Looking down at the necklace in the palm of his hand, Daryl shook his hand a bit, rolling the thing around in his big palm. He closed his fist, looking back to Beth with one eyebrow raised. She didn't say anything, just tilted her head towards him, still looking a touch confused. Daryl looked back out at the fence, the walkers dying to get to them, the little bit of moonlight coming down over them all. The woods just beyond the fence were practically black, but he knew without looking where all the best trails were, where the new trails he was making up were, where the irrigation system was. Didn't have to be able to see it to know it.
Daryl put his free hand on his crossbow strap, holding it steady against his back. Didn't look over at Beth, just pulled his hand back and whipped the necklace into the air. It sailed right over the barbed wire fence, but he lost sight of it in the dark, not too sure where it landed, just that it was beyond the fence and not his damn problem anymore, and not Beth's, neither. He dropped his arm, watching a couple of walkers wander in the general direction he'd thrown the necklace, groaning loudly because they thought they were about to find a meal. Fuckin' geeks, he thought, but he wasn't really bothered by them.
Daryl turned back to Beth, briefly meeting her eyes. She didn't look confused anymore, maybe just a little thoughtful. He couldn't tell what she was doing with those big eyes anymore, didn't think he'd ever get around to figuring it out. Beth didn't seem mad, though, and he was thankful for that, because he wasn't risking his neck to go out there and try to find the stupid fucking thing. She kept silent, and Daryl finally moved past her though the gate into the main courtyard, their shadows crossing. Taking care, he locked the gate up behind them, then tugged on the lock to be sure it'd caught. Beth stood close to him, and he could feel the soft whisper of her breath against his shoulder. "Let's get back inside," he muttered as he brushed past her, half her body nearly pressed into his bare arm. Beth turned and followed silently along with him, and he wondered if maybe she wasn't standing a bit closer to him than she used to. Once they got inside the concrete walls, they went their separate ways. Her disappearing into the gloomy grey shadows, off to find the baby, and him striding off to his perch, both silently nodding their goodnights to the other.
Later that night, lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling cracks again, Daryl wondered if he'd ever get a good night's sleep again, or if those blue eyes and that mess of blonde hair was going to keep him up every night for the rest of his goddamn life.
…
A/N: First and foremost, I just want to say thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read this story, and a special, heartfelt thanks to those that have reveiwed, favorited, or otherwise set up an alert for this story. I can't tell you how much all that means to me! The reviews are especially wonderful, because they give me a bit of insight into what you all want to see and encourage me to get my butt moving on making the next chapter even better than the last. So, thank you all for that!
Secondly, I've been editing this myself, so I apologize if any errors slipped through. I'm feeling pretty good about this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed the Daryl/Beth interactions in this one. Figured I had to make up for Daryl attempting to stay away last chapter! Please let me know what you think- I love to hear your insight! It definitely gets me moving on updating, and inspired about what's to come for Daryl, Beth, and the rest of the prison crew.
Finally, how about episode 4x10?! Was that not 15 minutes of pure awesome?! I'm falling more and more in love with the Bethyl dynamic, especially now that Beth's had some really good voice over/screen time going. I kind of flip flop on if the ship will ever become canon, but I am so excited/hopeful/insane.
Thanks for reading! :)