This is another short one, but it has a juicy cliffhanger at the end. Don't worry another long chapter is coming up.

Chapter Text

Put the Light Back in Her Eyes

Daryl woke to screaming. He shot up straight in his seat, crossbow raised and ready to fire. But there weren't any walkers, there was no threat. Beth was having a nightmare in the passenger's seat. He put his crossbow down and reached over, trying to shake her awake. If she didn't quiet down she was going to draw all of the walkers straight to them. He shook her shoulder. "Beth. Beth, wake up."

She shot up in the seat, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, tears streaming down her face. He hated seeing her like that, but other than fucking her, he didn't know what to do for her, and sex was off the table. She looked around, frantically taking in her surroundings. Daryl figured she'd calm down, go back to hating him, and go back to sleep. Beth bolted; she clawed at the door handle, nearly ripping it off as she tried to open the locked door. Remember what happened when you assume, baby brother? Daryl pushed Merle's voice out of his head and unlocked the doors of the car. Beth nearly fell out as the door gave way to her full weight and she tore off through the woods. "Damn it." Daryl grabbed his crossbow and took off after her. He had no idea what had her so spooked, but he had a feeling they were going to have to ditch the car.

He followed her through the woods, dodging low branches and jumping over fallen logs. When he caught up to her Daryl grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop, turning her to face him. "What the hell is your problem?" he demanded. He looked at her, waiting for an answer but Beth didn't really look like she was all there. Her eyes wouldn't focus on anything and she kept trying to pull away from him, clawing at his hand with her free hand. Something was seriously wrong and Daryl didn't know what to do. He grabbed her face and made her look at him. "Beth, calm down, ain't nothin' gonna hurt ya."

Her eyes seemed to focus on his face, and slowly, she calmed down. "I'm gonna be sick." She ripped herself away from him and this time he let her. Beth fell to her knees on the wet ground and emptied what little she had in her stomach. Daryl frowned and knelt beside her, but he wasn't sure what he could do to help her. Beth's shoulders shook as dry heaves and sobs started to consume her. She gasped for air, her fingers digging into the wet earth.

He slowly reached out and rubbed her back. "Wanna tell me what happened back there?"

Shaking, Beth sat back on her knees and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "Nightmare," she rasped out. Daryl frowned and scooped her up in his arms and started walking back to the car.

"You wanna talk about it?" He was almost hoping she would say no, but at the same time, he was curious what had made her react that way.

"You were with them."

Daryl didn't have to ask her to explain. She'd dreamt that he had been there while they had raped her, that he had helped them. A shrink would say it was because he fucked her and then just stopped and changed his behavior. Way to go Dixon, you traumatized the poor thing. He looked at Beth as they reached the car. She seemed to be okay. He sat her down on the passenger's seat and knelt in front of her, looking her over. She had some scratches across her arms from the branches she'd run into and she was shivering. Daryl reached into the back and pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. He didn't know what else to do with her. She wouldn't even look at him. He guessed he deserved that though. "Think you can go back to sleep?" She shook her head, pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

Pushing to his feet with a sigh he walked around to the other side of the car. "Get in and shut the door." He climbed behind the wheel and started up the car. As soon as she was in and had the door closed he pulled out and started driving again. If she couldn't sleep they mine as well kill some time.

"Where are we going?" she asked. God she sounded horrible.

"Dunno," he answered.

"Why'd you do it?" He looked at her, wanting clarification. He'd done a lot of things lately. "Why'd you sleep with me?"

Daryl slammed on the breaks. He'd had enough of this beating around the bush shit. If she wanted to talk, then he'd talk. "You asked me to."

"Not the second time, then you run around here and you won't talk to me, you won't look at me, what the hell?"

Daryl looked at her, throwing the car into park. "Because I shouldn't have slept with you that first night." He ran a hand through his hair. "Jesus Beth. What do you want from me, I ain't gonna be your boyfriend."

Beth slapped him hard enough to send his head spinning and caused stars to explode in his eyes. "Don't talk to me like I'm some little girl," she snapped. "You lost that right after they raped me. I'm not looking for a boyfriend, but you can't sleep with me, you can't initiate sex with me and then go back to being a dick."

She was right, he knew she was right, and she was going to start to see through the lies he put in front of her. Daryl would never admit he was scared out loud, but he was. This little blonde thing was going to be the death of him because he knew there was something developing between them. "You do things to me," he whispered. She frowned and looked at him. "Things that haven't happened before." He looked her dead in the eyes. "You said you love me."

She bit her lip. "I do." She looked down biting her lip. "I know you don't, but I do."

"I never said I don't."