Kind of a short chapter but don't worry I'll make up for it in the next one :) Thanks to all my new followers and to everyone reviewing and reading!
When Beth woke up her head was still pounding, the rays of sunlight coming through the cracks of the shades in the window were severely irritating. At least the nausea was gone. There was nothing left in her stomach to throw up. Daryl was still asleep on the couch next to the bed. She remembered waking up late last night and felt extremely embarrassed. What else had she done that night that she didn't remember? The last thing she could recall before waking up and puking was starting to drink with Daryl and feeling dizzy.
"Hey," said Daryl, sitting up from the couch. His voice startled her and she looked over at him.
"Hey," she said.
"Feelin' any better?" he asked.
"A little," she said, "Still got a headache." He picked up the bottle of medicine off the nightstand and tossed it to her.
"Here take two more." she unscrewed the top and quickly dry swallowed the pills, desperate for some relief of the pounding pressure in her head.
"Now I know why my daddy warned me against drinking," she said.
"It's alright," said Daryl, "If done in moderation." He smirked and said, "Just no more drinkin' the whole bottle." She tried to let out a laugh but only smiled. "There's a way to get shit-faced and enjoy it." he said, stretching and yawning. He tossed her a can of the soup they'd gotten from the store. "I'd eat this instead of meat," he said, "It'll be easier on your stomach."
"How long until I start to feel better?" she asked.
"Sleep it off 'n rest in bed." She sat up, ignoring the stabbing pain in the front of her head.
"What about you?"
"I'm fine, gonna go out and hunt around, maybe keep an eye on the road to see if I that same car you saw from before comes back." Beth suddenly felt guilty. Because of her over-drinking she was useless for the day. Daryl must of read her mind when he saw her upset expression. "Don' worry 'bout it," he said, "Stay here and rest." He handed her a gun and a knife. "Take these just in case, I'm gonna shut the door 'n block it off in case anything gets in downstairs, you can sleep soundly."
Daryl walked down the road, crossbow in hand. He figured he'd check the road before going out hunting. He didn't want to have to drag around a deer carcass. When he came to the road he listened closely. He didn't hear anything. He walked alongside the road to see if there were any signs of a recent car passing through. He'd been walking for about ten minutes when he found what he was looking for. It was a walker crushed onto the pavement. It had been clearly run over. Its blood was still fresh and glistening, coming off the walker were bloody tire tracks that went for another couple feet. The tracks were filled with chunks of brain and it clearly had been a recent hit, probably from earlier today. If only the tracks continued on so he could just follow them. It was all the evidence he needed to show that Beth had been right and someone else used the road to get back and forth from place to place. But how close were they? Was it a group or just one or two people? No sense in sitting around and waiting to see something today if the car had already passed through, tomorrow he would. He started to walk back to the house. He tried to keep his mind on hunting but he couldn't help but think about last night. He was pretty sure Beth didn't remember anything. But he did. The way he had touched her and talked to her was wrong. Beth was eighteen, he was forty. That was a huge difference. Hell he was old enough to be her daddy. And there was the fact that there was no way a beautiful girl like Beth Greene could ever fall in love with an old redneck like him. Why was he even letting these kind of things go through his mind? They had both been drunk. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about those big beautiful blue eyes full of lust, looking up at him from in between his legs.
Beth woke up, unsure of how long she had been asleep. But all she knew was she felt much better, she was parched and she needed to wash off the dried sweat on her body. She slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed. She could still feel the a faint headache but for the most part it was gone. She got up and pushed the door open, which was difficult to do thanks to Daryl stacking up chairs and furniture against it. She went slowly down the stairs and went into the living room. She immediately grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it down until it was empty. Then she headed down to the pond to bathe.
Daryl moved slowly through the woods, being careful to not make any noise. It was quiet out, not even the birds were making any noise. It was then that he heard it, a voice singing. It was beautiful but was off in the distance and he couldn't make out the words. He followed the sound, and as he got closer he recognized it as Beth's. What was she doing out of the room?! He moved quickly through the woods until the voice was close by. She was right beyond a thick wall of bushes. He pushed the leaves aside and was shocked. There was Beth standing in the pond, washing her hair, completely naked. Everything from the hips up was exposed. She had her arms over her head, scrubbing shampoo into her hair giving him full view of her. He drunk it all in, her curvy hips, her narrow little waist, perky breasts, fuck she was so beautiful. She was gonna be the death of him. All of the blood in his body was quickly going south resulting in an uncomfortable erection. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd fucked someone. After the world had gone to shit it hadn't seemed so important anymore and he'd been focused on other things. Even when Carol had constantly dropped hints that she wanted him he had looked the other way. He quickly looked away, sitting down on the ground out of sight. He felt like a pervert. What the hell was he doing?! He left and ran back into the woods. If she knew he saw her she'd be pissed.
Beth got out of the pond and headed back to the house, feeling much better. She looked up at the sun. It had to be around 4:00, she'd better start dinner. When she got back she got out two cuts of meat and started a fire to cook it over.
A half an hour later it was done cooking and Daryl walked in just in time. He was carrying a deer and Beth smiled and said
"How was your day?" He seemed shifty-eyed as he answered her.
"Boring," he said, "Just went huntin' after i checked out the road."
"Did you find anything?" she asked.
"Ya," he said, "I found a walker body further up the road it looked like it had been freshly run over."
"I wonder who's been passing through," she said, getting the meat onto two plates.
"I'm goin' out there tomorrow to keep watch for anythin'," he said.
"Can I come with you?" she asked. He looked like he was considering it and then said
"Ya you can." Daryl set the deer down and they sat down on the couch to eat. It was quiet as they ate. Beth wanted to ask Daryl if he remembered what she had done last night but she was scared of his answer. After five minutes of fighting herself about it she finally built up the courage to ask.
"So about last night, what exactly happened?" He didn't look up from his food and said
"Nuthin', just got drunk off your ass and danced around the fire a bit. Then a walker came along and I brought you inside." She laughed and said well I hope I wasn't to annoying. He smiled and said
"Don' worry you were fine. You actually saw the walker before I did. If you hadn'ta spotted it it probably woulda' taken a bite into my shoulder."
"Well I'm glad I saved your life," she said smartly.
"Don't get to full of yourself," he said.
"Awww," she said, "Embarrassed that I saved you?" He shoke his head as she laughed at him.
They finished dinner and Beth didn't know what to say as they both leaned back on the couch. She wasn't tired enough to go to bed so she decided to strike up a conversation.
"How long had it been since we left the prison?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said, "Lost track of the days, it's been a couple weeks at least."
"Where do you think the others are?" She knew she'd asked him the question many times over but talking about it comforted her in a way.
"Dunno," he said, "I'm pretty sure I saw Rick and Carl make it out together, and that bus fulla' people, but I can't be sure 'bout the others."
"What about Carol?" asked Beth, "I didn't even see her in the prison yard when they attacked." She saw Daryl shift uncomfortably in his seat. She had always suspected there was something going on between the two but she didn't know what. She had to admit, during the past couple of months that she'd developed a crush on Daryl she'd been a bit jealous.
"She killed Karen 'n Dave," said Daryl quietly. Beth was shocked.
"How'd you know that?" she asked.
"Rick figured it out and let me know, she did it to try 'n stop the sickness from spreadin'."
"What happened to her?" asked Beth.
"Rick sent her away," said Daryl, "He gave her a car packed fulla' supplies and sent her off. Didn't think she was stable enough to be with us anymore." Beth couldn't see Carol doing such a thing.
"Do you think it was her?" asked Beth.
"I don't know," said Daryl, "It's like her to do anything to keep the group safe, but I just can't see her plannin' and carryin' somethin' out like that." He took a deep breath and put his face in his hands. Seeing his frustration she scooted closer to him and put her arm around his shoulders. He didn't flinch like he used too, he was used to being touched by now.
"Maybe we'll find her with the others," said Beth.
"Ya maybe."