Breaking My Heart

Beth sighed as she folded the last of Daryl's shirts. She always did his laundry now; it was about the only time she got to see him alone anymore. After they'd found her in Terminus and they'd all gotten out, he avoided her. It broke her heart every time he tried to avoid being alone with her, tried to get away from her. Something had happened between the two of them back at the morgue, she knew it had. She hadn't been imagining things, hadn't been imagining the look on his face as he stared at her in the candle light. She knew something had happened to the two of them. But he didn't want to acknowledge it.

Beth knew Daryl wasn't an open person; it just wasn't in his nature to be an open person, that's who he was. He was closed off, guarded, she understood that. But it still hurt. She sighed and picked up Daryl's clothes, heading off to his tent to drop them off. If she'd been paying attention, instead of trying to understand why Daryl avoided her, she would have seen the bra hanging from the top the tent, she would have heard the breathy moans and grunts coming from inside. But she didn't.

She pulled back the door. "Daryl, I've got…" she trailed off, her eyes going wide, her jaw dropping as she took in the scene before her. Daryl was bent over one of the other women they'd saved from Terminus. They were naked and from the looks of it, just getting started. Beth's heart shattered into a million pieces in her chest as she dropped the clothes and quickly ran out. She refused to let either one of them see her cry.

She ran, and she didn't stop running. She ran right past Maggie, Glenn, and Rick who tried to stop her from taking off into the woods. She didn't listen to any of them. She ran until her legs gave out and she collapsed against a tree. She pulled herself into a ball, hugging her knees close. She knew it was stupid, knew she was overreacting. It wasn't like they were dating; Daryl was free to do whatever he wanted to with whoever she wanted to.

Beth gripped her chest as tears fell down her face. They weren't a couple, she didn't mean anything to him, but it still hurt. She hugged her knees closer as she cried; trying to get herself to calm down but she couldn't get that damn image from her mind. At least, not until she heard the groaning and shuffling of death behind her. Beth got up quickly, her knife ready. She wiped her eyes and sized up the walker heading towards her. It was just one, but it would be more than enough to take out her anger and frustration on. She lunged at it, knocking it to the ground and stabbed it in the head.

But she didn't stop there. Over and over again Beth stabbed the walker, anywhere and everywhere. Blood covered her before she was done, gasping for air as she stared down at the pile of massacre before her. She wiped some of the blood off of her face as thunder rolled overhead; calling forth a torrent of rain that quickly soaked her, washing away the blood.

Beth put her knife away and slowly stared to walk back to camp. Her heart still hurt, but she could deal with it. She had to, she didn't have a choice. She was going to have to forget about Daryl.

…

Daryl swore as he walked out of his tent. It had taken him ten minutes to get rid of the bitch he'd been fucking when Beth came in. He'd seen the look on her face, the utter fucking heartbreak in those eyes. He hadn't meant to hurt her, hadn't meant for her to even know. He knew he'd fucked up. Ever since the morgue things had been different between them.

He ran a hand through his hair as he walked out of his tent, meeting a pissed off Maggie, Glenn, and Rick. "What the hell did you do to Beth?" Maggie demanded.

"What? Nothing." Daryl looked at all of them, utterly confused. Okay, well maybe not, he had been fucking another woman when she'd walked in.

"Then why did she run off into the woods alone after she brought you your laundry?" Glenn demanded.

Daryl swore and grabbed his crossbow. "Which way did she go?" he asked.

"Oh hell no." Maggie stepped in front of him. "You're the reason she ran out there, you're sure as hell not going after her."

Rick put a hand on her shoulder. "She's back," he whispered. They looked over through the rain that came down around them. Beth was walking towards her tent, soaking wet and covered in walker blood.

Daryl's stomach clenched and he paled. He ran towards her, grabbing her arm and looking her over for bites. "Get your hands off of me," she snapped, pulling away from him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded, glaring at her. Did she have a death wish?

"It's none of your business what I do. Not like you really care anyways." She walked away from him and shut herself up in her tent. She wouldn't even let Maggie in. Daryl's heart broke a little bit. He'd really fucked up this time. He sat down, not caring that he was getting soaked. He ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes as his hair clung to him. He needed to talk to her, explain himself. He knew it wasn't going to make it better, but she at least deserved to know. He walked over to the tent and zipped it open, walking in and zipping it back up. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Daryl quickly turned around, realizing she was bare from the waist up. "I came to apologize," he muttered, listening to her pull her dry clothes on. "Explain myself."

She shook her head as he turned back around. "It doesn't matter, it's not my business."

Daryl nodded his head. "Yeah, it kind of is." He sighed and thanked her for the damp towel she handed him. He ran it through his hair quickly and handed it back. "I was tryin' to get ya outta my head," he whispered. God he wasn't good at this kind of shit. "Every time I close my eyes I see ya, and it kills me Beth."

"Why?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. At least she wasn't looking at him that made it easier.

"Cause I fell for ya back at the cemetery, but ya ain't mine to have." This was killing him, tearing him apart. "I ain't no good for ya, ya need someone better, someone younger, someone who isn't fucked up."

Her head snapped up and she looked at him. "Daryl shut up." She got up and walked over to him, grabbing his face and kissing him. He froze his body tensing. He'd been dreaming about kissing her since the night he'd lost her. Slowly he stared to kiss back, his arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her little body closer to his, his wet clothes soaking her dry ones. She moaned as he started to kiss back, tilting her head to the side so he could deepen it.

He pulled away slowly and looked up at her. "I'm only going to ruin ya."

She shook her head, a smile on her face. "No, you're going to save me."