Warming Up
He was tinkering with his bike when Lori walked up. He tried to ignore her. She was going to ask him to do something and he didn't want to do shit. He wasn't as ignorant as everyone else; trying to pretend like everything was alright. Nothing was alright, and he doubted it was going to be alright again. "Daryl, can you do me a favor?" she asked, crouching down beside him. He glanced at her but didn't answer. "Maggie needs to go into town with Glenn, and Rick and Hershel are busy, and I need to sleep, at least for a few hours. Can you sit with Beth?"
Daryl huffed and looked at Lori. "The hell she need a damn baby sitter for?" he asked. She was a big girl, didn't matter if she'd tried to opt out. He didn't need to be playing nanny.
"She just tried to kill herself Daryl, she can't be alone right now." Daryl huffed and threw his rang, looing up at Lori. The stupid bitch wasn't going to let this go untils he got her way. He climbed off the ground and grabbed his crossbow, stalking towards the house. "Thank you, Daryl," Lori called out as he walked away. He ignored her and walked into the house.
He made his way up stairs and quickly found Beth's room. Maggie was sitting there, talking to her sister. They both looked up at him and Beth bit her lip, quickly looking away. "Thanks Daryl," Maggie whispered. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Daryl put his ass in the chair across from the bed and looked at Beth as she played with a loose thread on the blanket covering her lap. "You don't have to stay," she whispered. "I'm fine."
He snorted and looked out of the window. "Tough shit. I don't feel like getting' my ass chewed out by your sister and Lori." He crossed his arms and watched as Shane and Rick climbed into the car, taking their guest back to the city.
Beth sighed and gabbed the book that was sitting on the bedside table. He squinted, trying to see what it was. She must have caught him looking. "It's The Odyssey," she told him, looking at him over the book. "Have you read it?"
He sighed and shook his head. "Nah, never got around to it." Not many people, not even Merle knew Daryl liked to read. He wasn't sure what it was, but he really liked books.
Beth smiled a little, flipping back to the first page. "Want me to read to you?" she asked. Daryl blushed a little and shrugged his shoulders. Beth smiled and curled her hair behind her ear, looking down at the page. "The gods in council agree that they time had come for Odysseus to be brought home to avenge himself on Penelope's suitors and to recover his kingdom…" Daryl listened to her as she read to him.
They hadn't realized how many hours they'd spend there, neither one of them heard or saw Lori walk in. after his ass had fallen asleep, he moved over to the bed, sitting beside her, watching her. they'd evenutally had to stop for dinner. Beth looked up at Daryl as she earmarked the page. "if you want, you can come back tomorrow and we can read more."
Daryl looked at her. "Maybe," he muttered before heading downstairs. There was something about Beth that was starting to change him.