Chapter Thirteen

Beth opened her eyes slowly, looking around at her room and smiling when she looked over at her desk. The camera sat on her desk and she remembered the picture she had taken of Daryl just a couple days previous. She sat up and walked over to her computer, shaking the mouse to wake it up and popped the memory card out. After inserting it into the card reader on her computer she pulled up the picture and smiled as she looked over it. He looked so peaceful, so at ease as he slept.

"Let's see how my editing skills are." she murmured softly and opened her photo manipulation program, pulling the picture over and opening her toolbars. She pulled up her iTunes playlist and turned it on low, humming along to the music as she began to play around with different colorization and contrast options.

She definitely wasn't a pro, but she told herself she'd keep working with it and hopefully she'd learn some more tricks and skills in her classes. She bit the pad of her thumb as she thought about her upcoming classes in less than a month. Was she really ready for this?

"Please, God, tell me I'm doing the right thing." she prayed softly to herself as she looked at the picture of Daryl, realizing that her classes weren't the only thing she was praying about. She ran her fingers through her unkempt hair and sighed hard, curling her feet up in her chair and putting her face in her hands. A wave of nausea hit her and she placed a hand against her belly as she willed it away. She took in a deep breath and told herself to calm down, figuring she was working herself up stressing over school and her budding relationship with Daryl.

Who the hell was she kidding. It was more than a budding relationship. She was getting herself in deep, deeper than she thought she ever would. When she first met Daryl, she had no clue that her life would be changing as dramatically as it had been. She never thought when she was first introduced to him that she would find herself falling head over heels for him, especially giving herself to him. That was something she vowed to herself that she would save for the man she said 'I do' to.

"Dammit, Daryl Dixon what have you done to me?" she muttered and buried her face in her hands again, sighing and looking up at her ceiling before back at her screen, "I love you." she whispered softly and touched the image of him with the tips of her fingers, "I...fucking love you." She felt the blush spread across her cheeks at the use of that word but she knew it was true.

She loved Daryl Dixon. Rough around the edges, hard ass, tough as nails Daryl Dixon. She wanted to run outside to him, she wanted to go to him and kiss him, whisper those words against his lips and be held against his warm body wrapped up in his strong arms.

The problem was she had no idea if he felt the same and the thought of that made her groan and place her forehead against the keyboard.

"Shut up, Beth. You sound like a damn romance novel." She told herself and went back to work on editing her picture. By the time she was done she had four copies of the picture; original, enhanced, sepia, and black and white. She saved each one, pulled up her Facebook account, and made a new photo album dedicated to her photography before adding them to it. When she was done she popped her memory card out and stood, stretching her stiff body and gasping as a sharp pain shot up through her right side and a spasm of pain followed. It was quick and disappared in a few seconds but was followed by another wave of nausea.

"What in the hell?" she murmured to herself and rubbed her forehead, feeling the warmth of her skin. A little too warm for her liking. She waved it off and grabbed her pajama pants and over shirt, walking out of her room and downstairs to help her mom and Maggie with breakfast.

"Baby are you feeling okay?" Annette asked from the island where she was slicing onions and bell peppers for the omelete she was preparing.

"Not so much, but I think I'm just nervous about the trip and school coming up." Beth said and Annette set her knife down, wiping her hands off on her apron as she walked over to her. She placed her hand on her forehead and frowned, touching her cheeks and then her neck.

"You're running a fever, baby. Go on and lay back down. I'll bring you some breakfast with a few Tylenol to help your fever. After you eat take yourself a good long shower, okay?" Annette said and Beth nodded, her mother kissing her forhead and sending her back out of the kitchen. She moved slowly up the stairs, her hand resting on her side as another spasm of pain rippled through her side. She was glad to crawl back in her bed though and found herself dozing off again for another half hour until her mother knocked softly on her door. She walked in with a plate of food, a glass of apple juice, and a small bottle of Tylenol.

"You need to stay in bed today." Annette said as she placed her hand on her daughter's forehead and felt the burn from the fever.

"I'll sleep a little longer, then get up and walk around outside, see if that makes me feel better. I won't overdue it though, I don't wanna risk getting' sick right before Savannah." she said with a half hearted smile as she poked at the food on her plate.

"Call if you need anythin', I'll be right downstairs. You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be fine, mama." Beth said and grinned when her mother gave her a kiss on the top of her head before walking out of her room.

"Three more days till we leave." Beth squeaked to herself in the shower as she massaged her shampoo into her hair, the shower smelling of soft honeysuckle. She couldn't wait to get out and get dressed, grab her camera and go out to see what she could snap pictures of. She had woken up a little nauseated that morning and hoped she wasn't coming down with a bug. Nothing was going to stop her from her trip. She had been looking forward to this for a few months since her dad suggested it.

After rinsing off she cut the water, stepping out and grabbing her thick soft purple towel off of the rack near the tub and started toweling off. Another wave of nausea hit her and she cringed, gripping her side and feeling a slight tenderness.

"Come on, Greene. You can't get sick it's almost your birthday." she coached herself, walking to the medicine cabinet and swinging it open. She downed a couple Pepto Bismols, hoping it would ease off her nausea and finished drying herself off.

"Bethy! You almost done?" Maggie called from the outside of the door, "I need to grab a shower before work."

"Yeah hold on!" she called, wrapping her towel tight around her and grabbing her comb and hairdryer. She slid out of the bathroom, only giving Maggie a slight nod as she made her way to her room. She shut and locked her door, moving to the window and peeking out her curtains. Daryl was already hard at work outside, Maisy running around with him wherever he went. He was trying to get as much done as he could before the long weekend ahead of them, and Beth knew they wouldn't have much free time together until Savannah. She turned to plug in her hairdryer and her breath caught as a sharp pain spasmed through her side, her hand gripping it as she grit her teeth.

"Beth hunny!" her mother called from the bottom of the stairs. Beth shuffled to her door and cracked it open.

"Yes mama?"

"I'm off to my book club meeting! You and Daryl be safe today, okay!"

"Will do!" As she was combing out her long locks she heard her mother leave, then eventually her father. After running the hair dryer over her hair for what always felt like forever, Maggie had already left without a goodbye. They still weren't on good speaking terms after Maggie had made her mad at the clinic, and Beth refused to back down. Nothing was going to change her mind about Daryl Dixon.

After sliding a pair of shorts on and a simple white cotton shirt she made her way down the stairs, albeit slower than normal, and outside where Daryl was unloading horse feed from the back of the work truck Hershel kept on the farm.

Daryl looked up as he heard the back door slam and saw Beth heading towards him, her camera hanging around her neck. She was walking slower than normal, her hand gripping her side as the other rested on her stomach. He set a bag of feed down and brushed his hands off, sliding his work gloves off and shoving them in his back pocket.

"Hey!" he called and walked towards her, reaching out and placing his hands on her shoulders when he reached her, "What's wrong?"

"I just don't feel good today." she asnwered and Daryl wrapped her up in his arms, kissing the top of her head, "I just feel nauseated today and my side is sore."

"You need me to take you to the doctor?" he asked and she shook her head, moving to her toes and placing a kiss on his mouth softly, "You gonna snap some pictures today?"

"Yeah, I'll see if I can find some good shots today. Where's Maisy?" she asked and Daryl whistled, the pup running out of the barn and up to them. Beth bent over to pet her, hissing as a sharp pain coursed through her side again. This time it didn't want to ease up and she managed to stand up, but not fully straight.

"Beth?"

"Can I go lay down on your couch please? Just for a bit and see if this pain passes?" she asked and he nodded, kissing her forehead and watching as she limped away. He went back to the truck and slid his gloves back on, reaching into the back and grabbing a bag of feed out of it. He went back to the back breaking routine of hauling feed out of the truck and into the storage shed by the barn, making sure his black bandana stayed over his nose and mouth to prevent himself from breathing in the dust. He was almost done when he heard a loud scream, dropping the bag and standing still so he could listen. Maisy yipped loudly and he reached down, closing her mouth to shush her.

"DARYL!"