Disclaimer: I don't own the walking dead, so please don't sue. Sorry it's taken so long, I just wanted to make sure of where I was going with this. Again thanks everyone for your support!
~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*TWD~*
"Wake up girlie we got a lot of work to do." Daryl was on the inside of her cell and shaking the metal frame of her cot. It was really hard for her to fight the urge to slap him and go back to sleep.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Beth practically spat out as she sat up on the bed.
"Been slacking lately, you've been too domesticated for too long. I'm taking you on a hunt with me." Daryl adjusted the crossbow strap on his shoulder as he spoke.
"Why would I want to go on a hunt with you? You always say you work better alone when some one asks to tag along." Beth grabbed the brush off of her shelf and ran it through her hair as she spoke.
"I need the help now get your boots on and lets go." Daryl was impatient.
"Here's a new concept, how about no." Beth spoke quietly and never stopped running the brush through her hair.
"When you're done being a spoiled brat meet me out by the front gate. We'll be riding out pretty far so well take my bike out a ways before slipping into the woods. I don't want to hunt the woods here until there's nothing left." Daryl turned to leave.
"I said no Daryl. I'm not going any where with you until you tell me why, and don't you dare lie to me again." Beth put the brush back on the shelf and looked at him.
There was a long silence and Daryl shifted his weight from one foot to the other until he looked down at the floor.
"Things always get less cloudy when I'm hunting." He managed to get out with out even looking up at her.
"That still doesn't explain why I need to go with you." Beth said, reaching slightly to the side of the cot to her boots.
"It's easier for me to talk out there." He said looking up to here face. "Please meet me out by the gate when you're finished getting ready. Be sure to bring your knife and gun, and be sure to have a weapon hidden somewhere, you never know if we'll run into trouble." Daryl was picking at his nails a bit but his voice was calm and gentle. Beth decided that was a good sign.
She pulled on fresh socks and her boots after holstering a smaller knife around her calf and ankle. She looked into her little mirror and braided a bit of the shorter tendrils of hair at the front together before pulling it all back into a tight pony tail. She holstered her gun and her knife before going to the restroom, washing her hands and splashing a little water on her face to freshen up.
When she met Daryl at the front gate he had a small messenger bag that he held out for her. She took it and looked inside. A few bottles of water and a couple granola and energy bars.
"I plan to only be out for a few hours but, in case we get in a rough spot you need to hang on to that bag as best you can okay?" Daryl said before straddling the bike and gesturing behind her to get on.
"I don't know about this Daryl." Beth managed to squeak before he started it. Daryl looked back at her, sighed and shook his head.
"I ain't gonna let anything happen to ya, I just need to get out for a bit to help me clear my head. I'm trying here, can you just meet me halfway?" Daryl asked, eyes forward the entire time and trying to keep his voice as level as he could.
"Okay." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She swung the bag around her head and shoulder and let it rest against the opposite side against her hip. She stood to the side of the bike and lifted one leg and tried to swing but lost her balance a bit, hands jetting out onto Daryl's shoulders to keep her steady before she finally managed to sit down.
"You need to scoot closer and grab tight to me. Don't be worried about hurting me you just grip as tight as you need to. I don't want to have to worry about you falling off. If we stumble on a herd I'll have to make a sudden turn. It's important you keep ahold and try to stay as balanced as possible. I'll try to take it as slow as I can but I make no promises. What I do promise is if we get seperated for any reason, I will never stop looking for you. Try to hole up somewhere safe and draw angel wings where you can. Walls, Doors, floors, trees, it don't matter I'll find it. Got it?" Daryl spoke over his shoulder.
"Got it." She almost squeaked.
Daryl revved the bike to life, adjusted the strap of his bow and waited for Beth to slide up closer. She was timid at first, allowing a good inch between them, it wasn't until they were still for about a minute that she realized Daryl didn't think she was close enough. Finally she completely closed the gap between them, and wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. He creeped up to the gates and as soon as they were opened he shot out of there as quickly as his bike could go from being fully stopped.
They mainly stuck to the back roads, they were clear for the most part, maybe a walker or two shambled out of the woods at the sound of the roar of the engine. Daryl made it a point to find a farm house in the middle of no where. He pulled into the long drive way and stopped.
Beth didn't need told, she immediately grabbed her knife and followed him. He had his crossbow at the ready and Sure enough a zombie shuffled from behind the house, with two more closing in.
"We got this, I'll take out the farthest one with an arrow, remember what I taught you, trip em up and curb stomp will be the quickest. I'll be right here watching." Daryl said without breaking eye contact with the walkers.
Beth let the first one come to her, side stepping it and kicking it in the back of the knees. she heard an arrow release and a thud as she slammed her boot into the back of it's skull as hard as she could. That's when the next one was reaching for her, and almost grabbed her but she ducked and stabbed it through the jaw hard. Luckily her blade was long enough to reach the brain, but the knife was lodged in there pretty good.
She let the body slump to the ground and rolled it slightly before putting one boot on it's shoulder and trying to pull out the knife with both hands wrapped around the hilt. Daryl's laughter was the only thing to break her determination.
"I'm proud of you girl, but we really have to work on your twisting technique. If you just stab em straight on it's more likely to get stuck, but if you can manage to twist a little, it gives your blade more wiggle room." Daryl's voice was getting closer and closer. Beth finally twisted the lodged knife enough to get it to slide out with a sickening pop.
"I'm gonna hide the bike behind this barn. I don't want to be out hunting for long because those things follow sound like a bloodhound follows scent. We move quickly and quietly and hopefully we can bring in enough meat for a stew or something. I'm not going after anything big because we couldn't haul it back, but I need to know if you'll get squeamish if you have to carry a few squirrels or a rabbit back." Daryl wiped the knife off in the grass before handing it back to her.
"I imagine if I can stand the smell of rotting dead people, I can handle a freshly killed rodent." She smiled before carefully putting the knife back in it's holster. She moved as quietly as she could behind him as he moved the bike behind the barn facing the way they came in.
"You're pretty light on your feet, I wouldn't be too worried about making too much noise." Daryl smiled at her. "Besides, if we didn't catch anything we can always check the surrounding areas for any supplies. I imagine we eventually gotta work some of this bullshit out." He propped the bike up on the kick stand and grabbed the key. He turned to face her on that last sentence.
"Alright Dixon. It's just you and me, say what you gotta say while we're safe. I don't want to be in the middle of talking about feelings and happen on a herd because I was too dumb to shut my mouth at the right time." Beth leaned against the back of the barn.
"talking about how I feel isn't exactly what I'm good at. I'm more of a push it down until I explode kind of guy, but it occurs to me that given our situation, and what happened to the last love triangle involving Rick, that it's best if I try to be open with you. " Daryl's face was pointed toward the ground and barely shifted up as he spoke. It's almost as if he felt ashamed to be having this discussion.
"I realize that you're barely 18 and if this were a different world I would kick my own ass for even considering dating you. I don't even know if there is such a thing as dating in this world any more, but my point is, that I really enjoy your company even if I have a really hard time expressing it. You're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for and I wish that you could see yourself through my eyes. You'd see that you light up a room just from walking in and even when you break down you're stronger than most of us could ever hope to be. You're a fighter, smart, fast, impeccable instincts and for the most part a reasonable judge of personality. Even before the end of the world I'd say that's the kind of woman I'd want by my side. I admit I crossed the line discussing you with Rick, but I can't just stand by and watch you play house for a man that doesn't feel half of what I feel towards you." His face turned a bit pale and he never looked up. Beth could tell that this is not something he was used too.
"How do you know he doesn't have feelings for me?" Beth asked, effectively taking the attention off of him baring his heart to her.
"Because if he did then he'd known how amazing you are from the get go like I did and not just since his wife died." Daryl looked into her eyes before turning around and heading towards the woods.
"So that's it?" She called after him. Not making a move from the barn.
He stopped cold as soon as her words hit his ears. He looked from one side to the other checking for walkers, then ran a hand over his face and sighed. A part of him wanted to yell back at her, tell her to forget everything and just come the fuck on, but there was a bigger piece of him that was telling him to go to her.
The speed in which he turned and closed the gap between them impressed her, but not as much as the kiss he had planted on her lips. He'd pulled her into a delicate yet passionate kiss, pouring what he couldn't really put into words into the kiss. Beth's response was to wrap her arms around his neck, to deepen the kiss. She wasn't sure if it was hormones or feelings that were fueling her at this point but she had no question what Daryl was communicating with her. Daryl softly broke the kiss, giving her a peck on the cheek and forehead before completely letting her go.
"Yeah that's about all I got to say." He looked her in the eyes and once again turned toward the woods.