At first, Daryl wasn't sure that he'd heard Beth correctly. Her voice was so slight, so soft, and a bit hoarse, probably from lack of use. Daryl just sat there for a moment, thinking about what Beth had said, playing it back over and over in his mind.
'No… Don't stop… I like it".
Before he realized what he was doing, he was scooting closer to Beth on the couch. He took her hands in his, very tentatively at first, and tried to make sure he had her full attention.
"You do? You like it?" Daryl asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.
Beth didn't speak, but for the first time in several days, a tiny smile formed, just around the corners of her mouth. And she nodded, looking straight at Daryl. And he felt his heart surge, almost feeling like it was flip flopping in his chest. What should he do, he wondered? What did this mean? Does Beth have feelings for me too, he questioned? He decided he couldn't over think it; but he desperately wanted to be close to her now. He'd really limited his proximity to her over the last few days and he wanted to be closer, wanted to hold her, provide her a physical reminder that he was there for her and that he would help her through this hard time she was having.
"Come here" Daryl said, and started to gently pull Beth towards his end of the couch. She came willingly, crawling across the couch towards the spot on the end that he'd slid back into. He had his back against the side where the armrest was and his right leg up against the couch's back. He helped settle Beth in, her back pressing up against his chest, the lower half of her body resting in between his legs. Daryl felt like he was holding his breath, unsure that this was really happening and that he was actually able to be this close to her. While Daryl was still a bit frozen in place, unsure of what to do, or how close he could really get, Beth took his hands, putting hers over the tops of his and linking her fingers through, then pulling his arms tightly around her waist.
Daryl wasn't surprised when he felt a smile spread across his face. This wasn't like those times that he'd held her in the middle of the night, when she'd woken up screaming and crying. There was no immediate need from her now, other than just to be close to him. And he nuzzled the side of his face into her hair, wanting to close as much space between them – and Daryl hoped in that moment that they could stay like this for a very long time.
He knew Beth wasn't all of a sudden "better", but she was still taking those small baby steps that she had been all week, and, for him, speaking, and then smiling, had been two large milestones. He could tell that she wasn't over her quietness, but hopefully as time went on he'd hear that sweet voice more and more. And he'd be patient, he told himself – just those few words that she'd just spoken had renewed his ability to wait for her, however long it took.
"Want to watch a movie? We can see if there is anything good to watch On Demand?" Daryl asked Beth. He wasn't sure if she'd respond, but wanted to ask anyway.
Beth didn't speak, but nodded her head affirmatively. She sat up quickly, breaking the contact she'd had with Daryl and he instantly hated her absence. But she only grabbed the TV remote and sat back against Daryl quickly, returning to the spot that she'd originally been in. She tried to hand the remote over her shoulder to Daryl, but he pushed her arm back down toward her lap.
"You choose… I always choose" Daryl said, speaking sweetly into Beth's ear. She turned her head slightly, just so she could see him out of the corner of her eye, and Daryl could see the small smile on her face again, which made him smile in return. He tightened his arms around her, pulling her a little closer with a squeeze and kissing her temple lightly and then resting his forehead against the side of her head. He wanted to savor this moment – he'd longed for it for too long now, and he had a somewhat irrational fear of something happening to end it prematurely. He was still trying to be guarded with his actions towards her, not knowing what she wanted or intended from him, and not wanting to move too quickly, although he wasn't sure whether he was doing well with that. Daryl was afraid that if Beth gave him an inch, he'd probably try to take a mile, and he knew he needed to fight that as much as possible. He'd pushed her away once, by trying to do too much too quickly, and he wouldn't do that again. And as good as he felt about things right now, about Beth's progress and about her wanting to be physically close to him, he knew that she had a ways to go and that it may take a lot longer than he'd originally thought to move passed what had happened earlier in the week.
Beth surfed through the On Demand movies for a while, but finally settled on the screen for I, Frankenstein. Daryl had actually wanted to see that movie, but never imagined that Beth would. His understanding of it was that it was a bit sci-fi, and maybe a bit freaky – and he couldn't imagine Beth liking movies like that. All week he'd rented movies for her to watch while he was away from home, but they'd all been comedies, romances, and dramas. She'd seemed to like them all, but he'd never stopped to think that maybe she'd like a different kind of movie, with action and mystery, or even a bit of horror.
"You sure that's what you want to watch?" he asked Beth. She nodded quickly in response.
"Okay, then…" Daryl said, still a little uncertain about the choice. But he didn't want to question Beth – he'd been making choices for her all week, and he wanted her to be able to decide something on her own. If this was the movie she wanted, Daryl would go along with it.
Beth used to remote to order the movie. Before she pushed the button to start it though, she paused, and then got up off of the couch. Daryl was a bit unsure about what she was doing and she said nothing – but he watched her take their wine glasses into the kitchen and refill them. She turned off the light in the kitchen before returning to the living room, putting the glasses down on the coffee table, and then moving across the room to turn off the two lamps that Daryl had turned on earlier. She and Daryl were all of a sudden surrounded by, with the only illumination in the room coming from the TV and the moon shining in through a nearby window.
She hurried back over to Daryl and settled back into her place against him, pulling that big brown blanket, that she'd used almost constantly over the last few days, up and over both of them. She looked back at Daryl tentatively and he nodded to her and she started the movie.
And Daryl was struck with how normal this all felt with Beth – enjoying a movie together on a Friday night, cuddled up under a blanket on the couch, with some glasses of wine. He could get used to this, he thought.
The weekend seemed to go by quickly, at least for Daryl. Saturday had been a quiet day at home, which he'd was happy with, especially since he'd planned to try to get Beth out of the house on Sunday. Beth still wasn't speaking much, but she was still communicating with Daryl – and it struck him how good she was at communicating with him nonverbally, that overall they'd connected on some type of level where often words weren't really necessary. She had, though, spoken a few times throughout the day, always saying just a few words, but it was enough for Daryl to feel better and better about her progress, and to feel like she was out of the woods now and well on her way back to normalcy.
On Saturday night when Daryl brought up his Sunday plans to Beth, she'd agreed to go on his little fishing expedition. On Sunday morning, Daryl woke up much later than usual, but could hear that Beth was already up and downstairs. Once he got to the stairs he smelled the telltale scents of breakfast and also heard Beth quietly humming a song. His heart felt full at hearing her – he couldn't help but think it was a good sign that her mood had turned and that she had woken up this morning feeling positively about the day. Once he got to the kitchen he was surprised to see that Beth must have been busying herself with cooking for some time. She'd baked blueberry muffins, fried bacon, and made French toast, which she knew was Daryl's favorite. She'd also made coffee and poured them both some orange juice and set the table in the actual dining room, where Daryl had never actually eaten before. When he walked into the kitchen, he noticed that she was beating some milk into a bowl of eggs.
"Morning, baby girl" Daryl said a little groggily, coming up behind Beth and wrapping his arms around Beth's waist from behind. He kissed her temple lightly, gently nuzzling his face against the side of her's. She turned her head, just slightly, and smiled, never stopping the work she was doing. But Daryl heard a little contented sigh escape her throat and nothing could have been better in that moment – he knew that he was exactly where he wanted to be and it seemed that Beth was too.
He'd become more comfortable with doing things like this ever since they'd first cuddled on the couch on Friday night. Things had changed for them in that moment, and although Daryl didn't know exactly what it meant, he went along with it gladly. Everything that had happened between them so far was very innocent, only hugs and sweet touches and cuddling. There hadn't even been any kissing – but Daryl was content to take things very slowly with Beth, knowing that plan was for the best, especially after what had happened between them before, and in light of Beth's recent trauma. Daryl couldn't explain it, but being like this with Beth, especially in these simple, easy, and everyday things, made him feel so comfortable, so at home. And he couldn't help but think that he'd never felt so comfortable or content with anyone before.
He knew his feelings seemed a bit out of bounds, knew that he'd only known Beth for two weeks and that it seemed absolutely insane for him to feel the way he did. He'd been in plenty of relationships before, but knew that what he had with Beth was something else entirely. It occurred to him that in all of his previous relationships there had always been one party that was much more involved than the other, much needier or much more committed. And, of course now, in hindsight, he knew that had definitely been the case with Andrea – that he'd been that one that was much more attached to the relationship than she was. But he didn't see things between he and Beth that way – in fact, he recognized that they'd both been equally needy with one another. While their friendship had begun because of his need, it had been strengthened and potentially changed forever through her's. They'd both been in very dark and vulnerable places, and the other had been there to provide a light out of the darkness, a hand to hold them up when they weren't strong enough to do so themselves.
Daryl was still working on pulling Beth out of her own darkness – but the progress that she'd made over the last week had made him optimistic. And he had no doubt that they would get there, that he could love her through this, and anything else, for that matter. Still, she hadn't talked to him about what happened, although Daryl had spoken to her about it several times. He knew she had to come around to talking about it on her own, but he also knew she couldn't get to a place of full healing without making that last step. He didn't want to push her, but struggled to find a balance in knowing what to do to help her through this nightmare.
Beth and Daryl enjoyed their breakfast together and then agreed to get ready for their fishing trip. Daryl felt nervous about the trip, hoping that it would be a positive thing for Beth, not wanting anything to happen that would derail the progress she'd just made. He'd smiled the biggest he had in quite a while when he met Beth downstairs and saw that she was dressed in a cute, but casual outfit, and that she'd actually fixed her hair and even put on a tiny bit of makeup.
His concerns about their trip had been unfounded, he'd realized, as they drove home at the end of the day. Beth had seemed to have a wonderful time fishing, gradually becoming a little more talkative as the day wore on. Daryl had planned for them to leave much earlier in the afternoon, but Beth had wanted to stay, and so, they'd stayed until it was almost dark. With a bucket full of fish in the back of his truck, they headed back home – Daryl had promised to fry some of the fish they'd caught for their dinner tonight. He'd never been much of a cook, but he was really good at frying fish and Beth had gotten excited when he'd suggested it. She was quiet on the way home, but had a small smile on her face – she was holding onto Daryl's hand across the seat and seemed content to look out of the passenger side window during the drive.
After they'd showered and changed they'd had a nice dinner, enjoying the fish and some homemade chips that Beth taught Daryl how to make in the oven. After working together to clean up the kitchen, Beth led Daryl to the couch in the living room, their now normal after-dinner spot.
"Wanna watch something? A movie?" Beth asked, almost seeming shy all of a sudden.
"It's getting late, baby girl… By the time we've watched a movie, it'll be after midnight. I gotta get up early for work…" Daryl said. He didn't want to tell her no, though. And he couldn't take the sad expression that was now spreading across Beth's face.
"Okay…" Beth said, pouting a little. "I might stay up and watch something, though…"
"How about I stay up a little bit too?" Daryl asked. He couldn't stand thinking that he'd traded in time with Beth for sleep, even if he'd regret it tomorrow.
"Yeah" Beth said nodding, a smile forming across her face. He could have sworn in that moment that she knew that he was just putty in her hands.
"Just a little bit though, okay?" Daryl said, trying to clarify. He knew he was lying to himself though. He wanted to be close to Beth and he would stay up all night with her if she wanted to. They didn't sleep in the same room, and he was okay with that, but because of that he knew he had to soak up all of these late night moments of being close to her.
Beth shook her head at him excitedly, and took what had become, over the last couple of nights, her usual place on the couch, sitting in between Daryl's legs with her back against his chest. She quickly chose a romantic comedy that she'd DVRed, but Daryl wasn't paying much attention – it seemed like the same generic story that he'd watched 200 times before, and his mind was occupied just thinking about Beth, wanting to soak up these moments with her.
Daryl's mind swirled around the weekend, and how things had changed so drastically with him and Beth. This was the third night they'd spent curled up together on the couch and he thought he could die happy if he did this every single night for the rest of his life. As he felt Beth mindlessly rubbing the outside of his elbow, he thought that Beth had some kind of strange hold on him and he desperately hoped that she'd never let go. He was in deep, now, he thought – and yet, their physical relationship was still at a very early stage. He was content with that, he told himself, content to not make the same mistakes he'd made before, the same mistakes that he'd almost made with Beth before. No, now, he thought, he'd do right by her and treat her the way she deserved.