Daryl wasn't sure how much time had passed, and how long he'd been kissing Beth in the pool. Her body had just kind of melted into him and after that, he forgot where they were and that there were many others around.
Their comments brought him and Beth out of their steamy make out session, reminding them that they were surrounded by others. Others who were now letting them know just how sweltering they thought their kissing was. All of a sudden they were surrounded by hoots, along with a few friends who had some commentary to add.
"Get a room!" one girl commented.
"Get her Daryl!" one of the guys that Daryl had just been talking to said.
"Damn girl!" Beth's friend Sasha said, having wondered over to the edge of the pool after hearing others hooting and hollering over something that she couldn't quite see before.
Beth looked embarrassed and although Daryl wasn't, he didn't want to compromise her feelings or make her uncomfortable with this situation. These were her friends, after all, and Daryl was all of a sudden afraid that Beth would respond the same way she had several weeks ago when things had gotten physical between them that fated Friday night. He could still hear those words in his mind.
'It was a mistake'.
Daryl couldn't say that those words didn't haunt him; he didn't think about them as much as he once did, but they still rattled through his brain from time to time, reminding him of Beth's uncertainty in moving too quickly into a physical relationship. That was why he'd held back for weeks now, allowing himself to hold her hands or cuddle with her, but not kissing her, and certainly not allowing things to go any further between them. If he was honest, he knew his hesitancy had everything to do with a fear of being rejected by Beth once again. He'd overcome it once, but he wasn't sure it would be possible a second time.
But was she doing that now? Daryl wasn't sure, and he couldn't truly gauge Beth's reaction. She was strangely silent, having put some distance between them and looking around at everyone, everyone but him. In some ways he understood Beth's reaction – he'd never been one for overt public displays of affection. He'd always felt uncomfortable around couples who were always all over each other. And he'd never been like that in a relationship before. But Beth made him feel differently. He wanted to be that way with her – wanted to wrap his arms around her, claim her, and let everyone around them know that she belonged to him. But they hadn't defined things between them, although her words to him in the pool had certainly gone a long way as far as he was concerned.
'Don't worry… the only guy I care about ogling me is you'.
He couldn't help but smile thinking about it now – she'd seemed so sure, so certain about what she wanted. Did she still feel that way, he wondered? Or had he scared her away yet again? Was she just nervous about what had happened, uncertain of what it meant for them?
He knew what he had to do in that moment – he needed to reassure Beth, needed to let her know that he wanted her, and that the kiss hadn't just been a spur-of-the-moment thing. If she didn't want the same things that he did, he guessed he could handle it – but what he couldn't handle was her not knowing how he felt.
"Hey… Uh… Do you know if there's somewhere around here we can go and talk? You know… where there are less people around?" Daryl asked Beth. She'd had her back to him but he'd gone up behind her, just like he'd gotten so used to doing, putting his arms protectively around her waist and whispering into her ear.
He held his breath – he didn't know what to expect. Would she pull away? Would she nervously go along with him? He realized then how nervous he was, an emotion that he rarely experienced, and certainly not to this degree. But he wanted this, wanted Beth, more than almost anything he could remember before.
Beth turned her head, a bit shyly, and only enough that she could see Daryl out of the corner of her eye. And she nodded, sweetly taking his hand, and leading them out of the pool, ignoring all of the people still surrounding them, some still watching them. She led him out of the pool area, quickly stopping only to pick up their towels, and into a sunroom porch on the side of the house. Luckily, everyone else was outside eating, swimming, and hanging out, so the room was empty. Beth seemed to hesitate once there, though, not knowing where to sit or even how to really act. Daryl knew he needed to take the lead.
"Come here" he told her, pulling her hand towards him as he sat down on a wicker loveseat. He led her straight towards him, and Beth came willingly, sitting down on his lap, circling her arms around his neck. Her face was hard to read, but Daryl hoped that her willingness to sit so closely with him was a good sign.
"You okay, baby girl?" he asked tentatively. His heart was about to beat out of his chest and all he wanted to do was pull Beth closer, tell her that he was crazy about her, that he never wanted to let her go.
Beth just nodded slowly. She was looking straight into Daryl's eyes, but he still couldn't read her, didn't know what she was thinking.
"Beth… baby… talk to me. What is it? Is something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Tell me." Daryl pleaded. He couldn't take this. He needed to know that Beth was okay, and that they were okay. Until he knew that for sure, he felt like he was holding his breath and praying to the good Lord above that everything was alright between them.
"I'm sorry about that… in the pool. I… I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry" he continued, growing increasingly nervous.
Daryl's words made the corners of Beth's mouth tip up a bit in a tiny smile – and he realized then that he'd kind of been rambling, talking much more quickly than normal.
"I'm fine, Daryl" she said finally. One of her hands moved to his face and she started to run her thumb over his eyebrows, smoothing them down, Daryl assumed, although he couldn't see to be sure.
"Beth… I… um… Are you sure? You just seemed so quiet. Are you sure you're okay?" Daryl asked. He wasn't sold on the idea that Beth was really okay – and he needed to know for sure, needed to know that he hadn't done something to upset her, something that could push her away.
Beth's smile had grown now, and she moved her face down towards Daryl's, capturing his lips. This kiss was different than the last – it was slow and sweet, but very powerful in its own right. Beth was the first to pull away, a smug look on her face.
"Daryl… Listen… You can kiss me whenever you want, okay? Don't apologize for it." she asked.
Daryl felt so relieved in that moment that he started laughing. He put his forehead against Beth's, allowing himself to breathe now, letting the anxiety he'd been carrying about Beth for weeks now start to melt away.
"I'm crazy about you, you know" Daryl said, looking up at Beth.
"The feeling is mutual" she responded sweetly. "If you couldn't already tell…"
"Thank God" Daryl muttered, almost inaudibly. And with that, it was Beth's turn to laugh.
"Tell me what you want, baby. Tell me… and I'll try my best… for you. I just want you to be happy. I want to make you happy." Daryl said. He was desperate now, desperate to know what Beth wanted from their relationship, and to know what he could do for her. After seeing her struggle so badly recently he wanted to do whatever he could to make her happy.
Beth was quiet for a minute. She was just looking at Daryl, fingers brushing across the scruff on his chin, and that small smile still registering on her lips. It seemed like an eternity to Daryl, though – he was so anxious, needing to know what how she would respond. How did she things between them?
"Daryl…" Beth said softly, finally speaking. "I want you. That's it. Surely you've figured that out by now."
Another moment of silence passed between them before Daryl spoke.
"So… you… uh… you want to be with me? You'll be with me?" Daryl asked.
"Yes" Beth responded. "If you'll have me…"
Daryl knew the smile on his face must have been the goofiest thing Beth had ever seen. But he didn't care – she'd just told him she wanted to be with him and that was the best thing he could imagine hearing. And he was content to just sit there with her, holding onto her and kissing her. They didn't need words after that, they both seemed content in the silence that followed, just using their hands and their lips to show each other how they felt, how happy they were to finally be like this, have this together.
Daryl and Beth headed home from the cookout earlier than they'd intended. After their conversation, neither was particularly interested in talking to anyone else, both caught up in the joy of just being together, kissing and cuddling. They finally agreed to go home and have a little time together before they went out to watch the fireworks.
Beth initially planned to meet a bunch of friends at Harbour Town to watch the fireworks and enjoy the other festivities. And Daryl had recently been invited along for all the excitement. She had always loved July 4th and when her family used to come to Hilton Head in the summers, they almost always coincided their trip with July 4th. Going to the celebration at Harbour Town had become a tradition in their family and even after Beth had moved to the island for school, at least one member of her family had always been there to go with her to the festivities. This was the first year that no one had mentioned coming. Initially that had made Beth feel a bit sad; but now she was glad, knowing that she could spend the time with Daryl, giving him her undivided attention and creating new memories together.
On the way home from the cookout, Beth decided to ask Daryl if he'd want to change their plans – she wasn't feeling up to the huge crowd that would converge for the event and she also didn't want to deal with her friends, who would inevitably be prying her for information about Daryl.
"I'm not so sure about going to Harbour Town tonight… What do you think?" she asked. She didn't know how Daryl would respond to this, especially since she'd seemed excited about going to this for weeks now.
"Whatever you wanna do, baby" Daryl responded. He was sweetly holding her hand across the seat of the truck.
"I just… I don't wanna deal with the crowd. Or all the prying eyes and the questions. You know what I mean." Beth said.
"I do. And really… whatever you want. I just know how much you love going down there for the fireworks and stuff. I don't want you to miss that." Daryl responded.
"I know… Thanks. I just… I just wanna be with you right now. Not around a whole lot of noise and people." Beth said, a little bit self-consciously. She was confident in her and Daryl's relationship now, but it was so new and she didn't want to drive him away by being too needy.
"You do, huh?" Daryl said, teasing her.
"Stop!" Beth said, only half serious, pulling her hand from Daryl's and swatting at him playfully. She couldn't help but love how he was teasing her – things with them were so easy, they always had been.
"Baby, really…." Daryl said, grabbing Beth's hand again and bringing it up to his mouth to kiss it, before letting it fall back to the seat again. "When I was a kid, we'd just drive out to a parking lot near where they were shooting off the fireworks… And we'd watch them from the bed of the truck. Avoided the crowds that way, and the traffic. So… it don't really matter to me. As long as you're happy."
Beth smiled at the man next to her. She couldn't believe how sweet he was, beneath that somewhat tough exterior. She couldn't help but think that she didn't deserve someone so wonderful in her life – but she wasn't going to let those insecurities interfere with things between her and Daryl. He was the best thing in her life, and she wasn't going to let him get away any time soon. She'd made that mistake once and it wouldn't happen again. She knew she was a bit of a mess sometimes, a bit overemotional and indecisive. And she'd never trusted guys in her life before, not totally anyway. But for some reason, Daryl had wiggled his way into that little place within her, showing her that she could trust him. And she knew how genuinely rare that was.
"Maybe we can do that…" Beth said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. They were pulling into her driveway and Daryl looked over at her, with a little confusion registering on her face, putting the truck into park. "You know, find a parking lot somewhere to watch the fireworks" Beth said, realizing that several minutes had passed since Daryl had suggested that and that he wasn't sure what her initial statement meant.
Daryl just nodded at her, smiling. He got out of the truck quickly and came around to her side, helping her out and gathering their belongings from the back of the truck. They moved into the house, and Daryl deposited their bags on the kitchen counter, leaving them to be dealt with later.
"What do you want to do in the mean time?" Daryl asked Beth. She thought she heard a suggestive nature to his voice as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her, his mouth and nose nuzzling against her ear gently. He starting kissing her ear and before Beth realized it, his hands had moved to her backside, pulling up the skirt that she'd been wearing and cupping a butt cheek in each of his hands and squeezing gently. All of a sudden, Beth felt a little overheated and she couldn't breathe. She pulled away from Daryl, not completely, but enough to breakup what was happening.
"I want… uh… I need to take a shower" Beth said, flustered. And she didn't wait for Daryl's response. She spun around, meaning to move out of the kitchen and up to her room. But she paused for a moment, although she was unsure why.
And Daryl didn't seem to lose a beat, coming up behind her, engulfing her with his arms again, kissing her neck and shoulders with big, wet open-mouthed kisses.
"Let me help you, then…" Daryl said into her ear and she felt his hands move to the back of her bathing suit top, pulling one of the strings at her neck, then running the back of his hand gently down her back to the remaining strings, pulling one of them, freeing Beth of her top.
Beth gasped as she felt her still-damp top freed from her body, falling onto the kitchen floor. And then Daryl's hands ghosted around her sides, then moving across her stomach and slowly, almost painfully, landing on her exposed breasts. The sensation sent shocks throughout her body, making her arch her back a little, pushing her breasts farther into Daryl's hands, her head falling back a bit and landing near Daryl's shoulder. She no longer wanted to get away – and she couldn't have even if she'd tried. All she wanted now was to enjoy Daryl's hands on her body, finally feeling him touching her where she'd only been able to imagine so many times before.
"Is that alright, baby?" Daryl asked her into her ear. His voice was a bit tentative now, which surprised Beth given the seeming certainty of his actions. She realized why, though – after what had happened between them weeks before, he wanted to be overly cautiously, making sure that he wasn't getting ahead of Beth like he had before.
Beth wasn't able to speak, so she simply hummed out her agreement. Daryl's kisses on her ear and throat would have probably been enough to drive her crazy, but the feeling of his hands on her, one of his hands tenderly rubbing each of her breasts, was almost too much to take. She couldn't help the soft moans that started to escape her lips. Or the wetness that she could tell was pooling in her bathing suit bottoms. She wondered if Daryl knew how much he was affecting her, just how wet he was making her. She'd never felt like this before simply from someone rubbing her breasts and she wondered how in the world Daryl knew her so well, knew exactly what to do to turn her on.
"You're so beautiful, baby" Daryl said, again, speaking into her ear. His voice was so sexy, and feeling his breath into her ear drove Beth even further towards the edge. She wondered in that moment if it was possible to fall over the edge just from doing this – she thought she was getting dangerously close, which surprised her.
"God, Daryl…. Oh…." Beth heard slip from her lips in between her increasingly frequent moans.
"Does that feel good? You like me touching you, baby girl?" Daryl asked her, continuing his assault on her breasts.
"Yes… So good…" was all Beth could manage to breathe out. She was so wound up now.
"Has anyone ever made you orgasm just from touching your breasts, baby?" Daryl asked her, almost whispering.
Beth could only shake her head to respond – she hadn't even really known that was possible. But right now, she could feel herself dangerously close to that edge.
"Do you want me to?" Daryl responded.
And those words were all Beth needed. She felt the pressure between her legs escalating quickly, making her clamp her thighs together, desperate for some type of friction or contact. Then waves of pleasure crashed over her again and again as Daryl's hands pushed her over the edge into her climax.
"Oh! God! Ohhhhhhh!" Beth called out, her voice throaty and full of pleasure. She was glad that Daryl was holding onto her then, afraid that her equilibrium was off and that she might stumble.
Daryl helped her ride out those waves of pleasure, and then snuggled into her from behind, with his arms circling her waist and holding onto her tightly. He hummed into her ear, signaling his enjoyment of what had just happened. And she hummed back, a tiny giggle of pleasure escaping her throat.
All of a sudden the moment was interrupted with the front door flying open and then a very familiar voice.
"Beth! I made it home for the fireworks! Whose truck…?" her uncle called out loudly, before stopping his question abruptly. And Beth had no question about why he'd stopped speaking.