Ch.17

Maggie dragged Beth to the room farthest down the hall, Beth trying to break free of her grasp the whole way there. Maggie didn't let go until they were in the room and she had shut the door behind them. She positioned herself between Beth and the door, affectively trapping Beth in the room with no way of leaving.

"You want to tell me what the hell that was in there?"

Beth just stood there, her eyes trained on the floor.

"Beth, I'm talking to you."

Beth didn't move. Maggie wasn't even sure if Beth had even registered anything she was saying. She looked blank. Any emotion she had had a few moments ago was now gone, replaced by someone who appeared completely empty.

"Beth," Maggie took a step forward. "Beth, do you hear me?"

"Of course I hear you; I'm not deaf!" Beth raised her voice, her eyes finally looking up from the floor.

"What is going on with you?" She was yelling now. "You haven't been acting like yourself since you got here."

Silence. Beth made a move towards the door, but Maggie backed up until her back was touching it.

"Beth, we're not leaving until you talk."

"There's nothing to talk about." Beth looked Maggie straight in the eye. "Just let me out."

She tried to reach around Maggie to the door handle, but Maggie grabbed her hand.

"Let me go!" Beth yelled, pulling her arm away.

"Is this about daddy? Beth, I know what you're going through. I know it's hard, you need to talk about it."

"You have absolutely no idea what I'm going through." Her voice was detached, like it didn't belong to her.

"Well then tell me."

"There's nothing to tell."

"I don't believe that. You can't keep everything bottled up inside, Beth, it's going to eat you."

"Well then that's my problem, not yours."

Maggie stood there speechless, looking Beth directly in the eyes. She was unable to move. Beth took this opportunity to push Maggie out of the way and walk out of the room.

Daryl sat there, the screams wafting in from down the hall. They were fighting. Well, at least Maggie was. If Beth was saying anything she wasn't yelling, which led Daryl to assume that she hadn't said a word.

Glenn was sitting across from him, his fingers fidgeting with themselves. Daryl could tell he was trying to decide what to do. He knew that he wanted to go in the room with Maggie, to try to calm her down, but Daryl also knew that Glenn was smart enough not to interfere with Maggie when she was angry, it would be a losing battle.

"Have you ever made a promise?"

Glenn looked up at him. "What?"

"Have you ever made a promise? And I don't mean some stupid pointless little promise, I mean a promise that would change everything?"

"Yeah, sure. Why?"

Daryl could tell that Glenn was distracted by the argument taking place down the hall, but he could also tell that he was interested in where this conversation was going. Daryl Dixon was not the kind of guy to have deep conversations.

"No reason, just wondering." He paused, trying to figure out if he should even ask his next question, already knowing what the answer would be. "Have you ever broken a promise?"

"No, never. When I make a promise I keep it."

Before Daryl even had time to process what Glenn had said, he heard a door open and heavy footsteps coming down the hall. Beth rushed past them and up the stairs. Maggie finally returned to the kitchen a few minutes after.

"Is everything ok?" Glenn asked.

"No. I don't know what's going on with her. It's like that person isn't even Beth. I don't know what to do with her anymore."

"Maybe she just needs a little space. Maybe she just needs to figure things out on her own."

Maggie gave him a small smile that wasn't very reassuring. Then she turned her attention to Daryl.

"Has she told you anything? Do you know why she's been acting like this?"

Here was his chance. It was the perfect opportunity to get everything off of his chest. The perfect opportunity to do what he knew he should, what he knew he had to.

"No, she ain't told me nothin'."

Daryl could have punched himself in the face. He knew that he should have told the truth, but he couldn't bring himself to. He couldn't bring himself to break the promise he had made her, even if it meant it would prevent her from healing.

"I just figured since you two have been spending a lot of time together, maybe she told you something."

"Nah, she don't talk much."

"Do you think you could stop staying in her room at night? I know she has nightmares, but I think I can handle it."

"Yeah, fine, whatever."

"Thanks."

That's how Daryl ended up sitting on the couch after everyone had already gone to bed. Beth hadn't come out of her room since earlier that day. He was waiting; he knew it was going to start any minute now. He knew her sleep would be plagued with the nightmares that, for reasons he couldn't understand, only he could fight off. And he knew that he would have to stand by and listen this time; that he wouldn't be able to help.

As if on cue, her screams echoed from upstairs. He heard the rustling of feet as Maggie got up and went to Beth's room. He wondered what she was going to do. Waking her up was the easy part, anyone could do it, but calming her down was the challenge, reassuring her that the monsters in her dreams couldn't get her was near impossible. And that task was going to be even harder for Maggie since she had absolutely no idea what those monsters were.

Daryl began pacing the room. He could hear Beth's shaky sobs wafting down from upstairs. He could hear the muffled words Maggie said as she tried to calm her sister down. Nothing was working. After what seemed like hours, but was only minutes, Daryl rushed upstairs to Beth's room.

Maggie was holding Beth tightly, Beth's body trembling with every sob. Soothing words were being whispered to her, but Beth wasn't hearing them. Daryl walked up to the two, and Maggie looked to him before moving away, allowing Daryl to take her place. Daryl wrapped his arms around Beth, pulling her close. Her body tensed at his touch, but when she realized who it was, she instantly relaxed.

"It's ok. I'm here now."

"Don't ever leave me again. Please."

She was pleading with him. She was scared. She was scared that he had left her, that he had forgotten about her.

"I'm not ever going to leave you, Beth. I'm here. I promise."

Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter is a little late. I've been a very busy person! I plan to update "A Fighting Chance" either tomorrow or Friday.

Anyways, Daryl is once again struggling with the promise he made to Beth. He knows that he should tell Maggie, in fact he almost does, but he just can't bring himself to do it, even if he knows not telling anyone is only hurting Beth.

Beth is acting out. She isn't acting herself, and it's really concerning Maggie. Maggie's trying to get Beth to open up to her, she's trying to get her talk, but nothing she does works. Beth is very much isolating herself from everyone; she's pushing everyone away…everyone but Daryl, that is.

And who else thought that Sunday's episode was amazing? I know I loved it!