Ch.22

Daryl was so lost in his thoughts that he barely even noticed the door slam shut and the flash of blonde that whirled past him. It took him a minute before he came to his senses and realized that the flash of blonde was Beth. Something was wrong; he could tell by the way she was walking.

He knew that he should go after her, that he should drag her back to the house, but he couldn't bring himself to move. Instead he stood there and watched her storm off, walking further and further away. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Maggie rush past him and run to Beth.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. He didn't really pay attention to anyone or anything. He was blocking everything out…everything but her. He wanted to talk to her, but anytime he got near her she would walk away. He was beginning to get frustrated, but if she needed her space, then he would let her have it.

He didn't realize it was night until Maggie came out and talked to him.

Maggie was shocked when Beth entered the kitchen. She had been expecting her to stay in her room the rest of the day. She tried not to make a big deal of it, but she couldn't stop watching her; it was like her eyes were glued on her, and so were everyone else's.

She noticed the way Beth tried to avert her gaze, looking to the floor. She saw Beth's eyes widen with panic. She knew that this was too much for her. Eventually she had run, and Maggie ended up following her a few moments later. It didn't seem like Beth was running in any direction; she was just running, trying to get away from the house and everyone in it.

"Beth! Beth wait up," Maggie yelled, walking faster to catch up to her.

Beth didn't say anything, she just continued walking faster.

"Beth, stop!"

When Beth didn't listen, Maggie rushed to catch up to her and lightly grasped her arm. Beth immediately sprung around. Fear filled her eyes, and she coward in on herself. Maggie felt horrible.

"Beth, I'm sorry," she said quietly, letting go of her arm.

Beth slowly started backing away from her, creating enough distance between them that Maggie couldn't reach out and touch her.

"Why don't we go back inside? We can get you something to eat," Maggie said softly.

Beth just stared at her.

"Come on. You must be hungry."

Maggie wanted to reach out and grab her hand, but she resisted the urge and waited until Beth started to walk back to the house. She was thankful that most everyone had the left the kitchen, and that the few who remained kept themselves busy doing other things.

Beth sat down at the table, and Maggie went and got her something to eat. When she placed the plate of food in front of her, Beth just stared at it. Maggie sat across from her and watched her closely, studying her.

She looked emotionless, like every ounce of life in her had been sucked out. The dark circles under her eyes only seemed to be getting darker. It occurred to Maggie that the bruise she had seen on her the first day she had come back wasn't from the prison, it was from her attack. Maggie's stomach churned at the thought.

After sitting there for over an hour, neither of them saying anything or even moving, Maggie stood up.

"Beth, you need to eat."

Beth continued staring at the plate.

Maggie sighed. "Are you tired? Maybe you should get some sleep."

Beth continued staring. Maggie walked over and picked up the plate, placing it on the counter. When she turned back around, Beth was standing and started walking out of the room. Maggie let her go.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask her, and so much she wanted to know, but Maggie knew that asking her would be the wrong thing to do. So she decided to get her answers from someone else. Daryl Dixon.

He was sitting on the porch. She could have sworn that he had been out there earlier when Beth had run out. Maybe he hadn't moved at all. She sat down next to him, and he looked at her. She could tell that he wasn't happy to have her company, but he didn't say anything.

"Hey."

Daryl grunted in response, not using any actual words.

There was a long stretch of awkward silence before either of them spoke.

"Look, Maggie, I'm so-"

"Don't," Maggie cut him off. "Don't tell me you're sorry. I don't blame you for what happened to her. There was nothing you could have done. You did your best, you got her out of there."

Daryl stared at her, not moving.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Keeping her safe after it happened. Bringing her back to me."

Daryl looked away, busying himself by picking at dirt from underneath his fingernails.

"I'm glad you told me."

"I should have told ya sooner."

"No. You did what you thought was right."

Daryl nodded his head.

"Can I ask you something?"

He grunted his consent.

"How many were there? How many men were in that group?"

"10 or so."

Maggie felt a shiver run the length of her spine. "Did they all…"

"No, I think it was just the leader of the group. But they were going to," he said gruffly.

"Those bruises on her, those aren't from the prison, are they?"

Daryl looked her in the eyes before shaking his head no. "No," he said quietly, barely above a whisper.

"And the nightmares?"

"Not about your daddy."

Maggie sighed. "I should have realized what was going on with her. I knew something was wrong…I just assumed she was still dealing with everything from the prison."

Daryl unexpectedly reached over and grabbed Maggie's hand lightly. "She didn't want no one to know. And she was bound and determined to keep it that way."

They sat there for a few quiet minutes before Maggie stood up. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she said as she walked back into the house.

Author's Note: First of all, I want to apologize in the delay in updating. The end of the semester equates to a very hectic and very busy few weeks. I wanted to update sooner, but I didn't get much time to sit down and write. I also want to apologize for this chapter. I'm not very happy with it. I'm not going to lie, I had a bit of writer's block, so this chapter didn't turn out as I had hoped.

I'm at a bit of a crossroads for the next chapter. I know what I want to happen, but I need your opinion. A certain character is going to be featured heavily in the next chapter, a character who has had very little importance thus far. The chapter is still going to be very much Daryl/Beth centered, but this certain character is going to play an important role. So, my question to you is: Would you like the chapter to be told from this certain character's POV or from Daryl/Beth's POV? Or, would you like to have it be a mix of all of their POV's? The chapter will still have the content regardless of the POV, but the effect of the chapter may be a little different depending on what POV it is told through.

Also, I wanted to tell you that I've had this really great idea for this story. I want to you all so bad what it is, because I absolutely love it, but that would be spoiling it! You will just have to wait a few more chapters to see what it is!

Thank you for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows! You all mean the world to me! And a special thanks to DarylDixon'sLover and kclaura2003, who are constantly leaving reviews!