Ch.23

She had stayed in her room for three days. She hadn't come down stairs again since she had left the kitchen. Everyone was worried about her, especially since she was refusing to eat or drink anything. Maggie had been trying and trying, and when her attempts failed, she'd sent in Carol.

Carol had walked out of the room defeated. She had been sitting with Beth for hours, trying to make small talk. At this point, even getting her to turn and look at someone would have been a success. Carol had brought a plate of food and a glass of water with her, but they remained untouched. Sasha was the next to be sent in, but she had walked out of the room with the same look of defeat that Carol had walked out with.

She was getting tired of watching this. She had been sitting on the couch in the living room watching as each woman walked down the stairs. She knew that she was going to be the next to be sent in, and she was honestly surprised that Maggie had even asked her. Michonne and Beth had never been close; in fact they had only ever said a few words to each other, every once in a while casting a smile in each other's direction if they walked by.

Michonne walked up the stairs to Beth's room. She had news for the girl, she wasn't going to be easy and pity her. She wasn't going to be mean or deny the fact that what had happened to her was horrible, either. But Beth couldn't lock herself in her room for the rest of her life.

When she opened the door she glanced at Beth. Her back was facing her, and the covers were up to her chest, her hands resting under her head. She was pale, and didn't even acknowledge that someone had entered the room. It was clear that she had lost weight since coming to the farm.

Michonne took a seat in the chair that was pulled up beside Beth's bed. She stared at her for a few minutes, waiting for Beth to say something. When that didn't happen she spoke.

"Beth, are you hungry?"

Her question was met with silence.

"You have to eat."

More silence.

"I know I'm probably not the one you want in here right now, but you're stuck with me. The sooner you eat, the sooner I'll leave."

Beth still didn't answer, and Michonne was getting frustrated. She sat in the chair, occasionally glancing at Beth, waiting for any sign of movement, but it never came. She remained motionless.

Michonne stood up with a sigh. "Come on, you're getting up," she said as she threw the blankets off of Beth.

Beth still didn't move; she acted as if nothing had happened.

"You're getting out of this room. You can't stay here forever."

Michonne walked over and grabbed the boots that were sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed. She walked over to Beth and grabbed one of her feet, ignoring the way Beth tensed at her touch. She put the boot on, looking up at Beth, whose eyes were trained on the wall, her face emotionless. After she had both boots on, she threw her legs over the side of the bed, and Beth finally looked at her. Even though her eyes showed no sign of what she was thinking, Michonne guessed that she was angry and fearful.

Beth continued to stare at Michonne until Michonne lightly grasped her arm and pulled her into a sitting position. Beth gasped and yanked her arm away, and the first sign of emotion played on her face. Michonne wasn't happy that it was fear, but it was better than nothing.

"We're going on a walk. Just the two of us."

Beth looked at her through her lashes, briefly making eye contact before averting her gaze to the floor.

"Come on, get up."

Beth remained sitting on the bed.

"You're going to make this difficult," Michonne said as she moved closer to Beth, and Beth backed away. Michonne stopped, not wanting to frighten her more than she already was. "It's just a little walk, get you out of this room and out of this house. It will do you good."

Beth stayed sitting on the bed for a few long moments before she finally stood, causing a small smile to form on Michonne's face. They began walking down the stairs, and Michonne held her hand up and shook her head "no" when she saw Maggie start walking towards the two of them.

They walked out the door and down the porch steps, and started walking down the driveway. Michonne turned to see Beth with her head down, her arms crossed over her chest. They walked for a few more minutes before Michonne reached into her pocket and pulled something out.

"Here, eat," she said as she reached her hand out to give Beth the candy bar in her hand.

Beth looked at the candy bar and then at Michonne. She hesitated before she gingerly reached her hand out and took the candy.

"I found it out on a run the other day. I knew Twix were your favorite, so I grabbed it for you."

Beth stood there holding the candy bar, making no attempt at eating it. Michonne sighed softly before grabbing the candy bar from Beth's hand. She opened it and handed it back.

"Eat," she said again.

Beth glanced at her before taking a small bite. Michonne turned around with a smile on her face and started walking again. Sure, candy probably wasn't the best thing for her, but any food in Beth's body after three days of not eating was considered a success.

They continued walking in silence. Beth followed at a safe distance behind Michonne, and Michonne made sure to glance back every few minutes to make sure Beth was still there. She had eaten the whole candy bar and Michonne had handed her a bottle of water to wash it down, which Beth had eagerly taken a few big sips of.

Michonne suddenly stopped walking and turned to face Beth. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Beth shook her head no, looking at the ground.

"Ok," Michonne said as she turned around and started walking again. She wasn't going to make her talk about it if she didn't want to, but she wanted to let Beth know that if she did want to talk, she would listen.

They walked a few more minutes in complete silence. "Snickers were always my favorite," Michonne said, turning to face Beth.

Beth looked at her.

"Whenever I'd go to see a movie I'd sneak a few of them in with me."

When Beth didn't respond, she decided to bring up a different topic, one she'd been wanting to talk about.

"Daryl did the right thing. I know you don't think so, but he did."

Beth quickly looked away, her eyes going to the ground. "He promised me," she said, her voice weak and shaky.

These were the first words Michonne had heard her say since the truth came out, and her heart broke. She understood that Beth felt betrayed, but she also understood that Daryl had done what needed to be done. If it had been her, she would have told the rest of the group, too, and Beth needed to realize that Daryl had done the only thing he could do.

"Beth, he had no other choice. The truth would have come out eventually."

"But he promised that he wouldn't tell," Beth whispered.

"You're hurting, I get that, and you feel betrayed, but you know he did the right thing."

Beth looked at her, and Michonne was surprised that Beth had managed not to shed a tear. She knew that what she was saying was sinking in, and she could see that Beth was finally accepting that Daryl was right.

"You should talk to him. You can't avoid him forever. He needs you just as much as you need him."

Daryl had just gotten back from a hunting trip. He had gone to take his mind off of things. He had run away from everything, and he realized that. But he needed a little time alone to clear his head and think.

The trip hadn't been very successful. He only had one rabbit and two squirrels. He really hadn't done a lot of hunting; it was more like he had been walking around paying little attention to his surroundings.

He had expected to come back and have someone question where he had been, considering he had left without any explanation. What he hadn't expected was to come back to see Beth sitting on the porch steps. As soon as he realized it was her his chest tightened. At first he thought that she hadn't noticed him, but as he got closer he realized that she was staring directly at him. He slowly sat next to her, and her eyes remained on him as he did so.

Daryl suddenly felt nervous. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to say. His mind was searching for the right words, but he couldn't find them. He looked at her and decided to not think, and rather just say whatever came out.

"Beth, I'm sorry that I told them, but I didn't have any other choice. You were falling apart. You were getting worse and worse each day. There wasn't anything else I could do for you."

"You promised, Daryl. You promised me that you wouldn't tell," she said, her voice eerily detached.

"I know I promised you. But I would break that promise again and again."

Beth looked at Daryl with a look on her face that Daryl had never seen. She was angry, he could tell that much, but it was something more. Hurt, anger, sadness, defeat were all swirling around in her eyes. And then he watched as she pulled her hand back. He knew what was coming. She swung her hand and hit him right in the face with all of her strength. He didn't flinch. If this is what she needed, then he would allow it.

"I trusted you," Beth whispered.

"I know you did."

Beth's eyes were brimming with tears. "I was so stupid to trust you."

That hurt. It hurt worse than the smack to his face, which he knew was going to leave a mark.

"I had to," was all he could say.

"I know you did."

Author's Note: Alright, so I wasn't planning on updating again this soon, but I was in the mood to write, so I neglected my duties as a student and wrote this chapter instead.

As you can see, that third character was Michonne. After re-watching a few episodes of Season 4, I was very intrigued by Beth and Michonne's relationship. We really haven't seen them interact all that much, other than when Beth wrapped Michonne's ankle. And after seeing how Michonne is with Carl, I wondered why Michonne couldn't be that nurturing towards Beth. So, I decided to have this chapter feature Michonne and Beth.

Michonne was a little rough with Beth in the beginning...she wasn't playing any games. But, she helped Beth admit to herself that she can't blame Daryl for what he did. And by the end of the chapter, we finally have Beth tell Daryl that she knows he had to.

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