Original Prompt: "Beth gets a silly little cold that only lasts like a couple days, but Daryl goes into some full on caregiver mode anyway."
If asked who was the nurturing one of the two of them, by all rights most people would have likely said Beth. She after all was the one who worked at a daycare, the one who always stopped to pet puppies and dogs she saw on the street, the one who helped lost kids get back to their parents and spent some of her free time carefully growing plants in the little pots in the window of their apartment.
People looked at Daryl and saw a rough, silent sort of guy; a guy who drove a rumbling old truck and worked on cars for a living, a guy who went hunting for fun and was more likely to grunt at you than actually form words in response to a question. They didn't see a caring man, they saw a tough man, one who looked like he'd sooner glare at you than extend a helping hand, let alone be at all sweet.
But they'd just never seem him the way Beth had. They saw her dropping down to scoop affectionately cuddle dogs on the street, but didn't see the way he always took a picture of it on his phone to save, or the way he leaned down after to gently pat the dog's back. They heard her talk about all the plants that lined the tiny windowsill in their apartment but didn't know that he was the one who had set them all up to begin with, let alone that he watered them every morning and even sometimes could be caught talking to them since that time Beth had told him that it would make them grow better.
They saw Beth, bright and bubbly and eager to chat with any little kid that came up with her and didn't notice that Daryl, despite his gruffness and reservations, would never turn a kid away if they were in trouble. They were so sure of their judgements of him that their eyes skipped right past, so that they didn't see him listen patiently to a kid telling him some long, winding story, and didn't see when he did things like take a little kid's hand and help her find her lost teddy bear one day when he'd come to pick Beth up from work early.
And of course they didn't see him in moments like this, when she was home sick with what she kept telling him was just a cold even as he continued to insist on taking care of her. Only she got to see him like this, and maybe that made it more special. Only she got to experience him tucking her under the covers and kissing her forehead. Only she got to eat the toast he'd made for her in the morning and nibble the crackers he'd brought to her without even being asked mid-day, and sip at the chicken noodle soup he'd made from a can that evening after a trip to the store.
The same trip during which he'd gotten far too many cold supplies; tissues, cough syrup (just in case), nasal spray, cold medicine, and chapstick, not to mention a stack of her favorite magazines and a pretty little candle to set on the table beside her bed. He even dragged out the heating pad from the very top of their narrow bedroom closet and set that up to help with her aches, brought in her phone and speakers to set up some of her favorite music, and kept offering to readjust her blankets or bring her the spare pillow.
She kept telling him he would just get sick staying so close to her, but he didn't seem to care. "Cold ain't nothing," he'd murmured as he stretched beside her on the bed that took up most of their room and shifted his arm under her until she curled against his chest. "Not t' me. Not when it comes to helpin' you feel better."
So that was how she ended up napping stretched out on top of him, and how she ended up being brought gently awake by the kisses he pressed across her cheeks and lips. Kisses they couldn't seem to stop sharing, despite her being sick. Kisses that continued as he lifted her into his arms and carried her into their tiny bathroom, where despite the impossibly small space he helped her undress and then climbed naked right into the shower with her.
Of course, no one got to see moments like this, because they were all hers. Taking a long hot shower with Daryl gently keeping her upright, his hands gliding lovingly and affectionately over her body as he pressed kisses to her lips… that was all hers. Just like the secret sweet, nurturing man he was beneath the gruffness was all hers, too. No one else got to see him like that.
(Just like no one else got to see the way he was a couple days later when he got a cold, too, all sniffling and helpless, loving every moment of being coddled by Beth, who was more than happy to return the favor for the man she loved.)