Beth wasn't sure the kind of reaction she'd get from Daryl when she told him she was pregnant. She only hoped he didn't pull the "Are you sure it's mine?" line she'd seen so often in movies. She may have just curled up and died on the spot if he were to have said something like that.
His actual reaction wasn't much better.
"Shit," he growled out as he stood up, shouldered his crossbow, and stomped out of the tent and into the woods.
Beth sighed heavily. She supposed it could have been worse, but not by much. She ducked into his tent to sit and wait for his return. A part of her wanted to cry, but her body was all cried out from everything that had happened since she finally made her way home.
Her joyous reunion with her family was short-lived when she learned both her mother and brother were gone. Apparently, they had been in town running errands, visiting someone from Mama's prayer group that had just had surgery, when the outbreak struck their little community. Mama had been bit while Sean was scratched trying to pull the walker off her. Rather than staying at the hospital, which had been swarming with panicked patients and staff alike, they fought their way home, trusting in Hershel's medical expertise to heal them.
The look on her father's face told her exactly how that had gone and how hard he was taking the loss.
Her family, along with Otis, Patricia and Jimmy, all of whom had joined the household rather than stay at their houses, carried on with necessary chores while Beth mourned. The Greene farm was much larger than most others in the area, and helped provide more security by the surrounding forest. Otis and Patricia helped run their farm as well as being long time family friends, so much so that they were practically family themselves. Meanwhile, Jimmy, Beth's boyfriend (though she supposed that wasn't exactly accurate anymore) lived in town. He had lost both parents and his sister at the start and had no other place to go; Hershel took him in without question, even though Beth had still been missing.
The list of people forever gone from her life seemed to be growing by the minute.
There were seemingly endless days of mourning all she had lost, each beginning with her waking up missing the feel of Daryl's strong arms around her. Not that he would really be a source of comfort or understanding for her, but she felt vulnerable without him there with her. It was ridiculous, really. She was home. She was as safe as anyone could be, considering no one was really and truly safe anymore. Besides, it wasn't like he had treated her all that well to begin with. He had taken something from her she could never get back, had gotten angry at her for trying to defend him from Shane and Rick.
But he had also given her pleasure she'd never known existed. He'd kept her fed, kept her safe, even shielded her from danger with his own body.
Oh…his body. Any time her mind wandered, it ended up recalling how he felt next to her, how his voice would rumble in his chest and send a chill running through her. How his strong arms felt around her as she felt him inside her. How his eyes seemed to peer right into her soul.
It was thoughts of Daryl that pulled her out of bed after days of soaking her pillow with tears. It wasn't so much a want to see him again, but she could almost hear him barking at her, "Come on, girl, get yer ass up. Shit's gotta get done." It was certainly motivation strong enough to ready herself to see her home knowing she'd never again see her mother or brother again.
The first day was the hardest. She wanted to just do what she needed to get done, to get back into the swing of things. She wanted to be at least a little independent, not wanting to check in with someone at every turn.
If only someone had passed that little memo on to Jimmy. Whether Beth was helping to clean up after a meal or work in the garden, Jimmy had to be right there at her side, getting in her way far more than he was being helpful. She finally asked if he needed her for something.
"I'm just glad you're back. It almost doesn't feel real. Your coming back? It's like…like we were meant to be together."
Beth's heart broke at that. She didn't feel anything for Jimmy any more, not really. Not the way he clearly felt about her. "Jimmy," she began with a sigh, unsure of what to do next. If she was looking for normalcy, she didn't need to look any further. Jimmy was safe, he was dependable. She'd been friends with him for years, and her family loved him.
But she didn't love him, not the way he deserved to be loved. Even before all of this happened, she hadn't been in love with him. It was one thing to stay with him and see where things went when life was somewhat normal. Now, though? No one had the luxury of having time to just wait and see. All feelings aside, would he be able to protect her in this new world? Provide for her if the farm ever fell?
"Jimmy," she tried again, taking her work gloves off and wiping her brow with the back of her wrist, squinting at him in the Georgia heat. "I'm glad I'm back, too," she lost her nerve.
He wrapped his arms around her, a hug she did not reciprocate, and kissed her cheek. "I gotta get back to helpin' yer pa, but maybe we can catch up later?" he asked hopefully.
Beth bit her lip and nodded, then watched him saunter off toward the far corner of the property. She decided to ignore the fact that her heart didn't exactly leap for joy when he'd hugged her. It hadn't even wiggled.
Her days quickly settled into a routine, carrying out her chores as she had before her life had been turned upside down, only now she did them with a knife hiding in her boot, the knife Daryl had given her to protect herself, just in case. She heard from bits of conversation that Daryl had taken it upon himself to find Carol's daughter, Sophia, and Beth couldn't help but admire him for that.
That is, until she realized he'd taken her horse without even mentioning it to her or her father. Beth recalled Merle wanting to rob the camp by the quarry and found she wasn't all that surprised that Daryl would take Nellie without asking. She was still pissed, but she wasn't surprised.
What had surprised her was seeing Nellie trotting through the barnyard, still wearing a saddle but no Daryl on her back.
Hours later, when the sun was sinking toward the horizon, a shot rang out from the edge of the property, alerting everyone and setting them on edge. Moments later, while Beth was helping to get dinner prepared, there was a great commotion in the front room, silenced by her father calling out for quiet and his medic kit. Beth rushed in to help, as she often had when neighbors brought in a wounded animal and sought his help. What she found spread out on the bed nearly stopped her heart.
Daryl was lying on his side, blood trickling across his forehead, his flannel tied around his side collecting blood from his front and back. Under all the commotion, she could hear his soft moans of pain.
Beth stayed back while Hershel corralled everyone except Patricia out to the porch. Once he returned, he resumed his usual calm demeanor. "Bethy, it looks like his head wound is superficial. His side is gonna need some work. Patricia, let's get him some morphine. Once we know he's gonna stay unconscious, we'll work on stitching these wounds while Bethy cleans and bandages his temple."
Beth stood on the opposite side of the bed from the other two as everyone worked. Even with the Georgia heat surrounding them, she could feel his gentle breath ghosting over her skin. She felt her nipples tighten as she leaned over him, his mouth so very close to her. When her fingers brushed a particularly tender spot, the tiniest whimper and moan would escape his lips, causing her heart to break just a little…and a rash of goosebumps to cover her arms, not to mention the sudden tightening in her lower belly. She could only be glad Hershel and Patricia were working so intently so as not to notice her reaction.
Once she had him bandaged up, she looked over the rest of him. He was covered in mud, filth and blood. Beth went to get more towels to try to clean him up, seeing that they were still fixing his side and he would be out for a while yet.
Her heart stopped a second time when she returned. Beth had gotten the first glimpse of Daryl's back and knew in an instant why he was always to careful to keep covered. Scars of all matter of size, age and severity littered his skin; some of them had to have been from his childhood. Several pieces of the puzzle that was Daryl's past fell into place and Beth began to understand a little bit of why he was the way he was. She also knew she could never let on that she had seen them, not if she ever wanted to talk to him after that. It wasn't even a matter of pride or ego, but if he'd kept it such a secret from her for this long, her having seen them would be like a betrayal of trust for him. No, it was best to stay quiet unless he brought it up (if they ever actually spoke again), and even then she knew she'd have to play dumb.
She took a deep breath and began cleaning him off, making sure to stay clear of the others' area, as well as keeping a neutral face. In the back of her mind, she wondered if he'd ever been shown any kind of care or kindness. The marks on his skin certainly suggested otherwise. She had finished with the area around his head wound, but couldn't bring herself to leave his side, dabbing at his sweaty forehead, cleaning off his face, and wiping his neck and down to his collar bones. She drank in his body with her eyes, realizing that even though she'd seen him up close and personal before, she'd never seen him with his guard completely down.
She may not have known all the details, but guessing what this man had been through all his life, then seeing him put himself in harm's way trying to find that little girl – basically a stranger – even knowing the odds of her being alive were slim to none by now, Beth knew, deep…deep down, Daryl was a good person. In the moments that had just passed, in the midst of this revelation, her heart began to heal, to forgive him, little by little, for the ways he'd hurt her in the past few weeks. Seeing him like this explained why he'd done what he'd done, but it certainly didn't excuse him.
Hershel tied his last stitch and backed away so Patricia could apply the bandage. For a brief moment, Beth was tempted to continue Daryl's sponge bath, but thought better of it. If he were to wake up in the middle… Besides, how would she explain to her father why she couldn't seem to keep her hands off him, and why there would be a sense of familiarity about the whole thing? No. She would leave clean washcloths and towels for him and he could clean himself if he wanted to when he woke up.
Her thoughts returned to the scars on his back. She pitied him – not Daryl the man, but Daryl the little boy who apparently had no one to protect him from whoever did this to him. Beth let her mind wander as she went about her day. What kind of little boy was Daryl? What was his family like? What bothered her most was knowing she'd never really be able to ask him about it. Even if she did summon the courage to talk to him, even if they did have the kind of privacy the conversation would demand, he'd never open up to her like that. For now, her heart went out to him, and she found herself closer and closer to forgiving him for how he'd treated her these past weeks.
Hours later, at dinner time, she brought Daryl a tray of food, only to find him still asleep, resting peacefully on the pillows with the sheet pulled up almost to his shoulders. She set the tray down carefully on the night stand beside him and grinned as she picked up the now-dirty linens. So he's not a complete animal. Beth went to step back, but looking down at him again, seeing him get some decent sleep without having to be on guard, emotionally or physically, her heart thudded heavily in her chest again. This poor man… she mused, quickly losing against the urge to run her fingers through his hair and kiss him on the forehead.
She saw him react as her fingernails scratched his scalp, flinching in his sleep and turning toward her, but not waking up. Before she lost her nerve, she bent over him to press her lips to his forehead. She lingered for just a moment until she felt him start to stir beneath her. She pulled back, but not so quickly as to wake him up, and backed out of the room, unable to keep her eyes off his sleeping form. She found herself wanting to take care of him in any way she could, not that he'd let her.
While they were cleaning up after the meal, Maggie mentioned how quiet she'd been all day and how Beth had been hovering around Daryl's room just in the short while Maggie had been in the house. "You were with him that day I found you all, weren't you?" she questioned.
It hurt Beth that she couldn't tell her sister everything that had happened. They used to be so close; she couldn't wait to tell Maggie when Jimmy had first asked her out, when he'd kissed her for the first time. Now she felt she was living a secret life, one in which she was no longer a naïve girl but a woman…and found herself wanting to be Daryl's woman much more than she wanted to be Jimmy's girlfriend, but couldn't tell a single soul about it.
Beth ended up shrugging off the conversation at hand, explaining that most of the group had been there, that they all watched out for each other, which was true enough, really. It may have been a lie of omission, but it seemed to satisfy Maggie's curiosity. That is, until Maggie started bringing up all the help Jimmy had done on the farm since all this had started and how upset he'd been when Beth hadn't returned home from Atlanta all those weeks ago. "I haven't noticed you two together like I thought you would be."
"Well, criminy, Maggie! I've only been back a couple days, I've been exhausted and grieving my mother and brother, plus getting all my chores done and then some. Excuse me for not jumping all over him just because he's there." She knew it was a low blow, having seen how close her sister had gotten with Glenn in such a short time, but she needed Maggie off her back before she got too suspicious. Her tactic worked; Maggie threw her dish towel on the counter and stormed out of the kitchen in a huff, leaving the rest of the dishes to be done by herself. Beth felt bad for upsetting her sister, but appreciated the time alone all the same.
The next day, Daryl had several visitors from the group, along with Hershel and Patricia checking in every now and then to check for infection on his wounds, knowing antibiotics were a rare commodity at the moment. It left very little opportunity for Beth to go and see him, even if it would be just to say hello. Even if she were to go in, she wasn't sure she trusted herself with him. Oh, she could certainly keep her hands to herself, but the questions turning over and over in her mind were already fighting to be asked, and she couldn't promise to keep her mouth shut.
She stayed close, though, either in the kitchen or just outside in the garden, in case he needed anything. She tried to stay in the moment, not dwelling on the past few weeks nor on the lives they all had before the world fell apart; she fought to keep her mind focused on the tasks at hand, not on the man recuperating in the front room of her house. She tried to be the girl her family expected her to be, bright and bubbly, always with a song in her heart, but it was mostly for show. She found very little to sing about these days.
Daryl left the next day, promising Hershel he'd take it easy to avoid pulling any stitches, and that he'd be sure to keep the wound clean. Beth felt the sting of disappointment when he didn't say goodbye to her, but figured she hadn't exactly gone out of her way to visit him. Maybe he was protecting himself as much as she was herself.
Later that week, Beth heard a loud commotion coming from the front lawn. Shane was screaming about protecting the group and how they couldn't trust the old man or Rick. She watched through the screen door as Maggie and Lori both confronted him, telling him to back down, noticing that both Glenn and Daryl had shotguns in their hands. Something on the property line drew their attention, and Beth followed the group at a distance to see her father, Jimmy, and Rick leading walkers onto the property. Both groups met in the barnyard, Shane still shouting about not being safe. Beth watched as he pulled out his pistol and opened fire on the walker her father was leading, then went to the barn doors, which she realized had been chained shut. Her blood ran cold when she saw what her father had been hiding behind those chains.
Several neighbors and even friends from town came stumbling out of the barn doors…but she couldn't really call them people anymore. They had all turned. Beth felt absolutely nauseous. What was her family doing keeping these walkers locked in the barn? She had a horrible feeling about who else she might see among the undead.
She realized no one had ever shown her where her mother and brother had been buried. She had just assumed they'd be with the rest of her ancestors in the family cemetery on the far corner of the property. She'd never imagined…
…and soon she didn't have to. One behind the other, together even in this horrible excuse for an afterlife, were Annette and Shawn, emaciated and decomposing, their faces twisted into unnatural snarls. They had barely cleared the opening when someone had shot each of them, dropping them like the dead weight they were. Her heart sank to the ground along with them. She vaguely acknowledged a collective gasp from the group, barely recognized movement coming from the opening in the barn doors. Somehow her brain registered that Sophia had followed her family members into the sunlight, but couldn't tear her eyes away from her mother's body laying lifeless on the ground.
When the bullets stopped flying, she made her way across the dozens of bodies now lying around to go to her mother. Beth gingerly pulled on her shoulder, trying to roll her to a face-up position. In an instant, the walker reached up at her face, pulling at her hair; clearly the shot that had dropped her was only superficial. Beth vaguely heard a commotion around her, hands pulling at her to get her out of harm's way, but she fought against them and reached into her boot. A moment later, it was all over, her mother's lifeless blood oozing over her knuckles as she pulled the knife from her temple. "I'm sorry, Mama," she whispered, tears starting to fill her eyes, then she pushed herself to her feet and trudged back to the farmhouse.
Emotions were swirling through her, anger among the strongest of them. Anger that she'd had to put down her own mother. That her family had been keeping a secret of their own from her. She realized then that they thought she wouldn't have been able to handle the truth. That, even after what she'd been through, she was still seen as little Bethy. That her father had been foolish enough to doubt what was staring him right in the face – that these people were not just sick, but dead and alive all at once.
That she hadn't put it together on her own any sooner. She had even noticed chickens going missing, but was never able to find a hole in any of the fences for them to escape or foxes or hawks to get in. Had someone been feeding those monsters?
She refused to talk to anyone immediately after. She may have been angry, but she still loved and respected her father and sister, as well as Patricia, and would rather avoid any conversation or confrontation before she had calmed down to keep herself from saying something she knew she'd regret.
Instead, she stayed in her room, mourning the loss of life all over again. The first walker she'd ever put down herself and it was her own mother. Beth let her heart and her mind heal themselves as much as they could while she kept herself in seclusion. She didn't let herself wallow like she had when they'd first made it to the farm. There was so much work to be done. Besides, if she wanted her family to see her as an adult and not little Bethy, she needed to step up and really start pulling her weight around the farm.
First thing the next morning, Beth was at work with the chickens, then tending the gardens, before starting up breakfast for everyone. All morning she'd had a strange feeling in her stomach, but chalked it up to not eating dinner the night before and getting so much done already that morning, all on an empty stomach. She only nibbled on a peach, not wanting anything too heavy that might upset her stomach further, then set to cleaning up and finding her next task to complete.
She vaguely heard Lori and Andrea having a discussion in the next room over. Their voices became more and more muddled as the room began to spin around her.
The next thing she knew, Beth was laying in her bed with a cool cloth on her forehead. Maggie was sitting next to her, worry painted all over her face. "What happened?" Beth croaked out, surprising her sister out of her thoughts.
"You tell me," she answered. "Lori says one minute you were finishing up dishes, the next you were on the floor unconscious. You okay?"
Beth sat up a little in her bed, "Yeah, I think so. I must have overdone it this morning is all. I just need more food in me I guess."
"Well," Maggie replied, with her over-bearing sisterly tone, "I think you should probably take it easy. I'll go get some lunch for you."
Something felt off between her and her sister. Maggie was in some kind of mood and Beth wasn't sure where it was coming from. "Maggie," she called out before she could leave the room. "What's going on?"
The older sister turned on her heel, inhaling sharply through her nose, her jaw clenched tightly. "Andrea was with Lori when you fainted. She had to come get me to help carry you upstairs because Lori can't lift anything. Why? Because she's pregnant." Maggie began pacing as she ranted, "Glenn and I risk our damn lives for her and her abortion pills and she doesn't even take them. That selfish, stupid… Who the hell is stupid enough to get herself knocked up now? In this world? Damn idiot woman."
As her sister continued to vent her frustrations, a cold chill ran down Beth's spine. It had been several weeks since the dead started walking the earth, surely more than a month. Her mind ticked back to try to remember when her last cycle had been, and the numbers added up. She knew then and there exactly why she had fainted that morning.
Beth fought to control her expression as well as her breathing. When Maggie finally left her room to head downstairs to the kitchen, Beth pushed herself out of her bed and toward the bathroom between her and Maggie's room. She remembered last year when Maggie and her boyfriend at the time had a pregnancy scare and she had to buy home tests, two different brands, to find out just how much trouble she was going to be in. Fortunately for Maggie, both tests had come up negative; fortunately for Beth, she still had one of each brand hidden in their shared "female drawer," just in case. She held the boxes with shaking hands, reading and re-reading the instructions and checking for an expiration date.
This was one time where she was almost glad being nervous always made her have to pee. She only had a few minutes before Maggie would return to use one of the tests.
Three long minutes later, she had her answer with a faint pink plus sign.
She wrapped the used test carefully in toilet paper and put it back in the drawer along with the still unused one, which she was planning to use the next chance she got. She knew she wouldn't be able to go to her doctor to make sure the tests were accurate, so she figured two different brands of tests would have to be good enough.
Later that evening, her answer hadn't changed, two blue lines staring up at her from the white stick in her hand. She wrapped this test the same way as she had the first and stowed it in the drawer, knowing if she just threw them in the wastebasket that Maggie would definitely see them. She'd have to sneak them out and throw them in the woods or something to prevent anyone else from finding them.
The next day, Maggie hovered over her constantly, never letting her out of her sight. When she did manage to convince her sister that she was fine, her freedom didn't last long before Jimmy hounded her with questions and jumping to help her with every little task she'd set out to do. Beth just couldn't handle the worried thoughts spinning in her head and put up with Jimmy, not if she wanted to maintain any sense of sanity. Finally she snapped.
"Jimmy, I can handle this. I'm just fine. I don't need you…" she trailed off, seeing the shocked look on his face. She realized she didn't finish her statement and knew she had to break it off with him then and there, no matter how much she knew it would hurt him. It wasn't right to string him along, not when she knew she didn't feel the same way he did. Not when she was carrying another man's baby.
"I don't need you," she whispered, looking at her fingers twisting around each other. "I can't do this, Jimmy. I love you, but I'm not in love with you. I don't want you thinking we're going to stay together just because of the way things are now. Neither of us deserve that." She lifted her eyes to meet his, steeling her heart against the look of confusion and pain she found there. "I'm sorry," she said before turning and making her way to the garden, hoping to find some peace in the work that needed to be done there.
She probably would have felt worse about it if her mind weren't being filled with thoughts and worries about having a baby, Daryl's baby, at the end of the world. Beth began to notice her breasts becoming tender, and had a noticeable decrease in appetite, though she forced herself to at least eat something at each meal. She was thankful that she didn't have any morning sickness, at least not yet. She wasn't sure how she'd hide that from her family.
Life went on as normally as it could in the days that followed, though Beth found herself avoiding her family, convinced they would somehow be able to tell something was different. It wasn't until later in the week that Maggie cornered Beth inside the chicken coop, two white plastic sticks in her hand and a look of fury on her face. "What the hell are these?"
"Maggie, I…"
"Tell me, tell me, these aren't yours." Beth's silence was her answer. "Oh my god," Maggie whispered, the color draining from her face. "Who?" she demanded after a moment of tortured silence. Beth only answered her with more silence. "It had better be Jimmy's if you want any chance of staying in the house."
Beth frowned, "You can't tell me where to…" she trailed off when Maggie raised an eyebrow at her, realization sparking in the back of her mind and the pit of her stomach. "Maggie, you can't tell Daddy," she pleaded.
"Like hell I can't," she said, much louder than Beth wanted her to. "He was ready to kick me out just for messing around with a guy. When he finds out you're knocked up, and you know he will…I don't even know what he'd do."
Tears pricked her eyes, knowing Maggie was, in all probability, absolutely right. "Maggie, please. I'll tell him, I will. Please don't say anything to anyone."
Maggie stared at Beth a moment before shoving the pregnancy tests into her chest, practically spitting out, "Fine, but make it soon." She turned on her heel, stomping out of the chicken coop, leaving Beth with her tears and thoughts and a basket half full of eggs.
"Margaret, what's put a bee in your bonnet?" Beth heard her father say from just outside the coop. Her blood turned to ice in her veins as her heart froze in her chest.
"Just having a conversation, Daddy," she answered. Beth could still hear the anger in her voice.
"Must have been some conversation," Hershel responded. "Dare I ask who's got you so riled up?"
Beth swallowed, trying to keep herself from getting sick, and thinking fast, put the tests in the basket under what few eggs she had collected. They weren't exactly hidden under the brown eggs, but she figured it was better than walking out with them in her hand. Taking one more bracing breath, Beth walked out to join her father and sister outside. "It's just me, Daddy."
Hershel looked back and forth between his daughters with concern. "What's going on?"
Maggie shot Beth a look as if to say, "here's your chance." "Just a sisterly spat, I guess," Beth chickened out. She flinched when Maggie scoffed loudly and stormed off.
"A spat, huh?" Hershel asked suspiciously. A silent moment passed, him waiting for an answer, and Beth scrambling to find a way to tell her father that wouldn't result in her being kicked out. "How're the girls doing today?" Beth looked up at him, confused. He took a step closer and she automatically pulled back away from him. "Not many eggs today. The chickens doing okay?" He reached into the basket, doing a quick count of its contents, then stopped abruptly. Beth knew exactly what he'd found before he pulled them from the basket. "Elizabeth," his voice grew steely cold. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
Her heart was pounding in her chest; her cheeks flushed in shame, two fat, hot tears rolling down them. "I'm sorry, Daddy," she whispered.
"Don't 'Daddy' me, young lady," his voice grew louder, but kept its iciness. "You'd better start explaining yourself right now."
Beth couldn't bring herself to look up at him to answer. "I was lost and he said he'd take care of me if I… I didn't think anyone else would help me so I…I had to and I'm so sorry, Daddy. I didn't know what else to do."
Several minutes went by without either of them talking. Beth started to feel faint again, her stomach churning as she worked to keep herself from hyperventilating.
"I didn't raise you to put yourself in a situation like this. I thought you knew better. No daughter of mine would behave so…reprehensibly." Beth looked up at him, holding her tongue, knowing that arguing with her father wouldn't be a wise decision at that point, even though Maggie got away with so much over the years (although, she never wound up pregnant, so anything Beth could say would be moot anyway). "As far as I'm concerned, you're his responsibility. He took care of you then, he can take care of you now." Without another word, he turned and walked away toward the edge of the property.
Beth's knees gave out from under her, her breath rushing out of her lungs as if she'd been punched in the gut. While she knew it was a possibility, she didn't want to think her father would really ever kick her out. She was in too much shock to cry, to chase her father down and beg him to reconsider, to find Maggie and ask her to intercede on her behalf. She just sat, her fingers grasping at the grass beneath them, the basket upended next to her with broken eggs oozing over the ground as she fought to regain her breath.
When she had collected herself, she made her way to the house, up the stairs to her room to pack some of her things that she'd need, not knowing if she'd ever be allowed in the house again.
Which brought her to Daryl's tent, awaiting his return. In the meantime, she would just stay inside and wait, not ready to face anyone else for the time being. It was nearly dark when the flaps of the tent flew open and Daryl stooped to join her inside. She looked up at him, terrified of what he would say.
He dropped his crossbow in the corner and sat cross-legged on the opposite side from Beth. He pulled his knees up to rest his elbows on them and sighed heavily. "So now what?"
I'm sorry it took so long to get this up for you all. I can't thank you enough for your patience with me. I've got the next chapter ready, just needs one final read-through before I post it later this week (which is what took so long in getting this one posted - I wanted to make sure you'd have Daryl's reaction right away rather than making you wait however long it took me to finish chapter 11...if that makes sense.)
Thanks again for reading - please leave a review!