An Alternative (TWD Bethyl)

Chapter 10: Never felt this way before

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Daryl wakes to the sound of Beth crying out his name in her sleep. He can’t help feeling terrible that she relives it all every night, all because he wasn’t able to save her, he didn’t keep her safe. Her cries stop and he shifts to try and get more comfortable, which is unlikely since he again is on the floor.

He hears her call his name again “Daryl…”. This time it was quieter, almost a whisper, he shifts again. “Daryl” he hears her again. This time he stands up and leaving the crossbow by the door, he lets a breath out and grabs the door knob.

“Yeah Beth?” He peeks his head in. Her cheeks glimmer with the light from the moon, he can tell she’s been crying but he isn’t quite sure what to say.

“Um, Daryl…. Can you sleep in here tonight? You can sleep on that side of the bed, it’s probably better than the floor.” Her voice is scratchy but still manages to come off so light and sweet.

Dammit Daryl, don’ say yes. What would Rick say, what would Hershel say bout you cozzyin up to his lil’ girl… His eyes move from her wet cheeks to her eyes, they shine with the light from the moon as if all the light in the room was drawn and trapped there just like he is now. All the willpower he had before to say no just fades and all he sees is the girl that was taken, the girl he ran after for hours. “I ain’t gonna cuddle or any of that crap”. She smiles at him, no longer looking sad.

He grabs his bow, enters the room and closes the door behind him. “I’m just gonna stay over here”, he sits the bow down by the bed and hops on opposite of side as her. He lays down and looks up at the ceiling, trying not to look at her because he could feel she was looking right at him.

“So, why weren’t you sleeping?” She is turned to face him. She examines him from his messy hair covering his face to that vest, the dirty shirt that seems to be stained with walkers blood. Oh yeah, I should tell him about the shirts I found. She could see his chest muscles moving the shirt as he inhaled and exhaled. She could tell he was tense, his arm muscles were tight, he just looks so rugged and strong, like he could hold the world.

“Maggie and Glenn were uh… makin some noise”

She laughs and he joins in with a little chuckle. They both know how awkward that must have been for someone to hear, for Daryl to even mention hearing. His smirk fades quickly though, “Fell asleep for a little while till I heard you start yellin’...” He was quiet and didn’t want to look at her reaction.

“You heard” It was more of a statement than a question. “ What was I saying?”

“Nutin’...” He starts to chew the skin on his thumb.

“Your such a bad liar Daryl Dixon.” She giggles. “Noah told me he told you…” She could tell he looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry if it bothers you.”

“Don’ be sorry” He finally looked at her, his voice was soft and not as low as usual and his eyes looked either sad or hurt she couldn’t tell, but she felt bad that she made him feel that way. They laid there for a few minutes just looking at eachother. She wasn’t sure when it had happened but as she looked him over again she could see he was relaxed… well as relaxed as Daryl Dixon gets.

“There are some shirts in the armoire that you can have” While yawning she points over to where she had found the shirts earlier.

“Armoire… well aren’t you fancy.”