Follow You Down - Bethyl Fanfiction

Behind Bars and Blankets

By the time everyone was heading to bed, Daryl had yet to make an appearance. It wasn't until Michonne had walked to her cell and noticed the one at the end of the upper floor had a blanket hooked up over the door and informed everyone quietly that Daryl was around, he was just in a cell for once and apparently wanted to be left alone. Beth had barely said a word to anyone that evening. She declined any food, her stomach too full of butterflies too eat. They all made their way into their cells, Beth included. She pulled her blanket over the doorway and unlaced her boots before changing into a pair of comfy sweat pants and a vest top. She had been so flustered in the library that she didn't even pick up a new book. Her only option was the old bible. The thought of it made her feel guilty. 

Resigning herself to sitting on the bed, braiding and un-braiding her hair, Beth wondered what Daryl had done with that book. Had he gotten rid of it, so nobody else could see it? Or so that she could no longer see it? That thought made her bite her lip. Maybe he did put two and two together and was horrified by her. It was possible.

Hushed voices dulled and one by one each cell went dark as the group settled down to sleep. Beth hummed quietly to herself, leaning her back against the wall, staring at the bible that had found it's way by her feet on the bed. Her father would be so upset with her. She wondered how many prayer sessions she would need to do to earn his forgiveness. Her humming turned into quiet singing, a tune she could just about remember:

"Walked in, as strangers
but maybe we're not
You looked at me,
and I had a thought That I,
that I knew you before"

There was the usual sound of movement, someone must have forgotten to grab something or someone going to the bathroom. but most were asleep, their gentle snores acting as back up for Beth's quiet singing. She had sung in the night before, people never seemed to mind. But she sang very quietly, just in case. The words just seemed to fall out of her, she had no way of stopping them.

"Sat down, we talked
till they kicked us out
You started a fire,
that didn't burn out
It's burning,
it's burning brighter now"

Beth's fingers ran through her hair, releasing the strands of the braid again. She pictured another life, back on the farm, riding one of the horses, smiling at her family as they relaxed on the porch. It didn't feel real anymore, it was all too perfect, to happy. Then as she looked across towards the woods, she saw someone in the distance, too far to make out. But she knew. He couldn't be there. He didn't belong in her world before. He didn't fit there, dangerous and full of anger. But in the new world, where danger was part of every second and anger was inevitable, he was the only thing that did belong. Maybe she was beginning to belong too.

"Maybe you're scared cause you already know

of all of the things that we cannot control
I don't wanna rush this, but I feel alive
I feel alive
I feel alive"

Her song stopped with the shadow of a person on the other side of the blanket, silhouetted in the moonlight coming through the high windows. She paused while it stood there and instead continued to hum. The shadow slumped down onto the floor, leaning against the bars of her cell, pinning the blanket to them. Beth watched, curious. It's head was turned towards her and she could see, where the blanket didn't quite touch the floor, a hand pressed against the concrete. Beth moved, humming a little louder to cover the sound of the bed springs. Once out of bed, she took a couple of steps so she was stood over the shadow. It's head turned to face away again and she could see it's shoulders still. It must be able to hear she was close. Turning her back to it, she mirrored the shadow and slid down to sit on the floor. If it wasn't for the bars, they would have been back to back. Beth placed her hand next to the shadows, so close she could feel the heat coming off it. She then sang quietly, maybe to the shadow, maybe to no one:

"The hours, the days

just weren't enough
The nights, we laid there
till the sun came up
The light, the light lit up your eyes"

Beth's voice faded into an echo which itself faded into silence. There was just the sounds of sleep and the deep breaths from the stranger behind the curtain. Beth leaned her shoulder a little past the bars, wishing she could get a glimpse of the company she kept. The blanket was stretched from the tension of their sitting almost completely back to back and Beth's hand  moved a fraction closer to the stranger. She let her legs slide out in front of her, allowing herself some comfort despite the concrete. 

 Without looking, one foot hit the barred door, making it swing open ever so slightly. Beth started to move to catch it but it was already opening too far. The tension on the blanket released as it fell from the door and Beth's hand slid on the floor to collide with the stranger on the other side as she turned. She toppled sideways  right as the blanket dropped and Daryl's face was directly in front of hers. His other hand came around to clutch her arm and stop her falling into a tangled mess. 

There in the light from Beth's lamp, she could see Daryl's heavy gaze once more. Beth realised quickly that their hands were now entangled in the blanket and his other was still holding her gently by the arm. She stared at his eyes, his pupils large in the low light and she could feel his breath on her face. He was turned to face her completely and in their silence his questions were answered. She lifted her free hand to move a section of his long fringe from his eye, finger trailing across his forehead. His whole body seemed to stiffen and freeze at her touch, tongue appearing once more in the gap between his lips. Beth couldn't think of what to do, how to release the tension. So she decided to do what brought him down to her in the first place. The thing that always seemed to draw him from the darkest spaces.

"Maybe you're scared cause you already know
of all of the things that we cannot control
I don't wanna rush this, but I feel alive
I feel alive
I feel alive."