Follow You Down - Bethyl Fanfiction

A Soft Reminder of Reality

Beth walked into the make shift dining hall with Daryl close behind her. Since throwing himself between her and Zach, the archer had kept close. They had sat for a while on the bench so Daryl could regain his composure and convince everyone else around them that he was fine. Beth had to do a fair bit of that herself. As most people only saw the moment Daryl jumped in, the story quickly rushing around the prison was a lot more graphic than what actually happened. Nevertheless, Beth cringed at the memory of Zach's hand in her hair and his deep breaths on her face after she had already said she wasn't interested. The thought of his words trying to convince her she was wrong. 

Beth didn't realise she'd stopped walking until Daryl's large hand found her lower back, a soft reminder of reality. He had made it all stop when she didn't have the gall to fight back herself. Daryl was healing from a near death injury and was still stronger than her. He put himself in a dangerous position just to stop a boy touching her hair. 
"Beth?" He murmured her name as a question, thumb making those comforting circles on her spine. The youngest Greene took a breath and cleared her throat before moving forward in the line toward the serving table. The warm hand left it's spot on her and she felt cold in it's absence.

In an unusual move, Daryl joined the Greene-Rhee table, but was welcomed by a very thankful Maggie and Hershel while Glenn reached and patted Daryl on the shoulder. All of which he shook off in his grumpy way. Beth poked and prodded at her meal while those others talked about what happened and what, if anything, should be done. Her leg bounced nervously as they spoke. She didn't want anything to be done. Daryl had already sorted it. She just wanted it to be over and didn't want to talk about it anymore. The noise of the dining hall was becoming overwhelming, almost deafening as Beth's hands trembled, eyes fixed on her full plate. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears and she could feel the heat in her cheeks and her breathing getting faster, eyes blurring with tears.

Beth's breathing stopped completely when Daryl's hand found her thigh under the table. The room fell into silence and everyone drifted away to nothingness. His grip on her was tight, grounding. It held her in place and stopped her leg from bouncing. She turned her head ever so slightly to see the only other person in the room looking at her through his dark hair, out the corner of his eyes, head down. He said nothing. He just held her in the void that had opened and swallowed the two of them. A voice called from beyond, reaching and dragging her from the captive gaze of the archer. Though her mind was pulled away from him, his hold on her thigh remained.

"Beth, you not feeling hungry?" Maggie asked through the haze of Beth's wandering mind. She looked up at Maggie and shook her head.
"No, I'm fine, I ate too much this mornin'." She replied with a small smile forced on her face. Beth lifted her plate and offered it to her daddy and then to Glenn who took it from her after hesitating for Maggie's huff and nod of annoyed approval.

The table was cleared and after a while of being watched like she was made of glass, Beth's family left for the library, where someone from the other block had organised a poetry evening. Beth might have joined them on another night, after a different day. But she wasn't in the mood for poetry. Instead, she left for the shower, wanting to scrub the day from her skin.

-

Beth half expected to see her protector waiting for her as she left the bathroom, but Daryl wasn't around. She was almost glad, as she hadn't taken any spare clothes to change into so she had to put the same ones back on. She hurried through the corridors and public spaces, not wanting anyone else to ask her how she was feeling or offer to keep an eye on Zach or to watch over her. 

Beth made it to her cell and pulled the blanket over the bars before yanking the door closed. She paced her cell in an unsettled fashion as she brushed through her drying hair. The youngest Greene has spent so long towel drying it, she had managed to get it full of tangles, giving it the look of a crazed witch. After eventually taming the wild mess of hair, though some of the bounce remained, Beth sought out some pyjamas from the pile of fresh laundry that had been dropped just inside her door.

Beth having clothes of her own wasn't always possible with the prison laundry system - especially with the new comers helping out. Nobody seemed to know what belonged to who and quite often people would be seen swapping clothes like trading cards for something that ft them better. Often Beth would be able to spot her own clothes easily in the weird swap-meet that happened almost daily in the cell block. She knew, looking at the pile, there were definitely items in there that didn't belong to her. Picking up the laundry, she sat on her lower bunk and began to rifle through to at least find things that would fit.

A pair of large men's shorts,  a baggy t-shirt and what had to be children's socks later, something caught Beth's eye. The material was soft in her hands and it caught the light as it moved. Silk? Beth wasn't sure. But it came with shorts. The material felt cool to the touch despite the warmth of the cell block. It was a light blue set of silk pyjamas with a white lace trim along the low neck line and the bottom of the shorts. It must belong to one of the Woodbury group. None of  Rick's group would have something so delicate. Nothing that would have made it through their travels. It looked a little too big but Beth was entranced in it's pretty shine and idly thought about how it had been so long since she had felt good about herself.

Beth swayed side to side in the blue silk, looking in the little mirror that was balanced on her low table. Her legs looked long and pale in comparison to her tanned arms and the tassels on the shorts tickled her bare thighs thanks to Beth having to tie them tight so they wouldn't slip down. She could hear people's cell door's closing for the night. The poetry reading must be over. She saw the light dim through the blanket on her cell door and listened to people saying goodnight to one another. Beth looked at herself once more, cheeks burning, and took a step towards her own cell door.