Light at the End of the Tunnel {Bethyl Fanfic}

Chapter 26

Chapter 26:
His POV

Beth sleeps peacefully throughout the night. No screamin', no twitchin', nothin'.

When the sun rises, I grab my crossbow and let myself outta the room. I'm still a little uncomfortable about the whole situation. I've never felt like this before, an' I still don' think Hershel would approve of me and his youngest daughter together.

I know what Beth wants, an' I'm not sure I can deliver. Of course I'll be there for her to be her family, an' to protect her, even if she don' need much protection. I just don' know if I wanna put myself, or her in the position of losin' the person most importan' to you. We've seen it happen so many times. With Lori, Hershel, Merle, Tyreese, Bob, an' ....Sofia. Along with all the others.

These are the consequences of livin' in this fucked up piece of shit world.

I go an' lay in the hallway, on the floor. It's actually comfortable.

What the hell am I gonna do 'bout Beth. I care fer her, but I can't.

Apparently, at some point I fall asleep layin' here, 'cause when I wake up the sun is about an hour away from startin' to set.

That's the most sleep I've gotten in weeks. Months possibly. I stand up an' grab my crossbow an' make my way into the kitchen. I spot Rick already up and drinkin' a bottle of water.

"Mornin'." He grunts.

"Whats wrong with ye?" I ask him takin' my crossbow offa my shoulder an' restin' it on the cold, hard counter.

"Didn' sleep well. Too quiet. Plus, these people plan to invite us to a dinner party to welcome us into town." He grunts. This must be what I sound like all the time.

"What the hell?!" I almost scream. "Like we are in some kinda normal town, like nothin' is goin' on outside them walls." I lower my voice an' Rick nods.

"We have to go if we want them to think that we are good people." He informs me.

"I ain't goin' to that shit. I ain't a good person, no need to try an' fool nobody." I shrug. Rick looks at me sideways.

"Daryl. I don' wanna make this sound all cheesy, but you are a good person. You risk your life all the time for others, when those men were gonna kill me, Michonne, and Carl, you offered your life in place of ours. You are good brother, but you don' need to prove that to them." He tells me clppin' my back and goin' into the bedroom he came outta.

I grab a water an' down it in seconds.

"Fuckin' people wanna through a party." I mumble aggravated to myself.

Maggie and Glenn come outta their bedroom smilin'.

I hear Merle in the back of my mind. "Looks like somebody just got som'."

I smirk at the thought, an' push the voice outta my mind.

"Mornin' Daryl." Maggie smiles. "Mornin'." I grunt. Not rudely. Just grunt. "How did Beth sleep?" She asks me. Did she see me go into her room? Or is she just assumin'?

"Fine I guess, I wouldn't know." I try an' lie to Maggie. Apparently, it don't work.

"C'mon Daryl, I saw you go in there last night. How did she sleep?" She asks again.

"Fine. Not that big of a problem with the nightmares I guess." I shrug.

"Wait, so Daryl, are you and Beth like a thing?" Glenn asks. Is he serious?

"Hfft." I huff an' finish the rest of my water. I examine the empty bottle before throwin' it at Glenn. Hittin' him in the cheek.

"Hey!" He says as I walk outta the kitchen. I make my way inta the livin' room area an' see that Judy is now in a small crib by the window.