You Are My Light

Returning His Girl's Heart

It had been three days since he left Alexandria and he was anxious to get back. He was missing Beth and had started to feel empty, just as she had described. He had never thought about it before, the fact that he took her heart with him, just as he left his with her. He shouldn't have left how he did, not bein' on good terms with Beth. 

Just a couple hours he had been separated from Aaron and surrounded by walkers. His motorcycle had run out of gas and the only weapon he had was his crossbow.  He had really thought it was going to be the end, but just as he shot his last bolt Aaron drove over the walkers in the small car and quickly threw open the door for Daryl.

He was worried about Beth now. They had been in Alexandria safely for a while now and he forgot how bad things could get. He thought he was doing what was right, but now realized that leaving Beth alone wasn't. She still had panic attacks and could not stand to be with too many people. He had almost died today and his last memory of Beth would be her storming away from him.

"You've been cleaning that thing for over an hour." Aaron said, gesturing to the crossbow Daryl held in his lap. He had been trying to get all of the walker remains off of it. "What's wrong with you?"

"I shouldn't have come with ya." Daryl replied, stilling his hands and lowering the crossbow to sit between his legs on the ground. "Beth, she asked me not to and I told her I liked doing this. But she hates being alone and she hates being with people almost as much, she does one for too long and she has a panic attack. I don't know why, but she says it helps when I'm around. I shouldn't have just left her there."

"Have you ever been in a relationship before man?" Aaron asked, making a right turn and quickly glancing at Daryl. "You can't do everything for the other person in the relationship, you have to do stuff for yourself too. You like bein' out here, don't you?"

"Yeah, I like it out here, but I love bein' with Beth and she needs me." Daryl said, fiddling with his hands.

"She can survive without you for a few days, she has more people that can help her." Aaron replied.

"She said she gave me her heart." Daryl whispered, the ghost of a smile forming on his face. That smile quickly turned into a frown when he thought of the next thing she said to him. "She said she gave me her heart and every time I left I was takin' it with me, leavin' her there feelin' empty. How am I supposed to do that to her?"

"Don't beat yourself up man, you're tryin' to do what's right. You guys will figure out something that works for the both of you." Aaron said, trying to hide the smile he wore on his face. Before Beth had surprisingly arrived in Alexandria, Daryl Dixon had not cared what anyone had to say about his job. He had sulked around the streets of their home and sulked just a little bit less when he was out of the walls recruiting people. But Beth was more important to him than anything, anyone with eyes could see that.

"They're gonna be worried." Daryl said, glancing through the window up at the sun, which was slowly setting. "We're already late and we're still four hours out."

"They'll be fine, we'll be back soon enough." Aaron sped up the car a little though, he too had someone waiting for him.

Daryl wanted to return his girl's heart to her, help her feel whole again. He could not wait to get home, all he wanted to do in this moment was hold Beth.