Remembering (A Bethyl FanFic)

Chapter 15

Beth walked upstairs into a bedroom and slammed the door. She threw herself onto the bed and began to sob quietly. Her tears stained her cheeks and the pillow with their salty drizzle. Her group cared, didn't they? She stood and walked into the bathroom, removing her boots and hoodie. A set of light footsteps could be heard on the staircase leading up to Beth's room.

"Beth?" Glenn cracked the door.

"Yeah?" Beth called from the bathroom.

"You okay?" Glen asked.

"I'm not sure I belong here."

"You do belong here, look, are you decent?"

"Yeah, come in," Beth said. Glenn entered and sat down on the foot of the bed. His hands were wrapped around an object that Beth could not see. He looked tired. It had only been an hour since her outburst at Deanna. It was only in the glow of the electric light that Glenn's fatigue truly showed. Her curiosity got the better of her. Beth walked over and got on her knees before him.

"Whatcha got there?" she asked.

"It's something Daryl said to give to you, he wanted to have a few words with Rick. We were going to decide what we do with this place tonight; if you want to be a part of the decision-"

"Yes!" Beth cut him off.

"Okay then," Glenn said surprised, "We will come get you when it's time."

"Thank you, Glenn," Beth smiled and kissed his cheek as one would a sibling or close friend. Glenn smiled, rising to leave. He started for the door before remembering what was in his hands. Glenn turned around rapidly.

"I almost forgot," he held out his hands, "Daryl said to give this to you." Beth held out her hands, unsure of what to expect. A crumpled piece of paper with something wrapped in it was freed from Glenn's hands. As it gingerly dropped into Beth's hands, she clasped her fingers around it. The paper had been crushed and uncrushed so many times it was soft. Beth began to unwrap it. Within every fold there seemed to be another. At the last fold a small, silver heart-shaped necklace dropped into her hands along with a note taped to it. I owe you a better first drink- Daryl. Beth smiled to her self and put the necklace on.

That night, they held their meeting in the church. Deanna had said that Alexandrians didn't use it because they had no one to lead them. Father Gabriel volunteered and was given the keys. Sasha swiped the keys from Gabriel while he slept. Now they stood in the sanctuary of this "sanctuary" in order to discuss their future.

Daryl caught Beth's arm as she was about to walk in. He motioned for her to follow him. They went around the side of the church. Daryl reached into a box and pulled out a glass bottle. The liquid was clear, unidentifiable. Beth opened it and took a whiff. Peach. "Schnapps."

"Thank you," Beth smiled, giving a small giggle, "I love it."

Beth and Daryl walked in through the side doors. In Beth's hands she clutched a bottle of unopened peach schnapps. Rick checked outside once again before walking into the sanctuary. Abraham stood with a piece of chalk at the alter, which they had removed some of the decorum for, drawing out a map of the town. Deanna's husband was an architect and she herself knew the area well; they had kept an updated map of Alexandria and allowed Abraham to look at it. He memorized it and was in the process of redrawing it. Glenn, Maggie, and Michonne were the last to enter into the church.

"Now that we're all here, I want to talk about our future," Rick said. "We've been watching these people for the past couple of days. They're different than us: weaker. If it comes down to it we should be able to take this town easily. I want everyone's opinion because we are a family, and families don't make unilateral decisions. Let's put it to a vote, everyone who doesn't think we should take the town, raise your hand."

Tara, Eugene, Michonne, Sasha, and Tyreese all raised their hands. Daryl glanced at Beth, she held her hands at her sides. Abraham wrote down the number of "no's" on the alter and nodded to Rick.

"Who thinks we should take this town?" Rick asked. Beth's, and everyone else's hands went up.

"It's settled."

Rick looked around at everyone, waiting for a response from the naysayers. Tyreese stepped forward, shoulders drooping. He looked everyone in the eyes before speaking.

"We could help them, instead of wrenching their way of life from their hands."

"They're not ready for what's out there," Carol said, stepping from the shadow of a pillar.

"We could help them," offered Tara.

"We can't help people who won't help themselves," Rosita said.

"Make 'em help themselves," scoffed Daryl, nodding at Rosita's pistol.

"Violence won't solve anything," said Michonne , who had recently put away her katana.

"It solves more than talking," Abraham furrowed his brow.

"STOP IT!"

Everyone turned to look towards the center of them, where the voice had come from. Beth had moved to the middle of them all, standing on the alter now. She clenched her fists, looking everyone in the eyes, pausing to stare at each individually for a moment. She took a deep breath before pointing to everyone around the alter.

"Deanna is trying turn us on one another, can't you see that? Think about her questions, about her tone. She asked about our usefulness, and she asked about our place in the group. Deanna isn't trying to place us in Alexandria, she's placing doubt in everyone's minds about who's on whose side. She told Daryl he didn't have a place here, meanwhile Rick is automatically the constable and Tara is working in the infirmary. She's breaking us up so that we are like them: weak."

Glenn climbed up with her. He looked at Beth and Rick and Michonne. He looked down at the map beneath his feet, and then to Abraham. Glenn smiled.

"Abraham, what were you planning?"

"We make Deanna give up power to us, maybe even leave," Abraham replied, "Maybe even force her and her people to leave."

"Why not just make her give up power?"

"Glenn's right," Rick said, "There's safety in numbers. We just need Deanna to relinquish Alexandria to us. No fighting unless necessary. She's weak; they're weak. We aren't."

"So what do you propose?" Eugene said.

"Make her think we aren't as strong as we are," Beth said, "we get her to believe she's smarter than us. Then once she does, we exploit her plan."

"Let's do it," said Daryl.