Missing Her- A Bethyl Story

Chapter 5

Hearing Maggie happily talk about how much fun the welcoming party was really set his blood boiling.  How could she be so happy after losing Beth? 

A part of him felt a little jealous.  A part of him wishes he was not in agony, reliving Beth's death constantly.  And he wasn't sure what was worse, the nightmares of her death or the dreams about her that were so vivid he's awake, thinking she's really lying in bed beside him only to be hit with the harsh reality that she was dead and gone.

One thing he did know, Beth was right.  There are still good people.  Aaron and Eric being two of them.  They didn't have to invite him to dinner.  They didn't have to offer him the motorcycle parts to finally have the joy of riding a bike again.  And Aaron didn't have to offer him the job of becoming a recruiter for Alexandria.  But they did and he was grateful.

"Maggie said you were close to her sister that passed," Aaron said.

That was the moment Daryl wished he never agreed to take this position.  He thought about her every waking and non-waking moment.  He just didn't want to talk about her.  He didn't talk about it when his best friends Rick and Carol tried to get him to open up, so he wasn't about to start now, with a stranger no less.

"I ain't talkin' 'bout Beth," Daryl said through gritted teeth.

Aaron looked shocked, and didn't hold back his thoughts.

"You loved her," Aaron whispered, in a voice that conveyed his sadness and sympathy for the man.

Daryl stayed silent but clenched his jaw and gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.

Hours later they still had not seen a living soul until they happened upon a slender woman with long blonde hair.

Daryl felt his blood turn to ice.  From afar the woman resembled Beth.  If they were to bring her back to Alexandria he didn't know how he would handle seeing this woman.  Every time he would see her, she would remind him of Beth, but his Beth is gone and he was not interested in a replacement-Beth.

"Stop the car Daryl!" Aaron shouted.

Daryl wanted to ignore Aaron and floor it, but he couldn't.  He pulled over.

"We have a sanctuary," Aaron told the woman as Daryl stayed in the car.  "In Alexandria.  It's fully secure with high gates designed by an architect to ensure nobody can get in.  It was originally set up as one of the first green communities, using solar power, so we have electricity, clean water to have showers...Daryl, get out of the car."

"Daryl?" The blonde woman gasped as the redneck reluctantly opened the car door.

It was at that moment Daryl nearly passed out.  Standing in front of him, by some miracle was not a Beth lookalike, but Beth, his Beth.

Daryl didn't speak.  He just lunged at her and before he knew his lips were pressed hard against hers.  But he didn't care.  He didn't even know if she felt the same. 

"It was you," he whispered.

Any question he had regarding how Beth felt about him was answered with what happened next.

"It was you for me too," Beth whispered before returning his kiss.