You Know We're Lost (A Walking Dead Fanfic)

Chapter 1

"What changed your mind?" she smiled. As they sat in the candle lit kitchen Beth wished Daryl would say it. The way he looked at her so intensely, she could see it in his eyes that he wanted to say: "You… You changed my mind. That people could be good." He just shrugged, pretending he didn't know. The way he moved his head showed his boyish embarrassment. "Oh…" she said. It was odd to see him struggling. She wanted to reach out and touch him. The thought made her stomach muscles tense unbearably. Warm silence followed, only punctuated by the sound of Daryl licking his spoon.

The tripwire across the porch outside jangled. The sound of the empty tins made icy cold dread trickle down Beth's spine. She prayed that it was just that stray mutt showing up again. Daryl grabbed the jar of pigs feet and slung his crossbow over his broad shoulder, bounding into the hallway.

As soon as he was out of Beth's sight he felt ashamed that he couldn't even tell her the truth, in their time together she'd changed him, little by little. And he'd almost let her in, but he just couldn't. 'A grown ass man your age should have a bigger set of balls!' he berated himself internally as he creaked the front door open. That dirty ragged ol' mutt was back. "Beth, fuckin' dog's back." He said quietly, not wanting his voice to be heard echoing out in the night. She walked up quietly behind Daryl, peeping past him to catch a glimpse of the dog. He enticed it in with a mixture of pigs feet scraps and scratches behind its soft raggedy ears, then shut the door gently.

"I think we got us a pet." Beth grinned. "Hey Daryl?" she looked up at him all of a sudden, her pale skin blushing slightly. "Yeah..?" his deep voice was rough now. "I know what you wanted to say, and its okay." He paused, taken aback. He still didn't understand his feelings for her, that he wanted to protect her, make her feel like she could handle herself out there, in that moment he felt she understood. The way she looked at him with nothing but truth in her big blue eyes, he wanted to feel her, he wanted her vulnerable only to him… 'No, no, no!' he thought. 'She's so young, you fuckin' dick, you shouldn't be eyein' her like that!' he looked away. "Are you okay?" Beth asked. "Yeah, let's go find somewhere to sleep." Daryl said dismissively.