Love will keep us alive. (A bethyl fanfiction- TWD)

Break And Heal

Was it supposed to matter, how Daryl treated her? No. It shouldn't but it did.

She got her family, food, shelter, protection and everything which should matter to her right now. But something irrational, something she couldn't understand, pulled her towards the hunter and she couldn't help it.

After the things they had all been through; Beth considered them as her family now; that includes Daryl and it did matter how he treated her. It wasn't a simple crush, as Carol had implied earlier. It was rather an eccentric desire to know about him, his past, and the reason that made him to be distant from everything.

He was an enigma to her and she wanted to know him better. She wanted to soothe him and tend to his wounds, and wanted him to see the good in himself. Because that's how Beth was, she wanted everyone to be happy and not just surviving.

But all Daryl did was push her away, both with his words and action. After yesterday night's instance, Daryl had completely ignored her. He didn't even look at her, just except when he had caught her staring at him while he was cleaning his crossbow.

Beth was quite embarrassed by it and the fact that Carol had been noticing them, just added fuel to it. It was a known fact to everyone- how close Daryl and Carol were, and how tirelessly Daryl had searched for her daughter Sophia when she got separated from the group. But Beth kind of figured out that there was nothing romantic from Daryl's side but was unsure about Carol.

The sun was just setting down and just a gist of light was stretched out across the vast sky in a gradient reddish hue. The wind was blowing and the weather was calm. Beth was casually sitting outside, preoccupied with her thoughts when a voice interrupted her.

"Hey Beth, what's up?" Carl asked, waking her from her thoughts. He had been wearing his father's Sherriff hat, which he kind of always did, making a shadow to cast over his face.

"Nothing actually," Beth smiled, "What about you?"

Beth had been like an older sister to Carl; taking caring of him and Judith after Lori's death. She had always been there for him, even when Rick was severely devastated and went on a psychotic spree after Lori's death, she looked after him and his sister. Since then, both of them had developed a strong bonding and Carl had become quite protective of her nowadays.

"Just thinking of taking a walk before the sun goes down" he smiled back. "Wanna join me?"

"Yeah, sure." Beth got up, not sure if she really wanted to but then decided that it would be the best thing to do in order to escape from her thoughts.

They both walked towards the outer fence, chatting about casual stuffs, when Carl dropped in the question, "What's the matter Beth?" his eyes full of concern. "You really seem to be bothered by something." He had been noticing Beth since the morning and was sure that something was wrong.

They both stopped walking and Carl waited for an answer. "Nothing, what would it be? Everything's fine" Beth was baffled. She couldn't believe that it was so transparent that first it had been Carol and now it was Carl who had grasped the tension. She knew Carl was smart a smart kid and wondered if he had figured out that it was about Daryl.

"Beth," Carl sighed, "I know you think I'm young and that I might not be able to understand certain things, but I do."

"No, no. . ." Beth tried to assure him. She knew she could trust him but still didn't find it reasonable to share why she was irrevocably drawn towards a man double her age, who as a matter of fact, didn't show the slightest interest in her.

"I don't want you to be sad." he said softly, his gaze fixed at her.

"I'm not sad!"

"Then what's the matter? He narrowed his eyes. "Is it about Zach?"