Never Had A Dream Come True

A Special Dinner

„No reason to worry,“ he only said and secured the front door after closing it behind him. It had gotten almost completely dark outside by now and Daryl made himself busy by lighting up some candles. Then he chose what food they were going to have together with Beth and in amicable silence they prepared the table. Daryl opened the bottle of wine and after a few minutes they were seated at the table, plates were full of food and old marmalade glasses were filled with wine. Daryl had no idea if this was any 'good' wine or not but he figured that Beth wouldn't know either so as far as he was concerned, everything with alcohol in it was good. Especially because it would help him to soothe his still racing thoughts and calm down his nerves.

And it worked. For a while they just pleasantly talked about this and that while they dug in. The full stomach and the wine made Daryl drowsy but also very content with the way things were right now.

The candles were casting a warm light at the scenery and he watched the shadows dance over Beth's pretty features. The light brought out something special within her eyes and it remembered him of something and he tried to put his finger on it. Something from his past, something pleasant...

He suddenly realized that he had been staring at Beth for quite a while and that she had stopped speaking a while ago already as well.

„Uhm...“ he said uncomfortably and averted his eyes, suddenly feeling self-conscious. What was it about her that turned him from the fighter he usually was into someone so insecure? „More wine?“ he said, in an attempt to loosen up the tension that had build up between the two of them again.

Beth watched as he moved around the cabin lighting up some candles and starting a fire in the small fireplace to ward off the cool night air and when he had finished she rose and together they worked to prepare some of the food. Taking a seat at the table they both ate their food and Beth was happy for the wine he had found it was sweet unlike her first drink...she thought back to the cabin and moonshine and how they had opened up so much to each other that night.

Sipping the wine they carried on a causal conversation, it felt nice to have some sense of domestic normality again...like the dead had disappeared and the world was right once more. Daryl seemed more relaxed and that made her happy as well. Her deep green eyes were locked on his own dark ones as she listened intently to every detail of what had happened the night she had been taken.

He suddenly became self conscious probably because she had stopped talking and was simply listening, he offered her more wine and she held out her glass giving him a soft smile "Yes..please". After he filled her cup she took another swallow "Do you think it will be safe here? I mean should we stay or try and find the others?" her left hand rested on the table, she had a sudden urge to reach out and take his. "You know I owe you so much Daryl...I knew I would find you again even when I was...with those men I knew you were looking for me".

„You don't owe me anything,“ he said, meaning it. He had done what he had done because he had wanted it. Once again Daryl got lost in her huge, green eyes while he tried to not think about the despair he had felt and the tremendous fear of losing her during those days where he had been following her and he finally realized that even though she depended on him more when it came to safety and supplies, he depended on her just as much. Probably even more.

„Can't do it all alone, can I?“ he then said in an attempt to play it down, in an attempt to not let her see just how lost he had felt without her.

Truth was that there had been no other options than to go looking for her. He hadn't even considered the possibility to turn the other way and look for any possible survivors from their group. Because it was Beth he needed the most, he realized that now.

Why was he so damn obsessed with this woman? Only a few weeks ago, she only had been a girl to him, a girl he liked almost like a younger sister. He always had been protective of her because she had been part of his 'family' but things had changed. The situation between them had changed. He had no idea how she had managed but she had gotten under his skin. Deep under his skin. So the option of leaving her behind hadn't been an option at all.

He finally managed to break the eye contact and got up, also in order to get some more physical distance between them again. Walking over to the fireplace he then put some more wood onto the small fire to keep it going for another while. He then turned around to look at Beth again. „But, yeah, glad that you are around again.“

Beth knew that Daryl would downplay her gratitude he was simply humble like that but truth be known she really did owe him more than she could ever explain. It was not just because he offered her security or that he was such a good hunter and survivalist it was also because he had shown her that she was not just a little girl anymore, he treated her like the adult she had become.

„Can't do it all alone, can I?“ he stated before he finally averted his eyes from her's and stood up walking over to the fireplace. The electricity between them seemed to fill the air in the small cabin and Beth wondered if he could feel it as well? When had her small crush on him turned into a full blown desire?

After he added more logs to the fire he stood back up and his dark eyes met her's again „But, yeah, glad that you are around again.“ a small smile formed on her lips and she lifted her glass and downed the remainder of her wine before placing the glass back down "You have no idea how glad I am to be back". Beth rose from her chair and crossed the small room to where he was standing small goose pimples covered her arms as she neared him "This was really nice...I forgot how easy it is to be happy again". Her head was a little fuzzy from the effects of the alcohol as she gazed up at him.