Chapter Text
The barn burns to ash behind them as Daryl drags Beth to his motorcycle and practically throws her on. She’s trying to sit up, when she looks over and sees her father huffing toward them, walkers closing in.
“Daddy!” she shouts, reaching uselessly toward him.
Daryl curses and starts the bike. Then he hands her a gun. “Start shooting the geeks closest to him. You’ve got five shots. Don’t miss.”
“No – I–” Daryl gives her a look. She raises the gun, her father almost ten yards from them now. Breath in. Breath out. Squeeze the trigger.
It hits the first walker in the shoulder. She aims again, and this time, it goes down. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turns to the next closest. Three go down, total. It isn’t ideal, but it’s enough to get her father on the bike while Daryl peels out of the yard like a bat out of hell. With the smoke burning her eyes and lungs, the metaphor’s a little too close for comfort, and Beth can’t help but shudder.
“Shoot anything that gets in front of us,” Daryl snarls in her ear, dumping his crossbow in her lap, and they hit the highway.
Once they get to the highway, they realize they’ve lost the others. Or been lost, at least. Maggie must have put up a fight, but, in the end, who would believe Beth and an old man survived that. Daryl, on the other hand…she can’t believe they left him.
He snorts when she tells him that. Lights a smoke and drawls, “Hell, princess, they been tryin’ to get rid of me since they left Merle handcuffed to that dumbass roof.” Her father gives him a look at that, and Daryl blinks back at him in confusion. “What? ’s true.” Beth hides her smile. In his own crass way, Daryl Dixon is as innocent as a child.
Daddy wants to go to the fort, see if they can catch the group and, most importantly, find Maggie. But Lori will need a doctor too, and since he’s the closest they had, Beth can tell he feels guilty at the thought of abandoning them. Daryl, on the other hand, outright refuses. “Ain’t got enough gas, for one thing,” he says. “For another, everybody’ll be headed there. Bet those bastards in the fort ain’t even faring any better than the rest of us. It’ll be like Atlanta all over again. Nope, I’m headed home.”
It becomes an argument until it starts getting dark. At the very least, they can all agree that they need to get off the road if they can. Daryl finds them a root cellar and takes watch as Beth and her Daddy hold each other and mourn everything they’ve lost.
The next morning, Daryl puts his foot down when Beth brings up going after the group again. “Can’t track on asphalt, and we don’t know for sure which way they went or what they might’ve run into that’d make them change direction. Last time I let someone talk me into heading to some government property instead of the woods, I almost got blown up. So naw, I’m going to the mountains, and y’all can do whatever the hell you want. Ain’t no skin off my nose.”
Her father looks like he’s going to pick up and go off in the direction he thinks Maggie went anyway, but Beth puts a hand on his arm. “He’s right, Daddy. We don’t know what they might’ve had to do to avoid the herd. Maggie has Glenn and Rick and Lori; she’ll be alright. We’ve got to trust we’ll see her again someday. But if we go off after her like this, we’ll just get ourselves lost, and that won’t help Maggie at all.”
Beth can’t believe she says it. She doesn’t want to say it, but she knows it’s the truth. She also knows that neither of them are gonna last very long without Daryl.
They walk for so long Beth loses track of the days. Daryl teaches them how to stay alive though, and Beth sees her Daddy come to respect him almost as much as he respected Rick. Maybe more even, because of the way Daryl doesn’t even think to be all self-important. He just calls things as he sees them.
He’s gruff and crass, but Beth thinks that’s just to hide the ways he’s really kind and patient with the two of them – the weakest links, Beth knows. Probably the worst people he could’ve got stuck with, but he never complains. He just slows down and waits for them, or says he’s gonna go scout and circle back, and he does, usually with a squirrel. He never asks for anything from them, either of them, to pay for taking care of them like he does, and Beth feels bad about that. It’s not like they have anything to give, but she can at least get stronger so she’s a help to him and not a burden.
Daddy doesn’t like to let her go off on her own with Daryl though. He worries whenever she’s out of sight, even though deep down they both know she’s safer with Daryl than she is with him. Still, he lets Daryl teach her how to use a knife and a gun, and she’s grateful for that.
When they start getting close to the mountains, Daryl finds them an old hunting cabin. There’s about half a dozen walkers inside, which is more than they expected, so there’s a bit of a scuffle to clear it out, but soon enough it’s over, and Beth’s excited to sleep in a real bed. Plus, it looks like the people here got turned early, so there’s still a good bit of supplies left.
“You’re thinking about staying here,” Daddy says as Beth fixes canned beef stew on the gas stove, a delicacy these days.
From the corner of her eye she catches Daryl’s shrug. “’s fairly defensible. Have to think about the weather turnin’ and getting all set up for that in time, ’specially up here. Reckon it might do until winter’s over and we can explore around a little more. See if there might be anything better up in the Smokies. Miles and miles of national park up there. Ought to already be all cleared out and if you set up on top of the right mountain these rascals couldn’t get to ya. Say in some parts there’s still buildings standing from where they made all the folks leave to make the park. Shouldn’t be too hard to maintain and fortify those.”
Daddy nods, and Beth pulls the stew off before it scorches with a smile. That sounds lovely; she’s always wanted to see the Smokies.
It’s when they're preparing for bed that Daddy finds the bite.
“Bethy,” he says softly, “come here.”
Beth finishes pulling on the lovely flannel nightgown she found in the next room before popping her head around the doorjamb. “What’s the matter, Daddy?”
He pulls up his pant leg, and tears well in her eyes. “No.” This is all her fault. If she’d been quicker, paid better attention…
“It’s gonna be okay, Bethy. You’re gonna be fine, you hear me? You’re tough like your mama and like Maggie and Shawn and just as stubborn as I am. You’re gonna be just fine.”
She shakes her head. “No, I’m not. You can’t leave me too; I’ll be all alone! I won’t know what to do without you, Daddy.”
“Nonsense,” he says, brushing her hair back from her cheek and pulling her close – for the last time, or nearly so. Beth can’t help the tears that come pouring out at that thought.
Daryl hears the ruckus and comes to stand in the doorway. Daddy motions him over and shows him the bite. Daryl takes it in with a curse.
“I’m entrusting you with my daughter, Daryl Dixon. She’ll be your wife now–”
“She what?!” Daryl barks, and Beth is already sitting up, looking at her father aghast.
“Your wife,” her father says slowly, articulating carefully.
Daryl shakes his head and half turns away. “Nu-uh, no way. Ain’t never had a wife, and I don’t plan to start now with this piece of jailbait.”
“Daddy,” Beth breathes, “Surely you know that Daryl ain’t like that. He ain’t never done nothin’ nor asked for nothin’ even though he’s been keepin’ us alive for a month or more.”
“Ain’t never had a kid sister neither. But I figure it’d be like watchin’ out for Beth here,” Daryl grumbles.
Daddy just looks at him sternly. “But she isn’t your sister. And it ain’t fittin’ for you two to be alone and unrelated and not married.” Beth opens her mouth to say something about the unusual circumstances, but Daryl storms out, slamming the front door behind him.
“Was that really necessary, Daddy?”
Her father clears his throat. “It’s my dying wish, Bethy. I want to know you’ll be taken care of properly. And that’s what marriage is: a commitment to take care of each other until death. That way you won’t be out here without family. Daryl won’t say it, but he needs the promise of family too. Otherwise he won’t really believe that he should be the one takin’ care of ya. But he’s the only man I’ve found, besides that boy of your sister’s, since all this started that has really proven trustworthy. He searched for that little girl until he couldn’t. He talks rough and acts rough, I know; he’s been treated badly in the past because of where he came from. But he’s proved himself a hundred times more of a man than that deputy. And in a world like this, you need a man to protect you, not a boy your age. And this is my last chance to try to make sure you have a husband who will do right by you. I’m sorry, Bethy. But I need you to do this for me. So I can die in peace.”
“Don’t talk about that, Daddy.” She flings her arms around his neck and squeezes him tight. “Let me have just one more moment without thinking about you dying.” She forces herself to breathe steadily so that she can try to think of some way out of this. But her father knows more about medicine than anyone else. Surely, if there was a way to save him, he’d have told her about it.
She holds him just a bit tighter, jumping when Daryl flings open the door and storms back in. “I ain’t lettin’ you die, old man. Not with stupid last requests like that.” He’s got a hand saw in one hand and a bucket in the other, which he thrusts at Beth. “Get some water boilin,’ girl.”
Beth jumps up to do just that. Whatever Daryl has planned, she’s pretty sure she won’t like it. But if there’s any chance to save her father, she’ll take it. As fast as she can, she pours some of the water in the pot and sits it on the stove to boil. Then she takes a step back toward her father’s sick bed and stops.
“Please, Daryl. You know what’ll happen to her if you two run into a group of men you can’t outfight – especially if they think she’s untouched. One of them’ll take her and make the rest of her life a misery.”
“And you think some story about her bein’ my wife is gonna stop that?”
“It’ll make it less likely that someone’ll try to steal her away to make her their woman. And it’ll give you rights to her. Who knows what kinda world is bein’ built around us? That used to be the only thing that would keep a woman safe, and it very well might be again.”
“I done told ya I’ll keep her safe.”
“Safe means safe from charmers too. I don’t want her to accidentally end up with another Shane Ward neither.”
“So you think it’s better to saddle her with the redneck, huh? At least he can keep her fed and alive.”
“Yes. He can. But he’s also a good man who’s trustworthy, loyal, and determined. You’ve a good heart behind all that surliness, Daryl Dixon. You and Beth need each other.”
“How you figure?”
“She needs help surviving. One day, you’ll need a reason to keep surviving.”
“Hmph.”
“What’s more, I won’t agree to your crazy plan unless you agree to my crazy idea first.”
Beth hears Daryl curse and walk toward the kitchen, so she whirls around, and pretends like she’s been watching the pot not boil this whole time. But when she does look up, the set of his mouth tells her he’s not fooled. “C’mon, girl,” he grunts, holding open the screen door and nodding out toward the porch.
She hunches her shoulders to duck under his bicep and takes a seat on the porch steps, arms crossed. Even when she was eight and Maggie told Ritchie Fallon that Beth had a crush on him while they were all three on the church swing set, she never felt as embarrassed as she does now. Truthfully, she’d never really thought of Daryl like that before. But she’s read too many books like Love Comes Softly for her not to see the pragmatic (and even romantic) potential of her father’s wish. But that’s the thing that makes it so awkward, she guesses. Daryl’s about to tell her there’s a chance of a snowball in Georgia in July that he could ever have those sorts of feelings for a naive little girl like her.
And to be fair, Love Comes Softly has like, no sex. The thought of that, with Daryl, makes her want to gag a bit. But then, she’d not really wanted to have sex with Jimmy either. –and that just makes her feel more guilty. Here she is actually considering getting married (or as married as one can now), and her boyfriend burned to death a mere month ago.
Daryl clears his throat. “Your daddy’s right about it making things easier if we run into people.” And they want to rape you; maybe a ring would make them think twice. “It’d be easier for explaining what you were doing with the likes of me, and why I won’t let some fucking bastard touch ya.” He rubs the toe of his boot across the dirt on the porch. “I never planned on getting married noway, so it don’t make much difference to me what we say. But you – you had dreams of a fairy tale romance, didn’t ya?” He looks up and their eyes catch.
Beth feels flayed to the soul. Exposed and so, so silly. She straightens her back and raises her chin. “That was a lifetime ago.” Her fingers absently fidget with her bracelet. “Life isn’t a fairy tale, and we do what we need to do to survive.”
He just looks at her a little longer, making her feel like a butterfly under a pin. Then he lights a cigarette she didn’t know he had. “Well then. Let’s go in and say what we need to say to make your daddy happy. Then I’m gonna try to take off his leg and see if that keeps whatever this is from spreading.”
“Okay,” she says, blinking.
“Well get in there, girl. Tell him he has my word, but we can’t wait on the leg.”
Daryl speak for, “Tell him whatever you have to tell him to get him to agree while I finish this cigarette and work up the nerve to saw off a man’s leg.” She nods and scurries off.
By the time Daryl comes in, Daddy has insisted on taking off the chain around his neck that holds her mother’s rings, despite the pain. Beth’s blinking back tears because as much as she tried to protest taking them, her father insisted. “This is what your mother would have wanted,” he whispers as he pats her hand, tears rising in his own eyes.
Then when Daryl comes in with the boiling water, Daddy hands him his wedding ring. “I want you to do the ceremony first. Just the vows, real quick. Just in case I don’t make it.”
Daryl looks like someone’s made him drink castor oil. Beth puts a hand on his arm, but jerks it back when he flinches. “Here,” she says softly, and trades him her mother’s rings for her father’s simple band. He blinks up at her, uncertain, but she just hopes he remembers what he said out on the porch. It doesn’t matter to me what we say. Right now, they just have to console her father. They can sort out the rest later.
“Can you officiate for us, please, Daddy?” she asks softly. Her father beams, and suddenly she’s nearly overcome with emotion.
“I’d be honored, sweetheart.” He brushes her face gently, and then says in his Deacon Voice, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Marriage was instituted by God himself, for mutual comfort and protection because he saw that it was not good for man to be alone.” He turns to Daryl. “Do you, Daryl Dixon, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, in good times and in bad, to comfort, protect, and provide for her, forsaking all others and cleaving only to your wife, as long as you both shall live, before God and this witness?”
There’s an awkward pause while Daryl clears his throat. “I do.”
Her father turns back to her. “My dear Bethy, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, in good times and in bad, to comfort, protect, and provide for him, forsaking all others and cleaving only to your husband, for as long as you both shall live, before God and this witness?”
Her tongue feels like lead, but she says, “I do,” clear and strong. It has all the weight of a vow she means, no matter what Daryl said on the porch. Here, in this moment in front of her father, before God, and looking into Daryl’s piercing blue eyes, she can’t imagine a wedding more real.
Maybe Daryl feels the solemnity too, because when her father tells him to slip the rings on Beth’s finger up to the second knuckle, he fumbles a bit before he manages to hold them right. But his hand doesn’t tremble once he completes his task, though Beth can’t help the shiver that races up her spine at the contrast of the smooth, cool metal and his rough, warm hand.
“Do you want to repeat after me, or come up with your own vow?” her father asks. Daryl looks down for a moment, and Beth thinks he’s a second from walking out when he looks up and meets her eyes again.
“Beth, I ain’t never had much, but I don’t suppose that matters anymore, since nobody can hold onto anything much nowadays. But I promise to hold onto you and make sure you’re taken care of, no matter what. Maybe I can’t give you much, but I swear I’ll use these arms and what brains I’ve got to keep you warm and fed.” She manages to suppress another shiver, but she can’t help the way her face flames. “And I won’t never walk out on ya or beat ya. I swear before God.”
That, she thinks, means more than any other vows he could have repeated. Daddy tells him to go ahead and slip the ring on, as a symbol of his vow. Now, it’s her turn, and she has no idea what to say. With trembling fingers, Beth slips her daddy’s ring up to the second knuckle on Daryl’s left hand. Then she takes a deep breath and tries to speak from her heart.
“Daryl, I know I don’t know much, and that most of the time I’m more of a burden than a help. But I swear I’ll work hard to learn so I won’t be a burden anymore. I want to learn how to help you, if you’ll let me, so we can survive and be happy. And I’ll never leave you or hurt you if I can help it. Before God and this witness.”
Her father nods at her to push the ring all the way up onto his finger, but it’s too loose, and she can tell that the feel of something new on his hand is unwelcome. Above all, having a loose ring made of soft metal on Daryl’s hand is impractical – and she knows him well enough now to know he hates anything impractical. So before he can protest, Beth takes her daddy’s old chain off, slips the band on it, and claps that around Daryl’s neck, like he’d once worn the walker ears.
Daddy laughs. “Well, I reckon that works too. Now, you may kiss the bride.”
And Beth could just plummet through the earth and disappear or die — Daryl looks more panicked than he did when they were escaping the farm. But one glance at Daddy tells her he’s gonna argue the point, and then Daryl will shut down, and they don’t have time for any of that. So she lurches forward and puts a hand on the back of Daryl’s head so she can press her lips firmly to his for three beats. She’s already pulling away by the time he starts flailing.
“The fuck, you doin’, girl!” He sputters. Her father scowls at him.
Beth thinks about her babysitting experience and decides the best way to move forward is to do him the favor of ignoring his embarrassment. “There, we’re married." She stares down her father. "Now I believe you have a promise to keep too?”
Daddy clasps her hand, thumbs over her mother’s engagement ring. “Alright, Bethy. Alright.”