Love Through Many Lenses

by crescentcresco

Summary:

This is my dumping ground for Bethyl exercises and short prompts. Each chapter will have 10 fills but the number of sentences per chapter will vary.

Chapter One: Hands, Sleeve, Cooking, Color, Water, Blanket, Time, Light, Knees, Feet

Chapter Two: Card, Lean, Bedtime, Risk, Stitches, Bestow, Falter, Pond, Habit, Table

Chapter Three: Kiss, Stranger, Bitter, Afterlife, Triumph, Invisible, Starfish, Sizzle, Bath, Night

Chapter Four: Ghost, Face, Fireworks, Sauna, Lullaby, Cuddle, Spicy, Dog, Hurry, Space

Chapter Five: Cost, Trip, House, Warm, Punch, Swell, Skin, Chest, Shadow, Flowers

Chapter Six: Birthday, Silence, Frost, Fumble, Eyewitness, Misunderstood, Dignity, Underground, Nightlight, Outnumbered

Chapter Seven: Beginning, Loss, Ghosted, Fade, Revealing, Overindulge, Lush, Chair, Loser, Calendar

Chapter Eight, Other POVs: Carol, Carl, Michonne, Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Aaron, Deanna, Abraham, Sasha

Chapter 1: 3 Sentences

Summary:

Hands, Sleeve, Cooking, Color, Water, Blanket, Time, Light, Knees, Feet

HANDS

Daryl's hands are a thing of beauty. They’re wide as shovels, dry and scarred from years of hard labor, but when he puts them on her he’s so gentle that sometimes she thinks she could cry. Instead she kisses his palms and fingers and hopes, when he’s ready, he’ll hear those three words she can't wait to say.

 

__________

 

SLEEVE

Before the world collapsed, winter was Beth’s favorite season; she’d loved the way snowflakes would settle on the land and barn, one at a time, over and over until all she could see was white earth and blue sky. Of course, that was until she caught a glimpse of Daryl’s bare arms, dirt-dusted and sun tanned, and about swallowed her tongue. Suddenly, those sweltering summer months seemed a lot more bearable.

 

__________

 

COOKING

Daryl never bought into the whole “women belong in the kitchen” bull his dad and brother preached. The way he saw it, everybody needed to eat, and with Merle in and out of juvie and his dad passed out more often than not, he’d had to figure it out himself. He isn't Gordon Ramsay, and no one could afford to be picky after the world came to an end, but he won’t deny getting the warm fuzzies when Beth eats his shitty barbeque of woods ear mushrooms and squirrel meat, and smiles.

 

__________

 

COLOR

The Georgia woods are stunning during the fall, all reds and oranges and yellows carelessly mixed together, like paint on a negligent artist's palette made all the more beautiful in its irregularity. Daryl wanted to keep walking but Beth had coaxed him into sitting with her, their backs to a tree and legs tangled together in a reflection of the chaotic canopy above. Beth is hungry, tired and grieving, but for the first time since the prison fell, she feels like things might be okay.

 

__________

 

WATER

“Daryl, I’m going to take a bath.”

He’ll come with, of course; the river is fresh and cold, and in the perfect fuckin’ spot for an ambush. She knows he won’t peek, and her trust means more to him than any peep show.

 

__________

 

BLANKET

Beth thinks that the most comfortable blanket in the world is probably the old poncho Daryl uses on his rides. It smells of open air, trees, dirt and sweat; an acquired taste, definitely, but one she's glad for. She creates a cocoon of warmth around the two of them and smiles into his hesitant kisses, and thinks about how glad she is to have found him, and that he found her.

 

__________

 

TIME

Somewhere, Beth thinks, they have enough time. Time to get to know one another the way they would in the old world, to hold hands, to be introduced to friends and families and to learn each other's bodies at their own pace. But they don’t so their kisses are hard and rushed and while she wouldn’t trade these private moments for anything, she can’t help but mourn for what they should have had.

 

__________

 

LIGHT

Beth looks good in every kind of light, but Daryl thinks she looks especially good in candlelight. She glows on nights like these, her wispy hair like spun gold haloed by the small, flickering flame, and he can just barely make out her pink tongue in the dark room, stuck between her teeth as she scribbles in her journal.

He's no good with feelings, or words, or expressing anything really that isn’t anger and/or confusion, but goddamn if she doesn't make him want to try.

 

__________

 

KNEES

Daryl knows he's a goner when he sees Beth's knees for the first time and thinks, cute.

They're chapped from the cold Georgian air and skinned from an earlier fall, the skin an angry red visible through the holes in her jeans. They're knobby and skinny and he's beginning to wonder if there's any part of her he doesn't love.

 

__________

 

FEET

Daryl, she notices, doesn't care much for his feet. He's always standing or pacing, ready to go, his already tired shoes worn far past the point where most would have deemed them unwearable.

Beth finds him some slippers for Christmas and smiles when he looks back at her, cheeks red and expression confused.

 

 

 

Notes:

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Chapter 2: 5 Sentences

Summary:

Card, Lean, Bedtime, Risk, Stitches, Bestow, Falter, Pond, Habit, Table

CARD

“The hell’s this?”

Beth looks over and sees a very confused Daryl holding a very pink piece of construction paper. It’s been folded in half and pressed flat with painted, sloppy toddler handprints in the vague shape of a heart.

“It's Valentines–or about, anyway–so Judith and I made you a card.”

She goes back to the laundry to hide her smile, opting not to point out the sudden flush on his cheeks.

__________

LEAN

Beth’s looking a little too thin for comfort these days. Alexandria, despite all it’s promised comforts, isn't exactly swimming in resources and it’s still difficult in the winter. Except she was real small before, too, and that’s what’s got him worried.

He knows she won’t accept extra rations even if they had any to give, and he knows better than to piss off a Greene sister, no matter how sweet she might appear. So he watches and worries from afar, and if he kisses her a little bit harder than he would in the summer months, that’s neither here nor there.

__________

BEDTIME

Beth is pretty good with babies, but she thinks that Daryl might be better.

Judith had been particularly fussy last night and no amount of bouncing, back rubbing or, later, pleading for her to go to bed had calmed her down. Beth had been near tears when she saw the first flicker of sunlight through the prison’s barred window, and Daryl’d about tipped her over when he pulled the baby from her arms and told her to get some sleep.

Judy quieted as soon as Daryl had her settled, staring up at him with big, wet eyes, utterly fascinated by the sudden appearance of her favorite person. Beth doesn’t even bother to undress before falling face first into her bed, and her last thought before being pulled down into sleep is, you know, Daryl will make a real good daddy someday .

__________

RISK

Beth doesn’t know how to have this conversation, so she decides to just come right out and say it: “I’m pregnant.”

Daryl stops whatever he’s doing to his bike and turns to face her, his eyes huge and horrified.

“You’re not your dad,” she tells him when the predicted panic begins to creep across his face, “or Merle. You love Judith, and I know you’ll do right by this baby, too.”

She gently brings him into her arms and holds him tight as he begins to shake.

__________

STITCHES

No one gets out of the apocalypse unscathed, but there's something about paper cuts that hurt far worse than any bruise or broken bone she’s ever had. The stitches on her face twinge in sympathy as she dribbles a bit of rubbing alcohol onto her pointer finger, unable to stop the pained hiss from escaping from between her teeth.

She hears a snort behind her, and even though she loves Daryl dearly, she thinks about smacking him. It’s been a long time since he did anything even approaching a laugh, though, so she settles for rolling her eyes. It's a nice sound to hear, even if it’s at her expense.

__________

BESTOW

Judith found a rock.

It’s pretty, Beth supposes; tiny and smooth from the rushing river, likely washed onto the bed during the heavy rain last week. Judy holds it up to her with a serious, pudgy face, and gestures wordlessly for her to take it.

Beth has a better idea and points her towards Daryl, who’s fishing near the bend. Her heart thumps a little bit faster when he bends down to gently take it from Judy’s grubby hand with one of his small, crooked smiles.

__________

 

FALTER

The first time Daryl sees Beth in shorts his arrow goes wide and hits a tree.

Rick notices, because of course he does, the bastard. His smile is wide and shit eating, and Daryl does his best to communicate that he best leave it alone through squinty eyes and bared teeth.

Rick ignores him and waves to her through the chain link fence. She waves back and Daryl wants to die.

__________

POND

“Hershel, look!”

Judith leads the little boy down to the duck pond, her hand on his wrist like she’s afraid he’ll somehow get lost, and together peer into the green water, their pudgy faces so serious that it makes her want to laugh. Judith may not be Maggie’s blood but she’d wound up just as bossy, and Hershel was apparently experienced enough with that tone to know not to argue.

Daryl’s arm is heavy around her shoulders and she snuggles closer, watching the two of them play and relishing the normalcy of it all.

__________

HABIT

Daryl wakes with his heart in his throat and his stomach churning like a shaken soda bottle, and it’s all he can do not to vomit. He doesn’t remember the dream, and good riddance to it, but that doesn't stop the frantic in-out-in of his heaving chest, or the adrenaline's painful grip on his jugular.

Beth reaches for him across the sheets, still mostly asleep, to rub at his belly through his shirt, gently slurring, “it’s just a dream, baby, just a dream…” before nodding off again. Just like the night before, and the one before that and he, still shaking, pulls her closer and wonders why she puts up with him.

__________

TABLE

It’s Thanksgiving, or at least late fall, and Carol’d insisted on getting the family together for dinner to celebrate.

It’s not like he minds, really, it’s just that Beth can be a little troublemaker when the mood strikes her and the hand she’s slowly working up his thigh is distracting as hell.

They’re hidden by the table, thank god, but he’s pretty sure Michonne has cottoned on, and probably Carol too. He grabs Beth’s hand before it can drift too far north and squeezes in warning.

She grins and takes another bite of casserole with her unoccupied hand, unrepentant and beautiful.

 

 

 

Notes:

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Chapter 3: 7 Sentences

Summary:

Kiss, Stranger, Bitter, Afterlife, Triumph, Invisible, Starfish, Sizzle, Bath, Night

KISS

When Beth finally gets her mouth on his, neither of them seem to know what to do after.

He’s tense beneath her and the mood is turning awkward, fast, and Beth realizes that she’d been waiting for him to take control. Surely he’s kissed before, right? He's beyond handsome with his hidden smiles, his loyalty and quiet passion, not to mention those arms that she wants to lick …it’s a puzzle that doesn’t make any sense, but one that’s easy to put together, anyway.

Oh, Daryl, she thinks, then gently grasps the hair at the nape of his neck, tilts their heads so that she has better access, and gets to work.

What she lacks in experience she makes up for with enthusiasm, and he shudders when she pulls her fingers up, gently scratching at his scalp, feeling indulgent and special. They’re alone in their little home in Alexandria so no one can hear the groan that escapes him when she slips her tongue into his hot, wet mouth, and Beth knows that they’ll be okay. They’ll figure it out together, same as they always have.

__________

STRANGER

Beth hadn’t know what to think about the strangers who had come to stay on her daddy's land.

Daddy didn’t care for them, that much was clear, but Maddie seemed to tolerate, if not actually like most of them. Both had told her in no uncertain terms that she ought to stay away from them. For the most part, she trusted that they knew what was best and obeyed.

Didn’t stop her from looking though, and look she certainly did. Especially at the country man who’d camped far away from the group, and whose walk was so strong and purposeful that, when he goes out searching for that little girl, that it made Beth’s heart ache for the both of them.

I hope he finds her, she thinks, and ignores that tiny, ugly part of her mind that says he won't.

__________

BITTER

“So you’ve never had dark chocolate before?”

“Nah.”

“I think you'd like it. Not as sweet as that Hershey's stuff.”

They continue tromping through the woods; him, silent as a whisper and her, silent as a porcelain mug meeting kitchen tile.

“Do you think you’d try some, if we found it?”

“...Sure.”

__________

AFTERLIFE

Beth hopes that Daryl’s dad went to Hell when he died.

She knows that she shouldn’t think like that, that God loves and forgives all his children equally and that she should strive to do that same, but she can’t help it. She’s seen Daryl's scars up close quite a few times now and it’s impossible to wish well of someone who has hurt another person like that, especially a child. That that child had been Daryl only added fuel to the forest fire that was her quiet grief.

He’s never given her the details and she’s never asked, knowing better than to chase after a spooked cat.

She watches him sleep sometimes, turning her head to look at how the moonlight follows the cut of his cheekbones. Maybe he'll her about it one day, but she also knows that ignorance is bliss and she doesn't quite know how to marry the two in her head and heart.

__________

TRIUMPH

Daryl doesn’t sleep easy, and likely never will.

It’s rare that she’s the one up first, and she watches him with eyes still soft and lethargic, luxuriating in the warmth of their shared bed and the quiet of an early morning. Their heads are angled towards each other, his slack face mere inches from hers, and although his breath is sour from sleep and there's a bit of drool on the pillow, Beth thinks she’d never seen anything more beautiful than his trust.

They can’t spend all day in bed, although she’ll try her best to convince him. Later, she'll wake him with her hand on his chest, scratching at the sparse hair there with blunted nails, and he’ll wake with slitted eyes and a noise that could almost be a purr. She’ll kiss a trail down from his lips to his hips and take him into her mouth, and when he comes it will be with a groan and her hand in his. But for now she lies still and quiet, relishing in the slow morning she thought they would never get to have.

__________

INVISIBLE

Daryl's spent most of his life being invisible, or trying to be.

He’s had a lot of opportunities to practice. Most came from his dad, and later his mama, too, when he realized that she would never stop making excuses for him. He’d learned to stay still and silent in the bathroom stall when the bigger kids came looking, and to disappear fast when social workers started sniffing around the trailer. The woods became his sanctuary, and he stayed there for years until Merle got kicked out of the military and yanked him back out.

He doesn’t want to be like that with Beth but it's a hard habit to break, and he doesn’t know how to talk about it. Instead he just stares at her and hopes like hell she understands.

__________

STARFISH

Judith sleeps like Carl did when he was little; spread out in every direction and diagonally across the mattress.

Daryl's smile is crooked as he looks down into the crib, all his rough edges sanded smooth by the unwitting toddler. She huffs in her sleep and his smile gets that much wider.

Beth watches from the other side of the living room, practicing her suturing on a stained rag. She knows that he's aware of her but for a moment he seems to have forgotten, distracted entirely by the sweet little girl taking her afternoon nap, and the last thing Beth wants to do is pull that gentle expression from his face.

Judith is three now, but Beth still remembers his face the first time he held her, how he lit up like a candle in a jack-o-lantern, small and soft in the dark of the prison's cafeteria.

What a goober, she thinks, and bites her lip to keep from grinning.

__________

SIZZLE

Daryl misses bacon. Beth does not.

Before all this, before anyone could afford to be picky, Beth had been a vegetarian and he knew she still would be, if she had any real choice in the matter.

“I dunno,” she said once, answering his unspoken question. “Guess I just didn’t want anybody to suffer on my account.”

Daryl doesn’t understand, having grown up hunting and eating his own kills, but he gets why she would see it that way, being the painfully kind person that she is. He looks back to their little cookfire and turns the squirrel over.

__________

BATH

It’s a warm, mild day when Carol marches into Beth’s house and says, “I need you to do something for me.”

Beth, who is pretty sure she locked that door, smiles easily and begins to put her gun back together. “Sure.”

Two hours later Daryl comes back from a run, kicks his boots off and is about to head to bed when he hears the sound of splashing upstairs.

It could be nothing, but it could also be something, so he takes the steps two at a time and finds his wife--or what passes for in the apocalypse--sitting naked in their full bathtub, a bottle of what looks to be shampoo and a washcloth in hand.

“Get in, handsome,” she says, “water’s fine.”

He gets.

__________

NIGHT

Beth can’t sleep and, as the moon climbs higher outside the window and her frustration mounts, she decides to make it Daryl’s problem.

“Psst, Daryl.”

He grunts into his pillow but otherwise doesn't respond.

“Daryl,” she says again, and there must have been something in her tone because he finally turns his head to look at her, his hair mussed from sleep and eyes slitted in irritation. His back is still to her and she takes full advantage, reaching around to caress his belly and chest gently, and then again with intent.

“Wanna fool around?”

“...Yeah, okay.”

 

 

 

Notes:

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Chapter 4: 3 Sentences (2)

Summary:

Ghost, Face, Fireworks, Sauna, Lullaby, Cuddle, Spicy, Dog, Hurry, Space

 

 

 

GHOST

Daryl doesn’t believe in ghosts. What with all the dead bodies walkin’ around, you think they’d have run into a few by now.

He doesn’t say anything to Beth; if she wants to believe that Hershel, her mother and her brother are still with her, then he won’t be the one to burst her bubble.

__________

FACE

Daryl’s an intimidating man. He’s got the kind of face that lends itself more to scowls than smiles, and the scraggly, unkempt hair that hides his kind eyes doesn't help matters. But when Beth holds his head in her lap and scratches his scalp as he rumbles, and she can’t believe she ever thought he was scary.

__________

FIREWORKS

Rick, Maggie, Glenn and Abraham have rigged the fireworks to go off at the push of a button. “It’s in case a herd gets too close,” Rick explained, “it’ll redirect them east.”

The circumstances may not be great, what with the horde of walkers and all, but as she snuggles up to Daryl and they watch the lights burst miles away, she thinks that it's as close to perfect as she’s had in a long time.

__________

SAUNA

Georgia summers are brutal. Beth is sitting with Judith under one of the prison's awnings, enjoying what little shade it provides, when she sees Daryl coming up the dirt path. He’s covered in sweat, practically dripping with it and she looks on with appreciation, making a mental note to ambush him later when the rest of their family is asleep.

__________

LULLABY

Beth sings to Judith when she puts her to bed. Her voice is high and soft, rounded in a way that he likes but can't describe. Their cells are close to each other and on nights when it’s her turn to watch Lil Asskicker, he’ll close his eyes and fall asleep to her song, too.

__________

CUDDLE

For all she loves him, Daryl is terrible to sleep with. She’s not talking about sex--no, that bit was pretty mind blowing, actually, once they got the hang of it–-but rather how clingy he is, and how hot he runs. Beth wakes up every morning feeling sweaty and gross, hair a tangled mess with him pinning her to the bed, and so happy that she doesn’t mind one bit.

__________

SPICY

Beth looks on in horror Daryl dumps nearly an entire bottle of hot sauce onto his eggs.

“It'll make even shit taste better,” he says, and smirks. Beth rolls her eyes and goes back to her own plate; if he wants to burn a hole through his stomach, that’s on him.

__________

DOG

Dog’s so excited to see Beth that he almost knocks her down, and it’s only by the grace of the porch rail that she doesn’t go flying. He takes a step forward, ready to scold him, but Beth waves him off and bends down to give the mutt scritches.

Dog’s leg starts thumping and Daryl huffs, amused despite himself; she always did have the magic touch.

__________

HURRY

When Beth gets in one of her moods, it’s all he can do to keep up.

She’s above him now, rocking and undulating like a river down the mountain, and the clutching heat of her pulls a moan from deep in his chest. They only have a few more minutes before someone comes looking for them, he knows, and he pulls her down into a bruising kiss, intending to make the most of their stolen time.

__________

 

SPACE

Sometimes, Daryl just needs some time to himself.

Beth doesn't take it personally; she understands the need to run, to escape from the world for a bit. Doesn't stop her from missing him, though.

 

 

 

Notes:

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Chapter 5: 5 Sentences (2)

Summary:

Cost, Trip, House, Warm, Punch, Swell, Skin, Chest, Shadow, Flowers

 

 

 

COST

“That'll be six acorns, Daddy.”

“It was four a few minutes ago.”

“Well it's six now.”

“That's robbery.”

Beth watches from the doorway as Daryl and their daughter argue over a pile of smooth river rocks, smiling.

—-------

TRIP

Beth and Daryl say two goodbyes before runs; once the morning of, and one the night before.

It's not always sex. Sometimes they talk, or even dance, if she can persuade him. Tonight is a dancing night and she leads him around the kitchen, feeling warm inside as they sway together, uncoordinated and uncaring.

“I love you,” she tells him, and he smiles into their kiss.

—-------

HOUSE

Daryl hates the suburbs.

Even if they're the nicest digs they've had in a long, long time, the crisp paint and manicured lawns make the back of his neck itch. It's uncomfortable and when he gets uncomfortable, he gets angry.

He swallows it. For Beth, the boy and the baby, he'll put up with just about anything.

—-------

WARM

It's late fall in Georgia and while there might not be snow on the ground it's still chilly enough to drive most of Alexandria's population indoors, Beth and Daryl included.

Beth is the last one in and she pulls the door shut behind her, teeth chattering. Daryl is crouched in front of the fireplace, serious and scowling as he arranges the dry logs just so .

Slowly, casually, Beth hangs up her coat and walks over, careful to keep her steps light, and slips her frozen fingers down the collar of his shirt.

He yelps and she laughs, then squeals as she turns tail and runs, Daryl hot on her heels.

—------

PUNCH

The only thing worse than one of Deanna's parties is one of her parties, sober.

Daryl knows homebrew when he tastes it and whoever had spiked the punch had been generous. He doubts that they’d had Deanna’s blessing to do so but can’t find it in him to give a shit; for the first time in years he's feelin’ good and buzzed and he intends to make the most of it.

Beth is apparently of the same mind, gazing at him from across the room with lidded eyes and a relaxed smile, and they’ve been together long enough that he knows exactly what that look means. It’s not long before they make their excuses–he ignores Carol’s knowing smirk–and they set out for home, hand in hand, and what follows is a wonderful night indeed.

—-------

SWELL

“Ow!”

“Toughen up, Greene.”

Beth ground her teeth, hissing again when he applies vinegar to the raised and angry fire ant bites on her back.

“Are you almost done?”

“I’ll get ya through it, don’t worry.”

—-------

SKIN

To Beth’s amusement and despair, Daryl is a fan of hugs. He's developed a habit of standing next to her when he wants one, forever the awkward man she fell in love with, and he'll shifts on his feet until she pulls him close and wraps herself around him. He always sighs when she does, great big ones like she's squeezing the stress out of him, and Beth would make a joke about squeaky toys were it not guaranteed to fall flat.

He’ll make his excuses eventually and Beth will let him go with a heavy heart, unsure if she should be happy that he seeks her out or sad that he feels he has to disguise it. Even now, two decades in the ground, Will Dixon’s shadow looms large.

—-------

CHEST

Beth's never had feelings one way or another about her chest. Sure, a larger bust would be nice--she'd have a wider variety of clothes to choose from, for one–-but she also lives in Georgia and has been subjected to many, many complaints from friends about “boob sweat." It sounds awful.

Daryl isn't a shallow man, but after they got together she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d prefer…more. She let it slip one night after too much wine; he's quiet for a bit, his jaw moving side to side as he thinks, before leaning over and kissing her senseless, and spends the rest of the night showing without words how much he loves every bit of her.

—-------

SHADOW

Daryl doesn't talk about his brother much, and what he does choose to share always takes place before the outbreak. Beth understands; despite everything that happened they were still brothers, and she's glad that Daryl has a few good memories he can cling to.

He doesn't talk about Merle turning, or how he had to put him down. All she can do is hold him when he wakes in the night choking back noise–whimpers or shouts or sobs, she's not sure which and doubts he does, either. She knows that he wants to shut those memories, to keep them locked up tight in the dark where even he can’t see, so she just holds him and whispers sweet nothings until he drifts off again, wrung out and exhausted.

—-------

FLOWERS

Daryl brings her dandelions.

They’re not for everyone, she knows, but she likes them regardless; likes how hardy they are, how yellow they get and how they turn into puffballs when it’s time for the seeds to take flight. He doesn’t do it all the time, only on runs when it’s just him and Aaron, or sometimes Rick, but when he does he puts them in a vase on the kitchen island so they’re the first thing she sees when she comes home.

He’ll murmur something about them being good eatin’, brushing her off when she kisses his cheek in thanks, and she’d point out his red ears if she didn’t think it’d send him running for the hills. He’s a silly man, but he’s her silly man, and she loves him for it.

 

 

 

Notes:

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Chapter 6: 10 Sentences

Summary:

Birthday, Silence, Frost, Fumble, Eyewitness, Misunderstood, Dignity, Underground, Nightlight, Outnumbered

 

 

 

BIRTHDAY

Daryl turns forty this fall and she knows he’s worried about it.

Well, maybe worried is the wrong word; “self conscious” might be better.

It’s the little things that give him away. She catches him picking at a gray hair in his beard one morning, and again at his crows feet a few days after that. He spends an equal amount of time watching the changing trees as he does glaring at them, and that’s when she speaks up.

“You know it doesn’t change anything between us, right?” She keeps her voice easy and relaxed; while Daryl has made a lot of progress, vulnerability could still make him twitchy.

He harrumps and continues stomping through the woods, and she can tell by how stiff his hands are that he’s struggling not to clench them. She sighs quietly and reaches out to grab one, threading their fingers together because with Daryl it’s always better to show than tell.

__________

SILENCE

It's early and they’re enjoying the quiet while they can.

Beth is curled up on their sagging couch with a chipped mug, struggling to wake up. Daryl, morning person that he is, putters around the kitchen, moving between scrambling eggs on the stove and setting their table for four. She watches him with sleepy appreciation, eyes lingering on his ass in his pajama pants and the flex of his shoulders under his sleep shirt.

He clears his throat and she looks up, smiling at his raised eyebrow and red cheeks. She loves how easy he is to fluster, even after so many years.

“See something you like?”

“Mm-hmm,” she hums, “every day.”

He scoffs and goes back to the eggs, spatula scraping against the pan as he plates their breakfast. Their three and four year old daughters will be up soon and chaos will reign again but as she follows the muscled lines of his arms and waist, she thinks that she wouldn’t mind just one more.

—-------

FROST

It’s cold outside and that means she gets to cuddle her husband.

Not that she can’t do that every other day, mind, but Daryl’s different during the winter. She has an easier time coaxing him onto the couch and under a blanket, and sometimes he’ll even fall asleep on her, leaving her free to just…adore him. To play with his hair and rub his back, just because, without him getting all up in his head about it.

He’s laying with her now, the fire he’d built up earlier burning low in the fireplace, near embers. She’s reclined on a throw pillow and his arms are wrapped around her waist, his head snuggled into her belly. She runs her hands through his lanky hair slowly, practically petting him, and he mumbles in his sleep, his expression relaxed and open in a way it never is when he's awake. His breath is hot and humid on her stomach despite the soft sweater between them, and she’d take it off if she didn’t think it’d wake him up.

She might be the only person to ever see him like this, limp and so trusting it makes her want to blush. Adorable , she thinks, and she feels warm in a way that has nothing to do with being inside on a cold day.

—-------

FUMBLE

She’s reassembling her gun when she hears a heavy thunk from the garage.

“Motherfucking shit !”

She calmly finishes, giving the gun a once over before tucking it into her waistband and walking back to check on her beau. She finds him kneeling on the concrete floor next to the bike, holding his foot and swearing up a storm; there’s a specialty wrench of some kind laying next to him and, well, she can put two and two together.

“How’s it going, butterfingers?”

Daryl glares at her. She huffs a laugh and gestures at him to sit down, which he does after some mumbling and, feeling a bit like the prince kneeling at Cinderella’s feet–not that she would ever, ever tell him that–she gently removes his shoe, and then sock. He watches her the whole time, silent, giving nothing away.

The top of his foot is a bright red that she knows from experiences will be a deep and painful purple later, and she says, “Looks like you’re spending the rest of the day on the couch, handsome.”

He grumbles a bit in annoyance and, although Beth knows she’ll be lucky if she can keep him in the same place for an hour, she’s looking forward to being able to dote on him for once.

—-------

EYEWITNESS

Daryl knows what people think when they see him and Beth together; hell, he’d think the same damn thing, if the situation were different.

But it isn’t. Their family knows that. Beth knows that.

Still.

It gets worse as they get older. Beth has never told him outright, but he knows she’s been pulled aside a few times by some well-meaning people to ask if she’s okay, if she needs help getting out .

She doesn’t yell at them; word’d get around if she did and, well, Daryl’s walked the block a time or twelve and he knows that there’s a good goddamn reason people look at their relationship the way they do.

Just another thing he has in common with his old man, he supposes, but this time…this time it's good, and he swears on Beth’s bible that he will do right by her or kill himself trying.

—-------

MISUNDERSTOOD

“DARYL!”

“WHAT?!”

“DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE PUT THE KITCHEN SCISSORS?”

“THE SISTERS ?!”

“NO, THE SCISSORS !”

“I DON’T FUCKIN’ KNOW, MAGGIE’S ON A RUN!”

“NO, THE SCISSORS, DARYL !”

“ASK GLENN!”

“I’M TALKING ABOUT THE EFFING SCISSORS, NOT MAGGIE! ”

Carl sits on the porch with a groggy Judith in his lap and listens to the couple yell at each other from across the house, all the while knowing damn well that Daryl could hear a pin drop on the other side of a shoot out.

—-------

DIGNITY

Beth and Daryl stare down into the crib with blank faces. Below, a teething Hershel is gnawing on a dog toy.

Beth can see the logic behind it; its not baby teethers were easy to come by, and it's better that he have something chew on than nothing at all.

The apple butter is a bit much, though.

“...Should we take it away from him?” Daryl eventually asks.

Beth takes a deep breath and says, “I don't think so, since we don't have anything else to give him. Maggie and Glenn…probably know what they're doing.”

Daryl laughs. “Poor kid doesn't stand a chance.”

—-------

UNDERGROUND

When she was little, Beth had been–was still–scared of their cellar.

It wasn't the dark, or the treat of creepie crawlies, but the space itself that made the hair on her neck stand up. The one and only time she'd followed Shawn down there it had been like the packed earth walls were slowly pressing inwards, turning the air thick and smelly and so wet that it'd been like she was drowning. She'd felt…swallowed, and she'd had nightmares of being pulled down through the earth, kicking and screaming until she couldn't any more, until the dirt itself was holding her immobile as she slowly suffocated, alone and silent.

Daryl's not scared of anything.

They've been wandering for about a week now, beaten down and hungry and growing increasingly desperate. It's sheer luck that they stumbled upon this little shack, and that the shack has a cellar; a cellar that might still have food in it.

“I'll stand watch,” Beth whispers.

He doesn't look at her and hasn't since they fled the prison. He goes in without comment, crossbow at the ready, and Beth turns toward the trees and wishes she was someone, anyone else.

—-------

NIGHTLIGHT

Beth dreams.

Tonight they’re sitting down for supper, the air shimmery and vague as they pass the bread around the table. Otis is there, laughing about something her dad is saying, and Maggie is serving herself some mashed potatoes. They’re the kind Shawn likes best, homegrown with the skins still on them. “That’s where all the nutrients are, Bethy,” her mama would say when she complained, “and you better eat, cause you’re not gettin’ jello otherwise.”

And then, of course, things go wrong. She’s busy eating until she’s not, and the dining room goes so silent and still that she immediately goes rigid. Everyone remains in their seats but now they’re pale and stiff, staring straight ahead with slack faces and black mouths hanging open, eyes empty of what makes them them , and nobody sees her or moves and when she touches Patricia’s arm it's like ice –

She doesn't talk about these dreams, just as Daryl doesn't talk about his but he's always there for her when she wakes, guiding her through the dark until she's back in his arms. He understands that there are some demons she needs to fight by herself.

—-------

OUTNUMBERED

Daryl never had much to do with women before the outbreak. His mama was there for a little while, sure, and then the long line of strange, usually intoxicated ones their dad–and later, Merle–would bring back to the trailer, but few of them had been interested in talking to a kid. Occasionally his brother would throw one at Daryl to fuck, but they never stuck around, either; something that he'd been, and still was, desperately grateful for.

Carol had been the first person–not just woman, but person –to really, truly see him and not an asshole redneck. With her had come others: Lori, Andrea, Maggie, Michonne, little Judith and then somehow, Beth . He wasn't sure what'd he'd done to get her to look at his sorry ass but he was so fucking glad she did because he had no damn idea how he would have gotten through all this shit without her.

He has a life now, the kind that had once seemed so far out of reach that he'd never even considered wanting it. There are family dinners and holidays and people who respect him and care about what he has to say. He's only just gotten used to it when the impossible happens and Beth gives birth to a baby girl.

They name her Annette after her mother and as Daryl rocks her to sleep late one night he can't help but wonder at the strange, wonderful turn his life has taken.

 

 

 

Notes:

Can you tell how much I want to play with Daryl's hair?

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Chapter 7: 3 Sentences (3)

Summary:

Beginning, Loss, Ghosted, Fade, Revealing, Overindulge, Lush, Chair, Loser, Calendar

BEGINNING

Daryl didn’t think much of Beth until after the prison fell, not until she called him a coward and held him as he cried.

She’s different, now, and he can’t help how his eyes linger and his cheeks heat. He vows to never say anything and hopes to whatever the fuck god isn’t out there that he can keep his promise.

—-------

LOSS

Her daddy never got a grave. Best she knows he’s still out of there, bloated and bug filled and cookin’ in the hot sun. Daryl doesn’t understand but holds her anyway as they both fight to accept the things that they can’t change.

—--------

GHOSTED

He avoids her as best as he can, until he can’t.

“Daryl,” she says, cornering him in their bedroom, "what's this about?”

He hides her birthday present behind his back and refuses to meet her eye, hoping for a sudden herd of walkers to overrun the compound.

—-------

FADE

With one short, sharp crack , Beth Greene vanished from this world.

In the end, even Maggie stops crying. He hates that, but he thinks he might hate himself more.

—-------

REVEALING

Zach returns to the prison with a baby blue sundress, and it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots.

She wears it anyway, because it’s been a long time since she’s felt pretty. She doesn’t notice how Daryl avoids her on those days, or how the sunburn on his face seems to get worse when he can’t.

—-------

OVERINDULGE

They learn from Maggie and Glenn’s mistakes. She learns to keep quiet when he rocks into her, how to swallow his gasps and dispose of the condoms with their family none the wiser.

One day , she thinks, biting her lip to smother her moan, we’ll bring the house down .

—-------

LUSH

Once they started growing corn, it didn't take long for someone to start making moonshine.

Beth snags a bottle and stashes it in a drawer for their guesstimated anniversary. It tastes like markers and burns going down but the look on his face when she presents him with it is well worth it.

—-------

CHAIR

Daryl's got a Lay-Z-Boy.

Beth makes jokes about old men and their recliners, because she has to get her kicks in somewhere. He'll grumble but Beth sees his smile anyway, and she doesn't think she'll ever get tired of seeing Daryl happy.

—-------

LOSER

In a roundabout way, the apocalypse is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

He holds Beth to him late at night and contemplates what could have been. What should have been and thinks that, for once in his life, he may have come out on top.

—-------

CALANDER

Her dad used to say that the boiling water that hardens an egg will soften a potato. Beth has changed since the outbreak, becoming less herself but also more, somehow, and Daryl is much the same. It’d taken time but they got there in the end, and that's what matters.

 

 

 

Notes:

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Chapter 8: 10 POVs, 5 Sentences

Summary:

Just some musings.

CAROL

Carol is the first to cotton on.

They’re all different after the prison fell. They’d gotten comfortable, let their guard down when they believed the Governor to be dead and had paid for it dearly; what should have been their forever home was now a smoking, overrun hell, and those who had survived had been scattered like ashes in the wind.

But Beth and Daryl came back different , and she can’t keep her smile from slipping into a smirk when she sees how red his face gets when he’s around her, or the level, knowing look she seems to reserve for him alone. Carol doesn’t say anything, though; after everything that’s happened, and will likely continue to happen, it’s nice to see something good grow.

 

__________

CARL

He catches Beth and Daryl kissing late one night and nearly trips over a tree root.

It’s a testament to how distracted Daryl is that he doesn’t hear him approach, and thank God for small mercies. Carl's been wandering around the streets of Alexandria, restless, and it’s pure coincidence that he’s stumbled on them behind one of the houses. He slowly backs up, marveling at the gentle way Daryl is holding her face, and how she leans into him like they’re magnetized to each other.

He packs away what little remains of his crush on Beth and accepts that he won’t be getting any sleep tonight.

 

__________

MICHONNE

Michonne doesn’t know what they’re waiting for.

The more conservative people in Alexandria won’t care much for the age gap, but it’s not like Daryl ever put much effort into being liked and Beth isn’t too keen on being told what to do these days, anyway. They could be holding back for Maggie’s sake, but that dam is going to break sooner rather than later, so that’s probably not it. Carl stopped following Beth around ages ago, there isn’t anything romantic between Daryl and Carol and she can’t imagine anyone who matters being anything other than happy for the couple.

She turns the problem over in her head for a few days and eventually comes to the amusing conclusion that Daryl must be shyer than she originally thought.

 

__________

RICK

If he knows Daryl—and he does —then he knows that this…thing he has with Beth isn't just a crush.

He knows what it looks like; he’d cuffed plenty of creeps in his time and had been happy to do so, and to anyone not in the know it’s be easy to lump Daryl in with the rest of them. A rough, standoffish, grimy redneck with a young, blue eyed, friendly blonde? It’s the stuff of stereotypes.

Except Beth’s tough as nails underneath that bubbly exterior and Daryl has a gooey, Judith-shaped center that he keeps well hidden; they’re a match, however unexpected, and Rick’s glad that Daryl’s found it in him to be happy after all.

 

__________

GLENN

Maggie hits the roof when she hears, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

Glenn gets it, kind of; Beth is still a teen, technically speaking, and Daryl is approaching his forties, if Glenn has the right of it. No matter how you hack it, that’s pretty damning.

But Beth came back from Grady with a steely glare and a steady shot and, when Maggie tracks him down, Daryl stands and weathers her with the even temper of a man who agrees with his punishment.

She’ll get over it eventually, he knows, once she’s worked it through in her head; her and Daryl are a lot alike, and he wonders privately if that’s how Beth learned to read him so well.

 

__________

MAGGIE

The Beth who flushed Maggie’s birth control down the toilet is not the one who stands before her now, and Maggie isn’t sure how to feel about that.

She knows that Daryl is a good guy—one of the best, even—but that knowledge falls straight outta her head when she walks in to see him pressing her baby sister against the wall of their kitchen, tongues so deep down each other's throats that they can probably taste this morning’s breakfast.

It takes a while, and more than a few loud arguments with Beth before she comes back down to earth. Beth isn’t a kid anymore—lord, even Carl isn’t a kid anymore—and after Grady…Beth knows who she is now, and what she wants, and if what she wants is a man twenty years her senior who is allergic to bathing and will fight to the death to keep her safe, well. Maggie can at least admit that she could have done worse.

 

__________

AARON

Daryl is one of his best friends, and also so completely obvious about how gone he is on Beth that Aaron almost feels sorry for him. Almost , because he’s been there before with Eric and because, even though Daryl has never outright told him, it’s pretty clear that he’s spent most of his life alone or as good as.

So he keeps his remarks about Daryl’s red face and fidgety hands to himself when he brings Beth to meet them, and is only a little surprised when he finds that he likes her. Eric likes her, too, and he and Beth spend the evening on the porch carrying the bulk of the conversation between them. Aaron leans over and whispers to Daryl that he’s glad he found himself a nice girl after all, and laughs when he pushes him out of his chair.

 

__________

DEANNA

Deanna knows that the world is different now, but that’s no excuse for a grown man to be in a—presumably sexual—relationship with a child .

It’s the Pete situation all over again. She can’t kick the man out, not when he brings so much food in and is so handy to have both in a fight and out of it, but she doesn’t like it. She really doesn’t like it.

She brought it up to Michonne once, seeing her as one of the more reasonable of their guests-turned-occupiers, but her response had been so clipped and dismissive that Deanna hadn’t bothered to try again; if Rick wants to put up with such ugliness within his ranks then there isn’t anything she can do about it except look after her own people and hope that the situation resolves itself.

 

__________

ABRAHAM

They’re not the match he would have expected, is all he’s saying.

Abraham won’t do Beth the disservice of assuming that she’s as weak as she looks; anyone who can walk out of the kind of hellhole that he’d heard Grady is has his respect. She knows what she wants and how to get it, and that kind of attitude is damn useful in a fight and out of it.

He wouldn’t have pegged Daryl to be the romantic type—he hadn’t even seemed like the kind of guy to have a type—but it’s pretty clear that little Miss Greene has him by the balls. Not that Abraham can talk; he knows all too well the benefits of having a pretty girl chaining you down and giving you something to fight for, especially when she’s fighting right alongside you.

 

__________

SASHA

If Sasha hadn’t known Daryl and Beth for as long as she has she’d be giving the both of them a piece of her mind right about now.

Yeah, it looks bad, she gets that. Except Daryl, for all his abrasiveness, is a decent man, and even though he keeps it well hidden she can see that he goes a little green around the gills whenever someone brings up Beth’s age. As for Beth, whatever had happened at Grady and after the prison had burned her down to her essentials; the bouncy teen is gone, replaced by a woman who isn’t afraid to get down and dirty, if need be.

So Sasha doesn’t care much, really, even with the age gap; if they’ve found something worth holding onto in a world like this then more power to them.

 

 

 

Notes:

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