#andykinney

[valarmmorgulis]

4000, honestly. And if you don't have that many, you deserve to.

very very close but lower. and thank you btw so kind of you. :)

[everaftercaptainswan]

1450? This is so hard.

higher. 

ice l cold l warm l IM ON FIREEE

guess  my follower count

[everaftercaptainswan]

1200? Am I getting warmer?

shoot higher darling

ice l cold l warm l IM ON FIREEE

guess my follower count

[everaftercaptainswan]

I'm going with 1050 followers!

ooh bit higher :D

ice l cold l warm l IM ON FIRE

guess my follower count

[darylbeth]

so I got a prompt from the beautiful andykinney “Daryl talking to Aaron about Beth or even to Eric about her” thanks so much!! I’m not happy with the way it turned out tbh but I wanted to give you something so here ya go ~

Daryl didn’t know how it had happened. It hadn’t been that long since Beth had come back. And he had to look at her every few minutes for days after that, for way too long, to convince himself that she was real, that the bullet wound in her head proved that he wasn’t imagining her and them together after the prison fell like he had so many times before. It had hurt, seeing her that first time at the gates of Alexandria, her legs moving quickly as she ran towards him, her laughter being carried out with the breeze and her eyes bright as the sun shone down on her hair, giving her a halo. He had dropped his crossbow and ran to her, too, and when their bodies finally collided and she was really there, suddenly the only thing he knew was that he loved her, he loved her, he loved her. And maybe he had known before, but every time he had thought of her, or that moment at the funeral home when he almost said it, his heart started to hurt and he had pushed the almosts out of his mind. But she was here now, and everything made sense. And she nearly asked him what he was saying as he held her tightly, but then she realized, his head on her neck as he sobbed, that he was saying her name, over and over again, in a broken voice, in a whisper, in a laugh, in a million different ways that told her the same thing. That he might love her.

He didn’t know when she had started to see her differently, he supposed it was back after the prison fell, when they were trapped in the boot of a car and their legs were tangled together but neither of them made a move to untangle them, or right after they had found the prison, where she had wanted to sit outside in the middle of the night and he had followed her and they had sat together in comfortable silence, his heart almost stopping when he looked at the moonlight and how it shone over her, or maybe it was even at the farm, where he had been shot and she had brought him his dinner, seeing the scars on his back and looking away as his eyes had darted to hers defensively. And after the prison fell, after they had lost everything, they found each other. It was in the way he looked at her and the way he spoke to her, it was in everything he did. But he had thought that there would be more time and then suddenly there wasn’t. And then she was gone and he was alone, and he remembered thinking that he’d happily die if it meant he got to see her one last time.

And maybe Aaron saw that, or maybe he had just heard Maggie and Glenn whispering about Beth and Daryl when they were on watch the previous day, but when they were outside of the gates looking for others, Aaron had brought Beth up not-so casually.

‘So, you and Beth were close, before?’

Daryl spun around defensively. He didn’t answer, and Aaron looked away and began to walk, watching the woods as he said, ‘after the prison, right?’

Daryl knew Aaron meant well but something about the way the words sounded out loud made him more scared of those feelings. Made it more real. Daryl nodded, chewing on his bottom lip as he turned back around, pushing a hanging branch out of his way with his crossbow.

‘You thought she died.’ Aaron stated and Daryl’s heart hammered painfully against his ribcage, memories flooding him.

He didn’t trust his voice. He nodded, his back to Aaron, but he knew he had seen it because a minute later, Aaron said, ‘she’s alive, though.’

‘Yeah, she’s alive.’ Daryl’s voice wavered.

‘That’s pretty lucky.’ Aaron observed. They walked through the woods for another few minutes, the crunch of the leaves filling the silence.

‘You know, she looks at you differently than everyone else.’ Aaron’s voice seemed far away as Daryl processes the words.

‘Ain’t nothin’ different.’

‘It was different before, though, right?’ Aaron ventured and Daryl hated the way he knew.

‘I’m not saying how,’ Aaron rushed, ‘I’m just saying you two had something, right?’ Aaron waited patiently until Daryl decided to answer, his voice rough and heavy.

‘We had somethin’.’

‘You’ve still got something, from what Eric and I can see.’

Daryl turned around and the crunching of the leaves stopped as Aaron stayed still, watching the archer with a slightly smug expression.

‘Ain’t got nothin’.’ Daryl’s voice was a growl as he grew more defensive.

Aaron ignored that. ‘You know when your group first got here and slowly they all settled in, you still didn’t sleep in one of the bedrooms. You stayed outside on the porch up all night or in the living room, somewhere near a door or a window. Somewhere where you could escape if you needed to.’

Daryl looked to the ground.

‘But since Beth’s been back, you haven’t gone out on the porch. And according to Glenn - ’ Aaron half-smiled – ‘he saw you come out of Beth’s room two nights ago and I’m betting you’ve stayed with her ever since she came back.’

Daryl couldn’t lie, but the way that Aaron said it made it seem like it was more than it was. It started the first night she came back, when he refused to leave her and he stayed on the chair in her room as she slept, making sure she was still there, making sure she was still alive. The next night, she called his name with a voice that scared the hell out of him and he realized she was crying. She told him as she panted that she had a bad dream and he didn’t need to ask what it was to know it had temporarily destroyed something in her. And her hand found his and she had pulled him closer, pulling him onto the bed and asking him to stay in her scared voice and he couldn’t say no. And ever since that night, she had asked him to stay with her every night, and they slept tangled in each other, without a word of question about what they were doing. It was only now that Aaron had said it, that Daryl wondered if he shouldn’t be doing it.

‘I know it didn’t feel like a home to you before, but now that Beth’s here, now that she’s with you again, you sure look like you’re at home. You don’t have to tell me.’ Aaron assured him. ‘I already know. God, everyone already knows, the way you look at each other, the way she looks at you when you’re not looking.’ He shook his head, grinning. ‘I think she knows, too. But I think she’s scared because you haven’t said anything and she thinks you don’t want her like you did way before everything else happened. You don’t have to tell me.’ Aaron repeated. ‘You just have to tell her.’

Daryl didn’t answer Aaron’s advice, but somewhere inside him, he knew he was right. But all he said was, ‘ain’t no way you know all this just by observin’.’

‘I know. Eric talked to Beth about you yesterday.’

Daryl scowled at the man and Aaron grinned as he continued walking through the woods, Daryl trailing behind deep in thought.

When they got back, it was night time and Daryl hesitated when he walked into the house, but Beth walked out of her room and grinned when she saw him and he knew he was gone. He knew that he had known it this whole time and he had tried so hard to tell himself otherwise, but he loved her. And when they were laying in her bed, he heard the familiar sound of her breathing getting more even as she fell asleep, and he thought, that if he couldn’t tell her other times, he could tell her now.

‘Love you, Beth.’ He whispered against the back of her neck , his head pressing into hers as he struggled to get the words out. ‘Think I known it for a long time. Hell, maybe you did too.’ Daryl froze as he heard a hitch in her breath and his heart pounded painfully as she turned around, her blue eyes wide.

‘You love me.’ Beth said, her voice soft.

Daryl didn’t answer, but Beth didn’t need to hear him say it again. And maybe he never could say it again, because every time he looked at her he wondered how he had gotten to where he is from where he was, hating everyone and thinking love was never meant for him, to seeing her and everything changing. And Daryl knew, as Beth smiled a smile that made him forget everything else, made him forget about the world they lived in and how much they had lost, that Aaron was right, that she had known all along and all this time she was waiting for him patiently to realize that he felt the same. But he’d never tell him that.

[bimurdockarchive]

andykinney replied to your post “i’m taking care of a fake baby this weekend for a class and i’m Dying....”

I had to do that last year. I got almost no sleep because it cried every hour until almost seven in the morning. I'm wishing you good luck.

GOD........ thank you i'm definitely going to need it

[darylbeth]

So I got this super good prompt from the one and only andykinney that was “Beth and Daryl at Alexandria eating pasta with Eric and Aaron” (there was also another, which I will most definitely will do tomorrow!) Thanks so much bae, I hope you like it sorry if it’s rushed or there are mistakes!

here ya go ~

Daryl knew it wasn’t gonna be long until Aaron and Eric invited them both over. He had been over plenty of times and so had Beth. After the crying and laughing and disbelieving looks at the blonde girl had lessened, Aaron and Eric had approached her, faces alight with smiles, and asked her to go to theirs for dinner. Beth had laughed and accepted, and the next day, Daryl heard her talking to Maggie about how much she liked them. Daryl didn’t expect her to talk to him about that, but he wished she did. He wished she talked to him about anything. Nowadays, five weeks after she had walked through those gates with scars and bruises on her body and her eyes big and glassy and her smile bigger than he had ever seen it, nowadays, they didn’t have that much time to talk. Daryl was busy recruiting with Aaron and Beth was busy helping Maggie out, or going on runs with Glenn, or looking after Judith. At least that’s what he told himself.

When he sat out on the front porch of the house he shared with his family, it was hard not to remember that night, a lifetime ago, when the girl with a moonlight halo around her head had turned her bright eyes to him and smiled radiantly, sending shivers down his spine even though the night was warm, and he had thought that’s it, that’s what they all talked about. That moment when you realize it’s not the same as before. That moment when you realize it’s different. After that, he knew he was gone. They burnt down the house and everything he was before that moment along with it. After that, he was all hers. And she might not have known it, he might not have told her, but it was in the way he looked at her as she woke up the next morning rubbing her eyes sleepily and it was in the way he told her to go to sleep that night even though it was her turn to take watch. It was in everything he did, every day after. Until he lost her. And he had thought to himself as he was running after the car with the white cross that cold night, that he had never hurt more than that. But the next day, when he collapsed with exhaustion and sat, hating himself, he knew that he had failed, he knew she was gone. And that had hurt worse. But nothing had compared to the feeling when he saw her in that hospital alive and a bit messy, but alive. And when that bullet went through her head, and suddenly she wasn’t alive anymore, he had thought he had died, too. And then she was nothing but a finished song and the last note on the piano had played and he was watching from behind her again. Walking out of the hospital with her in his arms, he had thought to himself again that nothing would hurt as much as this. But he was wrong again. It was the hours, the days, the weeks that followed, where the place on his heart where her name used to be was blank, her initials on his rib bones were scratched away, and he knew that that’s it, that’s what’s always gonna hurt the most. The empty feeling, the feeling that can’t be fixed because she wasn’t there to fix it.

So he had told himself that she was busy and he was too, because thinking that she didn’t want him was too damn tragic. He tried not to think of how he had felt when he saw her standing at the gates of Alexandria, when he saw her blue eyes blink and the steady rise and fall of her chest, the things that told him she was alive.

After they finished sobbing and laughing in each other’s arms and she reunited with everyone else, they talked the whole day. They caught up, filled each other in all while exchanging disbelieving looks with shining eyes. But the days and weeks that followed were different and Daryl felt the familiar feeling of self-doubt creep into his mind and he told himself that he should keep his distance, that he didn’t want to ever feel again how he felt when he lost her. That she probably didn’t want him anyway. But deep down, he knew it wouldn’t work. If he didn’t talk to her for years, if he didn’t see her at all, it wouldn’t matter. Knowing she was alive was all it would take to bring him to his knees when he found out she was dead. He wouldn’t survive that again, he knew. And he knew it was because of that feeling he had the first time on that porch, and the feelings after.

So when Maggie told him with a sly smile that Beth was also going to Aaron and Eric’s for dinner that night, he knew it wasn’t a coincidence that the couple had invited him over as well. Maggie had wiggled her eyebrows as Glenn grinned and gave him a thumbs up from behind her, earning a giggle from his wife when she turned around. And Daryl thought, for a second, that that was what they all seemed to be doing, looking behind, like Beth when she turned around while she was singing to find Daryl listening and Maggie turning around, smiling, to see Glenn. Always looking behind. He couldn’t be looking behind. He told himself, for the first time since after the prison, that he would be brave again. He couldn’t act like he didn’t love her, it killed him a little more every day to keep his distance. But he did, because he thought that’s what she wanted.

And that’s how he found himself in Aaron and Eric’s house, the three of them waiting around the table for Beth to arrive. Aaron and Eric were exchanging nervous looks as they watched Daryl stare at his feet, chewing on his bottom lip.

Before they could say anything, there was a knock at the door and Eric jumped up and dashed to answer it. A minute later, Eric came back with Beth walking not far behind him. It had hurt to look at her after the prison, when her bright eyes looked at him and saw good and her smile was probably what lit up the shack in the first place, and it hurt to look at her now.

‘Great, let’s eat.’ Aaron said, obviously less aware of the two of them than his partner, who was bursting with excitement at the sight of them sitting next to each other. They ate their pasta with little conversation and when they were done, Beth complimented Aaron and Eric on the meal.

‘You mustn’t have had food like this in a while, huh?’ Aaron asked her. She smiled sadly and shook her head.

‘Haven’t had a proper meal like this since the funeral home.’ She looked over to Daryl, smiling and he felt his stomach twist at the memory of carrying her into that kitchen, her laugh staying in his mind long after it had ended.

‘Daryl did mention something about that.’ Eric started, watching them both with interest as Aaron hid grin with his wine glass.

‘He tell you how we got drunk?’ She laughed and Daryl couldn’t help the corners of his mouth twitching up at the memory.

‘Something like that.’ Aaron gave a chuckle. ‘How was it?’ He looked to Daryl.

‘She ain’t a happy drunk.’ Daryl answered, his voice rough and Beth giggled in denial.

The two stayed silent, reliving their memories in their heads while the crickets chirped outside of Alexandria. They hadn’t realized how long it had been before anyone spoke until Aaron and Eric clanked their cutlery together. Daryl and Beth looked up to meet the knowing faces of the two opposite them and both Daryl and Beth looked away hastily.

‘Look, you two,’ Aaron stared as Eric nodded in agreement, not even sure where the conversation was going, ‘we know how you feel about each other and we know how you’re both scared for whatever stupid reason, but –’

‘But you two have to get together soon, you’re giving me high blood pressure.’  Eric interrupted.

Daryl’s eyes widened, startled by their straight-forwardness and Beth felt her cheeks glow. Aaron and Eric watched them expectantly as they sat completely still. Eric rolled his eyes, sighing as Aaron nodded to him. Clearly, this wasn’t going according to plan.

‘Okay, well dinner’s over, hope you had a good time,’ Eric said as he and Aaron stood up, ushering them both out of their seats and then down the hallway and before they knew it, they were outside the front door. ‘Goodnight you two.’ They called before they shut the door. Beth thought she heard Aaron’s muffled voice say, ‘could we be any more obvious?’ and turned to Daryl, but she realized she was watching his angel wings get further and further away from her and she tried not to let tears of disappointment fill her eyes. She didn’t know for sure until she had found herself at the gates of Alexandria, holding her breath and then when she spotted the crossbow on his back and his familiar eyes, she finally could breathe. And she thought, when she saw the way his chest jumped as he saw her, that maybe this was his first breath since, too. But the days that followed, the pain and confusion she had when they didn’t speak, had made her question if they ever had anything at all. And she thought that she was being stupid, just seeing things she wanted to when they were in that funeral home before she got taken, and he had looked at her in a way that told her he could love her.

But as the moon shone over Alexandria and his angel wings got further away, Beth decided that he didn’t get to decide. She jogged down the steps of Aaron and Eric’s house and caught up with him, grabbing his arm and making him stop. She wasn’t going to let them end just because they were both scared to begin.

‘God forbid you ever let anybody get too close.’ She breathed, her voice soft as his eyes darted to hers, and she saw it there, she saw the fear.

‘Beth.’ His voice was heavy. ‘I can’t – if you were – ’

‘I’m not. I’m still here.’ She grabbed his hand and squeezed.

Daryl shook his head. ‘Ain’t now, Beth. ’S later, if you ain’t here, I can’t –’

Beth’s heart shattered when she heard how broken his voice was. ‘Hey – hey. I’m not gonna leave you.’

And her words worked in making him remember that the feeling they got when they were together was stronger than the fear they got when they weren’t. And suddenly, they were back to the porch of the moonshine shack, where everything had changed between them so quietly that if they blinked they might have missed it. A lifetime ago. But as they walked back to their house, the moonlight making Beth’s hair glow and the wings on Daryl’s back do the same, a lifetime ago didn’t seem that long ago at all.

[kagohme]

I HAVE CLASSES SOON. I HAVE A PRESENTATION SOON. I HAVE TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE SOON. BYE BYE.

Happy (belated) Birthday, Rachel!