Did you say Beth x Daryl... - Ofc. Dawn’s shot only grazed her -
They all stood in shock, waiting with held breath for something, anything to happen. Praying it wasn’t true, that she hadn’t been shot-
Beth sat up and touched her head, fingers shaking and coming away with blood.
She was bleeding of course, impossible not to when a bullet connects with skin, but alive, obviously. She looked over her shoulder, eyes wide and face ashen.
Daryl was at her side in an instant, scooping her up and cradling her against him. It wasn’t a regular reunion, or the one he would’ve wanted, but Beth wrapped her arms around his neck anyway, having not been able to say hello before. Daryl, being the man of few words that he was, pressed his nose to her temple in an acknowledgement of her embrace.
“We’re done,” Rick said coldly, cutting through the silence of the moment. “No deal.”
“I didn’t mean-” Dawn started, but Carol held up her hand from behind Rick and walked forward to take Noah by the arm, bringing him back towards the group.
“That’s enough,” Carol replied steadily, eyes like steel. “We’re leaving, and you’re not gonna follow us. Is that clear?”
“We should get some bandages-” Noah started, but Daryl shook his head.
“Naw. We’re leavin’ now, we’ll patch her up when we get back.” He hoisted Beth up a little further, taking his hand off of her back to pull his red rag out of his pocket and press it to her head.
He brushed past everyone else, intent on getting Beth out of there.
“Thanks for coming,” Beth said softly. “Wasn’t sure you’d find me.”
“I wasn’t about to quit looking,” Daryl said gruffly, shrugging a shoulder. “I didn’t know what they were doin’ to you.”
She pressed her nose to his shoulder, breathing in the familiar smell of cigarettes and leather. “I’ll tell you later.”
“You found everybody else, though,” Beth said, craning her head to look him in the face.
“Don’t do that, your head’s bleeding,” he said firmly, and she settled her head against his shoulder again. She winced, finally feeling the pain.
She was silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder. “Hey.”
“If Dawn had killed me… Would you have-”
“In a second,” he said coldly. He sniffed, clearly trying to change the subject. “We got a new place now. Alexandria. Real nice, big houses, you’ll like it.”
“You haven’t showered, though.”
He grumbled a little but Beth just laughed. “That’s okay, you can shower later today.”
“I ain’t showering for you.” He was just teasing though, and she could tell. He sighed a little and held her a bit closer as they reached the bottom floor of the hospital. “I got a big house to myself though. Could use some company.”
She got the hint and decided not to pry it out of him. Without looking up at him she could tell that he was probably blushing. “I’d love to come stay with you, Daryl. Thank you.”
He let out a grunt, followed by “Yeah.”
It was the best she was going to get out of him for now, and she dared to lift her head to press a kiss to his cheek. He grumbled as she laid her head back down on his shoulder, but the way he squeezed her side told her he didn’t mind.
They had a long road ahead, after all. Had to start somewhere.
