BETHYL WEEK – Day 1. Prompt: Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or the following characters. I am simply playing in their playground.

OUR LITTLE SECRET

"What job did they give you?" Beth asked as she delicately laid her backpack down against the arm of the musty worn sofa.

Daryl moved in front of the sofa and dropped his treasured poncho onto the floor just at the foot of it. "Construction. With Abraham." There was a slight sourness to his tone, as though there had been other options more suited to his taste.

"How 'bout you?" he said, passively continuing the conversation as he gave his pants a little tug before kneeling down. With rough hands, he smoothed the garment out across the polished wood.

Beth plopped herself down on the couch, eyes trained on Daryl as he got to work on his set-up. "Well, he told me that Judith's the first baby they've gotten here, so when I told him that I've been her primary caretaker this whole time he said he'd turn one of the spare rooms at the school into a little nursery. He said that there are other children here too, so if their parents ever want some time alone, or a night out, they can bring them to me."

She was rather satisfied with the job she was given, even though the leader of the town had come on a little strong with a few inappropriate questions.

Daryl let out an amused snort. "That ain't the least bit fair. Wanna trade?" A slight smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he rolled heavily onto the spread fabric, keeping his eyes on her as he shoved his backpack underneath his head as a pillow substitute.

Beth laughed and smiled painfully at how uncomfortable his arrangement looked. She was honored that he automatically assumed she should be the one to get the couch, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little bad. Even though Douglas, the leader of the town, had offered the group two separate houses to split amongst themselves, Rick had suggested that they all camp out in only one for the first few nights just in case. They knew next to nothing about this town or its community, after all. Last thing they wanted was another Terminus repeat.

Just then, Rick entered through the front door, presumably having finished getting the rundown from Douglas, followed by Michonne carrying Judith, with Carl and Eugene close behind. Rick's eyes landed immediately on Beth and Daryl, and then darted across the room. "Where's everybody?" he asked.

"Upstairs, gettin' settled in their rooms," Beth told him. "There're only three rooms, so Maggie, Glenn, Carol, and Tara have taken one while Sasha, Bob, and Tyreese have claimed another. We all agreed to leave you, Carl, and Judith the last room, so we figured everyone else can just sleep in the livin' room here with us."

Rick thought about it for a second and then gave an approving nod before turning his head to confront Michonne. Almost as if having read his mind, she leaned in slightly with a surreptitious air about her and quietly added: "If you don't think it's going to be too cramped, I'm happy to crash on your floor. I can help keep an eye on Judith." She kept her voice low, just above a whisper, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear.

Rick nodded once again, giving her his full attention. "It's gonna be cramped no matter what, so I'm fine with that," he said, mirroring her hushed tone.

Rick's eyes then veered over her shoulder to where Eugene stood awkwardly shifting his feet by the doorway. "You fine with stayin' here in the living room for a few nights?" he asked, voice returned to normal.

Eugene simply gave his hefty shoulders a shrug. "Not a problem, friend."

"Alright then," Rick confirmed with a final nod.

"Hey, where'd those other two go? That girl and what's-his-face?" Daryl asked from his prostrate position on the floor. Beth looked up, only just realizing now that they weren't there.

"Went out for a lil' tour of the town," Rick informed him after turning back around. "Y'all should too. It really is somethin' else." He shot them a convincing smile as he advanced towards the staircase, lugging his collection of bags along with him. Michonne and Carl trailed behind him with Judith and their own set of bags, leaving Eugene standing alone in the doorway.

Eugene glanced from Daryl to Beth and then flashed them both a firm grin. "Guess we'll be gettin' familiar real quick," he said, his steps heavy as he thumped his way over to one of the lounge chairs to unload his large duffle bag of belongings.

Beth said nothing, only watched until the man turned his back to them, then glanced down at Daryl where they shared an uncomfortable silence.

"Ah, first things first, though- I think I hear that functionin' bathroom callin' my name." He immediately dropped what he was doing and swivelled back around. "Ne'er thought I'd get the opportunity to use one'a them again," he added, hastily crossing the room towards the hallway where he only assumed it might be, his footsteps disturbing ever square foot of the house.

Beth watched as he exited the room, keeping her gaze focused on the empty space until she finally heard the slam of a door. Quickly, she returned her attention back to the man on the floor whose eyes were already on her.

"Wanna–"

"Yeah," Daryl heaved as he pulled himself up, already knowing what she was going to ask.

The two of them hurried out of the house before anybody else had the chance interfere.

"Rick was right... this place is beautiful," Beth said after they had nearly covered the whole town within the span of an hour. "I can't believe a place like this still exists. It makes everything feel kinda... normal again."

Daryl let out an indignant sound. "A little too normal. The way some'a these people act... it's like they never even lived a day out there." He was looking at one group of people in particular, sitting out on their patio while laughing and drinking tea as if they had no other care in the world.

Seeing them, Beth couldn't help but feel a sense of envy. She wondered then if she could ever advance to a state of perpetual happiness. She did a fairly good job considering, but she definitely still had her moments of weakness.

"I wonder how many are here," Beth said. She had been trying her best to keep a mental count of each different person she spotted, and only made it as far as thirty-seven. "Do you think maybe they just lived here before, and then built up their defences over time?" she asked.

"Nah, that Douglas fella mentioned somethin' 'bout this place being some sorta secret government retreat in case of an event like this."

"Be interesting to know if any of them even made it," Beth said, looking around and analyzing the variety of faces. It was hard to tell what kind of lives these people may have lived before all this. Everyone just seemed equally complacent now, regardless of who they were or what they did.

Before long, Daryl and Beth had reached the dead end of a cul-de-sac. At the tip of it, a cluster of demolished houses sat hopelessly abandoned atop a series of what seemed like two or three lots. The bizarre sight of it left quite an impression on Beth, enough to force her to an abrupt stop in the middle of the pavement. She stole a moment to stare in awe at the massive, unsightly piles of rubble that looked completely out of place amongst the rest of the clean, orderly, suburban landscape.

"Woah... what happened here," Beth wondered aloud, at which point Daryl backtracked to her, having not even noticed that she stopped. "I thought they said they were short on housing. Why wouldn't they just rebuild these?"

Daryl shrugged, scrutinizing the wreckage from a distance. "Maybe it happened recently. Or they just haven't got 'round to it yet."

But Beth shook her head. "Considering the overgrown lawns and the size of those bushes, seems like it's been neglected for a while." She took several steps towards the property nearest to them, eyes sweeping over the debris littered across the long grass. Glancing all the way past it, she was able to get a closer look at the foliage bringing up the rear of the lot, where she could have sworn she was able to spot some specks of white amongst the contrasting green. Curious as to what was hiding away in there, she traipsed towards it, dodging all the broken fragments along the way.

"Beth– We should probably get back," Daryl suggested with a slight urgency when he noticed her curiosity getting the best of her.

"No, look–" She stuck her hand into the leaves and rattled whatever it was that was in there. Her hand found a circular knob just in time as Daryl came up behind her. Twisting the handle with some difficulty, there was a light crack and then the slab of white swung inwards.

"Looks like the entrance to what used to be their backyard," she said as she ducked into the tangled hole without question, shoving through the leaves and branches with her hands as they nipped violently at her skin.

She wasn't sure what it was exactly that propelled her to explore it any further, but she was glad that she did. After making it through the miniature jungle in one piece, the other side presented her with a few more trees and surrounding bushes, but only one of the trees really stood out because it was the largest of the bunch and there was a quaint little wooden cottage lodged right up in between the nook of its branches.

"Woah. Daryl, you gotta see this," Beth called out, and soon enough Daryl came fighting his way through the thicket after her. Upon surfacing, he followed her gaze to the treehouse and even he looked surprised by what stood before them.

It wasn't a very large house from the looks of it; presumably designed for children, the roof came up a little short, but the width of the house looked like it could probably fit about three, possibly four, adults max. It sat fairly high up, probably around fifteen feet or so. It was made entirely out of wood, with a railed balcony wrapping around the corner that faced them.

"This is so neat," Beth exclaimed. "I always dreamed of havin' treehouse when I was younger." Her feet took off on their own towards it, eager to test it out.

There was a momentary pause, and then; "Me too," Beth heard muttered softly behind her, almost as though it had slipped out unintentionally. Surprised by that sudden little confession, she spun around mid-way to face him, the momentum of her feet carrying her in reverse. The obvious shift in his face wasn't fooling anyone. "Really? I can't imagine a treehouse ever being at the top of Daryl Dixon's list," she teased, letting out a light-hearted laugh.

"Yeah, 'course. What kid didn't want a damn treehouse?" he retorted, clearly not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

He brushed past her and closed the distance to the base of the trunk, taking extra caution not to trip on any of its protruding roots. Beth spun back around, a cheeky smile still on her face, and came to a stop right beside him. They both glanced up in unison towards the unreachable structure where they soon discovered two slats of wood hanging from one remaining short stump of rope, eliminating the only passageway up.

Suddenly, all the excitement that had been built up a mere moment ago was completely obliterated in that one brief second.

Feeling the weight of her mouth and shoulders droop, an enormous feeling of a disappointment completely enveloped Beth. It may have been a frivolous thing to want, but, in her opinion, it was the small pleasures that really amounted to a sense of fulfillment more than most things those days. Similar to her obsession for finding herself her first drink not too long ago, it wasn't so much about having the drink itself in as much as having a normal experience again. An opportunity that only presented itself every once in a blue moon.

"Well, so much for that," she mumbled with a sigh.

Noticing the sudden shift in her mood, Daryl laid a comforting hand on her arm. "Hey, maybe there'll be other cool stuff. C'mon," he urged, giving it a soft nudge as he motioned back towards the concealed entrance.

Beth's eyes lingered on the little shack for just a moment longer and then, defeated at last, allowed Daryl to escort her back.

Two weeks passed since the day they all arrived in the town of Alexandria and not much has changed. They finally decided that the town was, in fact, an honest and safe place as advertised, so after a week of fighting for the bathrooms and stepping on people's toes, there was a mutual agreement to expand into the second house. Based on the arrangements, Beth and Daryl ended up keeping their exact same spot in the living room, although Douglas was nice enough to bring in a spare couch from his house so that Daryl wasn't forced to sleep on the floor anymore. Rick, Carl, Michonne, Judith, Glenn, and Maggie took up the three remaining bedrooms evenly, while the rest of the group evacuated to the second house next door. Despite splitting the group in half, the living conditions were still pretty tight, but Douglas had said they were working on building more homes, so hopefully soon enough they would be able to spread out even further.

Beth was enjoying her position over at the nursery, it was a familiar job that she had already accustomed to. The only thing about it that she wasn't quite used to was not having the rest of the group around all the time. Back at the prison, there were always people around her 24/7, so being on her own for the majority of the day often got pretty lonely. She looked forward to the evenings the most, where she could see everyone again. Daryl, especially. She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on between them since they had never really talked about it, but her feelings for him were stronger than she'd ever felt for any other man. Nobody else mentioned anything either, so she wasn't sure if they even thought something was going on. It was all rather confusing. What was even more confusing though, was that she really only saw him for a brief time in the evening when everyone gathered for dinner, but afterwards he always seemed to have somewhere to go. Whether it be helping a neighbour with something or doing some overtime work, there was hardly a night that he was home. Occasionally, Beth would wake up in the middle of the night, not knowing what time it was, and he would only just be getting back. Of course, she was too afraid to actually question him about it, so she always just pretended to be sleeping.

Everyone was entitled to one day off 'a week' (essentially, every six days, for nobody was entirely sure on what the exact days were,) and Beth was really excited because today was her day off. Daryl's too, after Beth convinced him to take the same day off as her. They'd only had one day off so far since first settling into the town, and they had spent the entire first half of that day lounging by the public pool. They discovered it during their first walk around the town and when Daryl mentioned that he'd never been in a pool before, Beth was eager to share that experience with him. Afterwards, they had gone to meet up with Glenn and Maggie for a late lunch in the park since they too had the day off.

But today started out a little different. When Beth awoke, the first thing she noticed when she rolled over on the couch was that Daryl was missing. She tried to hide her baffled disappointment and brush it off as nothing, but that proved to be a little harder than she expected. Instead of dwelling on it, she got up right away and headed straight to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day.

By the time she resurfaced several minutes later, she was able to hear light banter and activity emanating from the kitchen. Maggie and Glenn were up, from the sounds of it. When she entered the kitchen, she spotted that the couple weren't the only ones occupying the bright space; Carl was also there, sitting at the round table with a bowl of Cheerios and one of his favourite comic books.

"Mornin', Beth. Would you like some eggs?" Maggie called out to her, just noticing that she was standing there.

"Sure, Maggie. Thanks," Beth said as she went to take a seat next to Carl at the table.

As she sat down, she glanced over at the comic Carl was so engrossed in and bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to start a conversation. Ever since she got back with the group, Carl and her haven't really talked all that much. She wasn't sure why, but he just always seemed like he was much more content doing his own thing.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Carl asked all of a sudden, not taking his eyes off the comic as he flicked to the next page.

Beth blinked. "He– He's not my boyfriend!" she said, shocked by his blunt suggestion. Her eyes immediately darted over to Maggie to see if she had any kind of reaction to what Carl said.

Maggie turned around, carrying the frying pan and spatula in her hands as she crossed the room to the table and scraped some of the scrambled eggs onto Beth's plate. Beth could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile on her lips.

"I mean, if it's Daryl you're talkin' about, I don't know where he is," she responded in a hushed tone, once Maggie had turned back around.

She picked up her fork and decided to keep her eyes to her plate from then on.

After eating, Beth didn't stick around long to chat. Rick and Michonne were just coming down the stairs with Judith as she was leaving, and she waved them a brief good morning on her way out.

Once out of the house, Beth made it her mission to find out where the heck Daryl was. It was hard keeping a level head about it when one part of her was worried something terrible might have happened, while the other half was irrationally angry at him for his inexplicable behavior.

She travelled her way through the whole town, making sure to stop by the pool and the park just in case. He was nowhere to be found in either of those places, so she continued on, keeping a very sharp eye out. Anyone that she passed, she would describe his features and ask if they've seen him. So far, no luck. Then she began wondering if he was called in to work over at the construction site, despite it being his day off and the fact that he never mentioned it to her. It wasn't like he owed her an explanation or anything, but she just assumed that he would have told her something like that. Unfortunately, she wasn't authorized to visit the site since it was outside of the town's walls where walkers roamed freely. With that thought in mind, she only began worrying herself even more, so she quickly spun around and paced back in the direction that she came.

"Miss Greene!"

Beth didn't stop the first time that someone called out to her because she wasn't used to anyone addressing her by her last name. Then she heard the shout a second time and realization sunk in. She came to an immediate stop and with her face distorted in a funny way, she turned to look in the direction of where it came. Jogging towards her was a middle-aged lady, dragging her four-year-old son by the hand. Beth instantly recognized the son as one of her regular nursery children.

"Oh, hi... Mrs. Fisher, was it? What's up?"

"Sorry to bother you, dear, but I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind watching Adam for a few hours. My husband is out on a run today and Dr. Cloyd has just called me in to assist with some very important work at the hospital. I know it's meant to be your day off today so I'm very sorry to suddenly ask this of you, but I am more than happy to offer you some of the fruits from my garden as repayment."

Beth didn't even have to contemplate her response.

"Sure, of course I don't mind," she said. After all, with Daryl gone, she had nothing better to do. And she could use the distraction.

"Oh, you're a lifesaver! Thanks so much, love. I'll come by the nursery to pick him up as soon as I can. See you in a bit, Adam, darling." With a haste peck on her son's cheek and wave goodbye, she was off without a moment to lose.

Beth smiled down at the little boy and held out a warm hand to him.

The sun was just making it's descent towards the horizon by the time the boy's mother finally came by to retrieve him. As promised, she arrived carrying a small basket of assorted fruits, which she graciously offered to Beth. Beth accepted her donation and waited for the boy and his mother to leave before diving into a fresh peach. Aside from a few packets of crackers and peanut butter left lying around the nursery, the only meal she had that day were the eggs from breakfast, so she had grown a little hungry. She took the peach to go, exiting the building and making her way back home.

As soon as she arrived, she opened the front door and immediately heard the typical bustle from the kitchen again. After shutting the door softly behind her, she began to make her way towards the activity.

"Hey, I brought us all back some fru–"

Beth stopped in her tracks. There he was. Daryl Dixon himself, lounging at the table as though he'd been sitting there the entire day. He glanced over to her the moment she entered and she felt her heart race faster at the sight of his guiltless face.

"Fruits," Beth finished, deliberately averting her eyes and making a direct beeline for the fridge, having to excuse herself between Carol and Tyreese.

"Thanks, Bethy," Maggie said over all the chatter, her back turned to her as she was busy grabbing something out of the oven. Cookies, it smelled like.

Nobody else stopped what they were doing to acknowledge her, and she didn't get a good look at who else was occupying the kitchen, but the mixture of voices told her that there were quite a few bodies packed in there. While they all continued happily chatting away, Beth quickly unloaded the fruits and dropped the empty basket on the counter. Without any further explanation, Beth stealthily slipped out of the kitchen in a hurry, avoiding eye contact at all costs. She headed directly towards the bathroom so that it would seem like she just really needed to go, to anyone that might have been paying attention.

After shutting and locking the door, she huddled over the sink and allowed herself a moment to breathe and collect herself. Looking up at her reflection in the mirror somehow brought her back down to reality and, soon enough, she realized how ridiculous she was being about the whole thing. It was probably nothing. She didn't understand why she was so bothered, she never got like this with anyone. At least, not since the turn. She never imagined it would be something that she could ever experience again, not in this world. Not petty emotions. It annoyed her how stupid she was being about it, but kind of intrigued her at the same time because, for once, she was worried about something other than just surviving.

In her haste to compose herself, Beth retrieved her hairbrush from the top drawer of the cabinet, and roughly swept it through her hair after undoing the knot at the back. Once satisfied, she tied it loosely back up again and then splashed a little water onto her face to refresh herself. After patting it dry with the towel hanging to the side, she went and flicked off the light switch and then swung open the bathroom door. Her whole body gave a little jump when she was unexpectedly faced with the man himself who had her so flustered in the first place.

"Hey," she breathed, as soon as the initial shock had passed.

"Was lookin' for you," Daryl said, moving away from the wall.

What a coincidence.

"Sorry– I had to babysit last minute for someone." Despite wanting to bombard him with a million questions right then and there, she somehow managed to hold it all in with a tense smile.

"Wanna show you somethin'. C'mere," He spun on his heel and started leading the way down the hallway, towards the entrance.

Beth was brought on by an even greater wave of confusion. "Are we leavin'? Where?" she asked, but her legs didn't ask any questions and followed him with a mind of their own.

"You'll see, c'mon."

After leaving the house, they walked through the village for what felt like several minutes. Beth's boundless curiosity continued to grow, constantly raging at the front of her mind. She was afraid to ask him any more questions on where they were going, because he kept deflecting them, seemingly hell-bent on keeping it all a secret.

"Is it much farther?" she asked, lastly.

"Nah, almost there," he said.

Sure enough, approximately two minutes later they were just pulling up to the section of houses that Beth hadn't visited in a while. Since the day they first arrived, to be exact. It was the series of demolished homes lying atop the abandoned lots. And he was leading her straight to the little hidden gate that they had originally discovered on that same day. She had completely forgotten about it until now.

No way, Beth convinced herself as they marched up to the crowded array of vegetation. Daryl located the knob on the white door, as Beth had the first time, and after pushing it inward he didn't waste any time in advancing through the narrow opening. Suspiciously, Beth pursued him.

Even though she hadn't thought back on it since, she still had a precise image in her mind of what to expect on the other side, based on her vivid memory of the small backyard. Of course, the instant she emerged from the bushes, her eyes darted straight to the little house nestled up in the tree. It looked exactly how she remembered, only this time a long, intact ladder hung from the deck and extended all the way down to the ground.

"Holy cow... you fixed it?! Wow, Daryl, that's... " Beth was in complete and utter awe. For a moment she forgot how to formulate proper words.

She immediately took off towards it, marvelling at it with her undivided attention.

"How did you do it?" she said at last, eyes never leaving it even for a second.

"Snuck some tools from the construction site, then snatched up some'a them scraps from the other side there," he explained, his hands going through the motions. "Weren't rocket science after that."

Beth continued to admire his handiwork. The planks of woods were all different colors and none of them the exact same size, but close enough. It looked as though he tried to keep it as symmetrical as he could while only working with pieces the way they were found.

When she finally took her eyes off of his craftsmanship to look at him, he was just standing there watching her with that slanted smile on his face, seemingly feeding off her elation. Looking at him like that suddenly made her feel guilty for ever doubting him. She felt the need to say something, to apologize, but she wasn't quite sure how to ask forgiveness for something that had just been all in her head.

Noticing her staring at him, he awkwardly cleared his throat. "Wanna check it out?"

Beth brushed all guilty feelings aside and nodded. "Hell yeah," she grinned.

Daryl then held out his hand to her and she happily placed hers in it. He planted her hand on one of the wooden steps, which she gripped tightly and slowly started climbing her way up. She hesitated after each step, checking to make sure it was all secure.

"I hope you tested this first," Beth called out to him from about halfway up.

There was a momentary pause before he said, "Nah, you might fall."

"Daryl!" Beth shrieked, peering over her shoulder back down to where he stood on the perfectly safe ground.

"'Course I tested it," he assured her, a boyish grin playing upon his lips.

Not wanting to take any chances, Beth rushed through the remaining half of the way. As soon as she reached the top, she used all her upper-body strength to pull herself up onto the deck. Feeling much safer, she took root just behind the railing and allowed herself a moment to indulge in the view of the wide landscape, with the setting sun painting a vibrant hue in the background.

The platform rattled very slightly as Daryl started his ascent up the ladder after her.

"This is so nice," Beth sighed, once Daryl clambered up onto the platform and joined her next to the railing.

They stood there for a short while longer, and while Beth could have been content with standing there forever, Daryl eventually threw her a look. "C'mon, there's more," he said, giving her arm a light tap as he crouched inside the little house, the hinges on the old door creaking in protest as he pushed it open.

Beth followed, being sure not to hit her head on the door frame, and if it was possible to impress her even more than by just fixing the ladder, what lay waiting inside certainly took the cake. The whole space was fully decked out in cushions, blankets, lit candles, hanging baubles, and even a pantry of assorted snacks and drinks. The decorations were gaudy as ever, but she gave him an A+ for effort.

"Wow, Daryl, you really did all this? This is incredible," Beth said, immediately claiming a spot on one of the large embroidered cushions.

"Had a lil' help," he said, going over to the miniature pantry to grab two empty cups and what looked like a bottle of whisky or rum - she still hadn't gotten her liquors down quite yet.

"Weren't kiddin' when I said was doin' some neighbourly work. Only way 'could get this stuff." With a groan, he flung himself down onto a cushion next to her and, once comfortable, handed over one of the cups.

Beth accepted the plastic cup with delight and held it out towards him as he poured about an inch of the amber liquid into it, and then the same for himself.

"But... why?" Beth asked, taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage and pausing for a moment to allow the burn in the back of her throat to dissipate. It was a feeling she had gained a familiarity with not too long ago, even though the flavor was somewhat different. She much preferred it. "Why go through all this trouble?"

He rolled his shoulders and took a sip from his own cup. "Weren't no trouble, really," he said, groaning from the temporary burn. "'S pretty cramped back at the house, figured we could use a space of our own." He tilted his head to look at her, the light from the sunset illuminating the softness in his features. His normally steely expression had disappeared, and now there was a particular warmth about him. A warmth Beth had recognized he'd only come to share exclusively with her, when nobody else was around.

Feeling the weight of his gaze penetrating her, Beth took another small sip and smiled back at him, a fiery sensation beginning to consume the insides of her chest. She wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that was causing it or something else, but whatever it was, she rather liked it.

Lifting her cup, she gave his a light clink, and then held it up between them.

"To our little secret."

A/N: Happy Bethyl Week!