Muscle Cramp (set between 'Still' and 'Alone')

Upon waking, Beth almost cries out as she tries to stretch her leg.

While able to hold back the cry from the sharp pain that courses up her limb, a whimper still manages to make its way out her throat before she can stop it. Beth tries once more to stretch out her leg, slowly this time, but hisses in pain as the muscle on the back of her thigh tightens and spasms at the motion.

She knows the cramp must be from the day before, with hours spent tracking, her muscles tight in an effort to keep silent. When Daryl had offered to start teaching her to track and hunt, Beth had been so overjoyed she'd nearly thrown her arms around him in excitement. While she had made the odd comment or two, she'd never expected him to take them to heart. Yesterday had been the first day of that training and she had desperately wanted to do well.

Beth had always been eager to please, something that Shawn had teased her teased her merciless about, calling her an over achiever with every school project she stayed up late working on. He would have busted a gut laughing at her now if he could've seen her.

She pushes that thought away, knowing how slippery and dangerous memory lane could be.

Beth looks up to find Daryl studying her from across their small campsite, poised in crouching over their shared pack, most likely having paused in the middle of searching for the can of beans they planned on sharing for breakfast.

He raises a brow at her, asking her without words what her deal was.

"Think I got a muscle cramp or somethin'." Beth says, cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment. She attempts a smile but it comes out askew as she worries the comer of her bottom lip with her teeth. Beth can't help but be nervous at the thought of disappointing him.

Only a few days had passed since they'd burned down the moonshiners' cabin together but Beth could feel the shift between Daryl and her since it. That cabin, burned now to ashes, had brought them close, closer than Beth had felt to anyone in a long time (she keeps having a terrifying thought of 'maybe ever' that she tries to push away).

But the new balance still feels delicate, fragile as butterfly wings, and she's scared she may do something to ruin it. She can't go back to him shutting down and not speaking to her. Not now, when she feels the least alone she has felt since the world itself fell apart.

She finally has him, as a partner and, perhaps, friend and she can't bare thought of losing him now.

Daryl looks at her a few moments longer before dropping his gaze back down to the backpack at his feet. He chews at his bottom lip, rustling with the bag before he standing abruptly, seeming to come to a sudden decision, rubbing his hands on the front of his pants. She watches him, confused and curious, as he strides across camp, coming to kneel before her.

"Where ya hurtin'?" Daryl asks, his tone forceful but not hard, the one she has noticed he uses when he has a task and his focus is only on it.

"Um, back of my thigh." Beth replies, rubbing at her right leg.

"Gonna work it out a little, 'kay?"

Daryl meets her gaze then; his blue eyes steady on her in a way that makes gooseflesh rise on the uncovered skin of her arms. He was asking her permission she realizes slowly, feeling somehow dazed, so she nods, not quite trusting her voice.

He sets his hands on her then, moving her right leg so that it's hooked over his left shoulder and she's leaning back slightly on her hands, palms in the dirt. His touch is perfunctory and professional and Beth feels silly for the slight fluttering in her stomach she feels at the warmth of his hands.

His hands are large and strong as he grips her jean-clad thigh and when his fingers dig into the tight muscles there's a relief that is as painful as it is sweet. He works with a sureness that makes her think this isn't his first time with sore muscles. When he hits a particularly tense spot she can't help but gasp at the sensation, her fingers digging into the dirt at her sides.

His voice seems rougher than normal as he breaks the silence. "What the hell got you so tight girl?"

"Tracking, I suppose. I was wound up and trying so hard to be quiet I didn't notice I'd locked up my muscles."

"Why?"

She shrugs. "Just nervous, I guess. Didn't wanna disappoint you."

Beth can see from the way his jaw tightens and his hands falter for a moment that Daryl isn't sure what to do with her statement. She continues on. "Didn't want you to stop teaching me."

It's a long moment before he responds, grumbling and not meeting her eyes. "Wouldn't have started if I planned to stop."

"Yeah?"

He looks at her then, face lit by the early morning light, gaze serious and intense and focused solely on her and although he hasn't touched any sore muscles, Beth feels all her breath leave her in a sharp sigh.

He drops his head back down, and mumbles out a quiet, "Anyways, ya got good instincts."

Beth can't help but grin, warmth blooming in her chest at the words. That was Daryl Dixon praise, which was worth more than gold in her book.

A/N: I'm decided to put all of my drabbles/tumblr prompts together in one place since I get so many little ideas for these two that don't fit into any larger stories. Ratings and genres will vary. If you have anything you'd like to see, either let me on here or my tumblr, .com. :)