Another finished story and honestly, this became one of my favorites. I was always so happy to write it because there was different feel to it than any of my others. Thank you to those who enjoyed reading it and let me know!
…
Twenty.
"Stop walking on my heel, Glenn!"
"Stop walking so slow!"
"If we don't walk slowly, we'll make even more noise."
Daryl wanted to roll his eyes at the chatter of the three people behind him, but instead, he just smirked a little and followed the beam of the flashlight Beth was aiming on the ground in front of them. He hadn't necessarily wanted to go for a walk in the woods at night, but Sophia had insisted. Something about how Slender Man liked the darkness and if they looked for him in the dark, they'd definitely find him.
Glenn, of course, had protested. Anything Sophia said about Slender Man, he protested, but Sophia had simply rolled her eyes at him and Maggie told him that he needed to be more adventurous and he kept his grumblings to under his breath.
Like Daryl had told Sophia a while back, he had never gone camping like this.
They had parked in a rest stop parking lot that was at the edge of the woods and with their packs on their backs, they headed into the trees. Daryl had them hike for nearly twenty minutes before he found a spot he deemed as a good one – near a little stream and with tall trees all around them, but a clearing big enough for their tents and for him to make them a fire. He had never camped with tents before, but Beth and Maggie got them set up with no problem. He wasn't going to worry about sleeping arrangements for the time being. Five of them and only two tents. They would figure it out when the time came.
Once Daryl had gotten the fire going, Beth took the cooler that Daryl had carried and she showed everyone the sandwiches she had packed, wrapped in plastic. Different meats and cheeses, but all on onion rolls. She had also packed bags of potato chips, bottles of sodas – no high fructose syrup in the bottled soda and she was still trying to avoid that as much as possible – and pears and Daryl smirked as he sat there, eating his dinner and a part of him wondered how the hell he got to this exact spot.
And now, after spending about an hour walking around the woods, looking for a thing that didn't really exist just to show his niece that Slender Man actually didn't exist, they returned to their camp. There were still a few glowing embers in the fire pit and Beth shone the flashlight over it so Daryl could get the fire started again.
"I can't believe we didn't find anything," Sophia said dejectedly, plopping down on the ground as the flames began growing in front of her.
"You wanted to find something?" Glenn frowned at her as he sat himself down in one of the lawn chairs he had insisted on bringing. "That thing goes after kids and what were we going to do if he just popped up and tried to take you?"
Sophia shrugged. "My Uncle Daryl would have stopped him," she stated matter-of-factly with a shrug; as if she didn't have a single doubt in her mind that Daryl would keep her safe.
Daryl smiled a little to himself, his chest feeling like it was puffing out with pride, as he added a few more sticks to the fire. He knew it was probably stupid, but hell yeah, he felt proud that his niece knew that he would do anything to keep her safe.
The Dixon family tree wasn't a good one.
Hell, he was surprised it hadn't been torched down to ground years earlier. But one thing with the family, even while they were beating the hell out of each other, they always stood shoulder to shoulder against an outside threat. Will Dixon might have beat the hell out of him, but Daryl knew that his old man wouldn't have let anyone else beat him and Daryl might have nearly beat the man to death, but he'd be damned if someone else took that satisfaction away from him. Same thing with Merle. Daryl didn't know what he would have done without his older brother – especially through the past couple of years.
Sophia was a Dixon now and Daryl would pretty much light this entire earth on fire to make sure that she was safe.
His eyes looked to Beth as she was going through the bag of more food she had packed, digging out the supplies needed to make S'mores.
Daryl wondered if she knew that he would burn the earth for her, too.
Beth had even brought metal prongs with her so they could all toast their marshmallows over the flames and she sat next to Daryl on the ground, laughing as she showed him how to construct the perfect S'more in her opinion. Both Maggie and Sophia liked their marshmallows practically burnt and Glenn just ate the chocolate bars and marshmallows without toasting them. Daryl watched Beth carefully as she guided the roasted, gooey marshmallow onto the chocolate block and then used the graham cracker to pull it from the prong.
"See?" Beth smiled brightly at him as if she had just achieved the greatest thing. It made Daryl smile a little, too. "Easy. Your turn."
Daryl took the prong from her and Beth stabbed a marshmallow onto the end of it and he held it over the embers near the bottom instead of directly over the flame. Within seconds, it was toasted and he followed what she had just done. When he took his first bite of his first S'more, he heard a click and turning his head, he saw that Beth had her phone out and was taking a picture of him. She just laughed at the look he gave her and then took another bite of her own S'more.
"Good?" She asked.
"Good," he agreed with a single nod of his head.
"Slight understatement, but I'll take it," she teased and he smirked a little.
"Beth, have you decided yet?" Maggie asked, finished with her first S'more and now stabbing another marshmallow onto her prong to make another.
Beth took a moment to chew and swallow before nodding eagerly while smiling. "I have. I knew I wanted to write about something in Georgia so Daryl would be able to come with me on my research trips. In two more years, we'll be able to go anywhere, but for now, there was more than enough to choose from just in our state."
Daryl chewed his S'more and didn't say anything.
And no one else said anything either. They all knew Daryl had served time, but it was almost like as if had just become one of those things that was never thought about. Kind of like when you woke up in the morning and sure enough, the sun was rising in the east. It was just how things were. Daryl served time in prison. It was just how things were. But he was out now and he missed his crossbow, being out here in the woods, but he had his niece and his girlfriend and they were eating S'mores and there was something pretty damn good about that.
Beth had sold her house and had put the money right into her savings account and she had filed her application with the DA's office, but Daryl knew that Beth wasn't holding her breath. She didn't even know if they were hiring and if they were, there were many more qualified paralegals than her.
Daryl thought she could get any damn job she wanted and her new boss would be damn lucky to have her, but there was a reason he was working behind a bar and not running a law firm. He obviously didn't know the first thing about it.
For now, Beth was running headfirst into her book idea and had finally told her family her plans. They had been a little hesitant – just because saying she wanted to write a book was so much easier said than done – but Beth was nothing if not determined and they all knew that. Beth researched and worked hard and when she said she was going to do something, she did it.
Since she had no income coming in at the moment, her greatest worry had been wearing out her welcome with Daryl, but he had been sure to tell her – more than once until she believed him – that he liked her being there with him. It made the apartment feel like a home rather than somewhere he collapsed after his shifts. He didn't care about taking care of her. He wanted to take care of her.
He had never had anything in his life to take care of before and with Beth, he realized that that was all he wanted to do. If he could take care of her for the rest of his life, well, that would be a pretty damn good life, in his opinion.
"The Atlanta Ripper," Beth said before licking some marshmallow from her finger.
"Who was that?" Sophia asked, finished with her S'more now and she pulled her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest. Ever since she found out that Beth was going to be writing a book about a serial killer, she has been excited in a way that made it seem as if she was going to be writing it, too. She had told Daryl more than once that his girlfriend was so cool.
"Well," Beth smiled, her own excitement shining through.
Daryl, finished with his S'more now, too, dusted his hands off and then leaned back against the trunk of a tree behind him, watching her. Even with the fire illuminating her face, he could see how eager she was to talk about. He smirked a little to himself. He had never met anyone like Beth Greene before.
"Starting in 1911, in Atlanta, and going until 1914, there were twenty-one murders that were thought to all be done by the same person. They were all women, all in their twenties, all African-American and all with their throats slit. Over the course of the investigation, they arrested six different suspects, but nothing was proven. And then in 1914, the murders simply stopped."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, hearing the fire pop and an owl hoot nearby.
"That's great, Bethy," Maggie teased with a little laugh, and Beth gave one, too.
"There is a ton of research I have to do," Beth said. "I love it. And then Daryl and me are going to go to Atlanta so I can take pictures of some of the areas where the murders were and maybe, if I can find out if there is any surviving family nearby…"
"What the hell kind of family am I getting myself into?" Glenn suddenly demanded, looking to Maggie with a frown.
Maggie and Glenn shared one tent and it was decided that Sophia and Beth would share the other as Daryl slept outside. He didn't mind. He missed sleeping outside, on the ground like this, looking up at the trees and stars. He hadn't really been out like this since getting out of prison. He figured that if he wasn't allowed to have his crossbow, there was no point in being out in the woods.
But camping like this with his family, it was the first time he had ever done anything like this and he didn't want it to be the last time.
Before going into the tent for the night, Sophia crawled over to Daryl and threw her arms around his shoulders.
"Thank you for bringing me," she said with a wide smile.
"Yeah, yeah," Daryl said, patting her back, pretending to be put out by it, but Sophia wasn't fooled and somehow, her smile seemed to grow even more. "Still believe in that Slender Man of yours?"
"Of course," Sophia shrugged. "Why wouldn't I?"
Daryl's brow furrowed. "'cause he ain't real?"
"Just because we didn't see him tonight doesn't mean that he's not real," she said and then kissed his cheek quickly before leaning over and giving a hug to Beth now.
She then went into her tent and with Maggie and Glenn already in theirs, Beth and Daryl were the only ones were still outside. Beth laughed softly as Daryl continued frowning, not understanding. She moved into him and he spread his legs so she could come and sit between them, settling her back against his chest.
"I don't understand kids," he muttered and she laughed at that.
"Don't you remember when you were that age?" She asked, turning her head so she could look to his face.
"Don't really want to remember," Daryl said before he could stop himself and Beth's smile slowly faded.
"I'm so stupid," she whispered to herself and Daryl lifted an arm, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her in tight.
"Nah, girl. You're the furthest from stupid that a person could be," he told her. "'s a question you'd ask anyone without thinkin' 'bout it. No big deal."
"Isn't it?" She asked, still looking up at his face; her smile still gone.
"Nah. It ain't," he said and assured her with a squeeze of his arm. He then kissed the corner of her jaw and smiled a little when she shivered and pushed herself more against him. "You think we can do this again sometime?" He asked in a lower voice.
"Of course," Beth answered without hesitation and her smile returned; softer this time and she tilted her face up, brushing her nose along the line of his jaw. "Maybe just the two of us next time. When we can be completely alone," she suggested.
"What are you gonna do if it's just the two of us, alone?" Daryl wondered and even now, after everything that had already happened between them, he still felt himself blush a little at her words. "Kill me with no witnesses 'round?"
"Of course not," Beth said with a smile. "When a boyfriend or husband turns up murdered, they always look to the girlfriend or wife first. We're the most obvious suspect. And the perfect murder is actually quite rare." He smirked a little at that and dipped his head down, pressing his face to the side of her throat and inhaling her scent; the damn sweetest thing he had ever smelled. "One of the main reasons a person gets away with murder-" she continued and Daryl's lips curved into a smirk against her skin. "-is because the prosecutor doesn't have enough evidence that is strong enough beyond a reasonable doubt to prove their case."
"'s that right?" Daryl asked, his nose now brushing the shell of her ear.
A soft hum rose from the back of her throat. "Mmmm-hmm. Many times, the DA, the police, everyone knows who did it, but they can't do a thing about it. Sometimes, unfortunately, the bad people win."
"That fuckin' sucks," Daryl lifted his head to speak. "That happen a lot?"
He asked the question, but he already knew the answer.
"I could lie to you," Beth smiled and he found himself smirking a little again. Beth turned her head and smiled a little, looking into his eyes. "I actually can't lie to you," she whispered and Daryl lifted a hand, curving it around the back of her neck.
She closed her eyes as he rested his forehead to hers. He didn't close his eyes though. He looked at her face. He never told her, but he actually did this a lot. Just look at her when she didn't know he was. He didn't know if it would freak her out of not, but freaking her out was always the last thing he wanted to do. He couldn't ever seem to get himself to stop though.
He would come back upstairs after having worked his shift downstairs in the bar and sometimes, she would still be up, researching, but other times, she would already be in bed, fast asleep. Daryl would be as quiet as he could be – which was practically silent – and he left himself in his boxers or changed into a pair of sweatpants and slipped beneath the comforter next to her. He liked to watch her as she slept. Daryl was pretty sure that no one could be as close to perfect as Beth was. Even as she slept, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
And that was why he liked just looking at her. To go through his entire life with nothing, but shit surrounding him to now having this girl sleeping in his bed, having this girl being so close to him all of the time, Daryl didn't know if he would ever get used to it. A part of him hoped he didn't get used to it.
Prison was never quiet. Not even during the nights. Guys always making noise – shouting out to the guy in the cell next to them or to no one at all – and even though his cell mate had been an alright guy, Daryl still, for two years, slept at night with his shoulders always tense; always ready to go in case he was ever jumped. He had slept like that when he was a kid, too; always ready for Will Dixon to come home, drunk, and take out his endless anger on Daryl.
He felt like he had gone his entire life without ever being able to relax. Even in the years he had followed Merle around, Daryl had slept with a tense body; never being comfortable in any of the houses of Merle's buddies.
But now, sleeping next to Beth every night, and out here, having her in his arms, surrounding him with her warmth and her sweet scent, Daryl relaxed. He woke up each new day, for the first time in his life, without knots in his shoulders and he was still getting used to that, too.
Beth liked to tell him that he always kept her safe – made her feel safe – and Daryl wished he was the kind of person who was able to tell her that that was exactly what she did for him, too, without tripping over his own tongue.
Beth's eyes fluttered open to look into his once more and she gave him the softest smile that punched him low right in the gut. "I love you," she whispered to him.
And Daryl didn't think. What the hell was there to think about?
"I love you, too," he whispered back and he expected the words to feel wrong and foreign in his mouth since he had never said anything like that to anyone in his life.
Instead, saying those words to Beth was the easiest thing he had ever done.
…
The Pine Cone was steady. Not too busy. Not too slow. Daryl preferred when it was steady. It was easy for him to keep up while able to keep his breathing normal. Winter break had started at the college, but it seemed like there were still plenty of locals to keep the bar's drawers filled before the kids all came back. Daryl was enjoying the break from awful karaoke songs and the nights the bar did have karaoke, there wasn't a single Britney Spears song to be sung.
Beth was sitting on her usual stool, eating the Beth sandwich, drinking a Shirley Temple and there were papers in front of her, a highlighter in her hand. There had just been a couple of books written about the Atlanta Ripper and Beth was excited to add her name to it. She had explained that when the murders happened, few people had, at first, cared since the victims had been African-American.
Beth was determined to make the victims – and their lives – known.
They would be taking a trip to Atlanta after Christmas. He assumed it would be the first of many, but he didn't mind. Although he knew it would probably be alright, he had asked Shane about it nonetheless. His parole officer had listened to what Daryl had said and then with a smile, he gave a nod.
"Have fun. But don't think I won't be collectin' your piss when you get back," Shane said and Daryl had smirked a little, but he couldn't wait for the two years to be up. Shane was good for a parole officer – as good as one could be – but that didn't mean that Daryl wasn't counting down the days until he could stop reporting to him.
"You good?" Daryl came up to Beth to take her empty plate away.
"As gold," she smiled at him and he smiled a little, too.
"Want anything else from the kitchen?" Daryl asked.
"Yes!" She exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. "Earlier, I smelled Carol baking cookies. Are there any left?"
"Damn drunks have eaten all the peanut butter ones. I'll see if there's any of the oatmeal ones left," Daryl said.
"You're the best," Beth smiled at him.
"'cause I keep you fed."
"Yep," she said with a laugh and Daryl smirked a little as he turned, his eyes scanning the bar, making sure no one needed a drink, before he went to poke his head into the kitchen.
When he came back with the two last oatmeal raisin cookies on a plate for Beth, he saw that her laptop was open in front of her and whatever she was reading, it was making her eyes slightly wide.
"Here you go," he said, setting the plate down next to her papers. "Everythin' alrigh'?" He then asked.
"Look," was all she said before turning the laptop towards Daryl so he could see.
He saw that it was an email from her former coworker, Zach, and it was short, cutting right to the chase.
Statesman Blake dropped his case against Lilly Chambler after certain things came to light. Said he has more important things to worry about anyway. Good job on the notes. See you for lunch on Tuesday.
Beth had taken a bite of her cookie and Daryl looked at her. She put a hand over her mouth as she chewed and he saw her smiling with her eyes.
He lifted an eyebrow. "What'd you put in your notes?" He asked.
Beth swallowed and Daryl mixed her up another Shirley Temple. "I noticed it when I was talking with Lilly and her sister at their kitchen table. Lilly has these scars around her wrists. It's been years and they were definitely faded, but I saw them almost right away. I asked her if I could take a picture of them and I stapled it to my notes. They were scars a person got from being tied up with ropes; scars a person got from being tied up too tight with ropes and who was really trying to get out. Sex between two consensual people who tie each other up don't have scars like that."
Daryl looked at her for a moment. "You're amazin'," he then said and eve though he already knew that, he still said it as if maybe it was just now occurring to her.
Beth blushed under the low lights of the bar and shrugged. "Sometimes, good people win, too," she said and she said it, staring right at him.
Daryl leaned over the bar then and he pressed his lips to her forehead because it was the only thing he could think of doing in that second.
He never considered himself a good person, but right then, with Beth – pretty and good Beth – smiling up at him and only him, he knew that she was right.
Right then, he felt like he had definitely – finally – won at something in life.
…
The End.
Thank you so much for reading and please take a moment to review one last time!