Beth's Old Sweet Shoppe

Chapter 62

A silence fell over the town as everyone watched the ambulance creep through town- inside a body bag containing Merle Leroy Dixon. Daryl remains in the field even now at 8:36 pm. Beth hasn't left his side- not even to call Maggie about Kylie. She feels so terrible about the death- mainly because she screamed she was going to kill him. She couldn't do that. She wouldn't wish it. Now, in her own mind, Daryl probably hates her. It was all her fault. She made Daryl think Merle should leave. She yelled at Merle. Everything. Everything is on Beth's shoulders. How couldn't she feel this way?

A car pulls up by them and Hershel gets out with drooping eyes. Shuffling over, he hunkers down beside them and sighs.

"Gettin' late you two...Came to give ya a ride back." His fake cheery voice falls closer and closer to a sorrowful one and Beth looks over at Daryl- who has stopped crying and has a blank face. "Come on home..."

Daryl abruptly gets up and starts walking into the woods that lays around the edges of the fields. Beth's about to run after him, but Hershel catches her arm.

"Give 'im space sweetie. He needs it. Come on home, my grand-baby needs ya." He walks her to the car and they drive home. The whole way, Beth worries about Daryl being out in the woods in the dark alone. When they reach the candy shoppe, she heads upstairs to the apartment and finds herself face to face with Maggie and Glenn. They give her a partial smile and hug her, before leaving. Everyone blames her- they must. Going to Kylie, she picks her up and holds her close to her aching chest. The warmth of the child brings a small smile to her face, but that soon dissipates too.

"I'm sorry baby. I'm so sorry." After putting Kylie to bed, Beth sits on her couch and stares at the wall, hoping and praying that Daryl will come home safe. As she sits there, her head spins and she fights to stay awake. Her eyelids slip lower and lower on her face and soon sleep takes over her in under three hours.

Waking up the next morning, she hopes it was all a dream- but she's on the couch still and so far, no sign of Daryl. As she goes to Kylie, she looks out the living room window and finds Daryl- sitting on the park bench facing his old apartment building that had been burnt down months ago and only an empty lot remains. Getting changed and dressing Kylie is a light sweater and baby jeans and socks, Beth heads downstairs and across the park to Daryl. She stands beside the bench for a while before she finds the courage to sit down. When she finds herself a few good feet away from him on the bench, she sighs and readjusts Kylie in her arms. When the silence burns them, Beth finally clears her throat.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have gotten involved or said anything to him. I should've let everything go and, well, huh..." She already has tears popping up in her eyes and all she can do is try not to break down. "It's all my fault. I...I understand if yer done with me and...."

She smells cigarette smoke and turns to find Daryl burning his hand between his thumb and pointer finger with a hot cigarette butt. Eyebrows raising and mouth opening slightly, Beth stands up- taking Kylie away from the smoke and gapes at him.

"What are you doing!!" She raises her voice in the silent morning air. He doesn't look up at her and she can't look away from his burning flesh. A dark ring is left on his hand as he takes one more hit from his cigarette and tosses it in front of him before standing up and to stomp it out. "DARYL!"

"Go away." He grumbles and starts walking away. Beth, not ready to give into his anger, goes after him- baby in arms.

"Daryl. We're talking about this!" He stops abruptly and gets in her face.

"WHAT! What do you want me to say, Beth! My brother just killed himself! My last living relative died! He was getting better Beth and he just jumped off a fucking bridge!" Stepping back a bit, Beth, holds Kylie close and Daryl steps closer. "So excuse me if I don't want to FUCKING talk!! Just stay the fuck out of my life!"

She's begun to cry, as well as Kylie, and all Daryl can do is stare at her and his crying daughter- his heart sinking back to normal and his face beginning to droop. His breathing starts to slow down and the color of his face goes from red to pale. Beth shakes her head and begins to walk backwards and Daryl starts walking toward her. Turning, she half walks and half jogs back to the apartment and Daryl follows her. Going into the kitchen, he sees her place Kylie in the crib and then drops to the floor- resting her back against the side of the couch. He can hear her sobs and his heart just breaks further. Sighing, he goes to the bedroom and grabs his bags and leaves- but takes one more look at the love of his life hurt and crying on the living room rug. He wants to take back what he's said, but at the same time he needs space and so does she.