I Made It!

Chapter 21: Hello Again

He'd been out all day just trying to find some supplies and some people in need. He brought more gas for his bike, found some ammo, some food, and a few squirrels for his own dinner. Daryl is beyond dirty and beyond tired- after all he didn't sleep very well having had nightmares of the blonde woman coming back from the dead and trying to eat his face off.

Parking his cyle in the vacant garage to one of the last houses in the compound, Daryl tiredly enters the home, fully ready to take a quick shower before making dinner and going to bed.  Going upstairs, he sets his bow down on the bed and notices his bed is actually made.

Carol...huh, I wish she'd leave it alone. Who cares if the bed is made- I'm the only one who sleeps in it.

Kicking off his shoes, he wipes his bandana across his dirty face. He's caked in dirt and a little blood- normal. Heading out of his room, he goes across the hall and opens the bathroom door, only to find himself imagining Beth naked in a towel, covering up as much as she can.

Wake up, Dixon!

"Daryl?" Looking at him, Beth feels embarressed that this is how they reunite. He slowly steps forward, looking confused. "Daryl, I know this must be hard to understand, but..."

Crashing his body into her naked one, he forces his face into her neck and breathes in her fresh new scent. Tears hit her shoulders and she isn't embarressed any more- she's morose, but glad also. Holding onto the towel with one hand, Beth wraps her other around his neck, holding him the best she can without being on her tiptoes. Daryl's arms snake around her waist and his thumbs touch her bare skin, causing her to shiver slightly.

Maggie comes into view and is about to speak when Beth gestures for her to leave them be. Thankfully Maggie understands and she leaves the upstairs.

"Yer alive...truly alive?" He says it as though the whole thing is a dream. As if he's asleep in his bed, thinking of her like always, only he's waiting for her to turn into a walker like she always does. She doesn't. She just stands there and holds him close to her.

"I am. I made it, Daryl."

"So yer real?" She giggles at this and pecks his cheek.

"Yeah, and real naked...so I'm gonna go get dressed. You take a shower and we'll meet up downstairs?" Pulling away from her grasp, he slighgly looks down and then feels his cheeks get hot as he realizes she is in fact alive and only in a towel.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Haha, it's alright." She smiles widely at him and then exits, shutting the door behind her.

She's alive...I can't be dreaming, I held her...held her naked- oh God!

After getting dressed and heading downstairs, Beth notices the squirrels on the counter and smiles. How she missed the taste of squirrel after all this time. Preparing them, she makes a side. Salad from the lettuce and other vegetables in the fridge.

It's amazing that this whole place has power. I've gone so long wothout electricty I feel like I'm dreaming.

"Amazing, isn't it?" His voice pulls her from her thoughts.

"Yeah...the hospital was one thing...but this place...it's like a fairytale." Placing the cooked squirrels on the plates, she hands him one and they sit at the counter. He can't stop staring at her. She's wearing a clean men's plaid shirt that was actually his, but he never wore cause he thought it would delay the process of becoming an Alexandrian. However nice the top, he realizes she isn't wearing bottoms. "I think the shower is going to be my favorite thing about this place....what?"

"Nothin'....jus...just missed ya. Is all." He says quietly like he's ashamed and looks down at his food he's been stirring around on his plate instead of eating. He seems to have lost his appetite.

"I missed you too." He looks up at her surprised and hurt by his initial thoughts. Getting up, Beth sits beside him on an empty stool and gently grabs his hand. Pulling it to her chest, she holds it over her heart and he just stares blankly at it, before meeting his tearful eyes to hers. "I know you blame yerself for what happened...you shouldn't. We both made decisions that we had to live- and I guess- die with. Daryl if you thought for one second that I wouldn't miss you- then you truly are lost."

"I wish I held you when I got the chance..."

"Hold me now." She pleads him and he wants to, but there's an internal fight in him. He still doesn't believe this is real.

"I...I can't...I can't." Getting frustrated, she takes his hand and pushes it to her forehead where he feels the entry point to the bullet scabbed over. Then she takes it to the exit point and he feels that too. His tears become more harsh and he just doesn't know what to do.

"I'm alive Daryl...but...but yer breakin' my heart." Getting up, she leaves the kitchen and goes upstairs to the bedroom. Lay down in bed, she hugs a pillow and it smells like him.

After a few minutes he comes into the room and just stands looking at the ground as he leans against the doorframe.

"I came all this way... I fought long and hard all by myself to come and be with my family... With you...But, but you can't even believe I made it. Do you just think I'm that weak of a person? I'm yer nightmares. I'm just that dead girl. I watched the tape. You say you don't know what love is- well let me tell you. Love is dying and coming back- love is walking over fire hundred some miles to be with a man who thinks he's nothing but broke. Well I look at that man and you know what I see? Perfection. That's what love is. And it don't matter what you feel for me, cause you can't love anyone until you love yerself- stop blaming yerself for things you can't control." She rolls over to face the other wall and soon feels him lay down behind her. He holds her just like he had in the coffin. Only this time, he presses a kiss to the back of her neck.

"That's how I feel...but about you." She sobs when she hears his short and quiet lament. Turning in his arms, she faces him and hugs his neck. Bravely she looks up and kisses his lips. "Yer home..."