The Wanderer (bethyl)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

They walked through the woods in silence, taking their time. They'd taken this route to the small town nearby plenty of times b, and they'd only ever come across a couple of walkers. Beth led the way, her hand resting on her knife.

After a while, Daryl spoke.

"If you are..." he began, hesitating when Beth turned her head at the sound of his voice.

She didn't say anything, just looked at him with those big blue eyes. Daring him to say the word. It hung in the air between them, loud in the silence. But he was a coward.

"...will you keep it?" He said eventually. It sounded blunter, harsher, than he had intended, but it was ridiculous to pretend that they both weren't thinking about exactly the same thing.

"Yes." She said after a pause, raising her chin a little. Defiantly, almost. "I will." But of course she had already made up her mind; this was Beth. Beth knew what she wanted and she made plans; that was what she did. It made Daryl wonder how long she had kept the secret to herself; how many nights she had spent wide awake, thinking and fearing.

"I kept thinking about Lori, and what she decided to do and...it was brave, and it wasn't easy, but it was right." She told him, dropping back a little so that they were walking almost together. "And once Judith was born I couldn't imagine a world without her."

Judith's gone, he wanted to say, they all are. Nothing good seemed to stick around in this world.

"What about you? What do you want?" Those eyes gazing up at him again. She always asked so many damn questions.

"Not my place t'say." He murmured.

Beth frowned and abruptly stopped walking. "I can't bring a child into this world if it's not wanted by its father."

Her words stung, for reasons other than she had intended.

She saw his face. "You're not like him." She told him firmly, her gaze intense and inescapable. "This will be different."

When he didn't reply, she sighed and carried on walking. "And I know that isn't what you meant. But you have to have an opinion."

"This world ain't no place for a baby." Daryl replied, and Beth was taken aback by the deep sadness in his voice.

Back at the prison, they had thought it was safe. Rick had thought Lori was safe. But he had been wrong. Even after that, they had thought Judith was safe. Hell, they had thought they were all safe. They had all been wrong. He couldn't let that happen again.

For a moment he thought she was just going to accept his response.

"We'd manage. I know we would." Beth replied in a smaller voice than before.

"Maybe." He shrugged, non-committal. She pressed her lips together, refusing to hit back with a snarky comment.

"I always wanted a child." Beth said after a while. She remembered saying those words to Carol, back at the prison. A lifetime ago. "That's why I always liked looking after Judith."

"You were good with her."

"You were too." Beth was quick to remind him.

They had reached the town. It was silent and empty, just how they had left it the last time.

"Things worth having are never easy, you know." She remarked blithely as they headed towards the pharmacy.

That made Daryl smile, just a little, although Beth didn't see it. "Hershel?" he asked.

She smiled at that, turning to face him now they were at the door. "Who else?"

But the moment didn't last; they had a job to do. Daryl unhitched his crossbow from his shoulder and Beth unsheathed her knife, ready to enter.