Her light, his fire

17

Suggested Music:
(Lose My Mind -Dean Lewis)
"To let your heart find a home"

THEN-
It felt like we had been riding for so long, the anticipation rising. We were free, I kept thinking. No one suspected us, no one was coming after us. We were safe for the most part, I held tightly around Daryl's waist as he sped down the dirt roads, paths marked on the map he had found. He knew how to get to hilltop, it was only a matter of time before we arrived. I felt myself smile, I thought about Maggie, and everyone else. "We're close." He shouted over the sound of the muffler. I slowly lifted my head from off of his back and began to see the walls of hilltop, Daryl started to slow down as a man with a bow spotted us, I could see him point our direction then quickly step down, disappearing. Once we were close Daryl stopped the bike, digging his feet into the ground and stepped off, I got off behind him and began to chuckle, Daryl turned and looked at me. A smile wide on his face one I hadn't seen in so long. "We are home!" I said as I flung my arms around his neck, Daryl wrapped his arms around me pulling me off the ground lifting me up, his chest on my lower body he started swinging us in a circle. "You damn right we are." He said in the most childish way possible. He held me as tight as he could as my eyes began to water, we did it. We finally made it home. I couldn't fight back the happy tears I began to cry and laugh all at once as Daryl held me. "We did it." I repeated over and over staring down at him with a smile so wide on my face. Daryl placed my feet back on the ground as I continued to hug him tightly. I could hear him sniffle a couple times which caused me to let my grip around his neck go, I slowly moved my head back to see his face, he was looking down, tears in his eyes, his hair dangling over his face. "Daryl." I whispered as he slowly looked up at me, our eyes focused on each other. "Hm?" He mumbled. I felt the butterflies in my stomach run inside as my heart beat slowed down. I'm not sure what I wanted but I wanted to touch him, to feel him again.. I slowly lifted my head getting close to his lips, his breathe on my lips, his pace slow matching mine, our lips were so close yet so far apart. "Thank you.." I whispered placing my lips against his.
Then I heard the gate rumble, I slowly moved away as I laid the heel of my boots back down on the dirt ground and slowly turned to see the gate open, me and Daryl both waiting patiently. Maggie stood behind it, her eyes full of tears as she stared at us, my feet took off as I ran to her throwing my arms around her, we fell down to our knees as we both weeped. She mumbled a thousand things as we held each other tightly. "I'm so glad you are okay! How'd you get here? Are you okay?" She kept asking a thousand questions she lifted her head and looked at Daryl who stood there with a sad look on his face. He had brought her home just like he had told her he would, but the guilt of the whole thing hurt him. He had killed that man, he didn't regret it but parts of him ached because of it. 'Thank you' she mouthed to him as Sasha came over giving him a warm hug. "Welcome back." Sasha said.

Maggie, Enid, Sasha and Jesus had set up a table for us, I sat beside Maggie and Jesus across from Daryl who was drinking some moonshine as he explained how we got out. Moonshine.. it made me smile at the thought of that shack in the woods. Maggie was listening to us tell our story about the sanctuary, she was so surprised on how different things were there, how bad it had gotten for us. "Thank you Daryl.. for protecting Beth and getting her here." Maggie said. "Nah, she protected herself, she ain't need me." Daryl said staring up at me, Sasha smiled at the two of us she lifted her glass of water and everyone followed. "We are glad y'all are here." She said. "Maggie.. I'm sorry for-" Maggie shook her head "it's okay.. it's okay." She said to him giving him a broken smile. "You brought my sister home, I couldn't thank you enough for that. What happened to Glenn, that wasn't your fault." Maggie grabbed my hand and held it firmly, trying to fake a smile once again. "It's so nice to be back." I whispered. Jesus and Enid chuckled as they began to eat. "You two must be tired, I'll talk to Gregory, get a room set up for the both of you." Jesus paused then looked over at Maggie. "Unless you want ah..." he stopped and looked at us then at Maggie again. Daryl's eyes lowered awkwardly as we understood what he was hinting we were alone together for awhile and well.. I'm not sure if he thought we were "together" or not. "She can stay with us.. we have enough room in the trailer." Enid said clearing the awkward tension that arouse around the question. "Perfect." Maggie said letting my hand free. I looked up at Jesus who made a funny face, I couldn't help but chuckle. "Is that alright with you?" Maggie asked, I about chocked on a piece of my food as it sit at the tip of the fork by my mouth. "Hm?!" I mumbled chewing on it as quickly as i could so I could speak. "Of course.." The pitch in my voice was a little high, high enough to tell I was avoiding whatever tension was growing in the room. "Wanna get cleaned up?" Jesus asked Daryl, Daryl shrugged and took another sip of his drink. "Well I definitely do." I said dropping my fork on the plate. "Go ahead Beth, I have some extra clothes if you'd like to take them." Maggie said to me, she placed a hand on the side of my head as she laid a kiss on my temple. "Thank you." I whispered, I walked over to the dresser as Maggie directed me to the clothes I could fit. I grabbed a black leather jacket one I had before we got taken away, a white V-neck shirt, some dark ripped jeans, and some clean undergarments. I grabbed the stuff and laid it across my arm as I headed towards the door. "Remember where it is?" Jesus asked, I nodded my head. "Got it." I said waving them goodbye as I headed towards the large house that sat in the middle of the settlement. A couple survivors passed me and greeted me with smiles. "Welcome home Mrs. Greene." They said to me. "Thank you!" I said as I spun in a circle taking in how beautiful this place was, what I hated most about the sanctuary was how secluded I was. Those walls reminded me on the prison but the courtyards weren't big, they were usually smaller or filled with vehicles. But here.. there was so much fresh air, open space, I loved nature and the way the breeze felt through my hair. It made me smile so wide. I finally snapped myself out of my lingering stares as I pushed through the door, Gregory jumped at the sight of me. Great.. the asshole. "Your back?" He questioned, then he fixed his tone. "Your back!" He tried to pretend to be excited as he forced me into a hug. "Bethany? Right?" He said. I blinked my eyes a couple times "Beth." I flatly said. "Huh?" He said looking away and out of the window. "It's good to see you too Jeff." I said continuing where I was headed too, I could hear him say something but I wasn't to ken to hear it. I simply rolled my eyes and ignored any other shit he had to say. All I could think about was warm water, god how I missed it. I swayed into the bathroom throwing my clothes into the sink, I looked at myself in the mirror seeing the scar on my cheek. I ran my index finger over the welp on my skin before looking over at the shower, I turned the knobs so it was warm in temperature, stripped down, and stepped into the water, any dirt washed away down the drain, I grabbed the shampoo and began to wash my long blonde hair, the water becoming brown from how dirty it was. The soap ran down my back as I parted my lips and allowed my voice to sing a song I used to always sing to my grandmother when he was in the hospital.

🎶And oh-oh, I kissed a boy on the west side of town
With a Porsche and a million dollar record deal
Oh-oh, but there's a boy living way downtown
Doesn't understand how he makes me feel
Logic tells me I should drive that Porsche toward the sand
But my heart only beats for this downtown man
So, I'm like a loser
Batting zero for ten
I'm gonna drive downtown and make the same mistakes again.

I could hear a knock come from the door breaking me out of song and dance. "Yes??" I called out. The door creaked open as I popped my head around the shower curtain. "Maggie wanted to bring you these." Daryl mumbled as he looked over at me then over at the clothes that sat in the sink, he laid a pair of shoes on top of the pile as he looked at me again. "Try not ta' use all the hot water." He teased as he turned to leave the room. "No promises." I said with a smile splashing his back as he went towards the door, He quickly tried to jump out the way "Asshole." He said turning and popping his head back in. I splashed him again "Get out!" I playfully said, "alrigh' alright." He smiled and closed the door leaving me alone again in the small bathroom. I washed the soap completely out of my hair as I added conditioner in it, I looked around for a razor so I could shave my legs and other places that needed it. I felt so fresh, it made me really really happy. Once I was done with the shower I took the towel and wrapped it around my body, I ripped the mirror with my hand trying to uncover my face that hid from the steam and fog that covered it. My wet hair was curled and laid against my skin, I dried off my body and allowed the towel to drop as I put on my clean bra and panties I wrapped my hair in the towel on the floor allowing it to dry I slipped on the shirt and pants. Once I was done with the bathroom I opened the door to see Daryl waiting outside, my hair curled and pushed to the left side of my face, he looked over at me awkwardly staring. "Yah' look good." He mumbled uncrossing his arms. "Thanks.. I left you some hot water, you really could use a shower." I teased. He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders "Whatever Ms. Sunshine." He said as he pushed past me into the bathroom, I looked back at him before giving him the same expression he gave me, a sassy little eye roll. He began to unbutton his shirt as he slowly closed the door still glaring at me.