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I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Chapter 41

~Author's Note: Hey guys! Just fair warning, this chapter jumps around a bit, it seems disjointed, and a little unorganized, but it is what it is. There were some things, some details, I wanted to included and a tone of happiness and security that I wanted to set, and it just so happened this was the most logical chapter to include them in. I promise, the coming chapters have much better things in store! Please don't judge me too harshly by this chapter! As always, thanks for reading!


They cleared the first floor without any surprises, but Daryl grew more and more anxious with every ornate glass door they went through, every heavy carved paneled door they slid open reveling rooms containing treasures he was like to break. Daryl was so out of his element...bull in a china shop...that was him in this place. The dead man told him this was a family home. For some reason, back in the church, he thought family home meant a comfortable home where a family lived. He couldn't have been more wrong in that assumption. Family home in this case literally meant a home that had been in the family for generations. The man in the church didn't seem like the kind of person who'd live in a place like this, but if it was where his family had lived since forever...why would anybody have abandoned it...Daryl wouldn't have either. It was disturbing though that every room they passed through contained precious objects clearly dating back to when the house was built and the faces of the families who'd lived here ages past peering down at him from where they'd been immortalized on canvas in rich oil paints, telling him he was an intruder...he didn't belong.

Daryl's "better safe then sorry" attitude drove him to proceed with clearing the house, but his gut told him they were safe. After several rooms that seemed to serve no functional purpose, Daryl just stopped and shook his head. He knew what the entry foyer was, or in this case, the grand foyer with an antique crystal chandelier suspended from the vaulted ceilings and bordered on one side by the staircase, what the parlor, and the library were...but these other rooms...if he wasn't good with knowing where he was, he would've been like to get turned around in a house like this.

"Daryl?" Beth questioned, concerned as he paused.

"Nothin', just tryin' to figure out what all these rooms are for. I don't even know what their called."

Beth giggled. He smiled and shook his head at himself, how serious he was being about nothing. If this was the kind of problem he had to face, tryin' to figure out where he was in a house...that kind of problem he was willing to live with.

They made a game of it...every room they went in, he would try to guess what its purpose was, and then Beth would tell him how wrong he was...schooling him in the subject of classical floor plans.

"So, what's this one. Looks just like the parlor to me..." Daryl admitted, hoping the chairs were more comfortable than they looked. Anyway...he wasn't like to be sittin' in this room anytime soon. There was too much work to be done.

"It's off the dining room, so it seems like the drawing room."

"For art and all that?" Daryl assumed.

Beth's breathy laugh told him he was very wrong, but he wasn't offended.

"It's short for 'withdrawing' room. It's kind of like the parlor, but the parlor was for receiving guests. The drawing room was where the ladies would go, withdraw from the dining room, after dinner to socialize while the men would stay at the table, drink brandy, smoke cigars, and talk about stuff like politics."

Daryl heard the words she said, but he was more in tune to how she sounded. She had a song in her voice, joy, not masking anything. Maybe he wouldn't have to get her past having killed. Maybe that chapter was closed.

"That's fine, you be all smart now, but when I take you outside to the car and ask you where the camshaft is or where the oil goes, I'm gonna be the one laughing." Daryl leaned in, affectionately nudging her with his shoulder. She smiled brighter, if that was even possible.

He let Beth open the double doors to the adjoining room. It was kind of exciting... like exploring. Beth stopped and stood very still, like if she moved, it would all disappear.

"I know what this room is," Daryl asserted, looking and the polished piano at its center, "your music room".

He was waiting to wake up. His dreams weren't even this good. How in the hell did this happen to him?

Daryl had left Beth sitting on a odd fancy couch in the foyer, something she called a chaise, while he cleared the second floor. He stood at the top of the stairs, after his rounds, starring down at her. She didn't notice him, and he liked it that way...being able to look at her...watch her without her getting all self-conscious for no reason. He just wanted to remember her, remember every detail, capture every moment.

She deserves this. This home...our home.

His Beth, his home, his life...what would his old man and Merle say now? They'd been wrong all along.

Beth finally noticed him, looking up as he began to descend the stairs.

"Nothin' up there but more stuff I ain't gonna touch 'cuase I'll break it."

She smiled up at him, shaking her head. Beth thought he was teasing, but he couldn't have been more serious. Daryl stopped at the foot of the marble staircase, making sure he had Beth's full attention. She watched, tilting her head to the side quizzically, waiting. He'd saved the best surprise for last, and it had been one hell of a day already. He reached out, flipped the switch, looking up and watching the crystal chandelier come to life, light dancing and reflecting off the hundreds of dangling strands of glass. Beth was on her feet, hand over her mouth in shock...it was a good day...a very good day!

"Electricity...how?" Beth was apparently unable to form whole sentences faced with this small luxury.

"Man was prepared. There's apparently a solar field out back, and there's generators for backup," Daryl explained what he'd been told.

"Hot water, showers, light...heat."

The fact that she was overcome made him happy...fulfilled. For once, he'd done something right; he hadn't failed.

"Come here Lil' Bit." He offered his arm to her, pulling her against his chest, feeling her sigh against him.

Daryl had spent the majority of his life without love, without human closeness of any kind...and now it was all he wanted. To touch her, hold her, be touched, and be worthy of her love...

"Now were not gonna go all crazy and start abusing the electricity. We've learned to live pretty good without it, and if we get to used to it again, it'll be all the harder to adjust if we lose it." He had to be practical, pulling himself out of his sappy thoughts...at least for now.

Beth took her own turn exploring the house once Daryl left her to check out the basement and out back. Being alone was okay here...there was nothing to be afraid of except perhaps the ghosts of the people who'd once called this house home. It was just by chance the first bedroom Beth entered must've belonged to a daughter. It was a girl's room...the kind of room she would've dreamed of in another life, white canopy bed and all. Those days were over though. She was grown now. She walked around the edge of the room, looking, not touching, not wanting to invade a world that didn't belong to her. She stopped in front of the dresser, compelled to pick up the silver picture frame. A prom picture...a pretty girl in a pretty dress with a handsome boy, his arm around her. She'd never made it to the prom, never got to wear that pretty dress, have her Daddy take her picture while she walked down the stairs as the boy waited nervously at the bottom for her. Beth should be jealous, but she wasn't...just a bit sad...and more than anything, she just hoped the boy and girl in the picture hadn't suffered long when the end came. She could've just as easily been the girl in the picture...gone to prom and dead instead of still standing.

But for the grace of God...

And all those people who protected her, saved her. And Daryl...most of all, Daryl.

Beth carefully placed the picture back so everything appeared untouched. She caught her reflection in the mirror. She looked tired and worn...but she was still pretty, wasn't she? Here they had a chance...they could rest, recover, put the past behind them...and she needed to start now! Beth stripped her clothes, trying to erase the memory of the blood that stained them...the man she'd killed. It was over, and she would never have to see the tangible reminder of his death again.

A soft, comfy sweater and a new pair of jeans changed her world, her perspective...allowed her to be herself again...untarnished...unstained.

Daryl checked in on her at mid afternoon. There were cattle in the field, a few horses in the barn, food, guns, ammo, and supplies in the basement...and land, lots of good fertile land...to grow crops come spring. The majority of the land was outside of the secured perimeter he told her before heading back out to do whatever it was he was doing. Even though it was fenced, Beth wasn't delusional...she new it could easily get overrun by walkers. But there was enough ground on the inside that they could survive easily. Beth felt like she could breathe. Come late afternoon, when she actually allowed herself to think about food, she realized that she didn't have to improvise a meal. Daryl didn't have to hunt today for them to eat. Dinner wouldn't be vending machine leftovers. There was enough of everything. When she opened the refrigerator door in the kitchen, the bright light illuminating all her choices for dinner...the world felt normal again...but just like Daryl said, she wouldn't take it for granted.

"...and Merle was pissed as all get out. He'd been talkin' to this girl, the kind he liked, when the bartender cut him off and told him to leave 'cause he was being too obnoxious..." Daryl paused, a grin on his face. "I followed him out just in time to see him misstep off the curb and fall flat on his ass. He saw that I'd seen him, and before I could say or do anything, he was barking at me 'Not a f-ing word baby brother...not a word!' I was smart enough not to open my mouth, but Merle just kept laying there at the side of the street, and then he just busted up laughing. I laughed too 'cause he was so drunk he wouldn't ever remember in the morning so he wouldn't kick my ass for it!"

Beth smiled. She smiled for Daryl. She smiled for herself. She smiled for the memory of Merle. Merle might have been bad, he might have been bad for Daryl, but he was still Daryl's brother. Merle had gone out trying to save them; in the end, he'd made one selfless decision. And if Daryl could share a happy memory of Merle in their new life, she would share it with him. It was a happy moment. Daryl was smiling too...and she had a story of her own to share.

"Back right after Daddy got his prosthetic leg and he was starting to teach Rick how to plant and grow...you were going out on a run I think, because I remember you sitting on your bike waiting for the gates to be opened..." Beth was amazed at how quickly the good memories were coming back for both of them..."I had Judith with me outside, watching Daddy, Rick, and Carl. Daddy was walking...just walking normal...and all of a sudden, he was moving forward, and his leg was left behind. Of course I knew that his leg was fake, but sometimes, in a moment, you know, you forget things...and I was just horrified. I was holding Judith, so there was nothing I could do, but Rick and Carl ran over to help him, make sure he was okay." Beth paused, remembering the moment, not in sadness because her Daddy was gone, but in joy because she shared this happy moment with him. "And do you know what he said? 'The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away!' Then he laughed. Then we all laughed."

"Your Dad, he told me about that...later sometime. He said he'd never forget the look on everyone's faces, like his real leg had just fallen off."

Daryl offered her his hand from where he sat at the head of the table, squeaky clean, in fresh clothes, his hair still damp from the shower. She took it. They were fed, safe, happy by all accounts...and the conversation of fond memories was coming so easily.

"Daryl?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is it okay...to laugh...to be happy?" Why was she suddenly unsure?

"Umm-hmmm," Daryl nodded. "Time's too short...the world's too uncertain not to..."

He'd built a fire in the fireplace...there was something to be said for old houses...a way to keep warm in most bedrooms, and he would take fire over electric heat any day. Daryl had to hunt for clothes to sleep in. The ones he had...the plaid pajama pants Beth had given him...were too dirty to wear anymore...but they'd grown on him...he wanted to keep 'em. He'd found "Hugh Hefner" pajamas in the master bedroom, their bedroom...but there was no way in hell...not in a million years. The dead son's room provided something he could live with, normal pajama pants and another wife beater.

Beth was just on the other side of the door...in the bathroom...taking a bath. His shower before dinner made him feel like a new man. A shower hadn't felt so good since the one he'd taken at the CDC at the beginning. Beth's bath though...it was taking her too long...they'd spent a good majority of the day apart. He just wanted her near...had he become that fucking dependant? He sure in the hell had! They'd come too close to the end too many times...but wanting her near really didn't make him dependant though, or needy. He just needed to protect and be near what was his...and Beth was his. Daryl's hand went to the crystal doorknob. He could at least sit with her, be near her, watch her...she wouldn't turn him away, would she? But he stopped himself, fought what he wanted again. It was all still new for her Daryl knew. Just because she was naked with him last night in the dark didn't mean she wanted him busting in on her bath time. He might scare her...make her uncomfortable, and she would have nowhere to go...nowhere to retreat to. Something Beth had taught him...something he'd taught himself with Beth...patience and self control...but even those awkward, unsure moments...he wouldn't trade 'em for anything.

Daryl pulled his hand away from the doorknob, having decided not to barge in uninvited. Instead, he placed his hand flat against the door, leaning his forehead against the smooth, cool surface, just waiting for her.

Come on Beth, hurry up...

He pictured Beth opening the door suddenly and him falling flat on his face. Yeah...that was exactly the side of him he wanted her to see! Daryl sighed deeply, pulling away from the door, turning then to the monstrosity of the bed. He'd never slept in a bed with curtains before...a canopy neither...really, what was the point? And then, there were wooden steps beside the bed 'cause it was so tall. Who needed a bed with stairs? There was nothing to be done about it, and when he dove into the bed, it was just as he suspected...too soft...but he wasn't gonna complain none. It actually felt pretty damned good.

Notes

Comments

@Smokey85
Awww...thank you so much for coming back to read! You are amazing. I truly appreciate it!

Aireabella Aireabella
3/30/19

I am so happy you are back! I love your stories and always look forward to your updates! Thank you for sharing your work :)

Smokey85 Smokey85
3/26/19

@McDrogoInaNewWorld
So glad that you enjoyed it! It always makes my day when I can make people happy by doing what I love! Thank you so much!

Aireabella Aireabella
6/14/18

Yay!!! Another great chapter on the books, can’t wait to see what happens next!!

@blesdirishangel
Thank you so much for coming back to my fic and for your comment! I am glad that you love the update. You are amazing!

Aireabella Aireabella
6/7/18