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neshabeingchildish · 5 years

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Poly Wanna? Ch. 4

My masterpost is coming soon, my loves. I have to work an additional day this week, so I don’t know how tired I’ll be, but we currently have a teenager on suicide/self harm watch, so I most definitely will not likely be working on any type of updates during my work hours. In the meantime, I decided to try to finish this chapter up, and hopefully we’re all still having a good time. Should be able to get more into all 3 in the same room again within the next couple of chapters.

@adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel @ciara-knightly @cactus-con @up-the-tube @riebellion @itsyaapollochild@oof–musicals @lesbian-so-what @woahjusttakeiteasy-man @meadowstryingtobepretty @imma-sensitive-btch @okaygal21 @midernacht @divinereign4ever @xoxoemille

Jasper, Interrupted

Jasper didn’t know if he wanted to do the interview for the show at Henry’s place, as Henry invited everyone to do. Instead, he told them to just video call him and they could record that. He liked to be within his own element and he had made his home a safe space for him emotionally and mentally. He sort of had to, after his time spent with Henry. To say that Henry did this to him, was unfair and exaggerated. Sometimes, it had felt like that, but Jasper was now of the mindset that whatever things he accepted from others was what he should expect from others. Therefore, what he expected from others became all that he would accept from others. The call came through his computer and he answered it, smiling, “Hello! Hi. I’m Jasper,” he said.

“Hi, Jasper!” A team of three - two guys and a woman said in unison.

One of the guys said, “Basically, we just ask you a few questions, you can say as much or as little as you wish to at this point. Keep in mind that your answers will help us to decide what degree of exposure that we want to give you on the show, and also that anything said here may possibly be brought into the show, as per the contract that we emailed you.”

“Got it,” he said and absentmindedly pressed his hand against a pinscreen that he had nearby, playing the pins to one side, then the other.

“Okay,” the woman said, glancing at the pinscreen he was using briefly, “Tell us about Jasper Dunlop.”

He paused his hand and furrowed his eyebrows, “Like… My life story, or like a resume?”

“It’s up to you!” She cheered.

He hadn’t even thought about what he would say. He thought interview and that they would ask questions and he would answer… Which, ge supposed that this was a form of questioning, but dang it, it was so vague. When he was younger, he used to spout out what he considered interesting facts about himself - his weird big toe, his eleventh toe, his affinity for buckets, his sweat gland condition… But, as he got older and more aware of himself, none of those things were necessarily interesting. They just were. Though… they hadn’t told him to tell them something interesting about Jasper, just “tell us about Jasper.” They were staring as he processed all of this.

‘If I were being impulsive, like I usually am, I’d have said that I have attachment issues and abandonment issues. I date women that remind me of my mother and men that remind me of my father, and yet I can’t stand to be in the room with either of them and whenever I am, both of them remind me of the various ways that I am a disappointment to them. I should tell them to shove it. But, I also have approval issues.’

“I’m not gifted at thinking on the spot. I’ve been known to say some pretty hilariously stupid things for having the bad habit of speaking before thinking…” Instead of saying it apologetically, he went ahead and just stated it like things that he was listing off “about Jasper, and that helped him to have a better flow with his little facts. “My go to karaoke song is 5 Fingaz to the Face by Dr. Rhapsody, I know the word “bucket” in 46 different languages. I eat fries. I have no idea what you want from this vague question. Also nachos. I eat those, too.”

The woman smiled at him, one of the guys chuckled. The third went on to ask, “How would you describe your connection to Henry Hart?”

Jasper blinked his eyes and shook his head, “I don’t think I would describe our existence on this plane as a connection, these days. We were once best friends. We aren’t now. We’re not enemies, and there’s no bad blood, but there was enough deconstruction of the friendship parameters that our status has been altered.”

“But, you’re his ex right? One of his exes?” The man wondered.

“That is one small fragment of the long past that we’ve built and torn down,” Jasper said, with a slight smile. ‘Henry’s hit that,’ he thought to himself. ‘There’s always a possibility when you meet someone through Henry that if Henry hasn’t hit it, he’s either dated, dabbled, or dallied with them. This dude just screams butthurt fuckbuddy.’ “I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you that Henry gets around.” The embarrassment on the man’s face confirmed Jasper’s suspicions. He went on, “One ex to Henry from years ago is like someone that a normal person might have run into at a party one night. Fleeting and inconsequential.” Jasper smiled wider at the guy. Maybe downplaying that relationship would make the dude feel better about whatever torch he was carrying for him.

The woman said, “Well, Henry had a much different POV of your relationship.”

“That makes sense. He’s a much different person than me. It’d be ridiculous for him to have the same POV.”

“He said that the two of you were best friends who fell deeply in love and that he hurt you and pushed you away,” she reported, looking at her notes. They were trying to gauge Jasper’s reaction to that. ‘That was one way of putting it. Another way of putting it was that Jasper was in love with him for years and presumed it would never happen, then it did and he thought it would last forever, because he’d wanted it so badly and because he’d done everything that he possibly could have to make Henry happy. Nothing makes Henry happy. Nobody. And when it ended, there were at least a few accounts that would tell you that Jasper “tried to kill himself.” That wasn’t actually true. Jasper tried to silence his thoughts. He tried to numb his pain. He didn’t care if he died, but he wasn’t trying to do it, no… Tell that to his mother. She was the one who found him. “Just some liquor and pills. That shouldn’t have been so toxic! I once got bit by a death snake!” he’d told her. Then, she thought that he was losing his mind and needed to be committed. Fortunately, after 72 hours, they decided that he really didn’t need to be.

“Does that sound right?” The woman asked.

“That sounds like his POV,” Jasper answered, hoping that what he was just thinking about wasn’t covered in Henry’s testimonial. “But, it’s honestly behind the both of us now. I’m with someone. He’s living his life. I don’t want him. He doesn’t want me.” The scorned one scoffed a little and the woman made a face like she knew a secret, but was happy to keep it, so long as you knew she had it. “So, I know that grumpy cat here must’ve had his moment with Henry, what about you two?”

“We’re not being interviewed,” The woman said, meaning she did. The other guy made a face to indicate that he clearly hadn’t and the idea was ridiculous to him.

Jasper nodded, “You’re right. It’s me. Got more questions for me?”

“What is your current relationship like?” Once again, he had to lose himself in his thoughts, so that he didn’t admit that it was absolutely terrifying. That he and Charlotte had never been so close before and now that they were, he was afraid to ever lose her, or to find out that she wasn’t as in love as he was. That had happened to him before. It was humiliating and shocking to his system.

Jasper was in love with Henry. He wasn’t sure when he realized it. He didn’t know if he had known for a while and avoided it, or if he had accepted it and was fine with it not going anywhere, because it was Henry and Henry just wasn’t a relationship sort of person. Sophomore year of high school, Charlotte had read a study about sex in college, and she became stressed out about the risks. “Are you two having sex?” She asked, flat out.

Jasper blushed and looked at Henry. They had kissed before, experimentally. They had even spoken about how they’d date each other, several times, and they had made out a few times during sleepovers. Henry didn’t even bat an eye at the question. He chuckled and asked, “What, with each other? No.”

She scrunched her face up in confusion and shook her head, because why would she be asking if they were having sex with each other? “But, are the three of us still virgins, or not?” She rephrased her concerns.

“I am,” Jasper said.

Henry clasped his hands together and asked, “Are you asking specifically about penetration?”

She placed her hands on his cheeks and got him to look at her, “Henry. Have you had sex?”

“Not sexual intercourse,” he said through puckered lips, pressed out by her hard cheek squeezing.

“Okay! So, we are all virgins. Here is what I propose. If by some chance we still are by the time we graduate, our first times should be in this circle.”

“This is a triangle,” Henry joked, red in the face just thinking about that, with either of them…

“You’ve both got two years to get it done or be mentally prepared to possibly be the person who has to take one for the team and tap this.”

“Take one for the team?” Jasper repeated. At the same time, Henry said, “That sounds like a reward.”

She didn’t reply to either of their comments, but added on to what she was saying, “And if either of you already have a girlfriend or something at that time, then by default, it’s gotta be the other one. I loathe cheating.”

“What if one of us has a boyfriend?” Jasper wondered.

“You tryin’ to tell us something, Bro?” Henry asked and tilted his head, curiously. Jasper furrowed his eyebrows and just stared at him. Why was he acting brand new? He knew that Jasper was into boys. He had been one of the boys that he’d shown interest in.

But, Char simply said, “That would be cheating, wouldn’t it?” She rolled her eyes shook her head and walked away saying, “It’s probably gonna be him. Dear God, let me be mentally prepared for that…”

Jasper yelled, “I can hear you lamenting over having sex with me!” She looked at him, shocked as others in the hallway turned and gasped. Jasper hid his face in his locker. Henry laughed and caught up with Charlotte. Jasper sighed. It was probably gonna be Henry. Charlotte didn’t even like Jasper like that, not that he thought at the time that she liked Henry, but he could tell that she simply wasn’t remotely interested in him, at least. It was a shame, because Jasper always thought that Charlotte was super pretty and while her rough demeanor and snappy attitude should have probably turned him off of her, he liked her a little bit more for it. She reminded him of his mom. But! Then, he thought about how messed up that was and well… Wait. Then, he thought about how messed up it was that Henry just acted like he didn’t know that he liked boys, and well… Was he doing that to save face in front of Charlotte, or to force Jasper out of the closet? Why would he want to do either of those things? If Jasper sat there thinking all day, he wouldn’t get anything done. It was better for him to just leave his locker and head to class.

By the end of senior year, there were a few changes. He and Henry had become the closest of friends, with Charlotte and Henry’s friendship being less engaging than before, but Henry was frequently all up in Charlotte’s space, meanwhile, Jasper had a crush on him. Jasper wasn’t a fool. He knew that Henry didn’t like him like that, even though he sometimes showed him affection, Henry was just really bad at being a boyfriend and never seemed to want to be involved with anybody after a few days of passion and excitement. That was simply the nature of the beast and despite that, Jasper had feelings growing.

So, whenever Schwoz kept asking Henry and Charlotte about whether or not they were dating, when the guys laughed about Char’s weird behavior whenever Henry was “asking her to marry him,” and just the general weirdness of that time when it seemed like his two best friends were getting to a level that he could not ascend with them to, he just held his peace and watched, pretending that he was imagining it.

They were going to move into an apartment after graduation. None of them had friends, significant others, or plans to go too far from Swellview, so they did the thing that friends do. They started looking for an apartment whenever they started looking for prom and graduation stuff. Charlotte was busy with college prep. Henry was busy with Kid Danger. So, Jasper wound up being the one to look into stuff for them. It was difficult.

Swellview had a pretty good economy, because people who probably shouldn’t have been able to afford their homes based upon the work that they went into or the amount of time that they worked… with their budget, Jasper wasn’t sure how they were supposed to make this work. So, he went to Charlotte to show her his findings and ask her what she thought. She looked things over and said, “We could probably find a house for cheaper than this, Jasper,” and shook her head, “I’ll find an apartment. Don’t worry about it.” He felt stupid, like he sometimes did whenever she treated him like he messed something up that she had to fix. He wasn’t asking her to fix it. He was telling her that this was the best that was out there.

“I worked really hard to find that. I don’t think that there’s anything else that you might find other than…” and she pointed to her computer screen.

Charlotte got up off the seat and walked off, and barked, “Call them.”

Jasper looked at the screen and looked at his list. This wasn’t on his list, so maybe he missed it. He went back through where he was searching, and sure enough, this listing had been on his list and he’d just missed it. That was his mistake. He had problems focusing sometimes and missed out on information, but jeesh… Charlotte could be nicer about it. It had only taken her a few moments to find it. Why had she given the assignment to him, anyway? He fumed and dialed the number to the apartment listing. He heard Henry’s voice, so his natural response was to look for him and to say hi. He was on the phone with the apartment people when he di find Henry and Charlotte huddled up and she was saying, “I just can’t see how it’s still a good idea at this point. He doesn’t listen well. He doesn’t pay attention. He doesn’t think things through. He is an adult now, Henry. You won’t be home most of the time, which means, I’ll have to pick up his slack. If you want to live with him so bad, you two can get a place and I’ll get my own.”

“It’s supposed to be the big 3,” Henry said.

“Well, I’m not his mother, Dude. I’m already on board for a double degree program. I can’t come home to remind Jasper that he needs to put on his big boy undies everyday.” She walked off and Henry called out to her, but she kept going.

Jasper hung up his phone, took a sad swallow and put on his cheerful voice, “Hey, Henry!” He said.

Henry was startled, but turned to face him with a smile and said, “Heyyy, Jasp! What’s up? Char told me that you two found a promising location. Did you get the chance to call them?” Jasper stared at him. Was he really not going to tell him all of the stuff that Charlotte had just said about him? And with a straight face, no less? There was no sign whatsoever from Henry that Charlotte had just been complaining about living with Jasper and basically saying that she didn’t want to.

Jasper wondered, “We are all three still doing it, aren’t we?”

Henry faltered for a moment, “What? Yeah, Bud! Of course we are. Char’s in a bad mood though, so don’t ask her about it right now. I’ll talk to her later, but we’re definitely doing the 3 of us in an apartment thing.” Henry patted him on the shoulder, smiled and headed into the Man Cave. Henry smiled to his face, looked him in the eye and lied to him without so much as a blink. If he had thought better about things, like Charlotte was complaining about, he would have known that Henry was lying. If he would have been paying attention, like Charlotte was complaining about, there would have been no other explanation for what he overheard and what Henry said to him right after. He would have known that the three of them weren’t going to make it in an apartment together. But, he cheered, “Okay, good!” Because, he wanted to believe that his best friend had this handled and even though his other best friend seemed annoyed by him, that she was just in a bad mood and didn’t mean anything by it.

The only available spot for what they would be able to afford was a 2 bedroom place, 2 bathroom space. Charlotte said, “Oh, boo! Looks like I won’t be able to room up with you two.” She said it in an exaggerated sadness, so that they both knew that she wasn’t actually upset about that, at all.

Henry shook his head and said, “Nonsense. They always have a living room in those places. One of us can just take the living room. I’m fine with that. I’ll probably be working as Kid Danger a lot of the time, anyway.”

“Working as Kid Danger, then coming in bone tired and nasty and musty and crashing in the living room - pur shared community space?”

“Even if I had a bedroom, I’d crash in the living room, because that’s where the TV will be.”

“And whenever somebody wants to watch TV, we’ll what, just turn it down low, because you’ll be sleeping off getting your butt beat on the couch that everyone is supposed to share?”

“He could crash in my room!” Jasper offered. Henry and Charlotte both looked at him and he felt like it must’ve been a weird suggestion… but it couldn’t have been more weird than Kid Danger crashing on the couch because he didn’t have a room of his own where he paid rent!

“We’ll keep looking,” Henry said. Charlotte shook her head and folded her arms, muttering something like That means I’LL have to look, like I don’t have better things to do… “I’LL keep looking!” Henry said and rubbed her thigh. She fought a smile and pulled her leg away from him. Jasper noticed that, but it didn’t really occur to him that was an intimate gesture. They were in each other’s space a lot. Henry was a touchy feely person. Charlotte’s little smirk was off, but maybe she was just relieved that Henry was going to do the work and search…

So, they got to the end of the year. They went to a graduation party that was crashed by a villain and Captain Man and Kid Danger were called in to clear things up. Charlotte and Jasper served as the backup and whenever the coast was clear, the three met back up and headed towards their hotel room. They had plans and Charlotte decided that they should just spend the weekend somewhere besides home, since they hadn’t made a final decision on their apartment status yet. The hotel room was nice, fancy, and clean. Basically the only type of hotel that they would expect Charlotte to sleep in.

She went to wash up in her suite, and told them to go wash up in theirs, then come over. She said it, like she was talking to Jasper, but he didn’t notice that it was aimed at him. Henry raised his eyebrows, smiled and asked Jasper, “You know what she’s doing right?”

“Washing up for the night?”

“Yeah, but… remember your virginity pact?” Jasper took a step back. He had NOT remembered it. Henry smiled, “Why do you look so bothered? You’re gonna have your first time with CHARLOTTE! That’s awesome.”

“I wasn’t prepared for that!” Jasper said. “I can’t!”

“Of course you can. I can give you pointers...”

Charlotte got the room ready, washed up, got herself ready, made sure that she had the necessary supplies, and dressed up in a nice little chemise, with her hair up. She would be able to say that her first time was with one of her best friends. That she loved him. That she was responsible. Everything was beautiful. She sighed and began to nervously bounce around. He was taking too long. What were they even doing over there? She grabbed the night robe and threw it on, slid into her slippers and went to their suite to knock. She planned on doing it more gently, but wound up knocking hard.

Henry opened the door, glistening from the shower, with a smile. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey… Is Jasper gonna come over, or… did you have some other plans… together?” She asked, peeking in to see Jasper sprawled out on the bed, laying on his back, with nothing but a towel covering him. Had they showered together? She knew that there was something going on there, but hell… was she the only virgin left in this trio tonight?

Henry stepped out into the hallway and smiled softly, “He’s scared.”

“Of what?”

“Failing. You know how you can be when he doesn’t do something right. He doesn’t want his first time to get him fussed at and give him a complex.”

“I fuss at him a lot less than he deserves!” She snapped, loudly. Henry shushed her. “Don’t you SHHHHHH me!” She said and took a swing at him. He caught her little fist, laughed and pulled her to him. Then, he kissed her on the lips. It caught her off guard. They had been doing a dance for a while, but Henry was no virgin and that wasn’t part of the pact. Then again, Jasper had never agreed to the pact, so… she kissed Henry back and he gently hoisted her up and carried her back to her suite.

Henry sat her on the bed and said, “I can go get Jasper, and I can help him out, if that’s what you want?”

“That sounds awkward,” She said, thinking about her mother telling her about choosing one. Anything else was cheating, or that the very least unwise and a little dirty. She didn’t want those associations with her first time, and Jasper had already rejected her. She couldn’t blame him. She was a little short with him at times, but she figured that he was used to her being hard, by now. She certainly didn’t think it would make him turn her down for something so important that she thought they were going to be able to do together, as friends, and to be honest, she was kind of hurt that he thought she might fuss at him when SHE didn’t know what she was doing either! “I just can’t believe that Jasper turned me down,” she sniffled.

“He didn’t turn you down. He’s scared. I’m sure we can talk him into it.”

“You mean coerce him? No thanks. I’m not a rapist, you weirdo.”

“Well, I know I don’t fit the criteria of your image of your first time, but… I am both willing and available,” Henry said. She looked around the room at the set up. She had these cute little buckets of rose petals that she’d spread everywhere, some with candles lit in them, and one with a bottle of wine that she had gotten as a graduation gift. She shrugged her shoulders, bashfully. She was definitely less confident about this with Henry than she would have been with Jasper.

In her mind, as long as he was clean, Jasper would have probably been more gentle, easier on her, nicer, and it would have been the perfect levels of, ‘What the fuck are we doing?’ for them to both laugh at themselves and still enjoy each other. With Henry… He was… well, he was a player. He was probably skilled. He may or may not have had an unsafe encounter. It wasn’t what she wanted her first time to be! But… she had actually chosen him, before, if it was gonna come to this, not realizing that the choice had to go both ways, when she’d decided. She supposed, rationally, this was better than some pothead when she got to the university and was so busy and tired that she tried it out for kicks. “Okay,” she said. “Just… be easy on me, okay?”

“Charlotte, I’m going to treat you like a queen, okay?”

Jasper got up after Henry had been gone a while. He guessed he needed some alone time to think, without Henry repeatedly telling him how stupid it was that he wasn’t rushing over to Char’s room and “blowing her back out.” But, Henry didn’t understand stuff like this. Henry didn’t really let people get close to him. He didn’t know how terrifying the idea of crossing a line with someone you value and making it to where you could lose them in the capacity that you have them… Henry had as few real connections as Jasper did, but Henry also had another life. He had a persona. He had someone that he could become whenever nobody was there for him and nobody loved him and it was just a bubble away. If he got lonely, he could just become Kid Danger and have a flock of fans. Jasper had to sit with his. So, he didn’t want to lose one of the two people who gave him the comfort of company and he didn’t want to let her down, either.

Jasper put his hand up to knock on her door, but he heard her making sounds and paused. He put his ear against the door to see if he was just tripping, or if something was happening over there… But, it was clear. Even though he had never heard her voice in this way before, he knew that it was her, and he knew that other moan too. That was definitely Henry. Jasper backed away from the door and covered his mouth with both hands, telling himself not to cry. It was okay. This was bound to happen, and they both still loved him and they both would still be his friend…

Unfortunately, things changed between them. Henry in particular was trying to include Jasper, but it was always very clear that he preferred his time alone with Charlotte and she was still sore that Jasper “sent Henry to reject her.” No matter how many times both of them told her that wasn’t exactly what happened.

After a couple of weeks, Jasper announced, “I’m not gonna move into the apartment.” Charlotte shrugged her shoulders and Henry looked relieved, but he was pretending it was sad and that he wanted Jasper to do this with the 3 of them so badly. He didn’t fight him on it like he’d fought Char whenever she didn’t want in, and Jasper just made up some excuse and bowed out. Henry and Charlotte moved in together, and they got a one bedroom place, on the third floor. Jasper didn’t come to visit much, but whenever he did, they were super domestic and one of the times that he did, he and Henry were playing videogames when Charlotte got home.

“Gonna be in here doing that all night?” She asked.

“No. I’m definitely gonna come to bed, probably,” Henry said.

Charlotte nodded and said, “Well, don’t wake me up for anything. I have a test in the morning.” Henry paused the game, got up and went to help her out of her jacket and give her a kiss on the lips, “I promise, I won’t wake you, Babe.” Jasper choked on his popsicle.

Now… IF he had been paying attention, if he had thought about it, the fact that he knew that they had slept together that night in the hotel room, the fact that they had moved into a one bedroom apartment, and the fact that she had just asked him about coming to bed should have been indicators that they were involved. But, for whatever reason, it didn’t occur to him until that kiss and the way that Henry said, “Babe.”

“If you get popsicle on my carpet, I’m going to murder you,” Charlotte said. Jasper got up quickly to rush into the kitchen. “Check on him, before he chokes to death,” she told Henry, shaking her head at their poor, overgrown child of a friend. Henry was on it and she went to bed…

“Jasper, are you okay?” Jasper heard. It was a woman’s voice. He shook himself out of the memory and laughed at himself. He was home, and the interview crew was on the computer screen, during a video call.

“Sorry, I sometimes get so involved in making sure that I actually pay attention and that I’m sure to think about something that I overthink and get lost in my thoughts. Uhh, my current relationship is… surprisingly wonderful. Charlotte and I have a lot of history, some of it is pretty painful, but where we both are now is perfect. We probably should have done this a long time ago, but then again, we would have been completely different people. We were completely different people…” He didn’t realize how much it still stung to think about the way that he for whatever reason was so in love with Henry, but Henry didn’t care about him like that and slid in and made a life with a girl that he probably could have had one with, if he had just been a little bit more attentive, a little bit more thoughtful. He brushed that away and smiled, well… he had her now.

The crew smiled. “Is there something that you care about and would like it to be what an audience gains from watching you?” The woman asked.

This interview had made him think about his heartbreak and his unwillingness to feel it again, but they were probably looking more along the lines of a catchphrase or tagline. He thought for a moment and said, “I’m sensitive, and I’ve been hurt before, but I’m never going to allow myself to be hurt the way that I’ve been hurt before, again.”

#Poly Wanna #Nesha HD Fics #henry danger #henry hart #charlotte page #jasper dunlop #hd ot3

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darkmystress00 · 6 years

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In Living Color Ch 10

A/N: Alright friends...I know I've been gone FOREVER. I went back to school and got my masters. I just graduated the program the end of April. Then a week later my family suffered a tragic loss. My father-in-law passed away unexpectedly and my muse disappeared as I took care of my husband and his family in their time of grief. Thank you for being patient with me. I'm on summer break and hoping to do quite a bit of writing. Unbeta'd so 100% of the mistakes are mine.

Pairing: Bethyl

Catch up: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10

or read on AO3 or FFN

“You what?” Daryl hissed narrowing his eyes.

“I-I mean. I’m imagining what colors might look like.” She faltered. “My daddy used to tell me all about them when my mama was alive.” She took a tentative step back, away from him. The look on his face read like thunder and Beth was scared she’d just dug herself a hole she couldn’t get out of.

Daryl’s heart hammered back to life in his chest as the knot in his stomach loosened. The second this little slip of a girl had mentioned colors Daryl’s heart had stopped and his stomach had dropped to the floor. It would be his luck to get stuck with a girl who was more than likely going to get him dead than anything else. Hearing that she was only imagining helped to ease the fear and tension in his gut. Daryl stared at her for a moment longer, just studying her. He’d never really allowed himself a moment to do that; shouldn’t really be doing it now either if he was completely honest.

She was young. Really young. Blonde hair that shone like sunshine and blue eyes that were way too innocent and made his stomach tighten uncomfortably. She was way too sheltered, and it was going to get her killed. Daryl felt a moment of sadness touch him at that thought, but brushed it off. Lots of people die in this world, he’d do his best to see her trained properly, but after that it wasn’t his problem. His eyes watched as she nervously fidgeted with the pocket of her pants and for a fleeting moment he recognized how she could be considered pretty; by younger guys. He corrected. Guys her own age. He clarified in his mind. Definitely not him. “Y’really shouldn’t be out here.” She gave a quick nod before taking a hesitant step forward while tucking her knife away. “Go’on.” With that she scurried away. Daryl stood for a moment, trying to clear his mind.

His eyes scanned the area and he resisted the urge to smile. If she could see color, this definitely would be a good place to come. His eyes scanned over the greens and browns. Yeah, this definitely would have been the spot.

~~~

Beth wiped her brow as she scrubbed the dishes. Her eyes watched as people milled around the yard. She saw Daryl talking to Rick down by the barn and her heart thumped a little faster. Ever since her little slip up in the woods, three days ago, she’d been avoiding being around Daryl. It wasn’t that she liked him...heavens no. He just made her feel so off kilter. He seemed to keep to himself, and study. That was something new.

No one ever studied to make their own conclusion. At least not when it came to her. Everyone always assumed that she was helpless, and in need of protecting. He didn’t seem that way. He was keen on coming to his own conclusion. And that’s what made her nervous. He could possibly be the only one on this whole farm that would see her; truly see her. And she didn’t want to mess that up...if she hadn’t already.

She watched as her daddy approached the duo, sharing a few words before Daryl gave a few short, curt nods and stooped to pick up his crossbow and headed out into the woods. No doubt they were discussing the food stores. While the farm was getting by on the crops that daddy had planted, all the extra mouths were making those food supplies dip mighty low. They were going to have to go out for a hunt; see if there wasn’t some game they could flush out to help stretch the food a bit longer. Beth sighed. She could make something like spaghetti tonight. The pasta would feed a lot of mouths on a smaller supply. She could toss in a few of the tomatoes from the garden to help stretch the sauce. That might buy their little group some time until a proper hunt to help find more food.

~~~

“Afternoon, boys.” Hershel said as he neared Rick and Daryl. Both men tipped their heads. “I got kind of an odd request. Our food stores are running a touch low,” he hedged carefully, “I’ve been tryin’ to stretch the crops we got so far, but I’m afraid it ain’t much without some protein.” Both men nodded. “We got some livestock animals, but if we sacrifice one, there’s no tellin’ how that will hurt us in the long run.”

“Say no more, Hershel.” Rick offered. “I’m sure we can find somethin’ in the forest.” Hershel brightened as Daryl stooped to scoop up his crossbow.

“That would be mighty fine of you sirs.” Hershel nodded. “It’d be a nice surprise for Bethy what with her birthday comin’ up.” Daryl paused as he turned to leave the group.

“Beth’s birthday is coming up?” Rick’s voice rose in surprise.

“Yes sir. Day after next.” Hershel shoved his hands in his pockets gently. “We don’t do much for it, considering. But it’d be nice to have a full meal available. Kind of a celebration of sorts.” Rick nodded and cast his eyes to Daryl who gave a low grunt before moving off towards the perimeter fence and the forest.

Daryl thought as he quietly moved through the green and brown underbrush. She may be a small, slip of a girl, who was woefully unprepared for the world she lived in, but that didn’t mean she didn’t deserve to have a decent meal on her birthday. Hell, it might help put some meat and muscle on her frame so she could get stronger. He gave a snort.

He needed to find some game for the group anyway. Having Beth’s birthday was just an extra excuse to get out here and hunt. It wasn’t like he liked the girl. No...definitely not.

~~~

Beth groaned as she peeled her shirt up over her head. She’d had a hard day today. She’d woken bright and early intending to train before her chores, but Daryl was nowhere to be seen. She’d had to settle with doing some extra mucking in the barn, and plowing some of the fallow fields to get ready for their late summer crops that needed to go down. She’d worked clear through the day and felt about ready to drop, but she couldn’t she still needed to get down there and make dinner for everyone. She sighed as she swiped the cool damp rag along her neck and dropped it back into the sink. She’d give herself a better clean up after dinner, once everyone had settled for the night.

Without a second thought she pulled another shirt over her head and turned to leave the bathroom. Quickly she made her way downstairs only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw everyone piled in the kitchen around a dinner that was already made and smiling up at her.

“Happy birthday Beth!” Lori called, followed by Maggie, Hershel, Rick and most of the rest of their group. A bright smile lit up her face as she stared at everyone. Rick came up and slung an arm around her giving her a gentle hug.

“We know it ain’t much, but we put together a little something for dinner.” Rick swept his hand over the table that was just covered with food. Beth let out a small gasp.

“Oh my goodness.” She breathed staring over the meal. There were carrots, potatoes, green beans (canned of course), and rabbit.

“Snared us a couple a rabbits. Figured we could enjoy some today and then store the rest. Use them for different meals.” Beth’s eye shot up to Daryl and she smiled.

“That was very smart of you Daryl.” She breathed. “We can make jerky and maybe make some soups from the bones.” She offered. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling at the adorable shade of red his cheeks started to turn at her praise. The fact that he - that anyone - had gone to so much trouble for her was astounding. “My word.” She shook her head. “Thank you everyone. This is so amazing.” She looked around at everyone one more time. “Let’s eat. I can’t wait any longer.” She was met with a round of cheers as everyone milled around to start the festivities.

Daryl stood back, hunched against the wall, watching everyone. He hadn’t seen their little group this happy in a long while. Who’d have guessed that all it took was a few measly rabbits to put everyone in high spirits. His eyes darted to Maggie who was laughing with Beth at one end of the table. He noticed Glenn hovering a touch too close to Maggie, but for some reason couldn’t find it in him to be bothered. He didn’t have a swell of emotion within him like he would have thought he should if another man was sitting a little too close to his soul mate. Not like the swell of pride he’d gotten when Beth had paid him that compliment about the rabbits. If he was that way with a nobody, shouldn’t he have stronger feelings with his soul mate? Trust the Dixon gene to be so fucked up that even this soulmate shit didn’t work correctly.

He let out a sigh. It would just figure.

~~~

Beth smiled and sighed as she splashed cool water on her skin. Tonight had been amazing. So much fun and so much food. They hadn’t eaten that well on the farm in a long time, and it was nice to have one night where everyone was free to laugh and eat until they had to be rolled away from the table.

Gingerly she cleaned herself, scrubbing away the day’s grime and smells. She felt like a whole new person. It was amazing what a good meal and a night of laughing could do for a person, mind, body, and soul.

Beth tugged on a tank top, ready to climb into bed and sleep like the dead. She froze as sounds ricocheted off the walls from the windows as from inside the house. Her blood ran cold. Those were walkers. Lots of walkers. And they were close. She jumped as someone pounded on the door to the bathroom before flinging it wide. Her frightened eyes landed on Daryl as he surveyed her. He reached out, grabbing her wrist before tugging her out of the bathroom.

“C’mon girl. We gotta move.”

“Daryl, what’s goin’ on?” She cried as she heard gun fire from outside and the shouts of their group members.

“Walkers.” He responded as he pulled her downstairs. “A lot of them.” Her eyes widened. “We can’t stay here.”

“What?” He all but dragged her through the front door and the sounds seemed to become deafening. She froze on the spot at the bottom of the stairs to the porch. The sheer amount of walkers pouring in from the fences. Her eyes jumped from the walkers to the members of their group spraying them with bullets in a feeble attempt to hold them back.

“Move Greene!” Daryl yanked on her arm, spurring her into action. He flung her towards a motorcycle before climbing on himself and kicking it on. He felt Beth climb on behind him. Her arms circled around him and he spurred the bike onward into the night.

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