Weight of the World

From the darkness of the bedroom, with only the moonlight to illuminate his countenance, Beth Greene watched Daryl Dixon gaze out into the night. Fall had arrived, bringing chilly nights and cool days. Somewhere outside came the sound of a hooting owl.

The weight of the world sat heavily upon Daryl’s shoulders. Yes, they’d found the old group from the prison, the old friends they trusted and loved, but they’d gone through a lot to get there. Beth had fought to survive being kidnapped by cannibals. She’d fought a battle to reassure Daryl that she didn’t blame him for what happened to her, even though he blamed himself. Now he had new worries. He had mouths to feed, threats to fight off, and atop it all, he was trying to learn to love her, to be open with her. He needn’t worry about the last. She could read his heart like words upon the page of an intimate diary. 

Daryl left the window and traded the chill of the room for the warmth under the blankets. He asked Beth for permission with a stroke of his hand over the flat planes of her belly rather than words. She gave him silent permission by lifting her leg and draping it over his.

Sometimes sex was a near brutal battle of wills, of two people taking with little voluntarily giving. Sometimes it was sweet, the stuff of romance novels. At other times it was noisy fun, or just blind, animalistic rutting.

Other times it was this: a joining of two bodies, a melding of souls that required slow moves and lazy sighs. Tonight it was stress relief for Daryl. Beth cared nothing for climaxing tonight. She only wished to offer peace to the man she’d fallen so deeply in love with.

She felt Daryl move inside her. She listened to each plaintive sound to pass from his lips. She enjoyed the feel of his hand gripping her thigh. She breathed in the evergreen tree and pinecone scent that clung to his hair after a day of hunting in the woods. When he was ready, she felt him come deep inside her. She wondered if this would be the time his seed took root, and her body would bear the fruit of his loins. 

Daryl’s strong arms came to rest around her. His breath evened out as he came down, and then slowly drifted into sleep. Now that she knew she’d brought him comfort, Beth allowed herself to follow him into the land of dreams, where the world was right again, and those they’d lost to death were well, and whole, and waiting with open arms.