"You can't be serious." Beth was trying her best to keep from yelling in the restaurant. She knew something had to be going on for Daryl to take her to such a nice place. He hadn't been much of the "date" type. They usually just hung out in Daryl's apartment and watched movies. Some might think it was stupid, but Beth enjoyed it. They didn't need to spend money to have a good time.

"Beth, jus' listen to me…" Daryl reached across the table, enclosing her tiny hand in his. The slight trembling of her fingers nearly broke his heart. It's not like he wanted to do this… he had no other choice. If he wanted to have any future with Beth, he needed to go to college. All he had was his GED. She deserved the best life possible, and with the way things were going, he wouldn't be able to provide her with that.

"Daryl, I'm going to college. I'll be graduated in 2 years. We have time to figure things out, but this…" Her ponytail swayed as she shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. The last thing she wanted was to be without Daryl. She knew money was tight, but they could work through it. She'd find another job if she had to.

"Think of the benefits. It will pay for college, help with finding a house, healthcare. It's not like I'm going to disappear. We can email… skype, maybe." His throat was constricting and he had to swallow a few times so he could speak again.

"I've already gone and talked to the local recruiting office. I took my physical. Everything's ready to go…" Daryl's eyebrows drew together when she yanked her hand away, accusing him of lying to her.

"I never lied, Beth. I just didn't tell you that I was doing it. I knew you'd freak out and I wanted to get all the details before I brought it up." The conversation was beginning to get louder and he feared of nearby tables listening in on the conversation. His strategy was to take Beth somewhere public so she wouldn't blow up, but he wasn't exactly sure that it'd work that way.

"It's dangerous… and what am I supposed to do? Just sit around waiting for you? That's not fair."

"It's not fair for me to get ourselves into a shitty situation. I'm thinking of our future together. I'm almost 26, I need to do something." Daryl ran his hand over his face, trying to calm himself down.

"I can't think of being so far away from you… and for months on end." Beth's anger was slowly melting into a deep fear of being alone. The corners of her eyes were beginning to sting, threatening to produce tears. She blinked rapidly, holding her breath. There was nothing worse than crying in front of Daryl. It was like another person's sadness physically hurt him. When Beth's grandmother died, he went to the funeral with her. The whole time, Daryl held her like she was the most precious being in the entire universe. Like, if he let her go, she'd fall apart and break completely.

"Please don't." Daryl's voice came out as more of a growl than he intended. The tears always got to him. Even when Beth cried because of things unrelated to their relationship, he took responsibility. If she cried now, he knew it was because of him. He didn't know if he'd be able to go through with what he was going to do if she started to cry. The first time he ever made her cry was because he called her a naïve bitch. As soon as he saw a tear hit her cheek, he wrapped his arm around here. Since then, he'd learned to control his temper around Beth. They were older now, but he still looked at her as the sensitive 18 year old he knew and loved.

"Did I do something?" As soon as the words left Beth's mouth, she was full out sobbing. Since her mother left when she was a child, she had abandonment issues. She had plenty of love from her sister, Maggie, and father, but there was always that thought of, 'Was it something I did?' Her 8 year old mind convinced her that it was her fault. Even after 12 years, she still believed it.

"No. You know that isn't at all the case. You just deserve more, and I want to give it to you. I don't want you to find someone else who can offer you more…"

"That's not gonna happen!" The few people sitting around them craned their necks to study the feuding couple. Beth's hands hid her face as her shoulders shook, sobs raking through her petite figure. After only a few seconds, strong arms were wrapped around her.

"C'mon." Daryl murmured into her ear, standing and pulled her up with him. He shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out a wad of crumpled five dollar bills, tossing it on the table without counting them. The last thing on his mind was how much money he owed the waiter. All he could think of was getting Beth in his truck and soothing her tears.

"How long have you been hiding this from me?" Beth's head was against Daryl's chest, the two of them sitting in the cab of his pickup.

"A few weeks." It was a lie, but he figured if he told her, "Oh just the past year," she'd only get more upset. He had been struggling to pay rent at his apartment for nearly 16 months. Working at the auto shop was easy for him, considering he grew up doing his own repairing, but $15.60 an hour wasn't going to cut it. Especially not if he wanted to start a family. Whether it was with Beth or not, he'd need to be able to support himself along with others.

The only sound was of Beth's occasional post-sobbing hiccup or sniffle. Neither of them knew what to say. She loved him and he loved her. She had been with him for two years and spent nearly every day beside him. They talked about moving in together and maybe getting married. Now all of it was going to be put on pause for God knows how long? There was a dull ache in the pit of her stomach, accompanied by a slow developing migraine. A thousand things were running through her mind. What if he got hurt? What if he found someone else? What if he was just lying to get away from her? What if, what if, what if? The knot in her stomach only grew larger and she clenched her teeth. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to win this battle.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Daryl's eyes widened, straightening up in his seat.

"If thousands of other woman can do it, I can to. I'm going to be the best damn army girlfriend there ever was." She forced a sad smile, sitting up to face the man she loved more than anything. Her fingers found the back of his neck and her lips met his in a gentle kiss.

This was going to be one of the hardest things she had ever done, but she knew that their relationship was strong enough to get through it. At least she hoped so.

WELCOME TO MY NEW FANFIC! This one is obviously much different. I got inspired by watching the military homecoming videos. *sob*

This one will be a heart breaker, but those make the best stories, right?

(Each chapter will get longer.)

Happy reading(: