"I'm getting good at this. Pretty soon I won't need you at all," Beth said with a smile. She was joking and teasing him, but it was still a proud moment for her when she realized they were tracking a walker, alone with Daryl, his crossbow in her hands. It was strange, but it a nice way. He was being a lot nicer to her since their drunk-on-moonshine night. She knew he probably felt horrible about the words he had said to her and this was all his way of trying to make up for it. Beth didn't mind, she actually preferred this to any apology he might try and get out. It would only make them both uncomfortable and she wasn't even mad about his drunken outburst.

When the trap snapped around her ankle, Beth tried to be quiet but the strangled cry came out against her wishes. It hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, but she sucked it up the best she could because A) there was a walker just a few feet away from her who now thought she was his next meal and B) she didn't want to seem weak in front of Daryl Dixon yet again. She tried to push the pain out of her mind and focus the crossbow but she'd missed her mark. She had hit the walker but didn't get a clear shot.

Not surprisingly, Daryl came to her rescue. She knew he would handle it and felt relief for a split second before she reached down for her ankle. He was there beside her before she knew it, breathing heavily and helping her out of the damn metal teeth. His hands were quickly on her boot, testing it out to see how bad the damage was. It still hurt but she knew it could have been worse.

"Come on, girl," his voice grunted after a few minutes. He stood up first then held out his hand to help her up. She nearly fell the first time she tried to stand but he was right there, easily catching her before her butt hit the ground again. He tried a few more times to let her walk on her own before wrapping one of her arms around his neck and one of his around her waist. "We should keep moving," he told her.

Neither one of them had spoken after that until the large house came in to view. His eyes would glance over at her from time to time with concern but that was it. She would keep limping on, pretending not to notice. She had to ask for them to stop for just a little while now though, her whole leg was throbbing in pain. The house wasn't too far away but then again they had no idea what might be waiting in there.

Beth's eyebrows wrinkled together as she watched him strap his crossbox across his front, jump up and down slightly and let out a few deep breaths before bending down. "Hop on."

"Are you serious?" she asked, a laugh cutting through. This was on the list of last things she would expect him to do.

"Yeah," he said, that sexy scratch coming through. "It's a serious piggyback. Jump on."

Beth wanted to laugh again, louder this time. 'Only Daryl,' she thought. But he was crouched down again waiting so she just blinked and then put her hands up on his broad shoulders and started climbing on top of him. She smiled as she hopped up, their bodies connecting, and he began to stand. This was something so simple, so sweet...

"You're heavier than you look," he said, then grunted, hoisting her up a bit higher on his back.

Her left hand swatted at him but smiled and knew he had as well. "Maybe there are people there," she said when they started to move.

"Yeah, if there are... I'll handle them," he answered. He started sounding out of breath and Beth felt bad that he was having to carry her around. She knew he was joking about her weight just moments before, it was more they were just tired and wore out than anything. Him especially. Daryl was always making sure she was alright, got the most food, most sleep in and she knew it had to be wearing on him.

After his comment about how good people didn't survive they fell into a silence again. Her eyes read the gravestones as they walked by, but one caught her eye and had her slipping off of his back. The face of her daddy came to mind as she looked at the gray stone, her lungs burning as she took each breath. She still couldn't believe he was gone.

Daryl looked at her and that made the tears start to well up. She blinked them back, not needing to deal with something like this right now. She didn't need to be that girl, didn't need to have a breakdown. He would be in her heart and her memory, she knew that. She thought Daryl was going to keep walking toward the house but he surprised her by grabbing a handful of flowers and laying them on top of the stone. Another simple, small gesture that spoke volumes about who Daryl Dixon was as well as their budding friendship and relationship.

He came back to stand beside her, letting her silently know he was there and he was sorry for her loss. It was a huge pull on her heartstrings, maybe more than anything else he had ever done for her. Her hand quickly went under his, letting their fingers wrap around one another. She'd half expected him to shrug away but was pleased when he let her do this, his fingers squeezing her much smaller hand. She liked the feel of him close to her, his rough hands on hers, the feel of the sleeve of his jacket in her palm. She wanted to lay her head on his shoulder too but she resisted going that far.

"We should keep going," he finally said.

Beth looked over at him and gave a small nod. "Thank you," she told him, her lips curling up in the corners.

He shrugged, adjusting the crossbow before getting back into position for her to jump back up on his back. "You good?"

"Yep," she told him and just a moment later they were on the move again. She gave one last look to the fading grave then put it out of her mind.

He sat her down to her feet in front of the door, telling her he'd go in first. She didn't know what to expect when he opened the door and started banging on the trimming to it but she was glad nothing had popped out at them yet. She wasn't sure she would have wanted to deal with anyone alive or dead just right now.

As they walked through the house, which was also a funeral parlor, Beth couldn't seem to shake her daddy or any of the others they had lost from her mind. She wished they'd gotten a proper goodbye like this. And that was made her get a little annoyed with Daryl when he started getting sarcastic about it. "It's beautiful," she said, a bit of an edge to her tone. He snarled up his nose and lip, obviously not getting it and probably thinking she was a loon. "Whoever did this... cared," Beth told him. "They wanted these people to get a funeral." As she continued, he seemed to understand. The air around him changed, his head bowing. He looked like he wanted to say something, but pushed it down, walking over to mess with her wound.

"I'm sorry you couldn't give something like this to your daddy," he muttered when he finished, standing up. "If anyone deserved something like this right now, it'd been him."

Beth smiled at him, touching his shoulder. For a man of so few words, he sure knew how to pick 'em.

OoOoO

"You find anything?" she asked as they raided the kitchen. "Whoa," came a moment later as she hobbled over, seeing the latest cabinet he opened. 'Finally, some food,' she thought as she stared at the neatly stacked rows. He started going over some of the stuff inside and she could feel her stomach rumbling. "It all looks good to me," she told him truthfully. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until that moment.

She had a flicker of hope when he started to point out that these were freshly put in here. Now that they had checked through the place and seen what was inside, maybe the idea of some other people around wouldn't be so bad. It could be safer with bigger numbers, like it had been before.

"Do you want to sit here and eat?" she asked, nodding at the table.

He did for a few minutes, then said he needed to go set up a few things outside. She'd asked if he needed help but he told her to just stay inside and try to stay off her hurt foot in case they did run in to some trouble.

OoOoO

Beth sat down, letting her fingers run over the keys lightly. She had a smile on her face just touching the beautiful instrument. She looked up at the page of music already opened and began to play.

She had been so lost in it, she jumped when he made a loud noise behind her. She turned her head and was thankful it was just Daryl, knowing she was stupid to have let her guard down so much like that. She expected him to berate her or make some sarcastic comment but he didn't, just told her he had finished sealing them up. It would be nice to have somewhere to call home for even just a night, somewhere to feel safe. They had lost that and so much more when the prison fell.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he climbed into a coffin. She didn't like the imagery, but it was a little amusing.

"This is the comfiest bed I've had in years," he told her, making himself right at home in the casket. "I ain't kiddin'."

She still didn't like the imagery and the confession about the bed and from what he had told her back when he was drunk made her sad. She didn't know too much about Daryl Dixon but he sure hadn't had it much easier before the world went all crazy as far as she could tell.

"Why don't you go ahead and play some more? Keep singing," he told her.

It made her heart swell. Something about the way his eyes when he said that got to her. "I thought my singin' annoyed you," she countered.

"Mm. There ain't no jukebox..."

Beth started to turn back to the piano. If he was going to request her to play and sing she wasn't about to deny him that. What was the most confusing was she didn't think he was asking her to for her comfort, but his own.

When he fell asleep, she finished her latest song softly, then turned full around to look at him. He never looked settled, even as he slept. As his eyeballs raced from side to the other under the heavy lids, she felt the need to crawl up into the beautiful casket with him, to lay down on top of him, forget the rest of the world. She didn't though, knowing he'd just get annoyed, not to mention she'd probably just knock the damn thing over trying to get in with her luck.

OoOoO

He was in a better mood the following morning, probably the best she'd seen him in in a long time. He was joking and teasing her as they started going through the rest of the house. And then told her he had a surprise waiting in the kitchen once they were done.

Apparently, she wasn't hobbling along fast enough for his liking so he wound up lifting her into his arms. Beth couldn't help the blush nr the large smile that took over her face as she was carried by him, like a groom carrying his bride. And for a moment there she wondered what that would be like, being Mrs. Bethany Dixon. She started laughing as he walked her around the small table, knowing he'd be running out of here like it was on fire if she dared to say something like that out loud to him. She knew she had developed feelings for him some time ago, but he only saw her as a naive little girl most the time.

But then again... he did things like this breakfast and gave her those confusing looks, so she never really knew what to think.

They both heard the rattling almost as soon as he'd sat down. The smile dropped from her face quickly. She started getting up but he told her to stay after he got his crossbow and quickly exited the room. She started hobbling to the doorframe anyway, wanting to be close in case he ran into trouble.

She smiled when she heard him call out it was just a dog. She started going back to the table but then she turned right around and started to make her way to the front area. He was just closing the door when she rounded the corner. She didn't see any pooch. "He won't come in?" she asked.

"I told you to stay back," Daryl told her, walking closer. He looked a little annoyed with her.

She paid no mind. "Yeah, but... Daryl, you said there was a dog." Her face and voice both gave away her giddiness at the idea. She'd always loved animals and hated to think of all of them running around out there in this madness. Maybe it would cheer them both up a little if there was a dog running around. Who knew.

OoOoO

"Well, try to get it to come in," she called, sticking her head around the corner. Her eyebrows were raised up so high you'd think they were going to come off her face.

Daryl's head turned around. "What do you think I'm tryin' to do, girl?" he asked. He shook his head and looked back out the door. He was crouched down, reaching his hand out to dog that had returned. "Come here, you no good mutt."

"Well, with you being so invitin' and all, it's a mystery as to why it keeps running off."

"Why don't you come try your luck then?" he asked.

"Fine," she said and started making her way to the door. "Hi there," she said sweetly to the one eyes, dirty white dog on the porch. "Don't you wanna come inside?"

The dog cocked its head up, barked once then ran off.

OoOoO

She had found some small notepads and a pen and was using them to write a quick note to whoever might stumble across it, the people who were living here or running this place, or whoever. She was going to thank them and also leave well wishes for whoever might pick the page up next. It wasn't much, but sometimes you didn't need much.

Once again, the hunter surprised her, talking about maybe sticking it out here for awhile. He'd been the one telling them to get ready to leave and now here he was changing his tune all of a sudden.

A slow smile crossed Beth's face once he finished. "So... you do still think there are still good people around?" she asked. Maybe he was changing his mind on more than she realized.

Daryl shrugged like it was nothing.

She huffed a little laugh out. "What changed your mind?"

He was silent, looking at her, looking away, looking at her again. He almost smiled the second time his eyes met hers. "You know," he said, looking back away.

She looked at him for another second. "What?" she asked, a little laugh in her voice. She was waiting for the punchline to a joke she didn't know.

His head turned toward her once more. He stared at her for several too-long seconds and it made her heart race. He'd never looked at her like that before. His eyes fluttered down, then back to meet her own. Her head tilted and he looked away, back at her and made a guttural noise and shrugged his shoulder.

She mocked him for a minute at his answer then grew a little more serious, her blue eyes locking in on him. "What changed your mind?" Beth knew it was never good to push him but she suddenly felt like it was important to. He was staring at her again, those eyes making her feel like there was nothing else in the world but the two of them. And suddenly, she understood what he was silently trying to tell her.

"You."

"Oh," she breathed out. Her chest felt like it had a million bricks put on top of it. And for a second she wondered if he was going to kiss her. But then there was rustling heard outside again and it broke the spell they were under.

Daryl grunted, messing with cans on the table. "I'm gonna give that mutt one more chance," he told her.

"Do you want me to go instead?"

"Nah," he told her, getting up. She was sure he really just wanted to get away from her and this room, too.

Beth looked back down at the letter she'd been writing and smiled. Maybe her and Daryl wasn't all just in her head.

"Beth!" he shouted suddenly. "Beth!"

She grabbed his crossbow at the tone he was yelling and made her way to him as fast as she could. It took just a second to realize there were walkers on the other side of the door. She tossed his signature weapon over when he waved for it. "Run! Run!" he shouted, starting to push off from the door. She waited until he was closer before she started hauling ass. He kept telling her to go but she told him she wasn't going to leave him, but he told her again to go and he'd meet her. She was going to argue with him but the look in his eye when he glanced at her made her follow his orders.

She knew he'd be alright, he had to be. More than anything, Beth was sure she'd only get in the way and slow him down in the state she was in. She grabbed her bag and rushed outside and ran. 'He'll be here soon,' she told herself. 'Daryl will be here soon.'