A/N.

This will be a four chapter one shot (three of which are already written). I wanted a break from my multi chapter stories for a while so decided to write this. The idea came about from prompts Lola and I were putting together and discussing. LolaRitaVida took two of them and created the fabulous fictions 'LITTLE SHOP OF PLEASURES' & 'THE LITTLE GAMES WE PLAY'... go read them, they are awesome. And I took this one. The premise is "How far would Daryl go to protect Beth when they find themselves in danger." I started to think about what might've happened, if instead of running into 'the claimer gang' on his own as he did in the show, he ran into them whilst with Beth. Would he protect her from them? Could he protect her? How far would he go and what would he be willing to do? I hope my take on this keeps you entertained. It's Bethyl centric as always, but NOT the sweet and fluffy Bethyl I usually write :-)

WARNING: This story contains very bad language, violence, verbal and physical/sexual abuse and later on, explicit sex. It also concentrates on rape as a central theme. Please do not read any further if any of these topics are offensive or upsetting to you... this isn't fluffy. Otherwise please enjoy some yummy Bethyl goodness, eventually... and please don't forget to review.

NB...IN RESPONSE TO CERTAIN COMMENTS I'VE BEEN RECEIVING SINCE CHAPTER THREE WAS POSTED, I FEEL THE NEED TO REITERATE THAT THIS FIC FOCUSES ON RAPE AND MISOGYNISTIC BEHAVIOUR AND INCLUDES VERY DARK MATERIAL. IF SEEING BETH IN THIS KIND OF STORYLINE OFFENDS/UPSETS YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. eReedus xx

Loving Without Fear

Chapter One

"Hope"

Daryl was hunting in the woods surrounding the funeral home. He and Beth had been staying there for a few weeks now, since fleeing the prison, and had become quite settled. It had everything they needed and they'd both taken the chance to catch their breath. To slow down and recharge for a while. Beth usually stayed back at the house when Daryl went hunting, taking care of other things that she was better equipped for.

Over the weeks they'd been there, they'd slowly established a routine that suited them both. Daryl liked it more than he'd ever admit. He liked Beth more than he'd like to admit too. He'd grown attached to her in ways he perhaps shouldn't have, attached to the little routine that was their life now. More than that he was attached to the hope that one day they could be more than just two people that had been thrown together off the back of a tragedy. It was hope that he'd never have had before she came along to show him life could be better, life could be good despite the world that surrounded them.

Today was a break from that routine though, Beth was accompanying Daryl on his little hunting trip for once. She'd been pestering for him for lessons on using his crossbow for ages and he'd finally given in. He'd enjoyed being up close to her more than he probably should have too. The electricity that jolted through his body as he stood behind the blonde, the heady intoxication from her sweet scent as his face brushed past her golden curls, the shiver that travelled along his spine to places he'd long forgotten about as his hands touched her soft warm skin. Yes, he'd definitely enjoyed it all a lot more than he should have.

They'd been away from the house for a few hours when they decided to head back. They'd caught all they needed and it would be getting dark soon. Beth had surprised the archer by how quickly she'd mastered his bow. She hadn't complained at how heavy it was or how hard it was to reload, and after a few failed attempts she'd even shot her first rabbit. Daryl should've known she'd have coped with it without moaning though, Beth was good at everything she tried and more capable of taking care of herself than he'd ever given her credit for.

"So…Daryl, seein' as I caught dinner… are ya gonna cook it for me? Seems only fair." Beth's voice was laden with a playful confidence as a proud smirk crossed her lips.

She turned to glance over her shoulder, seeking out Daryl's gaze, which she was pretty sure would be on her ass. She'd noticed the way he'd been looking at her recently when he didn't think she could see. She'd also noticed he was oblivious to the fact she'd been looking back at him with the exact same need and longing.

Beth grinned wildly and flashed her sapphire blue eyes at her companion as they carried on walking in the direction of the house.

Beth was flirting. Daryl may not have had that much experience with the opposite sex before the world went to shit, but he did know when Beth Greene was flirting with him. And that seemed to be all the time lately. She'd speak to him and then get flustered and embarrassed and start to blush. He'd noticed how she would continuously twirl her hair tightly around her forefinger and flick her eyes everywhere except to meet his directly, how she'd dig her teeth into her lower lip and pull it into her mouth as her eyes shone with something he could only hope was lust. And he liked it, he liked that she appreciated him, that she might even want him in some way…just a little bit. A warm tingling coursed through him and his abdomen started to throb at the thought Beth Greene had any kind of feelings for him other than those of being her friend and her protector. Of course he knew nothing would ever come of it, it was just Beth's way and she didn't mean anything by it, she'd be the same with anyone she was stuck with, trying to lighten and make the best of a bad situation. But knowing that didn't stop the filthy thoughts that rampaged through his mind as he imagined every curve and plane of the perfect body that lay hidden beneath her clothes. It didn't stop him imagining running his rough hands and soft tongue over every single inch of it.

"'kay…the girl caught 'erself one rabbit and suddenly she's a damn hunter, huh?!" Daryl smirked back at her, glancing up sexily through his bangs as he chewed nervously on the pad of his thumb, trying his best to flirt back, or at least let her know he knew she was flirting. He never was any good with women or communicating his feelings though, so he felt way out of his depth here, probably looking more like a grimacing serial killer than the love-struck fool he was.

"I think I did good. It was my first time after all Daryl, and…." Beth was abruptly cut off mid-sentence by the hunter.

"Sssshhhh." Daryl stood stock still and lifted his forefinger to his lips to motion for Beth to be quiet. He raised his other hand up in an attempt to stop her moving, lightly holding onto her forearm and pulling her back into him as if to shield her.

He'd heard something rustling amongst the trees close by and he knew instantly it wasn't a walker or an animal. It was another human, probably male if the heavy crackling sounds underfoot were anything to go by. Beth looked at him; wide eyed and confused, unsure of what to do next.

Daryl didn't want or need any trouble. They hadn't seen another soul for weeks now and he kind of liked it that way. Although Beth had tried her best to make him realise there were still good people left in the world, he knew that there were still a lot more assholes left than there were good people. Assholes that could cause a lot of trouble, especially for someone like Beth. He wasn't worried too much for himself, he could handle most things and he knew how far he would go to survive if he had to. But now he had Beth with him it was different, he had someone else to think about, someone else to protect.

Beth was delicate and soft and pure and beautiful... everything he wasn't. And he liked her being all those things, she shouldn't have to lose what she was just because the world had changed. Deep down though, he liked the fact she relied on him and she needed him. Nobody ever had before and it made him feel useful, like he had a purpose finally. He only hoped, if it came to it, he would be capable of doing whatever was needed to protect her and he wouldn't let her down, like he had with almost everyone else in his life.

Daryl tried to communicate with the blonde using his eyes and hands, he wanted them to step backwards into the thicker trees for more cover. Beth seemed to understand him so she steadily and quietly started to step backwards, following Daryl towards the trees with her hand firmly on the knife secured to her hip. But Daryl had been so preoccupied with Beth and the noises in front of them, that he'd missed the noises from behind. They backed straight into the very trouble they were trying to avoid.

"Well whata we got 'ere then? Hands in the air and don'tcha try anythin'." A course thick Georgia accent punctuated the otherwise quiet woods.

"Hey Joe, we got ourselves a pretty lil' thang ta have us some fun with tonight." The man that had appeared from nowhere was now stood behind the couple with a shotgun shoved hard into the back of Daryl's neck as his hand grabbed for Beth's hand, swiping it away from her knife. Daryl grabbed onto Beth's free hand and jerked her into his side, partially in front of himself to shield her from the stranger behind them.

"Claimed! She's mine. I saw 'er first." The man carried on, shouting now as his voice filled with excitement and his breathing became heavier and louder. His rancid breath was hot on Beth's neck as he pushed up close to her.

"Why don'tcha turn around darlin' so I can see's what I's gonna be fuckin' later? Betcha as pretty as this 'ere ass a yourn." The man's dirty hand came up to settle on Beth's rear as he squeezed hard. Beth wobbled under his sudden and forceful advance, and she couldn't stop the whimper that escaped her lips. "Get off me!"

"Don't fuckin' touch her." Daryl snarled, squeezing onto Beth's hand to try to reassure her he was still here and that he wasn't going to leave her.

Beth instantly felt sick, her stomach churning at the close proximity of the filthy stranger behind her. She daren't turnaround. She didn't think she could move, not without her legs buckling from under her. Daryl didn't move either. His bow remained secured in its usual position on his back and his other hand raised in front of him in surrender.

"Hold yer horses there a minute, Will. Lil' blondie here might be taken already. Ain't our way ta steal is it?" Joe, the grey haired man the first man had been speaking to had now decided to join in the conversation as he stepped forward from the trees in front of Beth and Daryl. He sounded calmer than the first man, more in control. Daryl had already sussed he was the leader and if he was going to get them out of this situation it was Joe he needed to reason with… or kill.

"Hey…. Ya ain't thinkin' a leavin' 'ole Len outta the fun are ya? I ain't had me no pussy fer weeks, not since that black bitch with the sword. And ain't never had none as young 'un pretty as blondie 'ere 'fore neither. Bet her pussy's as tight as a motherfucker, she looks a dirty lil' ho' too. Betcha she'll beg fer all of us ta do 'er once we get 'er warmed up." A third man appeared from behind Joe. He sounded just as excited as the first, and twice as vulgar.

Beth started to shake, they'd taken Michonne, she'd survived the fall of the prison and they'd taken her, done awful things to her. Beth was flushed crimson from anger at the knowledge they'd hurt her friend, and also embarrassment at the way they were talking about her in front of Daryl. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes. She felt dizzy as her racing pulse pounded hard in her ears and her mouth became dry. She knew what was about to happen and she knew she was powerless to stop it. She tightened her grip on Daryl's hand, for re assurance she wasn't as alone as she felt, although she knew Daryl was just as powerless as she was right now.

"Ain't nobody leavin' nobody outta nothin' Len, but ya'll know the rules now don'tcha? If she's his then she's off limits. There's rules for a reason, we ain't animals. We don't lie an' we don't steal. If there's somethin' ya'll want ya can call claim as long as it don't already belong ta nobody. That's the code boys." Joe announced, looking from one of his companions to the other with what appeared to be a stifled smirk.

Daryl glimpsed Beth before Will roughly dragged Daryl's head back round to face forward. She'd gone pale and quiet and he thought maybe she was going to be sick or pass out, he could feel her shaking and knew his body was the only thing holding her upright. Of course he knew what they were planning, what the sick fuckers had already done to Michonne, what their sick little minds were already doing to Beth, but he had no fucking idea what to do to stop it.

"She ain't his, Joe. Imma tellin' ya, she ain't never had a dick in 'er. Not his, not no one's. Ya can smell the tight fuckin' virgin pussy on 'er from 'ere. An' if she ain't his then I'm callin' claim. Imma fuck the bitch good, show 'er what she's been missin', what pretty boy 'ere's been too pussy to show 'er." Will was now running his nose through the back of Beth's hair and along her neck, sniffing hard as he trailed his tongue over her rigid flesh. His hand suddenly and roughly reaching around and groping her breast as he pushed and rubbed his hardened cock into the small of her back.

Beth yelped in surprise before dry retching as the awful man behind her helped himself to her body. His rancid breath invaded her nostrils until she could feel bile rising from the depths of her stomach. "Don't fuckin' touch me." Beth used all the venom she could muster as she spat the words at the dark haired man behind her, shaking her head madly to get him away from her neck and slapping his hand away from her breast.

"Leave her the fuck alone ya piece a shit, she's with me. She's mine… and she said don't touch her. So ya best not be too attached to that hand, 'cause if ya touch her with it again imma rip it off and feed it ta the next walker that passes by." Daryl knew he had to try to help her but he also knew whatever he or Beth said wouldn't do anything to persuade them from what they'd already decided on. They were just playing with them. They were going to rape Beth anyway and most likely kill him.

Daryl felt utterly sick as that thought played through his mind, bile burning his insides as it rose into his throat. He was going to have to watch, watch three fucking bastard assholes rape her as he stood there with a shotgun pointed at him and did nothing. It made him want to massacre every last motherfucking one of them and then feed them to the walkers, bit by bit. Their filthy cocks first.

"Well, we'd like ta believe ya we really would, jus' that Will 'ere knows what he's talkin' 'bout and well, he thinks yer a lyin' bastard and ya ain't never so much as touched lil' blondie here, let alone fucked 'er...Now ya can see from ma point a' view it looks like ya lyin' jus' ta stop us 'avin some fun with the lovely lady. Which is very… well noble of ya, but…we think that if ya ain't claimed 'er, if she ain't servicin' yer needs, then she's fair game for us boys. Ain't nothin' can settle a man down like sinkin' balls deep inta a tight wet pussy now is there boys?" Joe spoke calmly, even though his two companions were virtually drooling and hopping from foot to foot as they wailed in agreement with their leader, shit eating grins plastered across their faces.

"He ain't lyin'. I am with him. We've been together for months." Beth spoke up again, with just as much conviction as before, hoping they would finally leave them alone, but knowing they wouldn't. Truthfully, she'd never been so scared, the feeling of being completely and utterly powerless to stop the most horrific act she could imagine rushing through her body until she felt disoriented. The thought she would have to accept being used, being hurt, being humiliated and violated because she was too weak to stop it, filled her with anger, but it also filled her with an uncontrollable fear. An indescribable feeling of being trapped, of being useless and pathetic. Right now she wasn't even sure she'd survive the ordeal, she already felt feint from not being able to breathe properly. And now a feeling of drowning, of suffocating in fear and panic was flooding her every sense.

"See, thing is I don't believe ya Blondie... we don't believe ya." Joe looked at the two other men and smirked. "No offence sweet thang but ya ain't never been with a man before 'ave ya? It's written all over yer tight, fit lil' body darlin'. And well me an' ma boys 'ere could have ourselves some fun breakin' ya in… showin' ya the ropes… if ya know what I mean?" The grey haired man let out a deep laugh as he looked between Beth and Daryl, which only added to the intense feeling of horror Beth was already living.

"Ya know what I mean dont'cha bowman? Maybe we'll make ya watch… ya look like ya need a lesson in how ta treat a pretty lil' thang….'cause she don't seem too satisfied, looks frustrated ta me. What, can't ya get it up or ya jus' don't know what ta do with it? Hey, ya ain't a faggot are ya?" Joe smirked at Daryl as he waited for a reaction from the archer. But Daryl didn't give away any reaction, he kept focussed on the satisfying image of ripping the bastard open from crotch to throat with his hunting knife. Followed by ripping out the old man's innards and cramming them into his filthy mouth.

"How 'bout when we're finished with 'er, loosened 'er up fer ya, we let ya have a go? Ya'd like that wouldn't ya now? Ya can show us what yer learned. She'll a' stopped fightin' by then, they always do after the first day. Be easier fer ya ta handle." Joe really wanted a rise out of the archer, but Daryl carried on biting his tongue… literally. He'd drawn blood he'd been clenching his jaw so tight in anger.

Beth continued staring at the man, almost catatonic, tears falling freely from the corners of her eyes as she thought about Michonne and what they'd done to her, as she imagined the things they were about to do to her. Daryl was rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her trembling hand, in frustration of being so helpless more than anything else. He knew it would do nothing to calm her down or make her forget what she'd just heard.

He honestly had no idea how any man could contemplate, let alone enjoy forcing themselves on a woman. Even now there was no law or civilisation he couldn't understand it. He just hoped Beth knew that at no point and under no circumstances would he be doing anything that filthy old bastard had just implied. In fact he would be doing everything he could to make sure none of them even so much as looked at her the wrong way. He could feel Beth's fear though, he could feel her body almost collapsing, her heart almost exploding and all he wanted was to make it alright. He wanted to keep her safe and hold her tight and tell her nothing was going to happen to her. But he knew he couldn't because it would've been a lie.

Beth didn't know what to say, the grey haired man was right and everybody there knew it too, there wasn't even any point in pretending anymore.

"So we 'ave ourselves a bit of a problem don't we?" Joe stood staring at the couple with a grin on his lips, looking from one to the other. He was reading them, devouring Beth and thinking hard. He wanted some fun. He wanted to see how far he could push the couple. How far the bowman would go to help blondie and if the girl had more to her than met the eye.

"Why don'tcha join us? Ya look capable. We could use some more muscle." Joe was now talking directly at Daryl, moving his eyes over both him and his crossbow appreciatively. "And a bowman too. We can always use a proper hunter…a killer. Someone that was doin' it well 'fore this shit went down." Daryl just looked at him, his mouth set and his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he thought about the offer.

Maybe this would work. Maybe if he played along, did what they wanted and convinced them Beth was with him, they'd leave her alone. That apparently was the stupid fucking rule. They didn't steal. Problem was, how the hell was he going to convince them he was with Beth? He knew he wouldn't have a problem playing out that little fantasy, he'd imagined sliding his dick inside her on more than one occasion, which he now felt truly shitty about, but he knew out of all the bullshit those men had just spouted, one thing was true; Beth Greene was a virgin, and there was absolutely no way they were going to let this go. But at least if he didn't constantly have a shotgun against his head he might have a chance against these three assholes, a chance to get Beth out of this unscathed.

"'kay. But she stays with me, only me… and ya leave her the fuck alone…. Ya don't even look at her. Ya make sure they leave her alone too. She ain't available to no one… 'cept me." Daryl felt embarrassed and uncomfortable even saying those last two words and he could feel Beth's eyes burning into him. He knew she was wondering what the hell he was up to. He wanted to tell her he was doing his best to buy them some time, but he had to stay silent and hope that she understood.

"If ya can prove ya ain't lyin' and ya ain't jus' tryin' ta stop ma boys 'ere havin' some fun with lil' Miss wet dream over there…then why not? We'll leave 'er be, respect that she's yers. Them's the rules, that's the code. No lyin', no stealin'..." Joe started to turn around and then stopped, looking at Daryl from under his mess of grey hair with a seriousness, a warning to his voice "And bowman… jus' remember… sayin' she's yers ain't enough. Ain't no place for chivalry in this world no more. Everythin' left's gotta be claimed by someone. Understand?" Joe was looking over Beth again now, practically raping her with his eyes alone as he got his message across to Daryl. The older man knew they weren't together, he knew Beth was a virgin and he knew this was going to be a fun way to while away a day or two…. Until he got to the real fun part of unwrapping the pretty little blonde.

How the hell were they supposed to prove they were fucking? Daryl didn't like this game that he was being forced to play one bit, and he had the feeling Joe didn't like to lose. But Joe didn't realise Daryl didn't like to lose either, which kind of left them at stalemate.