The bodies of two Atlanta police officers were slumped on the ground. Their blood soaking the dirt road. Daryl had almost asked Beth to leave the funeral home without him but the hesitancy in her eyes had changed his mind. Instead of splitting up they had fought their way through the dead as a team. Beth was learning, she was getting better at defending herself and if they were going to be out here alone then he needed to trust that she could do that.

If they hadn't have stuck together then Daryl might not have been there to pull Beth from the road when the black car had swerved to hit her. He might not have been there to fight the two uniformed arseholes that jumped out. Anything could have happened to Beth if he hadn't have been right behind her and the idea of losing her sent a cold chill along his spine.

Daryl picked his bolt from the skull of one of the police officers and wiped it on the back of the man's uniform before reloading it in his crossbow again. He turned to Beth and before he opened his mouth to say 'what now?' her arms were wrapping around his neck and her lips were pressing to his. Soft yet firm, a sudden thrill of electricity coursing through his body before the dull realisation that: this was Beth. Daryl's eyes grew wide as he pictured Hershel and pushed her away,

"Th'fuck ya do that for girl?" he growled before opening the door of the police officer's car.

"I just…" Beth began but Daryl didn't want to hear the answer. He grabbed her arm and pushed her into the passenger seat before he slammed the door.

Jesus Christ. Daryl grabbed his cigarettes and lighter out of his jeans to light a smoke. His heart was racing and he wasn't quite ready to climb into the car with Beth. He took along drag and blew the smoke out through his nose while he watched a walker staggering towards him. He held the cigarette between his teeth and aimed his bow, the arrow hit the target right in the centre of the walker's skull and already he was feeling calmer. He was taking back control. It was just a kiss, just a small friendly kiss. Daryl might not have had many, well any, friendly kisses in his entire life but it was the sort of thing that people did all the time. He finished his cigarette, retrieved his bolt and finally got into the car.

"Thank you, for saving me just now."

"I don't need ya thanks," he turned to Beth, her eyes were as big and blue as he had ever seen them. They reminded him of a trip he had taken once to the Bellwood quarry, the light had shone electric blue off the water and Daryl had thought it was one of the most special places he'd ever seen. Not that he'd seen much but even a dirty redneck like himself knew when something was special.

Daryl stared out the open road before them and had no clue where they should drive to. The whole world was wide open with opportunities and only the dead standing in the way. He imagined if it was just himself and Merle they might actually find fun out here. Driving, riding, hunting, fishing, camping, all the things he liked to do but completely uninhibited. Except for the dead. Daryl cast a sidelong glance to Beth, although he wouldn't admit it, didn't even like admitting it to himself, she was fun too. He liked teaching her how to track and she looked so damn cute holding his crossbow. She looked so fucking adorable and he hated himself for even thinking that.

"Where do ya wanna go?" he asked finally and she shrugged her shoulders. "Come on girl… this is your adventure, I'm just along for the ride."

"Adventure?" a sad smile tugged at her lips, "I always wanted to go to…" she looked him up and down and hesitated.

"Go on…"

"It's stupid," she crossed her arms over her chest and Daryl's eyes watched the movement with interest until he realised he was staring. Staring right at her chest. That fucking kiss. He swallowed down hard.

"I always wanted to go to Disneyland."

"Disneyland?" Daryl snorted, "fuckin' pint sized walkers in Mickey mouse ears."

"Oh yeah," Beth's eyes went even wider, "that's kinda sad…"

"Shit Beth… I didn't…" Ah fuck, he didn't mean to upset her. Daryl bit the inside of his cheek and tried to get a grip of himself. He'd been staring at her chest, thinking about that kiss and she was asking to go to Disneyland. He was an arsehole. Fucking hell, he was perverted arsehole.

"No… you're right. It was just something me and Maggie always talked about doing," Beth whispered and turned away from him to stare out of the window. A long silence filled the car and Daryl had no clue what to say or do. He knew next to nothing about women and he knew next to nothing about comforting people.

"I guess where ever we go doesn't matter. Every where's fucked right?" Beth said the swear word with a nervous laugh.

"Watch ya cussin' girl…. I'm already makin' a bad influence on ya," his eyes swept along her body once more. That damn kiss. "Ya Daddy wouldn't like it." That's right Hershel wouldn't like him eye fucking his daughter. Daryl pulled at the collar of his shirt and checked the top button was open. Ever since he'd sat in the car he'd barely been able to breathe.

"My Daddy liked you and I'm not a little girl… I can say fuck if I wanna…" Beth said the words with a mix of certainty and uncertainty. But it wasn't when she said 'say fuck' that had his mind racing it was the idea of 'fuck,' and not saying it. Doing it.

Fucking with Beth? He almost chocked on the stifling air of the car. How could he even think the word in the same sentence as her? She was so pure, untouched, creamy soft skin… his mind wondered before he snapped out of it. She was a nice girl. The sort of girl a man had to beg permission from her father before he could take her to see a movie. Daryl didn't think he'd ever met a girl like that and if he had there was no way she would look at him, speak to him and especially not kiss him.

How old was Beth anyway? A realisation hit him and his stomach flipped over. Beth was probably half his age and completely untouched. Beth was definitely not for fucking and he was feeling more like a perverted arsehole with each passing second. Two days they had spent together and after one chaste kiss he was turning into…. fucking Merle.

Daryl started the car and with no destination in mind he began to drive down the road. The sound of the engine filled up some of the silence. Ten and two he told himself, eyes to the front. Maybe if he ignored her long enough he'd stop letting his mind wander and they could go back to just being whatever the hell it was they were before.

Of course his mind did wander anyway. When was the last time he'd had sex? A year? Two years? Since the dead had started walking he hadn't really thought about it. Even before the dead had walked he barely thought about it. If the opportunity fell on in his lap he took it but he never searched it out. He was happy with his hand, most times he was happy with nothing at all.

Merle always said that there was "somethin' wrong with ya… maybe ya a faggot and ya too much of a pussy to admit it… that right Darylina? Ya wanna fuck wi boys." Sometimes he'd wondered if Merle was right but the way his cock was twitching after the briefest of kisses from Beth told him there wasn't anything wrong with him at all. Maybe he just didn't like the trashy women he met with Merle. The kind of women that gave you the clap and made your dick off. Or maybe he was just a pervert that wanted to fuck pretty teenage girls, he almost wanted to be sick.

"Are you okay?" Beth asked and the shock of her sing song voice interrupting his train of thought made his foot slam down hard on the break.

"Yeah I'm fuckin' fine… stuck with you an' nowhere to go 'cept fuckin' Disneyland? Why don't ya fuckin' grow up Beth? Jesus… I ain't no goddamn babysitter."

"Don't do that," he voice was soft, calm and suddenly he felt even worse. It wasn't her fault that he was a pervert. He felt her hand reaching out and wrapping around his forearm but he couldn't look at her. He just looked straight ahead. "Take me home," she whispered.

"The farm?"

"Yeah… Maggie might go there and if she doesn't… at least I'll have you," Beth swept her hand along his arm, to rest at his shoulder and his heart was pounding now. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him with all her gentle touches? "Don't shut me out… I'm not a baby and you're not just along for the ride. I'm glad I'm with you."

Daryl looked at her then. She might not have been as old as he was in years but in other ways she was older. "You get some shut eye an' then we'll switch…" he started the car again, trying to ignore the big blue eyes which he could still feel watching him. Why was she looking at him like that? Did she have any fucking idea what she was doing?

A/N- Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it :)