Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with The Walking Dead comic book or show. I only borrow their characters and hope I can do them justice!

Relationships don't work the same way they used to in the old world. Beth gets that now. She thinks Daryl gets that now too. Maybe he got that long before her. Although, she doesn't have any idea how relationships worked for him in the past. She's never asked him. He may have been with many women, he may have only been with a few, but that doesn't matter anymore. She understands that now as a feeling of contentment sinks into her bones.

All that matters right now is the warm weight of his hand in hers. His fingers interlaced with hers. The rough callus on his thumb scratching softly against her skin as he strokes the back of her hand. The way he glances over at her every so often as though he's checking on her, as though something could have happened to her in the few minutes since his eyes last left her. Even though they've been holding hands the entire time.

She guesses that this is what would be considered a date now. There are no movie nights, dinners at fancy restaurants, or picnics by the local swimming hole. Just hunting together in the woods, maybe going on an easy run alone, or sitting shotgun while he drove a hot-wired car, slowly making their way to DC. Today, Daryl had felt that the group was running low on food, so he wanted to go hunting. He didn't ask her to come, he only looked at her over Rick's shoulder as they discussed their plans for the day. Meeting her eyes as she finished putting Judith down for a nap in her make-shift crib, silently checking if she could slip away for a few hours.

She gravitated towards him as he finished talking to Rick, he nodded his head towards the woods, muttered a low "Come on" to her, and then she and Daryl headed towards the forest together. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. As they made their way across the clearing and towards the woods, he reached over to her and flicked the end of the braid she kept in her ponytail, sending it swinging. "Think you can help me? Now that you're a master tracker and all that?" She could hear the trademark Daryl smirk in his voice.

She just smiled at him, keeping her tone light, "Well, I learned from the best."

As soon as they broke through the treeline and were engulfed in the woods, she reached over and grabbed his hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Her hand small and slight, resting comfortably in his much larger one. Just like that day at the graveyard, before everything had happened.

It doesn't matter how she made her way back to them, only that she did. Maybe one day when she felt like talking about it, it would matter, but right now it didn't. He didn't push her to talk about it like Maggie did, didn't look at her like she was wounded like Carol did. All that matters is that Daryl had held her hand back and hadn't let go as they tracked through the woods.

Neither one of them said anything about it. They just walked stealthily along as though this was a normal occurrence. As though they did this every day. She figured that they didn't need to talk about it. Maybe things would never progress further than they had, maybe one day he would give her a ring. She couldn't bring herself to care. Not right now, not in this moment.

What good would a talk about feelings and relationships do for them now? They didn't need it. It would make him feel uncomfortable and she would feel like she was back in high school. There was no need for labels like boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. They were just together. A team. Falling back into the old dynamic they had built after they had burned down that house. They didn't need many words between them and she was ok with that. As long as they could stay like this, comfortable and content, she would be happy.

She felt his eyes shift back over to her and she met his eyes this time, flashing him a smile. He flushed a bit, like he wasn't expecting to be caught looking, and his eyes dropped back to the ground to follow the trail they had found. He'd been sneaking glances at her constantly over the past few days since she had gotten back. He barely let her out of his sight. She made sure she knew where he was at all times. They were like magnets, constantly ending up near each other no matter who was around or what they were doing, but had yet to have any sort of alone time. Now that they were here, alone in the woods, she had never felt safer or stronger or been surer of anything in her life.

She stopped walking and tugged on his hand. Daryl continued for a few more steps and then stopped and turned towards her as he felt her pulling him back.

"Daryl." Her voice was soft. Sounding almost like a question. She took a few steps towards him to shrink the gap between them, never letting go of his hand. She raised her other hand and placed it over his heart. Relishing in the feeling of his heartbeat, strong and steady against her palm. Reminding her that he was here with her, they were together, this was real, this was what mattered in this world now. No deep relationship talks, no "where is this heading?" Just the comfort of having someone else's heart beat for you.

"Hmm?" He raised his eyebrows, gently asking for some explanation. Not pushing for information, not demanding answers, just asking for whatever she could give him.

She looked into his eyes. Searching for any reluctance or rejection. But there was none, she didn't think there would be. Daryl might have realized this before they were separated. That this all felt right, as natural as breathing. She stepped even closer to him, until the tips of her cowboy boots hit the tips of his work boots, closing the gap between them completely.

She reached up on her tip toes, closing her eyes. She felt the air come alive around them and she pressed her lips against his. It was a soft kiss, innocent. She wasn't asking for anything more than this. She just wanted this moment. These couple seconds that she would take from him and store in the back of her mind. Precious and untouched. Unable to be spoiled by the world around them.

He hesitated for a second, then let go of her hand and gently cradled her face in his hands as they both melted into the kiss. It felt perfect. She felt an easy warmth settle over her heart and spread over her chest. The same warmth that she had felt over a candlelight dinner of peanut butter, jelly, and pigs feet.

The kiss didn't last long, only a few seconds. And as she broke away from him she smiled. He quirked one corner of his lips up in response.

She looked back into his eyes hoping he could tell how happy he made her and whispered the only thing that really mattered now. "I'm glad I found you."

"Me too, Greene," he whispered back.

A/N: Alright, after such an awesome response to my last story from all you amazing Bethylers, I really wanted to try my hand at writing again! I think I'm going to try continue to write little moments between Beth and Daryl. It won't be a story per se (I am no where close to confident enough in my writing abilities to tackle that beast), but it will all take place in the same universe. Let me know what you think about this little moment and if you think I should continue. I really hope that you enjoyed this!

And a special shout-out to TakeHomeJulie and Heart Iconography, two really sweet and talented ladies who write awesome Bethyl stories!

If you have an comments/ideas and want to hit me up on tumblr, I'm thisismymorecolorfulmoniker!