So I had this head canon for Bethyl week and the prompt given to us.

"I don't have a choice, but I'd still choose you"

A Chosen Destiny

Daryl didn't have a choice. Didn't figure he ever really had when he thought about it. At least, not when it came to how he felt about Beth Greene. The way she just worked her way into his thoughts at every turn and her faith in things had seeped in, settling in like permanent ink bleeding into fabric. Like now, when it was his turn to take watch and he was watching her sleep. She had taken to sleeping next to him whenever he had watch and tonight was no exception and his thoughts drifted to her and how things were with them now.

When he had watch, he sat away from the fire, usually propped himself up against some tree or other permanent piece of landscape. He was now propped against a concrete bench on the edge of the cemetery, far enough from the fire so he couldn't get too warm and fall asleep and far enough away from the fences so he could be relatively sure walkers couldn't grab him through the slats. They were camped out at the edge of a cemetery and it was clear as far as the eye could see. The moon was hanging low in the sky this early in the night and the silvery yellow light it cast on the gravestones was oddly comforting when it should have been eerie.

They had found this spot late in the evening when it was nearing dark and due to the fact of the late hour and impending dark, they had reluctantly decided to make camp here. They had looked solidly for the previous couple of hours and nothing they found seemed to be suitable. Rick and Michonne had scouted ahead a couple of times but every house they found was either so far beyond livable with all the time that had passed since the world had gone to absolute shit or it was too exposed to be able to protect them all. At least here, the small cemetery was enclosed by wrought iron fences and while most would think it morbid, it felt safer being in the resting place of the deceased. At least here they could be sure that the dead that lay a few feet away were not going to rise up and reach their hands up through the earth, their rotting fingers grabbing for whatever flesh they could find.

Everyone had camped along the edges of the graveyard, a tacit agreement among them to stay off anything near headstones, being ever respectful of the ones who had passed before them, had passed before everything had gone bad. It reminded Daryl a lot of the cemetery he had carried Beth through on the way to the funeral parlor. Those had been happy days, some of the happiest he could remember. And then she had been taken from him.

He shook his head to clear it. It was a time in his life that he really didn't want to think too hard on. He had been devastated when she was gone, her words haunting him.

You're going to miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon.

Had he ever. Missed her like the earth misses the rain during a drought. He figured that described how he had felt the best. When she had disappeared, he had felt just empty, dry, like nothing could ever quench the burn he felt in his gut when he got to missing her, which was almost every single minute his hands or his mind weren't busy. So during those weeks they were separated, he had tried very hard to stay busy, his hands always on a task, his mind always trying to figure out a way to get them out of one scuffle or another; and there was always was. It was just the way the world was now.

But when he had found her with Morgan, Carol following the trail with him, encouraging him when he felt like all but giving up, all rational thought had gone out the window. She looked different, so different, but also the same. Her hair was down, the ponytail with that incessant braid now gone. Her face had filled out a bit but the sharpness was still there and he found himself mesmerized by all the subtle changes he saw. He had missed her. Had missed her easy smile, the way it reached her eyes and lit up her whole face. It took his breath away. Had missed the way she saw straight through his bullshit and called him out on it. She was the only one who had ever had the guts to stand up to his bullish ways.

She had stood across the clearing where they had all just put down a whole mess of walkers at the small compound they had finally stumbled on tracking one of the many cars they had seen with the white cross on the back, just like the one on the car that had taken Beth from him that night. Everyone around them had just stopped and stared as she came out from behind Morgan, her chest heaving with the recent exertion. She had stared at him for a moment and then took off running, throwing herself against him and winding her arms around his neck. He had stood stock still then, unsure if it was really real, but when she began sobbing against his chest he had been helpless to do anything but just follow what his heart was guiding him to do and he had brought his arms around her and pulled her fully into his embrace. Moments could have passed or it could have been hours and their whole group had just stood there watching them. He could feel their eyes on them and he didn't give a damn what anyone thought. He had found her. Despite the odds that she was dead or worse, they had found one another again.

They had since found out that Beth had been hit by the car that night they fled the funeral home. Morgan had been driving and said she had seemed to come out of nowhere and he had tried to stop, but there hadn't been enough time. She hadn't been seriously injured but she had been in and out of consciousness for a few days.

He had a chance to talk to Morgan a few nights after they found them. By then, they had all left the compound heading to D.C. They actually worked pretty well as a group and though Daryl had wanted to kill Morgan when they first found her, he had since come to respect him. That night he and Morgan had spoken, he had filled Daryl in on all that had transpired since he and Beth were separated. Morgan had quietly told him how Beth had talked about Daryl and told him everything that had happened before and after the fall of the prison.

Daryl didn't think he had breathed the whole time Morgan spoke, absorbing every word like a man dying of thirst. And in a way, he was; a man needing to fill a void and Morgan had woven the tale, telling of when Beth had woken up and her first word had been 'Daryl'. Morgan had thought she would never wake up those first few hours so he had taken her back to the compound which also housed a triage hospital, forged together by ramshackle tents and make-shift structures. When she had woken up and healed completely, she had been introspective for a while but Morgan told him as she had gotten to know him better, she had opened up and they had both chuckled at Beth's penchant for talking. Daryl knew that alright. She never shut up. And that's when Morgan had told him.

"She loves you," Morgan had said.

Daryl had looked up at him sharply then. "She say that?" He hadn't wanted to ask the question, it had just spilled out from between his lips before he could stop them, much like everything did now where Beth was concerned.

Morgan had looked at him pointedly then. "Does she need to?"

His answer had taken Daryl's breath and he hadn't gotten it back yet. It was like a dam had broken when they had their fight at the moonshine shack, as he had come to think of it. Something had happened that night; something good. Something that felt right as nothing had ever felt before for him. He had seen Beth in a new light. No longer the kid who had tried to off herself back at the farm. No longer the girl who had lovingly taken a baby in her arms and cared for her as though she were her own.

Somewhere between running away from the prison that horrible day Hershel had died and her insistence that they find a "damn drink", she had transformed into a beautiful, fierce woman. And lately was no different. If anything, she was more beautiful, more fierce and now seemed more determined than ever in making him face what they were feeling for one another. She challenged him at every turn. She always had. Lately, he would find her watching him, waiting for him to make a move. Waiting for him to own up to his feelings. She had already laid hers out plain and he didn't have to guess.

"I love you Daryl. You're all I thought about when we were separated. I cried myself to sleep every night and you filled my dreams. I hoped every morning when I opened my eyes, you would be beside me. If we don't have hope, what's the sense of living?" Hershel's voice always seem to echo off her words and then reverberate off the walls of his mind when he reflected on them later. "Hope is what we have found here Daryl. You and me. We have a hope that we can find happiness. In each other." Those latest words had been spoken just a few hours ago when they had been hunting for game for supper. She had gotten pretty good with the bow just like he had shown her and she had found her own while they were apart. He swelled with pride every time he saw her bag a catch from her sure and steady aim.

He hadn't said anything and he glanced to her now beside him, his eyes coming to rest on her face. He hadn't expected her eyes to be open, the distant campfire reflecting off them. She looked at him as though she were waiting for him to say something.

"You're supposed to be sleepin' Greene," he gently admonished her as he brought his thumb to his mouth, chewing absently on the tip.

"I'd rather watch you." She said, so sure of herself. Always so sure.

His breath caught in his chest the way it always did when she said things like that. He had been close to telling her how he felt once and then she had disappeared.

Beth sat up then and scooted closer to him where he was propped against the stone bench towards the gate. It was a good perch; he could see the landscape from all sides of the small cemetery and would know if a herd approached from any direction. He shifted a bit and moved his arm from the back of the bench as she propped herself up beside him and he wondered briefly if the cold stone of the bench was biting into her back like it was his. He moved his arm again, shifting it so it draped across her shoulders and he wasn't quite sure what to do with his hand so he just let it dangle in the air.

Beth turned her head a bit and smiled up at him, reaching her hand up to his and pressing it against her shoulder firmly and tucking her head against his shoulder, her hair cascading down over her own shoulders and spilling against his as well. That was one of the many things that was different about her now. She wore her hair down most of the time, unless they were hunting. She put it up then, her concentration fierce when she was trekking with him.

Sometimes he longed for the ponytail again, wanting childishly to pull on it like some schoolboy with a hopeless crush. But for now he let himself feel how her hair tickled the back of his knuckles and he resisted the urge to wind his fingers through it. It killed him when they were like this. He felt like he was holding so much back because he just quite simply did not know how to tell her how he felt, even if she was giving him permission.

He could see it in everyone's expressions. They all knew. They all fucking knew what was going on. And sometimes he wished someone would call him out on it. But no one did; no one except Beth. He loved that about her. Hell, he loved everything about her. For the life of him, he couldn't remember a time when he hadn't loved her. He loved her?

She sighed against his shoulder. "Do you think about it?," she whispered in the dark.

"'Bout what?," His fingers were gripping her shoulder lightly and as if they had a mind of their own, they squeezed her gently, probing for an answer.

"Bout that night at the funeral home?," she said. "Before….when we were sittin' at the table and you were eating those god-awful pigs' feet," she chuckled softly then and he could feel her shoulders shaking slightly with the memory.

He laughed softly and the sound was foreign, even to him. But she did that to him. Made him feel things. Made him think things. Made him think that all this was possible; this thing with the two of them.

"Yeah, I think about it. What about it?" Daryl was trying to play it off but he knew exactly what she was asking him.

"You know," she said, using his own words against him, the little minx. It was just like her.

She sat up then and pulled away and he missed her warmth instantly and he turned to look at her.

Beth reached up and placed her hand to the side of his face and the skin of her palm was so soft, he wanted to turn his head to the side a bit and kiss it but instead he just looked at her and hoped she knew what he was feeling by looking at her. The way he always looked at her.

"Yeah I know," he said then. "You did. You changed my mind, Beth." He finally answered the question that hung between them that night. The one he tried to communicate by the way he was looking at her and he remembered her expression then, the way she hadn't even blinked and just said "Oh".

But he didn't do that now. Something about this cemetery was bringing them back to that night and suddenly he wanted to tell her. Wanted to tell her how much she had changed him, his way of thinking, his outlook on life, on the world. And that while the world had gone to shit, with her beside him, he knew there were still good people in the world and she was the best of them.

Beth smiled at his answer then, knowingly, always with her way about her. So fucking sure where he was so reticent. "I knew that," her eyes sparkled at him in the soft glow of the moon and she brushed her thumb over the scruff on his face and then let her hand drop to his arm, coming to rest on his biceps and she gave his arm a gentle squeeze.

He let out the breath he had been holding and he felt for the first time he could finally just let go. Let it all go. Maybe it was the cemetery unleashing all the memories of their time they spent together, just the two of them. Maybe it was the moonlight bathing them in its pale silvery glow, but he felt lighter. His heart felt lighter and he wanted her to know it.

The hell of it was, not much had changed in the way Daryl was able to express himself. He didn't know if that was ever going to change, but he was going to try. For her, he was going to try. For her, he would do anything. "I feel it too, Beth. It's not just you." His voice was hoarse and he knew it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough but it was a start.

She tilted her head to the side and she grinned at him then, as if she knew some kind of secret only she was privy to. But there was no secret here, not anymore. They both knew what they were heading towards. For the first time, Daryl didn't feel afraid of it.

"Then tell me," Beth challenged him then. "Tell me how you feel." She whispered, her eyes searching his face, imploring him to elaborate on his statement.

He stared at her for a long second and could hear his heart pounding in his chest and he figured it was now or never. There would never be a better time. But instead of telling her, he decided he could show her. He turned his body slightly so he was facing her and he was very aware of how her body was so close to his and he knew all he would have to do is lean ever so slightly and so he did. He leaned forward as he looked right into her eyes and he moved his hand up to her face and caressed it much like she had just done his. He glided his hand over the side of her face until it met with her hair, the soft strands beckoning his fingers as he wound them through the soft blonde tresses, gently until he was cupping the back of her head and pulled her towards him, his lips finding hers as their eyes fluttered closed.

He was shaking so bad and he swore he could hear his heart thundering beneath his leather vest and as he kissed her, he heard something else; her sigh against his lips as he kissed her tenderly, lightly; he thought he might have sighed too. He angled his head a bit and teased the seam of her almost too soft lips with his tongue and she opened her mouth willingly accepting his tongue against hers and she tasted so sweet, too fucking good and he was heady with the scent of her. He felt like his senses might explode with everything he was feeling. Kissing Beth was like nothing he had ever felt and everything he had ever imagined all rolled into one. Everything he felt for her was wrapped in that kiss and he wanted it go on forever and it kind of did, their mouths growing hungrier as the kiss deepened, their tongues tangling over one another and her hands came up to rest between them, fingers splaying over the seam of his vest and then she slid the leather apart as she sought closer contact, her fingers gripping his shirt and pulling him closer to her.

His head was spinning as he finally, reluctantly, pulled his lips from hers, pulling her now slightly swollen bottom lip in between his and sucking gently for a moment before breaking contact. His breathing was ragged and hers was too. He pulled away then and looked into her eyes, wondering what he would find there and hoped she would still look at him the way she always had.

But she didn't. It was better. He looked at her eyes probing his and her pupils were dilated, the blue having diminished in the black bleeding into them and she had never looked more beautiful to him. He wanted to lose himself in her gaze, in her sweet, sweet lips and just explore. Explore all that they were feeling.

"I love you, Beth." The words tumbled past his lips, still tingling from their kisses and he wasn't even sorry. But he would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous as hell about the admission and what she was going to say.

But he should have known. Should have known how she would smile sweetly at him, her ways always so sure. She sighed as she folded herself into him, her arms coming around his waist and her head coming to rest against his chest. He let his chin rest lightly on the crown of her head, feeling the hair tickle the skin there as he pulled her closer, his arms enveloping her as his hands rested on her, one high gripping the tender skin at her neck and one low, resting on the small of her back. "I love you too, Daryl. I think we're gonna be okay, you know." She said then and he finally let go of the breath he had been holding since Morgan had told him all he knew.

And now Beth knew how he felt too. No, he didn't have a choice in how he felt. But he knew if he was given one, he'd choose her anyways. He would always choose her. Because she was his light in this dark, dark world. She was the hope that drove him on each day. She was his salvation for every way a man needed saving. She was the love he never thought he deserved and he figured he would spend the rest of his life wondering why she had chosen him too, but he was glad she did. He figured it would take a lifetime, but he was going to let her know how he felt. Show her, tell her, it didn't matter. What mattered was that he loved Beth Greene and he always would. No matter what this hellish world threw at him, he was sure of that. He had never been sure of anything in his life but he was sure of this: Their love was real and it had chosen them.

AN: Okay, so I did it and I would be lying if I wasn't just a teensy bit proud! I managed to work the lyrics in and even managed to add a "secret" to it. Whoop! I'm so enjoying this first day of official Bethyl Week. I am so proud to be part of this fandom. Everyone is so nice and it really is all sunshine and rainbows when we all get together! Yup, yup, I've finally lost it. I'm giddy with all the anticipation of reading everything everyone has written and the fanvids and edits. It's just beautiful. Happy Bethyl Week my dears! Grab a glass of moonshine and let's toast to Beth and Daryl finding each other in season five and making all our head canons pale in comparison to the real canon Gimple has planned for us. Keep calm and Bethyl on! Love all you guys so much.

Another note: I am going to be writing Vanilla Fields this week until I either finish it or my muse demands something else of me, like she just did with this little drabble of a head canon. I promise I will get back to my other stories very soon but I feel like to really do the end of the story justice, I need to concentrate all my efforts on it. Hope you all don't mind that too much. Thanks as always for reading guys! I love each and every one of you, all the favorites, follows, reviews and recommendations. You all rock! Until next time, xoxoxoxo