I still have not decided if this will be a simple one-shot or possibly a two-shot.

…

They had been living in the trailer in the woods together for over a year now and it had been a good year. The best year of his life, Daryl didn't doubt.

At first, he was worried that maybe they would be spending too much time together – working at the same garage and living together in such a small space – and eventually, one of them would explode from the annoyance of being together all of the time but that possible conflict never arose because the truth was, they did have their time apart. He'd go hunting with his brother for a couple of days or she would visit her best friend in Atlanta for the weekend or she'd go to her daddy's farm for the day or he'd hang out with his best friend at his house for the afternoon. And Daryl realized that even if they did spend too much time together, he wouldn't really care because he had never really been that fond of people before but Beth was the exception and he found himself wanting to spend as much time with her as he could.

The trailer used to be just a place where Daryl slept and ate his meals and hid away from everyone and the rest of the world but with Beth there, it was a home now. Their home. A home glowing warmly with light and the smell of butter cream hanging in the air. She almost always had fresh flowers on the kitchen table and she had introduced him to decorative throw pillows both on the bed and couch. He had never had a home like it before; had never even had a home at all.

Outside, they had a pen where their sheep, Harvey, lived and they never had to worry about the grass getting too long around them with him roaming around, eating it all up. Beth had planted flowers and had started a small vegetable garden – just tomatoes and green beans at the moment, though she was talking about growing more variety the next season – and Daryl had built a fence around it for her.

Inside, he had built himself a bookshelf because he was still reading through all of the books kids read in high school that he, himself, had never gotten a chance to read until now and he had built Beth a new stool for her keyboard, which she sat on almost every night, playing and writing her own songs and filling the trailer with her sweet voice.

If they didn't go to his brother's or her daddy's for dinner, they cooked for themselves in the trailer's small kitchenette area and they sat down each night across from one another at the small table and ate and she chattered away with him making the occasional comment but mostly, he just sat there and listened to every word she said, looking at her and not wanting to miss a single syllable.

The trailer was small for one person and downright cramped with two but they made it work and rearranged and adjusted and made it work just as they did with everything else. The bathroom was downright miniscule with no room for anything and Beth kept a plastic bin beneath their bed filled with everything that couldn't be held in the tiny medicine cabinet behind the mirror. And the bedroom was just big enough for their bed and one dresser, which they shared. She got the top two drawers and he got the bottom two and the closet, as well, as shared with his flannel shirts all hanging in with all of her dresses and cardigan sweaters.

He, sometimes, thought that it was too small and maybe she would want to move back to the big farmhouse where she used to live with her pops but Beth just smiled and kissed him and told him that the trailer wasn't small. It was cozy and Daryl assumed that there was a difference between the two words but he didn't know it.

All he knew was every time he looked at Beth, she looked downright happy and he knew he had never been this happy before in his entire life.

…

Beth had another bin underneath their bed filled with toys for when his nephew, Hank, would come to visit. Merle's wife, Annie, insisted that they go out sometimes without the baby – "To remind ourselves that we're still a couple", Annie said and Merle had made a face, not understanding that at all but going along with it because he figured it meant he would get laid at the end of it – and Daryl and Beth would babysit the baby at the trailer for the night.

"You are just the sweetest baby in the entire world," Beth would always tell him, holding the pudgy baby in her arms and Hank gurgled and tugged on her braid.

She would feed him his dinner of strained carrots – "It tastes just as disgustin' as it looks," Merle had informed them – and then clean him up and sit with him on the floor where his blanket was spread out and she played with him and his toys.

Daryl sat with them and always found himself having just as much fun playing with the toys as Hank did because it didn't matter that he was getting closer to forty. He had never had toys growing up and it wasn't as if Hank had a ton but he had enough and the toys just showed to everyone that Hank Dixon was already so different then his old man or uncle. Hank giggled and clapped his hands every time Daryl built a tower of blocks and then knocked it over with a dinosaur or his fire truck and he would build it up again so Hank would be able to knock it over next.

When they babysat, Daryl would sometimes find himself watching Beth. He knew they wouldn't be able to have kids of their own. The years she spent starving herself nearly to death had permanently damaged parts of her body and she would probably never be able to get pregnant.

They didn't talk about it. Daryl was fine with never having kids; had never even thought of having kids and he was more than happy just being an uncle to Hank and any other kids Merle and Annie might have later. He could care less if Beth could or never could have kids. He wasn't with Beth because of that anyway.

But he didn't know how Beth felt about it. He had never asked. He didn't really know how to approach that with her and she definitely wasn't bringing it up. He didn't know if she wanted kids or if she was fine with the possibility of never having any of her own. He didn't know what she thought about any of it and he watched her when she was with Hank to see if she had any hint of longing or sadness in her eyes.

He never saw any though. He just saw her smiling warmly and kissing the baby's round cheeks and singing him soft songs and even after Merle and Annie came to pick Hank up to take him home, when it was just the two of them again, Beth was still smiling.

…

"You ever gonna ask her to marry you?" Rick asked one afternoon when they had gone to Rhee's Pizza for a couples of slices for lunch.

Daryl didn't even react to the question anymore; so use to everyone asking him that in some form or another about him and Beth. Apparently, two people couldn't be together for a year without people expecting to hear wedding bells.

"She don't wanna get married," he shook his head.

"She say that?" Rick looked at him from across the table with a raised eyebrow.

No, she didn't say that but it wasn't as if he had asked her about it. It was another of those things that he didn't talk with her about. She gave him no hint that she was looking to get married and Daryl didn't even know if he wanted to get married either. He loved Beth. Had never loved anyone or anything more in this world than he loved Beth. And he just imagined himself being with her for as long as he lived but he didn't know if that meant they had to get married.

"She don't have to say it." Daryl shot him a frown. "Why the hell would she wanna marry me? Girl could have anyone in this world. Miracle 'nough she's stayed with me this long."

And that was something he believed deep in his belly. He loved Beth and he knew that she loved him but he didn't know what was keeping her with him and a part of him was just not expecting her to stay with him forever. It'd probably kill him but he wouldn't be all that surprised if she looked at him one day and told him she was leaving. It wasn't like he was giving her anything that would make her want to stay.

And he already knew that he couldn't put a ring on her finger and bind her to him for the rest of their lives just because he was afraid of her leaving even though he did know one thing and that was without Beth, he wouldn't have a life at all.

…

Her daddy said she could use the laundry room whenever she wanted but most times, she saved up their quarters and took their laundry bag to the Laundromat in town. She felt if she was old enough to live with her boyfriend, she was old enough to do their laundry without relying on her father for it.

Daryl swung the bag up in the back of the pickup truck and drove them to town and hefted it over his shoulder, carrying it inside. She had a small bottle of detergent and she claimed two washing machines for themselves. Daryl stood next to her as she began separating their whites from their colors and he always made her laugh because before her, he had never separated his clothes when doing laundry and no matter how many times she showed him, he just didn't seem to get a handle on it.

"Throw those in with the whites, Daryl," she said as he was holding a pair of her yellow panties, about to drop those in the color washing machine.

"Yellow's a color," he frowned at her.

"It's a lighter color, though, so I throw those in with the whites. Same with these," she said, holding up a pair of her light purple panties.

"You need to start buyin' some plain white underwear," he muttered and she laughed, pouring a cap of detergent into each machine.

A part of her wanted to tease him and ask how he had ever survived before her but she didn't because he had survived just fine before this with her. He had had a terrible childhood but he had pulled himself up and had made a life for himself; a good life and it had been good before her and it would be good after her.

After her. She didn't like to think about that but sometimes, the thought would creep into her mind and take root and she wouldn't be able to get rid of it for days. She had been with Daryl for a year and she couldn't imagine not being with him. So much of her life had now become entwined with his, she couldn't be sure she would be able to have a whole life without him again. And she knew that wasn't good because a person shouldn't become so dependent on another person like that but she looked at Daryl and could so easily see having a forever with this man.

They never talked about it though and Beth never felt brave enough to be the first to mention it. Daryl had said more than once that she was the strongest girl he knew but she wasn't. At all. Because there was so much in this world and in her life that scared her. And Daryl Dixon just absolutely terrified her because there was just so much she didn't know and it drove her crazy if she sat down and thought about it. She wanted answers but never wanted to be the one to ask the questions so she knew she had no one to blame but herself.

There was some fishing show on the television bolted to the wall that Daryl watched as she read a book in the chair beside him and they waited for their clothes to wash. She was reading one of those silly light books of the heroine moving somewhere new and starting a new life for herself and meeting the man of her dreams when she walks her dog in the park. She loved books like that. Not exactly challenging but she was guaranteed a happy ending and sometimes, she couldn't ask for more than that.

Beth turned the page and then leaned into Daryl, resting her head on his shoulder and bringing her knees up to hug them to her chest.

"You a'right?" He asked her when she released a soft sigh.

"Mm-hmmm," she answered truthfully and tilted her head up, finding him already looking at her. "Just thinking."

"'bout what?" His eyes were intent on her and she smiled a little.

She absolutely loved his eyes. She remembered her first morning at the garage when Dale had introduced her to the other mechanics. She had smiled and looked at them all but her eyes had lingered on Daryl the longest – Daryl and his stormy blue eyes and he had been staring at her, too.

She reminded herself now, in this moment, that he had been staring at her as long as she had been staring at him. This wasn't one-sided. He had been the one to ask her to stay with him in the trailer in the first place. She knew he loved her and wanted her and she told herself that there was nothing wrong with the way she was feeling.

"I'll never be able to have babies," she said rather suddenly and it wasn't what she wanted to start this conversation with but it was one of those things that they never talked about that had to be talked about.

She saw the surprise flash in Daryl's eyes before he was able to quickly wipe it away.

"I know that," he said in a softer voice that she had heard him use in the woods while hunting.

She never took her eyes from him. "And that doesn't bother you?"

His shrug was immediate; as if he had been waiting for her to ask him that and he had had his answer ready this whole time. "Why would it? Never wanted kids."

Beth knew he was telling the truth. Daryl was almost impossible to read but after a year with him, she was better at it than anyone. And even if she couldn't read him, she knew he was telling the truth because Daryl Dixon never told a lie. He never saw the point in it. What he said was always what he meant.

She watched as he swallowed as if nervous and glanced down to his hands before lifting his eyes back to her.

"It bother you?" He then asked in a low, gruff tone.

She shook her head. "No," she answered truthfully. "I learned to accept it a long time ago." She then managed to give him a small smile and added in a voice just above a whisper, "A woman doesn't have to have a baby to be happy."

"'s true," he then said quietly, almost distracted, and rubbed his chin. He looked at her and gave another half shrug. "You always got me. We both know I act like a baby sometimes," he smirked a little and when she broke into a soft laugh, she saw his smirk grow wider into a smile and she stretched her neck up, kissing him.

You always got me.

…

She liked her job. It wasn't exactly what she saw herself doing when she was a little girl and imagining herself being a ballerina or a famous singer but it was a good job and she liked it and she was happy. This life she had for herself, it might not have been what she had thought she would have for herself one day but it was what she wanted for herself now and that was more than enough.

Dale was so kind to her and the other guys treated her like she was their friend and more than once, all of the guys had said that without her, this garage couldn't run. They made her feel like she was important, like she mattered, and she wondered if they had any idea how much that meant to her.

It wasn't necessarily a difficult job but it could get hectic and no two days were alike and Beth was good at it. And each night, when the garage closed, she cleaned up the office and then would climb onto the back of Daryl's motorcycle and wrap her arms around his waist and he would take them home. Home.

There were three things in this world that made her smile without fail. Harvey, their sheep, Daryl and their home. Their trailer with the yellow lace curtains hanging over the windows and the blue and white quilt on their bed and the vase of wildflowers on their table. It was their home and it smelled like them and was warm and cozy and it was all theirs. Their own little piece of heaven deep in the woods and she hadn't seen the whole world but she knew that their trailer was her favorite spot in the world. Home – and Daryl – was all she needed to be truly happy.

All she wanted for the rest of her life was their home and Daryl.

…

Daryl moved strongly on top of her, pumping his hips between her thighs, entering her with deep strokes, and Beth didn't understand – even after all of these times being intimate together – how he could move with just the right amount of hard that she craved and yet, kiss her so softly, it made her heart twist in her chest.

Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her nails were digging in his back, giving him new scratches to mix in with his old scars. She moaned softly, his name over and over again and pleas for him to keep going, and her hips lifted against his, meeting his thrusts as his head dropped down to her shoulder, grunting and panting in her ear. Her fingers moved into his hair, pushing it back, pulling on his head until he got the signal of what she wanted. He lifted his head and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply, making her moan all over again.

She broke apart with a sharp cry and arch of her back and Daryl held her tightly, pounding into her faster until his own end was reached and he shuddered as he came before collapsing on top of her before he could catch himself. But she didn't want him to be anywhere else and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him on top of her, feeling both of their hearts rapidly beating, trying to return to normal as they both tried to remember how to breathe.

"I love you, Beth," Daryl murmured in her ear and if all of her bones already hadn't been gone from her body, Beth would have felt them melt away then as she always did whenever he said those words to her; especially when he said those words first.

She tightened her arms around him. "I love you, too," she said and looked up at him as he lifted his head to look down to her face, his eyes falling into hers. She gave him a soft smile as she brushed his hair out of his face. "I'm going to love you forever," she then added and something passed through his eyes at her words. Something like a storm cloud, darkening and changing the landscape and for a second, Beth wondered if she had just said something completely wrong. She didn't know why it would be though. It was the truth.

"Le's get married," Daryl suddenly said, blurting it out gruffly.

Beth's eyes widened. "What?" She sputtered and let out a slight laugh because she didn't know what else to do right then. She looked at him and he looked completely serious though and she felt her heart skipping beats within her ribcage. "What?" She asked again, this time in almost a whisper.

"Right now. Le's just go and get married," Daryl said and he pushed himself off of her, sitting on his knees, and Beth sat up as well, her eyes never leaving his and she was cold as she always was and she lifted the blanket up around her body. Daryl was staring at her, his eyes intent and never looking away from hers. "I wanna marry you, Beth," he said in a quiet voice.

"You do?" She whispered and she wasn't sure why but she felt like crying.

"Did you mean it? Are you gonna love me forever?" He asked.

"Of course," she didn't hesitate in her answer. "But Daryl…" she stopped herself and swallowed a thickness clawing at her throat. "Are you?" She was almost afraid to ask but she had to. Her stomach was clenching and her heart was racing and his eyes still hadn't left her. She knew the answer and knew she would never doubt it but still, she supposed she just had to actually hear it.

"Am I what? Gonna love you forever?" He asked and she nodded, swallowing again.

Daryl moved into her then, his hand on the back of her head, and he kissed her and it was hungry and soft all at the same time and her hands lifted to his cheeks.

"You really askin' me that?" He asked, barely lifting his lips from hers.

"Did you really wait this long to ask me to marry you?" She asked back, teasing, and he smirked back against her lips. "Yes," she whispered. "I'm really asking you that."

"Yeah, Beth." It was his turn to answer without hesitating. He then took a deep breath and stared into her eyes. "'ve been thinkin' 'bout this for a while now but I just haven' had a clue how to say it to you."

Beth felt more tears flood her eyes. She then felt like laughing and she did, light and soft, and she shook her head at herself. "Is that why you didn't ask me sooner?" She wondered.

"Wasn' sure you wanted me," he shrugged, trying to be casual about the whole thing but failing miserably at it. "Wasn' sure you wanted me and this trailer and everythin' that comes with being with me."

"With you? I think you forget who has more baggage between us," she tried to be light but Daryl could see past it.

"'s my baggage now, too," he said in a low voice and for a man who barely spoke ten sentences a day, he always knew the perfect thing to say.

The tears slipped down her cheeks then, no longer able to stop them, and she pulled on his hair, pulling on his head until their lips could meet once more.

And one kiss led to another and another and Beth felt Daryl lowering her to the bed again and she found herself on her back once more, his body hovering over hers and right then and there, she decided she wanted to spend her entire life right in that spot; right where she was and with no one else there except Daryl.

And she had already known that for a long time but now, she knew that that Daryl wanted that, too, without a doubt in her mind, that this was always the life she imagined for herself.

…

Thank you so much for reading and please review!