Disclaimer: I own nothing of The Walking Dead and I make no monetary gain from this story :(

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Author's Note

I know I should be updating A Happy Ending but this story has been stuck in my head for weeks and I just had to get it written and out of my brain before I could concentrate on anything else. It's gonna be a little smutty story, I hope lol.

I will eventually get to updating A Happy Ending & Prove It, hopefully soon.

Please don't be mad lol.

I hope you enjoy!

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Warning for unwanted sexual advances on Beth at the beginning of this chapter.

Nothing Explicit. No Rape.

Chapter One

The Wild Stranger

Beth was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable the further Aiden drove from the little café they had just spent their first date at. He had seemed nice if maybe a bit self-centered, but the fact that he wasn't a complete stranger – they worked for the same person – was the only reason she had agreed to him driving her home.

It wasn't late in the evening, but the lengthening Fall nights made it feel as if it was midnight. Especially since the thick dark clouds obscured any shaft of moonlight trying to peek through and lighten the roads.

Aiden had said he wanted to take her to a nice spot, and the more she tried to tell him that she was tired and just wished to be home the more he pushed and told her she'd love it and to live a little. She knew she was too nice to tell him what she really wanted to say; that he could shove his nice spot where the sun didn't shine and to just take her home. Beth was also weary of being too confrontational in case he became angry and decided he didn't care what she wanted.

She suddenly realized how silly and naive she had been in getting in his car. He was in complete control and there was nothing she could do but go along with what he wanted. She had thought because they were 'friends of friends' that had earned him a bit of trust from her, she prayed she wouldn't be proved too wrong.

"Look, we're here," Aiden suddenly said, pulling her from her worry filled thoughts.

Beth looked around but didn't see anything special, maybe she would have if it was a bit brighter out and there wasn't a heavy wind whipping the trees around, creating a spooky vibe. As she examined the area some more she realized they were on an incline overlooking a clearing and a small lake. She could imagine it being used by teenagers for hookups and keggers, and as this thought formed she could have hit herself in stupidity. It was suddenly obvious that he had brought her here for one thing and one thing only; to get into her pants.

In her distraction Beth didn't notice Aiden unfasten his seatbelt and lean toward her until she felt his hand on her knee causing her to jump and whip her head around in his direction. As soon as her eyes connected with his, his lips pressed against hers and while one hand unbuckled her seatbelt the other teased further up her thigh. She instinctively tried to move further away from him but was impeded by the door at her back so she gripped the fingers sneaking under her dress with one hand while the other hit his chest and she tried with all her might to push him away from her.

"Stop, what are you- Get off me!" she shouted in fright as her heart raced in her chest.

"What?" Aiden huffed in annoyance after she had pushed him back to his side of the car.

"What do you mean 'what?' I never said you could put your hand up my skirt or your tongue down my throat!"

"What do you think I brought you here for? To look at the stars?" Aidan mocked before scoffing at that very idea.

"I made it perfectly clear I didn't want to come here. I told you I wanted to go home." Beth didn't know whether to be madder at his presumptions or her own stupidity, but his next words made up her mind.

"I thought you were just playing hard to get. When a girl says no she really means yes." He spoke in a tone conveying his opinion that she was an idiot for not knowing how women think. She felt her anger burn hot and she couldn't ever remember feeling so incensed, she hadn't believed she was capable of it.

"Excuse me? Whatever gave you that ridiculous idea? Every woman on the planet is not dying for your dick, I think most of us would prefer it stay as far from us as humanly possible." Beth took a breath before continuing, her anger clouding her better sense telling her not to belittle and mock a man she was completely alone and trapped inside a locked car with. "And you expected me to have sex with you after one lousy coffee date. And in your car no less?"

"Jesus, you really are a prude. I just thought it was a goody-two-shoes act for the boss."

"We're done here. Unlock the door," Beth demanded.

"Like hell," Aiden scoffed.

Beth gripped the handle of the door and pulled to no avail making her heart pound in sudden fear-fear that grew at the feel of his hand gripping her arm and roughly pulling her away from trying to open the car door.

"Give it up Beth. Fuck, can't you just have a bit of fun for once, come on! We don't have to go all the way."

She turned to push him away again but he just took her other arm in a bruising hold. "I said no, and I mean no. Let me out!" At that moment he removed his hand from her arm only to roughly squeeze her breast with it. Without evening thinking about it she lashed out and felt the palm of her right hand sharply smack across the side of his face. The only sound after the noise of her striking him was their rough heavy breathing until he growled angrily.

"You bitch!" Aiden shoved her away and her head hit the window behind her just as the skies opened and a torrent of rain began to batter the car. "You want out, fine. Get out!" He unlocked the door and reached over to push it open causing the swirling rain to drench the right side of her dress and tights in seconds. Uncaring, Beth stumbled from the car just remembering to grab her bag at the last second.

"Happy walk home," Aiden chuckled darkly before slamming the door shut and peeling out of the clearing, the spinning tires splattered her with mud before his car lights quickly receded down the winding mountain road.

Beth stood there in shock and was soaked to the bone from the downpour in a matter of seconds. The gushing wind was so strong it pushed her forward and made her stumble into the mud tracks from the car's tires. Unfortunately, her heeled foot slid in the wet muddy grass and caused her to fall harshly onto her butt.

She felt tears begin to pool in her eyes at the predicament she found herself in. She was miles and miles from home in the middle of a forested mountain and she had no way of getting home. She quickly opened her bag and searched for her phone hoping she could call Maggie or her dad to come collect her, but after unsteadily finding her feet she saw she had no signal which caused her tears to finally fall and mix with the rain pouring down her face and chest triggering a shiver to roll over her.

Not only was it raining heavily but it was cold, and she soon began to shake. Her teeth chattered, displaying the bone deep chill she felt inside. The long sleeves of her dress done nothing to shield against the rapidly freezing night and as she watched her breath mist the air she felt like she could kick herself for not acting her 22 years of age.

She realized as she began the long descent down the hills that she was in serious danger. Anyone could come along and hurt her or she could get lost and freeze to death, any number of things could happen and just as she shook her head and told herself to think positive and have a little faith, a man stepped out of the thick trees to her left and stood facing her in the middle of the road. If that didn't scare her enough though, the huge weapon in his hands downright terrified her.

The movie 'The Chainsaw Massacre' flashed in her mind making her whimper even though he wasn't holding a chainsaw.

"Please, I don't want any trouble," she shouted over the harsh wind and rain. The man stalked toward her making her back up in fright until he came to an abrupt stop. He was closer now and Beth squinted through the rain to see a man she could only describe as 'wild' standing in front of her scowling.

"Ain't gonna hurt ya girl, but what the hell you doin out in the middle a this? A storm's comin'," his deep gravelly voice questioned her.

"I … my date he…" She didn't know how to explain or if she should, this scary man was a complete stranger to her and she didn't think she should telegraph the fact she was completely alone and helpless.

"What he do? You okay?" He came closer to her, and only the softening of his tone and his words halted her from backing up some more. He was closer now so there was no need to shout or squint at one another. He looked to be about a foot taller than her, his shoulders were very broad and his thick arms were covered in a dark checkered shirt. His drenched dark hair fell to his leather covered shoulders while sticking to his sharp scruffy cheeks and strong neck. His eyes – although it felt like they pierced right through her with their intensity – were what drained the fear from her. He was clearly worried and as his eyes took in her form from head to toe there was absolutely nothing seedy or unpleasant about how he looked at her.

"I'm okay, he didn't… I left the car. Well he kicked me out, thankfully," Beth admitted as she gripped the skirt of her soaked dress, halting it from blowing up in the wind. "But I don't know where I am and my phone has no signal." She sniffled, she could feel her eyes glisten with tears again. She must look pathetic, like some damsel in distress needing rescuing. Beth would have thought that was romantic when she was younger but she knew better now; there was nothing romantic about being helpless.

"Where do ya live?"

"My apartment is in Atlanta." Beth bit her lip tasting the rain which only made her thirstier.

"Jesus that's miles from here."

"I know." She tried to stop the tears from falling but she was too scared and she hated feeling so vulnerable, like she had no control of her impending faith. Luckily, she managed to hold in a sob that had been trying to escape.

"Aw shit. Look, don't cry girl. You'll be alright, ya hear?" He spoke softly but looked completely uncomfortable which made her tears stop as amusement replaced them from the look on his face; he clearly was not used to dealing with crying girls.

Beth suddenly realized she was not scared of this strange wild man anymore.

Daryl couldn't help but feel pity for the shivering girl and the situation she found herself in. He thought he was the one in trouble tonight when the surprise storm came along while he was camping in the woods for the weekend trying to catch some game that he could sell to his local butcher. But she was clearly worse off than him as there was no way she was getting home tonight.

As Daryl assessed her state he recognized she was a pretty little thing, all eyes and legs, like the doe he spotted alone earlier that day. He would no more kill the doe than he would hurt this frightened girl.

He noticed her black tights were ripped in places and covered in mud. Seeing the pair of high heels she was wearing, he would make a bet that she had fallen on her ass and as he drew closer to her he noticed more mud caked on the skirt of her dark red dress.

What dickhead would leave this young girl stranded up here on a night like this?

He suddenly realized she was now his responsibility as she clearly wasn't getting to her warm dry home and she would never get a signal out here, even if she walked down the mountain road all night. She was in his territory now and she was lucky he was the one to find her; he could only imagine Len – a low-life piece of shit who lived not far from him – finding this young girl. He would think Christmas and his birthday had come all at once, and Daryl suspected the girl may never have left these mountains ever again.

He had to get her and himself to shelter before they caught their deaths out in this weather. The closest – and only, that he knew of – shelter, was his tent which he had been on his way too when he saw her trudging down the road completely soaked to the bone.

"Come on, we gotta get outta this rain, follow me." Daryl tipped his head in the direction of his camp and made to step that way when he saw hesitation flash in her eyes. He didn't blame her or take it personally, she would be stupid to go along with him without serious consideration first, so he tried to reassure her.

"Listen, I ain't gonna hurt ye I promise. But if you stay out here in the rain and cold ya won't last the night. And I won't leave ya here alone so… ya gotta make up your mind girl, and quick."

She eyed him a moment before speaking. "Beth, my name's Beth." Her tone was friendly and she smiled as she extended her small hand to him making his brows raise in surprise before he took her soft hand in his to shake.

"Daryl. Now that introductions are outta the way can we…?" He tipped his head to the left again to gesture them leaving and she giggled cutely before nodding and releasing his hand.

As he made his way back into the cover of trees the rain continued to fall on them but a portion of it was blocked by the branches and leaves of the towering pine trees. He looked back to see her following him and again he noted the heels she was struggling to walk in making him shake his head.

Why do girls wear those things?

"Aghh!" Daryl looked back to see her in the wet dirt on her butt with her left ankle in her hand and a pained expression painted on her pretty face.

"Shit, ye alrigh'?" He walked back to where she was sitting before kneeling down next to her to look at her ankle. "Girl, let me see that." He looked into her big blue pain filled eyes for permission before taking her ankle in hand and unclasping the awkward little buckle on her shoe and removing it slowly from her foot before testing its movement with his hands. He looked into her eyes once more to see her wince and bite her lip. "I think you just twisted it a bit, you'll be alrigh'," he told her and she nodded before looking away in what seemed to be embarrassment.

"You think you can walk? Without the heels." Daryl shook his head once more before noticing the ground she was to travel on and realized her feet would get cut up. After he helped her stand he placed his bow along his front instead of his back like normal and turned his back to her before bending his knees slightly.

"Hop on," he told her.

"Are you serious?" He heard from behind him.

"Yeah, it's a serious piggyback. Jump up." Daryl heard her laugh and then he felt her hands land on his shoulders before she jumped up onto his back.

"Ooof. You're heavier than you look." He gripped her thighs and jostled her a bit until she felt secure on him.

"Hey!" Beth giggled in his ear making him shiver and he couldn't help but note with his rough fingers the softness of her wet thigh that was exposed by a rip in her tights. "Is it much further?"

"A couple minutes, fifteen tops since I'm carrying a heavy load." He chuckled at the indignant squawk she emitted at his response.

They soon found themselves entering his camp and Daryl carried her right up to his – thankfully closed and pinned down – tent before gently setting her on her feet outside it. He quickly unzipped it and ushered her shivering form inside before following her himself. The shaking tent was tall enough for him to fully stand up in and they weren't completely cramped, but he wasn't used to sharing such a confined space with anyone but his brother and he felt a bit uneasy.

Daryl lit the battery-operated lamp to quell the darkness, bringing a warm orange glow to the space, and after setting down his crossbow and removing his mud caked shoes he placed them in the corner before standing fully.

He looked down at the slight girls shaking body awkwardly positioned in the middle of his tent with her purse and heels in each hand. "Here, let me take them. You need to get warm." He took them from her hands and placed them in the corner as well. When he turned back around she had her arms wrapped tightly around her, the noise of her chattering teeth was louder than the constant drumming of the rain and the howling of the strong winds. Her big eyes looked up at him for direction and now that he could fully see her he realized she wasn't just pretty, he could tell even with soaked hair and mascara smudged eyes that she was beautiful.

Daryl swallowed and looked away, realizing that even though she looked a little older than what he had guessed her to be – 18 – he felt he was still too old to admire her soft beauty, especially when she was in such a vulnerable state.

As he took her in he knew she would have to get out of her soaked clothes – all of them – and that he would too. They were both shivering, and with no heat source nearby it was practically a death sentence to keep on their cold wet clothes in this rapidly freezing night.

He noticed their breaths mist the air and shook away the uncomfortable realizations of what they would have to do to prevent catching pneumonia. He looked around for his blanket, he didn't have much as he hadn't been expecting a storm or a bunk buddy and he never needed much. The smaller and lighter his pack the better.

"Sorry girl but you're gonna have to take off that dress, and… and the rest," Daryl stuttered and coughed in embarrassment when her eyes widened up at him. He looked away while he picked up one of the two blankets he had with him. He looked at her again to see her come to the same conclusion about their situation that he had and he watched as a blush spread from her heaving chest up to the roots of her damp blonde hair.

"Oh," she murmured nervously.

"Yeah." He nodded jerkily before clearing his throat and holding up the blanket to block the view he had of her body so she had some semblance of privacy and respect.

"Th-thank you," her voice shook and his eyes flitted back to hers to see her looking at him with eyes shining with gratitude. He had no idea how to respond, he was left gaping like a fish which seemed to help as she laughed at him before reaching back for the fastening of her dress.

He quickly looked away again but couldn't help but notice her struggling from the corner of his eye. "Everything okay?"

"Um… no. I'm sorry but I need your h-help taking off my dress," she stammered.

"Wha'?!" His eyes flew to hers in shock.

"I can't undo all the buttons," she admitted in a frustrated voice and she looked away in humiliation, her eyes tearing up again.

"How did you get the thing on in the first place?"

"My friend helped me." The girl – Beth – sniffed, her eyes never straying from her toes.

Daryl sighed before lowering the blanket.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered as a lonely tear slowly trailed down her cheek before she wiped it away self-consciously.

"Nah it… it's alrigh', there's no need to cry. It's just some buttons." Daryl shrugged; feigning nonchalance for her benefit.

Beth nodded and attempted a small smile before turning her back to him and moving her long pale hair over her shoulder. She missed a few strands and he gently moved them over as well before looking at the back of her dress. While the front was a plain cotton the back had a lacy pattern with a long row of tiny buttons from the nape of her neck down to her waist where the dress cinched before flaring out.

Christ, the shit woman put themselves through for fashion or whatever silly reason I'll never understand.

His thick fingers felt clumsy as he started the painstaking task of undoing each little awkward button. About halfway through he'd swear an hour had gone by and the more fair skin and occasional freckle that was revealed beneath her dress the longer he felt it was taking. He noticed her shoulders moving and not in the cold shivering way that was constant for them both but like she was sobbing quietly. Daryl's eyes widened at the thought of her thinking he was enjoying undressing her or something and he gripped her shoulders to turn her to him, and that was when he noticed she wasn't crying at all, she was quietly laughing.

"Wha' the hell are ya laughing at girl?"

Beth tried to catch her breath before speaking only to laugh even harder and louder than before. She wrapped one arm around her stomach and the other tried to hide her face and Daryl could feel himself beginning to smile and then chuckle along with her. It was pretty funny, the odd situation neither of them ever dreamed of being stuck together in, her crying because she couldn't unbutton her dress and him grumbling and huffing at each little button that slipped through his thick clumsy fingers.

She finally got her laughing under control and they just smiled at one another in amusement before she turned back around to signal him to continue.

"Crazy girl," he muttered shaking his head and making her giggle.

"Grumpy man," she whispered back and he scoffed, but since she couldn't see him he let himself smile in soft amusement.

Beth couldn't help but shiver when the man's – Daryl's – rough fingers brushed the bare damp skin of her back.

"So-Sorry," he stammered gruffly making her smile.

For a man she had been instantly frightened of and labelled as looking 'wild' he certainly acted anything but. He seemed just as – if not more – nervous than her and he was a grown ass man that wore leather and carried around a big badass looking weapon. The contradiction of his rough dangerous appearance to his stuttered kind words and gentle actions had confused her at first, she had thought maybe he was acting so she'd lower her guard. But she quickly realised he really was as uncomfortable with the situation – probably more so now – than she was, and she found it quite endearing; it made her want to put him at ease.

Finally, all the buttons were undone and Beth had to hold the now loose dress to her chest as he bent to pick up the blanket from the ground before holding it up for her to give her privacy, which she greatly appreciated.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Sure," he mumbled.

Beth could feel her cheeks blaze as she peeled her dress from her wet shivering body but she noted he kept the blanket high and his gaze averted, and during her watch of him she noticed his ears were red whether from cold, embarrassment or both she didn't know. She'd swear later her whole body blushed as she removed her dirty tights and soaked bra and panties. She quickly pulled the blanket from his hands to wrap around her making him jerk out from what seemed to be deep thoughts.

She caught him looking at her soaked clothes on the floor and bit her lip when she noticed she hadn't tried to hide her white bra and panties in her haste to cover herself. She saw his ears redden further confirming her theory before he awkwardly looked at her and then quickly away.

"You can use that blanket to dry yourself. I only have one more and we need that to stay dry so we can use it to cover us." He couldn't meet her widening eyes as he spoke before beginning to remove his leather vest and opening his shirt buttons. She quickly looked away from his shivering form and when he turned his back she followed suit and began to dry her cold skin with the rough fabric.

The friction helped warm her skin up from freezing to cold, and all she could do was concentrate on her misting breath as she tried to dry every inch of her without exposing anything to the chilly air.

"Don't turn around yet… here."

Another blanket – this one checkered green and grey – was draped from the hand he had reached around her and the thought of him completely naked and exposed behind her didn't scare her like she thought it should; she was naked and vulnerable with a big strange naked man behind her and all it did was make her heart race.

"Give me the one ya used to dry yourself and put this one over ya after ye get on the sleepin' bag," his rough voice commanded before he seemed to think better of his tone. "Please."

"O-Okay." She gulped as she took the blanket from him and moved to the sleeping bag laid out in the corner.

"I unzipped it fully, it's important to have something beneath us. If not, all this is pointless."

Beth nodded before she knelt on the soft fabric before quickly changing blankets and flinging the damp one behind her and diving under the dry one. She heard a snort and blushed at the thought of him watching her but she didn't think so, she suspected he had snorted at her throwing the blanket at him in her haste to cover up.

She kept her back to him and her face to the shaking tent wall as she listened to him dry off. Even dry and wrapped in blankets she was still freezing and her body was beginning to ache from the tense way she had held herself against the colds intrusion. But her body suddenly stilled when she felt Daryl move closer to her before she heard his knees hit his side of the small sleeping bag behind her. She gulped – and it wasn't in fear, well maybe a little – at the thought of him pressing his naked from against her.

He knelt there for so long she figured he was either waiting on permission from her or he was going to let himself freeze.

"Are ya gettin' in?" She was annoyed to hear her voice quake.

"Yeah, I…," he halted.

"It's okay… really," she tried to reassure him and blushed. "You'll catch your death out there and I'm freezing." She punctuated her sentence with chattering teeth.

She felt the bedding rustle before the blanket lifted as he slid under and pressed his freezing chest to her back. At the same time his legs brushed her own and she felt how cold his feet were, making her whole body shiver.

"You okay?" he asked her worriedly and his voice was so close to her ear it made her jump.

"Yeah, sorry. You're so cold." Beth shivered again causing him to slowly wrap his arm around her middle but far from her breasts or the neat thatch of hair between her legs. She had her own arm wrapped around her stomach so his skin rested against the skin of her arm.

She couldn't believe that she found herself in this situation, and what was more surprising to her was that it was easier than she ever imagined. Maybe she was still in shock from Aiden kicking her out of the car but it didn't feel like it. No, for some reason she simply trusted this gruff kind man with not only her safety but her dignity as well.

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I would love to know what you thought :)

Thanks for reading!