Hello readers! Big fan of the Walking Dead, both graphic novel and tv series, and also a huge fan of Norman Reedus. First try at a Bethyl and I sincerly hope you all enjoy. Open to constructive criticisms and suggestions. Enjoy!

Smoke curled up into the sky as fire bellowed from everything once held so dear. There was no longer any movement in the yard besides the occasional walker aimlessly wondering. Beth was squatting with her head between her knees and her fingers crossed at the base of her neck as she slowly rocked. Silent tears slid over her cheeks, rolled down her elbows, and dripped to the ground. Daryl sat on a log a few feet away with his legs sprawled out ahead of him staring at the ruins that were, oddly enough, the closest thing he had ever been to calling home. They had been sitting at the tree line watching their fortress fall waiting for any sign of other survivors but the longer they waited the more dubious it became.

Finally, Daryl cleared his throat and stood eying the sun, it had made its way across the sky much farther then he thought it had. He patted Beth's shoulder and started off into the woods, he knew she would stand and follow but never turned to look. Ricks voice had been ringing in his ears the whole time they had sat there watching it all burn.

'Daryl you grab who means the most to you. Don't look back, just keep running. You got to take care of your own.'

Adrenaline pumping though his veins as bullets flew and bodies fell then all of the sudden she was there. In that moment that it all fell, the feelings he pressed so hard back were suddenly there on his lips.

'We got'ta go Beth, we got'ta go.'

He hadn't wanted to linger on the hill but as she gasped for air and stared down the daunting horror they had fought their way out of, he couldn't make her move. They wouldn't stop now that's for sure, only moving on could keep them safe. Once they had gone two miles or so in silence, he peeked over his shoulder at Beth who was following silently in his footsteps with her chin nearly dragging the ground. His steps slowed as he peeked again and rubbed the back of his head. He knew he should say something, should have already, but he had hoped she would first.

"There's a stash up ahead, should get us through for a while." When silence enveloped them, he tried again, "Michonne and me hid it. Maybe she'll be there."

He chewed on his lip waiting for her to say something, anything, but suddenly a quarter mile had gone by and they were at the stash. As he dug it out of a long ago fallen tree with a hallowed center, Beth leaned against a tree and slid to the ground cross legged to pick at some of the fray of her pants. With a thunk he dropped the bag in front of her and plopped down before unzipping it to check the supplies over. All the while, she sat in silence as he shuffled though it eventually pulling out two water bottles and passing her one which she slowly sipped from. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, sipping on the water and fiddling with the wrapper.

"We can make camp here for the night. Should be alright…" He trailed off, feeling more like he was talking to himself.

Just as he awkwardly patted his thighs and started to stand up, Beth suddenly threw her arms around his neck and started to sob. Shocked, his arms popped out a bit to her sides but slowly he wrapped her up and pulled her into his lap. They sat like that for a while, curled together as Beth soaked the shoulder of his vest. Eventually his mind found words once more while he stroked her hair in an attempt at comfort.

"It ain't going to be alright, Beth, it aint gonna be the same…but I'll take care of you, alright?"

Beth sniffled and lifted her head, "We're family now, Daryl, and we take care of each other."

1 Month Later

*Thawack*

"Damn, girl, I think you got this." Daryl smirked.

Beth's arrow had soared ahead of them and sunk into rabbit a few yards away. Rather proud of herself she followed Daryl over to the kill with a smile on her face.

"I have a good teacher."

He scoffed and picked up the rabbit, "Well, it will feed us tonight that's for sure."

"Wahoo!"

"Yeah, yeah, come on. Let's go find us a place to bunker down."

Daryl tucked their dinner into his belt after taking the bow from Beth and slinging it over his shoulder. They walked for a while shoulder to shoulder talking back and forth about the way the forest provided, then as their knuckles brushed together they locked fingers palm to palm and stillness spread through them both. Eventually they made it back to their makeshift camp, a tent and fire pit on the edge of a steam. Daryl brought the fire back to life while Beth cleaned the rabbit, the two of them in a seamless rhythm honed from their time together. In the past month they had slowly been spiraling out from the prison searching for others and collecting Daryl's small hidden stashes. The stashes never had much food but always some assorted supplies that helped replenish what they had worked through on their person. They never took more than they needed and always left a note or a jar of food in case someone else in the group might happen by. Aside from that they had gotten used to being just the two of them and they functioned well together as if that's how it was supposed to and had always been.

Plopping back down next to the fire, Daryl found his eyes began to roam over to Beth as she went on about her business. She had the rabbit on the spit and was laid out on her belly reading one of the books that she had found at some point in their scavenging. As she flipped through the pages seeming unaware he was watching her, he pondered over how he felt about her…their compatibility, the way she kept him out of the dark places in his mind, how close they had become. His eyes traced to her hands paused still on the edge of one of the pages, those delicate fingers, and then down at his rough warn palms stained with years of dirt and blood. When she had first started reaching for them days ago he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the warmth that shot to his very core, nevertheless today it wasn't a question in his mind to intertwine his fingers with hers. They had never been intimate but in the dark when the tent grew chill or a night terror crept into her mind, he would pull her into his arms again just like that first day after the prison fell almost as if he couldn't help himself.

As Beth flipped though her paperback, losing herself in a world far away from the one she currently resided, she felt his eyes on her but didn't mind, nor did she mind how often he did so. His eyes didn't make her feel unclean or as if she were some plaything like eyes she had felt before only because she knew she was safe with him. He was like her brother, her best friend, he was everything….and then a part of her didn't know what he was to her at all. Sometimes her mind compared him to those she had ever been close with but this was different, this was something else. She didn't know what it was and part of her didn't even need the confirmation but still in the pit of her stomach a doubt would sometimes rise, making her wonder if her feelings were one-sided. When they would hold hands she loved the shiver that shot up her spine and on the rare occasion that he would pull her to him in the night, she felt the safest she had in a long time. So in a way she was happier alone with him than she ever was at the prison, because at the prison she was always holding a fake smile waiting for it all to fall. With Daryl it was all real, twenty four seven.

When the sky began to turn all cotton candy and fire, they slid together on a log snd began tearing into the rabbit.

"Bang up job, Beth."

"I just put it on a stick." She said through a laugh and a full mouth.

"Smartass." He elbowed her, "So what you think about tomorrow?"

"What? To move camp or stay and scavenge some more?"

"Yea, you got the kill so you get the choice."

"No shit?" She turned to him with a big smile.

"Yea, no shit." He smiled, she cursed so rarely that it always brought a grin to his face when she did.

"Well," She pause clearly giving it some thought, "we can pick up, we've stocked up on water and you said there should be a town a little more to the north, right?"

He nodded pleased and touched a finger to the tip of her nose with a smile, "Exactly what I would have said. You do actually hear what I say then."

"I hear everything you say," she paused because she wasn't sure whether or not she should even continue the thought, "it's just that I don't always hear what I want."

Daryl was caught short, "What?"

"Nevermind." She shook her head and gazed into the fire pit.

Leaning on the elbow opposite her, Daryl stared at her and chewed slowly, "Tell me."

She was wary but pressed on, "I just….I...what are we doing?"

"Surviving." Entirely unprepared for the conversation, he settled back down with his elbows on his knees and stared into the fire.

"No, I mean really."

Pause, "We're us, we take care of each other."

Beside them the creek babbled and bugs were chirping in the woods as they sat in an awkward silence. He knew this would come but no matter what he tried to do to convince himself, he hadn't been able to even answer the question for himself. Beth chewed on her lip and kicked at the rocks surrounding the fire. She knew she should have said anything, they were fine as they were and she had no right to question any of it.

"I'm sorry-"

"It's you and me, Beth, your all I got and well I guess that is whatever you take it to mean."

"Are we, I don't know….together?"

He smiled and bumped her with his shoulder, "What is with women wanting a label for everything? Can't the creek just be a creek, or the bugs just bugs? Cause that's all they are."

Beth was set aback, maybe he wasn't as connected to her as she had thought, "Lots of women label you?"

Why couldn't what he meant ever just come through? "Aint what I meant."

"Then what did you-"

"Beth!" it came out gruffer then he mean so he spoke softer, "You an me, that's it for me. Nothin' else in this hole matters but that."

He shrugged off the awkward fog that had settled around them and went back to the meat in his hand. Beth let what he said soak in and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear as warmth spread though her bod. They sat elbow to elbow and finished off the rabbit accept for a bit that they stuck in one of their bags for the trek the following day. After stomping out the fire they climbed into their tent, but this time instead of staying apart Beth curled into Daryls side without fear of ever being turned down or pushed away again.

So did you enjoy the chapter? Think it needs some tweeks? Please leave a review. Thanks for reading!