NEVER LOOKED AT YOU THAT WAY

Growing up, Daryl Dixon, never had the type of family he wished for. He only had Merle beside him and life wasn't exactly great. Even before the apocalyptic world, Daryl Dixon's life had always been bumpy and not so affluent, which contributed to his aloof personality. But somehow he felt comforted with this new family at the prison, even though he didn't like to admit it much. After losing Sophia, Dale, Lori, T-Dog and Andrea, the mere thought of losing anyone from the group made him cringe, but 'losing' people you care for had become inevitable in this world. And today they lost Zach, a former Woodbury resident and Beth's boyfriend who got bitten by a walker on their run today.

As usual, Daryl took the responsibility of breaking the news to Beth, as he had always been the one to do away with the harder tasks which the others found difficult to act upon.

Typically, he wasn't the type of person to get involved in these, what he considered to be some 'damn romance novel'' but today, he found himself to be quite distraught by the whole incident. He knew that the news would probably crush the young blonde who had already lost so much and no matter how much he tried to avoid the uneasiness inside him, he couldn't just devise up a subtle way to break in the news.

"Hey.'" Daryl said in his low gruff voice as he entered halfway into Beth's cell.

It was rarely on a very few occasions that the two interacted, and so it all somehow made him feel awkward to be in her cell at the moment, trying to tell her about her boyfriend's death.

Beth was scribbling on what appeared to be journal at the time when Daryl entered her cell.

"Hey." She looked up and greeted back as she put down her journal and lifted herself from the bed.

"Need t'talk 'bout somethin'" Daryl said with a look that contained both guilt and disdain which aroused an anxiety at the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah?" She replied, her voice almost inaudible with her heart beating rapidly in her chest. On not getting any reply from the archer, Beth got down from her bunk bed and walked up to him.

Looking from the dejected look on his face, Beth took no time to realize that something was off.

"What is it?" she asked trying to appear bold. "Is it about Zach?"

"Ya," Daryl hesitated for a second, "walker got him." he sighed as he stared at the concrete floor trying not to make any eye contact. He always felt guilty when they lose someone and for not being able to protect them. Somehow he would put that entire blame on himself as if it was due to his inability to save them. This would provoke him to feel alot more regretful than it was necessary and Beth knew it well. Even if she wasn't that close with the archer, she was well aware of how he would let his anguish and guilt swallow him.

"Is he dead?" Beth asked, her voice calmed, even though her insidies were silently screaming at what lay infront of her.

"Yes" he muttered, not looking up to her. He was totally convinced that Beth would break down at this point. To be honest he genuinely had no idea how to console a eighteen year old and was dreading about the awkwarness that was about to slide in. He sure had never been good with either words or with women, or anything related to emotions and struggled to act upon such instincts.

But Beth held her ground. "I knew it was coming one day or the other," she replied casually as if she had not been affected at all. It was hard for her to not break down at that moment but she had already prepared herself for something like this.

She was just glad that she got to know Zach, even if it was for a very little time.

"Nothing is permanent in this world now Mr Dixon..." she paused and inhaled deeply. "friends, family relationships, everything will come and go, but we will have to live with it." Beth continued in a low but steady voice, her eyes fixed on him as he continued to bore his eyes downwards. "We can't do anything to make it the way it used to be, but we could make the best out of the days we've got."

Daryl looked up and averted his gaze to Beth, somewhat stunned at her words. Just before few months ago she had slited her wrists, giving up on life and now she was the one to speak words of optimism.

He felt an weird sense of comfort in her words even though he tried not to rely on it, knowing that such comforts only brought weakness and he wasn't the one to succumb to it.

The world was cruel and there was no room for comfort and optimism.

"I know" he replied finding himself at a loss of words, as he studied her face which still lacked any sign of distress.

The awkward silence had already crept between them and Daryl decided to make his exit from the cell.

He slowly dragged his body out of the cell when Beth's voice stopped him. "Daryl, I know you hate losing people, everybody does but don't be so hard on yourself."

He stiffened but said nothing. He simply remained firm and began to wonder why was he even listening to a dumb teenager whose life had been all about fairytales and happy endings. What would she know about life and the struggles of it.

He didn't move but stood there absorbing the words, which didn't falter to incite him deep inside. Her words were simple, yet bold in some sense.

"You're a good man Daryl, and stop blaming yourself. I know you did everything you could to protect him" Beth assured, knowing completely how hard he was on himself and how he absored all the blame. It was never confessed but she saw it apparent enough in his eyes.

She had noticed his aloofness and how distant he was sometimes. She was unable to make out why at that moment she awanted to soothe him as if she could sense his bitter memories, his anguish and his frustration and everything that made him different from the others.

Daryl stood stunned. He wasn't sure if he was agitated or comforted by her words. He was just captivated by how fearlessly yet simply she spoke, not breaking her gaze even for a minute.

"Y'know nothin' 'bout me" he stated flatly trying not to sound rude.

Beth frowned but said nothing. There was nothing to say about this, so she instead leant forward and hugged him. It was a friendly one, but it was warm and comforting. She remained silent but wondered why she needed to do that- why she needed to hug Daryl Dixon, who was far from being a social creature, and with whom she never had a proper conversation before.

Daryl hesitated but he didn't retract from it. Even though he liked the embrace he didn't return it back. He was confused and tried to chuck away the entire thing, being unsure of how to react.

"Um. . . I should go." Daryl informed, as Beth withdrew herself from the embrace. She nodded and gave him an innocent smile.

"Tell me if ya need anythin, lil' songbird'" Daryl muttered blankly and exited Beth's cell, leaving the young blonde to smile at the new nickname she has just earned, despite the awkward conversation that had just occured.