AN: I do not own the Walking Dead or the characters. I have just borrowed them for a little while.

Chapter 3

Daryl pulled the car over to the side of the road and hid it behind an outcropping of rock on the other side of the small lake. They both got out, glad that there were no walkers for a change. Beth grabbed her pack with her extra change of clothes out of the back seat and she watched Daryl do the same. Lucky bounded ahead of both of them, jumping in the water with reckless abandon.

Daryl was absolutely driving her crazy. One minute he was yelling at her because she didn't listen and the next he was hugging her to him. It didn't make any sense and her stomach felt like a big jumble of butterflies; all nervous and light.

She followed him out to the water. They used their same system for going to the bathroom. One bathed and the other kept watch. Daryl decided that Beth should go first and she walked down to the water's edge silently and felt her face flush. It was ridiculous. Daryl had seen her in her bra and panties before and she had never thought anything of it. Until now. It was as if there had been some kind of seismic shift in their relationship and she couldn't quite put a finger on it. Daryl seemed to notice it too. He was unusually fidgety where he stood with his back to her. She decided to keep her underwear on while she bathed, reasoning that they needed washing anyway and it would save time. She drew a sharp intake of breath at the cold water. Despite the warm days they had been having, the nights had gotten colder and it only made sense that the water would be cooler than usual. Nonetheless, it felt like Heaven as she dipped her shoulders beneath the surface. She relished the feel of the water sluicing down her back as she dunked her head under the water scrubbing with the bar of soap she had brought out with her. She rubbed it through her hair, wishing for some shampoo, but she had left her bottle of strawberry shampoo in her other pack. She didn't get to use it often; it was considered a luxury these days having soap and shampoo.

She tried to splash as little as possible. The last thing they needed right now was a walker coming up on them unexpectedly. Beth finished quickly and moved out of the water to retrieve her other clothes. Daryl was facing away from her and she glanced at his back as he stood looking out at the horizon. It was then that she noticed the dark stain on Daryl's shoulder. There was a steady stream of blood going down the back of his pants down to the ground beneath him. Beth felt bile rise up in her throat and her heart seize with fear at what that could mean. Forgetting any recent issues with modesty she strode over to him and grabbed his shirt to lift it up.

Daryl felt Beth come at him from behind and he whirled around to face her, his hand on her wrist. "What the hell are you doin?" he demanded but Beth was unperturbed by his response.

"You're bleeding Daryl. I need to check you for bites." She told him, hands on her hips and teeth starting to chatter from her lack of clothing and the cool fall air.

Daryl stared at her incredulously. She made a sight standing there with her hands on either slim hip, just above the curve of her waist before it dipped down into legs that seemed to go forever. He knew his breath caught in his chest when his eyes traveled up her body, taking in all her curves, the wetness of the fabric and the way it clung to her skin in all the right ways. He could see the chilly fall air affecting her nipples, as they were hardened peaks beneath the light pink fabric of her bra. Daryl felt his mouth go dry and he released his grip on her wrist, before he went and did somethin' stupid. "Get a grip, Dixon", he told himself. "This is Beth. Hershel's daughter." His subconscious added that last part for effect and he worked hard to swallow, finding that he couldn't, not with her standing there in front of him like that.

"'M fine." He told her, turning away, feeling his erection straining against his zipper for the second time that day.

Beth took a step toward him. "You're not fine." She emphasized the last word and called him on his attitude. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Daryl Dixon, but you're going to let me take a look at your back." She was breathing evening in and out of her nose, staring at him, not willing to back down from this. This was one fight she planned to win.

"I've seen them, you know." She told him and waited for his reaction. He turned to face her again and looked up at her and met her eyes, his steely glare suddenly replaced with a pained expression. In that moment, Beth could see the years of abuse that his father had heaped upon him. She could see the little boy that had cowered in the closet, hiding out, hoping to avoid a beating for once. She could see the man he was. He was good. "When Daddy stitched you up that time. I saw them. It doesn't have to define you, Daryl." She didn't know what to say to him.

But Daryl thought she did. He looked up in surprise. "But it does". He told her. "Those scars, everybody always looks at me." He looked to her as if searching for the answer to the questions that always came at him and then that pitied stare. That "you poor sonofabitch" look. He hated that worse than he hated the scars themselves or the man that put them there.

"They are a part of you Daryl. But it doesn't have to be who you are." She told him and he wondered how in the hell this woman had gotten to be so wise in her 19 years on earth and it taken Daryl a lifetime to be able to talk to someone about what happened to him. He had told Beth things that he had never told anyone, not even Merle. And that was somethin'.

Beth approached him again and moved to unbutton his shirt, but he stilled her hand. "I'll do it." He couldn't have her undressing him. It was too much given that she was standing there in not much more than her own skin. "Can you uhm…." He let his eyes drift to the ground again, hoping she caught his meaning because he sure as hell didn't want to say it out loud.

Beth glanced down to see what he was so flustered about and then realized that not much was being left to the imagination right now. Her skin erupted in a flush that made her think she didn't need clothes after all, but she hastened to don a pair of jeans and shirt before slipping her boots back on. By the time she finished dressing, Daryl had stripped down to his boxers and was standing with his back to her.

She walked over to him to inspect him for bites, dreading what she might find. The thoughts of having to put Daryl down, well. She simply wouldn't be able to do it. Not Daryl; anyone but Daryl. It was just too awful to think about.

She ran her fingers lightly over the hardness of his back, feeling him tense up. She felt for what her eyes might miss, but she missed nothing. "You're not bit but you have a nasty gash back here."

Daryl felt her fingers before she even touched him. Despite the cool air and cold water, her hands were very warm and her delicate fingers felt good on his skin. He was working hard on his breathing, trying not to react to the softness of her hands on his back. He could feel her eyes boring into him and for the first time in his life, Daryl wasn't ashamed of his scars. He could let Beth see him. All of him. And just this knowledge alone scared the hell out of him. But he didn't care. He knew he felt something for her. He had tried to tell her as much the night before in the kitchen. But then they had gotten interrupted by Lucky and maybe that was for the best. Maybe they weren't ready to have that conversation yet. Maybe they never would be. This made Daryl sad in ways he could not understand. It wasn't like he thought he could be with her. He just wanted her to know how much he cared for her and how much she had changed him. For the better.

She finished inspecting his back and touched the spot right underneath his shoulder blade and he winced. "Sorry" she muttered. "It's going to need to be cleaned up."

"Okay. Just let me wash up real quick." He said walking down to the water, looking forward to the brutal cold of the water, feeling like he needed a cold shower at this point anyway.

Lucky 's ears perked up and growled from where he was standing at the water's edge, alternately drinking it and playing in it. Beth turned to look in the direction he was growling and saw the walkers coming down the hill towards the lake.

"Daryl, there's walkers comin'." Beth's voice came to him right as he was rinsing off. He hurriedly got out of the water and didn't bother to put his clothes back on knowing it would take too much time pulling dry clothes over a wet body. Beth grabbed everything and hobbled back to the SUV and Daryl got in the driver's seat and threw the vehicle into drive. Wasn't the greatest situation to be driving around in nothing but his underwear, but it couldn't be helped, desperate times and all that.

They drove silently the way back to the funeral home. Daryl was uncomfortable as hell. Not only did he not have pants, but he wasn't wearing shoes and he was starting to get cold despite the sun streaming through the windows of the vehicle. He looked at Beth out of the corner of his eye and he could swear that she was trying to suppress laughter. He looked in her direction. "What's so funny?" he looked at her, and she met his eyes, hers dancing with unconcealed laughter at the situation.

Unable to stop herself, Beth let loose with peals of laughter and had tears streaming down her face. Daryl laughed too, real honest to God laughter, the kind that doubled you over and you couldn't breathe for a few moments. Because of the ridiculousness of the situation.

"'M sure I make a sight, huh?" he remarked and Beth just helplessly giggled and nodded her head, unable to catch her breath.

Finally their laughter died down. It had been a hell of a day so far, thought Daryl. Attacked by walkers, making a run from the store, and then chased off during their bath by more walkers, peppered by awkward moments in between. Yeah, hell of a day, and it wasn't even over yet.

They got back to the funeral home and Daryl went in ahead of Beth and checked everything out. The owner still appeared to have not returned. Lucky went with him and damn dog went straight for the kitchen and laid under the kitchen table like that's where he belonged.

He wondered what had happened to the owners and wondered if this was perhaps their dog. On the other hand, he was kind of glad they hadn't come back. He was rather enjoying his time alone with Beth now. He hadn't felt that way when they had first left the prison though. When they had been separated from the rest of the group, he had been anything but pleased to find that it was just him and Beth. It wasn't that he didn't like her, it's just that she had cried for nearly the entire first week. And Daryl didn't know any more what to do with a crying female than the man in the moon.

But now, things were different. He didn't know at what point he had started looking at Beth in a different light. He supposed if he had to put a finger to it, it was probably at the moonshine cabin. When she had come up and hugged him from behind after their big argument. He had never had anyone hug him like that before. Never had anyone care as much as she did. Then when she had suggested that they burn it down, he had just looked at her and wanted so badly for there to be less distance between them as they sat on that porch. So he could kiss her. There, he had said it. He wanted to kiss Beth Greene. Wanted it like he wanted to wake up in the morning.

Daryl re-emerged from the house, dressed completely and Beth smiled at him thinking someday they would laugh about all this. She followed him back into the house, carrying their treasures as they went.

"Don't think I forgot about your shoulder. We need to clean it." She informed him prissily. "Go sit at the kitchen table. I'll be there in a minute".

Daryl stared after her. Bossy little thing when she wanted to be, he thought. But he complied and went to sit in the kitchen, pulling out a chair to face it backwards and he sat astride it. He unbuttoned his shirt and swore as it felt like more skin was being ripped from his shoulder along with the material. Probably had been a bad idea to put another shirt on before it was bandaged up, but covering his back was such second nature, he didn't give it a second thought.

Beth came in the kitchen, carrying another smaller backpack, the one they had reserved for medical supplies, and sat it down on the table.

She pulled out gauze from the backpack and set to work on cleaning up the edges of the wound. She poured peroxide over the gauze, letting it bubble up on the surface of the cut. She dug through the pack again until she came up with the tube of antibiotic ointment and spread a thin layer over the wound, noticing that it was still weeping a little. She applied fresh gauze and taped up the sides. She stood back and admired her handiwork. "Good as new" she remarked as she put away all her supplies.

Daryl shrugged his arms back down in the sleeves and went to work on buttoning the flannel back up. She came around to stand before him and leaned down, pressing her lips to his cheek. "Thank you" she whispered.

"What for?" He asked her gruffly, not quite trusting his voice with her lips that close to his ear.

"For staying with me." She told him. "I don't want to be alone." She finished, standing back up.

He looked up at her in surprise. "I'd never leave you Beth". He told her simply, gazing up at her from beneath half hooded eyes and through the hair that fell over them.

"I know." She smiled sweetly at him, her face bright as sunshine just like always. "I just thought it'd be nice to tell you thanks." She said as she walked away.

Daryl stared after her, thinking there was much more to Beth Greene than met the eye. Lucky looked up at him from his place under the table and let out a little bark. "I know dude. Tell me about it." It was as if the dog was reading his mind.

He could hear the tinkling keys of the piano in the next room and Beth's sultry voice carried through the hallway. He followed the sound of her voice, remembering their first night there when she had sang for him and he laid in that infernal coffin. She didn't know it but he had had nightmares that first night sleeping in the damn thing. It's why he had moved upstairs to the chair in the room where she slept. He had closed the coffin up the next morning and hauled it from its place at the front of the parlor and hefted it outside. Now he just stretched out on several of the chairs set up facing the front of the parlor. He faced Beth listening to her as her fingers played out a melody and her voice sang along.

"And we'll buy a beer to shotgun.

And we'll lay in the lawn.

And we'll be good."

It was the song she had sang that first night. He loved to hear her sing. She had a voice like warm honey when she was singing and the chords had a way of working their way under your skin and seeping down into your bones like a thick blanket.

"And I hear

The slow in your speech

Yeah you're half asleep.

Say goodnight".

"So we,

Will drink beer all day

And our guards will give way.

And we'll be good."

She finished playing the song and turned to face him. "How's your shoulder?" It had been a few hours since she had patched it up.

"Not too bad." He remarked. "Where'd you learn to play like that?" He asked her.

She looked up at him surprised. No one usually asked questions about her like that. "Mama taught me. Daddy too sometimes, although he didn't have as much patience as mama did with teaching me the chords." She smiled at the memory.

"Hard to imagine Hershel being impatient with anyone," He said thoughtfully, chewing on his thumbnail.

"Yeah, that's cause you didn't see him trying to teach me. He always said I was stubborn. Had to do things my own way. Daddy always said the world better watch out once I set my mind to somethin'". She remembered her dad fondly and it did not escape her attention that this was the first time she had mentioned him and didn't break down in tears.

Daryl noticed it too. He nodded thoughtfully. "Your Dad was a good man." He remarked.

She nodded back at him. "Daryl?" She over at him, her expression uncertain with the question she was about to ask him. But she had to know.

"Mmm?" he looked to her, wondering what was on her mind. Sometimes it was hard to tell, sometimes it was written all over her face. Her expression, for all he could figure out right now, was not giving away her thoughts.

"The other night in the kitchen before Lucky came in and I asked you 'What changed your mind?' What were you about to say?" she asked him, her face awash in a smile and bright like sunshine again.

And there it was. He took a deep breath, unsure of what to say. He knew what he was feeling. He just didn't know how to put it to words. But he was going to try.

AN: I know, I'm a jerk right! I just had to go back to their conversation because you know, that's what we are all dying to know. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. It was hard to write. Fun to write, but hard. Angsty Daryl is always hard to get just right. I was still not satisfied but alas, I can't spend all day on it I suppose. I swear every morning I open my inbox and I am AMAZED at all the follows, favorites, reviews and PM's! You guys are so freakin' awesome. So do your thing. Read, review, tell your friends. As always, thanks for reading. Until next time, xoxoxoxoxo

"Be Good" as sung by Emily Kinney