A/N: To my horror I realised that I accidentally posted up the wrong version of chapter 3... This is my original AN that I had posted with it (kind of ironic) - I think I'm turning into this seriously obsessive sort of an author... I've re-written this chapter at least 4 times now and all 4 were different situations. I think I'm going insane. But I just want this to be so perfect...I was going to re-write it again tonight but meh, I think if I re-write it anymore I'll just be ruining it completely so I hope that this is somewhat okay even though this is the fourth version of chapter 3. Also, thank you for all your awesome reviews!

"You're all that's warm in my restless heart…"
Feather on the Clyde by Passenger

Sometimes he finds that he can stare at her for hours. He doesn't literally ever stare at her for hours though but each moment he looks at her always feels like one and sometimes several more.

It doesn't matter what she's doing or what she might even be saying to him. He just stares and looks and memorises every feature of her face; every single crease when she frowns or her smile or when her eyes soften and when she looks at him warmly as if he is still her entire world. He always reminds himself that he doesn't deserve any of what she offers; that he doesn't deserve it when she kisses him or when she walks by his side and holds onto his hand. But yet he cannot find it in himself to turn her away or to tell her that she could do so much better than him. He cannot even begin to wonder anymore what it would be like if they hadn't escaped the prison together and discovered all of these feelings for each other.

Maybe he is being selfish. Maybe he is being greedy. Maybe. But he hasn't taken anything from her. He hasn't asked for anything at all. He only kisses her; only pulls her close at night and lets her sleep in his arms. He only breathes her in and closes his eyes and reminds himself that she's okay and that for another day he's managed to keep her safe. The others would usually be sleeping and at least one of them will be awake and keeping watch. But that doesn't stop him anymore. He still holds onto her; still keeps her warm and still presses his lips to her forehead when she sleeps.

She has made him into a man that he doesn't recognize anymore. But he isn't afraid to embrace it. He isn't afraid to wear his heart on his shoulder anymore. He isn't afraid to slide a hand around her waist and he isn't afraid to kiss her in front of them all. Maggie doesn't look at him oddly anymore even though it's only been a few weeks since he kissed Beth that night at Terminus. Nobody really cares all that much to give them a hard time about it either.

But they do look at them sometimes. The others think that he never sees them. But he always does. He always sees everything. Sometimes he'll see Carl smirk and Michonne looking at them as if she's pleased. He'd see Carol too a little ways away with a small smile on her lips as if she understands and is happy that something like that still exists in this world. Rick doesn't ever smile at them but he does see something flash in Rick's eyes; something like trust and a whole lot of respect too. Abraham and Eugene don't care too much to look but every now and then they do. The scientist would smile and something would shift in Abraham's eyes. Sometimes he swears the soldier looks a little softer. Tara and Rosita look every now and then and occasionally they stare a little longer and smile. Glenn always smiles as if he's won some kind of bet when he looks at them. And finally there's Maggie who doesn't smile but always looks at them as if she's seeing something pure and good.

He still hasn't spoken to Maggie about it; still hasn't asked her properly for her blessing. But more often than not now he doesn't think he needs too. He doesn't think he needs to ask to be with Beth because it doesn't really matter what anybody thinks. It doesn't come down to what Maggie has to say or doesn't have to say. It only matters what Beth feels and what she wants and what she seeks.

At least that's what he thinks now when he looks at her from across the camp. She has that ability and has that sort of strength over him to cease all thought in his head by just looking at her. It's like he's been staring at her for hours as he watches her sitting there with his crossbow in her lap and staring into their little crackling fire as if it was the most entertaining thing to do in this world. He figures she must be thinking from the way she still hasn't looked up to find him looking at her.

He moves from the shadows though and Carl now looks up at him and then down at the two dead rabbits in his hand.

"Nice," Carl remarks and he can't help but smirk.

He hands the rabbits off to Carl and mutters, "Cook 'em good."

"Michonne will know what to do with 'em," Carl tells him and turns to move away.

He doesn't bother to stare long after the kid. He turns his gaze back to where she is by the fire and he sees that she's finally seen him. Her eyes soften at the look he gives her and with that she offers him a smile too. He returns it with equal measure and he moves to make his way around the camp to her.

He moves quickly and swiftly and as he does he sees Maggie standing a ways from their little camp fire with Glenn. They're talking softly and she's laughing quietly. Maggie glances briefly at him and he nods as if to greet her. Maggie nods in return and flashes him a knowing smile. But he looks away now and back to Beth who is now looking into the flames again.

He looks around the camp again and into the forest even though he knows that Abraham and Rick are on first watch. He sees Tara, Rosita and Eugene a little ways away from the fire and Michonne sitting with them and Carl now there kneeling over and watching as Michonne's instructing him on how to skin the rabbits properly. He looks a little ways to the left of them and sees Carol sitting by a tree with Judith sleeping and Tyrese talking. He can't really hear them but Carol's looking very intently at Tyrese as he talks to her.

He's by her side now. It only ever took him seven steps to make his way to her. She's looking back into the flames again and he has an idea of what she may be thinking about. He thinks about sitting with her and staring into the flames. He thinks about holding her hand and letting her know without really saying anything that he's there and that she isn't alone. But when he sees her face; sees the expression on her face he just knows what to do. He stretches a hand down to her and she looks up at him.

"C'mon," he says softly and she takes his hand; trusts him so much that she doesn't even question his intentions.

She looks as if she's ready to sling the crossbow around her shoulders but he knows it's heavy and knows she doesn't really like carrying it all that much. He slips a hand into its strap and she looks to him and he pulls it from her lap first and straps it around his shoulder.

The sun's nearly gone but there's still an orange hue in the sky. There's a place a little ways away near where Carl had set those rabbit traps; a little cliff that is really more just like a step than anything else. But it's elevated and it's high enough for him to show her the sunset. He caught sight of it before and it was beautiful and really he just wanted to show it to her.

He pulls her up when she slips her hand into his and she's on her feet and lacing their fingers together. He lets a smile escape his lips and she sees it and smiles at him too. He presses a small kiss at her cheek and just tells her softly, "Want t'show you somethin'."

"Okay," she says softly and he leads them away from the little camp fire. But he stops short at where Rick and Abraham are standing in the shadows.

"We'll be back in a few," she tells them and he gives both men a nod before he pulls her into the darker depths of the forest.

They walk for a minute or two and he looks around for each mark he mentally placed there when he walked through the forest earlier to check those traps. He looks around too and is glad that there's still some shadow of light running through the forest. He doesn't see anything move; doesn't see any walkers and that makes him breathe a little easier. They've been lucky for a few days now for not running into a herd of walkers but just a few scattered throughout the forest.

She leans into his arm now, her fingers still tightly woven into his. He feels her chest pressing into the side of his arm and she feels so warm and inviting and he just wants to kiss her. But the sunset will be over soon and he doesn't want to miss it. Doesn't want to give up the chance to forget about everything for a moment and just enjoy watching the sunset with her.

"Where are we going?" she asks now softly as they walk.

He smiles at her and looks away from everything for a moment to lean in and kiss her temple. He pulls back and glances down at her smiling at him.

"Almost there," he murmurs.

They walk again in silence and he suddenly wonders if Hershel is watching them from up there. He wonders what Hershel would say to him. He wonders what Hershel would think. But when he spots the cliff up ahead he pushes those thoughts to the back of his mind. He looks around them carefully to make sure that there is nothing around them. He doesn't see anything and when he pulls her up onto the cliff and when she sees it he hears her gasp.

They stand there for a while with him looking around and behind them every so often. He wishes he could just focus on the sunset; wishes that he could just completely enjoy this moment without keeping a look out around them. But he'd rather skip a few minutes of the sunset to make sure that there are no walkers around them. He'd rather divert half of his focus on her and the other half on keeping them safe. As long as she enjoys this moment and as long as she can spend a moment to just forget about everything then he is perfectly fine with doing what he has to do to keep them safe.

But in the moment he spends to look around them to glance briefly at the sunset and then at her face he just stops. She looks beautiful in the orange hue of the sunset; the way her hair falls behind her and the way she looks as if she's the entire world and he's just another speck of dust on the wall. She turns to him now though; senses that he's looking at her and she smiles shyly at him. He sees her eyes soften again and warm and glow.

He leans in to kiss her and she meets him half way. She pulls back an inch after kissing him and she looks up at him and he feels her hand curling around his collar now. She does that a lot these days and every time she does, it sets something warm and glowing in him.

"I know we don' need t'say much to remind each other how we feel and all that," she starts off softly and leans in to kiss him lightly before she draws back and looks him dead set in the eyes and continues, "But I just got too…just this once."

Her words keep him there and he doesn't move; doesn't even shift from the way her eyes are staring up at him. His heart is so warm now and so complete that he briefly wonders how it is even possible to feel so much in so little time for one person. But he does and he knows she feels it too. It should all scare him; it should make him want to run from the very mere thought of it. But looking at her now and drinking her in and seeing the orange hue of the setting sun casting its shadow of her he doesn't think he could walk away even if he tried.

She smiles at him and murmurs ever so softly, "I'm fallin' in love with you."

It takes him forever to say something because though he had known what she was going to say he really didn't know how to react to it. So he did what he did best and he stares and watches and looks and feels his heart beating in his chest. He feels so warm now and so right and so completely perfect too. It's so cliché, so romantic and all that kind of shit but it's okay. It's alright. He's alright and he's okay and she loves him and he really couldn't be any luckier than that.

He still doesn't deserve any of this though; still doesn't deserve the way she's looking at him now as if he's more than just her entire world. He's too much of a coward though; too weak to actually tell her that she could do so much better than him. But then again maybe he isn't; maybe he just knows that nobody else could ever begin to keep her safe the way he always will. His eyes drop down to her lips now and he leans in just to kiss her lightly because he's much better at doing than speaking.

He pulls back and when he looks down at her looking at him with so much trust and love in her eyes he just has to say something too. But before he does he pulls her into his arms and into his heart. Then with his lips pressing onto her forehead he murmurs softly in the warmest tone he has ever managed to speak in, "I know."