Sasha woke Maggie sometime in the early morning hours so that she could take her shift on watch. As she pushed herself up from the makeshift bed, she glanced around the room. Everyone that wasn't on watch was in the room, everyone except Daryl and Beth. She had sensed something different between them from the very moment they found Beth. Then after seeing them together earlier she'd begun to worry. Beth was still so young. She didn't want her little sister to get her heart broken.

Maggie had spoken to Beth the night before, asked her what was going on with Daryl, but Beth acted like it was no big deal. "Daryl's a good man, Maggie. He saved my life and taught me to survive. We're friends. Is that okay with you?" Beth had asked, seeming resentful of Maggie's concern. Nevertheless, Maggie saw it as her job to keep Beth safe so she decided to find out where the two missing members of the group had disappeared to. Tiptoeing back down the hallway toward the security office, she could hear soft snoring coming from the room. She stepped to the doorway and was shocked to see her baby sister lying on a sleeping bag snuggled against the crossbow toting redneck. Daryl even had a protective arm draped over Beth's side.

Maggie stormed back up the hallway. She had to cool off before she said something she'd regret to Daryl or Beth. She was marching across the lobby when Glenn jumped up to follow her. Once they were outside he grabbed her arm and asked, "What's wrong? What happened? I know this look and you're angry about something."

"It's Beth and Daryl. Beth and Daryl, Glenn. That's just crazy don't you think? He's too old and too…too rough for her. It'll never work. I have to do something before she makes a huge mistake." Maggie sputtered through her anger.

"Wait. What? What about Daryl and Beth? Just slow down and tell me what's going on," he pleaded.

"I don't know for sure but I think that Beth and Daryl are….in some kind of relationship or something. I went looking for her and they were sleeping together. I mean not….they were just sleeping, nothing else, but they've been acting awfully cozy and something's going on. I need to protect my sister," Maggie told him.

Glenn sort of half grinned before quickly hiding his reaction. "You think Beth and Daryl like each other. I mean like more than friends. Daryl Dixon with a girlfriend? Maggie you can't be serious. This is Daryl we're talking about."

"I know it sounds crazy but I saw them. Go back to the security room and you'll see for yourself," she dared him.

"Okay, I will," he told her as he turned and headed back inside. He couldn't believe that Maggie was making such a big deal out of this. Beth was concerned about Daryl because he was injured. She had probably gone to check on him during the night and fallen asleep in the room. Glenn was pretty sure this was some sort of strange PMS or something on Maggie's part but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut about such things where his wife was concerned.

As he stepped into the doorway, he was taken back a step by the scene before him. Daryl and Beth were spooned together on the floor like lovers. Maggie was right. He couldn't help but grin at the thought. Daryl Dixon whose favorite quote was "Romance is bullshit" had been bitten by the love bug. This was going to be grounds for all sorts of teasing in the future. Glenn was already planning ways to pay back the man who'd always had something to say back when he and Maggie first got together.

Daryl heard some noise and opened his eyes just a bit. He leaned up slightly to see Glenn standing in the doorway. "Hey, man, what's going on? You need me for somethin'?"

"Uh, nope, no. Everything's fine. Just looking for Beth and I found her so, that's it. Go back to sleep. Yep, everything's fine," Glenn said a bit nervously, trying hard to hide his grin.

At the mention of Beth, Daryl realized that she was still lying right next to him. He quickly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Look, man, it ain't what it looks like okay. She, uh, she just feel asleep. I didn' wanna wake her up. Nothin' happened."

Glenn just stood there grinning as he explained but their conversation woke Beth who sat up and stretched. "Morning," she said to them both as she pushed her hair back out of her face.

"Morning, Beth," Glenn said quickly. "Uh, Maggie was looking for you earlier."

Beth looked from Glenn to Daryl and quickly realized what had happened. "Well, as you can see, I'm fine. I'll talk to her later," she told him. "Daryl and I will join y'all for breakfast after while."

"Okay, then, I'll just let her know," Glenn said as he turned to leave them. He couldn't believe it. Beth and Daryl. He had to talk to Rick about this. There were going to be fireworks between the Greene sisters over this situation and he was going to need some backup. He found Rick sitting against the wall with Judith asleep on his chest. Michonne lay asleep on one side and Carl on the other. Rick wasn't asleep. He never seemed to sleep anymore. He spoke very quietly, trying to keep from waking anyone. "Hey, Rick , can I talk to you for a minute?" he whispered.

Rick gently laid Judith down next to Michonne and got up to follow Glenn across the room. "What's going on? Is there a problem?" he asked seriously as they stepped into the museum vestibule. "Are the walkers building up on the fence?"

"No, it's nothing like that. It's just, um, Maggie found Beth and Daryl together this morning. They're apparently sort of a couple now," Glen informed him.

Rick looked a bit shocked. He reached up and rubbed his chin plaintively for a moment before grinning. "Well, I wondered with the way Beth was worryin' over him but I just never thought….I mean this is Daryl we're talkin' about. Are you sure?" he asked.

"I had the same reaction when Maggie told me but I went and checked myself. They were snuggled up together back in the security office like two bugs in a rug as Hershel would say. I mean it looked pretty cozy. Maggie is practically hysterical. She thinks Daryl's too old for Beth and she wants to protect her little sister. From Beth's attitude, I can tell she's going to be even more stubborn than Maggie. Then there's everyone else's reaction to the whole thing. What do you think we should do?" Glen asked.

"Well, I'm sure Maggie will have concerns," Rick began in his most fatherly sounding voice. "Beth is a bit young but Daryl's a good man. I don't think he'd take advantage of her or anything. They just probly got close while they were alone after the prison. I just can't see…..are you really sure? Beth and Daryl?" he asked again, failing to hide the boyish delight he was finding in the whole situation.

Glen couldn't help himself. He began to grin as well. "Yep, it's true. You know I owe him for all the crap he used to give me and Maggie. I can't wait for the payback," Glenn admitted.

"Maybe I should go talk to him, to both of them. I mean let 'em know Maggie's on the warpath. Besides, I gotta see this for myself," he said as he headed back toward the security room.

After being rather rudely awakened, Beth and Daryl sat just sort of staring at each other for a moment. Daryl knew last night before they fell asleep that this was going to happen. He just didn't think it would be so soon. He should have made her leave last night. This was crazy. He was at least 15 years older than her. There was no way this was going to work out. He should just tell her now and get it over with.

"Beth," he started but before he could say more she put her hand over his mouth.

"Don't!" she told him. "Don't you ruin last night by sayin' somethin' dumb. I know Maggie's gonna be mad. Everybody's gonna be surprised. I'm silly little Beth and you're the great Daryl Dixon. Nobody is gonna understand but that doesn't mean we have to do what they expect. I care about you Daryl and I know you feel the same way about me. We can't just pretend things haven't changed to make everybody else feel more comfortable."

Daryl wanted to stay very stern and serious but he just couldn't stop himself from smiling as he listened to her. She cared about him. Those words and the feeling of her hand against his lips were giving him all sorts of sensations that he wasn't exactly familiar with.

"Mkay," he mumbled against her hand before gently and rather regretfully pulling it away from his mouth. "Now, can I say somethin'?"

"I don't know," she said smiling. "Do I want to hear it?"

"Um, I was just gon say I don't want to lose you again, so you ain't gotta worry about Maggie or anybody else changin' my mind on that. Kay?" he told her.

"Yeah, okay," she said with a big grin.

"As for this thing between us, let's just give it some time, and it'd fine if you want to do that again, what you done last night I mean?" Daryl said rather bashfully.

"What do you mean?" she said teasingly.

"You know," he told her.

"No, I don't know. You have to talk to me, Daryl. I don't read minds," she said. "What did I do last night that was so okay that you wouldn't mind doin' it again?"

"Come on Beth," he said. "You know what I mean."

"Lord, I guess I do have to be a mind reader with you, don't I?" she said in exasperation but she also leaned over and softly touched her lips to his. His big rough hand reached up to cup her cheek before she pulled away.

"This ain't gon be easy," he whispered as they sat with their foreheads touching. "You know that, dontcha?"

"Daddy always said nothin' good is ever easy," she replied.

The sound of a loud stomp in the doorway caused them to pull away from each other quickly. They turned to find Rick looking rather gobsmacked standing there staring.

"Is Maggie sending everybody back here to check on me now?" Beth sat straight up and asked angrily.

"Um, no, actually Glen wanted me to come back here. He says Maggie is sorta worried about this," Rick said pointing to the two of them.

Beth started to get up. Daryl could tell she was getting fired up and ready to go after her big sister and Glenn. He gently laid a hand on her arm and asked Rick, "What's she worried about?"

Rick didn't seem to know how to answer for a second. "Well, I…ah, I guess you'll need to talk to Maggie," he stammered a bit. "I'll just go and tell her everything's fine."

"You just tell her that I said…." Beth started to get really riled up but Daryl just patted her arm a second time.

"We'll be on out in a bit and talk to her," Daryl said with more calm than he was actually feeling. He didn't want to screw this up for Beth's sake. He might not know the exact right thing to do and say but he wasn't gonna let Beth and Maggie end up going at each other over him.

"Okay, then. Uh, sorry to bother you," Rick told them before taking his leave. He walked back toward the main room shaking his head in bewildered amusement. Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene. Who would have ever thought? Rick had a bit of a different perspective than Maggie, though. He knew how loyal, honest and kind Daryl really was. Despite his rough exterior, he probably had the softest heart of any of them. He felt pretty sure that Hershel wouldn't be nearly as alarmed as Maggie seemed to be. Hershel also knew what kind of man Daryl was. He and Rick had spoken about how much Daryl had changed since they first knew him. They knew how hard Daryl worked to ensure the survival of the group and how much they owed to the man with the crossbow.

Rick wondered how Carol was going to feel about this whole thing. Daryl and Carol had always seemed to share a bond. No one had ever really been able to define whether it was just a deep friendship or something more intimate. Carol had changed so much since the prison and whatever was between them had changed as well. They still cared about each other but Carol was haunted now by something she wouldn't discuss. She seemed distant even in the midst of the group. The only person she seemed to connect at all with was Tyrese. They had shared something that none of the others could understand and it made them close. He hoped that she wouldn't feel slighted by Daryl's interest in Beth but there was no hiding the situation from the rest of the group. One thing about living the way that they did was that no one had secrets or if they did, they didn't have them for long.

The sun was starting to come up so he knew that the others would be awake soon. He walked outside to where Glenn was standing and talking with Maggie. He could hear her speaking angrily to him but she quickly stopped as he approached.

"Hey, I talked to Daryl. He says he'll be out directly to talk to you," Rick told her.

"Oh, and exactly what did he tell you Rick? He's nearly twice her age. There's nothing right about this and both of you know it. Daddy would put a stop to this if he were here. Daryl Dixon is not good enough for my sister," Maggie angrily declared.

"Whoa, Maggie. I gotta stop you right there. If there's one thing I know about this, it's that your Daddy would never say something like that about Daryl. Hershel respected Daryl. He might balk a little because of the age difference but damn it, Maggie, nobody gets to be a kid anymore. Beth's grown into a strong woman over the past year or two. You need to open your eyes and see her for who she is now and not the little girl you remember from the farm," Rick cautioned her.

Rick's stern words gave Maggie pause. She realized that she was thinking of Beth as a child and Daryl as some older man predator. She turned away from the two men as tears sprang to her eyes. "I just don't want anything to happen to her," Maggie whispered.

Glenn reached over and pulled her close. "Daryl would never hurt her," he told her. "He'd die to protect any of us. You know that."

"I know. I didn't mean what I said. I know Daryl's a good man. I guess I feel like Beth's my responsibility since Daddy's gone. "

Rick patted her on the shoulder. "After what I saw at the hospital, I think Bethy can take care of herself. She'll always need you as a sister but I don't think you have to worry about her." He turned then and left them alone to talk. As he walked back inside he could hear Michonne talking quietly to Judith as she fed her some type of mashed up goo from a baby food jar.

"Mornin' ladies," he said as he walked over to sit beside them. Judith grinned and held out her hands to be picked up.

"Oh, I see how it is," Michonne teased. "I have to wake up and feed you but Daddy is gonna get all the hugs, huh?"

Rick picked up his daughter and kissed her forehead. Somehow he managed to get mashed bananas smeared on his cheek but he didn't care. He was just so glad to have his little one back in his arms again. He sat down on the floor next to Michonne and held Judy in his lap as she continued to eat her breakfast.

"You're up awfully early." Michonne said. "What's going on? Is there a problem outside?"

"Yes and no," Rick drawled. "It's not walkers but we got a situation that's gonna raise a few eyebrows."

Michonne looked surprised. "What is it? Is it Maggie and Glenn?"

"No, they're fine. It's Beth…..and Daryl," he said quietly.

"Beth and Daryl? What happened?" she asked with a puzzled expression. "Daryl seemed fine last night."

"Oh, he's fine and so is she. It's just that Maggie found them sleeping together this morning and I walked in on them kissing," Rick admitted.

Michonne seemed speechless for a moment. "Daryl….our Daryl, the surly redneck with the crossbow? You saw him kissing Beth?" she asked, incredulous.

"Mm hm," he said, nodding.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed with a huge smile. "That's ….just…sort of insane and wonderful all at the same time. Don't you think?"

"Yeah. I kinda do," he chuckled, "but Maggie doesn't feel quite the same way."

Carl sat up groggily. "Hey what's all the noise about?" he asked.

"Nothin' son. Go back to sleep," he said.

"No, I'm up now. Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's good. Perimeter is safe. Nothin' to worry about," Rick told him.

"Well, I'm gonna go get one of those packs of Pop Tarts from the vending machine before anybody else takes 'em," he informed them as he got up and headed for the break room.

The others had all started to stir as well. Carol was still very sore and bruised from the car accident in Atlanta. She had taken some of the ibuprofen they found last night but Rick could see that she was still moving very slow this morning. He handed Judith back to Michonne and went over to help her up.

"Hey, Carol, you need a hand?" he asked extending an arm to help her up.

"Thanks, Rick," she replied as she eased herself up from the floor with a bit of a grunt.

"You okay? You need anything?" he asked.

"No, thanks. I'm gonna walk around a bit and work some of the stiffness out," she told him. "I'll be o…..oh my gosh," she said as she stared across the room.

Rick turned to look. Daryl and Beth had just walked into the room holding hands. Beth was grinning from ear to ear. Daryl was looking especially sheepish with his bandaged head and still healing black eye. Rick bit his lip to hide a smile. He looked down to see what Carol's reaction was. For a moment all he could sense was her shock but then slowly she began to smile.

"You sure you're okay?" Rick asked again.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm really fine," she told him as she looked steadily up into his eyes. Both of them knew that she was talking about a lot more than her injuries at that point.

"Good morning, you two," Carol said as the couple walked over to where she and Rick were standing.

"Mornin' Carol," Beth said.

"We were lookin' for Maggie," Daryl told them.

"She's out front with Glenn," Rick informed them. "Ah, you want to get some breakfast or somethin' first?"

"Nah, gotta get this over with," he said gruffly before turning and walking towards the door with Beth right beside him.