Chapter 4

Daryl looked at her gathering his thoughts while she waited for him to answer. She wasn't uncomfortable with the silence. It was always that way with him. He was a thinker and a listener. While he wasn't much of a talker, when he did have something to say it was usually important.

"When I was a kid, I had this teacher, Mrs. Moss. She used to bring me cookies every day. Guess she felt sorry for me cause we was poor growin' up." He chewed on his thumbnail for a minute before continuing. "I looked forward to seeing her every day. Because she was so happy and she smiled all the time. Nobody ever smiled at me like she did. At the end of the year they put us in foster care and we had to change schools. I never got to see her again. She made my day better just by being nice to me." He paused again and looked at Beth. "When you were talking about there still being good people, I found myself wonderin' if she made it after the turn. Because she was good. Like you. You're good Beth." He looked up at her, his hair hanging over his eyes hiding part of his expression.

But Beth knew that he could not hide from her. As she listened to him telling the story of his teacher, she caught a glimpse of the little boy he had been, afraid, hungry, no one with a kind word for him and it sort of broke her heart. And then when he said the last part, everything he wasn't saying was right there. She smiled at him, and reached over to lay her hand on his knee and he didn't move or flinch. He let her rest her hand there and she knew it wasn't much but Daryl Dixon was not a touchy feely guy or at least he hadn't been. It was hard to reconcile the Daryl she saw before her now to the Daryl she had met two years ago on the farm. "I don't know about that. But you're good too Daryl." He shook his head. "You are". She insisted. "You care so much about everyone that you forget to care about yourself." And it was true.

Beth knew it and Daryl knew it. "You changed my mind about there being good people. You did. And you're too damn good for someone like me". He hung his head and Beth nearly wept at his insistence that he was not good enough for her.

"Daryl, you have to let other people decide that. You can't just decide that you aren't good enough for someone. It doesn't work that way. It's up to me to decide that. You are good people Daryl." She squeezed his leg and he looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

Daryl knew he hadn't quite conveyed everything to her that he wanted to but it was enough for now. It would have to be. He wasn't quite ready to say the words that he wanted her to hear. He had never said them before. Not to anyone. But he loved Beth Greene. But loving her and doing something about it were two different things. For right now or maybe forever, he would love her from a distance. Just the fact that she was with him and they were surviving together; it was enough for Daryl. He would gladly take knowing he could keep her safe over being able to be with her in every sense of the word.

Beth leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek and he inhaled that scent that was so Beth. The one that kept him up nights, the one that filled his senses night and day. She leaned back and looked into his eyes and for once, he didn't look away. Her bright sea-blue eyes were piercing into his and it felt like she could see all the way to his soul. He wasn't sure how he felt about it, he felt raw; exposed. But for once, he felt like he was letting someone really see him. He let out the breath that he felt like he had been holding his whole life and reached up to smooth her hair back from her forehead. Beth turned her face and leaned into his palm, and he rested his hand there for just a moment before letting it drop back to his lap, where her hand still was. He laced their fingers together, savoring the feel of her soft delicate fingers beside his own hard callused ones. They could have sat there that way for minutes or hours, Daryl didn't know.

Beth watched in wonder as Daryl reached up to tenderly brush her hair behind her ear and she leaned into his hand. She wanted him to touch her suddenly. Wanted him to touch her everywhere. She wanted him. She wanted to be under him and for him to do things to her body that made her blush just thinking about it. Unconsciously she bit her lower lip, worrying the tender flesh, and thinking about what it would be like to be loved by Daryl Dixon.

"Kiss me". Beth whispered, before she lost her nerve.

Daryl looked up at her suddenly, surprise etched on his features. He had not been expecting her to say that. Hell, he was thinking it but he didn't know any more about tenderly kissing a girl than he did about telling her he loved her. Kissing had never been one of his favorite things. The girls he had been with before had never been worth the time. Beth was not that kind of girl. Beth was a girl that needed to be thoroughly kissed. He wasn't sure that there was enough time in the world to do it proper. His mouth went dry at the thought.

Throwing caution to the wind, Daryl leaned in. She was askin' him to and damn if he was going to deny her. This chance may never come again. He met her lips shyly, tentatively, his eyes closed, and he gave himself over to the sensations. She tasted so damn good, like the peaches they had at dinner. He had meant the kiss to barely be a brush of the lips, but then she parted her lips and teased the seam of his lips with her tongue. He opened his mouth and accepted her tongue even as he thrust his tongue into hers, deepening the kiss.

The thought that those romance novels were right raced through Beth's mind as Daryl kissed her like she had never been kissed before. She sighed against his lips and she was glad they were seated because she didn't know that her legs would hold her up right now. She felt desire deep in her belly and traveling lower and lower until she felt her pulse begin to throb right at the apex of her thighs.

Daryl felt her sigh against him and he almost laid her back against the chairs right then but he knew he was going to have to stop this before it went too far and they did something they would both regret. He dragged his lips away and rested his forehead against hers, willing his breathing to return to some semblance of normal.

Beth could tell his mind was waging a war with certain other parts of his body so she let it slide that he broke their kiss. She pulled back from him and smiled as she squeezed his hand. "You're a good kisser." She said honestly.

Beth was nothing, if not honest and hearing her tell him that struck him as funny and he chuckled. "That so?" He asked her.

She nodded her head solemnly. "Course I've only kissed boys before. You're a man". She said, stating the obvious.

He laughed. Girl didn't mess around, he had to give her that. She said what was on her mind. She wasn't afraid of his reaction. He loved that about her. "Yes, I am." He looked at her in wonder. "Sing something for me?"

It was a suggestion that she couldn't refuse. She turned around at the piano and Daryl laid back down across the chairs and watched her play, worrying his thumbnail in his mouth, listening to her soft sultry voice and thinking about what it was like to kiss Beth Greene. For just a moment, he pretended like she was his. And it felt good.

Okay guys, what do you think? I know it was a lot of dialogue to pack into one chapter. It was really hard to write too so that's why it is a little shorter than usual. So I have always been afraid to write a lot of dialogue in for Daryl because he usually is a man of few words but then I remembered that whole speech he gave Carol about the Cherokee Rose and it got me thinking that Daryl Dixon as we know is a softie. So I hope I was able to kind of direct it that way. Talking about his teacher was sure to bring him to a place where he could relate it to Beth. Because of course little boys often get crushes on their teachers. But then Beth is so sweet to him. He figures he just must love her too, but doesn't know how to tell her. He still didn't. Not really. But anyways, we will get there eventually. I'm just trying to peel him back one layer at a time and see how it goes. I am portraying Beth as she was during Still and Alone. She has very strong opinions and doesn't mind telling him. She is not afraid of him. And that's how I want this to play out so we will see. I am trying to keep them in character but not so much that they stagnate. So you guys know what to do. Please, please review. If you don't like it, tell me. There isn't much point for me to write it if no one wants to read it besides I have found that reviews make me feel guilty. Guilt makes me update faster. Haha Thanks SOOOO much for reading. Until next time, xoxoxoxo