Daryl and Beth spent that Tuesday snuggled up together, mostly staying in bed, watching movies, reading, making love, and just enjoying being together. Beth was still a tiny bit out of it, but a good night's sleep had done wonders for her body and her mind. Still, though, she didn't remember the events of the previous day. And Daryl knew he needed to just tell her - he'd rather just tell her before she all of a sudden remembered on her own. But he wasn't quite ready to take that step, fearing that as soon as those words left his mouth that their sweet alone time together would be over. And it didn't help that he feared the worst about how Beth might respond to his confessions.

After he'd gone out to get them some dinner, telling Beth that they could splurge this one time and get something from her favorite takeout place, he promised himself that he'd talk to her. After they ate, he told himself, he'd do it. He just couldn't hold on to it anymore. He'd been hovering between heaven and hell all day - spending this kind of time with Beth was amazing, and they hadn't had much of this lazy time at home together since they'd first moved in together. But all day Daryl had been constantly drawn back to the thoughts of telling Beth the truth about Andrea.

"Let's watch one more movie before we go to bed" Beth suggested after they'd both finished eating and Daryl had cleaned up. He smiled back at her, knowing how much she loved watching the same ol' romantic comedies over and over, ones she'd seemingly watched 100 times. And he secretly loved watching them with her, if for no other reason than to make her happy. And in that moment he wanted to just tell her yes, but he knew he couldn't, at least not yet. This was the time to talk to her, the time to be honest. He had to be brave and tell her the truth.

"Sure, baby girl. But... first, I need to talk to ya" Daryl said hesitantly.

"Okay" Beth said, almost sounding excited. She shifted on the bed to fully face Daryl and his heart almost broke. Here was this woman that he desperately loved, smiling up at him, obviously thinking he had something good to tell her. And he felt like he might be sick to his stomach. He almost lost his nerve but then reminded himself that this would only get worse the longer he kept it from her - this was just like a bandaid, best to just go ahead and rip it off.

"Still don't remember what happened yesterday?" Daryl asked, reaching out and tucking a piece of Beth's wildly disheveled hair behind her ear and trailing his thumb over her cheek.

"No... The last I remember was the morning. That's it." Beth said, obviously still trying to will herself to remember. "Why?"

"Well... I think I know what happened" he said.

"Okay?" Beth replied, and Daryl could see the sudden uncertainty in her face.

"I need you to just listen right now. Let me say everything I need to say before you say anything, okay?" Daryl asked. He knew Beth and he knew that she would probably get upset very quickly - his only chance in minimizing all of this was to hope that she'd let him talk without interrupting. If he got the full story out quickly, maybe she'd understand and not blow up.

"So... You know that a few times over the last few weeks I've needed to work late?". He looked up to Beth and she gave him a simple nod. "Well... In some ways I was working, just... just not on the construction site. I... I've been trying to finalize the house plans. A guy I used to work with, he's an expert in plans and codes and all the paperwork that has to be done. He used to live in Georgia too, so he knows all the regs there and the stuff that's different from here. And... well... he told me he'd help me... ya know... just as a favor, no charge."

He paused to see Beth's reaction, but so far she seemed okay - she was just staring back at him, following along with what he was saying, but disappointment or sign of hurt on her face. So he continued.

"I didn't mean to mislead you... I just... I wanted to surprise you with having it all done and ready to start. I wanna have everything in place to start by the first of November. That way, I can get some work in before it gets really cold. And I may be able to sneak away while we're there for the holidays to do a little here and there. Anyway... And it's just... it's seemed like the process of it all was stressing you out a bit. So... well... I just didn't want you to worry."

He paused again to gauge Beth's reaction, but she was simply nodding her head at him, not seeming at all upset. This was going alright so far, he thought. He'd admitted to not telling her the truth, but she hadn't gotten emotional and he was relieved. This was going to be okay, he told himself - he shouldn't have assumed the worst about how Beth would respond.

"That's where what happened yesterday comes in. See... The guy who's been helping me... well... he works for Andrea. And, I've tried to avoid her baby... really, I have. But... John asked me to come to his office to work on all of this... And... I didn't wanna go to that office... didn't wanna even chance running into her. But he was doing so much for me ... I didn't wanna try to act petty about it. So I've run into her a few times because of that. And, I've done everything I can not to really talk to her or encourage her attention. But... she's made it real clear that she still wants me... at least on some level." Daryl stopped, almost abruptly. He realized he was babbling and talking really fast. Once he'd said Andrea's name he'd seen Beth's eyes widen and he wanted to tell her as much as he could, as quickly as he could.

The concerned look on Beth's face had certainly grown now, especially at the mention of Andrea's name. But she did as Daryl had asked, staying quiet. For a moment, he worried that she was mad and that she wasn't speaking because of that. But he wanted to wait a moment, to give her a chance to process what he'd just said, hoping that she would understand everything he was telling her. As he looked at her, watching her process what he'd said, she suddenly looked up at him and gasped.

"I remember..." she said, her voice almost a whisper.

Daryl moved cautiously closer to her, moving to her side and pulling her into him loosely so that her shoulder and arm were right up against his chest. She didn't fight him and he took that as a good sign.

"What do you remember, Beth?" he asked.

"I went to Publix... like I do every Monday afternoon... and, well... I was running really late from my usual time because of a meeting at school. And I was in a hurry... cause I didn't wanna risk you getting home before me. You know how much I hate that. And ... well... I ran into Andrea. Literally ran into her... ran my cart into hers."

Beth looked up at Daryl and she had a confusing mix of emotions in her eyes. But she was calm and she wasn't pulling away from Daryl.

"Yeah?" he asked, prompting her to continue on.

"She wasn't nice... Kinda condescending and just... I don't know how to explain it. But Right before she walked away she said something about you looking good lately, which, in the moment didn't really register because I was just so overwhelmed. But then I remembered it on the way home and... I just kinda lost it. It freaked me out. And then, literally like, right then, you texted that you wouldn't be home and you were so vague. And I tried... But I just couldn't get myself together. That's why I drank the wine. That's why I was in the bath tub. I remember now..."

Beth's voice was quiet but steady and in hurt Daryl to recognize the pain resonating in her words.

"Listen, baby girl... You don't need to ever worry about me. I love you. I want to be with you. You're it for me. I mean it. And I'm sorry I lied. I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry I put you through that." Daryl said, talking quietly into Beth's ear, trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry too..." Beth whispered.

"What in the world do you have to be sorry for?" Daryl asked, putting his index finger under Beth's chin and moving her head so that she was looking at him.

"Not trusting you..." she said, her head down and her eyes on her hands in her lap.

"You can always trust me, okay? But I'm sorry this time I didn't earn it... I didn't deserve it. I won't lie to you again, okay?" Daryl said.

"Okay." Beth responded, nodding her head a bit and giving Daryl the faintest of smiles.

Neither of them were bubbly or energetic in that moment, but they'd worked through things and they both seemed content to just sit together silently and think about what happened. They sat there for some time, just quietly snuggled together, Daryl occasionally placing little kisses on Beth's temple or forehead. As the minutes passed by Beth melted further into Daryl and he could tell that she was finally relaxing, letting go of all the tension their conversation had brought.

Daryl had never felt like this before, not by a mile. In all the other relationships that he'd had, he'd felt the strongest at the beginning. Now, he realized how incredibly messed up that was. In all of those cases once the excitement and newness faded and the realness came into the relationship, with real problems and issues to work through, things hadn't been the same. But that couldn't be farther from the reality of his relationship with Beth. Somehow, every day that he woke up next to her he was crazier about her, more in love than the day before. He knew that sounded cheesy, and he wasn't sure he'd ever say that out loud to anyone, but he couldn't ignore his feelings. And he knew that whatever happened with Beth, they'd work through it - because he loved her, because he couldn't fathom a problem that they couldn't handle. It might be tough at times, but he knew he'd spend the rest of his life trying to do whatever he could to make her happy.

Daryl lightly kissed Beth's ear and neck sweetly before whispering to her. "Now... how about that movie?"