To my reviewers, especially UltimateBethylFicList, you all give me the biggest smiles ever, thank you. :)

Oh and don't hate me for the ending, I promise the next chapter has already been started.

It's crazy to me how everything and nothing can change at the same fuckin time. Doesn't make sense? You're tellin me.

Not even three full days ago the earth stopped moving when I finally felt Beth's lips on mine and she told me she wants me. Me! Only took the world endin for me to find happiness but I'm a newly selfish bastard that doesn't mind that fact so much. We've also slept together, just sleepin and spooning (Beth called it that, it's a weird phrase, I don't look like a spoon) the past three nights. Obviously those are the big changes. And the orgasms, the mind blowing fuckin orgasms we've shared.

Even after all of that though, we're still just us. I mean I guess she's my girlfriend? The title seems stupid during the apocalypse and it's also an insult because it just doesn't seem like enough compared to what she means to me. But I'll take it, it's more and better than just being her friend.

We spent the rest of our day after our pre-breakfast fun doing our separate tasks. We know that we still have to be alert, even after everything that has changed and happened between us.

Beth cleaned and started drying all our clothes and went through the food we had left, taking inventory. She also, against her will, rested her foot for a few hours because we both need it to heal properly and quickly.

I still was on edge about that stupid fuckin walker. The house was covered on all sides, split 50/50 between woods and cemetery. Not easy terrain for the undead. Plus, where this place is located ain't easy to get to. When we found the walker that caused Beth to -fuck I can't even think about that animal trap gripping her, I thought I would throw-up or pass out or both when I saw her falling- get injured we hadn't seen any for miles. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid but that didn't stop me from walking every inch of the property and a half mile into the forest. Took me a while but I found the not as tough path the walker must've come through, also found some possum or skunk guts so at least I know why it came our way.

We both cleaned up before dinner and went to bed early after locking the place up. Other than holding her in my arms and some kissing we didn't touch each other how we had before. Didn't worry or upset me, we both know that we don't have to be that intimate all the time. Doesn't mean we don't want to just means that it'll happen when it happens.

We lay in bed that night making a plan to venture a few miles away from the funeral home the day after tomorrow. We need to do some runs while we still have this place to come back to. No point going where we came from since we know all it's got is a whole bunch of fuckin nothin.

The real winter months will be here in the next several weeks and we're already shit out of luck when it comes to how many hours of daylight we have. That fact paired with not wanting to push Beth's ankle means we need to be up early and will only make it about 4 miles. We need to be able to get there, hopefully find somewhere to scavenge and get back before dark.

Luckily, I don't think Beth's ankle is truly sprained. Obviously no human is supposed to get caught in an animal trap of any kind let alone one that's been out there for God only knows how many years. She was wearing enough layers that it didn't cut her skin but I still think the metal teeth themselves did the most damage and more bruised her entire ankle than anything. Still, I can't push her too far or too hard but I need to know how well she's coping so when we do finally leave, because that day is coming fast no matter how much I wish it wouldn't, we both need to be aware of where she's at and how much she can handle.

We decide, just before falling asleep, that tomorrow will be an easy day. I know some self taught physio from the early days of my dad's drinkin. You can only go to the clinic so many times before social services are called and even if I had been taken away I knew I eventually would end up back home to get the beating of a lifetime. Not worth it. So after a couple visits to the nice clinic, with the pretty nurse who kept chocolate in her scrubs I tried to remember every single thing she did to my sprained wrist or ankle. There was no going back there for anything but broken bones, and dad was smarter than to do that. Yeah, fucking depressing as hell but came in handy then and it's coming in handy now.

Before I wrap Beth's ankle tomorrow I can do some exercises on it and hope to hell it helps push her recovery along. Will also have to organize our belongings and hide them somewhere in the woods, probably a tree in case everything goes to shit and we only have time, if we're lucky enough, to run back and grab the bags. I found a rucksack in one of the bedrooms, type that people use for backpacking all over the world or some shit. Well, for me, (hold onto your hats, here comes sob story number two) sometimes over the years those kinda bags carried every single thing I owned from clothes and shoes to food and my toothbrush. Again, sad now equals helpful when it came to fitting everything that we could possibly need into that bag for when we leave this place.

The only downside to sleeping with this beautiful woman in my arms is oversleeping, something I ain't ever done. I'm still up before most, the sun barely beating me, but I'm not used to this and it's making me edgy. We need to have a strict schedule tomorrow for our run so I can't be dreaming and losing daylight.

My worry and irritation about this disappears when I look down at Beth. She is sprawled across my chest, her leg thrown over mine sleeping peacefully. I watch her for a few more moments before somehow untangling us without waking her.

I set about getting ready for the day, leaving out breakfast and hot water then head outside to do my checks and maybe catch a squirrel or other furry critter who could make for a better meal than we've been havin.

I'm slightly relieved but mostly really fuckin disappointed to see Beth dressed (back in jeans) finishing her breakfast at the table when I get back to the house. You have shit to do, gotta prepare for tomorrow, keep your focus on the run and out of your dirty mind for one goddamn day Dixon!

"Hey angel." I say to her as I squeeze her shoulder and kiss the top of her head on my way past her to get something to eat.

"Hey you. Done your checks already?" She asks with an almost confused but happy expression on her face.

I didn't even realize what I had called her until I saw that look in her eyes. Fuck, was that too much? She seems happy but in all honesty that pet name was gonna stay under lock and key in my mind.

"Yeah, still quiet out there so didn't take long." I respond as I sit down next to her.

Beth simply leans back in her chair, nodding before slowly sipping her coffee while I eat. When I'm done she stands up and reaches over, I'm thinking for my plate, but instead she touches my face making me look at her. Then she kisses me softly square on the mouth before pulling away just enough to talk.

"I'll never ever get tired of Daryl Dixon callin me angel." She murmurs against my lips.

I let out a small chuckle and kiss her again.

The rest of the day flies by way too quick. I ain't ever been nervous about a run but tomorrow has me biting my damn nails down to nothin. This is the only downside to having Beth with me alone, I'm so fuckin worried about her, always am, but it's worse tonight. It can't just be the fact she's mine now. Can it? Maybe it's that paired with the fact I've admitted to myself and to her how I feel. I can't just fuckin can't think about losing her, I would lose myself. I have to stop these thoughts right now, I know she can handle herself and it's really too fuckin bad if I'm worried, we're still going out, we have to.

We're both quiet before and once in bed, Beth either feeding off of me or maybe feeling something like I am about our run. No matter how much I love our talks I'm happy for the silence tonight, so I can refocus. I've never had to deal with so many thoughts and feelings, even with the group, on top of surviving. My racing mind at least tires me out and we both fall asleep quickly.

I wake before the sun and make sure everything is ready to go so all Beth has to do is get ready and eat. We go over our rough plan as we eat and then she plops down on my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. I place my own tightly around her waist and we sit that way for a good while, not needing words.

I hide our main bags in a tree at the furtherest edge of the forest from the house on our way to hopefully find somethin, anythin.

Hours later I know we've walked over two miles, the good parts of this fact bein that Beth's ankle isn't complaining and we haven't dealt with more than a handful of walkers. The bad part is that we ain't seen shit except some scattered houses that weren't worth a second glance. Fuck!

A half hour later I'm just startin to think about when to turn around and head back, when we see it. Ain't much but it's a building with almost all it's four walls and it's whole roof, might as well be the Taj Mahal.

A garage.

One side is a little beat up but probably from weather and the elements, but it ain't terrible and walkers can't get in.

"Let's check it out. We'll find the main door, I'll go in and clear it you cover me out here." I tell Beth.

She nods but looks skeptical. Her and everyone else that has passed this place. That's because a garage wouldn't seem like much to most people, especially all these years after the turn.

No the cars ain't going to work and no there's probably no gas left. But when I was older and Merle went on his walks for months or was back in prison for drugs and I had some time on my own most of it was spent in a garage like this. Cause when Merle wasn't around I would always have a motorcycle. It was usually old and beat up and that's why I spent most of my time at a garage making friends with the mechanic and everyone else that worked there, even sometimes doing the odd jobs that I could, either for some cash out or to pay off the work on my bike.

I know that there could be a stash of slight weapons, camping gear and tons of snacks. The men that own these garages and their friends or family that worked in them spend a lot of their time here. There ain't much around this area so this garage probably serviced multiple nearby counties and tons of traffic means lots of hours put in here. The blood sweat and tears the families put into these businesses showed and the hours they spent here meant they tried to make the best of them so this could almost be like a second home. It could also be completely picked over already or filled with walkers on the inside but my gut tells me to at least have a look, maybe a vending machine is still intact maybe some staff lockers are full of odds and ends, who fucking knows but this garage is huge and I think that we could find something here.

We make it inside with no excitement. The inside is trashed but the dead walkers seem to be the explanation for that. On the bottom floor is mostly the garage area itself, separated by a wall and I can see now that this eventually leads out to the damaged side of the building. The rest of the bottom floor was a reception and waiting area. We spend a good amount of time down there looking over some of the tools, they can come in handy or even be a good weapon and I was right, there's several vending machines. Not a lot left in them and they might be expired but with all the chemicals in those processed shits, can't be any worse for us now than before. There was even some small bottled waters that we make room for after drinking half of them right away.

There is another level upstairs that only seems to cover half of the building so we make that our next and final stop. When we get up there we see it's the main office, probably for the owner, and the staff areas. No need to inspect the bathrooms, the kitchen and lockers didn't have much but a couple of good knives and more damn snacks. I know we've been here for a while and even though we're not in a rush yet I want to get through the office quickly and start our journey back.

We definitely saved the best for last, this was for sure the owner's space, personal trinkets everywhere, a big storage closet that did have some simple camping items in it, seemed like he tried to clear out his crap before making a run for it unless he's one of the walkers downstairs.

For some reason I start to feel rushed and anxious so when I start looking through the drawers of his desk I pull them out and everything ends up everywhere. I look over to Beth and see her raise her eyebrows at me but since we don't usually talk during these runs, so we can listen out for living or the dead, she doesn't say a word.

When I get to the last drawer I finally find the real jackpot. A gun. Fully loaded and with two extra rounds of ammo. I had just put these away when I hear it. Voices. Beth and I's gazes meet and she's paler than usual, if that's possible. It seems like some of the damage made its way around this side the building as well and the window has cracked and the walls are starting to crumble from the vines outside so we can hear the voices pretty clear. I know they're coming somewhat from the same direction as us. That doesn't worry me, there were several roads leading to the main one that we ended up on to find the garage. What worries me is the fact that they're not only all male voices but there's at least six of them. This is why I had that rushed feeling, this is why I felt the need to throw everything all over the place cause the more ransacked this place looks the less likely they are to stay long. For this many of them to still be around these days they can't be that fucking stupid so they wouldn't spend any real time here let alone the night.

I break my gaze from Beth's and look around wondering what the fuck we are going to do and where we are going to hide. We can't on take on six men. I would take on as many as I could just to get her out of here but that stubborn little devil would never leave anyway. I look up and that's when I see it. A decent sized vent cover. This building is big enough that we'll probably be able to fit in there and worse comes to worse maybe even crawl through and escape that way but for now I'd rather just try to wait them out.

I don't even need to say anything to Beth, she has followed where my eyes have landed and is already moving over there. She quickly glances at one of the chairs in front of the desk but then thinks better of it and waits for me to hoist her up to the vent so she's able to pry off the cover quickly and, for the most part quietly, before she pushes both bags inside and then her self with my help. I pass her my bow before somehow jumping up the entire way on my own, climbing in and putting the grate back in place. Luckily, we haven't left any trail behind that we have been here and any mess we've made will hopefully just deter them from staying too long or looking too hard.

Even though I know for a fact they can't see us in here and we ain't making any sounds, my heart is still racing a mile a minute and I have to slow it down because I want to hear what they have to say, listen for their plan or get any idea of what they're up to so I can figure out how the hell to get us out of here.

It feels like days have gone by before they finally get inside the garage and with the open plan layout and the dead quiet of the world now we can hear every word they have to say. As soon as they start talking I thank my lucky stars that we got in this fucking vent so fast because they are not the type of men anyone, especially women, want to encounter.

"Knew this place was a fucking waste of time, just a stupid auto body shop." One man says.

"Len, no one asked for your opinion. We have to stop anywhere we see, you never know what or who could be inside for us." Another man says.

That one sentence has my stomach rolling. There's no good reason you would want to find strangers in abandoned buildings during the apocalypse.

"Claimed!" The first man almost yells, maybe they are dumb.

There's a few mumbled cuss words before they keep searching downstairs.

"We need to find a soft place to sleep or a warm body to take because it's been too long since I had either." Len says.

All I see is red. I look at Beth and her eyes are wide as saucers. I will protect her at all costs, I swear it.

"Let's hurry this up, we still need to find somewhere to crash tonight." The second man orders.

"I'm going upstairs. Who's coming to help?" Len asks.

One of the other men grunts an affirmative and then we hear the two sets of foot steps on the stairs.

They ransack the kitchen and staff area, making way too much fuckin noise, before coming into the office. I think both Beth and I hold our breath.

"Joe is wasting our time making us check every damn building we pass. I don't need a fucking stapler. I need a drink and a bitch." Len spits out.

"Don't talk shit about Joe, are you stupid? If he heard you that'd be it." The other man says.

"Whatever you pussy, lets get this over with." Len responds.

The two men rip the office apart as well, not finding anything and both of them mumbling and complaining about it the whole time.

Beth and I are like statues, not moving and hardly breathing, she has her knife in hand and I have my crossbow loaded and ready to fire at any second.

"Not even a fucking bag of peanuts. Come on, let's get out of here." Len grumbles.

We listen to the two men retreat downstairs and join the rest of their group. They all complain about finding hardly anything worth keeping and thankfully decide to leave.

"Alright men, lets make the most of the remaining daylight. We need to find somewhere to sleep and maybe even more than that." Joe chuckles.

I have to force myself to not gag.

We stay exactly as we have been since we climbed in here and listen to them moving around and leaving for a good twenty minutes. Most of that time the garage is empty and quiet but I'm not ready for us to try and leave yet, don't feel confident in how far away they've gotten.

When it's been almost an hour of silence I finally remove the vent cover and slowly get out, motioning for Beth to stay put.

I look over the railing to the downstairs and see nothing, same when I peak out the broken window to the road outside.

I go back for Beth and our things and lead us downstairs and outside into the woods. It's easier and safer, from walkers, on the road but I'm more concerned about the living right now. If those disgusting excuses for men had seen us...seen her...fuck! That is not an option, not fuckin happening.

No matter how rough the terrain could be or the higher risk of walkers we stay inside the tree line the entire way back to the funeral home. Even though we move quickly, I pause often to make fuckin sure I read the signals back at the garage correctly and that group is heading in the opposite direction of our temporary home.

We were lucky to head out a little earlier than I had hoped to this morning so that paired with the fact that Beth's ankle is almost back to normal and that the garage was located in that exact spot, we make it back to the funeral home in good time with extra daylight to spare.

We head straight to the tree with our shit in it and we stay there a while, catching our breath and taking in our surroundings.

That group of filth has ruined any calm I had going on and I make Beth do my perimeter check with me except it takes me triple the amount of time it usually does. What's that saying, I left no rock or twig unturned. I inspected every outline in the dirt, looked up every tree we passed and literally touched every piece of wood that boarded up the outside of the house.

I wasn't necessarily worried about them coming, I know now they definitely headed in the opposite direction but there's a reason such a big group of loud, stupid assholes are still alive after all this time. They're ruthless, soulless and have no regard for anyone but themselves. I still believe there's good in the world, it's standing right next to me every day, and it's also in the members of our group but if Joe and Len and the other pieces of shit they were with can survive I'm sure there's other people cut from the same cloth out there as well.

It's almost dark by the time I let us inside the house. I stop Beth at the bottom of the stairs and leave our things with her while I check out every piece of damn dust in the place. We had gotten water while we were outside so I set that to warm and even put out food. I know my adrenaline is racing that's why my my hands won't stay still but maybe I'm avoiding her too. Taking way too long to go and get her. For once she's doing exactly as I say and hasn't moved from her spot. We also haven't said a word since before we got in that vent. I'm being an ass by this point, we need to talk or cry or god knows what so I force myself out of the kitchen to face my feelings, to own the fact that I've never been so scared of losing someone ever in my life until today.

I make my way to the staircase, resting down my crossbow before standing right in front of Beth. Man, if looks could kill the one she's giving me right now would have me six feet under. I don't know where to start with words and I'm not sure if she wants me to touch her and I couldn't bear it if she dodged my hands, so I just stand there. Not for long though, the fire burning behind her gaze turns into a full blown wildfire in mere seconds.

"Daryl what the fu-" she starts but before she can finish her question I drop to my knees in front of her, wrapping my arms all the way around her petite frame and burying my face in her stomach.

"M'sorry." I mumble against her skin.

Beth pushes herself into me and hugs me around my head and shoulders.

"It's okay, we're okay... I'm okay." She reassures me.

I let out a long breath I didn't even know I was holding as Beth lowers herself to her knees as well. We wrap our arms around each other, every part our us touching from our foreheads to our knees.

"I would you know, miss you so damn bad if you were gone Beth. And I can't I just fucking can't do this without you. Hearing those pieces of trash talking, remembering how the living are worse than the dead, it's too much." I say.

"I'm not goin anywhere Daryl. I said that when I was drunk, for the first time ever, don't hold onto it. You'll

never let anything happen to me and I'm pretty tough myself you know. And most importantly I need you, not for your trackin, huntin or fightin, I need all of you. Your attitude, your touch, your words, your jokes that are surprisingly funny, all of it. And even though I'm scared too and I can't even think about that group from today, we'll be fine. We'll keep going, surviving and living. That's a promise." Beth tells me, her voice barely above a whisper.

What Beth said does something to me, my heart calms yet races at the same time but for a different reason than earlier today. And my jeans are uncomfortably tight. She has said to me what I feel for her, and I'm so relieved to know this thing between us isn't one sided and also I'm so happy. Who thought I could feel that after the shit storm of a day we've had.

"No one has ever meant anythin to me. But now you mean everythin." I tell her before crashing my mouth to hers.

Beth responds immediately, matching my eagerness and then some. Our hands are everywhere. Hers are split between tugging my hair and gripping my shoulder and I can't help one of mine from grabbing her ass to pull her impossibly closer while my other is holding her face.

Somehow she breaks the kiss to leave hot, wet open mouthed kisses down my neck and under my ear. And my mind is screaming more, more, more!

I'm about to take her right here on the floor when the sound of hissing comes from the kitchen breaking the sexual haze that has clouded my mind. Oh right the damn water.

I think we're ready to take that step, our days aren't promised and we need to be with each other completely, even once before our time runs out. But not like this, I want to take our time and make sure Beth enjoys it.

I force us apart just a bit and give her a quick kiss.

"Was heating some water for the bath. Let's turn that off and eat, we need it." I tell her.

Beth has the nerve to pout at me, actually push out her lower lip at what I said before huffing out a breath and getting up.

"Fine. But we are far from finished here Dixon." She says over her shoulder as she walks into the kitchen.

Yup she'll be the death of me.

We don't bring up what happened today. Instead we talk about our plans and the fact we need to start preparing to move on from here in the next week. We only touch on the subject mainly deciding we need a map so we can try to find out where the fuck we are and where we can go from here. After that we just fall right back into place, having general chit chat? I guess. Never had any before Beth but I look forward to her stories and telling her some of mine.

She offers to clean up the kitchen and organize our things and tells me to bathe first tonight. Not huge on bathing but with Beth and I getting so close I don't mind it now. Almost look forward to it.

I get enough water for us both and take my time in the tub tonight. We might not be ready for sex yet but I need her in some way tonight. To feel her and know she's safe.

I head into the bedroom when I'm finished and clean clothes are waiting for me but my girl isn't. My heart sinks for a split second before she appears through the door brushing her hair and humming some song.

"All yours." I say with a smile.

"Thanks." She replies and pecks my cheek on her way past me to the bathroom.

I throw on the clothes that were on the bed, just a tee and sweats, but it's bedtime so I don't think anything of her outfit choice for me, then my boots before doing our nighttime checks. I want to be back in that room before she's done.

Everything downstairs and outside is quiet and normal and I finally feel myself start to really come back from the edge. I'm back upstairs and in the bed a good while before Beth is finished.

She comes out of bathroom just like last time, in only her towel, her hair hanging down in damp curls, except tonight I know her clothes aren't out here. I'm about to ask her if she wants me to leave or get her clothes for her when she does the last fuckin thing I ever thought she would.

Beth slowly makes her way towards where I am now sitting on the bed with my feet on the ground and stands between my legs. All the blood has rushed to my cock and I'm too stunned to speak or move.

Then, Beth drops her towel to the ground.