Chapter 4

Daryl's POV

The first thing I notice when I wake up is that Beth is snuggled up against me. She must have moved in her sleep. My arms are around her. She is facing away from me and her ass in pressed against my crotch. Having morning wood is bad enough, but having Beth so close is making it worse. I need to move before she wakes up. She'll probably think I'm a pervert or something. The last thing I want is for her to be creeped out.

I start to unwrap my arms from her, trying not to wake her up. I get my arms free and roll over so I'm facing the opposite direction .My dick is starting to get soft. I breathe out a sigh of relief. I'm glad I woke up before she did. That would have been awkward.

"Finally awake, Daryl?" she asks, rolling over to face me. Damn it to hell.

"How long have you been awake?" I ask, rolling over to face her.

"Long enough."

Fuck. She was awake this whole time. Son of a bitch. Now she's going to think I'm a creeper.

"Listen it isn't, I didn't mean to-"

She cuts me off, "Don't worry about it. I understand. It happens. It's a natural response you can't control."

"Yeah, I was worried you would be freaked out or something."

"Why would I be freaked out?"

"I don't know. If I were you I wouldn't want some stupid redneck having his hard on pressed up against me."

"Daryl Dixon, don't talk about yourself that way. You aren't just some stupid redneck. You went looking for a missing girl. You almost died in the process. You protected everyone at the prison. You were constantly going on runs to get things we needed even though you knew that you were risking your life. Now you're with me, keeping me safe and trying to teach me how to fight and track. You're always risking your life for others. You're the most selfless person I've ever met. I don't ever want to hear you say anything like that again, because you are a good man. You aren't some stupid redneck."

I can tell by the look in her eyes that she meant every word she just said. No one has ever told me anything like that before in my life, but I believe it. Other people may think I'm a stupid redneck, but she doesn't. Knowing that she sees me differently makes me happy. It also scares me, because now I'm falling for Beth Greene and there is no going back. I smile.

"Thanks," I say.

"You're welcome, and another thing Daryl, you don't know what I want. I could want your hard on pressed up against me. You don't know." She says and gets up and goes to the bathroom.

I'm speechless. Did she really just say that? If that was any other woman I would take that as a pass, but Beth is too good for me. She didn't mean it that way. I'm more confused than ever. Well she was right; I don't know what she wants.

I get out of bed and change into my other shirt. I put the shirt in my bag and grab my crossbow. I walk out of the bedroom and go to the kitchen. I look over the cans of fruit, trying to decide what I want. Fuck it, doesn't matter anyways. I grab a can of peaches and sit down at the table and start eating. I'm almost finished when Beth comes down stairs. She changed back into her day clothes and put her hair into a ponytail. She grabs a granola bar and sits down beside me.

I clear my throat, "So today I was thinking I could teach you some self-defense and then we could go for a walk."

"A walk? To where?" she asks.

"We could walk down the driveway then onto the road. We haven't seen much of the area around here. I want to know what's around."

"Yeah ok sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can find some supplies or some sign of the others," she says with a hopeful tone.

Typical Beth, always hopeful even when things look hopeless. She is definitely an optimist. That's a rare thing to find these days. I don't think we are going to see the rest of the group ever again. It has a very slim chance of happening, but I can't tell her that.

I nod," Yeah, maybe"

"Let's go train. I want to get it over with and go on that walk as soon as possible."

"Ok."

We walk outside to the backyard. I look around. No walkers.

"Ok so what do I do first?" Beth asks.

I hold out my hands, palms facing her. "Hit my hands as hard as you can."

She takes a step back. Her hands form into fists, with her thumbs tucked in. Her feet are close together. She brings her arm back and punches my hand. It barely hurt at all. It felt more like a high five than a punch. I fight off a smile. She has a lot to learn.

I put my hands down and say," That felt more like a high five than a punch. Don't tuck your thumb inside your fist." I make a fist to show her. "Like that, ok?"

She nods.

"And when you go into punch, keep your hands in a position where they can make a fist quickly, but don't form a fist till last second. Forming a fist then punching takes away force from your punch, and you need all the force you can get. No offense it's just you're small you don't have a lot of physical strength so you will have to use all your force or it won't hurt."

"Ok " she says.

"Are you right handed or left handed?" I ask.

"Right handed."

"Ok so you should put your left foot in front of your right. Keep your knees slightly bent. Push off with your back foot when you punch with your right hand. Keep your hands guarding your face when they aren't punching"

"Ok, got it."

I hold my hands back up, "Now try hitting my hands again."

She gets into stance and makes a loose fist. She pulls her arm back and pushes off with her back foot. She closes her fist right before it hits my hand. This punch hurt. It wouldn't knock someone out but it would probably do some damage. It would at least give them a bruise. She's a fast learner.

"That was good now do it again until I say stop," I say.

She smiles,"Ok."

I let her throw punches for a few minutes. "Okay, you can stop"

She stops. "Now what?" she asks.

"That's about it as far as punching goes. Remember when you're in a real fight to try to punch the fragile areas, like the nose, eyes, and throat. I'm going to show you a few other things you can do in a fight."

"Like what?"

"Like what to do when someone is trying to punch you."

"Ok, what do I do?"

"When someone tries to punch you dodge the punch then grab their fist. When their arm is outstretched kick them in the ribs."

"Sounds simple enough, I think I could do that."

"Good now let's try it. I'm going to throw a punch at you but it's going to be slow. I'm not really going to it you. Dodge the punch then grab my fist. Kick out towards my ribs, but don't actually kick me in the ribs."

"Ok. Let's do it."

I take a step back and punch towards her slowly. She moves out of the way, and then grabs my fist. She kicks towards my ribs but her foot stops before it gets to my ribs.

"That was really good now let's do it a few more times," I say.

We do it a few more times. I want to make sure she remembers so we did it a few more times after that.

"Now I'm going to show you what to do if someone is ever trying to hold a knife to your throat."

"Ok."

"Stand in front of me"

She does and I take my arm and hold it against her collar bone.

"Now if I had a knife in my hand I would be able to hold it against your throat. Take your hands and put them against my arm. You may not always be able to put your arms up if the grab you so do it before they get their arm across your collar bone."

She puts her hands against my arm.

"Now you would stomp their foot and elbow their groin. Don't really do it, just act like are."

She stomps the ground beside my toe and she elbows my ribs but not every hard.

"Ok good job. Now that should distract them so while they are in pain slip out of their grip. Then, take the hand the knife is in and bring it over their shoulder and kick them in the back of the knee and they should fall down. Do that now."

"Ok."

She slips out of my grip and takes my arm and brings it over my shoulder then gives me a swift kick to the back of my knee. I lose my balance and fall on the ground. I can hear her giggle.

"Are you ok?" she asks.

I get up. "Yeah I'm fine. Let's go through it a few more times."

We go through it a few more times, and then stop.

"Can we take a water break?" she asks. Her face is red and she's sweating. I probably look about the same. It's really fucking hot out here.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

We go inside and she grabs to bottles of water from the counter and hands one of them to me. We sit down at the table and enjoy the water.

"Is there anything else I need to know about self- defense?" she asks me.

"Your elbow is the strongest point on your body. Your knee is the second strongest. Use them. Elbow someone in the nose or throat. Knee someone in the crotch. Whatever you can do to get away do it."

"Where did you learn all this stuff?"

"Mostly bar fights that Merle got me into."

"Oh. Do you miss your brother? You don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I lost an older brother and I know what it's like."

I want to answer her, but I don't know how. I miss Merle, but at the same time I don't. He was always telling me I wasn't good enough, but he was my brother.

I sigh. "I miss him, but at the same time I don't. He wasn't good for me, but I loved him. He was my only family for a while. He was there sometimes then other times he wasn't. I wish he was still alive, but not near me."

Beth reaches out and touches my arm with her soft hands.

"Daryl, you have other family. You have me and the rest of the group. It's not blood that makes you family, its loyalty. We're a family."

"I know that. You guys were the best family I could ever hope for."

Beth smiles at me with those beautiful blue eyes and gets up from the table. She starts walking upstairs.

"Where ya going?" I ask.

"I'm getting my bag so we can go on that walk. I want to find the rest of my family."

"Me too," I say, but not loud enough for her to hear.

I hope we find them alive. I smile. I'm hoping for something. I haven't done that since shit hit the fan. Beth Greene has done what I thought was impossible. She gave me hope.

A/N: Hey bethyl buddies! I just wanted to say thanks for reading this. I know this chapter was kinda slow but it needed to be wrote because there is a reason for it later. The next chapter will have more things going on. Please leave a review. Love it? Hate it? Tell me about it. You can also PM me or message me on tumblr. My url is skinnylove1324.I'll try to post an update next week. I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/night/ whenever you read this.