Daryl awoke the next morning splayed across a sofa with a pounding headache. Reluctantly he pulled himself up, his shoulders and the back of his neck stuck to the leather of the seat in the early morning heat. With his head throbbing and his throat dry he trudged through the lounge, hardly raising his feet to step over other unconscious men in the room. A low moan escaped his lips as he caught a glance of the morning sun.

"Lookin' for somethin'?" He heard a voice behind him. Beth's voice.

"Aspirin."

By the way she rummaged through cupboards, Daryl was sure she didn't actually know where it was but he glugged at the water she gave him and barely noticed the tablet he swallowed.

"Did you have a good night?" Daryl studied her eyes. They flickered nervously around the room, barely setting on his for more than a few seconds. She was scared.

"What's happened?" He spoke slowly with his finger on his lip, clearly in deep concentration.

"I'm sure your boss will tell you." Beth smiled softly and it made Daryl uncomfortable, he wasn't used to seeing her with such a sad smile. She drummed her hands on the kitchen unit and sighed. "I'll see you later." Beth made her way back to the lounge to tidy and it left Daryl reeling.

After a quick meeting with The Governor to explain what he had missed, Daryl left the house in his pickup. As he drove with the wind blowing through his hair he wondered how Beth would cope with all of this, if she could cope with of all of this. The further away he drove the more he realised it was his fault for actually putting her in danger, after all it was he who had threatened her, made her run into The Governor in the first place. Then again, perhaps it would have happened anyway and he had just sped up the process. It seemed like his boss was going to use Beth, what had he said? She was very important to his plans?

Without even knowing it, Daryl found himself on the Greene's drive. He had to see her and let her know that he was going to be there for her. It wasn't until he reached the front door that he realised how bad of an idea this had been. He was still wearing the clothes from the night before, a white vest with a plaid shirt over the top and a pair of faded blue jeans tucked into his combat boots, but it wasn't like he could turn back now. He quickly glanced at his mussed hair and grimaced as he tried to slick down the few wispy hairs that refused to comply. He hadn't shaved recently either and he was growing some thick stubble around his jaw.

"Grea'." He murmured and and knocked on the door.

The swung open and there stood Maggie Greene, fire in her eyes and anger in her heart.

"You." Maggie stepped onto the porch and shut the door behind her. "What do you think you're doin' playin' Beth around like that?" Her hands rested defiantly on her hips and Daryl noted that her accent was much thicker than Beth's.

"Wha'? I 'aint been-" He began to defend himself but the words that tumbled from his mouth came out in sputters and stutters.

"Shut up. Don't talk. You know how much she liked you? You were the first guy she ever tol' me abou'. You know tha'?"

"No …" His previous anger had been knocked out of his system and was replaced by a sinking feeling of disappointment. So she had felt something for him, but no he always had to worry, didn't he? Worry about Merle and work, never worrying about himself.

"Well, until Phillip anyway." Maggie was sure to lace every word in a toxic venom as she hurled them at him, she had no qualms about whether Daryl had a thing for Beth, she knew he had. He had just been too chicken to actually confront his feelings.

"I heard." Daryl's voice was thick with ice and his fists clenched slightly. He thought he had better control of his emotions, but apparently not.

"Then you'd understand she was happy, so y'can leave now." And with that Maggie turned on her heel and went inside, slamming the door shut in his face.

As Daryl walked back to the pick up he saw Beth walking down the drive rummaging through her bag, no doubt trying to find her keys..

"Beth …!" Daryl called, his voice hoarse. He quickly cleared his throat and jogged to her.

"Daryl." Beth stopped looking through her bag and looked up at him, her heart pounding in her ears.

"I know everythin' Beth, I know everythin'." Daryl heaved a sigh and shook his head slightly. "You see why I din't want t'get you involved?" He held out his arms to show defeat.

Instead of replying, Beth threw her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. and Daryl snaked his arms around her waist and held her tight.

"What do I do, Daryl?"

"I wish … I wish I knew."

"He'll kill them."

"He 'aint gonna do that."

"You know what he said-"

"I 'aint gonna let it happen."

Beth pulled away to look at Daryl and all of a sudden the distance felt closed between them. She could feel his breath on her face and her heart fluttered at the feel of his hand on her waist. Her breath caught in her throat as Daryl leant his forehead against hers, something that had become their 'thing' and brushed his lips gently against hers.

"Daryl." She weakly pushed against his chest, she couldn't do this no matter how much she wanted it. "I can't … Not when he's threatenin' me like this. Not when he's threatenin' you."

This threat came as news to him, but it seemed to click. The Governor knew how he felt about her, he fucking knew.

"What d'ya mean?" He pulled back slightly, but it he wanted he could still rest his chin on the top of her head if he wanted to.

"When … When we went to bed, he told me that the people he'd hurt included you." Beth's words hung in the air for a few minutes as he mulled them over. "Look, can we just go somewhere? I hate the idea of being so close to them." Beth nodded at the house and he understood.

"But y'can face bein' near me?" He smirked and opened the door of his truc for her to get in.

A grin found it's way to Beth's face and she quickly got in the truck.

"Anywhere y'wanted t'go?" Daryl glanced over at her as she sat shotgun, but he already knew.

Beth sat on the edge of Daryl's bed in the cabin as he had a shower and thought about what had actually happened. She was stuck in a relationship with Phillip, what kind of name was Phillip anyway? Her family was in danger and she was a pawn in a game she didn't even want to play. So much for some game night.

Beth heard the bathroom door unlock, the cabin seemed much bigger now that she had time to look around and she hadn't even noticed the bathroom or the small kitchen in the far corner. Her eyes rested upon the crossbow on the desk and she tentatively went over to it, weapons were never really her thing. She had never enjoyed them and didn't plan to now, however the crossbow was impressive.

"Y'like it?" Beth jumped and turned around and saw Daryl stood by his bed. She noted he was already dressed in a baggy tshirt and another pair of jeans, his feet were bare.

"Not really … I just, don't really like weapons." Beth smiled weakly and went into the shower. She'd just wear the clothes she'd worn last night.

The shower was surprisingly powerful for something that existed in the middle of the woods, but she relished it anyway. She couldn't shake the image of a freshly washed Daryl out of her head. His hair had been slicked back and his jaw was prominent as ever from his shave.

After realising she'd spent nearly half an hour showering, Beth quickly got out and changed before meeting Daryl in the lounge. He was sat at the desk cleaning the crossbow.

"You headin' out?" Beth inquired as she sat on the edge of Daryl's bed again, watching the way his back muscles strained through his tshirt as he cleaned.

"Nah, I just like t'clean her." He noted, giving a small shrug. "You're a veggie anyway, 'aint you?" He frowned, leaning round in the chair to look at her.

Beth laughed and gave a small nod, there was so much of Merle in that sentence that she couldn't help but laugh.

"Somethin' funny?" Daryl raised an eyebrow and stood up from the chair, a small smirk played about on his lips.

"No…" Beth smirked back at him and the butterflies in her stomach soared.

"Why're you laughin' then?" Daryl took a step towards her and kept the smirk.

"You sounded like Merle." Beth laughed again and inched back on the bed.

"I sounded like Merle?" A look of disgust found it's way to his features and he couldn't find a way to hide it.

This only made Beth laugh harder, she thought he'd quite like to be compared to Merle.

Daryl laid on the bed beside her and tugged her ponytail gently to pull her down next to him without hurting her of course.

"You couldn't have just asked?" Beth smiled and shook her head before nestling herself against Daryl again.

"Nah, girls like the bad boys anyway." Came his retort.

"Is that why they prefer Merle?" Beth tried to hide her laugh and failed miserably.

"Ha, you're funny." Daryl pretended to laugh and nudged her gently.

However he didn't judge how hard he had knocked her and she fell from the bed and pulled him with her, he caught himself quickly and held himself above her on his forearms.

"My bad." He offered as an apology, his cheeks went red.

"Daryl?" Beth sighed and smiled softly as she watched the red tint in his cheeks.

"Beth?" He replied and quickly leaned to the side, putting all his weight on one side of his body as he ran a hand through his hair, he then moved back over her.

"This is the happiest I've been in a long time."

Daryl understood, but he didn't have the heart to tell her it would be the last time she would be happy for a long time.