"Are you okay?" Daryl had asked that question maybe one hundred thousand times, but Beth could never seem to form an answer and he wasn't going to take silence as an acceptable answer. Patience wasn't exactly a strong point for Daryl, but he kept reminding himself that the initial shock of being found hadn't worn off of her yet. "Can you tell me what they did to you?" Yet there still was only silence between the pair. Letting out a sigh, Daryl carefully set her down and had her sit down with her back against a tree, kneeling down in front of her. "Look, Beth, they're not going to hurt you again. I made sure of that. I just...I need to know what happened."
Beth finally looked up at Daryl behind her long eyelashes and scrunched her eyebrows and swallowed harshly, clearly on the verge of tears. "I don't want to talk about it, Daryl. All I want to do is forget about what they did to me…" her voice trailed off, "what they took from me." She looked down, hugging herself tightly, but Daryl's index finger had lightly lifted her chin to look at him once more.
"I'll make sure no man ever touches you like that again, Beth." Daryl swore, not letting his eyes leave hers. It killed him to know that her first time had been unwillingly and forceful. But those bastards had gotten what they deserved. "I'll never touch you like that." The male didn't even really pay attention to what he was saying, but he was speaking from his heart. He shook his head and looked away, standing up and walking to start working on a fire. "From now on...I'm not letting you out of my sight, Beth Greene." He murmured, gathering some sticks and started piling them in a circle. "You were right, you know."
"Right about what?"
Daryl stopped what he was doing and let out a soft huff before turning his head to look at the sky. "That I'd miss you like hell when you were gone."
Hearing that brought a small smile to Beth's face for the first time in what felt like forever. "How could Daryl Dixon miss someone like me? I'm a nobody." She inquired, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at Daryl curiously.
"Weren't you listening to me back at that old shit hole we burned down? I was and still am a nobody." He laughed a little bit, looking at Beth with a half-smile on his face, but Beth shook her head.
"You're wrong," was all that she said.
Daryl furrowed his brows before turning back to the pile of wood and continuing to try to get a fire started. "And what am I wrong about? Because you lost me there."
Again, there was a brief silence and Beth chewed on her bottom lip, just watching Daryl. "You're not a nobody...you never were," she paused and looked down at the ground, running her fingers across the blades of grass. "You're a hero." The small blonde looked up with wet eyes and her voice cracked on the last part. "You're my hero."
That had been the moment when Daryl thought his heart had stopped beating and he dropped the stick he held in his hands before turning to look over at Beth. Now it was him that couldn't form words. All he could manage was looking into her eyes and just getting...lost. In that moment, it felt like he hadn't lost anyone or anything in the apocalyptic world. Everything he needed was in front of him. Beth had been the first person to never see him as a bad person. But he snapped out of his trance and turned away. "Nah, you don't mean that...I've never been anyone's hero or anyone's...anything." He mumbled, not sure what he was doing anymore until he finally heard the crackling of flames and saw smoke start to rise. "I'm gonna go over here and see if there's anything nearby that we can eat."
"Daryl, don't tell me what I don't mean." Beth spoke suddenly and stood up, nervously balling her hands into loose fists. "I'll admit that when I first met you, I thought you were a bit of an asshole, but then...then I got to actually know you a bit at the prison. Whenever something happened at the prison, you showed remorse and handled it with care. You've put so many others' lives before your own, Daryl. When Zach died, you were the one to tell me, but you did it as gently as possible because you care," she began, taking a step forward when Daryl had finally turned around to face her. "And when I was chained up in that Hell on earth, you found me and you saved me. Before I knew you, my dad was the only hero that I knew and had in my life and now I don't have him anymore, so you are my hero, Daryl Dixon. Whether you like it or not, it's how I will always see you."
Daryl only shook his head, being the modest asshole that he was. "But I didn't save you from this Hell on earth. I only saved you from one ring of it and that ain't worth nothin'."
"Please just...shut up." Beth murmured, shaking her own head as she walked all the way to Daryl and cupped his face, pressing her lips to his and leaving a soft kiss before pulling away, shutting her eyes to avoid seeing his reaction, but instead, she felt it. His lips had found hers this time and it was more than just a peck. This time it was filled with a passion that he had been holding back since he realized just how badly he needed her in his life. He wasn't certain of his feelings, but he knew that there was something.
And maybe something was all that he needed.
A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS DELAYED CHAPTER. But hopefully I'll have some happy readers. Daryl's slowly getting in touch with his feelings, but it could be a good or bad thing. We'll have to see! Thanks for the support!
