*SeeA VERY IMPORTANT Author Note At The End* Thanks *wink* *blows kisses*

Beth's POV

"It wasn't that long, and it certainly wasn't the kind of kiss you see in movies these days, but it was wonderful in its own way, and all I can remember about the moment is that when our lips touched, I knew the memory would last forever."

~Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember

A week later after the run

Amazingly things have a way of happening when we least expect it. We think we have our lives figured out; we are so certain we know what we want and what to do in order to get it, but truth be told life is unpredictable.

Humans are unpredictable.

The way things happen in the present is not an indication of how things are going to happen in the future. Humans have the power to change the course of things. When things go wrong, we expect misery, we know what's coming but it's when things are going well and in a blink of an eye they go bad that's when we really suffer. We adapt, we evolve but we are never truly happy.

When we are born, we come into this world crying, afraid because we are no longer safe in our mother's bellies and we never really stop crying or being afraid for that matter. Just because tears don't fall down your cheeks doesn't mean you're not crying.

It's easy most of the time to smile, to pretend everything is alright, to hide behind a proud stance, to keep your chin high and to never back down but everybody has a limit. People will do whatever they can to hurt you because it's in their nature. But what do we do when the world, an inanimate object, is hurting you too? When God is making things harder on you? What do you do when you're hurting yourself? What do you do when you are your own worst enemy?

We blame people for our own mistakes and we constantly blame God but we never blame ourselves, we never stand in front of a mirror and look ourselves in the eyes and say, "It's your fault," we don't cause it's easier to blame others.

We can't hide from our mistakes, we can't hide from who we are and we can't lie to ourselves for ever. And surely we can't escape the present and change the past because what's done is done.

Beth was reflecting on those things as she was getting ready to do her chores. She pulled her weight around like all of them did. But when she looked at herself in the mirror all she could think was about how much of messed up person she was. She was her own worst enemy.

Beth knew the guys needed her help this week more than ever, since this week had literally been hell to all of them and they were currently switching each other around in order to get things done. The flu had spread around and they were currently quarantined. Today she was in charge of feeding the animals.

Daryl POV

Exertion was taking its toll on Daryl's limbs as he lifted the shovel once again, throwing the sand on the side. He was currently digging the third hole that day, his skin was sunburned, and a rag was covering his mouth and nose and tears were no longer running down his eyes. Because when a person sees dead for so long, eventually they become numb to it.

A sickness had taken over the prison and people were slowly dying, the medicine they've brought was not enough. A new breed of walker's was evolving, apparently. Hershel had said to him that just by breathing the air next to a person infected with the "new sickness" it could be lethal. Karen had died, leaving Tyreese on the road of Looney town. Yesterday two of the Woodbury people including Patrick had died, and today he was digging yet another grave for another Woodbury kid.

The kids were the worst. He had to dig the graves of the children smaller because their little bodies didn't need as much space. It was a morbidity and something awful but truth be told they needed a lot of space. He tried to bunch up the bodies as close together as possible in order for them to have more space so they could bury the people he knew were going to continuously die, that is judging by the rate at which people were currently dying.

He wondered for a moment, if he were to die who would be in charge of digging his grave? He shook his head of the thought and looked at the blazing sun, he was thirsty and there was no one next to him. But if he was honest with himself he could really say that digging graves was a sort of a therapy.

In a terrible sort of way he liked it.

People would leave him alone and nobody would be pestering him around asking stupid questions. It was not necessarily that he enjoyed digging graves but he was a "clean the shit" kind of guy and it was calming to be useful in the middle of chaos. Some things needed to be done and nobody wanted to do it, so it was up to him to do those kinds of things.

Matt was still unconscious and every time he went to visit him his best friend was asleep. He couldn't fathom to be too close to his friend because Hershel had told him that Matt had taken the flu, and that he needed medication in order to get him better and if Daryl as so much as breathed near him he could get infected. Michonne was sick too since she had been in the block where it all started, when Patrick had taken the virus and literally bit some Woodbury people up. They have been able to contain the disease from spreading in that block but they could only do so much.

He was currently digging and finishing with his hole when Daryl looked to the side and saw just the Greene girl falling to the floor and holding a hand to her chest. His heart thumped faster and his only thought was "Please, not her too". He put his shovel down and practically went running to where she was.

Beth's POV

She was currently feeding the pigs with a bowl of all the leftovers from the morning when she heard it.

Shhh, hush little girl, don't scream. Shhh, hush little girl, don't scream.

Her heart stopped for a moment and then started beating wildly again. The hair on the back of her neck stood up once again and she closed her eyes. She stilled her hands and held herself with one arm on the wooden fence that they had built for the pigs.

Shhh, hush little girl, don't scream. Shhh, hush little girl, don't scream.

"Please, please go away," Beth breathed out as a silent prayer. She closed her eyes harder and thought of pretty things but she felt it coming. She was looking around when all of a sudden her breath caught in her lungs; it was as if there was no air around her. She knew it then, she was having a panic attack.

Are you afraid little one? Give me your hand doll.

She felt the mud mix with shit on her knees, she was getting dirty but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She dropped the bowl with the leftovers on the mud and put her hand on her chest. She was taking large gulps of air but nothing was working. Her psychiatric had taught her breathing exercises but they were bullshit.

"I'm not afraid, I'm not scared of you," Beth screamed to nobody in particular.

"What the fuck is wrong with you child? Who are you talking too?" Said the rough voice of Daryl Dixon who was currently standing above her with a scowl on his face.

She felt tears running down her face and looked everywhere. She was disoriented, he was here, if he didn't shut up, he was going to come.

"Don't say anything, he will hear you," she said in a whisper, her eyes fearful scanning the place as if expecting someone to pop out of the place.

"What are you…" he started saying but was cut off when she stood up and put a hand on his mouth, grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him to the floor. She knew he was strong so probably it was more the element of surprise that made it possible for her to manhandle him.

"Listen woman, I don't know what the hell is wrong with that pretty head of yours but…" he said making a move to stand up and shaking his head from side to side to remove her hand from his mouth. He was looking at her as if expecting a second head to appear, once again she interrupt him again.

Beth put her hand on his mouth and in order to still his movement she got on top of him straddling his hips, eliciting a struggled muffle response from him. He was thrashing around when she looked him straight in the eyes. He had light heaven blue eyes. This was Dixon.

They were in the prison. She had it all wrong. And just as quickly as she was gone, she was brought back. Beth notice she was straddling his hips and that he had halted any movement he was previously doing and put his hand on her hips to control her moving.

She looked at him in the eye but didn't dare remove the hand that was on his mouth because she knew that once she did it, he was going to start screaming at her and insulting her.

"I'm sorry, I thought… It's...It won't happen again." Beth all but stuttered blushing and removed her hand from his mouth.

"Get off me, and fucking stop moving." Daryl said in a calm, overly calm yet serious voice.

She nodded her head 'yes' and slid herself downward in order to get up. She landed on his privates and he moaned. She stopped her movement and looked at him straight in the eye. He had a pained expression on his face and his eyes were dark, dark blue. She quickly realized what was going on and opened her eyes like big plates.

"Move, kid." He repeated through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." She repeated quickly trying to stand up but his hands were still on her hips. She looked at him and with her hands signaled to his hands on her hips and said "Can you please…"

He looked at his hands on her hips and as if he was burned he took them away. She quickly stood up and picked up the bowl from the mud which was empty since the pigs had eaten all that was inside and looking back at Daryl Dixon got closer to him.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Beth apologized nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

He was lying on the floor with a hand on his face. He nodded his head.

"I don't know what came over me, it must have been the stress with all the people getting sick I just…" She quickly rambled and he nodded once again still on the ground.

"Are you ok? Do you need help standing up?" Beth asked quite concerned because he was just laying there.

"Don't. Stay away from me, please." Daryl said taking the hand that was covering his face and halting any movement from her, it was as if he thought that his hand could stop every movement from her.

She nodded her head though and he looked straight at her face and his cheeks blushed, he turned his head to the side and inhaled a lot of air, as if to calm himself.

"I was wondering…would you please maybe not tell anyone about what you just saw I mean?" She said blushing, stammering and very ashamed of herself.

He looked at her from the ground and searched her face. Beth wanted to look away from his eyes but she couldn't, he was looking for something deep down inside her. His scowl was no longer on his face and a look of understanding passed across it but it was so fast that maybe she had imagined it all.

"Don't worry, I won't tell." Daryl whispered almost as if he didn't want her to hear it.

She nodded and looked about herself. Turning around she was almost out of the pigs stable when she heard his voice.

"You left the cub, Beth," he said in a low voice standing up and cleaning himself off trying to avoid looking at her.

She was so surprise that he had called her by her name that she just nodded and picked up the cub getting out of stable because truth be told she could hear her heart beating and she was afraid he might hear it too.

Daryl's POV

Daryl had intruded on a moment, a Beth's and Zack's moment. He was pissed, hell he wanted to puke. Shit, nowadays you couldn't even go to the prison kitchen to grab a quick something to eat because there was someone fucking somebody, or somebody fucking interrupting him. He was tired after a hard day of digging holes and all he wanted was some peace and quiet. But he was never left the fuck alone and plus he always sort of hated couples and lovely-dovey eyes. And that was exactly how Zack was looking at Beth, again.

He was formulating a plan in order to interrupt the teenagers when he heard something that Beth had said to Zack. She had said, "Teach me."

Unwillingly he was flooded with a memory. Those two words triggered a flashback.

Flashblack

The machine's beep tone kept him awake. It was a beep-beep sound that had a haunting melody. While it beeped you were alive but if the sound ever stopped you were dead, it was somehow synchronized with the beating of his heart and for his life he couldn't bring his eyes to close, too worried that the sound would somehow stop. His body still felt sore but he was already better.

He had been in the hospital for two weeks now, this time it had been bad. His daddy had used a knife. His leg was broken in four places and he could barely see from one eye, that was how swollen his eye was. His wrist had a bandage covered with some salve and the doctor had said that he had second degree burns on it. It had been bad, it had been really bad.

He felt a warmth that came from his left and he felt the presence of a body. When he slowly turned his head he confirmed his initial assessment, he saw Matt lying there next to him. He looked tired and there were purple shadows under his eyes, in fact screw tired, he looked wrecked. His hair was tousled and he had his hand on Daryl's chest and one leg curled up around his calves. He was holding on to him as if he was a giant teddy bear.

He took the moment to look at Matt, he never really got tired of it, he looked peacefully sleeping next to him, so unlike himself. He never had peace in his sleep; his nights were always crowded with nightmares except those times he slept next to Matt.

Matt stirred in his sleep and mumbled something, interrupting his musings. Daryl got closer to him to hear what he said but it seemed to him as if he was blabbering. Nonetheless Matt started making sounds again and this time he could hear exactly what he was saying. His friend was mumbling, "Don't leave me, never leave me Daryl," his heart swelled and he put his hand on top of Matt's hand on his chest and said, "I'm here, I'm here," trying to calm his friend.

And looking down at him he saw Matt's form waking up, his eyes wild. He looked afraid and lost, when he took in his surroundings a sigh escaped his lips and his eyes settled on Daryl's form. He hugged him harder and kissed his arm, shoulder, lips, and temple and just about everything he could reach.

Daryl smiled a real smile. "Hey, hey I could get used to waking up like this you know but I'm alright and if Misha comes...you...I, what happened?" He asked a concerned expression on his face combined with an apologetic smile for the first remark but it was true Misha was always jealous of their intimacy.

Matt's expression was somber and his eyebrows knitted, "Fuck Misha and her stupid remarks! I don't care about what that cow thinks. But for a moment I thought I lost you… you were shouting when I brought you here and in so much pain and God help me, I can't deal with that, you've been practically in a coma for two weeks, I can't Daryl."

Daryl's face softened and he whispered in an ashamed tone, 'I'm sorry Matt, I'm really sorry."

Matt's face hardened, his English accent became more pronounced when he was mad. "You twat, you have nothing to be sorry about! What the hell is wrong with you? Must I remind you that it was your fucked up arse of a dad that did this to you?" His face darkened.

"I...yes, I know, but I...it's for my own good and I know you don't understand and sometimes even I don't understand it myself but I know it's for the best, he… he wants me to be strong." He said unsure of himself.

Matt's face was expressionless, he closed up, he masked his face. There was something wrong, he knew Matt like the back of his hand. "Let's not talk about it anymore for now; yeah love? He said petting his head back and sitting up on the bed.

"Is something wrong.. What?" Daryl started to say but was cut off by Matt.

"Enough, Daryl, tell me about that bird you like, what's her name Hope or something like that?" Matt commented airily with a mischievous face.

"It's Faith; her name is Faith, Matt. How many times do I have to tell you?" He grumbled in a condescending tone.

"Aha, yes I knew that, so did you guys talk, and you know," Matt said winking.

"Well yes we do, but sort of... it's weird and I'm worried." Daryl mumbled quickly, lowering his face while playing with his hands.

"What's wrong love?" Matt asked lifting his chin with his hand and caressing his cheek, a concerned expression on his face.

"I'veneverkissedanyone." He said very quickly.

"What was that?" Asked Matt with a big grin, teasing him cause the fucker had heard what he said.

"I've never kissed anyone!"

"There happy, you bastard?" Daryl said mortified with his cheeks turning red.

"But Darling, don't I count for someone or am I nobody? You twat." Matt said with his eyes glinting and slapping his arm.

"Oh shut up, you know what I mean, a real kiss, with a girl." Daryl all but stated putting emphasis on the last word.

"Yes I know, but love that's something that comes out naturally you know," Matt commented his eyes twinkling, smiling with them like only he could.

"But.. What if I do it wrong? What if she thinks I'm bad?" Daryl said worriedly.

"That's, that's impossible nobody is that bad, there's just different ways of kissing, and I think….mmmm sort of just…. it's just… look just don't worry about it yeah? When the right time comes, with the right lady you will do just fine. I swear." Matt said kindly before rolling his eyes to the ceiling.

"If not… well." Matt said with a smile

"If not what Matt?" Daryl inquired with a daring expression

"You would always have me yeah?" Matt stated with a "sorry but I'm not sorry smile".

He look at Matt as an idea came to his mind, looking straight at his eyes and with a serious expression he said, "Teach me."

Matt looked at him in surprise and kind of taken aback for a moment though he hid it quickly. He looked at Daryl's face with a thoughtful expression and then it switched to concern then it was just his usual mischievousness laced with a playful smile. It still amazed him how Matt's face could express so many emotions like an open book and yet manage to be mysterious at the same time, it was beautiful.

"Are you sure love? It's different kissing a guy than a girl you know that right"? Matt interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes I do, it's just that I trust you. You're the only one that can help me." Daryl said with a hopeful voice.

"I know I know babes," he said with a tender look, sort of like one would look a baby.

Matt didn't let Daryl consider more of what he had asked. He lifted one hand and thread it through his hair, massaging it slowly as he inched his face closer. He could count Matt's freckles and distinguish the different shades of blue that his eyes held. He had one eye with a bit of green, it wasn't noticeable but up close you could see it.

Matt's dad had told him it was a mild case of "heterochromia". He was thinking about what it meant when he felt soft full lips on his own but that was hardly "new" since Matt and him kissed all the time but their kisses were full of innocence, the kinds you give to your siblings, every single one of them had been of pure brotherly affection, except this one.

This kiss was thrilling; it was full of emotion, of love. He lifted a hand and put it on Matt's cheek caressing it and the other on Matt's shoulder to drag him closer. He felt Matt's tongue on his lips and he felt a small tug on his hair that made him moan, at the same time and by default making him open his mouth. He started to massage his tongue with his and the feeling was heavenly.

Matt deepened the kiss and tilted his head a little bit grabbing the fabric of his shirt to get him closer if that was even possible. He moaned into Matt's mouth and he could felt Matt's shiver spasms in his shoulder. He felt light headed and remember that he needed to come back up for a breath. He pulled back and what he saw made butterflies flutter in his stomach.

Matt's eyes were dark blue and his lips were red, his hair was tousled and his cheeks were tinted red, it was quite a sight. Daryl imagined that he looked sort of the same, Matt was looking at him with fascinated eyes but with a proud expression in his eyes, sort of how you look at a baby's first steps.

One thing was for sure Daryl wanted to repeat that and so they did. They kissed for almost 20 minutes when a nurse came and interrupted them to take his vitals; she gave them a wink and got out of the room. When the nurse was done they looked at each other and burst out laughing until tears were running down their cheeks from so much laughing, their sides hurt and they were looking at each other lying side by side.

Matt took his hand and kissed it saying, "I know you were going to be good darling, now you're ready to kiss that bird, Hope."

"It's Faith, Matt. How many times do I have to tell you?" Daryl said though he smiled.

With a glint in his eyes and a dismissive hand Matt said, "Yes, yes I know."

And they started rolling with laughter again, talking about shit stuff while holding hands.

End of Flashback

Weeks later he had in fact kissed the girl, Faith and she was the first and last girl he kissed because when he kissed her, he realized that there was no love. He didn't feel what he had felt with Matt and he realized with sadness that maybe he never will. Probably because nobody could ever love him like Matt had. That was his first and last kiss with Matt like that; the others were just pure brotherly affection.

He decided that he was never going to kiss a girl again because when he did he wanted to feel love or something akin to it.

Daryl turned back to the present where Zack was giving Beth a look like Matt gave him just before kissing him.

He had missed half the conversation and of course what it had been about but he could see Zack inching closer and he be damned but he didn't want Zack's mouth on Beth's, he didn't question his motives but instead acted on his impulse.

He took a casserole that was in the entrance and a big spoon and he just banged the spoon with the casserole making as much noise as he could. He looked at the surprised couple and smirked, "Oh, I didn't realize someone was already here."

Beth looked furious while Zack look embarrassed. She grabbed Zack by the arm and made to stand up.

His grin was bigger now and he said, "Beth, can I talk to you for a minute alone." He put emphasis on the word 'alone' and giving an apologetic side smile to Zack, he really liked the boy. And his strong dislike for the girl had nothing to do with him. The boy smiled back and scurried quickly out of the kitchen not sparing the girl a second glance and clearly glad of being out of Daryl's bad list.

Her face was a mix of surprise and hatred. "What do you want Dixon?" Beth said in a calm yet clipped tone pronouncing every syllable as if commanding peace from a higher source.

Too bad she didn't get the memo; there was nothing up there, and certainly nobody in this kitchen to give her peace.

He side smiled and said nothing more, moving a few casseroles here and there and calmly after about 15 minutes he looked at her and tilting his head asked. "What were you asking Zack?"

She looked shocked, as if she wasn't expecting the question. And truth be told he hadn't been meaning to ask that, it had just sort popped out of his mouth, like word vomit. He had wanted to bother her, stall her so by the time she got out of the kitchen Zack would already be out of reach but with a disturbing sense of knowledge he realized that he really wanted to know what they have been talking about.

It was curiosity; he was a curious person by nature.

She said nothing; she was clearly mortified with her face red and she turned to go. He took her by one arm and held her looking into her eyes.

" . . ?" Daryl questioned again, intrigued now. He wanted to know if they were talking like him and Matt.

"It is none of your business, what is wrong with you?" She yanked at her arm. "Are you fucking insane?" She yanked again. "What have I done to you?" She groaned loudly. "Just I'm sorry okay; whatever I did I'm sorry just, please leave me alone…" Beth said in a tired sort of way. It had been a God awful day for both of them.

His smirk got wider and he leaned to her ear and whispered, "You see, I told you, you would apologize. And that's better child but really what I want to know is what you were asking him, call it curiosity."

Beth's face looked desperate, furious and he thought that any moment now she was going to snap and truth be told he was itching for it.

As she raised her hand he knew what was coming but for his life he couldn't stop her, he wanted to feel. And the clashing sound was loud as her hand collided with his cheek; she had slapped him, hard. He had been too focused on her face, she had looked powerful, hell if he didn't know any better he thought she might have enjoyed it a bit. She looked dominant, he was baffled, she had a sadistic side or so he saw.

Daryl's hair got into his eyes and his face was to the side, his cheek burn and there was blood on his lips where his teeth had collided with his lower lip.

He slowly deliberately turned his head, his eyes wild, and a smirk on his face, he raised his hand and she flinched away, closing his eyes.

He was amused. He slowly lowered his hand and caressed her cheek and very slowly he leaned to her and whispered in her ear. "If you ever dare to touch me again, least of all slap me, I will cut your hand. Am I clear?" His voice was full of dripping honey. It was sweet laced with danger and he could see that she was terrified, he had been wrong on his assessment before, she was not a sadistic woman just a desperate girl.

Beth nodded her head quickly, her eyes big as plates. She took in his bloody lip and as if in a daze she raised her hand, she slowly put her palm on his cheek and gave him a caress. He leaned his head on it closing his eyes, it was a rather unconscious body response and slowly she ran one finger on his lower lip. Smearing her fingertip with blood.

He reacted and was about to grab her hand and shout at her when she took her fingertip and cleaned it on his shirt. She grabbed the hem of his shirt and raised it to clean his lip; she got on her tiptoes and pressed the fabric back and forth, all the while looking at his eyes.

She was an open book, he saw so many emotions, she was scared, repulsed, there was hatred and fascination but they were changing so quickly that it was hard to keep up. Unconsciously one of her hands was in his chest as to maintain balance and he could feel her warm hand burning his flesh.

When there was no longer blood on his lip he took her wrist and stopped her. She looked like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar and that though almost made him smile, she was such a child. She was a child playing a dangerous game. He was a man and he was certainly not her friend or Zack and she ought to remember that.

So slowly, deliberately he looked into her eyes and quietly said, "Don't ever touch me again." Then he disengaged his body from her turned around leaving his snack and an embarrassed stunned girl behind.

A/N

My babes:

Guess where I am currently? In a rooftop, in the biology building. I kind of love heights , they are calming to me and since I have a lab soon in about 2 hours and the lab it's 3 fucking hours long I usually like to write in here; among other things, if you know what I mean *boys* *cough* ;)

I started college and I have this professor who doesn't really like me and I just feel like slapping him, but I can't, obviously and a there's this guy I hate on one of the my other classes too. So this is going to be a "just dandy" semester for me.

Also I wanted to clarify that I'm from Puerto Rico and in here we're really affectionate so we sort of get into each other's personal space constantly. We kiss, hug, touch and all that stuff all the time. That's why it really didn't seem to me like Daryl's and Matt's relationship was anything out of the ordinary but talking to AnnaFlyte I can see where you guys are coming from. I'm not an American so there's a bit of difference in cultures and I know you guys don't touch as much as we do, but no, they are not together, he's not bisexual, gay, they are not a couple, they won't be a couple, they are not romantically involved in fact they won't be involve in ANY WAY whatsoever not sexually and not as lovers, there's not going to be a subplot, or a threesome, Matt is not Daryl's lover and I could keep on going... but I hope you guys get it this time. I wanted you guys to know that I plan on keeping Daryl as "In character" as possible and guysssss this is Daryl we are talking about so he would never be anything else than straight. This is a Beth's and Daryl's fanfiction only I can't see him being gay or bisexual, I don't have a problem with it, but it's not really compatible with his character. So I hope that was sorted. ;)

Also keep up with the reviews I love them all and I love talking to you guys. Thanks, it really means the world to me. xoxo Besos RomanticForver