It was 7 AM by the time Daryl dropped Beth back at her dorm. Just like the previous night he stood in front of her awkwardly, unsure of what to do. The obvious thing would be to lean down and kiss her, but something was keeping him frozen.

It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed their kiss back at the bar, the problem was that he enjoyed it too much. It had been years since Daryl had kissed anyone and even then it hadn't come close to this. The whole thing had barely lasted ten seconds, but Daryl still felt her lips on his hours later.

Any semblance of intimacy that he had shared before his kiss with Beth had been blurry with the hours of drinking that led up to it. Even calling it intimacy was a stretch.

Beth was different, and it wasn't just because he had been sober. All the women that Daryl had been around in his life had been hard. Beth wasn't. But as much as Daryl was afraid of ruining her in some way, he couldn't walk away. Even if he really wanted to, she probably wouldn't let him. Maybe she was crazy? The girl hadn't even blinked an eye when he had brought up his past.

In fact, Beth had spent an hour grilling him on the things he'd done. Her response? "Hm. Okay then." After which she'd proceeded to nonchalantly change the subject.

Daryl couldn't figure it out. And now here she was, standing in front of him, giving him a look that made it clear what she expected of him.

"Sorry I kept you out so late- well, early." He heard himself say to her. Idiot, he thought, just kiss her.

She smiled, "It's okay you already messed up my sleep schedule the night before."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that too."

Beth punched his arm playfully. "I'm teasing you, Daryl!" She paused in thought, "You know, I just realized that I don't even know your last name. I've kissed you, I know about the time you almost got shot in the butt by an eighty year old woman. But not your last name."

Daryl laughed and resisted making a joke about her being easy. He would be kidding, obviously, but he was pretty sure that women didn't take kindly to that kind of humor. Merle had a scar behind his right ear to prove it.

"Dixon."

"Daryl Dixon." Beth spoke his name, taking her time over each syllable. "I like it, nice alliteration."

Whatever that meant.

"Mine is Greene. Beth Greene."

"Well Beth Greene, it's nice to know you." Daryl stuck his hand out to her, the same way she had done once before in the dusty bar hallway.

Beth's mouth turned up into a small smile as she took his hand and shook it. Unlike last time he didn't try to pull away. He just let their hands linger, clasped together tightly. Daryl wondered what it would feel like to interlace his fingers with her own. Before he could work up the courage to, Beth took a step toward him.

"You should ask me out on a date." She remarked, matter of factly.

Daryl let out a short laugh. "Oh yeah?"

Beth nodded. "For Chinese."

"You're pretty sure of yourself, ain't ya?"

To his surprise, she shrugged and admitted with more honesty than Daryl had ever managed. "Not at all, but if I pretend long enough then it has to rub off. Don't you think?"

He didn't know what to say, so Daryl did the only thing he could think to. Closing the distance left between them, he pushed a strand of her hair away from her lips and brought his mouth down to meet hers.

Beth responded more quickly than he had, her lips moving against his own almost immediately. She dropped his hand to grasp onto the front of his shirt, twisting it between her fingers. Daryl slid his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her even closer to him. He was aware of his pulse in his ears, pounding erratically.

Too quickly she pulled away, cheeks bright and her gaze looking past him.

"There are people watching." Beth pointed, and Daryl turned to see two students on their way to class avert their gazes.

"Just imagine what they were thinking." Daryl teased.

"Oh, shush," Beth nudged his chest, "Now that we've kissed twice you really need to take me on a date though. Don't want you thinking that I'm easy."

Daryl looked her up and down. "Something tells me you're not gonna be that."

Beth raised her eyebrows at him and this time it was Daryl's turn to go red.

"I'm sorry," he stuttered. "I didn't mean it like that, that's not what I'm after here. Not that I'm after anything!" Giving up, he quickly changed the subject. "So, Chinese then?"

She smiled and nodded. "How about tomorrow night? Are you working?"

"No," Daryl lied. He would just tell Abe to suck it up and cover for him. Working seven days a week without overtime was illegal anyway, he deserved a night off. "Tomorrow night is good."

"Good!" Her eyes beamed up at him and she bounced up and down on her heels. "My family went to this amazing place for my brother's birthday last year that's only a ten minute walk from here."

"Let's go there then. I'll pick you up at six, alright?"

"Perfect!" She nodded vigorously.

Unsure of what to do next, Daryl shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets. He'd never even been on a date before, let alone asked someone out. Did you kiss goodbye? He was pretty sure you weren't even supposed to kiss until after the second date.

So much for that.

Beth let out a bubble of laughter, clearly as nervous as Daryl was. Standing on her toes, she leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Her hands had landed on his shoulders to give her balance and he felt her squeeze lightly before she stepped away.

"See you tomorrow, Daryl Dixon." Beth winked before turning to go inside.

Daryl let out a deep breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding in. As he started to walk home he felt himself begin to panic. What the fuck did you even wear on a date? Not a suit, he knew that much.

He needed to go home and sleep, but his feet took him in the opposite direction of his and Merle's apartment. There was a Kohl's not too far away. They sold nice things, didn't they? Plus, stores like that always had mannequins that he could just copy an outfit from.

A tired looking employee was unlocking the doors just as he walked up. The man surveyed Daryl's appearance and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Normally it would have made him livid to be judged right off the bat like that, but right now he was too exhausted to give a shit.

Heading toward the men's section, Daryl felt the man's eyes on his back. He ignored it and went straight to the first mannequin he saw. It had on the ugliest fucking tracksuit that Daryl had ever seen.

This was a great idea.

"That reminds me of my father." A female voice spoke behind him, causing Daryl to jump.

Turning around, he was surprised to see the waitress from the diner, Carol, standing in front of him. She still wore her uniform and dark bags under her eyes showed her exhaustion.

"What're you doing here?" Daryl asked.

She looked amused at his expression. "I'm guessing the same thing as you."

"You just got off now?"

Carol nodded. "About an hour ago. I worked a double so Ed told me I could go buy myself a new shirt."

"What a guy." Daryl snorted.

Choosing to ignore him, she asked, "Why are you here? The Moonshine Shack closed hours ago, didn't it? I wouldn't have taken you for an early riser."

Daryl scratched the back of his neck roughly. "I needed a new outfit.:

"For tonight?"

"Tomorrow night."

She examined him closely before her lips curled up into a knowing smile. "The girl who stood you up at the diner?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He scoffed. But he could tell from her continued grinning that she didn't buy it. With a groan, he snapped, "She didn't stand me up, and yes it's for her. How do you even know about that?"

"She came running into the diner about an hour after you left. Poor thing looked panicked before rushing back out. I just assumed that she was looking for you since you had obviously been waiting for someone earlier." Carol laughed, "She's kind of young for you, don't you think?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't know nothin' about it."

"Okay, okay." Carol held up her hands in a truce. She poked her head around his shoulder to examine the mannequin. "Word of advice: I wouldn't recommend wearing that."

"No shit," he rolled his eyes and started working his way through the racks of clothing. Carol followed.

"Want some help?"

"No. Don't you have somewhere to be?" He accused, turning back towards her.

Carol held up a bulky green sweater. "I got my stuff already. Plus, you're clearly out of your element here. I can help!"

Daryl snorted, "I've seen the way Ed dresses. The guy's even worse than me."

"Barely, and they way Ed dresses has got nothing to do with me. I'm telling you, I can help. My coworkers are always bringing in fashion magazines to read on breaks."

He wanted to tell her to go away, that he didn't want her advice. This was hour twenty of no sleep and the last thing he wanted to do was chat with some lady he barely knew. Still, he really was in over his head.

"Fine." Daryl grumbled and turned back to the clothes. He could hear Carol cracking up behind him but chose to ignore it.

They wandered in silence for a few minutes before splitting up. Daryl stood in front of the outerwear section, fingering a scratchy poncho that didn't look like it could keep anyone warm. Still, he kind of liked it even though the red in it wouldn't do him any favors while hunting. Maybe he'd wear it on his date with Beth tomorrow, see if that would scare her off. Daryl was just grabbing it's hanger when Carol cleared her throat behind him.

Turning, he saw that she was holding up an outfit for him to see. Daryl looked suspiciously at the denim button down and black jeans that Carol had picked out.

"Trust me," she assured him. "This is it."


A/N: I uploaded this a day late but I've just been so exhausted all week. It took me over an hour to type this all out because I kept spacing out. Whoops! Oh well, hope you guys enjoy! I'll have the next chapter up by Sunday.