Beth glanced out of the window, taking in the gentle glow of the early morning sun, her favourite time of day, even now. It always seemed so beautifully, calm and peaceful.

She was sat up in bed, hugging her knees to her chest, her long blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders and down her back in soft waves, dressed only in her faded pink panties and blood splattered t shirt.

She glanced across at Daryl lying next to her in the bed, his heavy breathing indicating he was still sleeping. Normally she would hurry to make herself look more presentable as soon as she woke, tying her hair back, ensuring she was fully dressed before he saw her. But that kind of seemed a little redundant now. Seeing as he'd seen her completely naked for the first time the previous night.

The previous night!

Just thinking about what had happened then, made Beth smile dreamily. A warmth spreading inside her. As she mentally re-traced every moment of what had unexpectedly turned in to one of the most memorable nights of her life. The dull ache between her legs, reminding her she had most certainly not dreamed it.

Beth hadn't been entirely sure what she had expected, but Daryl was most certainly a dark horse when it came to getting physically intimate. He had always acted a little awkward around women, giving off an inexperienced and slightly indifferent vibe. On first impressions, Beth would have been willing to bet Daryl would have been an inconsiderate lover too, selfish and aloof. As she had got to know him better, her opinion of him had shifted. But Beth still would have presumed that sex with him would most likely be brief, that he would be distant, possibly a little cold.

Instead, being with him had been immensely passionate and he had been patient, gentle and affectionate, taking great pains to make sure she was okay throughout. Thinking about it sent a delicious shiver up and down Beth's spine.

She knew it was wrong on some levels, to feel on a high when such bad things were happening around them. When they had no idea what had happened to their friends. They were missing, possibly dead.

Beth herself had nearly lost her life the previous day too, a fact she most certainly hadn't forgotten.

But in those first few peaceful moments, watching the sunrise, Beth wanted to feel happy for once, to experience the rush of being in love, of being loved, if that was what she could be so bold as to presume was happening between her and Daryl.

"You okay?" She heard Daryl mumble sleepily beside her.

She looked across to see him nearly awake, looking at her through half open eyes.

Feeling herself blushing a little, Beth nodded, as she let out a quiet, "Uh-huh," in response.

"You sleep?" He asked, reaching over to gently touch her arm with his hand.

This was something Daryl seemed to ask her every morning when he woke. But Beth noted the way that he said it on this particular morning was subtly different. It seemed less forced, more intimate, as he allowed his touch to linger just a little longer than would normally have been appropriate.

Beth had been a little apprehensive about how Daryl would react when he woke. Whether he would be weird with her again, confused and awkward. But judging from his body language, that didn't seem to be the case. she thought with relief.

It felt almost as though he had accepted that things between them had naturally moved on. His eyes were different too, seeming less guarded and troubled, more relaxed, possibly even showing a hint of happiness, so rare for him.

"A little," she responded, turning to face him, smiling.

Truth being she hadn't slept that much. When she had finally managed to quiet her mind enough to fall in to a light sleep, she'd dreamed she was back in the woods, pinned to the tree with a knife to her throat, surrounded by the same group of men they had killed; with Daryl no-where in sight. She had woken with a start, relief flooding through her remembering where she was, she was safe and Daryl was right there sleeping next to her, and bit by bit it had all come back to her. Every last delicious detail. Making her smile.

"You was mumblin a bit, cryin out and shit," he said, his face unable to hide the slight concern appearing on it.

Wondering at first whether she should keep her bad dream to herself, looking at Daryl's face, Beth caved in, saying quietly, "Dreamed I was back there, in the woods… and stuff."

"Oh," was all he responded, understanding what she meant. A little relieved that her cries in the middle of the night had been unrelated to him directly, but also worried that their previous encounter with the claimed crew seemed to be playing on her mind so heavily still.

He wanted to say something further, but he couldn't seem to find the right words. Instead he just kept his eyes on her, noticing something about her appearance had changed. Her hair wasn't tied up like normal. He liked it like that, loose and tumbling down her back, she so seldom wore it down, probably wasn't practical he thought, but it made her look different, older; sexy even. A word he would not have liked to associate with her before he had made love to her.

"What?" She asked, noticing the way he was looking at her, like he was studying her, making her feel self conscious all of a sudden.

"Nothin," he mumbled, looking away, moving to prop himself up slightly, groaning with the impact of the sudden movement on his injured side.

"Oh shit, I aint even asked how you are?" Beth was quick to exclaim, a guilty look flashing across her flushed cheeks, glancing down at the dressing on his side now stained with dried blood.

She'd been so wrapped up in what she'd been thinking that it had escaped her mind completely that he had been hurt.

"Fine," he grunted, waving his hand.

Luckily the blade hadn't managed to go in too far in the midst of all the struggling and wrestling that had taken place in the fight between him and the leader of the 'claimers' in the woods the day before. Daryl knew he had been lucky, that it would most likely heal up okay, leaving him with just another scar to add to his collection of many, but that didn't stop it hurting like a bitch right now, not that he would let that on to Beth.

"Here," Beth said, reaching down to pick up and pass him the bottle of amoxicillin they'd been lucky enough to find in the house.

"Thanks," he replied, his eyes very briefly fleeting over her petite half dressed figure, before unscrewing the lid and popping another pill in to his mouth. He'd wanted to insist they saved them, but thought better of it, the last thing either of them needed right now was for him to develop a nasty infection.

Beth watched intensely as he tossed the bottle down beside him, before turning to peel at the edges of his dressing cautiously. He was still shirtless, but he'd been quick to put his socks and trousers back on the night before, right before they'd gone to sleep. Always on the alert for having to act fast and move quickly should he need to.

"You want me to take a look?" Beth asked, shuffling slightly closer to him.

"I got it," he replied, brushing her off.

Beth knew there was little point arguing with him. He may have let her clean and suture it for him the night before, but he was stubborn and proud, he wouldn't like the thought of having to rely on anyone else, not even her.

"Well, I'll go and find us something to eat then," she said, sliding off the bed, glancing around for her jeans to see they were still lying on the floor in a soggy mud splattered heap.

She picked them up, throwing them over the back of the bed to dry, she could try and brush the mud off later, she thought.

She turned to make her way downstairs, dressed in just her t-shirt and underwear still. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Daryl still fiddling with his dressing on the bed. Leaving the room she sensed his eyes had shifted to her, watching her as she walked out of the door.

Slowly, cautiously, Beth made her way down the staircase, stepping lightly on the cold wood of the stairs. She was pretty certain they were alone, but there was something about their new temporary home that still made her feel a little on edge. It remained a mystery to them who had lived there.

Once in the kitchen, Beth opened all the cupboards again, still amazed at how much food there was remaining. Despite them stocking up on nearly all the imperishable supplies they could find when they had first discovered the place, she just seemed to be uncovering more and more food items, there was certainly enough to keep them going for a good few weeks, months even if they were careful enough.

Taking out some cans of pears, beans and tomatoes, ready to take upstairs, Beth was hit with an uneasy feeling again, she just couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone watching her.

Pulling at the hem of her t-shirt, suddenly feeling a little exposed with her state of undress, she glanced over to the window, half expecting one of the 'claimers' ugly leering faces to appear, causing her to shiver and look away. She was being ridiculous, she thought. They were all dead, shot through the head. They couldn't come back, not even as walkers.

She then stated to feel anxious for a different reason. She had seen the look on Daryl's face when she had confessed about her nightmare, she probably should have kept her mouth shut. She didn't want him to think, that after everything they'd been through she was just going to fall to pieces over one near miss with a group of other survivors, especially scum like that. She needed to be tough now. That was the only way she would survive. Because she would survive, she was determined of that now, more than ever.

Opening the final cupboard she saw that it was empty apart from one large family size bag of potato chips.

Confused, she just looked at it for a moment doing a double take before touching it. She had been certain that they had taken all the packets of chips already when they had first found the place. Daryl must have put one back she thought, reaching out to grab it, tucking it under her arm as she was hit with another strange sensation that she wasn't alone in the big silent room.

Balancing the remaining cans and a bottle of water in her hands, Beth was about to turn around to go back upstairs to Daryl, when she suddenly heard a crashing sound, a bag of dried pasta perched next to her on the worktop falling to the floor, causing her to take a sharp intake of breath, her heart leaping out of her chest, a couple of tins of food flying out of her hands making even more noise, her senses fully alerted, before she noticed a flash of black fur appearing beside her on the worktop and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Cat," she exclaimed, "You scared the life outta me," remembering the little friend she and Daryl had picked up, it had probably sneaked in to the house with them, when they had got back the night before.

"Here," she said in a softer tone, opening the lid to a can of tuna fish.

Glancing cautiously around her, she placed it down on to the floor, as the kitten hungrily dived in, quickly wolfing down mouthfuls.

"Slow down, you're gonna make yourself sick, little thing," Beth said, lightly stroking its fur with her fingers; thinking how it was all skin and bones as it purred loudly in a comforting way .

Moving to gather up the other fallen cans from the floor, packing the rest of the food items in to her arms again, ensuring to balance them carefully. Beth took one last tentative look around, before darting out of the room, the place was really starting to give her the creeps.

"Got us breakfast," Beth announced, entering the bedroom again.

Throwing the stuff down on to the bed, she noticed Daryl hadn't strayed from the position he'd been in when she'd left him.

Sat up with his back against the head board, his shirt was back on now and his feet were stretched out in front of him, lounging almost. It was an unusual sight. She had fully expected him to be up and dressed ready to start another day, he rarely allowed himself the luxury of resting like this, even back at the prison, it had always been as though he had felt he needed to be busying himself with one thing or another, taking it upon himself to be strong for everyone else, making plans and doing whatever needed to be done.

He didn't say anything, just nodded at her, reaching for a can.

"This place is weird, creepy," Beth said, digging out a forkful of tomatoes from the can on her lap, peering at him through her long eyelashes.

"It's a funeral home," he shrugged, concentrating on shovelling mouthfuls of canned pears in to his mouth.

"I know," she replied, not wanting to elaborate further on her experience in the kitchen and the funny feeling she'd had.

"Aint the dead you need to fear now, it's the livin," he mumbled, holding the empty can up to slurp the syrup from the bottom.

She didn't say anything, she hadn't really expected him to say anything different. Turning to her side, she dropped her head on to the pillow, allowing her eyes to half close. She was exhausted still.

Dropping down on to his side again too, Daryl found himself pressing his tired aching body up against Beth's a little more than he had been used to previously. Breathing out in to her neck, enjoying the feel of her soft blonde hair against his face, loosely wrapping his arms around her waist. He might be nearing on mental and physical exhaustion, but right now his body was satisfied and for the first time in a long while he felt an emotion that could pass as happiness.

He wouldn't have dreamed of touching Beth back in the old world, back at the prison even.

The thought of becoming intimate with anyone, especially her, would have been out of the question. That wasn't to say subconsciously it hadn't been on his mind. He'd made wisecracks about her romantic involvement with Zach, but looking back he could see there was almost a very small hint of jealousy behind it.

Not because he had wanted Beth for himself exactly, but more because on some level if he'd stopped and really thought about it, he'd somehow wanted to feel that closeness to someone, that small piece of happiness in their dark world. Instead of existing just for the sake of it, all the time.

But now, Beth was his for the taking and he knew things could never go back to the way that they had been before, the line had been crossed. Their lives changed irrevocably.

It was him and Beth now, the two of them against the world.

"Bout yesterday, what happened, in the woods and stuff," he started, speaking slowly, cautiously, it was a conversation he'd been putting off having.

"I don't wanna talk bout that no more." Her voice was quiet, girly even.

"Well there's a few things you need to hear," he persisted, the words disappearing in to her back.

He couldn't see her face but he knew she was listening.

"Cause you nearly got yourself killed there… Going up to em like that, it was real stupid, you nearly got us both killed, cause I would have lost control. I swear to God, Beth, if they'd done anything to you, I'd…." He trailed off, before adding, "You don't know what guys like that are like, that's all…."

"I know what they're like, Daryl," she exclaimed, her eyes fully open again now, staring straight in front of her at the wall.

"No, you don't, not really, the things they'd do to you."

"They're dead," she protested.

"Yes, they're dead. But there are others like em out there that aint.. and well I aint always gonna be able to protect you from em. So, you ever see any other people that look like that, whether you're with me or not, you do one thing. Run. You hear me, you run as fast as you can." He stopped to take a breath, his tone deadly serious, "You run, got it?"

Beth slowly nodded a quiet, "Yep," in response.

As much as she wanted to protest some more, she knew he had a point, and she'd probably deserved that.

Maybe she had needed a 'run in' with bad people, like the one she'd had the day before, to shake her up. Toughen up her instincts. But even so the thought of running anywhere, without Daryl, would be unthinkable to Beth.

Daryl didn't say anything further, he was done.

Instead, he took a second to relish in the moment. He knew they couldn't stay as they were forever, but for now it was needed. He was in no fit state to be doing much physical stuff and Beth was exhausted, he could see that. They'd been walking for days, with little food or shelter. They had food here and a comfortable bed. Each other.

Beth could feel her limbs becoming heavy again, it might be the middle of the day, but she was ready to blissfully doze off once again.

Daryl loosened his grip around her waist, his fingers stroking her hip bone, re-positioning himself so that his foot kicked back against what was left of the pile of food at the bottom of the bed, a rustling sound catching his attention.

Glancing down he noticed a bright red and yellow label, "You save some chips?" He questioned, confused, focusing in on the writing displayed on the label of the large packet.

"Wha?," she mumbled dreamily in to her pillow.

"You save the chips?" He repeated, louder this time. Maybe he had got mixed up and there had been more packets than he'd thought.

"They were in the cupboard. You didn't put them back in there?" she asked, spinning round to fully face him, her eyes wide and alert now, fully awake.

"No…no," he responded, as their eyes met, mirroring the same puzzled, shocked expression.

Beth had been right, there was most definitely something slightly strange going on here.

A/N - Thanks for reading. Please leave some feedback if you can :)