Hi!

I know I said I probably wouldn't get chance to update this weekend, but I couldn't sleep last night and ended up writing this. I've had a quick edit of it this morning but I just figured I would throw it out there because I feel kind of mean for teasing you all for a while. So yeah.

Hope you like it!

"Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love."

- 'Teenage Dream', Katy Perry

Daryl wasn't exactly sure how he got into this position.

Sure, he knew the basics. They met when she served him at Lori's store, she quickly established that he was new in town and then invited him and Ella down to the farm, which they had now visited just over a couple of times. They exchanged numbers and chatted every now and again (which was a big enough move as it was, because Daryl didn't just idly text people for no real reason). He had seen her out and about a couple of times - like on New Year's Eve at the bar, or the time when they had crossed paths at the supermarket - and he knew that they all contributed to being in this situation.

Plus there was the fact that really, he had always been attracted to her. Daryl had always had thoughts of Beth Greene floating around in his head since the first time that they had met, even though he had tried his hardest for a long while to shut those thoughts out.

In the beginning, he thought it was probably because she was the first person that he had even interacted with in town. But he had made friends since then - real friends, like the Sheriff and Dale and Martinez - and he still couldn't shake her.

He figured that he knew he was really screwed on New Years, after she had kissed him (alright, it was on the cheek, but a kiss was a kiss anyway). Daryl didn't really remember what exactly had been going through his head when he first approached her because he was nowhere near as drunk as her or her ex boyfriend. But seeing that prick with his hands all over her and hearing her telling him to get off had flicked the switch of his self control almost immediately. Daryl had always had a pretty bad temper and it was something that he had accepted a while ago, and up until that night he had thought that he was managing it quite well.

Clearly, he needed to manage it a bit better. Girls like Beth Greene didn't go for guys like him anyway, but if he at least wanted to stand a chance then he definitely needed to reel it in. The last thing he needed to do was go and scare her off by looking like some over-protective creep who was trying to be her daddy or her brother.

Or her boyfriend.

No, not that. Definitely not that.

He'd be damned if he tried to say that she didn't look like something else that night. Not that she wasn't always beautiful, because she was; but when he had seen her on New Year's Eve - actually seen her in that pretty little thing that was kind of a dress but kind of wasn't - he knew that he had to have her. Like really just had to have her, even if it killed him.

(Which it probably would. Beth probably would.)

Daryl wanted to tell her. He was overcome with the desire to tell her everything he thought about her; like how she always dressed so nice and how her hair looked so soft and how her eyes were so light and how her skin looked so soft. And he wanted to tell her that she was so damned nice and that he loved the sound of her humming to herself and he thought it was cute when she got nervous and bit her lip and tugged on her hair, not awkward. That night, Daryl wanted to tell her that she looked beautiful or beautiful or stunning or maybe even all three.

But whenever he was around Beth, his tongue always felt like it was far too big for his mouth and his hands were always sweaty and his mind always went blank. He always ended up saying some stupid shit that probably confused the hell out of her more than anything.

Daryl was slowly becoming more and more comfortable around Beth, too, and he figured that feeling so at ease around her contributed to his position, too. Daryl supposed that they could probably class each other as friends now, and he had seen her in all sorts of different states.

He had seen her dressed to the nines on New Years Eve with her big eyelashes and her done-up face and her pretty outfit and her high heels.

He had seen her at work in her blue jeans and her little tops and her converse and her lanyard.

He had seen her in the supermarket and at the farm in her little dresses and cardigans and sandals.

(Sometimes she wore cowboy boots and sometimes she wore a denim jacket and they were his personal favourites).

But right now? This was the first time that he had seen Beth looking so casual.

The tiny blonde was stood outside his apartment door, waiting for him to let her inside. She had a big smile on her face when he pulled open the apartment door and he knew that he had been stood there, frozen in place, practically staring at her for a good ten or fifteen seconds - probably looking like the world's biggest pervert - but there was really nothing that he could do to stop his eyes from roaming over her body when she looked like that.

Before, Daryl had just thought that Beth was trying to kill him.

Now, he knew.

She was stood there in his doorway, waiting patiently as he took in her grey yoga pants and cropped white top with cut-off shoulders that just screamed 'tease'. Her mane of hair was pulled up off her face in a high ponytail, her signature braid running through it and some strands were loose around the bottom of her neck and the frame of her face.

Daryl had the sudden urge to pin her to the wall and let his tongue taste all of the exposed flesh of he neck and upper chest. But he didn't do it.

Beth smiled sweetly up at him and breathed out a 'hey' which snapped him out of his trance before it was too late. Daryl stepped to the side and motioned for her to come in with a tilt of his head, shutting the door once she had moved past him. He had basically held his breath when she squeezed through into the apartment and he almost cursed out loud when she brushed against him as she moved inside. Beth walked ahead of him and slowly padded into the living room, her eyes wide as she looked around and took in the unfamiliar surroundings.

Daryl was coming from directly behind her and shit, he tried his hardest to look anywhere but her ass, but it was damn near impossible when she was wearing those fucking things.

The sound of his niece's voice managed to bring him back to reality with a bang and he moved into the kitchen, grabbing Beth a can of diet coke from the fridge. Daryl had eventually plucked up the courage to properly invite her over one evening to help out with Ella and she had readily agreed with an eager nod of the head, but when he mentioned paying her for her trouble, she adamantly refused to accept any money from him. So he had stocked up on some crap that he never had around the house - like cans of diet coke and a few assorted bags of chips and chocolate.

If Ella hadn't been pleased that Beth was coming round before, she definitely was when she saw what her Uncle had bought because of her visit.

As much as Daryl didn't want to admit it, Beth was actually a really huge help when it came to Ella and having her there sure as hell made his life easier for that one evening. Beth was a natural with this stuff, and Daryl had known that from the fact that she was training to be a teacher and from what he had already seen of her with Ella, but tonight just sort of cemented that knowledge.

Daryl wondered how Beth just always seemed to know exactly what to do and when.

How she knew what to cook for her - Daryl had some chicken in the fridge that she refused to let him make, saying that it would be fun to show Ella how to do it - and when to run her bath and when to read her a story. Beth seemed to just know exactly the right time to do everything for his niece, and Daryl had known that he wasn't exactly great at this whole nurturing business - he had warned Merle and even Ella about it once he found out that Merle had been busted - but Beth was making him realise just how much he really needed to step it up.

Beth offered to tuck Ella into bed and the little girl seemed excited at the idea so Daryl left them both to it. About twenty minutes later, Beth stepped back into the living room and shut Ella's bedroom door behind her as quietly as she could. Daryl's eyes shot up towards her from where he was sitting on the couch, a half empty bottle of water pursed at his lips as he watched her tiptoe over into the living room.

"Hey," she said. She wasn't whispering, but her voice wasn't as loud as usual, either.

Beth sat herself down on the same couch as him. There was a reasonable amount of distance between them but Daryl still froze at the realisation of how close she actually was. All it would take was for him to slide a little bit closer to her and...

"I think she's gonna be flat out any minute now," Beth said, giggling a little.

Daryl couldn't help but smile at the sound and looked at Beth for a long moment. Her lips were closed and turned upwards ever so slightly as she looked back at him with a soft expression, and he could tell from the way that her hands fidgeted with the stitching of her pants that she was nervous. Beth started chewing on her bottom lip and Daryl wondered whether it was something that she was aware that she did or whether it completely slipped her mind.

Either way, the action was tempting. Teasing. His gaze honed in on her lips and he knew that she was looking at him again now but he couldn't look away from her mouth. She ran her tongue over her parted lips and Daryl's eyes snapped up to hers instantly.

He cleared his throat a little awkwardly and felt the tips of his ears burning bright red.

"I, er," Daryl started, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "Wanted to thank you. For t'night."

Daryl was pretty certain that Beth was blushing, too; and she dipped her head a little before brushing some loose strands of hair out of her face and tucking them behind her ear. She looked down at her knees again before glancing back up to Daryl.

"It's no problem," she said, smiling. "I love spending time with Ella. She's a pleasure."

Daryl nodded at that and was at a loss of anything more to say to her so he took another swig of his water, turning his attention to the television for a few minutes as Beth sat beside him. The silence between them was pretty comfortable and easy and Beth adjusted herself so that she was more comfortable, tucking her feet underneath her ass and snuggling her body deeper into the couch. A soft sigh fell from her lips and the sound went straight to his dick, causing him to stiffen uncomfortably.

It dawned on him that this was the first time in a few weeks since they had spent some time together without Ella being there. At the thought, Daryl took another long swig of water which emptied the bottle, and he reached over to place it on the coffee table. He settled back against the couch and tried to concentrate on whatever shitty programme was on television, but he was distracted by the sight of Beth creeping her body ever so closely to him.

Daryl didn't move a muscle and only released the breath that he didn't even notice that he had been holding once Beth had settled her head against his shoulder and had stopped wriggling around, obviously deciding that she was comfortable enough. He wasn't sure how long she was intending to stay for - in all honesty, he had thought that she would want to leave as soon as Ella was asleep - but she seemed content enough sitting here with him and he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her to leave.

The longer she stayed, the better.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours that they sat there until Beth finally broke the silence by breathing out his name. Daryl turned his head to face her instinctively and only then did he realise just how close they were. Their noses were almost touching and Beth's head was tilted up towards him, her blue eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips. Beth licked her own lips as she gazed up at him before edging her face slightly closer towards him, her pace slow, giving him plenty of time to back out of this if he wanted to.

But fuck, why would he want to? Daryl was a little bit hesitant but that was in his nature; something he had little control over, and something that Beth seemed to accept and - more than anything - understand. She was never pressuring him into anything, not even conversation, and he was grateful for her ability to just be.

As much as he wanted to claim her lips in his own, Daryl held back and let her control the situation. She looked up into his eyes one final time before her eyelids fluttered to a close and before he could even manage to do the same, her lips were pressing against his. He had known it was coming but the contact surprised him nonetheless and it took him a beat or two to return the pressure against her lips.

When he did, Beth made a little noise at the back of her throat and that noise itself was his undoing. He was still hesitant and unsure, but his hands found their way around her waist and his lips parted slightly as their kisses became less chaste and more passionate. Beth re-positioned herself, never breaking from their kisses as she moved so that she was straddling his lap, and Daryl groaned at the pressure of her resting against his erection.

Daryl felt her smirk into the kiss and before he even knew what she was doing, Beth was grinding herself against him, the thin material of her yoga pants against the bulge in his jeans creating the perfect friction.

That little minx.

He groaned again as she rocked into him repeatedly and before he could stop himself, his hands were sliding from where they were resting on her lower back towards her ass. Daryl had tried his best to think of anything but her ass all night long - which was much more difficult than usual when she was wearing those fucking pants - and he revelled at the opportunity to palm the firm flesh with his hands.

"Fuck, Beth," he mumbled into her mouth, and Beth responded by kissing him with more force than before. She shifted against him again - the pressure harder this time - and her teeth clashed against his as she moved her tongue into his mouth.

Beth's hands were roaming over his chest and tickling at the back of his neck and running through his hair whilst his continued to explore her ass through her pants. He couldn't tear his hands away from her as their tongues battled against each other, and when they finally broke their kiss, they were both struggling to catch their breath. Beth moved back ever so slightly but Daryl inched forward, resting his forehead against hers as he tried to compose himself.

When his blue eyes opened - a much darker shade of blue than she had ever seen them before - he found that Beth was already looking straight at him, her lips swollen from their kisses and her cheeks tinted a shade of pink. He breathed in deeply as he searched her face for any signs of doubt or hesitancy, but all he saw was her mouth turning upwards as she revealed a breathtaking smile.

It took him a beat or two, but then Daryl was smiling back at her and Beth was giggling as she nuzzled her nose against his.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that," Beth murmured, her lips tickling against his as she spoke.

Daryl smirked at that before he bumped her nose back with his.

"Reckon I've got a good idea, girl," he retorted before capturing her lips once more.

As always, thanks for reading, everyone.

I hope you don't think I've moved it too fast. I mentioned that I didn't want it to be a slow-burn story but it's taken us until chapter 11 to get the kiss so I feel a little bit bad about that. I think it's just because I've explored events in a lot of detail so whole chapters have been based on one day or one thing instead of several and it's ended up just going on longer than I originally thought.

ANYWAY. I actually probably won't get chance to update for a few days now because I'm really busy so please give me lots of reviews to come back to! I love hearing from you all and hope you enjoyed this chapter!