I never ever cried when I was feeling down
I've always been scared of the sound
Jesus don't love me, no one ever carried my load
I'm too young to feel this old

Here's to you, here's to me
On to us, nobody knows
Nobody sees, nobody but me

-Kings of Leon, Cold Desert

"It happened to you too?" Carl asked.

Daryl nodded, his bluster deflated immediately. "Yeah."

Everyone was quiet, until Rick croaked Daryl's name. Rick stood and crossed to Daryl, his hand out to grab the other man's shoulder and offer him some comfort. Daryl swatted Rick's hand away and turned his shoulder so the other man couldn't touch him. He took a step away from the Deputy Sheriff, and he began to get angry again. The dynamite that was Daryl Dixon was lit. It had dampened, but until it exploded the fire wouldn't go out.

"I don't need ya' pity. Carl sure as hell don't need ya' pity either!" Daryl's thick Appalachian accent sounded thicker as he yelled.

"Daryl, I wouldn't-" Rick's hands came up in front of him, surrendering to Daryl.

"Just shut the fuck up, old man. You don't understand nothin'." Daryl's arm swung at the air; a right hook into the face of a demon no one else could see.

"Help me understand. Help me help Carl understand."

The young man watched his dad and Daryl with wide eyes. Beth's eyes were concerned as she looked between the two quarreling men and the teen who had incited Daryl's anger. She could see that Carl was getting agitated; he had picked up a stick and was stabbing it into the ground again and again. She wondered if she was seeing Dan's face as he thrust into the earth.

"What can I do for him?" Rick asked, bringing Daryl's focus back to the hurting young man. "What can we do for him?"

Daryl shrugged and ducked his head; he was closer to being diffused than explosive at that moment, "Just listen to 'im if that's what he wants. Whatever he's feelin' is what he's gonna feel. Let 'im be angry, or scared, or quiet. Just fuckin' be there for him."

Rick nodded, and he backed away from Daryl who grabbed his crossbow and headed away from the fire. Rick caught Beth's eyes, and she nodded, knowing she should follow Daryl. She grabbed her knife and walked just a little ways behind him.

"I ain't gonna talk about it, Princess." Daryl said quietly as he stopped about one hundred yards from the camp.

"I wasn't going to ask." Beth said, just as quietly, coming up behind him and putting her arms around his waist. Daryl flinched, but when she didn't let go, he relaxed into her touch.

"Good." He stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before he put down his crossbow and turned around to face Beth and pull her into his arms as well. "Did Rick send ya to follow me and make sure I wasn't gonna off myself?"

"No." She said quickly. "Well, I mean, I would have followed you anyway, but I think it was what you said. He needed to be there for Carl, but someone also needed to be there for you."

Daryl grunted in appreciation, but said nothing more. He stood like that for a few minutes before he let his arms drop. He moved away from Beth to sit down at the trunk of a tree. Though they barely had any light to see, Daryl picked up a stick and began to peel the leaves and twigs from it. Beth sat next to him and watched his hands move.

She handed him her knife when he asked for it. He began to carve a point at the end of the stick.

"My dad was an asshole when I was growing up. He'd get drunk and knock the shit out of my mom, and after she died he took it out on me. Merle was mostly safe, but he was mostly in Juvie so my dad really didn't know where he was at any given time. We lived way up in the mountains, and social services was s'posed to come check on us once a month, but I think it was too much of a hassle for them to get there, so they only came by every six or seven months. Sometimes we didn't see them for a year, which was better than my dad gettin' pissed and takin' it out on me because somethin' wasn't right."

Beth listened quietly as Daryl began to pour his biggest secret out to her. His eyes focused on the stick and the movement of his hands. He didn't turn to check Beth's expression. He didn't want to see pity in her face. He didn't think he could deal with her pitying him. His voice was quiet, as he confessed into the dark night.

Beth wanted to reach out and touch him. She wanted to hold his hand and comfort him, but she knew that he would be more upset if she invaded his space in this moment. She held her hands clasped in her lap; her fingers worried the loose thread on the hem of her shirt. She bit her lip as she watched him trim down the stick and balance it. It seemed like he was making an arrow. She didn't know if she could make a stick work like an arrow, but knowing Daryl Dixon, she was certain that he could make it work.

"Merle was in Juvie again because he had gotten into a fight at school and punched the principal. He was fifteen, and had just started at the high school that year. I was six and was supposed to be in first grade, but my dad was too drunk to start on time, so the social worker kept callin' and callin' to get my dad to start me in school. He'd get angry and take it out on me that they kept callin', and then he'd have his buddies over for poker and shootin' out in the back yard. One of his friends was the one that done it. He was over every night for a month, and when Merle got out and found out he laid into the guy pretty quick. Merle was a good fighter even when he was young. It really fucked him up though, and he wasn't really the same after. He started gettin' into heavy drugs, and he went into the military when he was eighteen. He was in 'til I was in high school."

He finally looked up and over at Beth, as if he just realized that she was there. Beth couldn't see the blue of his eye in the black night, but she still felt an electrical jolt as his eyes peered into hers. "You're the only person I've ever told that. Merle and I talked about it a little after I grew up, but mainly he just teased me about bein' sweet."

"Thank you for tellin' me." Beth said. Her voice was thick. Neither were crying, but Beth sure felt like it. She had no idea how anyone could do that to a child. She admired Daryl even more for the strength that he had to make it to the end of the world. She knew he'd be the last man standing when everyone else was gone, and she knew he'd keep on surviving even after that.

"Shit. Don't go cryin' on me, Beth." Daryl said when he heard how thick her voice was when she spoke.

"I ain't!" She protested as she rubbed her cheeks. "I ain't cryin'. I just…" she drifted off for half a second as she looked at the man in front of her. "I just think that you're the strongest person I've ever met, and I'm glad I'm here with you."

Daryl ducked his head and gently shoved Beth's good shoulder, "Shut up."

"No, I mean it!" Beth smiled, shoving him back. "You're strong, both physically and emotionally. And you're smart in a way that matters now. And you're handsome." She said the last compliment with a softer voice. She had turned her head away from Daryl, and she was thankful for the cover of the night as she felt her face flush.

She didn't expect the feel of rough fingers under her chin, forcing her to face the man beside her. "Beth," he asked, "can I kiss you?"

She nodded and there he was, a hairbreadth away from her lips. His eyes closed as he closed the distance between them and placed a dry kiss to her lips. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hand went and found a place under his jaw. Like the first kiss they shared days ago, it wasn't a magical moment. Daryl was too quick to kiss and pull away, afraid of being in someone's intimate zone for too long.

He pulled away and Beth protested with a groan. She wanted more than that. She wanted the real deal, she wanted passion and fireworks, and she knew that Daryl could do that if he would just kiss her. She pulled him back to her lips with the hand along his jaw and relaxed her lips against his. She licked his bottom lip lightly to get him to part them and relax into the kiss as well.

The moment Daryl relaxed Beth could feel it. His lips became pliant against hers. She kissed him softly at first, but soon it was all she could do to refrain from pulling him closer to her. Without breaking their connection, Beth scooted closer to him so she could wrap her good arm around his neck. The proximity brought comfort, and with comfort came a better kiss.

Saliva began to build between them, and the kiss became wet, and open mouthed. Daryl brushed his tongue against Beth's teeth, and she opened up for him willingly. The moment the tip of his tongue touched hers she felt the fireworks she was waiting for; throughout her body, her nerves felt like they were on fire. She could feel the kiss from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and she sighed happily into his mouth. Daryl put one hand on her hip, and the other hand's fingers snaked their way through the hair tied up on the top of her head. He pulled her closer, though there was no way she could get any closer.

It wasn't long before Daryl laid her back on the grass and covered her with his body. They didn't stop kissing, and his fingers didn't stop touching. The hand she was able to use explored Daryl's face and neck. She felt the pressure increase as her fingers ghosted along a certain spot in his neck. She was eager to see how he would react if it were her mouth there, instead of her fingers. She was eager to be closer to Daryl.

In the distance, footsteps crunched over dead leaves and dry twigs. Daryl's head shot up, breaking his connection with Beth. He stayed still, listening.

"Beth?" A soft feminine whisper called out, "Daryl?"

Michonne had come in search for them. Daryl groaned and dropped his head to Beth's uninjured shoulder. Beth giggled softly and brushed her fingers through his hair.

"We're being summoned." She said softly. Daryl placed one last soft kiss onto her lips and pushed himself off of her.

Well, there you have it. The first "real" kiss. Sometimes emotional situations lead to emotional and physical connection. Will Michonne notice that she had just interrupted an intense moment between the two? Will Daryl open up to anyone else? How will Carl relate to Daryl now that he knows something they share in common?

Thanks to all of the reviewers, and all of the readers! I appreciate all of your feedback and look forward to hearing more.

LHB