Standing in front of the mirror in her bedroom, fresh from the shower, Beth craned her neck to get a better look at her behind. Sure enough, he had left his mark. Red hand prints adorned her skin, some spots starting to form small blisters, little scabs across the broken skin. Shivering, she closed her eyes, trying to remember his touch, every pore in her body beginning to form into a goosebump, every little hair standing on end at the thought of Daryl Dixon's strong, sturdy hands holding her steady as he laid into her, knees shaking, body pulsating with pleasure.

It still didn't feel real. The couple hours prior felt like a haze. On the drive home she felt as if she were flying, head in the clouds, any and all worries left at the shop in his office. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Beth felt free. Not that mixture of heavy and light, dragging her body down and lifting her mind, ripping her in two, splitting her apart like a paper doll cut right in half. In fact, she hadn't ever felt this sense of relief before.

Bringing her shaking hands to her face, she let out a deep breath, swearing she could still smell him with every exhale. He had infiltrated her mind, slipping and weaving his way around her brain, like a vine wrapping and reaching deeper, grounding roots as far as possible. Beth was sure that if she let them grow, the next time she saw him, flowers out bloom and if he looked into her eyes, maybe he could see them too.

Opening the shop and settling into her morning routine, Beth gets the first pot of coffee ready, humming to herself softly. Hearing the front door open, she sucked in a breath, knowing from the footsteps it was Daryl. He wasn't late today, on the dot exactly.

"Hey." He stops at the doorway, one arm leaning on the doorframe. Still wearing his sunglasses and jacket, she can't tell by looking at him if he's happy to see her or not, but that tension, that electricity was still there, sparks igniting with every passing second.

"Mornin'."

"You get home alright last night? Shoulda walked ya to your car."

Chewing on the corner of his thumb, he shifts his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other.

"I got home fine, thanks for asking though. It's sweet of you."

"Yeah, well. Don't think nothing of it."

"I think a lot of it, actually. Thank you." Looking at up him shyly, through fluttering lashes, she's afraid she'll scare him away.

"We gotta take care of each other, right?"

Nodding her head, she pours his two sugars into his Garfield mug, followed by piping hot dark roast. Turning to hand it to him, he takes a step closer to her, their hands touching.

Pulling his sunglasses down he looks her dead in the eyes. "Just don't be so damn hard on yourself and I won't be such an asshole, alright?"

Smiling back at him brightly, she laughs softly. "Sounds like a good deal to me."

The corner of his mouth curls, showing a small sliver of teeth, standing there for a second in silence, just watching each other, they relish the moment, the secret between the two of them new and unfamiliar but exciting all the same.

Getting back to work, she walks over to her desk with her own mug, puzzled to see a plastic bag sitting there. Unwrapping it, inside Beth finds the radio Daryl had promised her before.

"Hey, blondie. Ya got my coffee creamer?"

"Yep. In the fridge."

Merle comes up from the garage for his first cup of the day, dark bags under his eyes. Beth can tell solely from the look on his face that he'd been drinking the night before. Generally most mornings Merle looked like this, but on this particular morning he looked especially bad.

"Jeez, Merle. Sure you don't want some tea or somethin' instead? I can practically smell the booze on you."

"Nah, I might have been a little drunk still when I woke up this morning." Chuckling, he rummages through the break room fridge. "How come ya didn't get any of those girly flavors? Ain't pregnant are ya?"

Beth laughs out loud, covering her mouth, quickly in embarrassment, realizing Daryl's office door was open. "No, I'm not pregnant. I just don't drink as much coffee as you do. Kind of seemed like a waste buying a whole bottle all for myself."

"That pumpkin one was god awful. Tasted like eating a handful of potpourri. Can't stand that shit." He takes a large gulp from his mug. "Cinnamon one ain't so bad though, I guess."

"So you're the only Dixon with a sweet tooth then?"

"Nah, Daryl used to love that shit when he was younger. One time, a girlfriend of mine at the time, she had this kid, we got so shitfaced and ate all her Halloween candy. Could have swore baby brother was puking for days after that."

His laughter cackles down the hallway, causing Daryl to emerge from his office, already wearing the expression Beth knew to be his 'already-fed-up-with-Merle's-bullshit' face. "Rule of thumb, Greene, twix and tequila don't mix."

"They weren't twix, they were kit kats, ya dumb ass."

"Whatever it was, you were three sheets to the wind, puking in the bushes. Ya should have seen the trick or treaters faces when they came to the porch and there was Daryl, sick as a dog." Merle slaps his hand on his knee, his laughter bellowing through the break room.

Daryl's face turns red, his usual scowl amplified by his embarrassment.

"That's nothing. When I was fifteen, my sister took me with her and some of her friends one weekend, we were drinking Jameson on the roof of an abandoned building. I'd never had whiskey before and I passed out. They had to get me off the roof and everything." She grins at her story, proud to match something as wild as Merle and Daryl's tales.

"Damn, blondie! I never would have thought ya had it in ya!"

"My sister dropped me off at home, locked me in my room with a bucket. Thank god my parents were away for the weekend otherwise my Daddy would have killed me."

She goes on as Daryl watches her, an amused grin on his lips. "Of course I got sick everywhere but the bucket and my brother, Shawn, had to pick the lock on the bedroom door to get me out. Cleaned up every drop and blackmailed me for a whole month afterwards."

"So much for a timid little church mouse, eh Merle?" Daryl smirks, moving from his place by the counter to walk back to his office.

"Guess so. Looks like holiday parties are gonna be more fun now that we've got this one working here," Merle smirks at Beth, impressed by her story.

"I don't really drink anything hard after that. Kind of turned me off of alcohol, you know?"

Merle laughs. "That's whiskey for ya, kid. It'll do that from time to time." He downs the rest of his coffee, leaving it in the sink and heading back down to the shop downstairs.

Daryl lingers in the doorway, watching Beth wash up the cups. Feeling his eyes on her is unlike anything she's ever experienced. His gaze is hesitant but steady, as if she can feel his retinas tracing every curve of her body. Trying to keep the small smile on her lips from busting into a full on grin, she peeks at him through bent lashes.

The look on his face is pensive and thoughtful, timid yet shy. Different from how he had been the night before.

"Thank you for the radio, Daryl. It was really sweet." Turning around, she leans up against the sink, pushing her sleeves up to her elbows. "I can't apologize enough for the bill. I should really give Dale a call, I-"

He cuts her off. "I shouldn't have talked to ya like that. Wasn't right. Everybody fucks up." Biting his thumbnail he continues, "Don't worry about Dale. Everything is smoothed over."

"I promise it won't happen again."

"Guess ya learned yer lesson then." He smirks and turns away, walking back to his office.

Later on her lunch break, Beth checks her phone to find new messages from Maggie and Zach. Zach. She had been so swept up in everything that had happened with Daryl she hadn't even thought about him. Prior to that night she had been putting off plans with him due to being so busy and exhausted but now she felt guilty for stringing him along.

Come over tonight. Glenn is bringing home dinner and Zach is coming with him.

Beth groaned knowing that she would have to deal with this eventually. Sure she and Zach hadn't defined whatever it was between them. They had only been on a handful of dates but still spoke every few days. He would send her good morning texts and songs he thought she'd like. He was cute, he was a nice person and they had some things in common most definitely but it was nothing compared to what she felt for Daryl. In fact, it felt as if that deep-seated crush had consumed and dominated her senses within the moment she's felt his skin on hers.

Maybe she had just been putting her feelings for Daryl off on Zach, thinking they would be unrequited but after the incident in his office, she wasn't sure what to think.

"I can't believe he's got you typing all that up without a computer. How old is this guy, Bethy?" Maggie asks her, going through her closet giving Beth things she never wore anymore.

"Probably Daddy's age. Keeps telling me he cares more about 'human error' than computers or something."

"I'll never understand that generation. The more we grow up, the crazier they seem."

Maggie handed her a blouse that was likely to swim on her, being nowhere nearly as ample-bosomed as her sister. She threw it on the bed away from the pile of clothes she had liked.

It had been something Beth was self conscious about since puberty, Jimmy always pushing her breasts together as if he was trying to make them bigger. She wondered if it was something that Daryl thought about or if he had thought the same thing the night before.

"So, have you and Zach been spending much time together?"

"Not really. I've been pretty busy with work the past couple of weeks. The taxes and everything."

"Beth, you gotta make time! You can't just expect to see him randomly, whenever! You gotta try a little harder than that."

Beth scowled at her sister, turning away from her to fold the pile of clothes on the bed.

"How many times do I have to tell you he's not my boyfriend? You're worse than Daddy sometimes, Maggie. You think if you say something enough times it will suddenly drill into my head or something."

"I'm just trying to help you, Beth. It's obvious you're just nervous and it's been a long time since you've had a boyfriend. Those nerves will go away."

Shrugging Maggie off, she goes into the bathroom to change for dinner. Stripping off her clothes, she admires the bruises on her hips, their colors changing from deep purples to rich greens and golden yellows. There on her hip, she notices fingerprints from his hand holding her in place. A blush running over her, Beth imagines Daryl there, standing behind her, running his fingers over her body. Opening her eyes, she notices something there she hasn't seen before. A mix between lust and strength, her body looking stronger and most confident somehow. Daryl had done that, made her feel that with just his touch.

It didn't matter how much Maggie pestered her about Zach. Regardless of what Daryl felt for her, there was nothing between she and Zach compared to what she felt for Daryl.

As no surprise to either of them, Glenn brought home pizza. At least he had brought a salad this time, knowing Beth would glare at him if he didn't. To say he was predictable was an understatement.

"Hey." Zach goes into hug Beth, coming in the door behind Glenn.

"Hi." She smiles at him softly, already feeling so awkward and unsure of herself. It had been a couple of weeks since she'd last seen him and she wasn't exactly sure how to approach the situation.

"How have you been? How's work?" He closes the door behind him and takes off his coat, eyes still on Beth.

"Um, good. Just really busy. Working on taxes so it's been pretty exhausting."

"Glenn said the old bat has you doing everything on a typewriter?" He walks over to the kitchen where Maggie and Glenn are pulling out paper plates for dinner, taking a beer Glenn offers him.

"Yeah, he's kind of old school like that."

"Beer?" He holds the bottle out to her.

"No, thanks."

Trying to busy herself, she goes over to the table where Maggie is, taking a bottle of ranch dressing out of the fridge and sitting down at the table.

"Have you been working on any lyrics recently?" he asked eagerly.

She had completely forgotten about the song she'd started writing when she and Zach had first met, throwing herself head first into work and her infatuation with Daryl.

"Uh, no not really. Been way too busy."

"Well, once you're done with all this extra work, we should go see a movie or something."

"Yeah, okay." Beth forces a smile awkwardly.

The rest of the night consists of Glenn and Zach talking about work while Maggie and Beth had their own conversation, occasionally making awkward small talk with Zach. Whatever had been between them was gone now, Beth knew she felt nothing for him but telling him that very night was not going to be possible.

After dinner when he offered to take her out for coffee the following afternoon, she obliged if only to make plans to break up with him then and there.

Eager to get to work the next morning and rid her mind of the previous night's events, Beth arrives a few minutes earlier than usual. Getting everything together to start the day, she gives herself a moment to take everything in. She had already come a long way since the hospital, that much was obvious. There was something inside her, a confidence building that hadn't been there before. The strength to stand up for herself, to be her own person. Without Maggie or her father's judgements. Being there, working there, Beth had already taken control of life.

A few moments later Daryl arrives, sleepy grin as usual. It's still dark out and when the front door opens, he brings the cold air with him. The crisp air wakes her up, straightening her back, dilating her pupils. Everything about him brought all her sense to the surface, perking up and standing guard every time his presence was made. Almost as if her body was instinctively ready for anything he had to offer her, bracing itself.

"Mornin," he mumbles, taking off his jacket and hanging it in on the coat rack.

"Good morning."

"Whatcha gettin' into today, girl?"

"Same old, same old."

"Same shit different day, huh?"

She nods her head, smiling up at him from her chair.

"You could definitely say that."

He takes a step forward, leaning down to cup her face with one hand, kissing her lips gently. Rubbing her cheek with his hand, he pulls away.

"What was that for?"

"Ain't nobody around yet." He shrugs his shoulders. "Thought I'd take advantage."

Going in for another kiss, he snakes and hand down the small of her back, sending goosebumps throughout her entire body.

"You sure that's a good idea? What if somebody walked in?"

"Mmm, it's early still, just wanted to say good morning." He flashes that mischievous grin, knowing good and well he's already got her wrapped around his finger. His eyes are so dark this morning, so hazy that she can barely make out the blue from his black pupil.

Pulling her chair just a little closer, he kisses her deeply everything else begins to melt away.

"I just don't want to get in trouble," she whispers when he pulls back.

"Girl, the only person you gotta worry about bein' in trouble with is me." Giving her wrist a tight squeeze, he steps back and heads to his office.