When they walked through the door, a heaviness fell over Beth. Her heart seized in her chest and a sob escaped. The screen door was still broken; however, somebody had taken great pains to clean up the kitchen. She could see some staining on the hardwood floor. She averted her eyes and walked slowly through the hall. She paused at the steps, waiting for Daryl to join her. Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, she held out her hand to him. When he accepted it, she gently tugged him behind her. Entering her room was like a punch in the stomach. She realized that she would never again hear her daddy's snores from down the hall. Shaking lightly, Beth sat on her bed and waited for Daryl to join her.

"Please Daryl." He ran his eyes over her before sitting down on the far edge of the bed. She reached her arm over to him and lightly placed her hand on his bicep, squeezing once before getting up to change her clothes.

Daryl adverted his eyes as she began to dig through her drawers. He wasn't meant for a place like this. Aside from the crime scene that had once been a kitchen, the house was large and well kept. It had been lived in, not by drifters like him and his brother, but a real family like Beth had. He would be willing to put money down that her father had never lifted a finger to her. He felt dirty. He looked down at his stained clothes, lived in for days. He was dirty from the inside out. Beth let out a nervous gasp as he sat up quickly, suddenly self conscious about his soiled clothes ruining her comforter. He could feel the heat creeping up in his cheeks. He was embarrassed, confused and getting more angry by the second. When Beth approached him and laid a hand against his chest, he lost his cool, shoving her away. The look she gave him just confirmed what he knew. He was a piece of shit and she was way too good for him. Her in her perfect little fairytale world. Not any more. A voice interrupted his thoughts of self loathing. Now she was an orphan like him.

No, not like him, the stubborn voice interjected. Not fucking like him at all. He held his arm out in front of him as a warning not to get any closer. She caught his arm in her hand and moved it out of her way, only to be pushed backwards again. It wasn't hard enough to hurt her, just hard enough to make her angry.

"Why are you doing this?" She looked at him, fire behind her eyes. It was the look she had given him after she had dug her booted feet into his stomach. His head was swimming as guilt and regret surfaced. His breathing became labored, as he turned to leave the room, she put her hand on his shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking. It happened, let's just move past it. I'm not mad anymore. I don't hate you." His back was still turned to her, but she could feel his body shaking through her tenuous grasp. He flipped around quick, catching her off guard.

Before she could react, he caught her arm in his hand and twisted it painfully behind her back, pushing her face into the periwinkle wall. He moved his head closer to her, pushing his nose into her hair and inhaling deeply. Moving his free hand, he tangled his fingers in her dirty hair and tugged roughly.

"You hate me now?" He used his entangled hand to push her head more firmly against the wall. His breath tickled her ear, causing her to stiffen against him.

"No." She replied softly. It was almost too quiet to hear.

He used his knee to spread her legs, pushing his weight against her to pin the rest of her body against the wall. He took his hand from her hair and wrapped it around her long, graceful neck, applying pressure. He could feel the flutter of her pulse quicken with fear and smiled. He would have made his daddy proud then. He could feel rather than hear a noise escape from her. The proximity was causing him physical pain. He could feel himself stiffen painfully and he permitted his hand to drift from her neck, tracing her clavicles, the soft swell of her breast and ghosting over her ribs before stopping and allowing them to rest there firmly.

"I don't hate you Daryl." He leaned his forehead against her hair, small tears escaping from his firmly closed eyes. He moved his knee from between her legs and turned away, ashamed of himself. His chest seized painfully and began to sob, the horrors of the last few days finally setting in on him. His leg ached, his head ached, his shoulder ached and his heart ached. Before he could follow his despair into a spiral of loathing and self hate, he felt a small pair of arms encircle his waist. She squeezed lightly, reversing their previous position. His tension melted away.

"I'm gonna go shower now, you sit right there until it's your turn. Okay?" She paused and looked at him until he nodded his head. "I don't want to be alone." He nodded his head more firmly.

She didn't take long in the shower, her body tired, starved and dehydrated. She wrapped a soft pink towel around her and exited the bathroom. Daryl met her eyes and then quickly looked away, not wanting to embarrass her. She stalked towards him slowly, coming to rest between his massive boot clad feet. He looked at the contrast between black leather and bare skin, slightly tanned from wearing flip flops in the sun. She placed her hand under his jaw and raised his head to meet her eyes. She smiled briefly before touching her lips to his. He kissed her with reserve that bordered on reverence. It wasn't meant to be a kiss of passion. Instead, it was one of comfort, meant to fill the holes that their family had left behind. He could feel her tears on his cheeks, or maybe it was his tears on her. He couldn't tell. They were a perfect intermingling of flesh and spirit.

"The shower is all yours." She smiled and gestured towards the bathroom. "Towels are under the sink, I don't have any masculine smelling stuff so you're gonna smell kinda like a flower. I don't mind if you don't." She waggled her eyebrows, the gesture an emulation of her sister. Daryl exaggeratedly rolling his eyes before excusing himself and disappearing in the bathroom.

Beth had long since drifted into a light sleep when she felt the bed sag under Daryl's weight. She wiggled herself closer to him and he wrapped his arm tightly around her. His breath was hot against her neck. She could feel the bare skin of his chest against her partially exposed back, the heat of him and the steady rise and fall of his chest lulled her back into a much deeper sleep.

The splintering of wood brought Daryl back from the dead. He could feel Beth spring up beside him, her breath quick and heavy laden with fear. Moving quickly and silently, he opened her bedroom door and disappeared down the stairs. Beth cringed as she heard him catch the squeaky step at the bottom of the staircase. She could hear a feminine whimper and shouting. She recognized the voice an ran quickly down the steps. She glanced back for a moment before running dead smack into Daryl. He was standing still on the bottom step. A gun was now pointed at them both. She paused to assess the situation. Maggie was down on her knees, Gareth had a stiff grip on her bicep. She could see the bruises from where he had been dragging her around by her arm. The sight made her sick and angry.

"What in the hell are you doing?" She pushed Daryl out of her way.

"Who is this?" Gareth gestured at Daryl with his gun. Beth moved between them and glared at him.

"Did you hurt her?" She nodded towards her sister and Gareth smiled. It was deep and genuine. She had seen it a million times when she had sang for him at Terminus. For a moment she relented, but only a moment. When she looked back at Maggie's arm, she could feel her blood boil.

He chuckled, "Well, somebody is going to have to start answering questions. I'll go first." He released Maggie's arm like it had burned him. "I didn't hurt her. I wouldn't do that to you. I love you. Who is this man, why is standing here in his underwear...In your house?" His smile dropped and he edged closer to what Beth now realized was insanity. The mood in the room shifted instantly.

His eyes followed Maggie as she ran to her sister and embraced her deeply. Their arms intertwined. Beth could feel her sister's sobs wracking her body.

"Daryl." She cleared her throat. "His name is Daryl. I didn't want to be alone." As he edged closer to madness, the atmosphere began to stifle her. Her breath was ragged.

"Look at him Beth. He isn't good enough for you. Look. At. Him." Beth shook her head in defiance, and Gareth continued more desperately, gesturing wildly with his gun. "Come over here Daryl, stand right there."

Daryl hesitated for a moment before walking forward. He edged his body between Beth's and the gun, willing to take a bullet for her. Gareth stepped forward and circled him. His eyes roamed over Daryl's naked torso and he scoffed. Daryl bristled at the noise, but was not yet willing to do anything rash. When Gareth had finished his examination, he returned to his previous position. He rocked back on his heels slightly, assuming an air of curiosity.

"Just look at him. All those scars on his back. If he wasn't worthless, his parents never would have done that to him." Beth could see a wicked gleam in his eyes. Her heart beat faster and she could feel each word down to her soul. She started shaking her head as Gareth held up a silencing hand. "Trash. Not worth the air it takes to sustain him."

Beth watched in horror as Daryl's shoulders slumped. She saw the lashings marring the flesh of his back. Tears ran freely down her face as she listened to Gareth confirm everything that Daryl had already felt about himself. There was no telling how many times he had heard his mother or his father call him worthless before taking the strap to his hide.

"Stop." She choked out finally. "Don't talk to him like that." Gareth cut his eyes at her. Smile gracing his features once more. His insanity ebbed and flowed with an intensity of a bursting damn.

"So there is something between you. I should have known. You're spoiled, just like the rest of them. Overindulged by a well to do daddy." He paused as if collecting his thoughts. "They screamed you know. All of them. The last one knew what was going to happen, but she begged anyway. Have you ever heard someone beg for their life Beth?" His eyes were glazed over. Daryl was standing still, him and Beth immobilized. She sobbed and shook her head no. Not wanting to hear, but knowing that she must. They deserved somebody to bear witness.

"I was so crazy about you. The moment I saw you. Blond hair just like an angel's. They were close, but just not close enough. It helped to control the urges. When you thought I was sneaking off for meth or, well, whatever drug you thought I was doing, I was looking for the next one. It takes time to find someone that even comes close to passing for you. And the entire time, I was picturing what it would be like to tear into your skin. That beautiful, pale skin. Perfect, just like a ripe peach."

Beth could feel her stomach turning, bile creeping slowly into her throat. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of her disgust, of her fear. It was her fault. She had as good as killed them. The tears burned her eyes and cheeks. She took a shaky step forward.

"Just let them go. You can do whatever you want to me." Gareth took an involuntary step forward, gravitating towards his prize.

"No Beth." She shook her head at Daryl, silently begging him not to interfere. Gareth held out his hand for her to take. As she reached him, she placed her hand lightly on the arm holding his gun. He let it drop to his side and the gun slipped from his grasp. He dipped his head to take in the smell of her hair, a perverse parody of what Daryl had done earlier. She couldn't suppress the shudder that traveled through her body.

Before he could comment, the front door burst open. The already splintered and broken wood screamed in protest as Officer Rick Grimes stepped over the threshold. He was followed closely by a battered man in a dirty wife beater and black pants. Beth went to run, but found herself wrapped up in Gareth's arm. The smile never left his face.

"Step back now or I'll break her pretty little neck." He tightened his grasp on her and started to lead her towards the door.

"You ain't gonna be wantin' to do that. There's a hell of a lot of firepower out there." The man behind Sheriff Grimes rasped out. Gareth lined himself with the door and looked out into the night. He could see the blue and red flashing lights. Beth could feel him shudder with rage and his grasp tightened. He was losing control and they could all sense it.

"Let her go." Sheriff Grimes put his gun back into the holster. He had drawn it instinctively on the way inside. "We can talk about this, calmly. No need for anyone to get hurt." Gareth laughed derisively.

"I'm going to be making the..." His sentence was cut short. As he had been speaking, he had turned his back to Daryl. It had been long enough to allow the hunter time to pick up the discarded gun. He brought it heavily against Gareth's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Good ta see ya baby brother." Daryl just nodded. He helped Beth extricate herself from Gareth's limbs and walked her back to her sister.

"It's over now. It's all over." Rick cooed soothingly. Two of his officers came in behind him and he gestured towards Gareth's limp form. They cuffed his hands behind his back and help each other lift and move him through the door. Once he was no longer in her sight, Beth fell to the floor. Daryl followed close behind, sitting firmly beside her and holding her in his arms. If it had not been for him, Beth would have fallen apart that night. He helped to hold her together.

Maggie slapped at the hands of a medic as he was trying to examine her arms. He huffed out a frustrated breath and pushed her hands away. She cut her eyes at him, causing him to laugh.

"This would go faster, if you just let me do my job." She rolled her eyes at him and submitted to his prodding. "I'm Glenn, by the way."

"I didn't ask." Maggie snapped at him. Glenn shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

The next few hours of questioning was a blur. When they were finally permitted to leave, Daryl led Beth outside. They were running on no sleep, little food and a lot of pain. When Marla came into view, Beth planted her head on Daryl's shoulder and chuckled. They would have a lot of healing to do and it would be a long hard road to forgiveness. She lifted her head to meet Daryl's eyes and couldn't help the smile that graced her features.

"Where are we going?" He put his hand on the back of her neck and teasingly squeezed.

"Don't know, taking requests." She shook her head.

"Before we go anywhere, why in the heck does your brother call his truck Marla?" Beth looked up at her unlikely hero and for the first time since knowing him he let out a genuine bark of laughter. His face turned red for a moment and he looked sheepish.

"After Marla Hooch. You know, cuz she ain't as pretty as the other girls, but she's just as good." She decided not to ask him to elaborate further and took his face into her hands. She lightly placed a kiss on his nose and skipped off towards the truck. Although her heart was heavy, she had hope that maybe some day she would be okay again. Optimism and compassion. They were the defining characteristics that made her who she was. She knew that her daddy wouldn't want her to let the darkness in and by god she wasn't going to let him down. Daryl opened the truck door and gestured for Beth to get inside.