Such a warm response to the last chapter and this story in general. THANK YOU so, so much! I do have a plan to bring in other characters from the show and it will be happening soon.

xxx

Chapter Thirteen.

The air smelled of the earth. Dirt and rain and flowers blooming. Of spring. Of Beth.

Despite having spent the morning down at the creek, washing and scrubbing and doing laundry, and then fighting with him in the sun for the past couple of hours, getting sweaty and tired, Daryl swore that he could smell her. And she smelled like lavender.

Not too many things surprised him anymore. Dead people were literally walking around the earth. A person sort of got used to the shocking after that. But Beth Greene had just wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him and had surprised the hell out of him and she could damn well knock him onto his ass right now if that's what she wanted to do. He hadn't even known she had wanted to kiss him. Should he have known that? And had she been thinking about doing this or was she just acting without thinking? It had been them for over eighty days now and they had gotten close – closer than he knew would have ever happened if they hadn't lost the prison – and maybe she was just feeling lonely. He knew how Beth was. She liked being close to people and being open and affectionate and since he was pretty much her only option right now, maybe that was the only reason she was kissing him.

It was the only reason that really made sense to him. Girls like Beth Greene – filled with goodness and sunshine and who was surrounded by death but still smelt like lavender – didn't kiss guys like him. End of the world or not, they just didn't.

And despite telling himself all of this, Daryl slowly felt his hands raise and come to a rest on her hips, touching her lightly and yet, his touch still feeling heavy on her body. Beth's lips moved against his and the suddenness in which she had first kissed him had slowed and it was now gentle and not quite so hard. His eyes had slowly closed before he even realized it and his lips pressed back against hers with the slightest bit of pressure.

He wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted. Probably no more than a handful of seconds but he felt her lips slowly pulling back from his and his eyes instantly opened. Her eyes fluttered open a moment later and as soon as she saw him looking at her, her cheeks exploded in a blush and her arms slid away from his shoulders, coming to hang at her sides. She did her best to give him a smile but it couldn't quite take hold and stay.

"I'm sorry for attacking you like that," she said in a rush and Daryl was surprised to find himself feeling almost relieved that she wasn't apologizing for actually kissing him.

He looked at her and despite what had just happened – what had just changed – he felt his lips quirk up in a little bit of a smile. "Know how to handle myself," he said with a raise of his shoulders and she looked at him and this time, when she smiled, it reached her eyes and glowed on her cheeks and it was a Beth smile.

He wondered if they would have some big discussion about it. Beth liked to talk and he just assumed that she would want to talk about this since them kissing could be a big deal and he felt the slightest tense knot grow between his shoulder blades in anticipation. He wasn't good at talking – especially about what he was thinking or feeling – and he wondered if he would say something that would mess this all up.

And then he realized that he didn't want to mess this all up; that having Beth kiss him wasn't the worst thing in the world. Actually, it was the best thing to happen to him in a long time and his lips were still quivering a little from the contact of hers. In the past eighty-five days, he hadn't thought about kissing her but now that they had, he wondered when they would kiss again.

Beth seemed to know that he wasn't ready for a conversation and maybe she didn't want to have one either. Maybe them kissing was just one of those things that – surprisingly enough – felt natural and didn't need to be talked about.

She exhaled a deep breath and still smiled at him and brushed hair from his face. "Alright. So what's the next move?" She asked.

It took him a second longer than it should have to realize that she was talking about these self-defense lessons and he couldn't help but smirk at himself.

"A'right," he said and cleared his throat. He slowly reached out and took her hand, now focusing on the softness of her skin, and he saw her visibly swallow. "The throat. Once you get your arms free from my hold, you're gonna hit me here." He gently pulled on her hand, bringing it to the front of his throat, across his trachea and her fingers touched his skin and he knew his sweat had nothing to do with the sun overhead.

They worked for a couple more hours, perfecting two more of the moves he wanted her to know in case something ever happened and he wasn't here and she had to keep herself alive. He knew Beth wasn't to that point – where she would be able to take someone else's life and the truth was, he didn't want her there. She was too good for it even though he knew, the way this world had gone, she'd have to eventually.

When they broke for the afternoon, as the sun began dipping towards the west, and there were two walkers snarling at the walls and they could hear cicadas singing, Beth went to the rain barrel to splash water onto her face and Daryl went to go take care of the walkers. When he turned, Beth was at the picnic table, humming a soft song as she gently checked on the fox's leg.

He nearly snorted, remembering that damn flea-ridden dog at the funeral home and how excited she had been at the prospect of having a dog around them. That fox didn't know it but it had just been adopted by her and she wasn't going to be letting him go. Daryl knew it, too, and he hoped the fox would be useful to them. Fox were hunters of vermin and maybe if the fox stayed, it could help keep their vegetable garden safe.

Beth tenderly picked the fox up, cradling him in her arms – and the fox looking damn content to be cradled by Beth (not that Daryl could blame him) – and she carried the fox into the house. Seemed as if he'd be sleeping inside with them tonight.

Daryl took his time before going in. First he went to the piss bucket on the side of the house and then walked around the backyard, checking the fences for any weak spots. But the warm sun had baked their cement and the bricks and rocks weren't moving. It was spring but the nights were still cool but maybe, when it got warm out, they'd start sleeping outside. He knew there really wasn't a point to it. They had a house – small but strong – and sleeping inside helped them feel a little bit of normalcy – and something like that wasn't important to Daryl but he knew it was important to Beth. He just, sometimes still, hated the thought of feeling like he was being caged in.

When he walked through the backdoor into the kitchen, he saw Beth in the family room, kneeling in front of the fire, stoking the flames back to life, and she had made a little bed for the fox on one of the large throw pillows from the couch, setting the animal on the floor close to the flames but not too close. Daryl always walked quietly so he didn't know it Beth knew he had come inside or not but she didn't turn her head to look at him and he took the chance to just look at her for a couple of seconds.

How the hell did this happen? End of the damn world and he found himself alone with the prettiest girl left. And not just that but the prettiest girl left had kissed him. It was just the two of them and they were staying here and making a home for themselves. And thoughts of their family lingered in the back of his head – and he knew they probably did with Beth, too – but staying here with her, it was what he wanted. He knew Rick was out there somewhere – he had to be – but if he found a place to settle down for a little bit, Daryl knew that he would. Daryl knew Rick wouldn't be angry at him for just wanting to stay put in one spot if he got the chance to.

And with everything he and Beth were working on and doing here, Daryl knew that this place had a real shot of working out for them.

She must have felt his eyes settled on her then because Beth turned her head and saw him standing there, watching her, and she gave him a smile. She stood up and lingered in front of the fireplace for a moment.

"I'm still kind of stuffed from lunch," she said. "Do you just want some rice for dinner?"

"Sounds good," he said with a head nod and moved to close the door behind him and swing the crossbow from off his shoulder and she came into the kitchen, reaching for the heavy plastic container of rice. "How hard is it to grow rice?" He heard himself ask.

She smiled a little. "Hard. We'd need the room and we'd have to keep the fields flooded the whole time. I had an uncle in Arkansas, my mama's brother, who had rice fields. Daddy always said that Uncle Dean grew two things. Rice and mosquitoes."

"'m gonna start to really work on the car in the garage," Daryl told her because this was what they did. They thought of things and said them out loud because they didn't keep stuff from one another – especially when everything had to do with the other. "If I get it started, we can start drivin' and makin' runs. Maybe come 'cross some Minute Rice or somethin'," he said even though he doubted it. This place had been a goldmine and he didn't expect to come across another one.

Beth smiled though and nodded. "Sounds like a plan. I actually want to go to a few of the houses again tomorrow."

"For what?"

"Books. On gardening," she added. "Just to make sure I'm doing it right."

Daryl shrugged. "Can't imagine you doin' it wrong," he said and she smiled at him for that.

He looked at her and she moved into him then. His eyes stayed on her face, wanting to be ready this time, and she stood herself on her toes, one of her hands resting lighting on his chest for balance, and her lips brushed across his cheek, near the corner of his mouth, and he couldn't stop himself from leaning into her.

He closed his eyes and dipped his head down, his nose grazing across her ear. Lavender. He was going to try and find her another lavender bar of soap.

Their night was quiet as all of their nights were now. They cooked their rice and ate on the couch and they then played a couple games of checkers in front of the fire. They didn't read tonight, Beth explaining that she had been reading out loud so much lately, her throat was filling a little tender and she said it with a little laugh even though hearing her say something like that made Daryl frown. He didn't want her throat feeling tender – not even a little. He wished he was a better reader. He did read and he could read. He wasn't that big of an idiot. But he couldn't read like Beth. When she read, it was like she was singing – her voice all soft and melodic and soothing.

After three games of checkers – him winning two and Beth winning one – they went outside for one last perimeter check. And all was quiet.

"'m gonna stay out here and have a last smoke," he said on the steps of the back patio.

And she knew that he was going to keep himself on watch for a while but she didn't say anything about it. She just nodded and gave him a soft smile and he wondered if she would kiss him again.

"Good night, Daryl," she said quietly.

She didn't.

With one last smile, she went into the house and he stayed outside, pulling the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, popping one into his mouth and lighting it. The sky was like black ink, too many stars to count visible tonight but no moon. The wind was blowing in from the south that night and he could hear the faint lazy hoot of an owl somewhere out in the woods. And then… then he heard something else. It wasn't nearby but it was close enough to where his ears perked up and his body went still. He held his breath as he waited to hear it again and then he did. Somewhere out in the woods, someone laughed. A man's laugh - short but long enough for Daryl to know that someone was there. Somewhere close to his and Beth's house.

He took one more quick drag from the cigarette and then dropped it onto the step, stubbing it out with his boot. He turned and poked his head in through the back door. Beth was on the couch, curled into a little ball beneath her blanket, already fast asleep. He silently closed the door and he stepped down from the patio, his crossbow in his arms. He walked on silent steps – practically gliding rather than walking at all. Through the garage, along the side of the house, through the tall grass that grew in back and then into the woods.

He didn't think about what he was doing. There was no reason to think about it because it had to be done. He didn't care what kind of people these were that were out in their woods, making camp. No matter what kind of people they were, they couldn't stay. He knew that Beth thought there were still good people and maybe the man he had shot with a bolt in the garden on one of their first days had been a good man and maybe these people were good people but he couldn't take the chance. Not with Beth here with him and having to keep her safe.

He had no problem killing a person if he was killing that person for her.

Daryl was able to melt into the darkness of the woods, his shape being lost among the trees, and even in the dark, his steps were silent over sticks and fallen leaves. He walked towards where the laugh had come from – moving as quickly as he could but making sure that he still stayed silent above all else.

Over the creek and a few hundred feet past that. He could see the flickering of flames and he frowned at how high these people had made their fire. They should have dug a hole and built it in there but their amateur mistake didn't matter to him. It wouldn't matter in a few more minutes – especially to them.

Daryl stopped behind a tree, watching from around it, his crossbow to his shoulder. There were three of them. Two men and a woman. Daryl swallowed at the sight of her but he didn't change his mind on what he had to do. He couldn't kill the two men and let the woman go free. Anyone nowadays could want revenge and he couldn't risk it.

"Tomorrow, we'll find some water. Maybe get us some fish," one of the men said.

The woman snorted at that. "How the hell do you plan on catching fish? With your hands?" She asked and she looked young – probably in her thirties – but her voice was rough. Reminded Daryl of his mom's for a second. This woman was a heavy smoker.

"How the hell you think the cavemen caught fish?" The man fired back. "Ain't like they had their own tackle boxes to use."

"That's something I didn't think of looking for," the other man spoke up. "Tackle box. These woods can't go on forever. Maybe we'll come on a house tomorrow."

Daryl's body tightened at that. No, they wouldn't.

But he didn't make his move yet.

"Who's taking first watch?" The woman asked.

Daryl stood there, hidden, listening as they talked for almost five minutes about who would take watch as the other two got some sleep. It was amazing to him that they had survived this long. They didn't sound that bright and even when he and Beth weren't talking to one another, they both knew what they had to do to keep themselves alive.

Beth. He knew she'd hate it and she'd never kiss him again if she found out but he was doing this for her. To keep her safe. He thought of the Polaroid picture of her that he still kept in his back pocket. He'd kill a hundred people to keep her safe.

He heard it long before they did. Scraping of feet along the forest floor, leaves dragging with the steps and Daryl's fingers tightened around the crossbow, knowing that the walker was only getting closer, drawn towards the noise and the fire and Daryl wondered if he should just let the walker do the job for him. But no. These three may have been idiots but they had made it this far and this long and between the three of them, they could take down one walker.

So, he waited. He waited until the walker got closer and they finally heard it, all stopping their bickering about watch and they stood up, grabbing their weapons – knives and a gun. Idiots were going to use a gun to take down one walker. Daryl was finding killing these people easier to justify with himself.

The walker came through the trees on the other side of the fire opposite Daryl and as they were focused on that, Daryl made his move.

He fired his crossbow towards the woman, taking care of her first with a bolt swiftly through the head, killing her instantly. One of the men turned in surprise, watching as his companion fell to the ground, and then he turned to see Daryl coming from behind the tree. His eyes widened and he raised his hand with the gun, aiming it to Daryl but Daryl was already pulling out his knife. He quickly slit the throat of the man and then, just as he finished killing the walker, he turned to see what was going on and Daryl slit the other man's throat. The forest was quiet again as Daryl finished, stabbing both men through their heads.

He stood up then and looked over the small campsite. Three dead bodies and one dead walker. He heard the owl hoot again as he began gathering all of their things. They didn't have much – not surprising to Daryl. He got together their knives and the gun that had just a couple of bullets left in the chamber. A backpack with a few sticks of unopened beef jerky, a box of Ritz crackers and couple of cans of black olives. Daryl swung the backpack up onto his shoulders and then sheathed his knife, pulled the bolt from the woman's head and kicked dirt over the fire, smothering the flames.

Daryl took one last look around, making sure he had gotten everything, and then he disappeared into the blackness of the woods, heading for home.

xxx

"So much damn rain," Daryl grumbled on day eighty-nine as he stood at the back door, watching as the latest thunderstorm rolled through.

"That's a stupid thing to complain about," Beth commented.

And it was. He knew it was. Rain meant their water buckets were filled and the creek kept flowing and their vegetable garden got plenty of drink. It was just so damn annoying. He had things to do out there. Had stuff to check on and make sure it all stayed safe and sound.

She had found hot pink sticky notes in the front office and was now curled up on the couch, reading through the book that they had found in one of the houses a couple of days before, marking certain pages with pink tabs.

Daryl turned away from the door to look at her for a moment before coming over to sit down beside her. She smiled at him and she shifted her body a little closer to him, her arm touching his, her knees drawn up and now turned towards his thigh.

"I made a list," she told him and handed him a piece of paper she had ripped from her journal and he looked at her neat, loopy handwriting.

Tomatoes, green beans, green peppers, squash, strawberries, corn. Mystery vegetable.

It was everything growing in their garden and Daryl looked at the list for a moment, not saying anything. He knew they had planted a few things but seeing it all written down like that, it was actually a little overwhelming, he found. Food. They were going to have so much of it. And she was right. Even when the rice and tuna ran out – which it would eventually – they had his hunting skills and all of these vegetables growing and he had said it before but seeing the list, he honestly and truly believed it now.

They were going to be fine. They really were.

"When the rain stops, we'll have to replant the corn," Beth said and moved the book closer to him, leaning so close to him now, she filled his nostrils. He tried to concentrate on the page she was reading from. "Look. For sufficient pollination, plant your plot right. Don't plant two long rows. Rather, plant corn blocks. It requires 60 to 100 days to reach harvest depending on the variety and warm weather. Corn is ready for harvest when ears turn dark green, silks turn brown and kernels are soft and plump. Squeeze a kernel and the juice will be milky not white."

"Stop," Daryl interrupted and he smirked when she looked at him. "You're makin' my stomach growl," he said and she burst into a smile at that, her eyes laughing.

And she leaned in then, her lips meeting his in a kiss that was casual and comfortable and easy all at the same time. She kissed him like they had been kissing for years now.

"We can't have that," she smiled and she handed him the book as she stood up from the couch. She headed into the kitchen and the fox followed her. They had taken the splint off the day before when he began gnawing on the sticks and his leg didn't seem completely healed but the fox was hopping around on three of his paws and seemed fine. He had taken up the habit of following Beth around like a second shadow. She said she wanted to name him since he was theirs now but so far, the thing was still just fox.

Daryl's eyes looked down to the book, reading the paragraphs on growing corn. Was it stupid for him to imagine a cookout in the later summer months of deer and roasted corn? Was it stupid to imagine him and Beth having summer barbecues like that? Like they were just a couple living in the suburbs, enjoying the good life?

"Here we go," Beth said, coming back, breaking through his thoughts. She had a sleeve of the Ritz crackers and two sticks of the beef Jerky with her.

He hadn't told her where he had gotten those things from. How could he? All he said was he found them stashed in a car in the neighborhood and she hadn't questioned it because why would she? He had never lied to her and he wasn't looking to be making a habit of not telling her the truth but he couldn't tell her what he had done.

He knew that probably wasn't the only time he'd have to do it but each time, he would keep it from her. She didn't need to know what he did to keep her and this place safe.

She sat down beside him once again, so close, no space was fit between them – not that Daryl minded – and they began eating their lunch and she took the gardening book back, chewing on a cracker as she turned the page.

Daryl hesitated – because he didn't know if he could do it without feeling like an idiot – but then, he just went for it. He had nothing to lose. He lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders and the smile Beth gave him was worth it. She nestled in close to him and he ate a jerky stick and they looked over the book together.

"You'll get the car fixed," Beth said after a moment and her voice was quiet but confident. "And we'll be able to go on runs and find more stuff to bring back here and we'll find cans, too, and in the fall, we'll be able to store vegetables for the winter."

She turned her head and looked at him with those big eyes of hers and Daryl stared back. It was the end of the world and he had his arm around the prettiest girl left alive, who believed in him completely. And he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

This time, Daryl made the move and lowering his lips to hers, he kissed her first.

xxx

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