So it's becoming normal for this story that as soon as I finish one chapter, I start the next one. I seriously can't stop writing this one. Just two things to remember - this is still going to be a slow burn between Beth and Daryl and Merle, for the most part, has turned his life around. I've never really written Merle like this but I know most were expecting it to be about him when Rick showed up in the last chapter. Thank you for all of the reviews, support and love for this story!

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Chapter Fourteen.

He kept his head under the hood, working on the dead alternator – a problem he was able to fix with his eyes closed – so he didn't really have to think about it and was able to watch Beth through the office window. She was sitting behind her desk and Zach was on the other side, leaning into it, saying something to her with a grin. The kid had gone in there to hand her a customer invoice and was still there nearly five minutes later. Not that Daryl was keeping track.

Beth was smiling faintly in return and Daryl kept reminding himself that of course Beth was smiling because that was just who she was. She smiled at everyone and Zach wasn't anyone special. He wasn't. The kid had been after her since the day Beth had started working there but she had never taken him up on any of his invites. Instead, she smiled at Daryl and went for rides on his bike with her arms around his waist and came over for dinner when he invited her. She wasn't interested in Zach and Daryl knew he was being ridiculous that he had to remind himself anything when it was just so damn obvious.

Or was it? He knew it wasn't. They were always the first ones to arrive at the garage in the mornings so no one saw it when he drove her and it wasn't as if he and Beth had made an announcement one morning to the garage that they were going out on a date; a date Daryl still had to take her on because he had absolutely no idea what to do. Dinner and a movie? Isn't that what dates usually were? He had asked Rick about it and that was what he had suggested they do but Daryl was still unsure. It just all sounded so damn boring and typical and he wanted to do something with Beth that millions of other guys didn't do for the girls they took out.

But it had been nearly two weeks since he had asked her out and he still hadn't gone through with it even though they seemed to spend time together nearly every night after work. And every night, Daryl told her that this wasn't their first date and Beth just smiled and laughed softly at that and he knew that she was fine with always hanging out in his trailer but taking her back to his trailer was not a date.

Deciding he needed a cup of coffee from the pot Beth brewed in the office every morning, he pulled his head out from the car and wiped his hands on the rag as he crossed the garage, pausing in the doorway when Zach said something and then laughed at whatever it was, Beth still smiling at whatever it was but not laughing.

Daryl didn't say anything as he went to the small machine on the table and poured himself a cup. He had his back to them and he took his time fixing himself a cup but he couldn't help as the clenching of his jaw grew tighter as he listened to Zach telling Beth all about some party his friends from college were throwing that weekend and Beth just had to come because there would be a pizza eating contest and two kegs and Daryl wondered if Zach knew Beth at all because Daryl knew that nothing about that sounded appealing to Beth. Of course he didn't know her though. He was just going after her because Beth was a pretty girl and she kept turning him down.

"Zach!" Dale suddenly barked from his office. "Leave Beth alone and get back to work!" He shouted to him and Daryl had never loved the old man more than he did right then. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Zach give Beth a wink before he sauntered out of the office.

Daryl told himself that throwing coffee on his coworker was never something to do.

When he turned around, Beth let out a small sigh of relief and then looked to Daryl with a soft, warm smile.

"Hey, you," she said and there was something about the greeting that had his stomach flipping around as if he had just drunken way too much booze.

"Hey," he grunted. He took a sip of coffee even though the charade of needing to get some was no longer needed and he didn't even really like coffee.

And Beth knew that because she just kept smiling at him. "Do you want to split lunch today?" She asked.

"What'd you have in mind?" He asked though he knew that anything she wanted to get, he would eat.

She laughed a little and stood up to go to the file drawer to get something. "Well, Zach just put me in the mood for pizza. Maybe we could get one delivered?"

His lips twitched a little at that and nodded. "Sounds good."

He went into the small employee bathroom to pour the coffee down the drain and to rinse out the cup and when he turned to leave, he nearly leapt back a step when he saw Beth suddenly in the doorway.

She looked at him, stared at him, intently and silently as if in deep concentration. And then, without saying a word, she stepped fully into the bathroom to join him and she closed the door behind her. Daryl felt his throat grow thick and he tried to remind himself to keep breathing while keeping an appropriate distance between them though the bathroom was so damn small and there was nowhere for him to go.

"Daryl," she said his name quietly, her eyes still on him. "Are you ever going to take me out on our date?" She asked him and the question didn't surprise him but he still felt suddenly winded as if she had just punched him.

He nodded and swallowed, trying to gain use of his voice again. "Course I am. I'm just tryin' to think of somethin' for us to do."

"Why do you think I need something special?" She asked with her head tilted slightly to the side.

She took a small step towards him and it was just like how it had been in his trailer a few nights earlier before Rick had come and interrupted them. She had stepped into his space and hadn't stopped staring up at him and she looked like she wanted to kiss him and he nearly started shaking because he wanted nothing more than to kiss her. He wanted her so bad, he dreamt about her and then woke up in pain and he had to take care of himself in his tiny shower. But he couldn't kiss her here in some tiny shitty bathroom in some shitty garage. Beth deserved to have kisses in settings just as pretty and awesome as she was.

Daryl shook his head slightly as if he didn't know why she didn't get it. "'cause you're special," he said in a soft voice, his eyes hardly able to look at her now.

The bathroom was silent after that except the drip of water from the faucet in the sink and the air felt so heavy, swirling around him, he wondered if she was able to breathe because he suddenly was having a hell of a time.

"Daryl," she whispered his name and he finally looked at her again.

But his eyes were only able to focus on her for a moment before she was right up against him. It all happened within a second – the feel of her body pressing against his, her hands sliding up his chest and then lifting to his face, her fingers pushing his hair back and then her lips on his. Her lips were soft and almost hesitant against his but the instant he felt them, he nearly groaned and the dam of control he had been fighting when beside her for so long now split open and he was lost.

He heard her gasp a little with surprise when he pushed back against her. His hands found her hips and he pushed her backwards until her back hit the door and he wondered if he was just too rough with her. But when he thought to begin to pull away, Beth's fingers tightened in his hair and she pressed her body a little harder against his and Daryl sank against her, his mouth kissing her hungrily and urgently.

His arms slid around her ridiculously small waist and her arms wrapped around his shoulders and he felt like he was crushing her body to his but she wasn't squirming to get away. If anything, she kept herself pressed against him as if desperate to get closer. And Daryl held onto her tightly, wondering how he had managed to last this long without feeling her body against his.

She tasted sweet – like peaches and cream – and there wasn't a single part of him that was surprised. It flooded his mouth and pulsed through his body and he nearly groaned as every inch of him reacted to her, his jeans beginning to feel tight and the rest of his body straining like a rubber band being pulled to its maximum stretch.

He almost smiled when he finally pulled his mouth back and she whimpered softly with protest. He looked at her, keeping her body still pinned to his and his face still close to hers, and it took her almost a minute for her eyes to flutter open. Her skin was flushed and her lips were swollen and he couldn't believe that this girl had just kissed him and that she had let him kiss her in return.

She looked at him curiously but she didn't have to ask the question.

"We're at work," he explained. "Can't kiss you like this while we're at work."

Beth nodded and he was honestly surprised she didn't argue. He looked at her and wondered where that girl was who always kept her eyes down and blushed too much because that girl and this girl who had just pushed him into the bathroom to kiss the hell out of him couldn't have possibly been the same girl.

She kept his hair back from his face as she looked into his eyes. "Will you come over to my house tomorrow night after work?" She asked. He must have looked confused because she smiled a little. "My daddy's been wanting to meet you again."

Daryl did his best to swallow past the sudden cotton ball lodged in his throat. He had already met and spoken with Hershel Greene but why did he feel like this time, meeting him would be different? What would Beth say he was? Was he still just her friend or was he maybe something more? He didn't even know what he wanted to be. He still couldn't even quite believe that they had just kissed. He was still wrapping his head around the fact that he and Beth were spending so much time together; that they were friends and now they had kissed and he didn't know what the hell to think or do.

"Uh, sure," he heard himself stutter.

Beth smiled brightly at him and he swore he saw relief in her eyes and he didn't really blame her because even though he had given her an answer, he still felt unsure. She gave his shoulders a squeeze and he wondered if he should kiss her again – he knew he wanted to – but she turned away from him, slipping out of the bathroom first and closing the door behind her. Daryl took a moment, leaning against the wall, trying to breathe and calm himself – all of him – down again before leaving that tiny space that still smelled like Beth and going back into the garage.

After a few deep breaths, he finally left the bathroom. Beth was behind her desk, talking on the phone, and their eyes locked for a moment before she looked away, smiling faintly and her cheeks blushing. Daryl couldn't help but have his own lips twitch as he headed back out to the garage.

As his head returned to under the hood and he began work once again on the dead alternator and tried his hardest not think of Beth or her hands or lips, a car pulled into the garage lot and moments later, he heard feet approaching him from behind.

Daryl lifted his head, flicking his head to get the hair out of his eyes, and he saw Rick coming towards him. And it looked like the man needed to talk. The man always needed to talk nowadays, it seemed, and as his best friend, Daryl filled in the role as his confidant – which Daryl was more than fine with except when Rick showed up at the trailer and interrupted time with Beth but he wasn't going to be mad about it. Daryl knew that if the tables were flipped, Rick would listen to him no matter what.

Without a word, Daryl met him halfway and they went back out to the parking lot. Daryl pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and lit one as Rick stood there, fiddling with his Sherriff's hat. They had grown up together – meeting in elementary school and for a long time, besides Merle, Rick was his only friend; the only kid allowed to play with him. When his mom died and Merle split, leaving him alone to be his old man's punching bag, the Grimes family had him over as much as possible and did everything to stop him from dropping out of high school and following after Merle when his older brother came back. When Daryl finally returned to town a few years later, ready to get his life in order, Rick accepted him right back into his family as if he hadn't been gone at all.

"I did what you said," Rick said.

Daryl's brow furrowed a little. "What did I say to do?"

"Follow her. I followed her. To the grocery store. The library. She didn't go anywhere." Rick sighed heavily and Daryl wanted to tell him that he was just kidding when he told Rick to follow his wife; something he said just to say something but if Rick had actually gone through with and done it, Daryl wasn't going to tell him he shouldn't have done it.

Daryl liked Lori Grimes. She was a nice woman; had always been nice to him, and Rick was crazy about her. Together, they had two kids – Carl and Judith – and if Daryl didn't know any better, he would think their life was perfect. But Rick was beginning to suspect that Lori was having an affair and Daryl had spent nights listening to the man's theories and that small evidence he had gathered in his defense. She was happier – which Daryl had thought was a crazy ass reason to think a wife was cheating but Rick explained that her skin was glowing and her eyes were bright in a way he hadn't seen in years and he said there was no reason for her to be looking like that again all of a sudden. There were other little things. She was working out, getting her body back in shape, never letting him see her cell phone when his own had gone dead, encouraging him to go to that Law Enforcement Conference in Atlanta for the weekend.

Daryl didn't want to think that about Lori but at the same time, if Rick was so convinced, all Daryl could really do was show his support to him since Rick was his friend – practically another brother.

"It's Shane's day off tomorrow. Maybe I should have him tail her all day," Rick said.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders and puffed his cigarette. "If you think it'll help," he offered because again, he had no idea what to say.

Rick sighed heavily but didn't say anything.

Daryl dropped his cigarette – half finished – to the asphalt and stubbed it out. "When you were first goin' out with Lori and you met her folks, what did you wear?" He heard himself ask even though he really wished he would have done what he always did and kept silent – especially with the grin Rick was slowly giving him.

"I thought you already met Hershel," Rick said, his grin never slipping.

Daryl sighed. "Forget it," he shook his head.

Rick let out a laugh. "Well, I don't see myself doing that. Are you going for dinner?"

Daryl hated himself for bringing this up but he felt himself shrug his shoulders. "Don't know. Beth just asked me if I wanted to go over tomorrow after work."

"Definitely dinner," Rick nodded. "Taking flowers? Wine?" Daryl looked at him as if he had sprouted two heads and Rick laughed again. "You should at least get Beth flowers," Rick said.

"You think she'll like that?" Daryl was frowning now because he had no idea what the hell was going on. They had kissed but that didn't have to mean anything, did it? Did that mean that he had to bring her flowers and wear a tie when he met her daddy for the second time because Beth should know that that wasn't him.

"You tell me," Rick said. "Most girls seem to like it when they get flowers."

Daryl just kept frowning and by the time Rick left and he returned to the car in his bay, his head was pounding with a headache. He glanced towards the office to see Beth at her desk, writing and stapling papers and answering the phone all at the same time.

She had kissed him first, yes, but he had kissed her back and he wondered what the hell he had just gotten himself into with her.

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