Note: Just a quick little note here. This chapter is the one where this story officially goes over into Mature territory. I'm very nervous about what you guys will think about it because it's the first time I've ever posted something like this (I have written, but never posted). All I'm asking for is that you guys please be kind in your comments and well, I guess enjoy yourselves...

WARNING: This chapter has content that should only be read by mature readers. If you don't like such things, you'll probably understand when it's time to stop reading and just skip to the last paragraph of the chapter.

In The Blink of an Eye (Hear The Beat of My Heart)

Chapter 25

"Come on!" Beth called out as she ran up the steps of the cabin. She looked through her backpack for the key that she always kept there and fumbled to put it in the lock, the thunder and rain distracting her. The darkness that had fallen over them made it difficult to see and it took her a couple of seconds to finally get the key in its place and turn the lock. She pushed the door open and hurried inside to hold the door from slamming into the wall due to the strong wind. Daryl entered the cabin a mere second after her, dropping his crossbow and his own backpack to the floor so that he could help her shut the door.

When Beth finally managed to turn the lock again, the loud wind and the raging storm outside seemed just a little duller, but lightning still illuminated the cabin through the small windows that they would need to cover before they could settle in fully.

At the moment though, all they could do was lean back against the cabin door and pant loudly. They had been running ever since the rain started pouring down on them and they were both soaked through. Beth could hear droplets fall to the wooden floor and gather in a small puddle beneath their boots. She dared a glance toward Daryl and noticed that his hair was plastered to his face, just like hers was to her own. She could see his cheeks and the tip of his nose though and she noted that they were both a little red, most likely from the cold. Beth was sure that she didn't look much better because her clothes were sticking to her body like a second skin. She tried hard not to notice the way that Daryl's shirt sleeves clung perfectly to his muscled arms.

"We need some light," Beth croaked out in a low breath, just as the thunder outside made her jump in surprise. She wasn't scared of the storm, but loud noises surprised her a bit after having gotten used to the quietness of the farm.

Taking a step away from the door, she walked over to the small table in the middle of the room and opened one of its drawers. She retrieved a couple of candles that she and Morgan had left there as well as the small pack of matches, using one of them to light one of the candles. Her hands shook a little as she fumbled with the stick, but finally, she was able to get the candle lit and place it in one of the small lanterns that she had found a couple of months back. She turned toward Daryl again, only to see him looking through one of the small windows, squinting to see outside.

"Can't see anythin' out there," he mumbled. "Walkers might be able to see the light though..."

"There are black curtains and a staple gun in the corner," Beth said pointing him in the right direction as she lit another candle and placed it in a second lantern. "Stay here, okay? Morgan and I stashed some spare clothes here a while ago. I'll be right back," she told him, leaving one of the lit lanterns on the table as she took the other and walked over to the small bedroom.

She looked through the closet as quickly as she could, grabbing a longer shirt for herself that she knew would fit as well as some flannel pajama bottoms and new underwear. Not being able to find herself a bra, she decided that her old one would just have to dry up and besides, the shirt she had gotten herself was black so there wasn't much risk of indecency in front of Daryl.

Her cheeks heated up a bit at the thought of having Daryl looking at her and noticing that she wasn't wearing a bra, but she knew that he had probably seen enough women without them in his life that it wouldn't bother him much. Besides, she had slept without a bra on next to him too many times to count and it had never bothered him then. On the other hand, she didn't know whether the two of them were actually okay enough again to go back to what they once had. It wasn't as if they had resolved anything.

Beth shook her head at herself and grabbed a pair of bigger sweatpants, a pair of boxer briefs and two shirts, one long sleeved and one short sleeved. She didn't know what Daryl would feel more comfortable wearing, but she knew that the rain had been freezing and that she felt as if she had just fallen into a lake in the middle of Winter. It would simply have to be his choice whether he wanted to wear it or not, but she was going to bring out the good blankets too.

Pulling out two towels as well, Beth finally walked back into the living room again. Daryl seemed to have just finished pulling the black curtains over the windows and securing them so that no light from the inside could be seen outside. He turned to face her when he heard her approaching and she placed the clean and dry clothes on the table for him before throwing the towel his way. Daryl caught it with ease and gave her a questioning look.

"You need to change out of those wet clothes," Beth told him. "If you get pneumonia, I don't think there's much we'll be able to do for you on the farm."

Suddenly, the loud roar of thunder and lightning shook the cabin, making some of the things resting on the cabinets shake as well. Daryl's eyes flickered to the side before settling on hers again.

"Ya sure this place is gonna hold?" he asked her, his voice rough and tired.

"Yeah," Beth nodded. "Morgan and I have been through a storm like this once and it still stood here the next day. I think it must have been a real hunter's cabin or something that someone built with a strong foundation as well as–" Beth was cut off by the thunder again. She swallowed thickly as she began to shiver. "Just get changed," she finally said. "I'll change in the other room."

Daryl grunted something in reply, but she didn't hear him. She walked back to the bedroom where she had placed her own clothes, looking at them for only a moment before she began to change. Listening to the thunder one more time, she sighed, knowing that this was going to be one hell of a night.

-§-

Daryl watched her as she moved away to the other room, doing his best to keep his eyes from straying downwards where her pants clung to her ass in a way that made him forget about the coldness that was making his skin prickle and caused his blood to rush south.

He inhaled deeply and shook his head, starting to wipe his hair with the towel that Beth had thrown at him. Drying it the best he could, he proceeded to wipe his face and then quickly removed his wet clothes, patting his skin with the towel as he did. He knew that Beth would probably give him a few minutes of privacy, but he didn't want to force her to stay in that other room for too long. Though he didn't doubt that it might take her a while longer to dry her own hair considering that it was so long now. Still, he didn't want to risk her seeing him naked or something because surely, it would be embarrassing for the both of them.

Not because Daryl was ashamed of his physique by any chance. No, the last few years – since the Outbreak – he had pretty much burned away all the extra layers of fat he might have had from the years he had spent drifting with Merle. He had always had strong arms which had been useful both when it came to hunting and helping his brother out in bar fights, but drinking and not eating particularly healthy food had had him gain some weight. Now though, Daryl couldn't help but think that he felt the best he had ever felt physically. Sure, these last few years had taken their toll on him in other ways, mostly through tiredness since he didn't sleep very well, always on alert for any walkers stumbling by. If one overlooked that though, he knew that he had gotten some more pronounced muscles in his body.

Pulling on the T-shirt, Daryl left the long sleeved shirt on the small table. He figured he would use that if the cold got any worse, but for now the short-sleeved one would be enough for him. Gathering the wet clothes he had worn before, he found himself frowning as he looked around, trying to find a place that he could hang them in so that they would dry up. Whenever the storm passed, he didn't feel like returning to the farmhouse wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt because surely it would make the rest of his family wonder where he and Beth had been and what they might have been doing when they had been alone.

Not that they were doing anything, or even would do anything.

The wet clothes that he had been wearing earlier were dripping on the floor and without thinking much about it, Daryl began walking toward the other room that Beth had disappeared into. He noticed that the door was ajar, so he figured that she must have finished getting re-dressed. Just as he approached it and opened his mouth to ask her where he should put his discarded clothing, his throat closed up and all the words in the English language disappeared from his mind.

Through the small opening, he could clearly see Beth inside the room. Her back was turned toward him though and Daryl felt his eyes widening a little as he watched her, almost mesmerized, as she grabbed the hem of her wet shirt and lifted it over her head. In Daryl's mind, it all happened so slowly that he could see pretty much every bit of muscle moving in her back. He watched as she stretched her arms up high, letting the wet shirt get peeled off of her body tantalizingly slow before dropping it to the floor. Her hands moved down, to her pants and somewhere in the distance he heard a zipper go down, but his mind could only seem to register what was happening when he saw the edge of her cotton underwear.

Daryl quickly took a step back so that he would no longer be able to see her. His heart was beating frantically inside his chest and he could feel himself stirring inside his fresh, dry boxers. Closing his eyes tightly, he tried his best to calm down. The sweatpants were big enough so that Beth wouldn't be able to see anything through them, but if she got close enough, she would without a doubt be able to feel his growing hardness.

Flashes of her creamy white skin being exposed like that came back to his mind and Daryl began cursing himself mentally for it. The memory of actually seeing how her body had changed since the two of them had last been together all those months ago after the prison had fallen would probably forever be seared inside his brain and Daryl didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. He had made a mistake by assuming that she would have finished dressing but now all he seemed to want was to open that door fully and take her in completely, in every way possible.

It was almost a primal urge, he realized; how his body seemed to instantly react to hers. He couldn't deny that he had wanted her for months now, although he knew that whatever it was that had been going on between them had been ruined by him completely. Beth was angry with him and there was no chance in hell that she would be willing to actually hear him out and listen to him as he explained to her all the reasons to why what he was doing to them was the right thing. Still, his hands seemed to be itching to reach out to her every time she was close enough and he wanted nothing more than to just pull her closer and get all tangled up in the destruction that would surely follow if he ever allowed himself to make a move.

"Daryl?" Beth's soft voice came from the doorway. Daryl lifted his gaze from the floor, seeing that Beth had finally stepped out of the room and was now wearing a pair of flannel pajama pants and a T-shirt that seemed to be way too big on her. He noticed that there weren't any bra-straps visible on one of her shoulders where the shirt had fallen down a little and he acknowledged that she probably wasn't wearing a bra. "Everything okay?" Beth continued, worry crossing her face despite the fact that he knew that she was still pissed with him.

"Yeah," he croaked out before clearing his throat. He needed to get his thoughts sorted and his head straight. "Just didn't know what to do with the wet clothes, s'all."

"I can hang them to dry in the shower," Beth offered, holding out her hand so that he could hand her the clothes.

"Ya don't gotta do it," he told her. "Can do it myself."

"Daryl," Beth sighed, sounding defeated. She gave him a look of exasperation and Daryl knew that the last thing she needed was for him to argue with her about this too.

Daryl handed her the clothes, deciding that it was better to not make a big deal out of it. Besides, he couldn't exactly stare her down when his mind constantly kept returning to the fact that she had been half-naked – and probably fully naked too – in the next room just a few moments ago. Beth took the clothes from him and offered him a tiny, barely noticeable smile before heading off to another door.

Things seemed to be civil enough between them right now and Daryl hoped that it would continue that way until tomorrow. By then the storm which was still raging outside would probably have subsided and the two of them would be able to return back to the farmhouse. The politeness continued when Beth returned from the small bathroom and informed him that she was going to heat up some of the canned food that she had brought with her in her pack so that they could eat. Daryl told her that they should warm Carol's stew instead since it would probably go bad in a few days and that they didn't really know how long it might take for the storm to pass. Beth seemed to wordlessly agree and he watched her curiously as she grabbed the backpack he had dropped on the floor when he had entered the cabin and took out the plastic container that Carol had put the stew in.

Daryl wasn't very hungry and he knew that Carol had given him enough stew to feed him for two days at least. That meant that there would surely be enough for both him and Beth to eat tonight. He observed her quietly as she heated the food up using a small wood driven stove. Daryl noted that she seemed a bit nervous though and he wondered whether she felt just as out of place as he did at the moment. Perhaps the reason that she was doing all this work was because she needed to keep herself distracted, just as he needed to keep himself at a certain distance from her so that he wouldn't feel the temptation to just jump her.

After a while, Beth pulled out two small bowls and divided the stew up between them. She placed them on the small dinner table and looked his way, wordlessly giving him an order – it seemed – to sit down across from her. Daryl did so and looked at the spoon that she had placed next to the bowl. He glanced up at her and realized that she was watching him, something unreadable on her face this time around. Her hands seemed to grip the table just a little bit tighter before she reached for her spoon and took some food with it. She lifted it to her mouth and blew a few slow breaths on it, never taking her eyes off of his as she did. Daryl didn't even look away as she placed the spoon inside her mouth and swallowed the mouthful of stew because to him, it was clear that she was doing something.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" Beth asked when she finally pulled the spoon from her mouth. She was pointing at his bowl with the utensil and Daryl glanced down at his food. He grunted a reply and grabbed his own spoon roughly, looking up at her again just in time to see her amused smirk fall of her face before she resumed eating.

That was when Daryl realized that even though they were being civil with each other, the tension between them was still there. Not only that though. In fact, it seemed as if the tension inside the cabin only got thicker with every moment that passed, as they ate their food, never taking their eyes off one another.

-§-

Maggie looked at the pouring rain, jumping slightly when lightning flashed across the sky and thunder followed a mere second later. It had gotten so dark outside that it was impossible to see and everyone had retreated to the safety of their rooms, covering all windows with curtains so that any walkers outside wouldn't be able to see the farmhouse. There was no way for anyone to sit and guard outside tonight and Maggie knew that having someone on the lookout for danger wouldn't do much use anyway since it was impossible to see anything in the darkness.

Yet, Maggie found herself looking outside through the small spring between the heavy curtains in the living room. She couldn't help but worry about her sister and Daryl, knowing that the two of them were out there somewhere in the middle of the storm. There was no way for them to know just how far Beth and Daryl had walked before the storm hit and Maggie worried that they might be caught in a bad place somewhere, or in danger. It wasn't the first time that they had lived through a storm since the Outbreak and all the other times that Maggie could remember having to hide because of the heavy rain and thunder, it had been crawling with walkers. The sound of the thunder and the illumination of the lightning seemed to confuse the dead ones who were drawn to both the light and the loud noise. They wandered around aimlessly and sometimes they would build up to a herd which was the real danger. A lone straggler wouldn't do much even if it somehow got inside the house, but since Rick and the others had made sure to barricade all doors as a safety measure, Maggie doubted that anything like that would happen anyways.

Though there was still no way for her to know how her sister and the hunter were doing.

"Why don't you go to bed, Maggie?" Morgan's soft voice sounded behind her. Maggie turned around slightly and faced the older man and shrugged before looking out the window again. She heard Morgan sigh behind her. "They'll be fine, you know," Morgan said.

"I hope so," Maggie replied. "I can't help but worry though."

Morgan came to stand beside her. "About Beth?" he wondered.

"About both of them," Maggie clarified. "Both Daryl and Beth are out there and they are both a part of my family."

Morgan's lips twitched up in a smile at her words. "They two of them will probably return once the storm passes," he said. "It might take them a little while to find a safe way home though since some trees might have fallen and blocked the roads."

"Do you think they made it to a safe place?" Maggie asked, worry still in her tone despite Morgan's reassuring words.

"Probably," Morgan nodded. "I'm sure Daryl felt the storm coming though. He'll take care of the lil' Lady."

Maggie realized that Morgan wasn't just assuring her, but also himself. She knew that the older man cared about her sister as a father would care about his daughter and she knew that because of the fact that it wasn't actually blood binding them, their bond was probably even stronger than that. Now Maggie could see that even though Morgan's voice didn't show any kind of worry, his eyes betrayed him. He needed just as much reassurance as Maggie had needed when she had found herself standing by the window after everyone else had gone to bed.

Maggie reached out and took Morgan's hand in hers, giving him a comforting squeeze. He looked over at her and Maggie smiled at him. "They'll take care of each other," she said, her smile widening just a little as she felt Morgan squeeze her hand back.

-§-

Beth pulled the blanket tighter around herself as her shivers began shaking her body. Her jaw was clenched as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering against each other and she watched Daryl put a wooden log inside the small fireplace that she had always liked.

"Don't be tense," he told her. "Your muscles will draw together an' you won't get any warmer. Try an' relax instead or you'll just cramp up."

"It's kind of difficult to relax when your body feels as if it's about to break in half like a popsickle or somethin'," Beth countered, breathing through her nose a few times to relax her muscles. She knew that it was probably tiredness that had caused her sudden shivering. After having gotten some food in her belly and finally being able to calm down, her exhaustion from running through the woods in the rain seemed to have caught up with her.

As soon as Daryl had seen the first tremors pass through her body, he had gone to the couch and gotten her the blankets, covering her up with them. She was thankful for his kindness, even though she had spent the better part of their late night dinner teasing him without actually saying anything to him. He hid it well, but she knew that one way or another, she was affecting him just as he was affecting her. Now though, she couldn't be thinking about that because Daryl had finally managed to get a small fire going in the fireplace. Beth dropped two couch pillows to the floor so that she could get closer and sat down, eyes on the smoldering wood.

"Can't let the fire catch on too much," Daryl said to her. "If we fall asleep I don't wanna burn the cabin down since there ain't nothin' to keep the flames in check."

Beth buried her face in her blanket, hiding the smile on her face as she bit back a joke about him already having burnt a shack down once before. She didn't know where they stood right now, but she knew for certain that there was no way that he would appreciate such a joke from her now. Instead of saying anything at all, she simply patted the pillow next to her on the floor. Daryl looked at her for a moment, seeming hesitant at first, but finally, he lowered himself to sit down next to her.

Beth decided that whatever anger she still felt toward him could wait for a while. She was cold and they were alone and all she really wanted was to have him close to her after being without him for over a week. His absence had been felt every single night and she had absolutely hated sleeping without him. This – having him next to her on the floor – was actually the closest the two of them had been since that day that she had cleaned his wounds and almost kissed him. Beth thought to the moment in the woods, right before the thunderstorm had hit and the rain had started. There had been a split second when she had felt as if Daryl would lose his cool and finally just do something to stop the never ending circling that they had been doing around each other. She hadn't wanted to be the one to make the first move then because she had still been mad at him, but her heart had stuttered in her chest when he had gazed down at her the way he had.

Absentmindedly, Beth found herself leaning into Daryl a little as she moved her blanket around so that it would be able to cover the both of them instead of just her. She was sure that even though he had opted to wear the short-sleeved shirt, he was still just as cold as she was. The storm was still raging on outside and the cabin didn't exactly have the best isolation so there was definitely a draft somewhere. The small fire that was burning in the fireplace could only do so much for them right now and Beth knew that the best way to heat up would be to sit a little closer to each other. The only problem though was that when Beth finally did lean into Daryl, placing her head on his shoulder, the man actually tensed.

It was as if all that anger and all that rage that Beth had been bottling up for so long finally just snapped and she pulled back from him as if she had been burned. She stood up, ignoring how the cold hit her again like a thousand needles when her warm blanket dropped to the floor and when she felt Daryl actually reach out after her, she pulled her wrist away from his touch.

"Why do you do that?" she demanded to know. "Why do you keep pushing me away like that?"

Daryl was on his feet just a second after her and when he once again reached out to her, she pulled away from him and took a step back with narrowed eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Beth beat him to it once more.

"It isn't fair, Daryl and you know it," she said, her voice loud and clear. It was obvious that she wasn't very worried about any walkers overhearing them because of the storm that was still going strong outside the cabin. "You're not being fair to either of us!"

"What the hell do you want from me?" he finally yelled back at her, taking two large steps toward her, towering over her.

Beth placed both hands on his chest and pushed him away slightly, forcing him to take a step back. "I don't understand why you're doing this," she told him. "I don't understand anything about you. I'm sick and tired of you lying to my face and I'm more than done with you pretending that there is nothing going on between us!"

Daryl stared at her and Beth stared right back. She knew that this was it. This was her only chance to finally say everything that she had been wanting to say for so long. Finally, this was her chance to tell him that she knew that there must have been something between them before she had been presumed to be dead and finally there would be no way for Daryl to avoid the subject by running from her.

Everything that she wanted to say to him was spinning around in her head though. There were only two things that seemed to be making any sense and for some reason, both of them felt...familiar.

"You keep pushing me away and I know that it's just because you're afraid," Beth told him, her chill from earlier forgotten. "I know that you look at me and just see another dead girl–"

"You were dead!" Daryl exploded suddenly, his eyes narrowing and darkening as they bored into hers, just as something shifted in the room. "You were fucking dead, Beth!"

-§-

Daryl was breathing hard through his nose, trying to control the anger that had bubbled up inside of him. He had done his best to remain calm, despite Beth's accusations but hearing that final one, the one that he had heard once before in another lifetime... He just hadn't been able to hold it all in anymore.

"You were dead," he repeated again, looking her in the eyes as his voice trembled a little. The cabin shook with the force of the wind outside, the windows that he had secured rattled and Daryl could no longer keep an even tone as he spoke. "Ya don't know what it was like," he said, sounding more accusing than anything else.

He couldn't believe that they were back here again. It was as if they had gone back in time and re-created that other cabin that they had later burned down and it was all too much for Daryl to handle. It was all happening all over again. The two of them were alone, yelling at each other at the top of their lungs, spewing accusations from left to right and she was once again calling him out on his bullshit and telling him that he saw her as someone that was weak.

She had no idea.

"Ya don't know what it was like," he repeated. "Ya don't know what it was like to go seven months, thinking you were dead!" He took in her appearance. Her wet hair was hanging loose around her shoulders, already starting to dry leaving it a mess. Her lips were pressed tightly together in a thin line and her eyes remained connected with his, her glare never wavering, no matter how vulnerable he knew that he sounded.

"Seven fuckin' months, Beth," Daryl bit out harshly. "Seven months of replayin' your fuckin' death every single day, tryin' to understand where everythin' went wrong – Where I went wrong." Something began changing in her look, but he couldn't stop. Not now, not ever. "I didn't even know what had happened first. I fuckin' blinked and then ya were layin' on the floor– dead. Ya were in front of me one second and then the next–" He cut himself off and snapped his fingers together. "I didn't wanna believe it. I couldn't believe it. So I killed the bitch that killed you without thinkin' and even after I carried ya body down five fuckin' flights of stairs, I still didn't wanna believe–"

He looked away from her when his voice cracked, closing his tightly as tears began to sting. He remembered every single day of being on the road. He remembered every detail of her being shot because he had relived it every night since he buried her, up until they had found her again.

"Daryl..." Beth whispered and he could feel her take a step toward him. Her hand brushed against his shoulder, but he shook her off.

"No," he hissed. "Ya said ya were tired of me always lyin' to ya. I'm gonna tell ya the truth now." Beth's hand was still hovering when he turned back to look at her and he couldn't help but notice that she was standing a lot closer to him now, her expression worried. "For me, you were dead for seven months, Beth," he said, feeling his throat clogging up again. "An' yet ya have no clue what I – What we all went through. While you were strugglin' with your health, we were strugglin' to keep going. After we..." he trailed off, shaking his head at himself for once again changing his words. "After I got ya that coffin, after I buried ya... I couldn't let anyone else touch ya after ya died. I couldn't let anyone else carry ya. Ya deserved better than to just be buried in a fuckin' sheet so I found ya that damn coffin that ya have nightmares 'bout!"

He was angry with himself for everything he had done. Maybe he should have waited just a little longer? Maybe he should have known that she wasn't dead for real?

Daryl met Beth's gaze again, knowing damn well that he had tears in them, but he couldn't hide from her now. Not when he was already giving her every dark secret he had been keeping locked up in his heart since the day that he had lost her.

"Not a day went by that I didn't think if there'd been somethin' I could'a done. Maybe if I–" Daryl could barely talk anymore. He was tired of yelling and he was even more tired of pretending.

"Maybe if you hadn't stopped looking..."

Her voice had sounded so small, that he wasn't even sure that she had spoken at all at first. His head snapped up and he looked at her face. She seemed deep in thought, almost as if in a daze when she spoke. The deja vu of the situation hit him all over again.

"What did you just say?" he asked, not daring to believe that she had actually repeated something that he had said so long ago. He knew that he had seen that dazed expression on her face a few times since they had found her again. It was the expression that Morgan had told him and Rick about that very first night in the farmhouse; the one that said that she was remembering something.

"Maybe if you hadn't stopped lookin'," she repeated, her eyes finally coming to rest on his face. She still looked a bit confused, but he could tell that she was speaking surely. "Maybe you could have done somethin'."

Now, she was repeating the words that he had once told her; in another place, in another lifetime.

"Have we had this conversation before, Daryl?" she wondered, taking a tentative step toward him. "Have we had a conversation similar to this one?" He could almost feel how she wanted to reach out to him again, to touch him, and he knew that he was struggling to not just pull her into his arms.

As she stepped closer to him this time though, he didn't move away from her. His heart was beating fast in his chest, his breath coming out in short puffs and the air around them, no matter how cold, felt like it was sizzling with heat and tension. There was no point in lying to her anymore. She knew that he had carried her, buried her and mourned her all that time that they had been separated. He knew that she understood that there must be so much more to the story that he wasn't yet willing to talk about and he was just thankful for the fact that she hadn't run the other way from him yet.

So since there was nowhere for him to escape, Daryl saw no other option but to once again give her an honest reply. As soon as he spoke his admission, he knew that everything between them was bound to change, but he would never have been able to expect a one-syllable word to force such a reaction from Beth.

Yet, he breathed it out: "Yes."

-§-

Beth didn't really know what happened at first. Her brain couldn't register whether he had been the one to take another step toward her first or if she had been the one to close the distance between them after his admission.

One second, a memory long forgotten begun coming back to her; the distinct voice that belonged to Daryl and another one that belonged to her being shouted inside her brain. The memory of Daryl telling her that he blamed himself, that he wished there was something he could have done and then her, embracing him from behind as he cried – It was too strong for her to ignore and she hadn't been able to stop from mumbling the words she was certain he had spoken to her once, a long time ago.

When he had finally told her the truth – that they had indeed had a similar conversation to the one they were having now – she just hadn't been able to stop herself. She had stepped forward, taken a hold of his shirt and pulled him down to her level, claiming his lips in an almost bruising kiss.

Her lips pressed against Daryl's, not even registering their coldness. She moved her mouth over his, trying to coax him into reacting as she pulled him a little bit closer by his shirt that she was still clutching in her hands. Nibbling on his lower lip, she frowned when she realized that Daryl wasn't kissing her back, and that was exactly when it crashed down on her.

She had just thrown herself at Daryl.

She had just thrown herself at Daryl Dixon and actually kissed him and he wasn't kissing her back. He wasn't even touching her, she realized after another second passed. His hands were hovering over her shoulders as if he wanted to push her away but didn't dare to make a move. She opened her eyes and found him staring down at her, his own eyes widened to a point that was almost comical considering who he was. Beth was sure that she had never seen such a baffled expression on Daryl's face before and she almost prided herself for being the one to place it there, but not for very long since he still wasn't kissing her back.

Beth pulled back abruptly, her blue eyes slightly darkened as she stared back at him. He was still watching her like she had just grown a second head and finally, she once again remembered what she had just done.

"Oh my God," she breathed out, cheeks flushing pink as she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh God, Daryl... I'm so sorry," she said. "I don't know what came over me. I just–"

Beth felt one of Daryl's rough hands settle at the back of her neck as his other one found purchase in the over-sized shirt she was wearing. He gripped at her waist and pulled her back toward him so quickly that she stumbled into his chest, just as he pressed his lips to hers again. She had been a little startled at first, but the second they began kissing each other hungrily again she just molded against him, holding him just as tight in return.

She pressed her body against his, both hands coming to rest on his shoulders as she returned the hot kiss. The urgency of the entire act warmed Beth from top to toe and the shivering coldness she had felt earlier had melted away. The reason for her shivers now was Daryl, and nothing and no one else. One of her hands moved upwards, tangling in his unruly hair that was still damp from the rain as she opened her mouth, inviting him by licking his lower lip lightly.

The second Daryl's tongue touched hers, heat began pooling low in her belly and she moved impossibly closer. She wanted to be with him in every sense of the word. She wanted to feel every inch of his body pressed against hers until she no longer knew where she began and he ended. She wanted to touch him and hold him like someone who meant everything to her; like someone she never wanted to lose.

While Daryl's hands settled on her hips, she moved hers down to the front of his shirt, down until she reached the hem of it and began tugging it upwards.

"Beth," he groaned against her lips as she pushed him away a little so that she could drag his shirt off of his body and Daryl lifted his arms without even thinking twice about it. After discarding his shirt she kissed him again, a little softer this time, but now, she could feel a slight hesitation in Daryl. For a moment, she was scared that he might be pulling back from her because of his scars. She had already she seen them though and she didn't care what he or what other people thought about them. They were a part of Daryl and therefore she would love them too. If he could see past the scars on her face and her wrist – scars that she had always thought were a sign of weakness before him – she too would see past his.

Daryl though couldn't really comprehend that this was really happening. If anyone would have told him this morning that he would be getting undressed in front of Beth Greene by the end of the night after confessing how he had mourned her for seven long months, he would have told them that they were insane. The entire thought of the two of them doing something together was just a dream he had had for a long time and there was no way that it would ever actually happen. Now though, as Beth lifted his shirt over his head and he had gotten a taste of her lips, he found himself wondering if there was any way that he could make it keep happening.

He hesitated when she kissed him after removing his shirt, not really sure if she was ready for it to go where he wished it would go. She didn't know how long he had wanted her, how many times he had told himself that it would never happen because she deserved so much better than him, and yet here they were now. Daryl didn't want them to rush into anything too quickly but at the same time, he knew that this had been a long time coming. If she wanted this – if she wanted him – he knew that he was hers to take. He had belonged to her the moment after he had broken down in front of her when they had gotten drunk together. The very second he had burned down that moonshine shack with her, he had known deep down – even though he had tried to deny it to himself – that he was done for. Beth Greene had gotten under his skin in more ways than one and he wanted to keep her in his arms forever, if that was what she wanted too.

When Beth's lips pressed against the side of his neck and she began laying open-mouthed kisses all the way down to his collarbone, Daryl's hips surged forward of their own accord. He ground his pelvis against hers and he knew that Beth could feel his hardening member through the sweatpants he was wearing. Daryl felt like he barely had any time to process everything that was going one, but he knew that he needed assurance from Beth that this was indeed what she wanted. He reached up and cupped her cheeks, pulling her away from his neck as he pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth before pulling back fully.

"Beth," he repeated her name, a little surprised by how breathless he sounded. He was breathing heavily and he knew that he needed to calm himself a little if Beth told him that she didn't want to go there with him. Taking in her flushed cheeks and kiss-swollen lips, Daryl found it more difficult than ever to calm the erection that was only growing in his pants.

Beth's face felt hot the moment she had felt Daryl's arousal and understood just how much he clearly wanted her, but she was glad to know that the feeling was mutual. Still, as Daryl pulled back and placed that soft kiss against the corner of her mouth, fear rocketed through her. She heard him say her name and his forehead came to rest against hers.

"You... You sure this is what ya want?" he asked her.

Beth's eyes fluttered open again as her lips parted. She took a deep breath through her nose, breathing him in before meeting his eyes. They remained connected with hers only for a moment before flicking down to her parted lips before he let out a noise that sounded a lot like a growl before fusing their lips together again. There was no question that she had been able to convey what she felt without words. She had shown him just what she wanted and she wanted him.

The entire thing was just so overwhelming for them both. For as long as Daryl could remember, no one had ever looked at him the way that Beth had looked at him a moment ago. She gazed at him as if he had just presented her with something amazing; like he had given her the world and told her that it was all hers and hers alone.

Beth leaned back a little and he was pretty sure that his heart stopped for a second in fear that she had just realized what a huge mistake she was making by being with him like this. Once again though, he was proven wrong by the wonderful woman that he knew he had fallen for completely. Her azure eyes moved across his bare chest, one of her fingers running through the coarse hair there before finally brushing against the tattoo there, under his collarbone, above his heart.

"It's a lowercase 'b'," Beth realized, her voice a little shaky. She didn't dare to meet his gaze as she finally allowed herself to see the truth that had been there all along. "And the girl?" she wondered, finally looking up at him, meeting his hooded eyes. "The girl you were always talking about...?"

Daryl's chest felt constricted, her touch on his skin close to the inked secret leaving a burning sensation behind. All he could do was watch her face and wait for her to connect the final dots of all the lies that he had told her before and all the secrets that he had kept from her. Beth though seemed to have something else in mind entirely because the thoughtful expression on her face quickly turned into a glare as her eyes bore into his.

"Tell me," she demanded. "Say something!"

"It's you," he admitted, blurting out the words before he could regret them or even think anything through. He was tired of pretending and he wanted her to know everything.

He wanted her to know that he loved her.

"It's you," he said again, this time a bit slower, calmer. "She's you. This," he reached for her hand that was still touching the small 'b' that he had inked into his own skin and covered it with his own, pressing on the small tattoo just a little harder. "This was for you."

Daryl had never considered himself to be very good with words but the ones he had spoken now seemed to have been just enough for Beth because once more, she cupped his cheeks with her small hands. Her thumbs brushed against them and he closed his eyes when she finally pulled him down towards her again.

This kiss was once again soft, more of a peck than anything else. The one that followed that one was once again urgent and before he knew it, their tongues were stroking languidly against each other once more. Beth pushed him backward, down onto the couch and Daryl lowered himself slowly so that they wouldn't break their kiss. Beth was still standing and she broke the kiss just for a short while so that she could remove the sweatpants that she was wearing. Daryl watched her in a daze as she lowered them over her hips, leaving her in only the black shirt and a pair of light blue cotton panties.

"Ya sure this is a good idea?" Daryl found himself asking, making Beth pause again. She had been about to settle on his lap when he had spoken and she looked at him startled.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she frowned. "I want you, Daryl. I'd like to think that you want me too... You do, don't you?"

Daryl stared at her, "'Course I want ya. Didn't ya just–" He cut himself off and glanced pointedly at his own lap, making a small smile spread across Beth's lips.

"Why are you doubting that I want you just as much?" Beth asked him. "Don't you think that I know by now what I want? Who I want?" As she spoke, Beth lowered herself into his lap, making sure that she was settled right over his arousal as she slowly ground herself down against him. "I want you, Daryl," she whispered, knowing by the way his breath caught in his throat and the way that he swallowed thickly that he could feel the wetness that had started to gather between her legs. "I don't know how much clearer I can get."

After that, he stopped asking.

Instead, his hands traveled under her shirt to find her small breasts, his thumbs moving over her nipples until they were hard and she was breathing heavily. He pressed his lips against her bared shoulder before he slowly lifted her shirt, taking the material off of her body as she lifted her arms to help him get it off completely. Daryl had been aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra, but now that he was finally able to actually see her breasts, his mouth went dry. Beth wasn't big chested like some of the women he had drunkenly hooked up with in the past. Some might even say that she was almost entirely flat when they viewed her with her clothes on. Daryl knew better though as he held her small mounds in his hands before lowering his head to catch one of her rosy nipples between his lips. Beth let out a small gasp, her hands tangling in his hair as she pulled him closer to her chest, grinding down on him while she did. Daryl traced his tongue over her hardened nubs, giving them both equal attention. Above him, Beth was panting when she felt one of his hands slide over her stomach, down to where she was moving against his still clothed erection.

Why was he still wearing his sweatpants?

"Why are you still dressed?" Beth gasped when one of his hands gripped her hip tightly while the other slipped into her panties. Daryl moved over her wet curls until he found what he was looking for and traced her slit with his index finger. Beth lifted herself up a little to give him better access, forcing her eyes to open and meet his when he moved his head away from her chest. He was staring at her face, taking in every sign of pleasure that she was giving him. Beth's breath hitched slightly when Daryl began rubbing slow circles around her clit, arousing her more and more with every move he made.

Daryl might have ignored her question, wanting to give her pleasure before himself, but he could feel himself straining against the material of his sweatpants. It had been a while since he had been with a woman and Beth was something new to him, someone special that he wanted to learn everything about. He wanted to know what made her tick and what would make her cross over that edge of euphoria that he wanted to make her feel with him tonight while the storm outside continued unnoticed by the two of them now that they were so lost in each other.

Daryl moved his fingers against her while Beth gasped and moaned. She let out a sound that he wanted to make her repeat a thousand more times when he finally slid one of his fingers into her wet heat. Her fingers clutched at his shoulders, fingernails digging in almost painfully and he marveled at how tight she was when he slipped in another digit. She moved against his hand on pure instinct, trying to get the release that she so desperately wanted but at the same time, she wanted him to enjoy it with her.

"Take off your pants," she whispered against his ear. Daryl could feel her tightening around his fingers, but he knew that he wanted to be inside of her when she actually came. He just hoped that he would be able to hold off for that long himself.

Slipping his fingers out of her, he let Beth lift herself off of him enough so that he could lift his hips and pull down his pants and boxers in one go. His painfully hard erection stood proudly between them, his head already glistening as it brushed up against her wet slit. Daryl watched Beth as she took him in and he couldn't help but let a small moan slip out of his mouth when he noticed her tongue dart out to wet her lips. He could just imagine what it would feel like to have her hot mouth wrapped around him, but right now, he wanted something else.

Beth couldn't help but touch him though. She trailed her finger over his hard cock slowly, not really knowing how she was making it difficult for him to breathe as she did. Her thumb brushed over his tip as she gathered up the drop of pre-cum before grasping him, giving him a half-stroke downward that he was certain caused his heart to almost burst out of his chest.

"We don't got any protection," Daryl mumbled as his lips sought out hers again.

Beth kissed him back softly, "We'll be fine."

Daryl trusted her with his life so if she told him that they would be okay this time, he believed her. No one knew better how Beth's body worked than Beth and he knew enough about women to know that having a messed up cycle would be enough for her not to get pregnant. Daryl was still a bit surprised with himself that he managed to form coherent thoughts as Beth slowly worked his cock with her hand, but he did make a mental note that he needed to find them some condoms sooner rather than later, just as reassurance. Although, he knew that he would do his best to pull out as a safety measure tonight too.

Beth marveled at the soft skin and the hardness that it covered. She knew that she cared about Daryl more than she had ever cared about anyone and now she knew for sure that there was nothing about this man that wasn't beautiful.

"Ya done this before?" Daryl asked her, kissing her cheek when he finally made her let go of him. "I know ya don't remember, but..." he trailed off not really knowing how to formulate his question.

"I have," Beth nodded, remembering the conversation she had had with Maggie a good couple of months ago. "I don't remember it though, but I know that I have." It kind of surprised her that she kind of knew what she was doing with him though, since he seemed to be enjoying himself just as much as she was. Beth assumed that it must be one of those things where it was more muscle memory than anything else.

Daryl stared at her and nodded slowly, understanding. This would be her first time in every sense except for being her actual first time. She knew that she had had sex before, but since she didn't remember anything about it, he would be her first tonight. He would be the one she would remember as her first until her memories came back – If they ever came back, that is.

"Want ya like this," he told her, keeping her over him as he leaned back slightly, turning them so that he was laying down and she was settled on top of him. "You'll be able to stop whenever ya want."

"I'm afraid I won't ever want to stop," Beth said, letting out a low chuckle as she leaned down to press a kiss against his chest. She could feel his heart beating under her touch and she closed her eyes, just wanting to take everything about this moment in and remember it forever.

Daryl kissed her softly again before she lifted herself up. He grabbed his cock and guided it to her entrance, but didn't push inside like he wanted to. Instead, he watched her as she braced herself on his chest, his own hands gripping her hips as she slowly lowered herself down on him, inch by inch.

He forced his eyes to remain open despite the pleasure that coursed through him when he was finally deep inside of her. Beth's eyes glazed over and her mouth dropped open in a low moan, but she didn't break eye-contact with him either.

Beth couldn't ever remember feeling so full as she lowered herself down on Daryl. He stretched her in a way that she would never have expected, but she knew that she would never be able to get enough of. There was no pain, just a dull ache that she assumed was from not having done this in such a long time, but even that was welcome. Everything she felt when she was around Daryl was welcome in her mind. She couldn't get enough of staring into his eyes though. It was clear that he was struggling to stay still and she wanted to move, but she wasn't sure how. Experimentally, she lifted herself just a little and then lowered herself again, feeling his member moving inside of her, creating a pleasurable friction, making her moan.

Daryl's hands tightened on her hips and he lifted his upper body so that he could wrap his arms around her and press his forehead against hers again. "Best be still for just a moment, woman," he told her. "We don't want this endin' 'fore it even begins. 'S been a while."

Beth nodded, understanding now why he hadn't moved at first. She claimed his lips and he buried his hand in her hair while his other remained wrapped around her, hugging her close to his body. A moment later, she felt him moving his own hips a little after finally gathering himself enough so that he wouldn't come the second she moved. Beth lifted herself again, halfway this time before moving down on him again. She repeated the move a few times, feeling heat flare up deep inside her core as she did. Daryl laid back down again, Beth moving with him so that their kiss wouldn't break as she continued to lift her hips and then slam them down again, pleasure coursing through her every time.

After a few more thrusts upwards, Daryl knew that he wouldn't be able to last too long. He just wanted Beth to reach her peak before him so as he found a rhythm with her, meeting her half-way with every stroke she made downward, he moved his hand to her core again, his fingers finding her clit and rubbing against it. Beth gasped at the heightened sensation, head pooling and the muscles in her lower abdomen tightening. She knew what it felt like to be close to climax because she had pushed herself over that edge a couple of times when she had been alone and she knew now too that she was close.

She moaned against Daryl's lips, repeating his name over and over again as he stroked that fire deep within her. The storm was still going on outside but the only thing she was able to hear was their skin slapping against each other, their pants, gasps, and moans. The coldness was gone and the heat from the small fireplace was nothing compared to the heat that she and Daryl were creating, making sweat bead at her forehead, a drop of it rolling down between her breasts. Daryl's hair was sticking to his forehead as well and she couldn't think of a moment that she had seen him look more vulnerable.

The sounds she was making made him feel lightheaded. He almost couldn't believe that this was actually happening; that he was connected with Beth in one of the most intimate ways. He had dreamed about this so many times, but nothing compared to the real thing. Daryl could feel her inner walls clenching around him and he knew that she was close. He moved his fingers in tighter circles, putting just a little more pressure and when Beth tensed above him and threw her head back, he knew he had done what he had wanted to all night long. She was still moving against him, but when he felt her slowing down, he gripped her hips and as smoothly as he could – which surprised even him considering how badly his legs were shaking – turned them over so that he was on top of her. Beth's legs wrapped around him as he drove into her faster and harder than before. She gasped and let out small whimpers, still sensitive from her orgasm and before either of them knew it, she was coming again. That second wave of euphoria was what finally pushed Daryl over the edge. He felt himself tensing inside of her and he pulled out just in time to spill himself over her thigh. Beth was watching him as he did, feeling his hot cum slipping between her legs and down on the leather couch. After finally emptying himself, Daryl tried to catch his breath before reaching down, grabbing the boxers he had been wearing before to wipe his cum off of Beth. He knew that he was blushing furiously, but it had been the only reasonable thing to do considering that they didn't have any protection. After cleaning her up the best he could, he finally looked at her face only to be met by a look of complete adoration and content. The sweat that was still glistening on her bare body seemed to reflect the flickering light that was coming from the fireplace and it made her look like some kind of ethereal being that he knew he would love and worship until the day that he died.

Beth brushed her fingers against the side of his face, pushing back his soaked hair before pulling him down. She turned slightly on her side so that he could settle behind her and Daryl reached down again, this time to bring up her long ago discarded blanket, throwing it over their naked bodies. At first he couldn't help but calculate the risks in his head, but then he knew that they would be safe for tonight at least. The door was secured and so were the windows. He heard thunder rumble outside which told him that the storm was far from over, but the one that had been brewing between him and Beth for over a week, was. He nuzzled her cheek softly with his nose and Beth turned her head so that he could kiss her again. A few more pecks and Daryl could feel tiredness finally setting in. He wrapped his arm around Beth's middle and her hand rested on top of his. She kissed him a few more times before finally just settling against him and closing her eyes.

Daryl kissed her shoulder, smiling against it as he too felt his eyelids get heavier.

Both of them fell into a dreamless sleep for the first time in over a week, content and happy.

Note: *Hides behind couch* Be kind and thank you for reading! xx