"Will you take me with you?" she asked, hoping the answer would be in her favor.

Beth was examining the lighter edges of Daryl's hair that was in between her two fingers as she rested on her bed in her own apartment, Daryl lying down on his back facing the ceiling and she was on her stomach, upper half on top of his, admiring the smoothness of his freshly washed hair. All the lights in the apartment were off, the shadows dancing on the walls from passing headlights of cars traveling down the road.

Daryl's hand lifted, thumb stroking her back. "Where?"

Beth smiled and tapped against his chest with her fingers. "Hunting. You said you were thinking about going sometime soon and I want to come with. We could even leave tomorrow afternoon if we wanted to since it's Friday." She paused momentarily to bring down the excitement in her voice down just a notch or two. "That is, if you want me to. I don't want to be intruding."

"You wouldn't be intruding," he confirmed. Daryl adjusted his head to look at her better, new elevation offered from placing his other arm behind his head, giving him a better angle, eyeing her suspiciously. "You want to come hunting?"

"Yes."

"Beth Greene, the vegetarian, animal-loving girl who wouldn't dare hurt a fly wants to go hunting?"

She blinked twice. "Yes."

"You do know what hunting is, right?"

Beth laughed and swatted at Daryl. "I said yes!" she squeaked out before grabbing the feathery pillow behind her near her feet and tossed it onto his face playfully. And by doing that, she set off a chain reaction. They wrestled around a bit in the dark, pillows falling onto the floor and sheets becoming all tangled up. Sure, Daryl was way strong than her, but Beth had the advantage because she was small and could easily slip out of his grasp if she wanted to because he never held her too tight. But in the end, Beth let him win and she collapsed onto her back as Daryl hovered over her. She let out a sigh once he settled in against her and the kisses started to come her way.

Her neck.

Her chest.

Her mouth.

He refused to believe it, but Daryl was actually a very good kisser, very attentive to her own needs.

Beth pulled away before it got too good for her to resist. "So I can come?"

There was a chuckle that vibrated on her skin. "If you really want to."

"I want to go just so I get to be with you more than anything," she confessed. "I want to see what it's all about."

"Ain't gonna be any electricity," he reminded her.

She pouted. "What, no outlets in the trees I can plug my phone charger into?"

He shook his head at her sarcasm. Daryl looked down at her, a few inches away until their lips meet again and she pulled him closer. "Pack light."

"You mean I can't bring a suitcase?" she teased again.

But this time Daryl had a response all ready to go. "Only if you want an animal being carried back in it."

She made a face. "No, thanks. A backpack it is then."

Her hands traveled up his back, pushing the shirt up as she went, and settled just below his shoulder blades, part of a lighter scar touching her pinky finger. It didn't bother him too much anymore, the touching, especially the scar part. There was a flinch here and there, but he never pulled away from her.

"Let's stay in tonight," she proposed the idea.

He only stopped kissing her for a moment to say against the skin on her neck, right below her ear. "We were supposed to go out to eat."

"I know," she sighed, then pulled gently at his hair. "But I don't want to leave."

"You're gettin' lazy."

Her mouth popped open as if she had taken offense to his words, but it was entirely fake on her behalf because she knew Daryl wasn't being serious, only pushing her buttons to be funny. She made small movements underneath him until she was able to catch him off guard and flipped him onto his back, his longer hair spilling behind him onto her sheets. Straddling him was always the way to go since it made him focus.

"I can make something here," Beth suggested, placing the back of her fingers onto his cheek and stroking across the skin a few time before straightening up.

Daryl's hands automatically went to her thighs even though they were covered by tight spandex workout pants that had light blue detailing on the sides that closed around her ankle, her favorite pair, and Daryl's also because he had given her a compliment on how well they looked on her. So naturally she had taken that as a sign that it would be acceptable for them to be worn for week straight.

Hey, no judgment, she was still a college student. No time to do laundry (or so she told herself).

"Or," she continued, leaning in, letting the hair that was in a ponytail swing down and the ends touched his chest. "We could order in. Watch a movie. You know, the normal couple stuff."

"There ain't nothin' normal about us," he said, then smiled at her.

Instead of saying her usual, you keep telling yourself that, Beth opted for something much more simple and said, "That's the best part," then followed up by giving him a quick peck on the nose before jumping out of bed and grabbing out some ingredients for dinner from her kitchen cabinets.

—

By the time he finally brought himself to leave, it was close to one in the morning. He left Beth asleep in her own bed, curled up on her side with her pillows surrounding her. Extracting himself from her side had been difficult, especially when he found it to be so relaxing feeling her breathing against his chest as she slept.

The doors to the building opened as he pushed them and Daryl pulled his jacket tighter to stop the chill from getting to him. He walked out only to see Merle leaned against his truck that was parked at the end of the street.

It was a stop to the heart, and not in a good way.

"The hell are you doin' here?" he asked, stopping his movements forward, ending up in the middle of the street across from his brother.

The streetlamp was right above, casting down a brightness onto Merle, enough for the smug grin to appear that Daryl had seen a million times over and yet always found it to be irritating. "Could ask you the same."

Bullshit. And they both knew it.

Daryl looked over his shoulder subtly and the uneasy feeling crept on in as he came to the full realization that Merle knew where Beth lived and came there to prove it. For how long he knew and how he came to find out was surely just another unsettling detail to the story.

But nonetheless, he kept his cool and his composure. "What do you want?"

Merle, as usual, skipped around the actual thing he was going to ask and diverted off into a different path for the sole sake of annoying Daryl and to put him on edge. "You know, I gotta say, I've never been formally introduced to your new girl."

He paused. "It's one a.m."

The logic of it seemed to actually make sense to Merle, surprisingly. "Guess so. Another time, then." Daryl stayed quiet, a sign that Merle was stepping into dangerous territory. "But why you always think I want somethin' when I come around? Can't I just drop by to say hello every once in a while?"

Daryl couldn't think of one time Merle just stopped byto see him. It was always followed by an, I'm keeping a low profile 'cause of the cops so can I crash here tonight or got any cash to pay off some gambling debts? So, no, he wasn't buying the whole just stopping by to say hello act that his idiot older brother was trying to sell. Daryl wasn't stupid, he could figure out the motives behind the actions of Merle quicker than Merle would like.

Patterns, that was the answer.

Over the years Merle formed this specific patterns that gave away the true meanings of his behaviors. And Daryl was always fast to pick up on it. But he didn't have the time for it now. Or the fucking patience.

"Tell me what you want or I'm leavin'."

Merle lifted the beer bottle that was at his side to his lips and took a long drink of the contents. Daryl took out his keys and started walking for the truck, ready to push Merle out of the way if he had to.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there," Merle snapped, hands shaking back and forth in a jittery way to halt Daryl. "I just need a ride. That's it." Daryl narrowed his eyes, prompting Merle to put up his hand and say, "Scout's honor."

Believe it or not, Merle told him when they were much younger that he wanted to be in the Boy Scouts. Daryl thought it was a good idea that it never happened, considering how much trouble Merle always was.

"Fine," he gritted through his teeth, not in the mood to fight. There wasn't much harm in dropping his ass off somewhere anyways, at least he figured so.

Merle was happy with the answer and strolled on over to the other side of the truck as Daryl got in. The door shut behind him and only then did Daryl get the sudden feeling of being trapped. No way out. Shoving that down, he turned on the engine. "Where to?"

"I'll direct ya. Make a left at the end of the street."

He threw one more glance up at the bedroom window, the overwhelming feeling of wanting to be back there creeping in all at once, then shifted into drive and off they went.

—

He really didn't expect much.

Really.

After all, it was Merle.

The further they drove, the rougher the streets got and houses quickly turned into more run down looking buildings than actual homes. So when Merle said to pull over in front of a larger set of row houses down what Daryl would describe as being a dark and dreary but long alleyway with one working street lamppost, he wasn't too surprised by the choice of place to crash at that Merle had decided to go with. It was the usual place he ended up.

Hands still on the steering wheel, Daryl judged the lifeless place with squinted eyes. Looked like it had been either abandoned a long time ago or people had just lived there all along and intentionally neglected the exterior grounds. Either one was plausible if they were anything like Merle who couldn't appreciate a damn thing in his life. And either way, the place looked hostile.

The passenger side door flung open. "You comin' or what?"

It was almost laughable how it sounded more like a demand than an actual question. "Nah, I'm good," he claimed, waiting for the door to shut again so he could get out of there, perfectly satisfied with leaving as soon as possible.

But that wasn't about to happen, not when Merle was adamant about his presence inside. "Come on. It ain't bad. I'll show you around."

"I can picture it already," Daryl argued back. "No, thanks."

Merle looked at him blankly. "Listen, just come on in. I've got somethin' for you."

The skepticism rose. "Can't it wait?"

"Just get the fuck out and come 'ere. You'll like it."

The door slammed shut and Daryl was tempted to start driving and leave his brother in the dust, but he begrudgingly obliged to his brother's wishes and shut off the engine with a deep sigh, exiting the truck, making sure that it was locked behind him. Maybe he should give him the chance is what he was thinking, even though there was the louder voice in his head telling him it was all wrong and he should listen to his instincts.

"There we go!" yelled Merle, throwing a newly lit cigarette onto the pavement. He put an arm around Daryl and pulled him in to his side as they walked towards the door, to which Daryl uncomfortably tensed up for. "You'll enjoy it, I promise."

Doubtful.

Still, he kept his feet moving in step with his brother.

The door was unlocked once they approached. Merle went in first, followed by Daryl, who kept his shoulders narrowed in and head dropped towards the tile floor, which he noticed was scattered with empty half-filled beer bottles crowded together and also a few condom wrappers that were collecting dust in the corners as they walked down a narrow hallway towards one at the very end.

It should have been his first clue to get out. But, no, Daryl followed Merle like old times.

He noticed a few people on his way in through the hallways where the doors were open on either side. He glanced in the first one to his right to see a guy with a black eye sitting in a chair off in the corner with what Daryl was fairly sure was a joint, staring off into oblivion. The next room he looked into was a few more down and to his left, one that had two men in it this time, one shirtless, the other fully clothed, and a woman off to the side who was dancing to music that was absent, in nothing but a red bikini. He quickly averted his eyes and kept them strictly to what was ahead of him, the thought of him listening to his instincts coming back up again.

Stupid him, he should've listened to himself. He was never wrong about shit like that.

Daryl opened his mouth to say something like, Can't stay, got to be up early tomorrow, but they had entered the room at the end of the hall by that point, the room filled with three other guys all at a round wooden table, pile of hundred dollar bills in the middle, all intently gazing at the set of cards in their hands.

"Who's this?" one man, who Daryl took a guess was the leader, asked in a tough voice, throwing down some poker chips onto the table and examined his cards without a second glance up at Daryl.

Merle snickered. "This here is my brother."

"And why the fuck is he here?"

The tone stayed the same, not any rougher or angry sounding, but still, it made Daryl nervous. He had walked into something that he didn't want to, he was positive of that. His decisions that led him to going there that night were all clearly huge mistakes on his part. He should have known that Merle would have dragged him into something that he didn't want to be in.

"Hi there, sweetheart," a woman's voice said from the side of him.

She must have come up from behind because Daryl had not noticed a figure come out of the dark room directly beside him that looked as if there was nothing but a bed on the floor in there. It wasn't right, and that was his first thought. Something was off. The woman was young, maybe mid-twenties, with black hair that was long and looked unbrushed with some messy bangs across her forehead. The makeup she had obviously slept in, newly applied red lipstick, and the matching pair of red bra and underwear she was wearing made Daryl cringe internally because a glance down at her arms revealed what he had already been thinking, and he knew she was one of those junkie girls who would fuck anything, even scum like Merle, to be able make enough for a hit.

Waste of a life, if you asked him. There was so much more out there, and coming from Daryl that was a big statement.

She was trying to be happy, give that outward appearance of it, but he knew that she was filled with a copious amount of sadness on the inside.

In a situation like that one, who wouldn't be?

No one looked up, no one at the table paid any kind of attention to the half-clothed woman who they had probably all shared at some point or another. Daryl was making assumptions, but he was usually right about this kind of shit. All she was to them was as Merle would call a good fuck. Completely disposable.

But despite being that girl and more than likely knowing that, she stood there for a moment and analyzed Daryl, then looked over at Merle, then back at Daryl. Then she smiled and made her advance, sweeping over to him so that she grabbed ahold of his arm, placing one hand onto his clothed stomach in a way that was clearly meant to be sexual, startling Daryl. He jerked away as if she had touched him with poison, recoiling into himself, and knocking over several bottles as he backed up, getting a lot of space between the two of them, and then bumped into the wall behind before moving again, this time preferring to be closer to Merle.

The men at the table all laughed at Daryl's reaction, then went back to their game.

"It's okay," the woman said, still smiling and trying to calm him. "I'll take good care of you."

Daryl winced and averted his eyes to glare at Merle. This was his doing, all of it. Saddest part was that this was not the first time this had happened in the past. Merle was actively trying to throw known prostitutes at him, to which Daryl always declined. He was never into the whole paying for sex thing like Merle was. Daryl wasn't that desperate for something that his own hand could provide and without contracting some fucked up STD.

Yeah, Merle had gotten a handful of those lovely things, yet never learned his lesson.

Shocker.

"What?" Merle oh-so innocently questioned. "Thought it might be nice for you to switch up girls every once and a while. Little Blondie might be fun and all but Crystal here is a real good time."

No response.

Daryl just stumbled his way over the cans of beer and other things he didn't want to have to directly look at, and then bolted for the door, feeling like he was too closed in and couldn't breathe. He heard his brother shout after him, "Hey, wait, where are you goin'?" but nothing on the Earth would stop Daryl, not after once again his brother made an effort to humiliate Daryl.

A few new people appeared, coming out of rooms to see what the commotion was about, but Daryl pushed right past them, ignoring the swearing, and inhaled deeply once he got outside. Small groups of people were in huddles along the street, but no more than fifteen people total. He ignored them too and went straight for his truck that he was half surprised hadn't been stolen or vandalized.

Behind him, his brother was catching up, yelling at him again from the door of the place they had walked into to begin with. But still, he wouldn't turn around.

—

He went the only place he knew to go.

The only place that he could go.

Daryl tried not to make too much noise entering the door and crossing over the floorboards that were glistening from the moonlight shining in since the curtains were open, the way she liked it at night. Daryl stood there for a moment and looked down at her all asleep and dreaming away in her bed. After where he had just been, he had some nerve going back to her. He had been to the washed up, trashiest part of the city with some of the worst people and yet he had the nerve to go back to Beth after all that and after the stunt Merle pulled.

He felt like an idiot about that, but stripped off his shirt and pushed off his boots to get in bed next to her anyways. He needed to feel her there. It would be the only way to make him feel better.

Daryl wasn't puzzled by that phenomenon anymore either, not after coming to the conclusion that anything Beth related made him feel good inside and that his craving to have her there was something else other than infatuation.

Rather he thought it might be love he felt, like the actual real thing, the very thing he wasn't so sure existed. Yet there he was, staring at this woman who decided to accept him and take care of him in the way he needed, and all he felt was this relief that he was back by her side, like the hole in him was patched up when he was with her again. He was complete. How he had stumbled his way into this, it was somewhat of a mystery. He didn't think he could feel this way about anyone. And to his surprise, it didn't scare him. Just confused him somewhat, but that was okay. It was all good. Beth's voice told him in the back of his mind that it would all work out.

He'd figure it out.

They would figure it out. Together.

So on that note, he slid under the sheets entirely and tried to settle in. But despite his efforts to not wake her, Beth stirred and rolled over to face him, pushing aside the hair that had fallen into her face as she had dozed off before. She blinked a few times to get used to the light from the outside that was reflecting on in. "What is it?" she asked sleepily.

He instantly felt guilty for waking her out of her sleep, felt bad for being such a baby and having to seek out the comfort of her. But upon second thought, he realized that it wasn't all that bad that he felt like he needed her and he couldn't keep feeling bad about it.

"I left," he admitted. "Came back."

"Why?"

"Long story."

She nuzzled against him. "Tell me," she purred.

The feeling of her delicate fingers with blue painted nails moving in small circles against his chest prompted him to bring her in closer, easily moving her body towards him. "The short version is that my brother was waitin' for me outside when I left, went with him to drop him off, got convinced to go inside and some shit went down. And then I drove straight here."

"But you're okay?"

He exhaled and watched as Beth's only concern was of Daryl's well-being. He shut his eyes and relaxed his muscles. "I am now."

"Good," she yawned, then snuggled back in, pulling the blanket further up around her. "Let's go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

It wasn't long after that until Beth had slipped back into sleep and Daryl followed right behind her.

Thanks for reading!