She was doing it again.

Daryl used to think that she wasn't even aware of it, that every time it happened it was purely an unconscious move. He liked to believe that she had no idea of the affect that it had on him but then one time she made eye contact with him and the smirk she gave him was proof enough.

Beth knew exactly what what she was doing to him.

It wouldn't have have been so bad if she would refrain from doing it when they were around other people but Beth either didn't care or assumed they would think like Daryl once had, that the suggestive nature of it was incidental. One time Daryl caught Eugene eyeing her but one growl from him was enough to make sure that never happened again.

As time passed it began to happen more and more, nearly every damn meal it felt like. After she finished eating whatever meager meal they managed to scrape up Beth would make sure she was well within Daryl's line of sight(not that she usually had to move very far, if at all) and slowly lick the remaining food from her fingers.

He shouldn't have found it as enthralling as he did, truly. It wasn't as if she was sucking on her fingers or making some phallic show out of it. She was simply licking the pads of her fingertips but even that alone was enough to drive Daryl mad.

It didn't help that they never got any privacy in the camps they set up. Trying to make sense of their new relationship was not made easier by the fact that everyone lived piled on top of each other. Other than a few stolen kisses the only time Daryl ever even got to touch Beth was at night when they curled around each other on the floor. Even that was often cut short for watch duty.

Of course if Daryl wasn't such a private person he could kiss Beth more, or hold her, or anything really. But other than when they slept he was reluctant to make their relationship so vivid for the others to see, even though no one else seemed to have similar qualms about their own. He had lost count of the amount times he had heard Rosita and Abraham having sex.

But Daryl wasn't like that. Everyone knew of course, that Beth and him had long since crossed the bridge of friendship into something more. They noticed the lingering looks, the times Daryl would brush her elbow with his hand just to remind himself that she was still there. But other than the night Maggie sat next to him, telling him that he was good for Beth and thanking him for never giving up on her, no one ever mentioned it. Their relationship was accepted into the group's dynamic with ease.

The group sat around a small burning fire in good spirits that night. They had found a few grape vines and were currently feasting on the fruit. But even the juice bursting on his tongue was not enough to distract Daryl as Beth licked her fingers clean beside him. He could feel something building inside him and he was close enough to Beth's ear that when he let out the smallest whisper of a growl she heard it.

For a second he almost felt embarrassed but Beth simply giggled as she dropped her hands into her lap.

Daryl's eyes narrowed as she turned her head to the side to grin at him. "You gotta stop doing that." he finally mumbled as the small smile on her face stretched wider.

"And what if I don't?" she whispered, her breath tickling his face as she leaned just a fraction closer.

Daryl knew a challenge when he heard one and his heart beat a bit faster as he struggled with the idea of kissing her right then and there. They were close to the fire, only a foot or two from the others on either side of them but oh how Daryl wanted to kiss her anyway. No one seemed to be paying them any mind, not that Daryl could really tell as he couldn't quite pull his eyes away from Beth's face.

She was looking up at him with a small smile and he knew that she would be okay with him if he kissed her or not, Beth had never been one to push or pull him in any direction. And that was the reason he wanted to do so so badly right now, not the sight of her licking her fingers, or the way her blue eyes gleamed in the firelight. It was her. All of her.

Beth always liked to tell him how brave he was but as he closed the small distance between them to catch her lips with his it felt like a whole new kind of bravery. It was the kind of bravery he had first seen in the girl whose lips he was caressing. The bravery of letting people in, of letting others know how much you cared.

The sweetness of the grapes still clinging to their mouths mingled together as they kissed, their family's conversations still continuing in the background.