Hi, thank you guys for reading! I like this chapter... hope you guys do too!

I don't own the Walking Dead.

"'M sorry, Beth."

Beth shrugged as Daryl leaned against her cell door. It wasn't like she was surprised that things had gone wrong on the run. It seemed like they always did. And Zach wasn't exactly the most trained person who had gone. Beth felt frustration bubble in her stomach –again- at the realization that she was relegated to babysitter instead of helping on runs.

"I'm just glad I got to know him, I guess." She sighed, and Daryl frowned at her.

She smiled sadly at him. "I don't cry anymore, Daryl."

Daryl scoffed so loudly it reverberated off the walls of her cell. "That's bullshit, Beth."

Her eyes flicked up at him, as she pretended to busy herself with picking up her cell.

"You can't do that, Beth. You can't shut down like that." Daryl whispered at her, clutching the strap of his crossbow that hung around his chest. His thumbnail picked at a fresh stain of blood, and he rolled his shoulders back, as if trying to shake off the sensation of having feelings. "You don't wanna end up like me, kid."

Beth rolled her eyes as she crossed the room to him, pulling him into an awkward hug. "You're not so bad." She jested, and he huffed.

"I'm jaded, cranky, and alone, and it's my own doing, because I push people away. I really don't want that for you, Beth. " He muttered, and she echoed his earlier scoff.

"I take offense to that, Mr. Dixon." She gasped dramatically, holding her hand to her chest in mock outrage. "You'd make a lady think you don't enjoy her company."

"Pfft." Daryl grunted, and lightly pushed her shoulder, sending her back into her cell. "You know what I mean. You're the light everyone looks to around here. It'd be a damn shame if you shut that off."

Beth nodded, as she sat on her bunk. As much as it bothered her to admit it, she knew Daryl had a point. Pretending she didn't feel anything wasn't going to help her not feel anything. She sighed as a few memories of Zach came unbidden to her mind. No, he hadn't been a soul mate or anything, but he was a good guy and he didn't deserve to die; especially not a violent death like that. Despite herself, Beth choked on a sob in her throat, and she heard Daryl groan.

"Jesus, Beth. You're killin' me."

Beth laughed softly, even as she wiped a tear from her eye. She heard Daryl grunt in complaint, loudly and long, before finally coming to his decision. "Alright, scoot over."

"Really!?" Beth gasped, as she scooched to the edge of the bed against the wall.

"Best not ask twice." Daryl said, narrowing his eyes on her. He lowered his crossbow to the ground, and kicked off his boots before crawling in bed next to her. She settled her head into his chest, and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fuck, Beth, your daddy would kill me if he saw us like this. He'd shoot first and ask questions later."

Beth laughed, unfazed by his discomfort. "You're just more worried that Tyreese will see you in here and get the wrong idea." She teased, kicking him under the blanket.

"Shut your damn mouth."

Beth's lungs felt like they were on fire. Like she was drowning, and water was filling her lungs. Running across the store didn't help. She was so tired of this. She was so tired of not having any control over her own body, over her own mind. Peaches were so seemingly innocuous, but all they did was remind her of Billy, and the things she had done. The things she had done to survive. Now, as she clutched at her chest begging the god she no longer believed in for breath, she wondered if it had been worth it.

In the periphery of her vision she saw Michonne approach her. She didn't want to be touched. She couldn't stand it. She needed space, and even when it was Rick, the only human alive that she trusted, it felt like a thousand knives piercing where he touched her.

Thankfully Michonne didn't touch her. She sat across from Beth and only regarded her as Beth struggled for air. Beth didn't appreciate the audience, but didn't have the ability to ask her to leave, nor to run again. Beth only tried to focus on her breathing, and ignore Michonne. She buried her head in her arms, as she made herself as small as possible, trying to name every color she knew in her mind as a distraction.

Eventually her breathing regulated somewhat and tears of relief pricked at her eyes. What she never knew about panic attacks was how much they hurt. It felt like an elephant sitting on your chest, and your whole body aches from fighting itself.

"You good?" Michonne asked brashly, and Beth's eyes flashed at her. Michonne held up her hands in a mock surrender. "Don't look at me like that. It's just a question."

Beth sighed, and stretched her legs out in front of her, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Michonne asked. Despite the roughness of her words, her tone was a gentle plea that Beth considered before shaking her head slowly.

Michonne sighed and nodded before walking over to Beth and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "I probably know anyway, don't I?"

Beth hesitated to answer that. Michonne could be imagining any of a thousand things, but it was hard to imagine she could concoct something worse than what had actually happened. But it had at least ended before it… well. It shockingly could have been worse.

"Pretty close." She finally admitted slowly, and Michonne scowled next to her.

"Does Rick know?" she probed gently, and Beth nodded slowly, tears threatening to spill out. It was bad enough that she had to deal with this, but the worst part was that she had to drag Rick through it too. She saw in his eyes how much he hurt for her, how desperately he wanted to take her pain away, but was powerless to do so. The thought sent her spiraling downwards, and sobs wracked her body.

Michonne pulled Beth close to her with a painful sigh. "I know. I get it." She whispered. "Things that happen in this world… they change you. And it's so easy to hurt the people you love the most while you fight with it. I can tell you that first hand."

Beth looked up at Michonne with a question in her eyes that was answered with a sad smile. "I don't like talking about it either. But I will say that I had a family when this started. A husband. A son. Both of them are gone now." She sighed, and stared out away from Beth's gaze, a smile playing on her features as she remembered her family gone bye.

"You know what I was like when I found the prison. Cold, bitter, angry. Rightfully so, I think. Someday I'll tell you and you'll agree I think. But I wasn't hurting anyone but myself. And I honestly think," her voice broke at the memory, "it's the reason why my best friend is dead."

The memory of Andrea floated through Beth's mind. The memories of people they had lost were overpowering her psyche. Andrea stood out among them, however. Andrea had saved her life back on the farm. She was the strongest woman Beth had ever known. Michonne had saved Andrea's life after the prison fell, and they disagreed about staying in Woodbury, and it tore them apart. Michonne had found the prison, and after some issues, had joined their family. But they lost Andrea in the process. Beth had no idea Michonne blamed herself for that, because there was no reason to. The look of incredulousness Beth tossed to Michonne conveyed her opinion on the matter clearly even though she said nothing.

"I know, I know." Michonne sighed, "but it's how I feel. I couldn't communicate how I felt about her and the situation. I just brooded and ran, and at the end of the day, she was dead."

Michonne removed her arm from around Beth, and held her hands out empty in front of her. "What I'm trying to say is I know this stuff is all consuming. Just… do your best not to block out the people you love." She finished, casting a meaningful look at Beth.

Beth blushed, but nodded, her meaning not lost on her. The two women sat in silence, staring at the back of a shelf that once held gardening tools. Eventually, Michonne stood with a groan, and held out a hand to Beth, which she took gratefully.

"I get the not wanting to talk thing, as you can probably guess. But if you ever need to, I am here." Michonne kindly suggested, before her face contorted in discomfort. "I can't imagine trying to talk to Rick about some of this stuff."

Beth laughed at that, the ridiculousness apparent to her. "You'd be surprised." She grinned, and Michonne rolled her eyes teasingly. The two women walked back to where they left the boys. However, they only found Carl, sitting on the bed reading a comic book, his legs swinging off the edge of the mattress looking for all the world like a normal 13 year old.

He saw them approach, and Beth blushed under his appraising gaze. "You ok?" he asked quickly, and Beth nodded shyly.

"Where's Rick?" Michonne asked, looking around her, a stabilizing hand still on Beth's shoulder.

Carl shrugged as his attention returned to his comic book. "He took your katana and said he was going for a walk."

"He took my what?!" Michonne screeched, and Beth felt her blood go cold. She had upset Rick so much that he had put himself in danger. If not from walkers, than certainly from Michonne's wrath.

"I'm going after him." Beth asserted, her tone leaving no room for discussion. Still, Michonne grabbed her arm.

"You're kidding right?" Michonne snapped at Beth, her fingers digging into the flesh of her upper arm. "Just because he's an idiot who ran off doesn't mean I'm going to let you do the same. You have no idea what direction he even went in."

Beth shook her head vehemently. "I don't care. I can't leave him out there alone."

Michonne sighed as she loosened her grip slightly. "Look, he'll be back. You know he will. And if he comes back and you're not here, he's going to stab me with my own katana. Don't let me die like that, Beth."

Beth sighed, and her eyes fell on Carl, who was regarding her with some curiosity. When he noticed her gaze, however, his eyes returned to his comic, and Beth groaned. "Fine. Fine! But if he's not back in an hour I'm going after him."

Michonne grinned, her teeth unnaturally white despite 2 years of the apocalypse. "More than fair." She declared.

It didn't take an hour. 45 minutes later a sweaty, blood covered Rick burst back into the store. Beth and Michonne practically raced to see who would get to him first. Michonne beat her out slightly, and yanked her katana out of his hands.

"You touch this again, you die." She threatened, and turned on her heels, casting Beth a wink as she stalked off, leaving them alone.

"Dad you good?" Beth heard Carl yell from his perch on the bed, and Rick chuckled.

"I'm good!" he yelled back to him.

"K!" was the response and Beth rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"So you're fine?" She asked carefully, inspecting every bump and bruise in sight.

Rick sighed and nodded. Beth's head bobbed in a sharp, frustrated motion, before she pushed him. "Then I can get past worry and straight into anger. What the hell were you thinking?" she cried, clenching her fists tightly. "You scared the hell out of me. You left me here." Her voice tapered off as Rick reached out for her, his hands tentatively gripping her elbows.

"I'm sorry Beth. I got scared, I'm sorry." He whispered, and Beth reluctantly gave into his touch.

She sighed heavily and nodded in acceptance of his apology. "I'm sorry I pushed you away. It's just hard, it hurts, I don't know-"

"You don't have to explain." Rick cut her off. "It's okay."

Beth swallowed as she wrapped her arms around herself. Rick pulled her body into his embrace, as his hand raked over her hair. "I'm sorry Beth."

Beth's hands relaxed, and she gripped his shirt. Rick pushed her back gently and looked down at her.

"Listen. I was thinking out there. I want to ask you something." Beth heard the hitch in Rick's voice, and she chewed on the inside of her lip as he struggled to convey whatever was rolling around in his mind.

"I think we should go out tomorrow morning. Just the two of us." Rick's voice labored, and Beth tried to process what he was asking.

"Like on a run?" she asked carefully, and Rick shook his head.

"No. Not like on a run." He clarified, and Beth couldn't help but break into a smile.

She found herself nodding her head up and down vigorously. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that a lot."

Rick mirrored the grin on her face as he laughed lightly. "Good."

Beth's heart raced as Rick's fingers found her chin, and he tilted it up, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

Woohoo! It's happening guys! I hope you're all is excited as I am. But I've had caffeine, so its possible no one is as excited as I am.

Also, thank you guys for checking out that smutty one-shot I wrote. It got several -shall we say- favorable reviews, which just solidifies that you are all a bunch a perverts, just like me. :)

I'm trying to respond to all reviews, but my phone has been glitchy as hell, so if I missed you this time, I'm sorry sorry sorry, and I promise to grab you next time. You are all my favorite people in the universe, so I want you to know how much I appreciate your reviews. I'd send you all a big, gooey chocolate chip cookie if I could.

The next chapter is written, but I'm tinkering with it. Still, it should be out sooner rather than later. Thanks again guys!