A/N Beth's walking away from things and Daryl's walking towards them. That's my corny cryptic note. And before anyone asks... no Daryl didn't go to Hershel before he proposed. It doesn't always happen that way. It definitely wasn't happening that way in this story.

Sophia's at the dining room table doing homework when Daryl finds her. On a Saturday.

"Hi Uncle Daryl," she says scribbling away on a piece of graphing paper.

"Hey, whatcha doing?'

"Algebra," she groans, "which I suck at." Daryl glances over her shoulder at the textbook open in front of her. He'd always liked his math classes and did pretty good when he was at school.

"Ya havin' a problem?" he asks.

"When am I not? Why do they even make us learn this stuff? I'm never gonna use it!" Daryl chuckles and pulls up a chair beside her moving the book over so he can see what she's working on.

"Which problem ya stuck on?" Daryl asks and Sophia taps her pencil one. A mixture of equations with letters and numbers cover most of the page along with a couple of comic-like illustrations geared to make it all look like fun. Taking her pencil Daryl writes out the problem slowly going through it step by step until he's found the answer.

"You can do algebra?" Sophia is in awe of him and it's weird and makes him uncomfortable.

"I like numbers," Daryl mumbles.

"How come you never told me? Mom and dad are no help at all and the teacher smells funny- no way am I asking him for help!"

"I can help ya."

"Yeah?" She still looks like she can't believe what she's hearing and it's definitely still weird.

"Mmmhmm, but I need a favor." He's been thinking about this for a few days now, who he could ask for help.

"Sure!" This morning he realized that the perfect person has been right under his nose the whole time.

"I, uh, I need a ring." Her screech is ear piercing and he's sure the rest of the family is gonna show up any second. "Damn girl! Keep it down!"

"You're gonna ask Beth to marry you?" she lowers her voice and leans in conspiratorially once she picks up on the fact that it's somewhat of a secret. Her eyes are sparkling and somehow he knew she'd be excited.

"Already did…"

"Without a ring? Uncle Daryl! What did she say?" He's still beating himself up about the ring. And the proposal. He hadn't planned it, it had just happened. And according to Beth, it was perfect.

"What the hell ya think she said? But I wanna get her a ring." Sophia's grinning from ear to ear and she's even a little teary eyed.

"Yes! I wanna help you… we'll find the perfect ring! When are we going? Now? Should I-" She's bouncing on the chair.

"Nah ya gotta finish yer algebra." Groaning she plops back down and picks up her pencil. "Why ya got homework on a weekend anyway?"

"Oh…" Her cheeks are pink and she's avoiding his eyes. "I have this class with Carl and we sit together and if he checks my paper I don't want to look stupid." Carl Grimes. Again. Well, at least he's a good influence so far.

"Yeah? Cool, I like Carl." He won't tease her. He needs her but he will have a chat with Carl real soon. "Don' say nothin'- ta nobody," Daryl says taking her pencil to correct her work.

"Oooh! A secret, how romantic! I knew you guys were gonna fall in love…" She's giggling and bumping him with her elbow.

"Stop." It's half-hearted because this feels good. Like the proposal, he's going with his gut. If anyone can guarantee he finds a ring Beth will love it will be his niece.

xxxxXxxxx

Six months in jail and six months in a rehabilitation program.

And he doesn't want to see his own daughters.

Hershel was at Shawn's sentencing along with Amy and this is the outcome. Knowing how to feel, what to feel is impossible. Maybe this is a step in a better direction. Maybe Shawn will get the help he needs. Maybe he will get a second chance with his family.

Maybe it will all be okay.

Maybe isn't good enough as far as Beth is concerned. But it's all they have.

Her phone vibrates on the table beside her. A text from Daryl. Picking it up she glances at Maggie.

"I need to take this…" Pushing out her chair she heads for the front door. The old wooden floors squeak and creak as she goes. Being here is like being haunted. She felt it walking up to the house earlier, the charred remains of half of the barn a glaring reminder of how incredibly fast things can change.

Daryl's message is there in little black letters but it's his voice she hears in her head as she reads it.

-Where are you

Smiling down at her phone she's just about to text back when the smell hits her. Burnt wood. Her smile falters as she raises her head. She's standing right about where she was that night when he came out of the barn with Abbi in his arms.

Uncle Daryl flew out of the barn with me!

In her hand, the phone is vibrating again. This time it's a call and not a text.

"Hi…"

Hey, where are ya? Sent a text…

"At the farm, I came over with Maggie, to talk to my daddy and Amy…"

Oh, I'll let ya go-

"I'm not in the house anymore, I came outside... I needed-" To breathe. She needed to breathe but she ended up here, looking at this, all of this- so much for breathing.

What are ya doing Beth?

"I'm just... looking at the barn." It would be a vague statement if he didn't know. But he knows.

I'm coming ta get ya…

"Daryl you don't have to drive over here and get me Maggie will be leaving and I can-"

Not driving quit looking at that fuckin' barn. I ain't in it. Meet me in the woods.

She can hear his breathing change and the sounds coming through the phone are different too. He's outside, probably already heading into the woods.

"Okay." She doesn't have to force herself to walk away, he's out there, coming for her. She didn't want to be here anyway. Not now. When Amy and the girls are settled and there's some life here again...

Maybe.

The woods are like a promise. They're perfect. They are as much a part of her childhood as the house behind her. But it doesn't feel like she's suffocating when she's in them. Dappled sunlight flashing on the ground as a breeze makes the leaves dance and birds, all over, everywhere, calling out to one another, singing just because.

She feels like she felt after first meeting Daryl. The day they had a bird funeral and then hoping she'd see him again.

And all the other times she went off into the woods to find him on the other side.

She can see him up ahead. He's standing there hands in his pockets, waiting. He's wearing a flannel and it makes her think of the blanket on their couch and how wrapping up in it and him would be perfect right now.

He catches her eye although he probably saw her coming long before she saw him. When he holds out his hand she doesn't hesitate to reach back and then he's got her pressed up against him.

"Ya okay?" The concern in his blue eyes always hits her right in the heart. But this time there's something else there.

"I am now. I mean, I was. I just didn't want to be there. I know we have to talk about Shawn and plans have to be made, but I think I was done. At least for today." It's simple. Or it is now out here with Daryl.

He takes her hand again and they start back the way he came.

"What'd they give him?"

"A year. With rehabilitation." Daryl just nods in that way he always does. He's listening and thinking but he won't say anything until what he says is something he thinks is important. She's learned that about him. She, on the other hand, is the opposite. She talks and talks until she figures things out. "You know when you think you know someone? More than anyone else in the world? You know them because you've spent most of your life with them.. and then that person is just gone?"

His eyes flick to her and then back to the trees. But she can see that this has touched him in some way. This is about more than her and her brother.

"Yeah, I do." His brother, his past. He probably understands better than anyone else could.

"I know I should hate him. But I don't. He's my brother and I still love him. Do you think that makes me crazy?" He stops her there in the middle of the woods and wraps his arms around her, rests his lips against her forehead.

"Ya ain't crazy," he says softly. Slipping her arms inside his shirt she winds them around his torso. She can hear his heartbeat and it always makes her feel better.

"Why'd you walk over and get me, Daryl?" It's barely a whisper and she's not sure he even heard hear.

"Cause I'm here." Not there.

"I know. And I'm okay." She saw the barn and the next time she sees it, it won't hurt as bad. It won't make her feel like she can't breathe.

"Look." He's pointing to something on the ground.

"Daryl it's…." This time the thing that takes her breath away isn't a burnt up barn. It isn't even the tiny grave from all those months ago. She was just thinking about it, the day they met.

He's holding out his hand.

He kept his word.

xxxxXxxxx

Finishing Sophia's homework had been the least of their problems- when the boys found out that she and Daryl were going somewhere they wanted to go too. The bickering between the three of them brought Carol into the room.

Sophia had started crying, real tears even. It had been so convincing she'd even shut both of her brothers up. She'd also left him feeling like he'd missed something.

They're headed out and Sophia said no mall and he'd been relieved. The mall is worse than Walmart. And Walmart isn't an option he'll even consider.

"Where we goin'?" he asks curiously because Sophia seems pretty confident and that combined with the fact that she didn't take him to the mall is just odd.

"You know where the old hardware store is? Not the one downtown, the other place, the big one."

He knows the place she's talking about. It's in a shopping center in the part of town that tried to be new 20 years ago but never quite lived up to it. Now it's just the rundown, almost the wrong side of the tracks, part of town. It's not really even in their town. It's on the border, in-between, a place that's kind of been forgotten.

At least it was when he was living here before. He can't imagine it's changed all that much.

"What the hells over there?" Nothing good is what he's thinking.

"It's a place I went with dad. Just trust me, Uncle Daryl." Shaking his head he figures they can always hit the mall if they absolutely have too. But his niece has been surprising him all morning.

"That was some pretty good actin' ya did back there," he says nonchalantly. She doesn't look up at him as she picks at the seam in her jeans. And he senses he's touched on something.

"I wasn't acting, not really," she says softly. Daryl absolutely does not know what to do with that. Maybe this is why he had the feeling he'd had. "It was so scary watching the barn burn.. and Beth, she was screaming and fighting my dad cause he was holding her. Carl's dad came out and we waited… I didn't want you to die. I didn't want you to go away again."

Oh.

"Didn't mean ta scare ya... I had ta get Abbi outta there. Me and Rick, once we heard those little girls were in there we had ta go in and get 'em." He hadn't thought about dying, just that he needed to get the girls out.

"Yeah, you're pretty much a hero. Both of you." There it is again. That word.

"I ain't-"

"You are. Carl's dad too. We both think so." Her smile is smug.

"That right? Ya been talking ta Carl about me?" A blush has blossomed on her cheeks and that smile she was wearing looks a little strained.

"Uncle Daryl! He's my friend…" It feels good to put the spotlight back on her. Off of him.

"Uh huh… And I ain't goin' nowhere." Her response is a bigger smile and a little nod of her head.

A pawn shop. He was right about the shopping center, it hasn't changed all that much. But a pawn shop? If he had to guess he wouldn't have picked a place like this in a million years.

"Sophia, what the hell did yer daddy bring ya out here for?" Granted pawn shops aren't necessarily bad places and the ones that are operating honestly do provide a service that's needed, but a lot of times it's all wrapped up in other illegal activities.

"I know what you're thinking but this place isn't like that. You know Otis right?"

Daryl nods, Otis is the farm hand that Hershel has had around forever. Merle talked about him back when he was helping out on the farm.

"His wife Patricia has a sister and this is her place. She's a biker! You'll like her! This is where daddy got mama's ring. And he brought me with him. I picked out the ring and my mama still loves it!" She says proudly getting out of the truck.

"Yer daddy got your mama a ring from a pawn shop?" Daryl is wondering how in the hell Merle ever got away with that when Sophia grabs his hand.

"Just come on!"

The inside of the shop is just as he'd expected. It's a little dark and filled with various items one would find in a place like this. Musical instruments, high-end electronics, video game consoles, a few power tools. Inside a glass counter, he sees watches of all kinds including the newest ones that you can talk too. There are also some gaudy rings and strings of pearls mixed in with the watches. Nothing he'd ever imagine giving to Beth.

He's seen Carol's engagement ring. She still wears it right next to her wedding band. It's a nice ring with a sizable diamond. Daryl would never have guessed it came from a pawn shop.

"Hi there, how can I help- Sophia?" A big muscular woman comes out from behind the counter. She's got some tattoos and a black t-shirt with a flag on it and she definitely looks like she could handle a big ole Harley.

"Hi, Sylvia!" Sophia is enveloped in a huge hug and then she's pulling the woman over to Daryl. "Uncle Daryl this is Sylvia. Uncle Daryl is gonna ask his girlfriend to marry him and he needs a ring."

"Well hello, Daryl. Glad to meet you. You're going to propose huh?" He likes her smile. It's genuine and Sophia is still holding on to her hand.

"Well, uh… I did that part. I just need a ring." Daryl feels his cheeks burning and he wonders why he even cares. He doesn't know this woman and how he chose to propose is his business.

"Believe me, it happens! I'm assuming your girl loves you so much she probably doesn't even care," she says winking at him. "Those are the best kind!"

"Can I tell her who it is Uncle Daryl? She won't say anything. It's like a customer privacy thingy or something.." She seems so excited that all Daryl can do is shrug. What does he care?

"It's Beth Greene!"

"Little Beth Greene? I guess she's not so little anymore is she?" Sylvia says.

Otis and Patricia. So that means Sylvia knows Beth. Daryl huffs out a breath. And shifts from one foot to the other as Sylvia continues to smile at him.

"Uh, yeah it's Beth." He's not concerned that she'll comment on anything because she doesn't look like the type but he's kinda tensed up expecting something.

"Well, then we need something perfect for her. It's been a while since I've seen her and her family. They went through some pretty tough times. My sister's heart broke for them all." She goes on talking as she heads back around the counter and through another door.

"Come on Uncle Daryl!" Sophia says exasperatedly.

It turns out that besides the pawn shop Sylvia specializes in rings. Mainly engagement and wedding rings. Her father was a jeweler and she inherited a love for rings but life had not taken her down that path was how she put it. A loud motorcycle, a bearded biker and a lot of years on the road was her path. Until she lost the biker to cancer and needed to settle down.

"We grew up out here on a small chicken farm. My mother took care of the chickens and my father sold rings. He made some of his own too. Taught me everything I know. But I mainly stick to selling the ones I come across in the shop or through other dealers."

She pulls a few drawers out of a safe. Velvet lined with little grooves in them, each drawer is full of rings. Not the gaudy stuff in the store, but rings like you'd see in an upscale jewelry store.

"Rings have always been my favorite piece of jewelry." It's then that Daryl notices that she's wearing rings on almost all of her fingers. They're silver except one. That one must be her wedding ring.

Glancing down at the drawers she laid out on a table he's overwhelmed with how many there are. But Sylvia seems to be used to this and she gets right down to business helping him weed out the ones he won't buy and keeping the possibilities together.

He silently takes back what he thought about Merle buying Carol a ring from a pawn shop. He is absolutely sure he'll walk out of here with a ring for Beth and he won't feel a bit bad about it.

xxxxXxxxx

"Daryl?" A small circle sparkles from where it rests on his palm, fingers curled up just a bit to keep it from sliding off. This hand that has held her, wiped away her tears, fed her, touched her in places and ways that no other hand will ever be allowed… this hand holds the future. It holds a little piece of their forever. One that will last as long as it lasts.

"I shoulda had this when I… I…" Blinking back the tears and shaking her head she cups her hands around his.

"No… no… this is the way it's supposed to be, this is.." Nothing about them will ever be by the book.

"We buried a bird." It feels like so long ago. And since then so much has happened.

"We did."

"I think I mighta fell in love with ya that day…" He's blushing. Even his ears and it's the best thing because she knows how hard this is, talking about how he feels but he's doing it. For her. He's always doing things for her.

"I came back out here the next day hoping maybe you'd be hunting with the boys or… something."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She looks down at the ring again. "Can I…"

"Shit. Yeah, 'm sorry. Here." Taking her hand he slides the ring onto her finger. It fits perfectly.

"How did you…"

"Sophia. She helped me. Figured y'all had the same size fingers." He's still holding on to her hand. "Now it's good."

"It was never not good Daryl.. you have to know that. It's been right from the very beginning and I didn't need a ring but this, it's beautiful and I love it and I love you and…" She's done her best to keep her emotions in check for him but a girl can only take so much.

And it's been a day.

"Com'ere…" Sliding a hand into her hair he curls his fingers around the back of her neck and holds her there as he leans down and kisses her. It's soft until it's not and breathing could be a problem but she doesn't care. Because this is Daryl and when he kisses her everything else goes away and it's just the two of them. She breathes in the smell of him, his soap and his skin and when he pulls back a little she leans in not wanting it to end just yet.

"Kiss me again Daryl," she whispers. Leaning in again until the ends of his hair brush feather light against her cheeks and she can feel his breath warm on her face.

"How 'bout you kiss me?" His eyes crinkle at the corners with a smile she can't see because she's kissing him. Pushed up on her toes, one hand fisted in the collar of his shirt the other holding on to his shoulder she's kissing him.

The entire world could burn down and she'd still be here kissing him.

A/N No it's not the end.. not yet! But it felt like it didn't it? Hold on to that feeling. And thank you for reading and reviewing and commenting… xoxo