Daryl deals with the loss of Beth and gets injured. On the edge of death, he accepts it. After accepting death, he wakes up to realize he is alive and has to continue living through this hell he's trapped in. Until he goes outside.

It's been ten years since Daryl held Beth's lifeless body in his arms. The world has changed but humanity has survived, and Daryl has survived too. He is alive; still breathing, still walking, still pushing himself to keep going year after year... until one day, it all changes when he sees a name on a list of survivors. Two words. Two syllables. Ten letters. Beth Greene.

"Beth started to step forward, and without a second thought, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back." Daryl wasn't about to let her step into the line of fire, not when he just got her back. AU of mid-season finale and beyond.

It's elation, pure and simple, and it surges something inside of her to push forward and take. She moves her hand away from where she's tucked the blanket over his shoulder, to the crook where his neck meets his shoulder, and rests her palm there - nails scratching just so at his skin. And he groans, quietly, like he doesn't think he's allowed to respond. [winter au between S2/S3]

He was an angry werewolf, but she loved him anyway. Paul/OC