A/N: It hasn't really been 2.5 years since I updated this, has it? I have zero idea if anyone is still interested or following this story, but if you are I hope you enjoy it!

Based on Beth's past experiences, whenever Daryl was confronted with a situation more emotionally complex than putting a knife through a walker's skull, he tended to put some distance between himself and whatever was messing with his head. She'd seen it when Shane had let the walkers out of the barn and that little girl stumbled into the harsh sunlight; once the dead were buried or burned he moved his camp up to the ruins of the old homestead. Carol told her how he lashed out when she tried to reach out to him, likening him to a feral dog who just couldn't bring himself to believe the world wasn't out to get him. Beth felt his distance whenever the group had moments of silliness or joy; though few and far between, they had existed while they were on the road. One time, Carl had tried to show Maggie a spider he'd found, not realizing that Maggie had a paralyzing fear of them. She'd let out a sound that T-Dog described as "a kitten with constipation" while trying to stifle a scream; Beth knew that before, Maggie would have screamed like her ass was on fire and probably punched whoever had the offending spider cupped in their hands. The absurdity of the situation was immediately made apparent by Glenn, who started cackling at her sister. Her father joined in, and slowly everyone was overtaken by giddy laughter including Maggie herself. Beth thought she may have caught the slightest twitch on Daryl's lips before he turned and marched off into the woods, muttering that they would bring "a whole goddamn herd down with their hyena bullshit."

So when she got out of the shower, Beth half expected Daryl to have high-tailed it out of the apartment. She had little faith that he would want to face her after she'd stuck her tongue in his mouth. Pile that on top of everything that they'd gone through the day before, and she wouldn't have been surprised if she happened to find a Daryl-shaped hole in the outer walls of Woodbury.

But he stayed.

Oh Daryl. Daryl. You stayed.

He'd gotten up from where she'd left him in bed and was perched on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees with his fingers steepled in front of his face. She saw his eyes flick in her direction when she emerged from the bathroom, and she couldn't help but be thankful she'd thought to bring her change of clothes in with her; Daryl seeing her in just a towel had suddenly taken on a whole new level of implication.

"How's yer back?" he grumbled at her without dropping his hands or fully turning towards her.

She shrugged, pulling at the tight skin on her back. "Hurts." She turned and grabbed a tube of ointment from the bathroom counter. "I found this stuff in the medicine cabinet," she stated as she held it up for him to see. "Should help with keeping away infection. Can you... Can you um...help me put some of it on before we leave?"

Beth could see Daryl's ears turn red where they stuck out from underneath his shaggy dark hair. He still didn't turn towards her, and she was about to repeat herself when he coughed. She watched him take a deep breath and drop his hands to his knees, rubbing them roughly a couple times before clearing his throat and nodding to himself.

"Fine."

She fought to roll her eyes at his curt response but this was better than waiting until she saw Lori or Carol or Maggie at some point today. Walking towards him in the living room, she came to the realization that her injuries were safely tucked under her shirt, and that previous feeling of relief she'd experienced upon leaving the bathroom promptly vanished. Beth sat on the floor in front of Daryl's spot on the couch, crossing her legs and taking her own deep breath to help focus her nerves. Man up Greene. Without giving herself a chance to back out and make her own awkward escape she tossed the tube over her shoulder at Daryl, reached down and pulled her shirt over her head. She heard Daryl's sharp intake of breath and felt it rattle within her own chest. When he blew the breath out she shivered as it hit the tender overheated skin of her back. That was the only reason she reacted that way. Of course, obviously.

"Givin' me a fuckin' heart attack, Greene," he muttered as she heard him opening medicine.

"Dixon," she replied automatically. She knew he'd stopped what he was doing and she turned her head to peek at him over her shoulder. He was frozen, staring at her like she'd asked him to join her and all their walker friends for dinner while slathering herself in ketchup and ringing a dinner bell. "It's my name now, isn't it? Unless you don't want me to use it."

Daryl cleared his throat and looked down at his hands. "Naw. 's good. You use it if'n you wanna."

"I wanna," she answered quickly. He looked up and met her eyes, and she tracked his blush as it crawled upwards from his throat. Beth felt her own breath catch when one side of his mouth crept up a bit, giving her a shy smile. Lord but this man was handsome.

Daryl nodded and gestured for her to turn around. He worked silently, rubbing ointment along her wounds, humming soothingly when she'd involuntarily twitch in pain. When he was finished, he leaned forward to blow on the skin of her back to dry the medicine and Beth thought she might just pass out right there. She thought of his breath as he exhaled against her lips and how it danced across her collarbones when she'd woken up. She wanted more of it. More of him.

When she sensed that he'd scooted back from her deeper into the couch she shook her head slightly and focused on tugging on her shirt. She made to stand up and felt a shock of heat run through her as Daryl's hand made contact with her elbow, helping her to stand without irritating her back. Beth wanted to sigh and she wanted to throw her arms around his neck and she wanted to kiss this man senseless, see where he could take her and what this feeling bubbling inside her was going to amount to. She couldn't do that yet though; she knew she had to clear the air before letting herself get wrapped up in this man.

"Daryl," she began. "I'm so sorry about yesterday. I didn't know how bad it was going to be, and Maggie had thought we could trust that girl. I think she figured she wouldn't get turned in by her since they were both breaking the rules. I didn't want to get involved, but Maggie said she needed someone to watch her back and I wasn' going to let her go on her own. I'm so stupid..." she trailed off as she began to wring her hands together.

Daryl let her words hang in the air for a few moments before he answered. "Ain' stupid, girl," he murmured. "An' I ain' mad at ya. Honestly I'm more pissed a' Maggie an' Glenn. I fuckin' told him to be fuckin' careful 'bout that shit weeks ago. Don' fuckin' listen and then ya get dragged in an' get hurt along wit 'em." Daryl had moved his thumb to his mouth halfway through his reply and was working a hangnail loose by the end of his words.

"I'm not terribly surprised they didn't listen. Maggie don' want kids and she's ne'er really taken well to bein' told what to do. Mama and Daddy had a joyous time with her when she was in high school."

Daryl huffed out a laugh and dropped his hand. "I don' wan' kids either," he stated. "But more than tha' I don' wan' ya gettin' hurt, girl." And maybe he hadn't intended to say that last part, Beth thought, because as soon as he finished speaking his eyes widened slightly and he quickly looked away from her.

Beth felt herself blush and moved to take his hand. She held it gently, and waited until he was brave enough to meet her eyes again. "Don' want that either," she agreed quietly.

Daryl nodded and looked away again. Something must have occurred to him though because he straightened his spine and she could see the resolve build in him before he asked, "What'd they say to you?" Beth tilted her head in inquiry and furrowed her brow. "That shithead Gorman and Merle," he clarified. "They said shit to you when you was down there in fron' of e'eryone."

Beth pulled her hand back and wrapped her arms around herself letting her mind drift back to the traumatic events of yesterday. At the time, she hadn't been able to focus on what either of them had whispered to her, her fear was making it difficult to hear anything above the roaring in her ears.

She and Maggie had been walking to the bathroom from the gardens when the Governor's guards had stepped in front of them, instructing Beth and her sister to "get their sweet asses in gear," before Maggie had told Gorman to go to hell, and then a blindfold had been dropped over Beth's eyes. They'd been quick-marched inside and she could hear Maggie hollering and calling Beth's name, her voice echoing off the walls of wherever they were. Eventually they were stopped and she could hear Glenn arguing with someone, repeatedly asking what was going on; but he stopped when he must have caught sight of Maggie and Beth. His lack of follow-up had made it clear to Beth just how bad this situation must be and sent a bolt of fear down her back.

"Good, y'all shut the fuck up," a voice grumbled. After a moment Beth realized it was Merle.

She couldn't tell you how long they were kept down in that place, but with what came next she would have given anything to stay there. She knew it was Merle who had her, he'd greeted her with a scornful, "Fancy seein' you here Blondie," before cuffing her around the arm and dragging her along. She had worked up enough nerve to ask him what was going on, but he'd only ignored her.

When they got outside, the noise was deafening. She had spent the last year being mindful of her voice, keeping her words low and working hard to deflect attention. In the world they lived in, loud could get you killed. So why were all these people yelling? Beth remembered falling, crying out as the concrete bit into her bony knees. Then the Governor was speaking above the other voices, the cheers fading into the background as he laid out the accusations against her, Maggie, and Glenn. Darn it, of course that girl turned them in.

Beth felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest and honestly that's all she could focus on as she quickly heard what must have been a crowd calling for their punishment. She heard Glenn grunt as he was hurt with something and then Maggie; she heard it all without really taking it in. But then something broke through the fog of her fear. Him. It was Daryl's voice calling out for her and she desperately wished the blindfold would be removed so she could see him. If only she could see his eyes, then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much when it was her turn to bleed.

But then a shooting burning pain shocked her system and she was left speechless - rootless in a world of darkness and pain. She knew she was making noise, just as she knew she was breathing - no question, it was just a truth. It stopped as abruptly as it had started and she was jerked backwards, any inclination towards putting up a fight had been lost. Merle's gravelly voice was suddenly in her ear; he said...He told her...

"He told me that 'if I ever did anything to put his baby brother in the Governor's sights again he'd set me to the walkers himself.' And then he said if I was that desperate to get, um... fucked, then maybe he'd been lookin' to visit the wrong person in our apartment," Beth felt the heat bloom across her cheeks as she let the humiliation of Merle's words sink in. Was this how Daryl perceived her when he heard the accusations made against her? That she was desperate for someone other than him?

"After they beat me for the second time, Gorman told me I'd missed out on a good time if'n I'd gone along with him. That he'd be lookin' out for me. Merle said I should remember what he'd said and to not be such a stupid bitch next time." Beth chanced a glance at Daryl, not sure what she was expecting to see on his face. His eyes were narrowed, hard blue glass standing out against his dirty tanned skin. She hadn't wanted to remember what those men had said to her, hadn't wanted Daryl to know; she didn't want him to see her as any worse than she already saw herself.

"Daryl?" she called softly after he remained silent for a few moments more.

He cut his eyes quickly over to hers and she felt like she'd been kicked in the chest, all the wind knocked out of her with the force of his gaze.

"Ain' nothin' in Merle's words." Hs tone brokered no room for argument. " Don' fuckin' listen to 'im. Can take care of myself, girl. Can take care o' you too. Ain' like Merle gone an' done a good job of that shit e'er, ain' his place to star' now. Don' worry none," he grumbled, his voice like rocks dragging across concrete.

"And Gorman?" she chanced to ask.

Daryl grunted in response. "Gorman'll fuckin' get his balls strung up on our apartment door if'n he comes near ya again."

Beth giggled and it made Daryl's lips twitch. She felt lighter knowing that Daryl didn't look down on her for her missteps with Maggie or Merle's incorrect assessment of her behavior. She felt safe knowing that he would keep her protected from Gorman. She felt butterflies in her belly now that she knew what it meant to kiss him. And she felt warm that this man was her partner, whatever may be growing between them.