A/N Thank you all very much. Last chapter was a hard one. This chapter we see things from Beth's and her family's perspective, and we learn what's happening with Daryl.

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Although the students of Clausen High School were alarmed and frightened at the sight of Daryl Dixon being dragged from school fighting and cussing, none were the least bit surprised to hear him calling out Beth's name.

And no student was at all surprised to see Beth Greene running toward Daryl Dixon as they carried him off and screaming for them not to take him.

None were the least bit shocked when she fell to her knees crying hysterically and repeating his name over and over.

Their schoolmates had known it for years, what Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene shared between them was the real deal. Solid. What kind of asshole would take him away, and why?

All the students were angry, confused and wanted answers. The halls of the school quickly entered into a state of chaos. One of their own had been forced into a car against his will and driven away.

None of the students paid attention to the warning bell. They were demanding answers. The young people had no idea what was going on, they only knew whatever was going on was wrong and they were fuming.

Amy hurriedly pushed through the crowd to get to her friend, falling to her knees beside Beth. The two teachers still had firm grips on Beth's upper arms, but Amy took her friend's hand as she tried in vain to soothe her, "Beth, Beth sweetie, c'mon. It's going to be okay. We'll figure this out and he'll be back before you know it. C'mon let's go, Caesar can give you a ride home."

One of the teachers restraining the hysterical young woman had other ideas, "You'll do no such thing. She's going to the nurse's office, they'll call her Mother to come for her. You just worry about yourself Miss Harrison, go on and get to class NOW."

As it turned out many of Daryl and Beth's schoolmates refused to return to class until answers were given, many other students had simply left for home, others went back behind the gym to smoke cigarettes and rant about the incident.

An awful lot of parents were called to come to the school that day and collect their children.

There were many students suspended as a result of the chaos, but those suspensions would all be reversed within a day when the school fell under a dark cloud of criticism. The story hit the evening news and when it did many in town were appalled to learn what had happened.

The reporter's tone added even more drama to the image of a 16 year old boy being forcibly dragged away in front of the entire student body. Parents wanted to know why their children had to witness such a thing.

When Beth Greene's Mama and Daddy arrived to pick up their daughter they were shaken, worried and angry. What could have happened to get their baby girl so hysterical that they would have to rush to school to get her? They walked in the office and Daddy demanded, "What in the world is going on here?"

The principal was talking fast as he tried to explain, "It wasn't our doing, we would prefer not to have this sort of thing on school property but it was out of our hands. It's not that Daryl did anything wrong, not at all, and he's just a boy."

He looked almost as shaken as the Greene's as he continued, "That's what started the trouble, in the eyes of the law he's still a child, a 16 year old minor. The people who took Daryl were with Child Protective Services. As shocking as it sounds, they think he's been living all by himself for at least two years."

Mama nearly fainted, "Oh my, no, how can that be? He could have stayed with us."

While Daddy nearly snarled the question, "So the authorities came to the school and dragged the boy away against his will, and in front of my daughter and all their classmates?"

They got their girl in the car and although she'd calmed down a little, her profound crying had not stopped. Mama sat in the backseat with her and held her daughter close, stroking her hand over Beth's hair and promising everything would be alright, while in worried silence Daddy drove them back to the farm.

When they arrived home Mama slipped an arm through Beth's as they climbed the stairs to her daughter's room. The young girl threw herself on the bed and her Mama sat beside her, rubbing Beth's back and trying to comfort her daughter as she wept.

In the meantime, Daddy was downstairs in his office where he placed two quick calls. The first call was to his older daughter, Maggie. She'd completed college and was now working not far from Savannah. He was hoping she'd be able to get a few days off work and come home.

When she answered the phone Daddy gave her a quick rundown of the situation and explained, "I wish you would try to come home Maggie, we need you here. Beth needs a big sister. She'll talk to you about things she'd never share with me or Mama, and she needs to talk to someone. This is a terrible situation."

Maggie didn't question further, she agreed.

The next call he placed was to the sheriff's office, specifically to Rick Grimes. Daddy had known the young deputy's Father for many years and he had in mind to take advantage of that friendship. There were questions he wanted to have answered. His girl was upstairs crying her heart out and he'd play every card he had to get those answers.

Young Grimes agreed to come by that evening as soon as he was off duty.

It was as he hung up from that conversation that Hershel Greene thought to make one more call. He looked up the number in the book, The Rancher's Cut. He remembered Daryl saying the owner's name was Carol. That, and the fact that Daryl was due to start his work week the next night was all Hershel knew.

The woman was as stunned as everyone else, she told Daddy, "I can't quite imagine this, I thought he'd just celebrated his 19th birthday, and now you're telling me I hired a 14 year old boy? That's simply unbelievable. I have to tell you Mister Greene, Daryl is the best worker I've ever had. In two years that kid has never asked for time off or complained about a thing. Please, let me know if you hear anything more. Poor Daryl, and I'm very sorry for your daughter."

Beth refused her dinner and her Mama got stern, "I know your heart is broken so I'll let you get away with that drama this evening, but tomorrow morning I'll expect to see you clean your breakfast plate young lady. Daryl wouldn't be happy knowing you're starving yourself."

Beth did come downstairs when the deputy arrived. No one wanted answers more than she.

Mama had a pot of coffee made and she set out a plate of cookies, although Daddy suspected that after the day he'd no doubt had, the deputy could probably do with a cold beer. But there was no alcohol on the Greene farm. Once upon a time Hershel Greene had tackled that demon himself, he saw no reason to tempt it back.

Beth was anxious and her voice carried a demanding tone, "Why did they take Daryl?! And where did they take him? What did he do?!"

Daddy reminded her the deputy was a guest in their home, "Beth, there will be none of that. Rick's been kind enough to come over and talk to us on his own time. I expect you to treat him with respect."

Beth looked at the man and apologized, "I'm sorry Deputy Grimes. I just don't understand."

The deputy remembered seeing her at the school, and now as he looked in those puffy and red-rimmed eyes the sadness in them broke his heart a little. He spoke softly, "I understand Beth. I didn't care much for the way things happened myself."

He took a sip of his coffee and a bite of a cookie, neither of which he wanted but it would be rude to his hostess not to at least act like he enjoyed the offering. He complimented her on the deliciousness, and then explained, "I got assigned to this particular duty just this morning. I was told the child welfare people had to pick up a boy at his home. I was advised the child's Mother was deceased and his Father had abandoned him. He was to be taken into protective custody."

"They're required to have a law enforcement officer with them, and I didn't expect it was going to be anything more than me escorting the boy. I had no idea the kid didn't know it was coming, or that he'd already been living on his own for two years."

Although there had been some mention of it in the principal's office, Daddy was stunned to hear this statement, "Daryl really was living on his own? Are you sure Rick? It was our understanding he was living with his Father."

Then Daddy looked at her and asked, "Bethie, did you know about this?"

"No, not until yesterday, I promise Daddy. I knew Daryl was keeping a big secret and last night I told him that if he loves me he should trust me enough to tell me his secret. He did and I was as shocked as you. He told me his Dad left him right after his 14th birthday with nothing but twenty-dollars. He said he hadn't heard from him since. What I don't understand Deputy Grimes is, if Daryl didn't do anything wrong then why is he being punished?"

The sheriff felt her pain and understood her confusion, just like he'd seen Daryl's hurt and anger. He tried to sound calm and reassuring when he answered, "The state doesn't see it as punishment Beth, they see it as protection. In their eyes Daryl's still a child, too young to be left alone to care for himself. Since he has no family to care for him the state assumes that responsibility. They'll seek to place him somewhere where he'll be safe and cared for until he's 18."

Mama didn't like the way that sounded at all, "What does that mean, place him? That sounds awful."

"Well talking about it now it does sound pretty terrible, but it's really not meant to be. Anyway, the way things stand now, he won't be going anywhere for a while. Not after the way everything happened today."

Hershel asked the question all the Greene's wanted answered, "What do you mean by that Rick, what happened?"

Rick's shoulders slumped and he explained, "He's a minor and even if he wasn't, I'm not free to give you a lot of details. But let's just say, hypothetically speaking, let's say a fellow was to object to something like this so strongly that it was feared he might put himself, or those around him in serious danger. If that was the case, they may not place him right away. Instead, he might be sent to a hospital-like institution for a while. The kind of facility where they would try to get to the root of what was troubling him. That might be the first step."

Hershel responded, "I see, and I suppose it would be impossible for you to tell us where that sort of facility might be?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I can't do that and they wouldn't allow you to see him anyway. Only family members are allowed contact, and my understanding is the only family Daryl has are his father and his brother. Both are currently incarcerated and even if they weren't, with their histories I doubt they'd be allowed much contact."

Beth started to cry again, "It's not true, I'm his family, Mama and Daddy are his family. Please sheriff, please. I have to talk to him."

If it were up to the deputy he would have taken her to the boy right then, but that wasn't how things work.

Before Rick Grimes could speak her Daddy did, "Beth, you can't ask Rick to jeopardize his job. He's already been very kind in telling us so much. We'll just have to try and think of something. Some way."

As he stood to leave Rick shook Hershel's hand and said, "He'll be okay, he's one tough kid. Maybe a little wild and out of control right now, but my understanding is he's a good student and a hard worker. Sheesh, can you imagine a 14 year old kid working full time, going to school, paying his own bills?"

Rick couldn't hold it back, after all, he was still just a kid himself, barely 22. The young deputy smiled mischievously and said, "And he's pretty darn strong too. There's a fellow who works for protective services, and I ain't saying where or how he got them, but he went home from work tonight with a fat lip, a busted nose and a black eye."

Hershel smiled back, "I would expect nothing less. And Rick, thank you again."

Rick nodded and promised, "If there's any news I can share with you, I will. I'll be keeping an eye on the situation as best I can."

Beth was still crying but she pleaded, "If you see him will you tell him I love him? Please."

"Yes, if I see him." Knowing there was almost no chance he would see Daryl Dixon again.

Hershel Greene accompanied the deputy to his vehicle and it was then Rick quit holding back, "Listen Hershel, I'm not legally allowed to tell you anything. I shouldn't have told you what I did and I shouldn't tell you anything more. Shit, I've already said way too much and I like my job, but I know my family owes you. I know you did some things to help out my Dad. It's also clear that you genuinely care about this kid and so do your wife and daughter."

Hershel promised, "I'll never tell a soul Rick, you have my word."

The younger man bowed his head, looking despondent and sounding apologetic when he said, "It was just supposed to be a routine juvenile-in-danger pickup. We'd done a search and gotten the address of the trailer he was living in, we went there first. Of course you know he wasn't there and some seedy neighbor said, 'I think that boy's in school,' nice huh? I guess the neighbors knew all along he was living there alone."

"Anyway, from there we went to the school, still thinking it would be a routine pickup," He bowed his head again and admitted, "It was anything but routine. That kid did not go easy. He never stopped kicking, punching, biting, shit Hershel, he tried to kick open the car door and throw himself out of a moving vehicle."

He shrugged adding, "Maybe I should have cuffed him but I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"The end result was, they decided to take him to the hospital to see if they could get him calmed down."

"Even at the hospital he didn't stop. The minute we walked through those doors he tried to make a break for it again but some big orderly grabbed him that time."

"I had to accompany him while the doctor did his best to give the kid an exam so he could sedate him. It was during the exam that Daryl had to remove his t-shirt. That's when the whole picture changed. His entire upper body is covered with terrible scars. It's obvious he's been brutalized by someone. The Doc and I both asked questions, but he refused to provide any details about how he'd gotten the scars. He only said something along the line of it being none of our F'ing business."

"So, now they've transferred him to the facility and put him on suicide watch. He's in secure lockdown. I promise they have his best interests at heart. They're not mistreating him, they just want to get to the bottom of this mess and make sure they get him in a place where he can get real help. With those kinds of scars on the outside, they figure there's got to be plenty on the inside too."

The deputy shook his head, "Just think, if that son of a bitch Will Dixon hadn't beaten a woman nearly to death Saturday night, we might not have ever known about Daryl. He could have continued living in that trailer alone." He shook his head and added, "I still can't believe a kid pulled that off for two years. I doubt we'd have ever caught on if the old man didn't get popped."

Hershel nodded, "I can't believe it either, and I know the boy. I drove him home plenty of times, I never thought a thing about not seeing his Dad. I assumed he was likely at the local dive bar or out in the woods making his shine. What you say about the scars, it makes me think Daryl was safer and much better off on his own."

"Yeah, from everything I've heard Will Dixon's a real nasty piece of work."

With a mind to beat the daylight and go unseen by curious eyes, the next morning the neighbor man, Otis arrived on the farm at five a.m. Daddy was waiting. Otis had a few wooden crates in the bed of his truck when he drove Daddy over to the high school parking lot. The men transferred the crates to Hershel's rig and said their goodbyes. That's when Daddy drove to the old trailer. He jimmied the lock on the shed first, removed Daryl's bow, the bicycle, and some fishing gear. Then he did the same thing in the house. He took the boy's clothes, and other personal items, including a notebook where Daryl had written on the cover, "Daryl and Beth," with a little heart next to it.

Hershel left everything else. Maybe it was wrong to take what he took, but he didn't know what was going to happen next, and he saw no reason to let the state confiscate those things. He'd save them for the boy. Once back at the farm he placed them in a safe spot in the barn and covered them with a tarp.

Beth didn't go to school that day, she wouldn't be back there for a while. Mama and Daddy had decided against forcing the issue. In the meantime, Maggie arrived late that afternoon and she didn't come alone. They'd all heard about Glenn during her holiday visits and such, but they'd never met him.

She told her parents in her usual half-sassy and unapologetic way, and right in front of the man, "I wasn't willing to leave him behind while I came here. He may not know it yet, but I have every intention of marrying this man."

Daddy and Mama had been living in a constant state of surprise for the previous 30 hours, this latest one was just another to add to the list. He seemed like a nice enough young fellow, and Daddy had already learned his lesson. He reached a hand out to the younger man and said, "Welcome to our home Glenn."

Mama served everyone a big dinner and there was plenty of conversation around the table, although the small group were careful. No one spoke of "it" during dinner, Beth was still their biggest concern.

The poor girl couldn't seem to stop crying for long, and her family was well aware she had a delicateness about her. Beth was a young woman with a tender heart and a sensitive nature.

With that in mind, after the meal Maggie suggested she and Beth go to her room and talk. Beth anxiously agreed. Seeing her older sister had brightened the girl's spirits, and her Daddy was right, she needed someone she could talk to.

Once in Beth's room the sisters sat on the bed like they'd done many times over the years, and Beth told her sister everything. Maggie was stunned to hear her 15 year old sister would be intimate with a boy. Not because those things didn't happen, shoot they happened every day and Maggie herself had been a wild child. But this was Beth and Beth was different.

That's when Maggie fully understood. The relationship between her sister and the boy named Daryl Dixon was more than just some teenage romance.

Then, even though she was embarrassed and her face was bright red, that's when Beth told the rest of the story, "We got too…excited…I guess that's the word. We didn't use anything…you know, protection. So now, I don't know."

Maggie tried not to act like that wasn't the biggest, and maybe the worst news of all, she only asked, "So when are you supposed start?"

"In a week."

"Okay, well let's wait and worry about that when the time comes." That's what Maggie said, but she was already plenty worried.

It was a relief to Maggie when it came early, Beth's period started the next day. Beth wasn't at all relieved or happy. She wanted to have Daryl's baby. She wanted to have a part of him with her. Her sadness deepened.

She told Maggie those things and Maggie did her best to comfort her sister, while she also did her best to try and reason with Beth in the most gentle and understanding way she could, "Sweetie, think about it. Maybe it's better this way. He's gone now, you two wouldn't be able to share this wonderful experience together. If they keep him until he's 18 he wouldn't have gotten to see the baby until then. You wouldn't want that, would you? Don't you want Daryl here with you when that time comes?"

But just as she had been since he left, Beth was inconsolable. She filled her journal with her sadness and she wrote him a letter she knew she couldn't send, but still she wrote him of her love and promised once again that she would wait for him forever. She also told him he shouldn't worry that there was no pregnancy, and she admitted how disappointed she was about that, "I always wanted to be a Mom," she wrote, and added, "I wanted to be the Mom of our baby Daryl, yours and mine."

The next day she refused to get out of bed, no matter how hard Maggie and Mama tried to get through to her, she simply wouldn't budge. Later that afternoon when Beth got up to use the bathroom, and seemed to be in there a little too long, Maggie realized something was terribly wrong.

She called her sister's name and when there was no response Maggie crashed her hip and shoulder against the door freeing the lock.

The sight nearly stopped Maggie's heart. It was the scenario she feared, Bethie had given up. Her sister stood with the piece of broken mirror poised just above her wrist, and Maggie screamed, "No, Bethie no!"

Beth burst into tears, "I wasn't really going to, I just…I don't want to live without him Maggie."

Maggie grabbed her and held as she repeated over and over, "You'll see him again Beth, you'll see him. You just have to do like you promised, you have to wait for him."

The incident set in motion many changes.

Maggie and Glenn decided to make a huge life change, they would relocate to Clausenville so Maggie could be close to her young sister. A counselor was found for Beth, and Beth didn't go back to school for the rest of that year. Mama home schooled her.

The Greene's managed to keep what happened their own little secret, except for one other person, the young deputy. Rick Grimes happened to go to the farm that day. He'd heard from a friend who worked security at the facility, and it seemed Daryl was still fighting the system. The boy was refusing to talk and had made yet another attempt to break out. When caught he only screamed in anger, "I gotta get ta Beth!" Other than that, he was silent. The good news was that physically, the kid was doing fine.

Rick only planned to share with the Greenes the part about the boy still being at the facility. That's how he happened to be just pulling up to the farm and stepping out of his vehicle when he heard Maggie scream.

The incident shook Rick Grimes and that night he felt compelled to write a note to Daryl Dixon. All it said was, "Beth wants you to know she loves you."

The next morning he drove two towns over and visited his friend who worked security at the facility, asking him to pass the note along. The fellow advised, "I can't give it to him, but maybe I can tell it to him. What does it say?"

Rick told him and two days later his friend called, "I finally got near enough to the boy to give him the message, he said 'tell Beth I love her and please keep waiting.' Damn Rick, this is some sad shit going on." Rick agreed.

That night after work he delivered Daryl's message to Beth, and then in his best stern deputy voice he asked her, "Now isn't that a good enough reason to live?"

"Yes, I'll do better. I promise." And the deputy couldn't help but think that if they'd just let the young girl talk to the young boy, maybe she could convince him to talk to the authorities, to tell his story.

In the meantime, over at the facility in Smithton Daryl Dixon had once again been caught trying to escape. He'd managed to remove an air intake cover on the ventilation system and was crawling through the duct work hoping to find a way out.

After that attempt a decision was made to transfer him to a more secure facility in Atlanta.

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A/N Well I guess we all knew Daryl Dixon wouldn't go easy, and that Beth would take it very hard. Please leave a comment with your thoughts. As always, the chapter photo is on my tumblr blogs, gneebee and bethylmethbrick. I hope to see you next Friday for a new chapter of I'll Walk With You, when we'll hear Daryl's POV and then come back to them as adults at the coffee stand. Until then stay safe and remember, I love ya large! xo gneebee