A/N Thanks so much you guys!

Well, our couple has reunited, now what? There's a whole lot of talking and some closeness going on this chapter. I hope you enjoy!

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He lifts his head from her lap as he turns his face towards hers. Neither of them moves as they quietly stare into each other's eyes, and neither has to wonder what the other is thinking. They can see the longing as they yearn desperately for the closeness they once shared.

He can't stop himself as he reaches up and cradles her face in his hands, and she makes no attempt to stop him as he slowly draws her close enough for their lips to meet. He kisses her gently at first, but then passion wins and there doesn't seem to be any holding back.

Until suddenly he stops.

He falls back, laying on the floor as he swings his arm around and covers his face, muttering, "I'm sorry. We shouldn't be doing that stuff. We need to talk, we need to clear things up. I screwed up so bad, Beth," He moves the arm away, looks to her and tells her what he feels, "I wanna make things right and I hope you can forgive me."

There's a lot of ways she could react in this moment. She could yell and scream at him, she could call him names and tell him he ruined her life. She could punch him if she wanted to and she knows he would never fight back. Not physically. Not ever.

She doesn't want to do any of those things. What good could yelling at him possibly do now? What she wants are answers. She's done with denying her desire to be close to him, to hold and to be held. She hopes she'll be able to believe what he tells her and forgive him, and that together they'll be able to move on.

What if after all these years they really can make this work?

So instead of yelling, screaming or punching, she slowly slips off the sofa and lays down next to the man she's been longing to have hold her.

She rests her head on his shoulder and tentatively lays her arm across his stomach. His desire for closeness won't be denied either and as he wraps his arm around her shoulders and draws her small body tightly into his, smiling when she doesn't try to ease away.

She whispers, "Tell me everything that happened Daryl."

She feels his chest rise and fall as he breathes in deeply, exhales and promises, "Alright. I'll tell ya anything you wanna know. I ain't interested in keeping secrets from ya Beth. I done that once, but never again."

As he begins to speak his hand drifts up to her hair, his fingers wandering slowly through the soft curls as he tells her, "The first few months after they took me all I thought about was gettin' away. Well, I guess the truth is I never quit tryin' ta get out. But it was worse for them in the beginning, I wouldn't even talk. I just hollered for them ta let me out. That was all I could think about girl, gettin' home to you."

"I guess I's actin' up pretty good, being irrational and stuff is what they said. A danger to myself. Enough that they thought for sure I was gonna try and do myself in. And they didn't have any doubt I was gonna keep trying to bust out."

"That's why they kept me in that institution place instead of placing me with a foster family or sending me to the Boy's Ranch. They couldn't chance it. They couldn't be lettin' some ward of the state, especially a kid, kill hisself on their watch. That wouldn't be good publicity."

He breathes a sigh and says, "I admit it Beth, they had a lot to put up with from me. I was an ornery little shithead for sure. Anyway, I know they felt like they needed to keep an eye on me and truth was they did, cuz I had a plan. I thought if I could just get out I'd be home free. I knew a place I could hide up in the hills, my Dad's old moonshine shack. Once I busted free I's gonna hunker down there til I turned 18, just live off the land. And I was gonna get word to ya ta come see me. I thought we'd have our time together whenever you could sneak away, but I never could break free of that place."

It tugs at her heart to think about his plan and how maybe it could have worked and they could have been together, but the adult in her knows none of that would have been what was best for Daryl. She asks, "What was it they wanted you to tell them?"

There are a couple of things he dreads having to tell her, this is one of them, "They wanted me ta talk about my Dad. What happened was, that first day they picked me up they ended up takin' me to the hospital. I was outta control, that's the truth. They were gonna give me something ta calm me down, a shot. I fought but it didn't matter. I had ta take my shirt off for some exam. That's when they seen the scars. They already knew my Dad abandoned me and they knew I wasn't the only one he scarred up. He'd just beat the crap out of his girlfriend."

She's angry with his father but she doesn't make a comment. What could she possibly say? She just continues listening quietly as he talks on, "I guess they figured if they could get me to make a statement about how I got the scars, and maybe even get me to testify in court, they could lock the old man up for a long time."

Then he tells her why he never told them anything. Why he kept his secrets, "I knew I couldn't tell em, I knew he'd figure out a way to make me pay if I talked."

She can sense he's agitated and she could swear she hears his heart pounding harder and faster. She remembers exactly how he is when he's forming his thoughts into words. She waits patiently until he begins to speak again, "See, my Dad was in jail for beating up his girlfriend, that's how they found me. Shit, but even though that woman was hurt real bad she wouldn't press charges against him."

She can feel him shaking his head as he keeps talking, "They still managed to get his ass locked up for abandoning me, but it was only about a month later that the woman, even though he damn near killed her, she bailed him out."

He sighs deeply and she can hear the anger in his tone when he says, "Why people do the shit they do I got no idea."

That's when she asks the million-dollar question, "Where's your Dad now? What became of him?"

It's another question he dreaded but he's already promised her and himself he's not going to lie, and he's not leaving anything out. He pulls his arm from around her and raises them both up to a seated position. They sit cross legged facing each other, and close. So close. He takes a chance and takes her hand, happy and relieved when she lets him.

He's furiously chewing that lower lip until finally he begins to speak again, "Anyway, it was about six months later that my brother Merle got let out of the pen early - prison overcrowding or some bullshit like that. I thought he had about four years ta go, but it turned out he had just two more and then none of that mattered anyhow. It was sumthin' about how he hadn't been convicted of a violent crime, he was doing his time for selling and using. Anyway, he lucked out and they gave him an early parole."

She doesn't know what any of that has to do with the question of where his Dad is, but Daryl is talking and she's going to let him keep talking until she finds out the whole story.

"So anyway, as part of his parole he was supposed ta stay there in Lowndes County, but Merle don't always do what folks tell him to do. He couldn't come see me either, but he has his ways and his pals and he got a message to me about all of it. Ya know, how he was out of the pen and how he was mostly keeping his nose clean, how he even found himself a job," Then those piercing blue eyes are on hers and he adds, "and how he was gonna eliminate the biggest problem I ever had. I knew then just what he had in mind."

Man, he doesn't want to tell her the next part but he's got to. Not just to be honest with her, but to let her know he has all the faith and trust in her. "Two days after I got that note they found my Dad's body floatin' down the river, and I got no doubt in my mind it was Merle's hand that done it."

She gasps and she can feel her body tremble. It's awful and shocking and all those terrible things, and yet, she can't help but feel a little bit relieved by the news. The man was so cruel, he tortured Daryl and Daryl's Mom, his brother and others. Now he'll never be able to do those things again. He can't hurt Daryl anymore. He's gone for good. She asks the big question, "Is your brother in jail again?"

He smiles, "Nah, the last I heard from him he's down in Florida shacked up with some hot Mama and livin' the dream."

The stunned look on her face has him realizing what he just said, "Hey, I'm sorry ta talk like that, I's just repeating how Merle told it ta me. I shoulda thought a minute." He continues to be honest, "The thing about Merle, he's rough and he's ornery and he's done a lotta things that maybe he shouldn't have, but the thing is Beth, he's my brother. I know in his mind that what he done, he thought he was doing it for me. Taking care of me."

She nods and agrees, "Yes, it seems that way and it's not my place to judge him." She smiles and squeezes his hand as she adds, "And Daryl, I know you're not the same man he is. I'm just glad he's alright." And for Daryl's sake she truly is.

The hits just keep coming when she asks, "So Daryl, you still haven't explained to me why you came to town and didn't bother to see me? What could possibly be the reason for that?" She's not sure she wants to know, and by the look on his face she's not sure he wants to tell her.

He chews the side of his thumb a minute, nodding his head up and down, and then he tells it just like it happened. "Back when I's working at the restaurant I was puttin' most of my money in the bank, I had a lot stashed. I had big plans for comin' to see ya when I got out of that place, it was gonna be a surprise. So, as soon as I was out I went to the bank branch there in Atlanta and I got enough money ta buy two sets of clothes, a pair of shoes, and a bus ticket here to Clausenville. I got a little spending cash for my wallet and I left the rest at the bank. I was on the first bus out."

He's embarrassed by the next part but it kind of makes him smile too, "When I tell ya this next part, try'n remember I's young, just barely 18. I'd just gotten ta town after being locked up for two years, and I was finally gonna see my girl."

He looks down, bites his lip and continues, "I thought when I did see her, and after I visited her folks and did all that stuff, maybe her and me would get some time alone." He pauses, breaths in and lets it roll, "I hoped we'd get close Beth, like we did that last night before they took me. So, I stopped at the drug store ta get something to protect you."

His face is flushed and the way hers is burning she's sure it's cherry red. The silence in the room is deafening.

But she can't help trying to picture her handsome young Daryl strolling into the drug store to buy condoms. The image in her mind's eye and her nerves makes her giggle. Her laughter is contagious and for a minute they get a break from all the heavy talk.

Just as quickly as the laughter came it comes to an end and she asks, "And so…then what?"

He nods and responds, "And so I walk in and I seen ya there. You were holding a baby and for a split second I thought it might be ours, yours and mine. But no, it couldn't be, the timing was way off. Our baby woulda been older. Anyway, then I seen the Asian guy, I didn't know he was your brother in law. He walked up to ya carrying one of them shopping basket deals full of baby items. He put an arm around your shoulder and I heard him ask, 'Ready to go Beth?'"

Now they're both chewing an upper lip, both thinking about the way it could have been. Both wishing he would have walked up to her and spoken. None of this had to happen. He's frustrated, she can see it in the way all of his tics are on full display, and she can hear it in his agitated voice, "I know I shoulda spoken to ya, but I didn't. Instead a that, I got some guy who was milling around in front of the liquor store ta get me a bottle. I took the bottle back to where my old trailer was. It was gone of course, but there was a spot behind the old office building and that's where I parked my dumb ass. I got good and drunk. Made myself sicker'n a dog."

Tears are quietly streaming down her cheeks and she asks, "And…"

"The next day I got on the bus back to Atlanta. I called Doc Denise as soon as I stepped off the bus. I told her I's ready ta go, where do I sign and the sooner the better. A week later I was on the bus with a bunch of other recruits headed to boot camp at Great Lakes, Michigan." He shrugs her way, looks in her eyes and quietly says, "Go Navy."

She doesn't ask her biggest question first. She's not ready. Instead she asks, "So after boot camp, then what?"

He isn't even aware that he's rubbing his thumb softly over the back of her hand, but he needs that closeness with her and she needs it too. "From there I went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. That's where Navy Equipment Operators Class "A" Technical School is. The plan was for me to be a SeaBee, the construction branch of the Navy. I took 10 weeks of training there. We got skilled in operating asphalt equipment, bulldozers, graders, cranes, forklifts, backhoes, and trucks. You name it."

"Fort Leonard was my permanent base, but I got deployed regularly for seven months at a time, then I'd go back to Fort Leonard. I was all over the place, even overseas. It was good for me, good discipline, good school, good training. I learned a lot in the Navy and I liked the Navy way of doing things. But I left when my enlistment was up. I didn't think it was the life for me permanently and I'd been applying to a couple places. I lucked into a good job, I heard from the State of Georgia just a week before I mustered out."

Her tone is snippy when she asks, "So then what? You were out of the Navy and you had a job, but it's still been almost two years since you got out. Where have you been?"

He's a little surprised at her snapping at him that way, but hey, he gets it. She's shocked and she's pissed. He could start a big battle, defending himself and acting like the little asshole he once was, or he can try and explain. He'd rather try to explain. This means too much to let his pride and bad temper get in the way.

He's not dressing it up, he's sticking to the facts, "So anyway, I had the job lined up and went ta work. Mostly I've been assigned to working bridge repair and rebuilding. There's a lot of old bridges and overpasses in Georgia that need shoring up or need to be replaced."

He shrugs, "At first I's just renting a room but a guy I worked with was in a big jam. The money kind. He was desperate. He had this trailer here he'd bought for fun, but he was six months behind on payments and the wolf was at the door. He was in way over his head between it and his house, his car and his family. So I thought, why not? I lived in trailers most of my life, why not a nice new one? I paid it off and got it in my name and him and me we called it even."

She states it simply, "It still must have cost a lot of money Daryl."

"Not too bad. He got outta debt and I got my new home for a rock bottom price. And anyway, I had some money. I'd saved most every bit of the money I made while I was still at Rancher's Cut, and I didn't take out much before I went in the Navy. The Navy fed me and housed me, so I put most of my pay right into that same account," He smiles and shrugs, "except my second year in I bought the truck. Used but like new and I had it paid off when I got out."

She can't help smiling at an old memory from that first day when he walked her home from school, "And I see you finally got yourself a motorcycle."

He snorts out a little laugh and says, "Yeah I did. I still owe on that. I guess I been spoiling myself pretty good. I s'pose that's what a man does when he doesn't have a family."

They both feel the mood suddenly darken.

He tries to get it back to where it was when he hurriedly explains about the transfer, and his big chance to get back to Clausenville and her. "I didn't really think I was gonna have a shot with you Beth. I figured I was dreaming, but I was gonna try. I planned to ride out and see your folks today."

"To the farm? Really?"

"Yeah, really."

He can't remember ever talking so much, and he doesn't think he can stand to hear himself talk for a minute longer. He wants to hear her story. What's his sweet girl been doing all these years? He asks, "Tell me Beth. Whatcha been doin' girl? Tell me all of it, please."

Most of it is hard, and so emotionally draining, but she tells him all about the those few months when he first left. His heart is breaking for her and he's thanking God for Maggie busting in the bathroom door, and he's feeling a lot of guilt thinking about her sweet Mama keeping her home for the rest of the year.

All he can do is say it again, "I'm sorry Beth, so sorry."

She's been through a lot these past few years and she's well aware of all the realities of the situation, "None of that was your fault Daryl. They had you locked up somewhere and you never even knew. It was awful but with some help I got through it."

"I had so much support from Mama, Daddy, Maggie, Glenn, Amy and Caesar, plus I had counseling like you did. Besides that I kept myself busy with the same old stuff I'd always done, music, drawing, taking care of the animals and writing in my journal."

Watching her talk and thinking about her sadness and all the time he missed with her, he can't stop himself from doing it, he leans in and as he kisses her cheek he takes her hand again and softly squeezes it. That's all it takes, tears are rolling down her cheeks again when she confesses, "It was miserable, I was miserable. But the next year when I went back to school I met someone and everything got a little better."

His heart just froze and he feels like he can't breathe, but he gets the words out, "You met someone?"

"Yes, he was new at school and he was in my glass. His name is Paul, but he has long hair and the most beautiful eyes and everyone just calls him Jesus."

He has to ask, he can't stand not knowing, "So you and him then? You're together?"

She smiles and shakes her head no, "We're not together. He, well when he started at Clausen High he was like me. He was heartbroken and lonely because he'd lost someone too. They're together now, they have been since graduation, but before that his folks moved him here to get him away from his true love."

"Shit, why? Was she some kind of trouble?"

"No, it was because his true love is another guy."

He's more relieved than anything else, "Ah, okay. So you and him, what? Cried on each other's shoulders?"

His flippant way has her angry, "Are you making fun of me and my friends?"

"No, no, no way."

"Because of Jesus I had someone to kind of double date with, like going to the movies with Caesar and Amy, or out for burgers and stuff. And it was good for him too. His Mom and Dad thought he had a girlfriend and they laid off of him. We went to prom and everything. But none of that was as important as the fact that we were friends and we were there for each other, broken hearts and all."

"He still lives here in town, and Aaron's here now too. They have a little girl named Gracie they adopted and they're a real sweet family. I go over there and visit with them a lot."

He means it when he says, "I'd like to meet them sometime."

She smiles and shrugs, "Maybe you will. Him and Aaron and Gracie, they're like family to me."

She tells him about Maggie and Glenn moving to town and about Glenn being an entrepreneur, and how he owns the big pizza parlor and family fun center, "It's new since you've been gone, he built it four years ago. It's the most popular spot in Clausenville. He also owns a small sandwich place, and he just opened the coffee stand. Glenn and Maggie have been wonderful to me."

He asks, "So where ya living?"

A look comes over her face, not quite sadness, not quite embarrassment. She answers, "Oh. Um, well nowhere in particular."

"Nowhere particular? What does that mean?"

"Well I tried living alone, but I just didn't like it. So sometimes I stay a while with Amy and Caesar, or Maggie and Glenn, even Aaron and Jesus. Sometimes I stay with Mama and Daddy. Everyone's really good to me and wherever I am I try to be helpful."

Shit, that doesn't sound good to him. She can't find a job she wants to keep or a place she wants to live. He really did screw up bad. He's about to ask her a question about all that, but she has her own question. A question she's been waiting to ask.

Her heart can't take the weight of wondering any longer. She's the one who's biting a lip when she looks down and quietly asks, "What about girlfriends Daryl? Have you had many?"

He shouldn't lose his temper. He's determined not to. Besides, he asked her practically the same question. Still adrenaline is rushing through his body and he's on his feet so fast it startles her. She can tell by his look and the tone of his voice he's hurt, "Girlfriends? Ya kiddin' me Beth? What the…didn't I tell ya that you were always gonna be the only one for me? That I's gonna love you forever?" He's pacing the floor now and shaking his head when he adds, "I might be a dumbass but I ain't a liar. I meant what I said. I never wanted no one but you."

Finally, he calms down long enough to think it through. He's still not going to lie to her and so he confesses, "Sure, sometimes I thought I'd like to try'n meet someone and get on with my life. So I'd go out with my mates when I's in the Navy, and my work buds when I got out. Once in a while I'd talk to some pretty girl."

Beth doesn't like hearing these things, it hurts to think of him thinking about other women, but she still wants to know.

His emotions are on high too, and he looks both sad and defiant when he tells her, "But I couldn't do it. I never could. I just…I'd think of you and everything we meant to each other, all the words we said and the promises we made," He breathes in a shaky breath, "And the thing we did…I knew, it was never gonna happen with anyone but you Beth. I knew I still loved ya and I knew I always would. So every time I went out like that thinking I'd meet a girl, it ended the same. I'd be the guy sitting back in the corner all alone, drowning his sorrows in a bucket of beer."

Then he's angry again, not at her, at himself, "Shit Beth, I thought you were married so what difference would it make?"

That's very sad and all, but what about her? She snips at him, "Well gee Daryl, I hope you don't want too much sympathy from me. I was alone, lonely and brokenhearted too."

He manages to be both angry and contrite, "I ain't expecting sympathy girl, I know I put you through a lotta shit, but that don't mean I wasn't goin' through it too. I know how stupid I was, and if I had it ta do all over again I guess everything would be different. It would all be just swell. But I can't change what I done, all I can do is try'n make it up, try'n convince you I'm worth takin' another chance on."

He's afraid he'll be the one crying next and he turns away from her and walks toward the window. She's on her feet then and just like that long ago day when two kids were out fishing, she wraps her arms around him and lays her head on his back. She feels his body shudder with emotion and she's sure there are tears. She doesn't hold back any longer, she lets him know how she feels, "I want to try too, I never stopped loving you either Daryl."

He slowly turns and as he gently cradles her face in strong hands he smiles that little smile and asks, "Ya think you would wanna try this thing again?"

She looks right back in his eyes and says, "No. I don't want to try Daryl. We've waited way too long to just try. I want you and me to promise each other we're going to make this work."

His mouth is on hers and the kiss is just as deep and passion filled as the one they shared earlier.

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A/N It seems they've spilled it all and they're going to give this thing another try. Please leave a comment. The chapter photo is on my tumblr blogs, gneebee and bethylmethbrick. I hope to see you back next Friday for more of I'll Walk With You, until then, thank you so much, stay safe and remember, I love ya large! xo gneebee