Daryl had stopped drinking about halfway through the night, he hadn't meant to, but it was in his instincts to heed what Lori had said about keeping an eye on Beth. Which proved to be a good idea – although he would sooner choke than tell Lori she'd been right. Every time Lori went to grab the empty glasses from the table Beth was at, she'd set down the pile of glasses that belonged to the blonde right in front of him, while she carefully put the others through the cleaner. Daryl had started counting them each time, and Lori was proving her damn point. Beth had built up an alcohol tolerance, but it sure as hell wasn't that high, and she was going to regret when they hit her all at once.

"HEY!" Daryl jumped a little as a hand slammed down on his shoulder, following the squeaky greeting. Beth had finally wandered over to the bar to talk to him. He had asked her earlier at the diner what her plans were for the night, but other than that they hadn't exchanged much more than a nod hello.

"Hey." Daryl rolled his eyes as he watched her try to maneuver herself onto the bar stool – still holding onto his shoulder for balance. "Is the room spinning yet?"

"I have…no idea…" Beth paused in the middle of her sentence, to really focus on getting onto the stool. "…What you're talking about."

"No?" It would almost be comical watching her, if he didn't think it was likely she'd fall on her face.

"Nope!" Beth threw her arms up in victory, as she finally managed to get up.

Daryl allowed himself to laugh at her a little after she was steady. "So, you didn't come over here to asked me to drive you home, before you end up puking in the bar bathroom?"

"Uhm." Beth sheepishly giggled, knowing that had been exactly what she'd gone over to ask, having pushed above and beyond her limit.

Daryl didn't say a word as he got up. For a few seconds, he watched Beth try to drunkenly calculate a plan of action to get off the stool. Her feet were hovering only a few inches off the floor, but stepping straight down didn't seem to occur to her. Daryl knew she'd sit there for ten fucking minutes if he didn't do anything, and he was already exhausted just watching her.

"Come on," Daryl grabbed Beth by the waist, lifting her off the stool and plopping her feet directly on the floor in front of him.

Beth's blue eyes were wide from being airborne for those few seconds, but she quickly let out a loud laugh. "Thanks."

He rolled his eyes, yet again, and looked around for Lori, who was across the room, but still staring at him with a look of accomplishment. Daryl scowled at her, it wasn't like he would have actually left Beth to fend for herself, and Lori damn well knew that. "Let's go."

"Can I say bye first?!" Beth whined.

Daryl almost said no, but then he imagined the possibility of her throwing a hissy fit. "You have two minutes. I'll be by the door."

"Yeah, yeah." Beth waved as she pranced back over to her table and was greeted by shrill cries of excitement, followed by groans of objection as she told them she was calling it a night.

After a very long group hug, Daryl thought they were home free. However, as soon as Beth moved on, she was stopped by another table, and then another – and so on. Everyone wanted to say bye to her, given that she'd someone become a staple hard of the community in the short amount of time she'd been there. As she got closer to the door though, Daryl could see she was getting a little paler than usual. He was ignoring her continuous looks of desperation for him to get her out of there, however, seeing at he'd tried to twenty damn minutes ago. He was perfectly fine leaning against the wall and watching her clench her jaw as she smiled.

When she finally made it over to him the smile dropped from her face. "A little help would have been nice."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Daryl mocked, enjoying the irony as he pushed the door open ad they walked outside.

"Do you wanna hold my hair while I puked on the side of this building? Or do you wanna go home?" Beth stood with her hands on her hips, but Daryl didn't find her very intimidating as she swayed.

"Gimme the keys." Daryl huffed and held out his hand.

Beth blinked a couple times then gestured down to her uniform, where she was clearly not hiding any keys. "They're in the truck still."

"So, you're telling me you left the keys in the truck, parked…" Daryl looked around. "Where is it?"

"The diner." Beth replied.

"Parked at the diner to get stolen?" Daryl continued. "How did that seem like a good idea?"

"Because I do it all the time?" Beth shrugged. "Stop lecturing me! It's fine."

"You better hope it is." Daryl started walking away, while she stumbled behind him. All the way to the diner she tried to talk to him, saying his name non-stop in different tones, but the blonde was really pushing her luck at that point.

. . .

"DARYL!" Beth finally found herself yelling. "You passed the truck, dumbass!"

He'd been stalking around like a brute and ignoring her pleas for him to talk to her as they walked back to the diner, and he'd been so in his own head that he didn't even notice the Ford as we went right by it.

Daryl yelled back, not impressed with being called a dumbass. "Well maybe it was because I was too busy babysitting you!"

"BABYSITTING?!"

"Yeah, babysitting." Daryl said. "Now get your ass in the truck."

"Oh, you mean the truck that wasn't stolen?" Beth sneered. "That truck?"

"Yes, that fucking truck."

Beth crossed her arms, knowing she shouldn't be making a scene in from of the diner. "Fine."

"Fine."

. . .

For part of the drive home, they were both silent. Beth could feel the anger coming off Daryl from across the bench seat. She did want to apologize, but she had been under the impression she'd done nothing wrong. She hadn't thought he was babysitting her. Lori had even told her that if she needed a ride him, Daryl wasn't drinking. She thought he was just being nice. Which she really appreciated. But, clearly, some wires had been crossed in relaying the message of him being able to drive her home. She shouldn't have had so much to drink, then she wouldn't even be in an argument with Daryl. But she needed some liquid courage for what she'd had planned.

"It's really warm in here." Beth said, breaking the silence. She wasn't lying either, night time in Georgia did nothing to relieve the heat. Which sure as hell didn't help with sobering her up either.

"Want to turn on the AC?" Daryl asked her, still sounding annoyed.

"No." She said. "That'll make me sick."

"I don't think that is what's gonna to make you sick." Daryl's reply almost sounded like a joke.

"I'm glad my stupidity brings you amusement." Beth stared at the window crank and wondered if she could manage to get it down. But if a stool was a struggle, she guessed she was likely to punch herself in the face somehow. "Do you – do you think you could roll down your window?"

"Yeah okay." Daryl obliged without question, probably thinking the same thing she was. Beth felt the momentary relief of coolness, but soon the air was barely reaching her seat – and she was still panting. It was a that point she didn't consider any more of her actions and unbuckled herself almost immediately, scooting over to the middle seat and directly beside Daryl. His only response was mumbling for her to put her seat belt on.

"Are you still mad at me?" Beth blurted out as her seat belt clicked.

Daryl took his damn time considering his answer. "No."

"Good. I don't want you to be mad at me." Beth said. As she finished her sentence she leaned her head against Daryl's shoulder, the entirety of the booze was finally catching up with her, making her not only feel sicker than she already was but also increasingly tired.

"You're lucky this ain't a standard," was Daryl's only reply, which meant he was giving her permission to stay where she was.

"Thanks for taking care of me." Beth mumbled, closing her eyes to keep herself from watching the motion of the road. "You always take such good care of me."

"I wouldn't say that." Daryl objected.

"I would." Beth argued back. "In fact, I wanna tell you…"

"…You don't wanna say anything you don't mean." Daryl starting talking over her. "I'm not as great as you think I am."

He waited for her to speak again, but the only sound that filled the cab was the sound of the wind and her breathing quietly against him. Daryl would tell her the next morning that she blacked out. But she'd argue she passed out – given that in her mind there was a great different. But either way, neither of them would talk about the drive home.