'Where the hell have you been!?' Maggie practically screamed as Beth climbed off of the back of Daryl's bike. 'I've been worried sick, Beth! What happened, where were you?!'

Maggie grabbed her little sister's shoulders and shook her, her dark eyes blazing into Beth's wide blue eyes.

'I went on a run with Dar-'

'Why!' Maggie demanded, glaring at Daryl over Beth's shoulder.

'To get Judith things!' Beth shouted back, 'Rick said I should go!'

'Yeah, I spoke to Rick! Gave him a piece of my mind too!' Maggie shouted back.

'Maggie I'm not a child,' Beth spat, pulling away from her sister, 'I was with Daryl, we were fine!'

'Then why were you gone all night!' Maggie cried.

'We ran int'a horde,' Daryl interrupted, 'had t' hole up.'

'Beth we were worried sick,' Maggie said, her voice sounded sadder than angry now, and the tone made Beth's heart drop, 'I thought something had happened to you.'

'I'm sorry Maggie,' Beth sighed, 'it was going fine until the horde came through. We wouldn't have made it back in time, we had no choice.'

The older Greene girl pulled her younger sister into a rough hug, burying Beth's face into her neck. Maggie rested her chin on top of Beth's head.

'Thank you for getting her back safe,' Maggie said to Daryl, 'come and see Daddy,' she said to Beth, gently leading her away and towards the prison.

Glen let out a sigh of relief and ran his hand through his hair.

'Man I thought she was gonna tear you a new one,' he said to Daryl, 'she's been worried sick.'

'Wasn't much I could do,' Daryl shrugged, 'we couldn't have got back.'

'She's already chewed Rick's ear off,' Glen said, beginning to walk back with the other man, 'found out it was his idea to send her with you.'

'Yeah,' Daryl nodded.

. . .

'Y'kno,' Daryl said to Glen, later that day, as they sat together in the watch tower on guard duty, 'I found this hot spring rock pool, not even far from here.'

'Oh yeah?' said Glen looking over at the redneck.

'Mm,' Daryl mused, ''N I 'member Beth saying how she missed bathing.'

Glen raised an eyebrow, but he didn't question it.

'I'll tell ya how t'find it and you can take them girls.' Daryl said.

'You should come,' Glen said, folding his arms across his chest, 'might get ya back in Maggie's good books.'

Daryl turned to look at Glen.

'I never done nothin' wrong to her.'

'She's protective of her sister,' he shrugged, 'come on, we'll take them tomorrow,' he said, then added 'I'll ask Hershel first actually.'

. . .

Hershel had agreed to letting his daughter's out but had said to leave it a couple of days first, to let Beth rest up. He, too, had been worried about Beth, and unhappy Rick had asked her to go without speaking to him first, but he was not so concerned for her safety as Maggie was. He saw the way both of his girls were growing, were changing, the ways in which they tackled the new world. Keeping Beth shut up away in the prison would not help her in the long run - she needed to see the world through her own eyes, and learn to live in it for herself. That had been his reasoning for asking Daryl to help her learn to fight, but he had hoped he would teach her a little more before taking her out into town. Had Rick have asked him for his permission, he likely would have said no. Both Rick and Daryl were hard-headed; Daryl referred to Rick before he did anything, but other than him, he did what he pleased. He wondered if Rick had always been so headstrong, or whether the turn had changed him. Although he couldn't expect people to simultaneously treat Beth as a child who needed protecting and an adult who could be taught to survive at the same time. Some how he needed to tread the line in-between, which was why he insisted she took learning survival skills more seriously before she even thought about leaving the grounds again, but also why he kissed her goodbye a few mornings later as she prepared to head out to this rock pool; he wanted her to still be able to smile. Maggie had Glen for that, and Hershel found himself grateful to the young man.

. . .

'Isn't this a bit double-datey?' Maggie said scornfully as the four of them headed down to the prison gates.

'I'm jus' showing the way,' Daryl said, ''m goin' huntin' anyway.'

Beth glared at her sister, who was walking along holding Glen's hand, glaring at the back of Daryl's head.

Maggie Greene's mood lifted considerably a half hour later as Daryl led them into the clearing he had discovered a few of days before. It was just as fresh and empty as he had left it, almost as if no time had passed at all. The sound of the water falling into the pool reached them over the still air, the warmth of the water drifting in the same lazy spirals it had before.

'Oh wow it's beautiful,' she breathed, her hand on her chest. She grabbed Glen's hand and pulled him over to the edge of the pool, leaning down to drag her hand through the water, much like Daryl had before her.

'It's warm,' she said to Glen, 'let's get in.'

Glen grinned at her, took her hand again as she stood up - then they both jumped in with a loud splash. After a moment they both came up spluttering and cackling, their wet hair in their eyes, their faces flushed and joyous.

Beth hung back a little.

'Y'going in?' Daryl asked. He was standing back further still, in the shade of the trees, his crossbow leaning on his shoulder.

'I'm not sure,' she said tentatively.

'Y'said ya missed bathing,' he said.

Beth looked at him, frowning slightly. She was surprised he had remembered that. Had he brought her here because of that? Those familiarly frustrating butterflies began to flutter in her stomach.

'I did.'

Daryl nodded.

'Are you going to-' she said, waving towards the water in which her sister and her new boyfriend were playing.

'Nah,' Daryl shook his head, 'I'm'a go hunt.' He nodded to her, then turned away and disappeared into the woods.

'Come on!' Maggie called to her, 'it's hot!'

So Beth approached the water's edge and pulled off her boots and socks, feeling the fresh, damp dew of the grass beneath her feet. She glanced down at Glen, then decided to throw caution to the wind and pull her jeans down, too. Leaving her tank top on, she quickly jumped in. The water hit her like a force, engulfing her entirely until she was completely submerged. It rushed past her face and went up her nose, until she felt her feet hit the rocky surface of the floor, allowing her to propel herself back up. Her head broke the surface of the water and the crisp cold air from outside hit her full in the face. She spluttered, gasping for the breath that had been taken away from her by first the water and then the cold air. She pushed her hair back out of her face, treading water, then rubbed her eyes, freeing them from the water. The heat enveloped her body, caressing her sore and tense muscles, especially her still tender ankle. She had barely had a chance to gather her sense before she was hit in the face by a wall of water.

Spluttering again, she turned to see Maggie giggling, poised for attack.

Beth grinned and retaliated, splashing her sister straight back in the face, until all out war broke out between them, Glen often caught in the middle.

. . .

Daryl could hear the sounds of the splashing and laughing as he wandered away from the clearing. He didn't want to go too far in-case anything happened, but he didn't want to loiter either. He felt distant from the people in the pool and their little family bonding time. He was happy to let them have some time alone to play and relax, momentarily forgetting all of the awful things that had happened to them and the world around them. For an hour or so they could be in a warm bubble of ignorant bliss.

Daryl kept within hearing range of the rock pool as he hunted, managing to string up two squirrels. After a fair amount of time, he turned back and headed back towards the water. As he approached, he could see Glen and Maggie sitting at the edge of the water, their back to him. Maggie had her legs in the water, leaning her elbows on her thighs, whilst Glen sat cross-legged beside her. Further away from them he could see Beth floating on her back, her eyes shut. She looked calm and serene. Daryl felt the need to look away from her small, slender body as it bobbed up and down in the calm water. As he walked towards them, he heard Beth cry out, then suddenly she went under the water, her legs going down first.

Before either Glen or Maggie could react, Daryl had thrown his crossbow and squirrels on the floor beside them, gripped his knife, and run over to the edge of where Beth was. He could make her out struggling just beneath the water. Without thinking, he jumped in. He made his way towards her, diving below the surface; a walker that was more bone than flesh had grabbed hold of Beth's calf and was struggling to pull her down as Beth struggled back, kicking out, bubbles escaping her lips as the oxygen began to leave her. Despite its flesh having almost entirely rotted away, the walker's bony hands still had a strong grip on the young girls leg. Daryl could see it had torn it's self in half – it's bottom half lay submerged beneath a rock at the bottom of the pool, but it's top half was holding onto Beth, a line of entrails kept it together by a thread. It had obviously been struggling to get to them for a long time, the effort finally tearing itself in two. Daryl dove towards it, kicking it in the face, feeling the bones in its jaw crack beneath his boot. He grabbed its head and plunged his knife its its forehead, watching its eyes go blank and the grip on Beth's leg loosen. He grabbed it's hand and pulled it from Beth, tossing it away where it floated up to the surface and bobbed away.

Both Daryl and Beth came to the surface coughing, Beth sobbing as she tried to find her breath. Daryl instantly wrapped his arms around her, holding her steady while she took deep, tearing breathes.

'You okay?' he asked her urgently, 'did it get you?'

'No – no I don't think so,' she sobbed, putting her own arms around his neck and holding on to him.

He reached across and moved her soaking hair from her face, his hands searching her face, attempting to stroke away the water. Once he was sure she had her breath back, he pulled her over to the edge of the pool, where Maggie and Glen were standing, waiting.

'Beth, Beth oh my god Beth, are you okay?' Maggie was frantic. She reached down and pulled her sister out, Daryl climbing out after her.

Beth fell to the ground, where Daryl fell beside her. He was breathing heavy after the struggle and adrenaline, but he took hold of Beth's bare leg, inspecting it.

'You're okay,' he breathed, almost as a revelation to himself.

Beth stayed sat down, her leg stretched out in front of her, her clothes drenched and clinging to her skin, which was starting to break out in goose flesh. But none of those things mattered right now, only that Daryl had jumped in to save her and was currently touching her bare leg. She looked at him as he looked at her leg, noticing his own clothes were stuck to him, his jeans heavy and rubbing his now cold flesh. His hair was plastered to his face, but he didn't seem to care. Daryl looked up and caught her eye, seeing the flush of crimson that had spread across her face, the red rings beneath her eyes, her lips slightly parted, the gleam of water still upon them. Her chest was barely covered in just a thin tank top, rising and falling heavily as she breathed, the panic of the previous moment still forcing adrenaline through her veins. Daryl couldn't take his eyes off of Beth. Maggie had crouched down beside her little sister and was hugging her, kissing her, overcome with emotion. Beth held Daryl's gaze the entire time.

'Thank you so much,' Maggie said, turning to Daryl as he stood up, shaking his arms in an attempt to remove the wet, 'you saved her.' she flung her arms around his neck, standing on her tip-toes to kiss his stubbly cheek. Beth beamed up at them.

'Here,' Glen had gathered her dry clothes from where she had left them. Beth stood up, thanking him, and took them in her arms as Glen took a still almost hysterical Maggie in his.

Beth turned to Daryl.

'Thank you,' she breathed, stepping closer to him. She reached up and moved his hair out of his eyes, leaving her small hand on his cheek, where Maggie had kissed him. His damp cheek was warm. Daryl tried to shrug it off, looking down at his feet, but Beth moved back into his view, tilting her head so he had to look at her.

'I mean it,' she said, her big blue eyes wide and honest. Then she stretched up to kiss his other cheek, lingering there for longer than necessary, feeling the scratch of his beard against her lips.

'Let's get out of here.' Maggie said.