Hi everybody...it's time for a little driving with Daryl Dixon...CDC here we come!

Beth watched the scenery fly by from the passenger seat of Daryl's truck. Every once in a while she would look out of the side mirror and just make sure the bike was still there in the bed of the truck. She knew that Daryl had secured it, but she also knew how important Merle's bike was to him, so she didn't think a quick check would hurt.

She hid a quick glance over at Daryl under the disguise of fixing her hair blowing in the wind and smiled just a little. He was chewing on this thumb while he had his arm folded out of the open window, his other arm lazily holding the steering wheel. They were in the very back of the caravan of vehicles going toward the CDC. It wasn't as many people as it should have been, as a few of the people decided that they were going to go on their own. She hadn't talked to Morales much, but his wife and kids were really sweet and she said a silent prayer to whoever was in charge now that they made it safely to where they were headed.

She turned her gaze back out the window and thought back to when they were getting all the cars packed and the seating situation worked out. She hadn't said anything about riding with Daryl, she just threw her pack in the back of the truck and walked back over to help everybody else.

"Beth, there is room in Rick's SUV, my jeep or the RV, which one you want to go in?" Shane asked as he hauled a pack into the back of his jeep.

"I'm riding with Daryl, so don't worry about it" she said casually as she went over and picked up one of Carl's bags for him to help him load it into the SUV.

"I don't think that is a good idea Beth" Shane stated lowly as he ran his gaze from Daryl to Beth and back to Daryl again. Beth could see the anger flaring up in Daryl as he rose to face Shane and decided to speak before he could. The way that some of these people treated him infuriated her.

"Thank you for your concern" she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. " But the last time I checked, you don't have a say in who I ride with. So I'm going to ride with Daryl to the CDC. I am safer with him than anybody else anyway" she stated forcefully as she slammed down Carl's bag into the SUV, secretly hoping that there was nothing breakable in there. "Daryl, I will be in the truck when you are ready" she finished as she turned her narrow, angry eyes from Shane to Daryl. In an instant they changed from angry to somewhat shy as she caught the look in his eyes, that look she still could not figure out. He nodded at her and she stormed off, ignoring the calls of her name from Lori and Glenn, instead climbing into the passenger seat of the truck and slamming the door.

She smiled slightly when she thought about Carl coming over a few minutes later, the only one that dared come over to her while she sat in Daryl's truck. He smiled at her and told her that he thought she was right and that Daryl was a good guy. "He brings us something to eat for dinner every night and makes sure we don't starve. I like him" he said with a nod and a smile. She smiled back and asked him when he got so smart and he shyly looked at the ground and said "I heard my Dad say it to my Mom last night about Daryl and I agree with him. Ok, gotta go Beth" he said with a wave as he ran off toward his Dad who was waiting for him by the SUV. She continued to smile as she thought about how even Rick was starting to see the good in Daryl. It made her feel a little relief that she was not the only one that noticed it.

"What ya smilin' at girl?" his gruff voice broke her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to face him, finding the faintest of smirks on his face.

"Just thinking" she said sweetly as she took the hair tie out of her hair and grabbed at all of the flying pieces to put it back up in a neater ponytail. Once she did that, she looked back at him, finding his gaze on her, while still kinda watching the road in front of them. He had that same look in his eyes, the one that caused the butterflies in her stomach to crash into each other and river dance.

"What?" She asked softly with a smile, that one word all she was able to get out of her throat from the butterflies and the dancing that was going on in her stomach.

"Nothin" he grumbled as he turned his head back toward the road. For a second Beth thought he was angry, but then she noticed the tips of his ears and his neck red and realized he was embarrassed that she caught him staring. She giggled to herself and turned back around to face outside again. After a few moments she started humming a tone to herself. The hum's slowly changed to her softly singing to herself….

Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say.

"Lyndrd Skynrd huh?" Daryl asked, breaking her of her singing. She felt her cheeks flame up, not even realizing she had been singing out loud like that. It was not something she did often in front of people that were not her family. It made other thoughts start swirling around in her head that she was not ready to deal with at the fact that she felt comfortable enough around Daryl to sing.

"It was my brother Shawn's favorite song. He used to play it on the guitar and I would sing along with him" she said softly, her voice sounding wistful. She saw Daryl throw her another sideways glance, maybe to make sure she was ok, that she wasn't going to break down and start crying again. 'He is probably just worried that you will burst out crying again and he will have to deal with it' she told herself when she let the stray thought that he actually cared about her escape.

"Why don't ya keep singin'" he asked, his ears turning red again as he turned his gaze back to the road. She smiled softly as she looked at him.

"Ya sure, I don't wanna annoy you" she replied, her smile still soft.

"Well it's not like we gotta juke box" he replied back and Beth could see the side of his lips start to turn up in a faint smile.

"Um…ok" she replied as she started to sing again…

And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day.
Take your time... Don't live too fast,
Troubles will come and they will pass.
Go find a woman and you'll find love,
And don't forget son,
There is someone up above.

And be a simple kind of man.
Be something you love and understand.
Baby, be a simple kind of man.
Oh won't you do this for me son,
If you can?

She could see Daryl softly taping his finger in time to her singing against the steering wheel and quietly mouthing the words of the chorus along with her. It made her smile a little brighter as she continued…

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul,
And you can do this if you try.
All that I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.

Boy, don't you worry.
You'll find yourself.
Follow your heart,
And nothing else.
You can do this,
If you try.
All that I want for you my son,
Is to be satisfied.

Baby, be a simple, be a simple man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby, be a simple kind of man

She stopped singing and let go a soft sigh as she turned to see Daryl watching her again. She could see something different in his eyes as he looked at her. If she wasn't so enthralled by his eyes, she would've told him that he needed to focus more on the road but instead what he said next had her heart crumble just a little.

"That was ma brother's favorite song too" he said softly as he turned his eyes back onto the road. Beth felt her heart break for the strong man beside her.

"I'm sorry, Daryl. I shouldn't have sung that" she started softly as a tear slowly ran down her cheek. She could feel his eyes on her again, but she couldn't look up at him. She refused to let him see her sad when it was his brother and he was holding it together. She didn't look over till she felt the rough callouses of his fingers gently stroke over her hand.

"It's ok Beth, I asked ya to sing it" he said gruffly as he jerked his hand away and looked back out at the road in front of them when she had looked back up at him.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked softly, wiping away the stray tear that had fallen. He didn't answer but he mumbled "mmhmm" so she took a breath and proceeded.

"What happened to Merle?" she asked, her voice a little shaky. She didn't know how he would respond to the question. She knew he would not be violent, that was the farthest thing from her mind, but she didn't know if he would get angry at her questioning, but instead he did the one thing she really didn't expect him to do, he answered her willingly.

"The dumb shit didn't wait. He decided instead of waiting for me to come get 'em, which if he hadn't have been high he would've known I woulda come. But no, instead he decides to use Dale's saw and cut his hand off, right at the wrist" he said with a swift move across his wrist like he is re-enacting what happened. Beth gasp at his words. She had no idea what had happened, nobody had wanted to talk about it after they got back.

"Oh my god!" she breathed out, but then a slow chuckle escaped her lips. He turned his head toward her, his eyes narrowed.

"Ya think ma' brother doin' that is funny, girl?" he asked, his voice in a low growl. She quickly shook her head but the smile still on her lips.

"No, it's just makes sense a little" she replied, his eyes still narrowed at her.

"How does his cuttin' off his damn hand make sense to ya?" he asked, his voice and eyes growing angry.

"Well, he did what he had to do to survive. He was high and probably thought walkers were getting in and that nobody was coming for him, so he did what he had to do to survive. You Dixon's, you always do what you have to do" she replied, the small smile on her lips still. As she spoke, she could see the anger falling out of his eyes, just replaced by sadness.

"He shoulda just waited. And now he's just gone" he replied, his tone still gruff but a hint of sadness to it too. He had no idea why he was talking to this girl like he was. He never told anybody anything and here he was opening up a little to her. He didn't think he liked that.

"Your gunna see him again, I know it" she replied, her voice confident.

"How do ya know?" he asked, the look that he gave her making her heart break all over again for him.

"Because, you said nobody can kill a Dixon but a Dixon and this didn't kill Merle, or you would've found him. So you will see him again" she replied, her smile getting wider as she saw his lips slightly turning into a smile too.

"And you Dixon's are pretty tough" she added as she turned her head back out to look at the scenery more. She could feel his eyes on her and smiled wider as she heard him grunt an agreement.

I don't own the song or TWD