Thank you to everybody that has reviewed and favored this story. I think I might be sticking with this one for a little bit, because I have a few things I want to do before I go back to my other two stories. And to the reviewer that pointed out that I had Otis and Patricia in one of my other chapters and then killed Patricia off in the last one, thank you for pointing that out. Your right and I totally forgot. Just assume that what I wrote in the last chapter is accurate and Patricia is dead. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Daryl entered the tree line into the woods on the Greene farm and took a deep breath. He instantly felt all of the stress he had fade away. It had always been like that for him, no matter what was going on with him and his life, he always felt better when he entered the woods. As he started to walk, looking for a trail to follow, he started thinking about the events of the last few days. He had never met anybody as warm and friendly as Beth, but he had been worried that her family would not accept him, make him leave. He was still shocked at how they had embraced him. Their home was filled with love, even with the world being as messed up as it was now, and that was something that he had never experienced before. They were still welcoming, still kind, even though they had had tons of heartbreak too since this whole thing started. He remembered when Beth found out about her Momma and brother. He couldn't help but feel the flutters in his stomach at the thought of her, but pushed them aside. He didn't want to focus on the feelings that were stirring for her. She was beautiful, that was obvious, but she was also tough. If he had not already known that, he would have realized it after yesterday. She handled finding out about her family with grace after the shock wore off. A little smirk crossing his lips as he remembered her coming into his room last night. He had not been able to sleep without her either, but refused to do anything about it. She was obviously far braver than he was. Catching sight of a rabbit trail, he smiled to himself and followed the trail, knowing that at the end he would have something to make that smile he now loved to see bloom on Beth's face.

"Daddy, do you need any help?" Beth asked as she walked toward her Daddy as he pumped water from the well.

"Naw Bethy, I think I got it. But if you don't mind, could you feed the horses?" He asked as he finished pumping and sat the water jug down.

"Sure Daddy" Beth replied with a smile as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. Before she could pull away, she felt her Daddy's arms around her, pulling her close.

"I'm so glad you're here and save Beth. You don't know the worry we had over you" Hershel said, a slight sob in his voice. Beth snuggled herself into his embrace and smiled.

"I'm glad I'm here too. I was so scared that all of you would be gone, or ya know…" she said, not being able to bring herself to say the words. "Daryl had to calm me down on the drive here, because I kept fidgeting." She said with a little giggle.

"I can imagine" he replied with a chuckle of his own. "How are you doing with everything else?" He continued, his voice instantly somber.

"I'm dealing. I'm not sure if it has hit me fully yet that Momma and Shawn are dead" she said, still snuggled into his chest, missing the look of disagreement flash on Hershel's face at her words. "I just keep telling myself that you gotta keep going."

"I just hate that you are hurting Bethy" Hershel replied, stroking her hair.

"When you love somebody, hurt is part of the package" she breathed out

"Those are wise words Bethy" Hershel replied, causing Beth to pull away with a smile

"You would think so, since you're the one that told me that" she replied with a giggle, happy that the mood was lightened just a little. "Thank you Daddy" she said as she kissed his cheek again and started toward the barn.

"Oh Bethy! The horses are not in that barn anymore, we moved them to the barn on the other side of the property" Hershel called as he saw his daughter moving toward the barn closest to them.

"Why?" She asked as she turned to look at him. She saw him fidget just a little but before she could question it, he started to speak.

"The floor and roof is rotting away, we don't go into it anymore because it's too dangerous. So we moved all the animals into the other one. Could you do me a favor and let Daryl know to stay away from that barn too? I don't think I told him and we really don't need any accidents right now" Hershel said, his heart stopped hoping his daughter bought his story.

"Of course Daddy. I will tell him as soon as I see him. And it was good thinking to just close it up, that could have been really dangerous" she replied with a smile as she took off toward the other barn, Hershel letting out a breath as he watched her go. He then said a silent prayer that his daughter would understand why he was lying to her. He firmly believed that normally lying was not the answer, but in his heart he thought he was doing the right thing this time.

"Oh my goodness Daryl" Beth exclaimed as he showed her the two rabbits he had caught. He had already skinned them for her, all she needed to do was get the meat ready for the stew. "These are wonderful. I'm going to go to the garden and get some vegetables to go into the stew. Thank you so much" she finished as she kissed his cheek. She saw his ears and his neck turn red, but she didn't comment on it. She was not about to embarrass him anymore, but she did love how shy he could be.

"I'ma go wash up" he mumbled out as he rubbed his neck. She smiled at him again, causing a small smile to come onto his lips as well as he turned and headed into the house.

"Somethin' smells really good in 'ere" Daryl said as he walked into the kitchen later on that afternoon. After he had washed up, he had spent the rest of his afternoon helping Hershel fix the motor on his farm truck.

"Thanks Daryl! I hope you like the taste of it as much as you like the smell" Beth replied with a giggle as she finished up stirring the stew and pulled out some bread from the oven. "Daryl, could you do me a favor and let everybody know that dinner is ready?" Beth asked, a sweet smile on her face. He smiled a little at the sweetness as he heard Merle's voice calling him a pussy again, something he was getting used to where Beth was concerned and nodded that he would do as she asked. Something inside of him telling him that he was going to be agreeing with what she asked for a long time to come, and what surprised him about the thought was that he wasn't bothered by it.