A knock on the door woke them both. Daryl got up and pulled on his jeans. He glanced at Beth and when she pulled the blankets up around herself he nodded and opened the door.

"We've got some walkers on the fence line and we're making this decision now. You still want to go?" Rick's voice was strained on the other side of the door.

"Yeah man. I think we should check it out." Daryl said. "We're coming out." he closed the door and finished getting dressed.

Beth got up and grabbed her clothes and did the same. She sat on the bed and zipped up her backpack. So much for the morning after. She didn't have the luxury of trying to determine where they stood now relationship wise and it wasn't really high on the list of important things to get done right now.

"We're leaving?" Beth asked.

"Mmhmm." he grunted. He watched her pull her hair back into a ponytail and strap on her knife.

"Just like that? We don't have a choice?" Beth looked at him.

He shrugged. "We have to move on. Too many walkers. Might as well give this guy a chance to prove he's got something better to offer us." Daryl said. He shouldered his crossbow and grabbed his backpack. "Let's cover those scratches before we go out." he said as he headed for the door.

Beth picked up her backpack and was ready to follow him when he suddenly stopped. He turned around and walked back over to her. He dropped his things and put his arms around her and whispered in her ear.

"We've got each others backs, but stay with me, no matter what. Promise me that.. I love you Beth." She nodded and he kissed her quickly and grabbed his things and then took her hand and they walked out the door.

There were weapons and ammo spread out on the table. Daryl grabbed a first aid kit and took out gauze for Beth's arm. He wrapped it and took a bandana from his pack and tied it over the gauze.

"Keep this with you." he said and he handed her the first aid kit.

"These are all loaded. Extra ammo is here." Carol said. She gestured to a small stack of boxes.

Beth picked up her pistol and checked the safety and then holstered it. She took the box of ammo Daryl handed her and out it and the first aid kit in her backpack.

Tara looked through the ammo and sighed. "Do we ever get to stay in one place" she mumbled.

"Standing still isn't an option." Abraham said coming up behind her and grabbing a rifle.

Otu back a few of the group were getting things together and others were taking out the remaining walkers along the back fence. Daryl and Beth walked up to Rick.

"What's the plan?" Daryl asked.

Rick looked around. "Everyone gather round." he called out. Carol came out followed by Carl and Tara.

"So the general consensus is the majority wants to check out Alexandria with Aaron. And considering the amount of walkers that keep showing up it's probably best that we move on anyway. I just want what's safe for my family. So we will go and we'll see. We'll take the suburban and the truck that Aaron came in. We are going to be cautious because these things have a way of going bad real quick." Rick said. He made eye contact with Daryl and then Michonne.

By the time they were ready to head out the sun was already setting. The walkers on the fence were gone. Everything had been locked up so that the place would be ready for anyone else who might need a safe place to stay. RIck took a group and they loaded up the suburban. Daryl and Beth and the rest went down to Aaron's truck in the woods. Daryl managed to maneuver it out to the road. Beth sat between Daryl and Abraham in the cab. The others were in the cargo area in the back. A small sliding window opened between the two spaces. Beth had been extremely quiet since they'd left. She stayed right beside Daryl just like he'd asked her too.

"You okay?" he put his arm around her and pulled her close. He was becoming a lot more comfortable with showing her affection in front of everyone and that made her feel good because right now she needed that. She nodded and leaned into him. They were running again from one thing to another, not knowing if it was safe. Her head ached. A dull ache where Dawn's bullet had grazed it.

"What the hell?!" Daryl pulled his arm from Beth and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands. He swerved to avoid a walker that had stepped out of the darkness. Two more came out of nowhere.

"Jesus it's another horde! " Abraham gripped the dash. In the back of the truck Judith started crying.

"Where are they? I don't see the suburban's lights anymore!" Beth looked out into the night. Another road veered right. Daryl went that way to avoid the horde and all the bodies that had been run over by RIck.

"Where are you going? They're back there! We can't just leave them!" Beth's voice broke.

"Are you crazy girl? We can't stop here! There's too many walkers out there!" Daryl kept driving through the darkness and tried not to think about her accusation. Beth sat back and gripped the edge of the seat.

"They will get out of it. We need to get to a safe spot and come up with a plan to help them." Abraham said.

After driving a couple more miles they came to a bunch of buildings. It looked like a defunct lumberyard. Daryl pulled the truck over. Tyreese came to the small window.

"I have Aaron's flare gun. We could send up a flare. They'd know which direction to come." he said.

"Great idea. Let's move." Abraham got out followed by Daryl and Beth. Everyone had their weapons ready. Tyreese and Rosita climbed out of the back. Abraham took the flare gun and shot a flare directly above them.

"That might bring more than our guys. Watch for walkers." Tyreese said. The group moved tentatively towards the edge of the wooded area. Suddenly screams emanated from further ahead in the darkness. Abraham and Daryl shared look.

"Let's go." Daryl said.

They advanced slowly into the trees, with no light from the moon it was impossible to see much of anything. Beth felt rather than saw Daryl in front of her. Before her eyes adjusted at all to the darkness the sounds of running footsteps and breaking branches surrounded her. She reached out in front of her trying to locate Daryl. Glenn's voice calling to Maggie completely turned Beth around and she ran towards the scream. She tripped over what she hoped was a fallen log and branches whipped her bare skin. She heard Glenn's voice again and it was so close.

"Maggie can you stand?"

"I'm fine. Let's keep going!"

Maggie?!" Beth called out.

"Beth?!" Maggie and Glenn were suddenly right in front of her.

"Come on! Just ahead is shelter!" Beth said turing in the direction she was almost sure they needed to go. Daryl's voice came out of the darkness calling her name. He sounded so far away. He had just been right there in front of her. She'd lost him.

"Beth? Beth!"

More pounding footsteps and shadows. Beth, Maggie and Glenn came to the edge of the woods and then out into the open a few yards down from where Beth had gone in. The rest of both groups had made it out and were standing by the truck. Daryl was standing away from the rest of the group and when he saw Beth he started running towards her, but stopped short.

"Goddammit Beth! You were supposed to… " he leaned over with his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath and choke back the tears he didn't want anyone else to see. "... to stay."

She stopped utterly defeated. She'd promised.

"I'm sorry.." her voice was small and quiet. "It was so dark, I got turned around." Daryl straightened and went to her. He grabbed her by the shoulders.

" I can't fucking lose you again! Don't you get.. Don't you see.." he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her shoulder. She felt his silent sobs. She took his hand and brought it to her cheek.

"I'm here." Her lip trembled and her hand shook. It was too much to see Daryl break. Because he didn't break. And she didn't want to be the one to break him. Her tears seemed to bring him back and he took her face in his hands and he kissed her. He took a second to regain composure and then he took her hand and they walked back to the truck and the rest of the group who stood silently watching.

"We're all here." Glenn said.

"Everyone okay?" Daryl said gruffly.

"Yeah we're fine. You okay brother?" Rick asked him. He put a hand on Daryl's shoulder.

"Mmmhmm." was his reply. Maggie stepped forward and took Beth's other hand. She looked at Daryl. "Sorry fer yelling.. " Maggie nodded and let Beth's hand go.

They decided to stay the night in the safety of the lumberyard. The flare hadn't attracted but a few walkers and Aaron was turned around in the darkness. They'd start out early in the morning and get the suburban and head for Alexandria with the daylight to help them.

They set up camp for the night in a large room of the main building. One candle in the middle of the room served as light. Daryl sat on the floor his back against the wall. His crossbow was on the floor beside him. Beth had crawled between his legs and sat with her knees under her chin and her back resting against his chest. And he let her. He seemed calmer if she was near. She thought she'd figured out what was going on, why he'd lost it when she'd been separated from him and why he would suddenly pull away when things got intense between the two of them. Standing out there on the edge of the forest watching him struggle to keep it together it had suddenly come to her. He was afraid of getting too close because that meant potentially getting hurt. Daryl had a big heart. He wanted to take care of others, needed too. But when he felt "too" much he would pull back. It was to late for that now though. He had admitted her loved her. He told her he couldn't live without her and now he was determined to keep her as close as possible so he could protect her. Daryl loved hard. She was seeing first hand how scared he was of losing her. And how terrified he was of loving her. He'd never had anyone love him back. He hadn't had a family like he did now. He mattered to other people. He would be missed if he were gone. And now the world they lived in was unforgiving. Any one of them could be taken away without warning at anytime. If you never let anyone else get too close then it wouldn't hurt as much. Her heart ached at the depth of Daryl's love for her and the others. And she'd let him down. She leaned over and rested her forehead on her knees. She wrapped her arms around her legs and held on tight. But it was no use her shoulders shook anyway.

"What's a matter?" he asked quietly resting his hands on her shoulders. Beth looked around at the room. Everyone had found a place to sit or lie down to try and get some sleep before morning. Beth stood up and took Daryl's hand and led him down a hallway to another room. He could see her face in the moonlight coming through the window they were standing by. She wasn't good at hiding her feelings. If it's possible for a person's whole being to mirror what was going on inside of them, then Beth was just sadness.

"Hey I told you it's okay." he said and he reached for her hand.

"No it's not. I made a promise and it meant something to you. It means something to me. And I'm sorry I didn't keep it Daryl." she spoke quietly. He didn't pull her close to him like he wanted to. He just watched her face and listened.

"We don't have any guarantees out here of seeing tomorrow.. Or even the end of each day. I would rather die trying to keep another promise to you than break it. I know it sounds silly and childish. But if I have to make a choice, it's always going to be you. So you can't push me away, you can't get scared…" she looked at the ground. A little nervous and embarrassed by her words.

Daryl nodded. Then he smiled. "Are you asking me to marry you Beth Greene?"

The expression on Beth's face was exactly what Daryl was aiming for. She looked completely horrified. "No! I just…." she stammered.

He pulled her up against him. "I'm teasing." he whispered. " I know what you mean. And it's always going to be you too. Me and you."