AN: thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story. As a thank you, here is chapter 2:

It had been two weeks. Daryl had spent much of his time with Beth, helping her to get better. If he wasn't there—which was only when he needed to sleep or when he hunted—Maggie was there. She was so very grateful to Daryl for his support with her sister.

"I'm gonna go hunt," Daryl started to leave but Beth sat up in the bed. She could do most things for herself now, being as she was nearly fully healed. Daryl turned back to her as she began pulling boots on over her jeans. "What're ya doin'?"

"Coming with you. You still need to teach me how to use your crossbow," she pulled her hair in a ponytail and smiled at him. She waited to hear him tell her no. It didn't happen.

"Ya gotta be careful, ya hear?"

"Yes sir," she saluted playfully. They walked into the area where a lot of the other group members were. Carl and Michone were speaking quietly. Maggie walked in from a separate hallway and took one look at Beth and shook her head.

"No. You're not ready yet," the brunette said. "Go on back to bed."

"Maggie, it's fine. Dr. Daryl cleared me for huntin'. Right?"

When Daryl saw Maggie's death stare he almost said no. But he knew Beth was ready. It was better to get her back out there and comfortable with handling the crossbow as soon as possible.

"I'll be right there. She'll be fine," Daryl assure Maggie. She just gave him a look as they left. She wanted her baby sister—who she had just recently gotten back—to be safe! Going out into the woods with walkers was not exactly Maggie's definition of safe!

"Do you have an extra gun…just in case?" Beth asked Daryl. He nodded and handed her his. It was actually his only gun but he had a knife and his crossbow. He figured he would be alright. He was sure that they would come across another one sometime soon. The group did not have too many to spare right now and Beth needed a weapon.

"Got yer knife?"

"Shoot! I'll be right back," she the. Walked back to her room.

While Daryl stood waiting, Carol walked into the room and stood beside him.

"I may not save people anymore, but you do," she patted his shoulder and he just gave a small shrug.

"Just doin' what needed to be done."

"Okay, now I'm ready," Beth felt so silly leaving her knife in her room. That was a rookie mistake. She could play it off as it was simply because she had left in a hurry but it had been her own carelessness.

"We're gonna bring back dinner," Daryl told Carol as they left.

XxX

They had hunted for nearly an hour and found nothing, that was until Daryl noticed a wild turkey. They were far enough away from it that it hadn't noticed them yet. He found Beth's eyes focused on it. She pulled up the crossbow and aimed. She let the arrow fly and reloaded—it was difficult for her because she lacked the muscle Daryl had.

The turkey moved a bit before it fell. She had hit her where its cheek would have been, not perfectly in the eye, but for it being her first time. Not bad at all, actually.

"Did I kill it? Beth stepped over the log they had been ducked behind to check out her shot.

"Ya did. Aim was a little off."

"It was my first shot," she said, seeing the small smile on his face. "I don't think it was too bad at all."

"Still got room for improvement," he smirked.

"Daryl," she rolled her eyes. " I bet your first shot wasn't perfect."

"No. Arrow gave it a nice hole for an earring though."

"See? Plus I have a much better teacher."

XxX

They made their way back to the motel, Beth carrying her kill—she had insisted on it actually.

"I never got to thank you," Beth realised.

"For what?"

"Savin' my life. And don't even tell me it wasn't a big deal…because it was," she stopped him. She stood in front of him and grinned. "And thank you for staying with me as much as you did. You didn't have to do that either." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. To her surprise, his arms have her a gentle squeeze.

While they hugged, the dead Turkey was still in Beth's hand and when Daryl felt its beak touch he back, he jumped a little.

"Daryl Dixon afraid of a little bird?" She grinned.

"No," he frowned, glaring at her ginning face.

AN: sorry it was short. I'm on my phone right now typing this (which is difficult) I hope you enjoyed it. I'm trying to start things a little slow, but everything will pick up soon.

Updated 1 December 2015