Daryl walked upstairs to go to the bathroom, but he found there was someone else in there already. Beth stood, facing the mirror, touching the side of her head. Curious, he took a step closer and she met his eyes in the mirror before giving him a small smile.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked, stepping into the bathroom.

"Wondering if I'll ever grow hair here again," she said, touching the left side her her head. His calloused fingers gingerly touched the spot. There was concentration in his eyes as he did this. "Well?" she asked.

"Probably not," he admitted. Then, he did something that surprised the both of them. He placed a light kiss over the scar. The scar she had received from the bullet that nearly killed her. The scar that had been a product of his hasty stitch work.

She turned, meeting his eyes and bit her lip. She tiptoed up to press a long kiss to his lips. He kissed her back, completely without hesitation. She pushed the door closed before taking steps backwards. He followed her, mostly missing everything that was going on. He knew that a walker could not sneak up on them here, he was allowed to be oblivious for a minute. He could―icy water sprayed him in the face. Beth's laugh filled his ears as she stood under the same cold water. They were both fully dressed, but now soaking wet.

"There, I've been telling you to take shower," she giggled. He scowled at her as a low growl came from his throat. "I'll let you be," she grabbed a towel and dried off her hair. "I'll grab your bag so you can have some dry clothes," she said as she left the bathroom. It was completely worth it. That dirty redneck had needed a shower long before they had arrived at Alexandria and it was about time he took one.

XxX

After Daryl's unplanned shower, he walked downstairs to find Beth with a sleeping Judith in her arms while she read a book. He felt a smile on his face―they were the only two in the house, currently. Carl was with some of the other kids, Rick was working as their constable, Maggie was with Deanna, Glenn was on a run, and Carol was working in the pantry.

"Morning, Daryl," Beth greeted, not looking over her shoulder. As if she saw the questioning look on his face, she gave him a simple answer to how she knew he was there. "I learned from the best hunter and tracker there is. There was a floor board that squeaked as you went across it."

"Yer gettin' there, girl," he said, sitting next to her on the couch.

"I am," she grinned. "You look much better clean, Dixon."

"Mm," he replied, giving her a slightly dirty look.

"Be mad all you want, you needed that," she said simply. Judith stirred and Beth smiled at the little girl. She didn't cry, and Beth knew precisely what Judith wanted. She wanted to play. So, that being said, Beth set her down and allowed her to go to the small assortment of toys on the floor.

"I gotta tell ya somethin'," Daryl told her.
"What's that?" she asked, fearing the worst. What if he decided that maybe they shouldn't be whatever they were. She did not want that.

"They finally gave me a job," he said.

"Yeah?" she was still waiting to hear the bad part of all this.

"'M gonna be a recruiter, with Aaron," he waited for Beth to be mad―it wasn't like it would change anything for what he wanted to do, but part of him still wanted her approval.

"I think that's great, Daryl. I know you, you need to be out there..." she smiled, biting her lip. "I'll miss you like crazy, but I know you'll be back. You always come back," she smiled nervously.

"I'll be back," he confirmed.

"When do you leave?"

"Today," he replied.

"When?"

"Now," he said, kind of sadly.

"Well, I'll see you off," she said, trying not to be sad. She was hoping that today, they could have a quiet day in the house, kind of relax indoors for once. But, apparently not.

"A'right." Beth picked up Judith and the trio walked to Aaron's house. Aaron and Eric were both already outside and the garage door was open. Daryl wheeled out his bike and Beth smiled.

"It suits you," she grinned at him. He gave the smallest of smiles and brought it out beside Beth and Judith before putting the kickstand up. He gave Beth a quick kiss. "Be safe," she said.

"We'll be back soon," he said―no kind of time limit on it, just soon. What was she supposed to do with that? Worry until he arrived―well she was going to do that anyway. She cared about Daryl. He was her redneck and she would miss going in the woods with him. Hopefully, she could find adequate distractions for the time being. She gave him a nod as he led the way on the bike. Aaron followed in a car and Eric offered her a smile.

"You two are cute," he said. "It's nice to know that he has a soft side."

"It's kinda hard to get there," Beth smiled.

"Can I hold her?" he asked, referring to the baby. Beth nodded.

"This is Judith, I don't know if you two met before..." she said, passing the child to Eric.

"No, we didn't. Is she yours?" Beth shook her head. "Daryl's?"
"No, Rick's, actually. His wife died giving birth to her..." Beth offered.

"I'm so sorry," he frowned.

"We raise her though...All of us."

"You guys are probably the most close-knit group we've come across in all the times we've been out there. It's great to see..."

"We're a family," Beth smiled, thinking of her group. They were a family. She was so happy to have her group. She loved them.

"Do you want to come in?" Eric offered, passing Judith back to Beth.

"Um, sure," she said. Maybe it was good to really get to know the other people in this town. They would be an extension of her family soon enough. And, Daryl was gone, as was Aaron.

"Tea?" he offered.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

The two sat at the kitchen table and Eric smiled. It had been a while since had someone over just to talk―Daryl was over last night, but that hadn't really counted. "So tell me about you and Daryl. I'm still surprised that he has a girlfriend."

"I wouldn't call myself his girlfriend," she said with a little laugh. "We haven't put a label on it, really. We just...are."

"That seems like him," Eric laughed. "How long?"

"I'm not even sure, it's been a while now...He saved me life."

"How'd he do that?"

"I was shot in the head, the bullet grazed me, but I lost a lot of blood, he was the one to stitch me up. After that, we got closer and closer..."

"You really love him, don't you?"

Love. That kind of love hadn't crossed her mind. Yeah, she loved him like she loved Glenn or Rick. But was she really in love with Daryl? She was afraid, if she was. Because if she was in love with Daryl then she knew that it would hurt a whole lot more than it would have before. Like with Jimmy or Zach, she had cared about both of them, but she hadn't been in love.

"He's a lot greater than he gives himself credit for," she smiled. It was true. She knew that Daryl didn't have a high opinion of himself, but he should. He didn't realise that without him, the group wouldn't be there. They would have all died long ago. But, they were there, because Daryl was brave and an amazing provider for the group. He had equal importance as Rick did.

AN: So there's this chapter. It's kind random, I'm kind of trying to follow the episodes, and since there wasn't a lot of Daryl in that episode, I just went with this. Please leave your reviews! And, Daryl finally showered!