This is kind of a filler chapter but it's important to show the slow changes in Beth and Daryl's relationship as they grow closer to one another.

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Chapter Eighteen.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was blonde hair and even though his mind was still half asleep, he knew it was Beth. He shut his eyes again just for a quick second before cracking them open and leaving them open. Beth laid beside him, still on her side facing him, the same position she had fallen asleep in, and he saw that she was already awake, her eyes looking at him. She gave him a small smile and he returned it, wondering in the back of his mind why this all felt so damn natural.

He had kissed her the night before – more than once because he hadn't been able to stop himself from not doing it anymore. He had been wanting to kiss her since the garage bathroom but something inside of him had always told him that the time wasn't right. Just like taking her out on a date. He kept waiting for these moments – these perfect moments – and he saw her standing in his now clean bedroom, looking so damn nervous and she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen and he realized that he was sick and tired of waiting for all of these moments that seemed like they would never come.

She had gasped a little the first time he had kissed her but then almost immediately, she had sank against him, her hands lightly resting on his shoulders as his own hands dropped down from her cheeks to rest on her sharp hips. He couldn't help but think of how bony she was. Even through her clothes, he could still feel all of her sharp angles and he had seen her eat enough times to know that she did but he wondered just how much more weight she had to gain to where she wasn't quite a walking bag of bones anymore.

And then he felt so damn guilty for thinking that because Beth got that enough from others in her life and she didn't need him to have thoughts like that, too.

There was more to Beth than how much she weighed.

He shook all thoughts from his head as quickly as he could and concentrated on kissing her. Focused on her soft lips and her faintly sweet taste and the way her hands touched him, shy and hesitant but not pulling away or stopping herself. He didn't really know what he was doing but he didn't stop himself either. He wasn't just saying it when he said he didn't have a lot of experience with women. Daryl never lied – never really saw a reason to. He wasn't a virgin but if it came to a choice between being alone and having companionship, Daryl liked himself just fine.

But Beth was different in seemingly every way because now that he was kissing her, he wasn't really looking for himself to stop. Now that he had gotten her to stay, he really didn't want her to leave and he knew, if he thought about that, it would scare the shit out of him because why exactly didn't he want her to leave? Whatever the reason, he knew he wasn't ready to face that yet.

They kissed one another over and over again and his arms tightened around her waist, her small body being pressed against his, and Beth let out a soft moan that he felt sparking every inch of his body as her arms slipped around his neck.

He wasn't entirely sure how it happened but he felt themselves being lowered down and then he could feel the softness of the bed. Beth stiffened ever so slightly beneath him and it was more than enough for his lips to pull off of hers. He looked down at her and her eyes fluttered open to look up at him. Her cheeks were pink and her lips were slightly swollen and he had never seen her eyes such a dark shade of blue.

He gave her a small twitch of his lips in what he hoped was reassuring before he slipped from her, lying himself down beside her, his heart racing and the pumping blood roaring in his ears. He knew she wasn't ready for this to go any further and to be honest, he wasn't ready either. He had made a silent promise to her pops that she was going to stay a good girl while she was staying here with him and Hershel Greene wasn't a man he was looking to piss off.

And he didn't want to cross that line with Beth yet. Yet. He didn't know if they would ever cross that line together; didn't know if she would ever want to or if he would ever feel brave enough to.

"This bed is really comfortable," she said, breaking the silence, and he felt himself smirk, turning his head and looking at her. She was lying on her side, facing him, still blushing but smiling faintly.

Daryl rolled himself onto his side, facing her. "Yeah. Came with the place. It was Dale's but the thing was just sittin' here, gettin' old and no one usin' it. Dale sold it to me for a good price."

"I love it here," she then admitted quietly. "Your own little space where no one bothers you. I lived on my own in Atlanta. I had a roommate, Rosita. We both were helping each other get on our feet and I loved the freedom that came with being on my own without having someone breathing down my neck."

Daryl looked at her for a moment. "You ever gonna talk to your sister 'bout that?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I keep telling myself I will. One day. When I'm feeling brave." She tucked her hands between her cheek and the pillow. "Don't know if I'll ever feel brave though."

"You're brave already," he said and she smiled a little as if she didn't believe him but Daryl shook his head slightly. "You are. Everyone in this town knows…" he trailed off. Knew what? That she starved herself damn near to death? Yeah, that was what they all knew but he didn't know how to put that into words. "And you face 'em every single day. That takes a lot."

Beth's face darkened another shade of pink as if his words embarrassed her and her eyes left his for a moment before they flitted back again. "There are stories about you and your brother," she said quietly.

"Yeah…" he grunted because he knew there were still stories floating around though there hadn't been any new ones for years.

He and Merle had been a couple of hellions just like all of the Dixons before them and it seemed like every law enforcement officer in the county knew them. But then, Merle had gone off to prison and Daryl had landed in this small town and they both seemed to calm down and settle down and now, both were downright boring. Even Merle – which seemed to surprise people more than anything.

Daryl shrugged, looking at her. "Some people can change," he said and that was all he said and Beth didn't press him to say anything else.

Some people could do something with their lives but not everyone. Some people were fine being drunken assholes who beat their kids for fun. Some people liked living their life doing nothing except getting drunk and getting into fights and getting arrested. It was no way to live but to some, it was all they ever wanted to do.

He didn't know when he fell asleep. They laid there, side by side, talking about all sorts of things – things he couldn't even really remember now the next morning but he looked at an awake but still sleepy-looking Beth beside him and whatever the conversation had been, he knew it had been a good one; the kind of conversation he had never had with another person before.

"You're a blanket thief," he grunted in a morning-rough voice, rolling onto his back and scrubbing his hands over his face.

She laughed softly and he thought it was better than a bird's song outside. There he was – having those stupid, down-right cheesy thoughts about her again.

"You know I'm always cold," she reminded him. She was the first to sit up and he watched as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Forgot to turn on the heater last night," he mumbled, sitting up now, too.

"You give off plenty of heat," Beth said with a faint blush staining her cheeks. "I just needed something a little extra. I've never slept beside a man before," she then told him and despite her blush, she was still bravely looking at him.

He shook his head a little. "Ain't never slept beside a woman before."

Screwed, yeah, but as soon as it was done, he was gone and the few times he had done it, it had rarely been in an actual bed. Usually just up against some wall outside behind some bar. He had never had this with another woman – being so close to her and having her so close to him. Hell, he still stiffened a little every time Annie hugged him and she was family.

But with Beth, there was nothing like that. No flinching or tensing up – not even when she reached out like she did now and brushed a strand of hair off his face.

"You should come to church with me this morning," she said.

Daryl looked at her and couldn't help but smirk as if she had told some great joke. Him in church? He had never been to church in his life. Why the hell would he start going now?

And Beth seemed to sense his confusion at her comment because she smiled a little, almost close to laughter, and she got off the bed. He kept sitting and watched as she went into the bathroom, sliding the door shut behind her.

The word rolled over in his head as if he had never heard it before. Church. He knew he didn't believe in anything that had to do with that place. When he was younger and still thought it would help, he had sent a few prayers out to whoever was listening to make his dad stop beating on him with the belt or his fists whenever he damn well pleased but the prayers always went unanswered and soon, he learned that no one would ever help him except himself. There was no God. There was nothing. And Daryl couldn't imagine himself sitting in a church, surrounded by people who thought there was.

Despite all of that, he supposed it was no surprise to him when less than two hours later, he found himself sitting beside Beth in one of the hard wooden pews in the small church with her father and brother. He didn't know where Maggie was and he didn't really care. He wore jeans and a one of his tee-shirts because it was warm outside that day and it was damn near an inferno inside of the church. Beth sat beside him in one of her pretty dresses and he kept watching her from the corner of his eye. She was listening with all of her attention focused on whatever the preacher man was saying up on the altar behind his podium and Daryl tuned in a couple of times but the man was boring with his sermons about heaven and just rewards and eternal damnation in a burning hellfire. Daryl found Beth to be far more interesting.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Carol asked him after the service, her hand holding the hand of her daughter, Sophia.

"I have no idea," Daryl admitted in a near-grumble and Carol laughed because Carol probably knew that Beth had asked him to come and Daryl already found it close to impossible to tell Beth Greene no. He wondered if anyone else had figured that out.

He turned his head when he heard Beth's laughter and she was talking to an older couple he didn't know but then her eyes moved and they locked with his. She said something to the couple – probably politely excusing herself – and then she was heading his way, a small, bright smile on her face.

"Hi, Carol. Hi Sophia," she greeted them, looking to them, and Daryl couldn't help but look at her. Her dress was purple that day and her hair was braided and pulled over her shoulder. She wore one of her sweaters – grey today – because despite even the warm temperature that morning, she was still cold.

As Carol and Beth exchanged pleasantries, he heard Sophia giggle and he looked down at the girl, pretending to give her a fierce frown.

"What?" He asked.

She grinned up at him. "You're staring at Beth," she teased.

Daryl just kept frowning at her. "Shut up," he grumbled and Sophia just giggled again. Daryl let out another grunt and head nod when Carol said she and Sophia had to be going and wished them both a nice Sunday. He was still frowning when Beth slipped to stand in front of him.

She gave him a small smile, not at all intimidated by his near scowl. "I'm going to head over to the farm. We have breakfast every Sunday after church."

Daryl nodded.

"Do you still want me to stay at the trailer?" She asked.

His frown managed to deepen, wondering why she would ask that; wondering for a second if he had done something to think he wanted her gone. He knew they had said that she would stay for a few days but it had only been a couple so far and a couple of days did not equal a few – at least not to him.

He didn't actually know how long he wanted her to stay there with him but he knew he wasn't in any kind of hurry to get her out of there. But again, he reminded himself that he wasn't ready to tell himself the reason why yet.

"Course I do."

She smiled then a little wider. She nodded and then stepped a bit closer to him. "I would invite you to come with me but I know you go hunting on Sundays."

Daryl couldn't help but feel relieved – that she knew that and that she wasn't going to ask him so he wouldn't have to tell her that he didn't really want to go. He liked her dad and her brother just fine but still, being in that nice farmhouse with her family, it made him uncomfortable.

"Have a good time," he said, feeling lame for some reason, but Beth just smiled.

She began to take a step back and Daryl wasn't sure why he did it but he reached a hand out, grasping her hand gently, stopping her before she could walk away. She looked at him, curiosity clear across her face, and she gave him a small smile, obviously not understanding why he had stopped her. And for a second, he wasn't too sure why either but he stared at her and without a word, he leaned down and kissed her.

He didn't think about how they were standing in the yard of the church and there were still people milling all around and they could all see him kissing Beth Greene. He only thought about kissing Beth Greene and the slight pressure of her lips pressing back against his and she kissed him in return.

The kiss lasted for only a few seconds before he was pulling his head back again but he was feeling a little out of breath as he looked down at her. Beth was blushing and breathing a little heavier, too, and she gave him a small smile that despite its size, was practically blinding. And seeing her smile, it made him smile a little, too.

"Have a good time," she echoed his earlier words and he smirked and nodded his head, watching as she was finally able to turn and head towards her daddy and brother, Shawn leaning against the family car with a shit-eating grin on his face and he looked past Beth to have his eyes meet Daryl's and he seemed to be chuckling.

Daryl found himself not caring though. He didn't care that everyone around them had just seen him kiss her; had seen him being some damn sap around this girl; had seen him being dragged to a place he would never step foot into even if the world ended just because she was here and he clearly wanted to be around her.

They probably all wondered if Beth Greene had taken either his spine or his balls – or maybe even both – and Daryl watched her walk away and found himself wondering the same thing. What the hell was this girl doing to him? And why did he seem to just go along with it without having a problem with it?

He didn't even know when the hell it had happened because didn't he used to avoid this girl at all costs? And now, he was kissing her and wanting to be around her and he stood there, trying to pinpoint the moment it had changed between them.

But he couldn't. He couldn't think of when it had changed; only that it had. Beth turned once more towards him and gave him a small wave and a small smile before slipping into her family's car and Daryl stood there, knowing he looked like a damn idiot but he found himself smiling back and it was all because of her.

Beth Greene made Daryl Dixon happy and to him, he realized that it didn't matter when it happened or why. He just knew he wanted it to last for a while.

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