a/n - Thanks again for the lovely reviews :) I'm going to keep writing as much as I can, until TWD returns in Feb!

Daryl wasn't sure if anyone could see him as he tried to remain hidden behind the trees, glancing through the pale green leaves every now and again to steal small glances in Beth's direction. A burning ache pulsing through him as he silently watched her, he half prayed the feeling would go away, it confused him, made him feel uncomfortable, this was Beth.

She had gone off on a mission with Eugene to try and find some clean drinking water at a stream near their current camp. Daryl wasn't exactly buzzed at the idea of her alone in the woods with just Eugene for company. But no-one else had seemed to bat an eyelid, Beth could take care of herself now, she was tough, she didn't need protecting, not like she had in the early days. Daryl had wanted to offer to go with them too, but like most occasions recently; something had stopped him, settling for watching quietly from the background instead as she'd gone off on her adventure.

...

Daryl had no idea how much time exactly had passed since that afternoon changing everything; days, weeks even. All he knew, was that things hadn't been the same between them since that late afternoon back in the deserted house in the woods, when he'd nearly kissed her. The day he had nearly lost all control. He had been so close to just reaching out and grabbing it. Happiness. But something had held him back, because firstly he didn't get too emotionally involved. Ever. Secondly, everyone thought Beth was just like a little sister to him, he'd even managed to convince himself of that on many occasions and he couldn't screw that up.

Beth represented something special to him, a little ray of golden sunshine in this dark world. His reason to live and he wasn't going to just throw all that away for a stupid moment of physical lust. But no matter how much he might try to deny it, pretend it wasn't there, it was. Desire. Full on sexual desire. She might be younger than him, she might be his friend, but he was slowly starting to realize her wanted her in a way he had never wanted anyone before. His body longed for hers. It had always been there at the back of his mind, even back at the prison and after, when it had just been the two of them, but he had somehow managed to push it away, there were other more important things to think about back then, like keeping them both alive.

...

He drew in a breath as he watched her some more, she was crouching down next to Eugene, examining some water in a thin plastic bottle, her blonde hair was tied up, falling down her back in loose waves, her eyes were round and curious, concentration etched on her face. Daryl's eyes narrowed, his heart pounding he hadn't intended to follow them, they hadn't ventured far, he'd gone out too and it had just sort of happened.

With his eyes still firmly fixed on her, Daryl felt his palms screw in to tight fists as he watched Eugene touch her arm, causing her to break in to a small ripple of laughter.

Then everything seemed to happen so fast. Out of no-where, lazily ambling towards them a small herd of five maybe six walkers appeared. Maybe they had been attracted by Beth's laughter or Eugene's loud voice, it didn't really matter all Daryl saw was imminent danger.

Luckily the amount of noise the monsters were making snarling and drawling was enough to alert both Beth and Eugene. Beth turned around, 'don't scream' Daryl silently willed as he detected the look of terror flash across her pretty blue eyes.

Keeping her cool, Beth reached to her waist for the pistol Daryl had insisted she carried on her at all times, shakily pointing it at the nearest one knocking it to the ground. The noise of the gunshot enough to attract the attention of the entire group to the young blonde as Eugene darted away in the opposite direction and in to the distance, closely tailed by a couple of the walkers at the back, alerted by his sudden movement.

Daryl knew he had to act fast, there was a lot for Beth to fight off on her own, adrenaline pulsing through him, he raised his cross bow, expertly firing taking out the three remaining, one by one, causing them to topple in to a big heap on top of Beth.

"Beth, Beth, you okay?" he said anxiously, dashing towards her, his hands shaking, throwing the foul beasts off her as quickly as he could. She didn't answer, causing a deep thud of anxiety to hit his stomach, his heart rate speeding up dramatically; he couldn't lose her now, not like this.

"I'm okay," Beth eventually muttered, looking up at Daryl bent over her, his face full of panic.

"You get bit?" he questioned, reaching out for her hand pulling her up to a sitting position.

Beth was speechless at first, slowly getting her breath back, her blue eyes sparkling in the reflection of the clear water from the stream next to her. One minute she had seen her life flashing before her, the next out of no-where Daryl was here again, "No- no, I'm fine," she stammered, allowing him to pull her up further to standing. Her legs wobbling slightly, still clutching hold of his hand, she leaned back against the nearest tree.

Daryl inched a step closer to her, the look of fear in her eyes making him realize just how vulnerable she still was, she'd come a long way since the start of the outbreak she was tougher than ever now, but she still needed them, needed him.

Looking back at him, without even thinking Beth suddenly found her arms were flung around Daryl's neck, burying her face in to his muscular torso. He'd been weird recently and she'd missed him. but he had just saved her life again.

Beth had known things had been slightly off between them of late, she had worried she had ruined their friendship after their near kiss. Not to mention she had felt hurt and a little humiliated at his brush off and avoidance since. He was so difficult to read. But the way he had just appeared, the way he had looked down at her moments before, his dark blue eyes full of emotion, she knew she meant something to him, something special.

As the hug gently broke apart, Daryl found his forehead touching hers, his breath hot against her cheek. Beth gripped the back of his shirt tightly. His fingers curled around her waist gently tugging her towards him. Adrenaline surged through Daryl's veins as his strong bare arms drew her even closer. Unable to stop this time, she was so close, his mouth suddenly crushed against hers, the kiss full of pent up desire. Beth pressed closer, grabbing a handful of his hair. Daryl ran his tongue across her lips, just as soft as he'd imagined. Beth's tongue crept out to meet his, teasing. Taking the lead, Daryl slid his tongue fully in to her mouth, tasting her, pressing deeper, closer, he wasn't used to this but it seemed to come so naturally. Her upper body arched towards his, speaking to him with subtle movements. His hands moved upwards over her t-shirt, closing around her small sensitive breasts. Through his jeans she felt him harden.

Daryl could no longer hold back, he knew before the outbreak the thought of anything happening between him and Beth would have been absurd. But in the strange world they lived in now, being with her had awoken something in him, a feeling he had kept locked away for a very long time, a need he could no longer control.

The kiss speeding up, they both thought on some levels it wasn't proper, but they didn't understand how it could be so wrong when it felt so right.

Lost in the moment, it didn't bother them at first, the low whirring sound in the distance, almost like a high pitch vacuum cleaner getting closer and closer, a sound that at one time would have been so completely mundane and every day. But as the deep whooshing sound got louder and louder it caused them to abruptly pull apart. It most definitely wasn't the norm to hear that sound now, it was a sound that most had given up hope of ever hearing again.

"Is that?" Beth said starry eyed, her mouth gaping open in shock and slight amazement, gazing up in to the sky, the breeze blowing her hair across her face a little.

Daryl put his hand up to his forehead to get a better look, "Yep," he replied in equal shock as they both continued to look up at the large impressive aircraft flying overhead…..

Four years later

Daryl knew exactly where he was heading as his motorcycle raced along the deserted highway, the wind blowing the ends of his hair as he picked up speed, in this brief moment he felt free, alive . He felt his cell phone digging in to his trouser pocket, a painful reminder of the calls he had ignored from Beth. He knew he was being an ass but he had things he needed to figure out.

It had been a long time since he had been out on his motorcycle; Beth had all but forbidden it. Said she'd had enough worrying about whether he'd come home in one piece or not for a lifetime. But right now Daryl didn't care, he needed to get away to think. Leave the city and her questioning eyes behind for a while.

Stepping through the overgrown weeds leading up to the front door, he knocked loudly. After a while when there was no reply, he walked around to the side, peering through the window. "Carol," he yelled, "Carol, I know you're in there, it's Daryl."

He waited patiently back at the door, before eventually it opened. "Daryl," Carol said with a weak smile, a small twinkle forming in her eye. He didn't say anything just stepped forward throwing his arms around his old friend. It had been a while since he had spoken to her, time was flying by so quickly now and he missed her.

"What you doing here?" Carol questioned as she led him in to her front room. Gesturing for him to sit down, moving a pile of clothes and an old blanket from the sofa.

"Beer?" she said handing him a bottle as he sat. He took it, nodding his head in gratitude, putting the cool glass to his lips to drink, a small thing he completely took for granted now as he breathed out satisfied, wiping his mouth as he slowly removed the beverage.

Daryl glanced around, he could tell she wasn't in a good place still, he mentally compared her unkept house to his and Beth's immaculate home and he felt grateful as well as a little sad, Carol deserved better.

But Carol like most people nowadays was still having a hard time getting back to reality and carving out some sort of normal life for herself now the outbreak was over, and after everything they had been through and had to do to stay alive during that time.

"Can't I just stop by and say hello?" he said moodily in response to her question moments earlier.

Remaining silent, Carol simply raised her eyebrows in response.

Daryl looked down at the floor, he hated she could read him so well.

"Beth got accepted into med school, she's going to be a doctor," he suddenly blurted out.

"Well, that's great," Carol replied a genuine smile spreading across her face. "Isn't it?" she added, confusion appearing in her eyes, noticing Daryl's small scowl. Beth and Daryl had been an unlikely couple, but Carol had seen firsthand despite the age gap and their apparent differences, how they had just seemed to fit together and in the world of horror they had experienced it was a welcome bit of light.

"I guess," he said sullenly, before shaking his head and going on to say, "I don't know what we're doing anymore. I'm working every hour in some goddam dead end job, just trying to keep a roof over our head, arguing with Beth over who takes out the trash and what colour to paint the damn bathroom. Not so long ago, we were fighting off human corpses, looting, killing, doing whatever we could to survive. We had a mission, passion for something, life had a purpose…."

"You really wanna go back to that?" Carol exclaimed, her eyes wide and questioning.

A long silence followed, both pondering the answer to such an enormous question. Life had been hell back then, but they had had a clear purpose, there was no bullshit, no rules, no superficial everyday worries, they had both slotted in to that world perfectly. Beth had once said to Daryl that he was made for the world back then, and he was starting to think that maybe she was right. Because right now he wasn't so sure he was made for the new world they lived in.

Carol sighed, "Life back then was a thousand times worse, Daryl, we had no idea what was around the corner, there was no hope, nothing, just blackness. Yes, we had a misson, our misson was to find this." she said slowly.

"Why don't you come back with me? You can stay with us," Daryl said looking back at his dear friend, she had helped him through so much, she had become so brave and strong, he hated seeing her so broken and lost now. He knew she had her demons, but so did he. He didn't understand why she insisted on staying out here on her own. "Beth won't mind," he added, looking at her intently.

Carol didn't respond, arching her eyebrows a little, "She won't," Daryl assured.

"I know, but I'm just fine here, I like it," she said, her voice warming up, she meant it, she didn't want to be on her own forever, but for now it was right.

"Suit yourself," Daryl replied bluntly.

"Beth still needs you, Daryl," Carol said after another pause. "Maybe she doesn't need you to save her from a ton of walkers anymore or from the Govner or Dawn, but she still needs you to survive and you need her."

Daryl remained silent allowing her to carry on talking.

"She's going to go on to great things, but so are you. The world isn't the same as it was before and you're not the same person you were before the outbreak either, you're different and you've got Beth, so don't screw it up, because you know she thinks the world of you." Carol went on to say.

Daryl scowled, he wasn't quite sure he saw it like that yet, but he knew on some levels Carol was right, he needed to try. "Yeah, well don't think I'm exactly her favourite person right now," he said gruffly.

"Go home, tell her you're sorry and give her hot make up sex, she'll soon come round," Carol added with a smirk.

Daryl felt his cheeks flush slightly, he wasn't entirely comfortable with Carol talking about his wife like that, but she was right, he knew she was.

a/n - Thanks again for reading. Pleas let me know your thoughts (next chapter there will be lots of hot Beth and Daryl action ;)