A/N: This story is inspired by the song God Love Her by Toby Keith. It's going to be a relatively short fic with two or three chapters. I encourage you to listen to the song first. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think please!

Daryl sat stiffly on the old, but well taken care of couch in the Greene family living room. His knuckles were white from the force of his clenched fists sitting on his thighs. He knew if looks could kill he'd be done and buried by now. Honestly though, he was more worried about the shotgun he knew Hershel stored in the locked cabinet in the corner of the room. Daryl would have sworn he saw Mr. Greene's eyes stray longing to it a couple of times.

Daryl couldn't even blame the man for those thoughts, because he knew he'd be the same damn way if he was in Hershel's shoes. Catching your youngest daughter with the biggest asshole in town, who was twice her age, would be enough to set any father on the warpath. If Hershel hadn't been a preacher, Daryl knew he wouldn't be so lucky right now. His ass would have been peppered with bullet holes.

The worst part though was Mrs. Greene crying in the chair in the corner. He hated tears. Especially tears coming from as sweet and nice a woman as Annette Greene. Knowing he was the cause put him on edge. If it wasn't for the fact that he loved Beth, he would have given in to flight instincts long ago. Daryl would do anything for Beth though. Including the possibility of taking a bullet or two in the ass if her daddy ended up snapping.

It had all started innocently enough. Beth was 14 when she got into a fight with her older sister Maggie over who knows what. Riding on anger and not even enough rational thought she took off into the woods with her horse Nelly. It was unfortunate when Nelly gotten frighten by a snake and threw Beth off her back. It was even more unfortunate when Beth hit her head hard enough to knock her out. It was a few hours later when she came to and started stumbling around trying to find her way home with a concussion. Disoriented and nauseous all she managed to do was get herself lost. Hershel called on Sheriff Grimes when Beth didn't come home, who in turned called Daryl, to come find her. It didn't take too long for him to track her and bring her home.

Daryl was showered with extreme gratitude from Hershel and Annette for bringing their baby girl home safe. Beth, on the other hand, treated him with an awe akin to hero worship. She suddenly started showing up wherever he was and irritating him to no end. She was persistent though. Never put off by his rudeness or his short temper. She always gave as good as she got. Eventually she started growing on him and a friendship blossomed between the two despite the age difference. He taught her how to track and hunt and she made him do ridiculous things like eat frozen yogurt. She even dragged him every Sunday to church. She always had her bible on her. Sometimes Daryl even let her read her favorites passages to him. They ended up spending more and more time together. Every day after school she would show up at the shop where he worked as a mechanic and prattled on about her day. He had a standing dinner invitation from her parents that he showed for at least three times a week. And surely but slowly it started evolving into something more. A deeper understanding of each other. A connection that rooted it's way into their easy friendship.

Although Daryl didn't see it coming, everyone else did. To Beth it was inevitable. She'd been in love with Daryl since the day he rescued her. Everyone could see that. But she knew it wasn't like that for him. She would patiently bide her time. And she did. Until she couldn't be patient anymore. Three years later and she was done waiting for Daryl to figure out that he loved her too. So, one day she kissed him. And it shook Daryl to his core. Of course he panicked and shut down, but Beth never gave up. And eventually he couldn't deny her anymore. They'd been sneaking around for about four months now and they finally been caught. And it was going exactly how Daryl knew it was going to go.

The silence was the worst. Apart the soft cries of Beth's mom, there wasn't a sound that could be heard. He just wished the man would say something. Yell at him. Call him all the names Daryl knew he deserved. Because what kind of 30 year old man falls in love with a 17 year old. It didn't matter that Beth pursued him. It didn't matter that he didn't know he wanted her that way until she kissed him. And it most certainly didn't matter that he fought his feelings for months. The only thing that mattered is he gave in. Despite knowing it was wrong and despite knowing that he didn't deserve her. He was too far in now to back out. Unless Beth didn't want him anymore there was nothing on this earth going to keep them apart. And that included her daddy.

After a while of arguing back and forth with Beth, Hershel seems to get that he isn't going to be able to stop them. And Hershel storms out of the house with Annette following after.

Once they are gone Daryl relaxes a bit and puts his arm around Beth. She snuggles into side and they sit in silence for a moment.

"You sure I'm worth all this?" Daryl asks her seriously.

"You're with more than this. You're worth everything Daryl," she tells him quietly.

Daryl reaches over and puts a finger under her chin to lift her face to his. He gives a heartbreakingly sweet kiss and says "Nah girl. You're the one who's worth everything."