She's crouched down picking up the crayons scattered all around the floor and across the small table of the classroom when she feels her shirt being pulled. She turns around and a little girl, Lucy, is standing expectantly behind her, big brown eyes and rosy cheeks. Beth shifts towards her and smiles encouragingly. "What are you still doing here, sweetheart?" it's closing time and all the other kids had just left.

"Your friend is waiting for you" the little girl says in her tiny voice, pointing at the door.

"Who are you talking about, Lucy?" Beth asks placing the crayons on the table.

"The one with the wings" she answers shyly and runs out the door right after.

Beth tenses. Daryl. He's outside. She puts the crayons back in their pencil box and stands up. She's done for the day but she isn't ready to face him just yet. She noticed a back door earlier, and she makes a last minute decision to go out from there. She taps Aly's shoulder, busy gathering sketch books. "Hey, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure" she answers right away.

"If the man that is outside asks you where I am could you tell him I went home early?"

"Of course. Is everything okay?" she asks concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling tired and I want to walk home by myself." she assures her. "I'll sneak out the back door."

As soon as she's out Beth realizes that if she goes straight to the houses she'll find him there anyway withing minutes so she needs to go somewhere else first. She's still having mixed feelings about Daryl's lie; why didn't he simply tell her that he was offered a job? Did he think she was too fragile to handle it? She wanders around Alexandria for a while before a small chapel shapes in front of her. She vaguely remembers hearing that Father Gabriel was asked to become the new preacher since they didn't have one and he might have accepted. Whether he is inside or not, Beth can't help but feel compelled to enter. Lots of stuff had happened recently and she'd kind of lost touch with God.

She creaks the door open and walks in. The typical scent of incense and holy water that always filled her nose whenever she found herself in a church isn't there, replaced by the faint smell of stale, abandoned spaces. No one else is there, luckily. The pews are dusty, pale light radiates in from the varnished glass windows. A lone statue of the Virgin Mary is towering next to the altar which is modest and scarcely decorated but as she moves closer Beth spots a Bible resting on it and she immediately takes it in her hands. The feeling of the thin pages under her fingertips is so familiar she could cry. It brings her back to the Sunday visits to the local church with her family. Her mom had been a firm believer in God and His design. Whenever something bad happened she would never let herself be sad for too long 'cause she knew that God had a plan. Her whole life Beth had shared that same belief, never doubting in a higher power, but now she knows that some things aren't so easily explained. She does her best to keep thinking positive thoughts but sometimes it's incredibly hard.

To her right she sees candles and a lighter. She goes to get one and then she picks up the lighter, flickering it on. As she brings the flame near to the candle she closes her eyes and thinks of her mother, not the way she was when she'd last seen her out of the barn but how she used to be at church, happily listening to her daughter singing in the choir, reading the Bible with the rest of the flock. She puts down the candle and repeats the gesture dedicating it to her father, then to Noah. If she had to light a candle for all the people that their group had lost so far, there wouldn't be enough of them. She takes a deep breath and aims her sight up high. She doesn't want to come back there to shine a light for Daryl, too. She prays, for the first time in a long while, that whoever is watching over her will keep an eye on him as well.

She lost track of time and when she gets out of the chapel she's caught by surprise by the sight of rain falling down insistently. With no umbrella and nothing to use to protect herself she only has two choices, wait it out in the chapel some more or just run to the house as fast as she can. Her visit there had helped her clear her mind a little, facing Daryl doesn't seem that difficult anymore, so she decides to go.

Beth jogs at a semi-fast pace, crossing the streets, trying to remember exactly how to get to the house from there. When she runs across Aaron and Erik's house she knows she's made it, since it's in the same road. She slows down a bit, no point in hurrying when her clothes are already drenched and her hair too, flattened to her neck. She's about to walk the steps of her house when she's startled by a figure emerging from the porch. She squints through the raindrops trying not to close her eyelids. Of course he was waiting for her. His face looks angry and tired as he's towering above her. His hair and clothes are wet but not as sopping as hers. Her stare is steady on him. "Daryl..."

"Where the hell have you been?" he roars.

She's taken aback by the rage coming through his voice but she quickly recovers and dares to take a step up. "I took a walk" she answers sternly not taking her eyes off him.

"I went to the school but you weren't there and then you weren't at home. I looked all over for you" he growls back over the sound of rain pouring down.

The tiniest twinge of guilt gets to her stomach thinking that he was out there searching for her. But she needs to push it down. "why did you lie to me about the recruiting?" she asks raising her voice. "Did you think I couldn't take it?"

He winces just barely for her to notice before he descends one step. "Noah had just died, I didn't want to tell you until I was sure" he shouts back.

"You should have told me!"

"You said you were okay with it!"

"Well, I lied too, alright?!" she fires back spreading her arms in admission. "I want you to feel like you belong here for as long as we're staying but I also don't want to lose you and the possibility is freaking scary to me, okay?" she pauses, her arms falling back to her sides. "I care about you, Daryl Dixon." she adds lowering her tone a bit, but still loud enough for him to hear.

The intensity of his gaze is something that she's never seen before. In one swift motion he closes the distance between them, pulling her in. He holds her face like she's the most precious person in the entire world and kisses her fiercely. Not once in her life Beth had been kissed like that, as if the other person was afraid to let her go. She wraps her arm around him, grabbing tightly at his leather vest. Nothing could ruin that moment for them, not even the rain falling on their heads.

He breaks the kiss only to catch his breath. Beth's heart is racing like crazy. Daryl rests his forehead on hers, his gray-blue eyes never leaving her. "If you want me to say no to Aaron..."

"You can't. You have to go" she shakes her head, more sure than ever. "Just be very careful, alright?"

As much as she would prefer for him to stay far away from the threats of the woods, she also knows that it's the only job he can get. He gets people, he'll know who is good to join the community and who's not. He won't be alone, Aaron will always have his back. She won't be selfish like that.

His mouth curves in a faint smile. "Always" he promises.

Hey there! Just wanted to say that I changed the rating from K to T. That's pretty much it, I hope you're still liking the story so far :)