Hey guys, I'm almost done with school this year, so I'm extremely happy about that. I hope you guys like this chapter, it's a little more dramatic, but not too much. Right now I'm bouncing around some ideas of where I want this story to go, so we'll see what happens. I also wanna say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story.

I don't own shit, just a broke student.

Chapter Sixteen

Beth woke up alone the next morning, not surprised, Daryl was usually up long before she was. However, she was a little surprised that he was nowhere to be found in the house. She had a feeling that something wasn't right, he wouldn't just up and leave without saying anything to her. Beth quickly got dressed, and headed out in search of Daryl.

She didn't have to look long, as she walked towards the other houses, she heard a commotion from the front gate. Everyone was by the front gate, armed, and on alert. Beth was worried, what could the problem be?

"Daryl calm down," Beth heard Rick order Daryl.

"No Rick! He knows the people who took Beth!" Daryl shouted back at him.

Beth froze in her tracks, who from Grady could have found them? She had to know, was it one of the officers trying to drag her back? Beth began to move again, until she heard the voice of the new comer,

"Look man, I didn't take her! We were friends, she helped me escape! I tried to go back for her, but when I went back the place was in chaos!"

Noah. Noah was alive, and he was here. A huge smile broke out across Beth's face as she moved towards the crowd of people around Noah. At first Maggie and Carol tried to hold her back from getting into the center of everyone, but Beth quickly fixed them with pointed looks, and they let her through.

"Noah," Beth breathed out as soon as she saw him.

In an instant Daryl was standing in front of her, blocking her view of Noah,

"Get out of here Beth. Go home," Daryl practically growled at her.

Beth looked at him like he'd lost his damn mind,

"Move Daryl, Noah ain't gonna hurt me. He's my friend. He's one of the only reasons I made it in there."

"I don't care, he could still be workin' with them. Leave. Now," he barely got out through gritted teeth.

Beth was starting to get pissed, Noah was innocent. He wouldn't hurt anyone, unless they hurt him, or someone he cared for.

"I'm not going anywhere, and you can get over it," she told him as she shoved past him.

Everyone stared in shock at Beth, while Daryl looked like he could kill someone at any second.

"Noah how'd you get here? I thought you were dead. Dawn said you got eaten."

Noah smiled at Beth, happy that she was alive,

"Nah, I found a car and got away from the city, but then I ran out of gas…tried going home…but everyone was dead when I got there…"

"Oh Noah, I am so sorry," Beth told him as she grabbed him into a hug.

She could hear Daryl hiss, and knew that Rick and Abraham were probably holding him back from exploding.

"Daryl you need to calm down. He isn't gonna hurt her. You gotta trust her," Rick was whispering harshly to him.

Rick motioned for Tyreese to come take his place so he could ask Noah the routine questions, but he knew Daryl was still too riled up to be left alone. Tyreese quickly replaced Rick, making sure to get a good grip on Daryl's arm.

"You mind if I ask you some questions?" Rick asked Noah.

"Sure, ask away."

"How many people have you killed?"

"None."

"How many walkers?"

"A lot. Never kept track, didn't have time to."

"You weren't working with those people at Grady?"

"No. I was Dawn's ward. Said I owed her for her saving me, but they hit me with a car, so they'd have to save me, then I'd owe them."

"So you had no part in hurting Beth?"

"No. I'd never hurt her. She's the only friend I had. She helped me to realize how strong I really was. Proved to them I wasn't weak, and neither is she," he said while smiling at Beth.

"You said your people were dead?"

"Yeah…we had a community similar to this. Didn't have as strong of walls, but it was workin' at the time…somebody came through and took them all out…destroyed everythin…I grabbed some clothes and a few things I could carry and left. Found cars around the way, drove them till they ran out of gas."

"How'd you happen upon us?"

"Don't really know. I just turned on the road, and kept driving. Thought I was gonna have to turn around, then I saw the wall…I figured people were inside…was a little weary at first…can't trust people these days…"

"Damn straight," they all heard Daryl growl.

Though he seemed to have calmed down some after hearing Noah's story.

Rick looked at Noah for a minute, he could tell the kid was telling the truth, plus Beth trusted him. Beth could read people almost as well Daryl, and he figured Daryl's emotions were blocking his judgement at the moment. Rick already decided he could stay, figured he'd let him stay with Maggie and Glenn. Those two would take care of him, but could handle themselves if he did pull something.

"You can stay. If Beth trusts you, then so do the rest of us," Rick told him.

Noah looked at him appreciatively,

"Thank you."

"You can stay with Maggie and Glenn. They'll introduce you to everyone," Rick informed him.

Daryl shoved Abraham and Tyreese off of him, and stormed off.

Beth made way to go after him, but Rick stopped her,

"Let him go. He just needs to cool off…He's just tryin' to protect you is all."

"I can take care of myself," Beth tried to refute him.

"Beth, it ain't just you he's tryin' to protect," Rick gave her a pointed look, "plus, he still ain't good with expressing his emotions. Anger is his go to reaction."

Beth nodded in understanding, and watched as Abraham went off to find Daryl.

Daryl had stormed off, they need to punch something overwhelming him at that moment. He found himself out by the garage, where they kept all their cars. Instantly he began punching the walls, needing to take his frustration out on something. Daryl knew he'd busted his knuckles wide open on both his hands, but damn if it didn't feel good to hit something. This kid just walks in with some sob story, and he's just supposed to trust him? Hell no. Beth may trust him, but in this world trust was often too easily given, and quickly shattered. Daryl wasn't taking any chances of putting Beth or the baby at risk, to hell with what everyone else thinks. He began to ease up on hitting the outside of the garage, when he realized he was no longer alone.

"You about done with your tantrum?" Abraham asked him.

"Shut the fuck up," Daryl growled back.

"Exactly what is the problem Daryl?"

"You know damn well what the problem is," Daryl replied through gritted teeth.

He'd stopped throwing punches, and turned around to face Abraham.

The redhead looked at Daryl with a hint of amusement, but mainly understanding,

"Look, we all get ya wanna protect them, but she knows this kid, and she says he's telling the truth. What reason does she have to lie for this kid? And why would she lie to you?" Abraham asked him.

Daryl had to stop and think about what Abraham said to him, he had a point. Beth wouldn't lie to him, at least he didn't think she would. If Daryl was being honest with himself, he knew this kid was innocent. At the moment Daryl's emotions were all over the place, and he just wanted to be able to lash out at somebody. Beth and the fact that he was going to be a father soon, were causing so many different thoughts and emotions in him, and he just didn't know how to cope.

"I know she wouldn't lie to me…" Daryl eventually mumbled out.

Abraham seemed to be able to tell that Daryl was beginning to struggle with everything; he'd been doing well the last few weeks, but Abraham had had a feeling that eventually Daryl was gonna flip his shit a little.

"I get it man, I really do. All this shit with Beth and the baby, it's got you all messed up, but you're doin' okay. And it's okay if at times you ain't okay, cause I guarantee you, she ain't always okay either. Remember, you can always come talk to Rick or me when you feel out of your depth. We got plenty of experience with this shit, hell, Rick already went through one pregnancy in this fucked up world we're in. Everythin' will turn out alright."

Daryl paused for a moment in thought before replying,

"Well, Rick's experience didn't go say great, now did it?"

Abraham wanted to roll his eyes at Daryl's reply, he just wanted to pick a fight at this point,

"No it didn't. But from everything I've heard, there were a lot of other factors involved in Lori's pregnancy and birth, that Beth ain't gonna be dealing with. Now why don't you stop tryin' to pick a damn fight, and calm down."

Daryl wanted to come up with another smart remark, but deep down he knew Abraham was right. He was just lookin' for a fight, that's how he was raised to deal with things. Yell, hit; hit, yell, all Daryl knew until a few years ago. But this group of people, his new family, had gone and turned his way of life upside down.

Daryl huffed,

"I know…y'all are all right…"

"Look, ya ain't gotta explain shit to me, I understand. Beth however, she's the one you need to go talk to. She's kinda pissed."

Daryl wasn't shocked, he'd been a bit of an ass to her.

"Do you know where she went?"

"Probably back to her sister's, wanted to catch up with the kid."

Daryl nodded at him,

"Thanks…for everythin'."

Rick smirked at him,

"Anytime, it's what family is for, right?"

Daryl simply nodded his head, and went in search of Beth. He'd done gone and dug himself another hole with her.

After all the introductions had been made between Noah and everyone else, Beth and Noah headed to Maggie and Glenn's.

"So you got out?" Noah prompted to her as they walked into the house.

"Yeah…I was getting ready to make another escape, when they showed up. They had kidnapped a couple of the officers, and were gonna make a trade for me…but Dawn tried to keep me…I killed her…"
Noah stared at Beth, he wasn't shocked by anything she told him, he was proud.

"She had it coming. You did the right thing."

Beth nodded at that,

"We stumbled on this place after we got out of Atlanta, close to five months ago. Been settled here ever since."

Noah nodded in response, he had a question he wanted to ask her,

"So that was the Daryl you told me all about?"

Beth nodded yes,

"Is he always like that? Ready to kill anybody who could possibly come near you?

Beth chuckled slightly at him before replying,

"No…well sort of…he's gotten a little more protective recently."

"Why recently?"

Beth blushed slightly, placing her hands over the swell of her stomach before responding again,

"Well…it's cause I'm…pregnant."

Now that shocked Noah,

"Oh wow, congratulations."

"Thank you," she smiled up at him.

"Well now that I know that, I understand his reaction a little better."

"Really? You get why he lashed out like that?"

"Sort of…when my mom was pregnant with my brothers, my dad would get pissed if people he didn't trust or like got to close to her. He just wanted to protect her, and I'm guessing Daryl is the same, especially after all the messed up shit you went through."

Beth stood there taking in everything Noah said, it did make sense, but she still wasn't happy about the way Daryl spoke to her.

Little did they know Daryl had walked in, and over heard what Noah said to Beth. Noah had earned a little bit of respect from Daryl then, kid didn't even know him, but was trying to defend him. Daryl could tell he was still up shit creek with Beth, might as well talk to her now rather than later.

He walked into the room, looked at them for a second before uttering an apology to Noah,

"Sorry bout earlier…"

Noah looked at him for a second before replying,

"All good man, I get it."

Beth gave Daryl a look that said she was still pissed as hell at him, and he flinched slightly at her.

"Can we uh talk?" Daryl asked Beth.

"Sure," she replied, "I'll come check on ya later Noah."

He smiled at her and waved goodbye as she walked out of the house. Noah gave Daryl a look of pity, he definitely didn't wouldn't wanna be in his place at that moment.

Beth had walked out of the house and headed towards the pond, hoping that would help to keep the conversation calm and rational. She could tell he felt bad for how he acted, otherwise he wouldn't have apologized. Still, he had been an ass to her, and she was not okay with him ordering her around.

Daryl could tell by the way she walked that she was still mad, but not as pissed. This conversation was gonna suck, but he couldn't avoid it. They got to the pond all too fast for Daryl, he was still trying to figure out what to say to her in his head.

Beth turned to look at him, waiting for him to speak,

"Well? Are you gonna explain to me why you flipped out for no reason?"

"It wasn't for no reason. I had my reasons," he half mumbled, half growled.

Beth knew exactly which buttons to press to get a reaction out of him, and he swore she enjoyed seeing him pissed.

"What are they? Cause I can't figure out why you would be that riled up."

Daryl started biting his thumb, partly to keep his anger in check, and partly cause he really didn't wanna have this conversation.

"Some random ass kid shows up, says he's from Grady, what the hell am I supposed to do? He could have been tryin' to take you!" he full on growled that time.

"I get that, but why the hell did you have to talk to me like an ass? And then after he and I explained everything, you still acted like a jackass."

This is the part of the conversation Daryl was hoping to avoid, but had known there would be zero chance of it.

"I just wanna keep y'all safe…" he said nodding his head to her stomach.

Beth smiled softly at that, but knew there was more to it, there was still something wrong,

"I understand, but you still haven't said why you got so angry."

He just huffed, might as well get it over with,

"Cause'…I still ain't comfortable with all this…all the feelings…I can't just…I might seem okay on the outside…but on the inside I'm still trying to figure all this shit out…ain't a switch that's just gonna turn me into some perfect guy, who can handle all these emotions."

Beth looked at him for a moment, sympathy in her eyes, he was out of his depth with all this stuff. He had never dealt with anything like this in his life, but she didn't expect him to be perfect.

"Daryl, I understand you're not gonna be perfect. I don't expect ya to be. I expect you to be my Daryl, be you. But you gotta talk to me or somebody when you start to feel too overwhelmed, can't have you flipping out every other day."

Daryl looked down at Beth, how could she just be okay with him being him? He wasn't nothin' special, and she deserved the world. But he wasn't gonna say anything, no wanting another argument at the moment.

"Okay," he said softly.

Beth smiled up at him, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Daryl hugged her back gently, and bent down to drop a kiss on the top of her head.

"Archer Spawn and I are hungry, so it's time to go home," Beth told him.

Daryl laughed softly at that, pulling back from her slightly,

"Guess I best get you home then."

At the moment things were okay, but Daryl couldn't shake the feeling that trouble was coming. Maybe he was being paranoid, but in this world he'd rather be paranoid, then unprepared. For now, he was gonna try and relax, for Beth's sake.

I honestly couldn't leave Noah out of this story, I really love him. Also I really wanted to show that Daryl is still adjusting to everything that is happening with Beth, he's never gonna be that perfect boyfriend or whatever, cause then he wouldn't be Daryl. If there are any ideas that you guys have about things I should add into the story, or that you might want to see at some point, tell me. I'd love to hear what y'all think.