AN - Man, this chapter was so difficult to write! I don't want it to feel like their relationship is growing too fast and that they'll end up in love with each other by the end of the week, but I feel as though Daryl and Beth's relationship is so strong and evident it wouldn't take them too long to feel something for one another.

Mild threat of rape in this one, it's nothing too graphic but I'd hate for one of you to feel uncomfortable!

As I made my way back to my cell I thought about the look in Daryl's eyes as he told me about his father. I hadn't liked Daryl all that much before three weeks ago, but I knew he was a good man. I felt like we had a connection that ran deeper than simply liking each other. We were opposites, but were more similar than either of us could have imagined. He was pessimistic, brooding and withdrawn whereas I was always trying to look at the bright side, open and sociable but we'd somehow found ourselves in almost identical situations. Kissing his cheek had felt different though, I had to admit. I'd kissed Rick's cheek before, but it hadn't felt anything like kissing Daryl. I'd left before I could see his reaction, but I could have guessed that he was probably just as embarrassed as I was.

The next morning, after feeding Judith I went to the courtyard to train with Daryl when I spotted him talking to Carol. He was wearing a brown leather jacket over a brown vest and it seemed as though every top he wore was always cut at the shoulders in a makeshift vest. However, my attention was stolen by the way he spoke to Carol, focusing as he spoke, his features contorted in concentration. He was playing with his knife, throwing it and catching, not really paying attention but he seemed to know where the knife was going to land and when to catch it. I caught myself smiling at the sight and blinked rapidly as I cleared my throat to let them know I was there.

"Hey, sweetie." Carol smiled gently and after casting Daryl a warning gaze she left.

"What was that abou-" I asked him, turning around to watch Carol retreat to the cell block.

"'Aint none of your goddamn business, kid." He replied and brushed past me as he made his way over to Joe's group, I followed him, refusing to allow myself to be beaten by his mood swing. The fact he called me kid hurt. He'd always been complaining about how no one treated me like an adult despite being eighteen but now he was brushing me off as if I wasn't good enough to vye for his attention. "I'm goin' out today, Rick told me one of y'all would join me."

"Is the little lady coming to?" Joe tilted his chin at me and I swear I noticed Daryl clench his fists as the men stared me up and down.

"I am actually, yes." I stood up straighter and put my hands on my hips, my bow was already slung over one shoulder so there was no need to go back for it and risk Daryl leaving with the other men.

"What? No you 'aint-" I'd finally absorbed Daryl's attention and seeing him flustered gave me the hint of a smile.

"Come on now, she looks like she can handle herself, sure she won't be a problem." Joe smiled at Daryl, but it all felt off and I suddenly regretted acting so bold. It felt as though Daryl and Joe had met before by the way they looked at each other. Joe's arrogant smirk and taunting eyes were locked upon Daryl's face and to my surprise, his features gave away nothing.

"Fine, she can come."

If Daryl was concerned about receiving my father's permission he sure didn't show it now. We piled into the black car that Joe's group had arrived in yesterday and I found myself sat next to Daryl, surprised that he didn't take the motorcycle. Joe and three of his men joined us.

"So what are we looking for, fellas? Oh, and lady." Joe made sure to catch Daryl's eye before addressing me, so I just smiled bashfully and looked away.

"Guns an' baby food." Daryl grunted and relaxed in his seat before staring out at the window, ensuring there would be no conversation between us.

Just yesterday we were getting along and I thought we were getting somewhere, but now …? Perhaps I'd overstepped the line by kissing him, it had only ever meant to be for reassurance but it seemed as though he had taken it offensively.

I hadn't been this far from the prison in a long time, especially not in a car. I watched the overgrown fields race past me and slowly unwound the window longing to feel the rush of cold air on my face but as if he knew what I was thinking, Daryl pulled my wrist which yanked me from pushing the button. I whipped my head to face him, but all he did was shake his head.

Minutes later, we reached a broken down shopping complex that was probably crawling with walkers and I felt the discomforting sensation of apprehension fill my stomach. I shouldn't be here … Daryl seemed to sense that too and reassuringly squeezed my hand before I even knew what happened. So he wasn't mad at me. Despite being in such a dangerous situation the thought of Daryl being okay with me made my heart soar. The car doors were opened and I hesitantly stepped onto the gravel, clenching my bow tight I was sent to check the front of the store due to being the smallest.

"'Aint no way she's goin' first." Daryl pulled me back as I set off, there wasn't any point in arguing with them. If it turned nasty there were three of them and two of us. "You don't gotta do this." I felt his hand loosely hold my wrist.

"I'm fine …" I mumbled, staring at his hand that was around my wrist and to my horror as I looked up, he did too meaning we had both been staring at the contact between us. As if you could get any more embarrassing.

"You finished?" Joe asked, eyebrow raised. He and the other men were smirking and Daryl quickly withdrew his hand to wipe his mouth, yet again brushing me off. "Off you go then, little lady."

Inhaling deeply I climbed atop one of the broken down cars whilst crouching low to avoid detection. There were too many groups of small groups of walkers just walking around to count. They didn't even move in a specific direction, just followed whatever noise they heard. I looked back to tell Joe what I'd seen.

"We can take 'em." His men nodded in agreement, then he raised an eyebrow at Daryl. "Can't we?"

"We can. She 'aint." Daryl nodded at me, not even bothering to look.

"What are you talkin' about?" I jumped down from the car and strided over to him, ready to argue my case.

"I 'aint havin' your blood on my hands." He slowly turned to face me with his eyes rolling as he spoke.

"It's my choice, Daryl. Mine."

Daryl nodded apologetically at Joe and his comrades and pulled me aside, leaning in close so he was talking in a loud whisper. His breath smelt of stale cigarettes, but it wasn't a bad smell … Just Daryl's smell.

"What are you playin' at, Beth?" His voice a growl, he held my arm tighter.

"Daryl, you're hurtin' me!" I made sure to stare into his eyes as I spoke, my blue irises watered slightly at the thought of him so willingly hurting me.

"I'm keepin' you safe!" He pulled me closer, so his lips were against my ear. "They 'aint good people."

"How can you know?" I breathed, barely able to talk. His breath against my ear felt glorious and reminded me of the sweet nothings Jimmy would murmur when we would lay in one of the fields and look at the starry night sky.

"I used t'be like 'em." He nodded once and pulled away before walking back over to Joe. A sense of animosity was felt as they stared us down, eyes lingering on my body and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand.

"I'll take lookout." I offered a small shrug though my voice was meek and tinged with apprehension. They slowly made their way towards us and Daryl gently pushed me behind him.

"You're Merle Dixon's baby brother, aren't you?" One of the men piped up from the back as they circled us. He was a tall man, certainly taller than Joe, who also had a bow. His was a far better make than mine and judging by the way his adept fingers played across the string I could tell he was far better trained than I was too.

The mention of Merle made Daryl tense and his head turned as he sized up the group. They all had their weapons raised and poised at him, waiting for Joe's signal. They fell silent, waiting for a response from Daryl who remained tight lipped.

"Who's Merle?" My voice was a lot louder than I had intended and Daryl whipped his head back to shoot me a glare, before pulling me down with him as he ducked. An arrow and bullet collided, shattering the metal of the arrow which rained upon us in burning hot pieces.

"The little lady is a liar! You know what we do with liars!" Joe threw his head back and howled with laughter and held out his arms, allowing his men to swarm upon us.

As if he had expected it, Daryl seized my bow and drove it into the head of the closest man with a speed I didn't think possible. A moment of stillness assumed as the the other two men looked back at Joe, waiting for their leader to instruct them further.

"Well?! Kill 'em!" He roared as he clouted the closest man on the ear before joining the fray.

Daryl shoved me back, taking on the two men as they progressed towards him. My eyes watered and I scrambled back, he was still holding my bow so I had no means of protecting myself as Joe dropped to his knees and began crawling after me. He was mocking my futile attempts of escape, catcalling me as Daryl was thrown to the ground by one man and was held down by another. I was too distracted by Daryl's defeat to notice how close Joe was to me.

My head turned to face Joe, expecting to see him watching his men beat Daryl, but to my disgust his face met mine. We were so close our noses touched and he slowly began to crawl up, forcing me to lay down. He leaned down from above and licked the side of my neck as I had turned my head to face Daryl again, hoping he had somehow managed to escape. A small whimper escaped my mouth as my stomach churned.

"Don't touch her!" I watched as Daryl kicked against the aggressors holding him down. He looked like a wild animal in a cage, desperate to escape. "Don't fuckin' touch her!" His yells were verging on screeches, punctuated by kicks to the men's ribs. A punch in the mouth from the tallest one silenced him.

Joe had stopped tormenting me to watch Daryl. He laughed softly, dangerously quiet before sliding his hand up my top, eliciting another sob from my shaking frame.

"Like that?" He smirked softly and bent down to kiss my stomach. My eyes watered and it felt like my throat was about to close from panic before I remembered something Daryl had taught me back when we had first started training. I turned as fast as I could, spinning him off balance before I brought up my knee and felt it connect with his chin, sending a loud crack through the air as his jaw snapped.

I pinned Joe down before straddling him, pulling his knife from his waistband so hard I felt the fabric tear. The edges of my vision blurred in rage as I brought the knife down upon his neck again and again and again. His hand feebly reached for me in a pathetic attempt to end the onslaught, but I didn't stop. I stabbed him even after I heard the chink! of the metal knife hitting the cement beneath us, the only thing that stopped me from stabbing was when a rough hand dragged me from the carcass and a warm body smelling of stale cigarettes enveloped me in their arms.

"Sh Petal, it's alrigh' .." Daryl's usually gruff tone was pleasantly soft as he rocked me. The adrenalin lasted only seconds before I dissolved into sobs that racked through my body.

My eyes were fixated on my bloodied hands that shook so hard my teeth chattered but Daryl, noticing the walkers that slowly began to form around us picked me up.

"Come on, we gotta go …" He gently sat me in the passenger seat of the car and rested my bow across my lap to prove it wasn't broken.

He drove for about an hour, but I was too shaky to protest. He stopped in a field, the grass was up to my ankles as he helped me out of the car.

"Come see this." His tone was laced with the excitement that he tried to cover up and he held my blood caked hand as he led me across to a lake that had a large rock with water spilling over the top and I supposed it resembled a small waterfall. The water glittered as the sun filtered through tiny gaps the canopy above us allowed. The height of the trees were so high the leaves surrounding the area gave off the impression that the we were under a dome of leafy tranquility.

"Found it with Michonne one day." He explained, letting go of my hand, he made his way over to one of the smooth rocks that dipped into the water and kicked off his shoes and socks before shrugging off his jacket and pulling his vest over his head.

I was surprised to see that the redneck did have some muscle, especially in the abdomen, but it was visibly bruised from the beating he had taken from the two men he'd failed to at first take down. The thought of what had just happened seared through my mind and I stopped looking at Daryl to stare at my hands again, ashamed of what I'd done.

"Well, 'aint you comin' over?" I could tell he was being kind on purpose, he clearly didn't know how to react to the situation.

"I liked you better when you were mad." I said hoarsely as I slowly walked to the rock he was sitting on.

"Got a sass mouth, 'aint'ya?" He smirked and held my hands as I sat down.

Daryl picked up his shirt he'd taken off and dipped it tentatively into the water.

"Your bruises look bad …" I whispered, reaching forward to examine his body but he stopped me and set me back.

"N'aw, they don't hurt. I'm gonna wash the blood off, alrigh'?" He looked at me, as if asking for permission and I'm certain we blushed at the same time as I nodded.

His gentleness never failed to amaze me. Here he was, toughest guy in the group washing blood off of my hands. It felt almost poetic, as if by literally washing the blood off of my hands he was telling me that what happened wasn't my fault and I should wash my conscience of all that happened.

"How did you get rid of the other two?" I asked as I watched his hands moved silently across my own, washing away all evidence of what I'd done.

"When you were … Yanno … I managed to get the jump on 'em." He shrugged.

"You blush a lot." I blurted out, before silently cursing myself. Why did I have to ruin everything good?

He shrugged in response and finished cleaning off my hands. "You wanna talk about it …?"

"No."

"Alrigh'."

We sat quietly for a few minutes, silently watching the water cascade down the rocks and spatter into a frothy mess at the bottom.

"You saved our lives back there." He looked at me and once again held my hand.

A hot flush crept up my neck and I looked everywhere but at him, as if avoiding his gaze would somehow distract me from his touch. Daryl was unlike anyone I'd ever known and had this been any other man his age I would have shrugged it off and thought it was weird but with Daryl … It felt like he knew what I needed at exactly the right time, but enjoyed doing it too; not feeling like he was forced to comfort me because he was the only one around. I stroked his hand softly with my thumb as we sat on the rock and after a few minutes his fingers slowly interlocked themselves with mine. I turned to look at him, unable to refrain from glancing at his torso, I slowly inched closer to him until I was able to wrap my arms around his neck and pull myself closer to him.

"Beth …" He warned and I reluctantly pulled away to see what was wrong. "You shouldn' be gettin' too close." I frowned slightly and moved back to where I was sitting before. "No, not like tha'. I mean …" He played with his hands and licked his lips as he carefully thought out his next words, not wanting me to get the wrong impression. "I'm just not a good guy." He looked up from his hands and into my eyes. the intensity within them begged me to understand. Not get angry or upset or hurt, just understand

"Are we really goin' over this again?" I chuckled nervously and shook my head softly. "How many times do I have to tell you you're a good person?" I sighed and looked out at the water. If he wasn't even going to try to see what I meant there wasn't much else I could do for him.

"I care abou' you." He gently tugged my wrist in order for him to look into my eyes again. "I 'aint ever been so …" He clenched his teeth. "Scared to lose someone before."

It seemed as though he didn't want to admit that I mattered, but even still I felt the corners of my lips pull into a smile and I rested a hand against his cheek so he met my eyes again. "I care about you too."

The sentiment of my words drowned me in undying affection for Daryl and he pulled me close, hugging me as tight as he possibly could with his head buried in my neck.

"Daryl …?" I whispered, stroking his hair as he held me. The sun was warm on my back and the sound of birdsong was comforting as all the horrors that had happened but an hour ago seeped away and left me to enjoy the moment.

"Mmm?" He murmured in response and I could tell his eyes were closed. It occurred to me that Daryl had never felt this type of comfort before and I felt my heart ache before I pushed it to the corner of my mind.

"Can this be our special place where only we go?" I looked up at the canopy and squinted slightly at the bright rays of sunshine that forced its way through the gaps in trees.

"Don't ruin the moment." He smirked against my shoulder and pulled away from the hug.

He quickly got dressed again, as if our short exchange of words hadn't changed the mood. I sighed softly and got up, drying my wrists as best I could before trudging back to the car with him.

"Beth?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell anybody abou' this an' I'll kill'ya."

"I expected nothin' less." I smirked softly and watched him get into the car. I turned quickly to take in one last look of the lake before settling into the passenger seat next to him.

And it was then, with the sun beaming overhead as the roads rushed past us in a neverending blur, that Daryl Dixon became the reason I lived in this world and not simply survived.