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Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Beth's head hurt. Really hurt. That was the first thing she realized upon awakening, the heat of the pain spread across her skull like fire. Her body felt as though she'd been ran over – repeatedly. Beth tried to open her eyes, she hissed in pain as her eyelashes pulled apart; the crusts of sleep sticking them together.

"Beth..." His voice echoed, she began to feel his warmth wash over her; fingers clumsily grasping together.

She mumbled something incoherently, her throat felt as though she'd been eating razor blades solid for the last week, the inside of her mouth felt like gravel; she tried choking out his name but the words wouldn't come out. Her vision began to steady; focusing in on the face hovering beside hers.

"Hey, easy now. Careful, 'ya hurt," He whispered, vanishing for a second – returning and pressing the rim of a water bottle gently to her lips, "Drink it,"

She took a few sips, nearly choking as he moved it away from her, "Daryl," She spluttered, her blue eyes stared into his.

"Hello," He murmured gruffly, squeezing her little hand between his; looking down bashfully, he pressed a tender kiss against it.

"What happened?" Beth rubbed her eyes with her free hand, wincing at the large bandage covering her forearm.

"'Ya fell off a roof," Daryl looked up at her and smirked "Stupid,"

Memories flooded back to Beth – she remembered Scottsboro and the gas station, she remembered arguing with Daryl but nothing after that, she frowned and rubbed her eyes again; tilting her head to the side on the pillow and staring at him. "How long I been out for?"

Daryl smiled at her, "I've been sat 'ere 'bout three days,"

"You been here that long?"

He nodded and smiled slightly, "I best go get 'ya daddy, he's been worryin'," Daryl went to stand up but Beth's fingers grasped tighter around his, he looked down into her confused eyes.

"Did 'ya mean what you said?" She whispered, Daryl sighed and dropped back down into the chair at her bedside, he squeezed her fingers and smiled half-heartedly.

"Naw, I was just bein' a jackass," He looked down at their intertwined hands, his thumb stroked across a fading scar on the back of her hand. "I-I don't know how to do this,"

"What?" Beth tried to look into his eyes, but his head was held low; his fringe covering his darkened features.

"This... I don't know. Us," Daryl stammered, "I..I like 'ya... a lot, but I ain't done this before. Ain't ever got a girl before, I ain't what 'ya want,"

Beth could see the blush that had crept up onto Daryl's cheeks, he'd raised his other hand to his mouth and was nibbling on his thumb; still not making eye contact, "And how do you know that?" She murmured, ducking her head to try and read his expressions.

"I don't know, 'cause it's me. How the hell would we even tell anyone?" Daryl's voice quietened, his shoulders tensing up.

Beth tilted his chin up with her free hand, her eyes searching his; looking for any sign of doubt, "We'd figure it out,"

Daryl shifted himself off the chair and crouched down beside Beth, he hesitated slightly as he leant forward and kissed her hand, brushing the back of it against his cheek, "Y'sure?"his voice was barely a whisper.

She intertwined her fingers in his thick hair, he jumped slightly at the sensation but leant into her hand, their eyes met as she nodded at him; her head resting against the pillow as she carefully watched Daryl. He shifted again; the blush on his cheeks darkening as he leant forward and kissed her softly, his lips chastely pressing against hers; he leaned on his elbow awkwardly, trying not to put any weight on her. Their lips moved against one another, gentle and tentative – no distractions this time. Daryl pulled away slightly and looked into Beth's eyes, their breath was shaky as their lips brushed together.

"Gon' be the death of me girl," His voice noticeably shook as he smiled down at her, "If 'yer daddy don't kill me first,"

~.~

Beth hadn't had a moments peace since she'd woken that morning, her daddy had stirred her from her slumber rattling through his medical bag; smiling sympathetically as she'd opened her eyes, Daryl was still asleep – his head dropped forward as he snored softly; after she'd fallen asleep he'd moved back onto the chair and followed suit – still clutching onto her hand. Hershel smirked at him and winked at Beth as he dropped a metal medicine tray onto the floor purposely, Daryl snapped awake; grunting loudly as he jumped and looked around the room. His demeanour lightened as Beth giggled; he looked down at her smiling – his eyes still bleary with sleep, he squeezed her hand and looked up at Hershel.

"First bit of sleep he's had since you first woke up," Hershel chortled, handing Beth some painkillers and a water bottle, "M'sure Daryl's filled you in on what happened,"

She smiled and nodded, she was lying though; Daryl hadn't told her anything, they'd spent all night kissing and talking softly; all thoughts of anything important were forgotten. After he'd retreated her cell later that morning – to avoid suspicion and to start pulling his weight again, she hadn't had much time to speak to him. Folk came in and out of her cell all day for pretty much a week whilst she recovered; the only consistency she had was Daryl's presence outside her cell door – pacing around like a frustrated guard dog whenever anyone was in there with her. He'd take the brief opportunities to sneak her a kiss when no-one was around, but they hadn't had much time to talk since that night. Carl slipped into her room when Daryl was out on a run and informed her about what had happened when she had her accident; she was surprised to say the least about Daryl's emotional breakdown – he'd told her not to say anything to anyone; he feared the safety of his remaining Big Cat bars if Michonne found out that he'd told Beth. She'd been tempted to bring up the subject to Daryl, but her heart feared that he might bolt again – she couldn't handle that again. Michonne herself had visited a couple of times; first with Rick to divulge the details of that fateful day, she was horrified at the events that occurred after she fell. Rick had joked about Daryl practically burning the jeep out racing back to the prison; Beth felt a small flutter in her chest at the prospect of Daryl's mission to save her, she bit back the grin that she felt creeping onto her face. The second time Michonne visited she was on her own.

"Hey," She said smiling, dropping down into the chair by Beth's bunk, "How you feelin'?"

"A bit better," She replied, pushing herself into a sitting position, "Gonna try gettin' up tomorrow,"

Michonne leant back slightly to check the hallway, she looked back at Beth with a half-smile; eyes fixated to read her expressions, "He was very upset when he brought you back,"

Beth felt her chest tighten, she looked down at her hands; fiddling with the bandage on her arm, "Yeah I heard," she whispered.

"Didn't expect Carl to not tell you really," She said softly, a moment of silence passed between the two women, "I'm sorry. I was wrong about you two,"

"What do you mean?" Beth looked up.

"I thought he was messin' you around, but I ain't ever seen him that upset, I also ain't ever seen him happier than when you woke up. Just make sure you both know what you're doing. It ain't gonna be easy,"

"I know," Beth murmured.

Michonne gave her a hug and left the room without another word, leaving Beth alone with her thoughts. She glared at her empty cell; it was so silent – she felt frustrated at her lack of mobility; she felt useless. Beth glanced over at the drawers on the other side of her cell, a shard of mirrored glass lay on the top of it, with a sigh she realized that she hadn't seen her own reflection in over a week; she probably looked as gross as she felt. Determined; Beth pulled herself over to the edge of the bunk and dropped her feet onto the floor; wincing at the pain of her aching muscles – she hauled herself to a standing position and hobbled uneasily across the room, despite the pain she was doing fine until a cramp flared up her right leg; crying out she felt it buckle underneath her.

Strong arms wrapped around her as she fell backwards, Beth gasped in surprise as she was lifted into them, Daryl's eyes gazed down into hers, "You gotta stop fallin' over girl," he murmured; carrying her back over to her bunk. Beth pulled him down so he was lying next to her on the scratchy blanket.

Daryl glanced nervously at the door, "It's 't middle of the day, anyone could come in,"

"We'd hear their footsteps," Beth murmured, snuggling into his chest; fingering with the stitching on his vest.

"Didn't hear me," Daryl smirked, slipping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

"You're sneaky," She giggled, "Daddy and the others aren't that quiet,"

"S'true," He said softly, Beth felt his body relax a bit more as he played absent mindedly with her hair.

"Stay for a while?"

Daryl closed his eyes, he smiled and pressed a kiss onto her head, "Ain't goin' nowhere,"