A/N: THE REVIEWS! Thank you all so much. You make me happy.

I now present to you, chapter two! This is going to be a flashback of their first ever meeting, back in the woods when Beth was 8 and Daryl was 10. I hope you enjoy this!

Also, don't forget to check out bethybethyl's fanfic, she's still writing her first chapter, but it should be up anytime now

A Case of the Blues: Chapter 2

** 20 YEARS EARLIER **

The light was fading, creating new shadows and dark patches around her. She moved faster, ignoring the twigs that caught at her jeans; the damp leaves that grimed her skin. Every sound made back and forth made Beth turn and rotate till she was driven with insanity. The trees danced as the wind shook their magnificent green leafs in an angry rage. The cold, yellow moon sat above the forest, watching her as she ran unceremoniously through the mass of trees along the mountainside.

She had given up screaming for help. She had been foolish. Her father had been drinking again and Beth resorted to running whenever this was the case. Unfortunately, she ran a little too far this time, and found herself completely lost on the mass of rock and trees. She couldn't remember how long she had been running for, but eventually she found herself collapsing flat on her back, hot tears streaming over her swollen cheeks. Her chest heaved up and down with each breath that she fought for, thinking each breath would be her last.

A rustling in the trees grabbed Beth from her thoughts as she shot upright and looked for the source. Only now did she realise how dark it was. She stared into the treeline until her eyes managed to focus on a dark figure slowly walking towards her.

She clumsily rushed to her feet and backed up, still keeping her eyes on the person that had followed her.

"Get away from me!" She screamed.

The person put their hands up. "It's okay, I'm here to help," the boy replied.

Beth slowed her steps and eventually came to a stop and allowed the boy to approach her. He had dark hair that hung over his eyes, he had a ripped, dirty shirt on with ripped jeans.

"I.. I don't need your help," Beth shakily replied, beginning to back up again, but with less intent.

"I think 'ya do, you're the lil' girl that was shoutin' fer help, right? You were callin' out, an' I came," he stated, holding his hand out to her. She looked down at his hand and slowly took it, her heart in her throat, and she began to walk back into the treeline with the stranger. He couldn't have been much older than her, maybe a year or so. His hand gripped hers tightly as he lead her through the forest and into a small opening which had a tiny abandoned cabin, barely even standing anymore.

They headed inside, and the boy gestured towards an old sofa which Beth perched on the edge of. The boy lit a few candles and sat beside her and looked at her, allowing Beth to get a proper look of him. He definitely was young, just like her. He had dirt on his face, his hands and his clothes, so she guessed that he lived out here. She tried to look down at her hands, but she couldn't turn away from the eyes that held her. Eyes as deep, as dark as the night, yet there was something that sparked with warmth, that kept those eyes from being cold. Finally, he spoke.

"What's your name?"
She hesitated. "Daddy always told me not to talk to strangers."
"Well… What if I told you my name first?" He asked. "My name's Daryl Dixon. See, I aint a stranger no more," he grinned, waiting for her reply.

"My name is Beth. Beth Greene," she spoke quietly, almost as if she didn't want him to hear.

"Well, Ms Greene, I can't help but wonder why on earth you are up on this mountain in the middle of the night."

Beth went on to explain why she had ran, and ended up getting lost. He sat in silence and listened the entire time, listened to her stories of how her father could be when he took to drinking. Once she was finished, Daryl talked about his past and why he was living in an abandoned cabin on his own. He explained that his father too was a drinker, but he was abusive and usually took out his anger on him. He told her that his older brother Merle was still at the house, and he was trying to escape to join Daryl in the cabin. He told her that once his mother died in a house fire, he decided that was his cue to leave that hell hole. He showed her the scars on his back and she hugged him. He then told her that it was his birthday.

"It's your birthday? Why don't we go back to mine and I can give you a present?"

Daryl hesitated and turned away slightly. "I ain't been in another person's company for a few years now, Ms Greene."

Beth giggled at the formality of Daryl's words, and he just narrowed his eyes at her. She would play along.

"Mr Dixon, please, you did save me after all," she smiled. But he shook his head and told her maybe he'd join her another time.

They continued to talk in the faint light of the cabin. Daryl told her that he enjoyed hunting the most and she told him that reading was her favourite hobby. He laughed. "Yer such a geek." Beth swatted his arm and murmured something about not being a geek. He looked at her then, properly. "Yer the cutest geek I ever saw," he said, before smiling at her and then continuing the conversation.

Daryl suddenly had the urge to ask Beth a question. She was a girl after all, and she might have the right answer for it.

"Ms Greene, do you believe in love at first sight?" He whispered, watching her fiddling with the hem of her yellow sundress.
"No," she replied instantly.
"Why not?"
"I haven't been in love yet, Mr Dixon. I'll let you know when I know," she giggled.

If only she could be so oblivious again, to feel such love without knowing it, mistaking it for laughter.

Over the next few weeks, Beth visited Daryl in his cabin whenever she could. A stick could be a sword; a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle. Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a cabin up a mountainside, far from a girl. They made up a thousand games. She was queen and he was king. In the autumn light her hair shone like a crown. She was free in her wildness. She was a spark of light, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city. They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark, and they parted with leaves in their hair.

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.

Until she stopped coming.

A/N: Eeeeeee! Thank you for reading! Don't forget to review, tell me everything I did wrong, please. I'm really trying to portray the "childhood sweetheart" stuff here, please let me know if I can alter anything. Don't worry, there's probably going to be more flashbacks, some to explain why Beth stopped visiting, some to show how Daryl was feeling when she was there and then when she wasn't, some to explain in exactly what circumstances Daryl ran away from home and came across the cabin, etc. etc. Let me know if that's what you want to read, I'm entirely open to suggestions :]