Have you ever had a dream that was so wonderful that when you start to wake up you pull yourself back out of consciousness just for a few more minutes just so you can have the moment for just a bit longer? You just don't want it to end yet. That's what Beth had been doing. She kept slowing drifting awake but would force herself to sleep so she could remain in her wonderland just a little longer. It was about her and Daryl and it was beautiful and she felt like she was swirling in a sea of euphoria. She was singing to him some song she had heard on the radio or something. She could feel his hand running over her arm as she sang 'and we'll buy a beer to shotgun, and we'll lay in the lawn and we'll be good…

"Beth…"

"Hey Beth, yer phone keeps going off…" Daryl said as he tried to gently shake her awake.

"Hmmm."

Beth shifted and mumbled slowly waking.

"Yer phone keeps going off." Daryl said again handing it to her.

Beth blinked the sleep out of her eyes grumbling looking at her screen; it had been her ringtone she was singing to Daryl in the dream. She knew she had heard it somewhere.

"Oh no…" Beth said flying out of the bed pulling on her pants and stripping of Daryl's shirt and into her own.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked sitting up and slipping on his own clothes.

"It's almost noon!" She said frantically as her phone started to ring again.

"Yeah why?" Daryl asked again confused.

"I have my diving test at twelve thirty!" She cringed as she brought her phone to her ear.

Daryl could hear Maggie's voice on the other end of the phone.

{

'Bethany Greene! Where the hell are you!?'

….

"I'm sorry I fell asleep at Daryl's…" Beth briefly looked to him shyly. He didn't miss the way her cheeks flushed.

'I have been trying to get ahold of you all night! I tried calling Daryl! Do you realize how worried I was?! What the hell are you doing staying there!?'

Daryl checked his phone and sure enough there were two missed calls and a text from Maggie. He couldn't help but feel a tad guilty.

"I-I know I'm so sorry Mags I fell asleep and-"

'You have your driving test in thirty minutes you know that right!'

"Yes I know." Beth replied quietly knowing Maggie had a right to be pissed at her.

'Well I'll meet you at the DMV then. You'll be there right?'

"Yes of course. I am really sorry Mags." Beth said genuinely.

'Calling me Mags isn't going to get you out of this, I'll see you there.' With that she hung up.

Beth had always used Maggie's childhood nickname for her when trying to get her way, but she wasn't falling for it this time it looked like.

{

Beth put her phone in her pocket of her jeans as she slipped on her socks with a timid look on her face.

"Ya okay?" Daryl asked.

She looked up and gave him a small nervous smile again. Why was she being so shy?

"Mhm. Maggie's pretty mad but it's okay. She'll get over it." She shrugged.

He nodded. "Ya okay about everything else too?"

This time she stopped what she was doing and looked at him less shy.

"Of course…" She smiled affectionately at him.

"Are you?" She added and there was that small hint of nervousness again.

He nodded. How could he not be? She was perfect, not that he hadn't already known it. Last night had only confirmed that what he felt about her was true. What he would do for her…

She smiled as she looked down as she blushed.

"Okay well, do you think you could give me a ride? Last time if all goes well." She smirked.

"Yeah course…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was later in the evening when he saw Beth again, she said she had snuck out of the house because Maggie had told her she wasn't allowed to go anywhere because of what had happened which was like the ultimate punishment since she had just passed her driving test and all she wanted to do was go places. Beth was explaining.

"You snuck out? Beth Greene doing something bad? I'll be damned." He smirked at her.

She was sitting on a work table at the garage swinging her feet back and forth munching on some fries she had brought for them as he worked on a customer's old pickup. The shop had closed a few hours ago but Daryl didn't really have anything better to do, and actually liked working on cars.

"Yeah I'm thinking about getting a tattoo too…" Beth replied sounding serious.

"What?" Daryl eyed her with brows furrowed.

Beth giggled.

"I'm kidding… And Maggie'll never know I left. She's with her lover boy." Beth raised her eyebrows smirking back.

"Why you don't think I'd look good with a tattoo?" She added half serious.

"You'd look good with anything Beth..." He replied as he saw her blush.

"Ya know I never thank you…"

"For wha?" He asked leaning further into the hood trying to reach.

"Everything… You make me feel like I can do anything, be anything. You make me...happy." She smiled looking into her lap.

It was the first time she had ever said anything like that, talked about her feelings. How he made her feel. She didn't care if it scared him or if he didn't want to. She did, and she was going to tell him how important he was to her and what an incredible person he was in her eyes.

"Don't thank me. Ya deserve to feel tha way no matter what…" Daryl said genuinely and spoke from his heart. But if anybody deserved to hear how beautiful they were inside and out it was her. He could manage that.

…

She blinked at him slowly taking in his words.

"Do you love me?" She blurted it out. She could say she had asked it was without thinking but she couldn't, because it was all she was thinking about.

Daryl dropped the wrench in his hand the noise of it clinkering down around the engine before hitting the ground.

"What…" He was going to throw up he could feel it… or pass out… or both. How did you breathe again? He couldn't remember.

Moments ticked by, it felt more like an eternity as she studied his face.

"M'sorry…" Beth's face was ten shades of red as she stuttered suddenly feeling stupid after seeing the way he reacted.

"I don't know why I just asked that- I shouldn't of." She said quickly jumping off the counter and grabbing her bag, turning towards the door to leave. She needed to leave. She got caught up and asked him, why the hell would she do something like that? Beth screamed at herself internally.

She was pulling the door open when she felt a tug on arm. She could feel the tears coming hot and thick. She felt like a fool.

"Hey…" His voice was soft but not scared. Not like it had been a few moments ago.

"Hey don't cry…"

Daryl pulled her into his body holding her tight. He had made a split second decision. He had this girl in front of him right? She was drop dead gorgeous, god she was beautiful. The most beautiful human being he'd ever seen. Not only on the outside but on the inside, and she cared about him. How the hell she could she put up with someone like him, to get herself to be with him. To give herself to him, in every sense of the word. He couldn't let her just walk away crying. He couldn't find it in himself to actually say the words, to tell her that he did. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to for some internal reason he didn't know if he'd ever get over. Daryl was a lot of things, he was messed up and damaged and could be an asshole, but he wasn't stupid. And he knew if he let her walk out that door it would be the stupidest thing he'd ever done.

He released her long enough to pull her face to his kissing her the way he wished he could tell her.

Eventually he pulled back and the look on her face was enough for him to know it was okay, that she still accepted him. He wiped the tears that had fallen form her cheeks, as she smiled lazily.

"Okay." Was her only word before she placed her lips on his again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few weeks later...

"Daryl come on!" Beth giggled as she dragged Daryl to the Ferris wheel.

"Greene this is the last time…" He grumbled looking skeptically at the carnival ride.

If Beth were to tell you that Daryl Dixon was afraid of heights would you believe her? Big, tough, squirrel shooting Daryl Dixon that claims he's not afraid of anything, yep that one. Well he is, though he tries to pretend like he's not. He had no trouble riding the rides that kept you close to the ground but when it came to the ones with height he became flustered and would complain about how Beth had dragged him to this stupid carnival anyway (which was so not true because he had suggested it a few weeks back).

"Okay fine, but the sun is going down it's the perfect time! Last time I promise." Beth babbled on with glee still practically dragging him behind her.

Daryl sighed as he followed her on to the ride for the fourth time that evening.

The carny latched them and they went up a few feet while they loaded more people on the ride. Daryl sat looking straight in front of him never to the ground.

"Daryl…" Beth watched him trying to contain her smirk.

"Hm." He looked to her acting as if nothing was wrong, but his eyes were glued to hers just like every last time they went on the Ferris wheel. Never looking to the ground and Beth couldn't hold back her smirk any longer. She was terrible, she knew that. That she thought it was amusing that he was scared of heights, but it really was humorous.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Her cheeks began to hurt from smirking so hard but she was really trying not to giggle. She wanted to reach out and pinch his own cheeks because he was just so damn adorable sometimes.

His eyes widened a bit before he glared at her.

"I aint afraid of no damn heights…" He grumbled looking forward again.

They were almost at the top now, stopping while the loaded the last of the line.

"I think you are." Beth poked him in the arm. She knew she was going to probably end up pissing him off, but in all honesty she just thought it was the cutest thing ever and she couldn't resist teasing him about it.

"I said I aint." He snapped at her.

Beth held back a giggle. God she was so terrible finding joy in this…

"You're so adorable." Beth leaned over and kissed chin.

Daryl scoffed. "I'm no such thing Greene."

"Mhm so if I started rocking the seat it wouldn't bother you?" She was still smiling like an idiot, she couldn't let it go.

He shot her another glare.

"That's what I thought grumpy." Beth made a fake angry pouty face before kissing him sweetly.

"Why's it matter? So what if I'm afraid of heights you're afraid of a lot of things…" Daryl grumbled sounding like it was killing him to admit it.

"Because you did it anyway. You did it for me…" Beth replied sounding like a swooning love drunken mess, but only because it was true.

Daryl looked at her again but no longer glaring and just rolled his eyes, but Beth caught his tiny smirk somewhere in between it all.

Eventually the ride was over and Daryl looked more relaxed once his feet were on the ground again. They played a few more carnival games, in which Beth made Daryl do the shooting ones so he could win her stuffed animals. She now had a collection of a stuffed frog, fish, and giant dog. She was very pleased to say the least rewarding him in a large amount of hugs and kisses (not that he seemed to mind). They eventually left and had claimed she wasn't ready to go home yet so they took a drive out of town a bit, so you could see the stars perfectly away from all the lights of town. They were sitting on the tail gate of his pickup eating left over cotton candy and just looking out into the night in silence. It was a content silence though and it felt nice just to be there in each other's presence.

She had been thinking a lot about what they were and what they felt for each other lately. It had been a couple weeks since the episode at the garage when she had asked him if he loved her. He hadn't told her he did but he didn't let her leave either, and somehow Beth figured that was his way of saying 'I do but I can't'. It would never be simple with him, Beth came to that realization. Nothing was ever simple though, not really. That's what makes it real she figured.

"I'm glad my parents got divorced." Beth said quietly.

Daryl looked at her oddly.

"I mean I'm not happy about why it happened, but if it hadn't we wouldn't have moved…" She elaborated and Daryl still watched her carefully not really knowing why she was bringing it up.

"If we would have never moved I would have never met you…So in a way I'm glad things happened the way they did. If not I'd still be living on the farm and would have probably never even known you existed and vice versa." Beth smiled.

"If you had the choice you'd still do things this way? Livin with yer sister in some crappy neighborhood hanging out with some dumb redneck?" Daryl finally spoke before he snorted in disbelief.

Beth shot him a look for calling himself that, he knew he meant so much more than that to her.

"Would you? Change it if you could? To a completely different life where maybe we wouldn't have crossed path's..." She countered back.

"That aint fair…" He grumbled looking to the ground.

"I know." Beth sighed she knew it wasn't right to ask him something like that; his life had been shit almost from the day he was born.

A few minutes went by in silence again. Daryl thought hard about what he wanted to say, but if he was being honest he wouldn't change his life. Yeah his dad was a piece of shit and beat him until he couldn't even walk at some points and his mom was dead and shit was ugly a lot of the time but how could he want a life where he didn't know Beth Greene. He would never willing admit it but she made him better, she made him happy which is something he thought he'd never know.

"If I had my way I wouldn't change a damn thing Beth. Not if it changed this." He gestured between them.

Her eyes widened a bit at him she thought the conversation had been over.

"Really?" She was truly unsure if he was serious.

"Really." He nodded with a look of conviction.

She moved over and hugged him tightly taking in his scent. Her mind was screaming at her. She wanted to say those three words. Not that the actual words weren't important though, Beth knew that. Love was a feeling not to just be defined by four little letters. But she wanted to tell him so bad; she just wanted to say it over and over again. She just wanted to tell him that she loved him. So she did.

"I love you." It was whispered into his chest.

…

"I know." It was barely audible but she felt him pull her a little closer.

It would never be simple but it would be okay. They'd be good.

A/N So fluffy. Hope you enjoyed this because we might have some drama and conflicts coming? I don't know you'll just have to wait and find out, and you never know when that pesky apocalypse might pop up. (; Review and let me know your thoughts!