Daryl grunted as the boy's blow graced his cheek. The sound was more out of surprise than actual pain, he had dealt with much worse wounds than the tap the boy before him had just produced. Still the act of it only caused the rage inside of him to flare and he swung his crossbow up to fix the scrub clad boy in his sights. His finger was about to pull the trigger when a voice, her voice, cut through the air.

"Daryl stop!" the fear in it was enough to make him hesitate. Daryl had assumed the boy before him was one of the people responsible for taking Beth from him. To bringing her here to this decrepit hospital and forcing her to remain within its walls. Of course he hadn't really had any time to ask Beth about what had happened to her. They arrived in time to see her and an assortment of other people fleeing the walls, a slew of walkers following after them.

Daryl had naturally assumed that everyone else there was the enemy.

But here she was, rushing up to stand in front of the boy who was staring at him with pure fear in his dark brown eyes. It was not lost on Daryl how young the boy was, or how attractive. Despite what people thought he was a smart man and he could put two and two together. He pulled his bow up and turned from them so that Beth would not see the pain on his face.

She could go off with her new boyfriend then.

He should have known everything between them was just in his head.

They left Atlanta as soon as they could, lifting an ambulance from the hospital parking lot. It was a cramped fit inside of the back, even after they pushed the gurney out onto the street. To Daryl's extreme displeasure the boy Beth had prevented him from killing, her new boyfriend Aiden, came with them.

He sat awkwardly as close to the doors as he could get without leaning on them and kept casting furtive looks at all of them. Daryl made certain that he saw the knife resting on his hip.

He was a bit surprise when Beth chose to sit in between him and Maggie instead of by her boyfriend but he supposed that sister trumped lover every time. Beth tried several times to engage him a conversation but he merely shrugged or grunted in response. She did not need to know about the hollow mess he had become in her absence.

By the time they slowed to a stop for the night Daryl could clearly see the shimmering rage Beth was barely able to control. He fled from the ambulance as quick as he could saying he was going to see if he could hunt anything down.

He hadn't gone four feet from the truck when there was a clattering behind him and he turned to see Beth rushing after him, no weapons in her hand.

She rose her eyebrow at him in defiance "I'm coming with you."

Daryl shook his head as he cast a look back at the ambulance. Aiden was staring nervously at the others not even paying Beth and him any mind. "You're not armed." Daryl insisted as he turned from her to head into the woods.

Her hand on his hip stopped him and his whole body tensed until he realized she was simply lifting his hunting knife off of him. Beth held the blade up and glowered at him to which Daryl simply shook his head before leading the way into the trees. She could do what she damn well pleased then.

They walked in silence quite some time until Daryl had the good luck to nag a squirrel, even animals were getting scarce these days. He had just removed the bolt from its body and strung it to his belt when Beth spoke.

"Are you mad at me?" her voice sounded strange, almost frightened, and Daryl turned to her in surprise. He had not known Beth to be scared of impossible things before.

Daryl wasn't mad, not at her. He was furious with himself for ever thinking that there was something other than friendship going on between them. For having the gall to assume that someone like Beth Greene could love someone like him.

He ignored her question as he pushed past her. "Let's head back. Your boyfriend's probably worried."

She let out a sound that was half laugh and half huff of exasperation "Boyfriend? You mean Aiden?"

Daryl turned back to look at her as some of his anger leaked to the surface. "Course I mean Aiden! Unless you got another boyfriend I don't know about!"

Beth looked up at him with her wide blue eyes as she shook her head in denial. "He was a captive too, we were on the same floor. He's not my boyfriend."

Daryl half stumbled in surprise. He opened his mouth as he thought of what to say, did he apologize? Did he just shrug it off? But Beth was peering up at him as a look of recognition suddenly passed over her face and their eyes were locked in an intense gaze as one word slipped breathlessly past her lips.

"Oh."

Daryl had never hated a word as much as he hated that one. That's what she had said last time he had almost confessed his feelings to her and now she was saying it again. He didn't need to hear anything else. Daryl forcefully tore his eyes off of her and turned to head back towards the camp. He hadn't taken a full step before her hand was on his arm again.

With more strength than he had known she possessed Beth turned him to face her. She stood still for a moment, simply looking up at him, before she rose slowly onto her toes and pressed a soft kiss against his cheek.

She pulled away and they both stood in silence for a moment looking at each other and Daryl felt in that moment that there were no walls or secrets between them. As he stared down into her eyes Daryl was astounded that he could see a reflection of his own feelings in them.

Daryl swallowed hard at the sight, at the intensity of her gaze on him. He had been wrong this whole time, the word didn't mean rejection it only meant surprise. It slipped past his lips then on its own accord, "Oh."