She did not know what she had expected her interview with the leader of the Alexandria community to be like but she had certainly not been expecting the first question she was asked after stating her name to be, "Any relation to a Maggie Greene?"

Beth was barely able to answer Deanna she was so shocked to hear her sister's name fall from this stranger's lips. Her and Morgan had only stopped in Alexandria because Aaron had assured them they would be able to leave after they had rested for a few days. Her ankle was sprained and they were running low on supplies so it seemed worth it to them to work for this community for a little while to get what they needed and continue the last part of their journey to DC to find her family.

She had not been expecting to find them here, hidden in a town that looked more out of place than the dead walking outside its walls.

But according to this woman they were so Beth let her lead them like a reverse funeral procession to a two story blue house at the edge of the town. With every step she took she felt her heart hammering in her throat as she tried to remind herself it might not truly be her family, and if it was he might not be with them.

But then Deanna knocked on the door and Carl answered it with a laugh still dying on his lips and everything turned to chaos.

Beth didn't know if he had truly even gotten a glimpse of her face before she was pushing past Deanna to throw her arms around him, surprise registering in the back of her mind that he now had an inch on her height. He had stumbled back a step in surprise which had brought Beth into the house and she heard someone scream her name before she pulled away from Carl to enter a string of hugs that never seemed to end.

She still didn't know who had started to cry first, Maggie or herself but by the time they let go of each other her face was wet with tears. Arms after arms engulfed her, holding her so tightly that she thought she might crumble to dust at any moment.

She had never expected to find so many of them still alive.

And finally they have all held her, they have all reassured themselves that they are not dreaming and she is real, all of them but one.

He was sitting in a windowsill and watching the hugs and tears of joy from the background as if he had no right to be a part of it when truly he was the one who deserved to hold her the most. Beth walked to him slowly, almost afraid she was going to startle him, and she felt a shiver of shock when she noticed the tears streaked down his face. She was still a foot from him when he stood and reached out to pull her to him with a gasp like he had just broken the surface after swimming to a great depth.

Neither of them said anything as they held each other for what felt like a life time, Beth's head against his chest and his chin resting on her hair. It was the hug she had wanted to give him in that hallway only long overdue.

When he finally pulled away from her Daryl rose his hands to cup her face, his eyes tracing the scar the bullet had left in her forehead as he whispered one word, "How?"

Finding herself nearly unable to speak Beth let Morgan recant most of their shared tale but there were parts that she had to relive all on her own. She sat on the windowsill between Maggie and Daryl, her sister not letting go of her hand and Daryl's eyes never leaving hers as she recounted how Shepard had watched from the windows when they fled the hospital. She had seen when Tyreese had to stash her body in the back of a car to flee the walkers.

Sasha finally managed to truly look at Beth when she said her brother's name and Beth saw in that moment that while she was happy that Beth was alive there was a part of her that was wishing Tyreese would somehow walk through that door too, brought back to life. But even though she didn't know when or how Beth knew that Tyreese was truly gone and that was one miracle that could never happen.

But still Beth can offer her some comfort, "He saved me. Leaving me in that car saved me."

And it seemed like such a little thing to offer to Sasha but she closed her eyes before nodding once, as if she was accepting that no more of the dead would be returning to them.

Beth had to take several deep breaths before she was able to finish her story. She told them quickly about how Shepard had refused to let Beth's final resting place be her automobile tomb so she had taken a few cops out with her to bring Beth's body back so they could bury her and give her a better final resting place. But when they reached the car they did not find a dead girl but a woman barely clinging to life. Her heartbeat had been so faint it was almost nonexistent but they had taken her back to the hospital where Edwards had used far more than the allotted resources to repair the damage the bullet had done to her skull.

In the end it, what truly saved her life was their guilt.

By the time she finished telling her story Beth was to exhausted to hear theirs. She let everyone hug her one last time before she laid down on the couch Daryl had offered for her to sleep on. She knew without asking that it was where he usually spent his nights so when he moved to leave the room with the others Beth propped herself up on one elbow and called after him.

"Daryl wait." he turned back to look at her with those blue eyes that had haunted her in the hospital, having nothing more than her faith in him to tell her that he was alive after the funeral home. She could not bear the thought of him leaving her again so soon after being truly reunited. With that thought in mind she reached her hand towards him and whispered softly. "Please, don't leave."

Beth saw his body visibly tense up at her words before he nodded and walked over to her slowly. She turned and pressed her back into the couch to give him room to sit down beside her. Daryl did so nervously, as if he was afraid that his touch might break her but when she smiled at him in encouragement he stretched out on the couch next to her, both of them barely fitting in the tight space.

For a moment the only sound between them was their uneven breaths before Beth snaked her arms around him timidly, pressing her face into the space between his shoulder blades. She held him like she had that day all those months ago, the day where they broke down each others walls like bombs and sent their pasts up in ashes.

Daryl reached him arm up and placed his hands over hers, their fingers clutching each others so tightly Beth thought she could feel his pulse beating in her hand.

"I'm never gonna leave you again." she promised into the thin material of his shirt.

Daryl's hands tightened on hers before he whispered so softly she almost didn't hear him.

"You never did."