Thank you so much for your kind responses! I understand that I may be going a little OOC at parts, but with it being AU I feel that most of it can be justified. I'm gonna update when I can, but I've got lots of ideas spinning around at the moment. Let me know if there's anything you think I can improve or any suggestions also (just not mean haha). I'm on tumblr too: welovebethyl. Thanks guys! Oh and as per, I own nothing except the storyline. Rated M for language and future smut.

Daryl had spent a good hour or so trying to distract himself from his brother's escapades, and he had found the perfect yet somewhat perplexing distraction. The girl looked young, and he had noticed that the girl she was with had brushed her off just as Merle had done to him. She did not look like the rest of the girls in the bar, not one bit. All of the other girls seemed to want to leave nothing to the imagination; their tits overflowing their tight tank tops or dresses and legs very much on show. They often sported some ridiculous shade of lipstick and their skin tanned with some cheap, ugly product.

So naturally, Daryl was curious. He had left Merle and approached the girl. Every weekend was usually the same; he would find someone who wasn't already taken, approach them drunkenly and within five minutes they would be leaving for his apartment. The alternative was hanging around Merle all night and then probably getting into some kind of trouble because of him. He never liked the girls. They were usually drunk or high and sometimes he just walked them home or let them collapse on his couch. If he was drunk enough, he would sleep with them. The thought of letting some random girl see the body he was utterly ashamed of made his stomach turn when sober, but when drunk he could put his insecurities to the back of his mind for a quickie. After an hour or so he would then head back to the bar, by which point Merle was usually leaving and Daryl knew he'd survived another night.

But for the first time in a while, a girl had turned him down in this bar. She looked shocked, insulted. He never wanted to hurt any of the girls, he just figured all they wanted was a quick fuck and nothing more. Usually they were happy with just that, but this girl looked disgusted at the thought. He returned to his seat and continued to observe her. She was…well she was lovely. That certainly wasn't a word that crossed his mind an awful lot. Although her dress did show a little skin, it was classy, sexy and pleasing to the eye all in one. Her hair was fair and her face even fairer. Hell, she was pretty damn beautiful. Daryl snapped out of it, realising that in his drunken state he might appear to be a little intimidating. Instead he pulled himself off of his seat and walked outside.

Leaning on his brother's motorcycle, Daryl took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He inhaled and felt the cool air against his skin, sobering him somewhat. He was done for tonight, but knew that if he left Merle in there and didn't come back there might be trouble, and he was doing his best to keep his brother as far away from trouble as he could. So instead he sat patiently, gathering his sobriety by each second and wishing that his brother would exit the bar sooner rather than later. He would probably have a girl on his arm, or two, but at least then Daryl could make sure he was going home and not involved in a big bar fight that may turn nasty.

The door opened and Daryl looked up, hoping for it to be Merle. Instead the blonde girl walked out. She looked at Daryl, and he could tell by her eyes that she was considering going back inside. After a few seconds though, she began to walk closer until he realised she was coming to speak to him.

"So that guy you're with…well, him and my friend seem to be getting along." She said awkwardly, crossing her arms in front of her obviously feeling the chill.

"That's Merle, tends to get along with a lot of girls." Daryl replied holding her gaze. "He look like he's leaving any time soon?"

Before Beth had chance to answer the door flung open again, this time a drunken Merle stumbled out with an even drunker Ashley on his arm.

"C'mon girly we're wasting precious time" he chirped loudly, throwing a dirty wink at Daryl. Beth looked at her friend, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to stop her. Although Beth had never been to a bar, she had been in a couple of situations where Ashley had been drunk and there wasn't a chance in hell she'd be able to get her friend to come home with her.

"You have fun with Blondie there Darlina, Ash and I are gonna go to my place and have some fun, aint we princess?" Ashley giggled into Merle's shoulder and began kissing his neck. Within a matter of seconds they were stumbling off, half walking, half running.

"How you getting home?" Daryl asked the blonde girl.

"I'm walking" Beth replied, which was true. It was just gone 2am and she knew it was too late to call Shawn.

"You're not walking alone." Daryl told her. God she was the perfect bait for all these drunken guys walking around, he wasn't going to let her walk home alone, not in a million years.

"It's not far. 15 minutes tops."

Daryl sighed, knowing that he was going to have to fight a little bit harder. He didn't blame her for not trusting him, not after the act he pulled before. He looked the girl over and brought his thumb to his lips, chewing as he pondered his next move. This girl wasn't going to be walking home alone.

"You don't trust me. I get it." Daryl began, but she didn't stir. "My name's Daryl Dixon, that there was my brother. I'm sorry about the way I approached you earlier, just my usual get out, that's all. He's a handful." He wasn't good with words. He didn't like talking and found he was far better at listening. He watched as the girl moved her hands up to her shoulders and just looked at the ground. She was cold, and nervous.

Daryl ran over to his truck which was parked a few metres away and pulled his old leather jacket out of the back seat. He walked back over and hesitated slightly before moving behind her and holding the jacket open.

"Arms in" he told her softly, making a conscious effort not to frighten her. There was an awkward few seconds where he just stood there, but after a while she slowly put her arms into the jacket. She looked confused as he made his way to stand in front of her, now a little closer than before.

"What's your name?" he asked, now barely a metre away from her.

"Beth" She replied "and thank you" she added, wrapping herself in his jacket. Daryl nodded, hoping that he was doing the right things. He brought his thumb to his mouth once more and considered his next move. Why couldn't he naturally do this sort of thing? All he wanted to do was make her comfortable enough for him to walk her home, and he was struggling. Hard.

"Listen..." he began cautiously. "You can't walk home alone. There's all kinds of scum out at this time. Let me walk you home, Beth."

"If you walk me home and my brother or daddy sees you I don't know if they'll like it" she replied. She had never brought a boy onto their farm except Jimmy and that was almost four years ago. She most definitely hadn't entered the farm with a man. "Also…will Ashley be safe?"

Daryl looked at her again. Damn he couldn't stop doing that. She was innocent, he could tell that. He didn't know what to do so he just threw his next suggestion out there.

"Okay…well either I walk you home, or you walk with me to my place and I'll take the couch. Then in the morning we can go and get your friend." It wasn't his wisest suggestion considering he was trying not to frighten Beth, which is why he was shocked by her answer.

"The second option."