Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Walking Dead'.

Five Kisses

Kiss #7

Beth felt any words that she wanted to say, scream were locked in her throat after hearing such a menacing voice in her ear. Her body froze up, locking into place and so she stumbled and tripped as the man pushed and shoved her forward behind the buildings in a back alley of the town. She wanted to look behind her to see the man but fear kept her from doing so, that and he wasn't giving her much a chance to do it.

A voice in her mind told her to make an escape, to do anything but follow his orders. She wasn't so sure she should though, he had a weapon trained on her, she just knew it and if she even attempted to do anything other than follow his words she would be dead. The voice said she was dead either way.

It made a very compelling argument.

Beth thought up a plan real quick letting herself trip down to her hands and knees gaining an annoyed grunt from her captor. She flipped around onto her back gazing up to see a dark skinned man with a badass looking gun in his hand and a very disgruntled expression on his face. Her fear spiked to high levels making her tremble and scurry backwards from him. Seeing her fear he smiled showing two teeth missing from his top row.

He reached down for her fast grabbing her ponytail roughly and trying to yank her to stand. It only lasted a few seconds before she heard a sickening thunk, then she was falling backwards with the man coming right after her. The wind was knocked out of her as his heavy, lifeless body landed hard on top of her, Beth gasped trying to catch her breath and also trying to remove the clearly dead man off of her. She got help quickly.

"Jesus Beth, ya a'right!?" Daryl called out grabbing the guy by the back of his shirt to toss his body to the side getting him off of her. Beth continued to cough trying to bring life giving oxygen into her lungs; she didn't get much a chance before she was getting lifted to her feet. "Come on! We gotta go!"

She nodded trying to run with him but finding it hard, having the wind knocked out of her made it harder to move. It was like the air refused to enter her lungs and beyond, Daryl looked back at her quickly figuring out her issue and then tugging her along as fast as she could manage. It was a moment later that air finally entered her lungs and she gasped and sucked it in greedily as they moved coming around the corner of a building then running across the open road.

Beth took in the car and bike only a few blocks away as she heard commotion behind them. A gunshot went off but nothing near them she tried to look over her shoulder but Daryl's constant tugging on her hand kept her from doing so. He got to the bike jumping on and starting it up. She took that second to turn behind them to see Sasha coming her way with Tyreese trailing behind her, his arm was bleeding too.

"Are you alright?!" Beth managed to say though breathlessly. He nodded grimly as they went pass. "Beth git yer damn ass on the bike!" Daryl barked at her then turned to the other two. "Don't head back 'home' find a place ta stay fer the nite!"

She jumped on behind him latching her hands around his stomach fast just as he revved the engine then took off like a bullet right through the town. Hearing him call the prison 'home' when normally he just called it as it is told her he didn't want to be overheard. Beth ducked her head into his back when she saw two men run out of one of the buildings screaming and shouting at them. Gunshots went off behind them and she flinched in shock when a bullet grazed Daryl's shoulder.

He didn't even swerve from the hit, just kept driving then they were out of the town and on some two lane road. Beth's heart pounded against her chest, she hoped Tyreese would be alright, she hoped they made it out of there fine too. The wind whipped by them yanking her hair back and tugging at her clothes. She tried to look over his shoulder to see where they were heading but the wind made her eyes water and even worse was the smell of blood.

Daryl's shoulder was bleeding slowly but he didn't bother with it. She looked at the wound worriedly hoping it was just a simple graze, she couldn't be sure with his leather vest covering his shoulder hiding the wound from her eyes. Honestly she wouldn't even have known it was hurt if not for the smell and the sight of red blood dripping off the leather and down his back. Beth avoided putting her face near that section of his back for the time being.

They rode for a while taking long winding back roads. Beth looked behind them a few times wondering if those men had followed them but from what she could make out there was no one behind them, they were alone. Daryl's crossbow from time to time bumped her hands as it hung from his chest and shoulder forcing her to drag her hand further down his stomach. He jumped a little when her hand bumped his belt buckle. Beth felt heat explode on her face from the accidental touch then clamped her hands tightly together, lacing her fingers over his stomach.

Thirty minutes to an hour had gone by before they found a suitable place to stay. Daryl slowed down as he drove through a small abandoned neighborhood. Beth looked around them taking all the abandoned houses and homes in. There were a few walkers lingering about the unkempt lawns. An overwhelming sadness came over her as she noticed kid's toys on the lawns of a few houses and even a basketball hoop on a garage. She glanced away from one home in particular when she noticed one of the abandoned vehicles had blood on the side of the car and from the glimpse she took of it on the inside as well. That same house had a swing set peeking out from the back as they rode by.

Beth hated seeing these things, seeing how much the world had changed. She knew what type of world they lived in now but knowing and seeing were two very different things. The bike stopping jolted her from her sad thoughts as Daryl slowly wheeled the bike up a drive way through the open garage. "Gotta hide the bike in case those assholes come thru." He said in way of explanation.

"Do you think they will?" She asked back letting him kick the stand out then get off the bike first. He winced slightly when he moved his arm connected to the shoulder that was bleeding, she frowned at the display of pain but he ignored her look.

"Maybe." He shrugged then flinched again in pain. He ignored that too though and placed his hand out for her to grab. Beth reached out with both hands grasping his tightly in hers then pulled of the bike; her foot scuffed the ground causing her to trip right into Daryl. He caught her easily though keeping her close to his chest with her hands stuck between them. "Scared the shit outta me when I saw ya was gone." She heard him grumble pulling her tighter to him.

"He caught me by surprise, I'm sorry." Beth closed her eyes briefly feeling incredibly safe in his arms. Daryl released her after a second but letting her hold his hand, she was thankful for that because again her legs just weren't cooperating with her right now. Her legs felt like jelly as though she had no bones within her legs. Her knees shook from the strain of holding her up along with trying to get the feeling back into them. "This sucks." She mumbled out laughingly smiling up at him.

Daryl shook his head. "Why dontcha relax in here and I'll go check the rest of the house." He helped her over to the wall for support then brought his crossbow from his back on to his front. "Have yer gun ready, jus' in case." Beth nodded patting her holster to let him know she was ready to shoot if need be. Suddenly she remembered that her knife was dropped back at the pharmacy when that guy had grabbed her.

"Oh crap, I lost my knife." Daryl snorted with a roll of his eyes.

"I'll git ya a new one, promise." He then proceeded through the door into the house. Beth smiled thinking she'll hold him up to that promise.

During the time he took to investigate the house she stretched her legs and muscles taking some laps around the small garage to get the feeling back into her legs, this time was better than the first. At least she didn't collapse to the ground. When the door creaked open her hand instantly grabbed her gun and trained it on the door as Daryl appeared through it, he smirked at her quick reaction approvingly.

"Its jus' me quick-draw, all clear c'mon." Beth nodded while replacing her gun back into her holster. She entered the house from the garage into the kitchen seeing that the place had been left in a state of disarray. It looked like the occupants of this home had taken off in a hurry, all the cabinets were flung open with some food left behind but a majority of it taken, and even the fridge door was left open giving off a nasty rotten smell.

Daryl walked pass it pushing the door closed as he went saving them from having to smell that further. They walked into the connecting dining room then the living room in the front of the house. There was an upstairs facing the front door so when you enter that was the first thing you saw was the staircase. Beth tried to skim over the pictures on the walls but she saw them anyway. There had been a family of four living here, parents with an older daughter probably about her age and a younger brother who looked like he was Carl's age. Or at least they had been before the epidemic.

Beth stopped at one picture in particular where the family's daughter was standing in soccer gear with a trophy in her hands and a big smile on her lips. She looked away quickly not wanting to think about the possibility that this family was more than likely dead somewhere, either eaten or walking among the dead. Turning her attention away from the photos she looked to Daryl as he plopped down on one of the couches once more wincing at his wound.

"Daryl let me look at your shoulder." Beth said with authority coming around the couch to sit next to him. He looked disgruntled and annoyed, guess he was trying to forget he had the wound at all she supposed. With a little pestering on her part they were able to get his vest off then he unbuttoned his sleeveless shirt.

She felt her throat and mouth go dry as he peeled back the flaps of his shirt to reveal his stomach and abs. Being this up close Beth was better able to see and appreciate his physique, he was definitely packing some heat there. A blush redden her face before she tore her eyes away from his body to take in the bleeding shoulder. She clicked her tongue in dismay at seeing the blood pooling around the wound, it looked like it was just a graze as she had originally thought but it was still a severe one.

"Let me check the bathroom to see if they had a first aid kit." Daryl waved her off keeping his shirt wide open and leaning back against the couch with his eyes closed.

Beth huffed out some air as she moved to the hall bathroom it was hard to see with no light to turn on but from what she could make out there was nothing of use in there. She then walked up the stairs to check the bathroom up there. She found it quickly enough with all the doors wide open from Daryl's search earlier. She tried to keep from looking into the bedrooms as much as possible before looking around the bathroom. Luckily there was a window in here and she was able to see well.

Still there was no first aid kit to be found; logically the family probably took that when they left so instead she grabbed a few towels from the rack in the small closet. Grabbing them into her hands something dropped down to the ground catching her attention, looking down her eyes brighten upon seeing a box of Band-Aids. Reaching down she picked them up noticing they were spider-man band-aids. Laughing lightly at the thought of Daryl with these on him she walked back down to find him where she left him.

"Couldn't find a first aid kit but I did find some band-aids." Daryl grunted to let her know he heard her. Sitting back down she got to work on his shoulder soaking up blood with the white towels she had found staining them red. Once she had cleaned up his wound enough to see it she searched through the box to find a big square band-aid to place over top of it. Without thinking much about it Beth pressed down the band-aid to his injury gaining a groan of pain from him.

"Fuck Beth." Daryl grumbled opening his eyes to glare at her. She smiled apologetically then leaned over to kiss it.

"There better?" He rolled his eyes then looked down at the box. He took it from her hands to look over the character on it then glanced at his shoulder.

"Really, spider-man? They ain't had anythang normal?" Beth shrugged pulling back and letting him button up his shirt.

"They had a young boy here that is normal." After that they got quiet letting the silence settle between them. Beth looked around them then back to Daryl who once more was leaning back with his eyes closed. As the silence between them stretched on she started pondering his attitude from earlier.

He seemed pretty over it now but that didn't change the fact that he took out his anger on her without any sort of explanation as to why. The more she thought about it the more it bugged her; maybe she should confront him about it? Beth thought maybe she shouldn't since he looked exhausted but then he had no consideration for her before when she was having issues with walking after the first ride, maybe she should repay him the same respect.

"So…gonna tell me why you've been acting like a child today?" Beth crossed her arms over her chest after scooting across the couch to lean against the arm rest. Daryl didn't respond at first then slowly his eyes opened before looking over at her.

"Tch, I have no idea whatcha be talkin' 'bout." She felt her jaw go unhinged when she heard his answer back. He had no idea what she was talking about!? Really!? Beth squared her jaw feeling her mood sour up fast.

"Oh really? How about the way you treated me this mornin' acting all impatient with me? Or how about your less than considerate attitude when I couldn't walk? Hmm, I'm waiting Daryl." He huffed like this whole thing was nothing but a bother to him.

"Well I guess ya'll be waitin' then Beth cause I got nuthin' ta tell ya." Daryl grumbled angrily closing his eyes again, shutting her out. Beth gripped her hands tightly across her chest biting her lip as she thought of something to say back.

There were many things she could say back but she just couldn't form the words to do just that. He was closing himself off from her and that hurt, he was acting like nothing was wrong when clearly there was. Did he not want to talk to her about it? Beth was so sure they were beyond all of this, hadn't the last few weeks shown her that he regarded her more than just Judith's nanny or even a child in his eyes? The things they had already done told her she was not a child in his eyes yet here he was clamming up and closing off.

Her eyes watered but she refused to cry, at least not with him around. She stood up quickly coming around the coffee table and heading up the stairs to get away from him. He wanted to be an asshole, close himself off then go ahead! See if she cared! Beth went to walk pass the older girl's room but her feet halted her right at the door. Sighing defeatedly she turned to the room then entered.

There were posters of boy bands on two walls and the third one there were photos of friends plastered there. She had a full size bed with a canopy over top of it; it was purple in the room instead of blue or pink. Beth had been more partial to pink and orange for her bedroom. She looked around the room then walked up to the dresser with a big mirror on top that too had photos in the corners. She ignored them to look at her reflection instead. Her cheeks were red along with her eyes looking slightly bloodshot and watery. Her hair was windswept around her head so she pulled her hair out of her usual pony-tail running her fingers through the tangles before wrapping it all back into a low pony-tail.

Sighing Beth turned away from her reflection feeling suddenly tired and exhausted, not to mention sad. Daryl's attitude weighed heavily on her heart and it made her wonder if he really liked her as much as she liked him. Maybe she was being stupid, a teenage girl with wild hormones. Maybe he was just in it for the fun rather than because he liked her like that. Daryl had never said he did though and Beth wondered if she was making something more than what it all was.

A tear escaped her sliding down her cheek before she crashed down on the bed burying her face into the dusty pillow there. She sneezed then closed her eyes as tears escaped rapidly, she didn't want to cry over this but it hurt so much. She clutched the pillow to her face as she cried into it feeling like her heart was breaking inside her chest.

Maybe Daryl was right, maybe there was nothing wrong…because there was nothing truly between them…

"Beth wake up." Beth groaned wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"Go away Daryl." She croaked hearing the strain in her voice and noticing that her nose was clogged from crying. She opened her puffy eyes to see it was pitch black in the room with barely any light coming in through the window.

"I'm sorry…" Beth blinked a few times wondering if she heard him right, he was sorry? Slowly Daryl's shadowed form started to appear in her eyesight as her eyes adjusted to the dark. She rubbed at her eyes then leaned up against the headboard with a yawn on the tip of her tongue.

"What are you sorry for?" She asked more because she didn't understand where this was stemming from especially after his attitude about nothing being wrong and she wanted to torture him with explaining his reasons and such. He couldn't be closed off if he had to talk everything out right.

"Fer my attitude…and fer takin' it out on ya. I shoulda never done that." She could make out Daryl rubbing a hand through his hair then he walked over to sit on the side of the bed by her knees. Beth waited for him to go on letting the silence come between them. "Look what's happenin' between us is confusin' me and I don't know what ta do. I took out my anger at myself on ya cause I didn't know how to take this." He waved his hand between them. "I care 'bout ya Beth and I like ya too. I jus'…I'm no good fer ya." Beth immediately shook her head.

"That's just the thing Daryl, ya are good. I like ya a lot and I don't care what anyone says." Daryl shook his head looking down at his hands.

"Beth I ain't what ya deserve tho, I got too many issues…scars…" Beth bit her lip hearing how broken he sounded when he said 'scars'. Reaching over she grabbed his hand squeezing it in her hand tightly.

"I'm my own person Daryl and I choose who I think I deserve, who I want. You're it and nothing ya say will change my mind so deal with it." She was sure he had quite the expression of amusement and astonishment on his face.

Then Beth leaned over bringing her hand up to his chin to turn him to face her, the moon must have gotten around some clouds cause she could now make out his eyes and facial features. He looked scared and nervous; for once she felt no such thing. She had never felt as sure as she did right now.

Smiling reassuringly at him Beth leaned closer drawing her eyes to his mouth, she was finally going to get that damn kiss and nothing not even a herd of walkers could stop her! Holding his chin in place she continued her descent towards him bringing her knees under her butt then her nose lightly brushed his before their lips connected. It was just a soft pressing of lips that sent tingles of pleasure down her spine and throughout her body but it was the best damn thing she had felt in forever.

Beth pressed more against him then puckered her lips on his in little kisses in their continued long kiss. When he responded back slowly, tentatively it was like her nerve endings cried out in joy even more so when he turned fully to her his hand coming up to brace the back of her neck. Their mouths moved in unison as she moved her hand from his chin to cup his stubbled cheek instead. Daryl then slanted his mouth to hers opening his and touching his tongue to her lips. A blush engulfed her face at the feel of his soft, textured tongue on her bottom lip. She opened her mouth as well allowing him to enter and explore.

Her tongue touched his lightly then tangled and fought with him as their mouths practically glued themselves together. A soft whimpering moan left her as they kissed with Daryl giving her an answering groan of his own. Beth's heart skyrocketed through her chest beating a mile a minute; she couldn't believe she was finally kissing him. She couldn't believe she initiated it either.

Daryl's one hand played with the baby soft hair on her neck as his other reached for her waist then he was gently pushing her back to lie down while they kissed. Feeling his body heat on top of her felt so natural, so right she felt so happy. Beth pushed back on his tongue though forcing it back into his mouth with hers following after to wage war in his mouth instead. Her free hand raked through the back of his head and through his hair gaining a moan of pleasure from him.

Moving her hand from cupping his face she brought it under his arm then pulled his full weight down on her slowly feeling more of his heat encasing her. Beth's hand then moved from his back along the back of his shoulder then clamped down tightly to it when he pressed his pelvic to her own. Daryl hissed suddenly pulling away from her and ripping his mouth from her own, it was then she realized her mistake.

"Sorry Daryl, I'm so sorry." Beth mumbled out as he pulled back to sit on his knees. She had stupidly squeezed his injured shoulder without thinking.

"It's a'right, probably a good thang either way. Don't wanna rush thru anythang." As much as she disagreed with his statement she also knew he was right, they didn't want to rush into anything without being prepared and as much as she wanted him, Beth wasn't so sure she was ready to get into that part just yet. She could barely say the p-word much less think about having sex at this point.

"Yeah, okay." Nodding he leaned down though and kissed her softly on the lips just once then got up off the bed completely. Beth instantly missed the warmth. "Do you wanna sleep with me though?" Daryl choked for a second then seemed to realize what she meant.

"Ya shore that's okay? I'm…sportin' some heat here…" Beth felt her face flame up but nodded anyway. She tried to keep her eyes from straying down towards the front of his pants even though she was sure she wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. After a moment of consideration Daryl came back over and crawled onto the bed cradling her back to his chest but putting space between her butt and his…issue area…

Having his arms curled around her felt extremely nice, more than she thought it would actually. She felt safe like nothing could touch her or harm her with Daryl right there behind her, protecting her. Sighing contently Beth snuggled into the pillow feeling so much better this time around than before.

"Good night Daryl." She mumbled into the pillow clasping her hand on top of one of his and curling her fingers around his fisted hand managing to slip her pinky between his fingers and palm.

He grunted back tiredly, "Nite Beth."

Smiling she allowed sleep to overtake her. This had probably been the first night in a long while that she truly felt happy as she fell asleep. Everything just seemed right in her world, so very right…

A/N: Success! I finally finished this chapter! So as you all have probably noticed this story says completed and it's true, this story is done with and over. But please do not worry or fret I'm doing a sequel that continues this very story only the rating definitely goes up for very obvious reasons. If you catch my drift, lol. Thank you all so much for the support, views, and reviews! You guys are so freaking awesome! I hope this final chapter is satisfying for y'all and the sequel should be up some point this week! Look out for 'Moments'!

Check ya later…

ALCzysz17