AN: Thank you, kind readers, for not tarring and feathering me after this last twist. I do appreciate it.

"Damn it, girl," Daryl cursed. "Don't cry. Beth, stop."

Beth hiccuped loudly on a sob, her tiny fingers crushing the box in her hand. He watched her carefully, unsure of what to say. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, trying not to sniffle. She looked so damn lost.

"What am I going to do, Daryl?" Beth asked softly, her voice breaking.

"You're gonna take that test," Daryl said, "and we'll go from there."

"Just like that?" Beth asked.

"Ain't really another way to do it," he responded gruffly.

Beth looked around her at the tests at her feet. Daryl pretended not to notice the shaking of her hands, or the tears building up in her eyes again. He could feel the panic rolling off her in waves. Trying to got a hold on the situation, he cautiously set a hand on each side of her face.

"Beth?"

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Breathe, okay?"

"Right," she said with a calming breath, "you're right. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's the flu."

"Could be," Daryl said, moving away. "Saw some bathrooms down at the back if you wanna..."

"Yeah," Beth confirmed. "Yeah. I should just do it, right?"

"Better to know."

"Okay," Beth said.

He turned to lead the way, when suddenly he felt her small hand inside of his own. Daryl looked back at her and tried to smile reassuringly. Beth squeezed his fingers in thanks. They walked quietly like that, grasping at each other, until they reached the door.

"Do you want me to...?" Daryl trailed off, nodding towards the door.

"No," Beth said quickly. "I mean, thank you, but no. But... could you wait here?"

"As if I'd go anywhere else, girl," Daryl muttered. "Go on - and be careful. I ain't heard anything, but..."

"Yeah," Beth said, gripping her knife tightly in her hand. "I'll holler if anything happens. And Daryl?"

"Yeah, girl?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you... I was just... I was scared. It wasn't because I didn't... trust you. I do. I trust you, Daryl."

"I know, Beth," he said. "I'm not mad."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

Daryl watched her squeeze in through the jammed door and disappear. His hands itched to destroy something - throw a punch, tear down a wall, throw something that would shatter nice and loud. Instead he stayed still, holding his breath, doing the closest thing to praying he had ever done.

"Let it be negative," he whispered. "Let it be negative. Let it be negative. Just... damn it, don't do this to her. I'll do anything, just don't do this to her."

After what felt like an hour, a very pale Beth emerged from the bathroom. She held the test in one hand, dangling from her fingers. Daryl felt his stomach clench at the expression on her face - vacant, dazed. Beth shook her head a little to herself.

"I'm... I'm..." Beth started and stopped, "it's not the flu. It's... I took a couple of them that I had shoved in my pack... they all came back positive."

Without speaking, he reached out to her, gathering her up in his arms. When he met no resistance, he pulled her tightly against his chest, holding her. Beth did not shake or cry. She just stood there stiffly, her arms down by her sides, as if she could not remember what to do with them in this sort of situation.

They stood like that for a long while, not saying anything. The light outside changed to a dull yellow, filtering in through the broken slats of wood covering the windows. Daryl could see tiny particles of dust swirling and moving. He willed himself to speak - to say the right thing - just once.

"Whatever you want to do, Beth..." Daryl started. "Back when Laurie was pregnant... she, uh, she was going to try to... y'know... with the morning after pill. We could look..."

"I..." Beth started, faltered, started again, "I don't... I don't think I can do that. I don't want to be... but I don't think I can, Daryl."

"You don't have to," he said quietly, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'm with you, Beth. No matter what. Just... you should have a choice."

"I know," Beth said, her arms finally sneaking around his waist tentatively. "I just... I need time. I know I can't have a lot of it... but I need a little."

"If you do..." Daryl started. "If you do decide to have it - I just want you to know that there'd be too much of you in that baby for it to be anything but good. I mean... you make everythin' better around you, and if you had this baby, you would do the same for it."

"And if I don't?" Beth asked, her voice tiny and unsure.

"Then you'll keep on makin' everythin' around me better," Daryl said softly, "and I'll keep trying to do the same for you, even though I almost always fuck it up."

"I know there's more we should do today... more we should be looking for... but can we just go home?" Beth said. "I'm so tired, Daryl."

"Yeah, Beth, we can do that. C'mon."

Daryl gathered their packs, both hers and his, and let her walk a couple steps ahead of him. He didn't know what they were going to do. Whatever she wants, he told himself. He would figure it out - whether it was just the two of them, or they ended up with another Lil' Asskicker, he would figure it out. Daryl would make it work. And he would love - yes, love Beth - love them. No matter what.