A/N: I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Here's chapter 10. Let me know what y'all think!

Wrong About You

Chapter 10

Daryl-

I made another round, searchin' tha fence fer a place she could've gone through.

There wasn't many places she could've used. There was only one that wasn't surrounded by walkers.

I stopped an' looked at tha group of walkers in front of me an' felt my heart speed up as tha thought of 'er goin' through tha fence where a group of 'em were crossed my mind.

She wouldn't do that, would she?

My eyes scanned over tha walkers as I remembered what she'd done at tha farm.

I shook that thought from my mind an' went ta tha only spot she could've gone through. I looked it over ta see that tha rope had been messed with.

I don't know how I missed that earlier when I'd been out 'ere.

I went back inside ta get some shit together so we could head out.

I let ever'one know which way we'd be headed.

They all protested us leavin' tonight but they didn't try ta stop us.

"Daryl, do you mind if I have a word with you before you leave?" Hershel asked.

I shrugged an' followed 'im ta his cell.

"What'd ya want?"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to take Rick with you," he said.

"I ain't gon' kill 'im.

"I know. But he's not in his right mind, Daryl. I want you to find Bethie and bring her back without anyone gettin' hurt."

"Ain't neither one of is gon' hurt 'er an' I ain't leavin' 'er alone with 'im either."

"Alright. If you think the two of you can find her without killin' each other then you had better leave soon. She's got two days on y'all."

Beth-

"Shh, I ain't gon' hurt ya."

My eyes widened when I recognized the voice.

He kept his hand over my mouth as he pulled me behind a tree.

"I'ma move my hand. Don't ya scream or nothin' ta draw attention ta us. We don't need that fuckin' herd comin' towards us. Aight?"

I nodded in agreement and he removed his hand.

I turned to face him.

"What are you doin' here?"

"I could ask ya tha same thing. That was a fuckin' stupid thing ya did, leavin' tha prison."

"How did you know?"

"I saw ya sneakin' through tha fence. Figured I'd better come after ya an' carry ya back there 'fore ever'one has a fit."

"You're wastin' your time 'cause I'm not goin' back there," I shook my head, "I can't go back there."

He gripped my arm tightly when I started to walk off. "Maybe ya ain't heard me. I ain't givin' ya a choice. Yer goin' back whether ya want to or not."

He looked around the tree to see if the herd was close to us. Seein' they had slowly wandered in the opposite direction, he sat down and motioned for me to do the same.

"Let me tell ya somethin', Sugar. My lil' brother got his head all fucked up 'cause of you. He fuckin' loves ya. What happened 'tween you an' Officer Friendly did somethin' to 'im."

"I'm sorry for what I did to him but I can't change anythin'. It happened."

"D'ya know he was gon' ask ya ta marry 'im tha night he found out 'bout y'all?"

"What?"

"He asked ya daddy. Had yer sister helpin' 'im. He wanted ta do right by you. He won't admit it but I know he still loves ya."

My eyes stung with tears as I listened to Merle talk about Daryl and everythin' he had planned.

I kept wishin' I had a second chance at everythin'.

"Ya need ta fuckin' tell me, that baby a Dixon?"

I shrugged.

"That ain't a goddamn answer."

"I don't know, Merle!" I screamed. I couldn't listen to him anymore.

Daryl-

We've been lookin' for 'er for hours now.

All we've found is a few tracks that are too big ta be hers.

As much as I wanna find 'er, alive, I need an answer.

I need ta know why they did that shit. It sure as hell ain't gon' change nothin' but at least I'd know.

I stopped ahead of Rick but I didn't look at 'im.

All I could manage was a simple 'why'.

"I can't give you an excuse, Daryl. It just happened."

"I ain't askin' for a goddamn excuse. I wanna know tha fuckin' truth. Why Beth? Why not someone else?" I looked at 'im this time an' tried ta hold back tha urge ta put a bolt in 'is head an' be done wit it.

"I can't speak for her," he said.

"I ain't askin' ya to. I'm askin' why you did it."

"I...I got to a point where...where I wasn't feelin' anythin'. She was there. She made me smile an' laugh. For that lil' bit of time, she made me happy. She got me to hold my daughter, to take care of Carl, to see what he was becomin'. She...she was so different from Lori. She wasn't cold. Even when she was havin' a shitty day, she smiled through whatever pain she had."

I couldn't argue with 'im.

I'd seen Beth smilin' through 'er pain 'fore anyone knew it was there.

I couldn't look at 'im when another question came ta mind so I turned away.

"Do ya love 'er?"

He sighed, "No. I don't love her. I care about her a lot but I don't love her."

I couldn't tell if the son of a bitch was lyin' or not but I prayed he wasn't. I wanted Beth back.

I huffed, "Ya didn't fuckin' stop ta think how much it hurt ya, what it did to ya when Lori an' Shane did it to ya?!

"Daryl, I ain't Shane. If...when we find her, that's your kid. I'll leave the prison."

I started walkin' as fast as I could. I wasn't even lookin' for 'er tracks or signs of 'er anymore.

When it started gettin' dark, we didn't stop ta rest 'til we came up on a group of walkers. There was too many for us ta handle on our own.

We walked in a different direction so we could rest, though neither of us really planned on doin' that.

I leaned against a tree an' closed my eyes.

"Ya fuckin' pussy! Get yer ass up ya worthless piece of shit! Ain't ya learned nothin'?"

A belt cracked across my skin.

"C'mon, fight like a goddamn man 'stead of some prissy ass bitch!"

Tha belt cracked across my skin.

"Ya know what ya gotta do when ya find tha bitch, don't ya? What'd I teach, son? Ya gotta keep yer bitch in line, let 'er know who's in charge," he laughed an' taunted me, "Look at ya! Ya ain't even got tha balls ta kill tha sumbitch that fucked 'er!"

"Shut tha fuck up!" I yelled, "I ain't you! I ain't gon' treat 'er like ya did Ma!"

"Daryl?!"

Someone was shakin' me an' I felt water splash my face.

"Daryl?! You alright?"

I opened my eyes ta see Rick in front of me.

"What tha fuck ya want?"

"You...you were screamin'...in your sleep."

Beth-

I listened in disbelief as Merle talked about Daryl. How he'd never seen Daryl act like he did with me.

"I don't know much 'bout love, ain't even sure I believe in tha shit but I'm sure my baby brother loves ya an' whatever you was plannin' on doin out 'ere ain't no way ta fix things, with 'im or yerself. What ya need ta do is come back ta tha prison an' tell tha fuckin' truth."

Merle was right I need to go back. I need to explain things to Daryl. I needed to tell him what happened. I owed him that much.

I closed my eyes and sighed as my tears fell.

"Let's go," I stood up and headed back to the prison.