AN: Once again, sorry for the long time between updates. I just really want to get this story as perfect as possible. Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments, I'm seriously taken aback that people are enjoying this fic! I hope this chapter isn't a let down after the wait. Please feel free to leave reviews, comments, and feedback! Thank you :)

Gunshots... Bright flashes of light... Screams... Blinding pain in her head...

Beth woke up with a start. Her heart was racing and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. She had pins and needles in her hands and face, and, upon trying to stand, found her legs too weak to support her. Waves of dizziness hit her over and over, and her vision was spotted by bright colours. Beth felt so disorientated, she couldn't work out where she was for a moment. Sliding to the floor, and feeling carpet beneath her skin instead of cold tiles, she remembered that she was no longer at Fort Benning, in hospital, but at home.

It's just a panic attack, you're okay, you're home, you're okay... Beth repeated this mantra in her head, breathing in through her nose and blowing it out of her mouth, trying to get her breathing back to normal. She leant back against the side of the bed, and waited out the panic attack. Although they were still terrifying, she had had enough of them now to know how to deal with them, and know that it would be over soon.

"Stupid nightmares..." she muttered to herself, shivering. The sweat coating her skin was making her cold now she was no longer under the sheets, despite it being a warm night. She sat back on her bed, wrapping herself back up again, and waited for her body to calm.

...

A little while later, she glanced over to the clock beside her bed, and wasn't surprised to see it was just gone two in the morning. Almost a full night's sleep, she thought sarcastically. Keeping her blanket wrapped around her, Beth went and sat on the window seat. It was a clear night, and the inky sky was blazing with stars. That was one of the best things about living in the country – next to no light pollution. Back at the base where she had been stationed, floodlights were constantly lit, and she hadn't seen the sky so unrestricted for such a long time.

Although she tried not to, her mind wandered to the events of the previous evening – literally running into the one person in King County she wasn't prepared to see.

"You're back."

Beth stood rooted to the spot. She could see his eyes scanning her up and down, settling on the scar above her left eye. Her mouth felt dry and her heart raced, she didn't know what to say to him.

"I thought you were coming home next week." His voice was quiet, calm, as though he were speaking to a horse he didn't want to spook. Beth looked down, rubbing the scar above her head as she always did now when she got anxious.

"I came back early. I, um, wanted it to be a surprise." She glanced up at him, dropping her hand to her side, only to begin fiddling with the pocket on her shorts. He nodded, readjusted the crossbow on his shoulder, and then started chewing his thumb nail as he looked around.

"I didn't know if you'd want to hear from me." Beth met his eyes as she spoke, and he frowned at her. He held this unhappy gaze for few moments, nodded again, and then stalked off into the woods again.

Beth let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding, and felt tears prick her eyes. She knew that meeting wasn't as bad as it could have been, considering how she had left two years ago. Blinking the tears away, she stretched her legs and started a slow jog back to the farmhouse.

The entire way back, she thought of all the things she should have said to him.

I missed you.

I'm happy to see you.

I still... No.

No. She had decided it was best this way. He obviously hadn't forgiven her for leaving, and she couldn't blame him.

By the time she sat down to dinner that evening, Beth had resolved to leave things be with Daryl. She wasn't ready to try and fix that situation while she was still trying to fix herself.

Beth didn't want to sit around dwelling on the thought of Daryl Dixon for too long, but she couldn't help it. Their reunion, if you could even call it that, she thought with a grimace, had left her feeling horrible. And besides, what was one more night spent thinking about him, anyway? Beth had plenty of those under her belt already.

A noise pulled her from her thoughts, a kind of clicking noise that was coming from the back of the house, towards the woods. Beth's ears pricked up, and she could hear someone moving around to her side of the house. Panic started to rise in her chest, was someone trying to break in? A shadow rounded the back of the house, and came to a stop below her window. The clicking sound came once again, followed by a gruff voice muttering, "Stupid fuckin' lighter!"

There was a brief flash of light from below, illuminating the person's face for a second. Then all she could see was a red, glowing pinprick of a cigarette.

"Daryl?" Beth whispered incredulously, her voice carrying in the quiet night. "What the hell are you doing?!" She could just make out his head nodding towards the back of the house, and he started walking back the way he came. Beth paused for just a moment, baffled by Daryl's appearance below her bedroom.

She grabbed her college hoodie, and pulled it on as she tiptoed out of her room and down the stairs. She had no idea what he was doing here, or why he had come here in the middle of the night; all she knew was that the butterflies from earlier in the day were back with a vengeance.

Beth reached the back door in the kitchen, and eased it open as quietly as possible, ruminating on the fact that she was twenty four years old and still sneaking around like a teenager.

Daryl was standing on the back porch steps, smoking his cigarette, and turned as he heard her approach. He bent down and carefully stubbed the cigarette out on the brick steps, then tucked it behind his ear so he could finish it later. As he stood up, Beth whispered, "What are you doing here, Daryl?"

"Honestly? I don' know." He raised his eyebrows as he replied. "Couldn' leave things like that, I s'pose. Not the first time I see you in years."

Daryl leant on one of the white wooden columns supporting the porch roof and crossed his arms. He opened his mouth to speak again, but quickly closed it, deciding not to divulge anything more, and turned to face the darkness.

Beth moved forward and sat on the porch step, a few feet from where Daryl stood. She bunched her hands in sleeves, and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"It's a nice night..." She looked up at him, but he was still looking out into the backyard, or the woods beyond. With a sigh, he sat down too.

"I ain't here to talk about the weather, Beth, that's for fuckin' sure."

She nodded but didn't reply, not wanting to push him. Beth watched Daryl turning his lighter over and over in his hands for what felt like an eternity before he turned to face her. Even in the dark, Beth knew his eyes were fixed on hers.

"You got some new scars." Daryl's hands stilled, and Beth hummed her assent. "I won't ask you about it tonight."

"Thank you." Her gratitude came in a whisper. "Look, Daryl..."

"Don't." He cut her off, and then cleared his throat. "I guess I had to come and make sure you were real. That you're really here."

Daryl stood up abruptly, shoving his lighter in his back pocket and descended the porch steps.

Beth followed suit, and impulsively grabbed for his hand; even though Beth didn't know what she wanted to happen, she wasn't ready to let him go yet. She expected him to knock her hand away, but to her surprise he tightened his grip, and pulled her towards him. All of a sudden, her entire being was immersed in Daryl Dixon. His arms were wrapped around her, warming her, crushing her to him. Beth could smell the leather of his vest, the cigarette smoke still lingering around him, all combining with the scent on his skin to create something so distinctly Daryl. In that moment, she felt like she had truly come home. Beth could feel Daryl's heart racing beneath her head where it was pressed to his chest. Without warning, he brought one hand up and ran it through her hair, pulling her face towards his. She stiffened, scared he might find that hidden scar on her scalp, but he didn't venture near it. His hand stilled on the nape of her neck, tangling his fingers in her hair. Daryl rested his forehead against hers, all the while keeping her body pressed to his with his other arm.

Beth didn't know how long they stood like that for, entwined in each others arms. At some point, Beth had wrapped her arms around Daryl's neck, which she realised as she idly stroked her hand through his hair. It felt like hours had passed before his hand released the back of her head, and gently travelled to cup her face, his thumb gingerly brushed the scar on her cheek. Straightening up, his nose nudged hers, and just as Beth was preparing to kiss him, he pulled away. Her eyes shot open, hands and body bereft, to see him backing away from her.

"I can't, Beth. You left. I can't... I have to go." Daryl concluded before hastily retreating into the darkness.

Beth waited in the dark for as long as she could, wondering if he would come back, until she became too exhausted to stand any longer.

When she crawled back into bed, Beth resolved once again to let things go with Daryl. She had hurt him, and tonight was more than she felt she deserved from him. As she drifted off to sleep, she could could just about smell that Daryl scent lingering on her sweater. And for the first time, in a long time, Beth slept soundly until morning.

...

Here lies Hershel Greene

Beloved Father, Husband, Friend

Generous of Heart, Constant of Faith

May He Rest In Peace

Beth knelt in front of the simple stone epitaph marking her father's resting place. She placed a bunch of yellow and purple flowers on top, and stood up, stepping backwards to join her sister. Maggie wrapped an arm around Beth, pulling her close. "It was a beautiful service, Bethy. The whole town came out. I've never seen so many people at a funeral before."

Maggie leant forward to add a single white rose to the flowers that Beth had placed.

"I wish I could have been here." Beth sighed as she looked at her sister. "I should never have gone away in the first place."

"Bethy, no, don't say that. Daddy was so proud of you. I am proud of you, everyone is. Bad things... They just happen. Look, do you want a few moments alone? I can go and wait in the truck?"

"Yeah, I'll be over in a little while." Beth gave Maggie what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and watched her walk back to the blue truck. Beth knelt down again, facing the white headstone. Before she could even take a breath, it was as though a wall had been knocked down, and all the grief she had been holding onto burst forth in floods of tears.

"Daddy, I wish you were still here. Why did you have to leave?" She managed to croak out in between fits of tears. "How are we supposed to live our lives without you in it?" Beth laid a hand on the carved stone, resting it on top her father's name. She didn't know what she had expected to happen when she came here – maybe she would feel something, like a presence, or a feeling of peace. Beth just felt unbearably sad.

Once the tears had stopped, Beth got up and walked back to meet Maggie. She found a packet of tissues in her bag, and cleaned up her face before she got to the truck, and then climbed in. Maggie looked at her with a sad smile and squeezed her hand.

"It will get easier, Bethy, I promise. It still gets me from time to time, but I'm getting there." She started up the truck and started driving away.

"I hope so..." Beth murmured as she gazed out of the window, saying a silent goodbye to her father.

...

A couple of days later, Maggie started getting things ready for Beth's homecoming party at the weekend. She had already invited the whole town and Beth's friends from college. She really was in her element, as there was nothing Maggie Greene liked more than a good party.

Beth had been out for a run that morning, having decided on a different route in order to avoid a certain someone. She breezed into the kitchen, just as Maggie and Glenn were having a heated discussion.

"I just don't think we should tell her just yet, that's all."

"You can't let her find out another way, Mags. You don't know what it would do to her." Glenn countered.

"Let me find out what?" Beth interrupted, making the pair jump. They obviously hadn't heard her come in. After a sideways look at each other, Maggie and Glenn looked guiltily at Beth.

"We didn't know when to tell you, but we haven't invited Daryl on Saturday." Glenn admitted.

"Okay... Is that it?" she replied.

"No. Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. I mean, we can invite him if you want but we didn't think you'd want him there after we tell you."

"Tell me what, Glenn?" she looked at Maggie, "What is going on?" Beth was starting to get confused. She hadn't told either of them about the reunion with Daryl, or the visit in the middle of the night.

"Beth, Daryl has been... Seeing someone. In town. He has a girlfriend." Maggie winced as she spoke the last word. Beth's heart practically stopped, and then started beating ten to the dozen.

"Oh." It was all she could manage.

"I wouldn't call Jessie his girlfriend, exactly, but they've been dating for about a month..."

"Shut up, Glenn, I don't think this is the time for specifics!" Maggie growled at her fiancé. "I didn't know what to tell you, Beth. Are you okay? Do you still want him to come? It's up to you?"

After a moment, Beth nodded her head.

"Yeah, it's fine, Maggie. It would be rude not to invite him when everyone else is. It's fine. I left him, it's up to him if he comes or not." She blinked at the couple and made her way towards the stairs. "I'm going to go shower, okay?"

Beth didn't wait for a reply, and raced up the stairs two at a time, before bursting into her bedroom and closing the door behind her. She leant her back against it and slid to the floor, tears once again flooding her eyes. Beth felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Daryl Dixon was moving on.