Flame

"Beth!" Daryl called out her name as he ran out of the funeral home, dodging walkers left and right. "Beth!"

Once he reached the road, he saw her backpack and his heart stopped. "Oh, fuck no," he whispered and looked around. "Beth!"

That's when he saw a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of his eye right before he heard her voice, "I'm here!"

He picked up their backpack nodded his head toward the woods, trying to ignore the mangy dog she was carrying in her arms. They ran through the night, Beth carrying the dog for a few hours before he took over the job once the sun rose.

"What should we do?" She asked and looked up and down the road they had come to. "I think I know where we are."

"Where?" He asked as he sat the dog on the ground.

"Near Peachtree City, I think." She looked to her left, and Daryl couldn't stop staring at her for several seconds. "My friend, Amber, had grandparents that lived here, and I'd go with her to visit them during tha summer. They were so nice."

"About how big is it?" He asked and shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts from last night.

Since death wasn't barging in the door anymore, he allowed himself to remember just how much he had laid himself out there for her the night before. He was embarrassed and little proud.

"A decent size, I guess. I lived out on tha farm my whole life. It all seems big to me."

He grunted in response and started walking toward down the road. "We gotta find a place to stay for tha night at least."

The moved through the town with quiet steps and hand gestures just like in the woods. Beth had managed to learn quicker than anyone he had ever known when it came to blending into the surroundings.

They passed by two large groups of walkers, never alerting them to their presence even carrying that damn dog with them.

When they reached the other side of town, Beth motioned to a house off of a county road. "That's where they used to live. It was just tha two of 'em. I'm pretty sure that once it got crazy, Amber and her parents tried to make a run for Atlanta to tha safe zones. They mighta gone with 'em."

"Ya mean tha ones that went and got napalmed?" Daryl asked without really thinking.

Beth stared at him in shock. "What?"

He shrugged. "Military went and blew Atlanta to hell. Woulda made Sherman proud."

"I never knew," she whispered. "No one ever told me that."

Daryl walked down the driveway. "Why would they?"

"'Cause I deserve to know," she spoke strongly, and he turned toward her.

"What else do ya think ya should know?" He asked and crossed his arms over his chest. That nasty little dog was seated beside his foot.

"Nothin' off tha top of my head, but I'm an adult. I can be trusted to know thangs. If I don't know how thangs are, how am I supposed to survive."

"Ya got me," he said without thinking. "I ain't gonna let anythin' get close to ya."

She studied him then, and he wondered if he had said too much or if she was thinking about the night before. He felt unsure of himself and looked away.

"Let's get inside," she said softly. "We need to get in and secure tha place before nighttime."

He felt a brief sting of rejection then shrugged it away as quickly as he could. She didn't owe him anything, and she probably thought he was a lovesick dumbass anyway. What the hell did he have for her?

Not a damn thing.

He was glad the house was clear. Killing walkers wasn't something he ever really looked forward to, but he was truly happy he didn't have to kill any of the people Beth used to know. She had seen that done before with her family and friends at her home then again to her father.

Beth Greene had experienced enough heartache.

"This should work until tomorrow, right? Maybe we can figure out a direction to go?"

Daryl nodded and looked over an atlas he had found in the office. "Where ya wanna go, girl?"

She stood speechless for a good bit before she sat down at the table beside him. "Why do I get to pick?"

Daryl shrugged. "I ain't never been nowhere worth goin' back to."

"Neither have I really."

"Ya gone more places than me."

They stared at the map for a while before Beth scooted her chair closer to his. Their positions the same as the night before except this time there was no food or him trying to find words that wouldn't come.

Just a map.

"We should go where good people are. Where do ya think that is?"

He turned immediately and caught her eye. She didn't look away as he stared her down, wondering if what she meant was what he thought she meant. Finally, he decided to go for it one more time.

"I'm here."

That night changed things between them. She would walk closer to him and touch him more.

He didn't mind at all, and he tried to do the same, but it never really felt right to be touching her. Not like how he meant the touches.

They were holed up in a house outside of Macon a couple of weeks later when she finally seemed fed up with how slow he was moving.

He had just finished stringing up a security line on the front porch of a hunting cabin when she walked right up to him, popped up on her toes and planted a soft kiss to his lips, taking a little extra time on his bottom lip when she pulled away. He was shocked but that didn't stop his hands from reaching for her as she pulled away.

"I wanna see where this goes," she whispered and sucked her bottom lip into her mouth.

Daryl stared for a beat before nodding. "Yeah."

Her grin was contagious, and he found himself ducking his head to hide his own grin. There was a feeling in his chest that he had never known before.

The kisses were frequent, so was the handholding and the hugs.

He never initiated it, but she knew he liked it. She had to have known.

They had been on the road for weeks, heading toward the hills of northeast Georgia, and Daryl was getting a little worn down from all the travel and dodging walkers. Beth was getting a little pissy from the choices in food.

It all came to head when they were walking through the woods, looking for a place to set up camp. Daryl pulled her back quickly then stomped his boot down on the head of the rattler near them.

"Dinner," he muttered and bent down to chop off its head while its back end was still squirming trying to get away.

"Oh, great, another snake." She started walking ahead of him, and he looked up at her.

"Hey, dinner's dinner, girl."

"I cain't believe we're back to this."

Daryl picked up the snake and walked toward her. "Listen, ya cain't be no prissy bitch right now. Ain't got time for that shit."

"What did ya just call me?"

"A prissy bitch," he said and took another step toward her. "Ya ain't gotta like it, but ya cain't be bitchin' about it like I could pull through a fuckin' drive-thru for your ass."

Beth's eyes widened and she gasped. "Just 'cause I don't want a damned snake don't mean I'm bein' a bitch."

"Nah," he agreed. "It means you're bein' ungrateful."

"Ungrateful? Ya think I'm ungrateful?"

They were toe-to-toe, and about to start hollering, when she brought both hands around his neck and took his lips in a bruising kiss. Their teeth clacked together as she walked him backward toward the nearest tree. Once his back hit, he twirled her around and pressed his entire body against hers, sliding his tongue with her between their lips.

Her fingers twined into his hair, and he pressed his lower half against her, finally letting her feel just what reaction she brought out—even when she was being a raging harpy.

"What tha hell?" A voice said in complete shock.

He pulled away and blocked Beth's body with his own, only to come face-to-face with his family plus a view others he didn't know.

"Are ya crazy?" Maggie yelled and stepped forward to grab Beth, but Daryl stepped into her path.

"Ya need to watch your step," he said.

"Oh, please," Maggie said and rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna let ya take advantage of my sister."

She tried to grab for Beth again, but Beth laughed and moved away to wrap her arm around Daryl's. "I assure ya, Maggie, Daryl's not doin' anythin' I didn't want him do or have been tryin' to get him to do for weeks."

Beth let go of him and wrapped her arms around her sister. "God, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Me, too, Bethy. I was worried," Maggie whispered with her eyes closed.

Daryl scanned the group, and when his eyes met Carol, he cleared the space between them and hugged her tightly.

"Damn, woman, I thought ya were lost somewhere."

Carol snorted. "Nine lives, remember?"

"Yeah," he said as he took a step back.

"Ya got some explain' to do," she said with a smirk.

Daryl rubbed his chin and felt his cheeks heat up.

"Thank God," she whispered and patted his arm.

Daryl shrugged then walked back to stand beside Beth.

The group looked at them for a moment before Rick cleared his throat. "Well, guess we're all together now. Y'all been okay?"

"Yeah," Beth said with a smile. "We've been on tha move a lot."

"We got caught by cannibals that were callin' an old rail station home," Carl said with a shrug.

"What?" Beth's voice was a level too high for most people to hear, and Daryl moved a step closer to her, touching his shoulder with hers.

"Where y'all headed," Rick asked, ignoring what Carl had said and eyeing them a little.

"Just movin' until we found a place to stay." Daryl answered and Rick nodded.

"We heard that Virginia has a safe zone. We were gonna head that way."

He looked to Beth, and she nodded.

With no words, their course had been set.

Alexandria was nice.

It was clean and walled up. They each had jobs and apartments, but it was so structured and organized that Daryl felt like he was in a prison.

Beth fit right in, and he was a little jealous of the way she got used to the city around her. She worked in a school during the day teaching little kids music, and he worked the wall, making sure all those walkers stayed out.

Turned out, where there were a lot people, there were a lot of walkers. Regardless how little sound they made or how the lights went out at dark every night.

When they first arrived in the safe zone, Daryl had held Beth's hand as they were guided down the street to the apartment building they would all be staying at. Once they got there, Maggie had pulled her away, saying that she could stay in the two-bedroom apartment with her and Glenn.

Beth shrugged and took his hand again. "Looks like we're livin' with my sister."

Maggie had turned a shade of red he had never thought possible before telling them absolutely not. They could stay in their own apartment. It was in his DNA to smirk and through an arm over Beth's shoulder, so when he did it, it didn't surprise him, but it sure surprised everyone else.

Turned out he could be a possessive dick on top of being a regular gruff asshole, too.

The man assigning them to their homes didn't bat an eyelash at the move, just wrote down Daryl and Beth's names and showed them to the next door.

Once inside their little apartment, Beth turned to him with a big grin. "Looks like I'm livin' in sin."

"Pretty sure tha sign outside said The Manor."

Beth's grin cracked, and she laughed as she threw her arms around his neck.

"I feel like we just got through runnin' a race, and now we're at tha finish line."

"I don't know about that," he muttered. "Seems like shit always pops up."

Beth kissed his cheek and pulled away. "I've got ya, though, right?"

Daryl shrugged. "Don't know why ya want me."

"I've never wanted anyone else."

And that little spark inside of his chest, turned into a flame at her words.