I am just barely making my two week deadline. I have been at home and there isn't very good internet. I got my little sister to hook up some box for me that makes a personal wifi hot zone, but then it didn't work. So I used our ancient computer and waited an hour for the internet to connect. Soon, I will be back at college and able to easily access the internet! Yay! I really enjoyed this chapter, it was just fun to write I hope you enjoy. Also, I was left a comment suggesting that in this area I mention if anything in the chapter that might be too intense for some readers. I'm sorry I didn't do that last time, I hope it didn't cause anyone any problems. I will make sure to do that in the future. Thank you for all the sweet comments and support.

Beth's POV

Beth had wondered so long what it would be like to kiss Daryl and now she was finally doing it. As soon as she came back to her senses, she realized that the redneck was a stiff as stone under her lips. She didn't really know what else she should have expected; he practically became a statue every time she hugged him. Just as she was about to feel really silly and embarrassed, Daryl's lips softened and closed over hers. His hand went up into her hair, careful not to touch the side of her head that was injured, and he pulled her closer. Beth wanted to moan with how good it felt for him to touch her. His stubble brushed up against her cheek and made every nerve a thousand times more sensitive. Suddenly, his tongue was in her mouth and all of her previous embarrassment was forgotten. It was so great, so intimate, so wonderful, and then it was gone.

"Shit," cursed Daryl, running a hand through his hair and backing away, "fucking shit."

Beth vaguely stared at him, wondering what had gone wrong.

"Beth," he began, "we can't, I shouldn't have…..this can't happen."

"Why not," asked Beth, although she had some clue what he was going to say.

"Why not," Daryl exclaimed, "I can think of a million reasons why not. For starters I'm old enough to be your father."

"I think that is bullcrap," Beth said stubbornly, "Age doesn't matter anymore, not the way it used to. Anyone who has lived through what we have lived through is older in experience than the oldest person who lived a comfy life before the apocalypse."

"Beth," Daryl sighed, "I ain't relationship material. You don't want to be with someone as messed up as me. Besides, ain't nobody going to be okay with this."

He motioned between him and her.

"I don't care what other people at camp think," Beth argued, "I only care about what you think. Do you like me?"

"Beth," Daryl growled, like he was being attacked by several walkers "that ain't the point."

"I like you a lot Daryl," Beth admitted, "I have for a while now. You are a good man and there is no way you can not deserve to be with me. If I think you are good enough for me then you are. "

That very statement made the person of her affection obviously uncomfortable. Daryl's eye's darted all around the room like the ball in a pin ball machine. His thumb rose unconsciously to his lips, a sign of his mental distress. His muscles tensed up like he needed to defend himself from an unseen enemy.

"Beth," the redneck said like it pained him, "it ain't that simple."

He began fidgeting with his crossbow strap, which was his go-to comfort object.

"Here," Daryl said gently as he took the bowl of soup and placed it in her lap. Then, he promptly left the tent.

Beth stared at the pitiful bowl of noodles and carrots for a moment before she began crying. At first it was just a single tear drop but then it turned into full-out sobbing session. It was all over now. Knowing Daryl, he would be so uncomfortable around Beth that that would pretty much be the end of their friendship. It wasn't even fair, he liked her back, she was sure of it. He had kissed her back! Yet, that didn't change anything and Beth didn't know how to change his mind. No matter how many times she could tell him that she wanted him and that she believed that he was a good man, she didn't know if he would ever believe it. It was sad that someone as wonderful as Daryl thought so little of himself.

"Want me to punch him in the face," offered Maggie, who had appeared at the tent.

"No," Beth sobbed, "I want a hug." She knew she sounded pathetic, but after being shot and having Daryl tell her that they couldn't be together, she needed her sister's caring embrace.

Her sister came in and wrapped her strong arms around Beth's shaking shoulders.

"Let's not have you eat anymore soup," her sister joked, taking the bowl from her "I think that is just too hard on all of us."

Beth nodded and a small chuckle found its way in between her sobs. Beth leaned into the brunette's body and enjoyed the feeling of having her sister by her side.

"Want to tell me what happened," Maggie asked.

"Honestly," Beth replied, "I want to go back to sleep and forget all of this ever happened."

"Alright," the brunette said, giving her a kiss on the head, "just let me know if you need anything."

Logan's POV

Logan could hear Daryl yelling at Beth from across the campsite. Hell, everyone could. Yet no one did anything. It was a good thing Daryl wasn't married, Logan was pretty sure he would be an abusive husband.

The people that were not originally from Rick's group looked frightened, but neither Rick nor Glenn made any move to stop the hillbilly from shouting at the poor recovering girl. Logan couldn't make out most of what the crass man was saying but he definitely caught a few choice cuss words and "skinny little ass".

"Rick," said Logan, "don't you think this has gone far enough."

"Hmph," Rick snorted amused, "if anything Daryl is the one I should be worried for."

"You don't know it yet Logan," Glenn told him, "but those Greene women are a force of nature when they are angry, not even Daryl can withstand that. Although they should really keep it down or they are going to attract walkers."

"What is wrong with you people," Logan yelled, "A guy is verbally abusing one of the women in your group and you won't even raise a hand to stop it."

"Look Logan," Rick said, "with all due respect, I understand why you are concerned. You don't know Daryl like we do. But let me tell you that while Daryl is a bit rough around the edges, he would never hurt a woman, especially Beth."

Suddenly, the screaming stopped and young man assumed Beth was probably dead.

"I would bet two rations that Daryl is getting his butt chewed off," Glenn said.

Logan was done talking to the two of them, they were obviously no help.

He saw an older woman walking by with short grey hair. He believed her name was Carol and he had seen her treat Beth like a daughter. Surely this woman would be more concerned than Rick and Glenn were.

"Hey," he said, "aren't you a bit worried by all of this?"

"Daryl," she asked, looking over towards the tents, "yeah, I hope Beth doesn't hurt Daryl too much, he is a real softie."

Suddenly, the man in question came storming up to the group, who pretended like they hadn't heard anything. The redneck was red in the face and panting like he had run a marathon. His squinted blue eyes glared icy shards at all the people dumb enough to still be staring.

"Glenn," he demanded, "get off your ass and let's go hunting."

With that, the redneck started stomping off towards the woods. That was it, he was just going to get off scott-free after chewing out the sweetest person in camp. No one was going to stand up for Beth and that was just unacceptable.

"Hey," Logan yelled after him, "what the hell was that, you can't just treat people that way."

Instantly, Daryl turned on him.

"How about you mind your own fucking business," Daryl said as he stepped closer, his blue eyes flashing "Beth don't need no boy fighting her battles for her."

"Daryl," said Glenn, "I'm ready, let's get going."

The hunter turned his back on Logan and walked off, leaving the boy fuming.

It angered him that he wasn't strong enough to do anything to Daryl. The least he could do would be to go check on Beth. Make sure the pyscho-maniac hadn't hurt her. As he got closer to the tent she was being held in, he could hear sobbing. It was undoubtedly Beth and he hated Daryl for doing this to her. He could also hear Maggie's voice and assumed that she was comforting Beth better than he could, so he stayed outside and waited for Maggie to leave. When she finally did, he slipped in to find Beth with bloodshot eyes and tears on both of her cheeks. The blonde quickly wiped them away as if embarrassed.

"Hi Logan," she said, trying to sound upbeat and cheerful but failing dramatically.

"This isn't right," Logan said, "that jerk can't just be going around yelling at you like that. I am going to talk to some people outside of your group and I will make sure it stops."

"What," Beth said in surprise, her blue eyes widening "no, Logan, its not what you think, Daryl isn't like that…"

"You don't have to defend him Beth," Logan said, "just because you feel like you owe him for hunting or saving your life a couple times doesn't mean he has any right to treat you that way."

"No, really Logan," insisted the blonde girl, "Daryl didn't do anything wrong, we had an argument, which I kind of started, but really, it is alright."

"You don't need to blame yourself for the way he was acting," Logan replied, growing angrier at the man, "everyone has seen how he treats you and just because they don't want to anger him for fear of the jerk not bringing them back fresh meat or something is just absurd."

"Stop it," Beth said in a tone Logan had never heard used by the sweet girl before, "stop it right now. Don't you ever talk that way about Daryl. He isn't like that. He doesn't scare me and he would never stop helping the group just because someone angered him. He is one of the best men I know."

Logan had to stop himself from letting his jaw fall open. Was Beth on something? Had she taken too much damage to the brain when she had been shot? What in the world was wrong with her, standing up for the guy that treated her like shit?

"Logan," Beth said, "I'm really tired and just want to sleep."

"Yeah," Logan replied lamely, understanding that that was his queue to leave. He didn't know what was going on here or what kind of hold Daryl had on this pretty girl (or the whole group actually), but he was going to figure it out.

Glenn's POV

To say Glenn was exhausted would be an understatement. He and Daryl had been "hunting" all night. What they had really been doing was following random tracks until Daryl would spot some walkers, which he would then have to kill, usually very violently.

"Daryl, haven't you had enough," Glenn pleaded, "we have been out here all night, I know you aren't really hunting anything."

"I thought you wanted to bro-bond or whatever that shit is called," Daryl replied, "well now you got it, you and me spending time together, getting to know each other."

With that, Daryl spotted another walker and put a bolt through its head.

Glenn sighed and imagined how the night could have gone if instead he had been in a tent with Maggie back at camp. He should have known better than to have ever tried to get on friendly terms with Daryl, now it had come back to bite him in the butt. However, with how reckless Daryl was being, it was probably best that Glenn had come along to keep an eye on him. He didn't know what Beth and Daryl had argued about but it had obviously upset the archer and the only way he was going to get to go back anytime soon was to fix it.

"Sooo," Glenn started as he watched Daryl pull his bolt out of a walker's head, "what's up with you and Beth."

"Nothin," Daryl said, reloading his crossbow.

"Didn't sound like nothing," Glenn said.

The archer grunted and started looking for a new target. The conversation wasn't going anywhere. Even after several years together, Glenn didn't always understand what was going through Daryl's mind.

"Well," Glenn tried, "if say, something had happened, even though it didn't, well, ummm, I am used to Maggie and Greene girls tend to have the same stubborn streak so maybe I could give you some advice…..hypothetically."

"Mmmm," Daryl grunted, which Glenn took as a positive sign.

"So," Glenn said, going off of almost nothing, "when Maggie and I get into fights, I usually just give in and apologize because she is usually right or is at least stubborn enough to outlast me anyways."

"Yeah," Daryl agreed, "Beth is usually right and you are pretty weak-willed."

Glenn watched as Daryl took out several more walkers. He still hadn't found out much, but at least Daryl was talking, even if that talking involved insulting him.

When the hunter had finished off his latest victims, they went back to walking side by side. Glenn tried again and again to figure out what had happened but Daryl gave him about as much information as a walker would. Finally, at the end of his wit's end, with the sun rising, he gave up trying to be polite about it.

"Look man," Glenn said, "I'm tired of walking around in the woods killing corpses, why don't we just go back and you and Beth can kiss and make up, that would make everyone's lives easier."

Glenn had expected his complaint to earn him a snarky remark or a glare. What he didn't expect was for Daryl to turn a dark shade of red and freeze mid-step. The archer whirled on him, anger and frustration apparent on his face. It was more expression than Glenn had seen Daryl have since he found out Merle had been handcuffed and left on a roof.

"Why the hell would I be kissing Beth," the archer snarled down his throat, looking more like a rabid wolf than a human being.

"Whoa, whoa," Glenn said, trying to appease him, "it's just a saying. Chill man, I'm not accusing you of anything."

"Oh," Daryl simply said, backing off, "yeah, right, a saying."

Glenn watched as Daryl stomped off ahead of him into the forest. Suddenly, his conversation with Maggie came back to him. His wife had mentioned seeing Daryl and Beth around each other a lot and Daryl did seem to put up with Beth more than he did most people. And now recently it seemed like the young blonde girl pushed the older man's buttons all too easily, which had led to Glenn's current predicament.

Glenn's jaw fell open as the pieces fell into place. Oh god, how was he going to be able to keep this from Maggie. How should he feel about this? I mean, Beth was practically his younger sister. But then again, he thought Beth was perfectly capable of making her own choices and he knew Daryl well enough to know that he would never push the girl to do anything she didn't want to do. Actually, considering Daryl's reaction, it was the redneck who needed more help than Beth did. Oh god, how in the world was he going to talk to Daryl about romantic feelings, Daryl barely talked to him about planning dinner or other mundane chores. Glenn considered calling it quits and running back to camp, but he knew he couldn't.

"Hey, Daryl," he called, deciding it was best just to get it over with, "I get it man, you don't have to say anything. If you have feelings for Beth that is fine with me."

The redneck looked back at him like he had gone crazy.

"Fine," the man repeated, his eyes practically bulging "you would think it's fine, an old redneck asshole like myself shacking up with Maggie's little sister? Fine?"

"Well, you could have put that more eloquently, but sure," Glenn told him, "everyone in the group respects you. No one would think you are taking advantage of her. We are all family here. I at least would be happy for the both of y'all. It's not often you find someone you care that deeply about in the world we live in now."

Daryl appeared to be at a loss for words, so Glenn decided to take matters into his own hands and started heading back towards camp. Thankfully, the archer followed him. When they were at the edge of camp, Daryl snapped out of his surprised trance and blocked Glenn's way.

"Glenn," Daryl demanded, "you are shit at keeping secrets but you can't be telling Maggie about this alright. Or anyone else for that matter."

"I can keep a secret from Maggie," Glenn promised, even though he had already doubted his ability to do so.

"You had better," threatened Daryl, flexing his arm muscles, which was enough to keep Glenn's mouth shut, at least for a little while.

Daryl's POV

Even in the apocalypse, you can run out of things to do. Daryl had spent the past few days chopping wood, carrying water, and hunting, anything to get his mind off Beth. He had worked himself to the bone just to keep the memory of soft lips and big blue doe eyes out of his head. Yet, here he was at the end of the day with nothing else to do. All of the night watch positions had already been filled. Despite the fact that the archer had almost pleaded with Rick to let him take a shift, the leader had been adamant that the schedule was already set for tonight. So, Daryl had done the next best thing and decided to sit at the edge of camp and keep an eye on things, even though Aidan and Tyreese were already on watch.

Daryl had even been avoiding dinner, not wanting to even chance seeing Beth, who he heard was up and walking now. Carol had noticed and brought him some food every night. His friend had tried talking to him today but after sensing that it was a lost cause, she had returned to camp. Now, Daryl was left alone with only his thoughts, which were in chaos right now. Regardless of the hunter's attempt to block out yesterday, to pretend it had never happened, it was now coming back in surprising detail.

A second before Beth had leaned in, Daryl had known what she was going to do. He had frozen, afraid that if he moved, the moment would disappear. Even after her soft lips had met his, the redneck had been sure he was hallucinating. There was no way that Beth would even want to do something as intimate as kiss him. When his brain had finally wrapped around the idea that it was all real, Beth, the kiss, everything, he had immediately responded. It had felt so good not holding back. His hands had moved on their own, finding their way into her silken hair. His tongue had darted forward into the blonde's mouth, desperate to taste more of hint of peaches that lingered on her lips. It was when Beth's sighed that everything came rushing back to him and the voices had hit him.

"Awww, little brother, ain't that cute," Merle had drawled, "she's young enough to be jailbait. She will break your heart the second a guy her age comes along."

"Good for nothing kid," his father roared, "no one is ever going to love you. If you think they love you, then it's a lie. A God-damned lie! Worthless piece of shit."

Instantly, Daryl had jumped back, away from Beth, away from a light that was far too bright for him. She had looked sad and confused at his withdrawal, but it had to be a lie. No one had ever wanted him. His own trashy mother hadn't wanted him, his good-for-nothing father hadn't wanted him, his brother wanted him only because he liked to boss Daryl around. If Daryl couldn't even be wanted by his own family, there was no way Beth wanted him. Maybe she was confused, maybe the bullet had done something to her brain, making her act out of character. Whatever it was, it couldn't be love or affection and kissing her was only going to make things worse.

"Shit," Daryl had cursed, the profanities slipping easily through his lips, "fucking shit."

Daryl had to fix this. He cared about Beth so much, even though he knew things between them could never be more than platonic, never should be more. His bond with Beth was special and he didn't want to lose that by messing up a romantic relationship, which he was bound to mess up, just like he messed everything else in his life up.

"Beth," he had tried, "we can't, I shouldn't have….this can't happen."

"Why not," Beth had asked with wide eyes as she tilted her head to the side. It was as if for the life of her she could not see why a beautiful angel like her didn't belong with a crass redneck like himself.

"Why not," Daryl had exploded in frustration, "I can think of a million reasons why not. For starters, I'm old enough to be your father."

That hadn't been the real reason, just the easiest to point out. Age didn't really matter when it came to Beth. Daryl knew she was wise beyond her years and he would be the first to admit that he was dumb for his years. Plus, anyone who killed walkers and raised a baby was an adult in his book, no matter what their age was. The real reason was that Daryl was scared, something he would never admit aloud. He was scared that he would mess things up with Beth. He was scared that at some point she would figure out that she deserved better and leave him, a blow he wouldn't be able to come back from. He was scared of caring about another person, especially when everyone close to him had either hurt him or had been killed by walkers.

Beth had obviously protested Daryl's stupid argument so he had tried to make her understand, but he had never been good with words. He had managed to spout something about not being "boyfriend material", as if that even began to describe how wrong he was for her. He didn't really know what else he had said, all he could remember was Beth's words.

She had sat there in her makeshift bed all teary eyed, her emotions like an open book for him to read. With an honesty only Beth Greene could use, she had told him how much she admired him and how good of a person he was. Daryl knew he was a better person than he had been before the apocalypse, but wasn't that proof in itself as to just how bad he was. Good people like Rick became worse in the apocalypse to protect those they loved, people like him flourished where there was death and killing and sadness. Why couldn't Beth see that?

Finally, unable to understand what was going on between them or inside himself, Daryl had given Beth her soup and left. He had done something a Dixon was never supposed to do, he had run away. He had dragged Glenn all around the woods trying to escape what had just happened, but then Glenn, who wasn't all that perceptive, had figured it out. Now, Daryl was no longer running, but he wasn't confronting the problem either. Instead, he was just sitting outside, staring into the trees as if they would give him answers.

A nice breeze ruffled the collar of Daryl's worn shirt and caused the grass to rustle. However, another noise caught his attention. It was the sound of light footsteps making their way towards him. The hunter turned around to see Beth shakily standing, barefoot in a loose, large white shirt a few meters away. The moon behind her made her hair shine as the wind whipped it around her face. Daryl could have sworn that he was seeing an angel.

"Hey," he exclaimed in shock, as he jumped up to help her, "what are you doing walking around? Are you healed enough? You are shaking!"

"Yeah," Beth said softly, staring at him as if she were in a dream, "Bob says I can start trying to walk again. And I have walked around camp, just not this far from the tent, until I did just now."

"Idiot," Daryl chastened as he put his arm under hers for support, "you shouldn't be pushing yourself when your alone. You could faint or some shit."

"I'm not alone," Beth argued, as stubborn as ever, "you are helping me."

"I am now," Daryl agreed, "but not before, you could have fallen or something."

"But I didn't," the blonde pointed out as she leaned more heavily on him. Her forehead began to shine with sweat.

"Yeah, yeah," Daryl muttered, annoyed at her carelessness, "what kind of medicine did Bob give you anyway. You are usually pretty silly but this is actually dumb."

"But you didn't come see me," Beth said innocently, batting her eyelashes at him "so I had to come see you."

Daryl looked away, trying to hide the heat he felt rising to his face.

"Ain't much to see," he grumbled.

"I wouldn't agree with that," Beth said with a huge loopy grin.

The archer didn't know what to say to that, so he just stared. After a minute or two, Beth spoke.

"Can we sit down," she breathed, "I'm kind of tired."

Daryl cursed himself, he should have asked her that first, he had noticed that she was having trouble standing.

"Mmmm," he muttered as he helped lower Beth onto the grass. Then, he took a seat beside her, but careful to stay an appropriate distance.

They both sat there for a while in silence, enjoying the night. Or at least Beth was enjoying the night and Daryl was fidgeting while trying to come up with a way to describe everything he was feeling but didn't understand.

"Those flowers are sure pretty," Beth sighed.

Daryl looked up from his hands to see the blonde staring at a cluster of beautiful flowers with large white petals.

"Those are moonflowers," Daryl told Beth, the words finally appearing, "they only bloom at night. When I was a kid, I used to think that they glowed at night. I could never figure out how they could be so bright even when they were in the shade of trees, away from the moonlight."

He looked over at Beth and was rewarded with a smile. She glowed brighter than any moonflower he had ever seen. Without thinking, Daryl stood up and walked over to the cluster. Bending down, he picked the largest flower. Carefully, he carried it over to Beth and handed it to her. If she had glowed bright before, it was nothing compared to the way she was shining now. With a grin, her deft fingers tucked the flower behind her ear, making her look like some forest fairy.

"Let's get you back," Daryl said softly, reaching down to grasp Beth's arm and help her stand up. For the first time since they had kissed, Daryl's mind went quiet as she stood up and wrapped her arms around his waist. He didn't question the way his skin tingled wherever Beth was touching him. They hadn't apologized or figured anything out, but they were okay in a way only the two of them could be.

Obviously, Daryl has lots of emotional turmoil in this chapter because he doesn't know how to deal with getting close to people and having relationships. Now that Beth has kissed him and he has kissed her back, he is forced to confront his feelings. My favorite part of this whole chapter is Glenn telling Daryl to kiss Beth and make up. I love writing things that are funny and I hope y'all find it just as enjoyable. Logan doesn't understand what is going on and has good intentions but who are we kidding, how can anyone not see how awesome Daryl is? My inspiration for the ending was when Daryl gave Carol a flower. He knows plants well from spending so much time outdoors and he does better expressing his feelings through actions rather than words. Hope you enjoyed and I will start working on the next chapter.