Chapter 8 –

Shock was trying to take over Beth's body. Daddy… she thought sorrowfully. Her legs and lungs burned from running so soon after being so ill. She was far from ready for this amount of running but she knew they couldn't stop. Her eyes lifted to the back of Daryl's head. She desperately wished that she could ask him to stop or to slow down. She was gasping for air and her knees buckled with each step but she refused to fall. She couldn't let herself become a burden on the quiet man in front of her.

The two burst through a line of trees and a walker immediately tried to grab Beth. There were so many walkers around them that Daryl had informed her to just shoot them and not worry about stealth, so she raised her gun to shoot it and froze when there was only a click sound. She was out of ammo. A bolt flew straight into the walker's temple and Daryl grabbed her arm, pushing her to run by while he killed a second walker.

Beth pushed herself to run through the trees and into a field of tall grass, turning occasionally to make sure Daryl was there behind her. Her eyes met his briefly each time before he would look away with a nod to keep going. His silence was unnerving for Beth. Only days ago they had admitted their love for the other. Things had been awkward at first, just as she had expected. Especially after Rick returned from a run and explained that he had left Carol behind. She could see Daryl's internal struggle with the situation. Beth was secretly glad the woman was gone. She had found herself fearful of the moments she had been left alone while Daryl went to eat or shower (he never left her side otherwise) and she felt much safer knowing that the woman who had filled her nightmares was no longer in the same area as her. But she knew of the close friendship Daryl had had with the woman and she felt stabs of guilt at her happiness over the situation knowing how badly he must be hurting over it.

On top of that struggle, Daryl had also been unsure of what to do or say now that their feelings were out in the open but Beth had been able to calm his nerves and awkwardness over the past couple of days. Gentle touches or words here and there, one kiss right before the Governor showed up with a tank at the prison gates.

Right before her father…

Beth came to a sudden stop, making Daryl curse as he almost ran into her, and began coughing, her hands on her knees as her recovering lungs fought to grab the air they needed. She collapsed and laid on her back in a small clearing in the grass, sucking in large gulps of air. Daryl joined her, exhaustion evident in his body. They had been running for a while now, Beth wasn't sure how long, but they hadn't stopped to eat or rest. Just running away from their home, their family.

Beth glanced briefly at the man beside her but he refused to meet her gaze. He seemed angry but Beth couldn't tell if it was at her or their situation. Maybe it was both?

Days, and some moonshine, later, Beth would finally understand his silence and anger. She would finally understand why he was shutting her out again. Why he slipped back into his old ways of being quiet. Why he seemed to not give a crap about their family, or even about her.

Guilt.

The man in front of her, the one she held tightly in her arms with her head resting on his shoulder blades while he cried felt guilty because he had given up on finding the Governor, the man who murdered her father and destroyed their home. Beth didn't allow herself to think about the "what if's" but they crossed Daryl's mind every time he looked at her. The sorrow and pain she held in her eyes while she pushed her own tears down nearly killed him.

If I hadn't given up, her father would still be alive. We would still have our home, he thought. It was eating him up inside. But then her arms wrapped around him from behind and she held him to her tightly. She was comforting him, even though she was the one to have lost her father and it made him realize that she didn't blame him. Through this hug, he realized that she was telling him it wasn't his fault. He felt a huge weight lift off of his shoulders and chest. He thought over the words the two of them had yelled at each other and immediately felt guilty over the terrible things he had said.

I am really lousy at loving this woman, he thought as he recalled telling her everyone was dead and she should get used to that idea.

"I know you just look at me and see another dead girl!" That had stung. It was far from what he saw when he looked at her. He had hoped she would know that by now, but he realized his coldness to her since their escape had probably put doubt and insecurities into her mind. He felt her arms loosen from around him as she leaned out of the hug. Her hand on his shoulder made him turn to face her.

"You're wrong," he told her softly. Her wide blue eyes narrowed as she tried to think what she was wrong about. "I don't look at ya and see just another dead girl, Beth Greene. I look at you and I see…" he sighed and ran his hand through his sweaty soaked hair. "I see a beautiful, strong, capable woman…" he mumbled. He was glad for the alcohol in his system, liquid courage and all that. "And, 'm sorry. I've been a royal ass hat to ya lately."

Beth's blue eyes widened slightly before she smiled brightly at him and nodded. Her hand moved from his shoulder to his hand and grabbed it, pulling him back to the house.

As the night wore on, Daryl began to feel more at ease with Beth. The guilt he had been holding washed away with every word and smile she gave him. They shared stories easily, something that surprised even him. He loved and trusted the young woman in front of him but he had been worried about sharing his past with her. He feared she would become scared of who he was, what had happened to him, and the emotional baggage he carried and she would bolt. He feared she would leave him alone in this world.

"I'll be gone someday," she told him softly and Daryl's heart clenched.

"Stop," he told her immediately but she continued. He didn't want to hear this. He had already told her, almost a week ago; when she was still in the cell recovering that he couldn't live without her. Hearing her talk about it so calmly was killing him. He didn't want to be alone.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon," she told him with a smile. Daryl growled and grabbed Beth's hand and pulled her to him.

"I love you, Beth Greene. If I lost you, there'd be nothing left for me to live for," he growled out before pressing his lips to hers in a heated kiss that burned through their veins. "When you go, it'll be over my dead body. I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to you, sweetheart." He spoke against her lips before peppering more kisses against her lips and covering her body with his.