Hey everyone. Thank you for all your reviews follows and favorites, I can't believe you are all enjoying this story so much... I am seriously so amazed at how much feedback I've received thus far, so thank you thank you thank you all! :)

Just a quick note, I honestly love when you give your opinions on where I should take this story, so please continue doing so! I do have a plot already mapped out; however, I have recently changed up a few things because I really liked the idea of Daryl wanting Beth, rather than the normal, Beth wanting Daryl predicaments. So I decided to give Daryl more of a vulnerability now, and have him wanting Beth a little bit more, and receiving resistance from her instead. Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know your thoughts. I think this is a building chapter, so there isn't that much craziness going on; however, it has a nice Bethyl moment in there :)

Okay, so enough with that... enjoy!

Beth pulled her damp blonde hair back, and into a high messy ponytail. She didn't even bother smoothing down the small flyaways; it wasn't like she was trying to impress anyone anyway. She felt like hell; like pure and utter hell. The headache she fell asleep with the night before, was throbbing in full force that morning, ready for her as soon as she woke up. She was nauseous too, and just the mere smell of food would possibly make her spill her guts out everywhere. It was hard enough just trying to down a glass of water with the four capsules of Tylenol; but, she managed, even if it was just barely. She wasn't even going to try with food though… eventually as the day progressed, her appetite would return to normal again so she could wait, it wasn't worth the struggle.

She threw a loose sweatshirt on over her tank top; pulling it down at far as it would go, and cuddling her hands into the ends of the loose sleeves. She wished she could have stayed in the shower a bit longer; it was the only thing that really stopped the throbbing in her head, but she couldn't, there were things that needed to be done. She had to get downstairs and start cleaning up the mess before her father returned home that afternoon. The place had to have looked like a disaster, she was sure of it.

Most likely everyone was still fast asleep, whoever decided to crash at the house at least. Maggie, Glen, and the others were still going strong when she fell asleep, so she was betting that most of them just passed out there and they weren't planning on getting up anytime soon.

After quickly slipping on a pair of slippers, she reluctantly made her way down the stairs, catching a glimpse of at least four people crashed on the floor of the living room, mouths open and loud snores escaping them. She couldn't help but laugh at the thought of taking pictures of them all like that and posting them online. It would be hilarious; but they'd definitely rip her a new one if she did, so instead she entertained just the thought momentarily.

As she walked through the archway and into the dining room, she was surprised by how unexpectedly less of a mess it was. Granted; there were empty beer and liquor bottles on the floor, as well as some spilled beer and crushed cups along the table from the many games of beer pong; but still, it definitely wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be.

Just as she grabbed an empty trash bag from the cabinet, her phone buzzed in her sweatshirt pocket, and she reached her hands in to retrieve it.

To: Beth

From: Daryl

Good Morning Lush, how ya feelin'?

A grin crept across Beth's face as she read the text, and then proceeded to reply,

To: Daryl

From: Beth

Like crap! Lol… hey, sorry for the way I acted last night – I'm so embarrassed.

Beth waited a few minutes for his reply, and began picking up some of the empty bottles and cans, and tossing them into the bag. Her phone buzzed again, and she looked down to read the reply,

To: Beth

From: Daryl

It's already forgotten, don't worry about it. But listen, what are you doing later this afternoon? I need a favor.

Beth's eyes creased in curiosity, Daryl actually needed a favor, from her? She proceeded to reply.

To: Daryl

From: Beth

Nothing planned. What's the favor?

Beth found herself slowly lowering to the floor and eventually sitting on the ground, leaving the bag beside her. She waited for his reply, which didn't take very long before her phone buzzed again,

To: Beth

From: Daryl

I need to go to some kind of home store or something, pick up a few things… don't really know where one is, and I figured you're a female so you'd know lol… plus, I ain't much for good taste, so your opinion may be needed.

Beth found herself chuckling at his reply. She could only imagine what kind of things Daryl would pick out for his new place, and she knew he probably really needed her help – that is, if he wanted his place to look somewhat decent.

To: Daryl

From: Beth

Haha, sure I'll go with you. What time?

Beth waited, but it was only seconds before Daryl replied back,

To: Beth

From: Daryl

2?

Beth thought about it for a few minutes, it was only 10am, so that left her four hours to clean up and then get herself dressed. She figured it would be more than enough time.

To: Daryl

From: Beth

That should be fine. You'll pick me up here?

Beth placed the phone in her lap, until Daryl's reply flashed on the screen,

To: Beth

From: Daryl

Yeah. See ya then. Thx.

Beth placed her phone back into her pocket, and smiled as she picked herself back up from the floor and continued cleaning. She really liked Daryl as a person, and so far, from what she knew of him, he really seemed like a nice guy. Any of the guys in town would have taken the opportunity to take advantage of her, while she was in the state she was in the night before. But Daryl didn't, and for that, she knew he was a good person with a good heart.

She also, couldn't deny the fact that he was attractive, and even though part of her wanted to find out more about him, romantically; she also didn't want to ruin the one real good friendship she was forming with him neither. Besides Maggie, there weren't many people from Senoia that she could trust, and having someone that she could just be herself around and have fun with, and know that he wouldn't do anything to offend or hurt her was comforting. It was a nice change, and she wasn't sure she'd ever want to risk losing that over trying to pursue a romantic involvement with him.

Just as her thoughts were going into overload, she quickly snapped herself out of them. She needed to hurry up and get the rooms cleaned, so that she had enough time to get herself dressed and cleaned up. And with that, she continued picking up all the empty cans and bottles and tried to hurry as quickly as she could to finish.

XxxxxX

Daryl slowed his bike as he made his way down the Greene's driveway, coming to a stop right in front of the porch stairs. He noticed that there was another car in the driveway this time, a brown and red pickup, and assumed it was Beth's fathers'.

He was about to pull out his cell phone from his jacket pocket and text Beth, when Hershel, Beth's father, came walking around the corner of the house, with two buckets of horse feed in his hands.

Daryl looked up and paused, feeling almost nervous as the man approached him; his eyes squinting from the sun as he made eye contact with Daryl.

"Well Hello" Hershel said as he placed the buckets on the ground and wiped his hands on his brown overalls, before extending a hand out to Daryl, "You must be Daryl?"

Daryl shook the man's hand and gave a quick nod.

"Beth says you're new to the town" he said as he released his hand, "I'm Hershel, her father"

"Nice to meet you" Daryl said, his face hardened even though he didn't mean to come off so rough, it was just in his demeanor.

"Beth says you need a woman's eye to pick out some things for your place" Hershel said and Daryl again gave a quick nod, "Well, I know the feelin'… Men, we don't do well when it comes to home interior design and stuff"

Daryl gave a small laugh and loosened up is posture a little bit before answering, "Yeah, that's for sure"

Hershel nodded, and then his eyes turned towards Daryls' motorcycle, "So, you and Beth are going on that?" Daryl looked over towards his bike and nodded, and Hershel took a deep breath, "Are you a safe driver on that thing? I wouldn't want my little girl gettin' hurt now"

"Always" Daryl said simply, while giving a confirming nod.

Hershel looked as if he wanted to say more but didn't, because Beth opened and came walking out of the front and on to the porch.

"Daryl, hey" she looked nervous as her eyes shot back and forth between him and her father, "U-uh, Daddy, you've met Daryl I assume"

"I have" Hershel said with a nod, "just a second ago"

"Oh, okay good" she said, still nervous and searching Daryl with her eyes for some kind of reassurance that it went well.

"Yeah, he was just asking about my bike" Daryl said to Beth, and her face tensed a little.

"Oh… Daryl is a very careful driver Daddy" Beth said to her father and bit her lip when she expected a protest from him.

Hershel nodded, "Well, good"

Beth's stomach dropped a little, and she seemed a bit confused that her father wasn't going to argue with her about getting on the motorcycle with Daryl; however, she wasn't going to question his reaction neither.

"Well, we better get going then Daryl" Beth said as she made her way down the steps and over towards her father, where she planted a small kiss on his cheek, "I'll be home later Daddy"

"Okay" Hershel said to her, and then glanced back over towards Daryl, "You drive carefully"

"Will do" Daryl said with a nod and then restarted his bike; Beth walking over and getting on the back of it.

Hershel stood there watching as both Daryl and Beth rode down the driveway and towards the road. He definitely didn't like the idea of Beth being on the back of a motorcycle; however, she was an adult, and how much could he say to her?

He took a deep breath and grabbed the buckets again, shaking his head as he walked away and towards the barn.

XxxxxX

After directing Daryl on where to go and driving for about a half hour, they finally pulled into the parking lot of a huge strip mall. There were close to twenty different stores and Daryl was surprised to see that something of that size even existed in the small town.

After parking the bike, they began walking over towards the buildings; but Beth stopped short suddenly and spat out "shit!" while looking ahead at a group of people standing by the mall entrance doors.

"What? What's the matter?" Daryl said with narrowed eyes, as he stopped also and glanced around confused.

"It's Jimmy and his friends over there, by the doors" she said while shaking her head and discreetly pointing towards them.

"So…?" Daryl looked confused, "You don't want him to see you or somethin'?"

"No, it's not that" she shook her head; but her eyes became soft, "Okay, maybe it is; but we got into a real big fight last night and I don't expect him to be very nice if he sees me"

Daryl had a look of disgust on his face as he glared across the parking lot at the group of guys, "He ain't gonna' do or say nothin' Beth, come on', just ignore em'"

Daryl pulled on Beths' arm and the two of them continued walking towards the entrance, Beth extreamly nervous as her feet dragged reluctantly. Once they became closer, Daryl spotted a Hispanic girl with pigtails and a cropped shirt hanging all over Jimmy. He immediately looked down at Beth, who saw the girl as well, and he could tell by her facial expression that she was either hurt or pissed off, or even both.

Just as they walked past the group, Jimmy spotted them and Daryl was sure to give him a hard cold stare before he unexpectedly wrapped his arm around Beth's waist and pulled her closer to him.

"What are you doing?" Beth whispered, very confused, while looking up at Daryl with weary eyes.

"Shh… Jus' keep walkin' Beth, you wanna' piss him off don't ya?" he said with a smirk a quick wink and Beth couldn't help but chuckle.

They walked into the mall arm and arm, and Jimmy stood with his friends, watching; crossing his arms and glaring until Daryl and Beth were out of his sight.

When Daryl and Beth were no longer in the view of the doors, Daryl released his arm from Beth and smirked at her, "I'm sure that did it"

She bit her lip and looked up at Daryl with a pearly smile, "I bet it did"

She felt great, and couldn't even express how thankful she was for what Daryl did. Making Jimmy jealous was something she'd wanted to do for a long time now, and it felt so good.

"Aright, so where's this store?" Daryl said with a raised eyebrow.

Beth smiled at him, her blue eyes almost piercing, "Come on', it's this way" she said, before tilting her head in the direction of where they needed to go.

XxxxX

Daryl and Beth finally arrived back at Daryl's apartment after what felt like hours of walking around the stores. His feet and lower back were killing him, and he made a vow to never return to the place unless he was absolutely desperate. He was never one that really enjoyed shopping or doing anything remotely involved with that category. Beth on the other hand, she was having the time of her life and Daryl honestly starting to worry that the girl was going to cause him to go broke. Every time he turned around, she was telling him how much he could use this, and how he should get that, because it would look 'cute'. Eventually he managed to pry Beth to the registers and out of the store. He was almost instantly regretting not asking Beth if she could drive her truck, because there wasn't very much room to attach bags on his motorcycle. He managed to secure them behind Beth, but he was extremely nervous that they would hit into his back wheel and cause him and Beth to go skidding off on to the side of the road. That was the last thing he needed, was for her to get hurt.

However, they managed to make it back in one piece, and after Daryl unattached the bags from the bike and him and Beth carried them into his apartment and unpacked the stuff inside them, they were both starving.

Beth sat down on the sofa and looked around, "This is actually nice… it's small; but it's comfortable. It was really nice of Dale to offer this to you"

"Yeah, it's perfect for now" Daryl said as he plopped down on the other side of the couch, his head sinking back into the cushion, "Dale's a nice guy, I'm very thankful to em'"

Suddenly Beth's stomach growled and Daryl could hear it from where he was sitting, "I'd offer you somethin' to eat; but I ain't got nothin' to cook yet"

"No, its okay" Beth said while hugging her stomach, "I just wasn't able to eat earlier, so I haven't put anything in my stomach yet; but it's okay… I'll eat when I get home"

"I'm actually hungry too though" Daryl said while placing a hand on his stomach, "you know anywhere we can order a pizza or somethin'?"

"No Daryl, really… don't order somethin' because of me" she said in protest.

"Shut up Beth" Daryl said with a smirk, "I'm sayin' I'm hungry too… so do you know a place or what?"

Beth laughed, but then shook her head yes and then proceeded to call the local pizzeria in town, placing an order for delivery.

When she finished placing the call, she rested her phone down beside her on the couch and leaned back as well. Daryl found himself looking over at Beth discreetly without her noticing. She was growing on him, and the girl that he originally thought was just a nosey chick who liked to ask a hundred questions, was actually turning out to be a really cool girl to be around.

Not to mention that she knew nothing about whom he really was, and all that he'd done. He liked it that way, that to her, he didn't have a past filled with crazy actions and bad experiences. It was like his slate was cleared when he was with her, he could be the guy he wanted to become, rather than the guy he was.

"Thanks for comin' today", Daryl cleared his throat and looked over at Beth through the corner of his eye, "I appreciate it"

Beth smiled at him and nodded, her face becoming a little embarrassed as she fiddled with her fingers in her lap, "Don't mention it… it's the least I could do, after last night"

Daryl was going to assure her that he'd already forgotten about it; but after picturing the very drunk Beth in his head again, he couldn't help but let out a laugh, "You were pretty wrecked darlin'"

Beth brought a hand to her face to cover her embarrassment, "Oh god, don't even talk about it, I was such a mess"

"That you were" Daryl said jokingly and Beth threw one of the throw pillows at him. Daryl raised his arm to block it and continued laughing, "Nah, you were cute though"

Beth blushed, as far as she could remember, she was far from cute, "Whatever, let's just not talk about it anymore please". Daryl smiled but stayed silent, in efforts not to embarrass the girl anymore. "So what made you come by anyway last night? I didn't think you were gonna' show"

Daryl shrugged and let out another sarcastic chuckle, "figured your annoyin' ass wasn't gonna' stop textin' and callin' me if I didn't"

Beth laughed, crossed her arms and pursed her lips together, "Well, you're not that special now Daryl, I think you wanted to come, you just don't wanna' admit it"

Daryl rolled his eyes and chortled, "Always assumin' Beth"

Beth laughed but the conversation grew silent again, and Beth happened to take another look over at the things they unpacked from the bags, and spotted the pink teddy bear Daryl bought for his daughter.

"That's really cute that you got your daughter that", Beth pointed towards it, "I'm sure she's gonna' love it when she comes to see you"

Daryl cracked a small smile and stared at the bear, "Yeah, got a while before that'll happen though"

Beth's eyes creased in curiosity, "Why? You have a place now, what else do you really need to spend time with her? I'm sure she wouldn't care where you guys were as long as she was able to spend time with her daddy"

"It's not her" Daryl said in a low tone, it was obvious that he really missed her, "For one, I can't exactly put her on the back of my bike to drive all the way down here, and two, her mother ain't all that compromising when it comes to shit… I'm sure she'll find some kind of reason why Sophia can't stay with me for a couple of days"

"You don't get along with her?" Beth asked, trying not to be too invasive.

"Nah, I mean we're civil and shit; but things ain't exactly peachy neither" Daryl bit the side of his thumb with his teeth, and looked over at Beth, "She's gonna' wanna' make sure my place is safe and I'm not livin' in some cardboard box or somethin'". Beth just nodded; she didn't want to say anything bad just in case it would offend Daryl in anyway. "I might take a trip back there at some point soon; jus' ta see Sophia for a couple hours or somethin', but I gotta wait till I get a couple of paychecks first"

"Well, I'm sure she knows that your doin' everything you can to see her" Beth suggested with a kind-hearted smile and Daryl nodded, avoiding eye-contact. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Daryl got up and started over towards the door, pulling out a twenty from his pocket, assuming it was the pizza delivery.

"Daryl, let me pay for it" Beth said and Daryl waved her off, ignoring her suggestion as he continued to open the door and retrieve the pizza.

Once he paid the delivery person, and closed the door he shook his head at Beth, who was holding out a twenty dollar bill.

"Put that away, I got it" he said while walking over to set the pizza box down on the small table in the kitchen area.

"Daryl just take it" Beth unexpectedly slipped the bill into Daryl's front right pocket, and Daryl stiffened for a second at her touch, "C'mon, seriously, your saving your money for Sophia remember?" Beth continued, and then pulled her hand away when she noticed his reaction, "Sorry, I-I jus' figured that was the only way to get you to take it, I didn't mean to be too intrusive". Beth backed away, feeling slightly embarrassed for causing things to get a little awkward.

Daryl swallowed and then tried to act as normal as possible, "You're so fuckin' stubborn, you know that?" he said while placing a slice of pizza onto a piece of paper towel and handing it to Beth, "Sorry, I ain't got plates yet"

Beth chuckled a little as she grabbed it from him, "Don't worry about it" she said with a grin and then looked at him with a sarcastic raised eyebrow, "And your stubborn too by the way, I ain't the only one ya know"

Daryl pursed his lips sarcastically and rolled his eyes before taking a gauging bite of his slice, pretty much eating the whole thing in two or three mouthfuls. Beth watched him with a mocking face as he went to retrieve another slice from the box. When he noticed her laughing at him, he raised an eyebrow and said "What?" with another mouthful of food.

"You eat like you haven't seen food in years" she said with a small laugh.

Daryl pulled a piece of cheese off the pizza and sardonically lowered it into his mouth, and then licked his fingers right after, "Yeah, and you eat like a bird"

Beth laughed but said nothing more; continuing to finish her slice of pizza, even if she did eat like a 'bird'.

Daryl found himself looking at Beth again, without her noticing. She was doing something to him, something he was trying to avoid initially. He didn't want to cloud up his focus on what he wanted to do and how he wanted to rebuild his life and start fresh; but there was just something about Beth that was becoming harder and harder for him to ignore. He felt so comfortable around her, like he'd known the girl for years. It was a new feeling to him, something he hadn't ever quite felt before. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but he had a feeling that it wasn't going to be that easy to control for much longer. Not to mention that all he'd thought about the night before was kissing her in the barn. Obviously she was extremely drunk and he wasn't really sure whether or not she would have acted in the same manner while sober, but either way, it was on his mind the entire night and the whole morning. It was one of the reasons he texted her in the first place to come with him, because for some reason, some reason that wasn't at all familiar to him, he just wanted to see the girl again.

XxxxX

After Daryl and Beth finished their food, the two of them sat at the table for a few minutes, both extremely full and partially unwilling to even attempt to get up from their seats. Daryl slid a cigarette out of his pocket and got up to light it on the stove. Once it was lit, he leaned up against the counter and looked at Beth while taking in a drag.

"Can I bum one off of you?" Beth asked while looking at him with innocent eyes.

"I thought you're a casual smoker? Why do you always want a cigarette when you're around me?" Daryl asked while blowing the smoke from his mouth.

Beth made a stubborn face, and spat out sarcastically, "Because I can, what are you gonna' act like Maggie now, and tell me I shouldn't smoke?"

Daryl raised an eyebrow and gave a sneering smirk, "Jus' for that, you ain't gettin' one"

Beth stood up and crossed her arms, walking slowly over towards Daryl. His eyes were completely focused on her as his cigarette rested securely between his lips. Beth approached him extremely slow, until she was mere inches from him. She stared into his eyes, almost seductively for a few seconds until she unexpectedly grabbed the cigarette from his mouth and turned away laughing while taking a long drag from it.

Daryl grabbed her by her waist instantly and spun her around, "You think ya' slick huh?" he said as he attempted to grab it from her hands; but Beth held her arm out behind her while laughing as he continued to pry it from her. She continued backing up and laughing until her back hit hard against the kitchen wall, Daryl standing in front of her; not even trying to get a hold of the cigarette any longer.

Beth pulled it back to her mouth and took another long drag before blowing the smoke out, directly into Daryl's face. "I win" she mumbled and then bit her lip as Daryl's eyes were focused on hers, moving back and forth from her eyes to her lips.

Suddenly Daryl's hands gripped Beth's hips and before she even had time to react, his lips crashed onto hers, causing her stomach to do flips in every direction. Her initial reaction was to stop, but the taste of his lips and the gentle piercing of his tongue slowly slipping into her mouth left her feeling helpless.

His hands gripped her waist tighter as her lips finally began moving in motion with his, the rapid increase in breathing causing him to shiver.

Beth carefully placed her arms around Daryl's neck, the cigarette still resting between her fingers as it continued to burn itself out.

Daryl slowly lifted his right hand and placed it gently on the side of Beth's face as he continued kissing her with intense pressure. He was so attracted to her, and just the simplest touch of her skin sent goosebumps down his entire body.

Beth almost felt out of control, her entire body wanting to give into Daryl's direction; but something inside her was forcing her to pull back. She was so scared of ruining what they had, whatever it was that they had. He'd been one of the only people she'd felt comfortable around in a long time, and the fear of losing that finally gave her the strength to control herself.

Daryl paused, his eyes slowly reopening when he felt Beth's lips pause, and lose all motion.

"You alright?" Daryl said softly, searching Beth's eyes for answers.

Beth smiled at him as she licked the lingering taste of him off of her lips, "Yeah, I- I'm sorry, I just don't know if we should do this", Beth said softly, still never releasing her arms from around his neck.

"We don't have to Beth. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

Beth shook her head to stop him from talking, and then gently rested her forehead against his, "I just… I want to take things slow okay? I don't want to rush into anything" Beth said as she continued staring into Daryl's blue eyes, "I really like being around you… I just don't want to ruin that"

Daryl gave a quick nod, and swallowed hard. She was right, even if he didn't want to admit it.

They stood there for a few seconds, not saying a word until Beth unexpectedly giggled, "I think the cigarettes out"

She lowered her arms from around him and held the unlit cigarette out towards him. Daryl snickered and then grabbed it from her hand, "Don't ever take my cigarette like that again" he said sarcastically as he walked over to the sink and wet the tip of it before tossing it into the garbage.

Beth just looked at him and smiled, not even attempting to play into his false attempt to threaten her.

Daryl swiped a hand through his hair and then took a deep breath, "Alright stubborn ass, c'mon, let's get you home"

Beth laughed and then nodded in agreement, her body still overwhelmed with what had happened. Daryl walked towards the door and Beth followed, grabbing her phone and purse along the way as they both made their way out of the apartment.

XxxxX

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