Okay - so this is another 'building' chapter; but I promise you, from the next chapter on, some BIG things are going to start occurring. Besides Daryl and Beth's relationship involving, I've got some pretty crazy things already written and planned out because, of course, things can't just go all smoothly - gotta keep you guys hooked someway or another ;) LOL Also, this story is almost at 100 reviews! So again, thank you guys so much for such awesome feedback & I'm glad you are enjoying the story! Keep the reviews/ ideas/ suggestions/ favorites/ follows/ etc. coming!

One more thing, I'm taking into consideration all your requests about the paternity of Sophia, and while I don't want to give away any details, let me just say... there will be a big twist involving little Sophia. I won't say exactly how or when, but it will definitely be a shocker; so rest assured :)

Okay, so on to this chapter... enjoy!

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Daryl crashed his keys down on the kitchen table and immediately walked over towards the couch, where he plummeted down and onto the cushion without even thinking about it. Glen was right when he told Daryl that things at the shop would pick up eventually, and Daryl was pretty sure that it had been one of the busiest days at the shop since he started working there. He couldn't be more thrilled that he had the entire weekend off neither. He just found out that morning, when Dale told him that they usually work every other Saturday, instead of each one. As much as he enjoyed having a job, he couldn't deny being a little happy that he had two days off, especially being that he was also given his paycheck that afternoon as well. It was his second one, and it felt extremely good to know that he was saving up a decent amount of money now.

Once Daryl got home and settled, the first thing he wanted to do was lay down. He was seriously wiped out, and in need of a good power nap.

He stretched his arms out above him and placed them underneath his head, making himself a bit more comfortable, and allowing him eyelids to slowly close. While his body finally relaxed after a hard day, his mind continued running. It was already Friday, and he hadn't heard much from Beth since he dropped her off last Sunday night. He texted her twice during the week; but she barely even responded, telling Daryl that she was swamped with assignments for college and really needed to focus on them. He knew she was in school; but something was telling him that there was more to her lack of communication with him. He was beginning to wonder if his actions the other night went too far for her, and perhaps this was her way of kindly distancing herself from him. Whether or not that was actually the case, Daryl couldn't seem to stop thinking about her; it was all he'd done for the past week. He thought about her so damn much he was actually starting to piss himself off. He'd never allowed himself to fixate his thoughts on someone so much in his entire life… ever. But still, there was just something about her that he couldn't shake… yet he just couldn't seem to put his finger on what exactly was so stimulating about her.

She had been one of the most intrusive people he'd met since arriving in Senoia, but maybe that's what was so interesting to him. The fact that she called him out on his shit? The fact that she could tell that he was running from something? The fact that even if he was, she didn't care to be around him? He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but there was something about her that was different than any other person he ever met.

Just as he felt himself finally beginning to drift off, he was awakened just as fast by a knocking on the door. Daryl grunted as his eyes opened again, and he peeled himself off the couch and walked over to answer the door. When he opened it, he found Glen standing there.

"What's up?" Daryl asked in a tired voice. He had just seen Glen at least forty-five minutes prior when they left work together, and wondered why the hell he was already knocking on his door.

"Hey, sorry… just wanted to let you know that Dale is making his famous beer battered fish and chips. He told me to invite you to have dinner with us, that's if you want to"

"Oh, aright. Yeah I'll come" Daryl answered. It sounded good, so what the hell? "Right now?"

"Nah, it should be ready in about an hour"

"Oh okay" Daryl stared at Glen for a couple minutes until he realized that Glen was obviously waiting for him to invite him inside. He took a step back and waved his hand to motion Glen to come inside and Glen quickly entered with a smile.

"You picked up a few things, I see" Glen said as he observed the apartment, bobbing his head up and down a few times, "Not bad"

"Yeah, Beth helped me out" Daryl said "It was mostly her suggestions"

"Oh yeah, I heard" Glen said with a chuckle and Daryl raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean you heard?" Daryl asked immediately.

"Nah, nothing bad or anything. Maggie just told me that you guys hung out last Sunday…" Glen paused and then smirked, "…and that Beth came back here for a while before going home"

"Yeah so?" Daryl pressed, wondering if Beth may have mentioned anything, as to why she seemed so distant from him.

Glen put his hands up and laughed, "I'm just saying that I heard man, that's all. Why did something happen?"

Daryl glared at him through the corner of his eyes, wondering if he really did know what happened but was just pretending not to, "Like what?"

"I don't know, I'm just askin'" Glen said shrugged but then smirked, "C'mon I've seen the way you two look at each other… are you two seein' each other or something?"

"Nah" Daryl said simply but then looked at Glen curiously, "Why? Has she said anything?"

"No" Glen looked confused for a second; but then he could tell by Daryl's curiosity that something definitely was going on, "You like her, don't you?" Daryl shrugged and Glen smiled, "You do!"

"Doesn't matter either way" Daryl said and then bit his nail, "ain't nothin' gonna' come out of it"

"Have you told her?" Glen asked.

Daryl continued biting his nail and then quietly mumbled, "Somethin' like that, haven't really talked to her since though, so I assume that's a bad sign"

"Well I haven't heard anything about that; but maybe it's because of her on-again/off-again relationship with Jimmy. I can never keep track with whether or not those two are actually together or not anymore"

"That guy's an asshole" Daryl spat out and rolled his eyes, "I overheard him talkin' to some chick out on the porch the night of Beth and Maggie's party; but as soon as Beth walked out, he hung up and tried to act like he wasn't doing anything… he's a prick"

"Sounds like Jimmy" Glen said as he shook his head, "he's a real winner"

"We seen em' the next day too, outside the store; hangin' on some chick like it was nothin'"

"Really? And Beth seen him too?" Glen asked.

"Yeah, I put my arm around her as we walked past; jus' ta piss him off" Daryl chuckled at the memory of Jimmy's face, "Let's jus' say, he was pretty mad"

Glen laughed, "That's awesome… so why don't you just call her dude? Ask her out or something?"

Daryl thought about it for a second; but then shook his head. He wasn't going to tell Glen about him kissing her a couple nights ago, so Glen probably wouldn't understand why; but he definitely didn't want to pressure Beth after she'd already told him she wasn't sure about them.

"Why not? What's the worst that could happen? She'd say no?" Glen persisted but Daryl didn't answer so he continued, "Maggie's coming over tonight, after dinner; I can tell her to bring Beth with her?"

"Nah, don't do that" Daryl shook his head, "jus' leave it alone"

"You sure? It'll be a perfect opportunity" Glen asked again; but Daryl shook his head no. "Alright; but I'm tellin' you dude, you should jus' ask her out… what do you have to lose?"

"I'll think about it" Daryl said just to get Glen to stop talking about the whole thing.

"Alright" Glen said and then made his way towards the door, "I gotta go clean up; food should be done in a little while though, I'll text you"

Daryl nodded and Glen left the apartment. Daryl took a deep breath, he wasn't sure if he should have admitted his feelings for Beth to Glen; but he almost felt like he needed to tell someone cause it was all he managed to think about.

He took a seat at the kitchen table and pulled his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through the contacts until he reached Beth's name. He stared at it for a few minutes, debating on giving her a call. He really wanted to know why it seemed like she was avoiding him. If he had made her uncomfortable in any way, he wanted her to just tell him. His finger lingered above the screen for a while; but eventually he just shook his head and placed the phone back down onto the table. He'd wait for her to reach out to him. He never made himself crazy over a female ever, and he wasn't about to start neither.

He shook his head at himself and then made his way into the bathroom, in efforts to jump in the shower and clear his head before Glen texted him for dinner.

XxxxxX

Daryl dried his hands off with the dishtowel after cleaning the last dish in the sink.

"Thank you for doing that Daryl; but really you didn't have to" Dale said from the table, leaning back in his chair lazily with one hand resting on his full stomach.

"Nah, it was the least I could do" Daryl waved his hands in protest, "and thanks for inviting me in for dinner, it was great; best meal I've had in a long time"

Dale smiled and nodded, "Anytime Daryl, you're always welcomed to join us"

"Well, I'm gonna' head outside and wait for Maggie to get here" Glen said as he stood from the table, and then looked over at Daryl, "I'll see you later"

Daryl nodded and then looked over at Dale, "I think I'm gonna' call it a night too; I'm bout' ready to crash after eating so much"

Dale laughed, "Alright, well I'll see ya in the mornin' Daryl, and thanks again for joining us"

Daryl nodded and said "Thanks for havin' me", before making his way out of the kitchen and towards the front door. When he exited the house, Glen was sitting on the front steps. Daryl walked down them and past him, but turned around when Glen started talking to him again.

"You sure you don't wanna' hang out here with Maggie and I?" Glen asked but Daryl shook his head no as he lit up a cigarette.

"Nah, I'm really tired- jus' gonna go to bed"

"Alright dude, I'll see ya tomorrow then" Glen said from the steps and Daryl nodded as he walked around the bend and towards the apartment.

XxxxX

Daryl changed into a pair of sweatpants and slipped his shirt off before pulling the sofa out into a bed. He honestly couldn't wait to just crash, he was exhausted, partially due to the many weeks he spent without much sleep, and partially due to his mind that jus' wouldn't stop turning. Daryl knew from the loud chugging of Maggie pickup trucks' motor running outside that she must have just gotten there. He hoped that she was either picking Glen up, or shutting the car off for a while because the sound of the engine was vibrating through the entire apartment.

Thankfully the engine finally turned off, and Daryl made himself comfortable underneath the blankets; shutting his eyes to finally get some much needed sleep.

However, just as quickly as he burrowed into the blankets and closed his eyes, he was already being disturbed again by a knocking on the door. But this time, he was pissed and he was going to seriously tell Glen off. The knocking continued and Daryl aggravatingly tossed the blankets off of him and made his way to the door, pulling it open with the most annoyed face he could possibly have on.

"What Gl-" he started with an angry voice; but came to a hault when he saw Beth standing outside the door, "Beth… what are you doin' here?" he asked while clearing his throat, feeling a little bad for the way he answered the door in the first place.

"I, uh…" Beth scanned Daryl's bare skinned chest and torso, instantly feeling bad for obviously waking him up, "Sorry… I jus' needed to talk to you, and Maggie was comin' over here so I figured I'd… but your obviously… I'm sorry, I'll let you get back to sleep"

"Nah, nah Beth it's alright, really" Daryl said as he watched the girl choke over her own words, "Come in". He held the door out and waited for her to enter.

"You sure? You look tired" Beth said as she slowly approached the entrance.

"I'm fine, come on though, it's cold" Daryl said as she finally made her way inside and he closed the door behind them.

Beth held her arms uncomfortably as she looked over at Daryl with a very weary and nervous stare.

"What's goin' on? What'd Glen tell you to come here?" Daryl asked as he motioned for Beth to take a seat on the end of the pullout bed, "Sorry, I already pulled the bed out otherwise I woulda' told ya to sit on the couch"

Beth took a seat cautiously, and Daryl leaned up against the adjacent wall, facing her.

"Glen didn't ask me to come, I jus' wanted to talk to you that's all" Beth said looking up at him.

"Why didn't you jus' call or text or somethin'?" Daryl asked confused, she barely answered his texts all week, why would she all of a sudden want to show up and talk in person.

"I don't know… It's always easier to talk to people in person. You never really know a persons' reactions or tone of voice through text messages"

Daryl took a deep breath, "Alright, so what's up then? What do you wanna' talk about?"

Beth bit her lip, and Daryl was convinced that the girl was nervous about something, and most likely something bad that he didn't want to hear.

"I just… I wanted to apologize to you for the way I've been actin' lately" she looked up at Daryl with her big blue eyes and he could tell she was finding it hard to spit out exactly what she wanted to say, "It's just, I don't know Daryl… I like you… I like you a lot; but I- I'm finding it a bit difficult to want to want someone that I barely even know… I mean, I hardly know anything about you Daryl, besides the little bit that you decide to tell me; but then you close up your walls so fast that it leaves so many unanswered questions and that's honestly worrisome to me"

Daryl swallowed hard and then looked towards the ground and away from Beth, "You don't wanna' know about me Beth, trust me"

Beth stared at him with confused eyes, "But see, that's what I mean Daryl… why? Why don't I wanna' know about you? Is there something that I should be seriously worried about?"

Daryl looked up at her with narrowed eyes, "Because you don't Beth! You think I came to this town to tell people the reason why I'm here?" he shook his head out of frustration, "I came to this town to let it all go… to start fresh; not to have you askin' me all about it, jus' so you can judge me and never look at me the same again!"

"I wouldn't judge you Daryl" Beth protested; but Daryl paced around and she could see he was becoming angrier; his wall's going up faster than she'd ever seen before.

"Where is this even comin' from Beth? We fuckin' kissed, I ain't never said I was in love with you or some shit! Why the fuck do you need to insist on knowing shit? Why are you so god damn stubborn?" Daryl spat out and Beth crossed her arms.

"Because okay! Because I don't want to get involved with someone who will jus' take off again when things get too hard!" Beth controlled and calmed herself before continuing, "because I jus' can't take another guy walkin' in to my life jus' to walk right back out of it again… that's why"

Daryl glared over at her, his face softening up, but his eyes still fierce, "Well then maybe it's best that we don't get involved at all then…" he muttered with a soft yet stern tone, "I shouldn't be focusin' on this shit anyway"

Beth's face dropped and Daryl could tell that he hurt her with his words; but maybe that was what's best, what he needed to do. To stop it all right then and there, before they both ended up being hurt. He needed to focus on himself, and with what it was he was trying to do with his life. It was best that he put an end to anything that could affect him from getting to where he wanted to be.

"Well, than I guess that pretty much sums it all up, now doesn't it?" Beth said with a pained tone as she stood up from her seat and rubbed her arm while searching Daryl for an answer… any answer. But Daryl just looked at her, he felt so bad; but he knew that was what needed to be done.

When Daryl failed to say anything, Beth made her way towards the apartment door and Daryl watched as she walked out, gently closing the door behind her.

Daryl turned towards the wall and punched it with all the strength he could manage. What the hell was wrong with him? Here is this amazing girl, who is just asking him to be more open with her, and he chases her away just so that he never has to show his demons to anyone. What he going to do this his entire life? Never ever let anyone in?

He walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto his face, there was no way he was going to be able to fall asleep now, not after that. He dried his face off with the small towel hanging beside him and then leaned down onto the sink, staring at himself in the reflection of the mirror.

His bruised eye from the final altercation with his father was finally gone, as were the rest of the bruises he bared on his body. He just stared at his face, taking in the image of himself without markings for once. Why did he do this to himself? Bear the burden of his entire life on his shoulders, even though he didn't have to deal with it anymore? The bruises, the marks, they were all faded and gone… but why wasn't he able to look past them and see the cleared slate? Why was he still hiding behind the wall that never should have been there in the first place? And in that moment something clicked, what the hell was he doing? He really liked this girl, why would he be so stupid to push away the only thing that had made him a little bit happier since he finally walked away from everything he'd known? Just because she wanted to know more… just because she showed a hint of interest in who he was?

Daryl stood up from the sink and hurried into the living room, grabbing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from his duffle bag and slipping them on so fast that he was losing balance. He slid a pair of socks on, along with his shoes and then his jacket and then grabbed his phone, wallet, cigarettes, and keys off the table. He double checked his wallet and recounted his money to make sure he had enough for what he wanted to do, and then quickly ran out of the apartment, closing the door behind him.

As he made his way around the bend and towards the front of Dale and Glen's house he saw Beth sitting on the steps alone, her head resting in the palm of her hand as she looked out at the darkening sky.

Daryl walked over and sat beside her, startling her for a second; but then her gaze returned back onto the sky without even acknowledging him.

"Where is Glen and Maggie?" Daryl mumbled, his eyes taking in Beth beautiful face and feeling even worse for what he'd said to her.

Beth shrugged, "Inside, watching some movie… didn't really feel like being around them"

Daryl struggled with what to say next, he had no idea how to reconcile with Beth after what had happened.

"I thought you were goin' to sleep?" Beth said, barely making eye contact with him, "Why are you out here?"

Daryl bit the side of his thumb, his tell-tale sign of nervousness, "Cause I realized that I jus' did somethin' really fuckin' dumb, and I had to do somethin' ta fix it"

Beth raised an eyebrow, "Oh really, and what's that?" she asked, as if she didn't really believe him.

"I want you to take a ride and come with me somewhere, right now" Daryl said in a low tone, looking at Beth for some kind of reaction, "but we'll be gone for a couple days"

Beth turned to face him, he face furrowed in complete confusion, "A couple of days? What are you talking about? Go with you where?"

"Just, somewhere" Daryl muttered, "You said you wanna' know more about me right?"

"Yeah but-" Beth started, but Daryl quickly interrupted.

"Well then, just trust me Beth", he held a hand out for her to grab as he stood up from the stairs, and after she looked at his hand and then back at his eyes a few times, she finally gave in to him, cracking a small smile in the process.

"Well, I'm gonna' need to get some clothes or somethin' if it's gonna' be a few days" she said as she placed her hand in his, pulling herself up from the step. Daryl gave a small smile and then pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her tightly, as he hugged her.

Maybe this would be the best choice he'd made thus far, and maybe it wouldn't be; but either way, he had to try… after all, you can never really fail or succeed if you don't at least try first.

XxxxX

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Until next time... Xo