Guys I already finished the next chapter. I was so inspired by all the TWD love that spreads all over the internet I just couldn't stop writing! Also I'm sick and I've got nothing else to do. ;) So this chapter is going to be a little sexy! I'm so curious about your opinions!

Warnings: Language

PS: I think has some trouble with the formatting of my docs... I don't know what do about that. So if the text is suddenly bold in the middle of the chapter it's not because I made it. :/

Enjoy!

7.

The Boy

I saw him first, beaten and broken by waves
Straight away, I knew you'd try and convince that he could be saved
So much to prove, you looked a state,
It's not my fault that you listened to me
When I told you that it was already too late

It took several hours to dig the graves for the corpses. Beth had insisted on doing it herself, but had soon realized that it exceeded her physical strength, so Daryl took over. She had fetched some sheets from the house and carefully wrapped the corpses. When they were finally finished the sun stood low. Beth helped Daryl with closing the graves up.

When they stood in front of the fresh heaps of earth she let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad we did this", she said looking up to Daryl.

He shrugged.

"What a waste of time."

"Come on, it wasn't," she countered indignantly. "We did the right thing."

He made an indefinable sound and walked back towards the house.

They spent the rest of the day securing the house as good as they could. They attached cords with garbage to the front porch and checked the boards on the windows. Then they closed the door and barricaded it with the wardrobe.

Beth fetched some candles and lit them in the kitchen. She cleared out the shelves and arranged the food on the table.

"It's enough for at least a week, maybe even more," she said. "If we ration it properly and do some hunting, we don't have to worry about food for the next two weeks."

Daryl leaned against the door and nodded.

"Still, we ain't gonna stay so long."

She sighed.

"We can take the car when we leave. I think it's working. Maybe we can catch up with the others."

"Hm."

She sat down and smiled at him shyly.

"Fancy some dinner?"

He nodded.

"Well, I have a surprise for you," she said teasingly. "Tonight we gonna eat with knife and fork."

Daryl laughed, when she removed two plates and flatware from the cupboard. They shared a can of ravioli and had some peaches for desert. When they finished Beth put the dishes in the sink and washed them off. Daryl watched her carefully. She put the plates in the dish drainer and turned around when she finished.

"So..." she started.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"So err... What do you wanna do tonight?" she asked.

He sighed.

He could think of plenty of things he wanted to do but he didn't want to tell her one, because all of them kind of involved her and most of them weren't things a man should say to a girl. He rubbed his lips in discomfort and shrugged. Actually, he wanted to ask her to play the piano again, but he thought it would sound stupid if he did so.

"Maybe we can make a fire in the living room?" she suggested. "They even have logs here and it's kind of chilly and it'd be nice to sit around the fire wouldn't it?"

His mood brightened up a little. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier?

They carried the candles to the living room and he put some of the logs from the stash into the fireplace.

"We need somethin' to light it," he said. "Like paper."

Beth searched the room and found a pile of old magazines. She ripped some of the pages and handed them to Daryl. After a while the fire started to burn bright and it got cozy in the room.

They sat in silence for a while and stared into the flames. For the first time since a while, Daryl relaxed a bit. The place was secured, they were fed and had a pretty awesome place to sleep. He just wished it was different between the two of them. He watched her secretly and wished that he knew what was going on inside the beautiful head of her.

And again, he wondered how this girl had gotten him so messed up. She had made him bury the corpses of some poor fuckers that had killed themselves in their despair. Actually he still thought that it was bullshit and a waste of time, but she had wanted it so badly he hadn't been able to reject her wish. What a mess he was. A memory of his brother flashed trough his mind. Merle would have laughed at him for being like that. He would have told him to finally fuck the bitch and stop being such a pussy. He swallowed hard. Merle had been an idiot. He could never treat a girl like Beth the way his brother used to treat woman. She deserved better and sure she deserved better than him.

Her sweet and sad face looked so soft in the light of the fire and he was mesmerized by the way her eyes danced over the flames.

Suddenly she turned her head and stared him right in the eye.

"What?" she asked.

"Will you sing for me?" he replied and didn't even realize what he had just said until the words had left his mouth. He blinked a few times, puzzled by his sudden courage.

"You sure?" she asked.

He looked away and nodded.

"What do you want me to sing?" she inquired.

He shrugged and made an indefinable sound.

"Don't babble" she said. "Tell me."

"The errr... the song... ya know. From this morning. Wanna hear the rest of it."

She smiled shyly and got up.

The library was pretty cold after the warmth of the fire and Beth shivered slightly.

He lay down on the chaise longue and stretched his arms behind his head.

When she started to sing he stared at the ceiling not trying to watch her. He didn't want to admit to it, but he thought this was one of the most beautiful things he had ever done with another person. He couldn't remember anybody ever singing a song to him and especially not such a beautiful one. Her voice was coaxing and comforting and he liked the text. When she finished the passage he already knew, he listened closely to the rest of the song.

"Cause, I built a home
for you
for me

Until it disappeared
from me
from you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust"

She finished and let the last chords fade out. She didn't turn around and he saw that she lowered her head. He rubbed his lips in discomfort, because he thought she would cry again. But before he could come up with anything to say, she faced him with a sad smile on her lips.

"So, what do you think?"

"Uhm, errr.. It's ah... beautiful. But sad."

She nodded.

"Yeah... not the time for happy songs, huh?"

"I... eh... I'd like to hear a happy song."

She still smiled sadly.

"I can't think of one at the moment," she said quietly and stood up.

"I think I'm going to sleep."

He was surprised by her sudden break-up and considered wether he should follow her or not. When he heard her footsteps on the stairs he rose from the chaise longue and slowly followed her.

As soon as he entered the bedroom he saw her laying on the bed, her back facing him.

He watched her for a moment unsure what to say to her.

"Do ye... want me.. to stay with ye? Or shall I rather sleep in one of the other rooms?" he asked.

She turned around to face him, a puzzled look on her face but didn't reply immediately. She lowered her gaze from his and said, "Sleep here." It was only a whisper, but he heard the little plea in it. He sighed innerly and felt relieved. After kicking off his boots, he lay down next to her and watched her back. She rolled over and he stretched out his arms instinctively to pull her in a tight hug. When she buried her face in his shoulder he knew he wouldn't let go off her until the morning.

xxx

When she woke, he was gone. It was still early and pale light was glooming through the curtains. Beth rolled over and checked the room for a sign of him. His backpack stood fully packed on the floor, but the crossbow had disappeared. She sat up and listened to the silence of the house. Yesterday had been... sweet. It had been awkward, sad and sweet. It still confused her how things had developed between them. Surely their friendship had evolved into a deeper connection than friendship usually did. Still she wasn't sure if he was seeing it as some kind of romance or... or what?

If he wasn't interested in her in a way that was more than friendship why would he encourage her into a situation like that? She had sung a love song to him, a pretty sad one though, but a love song. And he had liked it, at least he said so. But he wouldn't have asked her in the first place if he wasn't interested in hearing the song. She rubbed her forehead in despair. How was she supposed to handle this situation? Daryl was different from everything she had ever considered making her fall for a man. But she had fallen for him.

He was grumpy and monosyllabically, yet caring and lovingly in his own awkward way. He looked scruffy and intimidating, yet she found him sexy. She blushed by the thought of it. Sexy wasn't a word she'd usually use to characterize a crush of hers. Actually, sexy wasn't a word many woman would describe Daryl Dixon as. Still she thought he was.

"But he is too old for you," a nagging voice told her. She was indeed almost 20, but still he was more than 12 years older than her. And he probably still considered her a child. When they had met for the first time, she had been one. But over two years had passed since then and she had changed a lot. Was he able to see it?

If he wasn't, why would he lie in bed with her like he had done last night? But if he was, why had he backed off in the forest? Maybe because it was not the right moment. It had indeed been a very dumb idea. It had been nothing like she imagined a first kiss with anyone. Maybe he thought the same way.

Bullshit. Daryl Dixon didn't think about when to kiss a girl or not. She sighed heavily and buried her hands in her face. There was nothing she could do about it.

She stood up, brushed her teeth, got dressed and went downstairs. The front door was open and she could see Daryl sitting on the swing in the front garden. She wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to her right now, so she went to the kitchen and made herself breakfast. He had already opened a box of cereals and she took some of it. It tasted awful but she chewed on it carefully, happy to have any breakfast at all. She didn't want to think about leaving this place. She had already gotten so used to it, it was like a real home with the luxury of bathroom facilities and heating for cold night. Besides, she dreaded the imagination of sleeping on the ground again, of starving and thirst, of getting injured or sick or killed. When she heard him enter the hall she made some noise, so he'd know that she was awake. He entered the kitchen and she smiled at him.

"Morning, Mr. Dixon, did you sleep well?" She didn't know why she was being so playful, but it was a way to push her insecurity away.

"Yeah, you?" he made.

"I had a decent sleep, thanks for asking," she replied and giggled.

"What, 'r you makin' fun of me?" he asked with humour in his voice.

"I would never dare!" she replied in played horror.

He sat down at the table and watched her closely. She had realized that he'd been doing this the night before and she squirmed under his gaze.

"What?" she asked.

He shrugged as he always did.

"Jus' curious."

"You know what?" she suddenly said because she didn't understand his answer. "I'd love to live here. We could get married and have children and a dog, and then you could wear a nice suit and go to the office everyday. And I would do the laundry and the cooking and put the children to bed."

She smirked at his puzzled expression.

"And imagine how proud we'd be on our son when he'd finish High School. We'd do one of those fancy family photos, like my family did when Maggie and Shawn graduated. And we'd have lots of photos of our children lying naked on a blanket Oh and you could play tennis or golf or so and I'd visit a book club once week. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

He furrowed his brows in confusion not sure if she was serious about it.

"Ye'd like ya life to be like that?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"No, I suppose not. Just fun thinking of it. Like imagining how it'd be."

"Well, I liked the part with the suit." he smirked and she giggled.

"Yeah, I can totally see that."

They fell silent but this time it was less awkward. Every now and then they would look at each other and laugh about her strange fantasy. When she finished her breakfast he tossed her bowl in the sink and asked, "Wanna do some serious stuff today?"

"Serious, like what?"

"Like practicing that bow of your's."

Her smile dropped and she sighed.

"Not particularly."

"We're gonna do it though." She frowned at him, but it was half played.

"Okay, I yield."

She fetched her weapon and together they left the house. He arranged the garden table in front of the porch so they could use it as a shooting stand and placed several cans on it. She had some trouble remembering everything he taught her earlier but recollected it quickly. Still she had some difficulties with drawing the bow but this time she wouldn't let him help her. It was frustrating how little she succeeded, but on the other hand she had the impression that she made some progress.

After a while her arms and shoulders started to ache and they had a little break. They sat down on the garden table and glanced over the lawn. The sky was clouded and the day was overall pretty grey but the temperature was moderate and for the first time since a while she enjoyed being on the outside. Maybe it was because she knew she would be able to curl up in a comfy bed during the night instead of lying in the dirt. She suddenly felt Daryl stiffen next to her. Alerted she glanced up but couldn't make anything out in the distance.

"What is it?" she asked alarmed.

"There..." he pointed towards the tree line.

She squinted her eyes in concentration and then she saw it. There was a person approaching, it limped but seemed to be in a hurry.

"It's not a walker, isn't it?" she said when Daryl jumped from the table and raised his crossbow.

"Don't think so," he said.

She got up as well and lay a hand on her knife. The figure seemed to have noticed them, since it changed direction and quickly headed towards them arms raised up in the air.

Beth could now see that it was a boy, or rather a young man at her age. When he was about 100 yards away, he raised his hands higher and shouted, "Hey! Hey, don't shoot! Please!"

Daryl didn't lower his crossbow, but Beth could see that the boy was unarmed. He limped and was pretty dirty. His clothes were overall filthy and stained with blood and dried blood clung to his hands an face.

"Daryl," she said quietly. "He's no danger."

Daryl jerked his head in her direction as if he wanted to tell her to back off but he didn't say anything.

"Please!" the guy shouted again and stumbled nearer. "Please! I need help."

Beth swallowed hard. He looked awful and desperate and she instantly remembered how she had felt only two days ago.

"Daryl we need to help him," she exclaimed but when she got ready to approach the boy he reached out an arm and held her back.

"Who are ye?" he shouted at the boy.

"Name's Rupert," the other male replied. "I'm alone, I have no weapons. Please don't shoot."

"Stand back!" Daryl told him and when the boy stopped, arms still raised up in the air he lowered the crossbow.

"Where 'r ye comin' from?" he inquired.

The boy panted heavily and Beth pitied him. He looked so sad and desperate.

"I... I was with a group of people... But our camp got overrun a few days ago. I... I think... I'm the only survivor."

"Did ye get bitten?"

He shook his head.

"No... I just ran into some barbet wire and messed up my leg pretty bad."

Beth saw that his pants were dark and soaked with blood.

"Daryl," she whispered. "Have empathy. He's desperate."

"Please!" the boy said again and she could see that he was crying.

She quickly glanced up to Daryl and when she saw that he wasn't determined to chase the guy away, she quickly took some steps forward and offered him a hand.

"Don't worry, we'll help you."

xxx

Beth quietly closed the door to the guest room on the third floor. Rupert was finally sleeping and she felt the rush of adrenalin in her blood decrease. His leg was badly injured and infected. Luckily she had found some tetanus injections in the med kit in the bathroom and even though Daryl had protested she had given one to Rupert. She had helped him to clean and dress his wounds and then she had brought him something to eat.

Daryl had been overall grumpy and seemed to disagree with her as a matter of principle. After a while she had gotten pretty mad at him and told him to either shut up or back off and since then she hadn't seen him anymore even though she knew he was around and watched them.

Now she exhaled deeply and rubbed her eyes in despair. From one second to another everything had changed again and they would need to work out another plan. She walked over to the large bedroom to find Daryl propped on the bed his boots still on and his crossbow lying next to him. She scowled at him.

"You could at least take the shoes off in bed," she said. She knew it would provoke him but she was still pretty mad at him.

"Don't be a bitch again," he replied hostile and she felt her cheeks flush in anger at the insult.

"Don't be a jerk again," she told him. "What's your problem?"

"Problem is, we had a pretty secure place and ye invited a stranger over to fool around with."

"Stop talking such a bullshit," she hissed.

"We don't know nothin' about this guy. What if he has friends? Armed friends? Who'd fancy a nice place like that?"

"And how would he let his armed friends know where he is?" she snapped back. "As you may have noticed he's half dead and injured and phones stopped working a while ago."

He made an uncertain move with his hand but remained staring at her angrily.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why are you making it so difficult Daryl? He's just a boy. Let him rest for a while."

"Why are ye so naïve, Beth? Ye should know better!"

She folded her arms over her chest.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you're jealous."

She saw his expression darken and knew that she hit a nerve.

"Stop talkin' shit all the time," he growled.

She sighed irritated.

"Stop behaving like a child."

"Yeah ye wanna tell me I behave like a child?" He got up and approached her in a way that she found threatening. "I ain't the one to cry like a baby for every piece of shit on this planet. I ain't the one to nag about every fuckin' bullshit that gets in m' way."

"Woah, why would you do that?" she hissed at him.

"Why would I do wha'?" she snarled back.

"Just... being like that? You're fucking jealous and you take it all out on me."

"Talkin' shit again."

"I'm not! You're such an idiot. He's just some guy and he's not a threat at all!"

Daryl turned around and jerked his hand in her direction as if he wanted to tell her to shut up.

"Why don't you just admit to it?"

"Admit to what?"

"You have feelings for me."

Silence. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. She knew she pushed her luck but she thought it was worth a try. There was no way in making it more awkward between them so she thought it was wisest to try to clear things up.

"I ain't." he said after a minute of calm.

"Yeah you do," she replied even though she wasn't sure if she could push him that far.

He shook is head in an awkward motion yet didn't turn around to face her.

"Why did you make me play the piano?"

"Wha's tha' gotta do with everythin'?" he avoided her question.

"Just tell me, why?"

He shrugged.

"I'd wanted to listen to some music."

"Why did you make me play that song then?"

"Wha' song?" he asked.

"Don't play stupid Daryl. The song I sang for you. You could've asked me to play just any song, but you wanted to listen to this one."

He shrugged again.

"What you wanna hear? Stop naggin' me with your bitchin' questions."

"I wanna hear the truth, Daryl" she replied and she knew her voice was trembling. It was either now or never.

He faced her again and she bit her lower lip.

He didn't reply but answered with a question. "Why did ye wan' me to sleep next to ye las' night?"

She took a deep breath.

"I asked you first so you go first."

His eyes flickered over her face and she saw his expression softening. He opened his mouth once or twice groping for the right words. But then he shrugged again.

"Dunno."

"Really?" she asked in a high-pitched tone.

Instead of a reply he made two big steps towards her standing close to her. She looked up searching his face for a hint. His expression was lost and desperate and she could see him struggling for words. She grasped one of his hands.

"Will it be easier, if I'll go first?" she asked softly, her heart pounding heavily in her chest and butterflies rotating in her stomach.

He gave her a quick nod.

She held his hand tighter and he returned the grip.

She looked him deep in the eye.

"I... think... I developed feelings for you. Feelings that exceed... pure friendship." He stared at her for a second and she was unable to read the expression on his face. Then he quickly lowered his head and pulled her into a long and soft kiss. She was taken by surprise but quickly closed her eyes and lay her arms around his neck to pull him close. Her head was swimming and she felt a little dizzy when he finally let her gasp for air. He didn't release her from his hug though and leaned his forehead against hers. They both panted a little.

"That's a way to express it though." she breathed and he lowered his lips on hers in agreement. They continued the snogging for a while when she finally broke the kiss panting for air heavily.

"It'd be more comfortable to lay down on the bed." she suggested. He made muffled sound and picked her up bridal style which made her squeal and giggle. He propped her on the bed and quickly crawled on top of her, searching her lips once more. She reached her arms around him and buried her hands in his hair. He drew a hand under her back and pulled her even closer. She pressed her body hard against his and a soft moan escaped her mouth. When their kisses started to become more sexy she reached out with one hand to pull on his shirt but he suddenly broke the kiss and grasped her hand.

"Don't," he murmured.

"Why not?" she replied trying to catch her breath.

"If we go any further, I won't be able to restrain myself anymore."

"So?" she mocked him.

"Beth, we can't," he breathed against her lips.

She groaned lightly.

"I'm not a virgin if that's what you're thinking!" she whispered. He grinned against her lips.

"It's what I was thinkin' but it ain't the reason. We need protection."

She gulped. How could she forget about this? She blushed slightly and looked away.

"Please, don't tease me anymore," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry," she said huskily. "I think we need to go to a drugstore tomorrow."

xxx

So? What do you think? Is Rupert really who he says he is?