Throughout the night Beth was woken up by steamy dreams. She felt Daryl's lips on her bare skin, sucking on her neck, and moving down to her chest. His large hands held tightly onto her hips as he moved her onto his lap. When she woke up this time it was light out. Carol was still asleep next to her. She felt her stomach growl and she got up to go look for something to eat. She walked into the kitchen and saw Daryl still asleep on the couch. Their kiss had been amazing and she wanted more from him. The thought made her face burn up. She searched through the cabinets for something to eat, not feeling like making herself eggs. She found a box of old cereal and began to pour herself a bowl.

She felt a pair of hands lightly grab onto her waist. She turned around to see Daryl standing there. She smiled and said

"Good morning."

"Morning," he said, standing next to her. She offered him the box and said

"Cereal?"

"Sure." He took the box and poured himself a bowl. She couldn't resist it and leaned up and gave him a kiss on the lips. She thought of her dream again and ran her hands down his sides so that they were resting just above his hips. With a shot of confidence, she slowly put her hands up underneath his shirt so she could feel the solid abs of his stomach. She heard him let out a low groan as she lightly ran her fingers over his skin. She felt a growing heat in her thighs. She wanted him. She had never done anything more than kiss someone and had never even seen a man naked before. The only thing she had to go off of were those pictures on the internet she'd seen and what her mother had told her when they'd had 'the talk.' She had wanted to save herself for marriage but in today's circumstances she didn't know when her last day would be. She wanted him not only because she liked him but because she wanted to know what it felt like.

rDaryl felt like he had opened the floodgates and there was no way of closing them again. He had spent so long telling himself that he and Beth couldn't be together. Now here he was kissing her sweet soft lips, letting her put her hands on him. He wasn't sure how it all happened. Last night had been so emotional for everyone and he had hated seeing her so distraught.

He knew there was no going back. She had him; not only from the moment they kissed but from the very moment they'd hugged in the prison cell. He couldn't deny himself any longer; he didn't care about the two decade difference, people could think what they wanted. All that mattered was Beth.

As much as he wanted to throw her against the counter and take her right there he knew they couldn't move fast. He was certain she was a virgin and as experienced as she probably thought he was, the whole idea of a relationship was new to him. He definitely wasn't going to just make her a fuck buddy. She meant more than that to him. He gently grabbed her wrists and brought her hands out from under his shirt.

"Sweetheart let's try 'n take this slow." She smiled at him and gave him another quick peck on the lips.

The two sat down and ate at the table. Carol came out a moment later, looking tired. Beth was the first to talk.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Terribly," said Carol, "I feel so bad for Brenna. Gwen's all she has left." Beth stood up from the table with her empty bowl and said

"I'll go see how she is." Before she left Daryl said

"In about a half an hour I'm gonna go follow Rick 'n Carl's trail again."

"Alright, I'll be back by then to come along." After she had left Carol said

"I'll come too, help you follow the trail." Daryl knew it was the time to tell Carol that whatever she expected to happen between them would never be a reality. He shoke his head at the idea and said

"If we find Rick he might be confused 'n disorientated. With what happened at the prison with Karen and Dave I don't wanna cause him any more stress when we find him." He could see that she was insulted but it was the truth. There was no denying it so she said

"Just be careful with Beth. She never went on runs back at the prison."

"She'll be fine," he said, "She's toughened up." There was a silence between them and that's when Daryl decided to break it to her.

"Since I got here things have gotten confusin' between us. I need to tell you that all I wanna be is good friends." Carol looked confused.

"But the night we came back here and we went in my bedroom you seemed all for it."

"I wasn't thinkin' clearly," he said, "I wasn't sure where it was all goin'." The look on her face told him it was all starting to come crashing down on her.

"Daryl we've been there for each other since almost day one of this. We've been through everything. Does none of that mean anything to you?"

"It does mean a lot to me," he said, "But that doesn't mean I feel any more than a close friendship with you." He could see her starting to lose it on him. Her eyes were brimming with frustrated tears and her face was red.

"What about everything with Sophia? And all the times we've spent together?" He could feel his anxiety level rising as more angry tears came to her eyes.

"Look I value everythin' we've been through 'n you're one of my closest friends but I jus' can't see us bein' any more than that." She stood up from the table and looked at him narrowed eyes. Then she turned stalked into her bedroom, closing the door after her.

Beth walked down to the hospital and found Brenna sitting outside in the waiting area. She looked absolutely exhausted. No doubt she'd been up all night.

"How's she doing?" A weak smile spread across Brenna's face and she said

"She's better. Her fever's gone down but the doctor wants her to stay her so she can keep an eye on her." Beth felt relieved and said

"Thanks God, can I go see her?" Brenna nodded and said

"She's where she was last night." Beth went through the swinging doors and found Gwen in her crib. She still had an IV in her arm but she was sleeping peacefully. The pink giraffe Beth had given her was tucked in next to her. She leaned over the crib for a bit, looking down at the baby. What would she grow up to be? Would the world be better by the time Gwen became an adult? She reached inside and wrapped the blanket tighter around her body and then left. She said goodbye to Brenna and told her she'd be back later.

She headed back up to the apartment. She looked up to and felt a sense of dread. Steve was standing by the door talking with another boy. Maybe she could sneak past. Unfortunately, she didn't move fast enough. Steve saw her and a malicious grin spread across his face. He blocked her path, standing in front of the door. She took a deep breath and said

"Please just move."

"Going back to fuck that redneck?" She was so done with everything that had been happening with him lately.

"Get out of my way!"

"What'd you go to the hospital for?"

"It's none of your fucking business!"

"Are you pregnant?!" She refused to answer him and gave him a hard shove backwards into the door. It clearly pissed him off. He grabbed her wrist and said "You wanna touch me again you little slut!" She could feel the other boy closing in behind her. Suddenly the door opened and she saw Daryl. He recognized the situation in a second. He grabbed onto the back of Steve's shirt and flung him away from Beth. He hit the brick wall hard. Beth backed away from the scene, shocked at what was happening. She saw him grab the front of Steve's shirt and lean in close and say

"I told you not to touch her again." She didn't wanna watch anymore. She went over and said

"Just stop please," She put her hand on Daryl's shoulder, trying to calm him down. He looked back at her, his eyes still wild. "Please," she said, "This isn't worth our time, we gotta go look for Rick and Carl." For a moment he thought he would ignore her and start to pound Steve's face in but he let go. Steve remained on the ground, a look of fear across his face. His friend had already taken off.

She followed behind Daryl as they headed towards the parking lot. She was upset about what had happened but kept her tears down. She could see the muscles bunched up in Daryl's back. His fists were balled up. He was also clearly upset. When they reached the parking lot and were no longer on the open street he confronted her.

"Has that piece of shit been botherin' you a lot?"

"He's been spreading rumors about me and harassing me from a distance but he's never touched me."

"I'll teach him a fuckin' lesson." She quickly put her hands onto his chest and said

"No! Don't. Just let it be for now. If it gets worse I'll let you know but for now I'm just gonna try to ignore it and hopefully he'll stop." Daryl just grunted at her, not seeming as thrilled about the idea. She snaked her arms around the back of his neck and gave him a kiss, trying to get him to relax. "Let's just go and forget about this." He stood there for a moment, considering it. Then he nodded and said

"But if he bothers you anymore, you come 'n tell me." Beth smiled and said

"I promise."

"So how's Gwen?"

"She's a lot better. They're just keeping her there to watch her for a bit. Make sure she's in the clear."

"Good, knew she'd pull through." They walked over to the motorcycle Daryl had been using and he began to strap their bags to it. He handed her a handgun and his large hunting knife.

"How far did you get with the trail?"

"Not that far," he said, "About a half an hour in. I found a fire pit that looked to be a week old."

Daryl finished packing everything on the bike and then got on. He looked over at Beth who stood next to the bike.

"Go ahead get on." She looked slightly nervous and said

"I've never been on one of these before." Daryl couldn't help but love the innocent look he had on her face.

"Don't worry, jus' get on and hold onto me and you'll be fine." He felt her climb on behind him and then wrap her arms around his waist. He started up the bike and left the parking lot.

The placement of her hands was extremely distracting. He tried to keep his eyes on the road. At first she had her arms tightly around him, nervous about the new feeling of being on the bike. As she got used to it she had slowly loosened up. Now her hands were placed right above his belt. He could feel her body pressed up against his back and it was driving him crazy. He reminded himself that he needed to take it slow with her.

When they came to the place where the trail began he pulled over onto the side of the road and stopped the bike.

"I found the hat in that car," he said pointing over to the jeep. They walked into the woods. "They went up the hill straight ahead." Beth looked at the ground, searching for the signs Daryl said were there. To her it looked like no one had passed through. "Just stay close to me."

"Don't worry," she said, "I can handle myself."

"Sure ya can." There was a teasing smile spread across his face when he looked back at her. It made her heart beat faster. No man had ever had such an effect on her. They walked on for a bit, following a trail invisible to her.

"Did Carol wanna come along?"

"Ya," he said, "Couldn't let her; if we find Rick I don't want her there to make things worse. When we find him we can move on from the town and get the group back together." Beth smiled feeling torn on the situation. The town was safe and she had met some nice people there but then again having the group back together was the most important thing. "I also told her about how there's nothin' between us." Beth felt shocked and said

"What?! You told her about us!?"

"No," he said, "Jus' that they're couldn't be anything between me 'n her." Beth took a sigh of relief. "You don' want her to find out?"

"No, not soon anyway, I don't wanna cause any drama." She paused and then said "And I don't want her to come after me." Daryl let out a laugh and said

"Whatdya mean?"

"I mean she killed Karen and Dave, and if she finds out you aren't interested in her cause of me-"

"I was never interested in her anyway," he said, "Don' worry 'bout her. She ain't that insane."

"Oh come on," she said, "You can't tell me you were never interested in her. The way you two used to talk and hang around with each other."

"I felt bad for her when she lost Sophia. She's a good friend, that's all." Beth still didn't know whether she bought it completely. Suddenly he stopped walking and she ran into his back. "There's the fire pit." Beth looked around and saw a small blackened spot on the ground. Beth went over and looked down at it. The small pile of wood was charred. "They were here 'bout a week ago maybe," he said, looking around the clearing. He walked beyond the fire and kept going straight. "This way." She didn't know how the hell he was so sure of the path. She continued to follow him further into the woods. As they went he made X's on the trees they passed so they wouldn't get lost.

Twenty minutes later they came across an old farm.

"Do you think they're in there?" Daryl shrugged and said

"Only one way to find out." He went over to the window of the house and banged on it. Within seconds walkers hit the window, desperately clawing at it to get out to them. Daryl raised his crossbow and took both of them out, breaking the window in the process. Beth looked back at the barn across the driveway and said

"I can check the barn."

"Na-uh," he said, walking over to the door.

"How come?"

"I'm keepin' you in my sight sweetheart."

"I can do it," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. He looked hesitant but finally said

"Fine, go ahead. Holler if you need anythin'." She rolled her eyes at him as she walked off towards the barn. She followed his example and banged on the wooden door before going inside. She waited a few minutes and didn't hear anything. Slowly, she took the door handle and turned it. She swung the door open, ready for a fight. There was nothing there and she let her guard down. She walked inside and looked around. There were several animal stalls and a high loft with hay piled up. With nothing to report she headed back outside. Daryl was walking across the driveway towards her shaking his head.

"Nuthin' in there but walkers. None of 'em were Rick or Carl."

They continued onward. As they got deeper the forest seemed to get darker. She thought maybe the trees were getting denser but was surprised when she looked up to see dark storm clouds. There was a low ripple of thunder which caught Daryl's attention. He let out a sound of irritation and said

"Fuck, if it rains it's gonna wash away evidence." They kept moving, ignoring the impending storm. He seemed to be moving faster, desperately trying to outrun the rain. She started to feel light droplets on her face. She spoke up and said "Maybe we should go back."

"Just a little bit further." He was lost in his ambition to find Rick and Carl and Beth could see it in his eyes as he turned back to look at her. A loud crack of thunder made her jump and the rain started to come down harder. Up ahead she saw an opening. They came out onto another road. She thought he would keep going and continue on into the woods on the other side but he stopped. On the road were five walkers all dead with knife wounds to the head. Next to them were skid marks from tires. She saw the frustration in his eyes. "Fuck!" He dropped to his knees and pounded his fist into the cement. By then it had started down pouring and lightning was flashing all around them. It was a cold rain and Beth was quickly soaked to the bone. She put her hand on his shoulder and said

"Come on let's get out of here, there's nothing more we can do in this weather." She saw the torture and frustration in his eyes at having to give up on the trail again but he walked back the way they came.

There was no point in running they were wet and the only coverage they had were the trees. They passed by the house again and Beth took his hand and said

"Come on we shouldn't keep going in this weather, let's stop and rest. Maybe it'll let up." He didn't say anything and let her lead him into the house. Beth felt relieved when she shut the door and the rain was no longer pounding down on her back. Daryl still hadn't spoken a word. He had his head down looking at the floor, his hair dripping down his face.

"What's wrong?" She didn't need to ask to know.

"We were so fuckin' close," he said in a low voice, "Not even a week ago they were here, probably in this same house. Now God knows where they could be if they have a car. Could be halfway across the country." She pulled him into a hug and said

"They wouldn't leave the state." She looked up at him. "Rick's probably feeling the same way."

"I feel like I failed." It was a weird phrase to hear coming from him.

"How come?"

"Couldn't protect the prison or the group. Now I can't even track anybody down." He was still staring at his feet. "Seein' that baby yesterday made me think of Judy. How I couldn't save her." She could hear his voice cracking. Was she about to see Daryl Dixon cry? Nobody had ever seen him shed even one tear. Now it was her turn to be his rock. She hugged him tighter and said

"You don't know that she's dead. It's not your own fault that you can't find anyone." She looked up into his green eyes. She was pretty sure she saw tears brimming his eyes but his face was still soaking wet so she couldn't be sure. He leaned and kissed her. It was long and passionate. It heated her right up.

Thanks K. Lynn Perks, VampireTrekkie1701, Caitiann, hearts-without-chains and all the guests for commenting :) All constructive criticism, questions, predictions and ideas are welcome!