Chapter Thirty

"Alright, easy does it." Maggie said softly as she and Beth swarmed the car door, Maggie taking Hershel's hands and helping him to stand. Beth grabbed his elbow to offer support as he stood on two shaky legs, Annette hurrying to the screen door.

"Now you three stop fussin' over me, I'll be just fine." Hershel fussed as Maggie and Beth stood on either side of him and walked with him towards the kitchen door.

"Well, Daddy, if you didn't want us fussin' over you then you shouldn't have went off and had a heart attack." Maggie teased and kissed his cheek, Beth leaning her head against his shoulder for a moment.

"Oh, Daryl, Daryl hun would you mind grabbin' our bags outta the back of the car?" Annette asked as he rounded the back corner of the house and nodded, "Daryl Dixon you are such a sweetheart."

"I do my best." he answered and Beth looked back with a smile, giving him a quick wink before she helped Maggie get him inside. Daryl grabbed the two small suitcases and stepped inside, chuckling as he heard all three women talking and fussing at once with each other.

"I would really appreciate it if one of you would stop long enough to get me a glass of ice water."

"Good luck." Daryl said softly with a laugh as he washed his hands and grabbed a mason jar out of the dish drying rack, walking to the freezer and grabbing a handful of ice cubes just as Beth stepped into the kitchen, "For your dad." he offered her the glass and Beth smiled, stepping forward and thanking him with a kiss as she took the jar.

"You are a sweetheart indeed, Daryl Dixon." Beth giggled at the sight of the blush spreading across his cheeks, filling the jar from the water pitcher in the fridge before heading back to the living room. Daryl smiled and licked his bottom lip as he watched her walk away, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms.

It was time, he decided, to finally have the discussion with Beth he had been putting off. He wanted to wait until he saw how Hershel was doing, and now that her father was finally home it was time. Now he just needed to figure out how to get her alone long enough to ask. He felt a knot form in his stomach and shook his head. Just his damn nerves and they needed to cool down, to take a backseat or they would stop him.

"I was wonderin' when you'd come around. Come have a seat, Daryl, at least I know you won't make a fuss over me like these women." Hershel said with a grin as he gestured to the arm chair across from him. Daryl walked into the room slowly and sank down into the chair. He still felt out of place in the clean and cozy farmhouse and he was doing his best not to let it show.

"How're you feelin'?" he asked, scratching his chin and pulling his leg up to rest on top of the other.

"Been better, but I'm gettin' there." Hershel answered as he picked up his ice water, "Rick gave me a call this mornin' before I left the hospital. Seems that brother of yours is back in jail."

"Ah, dammit Merle." Daryl groaned and rubbed his forehead, "Did he say what for?"

"Busted trafficking drugs through his buddy's mechanic shop." Hershel studied Daryl as he groaned and placed his face in his hands, running his fingers back through his hair and heaving a heavy sigh.

"I warned Jake not to give him a job there, I knew he'd ruin it for him." he muttered to himself.

"Daryl, I know you were gone for a while, and I know you were with him a lot. Please, tell me that Rick isn't gonna show up here because you are tangled up in this mess as well. Breaking and entering into my clinic I can forgive, but I'm not so sure about the drugs."

"No, no, I promise Hershel I wasn't mixed up in his crap this time. I'm clean, I swear. I wouldn't do anything to put you at risk, to put-."

"To put Beth at risk." Daryl froze as he stared at Hershel, who smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, "I know, Daryl. I know you two are involved."

"I'm sorry..." Daryl muttered and hung his head, Hershel laughing and propping himself up on the couch better.

"Sorry for what? For loving my daughter? If you're sorry for that then we do need to have a talk."

"You're okay with this?" Daryl asked cautiously, studying Hershel's reaction to look for any signs of doubt.

"If you hadn't turned out to be such a good person, Mr. Dixon, I wouldn't be. I just ask that you respect her, and continue to treat her well. You make her very happy, Daryl."

"She makes me really happy too. I feel like I got a purpose for once, and that there's someone who really gives a crap about me and not because I'm doing things just to benefit them. I love her, Hershel. I really love Beth."

Beth scooted back in Daryl's arms as he leaned against the opening to the hayloft, the cool fall air brushing against their exposed skin. Daryl grabbed the extra quilt Beth had brought up to the loft, wrapping it around them both.

"It's good to have everyone home." she whispered softly and closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh as Daryl lined kisses down her neck and along her bare shoulder, his grip around her tightening and holding her closer, "You seem a little distracted tonight though, are you okay?"

"M'fine." he answered and she giggled as his beard tickled her skin, "I did want to talk to you, though."

"About what?" she asked and lay back, turning her head to look up at him.

"Hell, I ain't good with this kind of stuff." he muttered and Beth brought a hand up, cupping his cheek and letting her fingertips run down to his beard.

"Just spit it out."

"Beth, I uh, I really wanted to make it official with you this time."

"Wait, what?" she asked and turned to face him, the quilt falling from her naked body and exposing him.

"Get back under here, you're gonna freeze us." Daryl fussed and grabbed her, pulling her body back to his and wrapping the blanket and his arms around her.

"You mean you want to officially be a couple?"

"I should have asked you a long time ago. I should have done right by you from the start. I jus' didn't really know how. Romance ain't really my area of expertise."

"Oh, Daryl Dixon, of course I accept." Beth answered with an ear to ear grin and a giggle, leaning in and placing a soft kiss against his rough lips, "No more friends with benefits?" Daryl shook his head and gave Beth another kiss.

"So how long are you staying this time?" Beth asked as she moved to fluff the pillows they had stashed up in the hayloft. Daryl grabbed the quilt and extra sleeping bags, pulling Beth down to him as he settled down on one of the pillows.

"Well," he started as he set an alarm on his phone to wake up before anyone else, "I plan on staying as long as Hershel will keep me. I don't want to go, and I didn't want to go in the first place."

"Stay here, Daryl. Please, stay." Beth said as she rested her head on his chest, Daryl reaching up and running his fingers through her hair. He listened to her breath as it slowed, felt her wiggle closer to him as she got herself comfortable to sleep. He felt her hand slide across his bare stomach to hold him as she slept and he felt a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

This is where I need to be, he thought to himself as he pulled the blankets up higher on them. A cold breeze drifted through the hayloft and brushed against their exposed skin, making Beth shiver slightly in her sleep. He rolled onto his side and pulled her closer, kissing her forehead as he tucked her body into his.

"I love you, Beth. I'm here to stay."

A/N: My apologies for being gone so long. Some of you may remember in my last update (almost a year ago) that I announced my mom's cancer had gotten worse and that she had been put into hospice. She passed, and I've been dealing with the depression and anxiety from that. I haven't been able to write in so long, and honestly didn't want to. I lost my best friend. So I've been trying to deal with not having my mom, someone who has been in my life every day for 25 years and now they are just gone. I started watching TWD over, and was going back through and reading my fics and the reviews, and you guys, you all inspired me to pick back up. I've missed you all, I really have. I hope if you're still reading, you can forgive me for my absence and my spotty attendance. I love you guys, I'm back. I deleted one of my fics and am rewriting it. So I apologize, this update is short and a little rusty, this is literally the first thing I've written in almost a year.

Also, added note here, as I was rereading this fic, I'm going to add an extra apology. I did not realize I had so many typos in there. Whoops! This is what you get when you get so excited to do an update and think you caught everything as you are reading back through it. I'm sorry!