A/N: I went on a writing spree last night so I decided to spoil you with an early update! I was too excited about this chapter to make anyone wait :)

Daryl collected his crossbow and headed into the woods. Now that he was fully aware of the extent in which his feelings went for Beth, he didn't know how act around her anymore. He didn't know how to keep it all concealed from her either, especially after how he felt comfortable enough that he fell asleep with her in her cell when she was recovering from the virus, after she had showed him all of the beautifully composed songs she had written down in the journal he had given her. Now he saw how comfortable that Beth had become with him, too.

She was completely recovered from that virus now, taking it easy around the prison like the others, and for that Daryl is more than thankful. Now that he was no longer constantly worried about her being in the isolated cell block, his attention shifted to something else. Daryl was afraid that if he saw her in the prison and they were left alone together that the words of how he felt about her, all of the affection and pure desire, might blurt right out of his mouth. It would come out in some twisted form because of his inability to speak properly to people when it came to feelings.

He wasn't ready to say anything. That's why he retreated into the woods.

He felt more at home in the woods than he did at the prison. Don't get him wrong, the prison was fine. But there was something about the woods that sheltered him. Daryl liked hearing the sound of the birds taking flight above him and the rustling of small little critters that scurried about in the trees or on the ground. He liked how the smell of the woods stayed on him long after he had left them, the smell of pine and soil. But most of all, he liked that, for the most part, it was quiet.

The nature kind of quiet. Still. Calm. Relaxing.

He doesn't have to be out here; he wanted to be. He wanted to go hunting while he could, while there wasn't a fuckload of walkers at the fences. Hunting was his distraction. The distraction from Beth, that is. He's been staring more and more recently. In the past few days he is sure that his eyes have never left her when she was in sight. Now he was paranoid that someone was going to find out. In all seriousness, he didn't want to turn into one of those guys who pines after a woman and stares at her from afar like he was trapped in some kind of Shakespearean novel.

Yet here he was, that guy.

So that was why he was out in the middle of nowhere as he tried to hunt down his fourth rabbit. Tracking kept his mind otherwise occupied from wandering thoughts about what he really desired to be thinking about. Or who, rather.

It didn't take too long for Daryl to track down the furry creature and then collect it once he had skillfully put an arrow through it. As he strung it with the others, he heard a loud snapping of twigs on the ground behind him and automatically twisted around to shoot at what he was sure was going to be a walker coming for him.

It wasn't a walker. But it was something that was arguably just as bad.

"Fuck!" he cussed upon realizing that it was his brother. He lowered his crossbow so it pointed to the ground. "You scared the shit out of me! I almost put an arrow through you."

Merle stood there with his hands out in front of him—well, with one hand in the air and the other had some sort of metal contraption covering where his stump would have been, a blade jutting out of it. What a sight that was.

"Relax. Ain't ya happy ta see me?" Merle asked, this wild, animalistic smirk on his face.

His brother sure knew how to make an entrance.

"Yes," Daryl grumbled. Of course he was glad to see his brother was alive and well. But he already sensed the differences between them from the last time they were together.

Merle dropped his arms back down to his side, and then elected to point his finger at Daryl. It was not in an accusatory way, it was more like an 'I'm about to let you know what shit has been going down' kind of way. "I'm not too surprised to see you. I've seen ya, brother. Walkin' 'round that prison actin' all cozy there. A prison, really? Odd choice of a place. Woulda thought that would be the last place you'd want ta be at. Seen you've been hangin' around with little blondie. What's her name, huh? Awfully pretty that one. "

Daryl changed the subject. "The hell are you doin' out here, Merle?"

"See the thing is, I was over in Woodbury before The Governor decided to take two steps too many into Crazytown. Bet ya heard all 'bout Woodbury from your new friend Michonne, ain't that right? She's a fucking peach, that one. A real fighter."

Daryl furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes at his brother, ignoring how Merle said that he had been in Woodbury. He was more eager to learn how in the world Merle knew Michonne and what was up with his snarky attitude towards her. "How do you know her?"

"It's a long story," Merle explained while he tried to hold back his usual 'up to no good' smirk. Daryl got the sense that it was not a particularly good story. It never was if it involved Merle.

"Make it short."

Merle shifted his stance, now scowling back at Daryl. "Well, let's see here. The samurai left town in a hurry after bein' there for a while. Governor didn't like that too much. Wanted me ta bring her back. Crazy bitch wanted to fight when we finally caught up to her. Turns out she didn't like The Governor too much."

Daryl made the connection that Merle was the psycho that Michonne had referred to as the one who shot her in the woods when he came after her. He's pretty disgusted by it. His brother has done some bad things in the past, hell he has too, but Daryl never thought Merle would go after someone and put a bullet into them. "Are you stupid? Why the hell would you shoot Michonne? I heard all 'bout that part."

Merle shrugged as if it were no big deal. "She put up a fight. Figured it would slow her ass down."

"Jesus," Daryl muttered under his breath.

"That's why I didn't come for ya sooner," his brother clarified. "Didn't want samurai gettin' wind that I was around. She'd cut me into pieces and serve me to them biters on a silver platter. Laugh the whole time, too."

He wanted to say that it sounded like he deserved it but he kept his mouth shut about that. It was better that way.

"What do you want? I ain't gonna pack up my shit and leave with you, Merle, if that's what you're thinkin'. Things ain't the same as the used to be."

Merle paused, looking indifferent. Daryl knew what was coming next. Merle was never one to forget something that Daryl had deflected in a conversation. He always loved to bring up something that Daryl didn't want to talk about. Daryl sometimes wondered if his brother thought of it as a game—let's see what will provoke Daryl the most and use it against him. So much fun.

"You never told me Little Miss Prom Queen's name. Don't be tellin' me that you've got yourself some young little hot blonde girlfriend now. Sweet little thing she looks like," Merle antagonized, not letting up.

Daryl didn't respond. He knew this game all too well. It was played by Merle ever since they were kids. He was trying to get a rise out of Daryl, throwing punches where he could manage to get them.

Don't let him get to you, Beth's voice said to him, startling him a bit.

Daryl shook his head at his older brother. It almost saddened him. The two of them were so different now. They used to be similar in so many ways—same attitude and same outlook at the world. Daryl had been Merle's shadow for so many years.

Things changed.

Daryl changed.

He was his own man now, no longer living in the dark and shallow depths of his brother's overbearing shadow. Merle did not have his claws dug into Daryl anymore. Never would again. He wouldn't allow that.

Daryl turned and started to trudge off in the opposite direction with his crossbow in hand, avoiding the various plants and rocks that were around.

"Hey! Where ya goin'?" Merle shouted at Daryl.

"You know where," Daryl spat out back at his older brother as he stopped and turned around.

He watched as Merle approached him, indignant since Daryl preferred life at the prison with the others than back with his brother on the road somewhere doing some stupid shit. "Oh, that's right. I know why you're goin' there. Back to blondie. She looks like she's a fun right, ain't that right? Why you in such a fuckin' rush, huh? Maybe that's what it is," he sneered. "You runnin' back so fast so you can go and deflower her? "

Daryl's fist connected with Merle's face. He fell backwards onto the ground, looking back up at Daryl with a shocked expression played out on what was going to be a bruised face in the coming hours. He had not expected Daryl to hit him the way he did. And honestly, Daryl is holding back. He would like to beat the shit out of Merle for saying that about Beth, for using her as his tool to hurt Daryl.

He was frustrated and pissed off that his brother always had to mock him in some way, had to push him to his limit and well passed it.

Bad fucking decision this time.

"Don't you ever talk about Beth!" He yelled at what seemed like the top of his lungs, his voice gruff and filled with anger as he growled out the words. Screw it if walkers came for them. All the built up anger towards his brother was coming out all at once. If Merle wanted a reaction, he was sure as hell going to get one. "Don't you ever say shit like that about her again! Or I swear to God, Merle, you'll regret it. Every fucking word."

Daryl's whole body trembled with rage. A rage that he had never experienced before.

From the dumbfounded look on Merle's face, Daryl came to the obvious conclusion that Merle was shocked by the impact that Daryl had delivered and by his harsh choice of words. Merle was so accustomed to Daryl following his lead and staying by his side no matter what that the reaction Daryl gave was unusual to Merle.

That's what happens when you pull the last straw that breaks the camel's back. Merle pushed too hard and it broke Daryl, made him snap. But honestly, he had been hanging on by a thread for many years now, even before the outbreak. It had only been a matter of time.

"You wanna be with me, your only brother? Fine. I get that. You can come back with me if you want. But you better apologize to Rick for being such a goddamn douchebag back in Atlanta! And then possibly do the same for Michonne and maybe she won't cut out your intestines and strangle you with them. It ain't up to me to decide who stays and goes. That's on everyone. All of us. So the choice is yours," Daryl said in a calmer voice. "Do what you want. I'm done with listenin' to you."

"Oh, I see," Merle started as he got up off of the ground, a disgusted look on his face. "Rick and you like Batman and Robin now, ain't you? Ya got Sleeping Beauty on your arm and now you think that—"

"Shut up!" he spat out. Daryl didn't think it was possible for him to hear anymore derogatory insults from Merle. "I don't know what you want from me. Sayin' shit ain't gonna help you out none."

He is at the point where he didn't think he knew who Merle was anymore. That is why he turned and marched away from him. If Merle wanted to try and fix things then he needed to be the one to go out of his way to do that. It wasn't up to Daryl to pick up the pieces of their broken relationship and glue it back together.

He stayed out in the woods near the prison for a long time after the huge blowout with his brother. He sat up against a tree, staring at the ground with his crossbow on his lap, unsure to believe if he had actually said the things that he said to Merle and stood up to his brother. Hell, he was half shocked that he had the balls to finally express some of what he got off his chest.

It felt like a ton of weight was lifted off his shoulders.

He figured that there was a fifty-fifty shot that Merle would go to the prison. He knew his brother well enough to know that Merle would probably be gone for some time before he found his way back. He would be angry at Daryl, pissed off so much that he would be trudging around the woods muttering how Daryl wasn't grateful for anything over the next few hours.

That was okay with him. Merle could think what he wanted to. Daryl isn't going to waste his time being worried about it. Merle knew how to survive. And Merle also knew that Daryl was the only blood he had left. And probably the only person left in this world who would tolerate him to a certain extent; not that anyone really tolerated him in the old world. Hell, no one tolerated Daryl either but he was the quieter brother, the one who didn't like to speak up as much and that kept him out of a lot of trouble, unlike Merle.

So, no, he didn't look back. Daryl got up from the ground and kept going until the prison walls came into view.

—

Beth was outside when he got past the gate and sauntered up the dirt path. He saw her in the distance as he approached, her jacket on and her arms wrapped around herself because the early fall weather was turning cooler as the sun went down to mark the arrival of the night. She got up from where she sat on the ground by the entry door and rushed over to him when she spotted him coming towards her.

He had never been so happy to see another person in his whole life.

"There you are! I was beginning to get worried," she genuinely told him, overjoyed that he was back. He saw the relief in her eyes. She reached her arms up and threw them around him. "I'm glad you're safe."

Beth's face felt cold against the material of his shirt as she hugged him and it prompted him to ask, "It's late. How long you been out here?"

"A while. But that doesn't matter. The dark doesn't scare me," she said. "You're here and you're safe. That's all I care about."

And that might just be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to Daryl. Her words were authentic and undisputedly true to the core. Something that exposed Beth's immense affection for Daryl.

Beth pulled herself back somewhat and planted a kiss onto his cheek. His head turned to the side, his cheek brushing up against hers. It was a move that he had not expected to make; it was more of an instinctual drive that made him do it. Something about Beth that made him do it.

Beth removed her lips from the side of his face a fraction of an inch. She moved them towards his own before looking up at him, their eyes meeting.

He doesn't feel afraid.

Or nervous.

Or even insecure.

Beth had eradicated that from him right in that moment when she stared up at him with the beautiful blue orbs that made up her eyes.

Before he could do anything, Beth let her eyes flutter shut and closed the small distance between the two of them, placing her lips onto his. His eyes closed as he relished in the feeling of Beth's soft and smooth lips on his own. It was a brief kiss, one that was timid, but it made him lose himself entirely.

Any thoughts about how he should not be doing this obliterated the second Beth's lips touched his. His thought process went out the window.

Beth got down off of her toes and looked up at him with parted lips, eyes seeming to sparkle against the background of the dark surroundings. It was like the stars were in her eyes, or at least they were reflecting the light in the night sky. Daryl let out a shaky breath. It seemed like Beth stared straight into his soul.

He doesn't mind that.

He couldn't resist, not anymore, not right then. His willpower had diminished completely. There was nothing left of that at this point. His mind and body told him what it wanted. That's why when Beth lifted herself onto her toes to put her lips onto his again, he didn't stop her. Not for a second did he want to.

Daryl let the crossbow that he had been holding at his side drop to the ground with a loud thud, along with the four rabbits he had strung over his shoulder and had been draped down his back.

Beth snaked her hand up and placed it on his neck before it traveled upward so that her thumb was pressed against his jawline and her fingers were around the side of his neck. Her other arm reached up and she placed her other hand delicately onto his shoulder until she let it slide off and draped it above his shoulder blades, palm pressed firmly on his back, covering part of the angel wings on his vest.

He pulled her in until she molded against his body, hands pressing on her back so it pushed her further against him. He grabbed at the material of her shirt as he moved his mouth against hers in a more confident manner.

Yes, this was definitely just like heaven.

It felt right.

Maybe he's crazy for doing this. Maybe Beth is crazy for going with it.

Or maybe, just maybe, the both of them are completely sane and this was how things were supposed to be.

A/N: I also posted a smutty oneshot today about Beth and Daryl after their reunion in season 5. So if that's your thing then please go check it out!