Daryl

The next morning Daryl woke before Beth did and slipped out of bed, being careful not to wake her.

He noticed lines of blood on the sheet where he had been laying and frowned, stretching around to try and see the backs of his shoulders. He felt a stinging pull as he did and a trickle of blood began to run down his back.

Damn, but she had cut him up good.

He had always kept his shirt on when he was in bed with a woman and so had never had marks from nails before but Beth, in her passion (and pain, he thought a little guiltily) had left what felt more like cuts than scratches.

He would need to get some peroxide and bandages from inside to fix them up, the last thing he needed to have to explain to Carol was infected claw marks on his back. Since she was more or less the clans nurse these days if these became a problem she was the one who would need to see them and he would be damned if he would have the whole world know what he and Beth were doing in their private time.

He pulled a t-shirt on, shrugging a little at the strange feeling of having a shirt with sleeves in it. But he couldn't really wear his normal sleeveless button up right now, could he? And then there was the fact that Beth was sleeping in it, having gotten cold during the night.

He leaned over her and placed a soft kiss on her brow, whispering to her

"Be right back, Angel, have to go get something".

She rolled over and smiled up at him sleepily, nodding ok.

Daryl shrugged his jacket on, cringing at the weight on the cuts on his shoulders.

When did you become such a pussy? A couple of little cuts from a woman's nails and you are running for the first aid kit?

He shrugged the thought off, more concerned with keeping the others from knowing that he was sleeping with Beth. He knew his brother would have plenty to say about that and he would not let anyone talk bad about her. Wasn't any of their business.

Daryl went into the cell they used for their infirmary and quickly found a bottle of peroxide, some cotton swabs, and a few small bandages. He was just putting them into his jacket pockets when Maggie walked in.

"Have you seen my sister this morning? She wasn't in her room when I went to find her."

Her eyes and her tone were sharp and suspicious. He did not appreciate her looking at him like that.

What the hell did she think he had done?

OH, yeah. Exactly what he HAD done last night.

Daryl felt the blood rise in his face and he looked down quickly, turning to slide past her out the doorway.

"She's not lost. She isn't feeling well this morning so she is still laying down."

He walked away quickly before she had time to ask anymore questions, crossing the yard back to the small building where Beth was still in bed, waiting for him to return.

"Your sisters lookin for ya" he said as he closed the door, shrugging his jacket off. "Need ya to help me with something".

Beth sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. He noticed the way she watched him move and the burning look that came into her eyes when he pulled his t-shirt off.

"Oh, no, you don't. Not today. Going to take you a couple of days to recover from last night. Me, too, looks like"

He turned his back to her as he spoke and heard her gasp.

"Oh my god, I did that to you! Daryl, I am so sorry, I didn't realize…..

"No need for any of that, now, just help me get em cleaned and bandaged so I can keep em from being seen" he grinned over his shoulder at her, handing her the bottle of peroxide and the cotton swabs.

She soaked one of the cotton balls and began to gently wipe the blood from the cuts on his back, cringing when she heard him hiss at the pain.

She leaned forward and very gently kissed his back, close to the cuts.

"Thank you for last night, it was…incredible. I never imagined it could be like that. I am sorry I hurt you."

Daryl turned to answer her but the words froze when he saw the love in her eyes and he just leaned forward and kissed her very gently instead.

"What the FUCK is going on here?!"

Maggie had walked in on them, and her eyes had quickly taken in Daryl shirtless, Beth in his bed wearing nothing but his shirt, and the kiss.

"You said she wasn't feeling well and then you sneak out with bandages….I came to see if she was ok and I find her in your bed?!"

Daryl stood quickly, grabbing his t-shirt and pulling it on before he spoke.

"Get out, Maggie" Beth said quietly.

Daryl and Maggie both stared in openmouthed shock.

"What?" Maggie spluttered.

"You heard me. I said get out. What is going on here is none of your business. I am a grown woman and if I choose to spend my nights with the man I love

"Man you love? Are you out of your mind? You are in love with Daryl Dixon? Come on, Beth, let's get you back inside."

Maggie turned to Daryl, fire in her eyes.

"I don't know what you have done to my sister, but if you hurt her…

"For Gods sake Maggie SHUT UP! Does it look like he hurt me? HE's the one who's bleeding! I am not going back inside with you, I am right where I want to be now GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Beth's voice had risen to a scream and she was shoving her sister out the open door as she spoke.

"And don't even think about going and getting Daddy or Rick or anybody else all upset about this, either. This is my decision. I love him and I will be with him if I have to walk my ass out of these prison walls today and never look back, do you hear me?"

She stared at Maggie for a couple more seconds and, satisfied that her sister was too shocked to say anything else, slammed the door in her face.

She turned back to find Daryl staring at her, shocked.

"Nosy bitch thinks she can run MY life, well I don't think so!"

Daryl's shock was gone and he began to laugh, great heaving laughter that had him holding his side and leaning against the wall.

"Its not funny, Daryl! I meant every word of it!"

He stopped laughing at that and stared at her for a few long seconds.

"Everything? You would leave this place and all these people to be with me?"

"You are damn right I would. You would keep me safe and we wouldn't starve."

Daryl's voice was low and soft when he answered her.

"I would die to keep you safe. But I would never ask you to leave the group for me."

"Then lets hope my meddling ass sister doesn't start trouble. Now turn around and let me fix those cuts."

Damn, but she was a bossy one.

Beth

Beth watched Daryl go out the door and across the yard, crossbow slung over his back. He was going out to hunt for the day.

She smiled to herself, recognizing now that slipping off into the woods was his way of having quiet time to think when something was on his mind.

After cleaning and bandaging his back she had tried to get him to come back to bed with her, but he resisted, insisting that he would not touch her again for a few days, until she had time to recover from last night.

As she dressed now she thought maybe he was right, cringing as she lifted her leg to pull her pants on. She was pretty sore.

But she was angrier than that. How dare Maggie think she could barge in on them like that?

She was 18 years old and could make her own decisions, including who she was sleeping with.

Beth crossed the yard quickly, wishing again that she had not left her jacket inside last night. The cold air cut right through her thin shirt, making her nipples harden. She crossed her arms over her chest, blushing as she thought of Daryl's hands on her last night.

Still thinking about the things he had done to her in his bed, she walked right into Rick's chest.

"Oh, shit…..sorry" she stuttered.

She looked up and into his face, seeing that he was trying to hide his amusement.

Realizing how she must look to him with her hair that she had been unable to contain after last night pulled into a messy ponytail and her face red with her thoughts of Daryl she quickly looked down at the ground.

"Didn't mean to run into you, Rick, just trying to get back to my room"

"No problem" he replied, a soft smile on his face. "But next time you are going to be out so… early…, you might want to take a jacket…..and shoes" he looked pointedly down at her toes.

Beth blushed furiously but Rick didn't let her off the hook there.

"And Beth? Don't worry about Maggie. No one else is."

He laughed quietly as he stepped around her on his way outside.

What did he mean no one else is?

She looked around the hall quickly and realized that both Carol and Andrea were looking at her with sly little smiles on their faces and that Maggie was stomping away from their father who was shaking his head at the ground.

Oh My God. She had told everyone.

Beth's first reaction was to go hide in her room and hope she didn't die of embarrassment but then she realized she wasn't embarrassed to have everyone know she was with Daryl. She loved him and was proud of it.

Her sister was the one who needed to hide.

From her.

She stomped across the room and stopped in front of Maggie.

"You Bitch!" she hissed. "I told you to mind your own business! Do you want me to never speak to you again? Why would you do that to me, you are my sister! What the hell is wrong with you? Do you want me to leave?"

Maggie gasped, tears springing to her eyes.

"No, of course not! I don't want you to end up like me!" her hand dropped to her protruding stomach. The baby was due in only a couple of weeks. "This fucked up world is no place to have a baby!" she cried, turning and running from the room.

Everyone was suddenly quiet, trying not to look at anyone else.

Glen made a choked sound and looked as if he had been punched in the gut.

Well, shit.

Now she had to find her sister and try to make her feel better.