Thank you for the reviews, guys. Keep them coming. I need ideas. I really want to bring Michonne into this story but I don't know how to go about that. I don't want to casually throw her in because I want to keep her true to her character in the show so she needs to be a badass in my story too. Anyway, thanks for reading.

It was Monday afternoon now and the team was packing up the truck. Daryl and Beth hadn't said anything to the others about what happened Saturday night. Their whole relationship had changed overnight, literally. But no one seemed to notice. Hell, they didn't even notice when they completely hated each other. But Beth didn't hate Daryl anymore. She wasn't even sure she ever did. He was a jerk to her for a long time but she saw right through him.

Rick offered to drive back home since he didn't need the extra sleep in the back seat of the truck like he had on the drive up to the cabin. In fact, Rick couldn't remember the last time he felt so well rested. He had slept almost 12 hours straight at the cabin after dozing off at the lake with Beth that first day. The night shifts hadn't been treating him well but it was still better than seeing Shane's face every day. He had hoped that hunting could relieve some of his stress but it was short lived. The 2 hour drive back home had provided him with nothing but time alone with his thoughts because he certainly wasn't interested in engaging in conversation with Merle, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him.

Daryl had considered riding next to Rick in the front of the truck, but the thought of Merle in the back seat with Beth made Daryl feel uneasy. Daryl had taken the window seat in the back, while Beth sat in the middle between him and Carl. He wanted to complain about the lack of space and leg room that the back seat provided but every time Beth's shoulder or knee brushed his, he bit his tongue. Her cheeks lit up like a damn Christmas tree and it confused the hell out of him. But he wasn't going to yell at her anymore. He wasn't going to push her away because he had already done that once and look at all the trouble it caused.

Beth had finished her eBook back at the cabin on Sunday. She didn't really enjoy fishing and there was nothing else to do while the men went on their hunt so she had spent the whole day reading on the porch while soaking in the sun. Therefore she was left with nothing to do during the ride back home. Carl was listening to music on his phone again and Daryl was sitting on the other side of her, blowing his cigarette smoke out of the window. She wondered what he was thinking about and hoped that he wasn't still beating himself up about what happened that night. She had done everything she could think of to convince him that it wasn't his fault. Beth never imagined that she would wrap her arms around Daryl Dixon. Especially not immediately after almost being sexually assaulted by a group of dirty strangers. It had been an interesting weekend, for sure. But she was ready to get back home, back to normal.

Before Beth could stop herself, she dozed off between the two guys in the backseat. She had been so lost in thought, she didn't notice that the truck's movements were soothing her to sleep. Minutes later, Rick made a right turn at a stoplight that caused Beth's head to fall onto Daryl's shoulder which brought the archer's attention back into the car. He quickly met Rick's eyes through the rearview mirror when he realized what had happened.

"Sorry." Rick said, not thinking too much of it.

Merle turned around to see what Rick was apologizing about and smirked at his brother's awkward body language.

"She ain't gonna bite ya, Darlina. Quit being such a pansy." Merle commented, annoyed. He really did wonder about his little brother's sexuality from time to time. Merle knew that Daryl had been with a woman before but that was years ago and he made no effort now to bring women home with him. It confused Merle because Merle chased pussy around like his life depended on it but his brother acted like he couldn't care less.

When Beth opened her eyes, the truck was parked in front of the Grime's house. They were home, finally. Still disoriented from the nap, Beth lifted her head and looked over to see that it was Daryl that she had been sleeping against. He made eye contact with her for a moment before giving her a tight lined smile and opened the door to escape the awkward situation. She shook off the embarrassment and followed after him.

God, it felt so good to be out of that truck. Beth reached down to touch her toes in an attempt to stretch her legs then stretched her arms over her head as she brought her body back upright. She turned around to grab her phone from the back seat then closed the door then jumped and yelped when she saw Merle, who had been hidden moments ago by the open car door.

"Woah. Easy there, Blondie. I didn't mean to scare ya." Merle coaxed as his attention was drawn from her surprised face to the exposed skin of her stomach.

Beth's shirt rode up when she was stretching but she didn't notice until she followed his line of sight. She quickly pulled her shirt down and looked around for an escape. Everyone else had grabbed the supplies from the bed of the truck and went to deposit them back into the shed behind the house. It was just her and Merle now. He had been decent over the weekend but he didn't have that much self-control.

"You don't scare me." She decided not to depend on anyone else to defend her this time. She could handle this. Besides, if Merle was anything like his brother than he was harmless.

"Don't challenge me, girl." He smirked and moved past her to grab his bag from the bed of the truck.

Beth noticed the men turn the corner of the house and picked up on the last of the conversation that Rick and Daryl were having.

"Well you know where to find us when you get back." Rick nodded at Daryl, then walked inside the house. He had dropped Carl off with Lori before Beth woke up and now had to get ready for work tonight.

"You're leaving?" Beth asked as Daryl made his way back to the truck to grab his bag.

"Gotta get back to work tomorrow." Daryl wasn't good with goodbyes and he certainly wasn't trying to make a big deal out of this one while his brother was waiting for him in the car.

"When are you coming back?" Beth didn't like how desperate she sounded.

"Few weeks." He threw his crossbow over his shoulder and turned around to face her fully now.

"Oh."

They jumped simultaneously as Merle honked on the horn.

"Fuck." Daryl cursed under his breath.

"Quit scratchin your balls an' let's go!" Merle yelled from the car parked on the curb of the street.

"I gotta go." He backed away, unsure of what else to say or do.

Beth smiled sadly and waved him off. She didn't realize how much she had gotten used to having him around until he was leaving.

About a month passed since the hunting trip. Beth had transferred to Carl's school and was starting to make friends again. She buried herself in school work and house work to keep busy but it wasn't enough. She started asking around about afterschool activities or clubs and found out from the cheerleading coach that there was an opening on the squad. Coach Carol was an older woman with short grey hair. She had a daughter, Sophia, who was on the cheer squad too.

Beth had taken gymnastic classes when she was a little girl but she had never cheered before. Her friends from her old school were on the cheer team but she never had the nerve to try out. But now she was desperate to get out of the funk she was in. Her parents were dead but they would have wanted her to get back to her life. So she auditioned for the spot and she made it on the team.

Being on the cheer team and making friends had really helped Beth overcome her grief but the holidays were coming up and the thought of celebrating without her parents saddened her. Some of the fondest memories Beth had of her parents were of them spending Thanksgivings and Christmases at the farmhouse together with Maggie and her half-brother Shawn. But Maggie and Glenn were taking a trip to the Caribbean for Christmas and Shawn lived out of state with his dad so Beth had to make the best of what she had this year.

She planned to make Thanksgiving dinner for herself, Rick, and Carl next week. Rick had told her about the old boxed up Christmas decorations that were collecting dust in the shed behind the house so she made a mental note to get them out after Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe if they put on some Christmas music and put up the decorations together, she'd get in the holiday spirit.

Beth was getting ready for her last day of school before Thanksgiving break. It was Friday and she had to wear her cheerleading uniform for the pep rally after school. She put her hair up in her usual ponytail and braid combo then tied a big blue and white bow around her hair tie to represent the school's signature colors. She heard Rick walk into the house and assumed he was on the phone when she heard the muffled sound of his voice. She checked the time on her phone and grabbed her cheer jacket then headed for the kitchen. She had just enough time to make a quick breakfast for herself and Rick.

Beth was fumbling through the pantry when she heard Rick walk up behind her.

"Is oatmeal okay with you?" She asked before turning around and gasping at the man in front of her.

Daryl had to have been just as stunned as Beth because they both stood in the kitchen staring at each other for a few moments. He wasn't expecting her to be dressed like that and he had to fight the urge to move his eyes from her face to her body.

"Oh, I thought I heard Rick." She said breathless.

"Ya did. He's upstairs." Daryl answered.

She went to move around him to start cooking so he stepped back and leaned the upper right half of his body against the wall.

"How're you?" He asked awkwardly.

"I'm okay." She answered honestly. "Are you okay?"

"Just tired." He shrugged his shoulders.

Beth poured an extra serving of oatmeal into the pot for Daryl then began cutting some fruit to top it off with.

"How long are you staying in town?" She asked, afraid of hearing the answer. She silently hoped that he was going to be here long enough to spend the holidays with them.

"Till January." Daryl had been on the job long enough to earn some vacation time which he quickly cashed in for the holidays. He missed his little makeshift family more than he expected to.

Beth finished making breakfast just as Rick made it downstairs and into the kitchen. She noticed the time and poured her portion into a plastic container to take to-go because she was already running late for school. She smiled and said goodbye to the men in the kitchen then practically ran out of the door. She didn't know if it was the time or the archer in her kitchen that was causing her heart to beat rapidly but who was she kidding? Being late to class never made her heart race the way that only Daryl could.