The next few days went by quickly for both Beth and Daryl. They fell into an easy routine together, though, which happened quite quickly and naturally. They were both grateful for that – and that the highly emotional haze from Sunday and Monday had dissipated for both of them. They were truly on a good road to beginning an amazing friendship.

Beth was scheduled to work Tuesday through Saturday that week and so, she headed out every morning a little before 7 a.m. and didn't usually arrive back at the house until 5:30 or 6 p.m. Daryl had started his new construction job on Tuesday and was very pleased. The man that had given him the job, Tyreese, who he'd met during his previous job working for Andrea, had been eager to put Daryl's experience and expertise to work. Daryl was surprised on Tuesday morning when she showed up to Tyreese's office, only to be told that he'd be working as a foreman of a crew working on a new development of luxury condominiums on the island. Daryl hadn't expected this type of job, or that type of responsibility, on Monday when Tyreese told him over the phone that he definitely had a job for him. But he was very grateful to the nice man who'd given him this chance – Daryl would enjoy using his knowledge to lead the work crew and he was grateful that he wouldn't have to worry about making enough money to survive, something that had often been difficult in his life back in Georgia. He hoped to himself that the days of struggling to make ends meet were over.

Daryl found that he ended up keeping a very similar schedule as Beth, although he wouldn't be working on Saturdays or Sundays, unless some type of emergency situation arose. They fell into a pattern of eating a quick breakfast together in the mornings, usually converging on the kitchen around 6:30 a.m. Beth was much more of a morning person than Daryl, and he was glad she agreed to make the coffee and get their food together. She'd also surprised him on Tuesday morning by packing him a lunch, along with her own, since he'd told her that construction crews generally eat lunch on site, just taking a short break to eat whatever they'd brought from home. And she'd continued making his lunch each day after that. In the evenings, they both arrived back at the house around the same time, both tired from a day outside in the hot South Carolina sun and eager to shower and rest for a while before dinner.

On Monday night, Daryl had snuck out while Beth was napping on the couch, to get them some dinner. He'd left a note this time though, fearing the worst if she woke up to find him gone again. On the way home, he'd stopped at a Redbox on a whim, and rented a movie that he thought Beth would like. It was a romantic comedy, the type of movie he normally tried to avoid at all costs, but Beth had obviously had a rough day emotionally and he wanted to make her happy, however he could. The next night, Beth had done the same, picking up take-out and a movie that she thought Daryl would like on her way home from work. And with that, they started an unspoken pattern of taking turns on alternating nights, picking up dinner and a movie for both of them.

Things had been good between them since all of the drama of Monday had faded away. They were getting to know each other more and more, telling each other over breakfast and dinner every day about their lives, their life experiences, and even their hopes – some of their conversations were good, and some were sad, but they were both letting each other in slowly, but surely. Daryl couldn't help but wonder what it was about Beth that made him want to bare his soul to her so openly. He'd never had anyone like in his life before, someone that he didn't feel self-conscious around and that he felt like he could be 100% honest with without consequence. He had admitted so many things to her that he'd never told anyone – things that he wasn't sure he'd ever trust anyone to tell. But, he'd been wrong about that.

On Wednesday night, he'd told her how he'd always dreamed of building a cabin, on the large plot of land he'd inherited when his father died. That plot had been mostly abandoned since then; Daryl had arranged for the fire department to burn down the tiny rundown house he'd been raised in. They'd been happy to do it as a training exercise – and Daryl was glad to see that place, where so many of his darkest memories were held, be burned down to the ground. He had hoped to take that land and turn it into something beautiful, somewhere where he could have a future. He'd saved and saved over time, all in the hopes that eventually he'd save enough for the materials for the cabin – he planned to do most of the work himself in his free time and on weekends. But every time he started to get close to his goal, something would happen with his brother Merle and the money would be needed for something else. And, since Merle was Daryl's only living family, he was always there for him, even though Merle was never really around to help Daryl.

And when Beth had asked Daryl about his other plans for the future, he couldn't deny her the truth. While he wasn't sure it would ever happen for him, he wanted what most people did – a family. His family had been so dysfunctional, but he felt like he'd overcome it. And more than anything, Daryl wanted to replace those terrible memories of his childhood with new ones with his own family – a family that he'd provide for and protect, that he'd love with all his heart and soul. He told Beth how his childhood hadn't given him much to be happy about – and so he hoped to give his children everything. If they wanted to play every sport there was, play every instrument, join every club, have every hobby, he'd said, he'd let them. And he'd always be there – for concerts, games, recitals, teacher conferences, and awards ceremonies. And he wanted to have family dinners and game nights, and send out those cheesy Christmas cards that had their family photo on them. He wanted to take his kids camping and teach them to hunt and fish and do things with their hands, like drive a nail.

And Beth listened to him and smiled. And that was all the response he needed. He knew he could trust her. She was genuine, and he knew she cared. And there was something about her – she didn't have to ask him a million questions for him to feel like he could strip away the protective walls that he'd built around himself over the years to prevent others from getting too far in, too close.

On Thursday night they'd stumbled onto the topic of relationships. Beth told Daryl all about her past relationships, which weren't that many. She'd dated Jimmy throughout high school, but when she moved to Hilton Head she knew it wasn't meant to be – the distance was too great and Jimmy didn't want to give her the independence she needed, wanting to talk to and text with her several times a day and know what she was doing at all times. Beth had lost her virginity to Jimmy when she was 17 and it had been hard to get over him, but she knew she was at another place in her life. She knew it was a dumb cliché, but she understood what people meant when they said they wanted to "find themselves" in college. She wanted that too. Beth had gone out with a lot of guys in the area during college. And Daryl wasn't surprised – she was absolutely beautiful and was the sweetest person he'd ever met. But Beth told him that relationships with those guys hadn't ever lasted long – they either wanted more from her physically than she was willing to give right away, or she quickly found that their personalities or future plans didn't seem compatible. Sure, she'd dated a couple of them for a few months, even calling them her boyfriends, but nothing ever seemed right in the long run. Beth confided in Daryl that she'd never understood her friends who "dated just to date"; she thought that dating was designed to be more serious – an attempt to find the person you were meant to marry.

And while Daryl had never really thought about it that way, he couldn't help but agree with her. Why get into a relationship with someone, invest yourself into them, if you didn't see a long-term future with them? Daryl couldn't help but think in that moment that he could have saved himself a lot of heartache in the past if he'd had that kind of insight. He had never been sold on the idea of marrying Andrea – he just couldn't see her fitting into the picture of his future that he had in his mind. She would want to continue her grand lifestyle, while Daryl would be content to have a more simplistic life. And she had been opposed to having children. Why would he have married someone like that? He couldn't imagine it now. Hindsight is 20/20, he supposed.

Beth was excited for Friday night to come. She had insisted that Daryl let her take him out to dinner to celebrate the end of his first week at work and his move into his new apartment that day. A few of Beth's college friends had also planned to go out later that night in Bluffton and they'd made her promise that she'd come. She hadn't told them, but she planned to drag Daryl along. She wanted him to have a good time and she thought he'd get along well with her friends. She just hadn't told him of her plans quite yet.

Daryl told Beth that he'd pick her up from her house around 7:30 p.m. - that would give them both plenty of time to rest a little after getting off work and get ready for dinner. After Beth napped for about 30 minutes after getting home and showering, she got up, still feeling a little tired, but wanting to give herself enough time to get ready. She drug herself into the kitchen, pulling a Red Bull out of the fridge and pouring it into a glass, adding some vodka. She knew this would help her get her energy up so that she could get ready for the night.

She had gone back and forth all day, in her mind, about what to wear tonight. She was taking Daryl to a nicer restaurant, even though he'd told her he'd be okay to just order a pizza, and she knew that with her plans to go out after dinner she should plan her wardrobe accordingly. She just wasn't quite sure what "look" she wanted – so she stood in front of her huge closet staring in and pulling out any and everything that caught her eye. She finally decided on some very short white lace shorts and a flowy three-quarter length sleeve mint green top. She reasoned that since she'd be showing a lot of her legs, covering up her arms would be a good balance – not to mention the fact that she almost always got cold at restaurants and in other public places, so the longer sleeves on the top would give her some coverage. She decided on some tall gold wedge sandals and a few gold accessories – she wanted to be cute, but not too overdone. Before she got dressed she did her hair and makeup. She kept her hair down and wavy – she knew that trying to fight the natural curl in her hair was no use, especially during that time of year when the humidity wreaked havoc everyone's hair. She decided to define her eyes well with liner and a bit of brown shadow and mascara, but leave the rest of her makeup fairly natural.

She got dressed just in time to hear her doorbell. She grabbed her clutch, throwing her phone and lip gloss inside, where her license, credit card, and a bit of cash already resided, and headed for the door. As she approached she heard the doorbell again and she was already apologizing to Daryl before she even got the door all the way open.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm moving as fast as…" Beth said as she swung open the door. But she stopped talking completely when she saw Daryl. She'd never seen him like this before and she could hardly breathe. He was standing in front of her in a pristine white button down shirt tucked into a pair of very dark jeans that were tailored perfectly for him. He was wearing brown suede oxfords and a nice looking belt that matched. His hair looked like it had been trimmed and was parted on the side and swept out of his face. In that moment, Beth lost all her words.

"Beth?" Daryl finally asked. She could tell he was a little self-conscious.

"Sorry… " Beth responded quickly. She was embarrassed. Daryl had caught her gawking at him and she wasn't even sure how long she'd been standing there doing it. "I… uh… did you get a haircut?".

"Yeah… We got done a little early this afternoon, so, after I went by Carol's office, I stopped and got it cut. It was about time." he responded shyly.

"I like it!" Beth said, maybe too enthusiastically. "You ready to go?" she asked quickly, trying to turn the attention from her awkward reaction and onto their plans.

Daryl just nodded, a big smile forming onto his face. As they walked towards Daryl's truck, he followed Beth to the passenger side, opening her door. The gesture wasn't lost on Beth, although she was a bit surprised – Daryl hadn't done that before and she wondered what had changed. She tried not to focus on it too long, though. She was sure he was just being sweet.

When he'd gone back around to the driver's side and climbed in, starting up the truck, he looked over, still smiling. "You look really nice, Beth. Really pretty." She couldn't tell if he was blushing. But she felt like maybe she was.

"Thanks" was all she could force herself to say.

Daryl couldn't help but think that their dinner was going by quickly – too quickly, if he was being honest. When Beth had opened the door earlier, he thought he was hallucinating. He'd gotten accustomed to seeing Beth in t-shirts and her lifeguarding clothes, with her hair pulled into a messy bun and no make-up. And she was stunning just like that. But tonight – he wasn't even sure what to say or do – she looked like someone out of magazine, and all he could wonder was what in the world she was doing hanging out with someone like him. Those shorts, he thought, as they'd both gotten into his truck, were going to be the death of him. All he wanted to do was reach over and run his hand up her beautiful legs, feeling the smooth skin on her tanned legs. What was he thinking, though, he wondered? He knew he and Beth were just friends. "Friends. Friends." he told himself over and over. Hadn't they both been really clear with each other about that? And the last few days had proven easy enough along those lines – all those weird emotional conversations from earlier in the week had disappeared and Daryl was determined that they wouldn't go back to that awkward place again. So what had his mind swimming the way it was now?

He pushed it way back into his mind. The waitress was currently asking them about whether they'd like to have dessert and he couldn't help but laugh as Beth was grinning over at him, dying to say yes, but wanting him to make the choice. He indicated to the waitress that they'd take a look at the dessert menu and he knew Beth was glad. They eventually agree to share something but Beth let Daryl choose – she kept telling him that the dinner was his celebration, after all, so he should get to make all the choices.

As they ate their dessert, he casually asked Beth about her other plans for the weekend. He didn't have anything in mind really, but they'd spent so much time together this last week, he wondered what the weekend would hold. Maybe Beth had a lot of plans already – maybe he wouldn't even see her? Maybe she was tired of him hanging around all the time and needed some time to herself? Didn't he need to spend some time in his new apartment, trying to make it into an actual home?

"Well…" Beth started. "I… I kind of have some other plans already for later on tonight". She looked up at him with an uncertain look on her face.

Daryl didn't know how to respond to that. Was she going out with someone? Why had she insisted that they go out for dinner if she had other plans? "Oh… um… yeah. I can take you home then so you can do what you need to" he responded. He realized he sounded pathetic, but didn't know how else to respond.

"Daryl… No! That's not what I meant" Beth said. "Some of my friends are going to go out in Bluffton… I told them I'd come… And… You're coming too!" she said confidently.

Daryl let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. Still, though, he was uneasy. "I don't know about that Beth. Maybe I should just…" Daryl started to explain, but he was quickly interrupted.

"Daryl! Please go with me? I think it'll be so much fun… and I know they'll all like you!" Beth said.

Daryl didn't know what to say. He still wasn't sure. But Beth kept pleading.

"You deserve to have a good time, Daryl. Please go with me… please! Please! Please!" Beth said.

"Okay. I'll go" Daryl finally agreed. He couldn't deny her this, he thought. She seemed so set on it and if it made her happy, he'd do it. He was still a bit uneasy about it, though. He hadn't been out in Hilton Head without Andrea. And he was a bit out of his comfort zone. Not to mention that Beth, and he assumed her friends, were a good bit younger than him. Would they be going to some college bar where he'd be the oldest guy there? He started to rethink it all, but looking at Beth's face, how happy she was that he'd actually agreed to her plan, he knew he couldn't go back on what he'd said.

"When are we supposed to go?" he asked, looking down at his watch. He realized then that he had no concept of what time it was.

"I told them we'd be there between 10 and 10:30" Beth responded. "Why? What time is it?" she asked.

"It's already 9:45. We better get a move on, then." he told her and they motioned for the waitress so they could pay the check. It made Daryl horribly uncomfortable letting Beth pay for their dinner, especially at the nice restaurant where they were. He knew their meal had to have been well over $100. But Beth swatted away his hand when he'd tried to take the check – she'd told him that it was okay to splurge every once in a while, especially when it was for a good reason.

They got back to the truck, and Daryl opened Beth's door for her again. He wasn't sure why he'd all of a sudden felt prompted to do this for her tonight, he never had before. Maybe his conversation with her about relationships the night before had made him realize she deserved the best. And they were just friends, but he had some high standards for what he thought she deserved, and he hoped she had the same ones for herself.

Daryl drove toward Bluffton and Beth talked almost the entire time. She apologized for not driving them, telling him that she didn't mean to force him into driving them all the way to Bluffton. He'd reassured her that he didn't mind – and that he was glad he'd be there to drive her home, make sure she was okay. He wasn't sure how much she planned to drink, but he felt good knowing she wouldn't have to drive herself, or rely on someone else to get her home safely. She also told him about some of the friends that they'd be meeting. Daryl just listened, mostly, and hoped that he hadn't gotten himself into something that would make him uncomfortable.

Once they arrived and headed inside, Daryl felt a little bit more at ease. He'd been to this place before – not often, but a couple of times. It wasn't a typical college bar, like he'd feared that they might be headed to, but instead, tended to have a pretty eclectic crowd of locals. It was starting to get more crowded and the place was already a sea of people, but it was still early enough that it wasn't quite wall-to-wall yet. Daryl was glad – hopefully they could find Beth's friends more easily and find a place to sit. He hated going out to places where he couldn't sit down – for some reason it made him feel uneasy and awkward.

They quickly spotted a few of Beth's friends at a table and they started to head over to them. Beth let Daryl lead the way – he was bigger and could make a better pathway through the crowd of people. As Daryl started to push through the crowd, he instinctively reached back to grab Beth's hand. She was so tiny, he thought, he wanted to make sure that she stayed with him and that she didn't get swept up in all the people. Subconsciously, too, he wanted to make sure no creepy guys tried to approach her or grab her – he knew how men's minds worked and a girl that looked like Beth, especially the way she was dressed tonight, would be the object of every man's desires. As he led her through the crowd, all of a sudden, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed him on the shoulder.

"Well, well…." he heard a woman's voice say. "Daryl Dixon himself".

As he spun around, still clutching tightly to Beth's hand, he couldn't believe who was standing there.

"Andrea?"