This is a short chapter. I just wanted to explore how each character is feeling after their "interaction" in the last chapter. Sorry it's not as long as usual!

Sunlight spilled into the room through a gap in the bedroom curtains, and Daryl's eyes fluttered open and immediately landed on a pair of wide blue eyes staring directly at him. Beth's face broke into a wide smile.

"Morning," she greeted him warmly.

Daryl blinked and noticed that both of them were still completely naked, and memories from the night before came rushing back to him. He self-consciously tugged the blanket up further on his body to cover more of his bare chest, and Beth arched an eyebrow at him.

"After everything that happened last night, you're seriously concerned about covering up?"

Daryl cleared his throat and shrugged one shoulder. His eyes drifted down to Beth's small bare breasts, which she was making no effort to hide. The early morning light made them look even more perfect than they had been in the darkness of the night before, and he had to make a serious effort to tear his eyes away from her chest. The sex the night before had been the best he had had in years, perhaps even the best sex he had ever had. He knew Beth had enjoyed herself, she had made that much clear, but he still couldn't stop the nagging guilty thoughts from surfacing in the back of his mind. He found himself torn between being disappointed in himself for defiling her in such a way and wanting to do it all over again.

"Beth, about last night . . ." he began.

"You don't regret it, do you?" Beth quickly asked, her happy expression turning into a frown. "Because I don't. Not at all. And you shouldn't either."

"I dunno," Daryl muttered, not meeting her eyes. "I lost control. I know you said you liked it, but—"

"But nothing. Daryl, last night was the best night of my life. And I'm not exaggerating. Please don't take that away from me."

Daryl eyed her skeptically, but her large blue eyes were full of nothing but honesty.

"This is really what you want?" he asked her quietly. "You really want this with me?"

"Yes. Absolutely. You're pretty stupid if you haven't already figured that out," she teased, giving him a playful nudge. Daryl couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his lips. "Nothing we did last night was wrong. And you better shake off any thoughts that are telling you otherwise, because I'm going to want to be intimate with you as much as possible."

Daryl's grin grew wider and he shook his head. "You're crazy."

Beth grinned and sat up, the blanket falling to her waist and exposing her breasts more to him. Her blonde hair was down and untamed, and the way her smile lit up her big blue eyes made Daryl's chest feel tight. She leaned over him and pressed a kiss to his lips. Daryl reached up and tangled his fingers in her wild hair, returning the kiss with as much fervor as he dared. Memories from the night before were already prompting his body to react to the kiss. He tried not to think about how tight she had been and the sounds she had made as she reached her climax. And the sight of her touching herself that he had unwittingly walked in on . . . it was the sexiest thing Daryl had ever seen. Everything about Beth now seemed erotic and intoxicating.

Daryl reluctantly broke the kiss and stared into Beth's eyes, willing his body to calm down. She pulled away and sat back on her heels with a smile on her face. She looked as though she were glowing, and Daryl couldn't believe that he had been the cause of it. He didn't understand what Beth saw in him or why she seemed so happy. It was hard for him to believe that he deserved such a woman, but if he was what Beth wanted, he was going to try his hardest to do right by her.

Beth slipped out of the blankets and stood. She stretched, and Daryl had to force his eyes away from her lithe body if he had any hopes of calming his own body down. She went to the dresser and pulled out some clothes.

"I'm gonna shower," she said. "Then I'm thinkin' we should have some canned peaches for breakfast."

Daryl smiled at her and nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan."

He watched her leave the room, his eyes traveling to her firm, round ass as she walked away. He groaned and threw his forearm over his eyes. It had already been hard enough not to constantly think about Beth in inappropriate ways before, and now that he had had a taste of her, he feared that his mind would torture him constantly with images of her writhing beneath him as he thrust into her. He heaved a sigh and tried to focus on anything other than Beth to gain self-control.

Beth couldn't wipe the smile from her face as she climbed into the cold shower. She had meant it when she told Daryl that the night before had been the best night of her life. It most definitely had been. And it wasn't just the mind-blowing pleasure Daryl had been able to give her that made the night so special for her. It was also the intimacy, the closeness she had felt with him. She had only shared her body in such a way with one other person, and with Zach it had been nowhere near as intimate as it had been with Daryl. Beth had liked Zach, but her feelings for him hadn't even come close to her feelings for Daryl. Giving herself to Daryl had felt right and so natural. She was elated that he hadn't pushed her away again.

Feeling Daryl's walls come tumbling down as he gave in to their mutual desires was a big step for him, and Beth appreciated how difficult it had been for him. She could see in his eyes this morning that he was starting to feel guilty, and she had tried her hardest to make him dismiss those thoughts. She knew she couldn't change his destructive thinking patterns overnight, but she wasn't going to give up. There was no going back from where there relationship was now, and Beth wasn't about to let him rebuild the walls she had worked so hard to bring down.

As Beth washed, she smiled to herself as she felt the soreness between her legs. Daryl was definitely bigger than Zach had been, especially in the girth department. She wondered if that was why Daryl had been able to give her her first internal orgasm, or if it was because he just had more experience than Zach. It was probably a combination of both, but either way, Beth's idea of what good sex was had been entirely changed. She liked that she was sore, as it was a reminder of the amazing pleasure that had occurred the night before.

Beth finished her shower and quickly dressed. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and went out to find the cabin empty. She went outside and saw Daryl dragging a walker corpse over to where three other corpses were piled. She frowned and quickly scanned the area for further threats, thankfully seeing none. Daryl dumped the last corpse with the others and made his way through the gap in the spikes and up to where Beth stood on the porch.

"All four of 'em were skewered near the back of the cabin," he said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Not sure if it was the storm that riled 'em up or if it was your moanin' that attracted 'em."

Beth's cheeks flushed and her eyes widened. "Oh god, I didn't even think of that!"

"Yeah, you might wanna work on being quieter next time," Daryl teased her.

Beth grinned at his use of words. Next time. So he was already thinking about sleeping with her again. That was a good sign. She followed him back inside the cabin and sat down on one of the living room couches while he retrieved a jar of peaches and two forks. He sat down next to her on the couch and handed her a fork. They ate in comfortable silence for a few moments before Daryl cleared his throat and spoke.

"Since we're gonna be stayin' here for winter, we should start preparing more," he said.

"Preparing how?"

"I wanna start dryin' meat, in case game gets scarce when the weather turns, for one. Dried meat ain't tasty, but it's good to have on hand just in case. We should also start makin' more runs to nearby towns. Get as much supplies as we can. If we get any snow, we're stuck here till it melts. I ain't big on the idea of tryin' to make runs on foot."

Beth nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Let's head to Hogansville tomorrow then. We should make a list today of everything we'd like to find."

"Yeah. Today I'll show you how to fix up a tripod out of sticks to dry meat. We'll get a couple of those made and start dryin' stuff as soon as I can catch it."

Beth nodded again and ate a few more peaches. Starting preparations for winter made it seem all the more real that they were staying at the cabin for a while. It made Beth feel safe and happy. Spending the winter holed up in the cabin with Daryl seemed like a fairy tale to Beth. She guiltily remembered their lost group and found herself wondering where they would be spending the winter. She hoped everyone had found some semblance of permanence and safety like she had Daryl had. She hoped they weren't going to have to spend this coming winter like the last one had been: running from place to place, constantly scavenging, always on the move. She still wanted to find them someday, but the more time that went by when it was just her and Daryl, the less she began to prioritize finding the group. Beth wondered if that made her selfish, but at the current moment, she didn't really care. She was happier than she had been in a very long time, and she was going to enjoy it.

Again, sorry this chapter was so short! The next chapter will be back to regular length, and it will contain more yummy Bethyl smut. ;)

Thanks for reading and please review!