You're probably tired of reading my apologies for delays on updates, but once again, I'm sorry for the wait. I've been having writer's block with this story lately.

And for the guest reviewer who said she misses my smut: the end of this chapter is for you. ;)

Enjoy!

By the time five days had passed since being bitten, Beth was fed up with Daryl's negativity. She still displayed no symptoms, which was now no surprise to Beth. She was now convinced that no symptoms would ever show up, especially after reading about the possibilities during her research a few days prior. Daryl wasn't arguing against her apparent immunity per se, but the wounded look his eyes held when he gazed at her remained the same, as if each time he looked at her would be the last time he would see her. Beth had had enough of it.

Her wound was doing much better, too. While searching for edible greens around the campsite, Beth had found some wild plantain, the leaves of which were known for their healing properties. She had made a poultice from the plantain and applied it to her wound, and it seemed to have sped up the healing process. Now, she had started going without a bandage to let the wound air out, and it had begun to scab over. It wasn't too red or inflamed, meaning their mindful care had prevented the injury from becoming infected. The progress she'd made with her healing combined with her lack of symptoms only added to Beth's aggravation over the delicate way Daryl was still treating her, as if she were a fragile china doll that could shatter at any moment.

She tried to remain pleasant and to remember that this ordeal had to be extremely difficult for him, but such feats were much easier in the days immediately following the bite. As she sat next to him by the fire now after dinner, the darkness falling around them as the sun made its descent below the horizon, she tried once again to remind herself of the internal struggle Daryl was experiencing. But regardless of her regard for Daryl's fragile emotions, she could keep her mouth shut about the issue no longer. Each day they remained at the campsite felt longer than the last, and Beth was tired of staying there as if they were just waiting for her life to end.

"We should think about getting back on the road tomorrow," she said matter-of-factly, breaking the silence between them.

Daryl shrugged and didn't meet her eyes. "Dunno if we should leave here just yet."

Beth sighed impatiently. "Why? Because you're still waiting for me to die?"

Daryl looked up at her sharply, a wounded look on his face, and for a moment, Beth felt a little guilty.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But that's what it feels like. Even though it has been five whole days and I still have no symptoms, and even though the bite is actually healing really well, and even despite the information we learned from all those books, you still look at me as though I'm just a ticking time bomb."

"I don't—"

"Yes you do, Daryl," Beth cut him off. "I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me. You don't say anything, but you don't need to. It's like every time you look at me, you're almost saying goodbye in your mind. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

He broke her gaze and looked down at the ground. He looked like a wounded animal, and it made Beth want to hug him and push him away all at once.

"You know how they say that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is?" he asked quietly. "That's how this seems. Like it's too good to be true. It's a goddamn miracle you're still alive, Beth, and I ain't ever believed in miracles."

"You're right. It is a miracle. But I'm a walking, talking, living, breathing example of why miracles do exist. Why can't you at least try to accept that?"

"I am tryin'," Daryl retorted, his voice sounding strained. "I'm tryin' so damn hard, Beth. But it ain't easy. My whole life I've had shit taken away from me, and I'm sorry that I still think that way. You're everythin' to me. So it just seems fittin' that I'd end up losin' you at some point."

Beth shook her head furiously. "No. That defeatist attitude has to stop, Daryl. It has to. I know you're refusing to accept this miracle as some sort of messed up self-defense mechanism, but I need you to get past that. For me."

Daryl shrugged his shoulders noncommittally, still staring at the ground.

"My mother used to say that your beliefs and thoughts have a big impact on your physical wellbeing," she said. "Sort of like a mind over matter thing, but not quite. Like during flu season for example, she would say that if you thought you were going to get sick, you probably would, whereas if you believed that you would remain healthy, you probably would. I believe that I am not going to get sick. I am not going to die. But your hesitance to accept that makes believing that a little bit harder for me. I feel like it's almost toxic to be around you because your negativity brings me down. And right now, I really need to keep believing that I'll be fine. I need to keep that belief intact. Do you see what I'm saying?"

He nodded solemnly, now looking a bit guilty.

"I would really appreciate it if you could just pretend that you believe I'm in the clear. Just pretend that I won't end up getting sick, for my sake. And maybe, if you pretend long enough and enough time passes, you'll start legitimately believing it yourself."

Daryl finally looked up from the ground and met her eyes, and she could almost sense his surrender. He nodded again.

"Okay," he said simply.

He didn't need to say anything else. Beth could tell that he understood. She gave him a small, relieved smile and exhaled a long breath, as if she was expelling all the stress from the past few days. She straightened up a bit and looked back to the fire, enjoying the feeling of its warmth on her face.

"So . . . are you still opposed to getting back on the road?" she asked tentatively.

"Not necessarily," Daryl replied. "But it might not be such a bad idea to stick around here for a while. We have access to clean water from the campground's pumps, and we're definitely far enough away from the threat that drove us out of the cabin. Maybe we could stay here for a while, put up some fences to make it safer or somethin'?"

"Well, you're right about the access to clean water, and that's nice, but I would rather not stay here. We came back here because it was a safe place for me to spend the time we thought I had left. Since then, we've just been waiting. This place is just a constant reminder of that. It feels like purgatory."

"Then we'll go," Daryl said. "Tomorrow morning, we'll go."

"Thank you," Beth said softly with a smile. She leaned against him and he wrapped his arm around her to pull her closer. His other hand went to cup her face, turning it up toward his. He pressed his lips to hers in a long, gentle kiss that left Beth slightly breathless when he pulled away.

"Is it too soon to ask you to make love to me?" she murmured. It had been six days since they had last been intimate, which was the longest they had gone without it since they had first made love. Beth felt deprived of it; she needed him, and not just for the sexual pleasure, but for the intimacy.

Daryl didn't respond verbally, but instead stood from where he sat by the fire and bent down to scoop Beth into his arms bridal style. She yelped in surprise, a grin spreading across her face as he carried her over to the trailer. She reached down to open the door since his hands were obviously full, and Daryl kicked it shut behind him after entering the trailer. He laid her down gently on the bed and climbed on top of her to lie between her legs, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at her. His gaze held an intensity that wasn't there moments before, and Beth could almost feel the palpable heat from it as his eyes bored into hers.

"You're my world, Beth," he said quietly, his low gravelly voice sending shivers down her spine. "And you ain't goin' anywhere. I ain't gonna let anythin' take the world from me."

Beth felt herself beaming at him. Whether he was just pretending that he didn't believe she would die didn't matter; to hear those words from him made her chest swell with love and relief.

"You're damn right I'm not going anywhere," she agreed firmly. "I'm here, and I'm yours, forever."

"I love you, Beth." His voice was almost a whisper as he said it. "I know you said you don't need me to say it, that you already know, but . . . well, I ain't ever told anyone that before, and you deserve to know without a doubt that I love you with every fucking part of me."

Beth's chest swelled again, feeling like a balloon that was about to burst from happiness. She had known that Daryl loved her for a while; he didn't need words to communicate it. And after the bite, she hadn't wanted him to say it because it had felt like a goodbye, as if he were only saying it because she wouldn't be there the next day. But now, it felt completely different. She knew he was being genuine, and she appreciated how much weight his words held. To be the first person he had ever confessed love to was overwhelming. She drew in a shuddering breath and tucked a few strands of his dirty hair behind his ears.

"I love you more than words can say," she said.

Daryl lowered his head and closed the distance between them, his lips claiming hers with possessive ferocity. Beth responded in kind and opened her lips to tangle his tongue with her own. She laced her fingers through his hair, her grip tightening as their passionate kiss grew more heated. She felt the weight of his pelvis grinding against her center, and the friction quickly drove her wild with need. Beth bucked her hips against him, earning a low growl from deep in his throat.

His hands found their way under her shirt and tugged it upward, slowing down only briefly to help her remove it without hurting her injured shoulder. As soon as the shirt was tossed to the floor, his fervency resumed, and her bra quickly joined her shirt on the floor. Beth's small hands followed his lead and frantically tore the shirt over his head. Her hands then moved to the fastenings of his pants as he began to kiss down her neck to her chest, his facial hair tickling and scratching her sensitive skin. Beth tugged his pants and underwear down his thighs. His erection sprang free as he moved a little farther down to capture one of her perfect nipples in his mouth. Beth's hands once again buried themselves in his hair, her breathing heavy, as he swirled his tongue around her nipple, feeling it harden instantly in his mouth. He pulled away and gave the other nipple the same treatment. When it was equally hard as its twin, he rose to his knees and began unfastening her jeans. His movements were suddenly slower and more deliberate, and his eyes remained focused on her own. He pulled her jeans off one leg at a time before tossing them to the floor to join the rest of their discarded clothing. Still keeping his eyes on hers, he hooked his fingers into the elastic of her panties and slowly dragged them down her legs. When they landed on the floor, he finally broke her stare to allow his eyes to travel down her body, as if he was memorizing every inch of her.

Daryl reached for Beth's right arm and brought it to his mouth, delivering soft kisses to the inside of her wrist. His mouth moved up the rest of her arm, over her collarbone, around her healing wound on her other shoulder, and down her left arm as well. He hovered over her and began kissing down her chest next, before moving over the expanse of creamy skin that was her lean stomach. He paused at each of her hip bones, delivering a sensual open-mouthed kiss to the hollow of each one, which made Beth shiver and break out in goosebumps. He continued kissing every inch of skin he could reach, up and down each of her legs, and Beth felt like he was literally worshiping her with his mouth, giving thanks for every part of her that continued to live and thrive. It felt incredibly intimate, and Beth was already slightly dizzy by the time his mouth trailed open-mouthed kisses along her inner thigh and finally reached her center.

He began by just kissing her there, too, moving his mouth along the length of her slit almost teasingly before giving her a delicate swipe with his tongue. Beth moaned and bucked her hips a little, her legs already quivering slightly from the brief contact with his tongue. Daryl teased her with his tongue a few more times, touching her ever so lightly. Finally he pressed his tongue down harder on her clit, and Beth jerked in response. He swirled his tongue around her sensitive bud a few times, earning several breathy moans from Beth.

"Gotta remember to keep quiet," he grunted up to her. "Thin walls, and no fence outside to stop any walkers."

She nodded quickly and grabbed the pillow from under her head to muffle the sound of her moans. Daryl thrust both hands beneath her ass, holding one cheek in each palm and squeezing them possessively. He caressed his thumbs over her opening and delicately spread her lips open to him.

"Like a beautiful fuckin' flower," he growled, making Beth's stomach clench in arousal.

He returned his tongue to her slit, delving inside a few times before flicking it quickly across her clit. His thumbs continued to caress her opening, peeling her lips apart and tracing the length of her slit along the edges while he assaulted her clit with his tongue. Beth was moaning desperately into the pillow, and Daryl just hoped it was muffling the sound enough, because he wasn't planning on stopping any time soon.

He raised one of his thumbs up to her hood, tugging it upward to expose more of her pearl to him, while his other thumb continued to trace her opening. He alternated his tongue's touch on her clit between firm, steady circles and feather-light flicks with the tip of his tongue, alternating according to her body's response to each. When her legs began to tremble more noticeably, he knew she was close. He tugged one of his hands free from under her ass and sank two fingers into her wet opening. He increased the speed and pressure of his tongue on her clit as he fucked her with his fingers, curling them toward her belly with each stroke. Her tension continued to build until it finally reached a pinnacle, her entire body seizing up beneath him and seeming to snap as her orgasm suddenly crashed over her. Daryl pressed his tongue firmly against her clit as she shuddered and rode out her climax.

When she had stopped shaking, she pulled the pillow away from her mouth and stared down at him, her eyes dark and dilated and her breathing labored. Daryl crawled over her and settled himself between her legs. She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him with everything she had, tasting herself on his lips. Without breaking the kiss, Daryl suddenly thrust into her, both of them moaning into each other's mouths. Beth wrapped her legs around his waist and hooked her ankles together. As he withdrew from her and thrust back in, her heels nudged him forward, showing him how hard she wanted it. Each thrust felt slow, deep, and deliberate. He was going to take his time with her, go as slow and as deep as he could manage.

Daryl had to cover Beth's mouth with his own to muffle her cries of pleasure. He felt as though each time he bottomed out inside her, he was getting closer to her, and he needed to be as close as he possibly could. The rest of the world and all the trials they had endured in the past few days were gone; there was only her, and there would only ever be her.

It didn't take long before Beth's walls began to flutter and constrict around him. He clamped a hand over her mouth as she came, hardly able to control the sounds she made in her euphoria. He pumped himself into her once, twice, three times, before quickly pulling out and spilling his seed on her stomach with a groan. He removed his hand from her mouth and panted in an attempt to catch his breath as he leaned over her, her eyes sparkling and warm as they looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed her feverishly for a few moments, both of their chests still heaving.

"I love you so fuckin' much," Daryl murmured as he pulled away.

Beth gave him a dazzling smile, and he found that he had never been more thankful for the angel he was able to call his.

Thank you for reading and please review! :)