He was pacing around the living room, nervously running his hands through his hair.

"Daryl…"

"Shouldn't have done that. Told ya' I'm a dick when I'm drunk."

"Daryl, come sit with me."

"I think you should leave."

"...what?"

"You better go…"

She didn't insist. She was hurt. And even more confused. She walked to the door.

"Beth…" She turned around.

"Your bag…" He picked it up. He couldn't look at her. "I'll walk you home."

"I can't go home."

"To Rick's, then."

She let out a sigh. "Daryl, look at me." He kept his head down but slowly looked at her. She held his gaze for a second before speaking again.

"Don't do this."

She grabbed his shirt and held the material tight into a fist. And in less than ten seconds, they were panting again. She pushed herself up on her toes. Their forehead were touching again. He dropped her bag on the floor and pushed her slowly against the wall behind her, never taking his eyes off her. She took her time. She didn't want to scare him away. She leaned in very slowly, as if she was asking for permission, until their lips were only brushing. He closed his eyes when he felt her breath on his lips. She softly kissed the corner of his mouth. And then the other corner. Teasing him. Testing him. Then he gave in, letting out a loud sigh before literally grabbing her mouth with his. There was more tenderness this time. He caressed her cheek with one hand and the other was flat on her stomach, keeping her pushed up against the wall. He trailed soft kisses down her neck, stopped and let out a long sigh.

"Beth…" he whispered into her neck.

She was still catching up her breath.

"Com'on", he growled before pulling away. He took her hand and guided her to the couch. He sat down, elbows resting on his knees and rubbed his face with his hands again. She knew what that meant.

"You're gonna say things now. Don't." He looked at her between his fingers. He heard a tremble in her voice. "I know what you're gonna say and I don't wanna hear it…Not now. Please... Just hold me."

He sat back and she cuddled against him. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest. He looked a bit uncomfortable and overwhelmed at first, then relaxed and started to caress her arm gently. Until he drifted into sleep like she did.

Rick walked up the porch stairs and was about to knock on Daryl's door when he saw them from the window. They were asleep on the couch in each other's arms. It made him smile before he turned around and walked back home.

"Beth, wake up…"

He could have kissed her forehead to wake her up, caressed her hair, but he didn't. He was now sober and wasn't comfortable touching her anymore. And they were in a hurry.

"Somethin's up, someone sent the signal."

"I didn't hear anything." It was a stupid thing to say, she thought. Of course, she didn't hear it. She was asleep. But she was in denial, she wanted to stay.

"I did. Com'on." He threw her the sweatshirt she took off the night before. He grabbed her bag and his cross bow after putting on his vest. He opened the door and waited for her to go first.

Once they were outside, they saw the group down the street, in front of Rick's house, near the main entrance. When they caught up with them, the group noticed their presence. Some were surprised to see them arrive together.

"What's going on?", Beth asked, ignoring the questioning looks.

"New people. A small group. There's 5 of them. A young man with his father and… a teenage girl with her parents", Rick answered.

"They in already?" Daryl asked.

"No. We need to decide if we take them in or not. We're making this decision together."

They decided to interview them. Rick thought they passed the test and the rest of the group trusted his judgment. They gave them a chance and let them in. They seemed like people who knew how to defend themselves. That meant they could help defending the place and go out on supply runs. They could contribute. The group helped them clear two other houses in which the two families could move in separately.

The young girl's name was Sarah. She was 13. Her parents' names were Francis and Celia. They were in their mid-forties'. The young man, Tom, was around 25 and his father, Jack, had just turned 60.

The first week with them went really well. Sarah and Carl spent a lot of time together. They were around the same age, so it made a lot of sense, but Michonne gave Carl a hard time by teasing him all the time, calling her his new girlfriend. Celia helped Carol in the kitchen and was happy to be around a baby again. Francis was handy and helped Abraham and Tyreese strengthening the walls. Jack was a former engineer and spent some time with Rick talking about a future project so they could eventually expend their territory. Tom wanted to contribute as well. He tried to go hunting with Daryl a couple of times, but he turned him down. Said he couldn't concentrate with someone around.

Since the night Beth slept over at Daryl's, he has been avoiding her. She has been hurting by his attitude, but decided to give up and let him be. They haven't talked since, except this one time when she was doing target practice with Maggie. He has been watching them in silence for a couple of minutes before he spoke.

"Ya' should relax your arms more, there's no control when it's too stiff." It made both girls jump of surprise.

"Jesus! How long have ya' been spying on our technique, sneeky boy?" Maggie asked.

"Just got here. Just finished my shift. Was passin' by…" He was starting to leave.

"Hey, why don't you uhm…show Beth some tricks, then? I need to go lie down for a bit, the heat…makes me dizzy…"

Beth sent a disapproving look to her sister. "I'm ok, I don't need'em."

"Sure you do. It can't hurt. Here, take mine." She handed her gun to Daryl.

"S'fine, got mine."

"All right, then. Have fun."

She was gone before Beth could object. "You don't have to stay, you can leave, now." She returned to her aiming position.

"Beth…" He was ashamed. He couldn't look at her so he dropped his head.

"It's ok, Daryl, I'm fine. I know you don't want me around." She kept her focus in front of her, unable to look at him either.

"That ain't true." His voice was very low, she could barely hear him.

"It is, I refused to hear you out, now you're pissed off and you're avoiding me. You don't want no drama…that's fine. You keep pushing me away like you always did… so be it. I don't care.

"This ain't fair…"

Those last words made her swing around to face him. The sudden movement made him lift his eyes from the ground.

"You wanna know what's not fair, Daryl? Wanting to be with someone who's running away from you. Someone who wants you back but keeps pretending he doesn't."

"I ain't running. I'm right here. Right now."

"Ok. Fair enough." She crossed her arms and waited.

"Gotta talk 'bout what happened."

"Ok."

"It just…it just ain't right."

"Right? It didn't feel right to you? It did not feel good?"

He swallowed hard before she continued.

"Let me guess. Now you're gonna tell me…it can't be like that cause…I'm too young."

"No. You're not...young. But I'm too old."

"It's the same."

"No, it ain't."

"How is it different, then?"

"I dunno…ya' deserve better…"

"So younger is better? I don't understand…I'm not young but you see me with someone young? I don't give a crap about anybody's age, anymore, Daryl!" She was yelling, now.

"I ain't good for ya, Beth…I ain't good at this."

"What do you want, Daryl?" She knew her words were harsh when she saw him flinch and bring his head back down.

"I wanna…I want ya safe…but I don't wanna hurt ya."

"You want to protect me."

He looked back at her. "F' course I do."

"But you don't want to get too close to me."

"Mmh-mmh…", he simply growled as an answer.

"Ok, so you're gonna watch me from a distance… all the time… You're gonna…watch me talking…having lunch…laughing…and bonding with another guy."

He didn't realize that could happen, never considered it before, since they were part of a small group. He looked at her closely, worried.

"All right, then. There's someone who's been wanting to spend time with me, so…"

He didn't let her finish. "Who?"

"Tom… Said he likes me. Has been asking me out. Maybe I'll agree. As long as I have you, watching me from a distance, I don't have to worry. Right?"

"…"

"Right. Ok. Now if I heard you right, I need some practice…you can watch me from a distance, there's a bench, over there, down the road. "

"Whatever…you don't get it." He started to walk away.

"No, I don't. Maybe someday you'll explain it to me."

"Ya know I'm bad at this, Beth!"

"That's no excuse!" He kept walking, didn't turn around and left her there. She shot a few times out of frustration. But the gun they used for practice didn't make any sound, so the effect wasn't the same and she stopped. And burst into tears.

A/N: Uh ho...not going well...it can't be always nice and sweet when it's Daryl. They both have a temper and I needed to spice things up for the story to be more realistic. Do you agree?

Thank you so much for the reviews, you guys. More to come soon, promise. xo CDL