…

Chapter Eleven.

"You're the coolest guy I've ever met, Daryl Dixon," she whispers in his ear once he cuts the engine of the bike and they sit there, her arms seeming reluctant to let go of his waist. Her body is pressed against his and she moves her lips, kissing the corner of his jaw and it's nearing ninety degrees that night but he shivers nonetheless. "I love you," she then smiles.

And Daryl turns his head and looks into Amy's face, seeing her smiling at him and feeling his own lips smiling at her in return. No one besides his own mom has ever said those words to him and his stomach clenches so hard now as if he's going to be sick but he keeps looking at her and he can't remember ever being as happy as he is in this moment.

Someone loves him. Someone actually loves him.

He never takes his eyes off of her. "I love you, too."

His eyes snap open as if he's waking himself from a nightmare and he lies there, his chest heaving up and down, trying to catch his breath. The room is too warm even though the ceiling fan is on and he can hear that the air-conditioner has kicked on. He begins to kick at the sheet that covers him as if he's trying to free himself from strangling vines, and Louis, sleeping next to him, lifts his head to look at him curiously and see what's wrong.

Daryl sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. He jabs his elbows on his knees and rests his head in his hands and he feels Louis get up and sit down at his side. Daryl takes another moment, trying to clear his head of all thoughts. He's sick of that dream. He's had it nearly every night for the past few weeks and he knows he's going to go insane if he has it again. He needs to get it out of his memory but he has no idea how. He doesn't want it in there anymore. Isn't that enough to have it disappear?

He lifts his head and turning it, he looks to Louis. "I gotta get out of here," he tells the dog and Louis simply wags his tail in agreement.

Daryl's as quiet as he can be – which is damn near silent – as he stands up from the bed and gets himself dressed. He doesn't want to wake his mom because Paulie will get up and insist on making him a cup of tea or hot chocolate – despite how hot it is outside tonight – just as she had done when he was younger and had had a bad dream. But the last thing he wants to do is keep his mom awake just because he is. Paulie works too damn hard and doesn't get nearly enough sleep in Daryl's opinion.

Once his jeans and tee-shirt are on, he tugs on his shoes and grabs his crossbow out of habit, slinging the strap over his head and across his chest, settling it against his back, and he doesn't have to gesture for Louis to follow him for the dog to. Daryl can't even think about taking a walk in the middle of the night without Louis joining him.

Daryl holds onto Louis's collar so the medals around his neck don't clink together as they walk down the hallway, heading towards the door that leads into the garage. Will Dixon had effected them all in their own ways but one thing they all have in common from that man is the remaining Dixons are all extremely light sleepers. When the man had been alive and around, they had all liked being on alert – even in their sleep.

He opens the garage door manually and he and Louis step out into the quiet night. It's so hot out, not even the crickets seem to be chirping anymore.

He thinks of Beth in that big house of hers. Alone and probably boiling alive. Merle had come around for dinner earlier that evening and had told him that her heating ducts looked good for the air conditioning unit Daryl was looking at in the hardware store the day before so if Beth wants to buy it, Merle will install it for her because, in Merle's words, there's no reason the Doc should be living in the pits of Hell.

Normally, he would have headed towards Rick's house. He had done it before when he couldn't sleep. He still had a spare key to their house. But he couldn't do that anymore. They had little Judith and he didn't want to wake the baby and Rick and Lori were so damn tired all of the time now, they didn't need him coming in and waking the whole house up.

Seeing Shane was always dangerous because more times than not, he had a girl over and Daryl had already walked in on him once and seeing his friend's bare ass was one time too many for Daryl. Same goes for Merle. Either a girl's with him or some of his friends and Daryl has never been that crazy about any of Merle's friends. He knows Merle can think for himself and no one tells him what to do but Daryl blames his friends for Merle going to prison years earlier; a five-year sentence that had almost killed Paulie in the courtroom.

Everything in their little town closes down by nine – except for the twenty-four hour coffee shop, open mainly for the guys at the cardboard box factory who have second shift, and the couple of bars and at just midnight, Daryl knows that Joe's will still be in full swing. But going to the bar or any bar is the last place in the world Daryl wants to go. So instead, he heads towards the coffee shop. At least it's a direction though he's not crazy about coffee. Maybe he'll get some tea. Paulie has drank tea all her life and she passed the taste for it onto her two sons. He saw Beth's surprise when she had offered him a cup of tea and he had accepted. He knows guys that look like him usually don't drink tea.

He walks down the damn-near silent Main Street, Louis trotting at his side, and he can see the light from the coffee shop up ahead pouring through the front window onto the sidewalk. When he opens the door and the bell jingles, he's not all that surprised to see that the place is completely empty except for the kid working behind the counter. He gives Louis a silent command to stay outside for a moment and the dog plops down on the sidewalk, right in front of the door, waiting for Daryl as he goes inside.

The kid – probably around twenty – is crouched over an open textbook but she lifts her head when she hears Daryl enter. She sees the crossbow on his back and looks nervous until he steps up to the counter and pulling his wallet out, he orders an Earl Grey tea. She nods and turns to fix it for him and Daryl looks around the small shop. The owner, Gareth, has tried to make it look like someone's living room with mismatched overstuffed sofas and chairs scattered around and posters of musicians he didn't know hanging on the walls. He doesn't come in here often. Most of the time, he forgets it's even here, to be honest.

With the girl's back turned, he glances down to the textbook she's reading from. History – one of his better subjects back in school. He doesn't mean to be nosy but he tries to figure out what time period she's studying. He recognizes the famous painting of Atlanta burning and he knows she's studying about the Civil War. Even all of this time later, that's a dangerous thing to be studying – especially in their little town where some people still feel it's being fought.

"$2.50," the girl tells him, handing him the paper cup with the plastic lid snapped securely to the top of it and Daryl hands her exact change. "Have a good night," she then says.

Daryl nods to her. "Good luck with that," he says.

She looks down to her textbook and then laughs softly. "Thanks. I asked my dad earlier to help me study. That was a mistake."

His lips twitch at that. He could just imagine because when he had been studying the unit in high school, Merle hadn't been exactly helpful either.

Leaving the coffee shop, he sips on his tea and Louis stands up, his tail back to wagging, eager for their unexpected late-night adventure to continue. Daryl still has no idea where he's walking to but his brain is too awake right now to even think about going home and getting back to bed. For the time being, he's just going to drink his tea and walk randomly around town. Maybe he'll take Louis into the woods. He's got his crossbow and the moon is bright enough that night, nearly full, and is giving off plenty of light.

He's not sure why he keeps having that dream. He's been able to get through his days lately without thinking of her at all. And he almost hates to admit it, but that's been nice. He and T-Dog work all day, breaking for lunch, and T-Dog is the kind of guy that will talk and crack jokes all day and Daryl finds himself talking back and cracking the occasional smile. T is a good guy to have around when he wants to be distracted from his own mind - which is all of the time lately.

And then, in the evenings, he's been hanging around the house, doing random repairs for his mom or reading. He's always had a library card and he's been taking advantage of it lately. They never had the money to buy books – caring more about food and clothing than luxuries like that – and even though he makes his own money now and, after seeing to the bills, still has some left over to buy himself little extra things, he supposes it's another of those habits left over from his childhood that he just hasn't broken yet. He's read Jack London's books at least four times and he's checked them out once again, working on the fifth time now.

He wonders what the Doc reads. She's smart – she'd have to be if she's a veterinarian – so he wonders if she just reads a bunch of medical textbooks all of the time. Maybe next time he sees her, he'll ask. She has asked him questions – wanting to get to know him – and he guesses that he can do the same thing. Nothing wrong with getting to know her. After all, she's told him that she wants them to be friends and friends get to know one another.

Louis picks up speed next to him, pulling ahead and trotting in front of him, obviously more eager than he had been just a minute ago and Daryl looks to see what has the dog excited. Apparently, thinking about the Doc has Daryl's subconscious leading them towards the farm. Without even realizing it until now, he's heading down the long dirt drive, the white farmhouse looming largely in front of him, practically glowing in the bright moonlight.

Before Daryl can stop him, Louis lets out a happy bark and takes off running. And even if he hadn't wanted to get closer, now, he has no choice because he has to go get his stupid dog.

"Louis!" Daryl hisses at the dog as he gets to the front porch, the dog having already run up the steps and is at the front door, barking again and scratching at the screen door.

If the Doc was sleeping, she's definitely not anymore.

"Louis," Daryl says again, climbing up the porch steps.

He rests his cup on the railing of the porch before grabbing the dog's collar, trying to pull him back, waiting for the porch light to turn on at any second now and Beth to open the door, wondering what they're doing there in the middle of the night. But the house remains quiet and dark and Louis barks again, trying to pull away from Daryl. Something's wrong. The back of his neck pricks and Daryl frowns, letting go of Louis's collar, the dog immediately going back to the front door, scratching and whining.

Maybe she's not home…

But turning, Daryl sees her old pickup truck parked in front of the house, under the tree, where she usually has it parked. He looks back to the front door, Louis more agitated now and it's only adding to Daryl's unease. Why isn't she coming to the door? Daryl raises his fist and begins knocking on the screen door. They're certainly making enough noise. He doesn't ignore his instincts – or Louis's – and right now, both are telling him something is wrong with the Doc. Maybe something that's seriously wrong.

Daryl opens the screen door and knocks on the front door with a heavy fist. "Beth!" He calls out and waits for a few seconds but it's only met with silence.

Being the younger brother of Merle Dixon comes in handy with some things and when Daryl tries turning the knob, finding that it's locked – as it should be – he reaches for his wallet and pulls out his driver's license, one of the few cards he has in there. He kneels down and moves a little so the moon can shine down and give him some light and he begins trying to jimmy the lock open. And he says a silent thanks to his brother for showing him how to do that when the locks clicks and he can turn the knob, swinging the door open.

Louis immediately runs inside and Daryl follows after him.

"Beth!" He calls out again in the dark, silent house, and he can feel the heavy heat hanging in all of the rooms, pressing down on him and trying to smother him like a wool blanket.

They need to go get her that AC unit as soon as the hardware store opens later today. He doesn't know how she's dealing with this. Summers in Georgia are no joke and if a house doesn't have a central air, at least they have a window unit because sometimes, the heat and humidity are too thick and fans can't even cut through it.

Louis runs up the stairs and Daryl doesn't question his dog. He just follows after him.

And in one of the bedrooms, there's Beth. She's lying on the bed, no blankets pulled over her, and there's a fan on her nightstand table, pointing straight towards her but the fan isn't moving. And glancing at the table, Daryl sees that the digital clock isn't on either. He flicks up the light switch on the wall next to the door but no lights come on. Doc's got no power.

Louis begins nudging at her hand with his snout and whines when she doesn't move and Daryl leans over her, seeing her breathe, and he lets out his own breath at seeing that. He doesn't hesitate in slipping his arms underneath her slight frame and easily lifting her up. And knowing what he's doing, Louis runs from the bedroom, again leading the way.

Outside, it's hot as hell but nothing like the inferno that's the inside of the farmhouse right now, and Daryl carries Beth straight for her truck. It's unlocked and he slides her into the front passenger seat before heading back towards the front door, closing it once again. She still hasn't woken up and Daryl tries to ignore the worry squeezing his stomach. At least he's found her and gotten her out of the house.

He pulls the back door down so Louis can jump into the back bed and Daryl puts the crossbow back there, too, before climbing into truck behind the wheel. He has the truck hot-wired within seconds and as he drives down the dirt drive, his foot heavy on the gas pedal, he turns on the air and directs all of the vents towards the Doc as she remains unconscious next to him.

…

Daryl wakes up to feeling the warmth of the sun on his face and hearing a soft giggle. And before he even opens his eyes, his neck is screaming at him. That helps him remember what happened and where he is. He had driven Beth straight to the 24-hour urgent care in town where the doctor immediately diagnosed her with heat exhaustion. They had gotten Beth into a room and Daryl had stayed out in the hall as they changed her from her pajamas into a gown and then, once in bed, they hooked her up to an IV to pump fluids back into her body to help with the dehydration.

The night nurse on duty, Lily, had asked him if he was going to stay and he had nodded without even stopping to think about it. He couldn't just leave her. She hadn't woken up yet and when she did, she was probably going to be scared and confused and Daryl wanted to be here in case his presence helped in keeping her calm.

His eyes flutter open and he finds himself slunk down into the chair next to the bed that he had fallen asleep in a few hours earlier. He slowly sits up and gingerly moves his neck, trying to work out the painful kink it has gotten from the awkward position he had fallen asleep in. Beth is awake, sitting up in the bed, looking wide awake – her eyes bright and color on her cheeks – and Lily is taking her pulse.

"Good morning," Beth says, looking to Daryl when she sees that he's awake.

"Mornin'," he grunts and then leans forward a bit. "How she doin'?" He asks Lily.

Lily smiles. "Would you get this girl an air conditioner? As much as I like Dr. Greene, I don't ever want to see her here again."

Beth smiles and her cheeks get noticeably pinker at that. "Thank you, Lily," she says to the nurse as the woman leaves the room. And once they're alone, Beth's eyes immediately go to Daryl. "I am so embarrassed," she says and that's not what Daryl was at all expecting her to say.

"For wha'?" He frowns with his brow furrowed.

"For passing out like that…" she looks down to her hands for a moment, her fingers fidgeting in her lap. She looks at him again after a moment. "I can't thank you enough for everything you did for me-"

He shakes his head before she can say anything else. He hadn't done anything special. He had just done what any other normal decent person would do if they found her. He admits that now that she's awake and despite sitting in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown with an IV in a vein in her arm, she looks so much like herself again, Daryl can feel himself breathing a little easier and his stomach is no longer clenched painfully.

"Where's Louis?" He asks, looking around, realizing the dog is no longer in there with him.

Beth smiles. "I think the nurses are going to be keeping him for themselves," she says and his lips twitch in a little smirk at that. She reaches out then and he goes still as her hand slides over his. He hadn't realized he was sitting that close to the bed. "Thank you, Daryl," she says in a soft voice and he slowly lifts his eyes from looking down at her hand over his to look into her face.

Damn, she's even pretty while wearing a blue hospital gown.

Without thinking about it or saying anything in response, he turns his hand over and holding hers, he gives it a squeeze.

"Me and T-Dog are goin' to your house today to work on the generator. It wasn' workin' when I was there last night and I'll give the power company a call to see what was goin' on with the electricity," he says. She opens her mouth – probably to argue – but he won't let her and he presses on. "And I'm also bringin' T with me and we're gonna buy you that AC unit today from the hardware store. Merle told me yesterday, after he checked your air ducts, that you're all set and he'll install it himself so you don't have to pay the store's installation fee."

"Daryl, no," Beth says with a shake of her head. "That is way too much for you to do."

Daryl ignores her protests and can't help but give her hand another squeeze. If anyone asks him his opinion, it doesn't seem like enough.

"Beth!"

Rosita rushes into the room then, her arms full of flowers and balloons, and Spencer is right on her heels. Daryl slides his hand from Beth's and stands up as Rosita and Spencer both go the bed, hugging and kissing Beth and asking over one another if she's alright. And then Spencer is slapping a hand on Daryl's shoulder and Rosita is hugging him and Daryl wants to ask them how they found out already about Beth being here but he doesn't bother. Small town. Even if something happens just a few hours earlier in the middle of the night, everyone always finds out in just a short time after that. It's the magic of small Southern towns.

"And this is from Paulie," Rosita says, setting a Styrofoam take-out box on the table that is wheeled over Beth's knees. "She called me earlier and had us stop at the diner before coming over here and said she baked this especially for you this morning." She looks to Daryl. "And she told me to tell you to come and see her as soon as he leave here today."

Daryl nods, already knowing what his mom wants to talk with him about – her first question probably being what he was doing at the Doc's house in the middle of the night. And that's one question that hours later, Daryl still doesn't have an answer to.

They all look and even before Beth flips the lid of the box open, Daryl somehow already knows what it is.

Inside, there's a thick slab of coconut cake.

…

Paulie and Amy will both be in the next chapter.

Thank you very much for reading and please take a moment to comment!