We've decided to stay here for a few days if we can, journal. Daryl found this perfect little cabin, and it's just so snug and warm with a fire going (but only at night, so no one sees the smoke, he says). There wasn't a lot of food here, but Daryl says there's lots of game around, and that we can go out hunting and catch some stuff, and he actually looked almost excited (well, the Daryl version of excited) when I told him I could probably cook up a stew in the fireplace, if we caught some rabbit. It's just... It's nice, that's all. I know we won't be able to stay here too long, I know it's probably won't last, but it's nice for now, and that's enough for me.

"What do you think everyone else is doing right now?" Beth slowly closed her journal, and looked across the room at Daryl, who was tending to the fire. They'd covered all the windows so no light could get out, but he was keeping it low still just in case.

He didn't respond at first, just grunted, and then turned to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Our family," Beth replied to his silent question. (She was getting really good at understanding him and his shrugs and grunts and eyebrow raises, although there were still plenty of times that he mystified her.) "Do you think they've all found places like this, to stay in? Do you think they're safe?"

Daryl grunted, and Beth frowned a little at the furrow in his brow.

"I think they are," she said firmly, denying the doubt she saw in his eyes. "Maybe they're not all in places like this, but I think they're okay. I bet Carl is with Rick... And Judy too, maybe. I bet Maggie is with Glenn, and they're looking for me. I just know they are. I think they're all okay, you know? The kids, and Maggie, and Glenn, and Carl and Rick and Michonne and Carol and Tyreese and Sasha and Bob..." She stared into the fire, a faint smile on her face. "Maybe some of them have even found each other. Maybe they're looking for us, you know?"

When Beth finally looked over at Daryl again, he was frowning as he poked the fire, a bit more roughly than needed. Worrying at her lower lip, Beth asked hesitantly, "Daryl?"

He sighed. "Dunno how you do that."

"Do what?" She scooted forward on the floor a bit, peering over at him.

"Just... how you manage t' sound like you really believe all that."

"Cause I do, Daryl."

He turned to look at her, studying her face now as if he thought he might see a lie. "How?"

Beth shook her head at him. "How could I not?"

Suddenly he turned back to the fire with a huff. "Cause ain't nothin' givin' you reason to, that's why." He threw a piece of wood onto the fire hard enough to make Beth jump slightly. "Cause everythin' we had is gone now. The prison, our family, your Dad. How can y' believe, after all that?"

Beth saw him flinch, maybe at the realization that he'd mentioned her father. She set her journal gently aside. Slowly and carefully she rolled onto her knees and crawled towards him, eyes on those angel wings framed by the flickering flames. "Because I'm alive," Beth said simply, as she knelt down beside him in front of the fire. "Because we're both alive, and we're together. And that gives me hope, for everyone else." She picked up the poker and gently nudged some of the logs into place where they'd scattered from his rough toss. "I mean, I'm with you. That's enough to make anyone have hope."

From beside her, she heard him snort, and a smile tugged briefly at her lips, "Don't snort, I mean it. Daryl, I probably would have died, without you. Escaping the prison with you, that was luck, for me. Or fate, maybe."

Daryl kept his gaze on the fire, but his voice was low as he replied, "You wouldn't have died."

"Probably. Maybe." She didn't seem bothered by that, mostly because it hadn't happened. "But I didn't, and a lot of that is because have you. You can track, and hunt, and you're teaching me, even though you don't have to. You're helping me survive, and that's so good." Beth hesitated and then looked over at him, drinking in the sight of his profile and the way the light of the fire flickered across it, making him look more broodier at times, but also more warm and welcoming at others. "And don't get too upset, but the truth is, you're not bad company to have around, either."

The slight joke was to lighten the mood, and she knew she'd achieved it when she saw that faint little flicker at the corner of his lips. It gave her the strength to go on softly, "I keep on believing, because being with you gives me hope. Cause I believe in you, and in you and me, here, alive," she said softly, "Believing it us makes it easier to believe that everyone else is alive and safe, too. Gives me hope."

He grunted, but it was softer this time, and after a moment he turned to look at her. He didn't say anything, just looked into her eyes long and deep, and Beth was surprised to briefly see a hint of that same belief deep in his dark eyes as he looked at her. But just as she saw it, Daryl looked away, and it was gone. Or hidden. It was hidden, but it had been there. She'd seen it.

And she couldn't help wondering if maybe Daryl Dixon was beginning to believe, too.