Author's Note: This chapter is long but I wanted to show the apprehensions that Daryl has about he and Beth. Also, I wanted those concerns to be dealt with before they made that next step so when it finally does happen he won't fight it. Hope you enjoy.

The next morning came quickly and before I knew it we were on the road again. We pulled over about a mile away from Richmond. Rick thought it best to scout the place before we entered. He appointed himself, Tyrese, Noah, Glenn, and Michonne to go. Meanwhile, the rest of us were to stay behind and wait. Abraham had some radios and allowed Rick to carry one on the mission in case things went south. Rick stated they shouldn't be gone longer than two hours since this was a quick and easy scouting mission. Like there was such a thing anymore. Nothing is ever easy, not in this world. The mission maybe simple, but that doesn't mean it'll be easy.

They left no longer than five minutes ago and I can't shake this bad feeling I have. I know they can take care of themselves and I shouldn't worry, but I can't help it. Something doesn't feel right. Maybe this isn't about the mission, but where we are, some random backroad in Virginia. We didn't see any walkers on our way here. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. When Daryl and I were alone, sometimes we would go days without seeing one. Daryl. He always telling me to trust my instincts. I am trying, I just don't know what my instincts are telling me at this moment. What I do know, is something is off.

"Yooo hoo, Beth?" A hand waving in front of my face snaps me out of my thoughts. I turn to see Maggie sitting beside me looking at me expectantly.

"Yeah..." Is all I can manage to say back.

Maggie frowns. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just thinking. What's up?" I shrug it off hoping she won't read too much into it.

"You always were a space cadet at times." We both giggle and I give her a slight shove. After a minute, her face goes serious and she looks at me again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." I look back at her. I can see she is hesitating like she is scared to ask. I give her a small smile urging her to continue.

"What happened between you and Daryl out there?" At the mention of Daryl, my eyes involuntarily look over at him sitting next to Carol. I quickly look away and back down at my feet.

I know what she is asking, because I have been asking myself that same question for a while now. But I decide to play dumb. "What do you mean?"

Maggie huffs. "I mean when we left the prison you and Daryl barely spoke. Now you two are inseparable it seems. If you aren't near each other, then you are never out of each other sights. Glenn even thinks that you two are together or something."

I can't help but give a small laugh. "You and Glenn gathered all of that from less than 24 hours of being back."

"Yes and no. Yes, I have been watching you two very carefully and Glenn has been asking the others what is up with you guys." She is clearly annoyed by my sarcasm.

I sigh in defeat. I might as well tell her. "Honestly… I don't know what happened between Daryl and me. He found me and we left the prison together. At first things were rough like we were the last two people on Earth. He was so angry and hopeless. He was convinced that everyone we knew was dead. Me, on the other hand, the eternal optimist, just knew we couldn't have been the only ones that made it out. I forced him to look, to track, knowing that we would find someone. But we never did. When it became apparent, it was just us, things changed. We became a team. He taught me how to hunt, to track, to survive… and I taught him how to hope again. We got close… real close. Things were good, great even. Then… I was taken." Maggie is staring at me intently waiting for me to continue. I look over at Daryl and back down at the ground. "And now that I am back, I have no idea what I am to Daryl. I don't even think he knows. I just know we are important to each other and we care a lot about each other."

Maggie looks over at him and then back to me. "So… you two aren't together?"

I shake my head. "No," I try not to look at him, but fail, "we are not."

"Do you want to be?"

"I don't know…" I answer a little too quickly, caught off guard by her question, "…maybe."

Maggie studies me closely and it starts to make my skin crawl. After a few minutes of silence, she finally speaks, "Well, if things do go in that direction, just be careful." I scoff at that, the last person I need to be careful around is Daryl. I know what she is suggesting and he would never hurt me like that. My frustration builds as she continues to explain herself, "I'm just saying he is way older than you and I don't want you to get taken advan-"

"Maggie, shut the hell up." I hiss. She is taken aback at my sudden use of profanity. "If Daryl and I were to get together, it wouldn't be like that. Daryl is a good man. He would never. You should know that." She should. We have known him for over two years. He has proven himself a thousand times over.

She looks as though as she has been slapped in the face and I just glare at her. I can see the guilt take over her features. "I'm sorry… I know he's a good guy. It's just-you don't have a lot of experience with guys… men. I don't want to see you get hurt. I'm just looking out for my baby sister."

"Well don't. I don't need you to… Not anymore." I get up and leave her sitting there. I know she will cry but I don't care. I need to get away. I go over to where Daryl and Carol are and I try to calm myself. I don't want him or anyone to know how upset I am. He looks up at me and I ask, "Ready to go hunt?"

He never spoke, he just simply got up and followed me. Out in the woods, my frustration eases with each passing second as I listen to the birds sing their song. I try to remember the last time I sang. Music has always been a big part of my life and it feels weird to have gone so long without it. I never sang at Grady and everything after has been such a whirlwind, I honestly hadn't thought about singing. It takes me a minute, but I almost laugh when I realize. It was that night with Daryl at the funeral home. Everything seems to go back to that night somehow.

Daryl clears his throat and pulls me back to the here and now. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah."

"Saw ya talking to Maggie earlier. How's that going?"

He must know she's the reason for the sudden hunting trip. He can read me like a book. I smile at him. I say casually, "Why do you think I am out here? Needed to get away from her for a while."

"Figured. She pullin' that overprotective shit again?" Daryl has little patience where Maggie is concerned, especially after this morning. Apparently, when she woke up and found out I was on watch, she was not happy about it. She went straight to Rick to ask him why on earth I was on the watch rotation and demanded that he take me off. She said it was too dangerous. Rick apparently put her in her place and told her I am an adult and am capable of handling myself now. Also, that she needed to learn to accept the fact that I have changed. Daryl overheard the whole thing and told me about it after we left the library. I was upset but not nearly as mad as Daryl was. I think he is still mad at her for leaving me and not staying to look for me. This incident only added fuel to the fire. I get it though. She just got back and she is not use to me being a survivor. It is going to take her some time but she will get there. Hopefully sooner rather than later, before I snap or Daryl does.

I try to keep the mood light, "Somewhat." I look down because I am unsure if I want to tell him what we were talking about. Him and me. Together. I don't know how he will take it. After a brief pause, I decide to go for it. Maybe if I tell him, I can see what he thinks of the whole idea. It's a conversation he and I need to have anyways. "She is curious more than anything."

His turns his face to me confused. "Curious? Bout what?"

No backing out now. "About… us." I gesture between he and I. Then look from him down to the ground. "She asked me what happened out there between us."

I can feel his eyes on me. "What did ya tell her?

"The truth. That I didn't know what happened out there between us. I just know that we got close. Then I was taken. And now I am back and I have no idea what you would call us." I pause thinking of how to best put this. "I would say friends… but that doesn't feel like strong enough of a word. Also, I feel that we are more than friends. Don't you?" I finally meet his gaze. His face is hard as he looks away, but to my relief he nods. "And we aren't together, even though some people think we are-"

His head whips around to me and his face holds the expression of disbelief. He quits walking and cuts me off, "Who thinks that?"

"Glenn. Maybe Noah and a couple of others. If they don't, then I think they suspect it."

"Well we ain't." He says defensively.

Ouch. I try to keep my face in check so he doesn't see the hurt. "No, we aren't."

His face softens. Of course, he saw it. He sighs, "I didn't mean it like that. I just don't see how anyone could think that and believe that the others wouldn't have a problem with it?"

Now I am confused. "A problem with what? You think the others would have a problem if you and I got together?"

"Yeah." He simply answers.

"Daryl why would anyone have a problem with you and me being together?"

He looks away. He rubs his chin with his hand and then crosses his arms almost like he is shielding himself. Putting up an invisible wall. He shrugs, "I dunno. The age thing. I am almost twice your age. If we got together it would definitely raise some eyebrows."

I never thought about how old Daryl was before. I knew he was older sure, but I had no clue exactly how much older. Almost twice my age. "Daryl, are you forty?"

"No" His eyebrows furrow at my question.

"Then you aren't twice my age."

He huffs, "I said 'almost.'"

Now I want to know how old he is. "So what you are in your… upper thirties?"

"I'm 36."

"Okay so you are sixteen years older than me. Big deal. Who cares?"

"People care." His face is blank and I wish I could read him like he can me.

"You're right. I guess some people would care. But I wouldn't. Not with the way I was raised."

"What do you mean?"

I thought he knew. "I mean Daddy was thirteen years older than Mama."

He goes quiet at the mention of Daddy. I can tell he is thinking hard out something. His arms uncross and I can feel his defenses begin to lower. Finally, after a long beat, "Well even so, it ain't like Hershel would be too thrilled about his youngest daughter running around with some dirty, old redneck."

I laugh at his joke. When he doesn't smile, I realize he wasn't joking. How could he not know how Daddy felt about him? He knows, he just doesn't want to believe it. I take a step toward him. "Daryl… Daddy loved you. He trusted and respected you. And if he were still alive, he woulda been damn happy if we got together. I think everyone would be. After all we have been through, I don't think anyone would let something as silly as age be an issue if we truly wanted to be together. They would just want us to be happy."

He stares at me, taking it all in. We are still a few feet apart but I can see his eyes through his hair. Those blue eyes. He chews on his thumb. I am unsure how long we stand there staring at each other. After however long he says, "Yeah I guess you're right."

I grin from ear to ear. "Of course, I'm right. I am always right." I tease.

He sort of chuckles, "Yeah, yeah. Let's keep hunting."

Between the two of us, we have managed to snag four squirrels and two rabbits. We didn't talk anymore for the rest of the hunt. Not that I minded. It was that comfortable silence. I could tell Daryl was still thinking about our conversation. You would think after we talked I would have more clarity on how he felt about me, about the possibility of us. I don't which frustrates me to no end. But what could I do about it? Tie him to a chair and demand for him to tell me how he feels. It's a little drastic but maybe that is what he needs. Something drastic to get him to fess up. Either way. At least I would know.

I try not to think about it anymore. Even though it's impossible. I try to distract myself with tracking. Eventually it works, and I focus in on my surroundings. All my senses are on high alert as we venture further. The wind blows and I hear the faint growling of a walker. "Did you hear that?" I whisper.

He doesn't answer so I look to him. He nods and holds out a finger to his lips as we follow the sound. It gets louder and then I see it. It is tied to a tree, snarling at us and trying to get free with all its might. Daryl shoots it in the eye immediately, then we walk up to it as he retrieves his bolt. It was once a woman. She must have been older than me. She's dressed like a school teacher. Knee length skirt, a once white shirt and a green cardigan. She is tied in such a way that her arms are held down by the rope. What is more disturbing is the "W" carved into her forehead. I can't help but begin to voice my questions.

"Who would tie a walker to a tree?" No answer.

"Wonder how long it has been here?"

Daryl grunts, "A while from the looks of it." I look at where the rope has cut into the fabric and started to eat away at the flesh.

"What is with the "W' on its forehead?" That is what is bothering me the most and I can tell it is bothering him too.

"I dunno, but we should tell Rick."