Walking Dead 1. Chapter 1 - The Porcelain God

Beth Greene was ill. Very ill! Something was severely wrong.

Was it food poisoning? Maybe Cholera, Dysentery, or some other old-time illness the girl had read about in a history book? Surely those were all threats now that the world has returned to the Dark Ages.

It actually felt like the time when she suffered with the flu at 10 years old. For almost a solid week Beth endured vomiting, chills, and feeling like she was ran over by a truck. Only there wasn't a fever, running nose, or cough. Not to mention the fact that there was no one else in their prison community sick.

Beth knew enough from her Daddy to know that a person caught the flu from someone else. Their group was isolated so that was very unlikely. Besides they always quarantined any new people long enough to prevent that sort of thing from happening anyway.

Eyeing the walkers around the fence in the distance, she wondered if they still carried stuff like. She doubted they did.

"You Okay?" a gruff voice asked startling the young woman and interrupting her thoughts.

Beth peered up from where her head was resting against the cool surface of the metal picnic table located out in the prison yard. After vomiting for the last hour, she had sought comfort from the Georgia heat by seeking out the shady spot. Besides, it was usually quite this time of day while the rest of the prison bustled with activity – everyone doing their particular job. Again usually.

But hovering above her and blocking out the sun was the last person Beth wanted or expected to see – Daryl Dixon.

"Yes, I-I just needed a minute! Everything is fine!" she replied back in surprise, jerking her head up and flashing the best fake smile she was capable of at the moment. This was the first time that Daryl had spoken to her in exactly 7 weeks. Beth tried not to think about the event that made her know it had been that long.

"You don't look so hot. You not feeling good?" the hunter continued much to Beth dismay and with that tender voice he normally only used with Judith.

"Well I think I might have ate something bad." she said quickly coming to her feet and looking up meeting his eyes. The girl willed herself not to become mesmerized like she normally would. Like that was possible! The moment that she did, that familiar electric current that Beth always felt kept her paused there a moment or two. She was trying like hell not to come apart! _Get a grip Beth_, she thought to herself while forcing her eyes away.

"I need to get back to the pantry!" she urgently informed him in the most cheerful voice that she could muster. "They are probably looking for me as we speak! Thanks for the concern but I have to get back to work. We all got jobs, don't we?" With that Beth left Daryl standing there and walked as fast as she could back into the cellblock not even needing to look back to know that he was watching her. She felt his stare following her the entire way.

Just as Beth had predicted, the young woman could tell she was missed by the look on Carol's face after entering the large pantry off the prison cafeteria.

"I just sent Patrick to look for you!" Carol exclaimed. However, the lady stopped in her tracks once she noticed Beth's demeanor. "Are you feeling alright, sweetie?"

The older woman, who had become like an aunt, placed her hand on Beth's forehead and tried to gage her temperature. "You don't feel feverish but you look a little green behind the gills" she finally proclaimed.

"Oh, I am okay. Please do not fuss over me." Beth replied cheerfully despite Carol's skeptical face. "I am sorry that I was not here sooner. I just needed some air for a minute," she continued. Carol was still looking at her with concern.

"So where do you want these pickles?" the blonde asked trying to change the subject by picking up a 5lb bucket and diverting the attention to the job at hand. Carol just shrugged.

_Pickles! What a find!_ Beth was thinking about how much she wanted while carrying the bucket over to the corner that Carol had motioned to. It had been forever since the group had even seen the preserved cucumbers. That changed yesterday when Daryl, Michone, Maggie, and Glen had brought back dozens of them and more stuff thank to the discovery of an untouched root beer stand.

The truth was that Beth despised pickles before, despite having a seemingly endless supply available on the farm. Her mother had even won a blue ribbon at the last county fair and was extremely disappointed when her daughter turned her nose up to even her award-winning variety. But now Beth could not take her mind off of them as she started stacking bucket after bucket to the corner. _They must remind me of home._

As Beth was carrying the last container of what she now considered a delicacy sent from God himself, she started feeling dizzy. She sat the bucket down and struggled to steady herself against the cinder block wall when she heard a familiar set of boots enter the room.

"What the hell Carol! Can you not see that she was sick? Look at her!" she heard the same gruff voice from before boom.

"I thought that she was not looking well Daryl, but Beth says that she is okay and does not have a fever," Carol responded in her usual calm, collected manner.

Beth was still bracing herself against the wall. Everything around her started to spin.

"R-really I-I am fine" was the last thing that Beth was able to squeak out before everything went dark.

The next thing the young woman knew there was at least five people around her as she struggled to open her eyes. Beth could only make out a few blurry figures. Daryl was crouched beside her with his arm under her head still yelling something at Carol on the other side. Jumbled voices rang out but she could only make out some of the words.

"Beth…..not looking so hot…..how could you not see….pickles….that was stupid!"

"She said…..fine….."

"Is Beth okay?"

"Get the hell out of here….good lord….make yourself useful…..go get Hershel!"

"What happened? Oh my god Beth are you alright?"

Maggie! Finally a voice Beth could focus on.

"Maggie, I am fine, really." She whispered.

She searched for her sister's in the crowd as her eyesight slowly became less blurry. Beth raised her head in an attempt to sit up only to have a big callous hand gently push her back down.

"Not too fast Beth! You cracked your head on the cement when you came down and probably have a concussion.' Daryl cautioned.

She followed his voice until her now clear eyes found his face, unintentionally locking with his eyes once more. She let out a breath and felt the electricity that seemed to radiate out of them. Suddenly, Beth became very aware that her head was throbbing and that Daryl was cradling it.

"Oh" was her only reply.

"Beth you have really got to stop this martyr stuff!" lectured Maggie, who was now leaning over her beside Daryl. "If you are not feeling well than you should just say so."

"Nonsense Maggie!" Beth asserted, pushing Daryl's hand out of the way and abruptly sitting up. She was getting really tired of everyone treating her like she was a delicate little flower. "I just ate something bad. I'm sure it will pass. It isn't like there is such a thing as sick days anymore!"

"Never less, Bethy, you're no good to anyone when you are passing out onto the floor," a gentle voice said coming out of nowhere.

Beth looked up to see her Daddy standing in the doorway and wondered how she missed his familiar limp coming down the hall.

Looking around, she also noticed Patrick and Karen standing over her. The new kid, Zach, was behind her father. _That must have been who Daryl was chastising earlier. _ Red quickly rushed up into her cheeks once Beth realized she was the star of her own show.

"You are ill and need rest Bethy. I hear you bumped your head pretty badly." Hershel stated firmly.

Beth just sighed in defeat. There was no arguing with her Daddy.

"Now can one of you fine young men please carry my daughter to her cell? Trust me I would rather do it but I find myself less capable these days." Hershel continued addressing the room as he tapped his artificial limb with his cane.

"My pleasure!" Zach volunteered quickly walking past her father. That did not surprise Beth in the least. He had been flirting with her a lot lately and seemed to have a really hard time taking a hint.

"Not a step further, dimwit!" Daryl growled in the most intimidating voice she ever heard.

"What is his problem?" she thought. The humiliation was getting worse with each ticking second.

"Daddy, I am fine, really! Surely, I can walk to my cell on my own, right?" she asked her father, trying to quickly end the debate by slowly getting off the floor. Daryl held tight to her arm as she struggled to get to her feet.

"Beth…." She heard her Daddy beginning to protest but the woozy feeling hit her again. They young woman reached for the wall.

Only this time before she had a chance to hit the floor, Daryl effortless swooped her up into his arms cursing under his breath.

"Move!" he ordered someone as he started walking out of the pantry and down the hall toward their cell block. She heard her daddy's limp as he followed behind them along with the click clack of feet from a few of the others.

As they entered what Beth figured was Cell Block C, she heard Rick asking Daryl what the hell was going on. "She passed out in the pantry and bumped her head. It is a good think that people were around because it could have been severe. I think she will be fine though," Hershel answered for the hunter. Beth was glad that her daddy thought so because it felt like something was really wrong with her.

The last thing the young woman remembered was being gently lowered down onto her bunk.


	2. Chapter 2 - Three Days?

When her eyes finally opened for good and took in the ray of morning sunlight trickling in to her cell, Beth was confused. _What happened?_ Fuzzy visions of her father leaning over her bed and messing with something on her head, along with Maggie, Glen, and Carl started filling her mind. She could see their faces hovering over hers telling her to wake up. _Why would she not get up?_

Stranger still was the memory of seeing a dark silhouette with a crossbow on its back outlining her cell door? She had tried to sit up when she seen him but to no avail, slipping back into slumber soon after.

Suddenly, something beside her shifted and the blonde realized she was not in her bed alone.

"Beth are you awake?"

Beth rolled over to see a sleepy Maggie yawning while rubbing her bloodshot eyes. Her hair was sticking out here and there. It did not take Beth long to realize that Maggie had spent the night in her bed.

"W-What happened?" Beth asked her sister with alarm. Why in the world was Maggie with her in bed and not in her own cell with Glen?

Frowning, Maggie answered, while reaching out and touching the back of her head. "Don't you remember passing out in the pantry? Well you ended up giving yourself quite a concussion." Beth wince in pain and Maggie quickly pulled her hand away in response.

"It's still a little sore, huh? I'm sorry," Maggie continued. "Daddy thinks that you got dehydrated when whatever you ate did not agree with you."

Memories of the commotion in the pantry started flooding her thoughts. She had been helping put the stuff from the run away and was lifting something heavy. Oh that's right, it was buckets of pickles – mouthwatering pickles - and then the world had started going fuzzy.

Red started creeping up into Beth's cheeks when she remembered how Daryl hollered at poor Carol, the crowd that formed around her, and worst of all the hunter catching her as she started to fall after defiantly trying to rise to her feet.

"So you do remember?" Maggie asked. "Good! I was starting to worry."

"How could I forget?" Beth asked shyly while Maggie chuckled. Her sister knew she never liked being the center of attention.

"We all took turns checking on you. I did as well as Carl, Glen, Rick, Carol, and even Daryl. Daddy said we had to wake you up every couple of hours! You scared us to death, Beth!" Maggie exclaimed not doing anything to curb Beth's embarrassment. "Next time you spend all morning praying to the porcelain god, you better let someone know. It's a good thing that Daryl heard you or Daddy would have probably never figured out that you were dehydrated"

_Great!_ Not only did Daryl witness her pathetically fainting in the pantry twice but he had also heard her puking her guts up in the bathroom earlier! _Could this whole situation get any worse?_

Pushing that thought out of her mind, Beth nonchalantly asked "And how long have I been out exactly?" thinking it could be nothing more than mere hours.

"About three days."

"Three days! Oh my god! What about Judith?"

Panicking, Beth quickly tried to sit up in the bed but was stopped by a tug and sharp pain coming from her wrist. Looking down, she was horrified to see that they had strapped her to the bunk! Something else was tapped to her arm. After following the tubing up to a saline bag, she realized it was an IV.

"I-It was just a precaution, Beth." Maggie said answering her unspoken question. "You were really bad! Trust me when I say that I was not happy about it at all but Daddy told me not to worry and that it would help keep you from moving the arm. You really needed the fluids."

Beth shuddered at the thought of turning into a monster and attacking her family. That was her greatest fear.

"Hey! Of course you did!" she reassured Maggie who was now sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands in her face. "I would have wanted everyone to be safe!"

Maggie swiftly turned around and took Beth into her arms, clinging to her tightly. "Beth, I do not know what I would do if I ever lost you or Daddy," she whispered. "I was so scared!"

Leaning over her sister so she could look into her eyes, Maggie added "You have to promise me Beth that you will take care of yourself. I know that you didn't want to feel like a burden but dehydration is very serious. You need to make sure that you are drinking plenty of water and let daddy know if you are sick."

Guilt rushed over Beth as she realized what her stubbornness had done to her sister. After all, Beth knew she would be feeling the same way if it was the other way around with Maggie strapped to the bed. "I promise." She whispered while pulling Maggie back into the embrace.

Suddenly, a baby cried out down the hall, followed quickly by Rick's soft voice trying to comfort the child to no avail.

"Judith!" Beth exclaimed horrified.

"Maggie, you have to help me get out of this strap so I can get to her," she pleaded while trying to undo the tie that held her to the bed.

While the child was often handed off for short periods so her caretaker could do other things, there wasn't a day since the baby was born when Beth didn't tended to her.

"Judith is fine Beth" Maggie explained. "Carol, Rick, Carl, and I have been taking care of her." Beth looked at her sister quite skeptically.

It wasn't that she did not know that all of those people loved the baby with all their hearts but they young blonde was her mom. Besides Maggie already had a lot on her plate trying to nurse Beth and there always was a lot of work to do. Being a person down had to be taking a toll on her family.

The guilt started creeping back in. How could she have been so stupid not to drink an adequate amount of water? She knew better than that!

"Really Beth, I promise you that Judith is okay." Maggie continued sensing her uneasiness. "I will be taking over this afternoon and promise to bring her by. I'm know she is missing you a lot but Daddy says that you need at least another 24 hours with the IV still."

Beth smiled when she heard Judith quite down and then let out a familiar chuckle. Daryl must have took her from Rick. He had his own way with her that melted Beth's heart.

"See I told you she was fine" said Maggie, smiling as she untied the strap that held her sister to the bunk. "You have to stay here and rest for another day and then maybe you can get back up and about tomorrow."

Beth sighed.

"What am I supposed to do all day?" she asked her Maggie, afraid of where her mind would wonder without it being occupied. Beth had not found herself without anything to do since before the turn.

"I don't know. Write in your journal or something." Maggie answered as she got up out of the bed and started to dress. "I have to go find Daddy and let him know that you are awake. I will try to find some books and bring them later."

"Thanks, but if you don't have time please do not worry about it," Beth replied sheepishly. Maggie already put herself out so much in the last three days. The last thing the young woman wanted was for her sister to have to do it again!

Looking down at the IV sticking out of her arm, Beth suddenly had a thought. "Umm…Maggie where did the saline come from?" she asked the brunette who was pulling a clean T-shirt over her head that she had helped herself to from Beth's dresser drawer. "I know Daddy used the last of the supply when those people from up north arrived and had infected wounds."

"Oh, Daryl was up to his usual heroics again." Maggie replied reemerging from the shirt. "He freaked the hell out, grabbed Michone and went all the way to Jackson where he found an untouched doctor's office," Beth's sister chuckled as she sat back on the bed to tie her shoes. "He brought back five cases of them for you and a couple of refillable ones in case we ran out. It was a little overkill but Daddy was thankful for all the supplies nonetheless."

Beth was dumbfounded. Until she got sick, the man hadn't even acted like she existed for the last seven weeks.

Regardless, she was thankful that her Daddy had more as he always seemed to be needing them these days. The refillable ones would come in handy.

"I have to run now Beth!" Maggie said as she stood up again. "I'm so glad that you are awake now and feeling better. Wonder what made you so sick in the first place? Carol said if she did not know better, she would swear you were pregnant but we all know that would be impossible." The brunette cracked up all the way to the cell door.

"Ha, that would be funny!" said Beth. _Pregnant? You would have to have sex for that to happen!_

Suddenly, the young blonde's eyes flew open. _Wait! What?_

Beth laid on her bed with her journal opened but had ran out of stuff to write in it. All she wanted was to get out of that cell and stop thinking about what her sister said.

Her Daddy had been the first to call on her shortly after Maggie, checking her over twice until he was confident that she would be okay. "Other than that bump on your head, I think you will be fine." He had proclaimed.

"I want you to have the IV and take it easy for another day" was his reply to her pleads to just let her at least get up. She wasn't going to have any luck with him. So much for his "jobs to do" mantra. At least for today.

Next, Carl had arrived to check on her, offering her a comic book so she would have something to do which she gratefully accepted. "I feel like I am in the hospital or something!" Beth confessed to him.

"Well it almost is like you are!" Carl just laughed back.

He was like the little brother Beth never had, and she was grateful for his company. They joked about ways she could "bail the joint" until Rick came and got him about an hour later to go help with the pigs. "I'm really glad you are feeling better Beth. I mean it," Rick had said before turning and leaving the cell with his son.

So the rest of the morning Beth tried to write in her journal but instead found herself fretting. This was exactly why she hated not having anything to do.

After a little while, Carol brought some squirrel soup and crackers for lunch. Beth had never imagined eating squirrel before in her life until after the world went all wacky. Now, she was just thankful for something to eat.

"I wish it was Chicken Noodle." Carol said wishfully. "I always thought canned chicken noodle soup could cure anything."

Beth smiled up at the woman. The daughterless mother had always tried to take care of her. She had probably carried a bowl of soup up to Sophia when she was sick too. The thought made Beth really sad.

"Well I am grateful for any soup these days." she assured the older woman who leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"I am so sorry that I did not realize how sick you were the other day." Carol whispered reminding Beth of how Daryl went off on her when she passed out.

"Oh, that is not your fault, Carol. It was mine. I was not feeling well but I…I just guess I thought that I did not have time to be sick," Beth frowned. "You did not know and the world didn't end any more than it already has anyway."

"Beth I seen that you did not look right but we had all that stuff to put away. I just trusted it when you said that you were fine," Carol continued. "I guess it was wishful thinking."

"Daddy says that I can get out of this bed tomorrow though I really think that it is unnecessary for me to be here today. I have already drank three huge cups of water!" Beth reassured her. "Maybe you can talk him into letting me up sooner?."

"You need to stay put!" she exclaimed back. _Well crap! Carol was not going to help her out of there either!_

Sitting on the edge of the bed, the older woman looked down at her hands like she was thinking about asking Beth something.

When she looked up again what was on her mind finally came out. "Do you have any ideal why Daryl went so crazy after you got ill? Do you think he has a thing for you?" She asked.

Flabbergasted, Beth quickly answered "Me? Daryl does not even talk to me half the time Carol! I have no clue. He probably just does not want to lose anybody again. You know how he takes on the responsibility of everyone's safety."

"You might be right," Carol said with a sigh. "I just see him looking at you sometimes when he thinks no one is watching. I think you are a lot more important to him than you realize. That Zach kid has been asking non-stop to help with you but Daryl goes the hell off every time he mentions it!"

Beth was positive that nothing was ever going to go down between her and Daryl only she wasn't going to tell Carol why. Instead she had a new concern.

"Daryl is not even very nice to me Carol," Beth pointed out. It was not a lie either. He hadn't been lately either much to Beth's dismay. "Is there something between you and him?

Beth knew that Carol and Daryl were close since back at the farm and he had tirelessly searched for Sophia. She had no intentions of causing problems with any relationship that they might have, rather it was actually acknowledged or not.

"Me and Daryl?" Carol chuckled. "Of course not! We are friends but nothing more. I do not want another man Sweety, trust me."

_Well that was a relief!_

"I just worry about you!" Carol continued. "You are so young and Daryl is so messed up….emotionally if you know what I mean?"

_Oh, Beth knew exactly what she had meant!_

"I know Daryl and if he falls it will be over. He will be gone and whoever he falls for will be the object of his obsession." Carol said as if she knew for a fact. "But that poor woman will have a lot of baggage to contend with and it will not be pretty."

"Well I don't see Daryl falling for anyone anyway," Beth stated. _Especially not me!_

"You might be right!" Carol said with a wink. "I really should be going now! Patrick is probably up to eyeballs in dishes at the moment. Make sure you eat all of your soup. It will help you."

Beth smiled and nodded at the woman but put the bowl on her dresser as soon as the coast was clear. While she did not mind squirrel soup and had recently developed a taste for it, the girl's stomach was not having it. She was already queasy from just the few bites taken after Carol brought it to her but there is no way Beth was going to let anyone know that. If they knew, she would never get up. She grabbed a couple of saltines trying to try to help her roaring stomach.

Beth was just happy that awkward conversation was over! Carol was one of the most observant members of their prison family and Beth prayed that she did not hone in on her secret!

_What the hell am I going to do?_ She allowed her mind to wander back to that night about seven weeks ago.


	3. Chapter 3 - That night

Beth was up very late that night as she had been rocking a teething Judith who refused to give in to her droopy eyelids. Everyone else in the prison was either in their cells asleep or outside on watch. It was not unusual for the young woman to be up with the baby and often found solace pacing the halls singing to and rocking the child in her arms.

After Beth was finally able to put Judith down in her crib next to Rick, she realized that Maggie still had her gardening gloves. The young woman planned on helping her father plant the fields in the morning. However, Maggie and Glen were assigned watch that night and she figured they would still be asleep when she got up. Beth decided just run up there and get them before going to bed herself. That way she did not have to disturb the couple come sunrise.

As Beth made her way down the row of cells on the second floor toward Maggie and Glen's, she heard a glass shatter. They young woman instantly stopped dead in her tracks.

The noise came from the cell that Daryl had reluctantly moved into a while before. Beth knew that most likely everything was okay and there was no need to panic as the redneck was more than capable of taking care of himself but sadly she was also aware that they had lost Aaron that day.

Aaron was a nice guy in his late 20s who had recently joined the group with his sister Anna. Always helpful, he had volunteered to go on a run with them. However, something went wrong and he never made it back. Anna had not taken the news well as could be expected.

Beth was very sad about it too and had shed some tears while Judith napped that afternoon. Like a lot of the guys at the prison, Aaron liked her much to her father's dismay. He seemed different and for a minute she had hoped that maybe there was something there. She found him very easy to talk to. But it was never to be.

Beth knew Daryl Dixon well enough to know that he was probably upset too. He had a tendency to blame himself whenever they lost somebody even if there was nothing he could have done to prevent it! Lord knows that more would be dead now if it not for him but the hunter often had trouble seeing things that way.

So she fatefully opened that curtain and peaked in to see what was wrong. Daryl was propped up on his bunk with his shirt off and holding a half-empty bottle of Jack. His crossbow was on the ground next to the bed and his knife on the old table beside it. Across the room laid fragmented pieces of a glass on the floor.

"Daryl? What are you doing? What happened?" she asked.

The hunter looked up at her, surprised by her presence. He wore the most painful eyes she had ever seen. After a moment or two he mumbled "Sorry if I woke you up!"

"Oh, don't be! You did not wake anyone up! I just remembered that Maggie had borrowed my gloves and I needed them for the morning," Beth replied walking closer.

He was obviously a mess. She sat on the edge of his bed.

"You know you are going to have to stop blaming yourself every time someone dies," she sighed. "They know that they are taking a chance when they leave this prison."

Daryl continued staring at her. After a long moment he replied.

"Hell Beth, that is real easy for you to say. You are not there when it happens! You do not see the look on their faces when they realize they are going to die! You don't have to come back and talk to their families! You don't hear their last words!"

"No, but I've seen the looks on the faces of those you have saved!" she shot back. "I talk to the people you bring in off the road when they realize that they finally are safe! That happens more often than the bad!"

He looked wildly around the cell until his glare finally rested back on her eyes sending that familiar electric current into her before he broke it to take another swig of the whiskey.

Then a long silence before he finally said "Beth you see good in everything! No matter what it is! It doesn't matter if it's in people you shouldn't. I promise you, I ain't no saint!"

"Daryl, I know you are upset but please put the bottle down and go to sleep! That is not helping anything! The world is shit now and anytime anyone leaves these walls they take a chance. Everyone know that!" she said stern voice. "No one gave you the task of saving everybody no matter how much you want to!"

"You think I wanted that job! I never wanted any of this!" he mumbled back as he took another swig ignoring her request.

Daryl stared at Beth curiously in the quiet, sending shivers up her spine.

"Want some?" he offered finally breaking the silence by offering her the whiskey.

Beth sighed again.

"Why not?" she said, grapping the bottle and taking a sip.

She was getting nowhere and figured it was probably useless to try to talk sense into him in this condition. The whiskey burnt the whole way down her throat and Beth thought she was going to gag.

"First drink you ever had?" Daryl asked sort of snickering as she sputtered and coughed.

"No…well maybe! At least it is the first whiskey I've had!" she replied as the pink started to fill her cheeks. She had a glass of wine or two before but nothing else.

Trying to prove only God knew what, Beth grabbed the bottle again and took a longer gulp, this time fighting to keep from reacting how she did initially.

"Slow down!" he chuckled. "Or I'll end up having to carry you down the steps."

Beth ignored the comment.

"Seriously though" she began, nudging him with her shoulder. "What happened to the glass?" Beth pointed to the shards laying on the other side of the cell.

"I might have got mad at it?" he shrugged.

"You know I cried over Aaron too." She said taking another drink from the bottle before Daryl abruptly grabbed it out of her hand. "He was a really nice guy!"

"Yeah, part of that fan club of yours going on around here!" he replied dryly. Beth responded by giving him a nasty look.

The young woman talked to Daryl a lot so that part of this interaction was no big deal. He often came by her cell to see Judith or ask what she needed before leaving on a run. Sometimes, he took the baby for a while so Beth could eat or get a shower. She helped cook everything he hunted and put away any supplies he brought back. Whenever he was at the prison, the hunter was always somewhere close by. They were family. Hell, she even did his damn laundry. It was just weird to be there in his cell, on his bed, and drinking her first hard liquor with him.

"Aaron was different." She said.

Daryl stared straight into her eyes again. She really wished he would stop doing that!

"So you were sweet on him?" he finally asked rather grumpily if you were to ask Beth!

"What? Uh…not…ex…exactly! But h…he was really easy to talk to you know?" _Why was she stuttering? What in the world? It wasn't like she had to explain herself to this man._

"Guess it does not matter anyway." Daryl declared chillingly. "He is dead and I am alive."

"What?" Beth asked beginning to understand that Daryl had way too much whiskey. "Now, you're not even making sense!"

The truth was that Beth was starting to feel a little numb herself. She probably should not have had so much but her pride prevented her from ever letting Daryl know that.

"Never mind" he replied.

So they sat like that in the darkness, passing the bottle back and forth in silence.

After her sixth sip, Beth knew she really had enough and probably should be getting back to what she was doing. This time she raised her hand up in refusal when he passed the bottle back to her.

"You done?" he asked with a smirk.

"I don't want you to have to carry me down those steps! You would probably drop me at this point!" she chuckled.

He just snorted in response.

Beth rose to get up off the bed and started to stumble backwards before a strong hand reached out to stop her. _Yep, she definitely had too much whiskey!_ The blonde eased back onto the bed and giggled.

"Beth why did you come here tonight?" Daryl asked out of nowhere in a really soft voice.

She turned to look at the man beside her on the bed. He reminded her of a wounded animal.

"Because I knew you were probably upset Daryl. Believe it or not I care about you, even if sometimes you don't seem to care about yourself! You, me, everyone in this prison. We are all each other have left anymore."

"I'm just tired of losing people!" he whispered as a single tear started to fall down his cheek. _Oh God, did I make Daryl Dixon cry? _Here she had been trying to cheer him up!

Knowing that he probably was not going to like it but feeling that he needed it anyway, Beth reached out and wrapped him in her arms. At first, Daryl stiffened in surprise from the embrace. However, the tighter she held him the more the man seemed to relax.

Her hands could feel the deep scars on his back causing her to once again wonder about them. She had seen them numerous of times and figured they were a relic of an unforgiving childhood. Beth heard that his dad was quite the bastard. The world must have always been ugly for Daryl Dixon.

Beth held him closer as his tears started falling onto her face which was tightly pressed against his chest. One of his arms found its way to her side. His hand clutched her thin little tank top as if holding on for dear life. As weird as it was, Daryl Dixon needed her. He needed little ole' unimportant Beth Green!

And then it was like the hunter snapped.

In one swoop, he had her pinned underneath him and was staring into her eyes like he was desperately searching for something.

It might have been the whiskey or it could have been the emotions of the day. Hell, in all honesty it probably was just that annoying electric shock she felt every time she locked glances with him. Whatever it was, in that moment Beth kissed Daryl Dixon back when he passionately pressed his lips to hers. She did not even stop him when he parted her lips with his tongue and tasted her mouth. She did not stop his hands that started roaming her body in places that he shouldn't touch and she did not stop his lips when he moved from her mouth to her jaw and then in a trail down her neck.

Beth knew all she had to do was say stop and Daryl would snap out of it – there was never any doubt - but she could not seem to be able to utter the simple word. Instead she melted into him like butter, her body betraying her and her mind stuck in a mixture of wonder and shock.

Daryl raised up and hovered above her, staring down at her wildly with eyes full of lust, almost like a beast who cornered his prey. In on simple motion, he tore the tank top she was wearing, turning it into a rag, and throwing it angrily to the side. He grabbed her arms before she could cover her bare breasts in instinct and gathered them above her head by her wrists. His angry mouth found her neck again, then her collar bone, shoulder, and finally her taunt breasts as he licked, bit, and sucked hungrily at her skin like he was desperate to consume her.

Beth never had let someone touch her like this before or felt anyone's breath on her skin. No one had ever looked upon her naked body. She was completely untouched and planned on staying that way until she found someone who would always love her. She had no fantasies that was going to happen here between her and this man tonight but she still could not bring herself to tell him to quit.

Finally, he released her hands and they found a new home in his hair and bare shoulder as he started pulling violently at the waistband of her cotton pajama bottoms, all the while still continuing his assault on her chest. It was not long before those too was also on the floor, just tattered strips of fabric, along with her cotton panties.

She was now completely exposed underneath him and Daryl seemed to become even more undone as his mouth made its way back to her hard nipples taking them in his teeth. His callous fingers furiously dipped into the wetness between her legs before resting on her tiny bundle of nerves.

He explored all the parts of her that made her a woman and there was nothing private between them anymore. But instead of pushing him away, Beth just let out a small moan and rocked against his hand as he made quick work of undoing his belt with his other one.

Her maidenhood had stubbornly tried to refuse his entry, the largeness of his manhood too much for the virgin. But Daryl had not let such a small barrier get in his way. He plunged through without even acknowledging it as stabbing pain ripped through her body while a slew of profanities left his lips. He stopped the loud, long gasp that tried to escape her mouth by covering it with his own. Daryl then proceeded to assault everything about Beth that was female.

And he did not stop. There was no letting her body adjust. He was too out of control. She dug her nails into his shoulder blades as each thrust ripped and tore past the part of her that he had taken but it only made him pound into her harder.

Daryl got frustrated, making an animal-like growl, after Beth tried to scoot up, hoping to create some sort of space.

Instead, he savagely grabbed her hips pulling her with him as he rose up on his knees in order to thrust into her deeper still, leaving her unable to move at all. Somehow, he encased a strong arm around her hips tightly holding the bottom half of her arched body in the air, as he roughly wrapped each of her legs around his waist without ever losing his rhythm. Now all Beth could do was quietly whimper with each slap of his scrotum against her bottom.

The young woman clawed the sheets of the mattress beneath her with outstretched arms. She desperately tried to not make too much noise as the last thing she needed in this moment was for someone to come investigate.

But she still could not tell him to stop. Beth would bare the pain as she conquered this beast. Daryl obviously needed this and she loved him too much to refuse even if he had just took what was left of her innocence in such an ugly world.

Daryl spit on a finger of his free hand and placed it between her legs to relentlessly rub that spot that had made her buck against him before. Beth probably would have been totally appalled if it hadn't created a sensation that took her completely by surprise. He continued to fill every inch of her as deep as he could. The mixture of pleasure and pain was so intense that Beth felt like she was slowly going to lose her mind. Each violent thrust of his hips began to satisfy a part of her that was like an itch and instead of wanting it to be over, she soon found herself fiercely needing him to scratch it more. The pleasure part began winning over the pain until she thought she was going to go insane with bliss.

"Just let it go Beth" he whispered in some sort of primal voice that she had never heard him speak before. Soon she lost all sense of reality.

When she finally regained her senses, Beth was pressed against the mattress, bent in half, with her knees now on Daryl's shoulders. He drowned her screams in a kiss trying to keep her quiet. Sweat was dripping from his now wet hair that laid against her face as he pounded against her cervix as hard as he could. In one swift move, he grabbed her thighs and spread her legs out as far as they would go while he furiously took his own pleasure in her and climaxed.

The blonde looked up in surprise when she heard him whisper "Jesus Christ, Beth!" just in time to see his eyes roll into the back of his head. She was sure that Jesus had nothing to do with what was happening on his bed! Something warm instantly filled her entire cavity as his manhood pulsed against her clutching walls and he started to still. Dropping her legs, the hunter fell on top of her with his head in the crook of her neck breathing heavily into her ear.

They laid like that for a while still connected, shaking, and gasping for air. Finally, Daryl rolled off of her and onto to his side. He pulled her back against him, one arm cradling her head and the other tightly wrapped around her waist.

Once Beth calmed down, the reality of what just had happened hit her!

She was not sure what she was supposed to do now or how to act. Less than an hour ago, she had been a pure untouched virgin but now she laid in the strong arms of no other than Daryl Dixon, who had just roughly made her a woman! Was he drunk? Would he even remember? Of course she figured he would but what now? Hell, she could barely believe that he was laying there holding her afterward.

In her mind, any scenarios revolving around losing her virginity involved romance and love. Not comfort sex and a one night stand as the end result of probably biting off more than she could chew! Beth did love Daryl and would do anything for him but her mind had never went to something like this before he pinned her underneath of him just a few minutes ago. They had been through a lot and were family! Where in the hell did that come from and what the hell had she just done?

The hard truth was that despite what had happened, when the sun rose in the morning he would still be Daryl Dixon, savior of the group and she was only Beth Greene - Hershel's daughter, Maggie's little sister and Judith's babysitter. No one really important!

Daryl laid quietly behind her with his chest soon settling into a gentle rhythm as it rose and fell against her back. It had to be like way after midnight, late for people who went to bed a little after dark and literally got up with the chickens. It had been a long, confusing, day and if she stayed there much longer in his warmth, Beth knew she would soon be asleep. If anyone found her there, the young woman was sure it would not be a good thing!

Figuring that he had finally drifted off, Beth decided that it was as good a time as any to exit the stage left, as her old drama teacher use to say. But when she went to gently move his arm away and sit up, it stiffened.

"Stay" a voice behind her pleaded.

Not knowing what else to do, Beth laid her head back down on his bicep where it had been as the arm around her tightened.

She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to walk yet anyway. Her entire body ached like she had been ran over by a train. Besides, what in the hell was she going to wear? Everything that she had worn into that cell now laid in ruins on the floor! While she was sure her Daddy would be looking for her in the morning, she was equally sure that he wouldn't be looking here. No one would. Maybe once they woke up she could grab something of his and sneak out.

She would simply tell her father that she was sick and in the bathroom all night. Beth hated the thought of lying to him but this was definitely something that he never needed to know about.

However, Beth was mistaken if she thought that Daryl was done with her and only wanted to sleep. No sooner had her mind stop racing long enough to settle down, a callous hand roughly gripped her breast!

Her eyes flew open when she suddenly realized where she was! The blonde was still naked beside Daryl Dixon in his bed and she was pretty sure that he was not sleeping by the way the hardness behind her poked into her back.

He was gently kissing her neck just below the hairline before following her collarbone out to her shoulder. His hand found its way through the curly patch of hair that guarded her womanhood. When he finally reached what he was after, she shuddered causing his lips curl up against her. He obviously knew exactly what had set her off last time!

"Daryl I am all nasty" she pleaded in desperation. "I really need a shower!"

"I don't give a fuck!" he hissed in her ear as he began to twirl his calloused finger against that place that sent her spiraling out of control before.

Beth let out a soft sigh as the pressure in her starting building causing Daryl to pick up his pace. Her neck continued to be the playground for his mouth and the hardness soon began grinding against her. The itch began again and even though he started slipping his fingers in and out of her, it was not satisfying it at all! She needed more and now!

_Damn him for doing this to her!_ She was like putty in his hands, helpless to the effect he was having on her.

"What do you want, Beth?" he whispered in her ear in that same primal voice as she rocked violently against his hand. Beth could only breathe out a whimper.

In an instant, she was flipped onto her front and face down on the mattress as he plunged into her.

Though still sore, instead of the sharp stabbing pain. Beth mainly aware of the electricity. It was similar to what she experienced whenever looked into his eyes but much more intense. He slide smoother and deeper as she was still slick from the aftermath of before. She bucked wildly against him, meeting every thrust, trying to scratch that one spot deep inside her.

Suddenly and without missing a beat, Daryl grabbed her by the arms and pulled Beth along as he sat back on his feet. She was straddling his lap now, completely impaled by his manhood, with her back against his chest. His left hand clutched her breast and his right arm curled around her hip holding her tightly in place as his fingers went to work caressing her that one sensitive spot. The man continued to crash into her. His mouth sucked and bit her neck which she was quickly learning that he had a fascination for. Beth felt every inch of his wide berth as she stretched tightly around it. The small blond wondered for a second if she would tear, doubting she would feel actually notice it at the moment. Instead, all Beth could feel was him pounding the spot that itched over and over again as she slowly began to lose it.

"My God! You are so damn tight! No one else has ever done this to you, have they?" he breathed into her ear finally acknowledging the fact that he had took her virginity and apparently needing her to confirm it. "That was your first time, wasn't it?"

"Yes" she managed to reply while desperately trying to keep quiet.

"Anyone else tries to touch so much as a hair on your head, I will fuckin break their fingers!" she heard him say under his breath before once again losing her grip of reality.


	4. Chapter 4 - The Morning After

It was not quite light yet when Beth finally woke up for the last time but she knew that the sun would soon be up. She had only slept a couple of hour's total. Daryl had waken her up several more times throughout the night, doing all sorts of things that she had never even imagined possible. Now he laid next to her softly snoring, obviously satisfied. Beth could always sleep later during Judith's nap.

She decided to spare them all the awkwardness of what had happened by sneaking out now before anyone found her here in this state. Besides, Beth really needed a shower in the worse way. She could still help her Daddy this morning just like originally planned. Somehow, the gloves did not seem all that important anymore.

So Beth creped out from under the covers wincing as a pain shot through her hip. An unexpected cold breeze hit her skin making the aching muscles hurt worse and she instantly missed Daryl's warmth. Shivering, she looked around for something to put on until her eyes finally came to his poncho laying in an old brown cracked leather chair. Beth quickly wrapped it around her, inhaling the woodsy scent of Daryl, and gathered up her shards of clothing off the floor.

Coming to a standstill at doorway, Beth carefully listened for signs of life but everything was still. She said a silent prayer that no one would catch her sneaking out of Daryl's cell before pulling the curtain aside and tiptoeing into the darkness.

Somehow Beth managed to make it to her own cell and then the showers before anyone else stirred. With daylight now starting to trickle through the window, the young woman was able to study her face in the long, blurry mirror that stood on the wall. She did not look any different and wondered if she should.

She wore an oversized bathrobe, having just claimed it a few days before, and it was keeping her fairly warm despite the frosty morning. Still, Beth dreaded getting into the cold shower and longed for the hot water of days gone by. It could not be help though, if ever she hoped to be clean and back to normal before anyone else woke up. Sighing, she began to undo the tangled elastic band in her hair.

One, two, three…Beth thought as she braced herself to take off the robe. But after she let it drop to the floor, she could not move. Instead of quickly running into the shower like planned, the young woman just started at the reflection in the mirror.

Her entire body from her neck down was black and blue. Large purple handprints decorated her hips and small blue finger marks graced her chest, arms, wrists, and legs. Red blotches were all along her collarbone and when she looked closer, she noticed bite marks all over her breasts and even her back! Among the bruises on her legs, where trails of dried blood. Except for her face, Beth looked like a damn walker!

The sound of metallic hitting concrete interrupted her shock and when Beth snapped her head toward the door, she saw who it came from.

Daryl stood there frozen, having obviously seen the same thing as her, with a look of horror on his face. His crossbow laid at his feet.

The hunter just stood there and did not saying a word. The expression quickly changed to shame, anger, and then regret as he looked into Beth's eyes.

It was also at that moment that Beth realized she was in love with him.

"Daryl…" she started but he quickly picked up the crossbow and walked out the door. She went to go running after him but then remembered that she was naked and in such a state. It would only make it worse if the others saw her.

Defeated, Beth got into the shower completely numb to the ice cold water trickling down her sore body. After looking at his face, she knew that whatever last night was would never happen again. Tears started rolling down her face. Just when she figured out why she let him take her innocence, Beth had lost him forever.

She angrily scrubbed every black and blue part of her body without even trying to be careful, unable to get that look that he had in his eyes out of her mind. The shock she understood because she had felt that too the first time that she had seen her battered body in the light. It was the last expression that burned through Beth right down to her soul. While she never tried to fool herself into thinking that he was in love with her, she had not anticipated that he would actually regret what had happened. That hurt too much to think about.

Beth sighed as she turned off the water and reach for her towel. She glanced at her bruised body again in the mirror. While still greatly battered, it looked a little better now that the blood, semen, and gunk was washed off.

Beth was not going to dwell on any of it either! If Daryl wanted to spend the rest of his life in his "shame on me for everything" emo state, she would let him! While she suspected that she would always love him, there was no way in hell she was going to spend a minute pinning or chasing after him. Beth was just too stubborn for that. If he wanted to run away, so be it! She would go on with her life like nothing had happened, no one else the wiser.

_It probably would have worked out that way anyway regardless of the bruises_, Beth thought to herself as she put back on the rope, held her head up high, and walked back into her life.


	5. Chapter 5 - Not Everyone is a Warrior

"Mama!" a little voice rang out interrupting Beth's thoughts. Maggie walked into the cell with Judith on her hip and Beth sprung up taking the baby into her arms, thankful to see her and also for the distraction.

"Whoa…slow down Beth!" her sister warned.

"Oh I missed you so much, Judy!" She exclaimed hugging the toddler tight and ignoring Maggie.

Even though Beth was determined to always make sure Judith learned all about Lori, she was the closest thing to a mother that the baby knew. The child started calling her Mama a couple of months ago. At first the young woman tried to correct her but eventually Rick said that was silly and to just let Judith call her that. Most of the new people at the prison thought the baby did belong to Beth and everyone eventually got tired of correcting them. In all intent and purposes, they were right.

Judy looked up at Beth with big happy eyes making her heart melt.

"I know sweetie" Beth cooed. "You missed me too, didn't you? It won't be long and mama will be better!"

Looking very relieved to finally be reunited, the baby snuggled against her chest and started playing with Beth's necklace like she always did.

"Daddy said that I could only stay here for a few because he knows you will overextend yourself!" Maggie informed her as Beth frowned.

"What is wrong with everyone? I am better now!" she responded. "Not to mention bored out of my mind!"

Her sister gave her a skeptical look and then rolled her eyes.

"Maybe if you did not try to play martyr so much Beth, people would trust that! Word is that you have been trying to talk everyone into helping you get out of here!" Maggie said.

"Great! The people in this prison are such snitches!" the blond declared as she sat back down on the bed with Judith on her lap. The baby reached for the stuff animals that always graced her mama's bed.

"Lord, Beth! It is only until tomorrow!" her sister laughed. "You would think that he sentenced you to thirty years hard time in here!"

"Easy for you to say" Beth mumbled to herself. Maggie had no idea what kind of stuff was going through her little sister's mind. If she did she would be horrified.

"Anyway, Daryl went hunting again this morning and shot a cow!" Maggie said changing the subject, rather too nonchalantly if you asked Beth.

"He shot what!?" she gasped!

"A cow!" Maggie said again, this time obviously trying to hold in her laughter.

"What? How? With his crossbow? Where in the world did he find a cow?" Beth asked in disbelief.

Daryl hunting usually meant squirrels, rabbits, or the occasional deer. Hell, sometimes the man even brought back a possum, some kind of weird bird, and even a gopher. Basically, anything with a heartbeat was fair game to him. But he had never had brought back a cow!

Maggie was really cracking up now.

"Well apparently, he was just walking down the road and a beef cow came out of nowhere and he thought….well you know….yummmm….steak!" her sister explained between the laughter they now both where engulfed in. "You should have seen him and Michone trying to butcher it!" she continued.

Judith looked up between the two sisters with a bewildered look before she started laughing too, which made them crack up even harder.

"Daddy said that it must have been on a ranch nearby and somehow the poor thing managed to survive the walkers!" Maggie went on to explain once she caught her breath long enough to talk.

"Of course it ran out of luck when it ran into Daryl Dixon!" Beth snickered causing her sister to start laughing again.

"Everyone is real thankful he found it, though! Not only is that a lot of meat but the prison is a buzz of excitement over the thought of having beef again! Can you imagine Beth? Steak, ribs, roast, and hamburgers! You know regular food!" Maggie squealed in delight like a school girl.

"Hamburgers?" Beth thought with glee. That had been her favorite meal back when the world was normal.

"Yes! That is what we are having tonight! Rick and Daddy has set up some contraption to grind the meat, Carol and Karen are making buns out of the flour and yeast we found at that store last week, and we even have ketchup, mustard, and pickles from that Root Beer Stand! It is going to be great!" Maggie went on making Beth's mouth water. Did she have to mention those damn pickles again?

"Wow! Hey, the potatoes in the garden should be ripe enough to cut up for French fries!" Beth added as Maggie nodded enthusiastically. Obviously, they had already figured that out. Beth could not believe they were going to have a real, old fashion cook out without her!

"Don't worry Beth! We will bring you a plate!" the brunet assured her reading her sister's mind.

"Of course!" the younger one agreed cheerfully although she sadly wondered if her stomach was going to be able to handle it.

Turning her attention to Judith, it occurred to Beth that the baby had never tasted Beef in her life! That seemed strange! A year and a half ago that was one of the main types of meat that people ate! She had started giving Judith little meals of tender pork, squirrel and rabbit a couple of months ago and the baby pretty much ate everything they did now, albeit in but much smaller pieces.

"Maggie make sure you give Judith little bits of her first hamburger!" she told her sister. It made Beth sad that she would not be able to be there when Judy tried it. "She has never had it before!"

"Oh my God your right, Beth" Maggie replied just realizing it herself. I will make sure Rick gives her some! But I have got to go again! I promised Daddy that I would not be here long and Glen thinks he is going to light the grill and be some Grill Master or something. That kind of makes me nervous!"

Beth smiled at her sister even though she was not happy Maggie was leaving. It was just that for a brief moment things seemed a bit normal. After everything that they had gone through, times like this were so special!

So Beth kissed Judith on the cheek and reluctantly handed her back. The baby cried when she realized that she was once again being separated from her Mama making Beth's heart break. The young woman cheerfully waved at Judy and told her that she would see her tomorrow but she was not having it. The baby hung over Maggie's shoulder with her arms outstretched to the only mom she ever knew until they disappeared out of sight. After the crying got fainter and fainter until it was gone, Beth buried herself in her pillow, sobbing her own tears.

A little while later, she woke up to her father replacing her saline bag. "Daddy, please just take that thing off so I get on with my life!" she pleaded. Her father looked down at her with his understanding eyes.

"Bethy, I know you want to get up and back to work. That is why I have to keep you here. It's for your own good! That was quite a fall you took and we need to make sure that you are completely hydrated before we let you lose again." He explained.

Beth just sighed.

"I'll tell you what. As soon as this bag is done, you can take it out yourself!" he said with a chuckle.

The young woman's face lit up! If she was calculating right, that would be at about 11:30 that night! Even though she had never taken an IV out of her own hand before, she had countless others so it couldn't be that hard.

"Bethy I worry about you sometimes!" Hershel commented after seeing his daughter's reaction.

"Why is that?" she asked curiously.

"Because one would think that girl your age would want to be alone in her room once in a while." He declared with a grin before a faraway look graced his eyes. "Your mom and I about never got your sister out of hers and here you are thinking you always have to be helping with something, even if it means putting yourself on the backburner. I know that it can't be helped with the way the world is now but sometimes I wonder if I have not come to rely on you too much. " He declared.

"Daddy…" she started gently. "I just can't stand not doing anything anymore. I think too much when I have nothing to do!"

Hershel stared at her with sad eyes remembering his daughter had nightmares of her own that she did not wish to revisit. Only he had no clue just how recent some of them were.

"Besides..." she continued more cheerfully for his benefit. "I miss Judith something fierce. You should have seen her today. She cried when Maggie took her away and my heart literally broke in two."

The elder Greene smiled warmly down at her. "So I heard! Bethy, I am so proud of how you took that little girl under your wing and cared for her like a little momma bird. You were so young but you did not let a little thing like that stop you! Not that you ever did! Without you, little Judy might not be with us now. Still…"

"Don't Daddy…" Beth interrupted not wanting to think about the baby not being here. That was something that she would never let happen as long as she was breathing. Any walker would have to pry Judy out of her cold stiff hands. "Besides, it isn't like I do so much! My jobs are a lot more insignificant than what the others do!"

"Don't sell yourself short Bethy! You are a lot more important around here than you think. It has been more than just Judith that has missed you! " He replied with a grin.

Beth had a hard time believing that. They seemed to be getting by just fine the last couple of days.

"All I am is a glorified Baby Mama!" she exclaimed as Hershel's face fell. Beth instantly regretted her choice of words!

"You are nobody's Baby Mama Elizabeth!" the older man said through gritted teeth! Hershel might have been an understanding man but he was still her father – and a very protective one at that! She knew it would be a cold day in a hell much worse than this before he ever accepted someone knocking her up without the benefit of marriage! Especially the way the older Greene still held on to his morals.

"You know what I meant!" she laughed and his eyes once again softened. "All I do is take care of Judith, cook, and clean!"

"Not everyone can be the warriors in a group for it to work", Hershel told his daughter. "Rick, Daryl, Michone…..none of them would be able to do their jobs if others were not here keeping the home front running. Even a cripple old man like me is still able to help keep everyone healthy and sane! Provide wisdom every now and again. Every job is important and intertwined with the others. Don't ever think otherwise."

"Funny how things turned out Daddy!" Beth remarked. "That the safest place for us to be at the moment is a prison of all things and how everyone needs people in order to survive! Half of this group would not even have associated with each other back when the world was normal!" The young woman knew for a fact that if in their old life, Maggie would have never met Glen and Daryl Dixon sure the hell would have never been the one to take her virginity.

"Yes, my dear! Very funny indeed!" He agreed with a chuckle. "It has to be part of God's plan and one must look for some good no matter how bad the situation! In some ways he righted humanity by letting these monsters rise up! We really are a family here, while not conventional, still a family never less. A strong one at that! These things is what makes this ugly world still bearable. It never ceases to amaze me how the lord works in mysterious ways. Hell on earth has been unleashed, but yet somehow we were all able to find each other."

Beth thought about his words. It was hard to still have faith when the dead was walking around desperately trying to eat you, but unlike others who had their doubts, her father still clung to his. Maybe it was all he had left and the only thing that kept him strong for her, Maggie and the rest of the group. In the last year and a half Hershel Greene had lost his wife, son, good friends, home, and lower leg. She guessed that it would be too unbearable to think that it had all been for nothing. As for herself, she also believed that God had to still be out there somewhere, though she had a hard time understanding his "plan" sometimes.

"Well I better be getting back peanut!" the older Greene said ending her thoughts. "You are not my only patient you know! I need to give Mrs. Andrews a shot of insulin!" Beth nodded as she knew the older lady had diabetes which her daddy usually tried to control with diet, only using what little insulin he had when it was absolutely necessary.

"I almost forgot! Here is your food!" he added handing her a plate with a hamburger and French fries! "Almost like old times, huh?"

Beth immediately examined the delicacy before her and it looked perfect! There was only one thing missing!

"What Daddy?" she exclaimed chuckling. "No pickles."

"Ha-ha Bethy!" he chuckled. "I know that that you do not like them."

Much to Beth's surprise, her appetite had returned with much vengeance. The nausea had subsided, which was good since she devoured her hamburger like it was her very last meal. Although slightly cold, the fresh cut French fries dipped in ketchup were heaven!

Still, she could not shake the craving she was having for those pickles.

Looking at the antique clock on her dresser, Beth hoped it was getting close to 11:30 and freedom! She sighed when she seen it was only 10:15pm. Time was crawling!

Daryl brought the clock back for her a few weeks after Judith was born saying that it would help her time the baby's feedings. He had been right. Even though she had to wind it once a week, she was so grateful for it! The cast iron scrolling on it was lovely and she never had to worry about running out of batteries.

Her eyes continued to move around her beautiful little cell at all the wonderful objects that filled it. For a girl living in a prison in the middle of the apocalypse, Beth was pretty spoiled! While Maggie was always on the lookout for practical things her sister needed, almost every single pretty thing had come from Daryl Dixon. Often when he went on a run, she would wake up the next day with something new.

First, it had been the lady bug comforter set that she noticed around her and Judith one morning. He had simply said that she looked cold and it was way too girly for anyone else. Maggie wondered if he had overheard that she adored ladybugs or something after they found the sheets and pillow shams under the bunk later that day.

Regardless, Beth had loved it which seemed to make Daryl pretty pleased! A day or two later the young woman had entered her cell through matching curtains that someone had hung and a large ladybug rug was on her floor. It ended up being the perfect place for Judith to play.

After that she would find journals, pictures, jewelry, hair ties, nail polish, lip gloss, books, pens, trinkets. He was always bringing toys and things for Judy too. Once Glen had made fun of all the stuff everywhere in her cell and soon cute fabric-lined baskets, jewelry boxes, toy chests, and makeup organizers started appearing out of nowhere.

One day she came into her room surprised to find Daryl and Rick putting together a large shelving unit with a built in wardrobe! When she had asked what in the world they were doing, Rick told her that Daryl had gotten it while they were raiding the Costco and had killed three walkers in order to bring the thing back for her! She immediately chastened him for putting his life in danger but the hunter just kept insisting that she and Judith needed it! Despite it taking up the entire wall at the end of her cell, Beth was thankful because the unit did hold pretty much everything.

A little few weeks later, she and Judith awoke from a nap to the hunter dragging in a beautiful antique chest of drawers with a mirror. That was where her clock now resided.

Daryl just said that he did these things because she was the only one who would like all the prissy stuff. Therefore, Beth never thought much of it. Once Carl confided in her that the hunter's mother died when he was little so maybe the man just liked having someone to finally be able to get all of that kind of stuff for.

Beth did not really start to wonder why Daryl risked so much just to bring her back girly things until other women started moving into the prison. They never had the kind of stuff that she did – even the Woodbury people.

Once she took a new arrival to her cell for some fresh clothes and the lady wanted to know who on the run team Beth was sleeping with! Horrified, the blond had told the skeptical woman that she hadn't slept with anyone! She was just the only young woman for so long that all that kind of stuff went to her. After that, Beth never let anyone outside of her immediate prison family into her room!

A tear rolled down Beth's face as she thought about how nice Daryl had always been to her in the past. He hadn't been too pleasant lately after what had happened. In fact everything had changed between them since that night. Beth tried not to think about it much but sometimes it would creep back in.

When she had finally emerged from her cell that morning in jeans and high collared shirt, the blond was not surprised to hear that Daryl had taken off on a sudden hunting trip. He didn't come back until a week later.

Beth had been weeding the potato garden, with Judith playing in the dirt beside her, the day Daryl finally decided to come home. Carl had spied him and called out for Maggie and Glen to quickly open the gates.

He first greeted Rick, Michone, Her Daddy, and Carol before walking over to Beth. After she made herself finally glance up, the young woman seen that he looked like hell covered in walker blood and dirt. For a moment Daryl just stared at her.

"Here" he finally grunted, handing her a string of squirrels. Beth did not say a word but just stood up, wiped her hands, and walked away after grabbing up the game and Judith from the ground.

Beth had spent the entire week he was gone trying to forget what had happened so things could just go back to normal. Her body had begun to heal under the high collars and pants she wore, insisting she was cold when others started commenting on them. Once, when they were clearing walkers from the fence, Maggie had noticed the bruises on her wrist. Much to Beth's dismay, one of her bracelets had inconveniently moved.

"Where in the world did you get that?" her sister had exclaimed!

"Oh I accidently shut my hand in the door yesterday" Beth quickly lied, pulling the chunky bracelet she was wearing back down over it.

"That looks nasty! You should go get checked out by Daddy!" the brunet had suggested, with concern.

"It's nothing but a bruise, Maggie!" Beth said rolling her eyes.

Luckily, her sister just dropped it!

In the weeks that followed, Daryl had not said a single word to her except a grunt here and there when he had too.

A couple of weeks ago, he rudely walked up and grabbed a hammer out of Beth's hand while she was trying to pound in a new stake for a clothes line. After a couple of seconds, Daryl easily had it in the dirt. That had pissed the young woman off as she had been struggling with the task all afternoon! She ended up sticking her tongue out at him when the tool was handed back. The woman knew it was childish but it was so satisfying to see the surprised look on his face!

Sometimes Beth caught him looking at her but most of the time she just tried not acknowledge him at all!

It had been so awkward that Beth just wanted to crawl into a hole! She did not want to talk about it anymore than he did but the man did not have to be a jerk! They still had to live together after all! Thankfully, no one else seemed to notice.

In fact, the first time that Daryl had spoken to her was the morning she passed out.

Beth looked at the clock again and it was now 11:00pm. She was going to go insane reliving one more moment that revolved around that night in Daryl's bed! Despite her Daddy saying 11:30, Beth had to get out of that room.

Besides she really wanted a pickle!

So the young woman started removing the tape from her hand but when she got to the last little bit, she might have been a little too excited to finally be free. The tube came with it, sending blood flying everywhere. "Great!" she said out loud after looking down at the blood on her pajamas. "I'll never get that out!"

Quickly grabbing a towel to wrap around her hand, she ran out the door.


	6. Chapter 6 - Nobody Better Touch You

Beth did not even notice that she wasn't alone after the girl finally reached the shower room and started to vigorously washing the wound in the sink. Not until she looked up into the mirror did she realize Zach was behind her.

Startled, she swung around to see the young man standing there only in a towel!

"I'm so sorry! I did not know anyone was here!" Beth began to apologize profusely, embarrassed to have barged in on him the way she had.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a horrified look before reaching out and gently taking the injured hand.

Beth looked down at the limb that the young man was holding and to her pajama bottoms that were splattered red. Blood was everywhere! Pink crept into her cheeks. She must have resembled a horror movie! But before she had the chance to answer, a more familiar voice rang out in the darkness!

"What the hell did you do to her boy?" Daryl yelled in a low but intimidating voice.

In an instant, the hunter was in between them. He pressed into the poor kid's face, nose to nose, looking like he was about to kill the guy. Zach cowered back.

"He did not do anything Daryl! What the world are you doing?" Beth hollered back, grabbing the hunter's arm and trying to pull him away from Zach.

But Daryl did not move.

"L-Look Mr. D-Dixon…" Zach stuttered. "I was just minding my own business, getting a shower, when she rushed in here all bloody and stuff. I didn't do anything to her! I was just seeing if she was alright!"

"Well the shows over, get the hell out of here!" Daryl bellowed back, grabbing Zach by the shoulder and pushing him out of the shower room doorway so hard that he hit the wall on the other side of the hall.

"And I told you to leave Beth the hell alone!" he called after him.

The blonde was stunned!

"What the hell, Daryl?" Beth yelled at the man who was now standing in front of her like nothing happened, examining her hand.

"What did you do?" Daryl said gently ignoring her question while probing the wound on her wrist. "Did you take your IV out?"

Beth no longer cared about her wound! She was angry at Daryl for being so rude to Zach when all the poor guy did was try to see if she needed help.

"What is your problem?" she hollered angrily ripping her hand away from him.

"That guy is my fucken problem Beth! In case you didn't notice he won't leave you the fuck alone!" Daryl snapped back and angrily pointing toward the door.

"He did not do anything except try to help." Beth screamed at him not backing down a bit. "You didn't have to manhandle him like that!"

"Well he's lucky I didn't break his damn fingers." Daryl sneered looking straight into her eyes inches from her face. "What is he your boyfriend now or something?"

Taken back, Beth stood there in silence - still glaring at him and trying to ignore the electricity that she was feeling. Her mind went racing back to that night. "Anyone else tries to touch so much as a hair on your head, I will fuckin break their fingers!" he said to her. He must have meant it. _So was this her life now? He was going to keep everyone away from her while he treated her like shit._

"So you are upset he touched me, huh?" the young woman finally replied in a calm but frustrated voice after taking a breath.

"Nobody better touch you!" He hissed in response.

Rolling her eyes, Beth turned back to the sink to finish washing the blood while Daryl continued to stare at her silently. He handed her a clean towel when she was done. She had planned on taking off her clothes and washing them too but there was no way she was going to do that in front of him. Instead, she blotted her pajamas with a rag and cold water the best that she could.

"Why did you take out your IV?" Daryl finally asked now that he had calmed down.

"Daddy said I could so I did. I had to get out of that cell!" she answered flatly. "I guess I was a little too excited to leave and ripped it out too hard."

"It's like late, Beth! Couldn't you wait until morning? Where do you think you are going at this time of night?" he replied.

_What? Now he was going to question her every move too? To hell with him!_

"Well apparently to see my boyfriend, Daryl!" she shot back sarcastically. This time he was the one to roll his eyes.

Beth was too worried about her pickle mission than to stand there and argue with him. She had been trying to get one for days and come hell or high water she was getting to that pantry!

So the blonde tried to push past Daryl in order to leave but he reached out and caught her arm instead.

"Where are you going Beth?" he demanded again.

"None of your business!" she answered now furious. "You don't get to suddenly tell me where I can or cannot go! I am a grown woman, in case you forgot!"

"You think I forgot that!" he hollered back. "Trust me I know better than anybody just how much of a damn woman you are!"

A chill went down her spine as the hunter intensely looked her up and down.

Beth shot him the most hateful expression she could muster. _Really? He was going to bring all that up now? _

"You are not going any damn where except your cell! It's nearly midnight!" he continued to inform Beth with a stern voice. "Who knows who is still up? That dumbass was!"

"You wanna make a bet?" she yelled back, pushing as hard as she could to get past him. Daryl was not going to stop her from getting her pickles.

"Yeah, actually I do!" he said.

Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her up, throwing the surprised blonde over his shoulder before starting out the door.

"Put me down, Daryl!" she screamed kicking and hitting him with all her might. The hunter continued down the hall toward Cell Block C completely unfazed.

"Daryl, you no good redneck asshole! Put me down right now!" the young woman yelled as loud as she could, while continuing to wail on his back!

"Beth, you better hush or you are going to wake the whole damn cell block up! You don't want everyone knowing our little secret, do you?" he chuckled making her even more frustrated.

They rounded the corner to the main common room. Beth was still hitting Daryl and hissing for him to let her go, though much quieter now because she really did not want her Daddy to see the two of them. How in the world would they be able to explain this to everybody else if she woke them up?

As they made their way through the maze of tables, an amused voice suddenly rang out in the darkness

"Daryl put that girl down or I'm going to tell Hershel that I saw his baby daughter sneaking out of your cell in nothing but your poncho a few weeks ago."

The hunter froze.

Beth's mouth dropped in shock! She frantically searched the room for the owner of the familiar voice. Perched on top of one of the tables sharpening her sword was Michone. The woman nonchalantly looked up at Beth and winked!

"You wouldn't dare!" he challenged swinging around toward where Michone sat.

"Try me!" Michone replied with a chuckle. "Personally, I could care less what the hell the two of you do but the old man's reaction might just be too damn entertaining to keep it in!"

Not willing to call her bluff, Daryl slowly lowered Beth off of his shoulder.

"Good, now your secret is safe with me." she said with an uninterested voice but still a twinkle in her eye. "But let me just give you a little advice since I am sure you haven't the slightest clue about women. They typically do not like their Neanderthal boyfriends hauling them around like cavemen!"

"Go to hell Michone!" the hunter spewed back as he nudged Beth out of the door and back into the hall.

"I'll meet you there!" she called after them.

As soon as the door shut, Beth was in tears. By now she just felt broken! She had been so careful when she left his cell that morning. How did she not notice Michone?

Could this day get any worse?

First, she woke up strapped to a bed with a needle sticking out of her arm. Even worse, she was confined to it all day! The young woman was still very nauseous, has been awkwardly questioned by Carol, kept away from Judith, missed the cookout, and then blotched taking out her own IV!

Now she was trapped in the hall with the very jerk that she had spent the past several weeks trying not think about and apparently Michone knew what they had done that night!

God help her if what had been nagging at her all day was true as well! That would just be icing on the whole messed up cake!

Beth leaned against the wall and slide to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and put her head down on them softly crying.

Daryl was on the floor in front of the young woman in an instant.

"It's alright Beth. Hell, she would have said something by now if she was gonna! Michone just likes fucking with me!" he soothed gently into her ear. "I'm sorry I am just a no good redneck asshole!"

"You're not no good!" she sniffled. "Just a redneck asshole!"

"I guess I deserve that!" he said chuckling. "Where were you wanting to go anyway? I reckon I could just follow along."

"Really?" Beth perked up, once again remembering the pickles. Maybe this day could be salvaged yet!

"Mmm-uh!" he mumbled and nodded, confused by her sudden change in mood.

"Well why didn't you say so?" the blond said bouncing up happily. "Come on! This way is quicker!"

Beth ran ecstatically toward the door that led off the hall to one of the prison yards, leaving Daryl still trying to process the sudden change in her behavior.

But when she opened the door the blonde stopped dead in her tracks. If Beth thought that nothing else could surprise her today, she was wrong.

"Daryl?" she asked curiously. "Why are there cows out here?"


	7. Chapter 7 - Pickles

"Pickles?" Daryl asked after they had finally made it to the cafeteria! "All of this was over pickles?"

"Yes!" Beth said as she desperately struggled to climb onto one of the buckets so she could reach the top of the stack.

Daryl casually grabbed the damn thing and put it on the floor.

Excited, Beth quickly jumped down and opened the lid. To her delight, they were the big juicy dill pickles. She grabbed one, sat back against a stack of boxes, and sank it between her teeth. It was literally the best tasting thing she had ever eaten.

Daryl stared at her dumbfounded.

"You don't understand!" she said peering up at him. "I've been trying to get my hands on one of these for days!

The redneck signed and sat down against the box next to her. "They had these out there tonight when Glen fired up the grill. I thought your dad brought you plate." he said.

"Oh he did!" she answered after swallowing another bite. "But he knew I did not like pickles so he didn't bring me any!"

Daryl looked really confused now!

"If you do not like pickles, why the hell are you sitting there practically having an orgasm over one?" he asked completely and utterly puzzled.

"I don't know!" she replied. "I hated pickles my whole life. You know my momma made these award winning kind but I still wouldn't eat them. Yet now they have been all I could think about!"

She took another bite.

"They are really good! Do you want one?" she offered pushing the bucket over to him!

Daryl looked at her and then the bucket and back at her again. Shrugging his shoulders he reached in and grabbed one too.

Beth beamed at him!

"Still haven't figured out how you can go from hating them to all of a sudden freaking out over getting one!" he remarked.

"Maybe they just remind me of my momma or home!" she shrugged. "But they really are as good as I thought they would taste!

"Besides, you have done all sorts of things yourself I am sure that you never thought you would do!" she added. "I bet you never imagined being a cowboy!"

They both laughed!

After her surprise of finding the cows in Prison yard B, Daryl explained how they got there.

After the hunter stumbled across the one earlier today, Rick and Glen thought it would be a good idea to see if they could find more. Therefore, Daryl took them back to the spot he originally found it later that evening. Sure enough, after some searching and tracking they found five additional cattle scattered throughout the woods.

The guys were even able to figure out where they had come from. Some farmer had locked them in a barn pretty solid and left a whole bunch of hay. A well was rigged to provide water to the troths.

"They must have busted out of there recently", he explained. "Probably because the food ran out."

Daryl figured that there were a lot more originally but were most likely eaten by walkers. Luckily, two of the ones found were bulls.

It was a brilliant idea as far as Beth was concerned! Now not only could they breed them for more food but they would also provide milk! That meant Judith could go off of formula and still have a source of calcium! With milk they would be able to make cheeses and butter too! The menu in the prison had been greatly expanded thanks to Daryl coming across that cow today!

The only problem was that no one really knew a thing about cattle except her Daddy and only because he was vet. While they always had one to milk in the barn, Hershel Greene was never a cattleman. Somehow, Rick, Glen, Tyreese, and Daryl had to learn how to be ranch hands! It had already not gone so well.

In the process of trying to round them up, Rick had been kicked and Glen was trampled. Daryl had grabbed a hold of one of the bulls and ended up going for a ride for a bit until it finally bucked him off. But somehow they managed to get them back to the prison and in Yard B!

"Yeah, well I am sure we will be a never-ending source of entertainment!" Daryl said dryly.

Beth grinned at him as she reached for another pickle. She studied it a bit before chomping down.

"You know, these pickles remind me of Jimmy," she said quietly with a faraway look in her eyes.

Daryl stared at her with a strange look on his face.

"Once in the sixth grade, we rode our bikes up to this festival at our school and he must have ate ten of these things!" The blond added giggling at the memory.

"Did you love him?" Daryl quietly asked. Beth looked over at Daryl and then up toward the ceiling as she remembered Jimmy.

"I don't know," she finally answered. "Not like that, I really don't think. He was just a really good friend who lived up the road from me. I knew him my whole life. In high school he started asking me out. Said I was the prettiest girl in the county." Beth replied sadly, her voice cracking.

"You probably were." Daryl responded softly.

"When the world started going crazy, his family was some of the first to go! Otis found him locked in their barn scared to death so Daddy made him come stay with us," she continued. "After that I just figured that I was stuck with him for the rest of my life until…well you know. I didn't want that to happen to him!"

She looked back at the hunter and Daryl held her gaze a while before Beth looked away. She had not thought about Jimmy in ages.

"I thought for sure you must have been with him, you know the way you were with me." Daryl softly told her making Beth laugh again.

"Well, it wasn't from a lack of trying on his part!" she said. "I was still a good little choir girl then, Daryl. Not some whore who has one night stands!"

"You're not a whore, Beth!" Daryl quickly corrected her.

She turned her head back to look at him and mused at the thought of them sitting there side by side, eating pickles after everything that had happened the last few weeks. Beth wondered if he really believed that.

"You know his family was in the barn too!" she said softly. He just nodded.

"I am the one who shot your mom!" Daryl confessed out of nowhere, making Beth flinch.

Somehow, she never realized that. Had Beth known that at the time, she would have hated him. As it was, she did not like any of them too much for a while after that anyway. It had taken her quite some time to process what had happened that day.

Thinking about the barn made Beth remember the scar on her wrist from long ago. Subconsciously, she reached under her bracelets and rubbed it.

"I'm sorry!" Daryl quietly offered eyeing her touching the mark.

"My mama was dead long before that Daryl!" Beth said with a sigh. "Daddy just hadn't realized it. Maybe he didn't really want to."

Beth knew that now.

"You were close with your mother….before?" Daryl asked.

"Oh yes!" Beth exclaimed. "You know Daddy was a vet! Well between the house calls and working the fields, we barely saw him! My Mama is who raised me, Shawn, and Maggie! She is the one who taught me to sing. When I was scared or had a bad dream, she would hold me in her arms singing while rocking me to sleep."

"The same way you do with Judith?" he pointed out.

Beth face radiated. She had never thought of that before but he was right! The way she rocked and sang to Judith was the same as her mama had done with her. That touched her heart.

Daryl broke the gaze again and looked down while fiddling with his hands in his lap. She could not help but to remember that his childhood probably was not as ideal.

"Daryl, where did you get those scars on your back?" Beth softly asked.

Surprised, the hunter looked back at her waiting face.

"My old man." He answered with a shrug.

"Why did he beat you?" she continued.

"Hell, I don't know Beth! You tell me!" He said obviously aggravated but answering none the less. "My old man was a drunk. Maybe he just wanted to make me and Merle tough. Who knows, maybe he hated us!"

"And your mama just let him?" Beth inquired again, a little rage now in her voice. She thought about what she would do if someone ever tried to hurt Judith.

"He knocked her around too Beth!" Daryl said agitated. "Then she was gone and it was just me and Merle left to fend for ourselves. Merle tried to protect me but hell, he was gone half the time so it did no good!"

"Did a walker get him….your dad?" Beth asked envisioning a horrible death for such a nasty man.

"No…drank himself to death on Moonshine one night!" Daryl said. "Found him in the morning, dead…in his chair! It was the happiest day for my life…well at least it was then. After that it was just Merle and I until the dead started rising, that is."

Beth looked at the man staring in her eyes there in front of her. Here he was the hero here at the prison but no one knew the tragic reasons that made him that way. Regardless of what he had done to her emotionally, she could not help but admire how far he had come.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. She was positive that Merle's tragic death ate at the man more than he liked to let on.

"Don't be." Daryl said looking down like he didn't deserve to be staring into her eyes. "My life has always been ugly, Beth. You were right. All I have ever been is redneck trash, no good for anything."

Beth placed her hand on his face and raised his head up to once again meet her gaze.

"You listen to me, Daryl Dixon!" she said. "I never have thought you were good for nothing. You have come a long way from that hellhole you grew up in! Don't forget who and what you are now! What you have become! Don't ever go back to that place in your past or it will kill you….here"

As she was finishing the last statement, Beth took Daryl's hand and placed it over her heart as they stared into each other's eyes. The electricity fueled. His fingers slowly began to grip her shirt as he gradually leaned into her mouth little by little. Daryl gently pulled on the bundle of fabric in his hand inching her closer.

When his lips softly met hers, Beth began to melt. He grabbed her arm with his other hand and gathered her closer. She allowed his tongue to tenderly part her lips. He tasted like dill, tobacco, and all things Daryl Dixon.

And that is when it hit her what was happening! _Oh no! Not this again!_

Beth suddenly pushed him off her and slapped him as hard as she could across the face.

"JESUS Beth! You don't have to be so fuckin moody!" Daryl hollered as he raised his hand to rub the red mark that now graced his cheek.

"Moody?" she shot back tears now in her eyes. "I'll show you MOODY!"

Beth reared back to slap him again but this time Daryl caught her arm in midair.

"I'm sorry Beth!" he exclaimed severely, putting her hand down. "For a minute, I forgot that I was still an asshole!"

"Damn right you are still an asshole!" the young woman shouted as she quickly got to her feet and threw the lid back on the pickles. Tears were now streaming down her face. She could not believe she almost made the same mistake twice! What the hell was wrong with her?

"I mean God forbid you kiss a looser like me!" He sneered also standing now.

Beth looked at him defeated. She was just done. Everything that she had been holding in for weeks started flowing out!

"You know what? You are fucken right, Daryl!" she spewed as she walked inches from his face. "God forbid I kiss the same asshole who took my virginity, fucked me all night, ran off to the damn woods for a week, and then wanted nothing to do with me when he finally decided to bring his surely ass back!"

Daryl jerked back a new understanding coming to his eyes. But Beth did not care! The floodgates had already been opened.

"Do you think I ever envisioned a messed up situation like this? I thought that when I did something like _that_ it would be with someone who would love me the rest of my life!" She sobbed cowering back into the concrete wall. "I did not know what the hell I was supposed to do! I mean, how is somebody supposed to act when they are shamefully trying to hide bruises so everyone does not know what a slut they are?"

Beth started to slide to the ground, crying hysterically, but a pair of strong arms stopped her. They tightly clung to her as the man crushed her into his chest. Her tears started soaking his sleeveless flannel.

All she could think about was the irony of the situation. Here she was being comforted by the very person who had hurt her so deep but she did not care. He was the only one there and the only person, well besides Michone, who knew what she had done!

"My God, Beth!" he whispered. "I'm so sorry. I'm no good with things like feelings and stuff."

"I know Daryl!" she breathed back barely audible. "But Damn! How was I supposed to feel?"

They stayed like that for a long time.

"Let's just get you back to bed." He said suddenly lifting her into his arms. Beth did not even protest this time. She just buried her head into his shoulder and continued to softly cry.

Daryl gently carried the blond out the pantry door, past the tiny herd of cattle, through the hall and into Cell Block C. When he reached her cell he lightly laid her on her bunk and pulled the ladybug comforter over her.

"He loved you!" he said quietly from the doorway of her cell.

"What?" Beth replied looked up him incredibly. "Who loved me?"

"Aaron." Daryl said through blurry eyes. "He told me to tell you he loved you. Those were his last words before….you know?"

Then Daryl turned around and disappeared through the matching lady bug curtain.

"Why in the world would he tell me that now?" Beth thought to herself before she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning she found a bucket of pickles on her floor next to her bed.


	8. Chapter 8 - Morning Routines

It was early morning and Beth was already busy lugging Judith along with an empty pickle bucket out to the new barn that had just been built. She sat the baby down in her usual spot and grabbed the wooden stool. "Bet see" Judy babbled when she seen the cow. The cow mooed at them. The ole girl seemed to have a soft spot for Judy.

This had become their new early morning routine for the last month and it was just the beginning of another ordinary day. Beth would get up at dawn, get Judith from the crib next to Rick's bed, and go milk Betsy. The prisoners had once again experienced some rare luck when a few days after they decided to try their hands at ranching, Betsy had a calf.

Hershel realized the cow was pregnant during their examinations after they were found. The birth had been hard and quite disgusting with the old vet having to pull the baby out with a chain! Never less, in the end both mama and calf were healthy. Now the group also had milk!

It was not much milk for a community as large as theirs since Betsy was only one cow - a beef one at that. However, it was enough to supply the kids with a little bit of calcium nearly every day and that was more than anyone had ever hoped for!

The men built a little barn for their small herd within two weeks of finding the cattle. Prison Yard B became their pasture and now the run crew added animal feed to their already long list of needed supplies, until the seeds that they sprinkled around the yard began to sprout.

Happier still was the news that the other two cows were also pregnant, albeit through some hilarious attempts at artificial insemination.

Glen had nearly passed out after realizing what he had to do in order to accomplish that. Daryl said there was no way in hell he was having any part in jerking off a bull and claimed to have already done his job by finding the damn things in the first place. Tyreese claimed he was too busy designing the barn. Rick ended up taking over for Beth's brother in law and after throwing up only a couple of times managed to get the job done. Once they had what they needed, Hershel took the long syringe that they had found somewhere and finished the task.

So the ranching experiment was a success thus far. All the while, Beth and Judith had a front row seat to the entertainment.

It made perfect sense for Beth to volunteer to tend to Betsy, growing up on a farm and all. Besides Maggie, she was the only one who had ever done it before. The baby loved going to the barn and seeing Betsy and her calf, Holly. She would crawl all over the hay chasing the baby animal while Beth milked the mama.

"Judy! Where are you?" Beth called cheerfully after finishing her chore.

This was a game that they would play every morning. The baby would haphazardly cover herself with hay while Beth called for her. When she would "pop out" of it, the blond would act surprised – much to Judith's delight!

Pretending to look for her, Beth started searching under piles of hay all around except where the baby actually laid, covered with only a couple of straws over her face. Suddenly, Judy jumped up with a "Boo! Boo! mama!" laughing hysterically.

"There you are!" Beth said gathering Judith up in her arms and kissing her dramatically making the baby squeal in delight.

"Well let's finish up so we can go get a bath!" Beth told her getting up and heading back toward the stall.

The young woman grabbed the rope that hung on the wall and looped it around Betsy's neck. She opened the hand-fashioned latch and led her out of the barn with Holly following happily behind. Judith reached down and clutched Betsy's ear as Beth opened the gate to the large pen just outside of the shelter. Untying the lead, both the cow and the calf happily went inside.

They were sweet animals and easy to handle. Betsy just seemed to be happy to have someone tending to her again. Who knows what she had went through before they had found them in the woods?

"Get much milk today?" a cheerful voice asked the young woman as she reached into the barrel that held grain and began to fill the feeder.

"Half a bucket!" Beth answered happily brushing her hand off on her jeans. She looked up to see Tyreese sitting onto the handmade fence. He usually came around this time to start tending to the bulls.

"Where in the world did you get that?" she laughed just noticing a tan cowboy hat on his head.

"Oh I found it the other day when we were at that feed store in Kingston!" he said with a chuckle. "I thought that I better start looking the part!"

Beth laughed. Tyreese was adjusting well to the ranching lifestyle. While the man was a solid mass of muscle and could take walkers out by the dozen, he really did not like too. Like her, he still seen the haunting humanity trapped behind their dark eyes. Ranching gave him a distraction from the nightmare that walked all around him.

"Funny, I never thought that I would be doing something like this but I have to say that it beats some of the other jobs!" he continued looking around at their little ranch.

"And I never thought I'd see the day that my brother would turn into a cowboy!" Sasha called as she made her way across the field and up to the fence. Bob trialed behind her. "I have to say though, that hat seems to fit you!" she continued. Bob raised his eyebrows at the big man in the hat. A big grin was spread across his face.

Beth did not really know Bob real well, as he was new, but she was happy to see him settling in well. Her Daddy had taken the former Army medic under his wing, putting him to work in the infirmary. Overall, the blonde had a good impression of the newcomer! Bob was always smiling!

"It does look mighty fine, don't it?" Tyreese inquired adjusting his new prized possession. "Are you guys about to head out somewhere?"

"Yeah" Sasha answered. "Daryl seen a couple of barns with silos the other day and wants to check them out. Maybe we will find grain to feed that herd of yours."

Tyreese looked past his sister eyeing Bob who was quietly standing behind her. Beth had noticed that they seemed to be spending a lot of time together lately. Sasha's brother noted that too apparently. "You going with them?" he asked the newcomer with a grin.

"Just trying to find my place around here!" he answered. "Everyone's got to pull their own weight, right?"

"Right!" Sasha said in a sassy voice. "Pretty soon they'll have you out here ranching too!"

"That is why I am trying to get on the run crew!" Bob quickly replied with a laugh. "I've heard some horrible stories about the things they make people who fool around with those cows do!"

Everyone busted out laughing.

A large Dodge truck with an extended cab sped across the field and backed up to the fence beside them. Beth walked over to it and lowered the tailgate as Daryl got out of the driver's side and came around. She casually passed a delighted Judith to him and began to climb up into it. Daryl shifted the baby to one arm while taking Beth's hand with the other in order to help her up. Once she was standing inside of the bed of the blue truck, the woman quickly went to work shoveling the last of the grain into the bin. This was the vehicle they filled when on feed runs.

The redneck turned toward Tyreese. "Are you coming with?" he asked. "We could use all the help we could get!"

"Yeah, I think I will!" the man answered. "Are you guys the only ones going this time?"

"Just us!" Bob answered for everyone. "Glen and Maggie is staying behind to lead the fence clearing. There was a big build up last night but it seems manageable."

"We should be alright with the four of us though!" Daryl said. "Reckon there are only a few walkers in the rural areas. Probably just a farmer and maybe his wife."

Sasha glanced up at the back of the truck. The young blonde shoveled the last bit of feed into the bin and jumped down out of the bed.

"I swear girl, I don't know where you get your energy!" Sasha exclaimed.

Beth looked at the woman with surprise, walking up to the small group and collecting Judith from Daryl. The truth was, she rarely had any energy these days it seemed.

"Who me?" she asked. "I'm not the one going out on runs with these guys! I don't know how you do that!"

"You might not be going on runs, Miss Beth" Tyreese said agreeing with his sister. "But when it comes to around here, you've got everything covered!"

"She's always doing something! The girls never takes a break!" Sasha continued. "And usually with a baby on her hip the entire time!"

Daryl looked at Beth who was now had pink in her cheeks.

"This prison could not run right without Beth." He said grinning at her knowing that she would be embarrassed. "I know that without her, I might have just said to hell with the whole damn thing!"

"Are you guys just going to sit around and talk about me all day or are you going to be on your way?" Beth asked desperately trying to get them to stop. She only did what had to be done like everyone else.

"Come on!" Daryl told the group remembering what they were supposed to be doing. "She's right! We are gonna wind up running out of daylight if we don't get a move on!"

Relieved that the attention was focused on something else, Beth helped them pile their supplies into the truck. She made the comment knowing the redneck was always complaining about running out of daylight, despite it being only dawn! They would probably be back by early afternoon if all went well.

Judith and her mama watched them pull away until the taillights disappeared around the corner. Clutching the bucket of milk, Beth started walking across the pasture toward the prison.

Beth strolled into the kitchen area and sat the milk down. Then she headed straight to the bathroom.

This was also part of their morning routine.

Holding Judith in her arms, she leaned over the toilet and heaved a few times. The smell of breakfast cooking always did that to her. The woman found it ironic that she could be in a barn full of dirty animals and be fine, but cook some bacon and she'd lose it every time.

Everyone else just thought that Beth went there to bathe Judith and they were partly right. After coming out of the stall and rinsing her mouth with water, she immediately began that task.

The young woman placed a wash cloth under the facet and squeezed a drop of baby soap to it. Stripping Judith down, she began to wipe down the infant from head to toe. Judith wiggled and squealed at the touch of the cold water. Finally, the blonde warmed lotion by rubbing it between her hands and quickly spread it over the tiny body before wrapping Judy in a towel. After she finished, Beth dramatically kissed her on the cheek!

"Are you hungry?" she asked the giggly baby.

Beth quickly dressed her in a purple one-piece outfit with little pink butterflies easily found in the cabinet close by. After she was satisfied that Judy was all clean and her stomach settled, Beth joined the rest of her family for Breakfast.

By now, the prison was a buzz of activity as people chatted about what they would be doing that day over their plate of bacon and eggs. There were about sixty people now at the prison and everyone had jobs to do. Nine of them were children.

Most of the people lived in the largest building, Cell Block B. Beth's group, who had claimed the prison after leaving her family's farm, still called C block home. Even though they had welcomed others in with open arms and got along well with everybody, the originals considered themselves immediate family.

"It seems that Miss Betsy is finally producing well!" Rick remarked as he took Judith out of her arms.

"Almost as much as a Jersey!" Beth replied back smiling up at the baby and her father.

Rick was cooing at Judy who happily giggled back at him. It was nice to see father and daughter finally bonding. When the baby was first born, it had taken the leader a long while to warm up to her, thanks to the ugly circumstances of her birth.

"It's good to see the kids finally being able to drink a glass of milk every morning!" Carol said to the blond as she handed her a small plate of scrambled eggs and a bottle for Judith.

"I know!" Beth acknowledged happily waiting for Rick to sit Judy down in the high chair. Once she was secure, the young woman sat the food down on the tray.

"I think I will take Judith with me while I tend to the pigs this morning!" Rick continued as they both sat down and Carol placed a plate in front of them. "I can take her hanging bouncer and put it in the shelter."

"That is a great ideal, Rick!" Beth replied back! "It has been a while since you've had one on one time! Besides, I have laundry duty today and promised Karen that I would work with some of the little ones while I did the mending!"

The young woman heard the familiar limb of her father as he crept up behind her. After leaning down and kissing her on the head, Hershel pulled out a chair and had a seat.

"Just make sure that you keep her out of their pens, Rick!" the old man warned. "Don't need her rolling around in the muck and getting sick!"

"A little muck won't hurt her!" he laughed before turning toward Carl and asking "Don't you think it's time we show Judith the pigs.

Carl smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Beth can you help Maggie and Glen with the fences first?" Rick continued now looking at the young blond. "There seemed to be the big build up yet last night and we don't need walkers ruining the gardens."

There were three barb wired fences that kept the monsters at a manageable distance from the people inside. However, the main fields were between the first and second barriers because of the vast amount of space in that area. If the walkers broke through, some of the food supply would be contaminated by the decay that just seemed to fall off of them these days.

"No problem!" Beth cheerfully said even though she really did not look forward to stabbing a bunch of dead people in the head.

"Speaking of crops!" Hershel piped in. "There should be more potatoes, tomatoes, and melons ready to harvest!

"Judy and I could check them this afternoon real quick before her nap." Beth suggested. "I am pretty much free after laundry and mending,"

"Okay you do that!" Hershel said grinning at his daughter. She knew her Daddy had a busy day ahead processing the three new arrivals who were scheduled to finally get out of quarantine.

Beth looked down at her barely touched eggs as her Daddy and Rick began to discuss what they would be planting next. She rarely ate breakfast anymore as her stomach was always upset in this time of day.

"Well I am going to get started!" she said raising to her feet.

The blonde dumped the eggs, gave her plate to Patrick, and headed out toward the fences.

Beth was already exhausted and it was only 8:30 in the morning. She came back to her cell to lay down hoping to rest a couple of minutes before starting laundry. There had been a lot of Walkers on the outer fence and they continued pouring out of the woods. After an hour of stabbing countless dead people, she was relieved when others from the prison showed up, allowing her to leave.

Her stomach was also especially volatile after that particular chore as well. She was not sure which was worse, the blood, guts, brain matter, or terrible smell! It was particular bad these days!

When Beth returned to her room she found a silver bangle with heart charms on her bunk. The blond smiled after she found the jewelry. It had been about a month since the pickles incident and things were pretty much back to normal between Daryl and her. Other than word seeming to get around quickly among the males not to go anywhere near her, it was almost like that night had never happened. Anytime she saw Zach now he quickly went the other way!

So everything that had been screwed up that night was righted except one pretty big thing that lingered.

Beth was positive that in approximately six months a Dixon baby would be gracing them with its presence.

No one else at the prison even had an inclining yet but Beth knew that would be changing in the coming weeks. The tiny bump that was starting to protrude from her naval had already forced her to move the buttons on her jeans. At the moment, baggy shirts concealed her secret but it would not be long before it was obvious she was expecting.

Beth had always wanted to have a baby ever since she remembered. It wasn't like she would be a first time mom or anything since she had already been raising Judith since birth. Beth was not even afraid of dying during the labor and delivery like Lori did. The group had come a long way since those dark days and their medical capabilities had greatly improved.

But still the thought of being pregnant kept Beth awake at night!

It was nothing to be a single mother before the turn but Hershel Greene, being a religious man, had always taught his daughters that sex was a sin before marriage. Personally, she had never imagined it any other way herself. Shame kept her from letting anyone else know. Once they found out, they would know what she had done. Her protruding belly would be her own Scarlett Letter.

But she was also determined that they would never know with who the daddy was. She would love and raise this child the best that she could on her own.

Daryl was a respected member of the community and one of her father's closest confidents. He had risen up from the depth of obscurity and abuse to be who he was now and she was not going to be the one to ruin that! He meant too much to her.

This baby, no matter how fiercely she loved it, was the result of something that never should have happened. Daryl was only lonely that night because of what had went down on that run. Yes, he obviously cared about her but she had never fooled herself into fancying him actually being "in love" with her. Sure, he would probably die in order to keep her safe. He would for anyone there as he cared about them all.

She'd come to figure out that was what he had been trying to say when he told her what Aaron had said. He must have been feeling bad and wanted her to know that someone had loved her. The hunter also seemed to be making sure that no one else dare hurt her the way that he had.

Despite knowing all of this, Beth still could not regret what had happened that night in his cell. It would stay with her forever.

Sighing at the memory and impossible situation, she got up from her bunk and started traveling around Block C picking up baskets of clothes. At least she had plenty to do that kept her busy.


	9. Chapter 9 - Mama Bear

"Miss Beth, is this right?"

Beth glanced up from the third patch she was sewing on the tattered khaki pants at little Abigail. The child was anxiously awaiting her approval.

"That is perfect!" she said cheerfully looking at the girl's math in sidewalk chalk on pavement below her. Just as Beth had shown her, Abigail had placed three little stones next to the number 3 and then five more beside the number 5 underneath of it. By counting all the stones before her, she had figured out that 3 +5 = 8.

"Good job, Abbey!" she continued praising the child. "Now finish the last three of them the same way!"

"Ok!" she said in a happily little voice. "I will try my best!"

Abigail was one of the children from the little school that Karen had created in the Prison Library. The council had agreed when the former teacher had insisted that it was important to start educating the kids again. Some of them, like the little girl before Beth, never even had a chance to go to school before the outbreak. The youngest Greene tried to help out with it as much as she could

Unlike before when school was just an everyday chore, the children loved learning now. Beth figured that they had found out firsthand what a privilege it had been. Also, it provided them with a little bit more normalcy which everyone craved - at least a little.

Karen was able to piece together quite the curriculum using stuff that they had lying around the prison. The library was full of educational materials that had been used to teach any illiterate inmates how to read and the institution even had a GED program. The run crew was good about bringing back any other supplies that they came across. Turned out chalk was not considered a necessity by most looters so it was in abundance.

Beth hoped to become a teacher once Judith was ready to attend!

The young woman turned her attention back to her mending and was beginning to think that the pants were a loss cause after spotting yet another hole. As she was contemplating just turning the things into rags, a dark shadow fell over them.

"Hey, they did not tell me that they had such pretty women here too!" a voice rang out.

Beth glanced up to see a guy, probably in his early twenties, beaming down at her. She looked at him curiously and quite confused. _Who was this?_

"Ok, so that was lame!" he chuckled. "My name is David and my friends and I are new here. Who might you be?"

She instantly remembered the new group her Daddy was processing out of quarantine today! Minding her manners, the blonde rose to her feet!

"Nice to meet you! I'm Beth Greene! You must be with the new people!" she said extending her hand with a smile.

David took it and placed a chaste kiss on top as Beth nervously glanced around making sure Daryl was still gone on the run! Obviously, this guy had not gotten the recent memo.

"Greene….so is Hershel related to you?" he asked as she took back her hand and placed it on her side.

"He's my father!" She told the surprised young man. "I heard about you guys getting here last week!"

Beth knew that Daryl had found a small group of three college kids wandering around half starved while out hunting last week. After asking them the questions the council previously agreed upon, he brought them back to the prison.

"Yeah, we were stuck in….what do you guys call them again? Oh that's right _The Tombs_ for what seemed like forever but I get why you guys quarantine new arrivals. In fact, it's a pretty smart ideal!" he exclaimed. "It's a nice thing you guys got going here!

To be honest, we were just happy to have shelter and food! Never expected all of this!" David added looking around.

"Well it wasn't always like this!" Beth replied. "When we first arrived, it was filled with hundreds of walkers but Rick and Daryl seen the potential so we cleared it out! We have fought tooth and nail for what it is today!"

"I can see that!" David remarked. "Daryl? Is that the mountain man guy that brought us back here?"

Beth cracked up!

"That would be him!" she said between her laughter.

"When we first came across him, to be honest, I thought we were all dead!" David continued now chuckling as well at the memory. "He had a string with like a hundred squirrels on his back, a ton of rabbits on his belt, and a deer on the ground behind him! When he raised that crossbow to our heads I thought we would soon be joining the carcasses! Hell, even if we would have been heathy, I'm still not sure that the three of us could have taken him!"

"Oh, you wouldn't want to be on his bad side, trust me!" Beth informed David. "But Daryl must have seen something he liked about you guys or you wouldn't be here!"

"Well I am glad he did!" David replied happily but suddenly sadness seemed to creep in his eyes. "This is the closest thing to normal that we have seen….well in a long time."

"Yeah, we are proud of our little community." Beth agreed looking around at what they had built. Lord knows they had to sacrifice a lot and loss many before things got to be this way.

"Miss Beth, I am done! Come see!" Abigail piped up very proud of herself. She came quickly running to Beth's side full of excitement.

"Well I see you are being paged!" David said grinning down at the child who looked up shyly at the unexpected visitor.

"Yes, Abby here is learning how to add! Aren't you?" the blonde explained running her fingers through the hair of the little girl who had latched onto her leg.

"And that is much more important than Miss Beth gabbing with me!" David said leaning down to look the child in the eyes before standing up to address her teacher. "I will see you around then I guess! Perhaps, when you have more time!"

"Yeah, lunch will start in a few minutes." she said trying to be friendly. "Maybe I will see you then."

"Yes, maybe!" he said as Abigail and Beth watched him walk away.

It was early afternoon and Beth was in the potato fields digging up what was ready with her metal garden spade. Judith was busy playfully digging in the dirt at her side with a plastic shovel of her own. Georgia clay was all over her!

When Rick handed the baby back at lunch, he said that she had just woken up. Beth had been thankful as there ended up being more potatoes than she realized to harvest. Judith's afternoon nap was going to have to be later than she had hoped.

The two had already brought in three large baskets of tomatoes and a wheel barrel of watermelon. Carol and Patrick quickly went to work processing and storing the bounty. The gardens were really starting to produce a lot of food.

"You are a dirty bunny!" she said looking over at Judith. "Mama is going to have to wash you up again!"

"Bah-Bah" Judy replied back and then giggled.

"Yes! You need a bath!" Beth exclaimed smiling at her. Not only was the baby now covered in dirt, but she smelled like the pig pen as well.

Turning back to the potatoes, the blonde thought about the conversation she had at lunch. David appeared once again with the two other guys from his group, introducing them to Beth as Eric and Ben. Rick invited the men to sit down with the family and tell them about themselves. David and his friends ended up entertaining them all throughout the meal with stories about college.

Now Beth was wondering what it would have been like if she was away at some university now like she should have been instead of being secretly in love and pregnant by the mountain man!

Suddenly waking up from her thoughts, Beth heard some sort of commotion. Someone was screaming but she could not quite make out the words.

Immediately she looked over at Judith just in time to see a walker ready to grab the oblivious baby! Out of instinct, she jabbed the garden spade in her hand through the side of its head and quickly snatched up Judy.

Rising to her feet, Beth seen four more Walkers surrounding them. Sheer terror set in. Looking down at Judith, the young woman knew it would be over her dead body that they got to the baby.

She kicked the closest monster to the ground before turning and jabbing the spade through another's eye. After a narley looking dead old man tried to grab her, Beth wrestled with it until the small shovel ended up in through his chin and up into its brain. She pulled the metal tool out and immediately planted it into the head of the fourth. As the walker fell, it knocked her to the ground and forced the spade out of her hand.

Beth immediately felt the walker she had kicked grab her back as soon as she fell. She guarded Judy with her body by crowding around the child in a ball. The young woman was pretty sure she was a goner. At least while the walker devoured her, someone might be able to kill it before it got to the baby!

Suddenly, she heard a thump and the monster stilled before falling at her side. When she turned to look at it, she seen an arrow sticking out of its forehead.

Jumping up and still clutching the baby, Beth quickly backed away from the walker in shock! She swung around ready to fight when she felt her back run into another body. However, it was just Daryl.

"Beth are you alright!" the hunter shouted as he reached for her but the words were echoing. Everything was in slow motion. Then it all went dark.

Beth awoke briefly being carried in someone's strong arms who was running as fast as they could.

"Go tell Hershel Beth might have been scratched, NOW!" she heard Daryl bark at someone.

She went to clutch Judy but realized the baby was not there!

"Judith!" she frantically shouted in panic.

"It's okay Beth! She is with Sasha!" she heard Daryl reassure before blacking out again.


	10. Chapter 10 - Just because I'm pregnant!

"I don't see any wounds!" Beth heard her daddy say as she started to come too. "But we need to figure out what is making her so faint all of a sudden!"

"You should have seen her, Hershel!" Glen said. "She took out four walkers with nothing but a garden spade holding Judith the entire time. The fourth one knocked her to the ground and that was when she just decided to guard the baby!"

"Mama Bear mentality!" Hershel chuckled. "Never underestimate how much my Bethy loves Judy. It sounds like it was a good thing that Daryl got to her in time."

Beth's eyes flung open.

"Judith!" she tried to shout but it only came out as a whisper.

"She is fine Beth! You kept her safe." Rick was suddenly at her side and reassuring her. "She is just fine!"

"Beth!" Maggie said rushing to her. "We thought you might have gotten scratched!"

Beth looked at her sister who had tears running down her cheeks and then around the infirmary realizing that she had quite a bit of company. Carl, Sasha, Carol, and Tyreese all hovered above her bed with relieved looks on their faces. Daryl was standing against the wall in the corner, covered in blood and looking relieved. Glen was holding onto Maggie, who was beside her.

"Bethy what in the world is making you pass out all of the time?" her father said as he ran his fingers over her head, face, and throat checking her lymph nodes.

"Maybe it was just shock?" Carol suggested as the old man checked her ears and her eyes.

"Yeah but that is not like her!" he insisted while feeling around on her abdomen.

Hershel froze and by the look on his face Beth knew her secret was out.

"Daddy…" she went to say but her father simply turned around and walked out of the room.

Everyone else watched Hershel leave in confusion. However, they were in for a huge shock when a few seconds later the usually gentle man walked back through the door with his shotgun. Her Daddy loaded two shells into it and slammed the chamber shut!

"Beth….Which bastard got you pregnant?" he shouted.

Every jaw in the room dropped except for one in the corner. That face just turned white.

"She's pregnant!" Beth heard Maggie shout. "Daddy there had to be a mistake because I don't even think Beth has even had sex before!"

"Maggie! There is no mistake! She has to be about three months along!" the old man snapped at her sister before turning back to Beth. "Now Bethy you are going to tell me who did this to you!"

This was a nightmare and not at all how she expected her father to find out! Their entire family was now looking at her waiting for an answer, except for Daryl who was still frozen in the corner. Thankfully, everybody else was too distracted by her news to notice him.

"No Daddy! I am not telling you because it does not matter!" she finally said. "Don't even ask me that!"

"You are going to tell me right now!" Hershel demanded.

Beth refused to answer.

"I will not!" she responded defiantly.

Daryl suddenly became fully alert.

"Fine, don't tell me then!" her father shouted at her angrily and headed toward the door. "I will get it out of the bastard myself"

"Rick, stop him!" Beth pleaded. The leader immediately blocked the her father from exiting the room.

"Now Hershel," Rick said as calmly, pushing the riffle down. "I understand that this is upsetting and all but Beth just damned near died! She is probably in shock still herself. The prison is in a panic at the moment and I'm not sure running around pointing a gun in every man's face is going to help matters!"

"Get out of my way, Rick!" her daddy sneered. "When you discover that your unmarried innocent daughter is pregnant, then you can tell me what will help matters!"

"Daddy this is crazy!" Maggie pleaded trying to reason with their dad but to no avail.

"Shut up Maggie!" he just huffed back at her. "Just stay out of it, darling!"

Glen cling to her sister tighter, half afraid of the normally gentle man who seemed to have just gone insane.

Then just as Hershel Greene was about to storm out the infirmary door to track down the culprit, Daryl decided to join the discussion!

If everyone there thought that Beth being pregnant was the biggest shock, they hadn't seen anything yet.

"Hershel, it's mine." The hunter told her Daddy. "I am the baby's father."

For a moment everyone stared at Daryl with eyes as big as saucers. No one knew what to say.

_What the hell had he done? _This did not go at all like Beth had planned! She had never counted on him telling on himself!

At first her father just stared at the man. Suddenly he pulled back the lever and stuck the gun in Daryl's chest.

"Daddy, DON'T!" Beth screamed.

Rick rushed over to the corner to where Hershel was about to shoot the redneck. "Hershel, now let's just calm down and think this through a minute!" he pleaded desperately with the old man.

"Daddy, please stop!" Beth continued to beg her father. "It's not what you think!"

"This man got you pregnant behind my back, Beth!" he father bellowed. "I trusted him!"

"No Daddy. It wasn't like that!" the youngest Greene tried to explain.

"So you are telling me that he is lying and did not sleep with you!" Hershel demanded.

"No he's not lying" she admitted as the old man pressed the gun further into Daryl's chest. "But it wasn't like you think! It was just one night…a mistake…and then he went hunting….everything went back to normal….well except for this!"

"Sounds exactly like I think! You are telling me that he took your innocence, got you pregnant, and then left and went HUNTING!" Her daddy yelled.

"Oh God!….Please understand!….he just freaked out about the bruises and stuff! I mean I looked like a damn walker!" she said instantly regretting the last part as Hershel's face turned bright red! That little tidbit of information was the last thing that she had wanted her family to know!

"YOU LEFT BRUISES! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY DAUGHTER?" Hershel Greene howled as he pulled the trigger. Thankfully, Rick was a little faster and moved the barrel in time for the bullet to hit the wall beside Daryl! The redneck did not even flinch. He just stared at Beth.

Tyreese's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head, Sasha turned pale, and Carol just about fainted! Maggie was horrified! However, Glen somehow found the whole thing funny and could not help but crack up in laughter before her sister elbowed him.

Rick motioned for Carl to make a quick exit before turning to a shameful Daryl and raising an eyebrow.

But then just when Beth thought things could not get any crazier, Daryl opened his mouth again!

"Let me marry her Hershel!" he said. "I will take care of her and the baby! It's not her fault. Beth was completely innocent until I touched her and I did not mean to hurt her! I never would! Please just let me make an honest woman out of her!"

This time Beth froze. Even though she could still hear and see everything going on, she could not move!

_Why in the world would he say that for?_

At first, her father seemed speechless but then he relaxed a minute while actually considering what the hunter just proposed.

"Hershel!" Daryl said this time quite determined. "I will marry Beth one way or another but I would rather you do it!"

_Oh my God! Daddy No! _

"So you are telling me you want to marry my baby girl and take responsibility for this." Hershel said in a voice still hard but much lower. "And how soon would you be willing to do that?"

"Right Now!" Daryl answered firmly. "Here in front of everyone!"

_Wait! What? What the hell is he talking about? No!_

"Well, that is probably a good idea! He would protect her, Hershel!" Rick pointed out hoping that this mess might just get resolved with his right-hand-man still being alive. "The man did just climbed barb wire to save her from that walker!"

_Shut up Rick! That is not how you are supposed to be helping! That is a horrible ideal!_

"I think I have a dress somewhere!" her sister offered still shaking over watching her Daddy damn near kill Daryl. "I-It's not white but still fancy."

_Butt out Maggie!_

But then to Beth's horror Carol also pointed out "Well, there is stuff to make a cake and Patrick could fetch those beef roasts!"

_No! No food! There would be no wedding! Why were the words not coming out!_

"If one wanted to go all out, there are some beautiful flowers growing just outside the fence!" Sasha whispered.

_What the hell was wrong with these people?_

All of a sudden the room erupted in chatter revolving wedding plans while Rick helped Daryl and her father negotiated the details!

_You have to be kidding me?_ The young woman just wanted to disappear. Once again, she had enough!

Everyone in that prison acted like Beth was so helpless and that made her blood boil. For one night she was the strong one for perhaps the strongest person who even resided there!

Beth wasn't weak. Sure, she didn't take out walkers by the dozen like some of the others but she had also proved countless times she could take out a walker or two if needed and suspected even a person, if they threatened harm to her family.

Yeah, Beth had her moment back at the farm, but everybody else had their own emotional break one way or another too. She had been there to help each and every one of them through it too – even if helping one of them led to her being in the current state she was in at the moment!

Beth wasn't a little girl anymore either and it was getting real old that everyone still treated her that way. She had turned 18 among the chaos of this world and would have graduated high school last June. In fact she would have been away at college this very moment if the world hadn't gone to shit!

The only damn thing left that had made Beth different from any of them had been her purity and now even that was gone too. Hell, she even had the scars to prove it! She wondered how many other women could have survived a night with Daryl Dixon long enough to get knocked up! Especially, if it was their first time!

Determined to find her voice, the young woman finally snapped!

Beth picked up the vase of wildflowers off the table beside the gurney and threw it as hard as she could against the concrete wall! The glass shattered into a million pieces.

Startled, everyone instantly got quiet and stared at the shards scattered on the floor in shock.

"Hey!" she shouted on top of her lungs! "Remember be? You know the dumbass that slept with Daryl Dixon and got knocked up the first time she ever had sex! Well guess what? I am not marrying him!"

Daryl glared at her.

"Watch your mouth, Beth!" her Daddy snapped. "And of course you are going to marry him!"

"I know you think I am with the way you are acting! You are trying to trade me like one of those pregnant cows out there!" she shot back at her father motioning toward the ranch. "But I am not marrying someone who I spent one night with and you cannot make me!"

"So are you saying that you let this man take your virginity and you don't even love him?" her exasperated father asked. "Bethy, I did not raise you to be that way!"

Daryl seemed pretty intent on knowing her answer as well.

"No Daddy!" she said in a cracked voice. "Of course I love him! But….but the only reason he wants to marry me is because I am pregnant!"

Tears started rolling down Beth's face.

"Beth…." Daryl started to say.

"Stop Daryl! Everyone get the hell out!" she ordered. "I mean it! I just want to talk to Maggie and my father!"

"She's right!" Carol asserted. "The girl has been through hell. Let's just give her a moment to think."

Rick looked down at Beth and then nodded at the others. Daryl picked up his crossbow and stormed out of the room. One by one everyone else reluctantly followed him.

"Bethy, you don't understand!" Hershel Greene was gently pleading with his daughter as he sat beside her on the bed, griping her hand. "The best thing for everyone – including you and that baby – is to marry Daryl."

"Daddy is right!" Maggie said agreeing with her father as she crawled up behind Beth in the bed and was snuggled against her back. "Despite everything, he is a good man and would do anything for you and your child."

"No! This isn't how I pictured any of this, you know!" Beth sobbed trying to make them understand. "I thought…..Well I thought that when I got married and had a baby it would be with someone who would love me. Not this! I am so ashamed of what I let happen!"

They did not respond but just glanced at each other.

"I thought it would be like you and Glen!" Beth continued peering up at her sister.

Maggie gave Beth a half smile like she was holding back something. She went to say what was on her mind but their father gently shook his head stopping her.

He stared at his tearful youngest daughter intently for a long while before asking her, "Bethy, what makes you so sure that he doesn't love you? The man was quick to ask for your hand."

"Not to mention him being ripped to shreds climbing that fence in order to save you!" Maggie added.

"That's just because he is… well Daryl! He just does that kind of stuff!" the blond sniffled not understanding why they did not get that.

They both just stared at her without a word.

Finally her father said "Never less, Beth, please listen to me." Hershel continued looking into her eyes with a sad look on his face. "I am a crippled old man. I am afraid that I cannot always protect you anymore. In this world we are living in, women and children do not last that long! Most of those people out there once had kids. Now there is only nine left! Nine Beth!

The blonde's heart sank at the thought of all of the new arrivals who had lost their children.

"I know that Maggie already has Glen who has proved he would die for her." He continued. "It would just help me sleep so much better at night if I knew Daryl was also watching out for you - especially now that you are in this condition. Regardless of how I feel about the man at the moment, I know deep down inside that he would!"

Her father grinned a sad smile which broke Beth heart even more! She had no idea that the old man worried about this!

"Don't be silly Daddy! Nothing is going to happen to you or me" she said smiled back reassuringly. "We are safe now. I already take care of Judith practically by myself. I can take care of another one too."

Hershel took a breath.

"Yes, we have been lucky as of late. Very lucky. But that is what this is Beth – luck! We won't know when and if the day will come that it we finally use it up! One day we might just have to run and I am sorry sweetheart but I'm afraid that I am no longer able to do that!" he said looking down at his missing leg before adding. "If that time comes, Judith will have Rick protecting her, keeping her safe. Who will look out for you and your child?"

Beth was taken aback by her father's statement. It had never occurred to her that the prison would not always be their home. Perhaps, it was just too painful to contemplate.

"You don't know what it is like out there Beth!" Maggie whispered into her ear with a shudder. "The Walkers have herded up in greater numbers now and are desperate for food! We run into bad people from time to time when we are out. You know what happened at Woodbury! It is even worse than when we left the farm and you were there to see how hard it was with Lori. Imagine if we were also toting around an infant!"

The gravity of her situation finally dawned on her. They were right! Beth had fooled herself into thinking that things were fine now but the truth was that as long as dead people walked the earth, no one was! She had almost died just today, in their usually safe potato field! She would have been glad to if it meant saving Judith but what if she found herself alone! How would she be able to keep now two of them truly safe?

Beth looked up at her father and sister, seeing the concern in their eyes. How could she be so dumb? This was not the regular world anymore where people fell in love and got married! That was only just a stupid dream. A relic of the past! Yes, Maggie had been lucky to find it with Glen but that was just by chance! Regardless of rather or not Daryl loved her, Beth knew that he was the most capable person in that entire prison. If she was going to be knocked up, it was probably best that it was by him.

"Okay!" she whispered as another tear rolled down her cheek. "But let's just get it over with! No dresses, flowers, cake, or food!"

Hershel kissed her top of her head.

"I know that you would come to your senses, Bethy!" he whispered. "It can be as simple as you want!"

She bravely smiled up at the old man, though tears were still falling. She had trapped Daryl after all and the thought of that killed her.! She already wondered if he would hate her! There was no way she was going to rub it in by trying to make this wedding more than it really was.

Seeming to read her thoughts, her father added with a wink. "Quit thinking so much, darling! Things rarely turn out how we think! Always remember that the Lord works in mysterious ways!"

"Besides Beth, think about it!" Maggie continued with a chuckle as her father went to collect her groom and the rest of their unusual but tight knit family. "In all the time we have known Daryl Dixon, when has he ever tried to make a move on anyone else besides you?"


	11. Chapter 11 - The Apocalyptic Lottery

It was all a blur. Beth did not even look up when her father returned with everyone who she had previously banished. Maggie still sat behind her cradling the young woman in her arms like she knew her sister needed her to literally hold her up! When Rick quietly asked her if she was ready, Beth simply whispered "Yes."

"We are gathered here in the holy matrimony…" she heard her father start but her ears did not make out rest of the words.

Beth could not believe that this was happening right here in the infirmary. A blotched up wedding as the result of one mistake. Now Daryl was going to be bound to her forever, a wife that he did not love. She had made her bed so now she had to lie in it! This whole thing seemed more like a funeral than a wedding.

"Do you Daryl Dixon promise to honor, protect, and care for Beth as long as you both shall live in sickness and in health remaining faithful until the good lord calls you home?" Hershel continued.

"I swear!" she heard him declare in a very soft voice. Part of her could not believe that he actually said it. She heard sobs ringing out from Carol and the bride wondered if it was joy or grief causing them.

"And do you Beth Greene take Daryl to be your husband. Will you love, honor, and cherish him in sickness and health, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?"

Beth looked up for the first time since the entire thing had started.

Her eyes traveled around the room taking in the elated faces peering back at her waiting for an answer before finally resting them on the man before her. Still covered in dirt, grim, and blood, he did look like a mountain man but he was hers. His long wild hair was pushed back out of his face and his muscular bare arms were marked up with cuts. The crossbow hanged on his back over the angel wings he always wore that covered so many scars.

She knew this person was someone who knew her better than she knew herself sometimes. The father of her child! As far as protecting them was concerned, her and the baby resting innocently in her belly had won the apocalyptic lottery.

He caught her teary eyes and she felt that familiar electricity that she always experienced every time. His lips slowly turned up into a half smile as if telling her it would be okay. Just like everyone else in that room, he wanted her to say yes.

Suddenly, it was like that night in his cell almost three months ago. Beth could not tell Daryl no. Perhaps she would never be able to. In that moment, it felt right even if what they were doing might actually be wrong. Maybe, he would grow to love her. Maybe she loved him enough for the both of them.

"I do!" she whispered still looking his straight into his dark blue eyes. She seen the relief wash over them as she did.

Beth felt Maggie's tears falling onto her back behind her.

"Then I declare these two husband and wife!" her father's voice seemed to boom. "What God has joined together let no man tear apart!"

Daryl started toward her but Hershel put out his arm stopping him. "She needs to rest now before you kiss the bride!" he chuckled.

Amazing the effect a wedding could have on a man who was almost insane just a few minutes before Beth couldn't help but think.

"Then I will stay with her! Apparently, we have a lot to talk about!" her new husband insisted but the old man just shook his head no.

"Daryl, she almost lost Judith, was almost killed herself, confessed secrets I suspect she never wanted to reveal, watched her old man lose it, and then quite unexpectantly ended up married to you! I think Beth deserves a little alone time for a while!" her Daddy explained wisely. "After all there is only so much a person can take before the shock takes hold of them!"

Beth was thankful for the intervention! She had a lot to process before taking on a marriage with someone who probably never imagined or wanted to be married.

"You can come back for her after dinner!" Hershel stated.

"I'm not leaving her!" Daryl exclaimed.

"And you won't! She's right here!" Rick finally piped up pulling her husband back by the shoulder and started leading him out the door with Hershel following. "But you are now in the market for a bigger cell! Let's go figure out where you are going to put all your new wife's stuff! Don't forget she also has some of Judith's things and now there will be a new baby…."

Their voices faded as they got further away.

One by one everyone else started congratulating her before making an exit.

"Now you listen to me Beth," Tyreese told the flabbergasted bride. "If that man so much as raises a hand at you, you better let me know!"

"TY!" Carol interjected sternly. "Daryl would NEVER hit her!"

"Just saying!" the gentle giant continued with a wink. "Anyway, Congratulations!"

He put his arm around Sasha, who also offered her own well wishes, and made his way out of the infirmary.

Beth almost choked on her own saliva as Carol leaned down and whispered in her ear once Ty and his sister were gone. "Now you listen to me girl! If that man tries to get all rough with you again when you are doing your duty, I want you to reach down there and grab him up by the nuts! You hear!"

Beth turned every shade of red there was as she quickly looked around the room to make sure no one overheard. Besides Maggie who was cracking up behind her, she did not think anyone had!

"Do you hear me?" the older woman asked her sternly not taking no for an answer! Beth nodded. She had heard Carol a little too loud and clear!

"Good girl!" she said happily as she grabbed the sides of Beth's face with both of her hands and kissed her on the forehead before exiting the room.

"So you are like married to Daryl now, huh?" Carl said walking up eyeing her strangely. "And you are going to have baby!"

"Yep! I guess I am" she replied back at him smiling. "But don't think for a minute that I won't still be bossing you around!"

Carl smiled back but then his face fell. After a minute he said in all seriousness "Don't worry Beth! I think you are going to be a perfect mom. What happened to mine will not happen to you…..with things how they are now and all!"

It touched her that Carl was worried. _Of course he would be! _

"Yes Carl!" she said reassuringly. "I will be fine! We will just have someone else crawling around Cell Block C!"

"But it's still weird that you are married to Daryl though!" the young kid stated making a face.

"I know, right!" she agreed with a laugh. This kid did not even begin to know just how weird it was!

As soon as the coast was clear and everyone had left, Glen started cracking up hysterically.

"Daryl and Beth….married…wow….just WOW!" Glen mused between laughter as he took Maggie's hand and helped her stand up.

Her sister playfully smacked him in the arm but he had obviously been holding it in way too long!

"I mean how in the world did that happened!" he said catching his breath. "Never mind, I do not want to know! I already heard enough!" He started roaring again!

"Glen!" Beth warned but to no avail!

"I mean bruises!" he laughed! "The dumbass bruised you up! No wonder he ran off to the woods for a damn week! What an idiot!"

Maggie slapped him again but this time it wasn't playful! "Glen stop it!" she hissed. "Now is not the time!"

"I am sorry Maggie! This whole thing was just too fucken perfect!" he told his wife still roaring in laughter. "Did you see your damn Dad? I thought for sure Daryl was a goner!"

Even Beth could see the ridiculousness of the situation herself! Never in a million years would she have thought her Daddy would ever try to shoot Daryl!

"Shotgun wedding if I ever saw one!" he continued. "And here I thought he hated me so much! At least I can say that Hershel Greene never tried to kill me!"

Maggie could not help but laugh too, though she at least looked at Beth apologetically.

"Come on Glen! Daddy says she has to rest! She has had a big day!" Maggie said trying to push him out the door.

"Yeah, by the sound of it, you're going need all the rest you can get Beth!" Glen called back over his shoulder before her sister finally yanked him out of the room!

Beth looked up as Daryl stood at the door of the infirmary. She didn't say a word. He curiously studied his young wife before turning his attention to the floor. Silence. Finally, her husband looked back at her and simply said "Come on!" Beth nodded and followed him.

Evidently, the guys had decided that Beth and Daryl needed the holding cell just off the main block down a short hall. It was a lot larger than her old one. Her curtain hung on the entrance and once Beth entered it she was surprised to find a very big bed made from three halved bottom bunks and a regular Queen sized mattress. Her Lady Bug comforter set decorated it.

"Gift from Glen and Maggie." Daryl said dryly pushing past her and sitting his crossbow on a table in the corner that had come from his old cell. He pulled his knife from its sheath, placing it beside the weapon before taking a seat in his cracked brown leather chair beside it.

Beth did not know where else to sit so she took the bed. Glancing around the cell, she noticed that there was nothing else of Daryl's except for the table and chair. Her shelving unit rested on the opposite wall and her dresser was in the middle of the wider one. Her beautiful pictures brightened the walls. She could not imagine Daryl Dixon living here at all.

Beth noticed that the corner opposite of the one already claimed by her husband was bare. She had a pretty good ideal why.

"That is where we will put the baby shit I guess!" he said reading her thoughts.

Beth just nodded as she turned back toward him. He was clean now in a blue and white sleeveless flannel and the pants that she had spent forever mending that very day. His Angel vest hung over the back of the chair.

She had been thankful herself when Maggie had brought her a change of clothes with dinner. Her sore muscles has ached when the cold water from the shower cascaded over her body. The scent of the strawberry shampoo still lingered in her hair. It was nice to be finally clean.

Daryl just stared back at Beth intently. She realized that neither was really sure what they were supposed to do now.

Then suddenly his demeanor changed.

"So why didn't you tell me that I knocked you up?" he spewed out of nowhere, startling Beth. "Or were you ever going to tell me?"

"After a while it would have been quite obvious to everyone Daryl!" she shot back. _How dare he? She was trying to protect him!_

"You weren't going to tell anyone who the father was though, were you?" the redneck shouted jumping to his feet and pointing at her accusingly.

Beth jumped up right along with him. Husband or not, she wasn't going to just let this asshole yell at her.

"Well if you would have kept your mouth shut we wouldn't be in this mess now would we?" she yelled back throwing up her hands. "Rick would have calmed Daddy down eventually but NO! You had to play Daryl fucken Dixon once again and ride in on that white horse and save everybody!"

"Just so I got this straight in my head!" he spewed back. "You were just going to pretend to some kid that he didn't have a Daddy and try to take care of it yourself! Hell Beth, you are already raising Judith! What if stuff went to shit again? You were going to risk your child's life like that when you knew damn well he had a father! That was stupid even if he did belong to some no-good redneck!"

"What? That had nothing to do with it! God Daryl sometimes you are so dense!" she yelled at the idiot. She paused at the thought of the danger she almost put her child in. "It wasn't until right before that sham of a wedding did I even think about what would happen if there was no longer a prison and that's why I changed my mind!"

"So that is how your Daddy talked you into getting hitched, huh?" Daryl howled back staring at her with eyes like daggers.

"God….yes…no….I don't know!" she said tears coming to her eyes but still not backing down. "Damit Daryl, I was just trying to figure out a way to save your ass!"

"Me? And how in the fuck did you figure that?" he asked still very angry but obviously confused.

"Because I knew this would happen if they found out…my Daddy would see red…everyone would be expecting stuff….you would try to play hero!" Once again Beth felt the floodgates opening. She took a deep breath before she continued. "I was trying not to trap you! You know? Keep you from being stuck with some dumb girl you didn't really want! But then your dumbass went and trapped yourself!"

"What the hell Beth? Is that what you fucken think? That I don't want you? That you were trapping…..me?" he gruffly asked her almost like he was in disbelief.

"That's what I know!" she shot back defiantly standing inches from his face.

Daryl seemed speechless! He stood there staring at her curiously while catching his breath. Beth continued to stay eye to eye with him.

"Beth you never fucking seem to stop amazing me! I am the one that practically forced you to marry me, remember?" he finally said softly.

"And don't you think that I know why?" she said firmly.

"Obviously not!" he chuckled but not very friendly almost evil. "Apparently you have me confused as some crazy ass man of honor! You wouldn't be expecting in the first place if that were true!"

Frustrated she went to turn away and walk back to the bed but he caught her arm and turned her around once again gazing deep into her eyes.

"You should have fucken told me. If you or your Daddy would have said no today, I'm not sure what I would have done. Plan B would have been taking you away with me anyway tonight. Once everyone else was asleep, I would have snatched you up! Then what the hell would we have done? I told you once, Beth, I am no saint!" Daryl said to her in the most dangerous voice she ever heard him speak – and she had heard him be pretty scary in the past when dealing with threats!

Beth looked at him in shock!

"You were going to kidnap me? And where the hell would you have taken me Daryl?" she asked in horror.

"Don't know!" he shrugged. "Hadn't thought that far!"

"Seems like I am not the only one then with crazy ideals, huh?" she said freeing herself from his grip but Daryl quickly caught her limb again before she could back away.

Pulling her close he whispered in her ear "Doesn't matter because now you're stuck with me. I was counting on the fact that Hershel Greene is such a religious man. Believe me Beth, I'm the one who trapped you!"

Beth was taken aback! She pulled away and looked incredibly into his eyes searching for answers. All she found was a stoic face.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I wanted to and no child of mine is going to be in this fucken up world without a father!" Daryl answered eyes wild like a beast.

Beth's heart sank. She had been right in that he only married her because she was pregnant. In fact, he was apparently willing to risk anything to make sure she became his wife because of it. But at least he didn't hate her for being pregnant. If the hunter hated her for anything it was for not telling him. A single salty tear rolled down her cheek.

"Damit! Let go of me!" Beth asserted and Daryl immediately dropped her arm.

He went to touch her face but his bride just turned and walked away. When she finally reached the bed, she laid down in the fetal position facing the curtain clad door and pulled the lady bug comforter up to her ear. More silent tears sprang from her eyes. She heard Daryl sigh, settle back into the chair, and begin to clean his weapons.

Beth could not even figure out why she was bawling. She thought she had already come to terms with the fact that he was not in love with her or anything. That is not what this was supposed to be about. She would marry him and he would protect her and the baby so what the heck was wrong with her? It must have simply been the hormones or something she figured.

Even though she hadn't known what to expect, this was not how she ever pictured her wedding night the young bride mused to herself as she began to drift off. Not that she had ever pictured a shot gun wedding either, so maybe this was how those things went. When Beth Greene had woke up this morning it had only been an ordinary day but somehow she was going to sleep now married to Daryl Dixon.

Lord help her!

_**Author's note: I want to thank everyone for the response that I have gotten so far for this story! I actually wrote it a while ago and the girls from the Rainbow Room encouraged me to publish it. I was not expecting anyone but them to find it on here and am completely overwhelmed by the amount of views and favorites this is getting! I did not think anyone else would be interested in reading it!**_

_**This is actually my first fanfiction story, though I have been a writer for quite some time! It is complete but none of it was edited so I am quickly doing that before I post each chapter. I know that there are still some mistakes and plan to go back thru and clean it up after I get all of it on here. I should be done posted before the Season 5 premier this Sunday.**_

_**Don't think that just because Bethyl is now married, that this is over yet! As you can see, there is more than one issue these two need to work through first! Also, more smut will be coming! Just be patient!**_

_**Again, thank you so much for all the support! ~ Walkingmin**_


	12. Chapter 12 - Elephant in the Room

The red Georgia clay slid through Beth's hands as she covered the seeds she just planted with the dirt. Judith sat beside her on a blanket busy stacking cups. The baby was dressed all snug in a heavy sleeper, sweater, and bonnet. The air had grown colder as a front had been passing through over the last week. Now was the time to plant the cool weather vegetables.

They did not let Beth do much digging these days with her expecting and all, but she was still able to help Rick and Carl plant the tiny seeds in the long trench that they made.

"Pretty soon we will have lettuce again," Carl said while Beth covered the last seed with dirt. The blonde looked up at the kid and smiled. She knew that he liked how they were now able to eat more normal food. "Believe it or not, I have really missed salad."

"It would have been great with that Pizza last night." Beth agreed.

The milking had improved so much that Carol was able to take a bit left over after the kids drank their glass each day and make simple cheese. Using herbs and tomatoes from their now flourishing gardens, the older woman also created sauce. Sourdough starter allowed them the ability to have crust along with other types of breads. It had been heaven to have pizza again. Something that the survivors had never dreamed possible.

Carl grinned from ear to ear. For the first time in a long time, he was actually starting to seem like a kid again. The turn had made him grow up way to fast, forcing him to do and experience things that no one should have to.

For the last week they had been planting new crops. Her daddy said that the lettuce, mustard, peas, spinach, carrots, and cabbage needed to go into the grown now. Beth had said a silent prayer thanking God that they lived in Georgia with a nearly year-round growing season. Any frost would be light and they would watch the sky in order to guard the young plants with plastic against any unusual thin layers of snow.

"Well, we are done with the lettuce!" she said cheerfully rising to her feet and gathering up Judith. "All that is left is the cabbage."

"I have to go help my Dad clean the pig pen." Carl said rather unenthusiastic. "We have the row over there ready for it if you want to finish that up."

"No problem," Beth replied as she grabbed Judy's cups and blanket off the ground. "I should have it done by the time you all finish."

The young woman watched the teen walk off toward the small pig farm in the distance. As much as she loved Carl, it was nice to have a rare moment alone.

Beth walked over to the row where the cabbage was going to be planted and settled Judy on the blanket. Coming to her knees, the young woman began to sprinkle the tiny seeds into the trench, letting her mind wander.

It was three weeks since Beth became Mrs. Daryl Dixon and had her husband not been on a run, the hunter probably would have been nervously hovering over his wife. The blonde was positive that he would not be thrilled about her news of being back in the fields after what previously happened the last time she was out here.

Beth shuddered at the thought of seeing that walker almost snatch up Judith. She could not help but to look around at the fences despite being confident they were now safe.

Turned out that the "overnight build up" really had been a small herd that stumbled across their home. They had gotten through the first barrier after a section gave way. The fence crew were able to quickly patch the fence with the help of Daryl, Sasha, Tyreese, and Bob who had just returned from the run. However, about ten walkers had gotten through in the process and ruined a third of the potato crop. None of them realized that the young woman and Judith were harvesting in the fields until they noticed Beth fighting off them off with the spade. The story went that Daryl climbed over the barbed wire that separated them in about a second and killed that last monster just as it went to bite Beth.

The men replaced the damaged section and reinforced the rest of the outer fence the following day. Now wood spikes guarded the entire perimeter.

"Babababa" Judith babbled banging her cups together and interrupting Beth's thoughts and quickly brought her back to the present.

"It's almost time for your nap pumpkin!" Beth told her. "As soon as mama is done, I will turn you over to Auntie Maggie and she is going to lay down with you today."

"Mags….Mags" the baby continued before returning her interest back to the cups. Beth noticed Judith's eyes getting very droopy.

Maggie was staying behind from the runs more and more it seemed. She claimed it was to better organize the fence patrol but Beth suspected that Glen was having something to do with it. The blonde knew that ever since they escaped being held prisoner at Woodbury, her brother-in-law was less than enthusiastic about his wife leaving the safety of the prison. The younger sister overheard them fighting about it for months and agreed with Glen - though she would never let Maggie know that! Beth wanted her to be safe.

The elder Greene sister was watching Judith this afternoon because Beth was meeting Carol in the infirmary for her first pregnancy exam. Her daddy decided that his daughter and other ladies who might find themselves in the same condition, would be more comfortable if the older woman was doing the examining instead of him. Therefore, it was agreed upon that Hershel would train Carol how to be a mid-wife. Beth was going to be her Guiney pig.

The young woman agreed with the idea, secretly relieved that her daddy would not be seeing places he hadn't since his daughter was a child, but also because it made perfect sense! Maggie also had dropped hints lately about wanting a child one day and there were many other women at the prison of child-bearing age.

Daryl did not liked it though and pretty much threw a fit at first! However, after Hershel had explained to him that he would be right there the entire pregnancy, her husband calmed down a bit. Beth could not figure out what all the fuss was over.

The thing was that her Daddy had never even actually delivered a baby before either – at least a human one! People tended to forget he was a vet.

Never less, the blonde had no doubt that the old man would know how to birth the child and could show Carol as well. She just hoped it would be nothing like when the calf was born!

Since Beth only had sex one night in her whole life, it was pretty easy to calculate how far along she was. That made predicting when the little bundle of Dixon might arrive a whole lot easier too. It also allowed Carol the opportunity to learn the symptoms and measurements by tracking along in the pregnancy book.

Things had settled down a lot since Beth and Daryl's shocking mistake was made public and quickly corrected by the marriage. Glen was still having a lot of fun teasing her husband about it though. Word was getting around to some of the others at the prison. Sometimes, they whispered and glanced as she walked by but Beth tried not to pay attention.

The couple even began to settle into some sort of routine. Sharing the same space was only somewhat awkward now. A couple of days after they got married, Beth got tired of seeing his stupid trash bag and finally decided to put Daryl's stuff into her wardrobe since it was obvious he would be staying. It wasn't like he had much anyway.

It still felt ridiculous that Daryl Dixon lived with all her girly things but the new bride reckoned it was the man's own fault since he insisted on getting married in the first place. He was the one who brought her back all that stuff anyway! It also did not deter him from giving her things now.

A couple of nights after they were married, the blonde was startled awake by Daryl dragging a crib across the concrete floor. He placed the baby bed in the previously bare corner.

It was the most beautiful crib that Beth ever laid eyes on! Oval in shape, a yellow lace dust ruffle hanged from the white wooden bed and little pale animals decorated the attached mobile. Inside was satin matching yellow sheets and a lacy white quilt.

Not realizing that his wife was awake, the hunter stepped back to admire his work.

"Oh my! Where did you find that?" Beth squealed, causing Daryl to literally jump.

"Damn woman! You scared the hell out of me!" he chastened before walking toward the bed where she laid.

Motioning his arm in the direction of the crib in the corner Daryl informed her, "I found it in this house I was raiding and figured you might want it for the baby. You usually like of that kind of stuff!"

"It's gorgeous Daryl!" She exclaimed jumping up to examine it. Her husband grinned his typical half smile seeming to be pleased that she approved.

Running her hands over the rails and touching the plush bedding, Beth could not help but picture her new baby laying in it. She wondered for a second if the child inside her was a little girl or boy.

Seemingly mesmerized, Daryl silently watched her examine the bed a moment before asking, "Think it will do?"

"Of course!" she happily replied. "It is perfect!"

Beth was so excited Daryl had thought to bring the crib back that she immediately rushed to him, throwing her arms around his neck! Feeling the hunter stiffen, the blonde realized what she had done but decided not to care. He was her husband after all! So what if she embraced him?

Awkwardly, he reached up to her side and tried to hug her back. Beth could not help but wonder for a minute how this man ever managed to get her pregnant. _It must have been the Jack._

"So you really do like it?" he asked her tenderly.

Beth nodded. "Yes! It doesn't even matter if the baby is a boy or girl." Daryl's wife raised her head and gazed up into his eyes despite the ever-present electrical current radiating out of them.

"So I did something good?" he asked with a shit eating grin as he brushed an unruly strand of hair away from her face.

"Of course!" she confirmed beaming back at him.

Finally, Beth lowered her arms and got back in bed. He plopped down in his chair and spent the rest of the night excitingly telling the story about how he came upon the crib.

While no one's ever accused Daryl Dixon of being gentle, he had been very tender toward Beth ever since the night of the argument. The hunter surprised her the next morning after waking her with a soft kiss on the cheek. Beth wondered how long he was hovering over the bed trying to work up the nerve. "Mm' sorry that you had to marry an asshole!" he mumbled. She just nodded her head in response.

The first week of matrimony he slept in the brown chair covered in a tan wool blanket.

However, one night the temperature dropped causing Beth to lay shivering under the covers with her teeth chattering. The blonde did not think she had ever been more chilled in her life!

"Your lips are blue!" Daryl gasped in alarm when he seen her. He was coming into the cell after cleaning up.

"I'll be alright." she replied back through gritted teeth. "My bloods just got to get thicker is all." Her teeth were having a difficult time stopping the chatter enough to talk.

"Blood thicker, huh?" he replied inquisitively but Beth did not even try to respond.

Daryl walked over to his chair and grabbed his wool blanket and threw it over her.

You can't do that!" she began to chasten him. "You will freeze!"

"I'm fine." was his mumbled response but Beth was not going to drop it.

"You will not be fine when you get sick!" she continued frustrated.

"Beth, I said I was fine so just drop it," he retorted in a tone matching his annoyance with her.

Beth abruptly turned onto her side toward the door and let out a sigh in defeat. She could not understand why the man was being so stubborn. Then the young woman had a thought.

After a few minutes, Beth quietly said in a little voice, "Daryl, I'm still cold."

It wasn't a complete lie. She really was still shivering in the darkness under the covers despite being a little warmer.

She thought she heard him mumble some rather explicit words under his breath before getting up and walking towards the bed.

Daryl slowly climbed in just inches from her back and reached out with shaky hands. Then he pulled her spine against him until she felt his breath on the back of her neck. Beth instantly warmed up.

After that Daryl slept beside his wife every night. Eventually they got use to the close contact and it became another part of their routine. When he did not have watch, the hunter normally came to bed shortly after her. Beth would usually lay on her husband's chest listening to his heart beat while telling him about things she had done that day. The young woman loved those moments.

Yet, Daryl never tried to collect on his side of the marriage bargain and that bothered the hell out of Beth – even if it made things much easier on her emotions and body.

In fact, things were pretty much like they always were with the exception that people now expected the pair to be hanging out all the time and of course the fact that the couple slept in the same bed together.

Still Beth could not shake the feeling that they were simply playing house. She did not really feel married at all.

At first Beth thought that perhaps pregnancy was a turn off but it did not seem to be phasing Daryl when he was asleep. Several times throughout the night, she would wake up to a hardness pressing against her body. His hands would be placed in locations that would have been deemed scandalous only a few weeks before. The young bride just pretended that she did not notice.

Once the strap on her tank fell from her shoulder and the man looked at the thing like it was on fire until she pulled it up!

Besides, she was only 14 weeks pregnant so it was not like Beth was _that_ big yet.

However, Beth knew her husband had a lot of demons keeping him from consciously touching his wife that way again. The biggest elephant in the room being the sight that caused him to run off the woods all those weeks ago.

It would not surprise Beth if Daryl never touched her _like that_ again for the rest of their lives.

A tired cry rung out and brought the young woman back to reality. Judith was exhausted and ready for her nap. Beth was relieved when she realized how close to the end of the row she was. She quickly finished up, covered the seeds, and gathered up the baby and her things.

The blonde was glad that she was finishing her planting earlier than she had originally anticipated. Now she had time to get a quick shower before meeting Carol.


	13. Chapter 13 - Everybody Talks

"How old is that girl anyway? For someone so young she sure seems to get around!" a female voice rang out in the shower room where other women were also cleaning up. They had not noticed that Beth quietly joined them.

"I heard that she was only eighteen!" another responded. "That's barely legal!"

"Are you freaking serious?" one of the gossipers exclaimed.

"I knew that she was young. In all honesty, it makes me feel better that she is at least eighteen," Beth heard Mr. Andrews sternly say. "I would hate for her to be shackled down with that older man before becoming an adult."

"So this girl…whatever her name is again…has a baby with Rick who is not even a year old yet! Then she turns around and gets pregnant by Daryl too!" the first lady went on. "What do they do over there in C Block? Share?"

"Her name is Beth and I heard they all were really shocked because no one knew that she was even seeing the man. I think the girl may still have even been with Rick!" one of them said all matter of fact. "I just don't know how Hershel Greene could have a daughter like that! You know what they say about the quiet ones!"

"And then the story goes that Daryl threw a fit and insisted that she marry him! He was even willing to kill Rick if he had too" the exclaimer shrieked again, making the other women gasp in shock! "Some say that he has always been in love with her and that Rick actually raped her and that is how she had Judith!

Beth had heard enough. She fumed from inside her shower stall. They were making her out to be a slut and Daryl as some love sick weirdo who wanted to kill Rick of all people. But worse still was the whole "Rick raped Beth" talk. Who would really believe this crap? The thought made her gag.

The young woman was just getting ready to march out there and tell the women off when the older voice, with much more sense, corrected them.

"Well you all are wrong about Rick. The baby does not even belong to that girl. Hershel and the older daughter…what is her name again? My memory is failing me these days! Anyway, they explained to me that its mother was Rick's wife and she died during childbirth." Mrs. Anderson informed them, setting the record straight.

Finally, a voice of reason! Beth was thankful that the older woman knew the truth.

"Maggie" one of the women replied. "The oldest is named Maggie!"

"That's right! Lovely girl! Married herself to that nice young man! Anyhow, that poor Maggie tried to perform a C-section on the real mother when the prison was attacked, not knowing what she was doing! Afterwards, Rick's boy had to put down his own mom!"

"But the baby calls her mama?" the one that suggested she was a hussy countered.

"Of course she does!" Mrs. Anderson quickly interjected. "That sweet girl took the baby under her wing and has raised the child ever since. She basically is her mom especially since I'm told the father went coo-coo afterwards in grief, if you know what I mean?"

Beth was thankful for the way the older woman was defending her. She always liked the tough older lady.

"So she was never with Rick at all!" replied the excited one, with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "So all the romantic things that I heard about Daryl being head over hills in love with her must be wrong too!"

The pregnant blonde started washing her hair as quickly as possible, trying to get away from this conversation she obviously was not supposed to be hearing. How dare they casually discuss her personal life in the shower?

"Well there might be truth buried in there somewhere." Mrs. Anderson said with a giggle. "Everyone has always insisted that the wild man was obsessed with the girl. Kind of makes since as men like him tend to be attracted to the good little innocent ones. Also, the Greene's talk about him stepping in and making sure the kid survived after Rick went all looney tunes on them. Calls it little Ass Kicker! Every so often you will see the man holding the baby in his arms."

The rest of the women swooned over the thought of Daryl holding Judith.

Just when Beth was beginning to think that Mr. Anderson was so wise, the woman had to go and say something like that! Daryl was not "obsessed" with her in the least bit. She just got pregnant. Perhaps, she was going a little senile?

Not that she was going to correct the old lady or anything! Beth actually hoped that these chatty busybodies really believed this much better version of her marriage!

"So then he probably really did insist on marrying her? What a cad! That man has to be at least in his late thirties." the spiteful one added to the conversation. "She is basically a little girl!"

"Maggie's husband…the nice kid…was teasing him over Hershel trying to shoot him after realizing that his daughter was expecting over breakfast the other day!" Mrs. Anderson told them making Beth decide to be on alert to what was spoken around her! "I guess that Daryl stood right up and told everyone he had taken her virginity and wanted to make an honest woman out of her! Could you imagine?"

"Why in the world would he be so obsessed with her? Have you seen that man?" the first woman exclaimed. "He is hot in the most primal sort of way. Seriously, the man could crack rocks over those arms. Not to mention the fact that he probably could have been a real bad dude prior to all this shit! Why is he in love with such an innocent sweet girl? Don't get me wrong she is very pretty but there are so many voluptuous and experienced women here who would bend over anything so he could fuck them!"

"Oh, I know right!" someone not previously in the conversation agreed. "Just give me one night with the redneck and he will be saying "Beth who?"

_What!? She's like to see them try!_

The truth was while she always thought of him as such in his own way, Beth never considered rather other women thought Daryl was handsome or not. However, the more his young wife thought about it, the more she began to understand why someone might want to get their hands on him. Not only did he reek of all things male, but he could protect them better than most other men. The young girl knew firsthand how important that was nowadays and it was one of the reasons Beth agreed to marry him, though she seriously doubted if she would have gone through with it had she not already been in love with the hunter. Still, the world falling apart had apparently turned love and romance into a case study of what was behind the attraction between males and females in the most primal sense.

She looked down at her body and noted her small breasts and skinny shape. Was that why Daryl was not trying to sleep with her? Was she just an innocent little girl to him that he got knocked up after drinking a little too much?"

Beth started to wonder if the redneck had been getting around with other women. What if he was sleeping with one or even some of them now? Would she have a right to say anything? He did promise to be faithful in his vowels, didn't he?

She had a hard time picturing him being with another woman at all but that did little to calm her fears. She also had never imagined that Daryl would knock her up either, yet here she was pregnant!

"Have you heard the rumor that he will kill any guy that tried to come near her?" the true love advocate asked them.

"Yeah, I remember hearing someone say that Aaron really did not get attacked by a lurker but instead was killed by Daryl after he unwittingly confessed his love for the twit." the mean woman said dryly. "I thought it was bullshit at the time and much more likely that she was just trying to use her body to buy some protection. Some of you would not believe the things I have seen at other camps. A girl has to do what she had to do to survive!"

Daryl did not kill Aaron! _What in the world was going around this prison? _

"However, now that I know the baby's background, it makes me wonder!" she continued. "Maybe he came home and forced himself on the chit after all that and hence the girl got pregnant. It was not uncommon for that to happen to these little girls nowadays. That must be why her Daddy threw such a fit. Once I seen a guy rape a girl he claimed and nearly killed her. It is really useless to try and fight back."

Beth was starting to understand where that woman's cynicism was coming from and was horrified about all the bad stuff she must have witnessed. The blonde was beginning to understand how lucky she was to have who did as her family. While they had been through hell as well, she never had to be worried about anything like that. Especially within her own group!

"There is no way. I'm pretty sure we are overthinking this," the nice younger one exclaimed. "He probably just finally realized that he was in love with the girl and told her in some romantic way."

Beth almost choked. It did not go down quite that way either.

"Well I could care less about Miss Thing! All I want to know is how he is in bed!" the first one stated loudly while everyone else in the shower room giggled. "I bet he has a huge package and a girl can't help but wonder how he likes his sex."

Beth saw red and had heard enough! Abruptly, the young wife turned the shower off and quickly got dressed. There was no way she was going to just stand here and listen to these women talk about her husband like this - shotgun wedding or not! Just because someone might have had it bad at another place, did not mean that anyone was like that here.

As she was exiting the room, Beth could not help but to call them all out! Popping her head back through the doorway she even shocked her own self by shouting:

"Rough Bitches! Just so you know, Daryl likes it rough!"

Beth was still steaming when she reached the infirmary. She knew that people had been talking but never in a million years did the blonde imagined it would be stuff like that! She began to realize how her family's laziness about explaining Judith was coming back to haunt her.

"What is wrong, Bethy?" her father asked after she walked into the room.

The pair seemed ready for her. Carol was already gathering supplies that she was checking off of a list.

"Nothing Daddy!" Beth replied, not wanting to talk about it. Her disgust about the conversation must have been showing on her face.

Hershel Greene looked at his daughter skeptically but did not probe her further.

"You ready Beth?" Carol asked turning her attention to her patient. The older woman seemed excited about learning to be a midwife.

"Yep! Sure am." she said happily plopping on the table. At least she had been the one Daryl knocked up and married even if he probably would never have sex with her again.

"Let's get started then. You need to measure her belly first, Carol." Hershel said sitting at his desk supervising in the background. "It is helpful that we know precisely when the date of conception occurred. Compare the measurements against what they should be at 14 weeks.

Beth was thinking about how Daryl would not touch any of those skuzzy ladies with a ten foot pole as Carol carefully measured her bump. She decided that he might have back in the day while running around with Merle, but not these days. Her brain just could not fathom any scenario in which he would.

"Beth I was asking about you symptoms!" a frustrated Carol called out interrupting her thoughts. "Where is your mind this evening?"

Embarrassed, the young blonde looked up to see her Daddy and the woman studying her with strange looks on their faces!

"Elizabeth, you need to tell us what is wrong with you! Did you fight with Daryl?" the eldest Greene demanded.

"W-What? D-Daryl? Oh no! I am getting along fine with him," Beth exclaimed stuttering. "Besides, he is still out on that run. Haven't even seen him all day. It is other people at this prison that are really getting on my nerves. Some people need to keep their noses on their faces!"

Carol and her Daddy looked at her a minute before nodded toward each other in understanding.

"Beth," Carol started. "People talk. They talk all the time. They did so before and will continue too. Especially now that there is even less to keep them entertained."

"Just human nature honey." the old man agreed. "It does not matter in the least bit what someone says if you know the truth in your own heart."

"I know, Daddy," Beth said as she fiddled with her hands on her lap. "I just was not expecting the kinds of things they were talking about! Here I was so concerned what people would think about me expecting and come to find out some of them think this is my second child with two different men within a year!"

She decided to leave out that she was surprisingly very jealous about the stuff they were saying about her husband.

A new understanding washed over the two people before her when they realized what she was saying.

"Do you mean they think you had Judith with Rick and now are pregnant by Daryl?" Carol asked.

"Something like that! They think I get around I guess!" Beth responded.

Carol cracked up in a fit of laughter!

"Bethy, you must understand how Judith confuses them! I think we all do because some people have trouble understanding the world out of the social norms from before!" her father soothingly tried to explain. "What can I say? We have a very unorthodox family around here but it is a family never less!"

"I mean you would be the last person sleeping around Beth!" Carol said still laughing. "I'm still trying to figure out how Daryl – as awkward as he is - talked you into it!"

_Well Daryl hadn't exactly done much talking that night. _

"Carol!" Hershel warned. "Please do not forget that this is my baby girl we are talking about!"

"Of course!" Carol quickly told the old man, trying to stifle the giggles.

The older woman went back to examining the girl in front of her. "Are you still getting sick in the mornings because according to this you should be about over that now?" she asked Beth.

"It's getting better." She answered. "I only get sick when I smell bacon anymore."

"Bacon?" Carol said surprised. "Why did you not say anything? We could make ham or sausage and lay off the bacon for a little while!"

"Because I did not want you all to have to change what you cooked just for me." Beth replied meekly, embarrassed at the suggestion.

"Nonsense!" Carol asserted. "The morning sickness usually only last a few months anyway so it would only be a couple more weeks now. You should have seen me when I was pregnant with Sophia. Ed would insist that I cook fish, knowing that it set me off. I will just make something else until you get over it. Just make sure you are drinking lots of water still. Don't need you passing out again."

"Thanks." Beth said really appreciative of the way the woman cared about her comfort.

As Carol continued the exam, the blonde once again let her mind wander back to the conversation from the showers. She thought about how her father was always reminding everyone they were family. The woman before her just had been so concerned about the young mother's wellbeing. Beth really understood how lucky she was to have all of them.

Not able to control the emotions any longer, tears started falling from her eyes. What would have happened to her if not for these people?

"Beth!" Carol exclaimed when she realized that her patient was crying. "I thought I told you not to worry about what people said!"

"It's not just that! Beth sobbed. "One of the ladies assumed some really crazy stuff because that was the way things were in her old camp. It just made me realize how great it is that we all found each other is all.

"We are blessed," Hershel agreed. "But Sweetie, I think that perhaps your hormones are acting up and getting you all emotional. It is to be expected. You've held up pretty good thus far despite everything that you've been through!"

Was that what was really causing all of this? Her hormones?

"And I think we are going to have to explain Judith a little better." he added with a wink.


	14. Chapter 14 - Honey I'm Home

It was late and the run crew still was not back. Beth was starting to feel a little nervous. In a few minutes, the sun would set and the moon would rise. It was not safe to be outside the gates after dark.

Maggie also seemed to be apprehensive when Glen was not back by dinner. "If it gets dark," she said, "they will just hunker down somewhere." The younger sister figured she was saying that more for herself as everyone already knew that was the case.

Therefore Beth was pretty sure that Daryl would not be home until the morning. She doubted he would even sleep tonight and would be pretty exhausted by then. However, she had seen that man be up for days at a time when he had to be.

Beth just finished singing Judith to sleep and placing her in her crib in Rick's room when she realized that she had left baby's stuffed rabbit in Betsy and Holly's barn. If the baby woke up through the night, the young woman knew that the child would be pretty fussy without it.

It was still barely daylight so Beth decided to go out to the ranch and retrieve the toy so they all could sleep a little sounder. As she was leaving, she thought about grabbing her sweater but decided against it. She was only going to be gone a moment anyway.

Upon reaching the barn, Beth was happy to see the rabbit was right where Judy had left it in the hay. The young woman quickly picked the thing up and started to head out the door and back to the cell block.

As went to Beth leave, she bumped into David so hard that it knocked her backwards.

"I am so sorry." he said after steading the blonde with his hands and keeping her from landing on the ground. Beth quickly righted herself.

"No, I am sorry!" she replied back. "I did not know that anyone was out here. Thanks for catching me. Sometimes I don't watch where I am going."

Beth was really glad that the young man prevented her from falling into the hay because all she was wearing was her yellow summer dress and boots. While unpractical, it was the only garment that the pregnant woman had that was comfortable anymore since all her other clothes were increasingly tight these days. Though not really made for maternity, the stretchy material in the top of the dress stopped just under her breasts creating an empire waist. Had she fallen she would have probably flashed David her panties!

"They now have me giving the cattle their evening meal!" he replied back. "Had just finished up when I saw you sneak into the barn. Hope you don't mind but I decided to come see what you were up to!"

"Oh!" Beth replied. "Judith left her bunny out her today so I was just fetching it before she woke up and realized it was gone."

"So your baby's name is Judith?" David asked the blonde curiously.

"Yeah!" Beth answered but then quickly remembered the rumors surrounding the infant. "But she is actually Rick's baby. His wife, Lori, died giving birth to her right after we moved here and I have been taking care of her ever since."

"So there is nothing going on between you and Rick?" he asked. "I figured you were his wife or something."

"Oh my God! No!" she replied in surprise.

"Well, I will admit that I found it strange with him being old and all." he chuckled at the woman in front of him. "I guess that is what I get for assuming!"

"I consider Rick family but not like that." Beth explained. "Our family is a bit…well complicated."

David paused for a moment studying the young mother strangely. Beth started to feel self-conscious under his gaze. Had he not heard by now that she was married and pregnant? Unfortunately, David surprised her again before she could inform him.

"Boy is that a relief!" he replied with a seductive voice, unexpectantly wrapping is hand around her wrist and pulling her closer to where he was standing against the barn door! "A girl as pretty as you deserves someone around her own age!"

Beth panicked and tried to pull herself free but his hand on her wrist did not budge. He obviously had not heard about her recent nuptials and the young bride was horrified when she realized he was leaning in to kiss her.

"Get off of me! I might not be Rick's wife but I am…." She began but stopped, startled after seeing his face drop and eyes get wide.

Out of nowhere a bare muscular arm reached out from somewhere behind her and grabbed David up by the neck, pressing the young man against the barn and lifting him a few inches off the ground!

David instantly let go of Beth and clawed at the large hand over his neck, choking. Daryl grabbed his wife by the shoulder with his other hand and roughly pulled her behind him.

"Hi Honey! I'm fucken home!" her husband growled like a beast. The hunter was only inches from David's face staring into the young man's panicked eyes. He started to turn red and Beth realized that the dude could not breathe.

"Daryl put him down!" she screamed.

"Now darling, why would I do a thing like that?" the redneck responded not taking his eyes off of the kid who was now purple. "I just seen this asshole with his paws all over my pregnant wife. Probably thought he was going to get a little romp in the hay, isn't that right buddy?"

"Daryl! Put him down now! Jesus, you are going to kill him! He did not know!" Beth pleaded. She might not have liked how the guy grabbed her up but the woman also did not want him dead.

"You are lucky that my wife is nice and the forgiving type!" Daryl spewed at David without any less rage in his voice. "You so much as look at her again, you will be walker food!"

The suddenly her husband let him go.

The young man fell to the ground gasping and coughing. A large hand mark was already forming on his neck.

"Come on!" Daryl ordered grabbing Beth by the wrist and dragging her away through the pasture. It was now pitch black out.

Once they were well across the field, he broke his silence.

"What the hell were you thinking Beth?" he yelled. "Out here in nothing but that!"

"I was getting Judith's bunny, Daryl." she explained with a sigh. "She left it out here this morning and I was scared she would wake up and need it!"

"And why did you not ask someone to go with you? Especially since you are only wearing that!" he asked causing Beth to roll her eyes.

"I did not think anyone was going to be out here." she defended herself. "I was only going to be a minute. Besides it is a dress, Daryl. It's not like I walked out here buck naked."

"Might as well have!" he shouted at her flustered. "I should have killed that asshole! Have half a mind to still!"

"He did not know Daryl. Apparently he had not heard the _good news_," she said sarcastically.

Daryl to stopped and glared at his wife before silently walking through the doorway and into the hall.

Her husband pulled her along into the common room of block C and closed the door at the end of the small hall separating their cell from the others. They silently walked down it toward their room.

No sooner they went through the lady bug curtain, Daryl quickly turned and pressed his wife against the wall!

"Is that asshole what you really want, Beth?" he angrily asked her staring into her eyes.

"What?" Beth replied. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Maybe you would rather be married to him," her husband suggested. "Instead of a no good redneck like me!"

"Why in the hell would I want him?" she answered now in a very loud and angry voice herself as she stubbornly tried to push him away. "Just because I don't want to see him dead does not mean I like the guy! Damn Daryl! I just met him and quite frankly he seems like a jerk! Seriously, you have got to get over that no good redneck stuff. I was mad and it's getting really old!"

Daryl let her go but continued to furiously glare at her.

"I think I would rather continue playing house with your grumpy ass than go anywhere near that creep!" she continued to yell at him now a couple of feet away.

"Playing house, huh? That's what this all is to you?" Daryl screamed back.

"Yeah because we are soooo married, Daryl!" she yelled back laying into him now. "I may be naïve but I am not stupid! I know that you only married me because you got me pregnant!"

He only made a "Pfft" sound as he threw his hands up in the air. "Here we go with this again, huh?"

"The only reason you even got me knocked up in the first place is because I was just there!" Beth shouted letting out all her frustration inches from his face! "Then you felt bad about it with me being Hershel's little girl and all!"

"Is that right, Beth?" Daryl spewed back. "You've got it all figured out don't you!"

"As a matter of fact I do!" she said. "You just wanted me to find someone else to love me since you didn't! But then you found out about the baby and had to play hero!"

"What?" He asked seemingly dumbfounded and looking at her incredibly though Beth ignored the question.

"You're the one who would probably rather be with one of those hussies I overheard in the shower today!" She continued, tears coming to her eyes now. "Talking all about how they only needed one night to make you forget all about me! Wondered how you liked it in bed!"

"Now you are not even making any sense Beth!" he said angrily pointing at her. "You're the one that's got practically every damn guy outside of Cell Block C trying to get into your pants as soon as they get here!"

"Everyone except my husband, huh?" she retorted back. "The one person that somehow manage to get into them! Let me guess you've already been there and done that so you don't need to consummate this marriage or anything, right? I don't even feel married!"

Silence.

"Is that what is wrong with you?" Daryl yelled as he pushed her back against the cinder block wall again with his body, his hands on her waist. "You think I don't want to fuck you?"

More silence as they stared into each other's eyes intensely, desperately trying to catch their breath.

The next thing Beth knew, the hunter's lips were tenderly covering hers. His tongue timidly explored her own. She gasped after realizing he was kissing her.

Daryl's wife shivered from the jolt of electricity that went up her spine when she felt his hand slowly run up her thigh and under her dress. His fingers finally reached the side of her panties and he slowly twirled them until they were completely gathered up in his hand. Then the man just ripped them off.

And he snapped right along with them. Daryl pushed her even closer to the wall before assaulting her neck savagely. His hands went to her shoulders and pulled the spaghetti straps and elastic top of the dress down exposing her breasts. She felt his manhood pressing against her hard as a rock.

His head dipped lower down toward her chest latching onto one of her nipples while his fingers found a new home, clawing through the thin curls that guarded her entrance. Before long he found the spot that sent chills throughout Beth's body. A soft moan escaped her lips.

"This is what you want, isn't it Beth?" he breathed into her ear when his mouth found his way to back to her neck as he unbuckled his pants. "All I have to say is be careful what you ask for!"

Too shocked and overwhelmed by sensations, Beth could not even begin to respond. All she could do was gasp for air.

He roughly grabbed both of her legs and wrapped them around him, somehow pulling off her boots in the process.

"My God!" he muttered under his breath as he plunged deeply inside her triggering that itch. He began furiously pounding into her, hitting that spot over and over until Beth felt like she was going to scream. In fact, she might have.

Suddenly, Daryl wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her bottom before backing away from the wall with his pants around his ankles. He sat on the edge of the bed with her legs still wrapped around his waist and frantically began to kick his boots off with his feet. Desperate to satisfy that itch, Beth hung on to his neck and rocked her hips. She thought she saw his eyes roll into the back of his head.

Once his pants where completely off he went back to thrusting into his delighted wife who's dress was bunched into a small band of fabric around her middle. One callous hand clung to her hip and the other traveling up behind her, grasping the back of her neck, pushing the blonde down every time he crashed into her. Inches from her face, the man intently glared at her through lustful eyes. He reached up and pulled out her hair band causing her blonde hair to cascade down around her shoulders.

Suddenly Beth noticed that he was still wearing his shirt and vest. She started clawing at the leather material trying to get it off. Noticing what she was doing, Daryl frantically shrugged out of it while she stumbled to undo the buttons of his shirt. When they were finally off, he pulled the dress over her head until she was finally completely naked on top of him.

Daryl laid back on the bed with his wife still sitting on top of him. Beth was startled by the new position. The hardness was now filling every bit of her clear down the itch. She began furiously rocking trying to rub the spot. He grabbed both of her hips and began moving them up and down, thrusting underneath of her. Her tight womanhood stretched all around him as he traveled deeper into it. One hand made it back to her tiny bundle of nerves making Beth slowly become undone.

"Who the fuck do you belong to Beth?" Daryl angrily demanded from his wife.

"You" she moaned.

"You are mine and you better not forget it!" He declared and Beth was not going to argue with him because at that moment both her body and soul was.

Daryl grabbed her by the nape of the neck and pulled her head down on toward him. "Feeling married now?" he whispered in that primal voice she heard once before and flipped them over. Her husband slammed into her a couple of times before sliding downward off the bed and onto his feet.

He grabbed her hips and yanked her so that the bottom half of her body hung off the bed and at his waist, before roughly entering her once more. When his fingers found their way to her clit again it was like he could not pound the itch hard enough. Beth erupted not even caring if someone heard her.

"You like that sweetheart! Don't you?" he asked her through gritted teeth.

But all Beth could do was moan and thrash around in response. Daryl furiously picked up the pace reaching his own climax, saying a whole string of curse words under his breath in the process.

After the last waves of pleasure started to subside, she felt his release. Pushing his wife back on the bed, he collapsed on top of her and whispered into her ear "I knocked you up because I have wanted you ever since I saw you on that damn porch at the farm and I married you because you are mine!"

Beth was utterly stunned. There was no other word for to describe it. She had no idea that he thought about her like that even back then.

Daryl rolled off of Beth, pulled her toward him, and buried her face into his strong chest. She felt her eyelids droop in exhaustion as she tried to process what he just told her. She started to drift off to the sound of his still rapidly beating heart.

"What did you say to them?" he asked out of nowhere.

"What? Say to who?" She replied in confusion and half asleep.

"The hussies you heard talking in the shower." He reminded her.

"Oh," Beth responded suddenly remembering. "I just told the bitches that you like it rough."

She felt his chest shake in laughter.


	15. Chapter 15 - Because I love You

Beth woke in the early morning hours tightly encased in her husband's arms that guarded his wife from the shockingly cool draft filling the cell around them. Lying against him underneath the covers, the young bride felt safe, warm, and protected. Beth wished they could stay like that forever.

Daryl was tenderly placing a trail of kisses along the back of her neck. She wondered if he ever slept at all. Just like before, he had woken her several times throughout the night, desperately taking what he needed as if he was afraid she would disappear in the morning. Somehow, Beth had unleashed the beast and apparently when feeling wounded, it found comfort in mating with her.

Realizing that she was awake, his big calloused hand gently moved from the place where it was protectively resting on her navel and instead found a new home upon her chest. The movement of his lips became hungrier against her skin.

Beth sighed. As much as she would rather stay there in his arms at the moment, the young woman knew that she couldn't.

"Daryl, it is almost time to get up," she breathed as his hand began massaging her small firm breast. "Judith will be waking soon."

"Mmm-hum," he mumbled in agreement but was thumbing her sore nipple anyway.

"So we should probably get dressed, right?" she suggested. Surely, this man had enough by now.

"And we will…in a few minutes," her husband agreed into her ear as his hand traveled over the small growing bump he had previously placed in her belly and toward the part of her the hunter claimed the night he had put it there.

"If you start doing that, you're going to get me all riled up again," Beth warned. She felt her husband's mouth curl against the crook of her neck.

"That's what I was counting on darling," Daryl replied with a chuckle while his wife desperately tried to fight the sensation that was beginning to burn deep inside her. It was a losing battle and the woman would never understand how one simple touch of his fingers could do that to her. Eventually, Beth just surrendered and hoped that he was right about having a few more minutes. Before long she found herself once again grinding and thrashing her body against him, praying that he wouldn't stop touching her.

The hunter's hand gripped the back of her knee and lifted it up toward her waist as he slipped his manhood deep inside her. A primal moan escaped his lips before his teeth gently sank into the tender skin on top of her shoulder.

Despite being battered and swollen, Beth felt the walls deep inside her clutching to him with every slow deliberate thrust of his hips making her to spiral further away from reality.

"Daryl," she called out with a gasp, causing him to lose his resolve with the sound of his name. Her husband began picking up the pace until he was furiously slamming into his wife, who was withering and moaning against him. His teeth sank further into her skin as his grasp on her leg got tighter and tighter. A couple of minutes later Beth just exploded and a few seconds after so did he.

"I'll never get enough of you," Daryl breathed into her ear while catching his breath, "or understand why you let me put my fifthly hands all over your body at all."

"Because I love you," Beth whispered, surprising herself with the admission.

She felt Daryl freeze behind her. After a couple of seconds, her husband relaxed and threw his arm back over her waist, placing his hand back to where it had previously been guarding her naval. However, he did not say a word.

Of course not, Beth thought to herself. At least he found her attractive, apparently for quite a while too. That was something at least, wasn't it?

The young wife did not ponder it too long as her eyes were fighting to stay open so that she could start her day. Beth was utterly exhausted and was quickly becoming aware of how much her body ached. She wondered how she would ever be able to get through the long list of chores that needed done.

"We have to go back out today," Daryl informed her breaking the silence. "Ran into some trouble yesterday and had to drop all of the supplies. That is why we were so late getting back."

"Are you going back there to get them?" Beth asked horrified. "Wouldn't that be too dangerous?"

"Nah," he replied with a shrug. "We took care of it but ran out of daylight before having the chance to gather up the stuff. I won't be gone long. Just a quick run back to get it is all. Need it too bad to just leave it there."

Beth sighed as she started to raise up in the bed and into the cold musky air that filled the cell. She did not like the thought of them going back to a place where they were almost overran by walkers. Daryl wrapped his arms around her before she got up and pulled her back down.

"I want you to stay here until I get back," he said looking severely into her eyes. "You need more rest anyway."

"I can't just stay in bed all morning!" Beth replied with a giggle while playfully pushing him away, surprised by the very suggestion. "I need to grab Judy and get out to the barn. Betsy don't just milk herself, you know."

"I will get Judith and go tend to the cows before I leave," he declared like he was actually serious. "Then you can get some more sleep."

"Don't be silly!" Beth said confused over why he was insisting on her staying in bed. "You have never milked a cow in your entire life!"

"I've watched you do it enough to figure it out," her husband declared. It was starting to sound like this was not something he was merely suggesting. "I'll bring Little Asskicker and your breakfast back here before I leave."

Daryl raised up out of the bed and pulled his pants on.

"I mean it. Don't leave this cell until I get back. I won't be long," the hunter reiterated as he buttoned his blue and white flannel shirt and tugged the leather angel wing vest over it. "Just go back to sleep. I'll tell everyone to leave you alone."

While Beth was very tired, she could not imagine staying in her cell all morning while everyone else worked. They all had jobs to do and it wasn't the rest of the group's fault that she and Daryl had been up all night consummating their marriage. Never less, the young bride did not feel like arguing with her husband again either.

"I'll tell you what," she compromised. "I'll let you and Judith go tend to Betsy and try to get a little bit more sleep but when I get up, I have work to do."

"No, you will stay here until I get back," he responded not budging at all on the issue.

"Daryl, I really do not want to argue with you," she said with a yawn. "But you know darn well that there are people who rely on me. What am I supposed to tell them? Sorry, but I was up all night sleeping with my husband and now I am too tired to help!"

"I hope you do!" he replied back with a shit eating grin as he tied the tattered show laces on his worn out boots. "The prison is not going to burn down just because you are in your cell for a couple of hours, Beth. You do too much around here anyway."

Beth blushed at the thought of that explanation. The people around her already knew too much about her sex life as it was.

"You're staying here," Daryl gently ordered before kneeling down and tenderly kissed her cheek. The hunter quickly got up and walked through the lady bug curtain, calling behind him "I'll be back in a little bit."

Beth was still trying to figure out why he did not want her to leave their cell as she watched him disappear. However, after another yawn escaped from her lips, she decided to take advantage of the extra time to rest. Settling back against the pillows, the woman began to think about the night before as she drifted off to sleep.

A little while later, Beth woke to the something grabbing at her face and hair. When she opened her eyes she seen Judith's delighted little face smiling back at her.

"Mama, Mama!" the baby cooed at her, giggling. The baby looked like she was excited over the change to her routine that morning.

Beth instantly ran her eyes over the child, making sure that she was in one piece even though the blonde was sure Judith was fine. Other than more dirt than usual, the infant looked to be okay. Her mom smiled while wondering how she ever got so fifthly. It was hard to tell knowing her husband.

"Morning, sweet pea!" Beth greeted the baby who was snuggled under the covers beside her. "Looks like you had a lot of fun with Uncle Daryl this morning!"

"Dare, Dare" Judith replied still giggling. The child loved the redneck to pieces so Beth could only imagine what her reaction had been when he woke her up.

Chuckling at the thought, the blonde gathered up the baby in her arms before sitting up against the pillows and looking around. The sun was much higher in the sky then she was use to and a plate of eggs sat on the table that had come out of Daryl's old cell.

Sitting the baby back down, Beth got up to get dressed. She was supposed to be helping with the planting again today and wondered what her husband had told them.

Walking over toward her dresser, the woman inspected her body in the mirror. Besides just a couple of bite marks on her neck, she had made it through the night rather unscathed. There were two or three small purple fingerprints on her hips and legs but other than that, her skin was flawless like always.

After struggling to button her jeans, Beth pulled a baggy sweater with a turtle neck collar over her head. She quickly pulled on dry socks and her boots.

"You want to go outside and see your Dad and brother?" Beth asked Judy as she gathered her up in her arms and started for the doorway. But when the young bride pulled aside the ladybug curtain she was confused by the sight in front of her.

Blocking her exit was cold cast iron bars. Beth frantically tried to shove them aside but to avail. Apparently, her bastard husband locked her in the cell! Panicked, she began beating her hands against the metal and screaming for help!


	16. Chapter 16 - Craziness

"Beth! How in the world did you get locked in there?" Maggie asked her tearful sister while struggling to slide the metal bars out of the way. The young blonde had been beating on them for over an hour when finally the brunette and Carol came rushing to her aid.

Looking up at the women from where she was now slumped on the floor in defeat, Beth sniffed, "My asshole husband didn't want me to leave until he got back so he must have locked me in here."

"You have to be kidding me?" Carol shouted angrily with an apologetic look in her eyes. Maggie sighed as she continued trying to get her sister and Judith out of the cell. She tried to pick the lock with the pin from her hair but it was not budging.

"It's not going to work," Carol pointed out. "I'll go get Rick so he can find the key."

"Please hurry!" Beth pleaded with the older lady.

"It will be fine, I promise," Maggie tried to reassure her despite it doing little to calm the blonde's nerves. "As soon as we get the keys, you'll be out of there."

The young bride panicked anytime that she was trapped somewhere. Beth was that way after being stuck in an elevator when she was twelve years old. The whole incident had left her very claustrophobic. The woman could not believe that Daryl had locked her in there!

Clinging to Judith, who had been frightened by her mama's panic, Beth leaned against the cold wall, trying to concentrate on her breathing while waiting for someone to get her out. Tears streaked her face and bruises were already forming on her hands after spending some much time banging on the metal bars.

"Why did he not want you to leave the cell so bad?" her sister asked curiously.

"No ideal," Beth mumbled. "If you ever figure out what is going through Daryl's head, by all means, please let me know! "

"Well, if I had to guess, I would say the dumbass was thinking he was protecting you from something," the brunette suggested. "Someone is going to have to talk to him about this. The man can't just be locking you up all the time!"

"Oh trust me," Beth declared. "He won't ever have the chance to again!"

Suddenly, the door to the cell block flew open and several pairs of boots ran down the little hall. Rick looked at the young woman and his daughter in shock when he seen them trapped behind the bars. She was sure it was a pitiful sight.

"What in the hell was he thinking?" Rick gasped before taking the huge ring of about a fifty keys off his belt. "I swear, that man is crazy! Don't worry Beth. We'll get you out of there. I just need to find the right key first."

Beth continued to concentrate on her breath as the leader began to try several of the keys. If she ever got out of here, she was going to kill her husband.

"Rick, you need to have a conversation with the idiot about this!" Maggie insisted as the man tried to free the young woman and baby trapped inside. "He has no right to lock my sister up in a cell like his prisoner or something!"

Rick sighed after the tenth key he tried did not work. "Trust me, I will."

A familiar limp started making its way down the hall.

"What in God's name is going on in here?" Hershel's voice rang out.

"Daryl up to his usual antics again, I guess," Rick answered.

The old man studied his youngest daughter trapped in the cell like he was considering the sight before him.

"Does this have anything to do with the boy that was in the infirmary last night with a crushed windpipe, Bethy?" he inquired.

Beth looked up at her father as the realization hit her!

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked confused.

"That new kid showed up with a rather large handprint on his neck yesterday evening. Could not talk real well but was trying to apologize profusely." Hershel chuckled. "I think he will be alright though, in a few days. The boy was lucky."

"Someone choked him?" Carol asked with concern. "Who would do that?"

"Daryl did," Beth told them softly. "David tried to kiss me."

"And then you woke up locked in your cell, huh?" Hershel continued piecing what had happened together. "Daryl went back to that store this morning, didn't he?"

"Oh my God!" Maggie exclaimed figuring out what had happened herself. "He was scared you were going to run into the dude or someone else again while he was gone. How stupid!"

"He just told me that I needed to rest," Beth mumbled to the group who busted out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Personally, she did not find it too funny.

"Daryl can't be going around choking people though," Carol interjected. "He's going to have to get used to having a pretty young wife."

"Well, I think I'll let you explain that part," Rick responded with a sigh, still working on the lock. "But regardless we are going to have to let him know that this is not okay."

"And he has got to stop getting her so upset," the older woman continued. "Look at her, Rick. The poor thing is pregnant and don't need all this stress."

Finally, the lock clicked to Beth's relief. Rick slide the door open and Beth flung from the cell into her Daddy's waiting arms.

"There, there Bethy," Hershel soothed his daughter. "You are okay. Your husband just don't know how to deal with his emotions is all."

The young woman straightened up and shifted Judy in her arms.

"You wait until he gets back!" she declared to everyone there. "If that jerk thinks he can just make me do what he wants, well he's got another thing coming!"

"Come on, Beth," Maggie said wrapping her arms around her sister and leading the young woman down the hall. "Let's go get cleaned up."

A couple of hours later, Beth was still seething at the thought of what her husband had done to her. The young woman was in a separate part of the prison, hanging up the sheets that the group used to cover their crops so they could dry. Very few people came to this section of their home and Beth was glad that she had a couple of minutes alone to collect her thoughts. Rick had taken Judith with him.

"Heard you had quite the excitement this morning," a voice rang out interrupting Beth's plots of revenge. She looked up to see Michone leaning in the doorway. The blonde had not realized that the woman was back from her latest quest to hunt down the evil Governor.

"Yeah, I can't believe I actually married that man!" Beth replied with a sigh. "I honestly think he is crazy."

Michone chuckled.

"And to think that I am actually procreating with him too!" she continued. "What is wrong with me?"

"A little too late to be thinking about all that, don't you think?" Michone responded with an amused smile. "I agree though. Daryl does tend to go insane as far as you are concerned."

Michone walked into the room and hopped up on one of the empty tables.

"Did you find him?" Beth asked curiously.

"No, not yet," the woman replied. "But I will, trust me."

Beth understood why Michone felt the need to rid the world of the nasty man but she hated to see her so obsessed with his demise. The young wife wished her friend would just leave it alone and quit wasting so much of her precious time on him.

"I did find this, though," Michone said with a grin holding up a chocolate bar. "Was going to eat it myself but then figured you would enjoy it more, being pregnant and all."

Beth could not believe the woman found actual candy! She caught it in mid-air when the samurai tossed it to her.

"I would feel bad if I took it from you," the blonde said in protest. "Maybe we could share?"

"Nahh," Michone responded. "I found a whole box and already ate most of them." 

Beth chuckled as she opened the package. The candy was a little stale but still heavenly. For some strange reason she thought it would taste even better with pickle. Chocolate covered pickles! Now that would be a delicacy!

"So I really hope that getting even somehow involves Daryl getting hit upside the head with a frying pan because I would love to see that!" Michone suggested with a chuckle.

"You might just get your wish," Beth smiled at her. In actuality, the thought never crossed her mind but her husband had to sleep sometime, didn't he?

"You know, I remember when that man just had to get that bracelet for you," the woman said rolling her eyes while pointing to a silver bangle with jeweled flowers that hung from Beth's wrist. "The damn roof was caving in and walkers was everywhere…but no…Daryl had to go back in because he was so sure you would want it."

The young woman ran her fingers across the trinket. It was the first bracelet that Daryl ever brought her. She just woke up one morning with it on her arm and had loved it ever since.

"Everyone was so pissed at him," Michone continued. "It was so stupid that I was ready to leave him there for the walkers. The whole way home he just swore to us that it would cover your scars and help you forget."

"I really have no idea why he always insisted on getting me things," Beth confessed. "I never asked for anything. I was just happy that we were safe at the moment."

"You know," the woman started looking at her incredibly. "To be so bright, you can sure be clueless sometimes. Let me guess. You really believed he brought back all that shit because you were the only one who would want it, right?"

Beth was taken aback. Of course that is why she thought he brought her all that stuff. That was what he had claimed anyway.

"Didn't he ever tell you about what happened the day Aaron died?" Michone asked narrowing her eyes.

"Not really." Beth replied suddenly very curious. "He just told me once that Aaron said he loved me."

"Well he did say that," the woman informed her. "He expressed his undying love and then your darling husband shot him in the head midsentence!"

"What!?" the young woman exclaimed in shock. "Daryl really did kill Aaron!"

"Well technically, I guess, but he was dying anyway," Michone explained to Beth's relief. "A walker came out of nowhere and took quite a few bites of him before we even knew what was happening. We were all pretty tore up about it too. I did not know the kid well but he seemed alright and it sucks to loose anybody. Daryl quickly disposed of the walker and was feeling all sad about Aaron as well - until he started begging the redneck to tell you that he loved you and always would. Then something inside of the man snapped. All of a sudden he shot the dude in the head before he even finished. Even mumbled 'shut up' afterwards. We all kind of stood there in shock."

Beth was stunned. Why would he have reacted that way?

"Don't get me wrong. I don't think Daryl would have shot him if he wasn't already dying and all. In fact, I am pretty sure he felt bad about it afterwards too," Michone continued. "He started on the Jack before we even got home. No one said a word. It did not surprise me at all when I saw you sneaking out of his cell the next morning either. I just don't think that he could fight what he was feeling any longer. Figured something like that would happen."

"I-I don't understand," Beth said in response unable to hide her confusion. "Why would Daryl have done that?"

"Because Beth," her friend said gently looking into her eyes, "he is in love with you. Always has been. Everyone at this damn place seemed to understand that but you. They just could never picture Daryl ever acting on it until you wound up pregnant, I guess."


	17. Chapter 17 - Wasting Air

"Daryl, you need to come in here a second," Beth heard Rick say alerting the young wife that her husband was back from retrieving the much needed supplies. "We have to talk."

The young woman was in the leader's cell and had just laid Judith down for her nap. She had spent most of the morning trying to process what Michone had said to her earlier.

Was Daryl really in love with her all of this time? Her friend had made it out to sound like it was common knowledge. Who else thought this way and why didn't anyone say anything about it to her? Was this the reason her father and sister did not bat an eye over their marriage? Beth was really confused.

Daryl declared last night that he had wanted his wife ever since first laying his eyes on her at the farm. The girl was not even seventeen years old when she met the people she now considered family and her Daddy had not been all that welcoming to anyone either. Also, Jimmy was very much alive and well. Therefore, she understood why no one would dare say anything if they had noticed back then. But things were different since the prison. The biggest thing being she was an adult now. If what Michone said was true then Beth could not help but to feel a little betrayed. Everyone knew this but found no need to let her in on the little secret? Why was she the last to know and why in the world would Daryl Dixon have fallen for her of all people?

Of course, also troubling her was the fact that the blonde was still wrestling with being really pissed at her husband. In love with her or not, she was not okay with him locking her up like she was his possession. The way Daryl tried to boss her around was getting really old and she was done with it. The man could go to hell for all she cared at the moment. Raising the child on her own was sounding better and better.

"About what?" Beth heard Daryl respond back to Rick.

"I have a feeling you already know what this is about," Rick went on. She heard the sound of the crossbow hitting the top of a table and several people take a seat.

Beth laid down on Rick's bunk. She was sure that she should not be hiding but luckily it was also not unusual for her to lay down here from time to time when Judy was taking a nap either. She was not yet ready for a confrontation and she knew it would be. Beth was ready to throw her hands up in the air and say the hell with everything.

"If this is about what I think it is, you might as well save your breath," Daryl replied dryly.

"Well I guess I will just waste air then because you are going to listen to what I have to say anyway," Rick said with a sigh. "We found your wife and Judith locked up in your cell. Now I get that you all are married and what goes on between you guys is your business but it's time for you to get a grip…."

"You locked her in your cell!" Beth heard Glen exclaim with a laugh interrupting Rick. Her brother-in-law was on the run with her husband and missed the morning excitement. "Dude, what is wrong with you? You can't just lock your wife up like some prisoner!"

Daryl did not respond.

"Look I get that this is all new to you and stuff, but it wasn't right," Rick continued with a sigh. "What if something would have happened? No one even knew she was in there. When Carol and Maggie finally heard her screaming, she had been banging on the bars so hard that her hands were bruised and bloody."

"Is she okay?" Daryl immediately asked obviously concerned.

"She is going to be fine but as can expected is quite shaken," Rick reassured the man.

"I was just trying to protect her." Beth heard her husband continue in defense. "I knew I would be back in only a few hours and I left everything that she would need there for her. Man, you don't even begin to know! These assholes around here act like they have never seen a woman before. Last night I walked up on that new guy with his hands all over her and he wasn't going to let go."

"Oh you mean the guy that ended up in the infirmary with a crushed windpipe?" the blonde heard Carol join the discussion. "Really Daryl?"

"He's lucky that was all he ended up with." Beth heard her husband mutter. "He tries to as much as look at her again, I will break every bone in his body and watch him turn into a walker."

"You can't just be doing that to people!" Carol replied. "Beth is a pretty girl and women are in short supply. You are not the only one that is attracted to her. There will always be someone else appreciating her too."

"Over my dead body!" Daryl exclaimed dangerously. "She isn't just some piece of meat! That is my wife and she is carrying my kid!"

"Never less," Rick responded. "This is Beth we are talking about. There is a reason you were the only one that has ever touched her. Don't forget that."

"And I will be the only one that ever will." Daryl declared. "She is mine and I will not let anyone hurt her!"

Beth threw her forearm over her eyes and sighed. Her husband was never going to get that he did not own her, would he?

"You don't think we would protect her?" Rick asked the hunter in a low, frustrated voice. "Beth is our family too. Hell, she is practically the mother of my child too."

Daryl did not reply but Beth heard him let out a heavy breath. She could not help but muse over the way Rick's comment made the entire situation seem weird. Yet, somehow it was not. Her thoughts were interrupted by the cell block door opening and a familiar limp making its way over to where the rest of the group must have been sitting.

"So I saw that you decided to lock my Bethy up this morning," the young woman heard her daddy say with a chuckle. "When I asked you to protect her that wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"M'm sorry Hershel," Beth heard Daryl respond to her father with underlying shame in the tone. "All I wanted was for her to stay there until I got back but I knew that she wouldn't. It was like pulling teeth just to get her to sleep in while I tended to Judith and that damn cow."

"Sounds like Beth," the old man observed. "My daughter is not going to go back on something she said she would do, you know, at least without a fight. Just like her mother. If she says she is going to milk the cow, the woman will milk the cow. But somehow I don't think this is really about her doing too much though, is it?"

Silence.

"Just like when Beth made those vows to you, I'm sure she meant them too. Come hell or high water she will keep every single one of them," her daddy continued.

More silence. The young woman overhearing the conversation was certain her father would not be saying that if he knew the thoughts currently going through her head.

"It's not her I am worried about," Daryl finally replied. "It's all of these other bastards."

"All you had to do was tell us what was going on Daryl," Carol said in a reassuring voice. "We would have looked out for her."

Beth wrinkled her nose at the thought of being babysat by anyone. Luckily, Hershel seemingly read her mind.

"Nah, Beth would not be having that either," he replied.

Her husband only responded with his typical "Pft!"

"You know son," the old man started. "If this was the regular world and you would have showed up at my door asking for my Bethy's hand, I really would have shot you right there on my porch and buried you in the yard. She would have been way too young and innocent for the likes of anyone like you.

The room went dead quiet except for a small gasp from Carol.

"But things are different now," her father reassured as he went on. "Beth is nowhere near that same sheltered girl she used to be. Trust me, I would have given anything to be able to hide her eyes from everything that she has had to see. Still, she just pushes it to the back of her mind and moves forward. My little girl has taken in Judith like she is her own and does everything she can to help everyone else. She is also a lot tougher than you or anyone else may think. I suspect that boy last night would not have gotten too far."

"M'm sorry I locked her up," her husband replied. "I have a way of doing stupid shit when Beth is concerned. Just a dumbass I guess."

"Daryl, you are not the same punk who drove that motorcycle up onto my property either," Hershel continued. "This hell unleashed on earth has brought out the worst – but also the best - in everyone. I don't know how much time we all have left. Nobody does. But I have seen the way you look at her when you think no one is watching. In the end that is what matters. Not how long you, her, or anyone else has got. You can't spend your life waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under you or you're not really living it, are you?"

Beth heard her daddy get up and start to limp out of the Cell block.

"By the way," he added with another chuckle. "Trust me, I'm not the one you should be worrying about. If I know Beth, she is probably plotting as we speak!"

**Author's note: It is homecoming week around my house and I have two daughters that are trying to get ready for it. Therefore, I have been really busy and unable to upload chapters. Here is a short one to keep you going and I will have more hopefully on Sunday after all of this is over.**


	18. Chapter 18 - Take These Nasty Things

Beth was sitting on her bed in the cell going through a trash bag full of baby clothes that she found upon returning later that night. She supposed it was a peace offering or something. It wasn't working.

The ladybug curtain was pulled wide open, as was the door all the way at the end of the small little hall. The young woman could never imagine shutting them again.

Beth's husband seemed to be smart enough to stay out of her way the rest of the day as she had not seen hide or hair of him since he returned. Carol informed her at dinner that he took Glen and Tyreese to the boiler room hoping to convert the machine somehow so they could use wood to make heat. She got the feeling that the older woman was trying to explain his absence but there was really no need to. Beth could care less at the moment though it was probably a good thing he was doing that. She was going to need an alternative way to stay warm at night since there was no way he would ever be getting in her bed again.

The blonde glanced down at the yellow sleeper and matching knitted hat in her hand. It was brand new and still had tags. She figured it must have been one of the supplies lost when they had ran into trouble. Tiny teddy bear heads graced the feet like bunny slippers. Beth could not help but smile at the little newborn outfit she held. It really was cute.

Her face immediately fell when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She knew who they belonged to. It was so late that she had hoped her husband got the hint and found somewhere else to sleep tonight. Apparently, he hadn't.

Beth did not even look up though she felt him standing at the door. Instead she completely ignored his presence and continued looking through the bag. She reached in and pulled out a matching teddy bear fleece blanket.

"M'm sorry" a voice finally mumbled from the doorway. "I should not have locked you in here."

The young wife did not even acknowledge him.

"Found those at the store and thought the baby could use them," Daryl continued. "Tried to get stuff that fit either a boy or girl."

Beth still refused to even look up as she pulled out a package of onesies. They were decorated in a pattern of little white duckies.

"Beth, Come on," Daryl exclaimed. "You could at least call me an asshole or something. You want to hit me? Come here and I'll let you punch me right in the jaw."

The blonde finally glanced at her husband. The look on her face must not have been too friendly because he seemed taken back.

"Why don't you just take your ass back to wherever you came from and leave me alone," she suggested before turning her attention back to the baby items.

Daryl studied her a minute before firmly replying, "You are not going to get rid of me that easy."

"Is that so?" his wife countered without looking up. "Maybe I don't need you as much as you and everyone else around here seem to think."

"Bullshit!" Daryl exclaimed. "You are just mad at me at the moment."

Beth snapped.

The pile of baby clothes fell to the floor when the young woman sprang off the bed.

"No, I just want you to stay away from me!" she yelled at the man in the doorway. "I am tired of being an object that you think you own. That you can just lock up whenever you leave!"

Her husband just watched in awe as she stomped to the large wardrobe that held all their stuff.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked her in an anxious voice but she did not respond.

Beth pulled out everything she could find belonging to him until she had every tattered flannel shirt and the couple pair of the same dingy pants he owned gathered in her arms. Then the young woman abruptly turned and headed down the hall toward the door. In an instant, her husband was behind her.

"Beth," he began to plead. "I said I was sorry, now come on!" Ignoring the man, the blonde angrily threw all of his stuff into the dark common area of the block once she reached the end of the hall.

"Get the hell out, Daryl!" she bellowed turning around toward her stunned husband and staring him directly in the eyes. "I don't want to be around you right now!"

The young wife thought she heard a couple of snickers but did not care.

"Are you seriously trying to kick me out?" Daryl asked incredibly.

"I'm not trying to do anything!" Beth replied, voice still highly elevated. "You are going to leave me the hell alone, one way or another! I am pregnant and don't need my asshole husband stressing me out all the time."

With that, the blonde simply turned around and left her husband standing there.

After returning to their cell, Beth tried to calm herself by leaning against the cold concrete wall and taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes and sighed. Why wouldn't he just leave her alone the first time she asked?

However, upon opening them, Beth noticed his stash of cigarettes on the table. Angrily, she marched over and snatched them up before stomping down the hall again.

"And take these nasty things with you!" she spewed as she threw the box into the darkness.

* * *

><p>"How long are you going to let him stew?" Maggie asked as Beth looked over her shoulder at the man pretending to be checking the perimeter of the fence but was really just watching her.<p>

"Until he learns that I don't have to do everything he wants," she replied nonchalantly with a shrug and turning her attention back to her work. The two women were on their hands and knees thinning the pea plants that had begun to sprout.

"Don't you think you are being kind of harsh?" her sister continued causing Beth to stop and stare at her momentarily.

"Maggie, he locked me in a cell like I was his prisoner." she replied while rolling her eyes. "It isn't like he just left his dirty clothes laying on the floor."

"Yeah that's right," her sister said wrinkling her nose as she sat up on her feet and studied her brother-in-law. "I guess I forgot how serious it was with him moping around all pitiful and everything."

Beth sat up herself and placed her hands on the small of her back before bending to each side tying to loosen her aching spine. She seen Daryl jerk his head in her direction out of the corner of her eyes with a look of concern on his face. Maggie noticed too.

"Seriously though, how long do you think it is going to take him to realize what he did?" the brunette asked her younger sibling. "It seems to me that he is already starting to get it."

Beth looked over at her husband, who quickly turned his attention back to the fence and pretended that he was not just watching his wife. She could not help but let out a quite giggle.

As usual, the young woman had woken up freezing just a few moments ahead of sunrise and immediately got ready to go milk Betsy. Her teeth were chattering uncontrollably as she threw on one of the many pairs of leggings that she found among the stash of baby clothes before quickly pulling a baggy sweater over her head. Unfortunately, Beth had kicked her darling husband out on one of the coldest nights of the year.

As the blonde went to leave, she noticed a table at the end of the hall pulled up right outside the open door leading into the common room. On top of it, her husband laid asleep with Rick hovering over him smiling. The crossbow was under his head like a pillow and a trash bag containing what Beth assumed was his clothes rested on the floor. She froze at the sight.

"Wake up," the leader hissed with a chuckle as he gently bumped the table. Daryl's eyes immediately sprung open and wildly looked around, taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. "I need your help repairing the chicken coop."

The hunter sat up and rubbed the back of his neck before saying "Yeah man. Sure."

"So how did you end up sleeping on a table?" Rick asked teasingly. "Too warm in there with your hot little wife?"

"Shut up man," Daryl replied severely. "She threw me out."

"I can see that," the leader responded with a small laugh. "Guess you won't be locking her up in the cell again, huh?"

Her husband just stared down at his hands a minute before replying "Nah. That was dumb."

"Just a little," Rick replied with a shit eating grin. "You know what they say. Happy wife, happy life."

Daryl did not respond but simply got up and followed Rick out of Cell Block C.

"You know that is his fifth trip around that fence," Maggie laughed interrupting her sister's thoughts. "And I know for a fact that it is safe being head of the fence crew and all."

"And?" Beth responded quite annoyed that her sister was feeling sorry for the asshole. "He can circle it a hundred times for all I care."

"You know you still got to live with him, right?" the brunette informed her with a frown. "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk to him?"

Beth just huffed at the suggestion even though she knew that the group was starting to find the argument between them awkward. You could have cut the tension with a knife at breakfast when Daryl took Judith from Beth's arms and placed her in the high chair. During lunch, she tried to distract herself by concentrating on the funny stories Tyreese was telling about Sasha when she was a child.

"I will talk to him when I am ready," she told her sister before trying to go back to her work.

"Well I just hope that is sooner rather than later," Maggie stated with a look of confusion on her face as they watched Daryl retie the already secure fence. "You know, despite everything, I really think he loves you."

Beth just studied her husband and wondered if they were right.

**Author Note: Surprise! I had a few minutes tonight and decided to post another short chapter! **


	19. Chapter 19 - Nothing Goes by the Book

It was midafternoon when Beth and Maggie finished thinning the peas and headed back towards the prison.

The main yard was abuzz with people taking advantage of the surprising mild and sunny weather the day had brought. Karen sat at on the pavement with a circle of children practicing their math in sidewalk. Several newcomers filled the picnic tables and chatted excitedly. Even their Daddy, Carol, Patrick, Glen, and Tyreese with his cowboy hat were seated at one discussing how they could turn the Tombs into a makeshift hospital in case there was ever an outbreak.

Maggie walked up to Glen and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind before kissing his head. Beth's own husband had finally grown tired of pacing the fence some time ago and she had no clue where he disappeared to. While Daryl seemed comfortable enough with touching her, she could not help but wonder if he ever would be okay with public displays of affection like that. It really did not matter at the moment though since she had kicked him out. The young wife knew she was going to have to deal with what was going on between them soon but pushed that thought out of her mind when her father looked up at her and grinned.

"How are the peas coming, Darling?" he asked.

"Just fine Daddy," she replied happily. "In fact they are doing real well. We had to take out so many that Carl dug us another trench to plant all the extras. Made no sense just to toss them away."

"Seems like the growing is coming along quite find then," the old man agreed. "How about that baby? Feeling any movement yet?"

Beth frowned. She had not felt the butterflies that all the baby books had claimed she should be experiencing. She hoped that her little peanut was okay although her heart never let itself dwell on the alternative too long. It was too painful. If something happened to her baby, they might as well feed her to the walkers.

"Nothing ever goes by the book Bethy," her father reassured after reading his daughter's expression. The older man reached up and patted her small, but growing belly. "Everyone's body and every baby is different. Besides even the books say it could be up to another month."

The blonde just nodded in response and hoped he was right. Her mind went back to where Daryl could possibly be. Her sister was right. She couldn't figure out why she was being stubborn all of a sudden.

Trying to distract herself from her disaster of a love life, Beth casually sat down beside her father at the table and half-listened to the conversation.

"Maybe we should raid more doctor's offices than we currently do," Glen suggested. "We usually concentrate on pharmacies but a physician's clinic is better. Could probably get some medical equipment and other stuff. Those reusable IVs that Daryl brought back for Beth was brilliant."

"Are you guys worried about people getting sick?" Maggie asked joining in the conversation. "I thought that was why we put people in quarantine when they first arrive."

"That is true but what about those with chronic illnesses like Patrick's asthma and Mrs. Anderson's diabetes?" Carol explained. "Then there is also people that get injured and of course Beth, who is pregnant. It just makes sense to be prepared."

Beth agreed that a hospital would be a very smart ideal and marveled at how far they had come in making this place a real community. Mrs. Anderson and some of the other ladies were taking a rare break from their chores and playing a game of bridge on the other side of the courtyard. She watched the little kids who were now gathered around Karen while she read them a story. A large group of men were gathered in the corner of the buildings, inspecting their weapons and making much needed repairs. Carl was laying on an empty bench reading the new comics that Michone brought back for him. Everyone was relaxed and happy at this moment.

While Beth was sure that the walkers would always be a part of life and there were plenty of challenges to come, the mom was thankful that her children would be growing up relatively safe and sound in this place she had finally allowed herself to think of as a sanctuary. Daryl, Rick, Glen, and the others would always protect the group from outside threats. It would not be long before the fields would be producing enough that runs would become less necessary. There were already plans to add cotton and hemp fields for making fabric and rope. Skills long forgotten were being relearned from books collected from raiding bookstores and libraries. Antique stores were becoming less of a novelty and more of a resource. Soon the people of the prison would be nearly self-sufficient. She prayed Judith and her baby would never know the fear and heartache that everyone experienced when the outbreak first happened or the hunger of all those months spent on the road.

"Rick seems to be taking Judith with him more and more these days," Carol remarked to Beth. "It is nice to see him with her, don't you agree."

The leader had claimed his daughter after lunch and brought the baby with him out to tend to the animals. She missed Judy when she was gone but at the same time welcomed the break.

"He is an awesome dad," Beth replied, beaming at the woman. "Now that she is older, he is able to take her out to the pens and fields more."

"You know Daryl is going to be a great father too," the older woman continued. "The only thing that I worry about is him being so anxious about something happening that he stunts the child's development. But that is not necessarily a bad thing, you know."

Beth sighed and looked down at her hands. She knew where the woman was going with this.

"Don't get me wrong, Beth. I think kicking him out was the best thing you did," Carol continued with a wink much to the young woman's relief. "That man is absolutely devoted to you, Judith, and your child but I know it can't be easy being married to him. By taking a stand you are teaching him how to treat you. I should have stood up for myself more with Ed, but then again, I probably would have killed that bastard!"

"I get why he worries," Beth replied with another sigh. "Really I do. But he makes me out to be helpless and that makes me angry. I mean he doesn't even want me to walk around the prison anymore without him. That is why he locked me in the cell. I just can't spend the rest of my life feeling like his prisoner and if he is going to act like that, I would rather be alone."

"Never less, Darling," Hershel piped up. "That same annoying protectiveness is also what is going to keep you and your child alive. Alone is not a good thing anymore and is not an option with you being married anyway. But I agree that you need to set your limits. Carol is right. A person must teach someone how to treat them."

"Well he is not going to lock me up," she sighed.

"I know that it does not make it better but I think he only did it because he cares about you," Tyreese added, joining the discussion.

Beth was glad when Rick walked up beside her with Judith and turned the attention away from her marital problems. The baby happily smiled and reached out her arms at her mama upon seeing her. Beth beamed back at the baby and took her from Rick's outstretched arms. Judy laid her head against Beth's chest and closed her eyes when the young woman started rocking her. It was the child's naptime.

"Well, Daryl and I patched that hole in the chicken coop this morning and the hatchlings seem to be staying pretty warm despite the cool nights," Rick told her father. "Also, I think two of the pigs are expecting."

Hershel nodded at the man before responding. "It appears that farming is suiting you Rick. Everything is moving along the way it should."

"Yeah," the leader replied. "This cold spell got me thinking that it would be nice to get some sheep. The wool would be useful in making blankets and stuff."

The old man nodded in agreement. "We'll tell the others to keep an eye out when they are out."

Beth was just about ready to go lay Judith down when she heard the motorcycle start up. _Where in the world was Daryl going this late in the day?_ Everyone else seemed surprise as well.

However, before anyone had the chance to voice their concern, the hunter pulled up beside them at the table. Strapped to the bike was a couple of packs like he planned on being gone overnight. Rick raised his eyebrows at his friend but had a knowing look on his face making her think the leader already knew where he was heading off to.

"Get on," he said half smiling at his wife. Beth looked around her to make sure he was talking to her but it was apparent that he was. The rest of the group was looking at him in surprise.

"On that?" Beth replied in a small voice. Besides the fact that she had not been further from the prison except right outside of the gates since arriving there, never in her life had she been on a motorcycle either. She was a bit nervous at the ideal.

"No, the other bike we have sitting around," he answered sarcastically. "Just come on."

"I'm not getting on that thing!" she gasped. "What if I fall off?"

Daryl snickered. "I'm not going to let you fall off, Beth."

His wife eyed him suspiciously. It seemed like a logical objection to her. She quickly looked around to the other members of the group. Maggie and Tyreese seemed hesitate about the ideal. It seemed that Carol was about to object but the older Grimes shot her a quick glance warning her not to. Instead, the woman bite her tongue. Beth pleaded with her eyes at her daddy but he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"But Daryl, I was just about to lay Judith down," she countered desperately after turning back toward him.

"Rick can lay her down. He is going to be watching her for a couple of days, right?" her husband responded looking at the leader who just nodded in agreement.

_A couple of days? Where were they going? Surely he wasn't insisting on taking her on runs now?_

"You are not going to take Beth out of the prison with her pregnant, are you?" Maggie exclaimed in shock. "I'm not so sure that is a good ideal, Daryl."

"I'm sure it will be fine," her daddy quickly interjected. "He isn't going to do anything to harm her or their child. It might do them some good to get away from here for a while. They never had any kind of honeymoon, you know."

Beth's attention switched from the man on the bike to her father. There was an obvious twinkle in his eye. Whatever this was, the old man was obviously in on it.

"But…" she started after looking once again toward Daryl sitting on the motorcycle. He wore his angel wing vest over a long sleeve black, white, and red flannel shirt. Beth could not help but admire how sexy he looked. _Sexy? Did I really just think that?_ She was positive this man had turned her into a whore.

"Beth just get on the damn bike!" he finally just yelled in frustration. "I promise nothing is going to happen to you."

Everyone in the courtyard had stopped what they were doing at the sound of his voice and the couple was now the center of attention. The blonde's pale skin turned every shade of red there was.

Out of excuses and not knowing what else to do, Beth hugged Judith tightly before passing her back to Rick before shyly walking toward her husband. She was not even sure how she was supposed to get on. The woman decided to just throw her leg over it like she was mounting a horse but it ended up being much easier than that.

"Here. Let's get this on first," Daryl mumbled at her while strapping a helmet to her head. She could not help but feel the familiar electricity as his rough hands brushed her neck. Once he was sure it was snug, her husband looked her in the eye. "All ya have to do is hang on and lean with me when I do."

"When do you plan on heading back?" Rick asked once Daryl situated himself back on the bike. Beth wrapped her arms around his back and held on for dear life.

"Don't know," her husband replied with grin and a wink. "A couple days I guess."

Rick just nodded in agreement, causing Beth to not help but marvel over the simplicity of the two men's communication. They were able to say all they needed to with one look and here she wasn't even sure what the heck they were doing yet except going somewhere for a couple of days.

The young blonde did not have much time to ponder it though because before she knew it, Daryl had taken off and they were heading for the main gates.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author Note: So someone recently pointed out that the saying is "Nevertheless" and not "Neverless". I purposely made it that way and have been waiting for one of you to notice...here is why:<strong>_

_**I spent most of my childhood growing up on a small island community in south Florida. My father was a native Floridian and commercial fisherman. Everyone else that grew up there was as well - real southern, redneck types, many of whom had never been out of the state. They were very similar to the Daryl and Merle characters. Anyhow, this was a saying that the local folks used constantly. However, they always dropped the middle part and instead said "Never Less". It drove my Ohio-born, "Yankee" mother absolutely crazy!**_

_** When I was writing the fanfiction, I decided to use their version because I just figured that Georgia natives would do this as well. Especially the back woods, redneck type. I really do not know if they do. It could just be limited to the southern Florida native dialect.** _

_**Anyhow, I have decided to edit the title because I do not want people to get the impression that the story is full of errors but I am choosing to keep having the characters say "Never Less" anyway. It is just me paying homage to my southern raising! :)**_


	20. Chapter 20 - I've Never Needed Someone

The chilly wind rippled across Beth's body as she held on tight to Daryl as they traveled down some Georgia back road. Out of the corner of her eyes, walkers were making their way out of the forest of pines and toward the sound of the motorcycle but they were going much too fast to be in any danger.

Her initial fear of the bike had long passed and was replaced by a strong feeling of freedom. Beth never imagined that she would leave the prison again, but now was realizing just how much she missed the landscape of the countryside. Sure things were deserted and desolate, yet the one thing the outbreak hadn't destroyed was Mother Nature. It was thriving and even more beautiful than she remembered.

They had been traveling for what seemed like forever but probably more like twenty minutes when Daryl unexpectantly turned down a red dirt road that led back into the woods. At the end of it stood a little log cabin. He slowly came to a stop before turning off the bike.

"Come on," he whispered to her, taking off the helmet. "Shouldn't be anything here but I still need to do a sweep first, just in case." Beth quietly got off the bike and followed close behind her husband as they made their way toward a charming wooden porch. While it seemed that he was familiar with where they were at, she still hadn't the foggiest idea what they were doing there.

Taking in her surroundings as Daryl knocked on the door and waited for a moment, Beth decided that she really liked this place. Two cozy classic rocking chairs graced either side of the sturdy broad-beamed door. A white-washed wooden swing hung to the side and slowly moved back and forth. Thick pine shutters were nailed close over the two facing windows. The cabin looked to be hand-built. She would have loved to have called it home before everything had gone to hell.

Beth continued to admire the loveliness of the quaint little place as her husband let out a whistle and another knock. She was admiring the handiwork of the log walls and imagining the time someone spent splitting them, when she noticed a scratch on the surface. Looking closer, the blonde realized it was made by a knife, not an animal or walker. To the young woman's surprise, it said "Beth". Looking further she found several more. It was scribbled on the railing, floor, and upon closer examination - the steps too with no particular rhyme or reason. Someone had carved her name over and over again into the wood all around the porch.

Beth's eyes quickly darted back to the man before her, who at the moment was in pure defense mode with his crossbow raised and ready while slowly opening the door. Had he done that?

Daryl glanced over his shoulder and motioned for her to follow. The blonde quickly perked up and braced herself for anything that might be on the other side. However, once they were inside it was clear that the cabin was empty. Daryl quickly shut the front door, slide the wooden latch securely in place, and locked a thick padlock that hung from it.

They were standing in a large great room equally as charming as the outside. A handmade deep blue braided rug anchored a worn, but comfy looking couch and matching recliner chair. On the opposite wall was a kitchenette with a hand pump instead of a facet on the sink. A large oak square table with wooden benches separated the two living spaces.

One by one, Daryl darted into the two rooms off of the larger one and did a quick sweep. She assumed that they were bedrooms.

"It is all clear," he informed her with a grin upon returning to the room. "Looks like no one's been here since the last time I was."

"Where are we?" she finally asked her husband after it was safe for them to talk.

"Just a cabin I found some time back," he shrugged. "I stay here every now and then when I am out hunting."

"Oh," Beth replied. She wondered what she was doing there. Apparently, he thought they needed some time alone or something. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea.

"Gonna go out and get the packs," Daryl told her while heading toward the door. "Stay here."

The blonde nodded back at him. _Where in the world did he think she would she go?_

After he walked outside, Beth wandered over to a set of knotty pine steps that led up to a small little loft overlooking the room and sat down. A few minutes later Daryl returned with whatever he had packed.

"Was not sure what the hell you would want to wear," he commented while tossing her one of the bags. "I remembered your hair brush, socks, and drawers though."

The young woman couldn't believe that the man had actually packed her clothes. She just could not imagine it. It was even more shocking once she discovered a couple pairs of leggings and two of her favorite sweaters upon opening it. Then again, she wondered if it should be surprised at all. He had been bringing her things she liked for a long time now.

"Why are we here, Daryl?" Beth finally asked looking him square in the eye. Her husband suddenly looked really nervous. He stared at her intently a minute before answering.

"Just though we needed time alone to talk and stuff, Beth," he finally answered, glancing down at his hands. "I know you are real mad at me and all so I figured we needed to work that out."

Beth smiled reassuringly at him before wandering her eyes around the cabin. He had this all planned. It was almost like her daddy had said and like some couples retreat. Daryl Dixon, of all people, whisked her away off on some romantic get-a-way. Even in the middle of an apocalypse! While she was sure that many women would never have considered a cabin in the woods an ideal spot, Beth thought it was perfect – would have thought so even if the turn had not happened.

"So you did this for me?" she asked in a small voice as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Daryl looked back down at his hands like he was thinking or something before jerking his head up again and staring into her eyes. A jolt of electricity traveled through them and radiated down Beth's body.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said with a nervous chuckle. "You like it?"

"Oh Daryl, I love it!" she said springing up to her feet and throwing her arms around his neck. "I can't believe that you planned all this."

"Aww. It's nothing really," he replied in surprise at her reaction and breathing a sigh of relief as he pulled her closer. "Just where I stay when I go hunting is all. Wish there was somewhere better to go but this locks up pretty tight so it will have to do."

Beth looked up through her tear soaked eyelashes at him and whispered, "It's perfect."

Daryl seemed surprised by his wife's reaction but did not say a word. Instead a shaky hand made its way around to her back and pulled her tighter against his body.

"You know this is the farthest I have been from the prison since we found it," Beth remarked as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I almost forgot how the fields would fill up with wildflowers this time of year."

"You're safer in the prison," Daryl replied hastily in a serious tone before his voice soften a bit. "But I think it will be alright here for a couple of days. If not, I'll take care of it."

Beth sighed before finally pulling away from her husband and gathering the bags off the floor. "A couple of days is still nice," she commented as she headed toward what she assumed was the bedrooms. "I'm sure I will never get to leave once the baby is born."

After picking the door on the left, Beth walked into a cozy little room with a beautiful hand-carved double four post bed. To the side was a small pine chest. She unpacked their belongings by depositing each of their things into a drawer.

Daryl had followed her and was intently studying his wife silently as he leaned against the frame of the door way.

"What?" she asked him but he just mumbled in response while shaking his head.

Once she finished settling them in, Beth went to walk past him back out into the common are to see what type of food that had available to make but Daryl caught her arm instead and pulled her close again. The woman closed her eyes as a trail of soft, delicate kisses started from her collarbone and traveled up her neck toward her ear. Once his lips reached its destination, a faint whisper came from them. "Don't you ever leave me again."

Beth's eyes flew open in surprise. "Daryl, I did not leave you," she replied back. "I just needed you to get away from me for a while."

"Never less, don't make me go away again," he whispered back before taking her lobe softly in his mouth.

The blonde turned her head toward him in order to point out that he hadn't exactly gone far but before she could a pair of strong lips were on hers. Just as she always did, Beth melted into them but instead of the savagely engulfing her like he usually did, Daryl only softly nibbled before exploring her mouth with his tongue. Calloused hands found the bottom of her baggy sweater and slowly made their way up her bare back, barely brushing the skin and causing goose bumps to raise in their wake. A wave of electricity radiated throughout her.

Suddenly, she was in his arms. Beth let out a giggle as he carried her toward the bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked in surprise.

"I'm going to do this the right way," he replied with a grin. "Like it should have been the first time."

_The right way?_ Beth had no clue what that meant.

Her husband gently laid her on the bed over the tattered floral quilt before sitting on the edge himself. One by one he carefully began removing her boots before kicking of his own and positioning himself on top of her. The young wife's heart was beating a mile a minute as he hovered over her and stared into her soul.

Finally, his hands once again found the bottom of the baggy sweater and slowly began lifting it inch by inch up her body until it was off, never taking his eyes off hers. The stare, a mixture of lust and longing, endured even as he slightly lifted her up and unsnapped her white lacy bra. It continued still as he sat back on his feet and pulled off her black leggings and panties. The power of the connection almost brought tears to young woman's eyes.

However Beth broke it after shyly adverted her eyes upon the realization that she was completely naked in broad daylight underneath of him. When she glanced back he was looking at her seemingly in awe. Before she knew it, his lips was back on her neck. The warmth of his breath sent shivers down her spine.

The man then proceeded to taste every inch of her. His mouth tenderly moved to her collarbone and over each of her shoulders before slowly making its way down toward her taunt little breasts.

"Daryl do you love me?" Beth blurted out of nowhere causing her husband to freeze for a moment.

"More than you'll ever know," he breathed barely audible and took one her nipples gently between his teeth. His arms found their way underneath her and his hands pushed against her back pressing the breast further into his mouth. "OH" was the only thing she could manage in response as the raging fire brewing inside of her got hotter and hotter. After a minute or two, his attention turned to the other.

Beth's hands clung to the top of Daryl shoulders, still covered by the flannel shirt and vest. She gasped the soft leather in her hands and began to push it down his arms, desperate to feel the touch of his skin on hers. Without breaking contact with her chest, he shrugged out of it and soon the angel wings was somewhere on the floor.

Abruptly, she pushed him up off her until her husband was hovering over her with a mixture of confusion and longing on his face. Beth beamed at him reassuringly before reaching up and unbuttoning his flannel one by one. While she slowly fumbled with his shirt, Daryl's eyes traced her naked body beneath him before they once again met hers. The need radiating out of them went way beyond coupling and what was going on in that bed. In that moment, Beth realized that this man really did love her and probably always had. She slowly inhaled a small breath and her body began to tremble upon the realization that was rattling her very soul. After undoing the last barrier, the hunter pulled off his shirt and threw it on the floor. Overcome with emotion, a single tear blurred her vision as it traveled down the young wife's cheek. Seeming to understand, Daryl bent down and tenderly kissed it away.

Beth's hands ran across the scars from some other nightmare her husband had lived and through his long shaggy hair as he resumed running his lips down her body. His warm breath against her chilled skin made places tingle deep inside her that she hadn't even realized existed. This time he only traced his mouth around the small mounds on her chest before carefully directing his trail of kisses along her waist and growing naval using the same slow and deliberate movements as before.

"What are you doing!?" Beth asked in surprise when Daryl's arms suddenly wrapped around each one of her thighs and gently eased her legs open but he didn't respond. Instead, the sensation of the warm wetness of his tongue delicately invading the most private of places engulfed her. Startled, the young woman tried to shut her legs in instinct but her husband held them open as be began to devour every part of her that made her a woman. He traced every fold and crevice before finding that little bundle of nerves that always sent her over the edge. The young wife felt his soft breath as Daryl began lovely kissing it before gently nibbling and licking the nub. Beth threw her back against the pillow as the foreign feeling began to give way to a more familiar tension building in her body. Every nerve in her body seemed to tingle. Her breathing quickened and she arched her back in response as the hunter aggressively picked up the pace. The blonde rocked her hips wildly when his tongue started darting in and out of her. Beth gasped his hair in desperation as the itch deep inside started to overwhelm her.

Just as the first wave of bliss hit, Daryl quickly climbed on top of his wife and buried himself inside her. "I want you come around me," he whispered into her ear in a pure primal tone. Beth knew there was no way she could not help but to oblige after the way she felt as he slowly slide in and out of her. She didn't know when he had undid his pants in the process but did not really care. Her body began to shake uncontrollably. "Daryl" she breathed in a heavy voice. "Tell me what you want, Beth," he responded between breaths. She needed him to scratch that need deep inside her. It shocked her when she heard the word "harder" escape her lips.

The next thing the young wife knew she was on her knees clinging to the wooden headboard as her husband pounded into her from behind. She felt the dampness of his chest against her back while callous hands clung to her breasts and sharp teeth sunk into the skin of her neck. Over and over again he found that spot with his invading manhood sending her spiraling out of control.

"I've never ever needed someone so fucken bad!" he growled as her whimpers and moans got so loud that they were almost screams. One of his hands quickly found its way over her mouth muffling the cries that were coming out of it so she did not alert every walker for miles but he never slowed his pace. Instead it got faster and faster until Beth felt like she just exploded.

After she came back to reality, the blonde found herself on her belly with Daryl collapsed on top of her breathing heavily. She reached one of her outstretched arms up to brush the soaking wet hair out of her face but he beat her to it. Kissing her gently on the cheek afterwards, Daryl whispered in her ear, "You are the only woman I have ever loved. I don't know how to act but I will do anything you want and follow you anywhere. Just don't ever ask me not to."

"I won't, I swear," she breathed as tears sprung from her eyes. "Because you are the only one I have ever loved too."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note: I apologize for it being so long since I updated this fic. I am part of a special group of Bethylers and was busy researching filming spoilers for us the last couple of weeks with what little free time I had. Also, I have been working double what I normally do and with Halloween and everything got really busy in real life. I will have another chapter up for you tomorrow and Chapter 22 on Sunday. I think everyone needs this with all the BS going around!<strong>_


	21. Chapter 21 - An Angel or Something

"So you've loved me since you first seen me, huh?"

"Not sure if you could really call what I wanted to do to you back then love or not but either way it was inappropriate as hell," Daryl responded with a grin at his still-naked wife who was casually propped up with her back against his chest eating the green beans he insisted she needed, right out of the can. Beth glanced back at her husband who was sitting up against the headboard with his arms around her and laughed. It would have been inappropriate for him to be thinking thoughts like that about a sixteen year old girl she supposed but it wasn't like he ever acted on it….well at least until after she grew up.

"If your Dad would have known what was going through my head at the time, he really would have shot me." He continued dryly. "And I'm not so sure Rick would have been inclined to stop him either. At least back then. So I thought it would be wise if I just ignored all that. Wasn't exactly wanting to be walker food."

Beth's mind raced back to the day everyone discovered she was pregnant and how she wound up married to the man behind her. The blonde knew for a fact that her Daddy viewed him like family and damn near killed him anyway. She hated to imagine how he might have reacted back at the farm.

"Unfortunally, Merle picked up on it right away once he came back around," Daryl went on. "He was such an asshole. A day or two before he died, I knocked the shit out of him for saying that I better hurry up and fuck you before he did. I knew he was just messing around but still….."

"Like that would have ever happened!" Beth said with a laugh. "He was just trying to get under your skin."

"I know," he replied. "The thing is that I can get kind of crazy when it comes to you. If you only knew how many times I stood at the door of your cell and watched you sleep….."

"You watched me sleep?" Beth asked incredibly, lowering the can and eyeballing him out of the corner of her eye.

Daryl glanced down seemingly in shame before mumbling "umm-huh" in response. "I guess I just need to make sure you are still breathing ever now and then."

"Honestly, I would have never guessed in a million years that you would even think about me like that" she said with a shrug, going back to munching on her green beans while marveling at her apparent ignorance. "I mean why in the world would you fall for me of all people?"

"I dunno. Maybe because you are fucken perfect Beth," he declared. "Like a damn angel or something."

Beth Frowned._ An angel? Really? _

"Daryl, I am hardly perfect," she replied. "I'm often too stubborn for my own good, have way too much pride, and I suspect that I even snore when I'm sleep. Hardly an angel."

"You do snore," he informed her with a grin. "But really soft. Sounds like a kitten purring or something. Even your snoring is cute." Beth could not help but to laugh. Daryl looked down at her and smiled. He seemed generally happy to be there in that bed, holding her. Happier than she had ever seen him before. It was almost like everything was perfect. After placing the empty can on the nightstand, she turned around to face him. Her husband pulled her closer against his chest so that she was now sideways across his lap, legs dangling over the top of his thigh.

"So you vowed the vow of chastity, huh? Well, what changed that night?" she asked playfully with a slug, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. "You know, the one where I ended up in the condition that I am presently am in?"

Suddenly, Daryl went tense. For a second or two he just stared at her. The atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Aaron," he finally replied quietly. His eyes dropped before meeting hers again, showing the hidden pain. "Beth, I killed him. I mean he was going to die anyway but I still killed him and not just to put him out of his misery like I was gonna."

"Because he told you to tell me he loved me," she knowingly whispered barely audible.

"You know?" he asked, seemingly surprised.

"Yes," she replied. "Michone told me. She said that you just shot him out of nowhere before he was even done talking. But Daryl you and I both know that you would not have done it if he wasn't already bitten. There is no way you would have killed him otherwise."

"Still, he should not have gone out like that. He was a good kid," the hunter responded with a sigh, obviously ashamed of what he had done. "But I hated the way you looked at him sometimes."

"And you hated that he loved me when you had for so long," she said, filling in the blanks. "I was yours, not his."

Daryl closed his eyes and let out a breath before wrapping his arms around her tighter, as if holding on for dear life. "Had Aaron lived, you probably would have ended up with him. He would have been much better for you than me anyway. I did not like him much but it was more than that though."

"What do you mean?" she asked confused. What else could have possibly set him off like that?

Her husband swallowed hard. "I-I, I realized someday that would be me," he whispered. "One day I-I was going to run out of luck and be professing my bullshit too. Y-you know, right before someone put me down. It was like I was looking in a damn crystal ball or something. I couldn't fucken stand the thought of it and just wanted him to shut the hell up."

Beth honestly did not know what to say.

"You know, I-I heard you that night. When y-you were pacing the halls with Judith and all. I like it w-when you sing. Calms me down or something. But not that night. All I could think about was ways to snatch you up away from everyone and take you somewhere with me. Some place where it would just be the two of us. I knew that I could not do it though and that pissed me off something fierce. That I was going to die like Aaron before I ever had a chance to open my mouth. So I threw the glass against the wall. But then you appeared out of nowhere. Right there in my cell and on my bed. I wanted you so bad. Made up my mind that I was going to tell you but then I chickened out. Like a damn punk or something."

Beth's eyes got as wide as saucers. He was going to tell her he loved her?

"When you hugged me….I-I couldn't handle it anymore and lost it," he continued, the shame radiating out of his eyes. "You were so sweet and selfless. You deserved so much better than an asshole like me. I knew you had to be thinking 'what in the hell?' But as long as you were letting me touch you, I wasn't going to stop."

Daryl paused and swallowed hard. "I-I needed you more than I have ever needed anybody. M'm so sorry Beth. I should have never have done that to you. Hurt you like that. Then I end up knocking you up in the process."

Beth was taken aback. For a moment, she could not breathe. "Daryl…," she started.

"Remember when I told you that one night in the pantry the happiest day of my life was when Merle and I found our old man dead?" he interrupted eyes now wild. His wife silently nodded back. "Well it was," he continued sucking in a deep breath. "Until…well until I finally got to know what it was like to spend the night with you. Then…after I seen what I did to you…"

"You're wrong," Beth asserted suddenly out of nowhere while her husband looked at her in confusion. "You are wrong about me ending up with Aaron."

"You said, yourself, that you were sweet on him," he replied.

"I said he was nice," she explained rolling her eyes. "I even thought maybe - just maybe - something might have been there. But the truth is that we would have already been together when he died if something was. He had been asking me for months to do stuff with him. Go for walks. Play cards. Even asked me to dance at Maggie and Glen's wedding. But I always said I couldn't. I just never would. He was a nice guy and all but I could never tell him yes."

"Why?" Daryl quietly asked her.

"That was the thing," she responded, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I never knew why. I would just say that I was too busy but that wasn't always true. I would kick myself and wonder why I could not just say yes. Thought something was wrong with me or something."

Beth peered up at the man holding her in his arms through her long eye lashes before continuing. "Now…now I realize that it was simply because my heart had already been taken. It was already gone. I just did not know it yet."

The hunter gawked at her in astonishment seemingly unable to talk or move.

"Daryl, I was so confused that night. Up until then the thought of me and you never even crossed my mind," she explained looking down at her hands on her lap. She paused a minute, staring off in space while remembering the event that ended up changing her life forever, before finally glancing back up at him. "I knew all I had to do was tell you to stop. Never had a doubt. But still I didn't. I just couldn't. No matter how weird it was or how much it hurt, I was going to give myself to you. I did not even know why. Had it been anyone else, it would have never happened."

"You should have knocked the crap out of me," he quipped but she quickly shook her head.

"You don't understand. I wanted to be there in your bed," she whispered. "I wanted to take the pain away. I wanted to hold you in my arms and let you do whatever you wanted to do to me."

Her husband's body tensed as he let out a breath and looked at her with dark piercing eyes but did not say a word.

"I did not know what to do afterwards," she went on in a shaky voice. "I-I figured that you were just upset and needed someone. Anyone I supposed. That maybe I just bit off more than I could chew. I couldn't figure out why I had done what I did. Until the next morning after I saw the look on your face. It was then I realized that I had been in love with you all along. I always felt it but paid no attention. Felt it every time you looked at me. Guess I thought the ideal was so crazy that I ended up pushing it back way back into my mind. Deep into my subconscious or something. It must have finally rose to the surface when you suddenly started kissing me. That was why I let you be my first, Daryl. I did not even care if you loved me back. I just wanted to be that person. Even if it only was for the one night."

Beth sighed thinking about how everything must have been building up between them over the past couple years and was finally let out that night. Afterwards, they were both so confused and awkward. She thought about the hurt she felt after he freaked out and took off into the woods. The rejection that killed her - despite how much she tried to bury it - when he would not even talk to her. And to think, he loved her all along and she loved him. In the end they were made for each other. Maybe her daddy was right and God did work in mysterious ways. If conditions had not been what they were and had Aaron's demise not sent Daryl off that night, they may still be living with his inability to express what he feels and her blissful – yet lonely - denial.

"Afterwards, I was so mortified at what I had done," she continued with a frown. "I just wanted things to go back to the way they were but that was impossible. When I realized I was pregnant, it was like wearing a scarlet letter. I knew everyone else would know what a slut I had been too. Then daddy and you were so insistent that we get married. Everything was happening so fast and seemed to be spinning out of control. I was sure that all I was to you was a girl you got your frustration out with and just happened to knock up. I couldn't stand the thought of you being married to your biggest regret."

"You are not a slut, Beth. The furthest thing from it. All I could think about how you had to be my wife. Mrs. Beth Dixon," he declared while tenderly placing his lips on her temple. "My god, the only damn person who has ever touched you was me! I realized that you had never done that before as soon as we started. I think that made me even crazier. Like you were all mine. No one else's. You are like a drug. I-I've never felt this way about anyone before. Still don't get it. I-I just had to have you. Problem was you were too young, too innocent, and way too good for white trash like me. Why you would ever willingly let me put my filthy paws all over you at all…I just…I will never be able to wrap my mind around it. I fucken manhandled you, Beth! You should hate me! That's what I regretted! Here I finally had everything that I had dreamed of for so long and then I blew it."

"Where did you go?" she asked. "I know you were hunting because you came back with all that food but you were gone for over a week."

"Here," he said with a shrug. "Spent the first few nights drunk and insane. Tore the place up. There used to be a lot more furniture. Did a real good number on my hands punching the logs. One night I took out my knife and carved your name over and over again on the porch until daylight."

"I thought you must have done that," she said remembering her surprise at her named chiseled into the wood. "I noticed it when we got here."

"Mmm-huh," he replied. "Think the only reason I did not check out for good was because all of a sudden I got worried about who would be protecting you if something happened. Hightailed it back home after that came to mind. Shot a few squirrels and deer on the way. When I saw you there in the garden, I just wanted to grab you up. Right there in front of everyone but figured it best if I just left you alone. Had already done too much damage. You see, Beth, all I have ever been is nobody. Just some redneck looser"

"What are you talking about?" the young woman asked her husband incredibly. "You are Daryl Dixon. Honestly, if it wasn't for you we might all be dead. Why you would want to be married to me is beyond me. I am not special or anything. What the hell have I ever done? Took care of Judith and laundry? Sing once in a while? Besides going off the deep end and slashing my wrist, that is. Really helpful, huh?"

"Everyone has had their moment, Beth," Daryl replied taking her arm and placing a gently kiss on the scar that would forever grace her wrist. "Rick. Glen after what happened to Maggie at Woodbury. Hell even your dad fell off the wagon, remember? Does not make you less important. Nobody would be able to function at all without what you do. Judith would probably be dead. You make things normal in an insane world. That means more than anything. Don't worry about being a badass. As long as I am breathing I will protect you."

Beth glanced back at her hands, unsure if she believed him. She wished she was stronger somehow. He was built for this world but one day he might not always be there. He needed to show her how to survive as well.

"Never less, you need to train me," she decided. "Just in case. You know, so you don't have to worry about me."

"I was thinking the same thing but not until you have the baby," Daryl replied much to her surprise. "But I will still worry about you. There is more danger than just walkers to worry about. Especially a young woman like you."

"What do you mean?" she asked unsure what he meant by that.

"Do you remember Randel?" he asked severely.

"From way back at the farm?" she replied, wondering what the kid had to do with anything. Maggie had gone to school with him but Rick did not trust the boy. They were even going to kill him but Shane beat everyone to it.

"Well me and Randel had a little talk," Daryl explained in a voice so dangerous that his wife was sure that it was a little more than just a "talk". "I wasn't so much worried about him doing anything but I sure the hell did not want to let him loose to bring those fuckers he was with back to us."

"Why?" she asked confused. "What was wrong with them?"

Daryl's face changed to anger. "They raped women, Beth. In front of their families and everything. Told me about raping two young girls right in front of their old man. The only thing that I ever agreed with Shane on was killing that bastard."

"Did Randal rape people too?" she responded horrified. This guy had gone to her school!

"Said he didn't but I did not give a shit," her husband answered, voice gruff. "As far as I was concerned none of them was getting close to you or anyone else."

Beth only nodded. She understood what he was getting at. He was afraid that someone would try to violate her but she was also positive that it would be over his dead body.

"All that seems to be left anymore are the animals," he continued pulling her close again with a shudder.

The blonde thought about what he said for a moment. "That's not true," she decided. "You have brought a lot of good people to the prison too. Most are just doing what they have to do to survive."

"Never less, I still don't trust all them motherfuckers yet," the hunter responded. "Look how that dooshbag tried to grab you up the other day. He's lucky he is still breathing."

Oh, that is why he got so angry. It dawned on Beth that there was more behind what he did to David than just jealousy. He was trying to protect her.

"Look at us," she remarked once again looking up at the man who had just pushed her head against his chest. She inhaled his sent. A mixture of dirt, sweat, and pine. All man.

"A real pair, huh?" he replied with a grin, his hand once again starting to wander to places that only he could touch. "I told you that I was no good with feelings but I do love you. More than anything on this earth. I always will so I'm afraid you are stuck with me until the day I die."

"Me too," Beth breathed as his callous fingers ran over her sensitive skin leaving goose bumps in their wake. "No matter what, I swear."

_**Author's note: So the cable company just fixed my internet after it going out on me for three days! Don't realize just how much you use it until something like that happens. Go figure, just as I promised more, it fails. Did not even get to chat with my girls after the episode last night. Uggh! That is it! No more promises other than I will continue this for a while. **_

_**This was going to be my original ending (and was actually part of Chapter 20) but I thought of more and decided to keep going. It is important that everything is out in the open now with the stuff that is about to come next. Got at least 20 more chapters in my head. **_

_**BTW – I have no idea why I put so many exclamation points in this story when I first started writing. I normally do not write like that at all. Bethyl must excite me or something, LOL. Anyway, I have cleaned up a lot of that and will continue to as I get the time. **_


	22. Chapter 22 - Gone

A canopy of trees sheltered them from the hot Georgia sun as they ran through the forest, pine needles under their feet. But it did not protect them from what was on the ground surrounding them. The monsters chasing them did not care that Beth was six months pregnant. Not anymore than the evil bastard who decapitated her Daddy right in front of his two daughters – right in front of the rest of their family. They were simply too hungry to care about her or her baby. The governor hungry for power and the dead hungry for flesh.

Beth started to fall, tripped up by a cluster of pine cones on the ground and the unbalanced weight of her belly. Daryl caught her though, like he already had several times, all while shooting one of his few remaining arrows into the skull of a dead blonde girl. She could not help but wonder if that was how she was going to look when they finally caught her. Was that how she was going to look when she too became a walker?

It had been a while since she had actually seen Daryl in action. The illusion of peace, tranquility, and normalcy the prison provided prevented her from having to do so. Now the prison was gone. Like a damn prophet, her Daddy had been right and their luck simply ran out. His own ended the moment that sword met his neck and like he predicted was no longer there to protect her. Maybe it was less cruel that way, instead of experiencing human teeth ripping through his skin. He could not run like they had to. It was still a cruel way to go. She was learning first hand why he wanted her to marry the man kicking in the head of the dead man that just tried to eat her. Like always, Hershel Greene was right. Regardless of the fact she was head over hills in love with him, she had chosen the perfect husband for this cruel world.

It was all gone. Cell block C. Betsy and her cow. The fields and the animal pens. Even the make shift school in the library was no more. Beth shuddered at the thought of the children who studied so hard there. She refused to think about Judith as anything but safe. Perhaps Rick found her or at least maybe Carl did – if they were alive as well that is. They had to be. That was the only way she could bare it.

It was just her and Daryl now. That was all. She did not know where the others had gone though she could not imagine them any other way but alive. Maggie and Glen had to be somewhere. Tyreese, Sasha, Bob, Carol – they all had to have made it out too, right?

As for the couple, they seemingly ran right into the herd that had quickly overtaken their home upon hearing the noise of the battle. Perhaps, it was because she refused to leave without Judy so the monsters were given more opportunity to close in. Daryl eventually just had to physically drag his kicking and screaming wife away. She refused to leave without the baby any other way.

So they ran for hours, stopping only to kill a walker or two in their path. Daryl mostly did that, though she did plant his knife into a few skulls of her own – too many to count. But she would have been dead several times over by now if it weren't for him. She wasn't really convinced that she would not be eventually. That everything she had dreamed about - him, her, Judith, and the unborn baby still in her tummy - was just in vain. Only stupid fantasies of a young woman living on borrowed time. If they did not die today, perhaps tomorrow. How long they had been running she did not know. Beth only knew that the dead were still chasing them.

The stench of decomposition seemed overwhelming despite it always being a familiar smell in the background of their lives. Even in the prison you could not escape it. One just accepted that it was the scent of this messed up world, reminding you that you were never really okay. Now it was almost unbearable.

Daryl kicked a rotting woman in the chest, causing her ribcage to explode, before ushering his wife ahead into a clearing. The woods surrounding it were alive and crawling. Not with wild beasts or bugs but rather the shuffling of the confused corpses that seemed to be all around them. There was no escape. This was it for they were trapped.

But Daryl motioned her over to a single tree miraculously growing tall in the clearing and ushered her up onto a low-lying branch. She climbed limb after limb as fast as she could. Finally, halfway up, she felt him grab her swollen ankle. After she made her way down to where he was, the hunter guided her arm and pulled her onto his lap. She realized he was on some type a seat_. Oh it was a tree stand_. The kind that hunters use. _No wonder he noticed it._

No sooner had they stilled with his arms wrapped protectively around her, the dead poured out of the connecting trails. They mindlessly searched for something they thought they heard. Like a colony of ants, hundreds and hundreds of lost souls entered the clearing. It was more than the young, sheltered, woman could even imagine. She shook in fear and in a moment of lunacy even started to scream. A calloused hand sprung to her mouth and she felt him slowly shake his head behind her. The hand did not move but he used the other arm to hold onto her tighter.

All through the night they came, certain that a meal was near but lacking the intelligence to just look up. They wandered aimlessly throughout the clearing before abruptly changing course and diverting their direction in search of some other noise that caught their attention.

It was finally breaking dawn and Beth's whole body ached from the hours spent in the stand not moving. Her heart beat was so loud that she began to fear that the monsters would simply zero in on her pulse. She knew that dehydration and exhaustion had set in but the adrenaline kept it from conquering her. The baby in her belly kicked nevertheless – completely innocent of the world that it would be born into. Beth wondered if it was a boy or girl and if she would live long enough to ever know.

As the sun began to peek over the trees, she noticed something rising above them in the distance. Daryl noticed it too as he pointed toward the structure. A building. Rather a cabin held in the air by a tower. "Fire lookout," he whispered so low that only she could hear. It was a place to get away from all these walkers. Somewhere to rest.

But they still had to get there and the daylight had also revealed the thousands of monsters that were in the way. However, it was their only hope.


	23. Chapter 23 - Cornering a Beast

"Come on," Daryl quietly mumbled through the morning mist that had formed in the lush forest through the night. Beth stood frozen at the sight of four walkers that were laying at her feet. Moments ago they were surrounding her, growling and moaning desperately. They were quickly put out of their misery after separating the blonde from her protector. He hadn't took so kindly to that.

However, for a brief minute she was sure it was over. Perhaps, her time had come and her baby would never be able to breathe its first breath of air as it entered the world. She wasn't even so sure if that was even a bad thing anymore. It was cruel to bring any child into this.

The numb pregnant woman just stood there unable to move, staring at what were once just normal people who never had a chance to rest in peace. Someone's family. A mother, father, daughter, or son. They were probably at one time good souls who just fell victim to the unknown pathogen attacking their rotting flesh. The same unknown monster that ran threw her own veins, promising to attack the second her blood began to turn cold.

Suddenly a large calloused hand gripped Beth's arm and pulled her away from the carnage and back into reality.

"We gotta go, Beth," his voice warned. The fire lookout, she finally remembered as Daryl dragged her through the pines. They had to make it to the cabin in the sky. It was more than just their mission but also their only hope.

She studied the wild man who clung to her while leading them from tree to tree, waiting for his instruction. Daryl was in his element here, confident and sure - as well as determined to protect what was his. Every so often he would turn to the woman and raise his finger to his lips indicating that another cluster of the large herd was heading their direction. After pressing her tightly against a sturdy oak, he would spin around – guarding his mate and the baby that laid blissfully in her belly with a raised crossbow - ready to penetrate whatever dared cross their path. After all monsters had moved on or where taken out, the hunter would turn and nod, indicating that they would move again. His ears perked up with each crack of a branch or turn of a leaf, while his dark eyes scanned the terrain for living or dead threats alike. Tracking the walkers by their footprints on the ground, he guided her through the woods with stealth-like movements -like some mythical creature of the forest. He was one with it, unhesitant to take out anything that got in their way.

Anyone else might have been terrified of Daryl at the moment. The way he was so quick to kill without any second thought. However, Beth knew he was only doing what they both needed for him to do. The combination of an abusive childhood and years of trekking through the Georgia timberland had aided in making him especially good at it, igniting the animal instinct within and giving him an incredible ability to survive in the wild. Everyone knew it was dangerous to corner a beast but the man underneath all that was good and loyal – and unquestionably in love with her.

The couple continued the harrowing travel as the sun rose in the sky until it was so high that its rays trickled through the branches of the haunting pines overhead. The humid heat was trapped by the thickets, causing beads of perspiration to wick off their skin. Eventually the number of walkers got less and less until Beth was sure that they had reached the edge of the herd, which seemed to be going in the opposite direction toward the aftermath of the prison.

The lookout was not visible from the ground. The only reason they had seen it at all was because they had been high in the tree. Still, the blonde was positive that they were heading in the right direction. Her husband knew exactly where he was going.

Beth paused a moment to catch her breath, leaning against an old oak. She tried not to think about the sharp pain radiating from her lower back and feet but could not help to wince from it anyway. Daryl eyed her when she did with a mixture of concern and anger on his face.

"I'm okay," she tried to reassure. "I-I just need to rest a minute."

The hunter just continued to stare at her severely, obviously unconvinced. His eyes ran up and down her body before coming to a rest on her protruding navel.

"Is it still alive?" he asked, reminding her of the alternative. As for now it was but how much longer could she go without water and rest? Would she even be able to live through a miscarriage or would it be like Lori had feared back when what seemed now like a lifetime ago? Would the baby turn inside of her and attack its own mother?

"Yes," she replied defiantly with renewed strength and determination to keep it that way. Beth pushed past her husband and started walking once again in the direction that they had been heading. A few moments later, Daryl was once again by her side and defending her from danger. One way or another they had to make it to the lookout. There was no other option.

Finally, just as the sun began to dip toward the horizon and the light radiating from it got dimer, they came to tall bob-wire fence. A rusty chain and a large padlock secured the large circular clearing beyond it. Several small storage like buildings were scattered throughout the compound, weathered and crumpling from exposure. In the center was a metal tower with wooden steps, like a staircase into the sky.

Miraculously, at the top was a building, surrounded by a wooden deck. They had made it.


	24. Author Note About MSF

To all my followers,

I am so sorry that I did not update this story sooner. Despite being the self-appointed cheerleader in my Bethyl group, I was so nervous over the MSF and spoiler that leaked that I could not find the heart to do so. Then IT happened. I was too stunned and dumbfounded afterwards to even come to this site.

However, after much thought, I have decided that I will continue the story. As far as I am concerned, Bethyl was the one of the best pairings in TV history and will always live on through authors like myself and the many others who write about them.

Chapter 24 is ready and will be posted tonight!

In the meantime, I want to spread the word about the spoon campaign and petition in case you have not heard and are as mad as I am over the crap that happened last Sunday (US). Bethylers around the world are buying cheap plastic spoons and writing Beth quotes on them and sending them to AMC to symbolize the DC spoon she found in Still. I am participating in this and am sending spoons every day for a month. Even if you cannot send them as much as me, at least send them once. If you are in the United States, the cheapest way to mail them is in a large envelope using first class mail. They weigh very little. It is only 0.98 from my house.

The address is:

THE WALKING DEAD PRODUCERS  
>ATTN: PRODUCTION OFFICE<br>600 CHESTLEHURST ROAD  
>SENOIA, GA. 30276<br>USA

If you have not signed the petition here is the link:

p/the-walking-dead-bring-beth-back?lang=en-US

Now, I do not know (and doubt) that they would actually bring Beth back but I will tell you letting them know that Beth is not "just another dead girl" is very therapeutic.

Stay strong

Walkingmin


	25. Chapter 24 - Keep you safe

"Almost got it," Daryl quietly assured his wife as he tried to pick the thick padlock that kept them from safety.

Beth nodded in response while nervously glancing towards the edge of the woods behind them. Walkers were beginning to emerge, attracted to the noise of the chain, rattling from her husband's attempt at unlocking it. The hunter paused after noticing them and quickly raised his crossbow and disposed of the threat before going back to his task. The young woman walked over to their bodies and pulled out the arrows. They were covered in dark, gel-like blood. Wrinkling her nose at the potent, but familiar smell, she could not help but wonder if she would ever get used to it.

Finally, the lock sprung open and Daryl ushered his wife through the gate before once again securing it.

A storm was approaching by the look of the sky and the way the wind was picking up around them. It hauntingly ripped through the dilapidated structures scattered at the bottom of the lookout. The hunter immediately went towards the buildings, making sure they were clear of danger. Beth looked toward the cabin at the top of the tower and wondered if she had enough strength to make it up there. Off in the distance she heard the sound of a struggle followed by another thud from an arrow but Daryl was back at her side before she had a chance to process that he might be in trouble. He was carrying a large hacksaw and rope but Beth was too exhausted to speculate what he could possibly be planning on doing with them.

"One is a well house," he mumbled, tossing his wife a full bottle of water. She practically inhaled the liquid, only stopping for a breath, before gulping down more. Meanwhile, Daryl gazed up and surveyed the lookout.

"Wonder what or who we are going to find up there," he remarked dryly with a grunt. Following his gaze, she looked curiously at the structure.

"Was there a walker in one of the buildings?" she asked. Would any more would be welcoming them at the top?

"Nah, it was actually beside it," he replied. "Looked like he was the person who had been tending to the place. At least we don't have to worry about him."

"How do you think he died?" Beth wondered with a shudder.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "No signs of injury. Was probably a heart attack or something."

The hunter walked over toward the bottom of the tall structure and toward the wooden staircase. "Come on," he called over his shoulder while jumping on the bottom step, testing its stability. "It's gonna storm."

The blonde took one last gulp of the water before reluctantly putting it away and turning to follow her husband. Her feet and back were killing her. In fact, she felt like she had been in a car wreck or something. Now that they were relatively safe and the adrenaline had subsided, she could finally feel the full effect of running nonstop the last two days. Before long, she was sure the lack of sleep was going to turn her delirious. The wind was really blowing, kicking up clay from the ground and whistling through the trees surrounding them. Beth was so weak that it almost blew her over but Daryl caught the woman before she hit the ground.

"Sweetheart, listen to me," he said with determination staring into her eyes that must have done nothing to mask the defeat she felt. "I know that you are probably ready to just give up but we are right here. I need you to be strong just a little bit longer."

Beth simply nodded in reply. Even if they did make it up the stairs, then what? They were still separated from their family and her daddy was still dead. Judith was God-only-knew where. Was all this even worth it anymore?

But just as she was about to collapse and say to hell with it all, the young mother felt a tiny movement in her navel, reminding her why she had to find that last little bit of strength to make it to the top of the tower. Taking a deep breath she willed herself to climb that first step and then the next one.

"Hold up," Daryl called out to her when she reached the first landing. Looking over her shoulder, Beth realized he was sawing off each step as they went. Unable just to stand any longer, she turned around and plopped down on the platform and stared up at the clouds above her getting darker by the minute. Lightening was looming in the distance. At any moment the sky was going to open up making that staircase the last place they would want to be. While it was wooden, the tower that supported the actual lookout was metal. She turned her curiosity toward her husband who was now on the third step.

"What are you doing?" she asked incredibly.

Her husband looked up at her with his still dark eyes. "Just making sure that nobody else can get up here as easy as we are," he explained. "Don't worry, I am only taking the steps out to that landing you're on.

"How will we get down?" she responded quickly surveying the large distance between her and the ground.

"That's what the rope is for," he replied, climbing another step before turning around and disposing of the previous one. "Much safer this way."

Beth would have never thought to make the tower harder to climb but figured it was probably a good ideal. There was no way that a walker could figure out how to get up to the twenty or so feet in the air that the first platform was. While a human could, the process would not be easy and might buy them more time to deal with them. Daryl was obviously turning the place into a strong hold. Their very own fortress.

Just as her husband removed the last step, a bolt of lightning lit up the dark sky above them. Suddenly, thin slivers of rain fell, stinging their sun burnt skin as it did.

"We gotta get inside," Daryl said, stating the obvious while reaching out his hand to pull her up. Beth quickly grabbed it and rose to her feet. Another crack of thunder rang out around them and the young pregnant mother could not help but think about how ironic it would be if a lightning killed them now after surviving everything else that had happened. Daryl pulled her along another set of steps and then another toward what they both hoped would be safety.

The higher they climbed the lookout, the stronger the wind got. The hunter clung to his pregnant wife as they fought their way up, step by step. Beth gripped the railing so tight that her knuckles turned white. The storm boomed viciously around them, echoing through the metal beams that held the structure atop. Finally, after quite a while of struggling, they made it to the last landing. But just as they did, little bits of pea-sized ice started plummeting down on them. The hail accumulated on the steps causing Beth to slip backwards into Daryl's strong arms. He stared into her eyes as he steadied her and decided what was radiating out of them was fear. Like a cornered animal. She tried to imagine what must have been going through his head.

But Beth did not have much time to dwell on it because after a second or two, Daryl once again remembered their mission. Within a couple of minutes he had her up the final flight of stairs and on the wrap-around wooden deck that surrounded the cabin. In front of them was a grey steal door.

The wind at the top was so fierce from the storm that it felt like they were in the middle of a hurricane. Beth clutched the rail while Daryl struggled with the door. The hunter was only able to get it open an inch or so before the breeze slammed it shut again. Finally, the wind shifted and it flew open, loudly banging against the outside wall. Cautiously, they stepped into the building, Daryl protectively in front of his wife with his crossbow raised. They both jumped when the door blew shut behind them.

Miraculously, the cabin was empty. It consisted of a small room with a tall podium holding a map and several fire-locating instruments the middle. Rain and hail pelted against the windows that were all away around the structure, giving them a panoramic view of the surrounding forest. Below the glass were cabinets. Another door lead out to the other side of the deck where a grill sat, banging in the wind against the railing it was chained to. In the corner was a cast iron wood burning stove with two burners on top. Next to it was a small wooden table with four chairs. Across the room a small bed sat covered in an old homemade quilt.

The couple stared at each other a moment in disbelief at what they had been through and that they had actually made it.

All at once, a variety of sensations washed over Beth at the same time - relief, exhaustion, and what she suspected was hypothermia. Her soaked clothes clung to her body and her long blonde hair - tinted dark from the mixture of blood, dirt, and grime - was dripping. Immediately, the blonde pulled off her soaked T-shirt before drying her tresses with it and tossing it beside her onto the wooden floor. Underneath, her white sports bra was black from dirt and wet as well. It soon joined the shirt. She pulled out one of the pine chairs from the table and tugged on her boots, desperate to get them off but they did not budge. Daryl abruptly grasped his knife from its sheath and made a straight cut down the sturdy leather of one before ripping it off. Beth silently allowed him to cut the other before carefully peeling the socks from her swollen feet. A stinging pain shot through them and up her legs as she stood to slide off her thin leggings and panties.

Barely able to stand, she slowly limbed to the bed and lifted up the dusty, worn quilt. She slid all the way over facing the wall and curled up in a ball. The storm still waged war outside. Silently, she watched the flashes of lightening light up the pine paneling in front of her. Though she was beyond tired, the young woman dreaded closing her eyes. Once she was not longer able to fight it anymore, the flashbacks started. The tank, her daddy, Maggie crying beside her while desperately shooting the gun, her frantically screaming for Judith as Daryl dragged her away. Beth's eyes sprung open. The others had to be alive somewhere. She said a silent prayer that they were okay despite having deep questions about her faith and everything that her daddy had taught his them at the moment.

The blonde heard her husband latching several locks on the metal door and the floorboards creak as he made his way over to where the table was. She could make out a curse word or two, uttered under his breath, before a chair slide out and metallic noises from what she guesses was the stove joined the cracks of thunder. After a minute or two, he began flicking his wet lighter until the cracking of a fire could be heard. Soon a soft orange glow filled the room and the wall that she was still staring at.

Beth heard his footsteps getting closer and felt the opposite side of the bed dip as Daryl climbed in next to her. He reached out and pulled his wife toward his cold naked chest. His still rapidly beating heart pounded against her body. The leftover adrenaline running through his veins caused him to almost vibrate next to her. Being safe at the moment did little to calm the beast and she could not help to wonder if he also dreaded closing his eyes.

Daryl's rough hand brushed the dip of her waist before finding its way onto her now protruding navel. She felt every calloused ridge as he cradled the baby inside her with it, undoubtedly checking for signs of movement. When a kick came in response she heard him let out a sigh in relief. Somehow their child managed to survive the last couple days of hunger, dehydration, turmoil, stress, constant running, and nearly being ripped to shreds by countless walkers. She wondered if that should surprise her. It was a Dixon after all.

Swiftly, the hand moved to her chest and grasped her breast, pulling her even closer. His mouth latched on to her neck, biting and sucking the sensitive skin like he was trying to consume her. Beth could feel the deep purple marks forming immediately but would do nothing to stop him. Her husband simply needed to release the built up testosterone that had kept them alive the last two days. Besides, Daryl was the only thing she loved that was still within reach and she needed to feel him too. His fingers left her nipples and began to hungrily stroke and pry places of her body that only he knew, parts that only belonged to him. Though her body was tired and ached, it still responded. She was helpless when it came to him. His touch became even more desperate as her breath became quicker and her hips started to rock against the hardness pressing into her bottom. Wasting no time, Daryl roughly grabbed her thigh, lifting it as it slide through his calloused hand until he clung to the back of her knee and plunged into her from behind. Beth gasped and moaned wildly as he pounded into her over and over, the fire inside of her raging hotter and hotter as he did. He flipped her onto her knees and grasped her hips before thrusting into her once more. She clawed the wall in front of her, raising her upper body so that he could reach deep inside of her. Finally, her hands found the window ceil to for support. Her husband clutched both of her breasts and wildly hammered into his wife as hard as he could. He grunted and growled like he was mating with some hard won prize in the woods. Something that he had fought valiantly for. Her murmurs became screams among the cracking thunder and howling wind when the first wave of pleasure hit and her womanhood began to spasm around him. Without ever losing the hold on her breasts, he pushed her back against his chest and sank his teeth into the crook of her neck. Daryl quickened his pace even more as a second and third orgasm overcame his mate before erupting deep inside of her. She collapsed against him and he wrapped his strong arms around her and continued to pump slower and slower, releasing every last bit into her. Now half conscious, Beth felt him gently lay her back under the covers and scoot down next to her.

"I will always keep you safe from anyone or anything," he swore in a whisper just as she was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Beth knew Daryl would too. Hell knew no fury like the beast he became if danger dared threatened her or the baby growing inside her belly.


	26. Chapter 25 - Faith

_All Beth could see was the columns of smoke billowing through the concrete corridor so thick that she could taste it. Still, the blonde desperately searched frantically from cell to cell. Panic rose within her. She could not find Judith._

_But then she heard a cry ring out from down the hall. It had to be her! The young woman raced down the hallway towards the sound. There were footsteps following her. Not the rhythmic sounds of steady walking but rather staggering. Moans filled the air and echoed off the concrete and metal. They were chasing after her but she had to get to her baby. _

_The cries got louder and louder as she ran down the hall. Finally, she stood frozen outside of not just any cell, but the one belonging to her father. She could not bear to step foot into it after what happened to him. But Judith was in there. She had to get to her._

_So the blonde braced herself and pulled back the curtain but instead of finding the child, it was her decapitated Daddy sitting on the bunk instead holding his still bleeding head in his hand like so damn ghost story. The head smiled at her. Beth backed out of the cell in shock and into the arms of a hungry walker. She turned just in time to see a dead man in what was left of a business suit bite down on her shoulder._

Beth awoke with a start! She was sitting straight up in bed, drenched in sweat, and struggling with a pair of strong arms which were encasing her trembling body.

"Sweetheart, it's okay," a voice reassured her as she flung her fists against the monster that had a hold of her but it was not letting go. _Wait! Walkers don't talk, do they? _She paused at the revelation and looked around the unfamiliar surroundings desperately trying to figure out where she was. "It was just a dream," she was told.

The young woman looked toward the voice and realized it was Daryl, tightly clinging to her. Her eyes darted back around the room, taking stock of the pine table and cast iron stove with ambers still crackling inside of it. An orange glow from the rising sun was radiating through the surrounding windows. They were safe at the moment in the cabin of the lookout.

With the previous two days dawning her, Beth looked back towards her husband whose face shown the mixture of concern, grief, and protectiveness. She noticed that the beast from before was gone for now. His eyes were warm and soft instead of wild like they had been. When she registered the chill from the cold draft against her naked body, she remembered how she had calmed it the night before.

"I was…there was…never mind," she said with a sigh, laying back down on his chest while pulling the comfy quilt over them. Beth decided that it was both pointless and unnecessary to explain. She knew he already got it anyway by the expression on his face.

"You are safe now," he reassured her, pulling her tight against his warm body and placing a gentle kiss on her temple. "I would die before I let anything happen to you."

"I know, she whispered. Although Beth was not sure what was going to happen now, she had no doubt that was true. The problem was that her nightmare _was_ reality, memories jumbled up in in her subconscious. Sure, she and their child would be safe as long as he was still breathing but her Daddy was dead, walkers were trying to eat them, and the young mother had no idea if Maggie or any of the others had made it out. Worse of all, where was Judy? She wished it really was just a dream.

They laid clinging to each other and seemingly reading the other's mind for a few moments in the silence until Daryl abruptly rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed.

"You need to drink something," he declared while pulling his mud caked and still damp pants back on. She started to follow but he quickly turned around and gestured for her to stay. "You got to rest," he said severely. "Been through way too much as it is."

"I'll be fine," she asserted with a huff but decided not to push it by the look on his face. She would let him win this time but was determined that he would not keep her in that bed for long.

"Need to check some stuff out anyway," Daryl continued. "Double check the grounds and see what we can use in those sheds down there. See what we are dealing with here."

Beth nodded in response.

Daryl paused a minute and studied his wife, obviously trying to access her condition. "But first you need water," he finally mumbled before grabbing the rope he found in the shed the day before and turning toward the door.

Soon the sound of metal slamming behind him filled the room.

Wrapping herself in the quilt, Beth winced from her still battered feet. Trying to ignore the pain, she headed toward the rows of cabinets under the paranoiac windows that surrounded the room. The blonde was surprised to find an entire shelf stuffed full of men's clothing after opening one of the wooden doors. She grabbed a flannel shirt and held it up, considering the large garment a moment. Letting the blanket around her slip to the ground, the pregnant woman pulled the top on and began to slowly button it up. It was so big that the blue and green fabric fell past her knees. She figured if they ever got a hold of a sewing kit, she could turn it into a dress. For now, it was clean and dry so it would do. It wasn't like there was anyone there to see her besides Daryl anyway and he sure the hell did not care what she had on.

Once the shirt was buttoned, she quickly dug through the rest of the clothing searching for something else she might be able to wear. Most of the pants were way too big but just as she was about think it was a lost cause, the blonde found a pair of black thermals at the bottom of the pile. She quickly pulled them on and turned her attention back toward the clothing, picking out others she thought she and her husband could wear.

Underneath the shelf with the clothes, Beth found soap. Lots of soap. Bars and bars filled it, along with tubes of toothpaste, deodorant, and shaving cream. Evidently, the man that had been staying here was into good hygiene. She unscrewed the lid of a tiny bottle of aftershave and almost choked on the potent scent that overwhelmed her nose. Quickly screwing back on the lid, she placed it in the back of the cabinet. At least the young wife did not have to worry about her husband wanting to shave or anything. She would take the smell of blood, sweat, and woods over that awful smell any day.

Still, Beth could not help but wonder how the man that lived here passed away. Daryl had said that there were no signs of injury. Her eyes scanned around the room and took note of its condition. Other than the thin layer of dust that seemed to cover everything, the place was tidy. She imagined that he was probably good and the thought of him dying all alone made her sad for him. At least she still had Daryl.

_Where was he anyway? If Daryl found her up and pilfering around he would probably have an aneurism._

The blonde quickly popped up and glanced out the window. Scanning the ground below, she found him walking into a wooden shed with a couple of buckets. A few minutes later, he came out of it, the pails now full of water_. It must be the well house_, she thought to herself. The hunter carried them towards the base of the tower until he was out of view before once again returning to the water source with two more empty containers. She scanned the woods around him but there wasn't another person in sight – alive or dead. They were hidden pretty well in the middle of the forest. One would practically have to happen upon the lookout by chance to know it was even there- or be treed by walkers like they had been.

It dawned on her just how lucky they were to find this place though Beth would never dare to ever think of it as a home. Just like the prison, one day they would probably have to run. She just hoped that day would be later, rather than sooner so she could at least have the baby first. If it was a little while after that, even better.

Pushing that thought out of her head, the young mother quickly turned her attention back to the cabinets built into the bottom half of every wall and what might have been stored in them. She went around the room and quickly explored each one, taking stock of how prepared and resourceful the man had been. Perhaps, he had been a boy scout or something. One held linens and was full of blankets, towels, and rags. Another was stored medicines, bandages, and other medical supplies that she would look through later. Others held other practical supplies such as matches, batteries, knives, duct tape, glues, and other resourceful items. The young mom's eyes got huge in surprise after opening one and finding a small armory inside. There were a couple of rifles and pistols in which she knew nothing about but was sure had to be a good thing. _Daryl will like that_, she thought as she carefully shut the door. Ammunition filled the cupboard beside it. Apparently, this guy had been great at scavenging supplies or something.

Beth paused a minute and stood up, leaning against the wooden countertop and twirling one of her aching feet in small circles. She stared out the large window and scanned the forest around them. All she could see was the tops the trees and the clear Georgia sky. Off in the distance was a pillar of fire and the young woman realized it was probably what was left of their former home. A single tear rolled down her face at the realization. She wondered where the rest of their family might be. She was positive that at least some of them must have survived. She imagined Maggie with Glen somewhere very similar to what she and Daryl had found. Maybe they had Judith with them? Perhaps, Rick had already grabbed the baby and that was why she had been not been able to find her. _Yeah, that had to be what happened_, she hoped.

The young mother quickly wiped the tears away and continued to explore their new dwelling. Walking across the room to the cabinets on the far wall, she gasped upon discovering what was in them. Rows and rows of food filled each one. There were cans, boxes, bottles, bags and all sorts of packages of nonperishables. She continued down the line of cupboards, frantically throwing the doors open to more and more food. One cabinet was full of MRDs. Another juice and powdered drink mixes. The blonde could not believe her eyes! There was literally enough there to feed her and Daryl for at least 6 months! More if they stretched it with whatever he brought back from hunting.

In disbelief, she opened the last one to find what she would need to actually cook the food. On the first shelf there was a big stock pot, along with two cast iron skillets, one large and one smaller, nestled together with a large ceramic bowl on top. A rectangle plastic bin held a can opener, bottle opener, a couple of wooden spoons, and a metal turner. Below she found plates, smaller bowls, utensils, a pair of mugs, and nestled plastic cups, stacked neatly into a couple of dish pans.

Beth stood back and stared at the wall of open cabinets for a minute, not sure if it was real or if she was actually dreaming, until the abrupt sound of the metal door opening startled her. She turned around to see Daryl standing in the doorway carrying two five gallon buckets of water. His eyes darted from the bed to her and looked angry and a bit confused until they registered what was in the row of cabinets opened along the wall.

"Is that food?" he asked in surprise, stepping through the doorway and setting the buckets down by the stove.

"Yeah," she replied still in shock over the discovery and just how fortunate they had been to find the lookout. "This guy had everything you could ever need in here. I think he might have been a boy scout or something."

"Nahh, just a survivalist," Daryl chuckled while watching his wife slide to the floor and begin to frantically fumble through the food. It had finally hit her that she had not eaten in two days and was starving. "Probably started prepping before the turn and was ready for it. The sheds down there are full of stuff. Reckon he got this place from the forest people when they were auctioning them off a few years back. Unfortunately, I don't think the poor bastard lived long enough to see much of it. Maybe the excitement of it all actually happening gave him a heart attack"

"So this place has been untouched ever since," she asked while opening a couple of cans of beef stew. It was unusual to find anywhere that had not been ransacked by now.

"Appears that way," her husband called over his shoulder as he stepped back outside. A few seconds later he returned with two more containers of water and sat them down next to the other ones. Beth grabbed some forks, walking over to the table while her husband shut and locked the door. Sitting down, she began to eat the stew cold right out of the can. When Daryl joined her, she handed him the other one.

"Figured we would just stay here as long as we can," he said after swallowing a large bite. "The place seems pretty secure and all. Safe for you and the baby. It's easier for me to defend so high up and we are out of the way of walkers. A whole herd could come through here and not spot us. We can grow some veggies and stuff on the deck and keep an eye out for assholes from there too."

"Maybe for a while until the baby is born," she shrugged before taking another bite of her food. "But it isn't big enough for the others so we will have to find something else eventually."

Daryl sat down his can and stared at his wife severely before replying, "Beth, you don't seriously think they are alive do you? Everyone is dead."

Beth stopped eating mid-bite and glared back at her husband. What the hell was he talking about? Really? He believed everyone was gone? Just like that? Rick and Carl? Carol? Sasha and Ty? Maggie and Glen? 'Even baby Judith? They were just gone? Dead? She refused to believe what he was saying was true.

"You do not know that!" she exclaimed in astonishment. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Well even if they aren't, you are never going to see them again anyway so you might as well get used to the ideal!" he shot back angrily. "They are gone. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, sweetheart, but the world has gone to shit! All that stuff back at the prison. That was just pretend. The reality is that evil bastards like the man who killed your father have destroyed anything left that might still be good. You might as well accept it. It's better that way."

The blonde literally could not believe what she was hearing.

"They are alive, Daryl. All of them," she pleaded trying to make him see how ridiculous he was being. "They are survivors. Just like us. They made it. You have to believe that."

Her husband just stared at her severely like he was contemplating if she had lost her mind.

"They just ran a different direction is all," she declared in a commanding voice though she was close to breaking. "You just have to have a little faith."

Daryl let out a quick "Pfft" before responding. "Faith? Are you serious? Faith hasn't done shit for us."

"Well we are still together, aren't we?" she shouted, tears now flowing. "Think that we found this place just by accident?"

"We just got lucky!" he replied, looking down almost shamefully at his hands. "It just so happened there was a tree to climb or we would have been walker food and if we had not climbed the tree in the first place, we would not be here."

"My point exactly," Beth retorted with a huff. "Look I don't get why things have happened the way they have but I do know that there was more than luck involved in us being here now. And I refuse to believe that everyone else is dead. I know that there is evil in this world too. I'm not that naive! Hell, that's my Daddy's head laying back at the prison for God's sake. But I also know that good things happen too. We survived even though I was running around out there pregnant and so did the baby. That is a good enough thing for me. So I'm not going to just start believing that everyone else was just screwed. They are out there somewhere. At least some of them are and we will find them eventually. If there is no hope, well there really is no point!"

Daryl's eyes shot up from his twirling thumbs and into her eyes searching for something. It dawned on her that underneath all that tough man exterior, he was probably just as scared and confused as she was. She realized that he needed her strength just as much as she needed his.

"It will be alright, Daryl," she almost whispered while taking his hand and placing it on her belly. "We are safe at the moment and the baby is still kicking inside me. We have shelter, food, water, and each other. That is all that matters at the moment."

Her husband swallowed hard. "And I plan on keeping it that way," he stated in an unsteady voice. "We are staying here as long as we can. Right now I am just worried about getting that baby out with you and it still in one piece."

"Fine," Beth responded with a sigh. "We will use this as a base until I have the baby and it is strong enough to travel but we are not going to just give up looking for the others."

"And how do you think we are even going to begin to find them?" he asked through gritted teeth. "We don't even know where we are."

Beth let go of his hand and gestured out the window and toward the tower of smoke rising above the pines in the distance. "You see that?" she asked. "That is the prison. We aren't that far. That table over there is full of maps. You're a tracker. We'll just track them!"


	27. Chapter 26 - Roaming Through the Woods

"See it?"

Beth zeroed in on the small animal Daryl pointed out to her scurrying up the trunk of the huge oak a few feet in front of her and nodded her head. She patiently followed the furry critter through the sight of her husband's crossbow as it climbed up the tree and jumped onto a low branch.

"That's it. Now wait for it to stop," the man behind her breathed into her ear.

As soon as he said it, the squirrel paused long enough for Beth to pull the trigger. Within seconds it was on the ground.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed excitedly, hurrying along to further inspect the kill and not believing that she actually hunted her first animal ever. "Did you see that? I think I got it!"

She heard Daryl chuckle behind her as he protectively followed his wife toward her prize. Reaching down and grabbing up the critter, he quickly removed the arrow and held it up to inspect.

"That's a big in' too," he remarked with a grin. "Soon you'll be bagging more of these than me."

Beth snickered at her husband's comment while he placed her squirrel with the others on the string on his back. She was very proud of finally being able to hunt something that they could actually use for diner.

For the last month, they had established a daily routine of trekking through the woods every morning in the direction of the prison, scouring the area for any signs of possible life. It was something that the blonde insisted on even though she suspected that Daryl was still doubtful they would actually ever find anything. Regardless, he reluctantly obliged to her request and studied the stack of maps in the evening in order to find a new route that they could try the next day. She guessed that her husband figured the time was not completely wasted anyway since he also hunted all along the route, stretching their already large store of food even further, and taught his wife valuable survival skills while he was at it. The side effect of all of this hiking was Beth beginning to learn how to track, effectively use a knife, and shoot the crossbow. Though he still had to cock it for her, the young woman's aim was greatly improving.

However, Daryl only took his wife so far and allowed her do so much.

"We should be heading back," he declared while eyeing the bright blue sky above them. "The sun is getting high.

"Yeah," she agreed unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. It was frustrating to turn back none the wiser to where the rest of their family could possibly be but this was part of the bargain. He had only agreed to track for a couple of hour's right after dawn, citing that it was less likely that other people would be "gallivanting around the woods" and because Daryl was not too keen on the ideal of having his very pregnant wife wandering around the forest in the brutal Georgia heat.

Still, Beth was happy that she was able to finally hit her target. Over the past month, she had learned that squirrel were not as easy to hunt as her husband made it look.

As they turned to head back to the lookout, a growl rang out, interrupting the peaceful songs of the birds and humming of insects. Daryl immediately took the crossbow from his wife's hands and backed her against the oak tree the dead critter had once called home. Spinning around in front of her, he raised the weapon and waited for the owner of the sound to emerge from the surrounding forest.

A man, probably in his late twenties once upon a time, stumbled out of the woods and toward them. The skin was peeling from his face and bare arm that dangled out of the ripped sleeve of his dark shirt. He hungrily made their way to them, snaring and grunting as he did, before a bolt to the head quickly ended his misery.

The blonde felt Daryl's back, pressed a tightly against her, stiffen as he listened for sounds of more dead possibly heading for them. None came.

After a few minutes, he finally began to relax and turned around to face her.

"We need to go now," he demanded severely in a loud whisper. She simply nodded back at him in agreement and began to follow closely behind him.

Despite Beth picking up a lot of skills from their mornings in the woods, the fact remained that she was very vulnerable in her present condition and grew even more so every day. Seven months pregnant now, the blonde was sure that if her belly got any bigger it would simply burst. Baby Dixon was growing bigger and stronger she noted with each new kick, every new one a little more forceful than the last.

If they happened across walkers like they just had, the beast inside the hunter returned until anything dangerous laid at his feet. Daryl's first priority would always be keeping her safe which he did remarkably. The young woman would never stop being amazed by the way he effortlessly took out the undead but she knew what made her husband the most nervous was happening across those out there that might still be alive and not a member of their family.

Luckily, that hadn't happened yet. They were deep in the forest, a couple of miles from the closest road and she understood that most people did not wander too far from them for logistical reasons. Yet, she was also pretty sure the day would eventually come when they would cross paths with somebody else. The blonde just hoped that her husband did not put an arrow in their head out of fear before they had a chance to determine if they were actually good or not. She was pretty sure that at this point he could care less about the three questions from the prison.

They quietly trekked their way back, using a narrow game path, with Daryl now in high alert and stopping ever so often to listen for foreign sound that did not belong to the wilderness until they finally reached the barbwire fence that surrounded their temporary home. After relocking the heavy chain that secured the gate that he had just ushered his wife through, the man helped her up to the first landing of the staircase on the rope ladder that he had made for her before pulling it up so no one else could use it. Silently signaling for her to stay there like he always did every morning, Daryl crept up the steps quietly toward the cabin in order to make sure it was still clear. Beth waited like she was instructed until a whistle rang out alerting her that all was safe and she could come up.

"Jesus, Beth!" her husband exclaimed as she walked through the thick metal door and he locked it behind her. "M' not sure how much longer we should be rummaging through the woods like that. You are too far along to be wandering around the forest."

Beth plopped down on one of the wooden chairs and let out a long sigh. She placed a hand on her protruding belly in instinct, causing the baby happily growing inside it to kick in response. He said that every day but she was not yet ready to give up as of yet. Closing her eyes as the breeze blowing through the open windows all around her quickly cooled her sticky skin, the young woman allowed herself to relax a moment. They were so high up, that the cabin was always cool despite what the temperature on the ground might be. Behind her the other door opened and shut with a bang as Daryl went on the deck to skin their dinner. This was all part of their daily routine. As soon as he was done, she would use some of the meat and start a stew to cook all day on the stove for diner. Her husband would turn the rest of it into jerky. Despite it only being late spring, he was already trying to stockpile food for winter when hunting would not come as easy.

The blonde really hoped that they were reunited with the others by then. Opening her eyes, Beth scanned the treetops as far as she could see around her and wondered where on earth everyone could be. They were out there somewhere. She was sure of that.

**Author's note: Happy New Year everyone! Sorry that I have not updated in a while but the holidays are busy for me at work with all the festivals and events that go on that time of year. I literally worked 7 days a week in the last month and then took a vacation the week of Christmas in order to spend some time with family. The good news is that is all over now so I can now go back to updating more frequently like you are used to. I'm off until Monday so look for more chapters this weekend!**

**I have officially joined Team Delusional because quite frankly it makes much more sense than Beth actually being dead. The only thing I wonder about is rather or not TPTB are actually smart enough to pull something like that off. Anyway, I figure that there is nothing left to loose and it would be so exciting and original if she was actually alive.**

**I also want to send a big Thank You out to those of you who nominated this story for the Bethyl fanfiction contest on Tumblr! I was so honored to even be listed considering that I have never even posted any of this on there. Even tied for second! Who would have ever thought! BTW, if any of you want to follow me, I am MindyNichole on Tumblr. I do not post a whole lot there but every once in a while, I can't hold what I am thinking in any longer and just throw out there what my friends and I call an "epic post."**


	28. Chapter 27 - Sunrises

The morning sun trickled into the surrounding windows of the lookout, providing the waking occupants with a panoramic view of the sunrise as Beth laid in her husband's embrace, naked. She stared at the softness of the sky and the pinkish red hues it radiated, marveling how the earth seemed to move on anyway despite an apocalypse raging war upon it. It was nature that had produced whatever had brought this upon them after all, and to nature it was just another day. Perhaps it was a way of purging the planet of the destructive beings that were ruining it. A way to restore order. Maybe even a way to restore humanity back to how it used to be. Balance it out. How it should have been all along.

That was what her Daddy had come to believe. It was how he came to terms with everything that had happened to them. He believed that God was ridding the world of sin and destruction. That eventually people would adjust and those that were selfish and knew nothing of mercy would die out alone, unable to survive in their emotionless isolation without others. Perhaps he was right. Maybe one day only the good would be left standing. It was impossible to live without others. To physically be alone.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pair of arms, battered and scarred, tightening around her. She felt every ripple of muscle that made them strong. Daryl's arms could be brutal. They could pull back the string of a bow in order to kill a man if need be. They could carry the carcass of an animal hunted for food or smash the skull of a walker like a watermelon. But those arms could also be gentle. Like when he held baby Judith in them the first time. Like when he protectively wrapped them around her with nothing but pure love. Regardless, they made her feel safe, cherished, and whole.

She felt the stubble on his face tickle her bare skin as he nestled his into the crook of her neck and gently pressed his lips upon that sensitive spot behind her ear lobe. He would take her one more time before reluctantly getting up and facing what would come next. Like he did every morning. Like he did several times throughout the night. Her husband's thirst for her seemed unquenchable but it thrilled Beth every time never the less. She held her breath as rough fingers brushed her exposed breast. As they hungrily clawed at her nipple, already puckered from the cold draft. She needed this man more than she needed to breathe.

Just a few short months ago, the ideal of waking up naked in bed with Daryl Dixon snuggling against her would have been insane. The ideal that she, of all people, would have every scar on his back memorized or know his intoxicating woodsy scent so well. That she would end up being the only one who could calm the beast within him. That his child would be growing in her belly. It would have been incomprehensible such a short time ago. The thought of Daryl snuggled up to anyone was. Yet, here he was leaving a trail of kisses along her collarbone. The same man who swore back at the farm that he was better off alone was desperately clinging to her, once again claiming what was his by slipping into her. Who would have ever thought?

It was this time of day, early dawn as the sun was just waking up and day was beginning to break, when Beth allowed hope to renew within her. For a few fleeting moments, right before she would succumb to her husband's tender touch and lose all ability for coherent thought, the young wife would allow the faith from her youth to reestablish. It reaffirmed her belief that the others were out there somewhere. That other good people were still alive. That her Daddy had been right all along and one day evil people would be gone – even if it was still sad that he never got to live long enough to actually see it.

Beth believed because she was sure only God himself could have orchestrated the chain of events that led to her ever even meeting the man thrusting hungrily into her from behind. Her soul mate. Someone who she probably would have never even laid eyes on back when the world was normal. The same man whose calloused hands now gently groped the front of her body as he scratched the itch deep inside would have probably scared the daylights out of her before. She would have never had the chance to see that he was someone who was not only good to the very core, but also the most capable person she had ever met.

Beth was no longer dumb enough not to know what the consequences of being a young woman alone in this world would be. She got that there was nothing left to keep her safe except her husband. Laws, infrastructure, and decency was nearly gone. Without him she would be dead by now. Plain and simple. Rather it was by the walkers that surrounded the prison or any survivors that had less than pure intentions was anyone's guess. But God had other plans. Daryl was like a lion and just having him on her side made her strong. The fact that he was in love with her made her damn near invincible. Without him she was weak – especially in her very pregnant state.

As hard as it was for her to understand, the weird thing was that Beth knew Daryl Dixon also needed her. God must have known that too. Not to be strong. Not because he needed her to go to battle or help hunt food. He did not need her for heavy lifting or fixing fences. The man was able to survive on his own better than anyone. He had done it for years already before this whole thing started. It had nothing to do with simply having a warm body to hold at night either. She had never even seen her husband look at another woman in _that_ way until the night he rolled her beneath him in his cell all those months ago. Whatever he got from her penetrated his very soul. Somehow, she saved him from himself. It was like she was his salvation.

"Daryl," she called out as the waves of ecstasy started to erupt within causing his lips to curl against her neck while he pounded into her even harder. Her husband loved it when she reached this state. Once, he confessed that there was nothing in this world more beautiful than pretty little innocent Beth Greene screaming his name while having spasms all over his cock. The young woman had found the statement crude and dirty but it secretly made her feel like a goddess never the less.

"It's Beth Dixon doing all that," she had replied shyly with red cheeks. "Beth Greene would have freaked out over just the thought of it."

"Funny," he responded staring down at her with lustful eyes, a shit eating grin on his face. "Because I vividly remember a night when Beth Greene did the same thing."

Regardless of who she was these days, Beth could not stop herself from screaming his name over and over again at the current moment just like all the others. It drove Daryl mad. A slew of curse words flew out of his mouth as he erupted in her, filling her up completely until it was spilling out and running down her legs. He stilled but did not break the connection. He always stayed deep inside until ever last tremor and vibration within her was over, not wanting to miss a single one before reluctantly pulling out.

As they laid there waiting for their breathing to calm, Beth glanced back over to the windows just in time to see the last bit of the sunrise fade. Then she turned toward her husband and smiled. He studied her face, maybe trying to decide what she was thinking, before finally throwing a hand over his eyes and letting out a long deep breath. But the blonde continued to stare at him never the less.

Beth had no clue who she might have wound up married to if the dead had not interrupted everyone's life. However, she would have choose someone eventually. She wanted children so as a decent Christian girl that meant holy matrimony. Maybe it could have been Jimmy. Having lived down the street, he had been nothing but kind to her their entire lives. He was her very best friend. She thought back at all the times they spent as children riding their bikes down the long country roads where they grew up. It was no secret that he liked her. Had even tried to kiss her in the fourth grade. Everyone in the county knew that the boy was always sweet on the youngest Greene girl. It used to make her feel guilty that the attraction was not mutual. Would she had actually married him simply because that was what everybody would want her to do? Lord knows that was why she dated him. Most likely that was who Beth would have ended up with. Looking back, she realized just how miserable that could have been for everyone involved.

However, Beth also had plans for college at The University of Georgia. She was going to be a music teacher so maybe she would have met someone else there. It might have even been to death do us part. She probably would have even cared deeply for him. They could have lived in a cute little house, with a white picket fence, their SUV parked in the driveway, 2.5 kids tucked safely in bed, and perhaps even a pet running around the yard. It all seemed so ridiculous now. So fake. No wonder many marriages ended in divorce.

Daryl peeped at her through his fingers curiously before lowering his hand and meeting her eyes. She reached out and lightly traced the lines on his face.

"Where are you at, Beth?" he asked with a sigh. "What are you thinking so much about?"

Beth lowered her hand and studied it a moment before peering back at him through her long eyelashes. "Us," she replied with a smile.

"What about us?" he responded with a gruff though she noticed the corner of his mouth slightly turn up. "Still trying to figure out how you wound up with a no good redneck asshole like me?"

Beth frowned at her husband and smacked his arm before turning over with a huff and burying herself with the old comfy quilt, even though she knew he was joking. She loved that man with every ounce of her being but he had a way of spoiling the moment.

Now laughing, Daryl snuggled up next to her, pressing his lips tenderly to her neck before continuing on in her mimicked voice.

"Damn Jerk! Has me running through the woods all big and knocked up, ain't feeding me nothing but squirrel day end and day out, and won't even keep his hands off long enough to even get some damn sleep!"

Beth could not help but giggle, hiding her red face under the covers.

"Looked like you were plotting your escape the entire time I was fucking you by the way you keep eyeing those windows," he chuckled once he joined her under them. Suddenly he was on her lips before she had time to even object to his language, prying her mouth open with his tongue, and kissing her so deeply she thought she was going to faint.

When he finally came up for air, she peeled the cover back off their heads and frowned again at him, though this time playfully.

"I was doing no such thing!" she replied. "Just thinking about everything is all. You know everything that led up to me being your wife."

"Yeah, just like Beauty and the Beast, huh?" he responded with a grin. "A real fairy tale. Too bad you are stuck with me now because there are more than wolves to worry about out there. As for Gaston, I'll just put a bolt through that asshole's head."

If Beth had said she was not shocked that he even knew that story, she would have been lying. The absurdness of it made her laugh out loud.

"What?" he replied, faking offense. "Didn't think I knew how to read?"

"No, just can't imagine you reading that," she confessed still giggling.

"Well I didn't," he admitted with a shy smile. "One time when I was about ten my dad dragged me to some lady's house and the dumb broad stuck the Disney version in the VCR to keep me busy while they were in her bedroom. If you know what I mean."

All Beth could do was blink at him a couple of times in confusion.

"Jesus, Beth!" he exclaimed with a chuckle while shaking his head at her naiveness. "It was either watch the movie or listen to my old man get his freak on. I choose the first option."

She furrowed her brows when what he was saying finally dawned on her.

"You mean he took you with him…to do that!" she shouted astonished. Daryl just shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Anyway, I don't recall Belle ever getting knocked up, though I am sure you are more of an expert on fairy tales than I am," he continued with a grin, raising his head and rubbing his chin like he was thinking deeply. "And there were not dead people walking around everywhere. Though I have to admit, that Beast looked more than capable of handling them."

Beth playfully pushed her husband away as they both cracked up. She could not do this. It was absurd enough that she found herself sleeping with Daryl Dixon. She did not think she could handle having a conversation about a Disney movie with him.

"What? Am I ruining my image?" he laughed, unphased by her "rejection" and using the opportunity to snuggle up to her very large navel. "I hate to break it to you?" he informed the unborn baby. "But your Daddy is just a scary ole' beast. The good news is that your Mama is like an angel. Don't even ask me how I managed that!"

The baby kicked in response to the sound of his voice causing Daryl to chuckle again.

"I know, right?" he continued. "I think she must be blind."

Beth swallowed, touched by the tenderness of the situation but did not say anything. Daryl was more relaxed than she had ever seen him and she did not want to ruin it.

But then she noticed him really studying her naval.

"Darling," he started now serious. "You are huge! Seriously, so big that I think you are just about to pop."

Beth kicked him, sending her surprised husband flying toward the end of the bed.

"You think?" she replied, angrily sitting up and gathering her clothes up off the floor. "Wonder why?" Yeah, her husband sure had a way of spoiling the moment alright.

"I….I didn't mean it like that," he tried to assure as he quickly got up and rushed to her. "That just came out really wrong."

However, it was too late. The tears were already flowing. So much for feeling like a goddess.

"Darling," he replied with a chuckle while wrapping his arms around her. "You're fucking beautiful. For Christ's sake, I did that to you. Still can't even keep my hands off. I just…The baby is just getting really big is all. That is a good thing, right?"

"Watch your mouth, Daryl!" she snapped. "Seriously, I am going to start smacking you every time you say that word. You know I hate it!"

"Right?" he repeated ignoring her complaint.

"I guess," she sniffled peering up at him through blurry eyes. "But how in the heck am I supposed to know?"

"How far along are you now?" he asked suddenly tense. Beth realized he was nervous over the inevitable. One way or another they were going to have to get that baby out. It wasn't going to stay in her forever after all.

"Almost 8 months," she responded quietly, trying to regain her composure.

"We are going to have to get those supplies soon," he declared with determination though his eyes showed the fear associated with actually doing that.

They had found a small town on one of the maps a while back. Daryl figured it was so remote that very few people would have come across it. Stuff should still be left. However, Beth also knew that the last thing the man wanted to do was take her too far away from the safety of the lookout. To him it was too dangerous but they had to have antibiotics, IVs, and stuff for the birthing process. He was not about to leave her alone unprotected either so she would have to go.

"Okay," he continued gruffly, pulling on his pants. "We will go tomorrow but it will be quick in and out. Just get what we need and leave. I don't want anyone knowing we were even there."


End file.

Walking Dead, Romance, Sci-Fi