As I thought, being back to Italy is making it way more difficult to find time to write, as I'm constantly catching up with friends and family! But this chapter is finally done, so here it is! I hope it doesn't disappoint :) Reviews to last chapter where absolutely INCREDIBLE and I just am so grateful you guys are reading this!

Daryl didn't know how long they had stayed like that, holding each other, her face buried in his neck and her hands soothingly caressing his back. If only she had known what that gesture meant to him, how much it meant that it was his back she was soothing.

Maybe they stopped hugging when his ragged breath went back to normal, he didn't remember. But he knew he had to say something in that moment. Beth wasn't expecting him to, but he felt like he had to, like he was gonna regret it forever if he didn't.

Slowly, he let her go, instinctively pushing back a strand of blond hair from her face, his hand lingering on her soft, pale skin for a second before falling back into place.

She was looking at him with those blue eyes, and he saw them glancing at his lips for a second before coming back up. He felt a shiver run through him.

He needed air, he needed space. He couldn't think straight with her so close to him, not after she had held him like that, not after he had allowed himself to be so raw and vulnerable in front of her.

Gently, he pushed her away from him, clearing his throat.

"Never relied on anyone for anythin'," he heard himself say, voice rough.

Beth was looking straight into his eyes, waiting for him to continue if he wanted to.

He took in a deep breath, eyes falling to the ground, muscles tense as he started to speak again.

"When I was a kid, my family wasn' really a family. Had a mean, asshole drunk for a father. He used t'beat my mum up, 'n Merle and I, too. My mom… she tried. She did, but she jus' could never… she died in a fire. Was to drunk t' forget the cigarette."

He felt Beth hand on his arm, light but strong, strong enough to remind him he was far away from his horrible past now.

"Merle was all I had. Never could count on him for anythin', sometimes he left 'n was gone for months, or got himself locked up, but he was my blood."

He had to stop to keep himself from crying. Beth's hand squeezed his arm lightly, and she waited patiently to recollect himself.

"He died two years ago. OD'd on some shit. I've always known that only Merle could kill Merle. The fuckin' asshole," his voice broke, his hands now covering his hands.

He had never talked about Merle's death before. He felt Beth move, and then she was kneeling in front of him, her hands on his face over his.

"It's okay. It's okay to hurt," she murmured to him, her eyes shining as if she had been crying too, before telling him, "Now you can rely on someone. You can rely on me. You're not alone anymore."

"Maybe you gotta keep on remindin' me, sometimes."

She woke up feeling much more tired than usual, and for a few seconds she wasn't sure where she was. After blinking a couple times, she realised she was lying on Daryl's couch, a blanket thrown over her and a pillow under her head.

Beth didn't remember falling asleep, but it probably had happened when she had curled up next to Daryl, him holding her, after he had finally calmed down and stopped crying.

Thinking back to last night, she couldn't believe Daryl had eventually broken down and let her see his pain. He was so brave for what he had lived through, and she thought it was incredible he had become such a good man despite the childhood he had lived.

Slowly, shyly, she got up and looked around for him. She heard some noise coming from the kitchen and she stepped inside.

She didn't know why all of a sudden she felt so embarrassed, maybe because deep down she knew that what they had shared last night was a point in their relationship there was no going back from. Or maybe, it was because if she wasn't sure she loved him, before, she was unequivocally in love with Daryl Dixon now. That Daryl Dixon that was standing in his kitchen, making some eggs.

"Hey," Beth said, twisting a lock of blonde hair around her finger. She had to look like a mess, still in her clothes from the previous night, and she suddenly felt really self-conscious about it, feeling a blush creeping up her cheeks.

Daryl turned around, and the tips of his ears were red.

"Hey," he replied, looking at her shyly.

He had changed and his hair was a bit wet from showering.

He cleared his throat: "I, uh… didn't wanna wake ya. Made some eggs" he said, awkwardly.

"Thank you. I'm really hungry" she said, sitting down at the table. Only then she noticed the time: they were late, and Rick was gonna be so pissed.

"We should prob'ly try an' hurry up a bit," Daryl said, giving her a plate with toast and eggs, and some orange juice.

Beth nodded, as he sat in front of her and they started eating.

"'bout last night… thank you."

She lifted her eyes and saw he was staring at her, looking embarrassed but not avoiding her look.

She gave him a small, encouraging smile, before saying: "We're a team. And we're friends… right?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, before nodding.

"Better hurry up eatin', girl," he said then, starting to devour his food. Beth couldn't hold in her smirk at the sight.

The look Glenn had given them that morning had said it all, especially when he had noticed that Beth was wearing the same clothes from the previous day and when he had seen them arriving together.

Rick had preferred not to make any comments, limiting himself to raising his eyebrows, halfway between amused and unimpressed.

"Arrive late once more and I'll have you stay here 'til midnight," he had declared, hands on his hips and standing in his best sheriff posture.

Beth had smiled at him sheepishly, while Karen and Glenn giggled behind him. Daryl himself had seemed strangely relaxed, and had smirked a bit at her while they warmed up in the gym and Rick was going on and on about the importance of being on time.

"Oh come on Rick. You were the one who always insisted we developed more of a bond, and now we have! See, we're so in synch that we even arrive late together," Beth playfully interrupted him at one point, tired of the rant.

Rick sighed, shaking his head, but it was obvious that he wasn't really bothered by it. In fact, Beth thought he was curious more than anything, but didn't wanna pry.

"Alright, alright. But you better have resolved yesterday's problems, because we need to work hard for Sectionals. We can't think that because we won Regionals so easy Sectionals are gonna be the same thing."

Beth nodded, eagerly, while Daryl grunted his agreement.

"I promise you today we're gonna be perfect, Rick" she turned around towards Daryl, a small smile on her face, "Right?"

He stared at her for a second, before replying "Ya can bet your ass we gonna."

"You slept at his place?! No wonder you weren't answering your phone!"

"Shhhh! Tara! Lower your voice!"

Beth looked around warily, but the café was almost empty, since it was about closing time. Tara laughed, offering her a piece of cookie over the counter before going back to sweeping the floor behind it.

"I'm just sayin'! I never thought you would have done something like this!"

"I didn't do anything!" Beth protested, shoving the cookie in her mouth.

"Well you did sleep at Daryl Dixon's place."

"Stop saying that so loudly!" Beth hissed, before continuing, voice a whisper, "All I did was being there for him when he needed it. He needed to trust me and to let some things out. It's what partners do."

Tara nodded, looking pensive for a second.

"True. But the difference is that you have a huge, huge crush on the guy. Are you planning on telling him anytime soon?"

Beth blushed, eyes falling to the counter.

"No. I decided it's just a stupid thing. He would just think I'm a little girl and I just know he would stop trusting me if he knew. He would think that I did everything to get him to like me back."

"That's not true, Bethy. I don't know Daryl, but he doesn't sound like someone who would just jump to such a conclusion about you. He sounds like someone who cares about you, first of all. I'm pretty sure you told me Maggie thought he actually liked you back?"

Beth shook her head, feeling her heart beat. Oh, how she hoped so. She hoped so, but she knew it was in vain, because there was no way Daryl saw her as more than a friend and a partner. Sure, he was very protective of her, but that was just something that was in his nature. And yes, he had trusted her with very private things, but they were partners. They were family, that's what family did.

"Maggie doesn't know him like I do."

"Maybe you should talk about it with someone who knows him. Have you tried telling Lori about this?" Tara suggested.

"I just feel so embarrassed about it… but maybe I should talk about it with her. Lori always gives me the best suggestions," Beth said.

Tara slapped her arm.

"HEY! And I don't?"

Beth laughed, holding the cookie up high in the air.

"You feed me! That's way more important than wise words."

When Beth got home that night, she noticed she had two missed calls from Zach.

She realised they hadn't talked to each other since before Regionals, when he had called her to wish her good luck. She felt bad about it. After all, they had shared years together, seeing each other every single day and being each other support.

She couldn't quite believe how fast things had changed, and she couldn't help feeling guilty about not calling him more often, especially considering he was the one living back home, unsure of what to do next, now that the thing he loved the most had been taken away from him. Her world had quickly become all about Daryl and her new partnership, and to say that she had neglected her friendship with Zach would have been an understatement.

Quickly, Beth composed his phone number, which she knew by heart, and waited anxiously for him to pick up.

"I thought you were never gonna call back, Bethy!" Zach's sweet voice filled the phone and made her smile instantly.

"I know, I'm so sorry. I've been a terrible friend lately, can you forgive me?" she asked, holding the phone a little tighter.

"Of course I forgive you, silly. I know how busy you must be, remember? I used to be right there with you," he said, and Beth couldn't not notice the bit of regret in his voice.

"How could I not remember? I miss you! Movie nights aren't the same without you, Zach. All Glenn does is talking about my sister and how he's gonna date her again soon."

Zach laughed on the other hand of the line and she felt herself relax and fall back into the comfort that was their relationship.

"So, how's it going with Dixon? Apart from the fact that he clearly is a better partner for you than me, I mean."

"Zach…"

"It's okay! Really, I mean it, I'm happy for you Bethy. I just wanna make sure he's treating you right and not being difficult."

"He is. He can be very stubborn, but I think we're finally starting to be friends, you know."

"Does he do movie night?"

"He's not really the movie night kinda person. And that was our tradition, I would never betray you like that," Beth said, sincerely, before daring to ask: "So… have you thought about what you wanna do next? Maybe train?"

"Nah. I don't wanna be a coach, I think it would be way to hard for me to see people skate and not being able to join in. I was actually thinking about sports journalist, if I can get into some college."

"What! That's amazing Zach! I can totally see it! You were always so comfortable in front of the camera."

"You think?"

"Yeah! You will do great, I'm sure of it," she said, and she really thought so.

"Thanks Bethy. I… I miss your optimism," he confessed, and Beth got the feeling that he had left something unsaid with that statement.

"I miss you too, Zach. Come and visit soon!"

"I'll be at Sectionals, I promise. I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."

His voice had gotten serious, and for a second Beth felt like what he intended was way more than what his words did. She shook the thought out of her head. It just couldn't be.

Her conversation with Zach had made her realize that she didn't have a tradition with Daryl yet, and while she and Glenn were keeping movie night alive, it just wasn't fitting for her new partner.

When she thought of Daryl she didn't think of a couch and a scary movie, she didn't think of popcorn and hot chocolate. No, when she thought of Daryl she thought of wilderness, fresh air, fire and earth.

"We should go camping."

He turned towards her as if she was crazy. They were sitting outside, on the wooden table in the gardens, eating their lunch together.

"Uh?"

"I think we should go camping together. Or maybe just spend one day in the woods, since we have to train."

"What're ya talkin' about, girl?" he asked, looking perplexed and almost scared.

"I'm talking about us going into the woods together. I was talking to Zach yesterday and I realised you and I still don't have a tradition, and I think we should have one."

He looked at her through the hair falling on his blue eyes, not saying anything for some time.

"Y'think so, huh?"

Beth nodded, a bright smile on her face.

"Y' think ya can handle bein' in the woods?"

"I'm a country girl at heart, Mr Dixon," she said, noticing how the tips of his ears had immediately turned red at the nickname. "So? What do you think about it?"

"We could try. Dunno if Rick's gonna be happy 'bout it," he replied, a small smirk on his face.

Beth found herself wonderstruck by how handsome and young he looked when he smirked, a playful spark in his blue eyes.

"We're not gonna overwork ourselves, I promise! We can just go for the day on Sunday, and maybe you could… maybe you could teach me how to track?" she asked, a bit shy, hoping not to sound too childish.

"Yeah, maybe I could," he replied instead.

Beth was surprised that he had agreed to her idea so easily, but she realized that things had probably changed since he had allowed himself to break down in front of her. Things were different, he was different. More playful, more at ease.

"Well, then."

And just like that, she had signed herself up for a day in the woods with Daryl Dixon. Oh, Tara and Maggie were gonna give her such a hard time about this.

I hope this didn't disappoint! Hopefully I will find some more time to write a new chapter soon between eating all my pasta and getting some uni work done! Love y'all :D