Daryl smiles to himself as he slowly comes to, the sunlight streaming through the window causing him to stir from his sleep. His arm is slung around the form next to him and he wiggles his fingers so that they brush against her soft skin. Beth sighs and presses herself back against him and he buries his nose in her hair. He almost can't believe this is real, that she's here with him. He thinks back on his friendship with Beth and knows for sure that he has always loved, maybe not as completely as he does right now, but the feeling has always been there. Daryl feels her shift in his arms as she turned towards him, a sleepy smile on her face.

"Mornin', Greene." He whispered, leaning forward to kiss her softly on the lips. Her smile grew wider and she mumbled her good morning back to him. Her eyes fluttered open and Daryl was amazed that there was no regret in them. He realised then that what he and Beth had was real. She pressed her lips to his and he felt his growing arousal and wondered if it would always be like this now, just the slightest touch, the slightest kiss from Beth Greene and his body became alive with want. He deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him, felt her still when she felt hard length pressed against her before grinding herself against him causing him to groan.

"Ready to go again, Dixon?" She teased, a playful smile on her lips.

Daryl growled and rolled them so that he was hovering over her, grinning. (When the hell did he start grinning?)

"Damn straight." He told her as he lowered his mouth to hers.

After spending almost the entire morning making love to each other, Beth and Daryl finally decided at midday for something to eat. Beth padded barefoot in to the kitchen, wearing nothing but one of Daryl's shirts. She reached for the fridge then laughed at the note that was pinned to the door of it.

Lovebirds,

Tried knocking, you guys were a bit busy. I'll be at the diner when you decide to come out.

Merle.

Another hour later, (Daryl couldn't help it that seeing Beth in his shirt did things to him so it took them much longer to get dressed than it should have. It also involved more undressing than it should have too.) they made their way to the diner, hand in hand.

"So, what does this mean now? Are we, like a thang?" Beth looked up shyly at Daryl and he cursed himself for the uncertainty in her eyes. He had thought that telling her that he loved her would be enough to quell her anxieties but he was wrong. He knew that he loved her and that she loved him, he had thought that that would be all that needed to be said.

"You askin' me to go steady, Hotshot? He smirked and she lightly smacked his arm as she rolled her eyes at him. He stopped walking, tugging her hand so she turned to face him. He draped his forearms over her shoulders and lowered his face to hers, looking her in the eyes. "I'd say we are definitely a thang, Greene. Been waitin' all my damn life for us to be a thang so I ain't gonna let nothin' stop us now."

She smiled up at him, the most radiant smile he had ever seen, and kissed him on the lips.

"Huh," She smiled, "Guess we are goin' steady then."

Beth was stunned by the lack of surprise that comes from telling her family about her and Daryl's relationship. Her father had smiled when her mother had pointed in his face yelling "I told you so!" and Daryl had laughed loudly at the look on her father's face. Glenn (Beth thought he was supposed to be smart) had told them that he had thought that they were already dating before they went to the wedding and Maggie had rolled her eyes at him and reminded him of the conversation they'd had where she had told him that the two weren't a couple but that she thought it would only be a matter of time until they were. She'd put Shawn on loud speaker when she called to tell him, who had had the same reaction as Glenn, causing his sister's to complain that he never paid enough attention. The guys at the garage groaned when he and Beth kissed passionately before she went off to the office, he rounded on them with a fire in his eyes before they had hastily explained that they each now owed Dale twenty bucks. Daryl was surprised that the old man had noticed something between he and Beth but Abe had explained that Dale had known they would end up together since they were kids.

Daryl couldn't help but wonder if he had done something when they were kids if he and Beth could have had this sooner. He came to the conclusion that they needed to have those experiences then to be who they were today (although, part of him knew that he'd always loved who Beth was so it didn't make much difference to him either way.) and that even if it took him this long, he was just glad that he got his girl in the end.

18 months later

"Merle! MERLE! IT'S HERE!"

"God dammit, woman, what you yellin' 'bout?"

"It's here!" Carol thrusts the magnolia envelope at Merle and he can already see the crinkles in it where she has been gripping it. He knows what it is and smiles as he rips it open. He pulls the card out of the envelope and his grin widens as he reads the words.

Mr & Mrs Hershel Greene

request the pleasure of your company at the marriage of their daughter

Bethany Greene

to

Daryl Dixon

Merle stops reading and looks up at Carol, who is grinning almost as wide as he is.

"Well, baby, we gon' go buy you a hat."

The End

A/N - So, this is probably shorter than most of you would have liked but I really felt like the end of the last chapter was a pretty good finishing point soooo thought I'd keep this short. But it's over. Whew. I've spent two much time having ideas for other stuff and I've actually written a one-shot and one half of a two-shot (shameless self promotion) and am probably about to start another Bethyl AU. Ugh. So, yeah, here it is, finished in time for the premiere (OHMYGOD, IT'S NEXT WEEK!).

Thank you all for reading, you are all awesome. I actually read back through the other day and was laughing at myself for being excited about getting 11 follows! Look at it now! So, yeah, thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited and followed this. I think this AN might be longer than this chapter in a minute.

Anyway, go check out my other stuff because I love attention...

Love you all!