Sorry this one took so long to get out! As some of you might have seen, I've been working on another AU I've started. Don't worry though because I am definitely not giving up on this story!

They had managed to get Daryl upstairs into the guest room and they laid his bloodied body on the bed. The contrast between the white linens and his filthy tanned skin was stark, making him stand out against the plain backdrop. Beth shuffled in behind her daddy and Patricia who quickly shooed Rick out after Daryl had told him about finding the doll, leaving the pair to get to work on the beaten man.

Beth stood back, allowing them the room to work, but kept standing on her toes to try and see over their shoulders as they assessed his injuries. Quickly, they determined that he would be fine, after they stitched up the wounds. Patricia, who Beth had previously been standing behind, left to get some more supplies, leaving Beth in Daryl's eye line. He glared at her, probably thinking she was intruding...she most likely was, but she just felt awful, like it was partly her fault.

"Beth, can you get some rags and water? Clean up that head wound while I work on this." Hershel gestured to the hole in Daryl's side.

It took a few seconds before she responded. "What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'll just go get that." As she was stepping out, she was certain she saw Daryl rolling his eyes. She huffed as she walked to get the cloths. He wasn't like anyone she had ever met before, sparking such anger inside of her at the drop of a hat. She hurried to grab the supplies that she needed, not wanting the king of rednecks to be kept waiting, and made her way back into the room.

Hershel and Patricia had already begun their work on Daryl's side so Beth walked around to the other side of the bed, not wanting to get in their way. Her position made it so she had to slightly lean over Daryl to reach the cut on his head. He looked away from her, clearly uncomfortable being in such close proximity so Beth got right down to work, gently dabbing at the blood with the white towel. After she cleaned up the excess crimson liquid, she put pressure on the opening, making Daryl wince. "Sorry, gotta put pressure on it. Head wounds bleed a lot." Daryl gave her a look that said no shit. She had a feeling that this was one of his favorite expressions while around her.

When Hershel and Patricia had finished working on the front of his body, they had Daryl turn on his side, pulling his shirt off. Beth kept the pressure on his head, which made the situation even more awkward because now Daryl was eye to eye with her chest. He made the wise decision to close his eyes.

Slightly above him, Beth had a clear view of his back at this angle. While her intention had been to scope out the puncture wound on his flank, as she looked at the backside of his body, her eyes didn't even notice the new hole. Instead, her eyes were drawn to the many scars that littered his skin. They were various shapes, sizes, colors, and immediately Beth's eye's teared up. She blinked away the tears, not wanting anyone to see her reaction. It was obvious just by looking that these were very old wounds that had grown with his body, so she deduced that whatever caused them, must have been when he was just a child. Abuse was what her mind went, knowing it would easily explain his attitude towards anyone and anything.

When she peeled her eyes away from his back, she glanced back down at his face and saw that Daryl was looking right at her. She held her breath, waiting for a harsh comment, but it never came. He wasn't even really glaring at her, instead he was studying her, just as she had been doing to him seconds before. There was no way Beth would be bringing it up if he wasn't so she looked away from him, refocusing on his bleeding head.

Hershel was finishing up when Rick came back in to ask about Daryl. Of course her daddy made a comment about going through a ton of antibiotics, he followed it up with a question about Nelly.

"Any idea what happened to my horse?" He was cleaning off his hands as he asked.

"The one that almost killed me? If it's smart it left the country." Beth suppressed the urge to laugh, even knowing Hershel was seriously pissed about the horse being gone.

"We call that one Nelly...as in Nervous Nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you had bothered to ask."

Daryl looked at Beth with a pointed stare, making her look down at the floor. He mumbled something about remembering that for next time.

Hershel peered over at the head wound, Beth lifted the towel for him to get a good look. "Wrap that up for me Bethy, would you? Just run and get some more bandages. Seems to be another thing we're just running right through."

She nodded, telling Daryl to take the towel from her and to keep the pressure on. When his hand reached up to grab the rag, their hands touched and Beth felt a shock between their skin. She pulled back and Daryl gave her an odd look. She shrugged it off and left to go get some gauze from the medicine cabinet.

When she returned to the room, Rick had left, leaving her and Daryl alone. Beth cleared her throat and mustered up the courage to approach him. She tried to put off an air of confidence but her hands were shaky and when she spoke, her voice came out small. "I'm sorry." She moved the towel away from his head while Daryl raised an eyebrow at her. "For not telling you about Nelly. I thought about it...but you were being kind of an asshole so I decided against it."

Again she expected for him to rip her a new one, but she was surprised once more. "The way I see it, I kind of deserved it." She stopped her movements, quite shocked by his words. "What? I can recognize when I'm being an ass, I just don't care a lot of the time."

Beth continued on with her work, placing the bandage padding against the wound. "I mean, I guess I just expected you to go off on me. I do kind of deserve it."

"Maybe just don't have enough energy to be pissed right now."

Beth began wrapping gauze around his head to hold the padding in place. "No energy for anger? We better get you checked out again, maybe you have a concussion. Or overdosed on painkillers." She was being over dramatic. "Because the Daryl Dixon I've encountered would never say such a thing."

She had just finished with the wound care when he spoke up again. "Maybe I'm just tired of always bein' an asshole to someone who don't deserve it."

Beth smiled at him. "Now that sounds like a logical answer." She began cleaning up the mess that had been left in the room, no longer worrying about blood contamination as Daryl's was already all over her hands. It was one of the things about this world that had changed, no longer did you worry about getting stranger's blood all over you.

When she was done tidying up, she gestured to the small bathroom just off the room. "If you want, you can clean up in there...I don't want to say you need it or anything...but you totally need it. Just don't get your bandages wet." She left the room, trash in her hands, leaving Daryl behind to shake his head at her words.

Beth went downstairs to join the other women in helping to prepare dinner. They all questioned how Daryl was and she decided not to tell him about what he had actually said. "Oh you know, just as grumpy as always. He'll be fine." She didn't think Daryl would appreciate her blabbing to all his people that he had gone soft.

When dinner was all prepared and everyone was getting ready to sit down to eat together, Carol announced she would take a plate to Daryl. Beth was slightly annoyed because she had been planning on doing that as well.

When the table was all set and all the food had been placed, Beth grabbed the full dish she had set to the side and found Maggie. "If anyone asks, I didn't feel good and went upstairs to lay down."

Maggie nodded, looking slightly confused. "Okay...and where are you really going?"

Beth inwardly cringed. "Uh, I just thought that our house guest shouldn't have to eat alone."

"Beth..." Her sister was about to start a lecture but Beth didn't have time for that.

"I know, Maggie, but just please cover for me?" Maggie sighed, reluctantly agreeing. "Oh, especially don't let Jimmy come lookin' for me."

When she made her way into his temporary residence, Daryl snarled at her. "Jesus, can't an injured man get some fuckin' peace in this house?"

Beth squeaked at his harsh words. "Oh...I'm sorry, I'll just go back downstairs."

"Wait, shit, Beth...thought it was someone else." His voice was much more gentle when speaking this time.

"So I can stay?" She stepped inside further as if to test him.

"S'your house." She smiled at his response, knowing that was basically an invitation in the language of Daryl, and shut the door behind her. She sat down in a comfortable armchair across the room, facing the bed.

"So, how's that new plan going? You know, the one about being angry a little less?" She could have sworn she saw a smile flash across his lips but it also could have been her imagination.

"Harder than it sounds. Now eat your dinner, you need protein if you wanna heal." Again her imagination could have been running wild but she thought she heard whispered words come from him, something along the lines of a sarcastic yes mam.

The meal started off silent, but with Beth's prodding even Daryl was surprised at how easy they fell into conversation. It wasn't some heart to heart where they spilled their guts and cried on each other's shoulders, but they did get to know each other a little bit better in terms of trivial knowledge. He now knew her favorite food that she missed was frozen yogurt, or anything real cold for that matter, especially with the Georgia heat. Beth learned that Daryl learned how to ride a horse by doing exactly what he had done today, stealing one. They had talked about Sophia, the farm, where they were when they heard about the outbreak, and more. Beth would have to call the day a win in her book, even if it included Daryl getting thrown down a mountain and getting shot. She was just glad she was given the chance to get to know the man who came across as so rough but was much more sensitive than he let on.

Just want to remind you guys this will be a slow burn. I want these characters to get to know each other before they jump into anything so there will be much more in terms of interaction between them to see! Review and let me know what you thought because it makes me a happy girl ;)