Warning: There are triggers for self harm in this chapter (a kind of retelling of events of 18 miles out). Please be careful and give yourself a hug from me! Don't read if triggering.

Chapter 12

She should have known that eventually it would happen. That eventually they would slip right on over that edge to the point of no return. They had been teetering on the precipice of something bigger, something more for the past several weeks and it had only intensified the night after she told him about the hospital. Somehow crossing that hurdle had opened up a whole host of possibilities of where they could take this relationship but one thing was apparent, it was going to the next level.

It was as if by telling Daryl about all of what happened to her, at least the worst of it, she could finally do what she had told Daryl to do. To let go of it and stay who she is now, Beth Greene, someone who survived so much and lived to tell the tale. She wasn't going to stay who she was at that hospital and somehow the way the story spilled out of her, she was able to put it away so it wouldn't kill her. Things like that often did. Just festered and grew and burrowed like a disease, infecting everything it touched until all that was left was poison in your veins.

It's what she'd done when her mama died. She had let that bad feeling stick to her of her dead mother's cold fingers clawing at her, trying to peel the flesh from her bones, such a twisted version of Annette Greene and she let it work its way under her skin until it putrefied and killed off every living cell and she died inside. She went away somewhere in the far reaches of her mind where the dead didn't walk the earth and mothers didn't try to devour their own children and she and her mama were baking cookies in the kitchen and waiting on Daddy to get home. When she had finally "woke up" and realized that it really was true and her dear sweet mama who had read her bedtime stories and soothed all her hurts really was dead, she hurt so bad and her first thought was who was gonna tell her it was going to be okay now?

But that was the hell of it wasn't it? It wasn't ever going to be okay again and she just wasn't sure she wanted to live in that kind of world. With that thought came a freedom, a relief that maybe she didn't have to. So she didn't think. She just did and she went into that bathroom and picked up her glass music box that Daddy had brought back from a veterinarians convention in Florida and she'd thrown it as hard as she could at the mirror. She'd only really expected the music box to break, but instead there was a sudden storm of glass shards falling all around her and she picked up the closest one, sharp.

Everything was strangely in focus and clear as she looked down at her wrist and placed the sharp edge of the glass against her arm. A silvery glint flickered in her periphery just as she placed the right amount of pressure against her skin, feeling the sting as she drew it down. She wanted to look at her arm and watch as her life drained away but she didn't. She felt the ooze of her own blood and the scent of something sickly sweet entered her nostrils but she couldn't look. She couldn't because her gaze was riveted on the wild girl she saw in the large piece of mirror that lay at her feet where blood was now dripping onto her mouth. Not her mouth. The reflection of her and she saw the wide expanse of the blue of her eyes and she became afraid, so afraid that she'd made a mistake and she thought how ashamed her mama would be of her right now.

Greene's, don't quit, Beth. We are fighters through and through.

She remembered. She had wanted to quit the school play in sixth grade because Bobby Thomas had told her that her eyes were too big and she looked like a big dumb doll. Beth had cried and ran home and told her mother that she was not doing it and they could find someone else to play the part of Wendy.

Her mother had let her cry it out and fixed her a big bowl of ice cream and sat down at their kitchen table in their rambling farm house (with two spoons because Annette Greene was no stranger to sweets). They'd devoured almost the entire thing when she looked up at her mother, sniffling back the remnants of her tears, and she'd never forget what she said.

"You going to let something a silly boy said keep you from your dreams? You do look like a doll, Beth, but not a dumb one. There's not a dumb bone in your body. But you're beautiful, so beautiful and sure your eyes might be a little bigger than most but you'll grow into 'em one day. Your eyes are open wide and you are seein' the world through eyes older than your years. You have an old soul Elizabeth Ann Greene and that boy just don't see it. Not yet. Just you wait. In a few years, every boy in town is gonna want to hold the hand of Beth Greene, but don't you let 'em. You're special sweetheart. You are a fighter.

You came into this world not breathing but your Daddy told that doctor "Greene's don't quit. They fight." He leaned down close to where the doctors and nurses were trying to revive you and he whispered with big ole tears in his eyes. "I know you got fight in you little one. You're a Greene and we don't quit. Everyone's got jobs to do. Right now your job is to breathe." And just like that, there was this big long squawl and we all just laughed because you were the loudest thing anyone had ever heard.

They placed you in my arms and your eyes weren't squenched shut like Shawn's was. Or like any other baby I've ever seen when they were born. Your big blue eyes were wide open. Taking in the world for the first time and I just knew that you had eyes that went into your soul. You have big beautiful blue eyes that go all the way into your heart. You looked at me for the longest time and I fell in love with you instantly. Then you got to squawking again when the nurses went poking on you and getting you cleaned up and pretty for your picture. There was that fight again. Your Daddy just laughed and looked at that doctor and said. "I told ya we were fighters." Doc Stevens never doubted a thing your daddy said after that. So I'm telling you right now, you're gonna go and you're going to do that play because you'll never forgive yourself if you let something a dumb boy said keep you from your dreams."

She'd done that play and she had shined and her mama was right. About two years later, Tommy Harris asked her to the school dance but she politely said no thank you. About six months later, she'd heard Tommy had gotten Kiersten Abbott pregnant and she was so glad she'd turned down his invitation to the dance. Because maybe that would have been her instead.

That memory had flashed at Beth as she dropped the glass to the floor, the clatter echoing in her ears as the door was ripped open and she cried.

"I'm sorry." She'd been so ashamed in that moment because she'd forgotten that moment in the kitchen when her mama told her she was a fighter. But as she stood there with the blood dripping down and looking at her reflection in the mirror, Beth Greene, fighter, she remembered. She remembered how it felt to be told that she was strong and she had defied death since birth and wasn't that what any of them were doing anyway? Defying death every single day and surviving. It was like it was her destiny to survive and she realized then that she couldn't quit. She wouldn't quit. She wanted to live and she wanted that more than anything in the world. That was a turning point for her. Once she realized just how badly she wanted to live and she regretted that split second decision to end her life, it freed her and she vowed to be strong.

She looked out the open window now of the house she shared with Daryl and listened to the birds singing their song and she realized that she wanted something else with the same fervor and that was Daryl. And she had him now but she wanted him. She wanted him like a woman wanted a man. And Daryl Dixon was very much a man.

She wanted his hands on her body and his tongue in her mouth and she wanted to feel him inside her. She wanted to be connected to him in that most intimate of ways and she wanted to share herself with him. Moreover she wanted him to give himself over to her in that way too. So they could just worship one another and they wouldn't get it perfect but maybe that was okay too because it was them. And they belonged to each other and they could figure it out together just like everything else up to this point.

The birds were loud like they were just happy to be alive and she smiled to herself thinking that she was too. She hummed a bit and stepped away from the window, tidying up the house before Daryl got home. She was thinking forward to tonight and trying to come up with a way to tell him, she'd wait however long he needed her to but she was ready to make love with him. She could only hope that he wouldn't make her wait too long.

She looked out the window again humming to herself. The abandoned house three blocks over had a few apple trees. Maybe she could make a tart tonight with the cinnamon and sugar she had for dessert. She quickly put her boots on, her idea blossoming in her mind. She wouldn't be gone long. Just long enough to get some apples and see if she could scare up some graham crackers or something for the streusel on top of the tart. She was looking forward to tonight more than any other and it put a bounce in her step. Just a few more hours until Daryl was home and she couldn't wait.

Daryl had been thinking and that was never a good thing probably but he couldn't help it. Things between him and Beth had changed. In a good way. He picked up the hammer at his feet and placed the nail on the board to anchor it to the steel frame of the wall they were working at getting up to make room for more residents. As he swung the hammer and felt it connect with the nail on each downswing, it did little to release the tension that had been building just beneath the surface. He'd been like this every day and though he got to relieve some of that tension with the things he and Beth had been doing lately, it built back up again quickly and he got the feeling that something was just missing. Quite simply, he was restless.

He pounded another board into place and then reached for the drill to anchor the support beam to the steel structure that would keep the dead separate from the living. Or as separate as they could make it without some bigger way to stop it. He knew there was really only one solution for all these churning thoughts in his head. He'd need to talk to Beth about it and he thought he knew just the way to do it. They'd been talking before about doing more looking and less touching and his mouth went completely dry at the sudden thought of Beth stripped of that final layer between them. He'd caught a little glimpse here and there but he wanted to see all of her. He wanted to see her spread before him and he got so hard thinking about what she might look like her legs parted just for him as he buried himself inside her. He knew it probably wouldn't happen the first time because he was unpracticed in such things but eventually he wanted to make her fall apart in his arms. Use his fingers to work her clit, instead of hers, slipping into her wet folds, using his hands to bring her to orgasm. Or his tongue. He bit back a groan and shook his head in an attempt to shake that image from his mind. He forced his thoughts elsewhere for the rest of the day. It would do anybody any good if he got so distracted thinking about Beth's pussy, he made some stupid mistake that got them all killed. Focus on the job, Dixon.

He may not be able to think about that but he could think about seeing her when he got home and who knew, maybe Beth was ready too. He could never tell with her but she seemed to be sending him pretty strong signals lately. He figured it was time they talked. But first, he had to get this damn day behind him. They had one panel left until the wall was complete and he figured they'd be done by the end of the week. He looked up at the sun in the sky and and figured it was still about 5 hours until dusk. It was gonna be a long afternoon.

He trudged the last block home, looking forward to just taking off his boots and getting his feet up. But first he wanted a shower. He finally made it to the house and opened the door calling out. The house was silent and he figured maybe she'd gone to the commissary for something for supper. He'd just grab a quick shower before she got home and then get on that list of stuff to fix around the house she had left for him. He figured he'd start with the broken step on the back porch. She liked sitting out there sometimes and he didn't want her hurting her ankle again. He figured things in his life always came back to how it would affect Beth and he guessed it always would.

He climbed the steps to the top floor and headed to the bedroom and began removing his clothes on the way to the bathroom, already groaning at the thought of the warm water sliding over his aching muscles. He turned the water on and adjusted the spray and stripped off the rest of his clothes while the water heated. He groaned out loud as he stepped into the shower, the spray hitting his back. The water pressure was shit but the temperate was just perfect for easing the tired burn that had settled into every crevice of his body. He finished his shower all too quickly and reluctantly turned the water off and toweled dry, realizing that he'd forgotten his clothes in the bedroom. He wrapped the damp towel around his waist as he padded out of the bathroom back into the bedroom that he now shared with Beth.

Had anyone told him at the prison he'd one day be sharing a bedroom with Beth Greene he would have told him that they were fucking crazy. Hell, he probably would have punched them. But he'd changed. By one pretty little blonde that was the subject of about 98% of his thoughts. He wasn't sure where the other 2% went, probably food or smokes or some shit.

He rummaged in the top drawer finally finding a pair of clean boxers that wasn't too threadbare, the black ones that Beth liked so much and if he was planning ahead for the night, well he wouldn't admit to it. He let the towel drop to the floor and was just stepping his legs into his boxers when he heard a gasp from the doorway.

Beth's eyes went wide at the site of Daryl as he stood up, her eyes drawn instantly to his manhood hanging between his legs and her first thought was that she didn't realize he was that long. She knew he was thick because she'd seen how he gripped himself through his boxers during the few times he'd gotten himself off in front of her but Lord, was he long.

She turned away quickly because though they had done stuff they hadn't gone that far yet and he had been coming from the shower and was redressing and that was his privacy right? And oh Lord, he was long and thick and she could feel her panties getting wet. Because all she could think was where her thoughts had been all day and there she came home and now all she wanted was to wrap her hands around his dick and guide him into her where she ached. She wanted him to fill her up and she wanted him to own every inch of her body.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were home." She said and her cheeks were hotter than they'd ever been and she really wasn't sure it was from embarrassment because all she really wanted to do was turn back around and let her eyes have their fill of him.

"You don't gotta look away Beth." His voice came from behind her and he was closer than he had been when she walked in, across the room by their bureau. She felt a smile slip into place and she turned to face him.

"I don't?" That was all she could manage as she turned around and Daryl was coming towards her, all fresh from his shower.

Daryl shook his head at her and realized that he was very much enjoying her discomfort at the moment. Because it was the kind of discomfort that came with a flush on her cheeks and a knowledge that he had put it there. Well his dick had. She'd taken one look at his dick and the flush had crept into her cheeks and those baby blues had flashed at him sharper than daggers as the bright blue hue of them shone bright just before the color was strangled out by the black of her pupils as desire settled over her features. Her lips stayed parted in that moment after her gasp and he could read it on her face. She wanted him. And somehow her wanting him made him want her even more.

"Remember how you said maybe we could do more looking and less touching?" Daryl chose his words carefully, trying to remember exactly how she had said it so he didn't mess it up. But he did want to see her and truth be told he wanted to see all of her. He never even realized how much he needed that until the thought formed, like once it was spoken into existence, he just had to have it. Something else became crystal clear to him in that moment. That he was ready. Ready for all of it. He wanted to strip every item of clothing from Beth Greene's body and he wanted to worship every inch of her with every inch of him. He wanted to see her naked beneath him and he wanted to bury himself inside of her. The only question that needed to be answered now was Beth ready for the same thing.

She nodded and he had the sudden memory of her asking what he'd like to see more of. She got that twinkle in her eye and almost before the words had left her mouth he had formed a response. "What would you like to see more of, Mr. Dixon?"

He held his gaze steady with those baby blues. "Everything."

Beth's breath hitched in her chest as she processed what Daryl had just said. Everything. She resisted the urge to rip every shred of clothing from her body to let him have his fill of her. Let his eyes feast upon her body and somehow she knew she would burn up from it, from the inside out and she already had an ache between her legs in anticipation of it. The way he was looking at her now, well, he had never looked at her like that before and she felt a jolt of desire rip through her and settle between her legs and she felt another gush of wet.

Beth reached for the button on her jeans and popped it open, her fingers finding the zipper and sliding it down. She shimmied her jeans down her legs and then reached for her shirt, pulling it over her head, feeling his eyes on her. They'd done this before. Stripped down to their underwear and then climb into the bed together and make out to the point that they were breathless with wanting and ready to burst.

She always tried to find something different or some kind of variation of next to nothing, enough to cover but still tantalize she guessed. Now she stood there in the little white set that she loved. A bandeau bra and a pair of boy shorts that she had fallen in love with when Maggie had again found it scouting for stuff on a run. She was beginning to wonder if Maggie secretly had a lingerie store she was raiding on the regular. Now she fingered the hem of the panties as she bit her lip. She held Daryl's gaze.

He stepped forward and closed the remaining few feet between them and he put his hands on her hips, tentatively at first and then his fingers found purchase in the niche carved out just for him, gripping her hips and pulling her against him. It was like it was his home base and he rubbed his thumb over the waistband of her panties and brought his lips to hers in a slow, sweet, lingering kiss feeling her so warm against him and it swelled up in him, that feeling that he was in over his head but simply didn't care. He pulled away and looked at her.

Her eyes were wide and bright as she searched his. "Does that mean you're ready for everything that comes with that?"

Snce they removed all their clothing, their hands would get to wandering. She knew this with a certainty because all she'd wanted to do since she walked in on him, his dick hanging out for her to see, was to touch him.

Daryl took a deep breath and nodded trying and failing to find his words so he let his touches do the talking for him, as his fingers crept beneath the waistband of her panties and already her skin here felt different, softer, more pliant and his dick twitched inside his pants. Beth drew in a sharp breath and he didn't break her gaze. He knew he was going to want to remember this moment for the rest of his life, the night he and Beth would forge their relationship, their bodies branding one another with the fire of their passion. He knew after tonight they'd be forever marked with the indelible ink of this thing that had taken over them. Their love would be tattooed onto every inch of each other's skin and they'd never be the same but that was okay. Daryl had surrendered to it long ago and he was glad they were where they were. It felt like it took them a lifetime to get here but he knew it was worth it. Beth Greene was worth waiting a thousand lifetimes for. And he knew she'd been waiting for him too. That realization was what gave him the strength to swallow past his fear and give what he was feeling a voice. "Ain't never been more ready for anything else, Beth." His hands came up to her face and held it in place as he looked into her eyes. "But are you ready? We don't gotta do anything you ain't ready for."

Beth nodded and smiled at him, her arms winding up around his neck, her fingers toying with the ends of his hair that still hung just a little too long on his neck, but that was the way she liked it. Her sweet Daryl, always concerned for her safety and comfort. "I've never been more ready for anything either. And I was thinking, we don't gotta do this perfect either. We can do this like we did everything else. Figure it out together."

"You were thinkin' huh?" He smirked. He got a thrill thinking about her, all caught up in thoughts of him and her, doing that. And he felt himself go hard. He'd put his boxers on a bit ago but already his dick was straining against the fabric.

Beth nodded and she found she liked the look in his eyes. There was a gleam there that hadn't been there before. A sureness that had slipped into place where before there had only been hesitance and she realized something in Daryl broaching the subject that they had discussed before when they were talking about ways they could be together without actually doing it. But the way Daryl was looking at her now suggested something more. He wanted her badly. She had never seen such heat in his eyes and his hands felt rough and delicious against the tender skin of her neck and the friction had a moan slipping from her lips as he pressed inward, her nipples growing harder and an aching forming in her cunt. An ache that was demanding attention as she rocked her hips into him.

Daryl's hands slipped down over her shoulder and he let his hand trail over her skin closer and closer to her breast until his hand closed over it and he squeezed gently as he dipped his head in to kiss her again and walked her over until they were standing by their bed and she had goosebumps broke out over her arms as he smoothed his hands down over her arms. He flicked his tongue out to trace the line between her lips and she opened her mouth under the prompting and their tongues slid against one another and their kisses grew more fervent before they were finally forced to come up for air.

"You cold? We can get you warmed up first?" He suggested gently as he bent his head to kiss down the smooth expanse of her neck and she tasted so good, slightly salty and every inch perfect.

Beth gasped at the contact of his lips on her skin, his breath in her ear. "No, I think you're going to warm me up just fine." For the longest time she had stood there letting the feelings wash over her as he kissed her and set his hands to exploring and she realized she had been so caught up her hands were still against his chest.

Daryl whispered in her ear as his lips grazed over the skin behind her neck and she moaned. His voice deep with desire, he almost growled it as he pulled back and looked at her, trying to communicate his need with his eyes and finding it lacking in this moment. "I want to see you, Beth." He let his gaze travel over her body, letting it rest for a moment over her breasts and then the apex of her thighs. He could see her pebbled nipples through the fabric in her bra and her panties didn't leave a lot to the imagination. He could make out her narrow lips through the thin fabric.

Beth nodded and smiled softly at him before she reached for the hem of her bra. His hands came to rest on hers stilling her movements. "Let me." Beth took a deep breath and tried not to think too hard that Daryl Dixon had just asked to undress her. Sweet Lord, she was willing to bet he wouldn't even have to touch her to get her to cum if the thought of him removing the rest of her clothes had her nearly writhing with anticipation.

His callused fingers slid over the fabric of her bra as he tugged it upward and over her head. It was automatic the way her shoulders hunched together and she moved her hands up to cover herself. Daryl's hands were on hers just as quickly. "Don't." He admonished gently and somehow that gave her the courage to take a deep breath and square her shoulders and she was very, very aware of how his eyes slid over her and how he took in every inch of her almost as if he was drinking her in and it made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the entire world, even if she did have scars on her face. With the way Daryl was looking at her, it was as if nothing had ever happened to her and she got the feeling that her body, her mind, her soul were made for this moment. Were made for this man. This crazy beautiful man who had captured her heart.

God she was exquisite and he didn't think she even knew it. He wanted to kiss every inch of her but he meant what he said. He wanted, no he needed, to see her. All of her. He let his hands slide south to the waistband of her panties but he couldn't resist dropping down to his knees and like a beacon he was drawn to that visibly outlined slit. He'd never touched her anywhere below the waist before though and this was a big step. He was ready. He was. But this was intimate and hell, this was Beth. He steeled his nerves and reached out one finger to trace her lips through the fabric and he was surprised at the moan that Beth let out and as he looked up at her she was quite possibly the most beautiful thing on Earth, her eyelids narrowed in half-lidded passion and her mouth parted.

He looked at the creamy expanse of her thighs and he placed one hand on her hip and nudged her gently, prompting her to sit down on the bed. He looked up at her uncertainly where he knelt at her feet, half expecting her to tell him to stop, but all he saw was Beth, her breathing shallow, almost like she was holding her breath as he placed his palms on her knees. He instinctively knew that all he'd have to do is apply the slightest amount of pressure and she'd get the hint. So he did and like every other thing between them he was able to communicate that he wanted her to spread her legs.

She wiggled her bottom on the bed scooting herself closer to the edge and leaned back slightly, supporting herself on her elbows and watching him. Watching him as he talked himself into sliding one hand up in the inside of her thigh and he felt his dick go hardly as she scooted even closer to the edge, wiggling herself again, moving towards him and his fingers were closer, closer, closer to the edge of her panties, closer to her heat.

His fingers were shaking as he brought his hand up to the place where his eyes kept coming back to, a very obvious wet spot on her panties, the proof of her desire and traced his index finger down over her narrow slit that he could just make out through the fabric. Beth moaned loudly and fuck! She pressed herself into his hand. And it wasn't enough. Touching her through even that thin material was not enough. He wanted to feel her but he wanted to see her. He wanted it all at once and he forced himself to take a deep breath as he slipped his hands back up to the waistband of those tiny white panties and in one movement, once again their bodies communicating their needs to one another, Beth's hips came up off the bed, helping him as he pulled them from her long, lithe legs. He deposited them on the floor behind him and turned back to face her and she was bared to him now and he could see. All of her, pink glistening lips, juices slicked over her heat and he had a sudden urge to push her legs behind her head and enter her all in one movement and he didn't know where the fuck it came from. Probably some porno Merle made him watch but that's not what this was about. Sure it was about pleasure but he wanted to be gentle with her. It's what she deserved. Hell, for their first time, it's what they both deserved.

He looked up at Beth and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as she smiled down at him. Fucking smiled at him like he hung the damn moon or some shit. "You're so fuckin' beautiful."

He caught her scent and in that instant he understood suddenly why Merle had gone on and on about the scent of pussy because she smelled fucking amazing and he couldn't wait to taste her because if she smelled that good, then he was sure he would die with one taste of her. But not yet. Not tonight. Tonight was earmarked for other things and he set that in motion by standing back up and vowing that next time he would spend at least an hour between her legs, familiarizing himself with her taste, smell and every single sound she made as he licked every inch of her pussy.

"You seem to have an advantage Mr. Dixon." She sat up a bit and he looked up in surprise. Her smile was playful as her tiny hands came to the elastic of his boxers.

"Better do something about that then." His voice was gruff and it had everything to do with the way she called him Mr. Dixon. He thought back to when she'd first called him that and how at the time he'd hated it. He'd hated everything then. But the fire in her eyes now was nothing like how she'd looked then. He smirked at her and her answering smile let him know she was okay with all of it. He liked this. This teasing banter between them.

He climbed up beside her on the bed and it wasn't long before she was pulling his boxers over his hips, the final article of clothing that stood between the two of them.

Beth's eyes rested on his large cock, head purpled from bursting desire. Her hands moved of their own accord to take him in her hand and he gasped loudly. "I want to suck it." She said honestly. She hadn't meant to but hearing him gasp made her glad she had. Knowing that something like that could affect him so was exhilarating.

He groaned loud enough to wake the dead. "Jesus girl, slow down. Ain't gonna be much fun if I blow my whole wad from the startin' gate." Daryl chuckled at her expression. "There'll be time for that." Listen to him, Daryl Dixon, acting like he knew two facts about sex to rub together but he didn't. Something about being around Beth though made you feel like you knew things. And he wanted to know her. Wanted to know every single millimeter of her alabaster skin. He wanted to learn what each sound that slipped past her soft lips meant and how to please her, how to make her moan louder.

He figured maybe he was learning, kind of like Beth did when he first started teaching her to track and hunt. She was an eager and fast learner. He sort of felt like that now. Not that Beth knew everything there was to know but she seemed to have a better instinct for things like this than he did.

His hands were tracing circles over her bare hip and her eyes were looking to him, so full of trust and love and he was completely overcome. He brought one hand up to the side of her face, tenderly tucking one errant strand behind her ear, he looked into her eyes that he'd come so comfortable with looking into like he wanted to see nothing else but her. "I love ya Beth."

His voice was like nothing else she'd ever heard come from him. Gruff but soft and his words were full of promise and Beth knew that the time had come. She placed her palm against his cheek as she leaned up and kissed him softly and then pulled back. "I love you too, Daryl. So much." Wordlessly, she turned away from him and it was like instinct guided his hand to her ass, running his fingers over her skin and she groaned as she reached for whatever it was on the table that she was after and pressed her ass into his palm and he had visions in his head of a time in the future where he could take her from this angle.

She turned back to face him, holding a foil square in her hand and grinning at him like she held the holy grail between her delicate thumb and forefinger. "Can I?" She knew he caught the meaning behind her gaze when she saw him take a sharp intake of breath. He nodded and she flashed a smile at him as she opened it and she remembered this from health class, rolling a condom over a banana.

As she rolled this one over the hard length of him, a moan escaping after the first initial gasp, she wondered if it was going to fit. Finally it was in place and there was nothing left to do. She rolled on her back and slotted himself over her, bracing one hand beside her head and he couldn't help how his hands shook as he gripped himself in his hand. Beth spread herself wide as he settled between her legs and god how he ached for her as he looked down at the picture she made, opened up and waiting for him as he teased his dick against her heat, both of them moaning and he walked his knees forward a little, nearly stumbling in nerves but was able to right himself and line them up again.

"Sorry." He muttered feeling like a clumsy idiot.

"It don't gotta be perfect, remember?" She reminded him and he looked at her, relief washing over him. He teased her again and she moaned and he liked hearing her do that so much that he kept it up, watching her intently. "Please." Her voice was a whisper. He didn't have to ask what she meant as she rocked her hips up against him her body begging him too, and he entered her, careful to watch her expression. He slid inside and met with a bit of resistance. She winced and he stilled his movements, his concern only for her.

"You okay?" He wasn't moving until she said go. She nodded fervently as she wiggled her hips and brought her feet up, her knees gripping his hips and he groaned at the change in position. Her hands were shaking too as she brought her hands up to splay her fingers over his chest. "I'm fine, I promise. I just need you to make love to me." Her eyes were wide with trust and he nodded back at her, and drew his hips back, sliding back out of her and as he slid back into her again, her walls snug against him, he moaned and she answered with a cry of her own as he pulled back out and slid back in again, his stroke a little more sure this time. He didn't know what he was doing but just let his body take over because it seemed to know what it was doing and fuck it felt good him sliding in and out of her heat.

Beth's hands got to wandering then and she slid her hands over his back and froze for a moment, stilling her fingers against the puckered skin there, fulling expecting him to flinch but instead he surprised her and growled and dipped his head down, his tongue instantly in her mouth, needy, searching. For what she didn't know, she was giving him everything she knew to give him and he arched his back against her hand and suddenly she knew what he needed even if he didn't. Her fingers gripped his scar and she let her fingernails graze over his back, lightly and he pulled his mouth from hers to gasp.

"Fuck, Beth, I ain't." His cry was cut off by her finger coming up over his lips.

"Hush now, you let you go if you gotta." It really didn't need to be perfect for her but somehow it was anyway. This with Daryl, their movements awkward, not knowing just how to touch yet, how much was too much and how much was not enough and it was everything she hoped their first time would be. He pulled back again and her fingers found their resting place on his chest again and her core was started to ache something awful like something was trying to click into place and it just wouldn't budge. Like trying to open a jar that was stuck no matter how much you twisted.

He didn't know what he did to deserve this girl who was giving herself to him like this and it was more than he ever thought he'd have, more than he deserved to be sure, and he wanted her to come but fuck he wasn't gonna last much longer. He wanted it to be special for her but he longed to make her come, like he'd watched her do for herself. He forced his thoughts elsewhere for a moment while he thought what he could do and all at once he knew. He'd seen it on a movie he guessed but he bowed his back out a bit as he pumped himself inside her again. His movement made just enough room between where their bodies joined and his fingers touched her heat for the first time, his callused fingers against the slick of her, working his fingers against her, mimicking the way she did it for herself. She moaned loudly and he knew he was doing something right when her breath started coming in short pants.

When Daryl worked his hand between them and his fingers found her clit she swore she saw stars, bright bursting stars in her vision as the pleasure tickled its way down her spine, a promise of what was to come. "Daryl." His name fell from her lips in a breathy moan and it was music to his ears and he hoped with every single fiber of his being that she was close because he felt the telltale tightening in his balls and he growled against her ear. "I'm gonna cum." He was burying himself in her to the hilt, hitting her and bottoming out on each stroke and though his movements were jerky he knew he was hitting all the right places as she gasped each time their bodies slid blessedly back together and he didn't stop not even when his orgasm ripped through him. He applied a bit of pressure on her clit as he rocked out the rest of his orgasm and he stared down in awe as her back arched up off the bed, her own release racing through her.

Beth felt it spiraling and it was like she was chasing something and then all at once Daryl announced his impending release and there was something in the way that he said it that let her know that this was the final giving over that she needed from him. He was giving her everything he had and she was ready to take it. Now she really did see stars as waves of pleasure started at the bottom of her spine, the shock waves rolling through her cunt as she felt a gush of warm and a strange tingling and then the muted buzz in her veins as she came down and Daryl's hips slowed to a final halt against hers, his forehead resting against hers as they both panted for breath.

A deep rumbling laugh burst up from her and stared down at her and she looked up at him, eyes wide with her reaction. "God that was good."

He couldn't help the upturn of his lips at her amusement. "Something funny about that?" He smirked.

She nodded slowly while he pulled out of her and took care of business. She sat up and grabbed their quilt from the bottom of the bed pulling it over the both of them. He extended his arm and she beamed one of those thousand watt smiles at him as she settled against him so they could just lay there and talk. Pillow talk. He smiled to himself and laughed too. "I think I get it. Ya know Merle would have gotten a kick out of all this." Somehow admitting it out loud felt good and she smiled at him.

She sighed. "Everyone gets a kick out of this." She grinned up at him, sighing contentedly as she settled against him. "I don't get it though. Are we really that unusual? We're so much alike and where we're not, it's still okay."

"I saw you, when my mom came out of the barn. You were just like me." She didn't realize how true her words were when they'd screamed out their frustration and grief at one another that hot Georgia day. She looked into his eyes, his eyes that spoke a thousand words and her mama's words rang out in her ears again. "You got eyes that go all the way into your heart." She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes as realization dawned bright in her mind. That Daryl really was the same as her because she saw the same thing reflected back in his eyes. He had eyes that went all the way into his heart and he figured he saw into her heart too and she saw into his. Their eyes were wide open as they looked at each other now and Beth knew this was where she belonged and to whom she belonged.

"We'll just belong to each other."

He grunted. He didn't care much what everyone else thought, only what Beth thought of him. "Don't matter." They'd never understand what they had because he knew what they had was not like anything anybody else had. Daryl knew he'd never had anything like this and how could he explain something that he didn't quite get himself. He pressed his lips to the side of her head. "I'm yours and you're mine, remember?"

"I do." And if those words held more weight in this context where they were pledging themselves then so be it and if it seemed an echo of a vow spoken between two people in a church before a preacher, then that was okay too. They talked in whispers for a bit more, tidbits of nothingness, all while fingers traced lazy circles and drew imaginary lines on sex-flushed skin.

Gradually, they both grew silent and her breathing evened out. As Daryl watched her sleeping before closing his own eyes and surrendering to the sated feeling that came from giving himself so completely to Beth Greene, the love of his life, he took in her even and steady breathing all curled against him and he knew she was dreaming good dreams.

And if she woke up in a nightmare, he'd be here to chase them away with his touches, his kisses and he could do that now. He might have shown her how to fight and how to survive but she had shown him how to love and to Daryl that was just as important. No that was everything. This love he found with Beth was his whole world. It was surviving to him. He'd never had a home, only a trailer, a tent, the cold hard ground, the inside of a car, a run-down shanty and now this fine house in Alexandria. And it was just a house until Beth came, boards nailed together to form walls to keep out the world.

But when Beth crossed into the walls of Alexandria and then stepped across the threshold of this house, that was when he was home. What had been before just four walls and a roof became a home. All because of Beth. His Beth. He thought what he'd said to her before when they'd been reading that fairy tale book, the Princess Bride.

"Out there beyond those walls, the worst kind of monsters are out there. The people are even worse somethimes. But in here, in these four walls when it's just us. I feel like we got the fairy tale."

It was true. Ever since Beth came and turned his nightmare world upside down, he had been living a dream and he didn't want to wake up. She sighed in her slumber and snuggled closer to him and he didn't hesitate to slip his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. He felt every bit of tension leave his body as he closed his eyes and let sleep finally claim him. As he drifted off with her safe in his arms, he felt weightless with the realization that he was happy, at peace. He'd been an outdoor cat long enough, he supposed. Daryl Dixon had finally come home.

The End

I know I know! I can't believe it either and I am crying right now because this was such a labor of love. It took forever for me to work it all out on paper given two hiatuses and what happened on our screens but it is finally the fic it was intended to be and I only hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I was going to do a chapter where I do all the songs that I listened to but this story really only has one. "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran. I listened to it more than anything else and it was just my inspiration and my jam.

I'll be changing how I do updates now. I am going to try updating a few chapters on each fic at a time, like a fic of the week concentration effort. I am hoping that this will be getting me back in the pattern of updating on a regular basis and also free me from the writer's block that I seem to be hitting doing it this other way.

Also it has been decided that I will not continue Heavenly Encounter, but don't get mad just yet. Keep reading. Lol I am making a sequel! It will be called "A Little Slice of Heaven" and THAT will become the Bethyl babies fic. Heavenly I will still leave open for any super steamy chapters as I'd like A Little Slice to stay kind of its own entity.

As always, I enjoy hearing from each of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the reviews, PMs, follows and favorites on this story. Y'all are the best! Until next time, xoxoxo