There was a tension that immediately formed in his body, from his neck to his shoulders, all the way to the soles of his feet, caused by the conflict that had arose. There she was, all snuggled up tight with the soft looking sheets huddled around her.

Daryl was tired and it was that down to the bone kind of tired that made the whole body ache. He had been feeling that way a lot ever since leaving Georgia, with every step his body feeling more betrayed. It seemed like every other night his muscles turned against him out of spite for putting so much stress on his body. Physical, mental, and emotional stress. All very different in their nature yet all the same to Daryl.

So instead of taking the couch downstairs (which by the way he actually fucking hated with all his being because it had too many fancy and frilly decorative pillows and a weird itchy fabric) Daryl grabbed an extra soft blanket off the corner chair in the room and draped it over Beth carefully so that he didn't disturb her. She must have only been half asleep because her fingers wrapped around the new addition and her head shifted on the pillow, a small sigh escaping.

Daryl froze for a good few minutes and waited there right by the edge of the bed, afraid to move and wake her up, not only because it would, in fact, take her out of her sleep, but also he would be faced with the task of talking about why she was there in his bed, why he was there, and all the other shit he couldn't face just yet.

And he might not ever be ready to face it but he knew it was inevitable.

Once Daryl was sure that Beth was entirely asleep, he crossed the room and slowly pulled back the covers on the right side of the bed. Out of habit, he started to undress, pulling at the buttons of the shirt he had been wearing for a few days straight with various stains of who knew what, then stopped abruptly because of the obvious reasons.

Would it be improper of him?

He pondered the thought of if it would be inappropriate to take the clothes on his upper half off just to sleep like he normally would do without anyone there, then figured it didn't quite matter since he would be awake in the morning before Beth even woke up and no one but him would know about it. And it wasn't like he was planning on trying anything anyways, so what the hell.

Once the shirt dropped onto the expensive mahogany floor he already tracked mud onto, Daryl gently and as stealthy as possible slipped under the covers in preparation for the much needed sleep his body was craving. As dark as the room was, he could see almost perfectly once his eyes adjusted. It was like every speck on the wall stood out to him and every breath that Beth took next to him he could see as the covers rose and fell in the smallest bit since she was on her side facing his way. It was her breathing that soothed him enough to shut his own eyes and let sleep claim him for a little while.

—

In the middle of the night, Daryl was jolted awake with his body tense, hyperaware of all the surroundings. It was almost like he had awoken into a panicked state, the survival state. Eyes flashing open instantly, feeling of terror pulsing through his veins, and he wasn't sure what had led to the sudden pull out of sleep but he sure as hell was ready to fight if needed.

He could have been annoyed when it was clear that nothing was in immediate danger and he had been taken out of sleep for no reason, but chose to forget it. Granted, it had been a light sleep overall, always was, always would be, but still, any sleep was good sleep.

Daryl rolled onto his back so he was flat against the bed, head rolling to the side to make sure that Beth was still there next to him, fearing that maybe he missed something initially and something related to her was the reason he was been taken out of sleep. Really, it was the only thing he cared about that moment—her. Seeing she was still there though, Daryl relaxed but his abrupt movements must have disturbed her and out of the corner of his eye, Daryl saw Beth starting to stir around, pulling at the blankets as she stretched before her eyes blinked open. He got the instant urge to look away and feign sleep, like he had been caught doing something bad when really all he was doing was watching her. Still, he abruptly glanced elsewhere.

Her voice was smooth and quiet with her inquiry. "Is it the scars?"

Daryl was confused. "What?"

"Is that why you're afraid to look at me?"

Being called out like that hit him like a punch to the face, so much that he almost physically recoiled, especially hearing the subtle undertone of sadness in her voice. "No," he outright denied, head shaking, trying to hold back the wince because he knew by him looking away it had hurt her in some way. "Of course not."

She waited, pondering if he was telling the truth. "Then what is it? Tell me."

"It's not the scars," he repeated, too afraid of admitting to the real reason. He gazed back up at her, eyelids feeling a bit heavy. "I promise it ain't that."

Beth wasn't satisfied with the answer. "Then what is it?" she asked again, begging him to tell her, urging for the truth to be told.

He couldn't bring himself to do it though, not when put on the spot like that. Beth grew tired of his unhelpful response and lingering silence so she huffed and flipped over so her back was facing him and pulled the covers up over herself again. It felt like he had been shunned.

She was upset with him, or maybe disappointed. Maybe both.

Probably both was the most likely story.

Daryl laid there a minute or two and slowly gathered up some courage and broke the painful silence. He messed with the edge of his pillow as he started, "I look too long and…and I, uh…"

(Yeah, the award for communication ain't exactly going to him. He knew)

"And what?" she demanded him to finish the sentence he had started, still with her back facing him.

"Feelings, they…"

Feelings, now that was a word he rarely ever spoke in his life. And he didn't know how to say it, how to communicate his thoughts properly so she would get what was going on in his mixed up mess of a brain. But that was the thing he never understood. She got it. Always did. Beth knew how to make sense of his jumbled words and how they translated back to what his thoughts were.

She nodded her head to encourage him further.

He was out of his fucking mind. Or maybe he was entirely sane. Deciphering the difference had turned into something that was too difficult.

Daryl gave out a defeated sounding sigh, almost getting up and going downstairs out of frustration when he couldn't put together the right sentence. "I'm shit at this."

Beth laughed genuinely. "I know." She flipped back over so she faced him. "But we can work on that." Beth lifted her hand and stroked Daryl's cheek, the sense of relief washing over him. "I just need you to promise me one thing, okay? Stop beating yourself up about it, what happened at the funeral home."

His teeth gritted together out of the memories that flashed though his mind. "I don't know if I can do that."

"You'll try," she firmly, yet hopefully responded. "We'll try together and we'll get through it. Step by step. Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed to the terms.

And just like that, everything seemed to melt away, all the tension and locked up hatred he had toward himself for not checking the damn door before he opened it. Regret lingered, might always be there, but it was like Beth had given him a blessing by extracting out the self-hatred. Step by step, like she said. A long process but one that might not be a complete waste.

A few creaking sounds down the hall made him prop up on an elbow, looking towards the door. Any noise was suspicious to him, even there in a place he shouldn't be so on guard all the time but was so used to being. Old habits die hard.

"Relax," Beth whispered, tugging on his arm to get him to settle back down. Once he did, Beth pushed the sheet down away from her face. "I'm moving in with Aaron and Eric."

"Why?"

She didn't miss a beat when she replied, "Because I need to."

That was good enough for him. "Okay."

They settled in for some more silence, both listening to the howl of the wind outside batting against the windows that lined the bedroom side facing the street. They remained facing each other and Daryl began thinking back to when it was just the two of them and one would stay awake so the other could sleep. And they had slept in some interesting places—cars, sheds, the outside, even in a tree once because a bunch of walkers were in the area but they were both too tired to move any further. That had been one hell of a night. He had woken up with a back ache from the bark only to see Beth throwing stones onto the ground below to get the walkers to go in a different direction, but also just to kind of messing with them for the hell of it.

Yeah, they definitely had some stories to tell. And then some they would never dare speak of to anyone else. Like the time Daryl accidently cut the side of his abdomen on a broken branch and Beth cleaned it up for him, pushing up his shirt and placing a hand very low on his opposite hip. And how Daryl had felt her breathing on his skin right above the top of his pants, causing him to redden in the face and look the other way until she was finished.

Maybe that had been the beginning. In that moment.

Or possibly the second he rode up to the farm had been their beginning. Just a matter of time and the right circumstances to push them together.

And he had gotten used to her sleeping there with him. Not with him like they were then, right next to each other, just the two of them being in the general vicinity was what he was used to. When Beth slept, Daryl always made sure she was only a few steps away in case they had to get up quickly. And when he was the one asleep, it was sort of a requirement that she be even closer otherwise he just would lay or sit down with his eyes closed and pretend to sleep, too afraid of drifting off and possibly losing her.

So her sleeping there in his bed wasn't too odd after all, he concluded. All was normal until her lips brushed over his and Daryl didn't resist. And then she was pulling him onto her, the weight settling in as their bodies readjusted, and still he didn't resist a single bit. Beth slid her legs up so that he fell between. And it all felt good, so right and natural that he didn't question anything. He should have, maybe, but not then. He was too comfortable and had spent too long aching for her.

When her lips touched his neck, she was already undoing his pants and sliding them down before she tore off what little she had on. Her skin felt so smooth under his touch, even if he was pawing at her flesh, needing more. A moan came out from Beth's mouth, it sounding much more like a humming noise, at least to his ears. But however nice the noise was, it went right down to his already hard member.

Beth placed her hands onto his sides and wiggled around underneath him, spreading her legs further. It nearly killed him right there, all the motion below him, the friction of her skin on his dick. She picked her hips up slightly when Daryl shoved his hand down between them to grab a hold and guide himself towards her, feeling the wetness on the most sensitive part of the tip.

"Beth," he said while looking straight at her, moving some hair away from her face so nothing was obstructing the view. "Beth."

She gave another small moan in reply, indicating she was all for what was happening, even slipping her hands down to his ass and putting some pressure on him to get him inside of her more. He went in slowly, painfully slowly, enjoying the tightness. A glance at Beth and she looked uncomfortable until she noticed his gaze and threw him a one sided smile.

Daryl moved then, Beth's hands on his sides so that she could be in some sort of control of the movements as Daryl went from slow and careful to a quicker rhythmic pace. Sloppy and wet kisses were placed on her neck in between the deep breaths he was taking in to keep steady.

Despite the room being cool before, Daryl's body temperature had risen so much that sweat was accumulating along his hairline, making some of the hair stick. His breath went untamed and the thrusts came at a more fast paced, at the same time he was trying to be as gentle as possible while still giving into all the urges his body was telling him.

He made some desperate noises from the base of this throat as the feeling got better and better until he fell apart as Beth held him, nuzzled into her neck, feeling as if nothing bad could ever happen to him again when Beth instinctively pulled him closer and gave a content sigh into his ear.

At least for one night, the world didn't seem so terrible after all.