I do not own any of the TWD characters.

I absolutely cannot believe it – I found THE flashdrive with all of my saved work! I know that I checked this flash drive before, but somehow overlooked a "secret" folder I had created. Hahahahaha. I will be reposting some of my older works – with some much needed revisions of course. I hope you enjoy this as much the second time around as some of you did the first time.

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane

Beth was sitting behind her desk scarfing down a buffalo chicken salad when she heard it. The unmistakable sound of the life flight helicopter circling the building. She couldn't explain the feeling it gave her in the pit of her stomach – it was one of three reasons. One - planes and helicopters had always got her motor running. Or two - the thought of an actual patient having to be lifted out for more intense medical care than their small regional hospital could provide. Or three - the more likely reason for the butterflies in her stomach - the pilot was more than likely none other than Daryl Dixon.

Beth and Daryl had been seeing each other for going on a year now. Let's see Beth thought to herself as she crunched on the greens in her salad. Shane's been gone for going on two years now, Silas is two and a half years old – Beth was trying to do the math in her head. She and Daryl had started seeing each other about a year after Shane's passing – Si was around eighteen months old when Daryl picked her up for their first "official" date. She smiled thinking to herself what an awesome father Daryl could be to Silas, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. Stop it Beth! she told herself. You're getting ahead of yourself! She loved her baby boy more than life itself and it was the one good thing to come from her tumultuous time with Shane Walsh. I was an idiot to think that even a baby would have persuaded that man to put a ring on my finger.

Beth had not gotten in the family way on purpose, mind you. It's just one of those things that can happen when you're living with someone. Beth was pretty sure that Shane was never "all in" on the relationship as she was. She, of course, had heard the talk behind her back about who all Shane was sleeping around with. Beth chose to ignore it, thinking that eventually he would tire of chasing skirts and truly settle down with her. When Si was around six months old, she'd finally had enough. Shane coming home most nights reeking of booze and other women convinced Beth that it was time for her to take action. She had to do what was best for both her and Silas. Beth packed up their things and had them sitting by the front door when Shane came in from working the overnight shift.

"Goin somewhere?" he asked her. "Didn't know ya'lls plannin a trip."

"We're not going on a trip Shane" Beth told him. "We're leaving. I'm going home – going back to Momma and Daddy's until I can figure out what to do from there."

Shane looked like he'd been slapped. "Beth – ya can't take my boy. Ya can't leave me" Shane told her.

"I can and I will" she told him. "I'll send Otis or one of the other farm hands to come get the rest of our stuff. You won't have us to hold ya back anymore, Shane. You can do whatever ya want – although really, we haven't been that much of an obstacle for that, now have we?"

"Please don't do this Beth" Shane begged her. "Please."

"If I don't have a ring on my finger by the end of the week, I'm outta here" Beth demanded. "And that means – in case you are unaware – that you have to quit fucking other women."

By this point, Shane had pulled Beth into a hug and he was crying. She couldn't tell if he was truly afraid of losing her and Silas, or if he was just sad to not be calling the shots for once.

Beth finished up her salad and threw the disposable bowl into the trash can. She quickly washed it down with a swig from her water bottle and got up to go brush her teeth really quickly. If that was Daryl up on the roof, and he wasn't there for a medical emergency, he'd be hanging around the hospital for a while. If that were the case, she knew that he'd be at her door any minute. It just wouldn't do to greet him with buffalo breath. Beth grabbed her make-up bag that had her floss, mouthwash, and brush in it – she was going to run down to the restroom and brush her teeth before she ran into Daryl. Just as she opened up her office door, Daryl was swooping her up off her feet and slamming the door closed behind him with his foot. He pressed her up against the wall and begin placing kisses up and down her neck.

"Daryl – you got here quicker than I thought you would. I's gonna go brush my teeth – I just finished my lunch" Beth giggled.

"Mmmmm" Daryl growled as his tongue dipped into her mouth. "I'm gonna say ya had some kind of salad cause I taste bleu cheese." This caused Beth to giggle uncontrollably.

"Yes – I had a buffalo chicken salad – it was yummy!" Beth reported. "You had any lunch?"

"Nope – some people been workin all day – don't have time for such niceties as eatin on a schedule" he smirked and started kissing each ear lobe.

"I could get Samantha to run down and grab ya something from the cafeteria before they stop serving lunch" Beth offered.

"Sounds good" Daryl mumbled into her ear "Can ya have her just leave it out by your door? I'm gonna be busy for a while." Beth tried to wiggle out of Daryl's grasp, but then he started rubbing his scruff on her neck which drove her nearly insane every time he did it.

"Let go of me, Babe. So I can concentrate at least long enough to call Samantha" Beth gasped. Daryl did as she requested, but only because he really was very hungry. No breakfast and a morning full of boring ass organizational meetings before he flew up from Atlanta had taken its toll. Beth picked up her phone and punched in a couple of numbers. "Hey Samantha" Beth said cheerfully. "Could you run down to the cafeteria before they quite servin and grab a plate lunch?" Beth smiled over at Daryl who had taken up temporary residence on her sofa. "Yes, one meat and three veggies – no bread" Daryl's head snapped up to look at Beth. "Thanks Samantha – yeh, just leave it outside my office door – I'll grab it."

"What?" Daryl asked, after Beth had hung the phone up. "I can't have no bread?"

"Nope" Beth answered him. "We're both off bread. Your blood glucose and A1C was way too high last time I checked it."

"Dammit" Daryl said, trying to act like he was really pissed, but in reality he was just happy she wasn't forcing him to eat a salad.

"And I could stand to drop five or ten" Beth mumbled to herself.

"Come ere" he said. Beth crossed over to the sofa where Daryl took her hands pulling her down to him. "Ya don't need to lose nothing" he told her in his raspy voice. Beth laughed as he grabbed her into a hug. "I love ya Beth – I love ya so much." He squeezed her with each word.

Beth thought her heart just may explode. "I love you too – more than you'll ever know."

"Were ya able to get off next week?" Daryl asked her. Beth nodded her head up and down.

"I did – now are ya gonna tell me what the big surprise is? Why did you need me to take off an entire week?" Beth questioned.

"We – you, me, and Silas are goin on vacation" Daryl told her.

"What?" she squealed. "Where are we going?"

"The beach – we're flyin down in the mornin – be back next Friday in time for the homecomin game. Can ya get yourself and Silas packed – with just the bare necessities by then?" Daryl asked her. "And I do mean the bare necessities – don't have a lotta room for luggage. We're flyin down with Abe."

"I sure as hell can!" Beth exclaimed. "Wait – I probably need to let Momma and Daddy know where I'm goin." Even though Beth and Silas had moved out on their own, she still liked to keep her parents in the loop as to their activities.

"They already know – already talked to em" Daryl said. Beth's eyebrows shot up in surprise as if to say are you serious? "What? Ya think I's gonna take their baby and grandbaby to Key West and not check with them fist?" Beth jumped and threw her arms around Daryl's neck and kissed him long and hard.

"I'm so excited! And this will be Si's first trip to the beach." Beth was babbling nervously. "And his first plane ride" Beth continued. Beth grabbed up a notepad and starting making a list of items that she must absolutely pack. Daryl decided that Beth was going to be involved with that for a while so he opened up her office door to see that his late lunch had been delivered. He scooped it up and sat himself down at the work table in Beth's office. Using the plastic fork included in the Styrofoam box, he dug into the veggies. He had to admit, that for hospital cafeteria food, this had to be the best in the region. Daryl should know – he'd had he's share of hospital cafeteria food.