Faith

It started when Lil’ Ass Kicker came around.

The group wasn’t exactly sure of how to react when Daryl took so well to Judith’s arrival. As Rick’s right hand man, he didn’t spend a lot of time talking to Lori over the winter. Back when they were still on the road, Hershel told Lori that she was due to have the baby any day now. About a week or so, Judith came along and Lori was gone.

Hershel was quick to let the group know that if that child was going to make it, she needed formula. He was the first to ask what the baby needed and was determined not to lose anyone else that day. Rick was his brother. His family, and he just lost his wife and the mother of his children, and to make it worse, Carl had to watch his mother die.

That was the first time Daryl could remember talkin’ to Beth since they had gotten to the prison. Maggie and Glenn volunteered to go on the run with him, and he turned to her and pulled her away for a moment to ask him to keep an eye on Carl, ‘cause Rick sure as hell wasn’t all there. They didn’t speak much, because Daryl didn’t know how to speak to a girl like Beth. Usually he’d just grunt somethin’ or avoid her all together- but that didn’t mean he didn’t notice everything she gave to the group. He knew he could trust her to keep an eye on Carl, make sure the kid didn’t do anything stupid.

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He liked the Greene family. Everyone could depend on Hershel for his words of wisdom. Shit, he’d never admit it, but he was jealous of them damn Greene girls. He wished he had a father like Hershel. Hershel was a good, respectable man, but that didn’t make him perfect. After his little stunt back at the farm of goin’ for a drink, Daryl liked him even more. That man spent most of his life drinkin’ himself to death and somehow ended up a better man than Daryl ever would be. Maggie- well, god damn, she was somethin’ else. He made sure to steer clear of her when she was pissed, because she had a clever mouth on her, and Daryl sure as hell would throw it right back. He wasn’t afraid to call her out on anything. She was a good shot and was always able to help out and prove herself in tight situations. He didn’t mind going on runs with her because he knew she’d have him covered. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t give her an earful for making fun of his poncho (which she did, often.)

And then there was Beth Greene. At first, he didn’t know what to think of her. She was a goody-two-shoes daddy’s girl. She didn’t know anything about the new world. Then she went and slit her wrists, and now everyone treated her like a porcelain doll, even after they left the farm. Daryl wasn’t one of those people. He saw her transformation after that. He didn’t know what it was, but she was different after the farm. She did everything she could for Lori while they were on the road. She got good at putting down walkers as long as someone was there with her. She’d sing quietly at nighttime and remind people of the beautiful things the world still had, the things that they couldn’t forget. Without even trying, she made sure the group didn’t get too caught up in doing whatever they had to do to survive while they were fighting for their lives. There was a lot of tension and frustration in everyone after the farm and it was nice to have those few moments because of Beth.

Daryl was a man of few words. The only two people he could actually hold a conversation with was Rick and Carol. Most talks with Rick where about what the next steps were going to be, what the plan was. Sometimes he asked Daryl’s opinion on where good places to head towards where, asking if the area they planned to stay for a few days would be good for his hunting. Even though Rick spent the winter being the leader, everyone doing whatever he said, Daryl felt a sense of pride in the fact Rick trusted his judgement. Considering the first thing he ever learned about “Officer Friendly” was that he left his brother handcuffed to a roof in Atlanta, they had earned one another’s respect. Rick was like the brother he never had and he would follow him into hell’s gates, just like he would have with Merle.

He spent most of his nights over the winter taking guard. On the off chance he wasn’t on guard duty, he was spending his time with Carol. He’d had a sweet spot for her ever since he’d noticed a bruise on her cheek back in Atlanta. He pegged Ed for what type of man he was right off the bat; Merle did too.

“Well, ain’t that a familiar sight, Darylina,” Merle had muttered to him after seeing how careful Carol was to do everything to Ed’s liking for dinner their first night.

They’d seen the look she had on her face on their own mother. Daryl liked to think, before all this happened, that he’d step up and do the right thing for a woman who was getting beaten, but he sunk low in his brother’s footsteps and did nothing. She’d show up with fresh bruises, or a tender walk, and he’d swear that next time he was goin’ to let Ed have it, but he never did. He’d always regret that. Instead of bashing Ed’s face in, he went out of his way to mumble a thank you to her for doing his laundry, or make sure Carol and Sophia shared one of the bigger squirrels he caught. After Ed died and losing Sophia, Carol, the scared and beaten woman, turned to a fierceness that suited her well. She hardened and stopped taking peoples shit and from time to time would make comments to Daryl about Rick’s leadership skills in confidence.

Some nights while Daryl had guard duty at their makeshift camps, Carol would sit by him, her pistol never far from her side as they spoke. He didn’t have to say very much; they seemed to understand each other. At first, she would thank him for never giving up on Sophia. To Daryl, that was a punch in the gut. He was so angry at himself over that little girl. For the first few months, he couldn’t forgive Hershel for keeping all those walkers in the barn. He looked high and low every day for a little dead girl who was locked up in a barn, bein’ fed livestock by the Greene’s. At first he was mean to her.

“You shouldna let her wonder off without you in the first place,” He’d say without looking at her. But she’d just nod and stay where she was.
“There’s a million things I coulda done different for her,” she’d tell him, “We didn’t know a herd was gonna come riding up. But you never stopped looking. I was the one who gave up first,” she admitted with sigh.

Her face would be perfectly somber, as if she had come to terms with what had happened and accepted it already. He didn’t understand how the hell she could feel that way when he was still broken over it.

He was silent for a long time.

“She was in the damn barn the whole time. I thought I caught a trail of her when I found that fuckin’ doll in the stream. She was just in the damn barn.” His voice was low growl, dripping with regret.

That’s when Carol put her tiny cold hand on his arm and rubbed her thumb gently to comfort him. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the night, and when the morning came, he went to hunt and didn’t look at her for a few days.

But after that, he forgave Hershel for locking up the walkers. He still thought it was fucking stupid, but he could see that Hershel didn’t know how serious of a turn the world had taken. He was safe on his farm with his family. He wasn’t out there in Atlanta like the rest of them. He figured it out pretty quickly after the barn burnt down. He was pretty good with a gun, too, although Hershel was the first to admit he wasn’t a fan of using it. But the old man didn’t slow them down one bit.

Once Daryl was done thinking he was a dumbass for the barn shit, he started listening to his stories he’d tell to Lori and Carol about his family, his life on the farm. He was a father figure that the group needed. His voice was always calm and soothing, level headed and rational. Hershel mentioned once when he went hunting with Otis he’d cooked up a buck’s heart for dinner. Daryl snorted at the idea of a veterinarian farmer hunting. He never sat with the group when Hershel was telling stories, so only Carol noticed Daryl’s amusement and winked at him.

The next time Daryl caught a deer, he gave the heart to Hershel. After skinning it and gutting it at camp, he walked over to Hershel with the bloody heart in his hand with a small smirk and asked, “Sautéed or grilled, Doc?”

Hershel laughed and slapped his knee, asking how good Daryl would think it would be if they cooked it in an empty tin can.

Daryl grabbed an empty corn can and shoved the bloody muscle in and tossed it to Hershel, “Bet you won’t, old man. Hell, I’ll have a bite if you do,” he said, shaking his head and walking away.

Hershel didn’t try it out in the end, but Daryl still had a small smirk on his face as he trimmed the rest of the deer.

_____________________________________________________________

Daryl, Glenn and Maggie quickly made their way to gate. Daryl was about to climb onto his motorcycle when they realized the car wouldn’t make it through all the debris on the road, and Maggie quickly put her foot down and reassured Glenn that she’d be okay going.

“I want to go. For Lori, I have to,” she told Glenn, and he said his goodbyes. Maggie hopped on the bike after him, wrapping her arms firmly around him and muttered, “Wouldn’t bet you have an extra helmet?”

Daryl laughed and revved the engine quickly as gate opened. He yelled over the roar of his brother’s bike, “We got bigger problems than a head injury, Greene.”

Before she had a chance to response, he was off. Her arms tightened a little more as they rode, and Daryl couldn’t help but enjoy the ride. He had his own bike, before the dead started walkin’, but he left it at some dealers house while Merle dragged him up I-85 and out of Atlanta, not realizing he’d never see it again. Now Merle was gone (and still taunting him subconsciously) and Daryl was happy to have a familiar bike. He sped up, zig-zagging through abandoned cars.

When Maggie held him tighter and smacked his arm to get him to slow down, he revved the engine but slowed from 87 miles per hour to 60. Once they entered a town, he slowed down and Maggie patted his arm and yelled, “Over there!”

He stopped the bike on the side of the road and climbed off, watching Maggie as if she were going to fall as she climbed off. She seemed to catch on because she rolled her eyes.

“Pfft. Daryl, I grew up riding horses bareback. And this ain’t my first time on a motorcycle.” She muttered.

Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and into his arms and scoffed, “Well ‘scuze me,” shaking his head. “You been on a bike before, then you don’t needa helmet.” he told her.

“Safety first.” She muttered before walking towards a little house with a rainbow sign that said ‘DAYCARE’ in front. “Let’s go.”

They walked side by side, keeping an eye out for walkers, but the town seemed empty. The last walker Daryl saw was on the side of the road a few minutes before they got into town, but he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a biter locked up in one of the rooms.

Walking through a backyard play set, Maggie approached a window and smashed her pistol through it, clearing away the glass. As she climbed in the window, Daryl checked the sides of the house for any strays before climbing in after her. She was already gathering things from a cabinet as he surveyed the rooms, eyeing two cribs. His first thought was that they shoulda taken a chance with the car, the second was possibly dissembling it- pieces were too big. They only had two backpacks and the pouch on his bike. He glanced at the walls, baby blue and covered in hand cut hand prints. The entire wall was covered, each having one having its own name in thick black marker. He blinked a few times when one of the first names he saw was Sofie, and he huffed, looking away. He still caught himself thinking about that little girl more often than he liked.

Only the good die young, he thought bitterly, looking down. He spotted a tiny white baby doll with a bright yellow shirt and picked it up. He didn’t have much clue what a new-born would actually play with, but he imagined that babies liked being surrounded with things like that.

Maggie motioned towards the hallway and the two moved slowly out of the room. Daryl shoved a flashlight in his mouth and held up his bow as Maggie led the way. He moved into the kitchen when he heard a rattling and he motioned his head towards the cupboard door, ready to shoot. Maggie reached over slowly and quickly opened it, there was a quick hiss before he released his arrow and shot down a possum.

“Hello, dinner.” he said, grabbing it by the tail.

Maggie turned around and started rummaging through the cabinets and made sound of disgust. “I’m not putting that in my bag.”

Daryl didn’t bother to respond as he shoved it in his, making his way into the next room. It was some sort of… exercise room? The floor was covered in foam mat and there were balance beams and exercise balls and a lot of other shit that Daryl didn’t know the name of, but definitely didn’t understand why it was in a daycare.

He lowered his bow and backtracked to the kitchen, watching Maggie shove cans in her bag.

“Think we got enough?” He asked, not knowing what to look for. Formula, that was all Hershel said. “Clothes,” he muttered, “did you grab any clothes?”

Before she had a chance to respond, he began looking in the few rooms for dressers. Once he found one, he scratched his head, rummaging through toddler sized shirts and shorts. He grabbed a few shirts and folded them quickly, shoving them deep into his bag. A little big, but better than nothin’. He opened the second drawer and was relieved to see tiny onesies.

“Hey, how much room you got left?” He called out to Maggie as he shoved handful after handful of clothes into his bag.

He managed to get half of the drawer to fit in his bag before Maggie came in and started to do the same.

“We should probably get some more blankets, too. I managed to get enough formula for at least a day or two, just to get us started. We shoulda been lookin’ for this stuff for a while,” she said with a sigh. “Shoulda been prepared. Lori even made Daddy promise to--” She paused and rubbed her eyes quickly, “You know, make sure that she wouldn’t turn if things went bad. We shoulda been lookin’ just to be safe.”

Daryl moved over to a crib and grabbed the soft yellow blanket out of it. It was a little dusty, but it looked brand new and warm.

“Shoulda done a lot of shit different,” he told her, “What we gotta do now is make sure this baby has what she needs.” He folded up the blanket and squeezed it in his bag. “Maybe this week I’ll come back and clear the road, get the car into town. Get one of these cribs,” he said.

He wondered what the kid would sleep in until then. He wondered who would be taking care of the baby. Rick sure as hell wasn’t gonna. Daryl didn’t know if he wanted him to be looking after the baby right now anyway. He first thought went to Carol, and he ignored the pain in his chest of her being gone. With all the commotion of the baby, he had forgotten for a few moments that she was walker bait somewhere in the tombs. He made a promise to himself that once the walkers died down on that side of the prison that he’d go looking for her, give her a proper burial. Several people died yesterday, and usually Daryl was used to it. He didn’t like it, he fuckin’ hated it, but just kept on dying and there was nothing he could do about it. He somehow felt guilty for Carol’s death, even though he wasn’t with her, he felt like he should’ve been with her, or tell her to stay in the cell block, but he knew there was no way that he really could’ve done anything. He was busy fighting walkers. She did the right thing by going back into the prison with T-Dog. He found her scarf that she’d been wearing on her head lately and her gun in his cellblock.

“Daryl? C’mon, it’s getting dark.” Maggie called out. “

Sorry,” he muttered before zipping up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

They made it back to the prison as dusk started to settle on the Georgia sky, and the two of them ran with the supplies into the cellblock. Before they even made it through the door, Daryl heard the kid’s cries.

“Beth?” Maggie called out, and immediately the younger sister moved across the room toward her sister. Daryl’s eye’s followed the little blond before taking a quick sweep of the room and landing on the baby in Carl’s arms. He dropped his crossbow and ripped off his poncho as he made his way to the boy.

“How’s she doin’?” Behind him, he heard Beth messing with the bottle and the formula. The baby was so tiny, so pink- had a set of lungs, too. He reached down and took the girl from Carl’s hands, cooing at her. “Shhh, shhh, it’s all right,” he whispered to the newborn, rocking her slightly. The weight felt familiar in his arms as he looked down at the tiny innocent face.

He looked up as Beth stood next to him, holding out the bottle and he quickly grabbed it. “You must be starvin’,” he said, carefully sticking the teat into her open mouth. “C’mon, c’mon...”

She seemed to catch on pretty quickly and started sucking. Daryl smiled and looked over at Beth. She was right next to him, but she was all eyes on the baby. She looked like she was in love with that little girl already, and it clicked in his head who would be taking care of the baby. He looked back at the baby and laughed a little, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face if he tried. The silence in the room, all eyes on the baby in awe, was something they all needed after today. This little girl made all the bad shit that happened today worth it in that moment.

As he rocked her back and forth, he looked at Carl. “She got a name yet?” Carl shook his head.

“Not yet... But I was thinking maybe Sofia.” Daryl slowed his rocking, looking away from Carl. He didn’t know if he liked that name.

“Then there’s Carol, too.” Carl’s voice was quiet.

Daryl looked down at the baby, who was happily drinking up her dinner. If she was named Carol, she’d have a lot to live up to.

“And...” Carl let out of sigh and almost choked up as he said, “Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia.”

All the woman they lost. At the last name, Daryl looked over to Beth, to see her reaction. He remembered how upset she was when they were fleeing the farm and left her to the walkers. But she didn’t seem phased, she was just staring at the little baby in awe, and he knew she wanted to hold her.

“Or… Lori. I don’t know.” Carl turned around and walked away from the group. Rick should be here right now, comforting his son. But Daryl knew he was the last person to give parenting advice. He focused on baby instead.

Her eyes were halfway shut with content as she sucked on the bottle and he chuckled.

“You like that? Huh? Little Ass Kicker?” Everyone smiled and there were a few chuckles, Beth took a step closer and stroked Little Ass Kickers pink cheek. “Right? That’s a good name, right? Little Ass Kicker, you like that, sweetheart?”

Beth giggled in front of him and he motioned for her to grab Ass Kicker, which she did eagerly.

“You got her?” he asked, as she very naturally took the baby into her arms. Her little hand reached up clumsily, touching Beth’s chin and Beth’s entire face lit up, even in the darkness of the cellblock.

“I got her,” she assured him, rocking the baby in her arms. “Let’s get you out of this dirty shirt,” she cooed, slowly moving towards the table with the backpacks.

Everyone moved out of the way, and Daryl stepped up next to her, pulling out the baby blanket he found and laying it on the table.

“I grabbed her a bunch of stuff,” he muttered to her, feeling his ears going a little red. He didn’t know how to talk to sweet girls like Beth. Beth holding that tiny little thing was a sight to see. He didn’t think he’d ever forget the look on her face when she first held Ass Kicker.

“That’s wonderful, Daryl. This is wonderful,” she said, her voice in awe. Beth seemed to want to grab a set of clothes for the baby, but he could see the internal struggle of needing to put the baby down. He didn’t know what else to do, so he pulled the clothes out onto the table in front of her.

“Oh, here,” he muttered, pulling a tiny blue hat out of his pocket. “For her head.” He mentally groaned for stating the obvious, but Beth didn’t seem to mind one bit.

“That’s perfect… Most heat comes out of our bodies through our heads and feet, so it’s good for babies to have little hats on when they’re this little” she explained, still in some dreamlike trance, “Little Ass Kicker is gonna love it. You did good, Daryl,” she said softly before gently setting the baby down on the blanket.

She put a pair of tiny socks on Ass Kicker as she squirmed on the table before putting a onesies and the hat on. Before picking her up again, Beth looked at him with a mixture of worry and fear on her face.

“Rick ran into the prison after you left and hasn’t been back,” she said in a low voice. “No one’s gone after him, no one knows what to do. He didn’t speak to anyone or anything,”

Daryl sighed and rubbed his forehead. He had never seen Rick lose it like that before. He didn’t even look at the freshly born baby in Maggie’s mortified arms. Seeing a man like Rick, a man he respected, a man who would do anything to protect his group, a leader that would kill to keep them safe, fall to the ground crying was just.. Daryl didn’t know what to do when it happened, he just stood there and watched. He wasn’t the type of guy people went to when they were upset. He sure as hell didn’t want Rick to be going through everythin’ he was going through, but hell if he knew how to make any of it easier. What he did know was he could keep his baby girl alive, and that’s what he was gonna keep doing.

Daryl felt bad for all the comments he had made to Carol about Lori over the past few months. He’d call the baby Little Shane, Shane Jr, things like that, because he had a feeling it wasn’t Rick’s. He was pretty sure Rick thought that, too, considering how Rick and Lori were estranged for the majority of her pregnancy.

She didn’t like his dictatorship, and more than once when they were on the road she’d call him out in front of everyone. And he’d say to everyone, “If you don’t like how things are being handled, you can leave. I’m not making any of you stay here. I’m keeping you alive.” And no one would say anything. He was, by all means, keeping them alive. Somehow they survived the winter. Lori wanted to leave, but she would die on her own. She made that clear. She huffed and puffed and would storm off with a gun and one of the girls would go after her and they’d be gone for a while, letting Lori talk it out. Lori was mad at Rick for how he was acting and Rick doubted deep down that it wasn’t his child.

Daryl cleared his throat and nodded. “Rick’s gotta do what he has to do. Don’t think it’s smart for us to try and stop him. Don’t think he’d listen to reason right now.”

Beth nodded. The others that were in the room starting to dwindle, saying goodnight and walking away.

“I guess I’ll be takin’ care of you, sweet angel.” Beth told the child. Suddenly Beth looked up with panic on her face. “Where’s she going to sleep? We don’t have a crib, she’s too little to trust in a bed- “she looked at Daryl, as if he had some sort of solution.

Luckily Carl was still in the corner and walked over to the two of them. “When Daryl took the bike I guessed we couldn’t have a crib, and this sounds kinda bad, but I found a box?” He said, sounding disappointed in himself.

“Good enough til I go get Ass Kicker a crib,” Daryl told Carl, and the kid almost smiled.

“C’mon,” Carl said, walking into the cells. He went into his cell and emerged with a medium sized cardboard box.

“I was ready to stay up all night holdin’ her, honestly,” Beth giggled. “Daryl, will you grab the things you got for her and bring them to my cell?” She asked.

Ass Kicker had stopped sucking on the almost empty bottle and was shoving her tiny fist into her mouth. Daryl let out a snort before grabbing the newest addition’s things and walking over to Beth’s cell. He stood outside, unsure of what to do. He hadn’t been in her cell before. His eyes swept the room for a moment and lingered on the concrete bench. Beth had several knick-knacks sitting there, next to her backpack. He almost snorted, because it didn’t seem to surprise him much that Beth carried knick-knacks in her bag for several months. The rest of the cell was drab and grey. He glanced at the bed, glanced around for Carl, but he was already gone. The mattress on the bed was thin, too thin for real comfort at night.

“I don’t bite, Daryl, c’mon in and help me set this up,” she giggled, standing up. She carefully placed the baby on the middle of the bed, where she moved her legs a little and tried to lift her arms, but she seemed tuckered out. “You tired, little one?” Beth cooed, tickling the baby’s feet.

Daryl shifted awkwardly, unsure of what to do, so he began pulling the things he grabbed on the run out and setting the on the bed.

“Oh good! Stuffed animals,” she whispered in excitement. She began folding an extra blanket she had into a square and placed it into the box for a makeshift mattress. “Were there cribs when you went on the run? Do you think we can get one for her?” She continued with putting a folded sweatshirt that covered the ‘crib’ and then gently placed the baby in it before tucking her in with a blanket.

“Mhm,” he grunted as Beth sat down on the bed. “There were a couple, was a daycare,” Beth nodded eagerly.

“That’s good. I hope it isn’t much trouble to get here,” she said, reaching her arm out and placing her hand on Daryl’s wrist. “Thank you so much, Daryl. Little Ass Kicker is off to a good start because you and Maggie findin’ that formula,”

Daryl’s ears went red at her touch, her hand tiny and pale in comparison to his tanned forearm.

Beth gave his arm a little squeeze before letting it go. His arm felt electric where she had touched him. She didn’t even seem to notice how out of place he was in her cell.

“Little Ass Kicker is a nice nickname, but it’s a little lengthy,” she admitted. “I think I’ll just call her sweetheart,” Beth decided, reaching one hand into the box, where Ass Kicker was already sound asleep. Beth looked up to him and put her fingers to her lips, telling him to be quiet, as she patted the bed next to her. Daryl stared at her with a raised eyebrow before sitting down.

“You looked so natural when you picked her up, like you knew exactly what to do,” she whispered to him. “You even called her sweetheart. I always knew you were a good guy, but a softie, too?” she said with a big smile. He scoffed, heat fluttering up his neck. “Did you.. Did you have a kid before all this?” She asked quietly.

Daryl shook his head quickly. “Naw, nothin’ like that.” He glanced over at her, her soft face was eager for answers, but she wasn’t pushing. “Me and Merle used to go to this tweakers house for a while. Tweaker’s girlfriend and her baby were always there, she was a tweaker and well.. Kid didn’t get enough attention.” He muttered quietly to her. “Merle was always over there getting’ high and I’d- well, I wasn’t into that shit, but I tagged along to see the kid. Was maybe a year old.” He shrugged.

“Named Dominic. Used to hold’m and feed’m and peek-a-boo and shit. Type of folks who’d turn up the tv to cover up the cryin.” He grumbled. He felt so bad for Dominic. They always just left him in his crib, all fucking day. It wasn’t until the third time Daryl went over to their place with Merle that he finally started playing with the kid. They didn’t say anythin’ about it, didn’t seem to care either way. He’d even take the kid out into the backyard and read some Green Eggs and Ham to Dominic. He wondered what happened to them after the world ended. Probably what happened to everyone.

Beth’s smile only faltered hearing about Dominic’s parents, but she nodded all the same. “Doesn’t sound like your brother had good friends… That baby was lucky to have you come around.” She said quietly.

Daryl shrugged, eyes on the baby that was here in front of them, who was starting to stir. Beth cooed at her, hoping to keep her from waking up, but it was no luck. The baby started wailing. Daryl picked her up, blanket and all, and began rocking the baby.

“You’re okay, Ass Kicker. Don’t worry,” he whispered sweetly. He stood up and paced back and forth slowly, rocking her gently. Beth stood up and followed pace and began singing quietly to the baby.

“Hush, lil baby, don’t say a word.. Momma’s gonna buy you a mockingbird…” Beth sang quietly, all eyes on the baby. Daryl couldn’t help but stare at Beth. She didn’t know it, but Daryl’s heart was beating fast as she stood close to him. Daryl had never been around the sweet girls like Beth in his entire life. Maybe his momma, but she died when he was so young, all he could remember was how bad his old man treated her. But right here, in front of him, was this sweet little songbird. He didn’t know how long it was before she stopped signing, but the baby had fallen asleep in his arms.

Beth took a step back as Daryl set Ass Kicker back into her bed. “I think we make a good team.” Beth stated. “I can tell you like her. I don’t know how long I’ll be takin’ care of her,” she said, referencing to the Rick situation, “But stop by whenever you like. I am gonna try and get to some sleep if she lets me,” she whispered, her hand on his upper arm, leading him out of her cell. He managed to nod and follow suite.

“Goodnight, Daryl,” Beth spoke, and he could swear he could still see her big eyes shining in the dark, “Sleep tight.”

Daryl grunted a goodnight before walking towards his cell.

That’s how Little Ass Kicker made Daryl Dixon fall for a sweet little daddy’s girl from Georgia.