Hi guys! No I didn't abandon this story or any of my others, lol I've been moving and moving SUCKS! Lol So without further adieu, I give you the next installment in this story where they started out as strangers on a plane.

Chapter 6

If I fall back into you
Don't fight it, don't fight it
Show me what we've got to lose
Don't hide it, don't hide it
Memories stuck in my head
All the things I should have said
If I fall back into you
Don't fight it, don't fight it - "Don't Fight It", 10 Years

Daryl watched the approaching mailbox in his windshield in the clear light of day and noted how different everything looked when it wasn't the black of night. He'd only been here at night time so far to pick Beth up and drop her off. But now was different. He'd made the drive down from Atlanta in record time, he thought, though he dreaded the moment he'd pull up the drive.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy to be seeing Beth. He was; that was undeniable. After he'd dropped her off the night before, they'd stayed up texting one another until nearly 4 a.m. He was glad he was off from the shop on Sundays, since they were closed, otherwise he'd be dead on his feet today.

He owned his own bike shop in Atlanta and did pretty well for himself. It had started out as a small venture building custom bikes for friends, but pretty soon word had gotten around that Daryl Dixon was pretty good at what he did and then people were phoning in orders from all over the county. He'd opened his shop three years ago on the outskirts of Atlanta and it had grown by leaps and bounds. Now, he was considered the best in the business in the great state of Georgia, which was no small feat for a Dixon.

As such, he had found it necessary to maintain certifications in every area of motorcycle repair, design and building. That was what had necessitated the trip to Dallas in the first place where he'd met Beth.

He turned at the mailbox down the long gravel drive, noting the big oak trees that lined both sides of the drive going up and what looked like an apple orchard on the left and various flowering trees on the right. It was a right beautiful farm and he could imagine Beth growing up in such a place, all blonde hair and pigtails running around in the sunshine picking apples for picnics. That was the kind of childhood Daryl knew nothing about, but he could easily imagine that's what Beth's was like. They were so different and yet somehow they seemed to click in just the right way.

He still wasn't sure he understood it and though she'd referred to him just last night as her boyfriend, the term seemed foreign to him.

But he didn't have time to think about that just now. He could see the farm house up ahead and from what it looked like Beth was waiting for him on the porch, her blonde hair a beacon in the distance, blowing in the wind behind her and he found himself glad she'd left it down.

He pulled all the way up the long gravel road and parked at the end of the circle drive. Beth was off the porch and down the steps before he could get the door open. You'd think it had been days since she'd seen him instead of hours but honestly he was just as anxious to see her and he found himself smiling as he opened his door and she hurled herself against him throwing her arms around his neck.

"I didn't think you'd ever get here." She breathed right against his ear and he felt himself go warm all over just from being this close to her but also because she smelled so damned nice and it felt really good to be wanted by someone. He searched his memory for a time when someone had greeted him anywhere near the way she did and he was coming up empty, just like usual when he tried to compare anyone else to Beth. There was just really no one like her in this world, he decided then and there as she pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss.

Which he was glad of the perfunctory nature of it, for just as he slipped his eyes closed, he caught a glimpse of her pops out of the corner of his eye, assessing him from the porch. It's time to meet the folks.

He didn't know what to expect coming here, but the warm welcome he received first from her father and then her mother and sister and her sister's boyfriend wasn't at all what he had envisioned when he'd been driving up. He wasn't even kidding when he had told Beth time and again that he was afraid her Daddy would take one look at him and chase him off the property with his shotgun and he couldn't blame him.

Dixons had never amounted to anything and though he did well for himself, the stain of the Dixon name still colored his view of the world and how he perceived himself. He may be Daryl Dixon, custom motorcycle creator, but deep down he was still in a lot of ways that little boy who got beat and told he was a good -for-nothin' piece of shit.

But shaking the elder Greene's hand was something new to him. Her father had gripped his hand strongly and firmly and didn't flinch away from him like he was something dirty he didn't want to touch. He didn't know why that surprised him. It was the same way with Beth. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Greene." He could hardly believe his voice sounded as strong as it did and it made him stand up a little straighter when the man responded.

"Please, call me Hershel. Mr. Greene reminds me of my father and he wasn't exactly the warm and fuzzy kind of parent." The older man's blue eyes met his own and there was an understanding that passed between them in that moment and somehow for the first time in his life, he found a sense of, he didn't know, kinship? He'd never felt that before and it made him less afraid somehow.

He found himself nodding. "Hershel, I'm Daryl." All the while Beth stood there holding his other hand and he was not letting go and neither was she. He thought of the first time she'd held his hand on that airplane. It seemed like years ago instead of mere weeks, but when she'd slipped her fingers into his and let him hold on when he was afraid of flying, had meant the world to him. And now, here she was, still holding his hand and he thought to himself, I'm never letting her go.

He didn't know where the thought came from, but the conversation he and Beth had had the night before kept reverberating in his mind. How she'd told him the story of the two stars and how she didn't want them to be two lovers who were separated and he felt the same way. He had no fucking idea what he was doing, but being here with Beth, meeting her folks, felt somehow more right to him than anything else in his entire life.

They sat down to dinner. The eldest Greene sat at the head of the table and he was seated directly to right and Beth was sitting next to him. They'd been forced to drop hands when the meal preparations began to get underway.

Dinner with in the Greene household was definitely a new experience for him and he thought how formal it was compared to how he was used to eating; sitting in front of the television on his sofa, or sitting out on his back porch while he wolfed down a sandwich after work.

Everyone was chatting amicably and it was so relaxed, while at the same time, everything had a place. The meal was delicious. Her mom had roasted a chicken all day and it was falling off the bone as she served it up on their plates and his mouth watered as a generous helping of that plus a steaming heap of mashed potatoes were served up on his plate.

"Thank you Mrs. Greene." He'd said as he followed Beth's lead and placed his napkin in his lap. He'd been to business dinners before, so he wasn't completely foreign to social niceties around the table but in a home on a farm in the middle of the countryside, he was definitely in uncharted territory. Yet, everyone seemed perfectly at ease and somehow that helped Daryl to be at ease as well.

"So tell me about your business, son. I hear tell you're the best around at what you do." The older man speared a bite of chicken and put it into his mouth after his last word and Daryl reckoned the best thing to do was to answer him as honestly as he could.

"I started out small, building bikes for friends." He shrugs and can feel his face and the tips of his ears turning red. He isn't used to talking about himself in a positive light and never has been. But he tries now. Every eye in the room is on him and he can feel Beth's hand slide over into his lap and squeeze his leg. He lets out the breath he'd been holding and just lets the words fly from his mouth.

Pretty soon, he has them all spellbound with tales of building bikes and custom orders coming in from all over the country and though he doesn't reveal who he built the bike for, he tells them about the first celebrity that ordered a bike from him. They are all adequately impressed and he finds himself smiling a little by the time he's done talking.

"Let the man, eat, Hershel. His chicken is going to get cold and so are his potatoes." Beth's mother admonishes the oldest Greene who just chuckles.

"Now, Annette, you know I had to get to know who our Bethie has been sneaking out of the house with every chance she gets."

Beth's fork clatters to the table and Daryl thinks he might choke on the bite he's just swallowed. Can a person actually choke on mashed potatoes? It might save him from getting shot. He isn't sure but it would be a terrible way to go so he reaches for his glass with one hand and Beth's hand with the other because she's reaching for it and he senses that she's embarrassed and takes a long swallow of sweet tea while he tries to think of something to say to that.

But Beth saves him from having to say anything. "Daddy!" She exclaims from beside him, her face a bright red beacon.

"Now, Bethie, you know I'm just teasin' you honey. You're a grown woman. Been on your own off at college for years now. But you can't blame an old man for worryin' about his daughter." He looks over at Daryl and winks at him and he wonders if it's possible to choke on tea, because if he didn't know better, the man seemed almost jovial towards him and he hasn't had that. Not ever. Maybe it was a Greene family trait.

He wasn't sure, but he was starting to feel right at home.

"Nonsense." Annette was saying to Daryl insisting that he help with the dishes. He hadn't been raised a Southern gentleman, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman had probably spent all day in the kitchen preparing such a wonderful meal and Daryl thought the least he could is offer to help with the clean-up. "You're our guest, Daryl." She turns away from the sink where she's washing a dish.

Beth's sister is beside her drying the dishes as they are washed and she throws a smile over her shoulder at him and he is disarmed for a minute. Annette speaks again with her back turned to them. "Beth why don't you go show your young man the barn and the horses. Maybe you two could go for a ride. It's such a nice evening out."

At that, Daryl balked. He'd never been on a horse in his life. He'd always wanted to, but Dixons didn't exactly grow up with the privileges that came with owning horses and the like. He looked to Beth to see what she thought of this suggestion and she was smiling from ear to ear. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Thank you Mama." Her blonde head nods in agreement as she leans over and kisses her mother on the cheek and Daryl feels his heart constrict with that. This family is so open and affectionate. It's so foreign from what he's used to.

"You two kids have fun." Annette says and Daryl thanks her again and follows Beth out the back door.

He doesn't miss the snort from Maggie though as she calls out after them. "Yeah, you guys have fun." Beth is blushing beside him and he feels his own ears turn red as he wonders how much Beth has told her sister about the two of them.

When they're out of earshot Daryl looks to Beth. "Young man? Two kids? Forgive me for asking Beth, but is your mama's vision okay? I definitely ain't young." His ears turn red again as he shrugs. "Not as young as you anyway." Their age difference had come up a couple times before, but Beth insisted it wasn't a big deal to her.

And it wasn't to him either, until someone went calling the two of them "kids". He hadn't been a kid for a damn long time.

Beth was just shaking her head and turned to face him on the pathway to the barn, taking both his hands into hers, her blue eyes gazing up into his. "Stop frowning." She chided. "Mama and Daddy don't care how old you are. There's a 22 year difference between the two of them. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

He exhales slowly and then looks deeply into her eyes. He hadn't considered that, but now that she mentioned it, her mama did look mighty young compared to her pops.

She closes her eyes and stands on tiptoe, pressing her lips to his and he feels himself sinking into her already. That's how it is with her and he's used to it now. Her lips are soft under his and her tongue strokes lightly along his lower lip, begging entrance and he groans in reply, her tongue sliding against his and kissing him like he's her whole world. And he hopes it's true, because she's become his whole world too.

The kiss breaks off at some point and with their fingers still linked together, they walk hand in hand to the barn.

He watches her as she approaches the horse in the second stall, passing up the one in the first one. "Why aren't we riding that one?" He nods his head to the horse who is sticking its head out and braying at them as they walk past.

Beth laughs. "Nellie? No, we definitely do not want to take her out. Have you been on a horse before?"

Daryl shakes his head no and she continues. "We call her nervous Nellie. She's thrown me before and she actually likes me." She smiles at the horrified look he must be wearing. He can't imagine a tiny thing like her getting thrown from a horse and it not breaking every bone in her body.

"Don't worry. Pepper won't throw us. She's a good girl. Aren't you, Pepper?" She turns and croons to the grey and black horse in the next stall.

"She's a Dapple Grey. I got her for my 10th birthday. She was black and had these white specks under her fur, so I named her Pepper." She looks up at him as she strokes the horse's neck. As he looks into her sparkling blues, he can imagine her, a girl of ten running to greet her new pet pony. And he's so glad she got to have that kind of childhood. Someone so pretty and good and kind like her deserved it.

"She's a real fine horse, Beth." He says and he means it. The animal's fur is shiny and he can tell that she's been taken good care of over the years.

He watches carefully as Beth explains everything that needs to be done before riding a horse and it seems like a lot of work to him. All the westerns he and Merle had watched had always shown cowboys just jumping on their horses and riding out into the sunset. But as Beth brushes Pepper down and then applies the saddle and harness and reins, he can tell he was right all along about movies. They ain't anything like real life at all.

Beth finally stands, stretching her lower back and he walks over to her and massages lightly and she leans into him, groaning a little. He presses a kiss to her exposed shoulder and she purrs against him. "That feels good." Her back side is pressing firmly against him. He hasn't taken her like this, not yet and he wants to. But something about it feels wrong to him and he can't process why.

It's her folks being on the same property maybe and the very real fear that her father might walk in and catch them and he really would get chased from the property with a cap in his ass and he couldn't blame him.

But he doesn't have to think about it further as Beth sighs and steps away from him. "Come on. We'll miss the sun settin' if we don't hurry." She says and he nods in agreement as she explains to him how to hoist himself up onto the horse.

He fits his foot into the stirrup, glad he's worn his cowboys and he notices that Beth is wearing hers too. Not that he didn't notice before. It would be hard for him not to notice her long legs in her short denim cut-offs that stretched into forever before disappearing into her boots. She was so damn sexy and he wondered how she was such an enigma. She looked sweet and innocent with that blonde hair and blue eyes but in bed, she was something else. A minx, really.

That gave him pause for thought. In bed? They hadn't done that yet and though they kept saying they were going to, it hadn't happened. They'd never managed to keep their hands off one another for more than five minutes to get to anywhere that might have one.

As he pulled himself up into the saddle just like Beth explained, she clapped enthusiastically. "You did great!" She exclaims.

"It ain't nothin'. Just climbed up on a horse." He says with a shrug and she is grinning a mile wide and shaking her head.

"You should have seen me the first time. I fell off the other side about four times before I finally made it to sit in the saddle." She giggles and he finds himself chuckling at that. He likes this about her; that she openly shares her faults with him. Not that she has many; not in his book, anyway. He thinks she's about the most perfect thing he's ever seen, to be honest.

He moves his foot back as she puts her foot up into the stirrup and he extends a hand for her to grab and she grips him at the forearm as she hoists herself up and into the saddle right in front of him, sighing with a satisfied huff as she leans back against him.

"Okay." She turns her head over her shoulder to look at him and she smiles and he finds himself smiling back. "Now all we have to do is ride. Just keep your feet still and I'll show you how I guide her into doing what I want."

He nods in agreement as she presses a quick kiss to his lips. "Now hang on. I don't want you to fall off on our first ride." And he's grinning a mile wide because he knows she is referring to the first time she took a ride on his bike, the night he took her on top of it and went down on her like she was his last meal.

He feels a surge of blood go straight to his cock at the thought of it. It had been one of the best nights of his life.

He grips her hips with his hands and laughs as she guides the horse out of the stall and then the barn into the warm summer evening. She gently presses her heels to Pepper's side and the horse begins a light clip-clop towards the fields out behind the house and barn.

Within minutes they are at the top of a hill with miles of green fields and orchards stretching before them and beyond that a white fence that dotted the landscape for miles. "It's beautiful." He finds himself saying and it's true.

She leans back against him and he rests his chin lightly on her shoulder. The sun is just beginning to dip below the horizon, casting everything in an orange and purple haze. And right in front of him, Beth gazing out at the distance, her breath mingling with his, he's struck that this might be the most perfect moment he's ever had in his life and he wouldn't trade this for anything.

Suddenly it seems like karma that his old man kicked the bucket when he did. Will Dixon had never had good timing a day in his life, but the day he died seemed like perfect timing to him. Because if he hadn't, Daryl would have never taken that flight that day and he'd have never have met Beth.

His mind is racing with all this emotion and how much everything has changed for him, for the better, and he leans in and presses his lips to the side of Beth's neck and she sighs softly.

"This is nice." She whispers and he finds himself murmuring in agreement as he nuzzles her neck. She twists her arm up behind her and skates her fingers down over his abdomen lightly and he feels himself stirring against her, pressing himself into her of his own accord, as if his body can't react any other way to her. He's pulled under instantly as she turns her head to his as best as she can and her lips are already open as he thrusts his tongue inside and he moves his hand around to cup her breast through the thin fabric of her shirt, teasing her nipples lightly with his thumb.

She is groaning into his mouth and he wonders if it's possible to have sex on a horse, because he is driven with want as she slots her mouth over his more firmly, laving her tongue against his.

His mind is whirring. He wants her. God, he does. But he also wants to do the right thing. This is more than just sex for him all the sudden. He wants this with her, but he wants to lay her out proper, undress her slowly, with his teeth if he has to. He wants to see her sprawled out naked on top of his bed, lying open to his gaze so he can drink her up properly. He wants to crawl his way slowly up her lithe body as she is writhing under him, his fingers teasing her open as his cock follows suit, driving her into the mattress, into the floor, into the very ground beneath them.

So, yes, he wants to fuck her. He wants to fuck her senseless, but he also wants more than that. He wants to pull her into his arms afterwards instead of having to hastily get dressed and take her home. He wants to watch her sleep and know she's safe and beside him. His mind whirring, he is confused when he finds himself removing his hand from where it's just snaked its way into her tiny denim shorts.

She whimpers when he does. "Daryl, I want you." She whispers as she is pressing herself back against him and his cock is straining against his zipper as it is and he can't quite believe it when he's pushing himself off of her.

She looks over her shoulder, confused, then jumps down from Pepper before he even knows she is going to do it.

She's upset, he can tell, so as best as he can and as quickly as he can, before she runs off and he's left here to tend to the horse by himself, he gets down and the animal wanders off quietly to munch on some grass, as if sensing that they need time alone.

She is standing with her arms crossed over her middle, looking out at the distance. "I knew it couldn't last. It was just a summer fling." She is whispering and he doesn't know what to do for a minute as he realizes that the shining wetness on her face is tears. She turns to face him, her blue eyes awash with them and he thinks his heart breaks in two knowing that he has made her cry.

Then he does know what to do. His arms are opening and she comes into them readily, pressing her face into his chest. "Beth, it ain't a fling." He finds he doesn't know what to say at first. His mind is still spinning with everything he is thinking and feeling.

"If it isn't a fling, then how come you don't want me anymore?" She pulls her head from his chest and looks up at him, her eyes flashing at him angrily and he feels his own temper flare.

"Don't want you anymore? Girl, no, that ain't it at all. I want you more than anything. You're all I think about." He runs one hand through his hair, looking at her with all the truth held in his eyes and her own bore into him and he finds that he can't lie to her. He can't lie to himself either. This girl gave him a truth serum in their very first kiss and he's never been able to be anything but honest with her since.

"I am? Well then why did you push me away just now?" She challenges him, eyes still flaring and he never noticed before that she got little flecks of green to pop up into those baby blues when she was mad. Then again, he'd never done anything to make her mad and suddenly he's mad too.

Because he's not pushing her away. If anything, he wants her closer than ever. And he wants that for a long time. Maybe even forever and before he even knows he's going to say it, the words are being flung from his mouth.

"Because, I love ya! That's why!" And it makes no sense in the context of what she's saying but he doesn't care. It's true. He loves her and that's that. He hasn't ever loved anyone in his life besides his mama and his brother, but he sure never said those three words to them. But he's saying them now to her. Because he loves her beyond anything he's ever known.

Her eyes soften and those green flecks disappear as she just stares up at him and breathes one word and smiles softly in surprise. "Oh."

Dun dun dunnnnnn! I hope you guys liked this chapter. It took me forever as I started writing it before we moved and now it's a MONTH later. Moving sucks, have I mentioned that?

And this chapter is so different from anything they've had before. For the first time, they didn't just hump like bunnies. Because the last chapter they turned such an important corner in admitting that it wasn't just some summer fling, this chapter would have felt inorganic had they just gone to the barn and ripped each other's clothes off.

And somehow it seems like going back to basics with them taking a ride on horseback, the most primitive mode of transport there is. So it wouldn't have felt right and then I had the idea for the end and now here we are.

Please let me know what you think in the comments and thank you so much for being such loyal, patient and lovely readers, xoxoxo

PS: Many of you have asked, so I wanted to let you know, Naked and Afraid is next on my update list. I think you guys will like this chapter a whole lot. ;)