Chapter One:

When Beth Greene got up late on Sunday evening, she felt drained, which was unusual compared to her typical sing-song behavior. This happened every now and then for reasons that usually were unknown to the rest of her family, but in this particular case, anyone in the Greene house could guess why.

The war was won, and everyone was coming home!

Everyone- Except for Shawn Greene.

The letters from the only son of the Greene house had stopped coming a few months ago, and week after they had, a telegram came from the United States army, along with a neatly folded American flag and two soldiers from the home base looking very sad. They lost their mother to sorrow only a month later.

So while everyone was going out and dancing with the newly returned soldiers, Beth stayed home with her father. Every uniform reminded her of the one her brother had left in, and it set her in a sadness that she knew no one wanted to be around. Besides all that, her father's soothing voice was always a comfort for her, and she liked spending time with him. It's not like she was much of a party girl anyway.

Maggie was always trying to get her to go out and let loose. Drink all her troubles away if she wanted. Just anything besides moping around the house all day! But Maggie didn't understand Beth's greif. The eldest Greene sister had always been good as separating certain parts of her life from one another, making her problems easy to handle. And it did help that her husband Glenn had come home safe and sound, making things a little more cheery at the farm house, even for Hershel, who had lost his son and his wife in the same year. The family seemed to be putting more focus onto the couple, maybe because it seemed to be the only good thing that came out of the war for the family, but it still didn't help Beth's attitude much.

She and Shawn had been very close. Always looking after one another, even during the moment where it seemed like they couldn't stay in the others company a moment longer. So while she was very, very, happy for her older sister, she just couldn't detach herself that easily.

"Beth!" Maggie called, knocking swiftly on the blonde's bedroom door. She would've just walked in if the door hadn't been locked. "Beth, it's nearly lunchtime, you best get your sorry britches out of bed before me or Daddy knock this door down and drag you out!"

Beth pulled the covers over her head. "Go away Maggie! Just leave me alone!"

"Like hell I will! You promised me you would spend an hour down at the club, and I expect you to keep that promise young lady!" Maggie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Beth squeezed her eyes shut, and curled up into a tight little ball.

She had promised her sister she would do this… And she didn't like breaking promises. Didn't like breaking peoples trust. Especially that of her family.

"If you let me in, I'll even help you pick out a dress," Maggie said sweetly.

"Now I really don't want to let you in," Beth replied.

"Oh come on, you're not still mad about that whole fiasco from three years ago, are you?" Maggie asked.

"Yes," came Beth's sharp reply.

During her fifteenth birthday three years ago, Maggie had relentlessly insisted that Beth wear a very specific dress that Maggie had picked out for her to her party with her friends, and it had looked beautiful! On the front, at least.

It was white with a pretty navy-blue lace collar and the same lace lining the bottom.

But on the back of the dress, right across her shoulder blades, the elder Greene had written, "fifteen pinches for the birthday girl!", in bright red ink. You couldn't have missed those words unless you were blind. Beth didn't get it until Jimmy said something about it nearing the end of the night, but by that time, people had pinched her till she looked like she'd rolled down a rocky hill. She recognized Maggie's handwriting right away, and didn't speak to her sister until all the bruises had faded, which didn't happen for two whole weeks.

Maggie rolled her eyes and resented her stubborn little sister for a moment. "Okay, fine. I can live with you not letting me help you, but for the love of everything good in this world, would you please, Beth Greene, come out and have a little bit of fun?" There was no sound of movement in Beth's room. "Do you really think Shawn would've wanted you to sit inside all day and mope about his death? You should be out in the world, living your life! Finding a nice guy, and falling in love!"

Suddenly Beth opened her bedroom door and stared right into Maggie's eyes.

"Maggie, first of all, please don't use Shawn to blackmail me into going with you-"

"I wasn't-" Maggie interrupted.

"You were," Beth cut in right back. "And secondly…" Beth held her breath for a moment as she considered her decision for the hundredth time in the last few minutes. "I'll go."

Maggie's eyes lit up and she wrapped her arms around her little sister. "Really?"

"Just to get you off my back," Beth added quickly.

"That's fine with me! As long as you don't spend another weekend night at home alone!" Maggie smiled as she made her way into Beth's bedroom. "Now, did you really want to pick something out yourself, or will you let your big sister help?" Maggie flashed her a toothy grin and Beth couldn't help but smile. Maggie's happiness was contagious.

"Alright," Beth said, giving in and walking over to her wardrobe, opening it up proudly. "What should I try on first?"

Daryl couldn't think straight, and it wasn't just because of the liquor in his system. He couldn't get that kid's words out of his head.

"Please… Take care of my sister."

It rattled him like nothing ever had before, and sent him blazing into a flurry of questions.

Merle had just told him to forget about it, to simply leave it be, that it wasn't his fucking problem anyway. Before everything he had seen at war, he might've thought the same way, but he couldn't. He had given Greene his word, and damn it all to hell if he wasn't going to keep it.

He decided quickly that despite the fact that Daryl wanted to have faith in his brother, Merle would be no help in this matter, so he decided to go to the closest person to him besides his brother, former General, now Sheriff, Rick Grimes.

He had served under Rick as his Sergeant for nearly the entire war. They had seen devastating things together, had fought side by side, had saved each other's lives multiple times, and had cried tears of joy together when the war ended, when the suffering was declared over.

Of course, Daryl was very aware that war would always be around, and that people would always be dying, and some doing, or experiencing, terrible things... But his hell, for that moment at least, was over. Now, he had a job to do, and he needed his General's help.

When Rick opened the door to his home, a sense of nostalgia washed over Daryl, and he resisted the urge to salute.

Rick seemed happy to see him, but also surprised. "Daryl? How're you doing? What are you doing here?" Rick asked as they shook hands.

"'M pretty good. It's weird to be home… But I'm gettin' used to it again. Slowly," Daryl replied, trying not to think of the nightmares he had almost every night. The ones that, during the war and before that, had been about his father's beatings, but had now transformed into terrifying reminders of his time overseas. "But, 'm actually here for a favor," Daryl said.

"Anything for you, Daryl," Rick said, gesturing for his comrade to come inside. Daryl accepted with a curt nod and came into the very nice house.

He showed Daryl into the parlor and they say down in some nice chair that faced only slightly away from one another.

"What do you need, Dixon?" Rick asked, resting his arms on his knees and leaning forward.

Daryl shifted uncomfortably. "You, uh… You remember Greene?" Daryl asked.

Rick's face fell considerably when the name left Daryl's lips. "Yeah, the young man we couldn't-" Rick closed his mouth up tight, and they both let a moment of silence pass between them as they remembered the young man, pain clear on their faces.

"Yeah… You 'member what he said to me?" Daryl asked.

Rick shook his head. "Sorry, no. Why?"

Daryl swallowed hard, trying not to let the ache he felt control him. "He gave me this picture." He held the photo out for Rick to take. "And told me to take care of his sister."

Rick's face scrunched when he saw the picture; not because he thought the girl in the photo was bad-looking, but because he would know that pretty face anywhere.

"Well, isn't that something," Rick said, smiling a bit.

Daryl looked from Rick to the picture in his hand. "What?"

"When I saw his last name was Greene, I thought it was just a coincidence…" Rick's smile only broadened.

"You know this girl?" Daryl asked, now sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Sure I do. This is Beth Greene, she comes over and babysits Judith sometimes," Rick said, handing the picture back.

"Could you take me to 'er?" Daryl asked, happy that finding her had been so easy.

Rick's smile turned a bit sad then. "She hasn't been by lately, and Lori tells me it's because she took her brother and her mother's death pretty hard. Apparently she's barely left the house."

Daryl wiped a hand over his face. "Showin' up at the door might not be the best plan then…"

Rick smirked a bit. "Probably not," he replied.

Rick suddenly slapped his knees loudly, making Daryl look up.

"Maggie! Maggie Greene is her sister, and she's supposed to come downtown for the big party at the club tonight! Might not be Beth, but maybe she could convince her sister to talk to you," Rick smiled, obviously happy with his own wit.

"Why not? Might as well give it a shot," Daryl replied.

"But… Can I ask you one thing?" Rick asked. "Before I send you off to go talk to Maggie."

"Sure thang'," Daryl replied. "Shoot."

"How exactly do you plan to 'take care' of his sister?" Rick asked. "Are you gonna… Ya know. Marry her? What?"

Daryl froze, his eyes going wide. "Well shit…" he muttered. "I hadn't really thought that far… You know me. I ain't the marryin' type."

Rick laughed a little bit. "Well you better figure that one out damn quick, 'cause Hershel Greene don't take too kindly to any men hangin' 'round his baby girls."

Well, shit, Daryl thought begrudgingly, What have I gotten myself into?