Both occupants stirred as the air was getting colder around their, still, naked forms. Beth's eyes fluttered open to look at Daryl as he sleepily picked his head up off the pillow. It was dark in the room, but Beth could still see the light in his eyes. "Hey," he rasped. "What time is it?" He looked around.

She looked quickly to the little clock on the cable "A little after eleven." He rested his head on the pillow again and she absently stroked his hair. She was hungry. They'd gotten distracted before either of them had eaten dinner and had fallen asleep for the following hours. Now, she was ravenous, but she was loath to get up from the protective circle of his arms. "I guess we were a bit tired after…" she trailed off and her cheeks painted themselves a light red. Saying it out loud was still awkward.

"Yeah." He looked like he was about to lean in and kiss her, but her stomach gave a loud rumble and he stopped and looked down. "I guess, we should eat. We did skip dinner." She sighed and gave a light nod. With a quick peck on the side of his lips, she watched as he rolled away from her to get up and get dressed. She did the same, tossing on a pair of warm pajamas. She hoped he would have the chance to take them off her again tonight, but she needed the warmth for when they were eating. He cast her a smile as he tugged up his jeans and pulled on his shirt, before making his way out the door and into the kitchen. She heard him rustling around in the cupboards ad putting a pan on the stove. Oh silent feet she made her way out to watch him work in her kitchen.

"You're not careful, you're gonna spoil me with all your cooking for me." She teased. She saw him smile as she walked up behind him. He turned, lightning fast, and wrapped her in a warm hug. She giggled as he picked her up and placed her rump down on the counter next to where he was working. She watched as he cracked some eggs into a pan and scrambled them. "Eggs? For dinner?"

"Never had breakfast for dinner?" He quirked an eyebrow at her and she smirked.

"I have, just every time I've done it, I've done it right. The whole nine yards. Eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, waffles. You name it, none of this eggs and bacon only crap." She he looked over at her again, a mock glare on his face, she just smiled bigger.

"So I guess you're gonna teach me how to do it huh?" She hopped off the counter and he had to hide the disappointed look on his face. He liked having her sit there watching him, but then again, he liked the idea of them cooking together.

"Sure am. You finish those eggs I'll get to work on the biscuits and gravy." She rummaged through her fridge. "I don't have any potatoes, so we can't make home fries, this time anyway, and I'm hungry so I'm going to cheat and use these pre-made biscuits." He let out a mock gasp behind her.

"What would your mama say?" He was teasing and she let out a giggle.

"She'd say if it was between pre-made biscuits and kissin' my man…I'd best be putting these pre-made biscuits on a greased pan so they don't stick." He swept her up and kissed her.

"Your man huh?" She turned red and set the milk, sausage and biscuits on the counter. "I like it." The last was a quiet admission. He wasn't used to belonging anywhere much less to anyone. Now, with Beth, he found he kinda liked it. She peeked over her shoulder and he grinned. Yeah, he kinda liked it a lot. As Beth laid out the biscuits he dished up the eggs, covered them to keep them warm and then popped the container in the microwave for added warmth. He watched as she scooted him out of the way to reuse the pan to cook up the ground sausage. She added the milk and then a touch of flour to thicken it before turning the temperature down to let the whole thing simmer and cook. The biscuits were browning nicely, and it would only take a couple more minutes before everything was done.

"D-do you want me to make up some separate sausage links or are you good with what's in the gravy?"

"I'm good with just the biscuits and gravy." She nodded and pulled out another plate before pulling out the eggs and dishing them out between the two of them. The oven beeped at her and she pulled out the baking sheet, setting it on the stove before quickly picking up two biscuits each and dishing them up. She dropped them on the plate, shaking her hands and blowing on her fingertips.

"Hot." She said softly before reaching over to yank them apart and then scoop gravy over them. She passed him the first plate with a mumbled, "Enjoy." Before she turned to complete the same process to her plate. He looked at the dining room table before glancing over to the living room. When Beth turned around Daryl was nowhere in sight. "Daryl?" She poked her head out of the kitchen and look into the living room before she let out a loud guffaw. "What are you doing?" She walked into the room to see that he had a bunch of blankets and pillows arranged on the floor in front of the TV, the coffee table had been scooted all the way over against the wall, to create a cute little picnic area where they could eat and watch a movie while being wrapped in all the blankets he could find. He looked over at her as he put a DVD in the player.

"What's it look like? Making a camp site." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are we going to cuddle and watch a movie?" He scoffed.

"A Dixon doesn't cuddle." He said again as if it was obvious. "I'm putting on the scariest movie you got, and if you decide you want me to protect you from the dark, that can be arranged." His grin was sexy as hell. She didn't want to burst his bubble and let him know that she'd seen every one of her movies at least a dozen times so it wouldn't really be that scary. Instead she let him think what he would. She sat down with her plate of food and watched as he crawled over to the his place next to her, with the remote, and pressed play before settling in with his own plate.

They'd gobbled down their food rather quickly and aside from making the quick trip back to the kitchen to put the dishes in the sink, she'd wash them in the morning, they stayed glued to the TV screen for almost two and a half movies before Beth started to feel tired. She looked at her phone, noting it was after three and almost panicked until she remembered it was Saturday night, technically Sunday morning, and neither of them had work the next day. She also remembered that Sunday would mark the end of his 'week' and it made her fidgety. She wondered, even though she was no longer paying him, if he would continue to stay with her, or would he move back into his own place again. They had so many big things to talk about, it was making her head swim. Would he want to move in with her? Would he want her to move in with him? Would he want to live separately until they knew they could work out in the long run? What would happen if they didn't work out? What about Judith? She felt lips trailing hot kisses up her neck and snapped her attention back to him.

"Are you back with me now?" He looked at her and noticed she seemed bothered by something. He was holding his breath. Everything was still so new for him, and really them together, that even just this made him feel like the world was going to come crashing down around him. "What's the matter?" He braced himself for the other shoe to fall. Nothing this good would last for him. Everything good eventually got ruined. He was a Dixon after all.

"Today is a week…" She said it so plaintively he thought someone had died. He looked at her confused.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout, girl?" He wondered what had caused this. They were sitting here, really laying here, in front of the TV watching zombies and mutant zombies go after a bad ass in a red dress, and she was acting like the world really was ending; he couldn't do anything but prepare himself for the worst case of heartache he'd probably ever experience in his life. She's regretting it already… a little voice, which sounded eerily like Merle's, whispered in the back of his mind.

"Today is a week. You've been here for a week." She bit her lip. "We never really…talked about what happens now. I mean, we just kind of…" She suddenly felt extremely cheap; like he'd somehow think less of her for sleeping with him after a week of knowing him. He looked pensive.

"I guess it has been." He looked back to the TV. "Are you tellin' me to git, or somethin'?" His voice was hard, trying to steel himself for the pain. Her eyes widened and she looked horrified that he would even think such a thing.

"No!" She cried and jumped up to her knees, startling him. "I just…Like I said, we never really talked about how all this is gonna work. I just thought maybe you'd wanna go back to your place." She paused and saw his features clouding over. "I don't want you to go!" She blurted out, making his eyes dart back to her. A small glimmer of hope shone beneath the cold layer of hurt in his eyes. "I don't want you to go, but I don't want you to feel like you have to stay with me…here." She took a breath. "Do you want to stay with me, here? Or, do you want to stay in your own space? Do you want me to stay with you in your space?" Suddenly it clicked for him. She was just as nervous about this whole thing falling through as he was. He thought for a moment.

Did he want to go back to his apartment? Hell no! He wanted to stay with Beth. Did he want to take Beth there? Hell no! He wouldn't make Beth or Judith live in that shit hole. Did he want to stay here? It didn't feel like his home, yet, but he knew it could. Anywhere with Beth would feel like home. He looked at her, "I don't want to crowd ya." She started to shake her head but he cut her off. "I want to be with you, wherever you are is home for me." It didn't get more final than that, at least not for him. She smiled, a big face splitting grin.

"For now, can we stay here? Maybe when Judith gets a little older, we can think about putting down real roots?" She asked tentatively. It was looking way into the future but she wanted him to know she had long term goals in mind. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile and he nodded. The thought of 'putting down roots' was usually one that scared the crap out of him, but the thought of putting them down with Beth was extremely appealing. He looked around and tried to think about what would make this place feel more like home. A conversation with Michonne flashed in his brain. Without thinking, or explaining he grabbed her phone, and pulled her into a kiss, snapping a picture of the two of them. When he handed back her phone and she looked at him.

"I figure, our place has to have a little of both of us." He mumbled quietly. She smiled at him again.

"Baby, I'll take as many pictures of us as you want." And before he knew it, she was snapping another picture of the two of them, just staring at each other. When he looked back at them, that one would be his favorite. She had so much love in her face, and it was all directed at him. He knew, if he was having a bad day, questioning whether they were really going to work, all it would take would be one look at that picture and he'd know, they'd made the best decision of their lives in that diner; when they'd made a deal by design and it had become so much more for them. It had become their forever.