Hello again friends! This chapter is a little more fluffy/filler than normal, but it sets up some stuff for a future chapter that (hopefully) should be out either tomorrow or sometime next week. I have most of it written, I just need to do some edits. We're back in Beth's POV for this chapter!

"Carol!" Beth called, running into The Hairy Peacock but going slow enough to make sure she didn't bump into any surfaces laden with antiques and knick-knacks. The shop was surprisingly empty for an early Saturday afternoon, save a few customers still milling around, but Beth attributed that to late lunches or afternoon naps. "Carol, are you here?"

"In the back, Beth!" Carol called.

Beth made her way towards the back of the store and smiled when she saw Sophia sitting at the counter, a math book open in front of her and a frustrated look on her face. She set the package of new dresses for the shop down on the counter and leaned over to look at what she was working on.

"Hey, Sophia. Finishing your homework?" Beth smiled at the young girl working the counter.

"Yeah. I don't understand why I have to know anything about algebra. I'm never going to use this." She frowned.

"It helps teach you problem-solving skills." Beth pointed out.

"You sound like such a teacher now." Sophia grumbled, resting her chin on her hand and turning back to her math book.

Beth lifted the hinged part of the counter and went into Carol's 'procurement room', a fancy name for a room of things that wouldn't fit out in the front of the store that took up almost all the remaining space of their part of the building. It was usually filled to the brim with things Carol had yet to process and put out on the floor, but it was emptier than usual from a sale clearing almost half of it out. "Marco?" She called.

"Polo! I'm towards the back." Carol yelled back.

"And how am I supposed to get back there?"

"Hush. It's not your first time."

Beth maneuvered through the back until she found Carol bent over a desk, applying stain meticulously to the unfinished wood. The smell took Beth back to when she used to work at the shop in high school, when she wasn't giving piano lessons to make money for college. Carol looked up and took her mask off as Beth approached.

"What brings you by, Beth? Do you need something for the house?" Carol asked.

"No, well, not today at least." Beth told her. "You know that amateur design competition next spring in Atlanta? I sent my portfolio in to them and they accepted me. I have to design for a few different age groups, so I was wondering if I could use Sophia as one of my models. She was one of the first kids I tried out my designs on, it seems fitting."

"Beth, that's wonderful." Carol gave her a tight hug. "And I'm sure Sophia would love to be one of your models. She used to love playing dress-up with your dresses when she was younger."

"I hope she still wants too, or else I'll have to find another pre-teen to model for me free of charge."

"What are all the categories you have to fill?"

"I have men's, which I already convinced Shawn to do, women's which is Maggie, teen for boys or girls, so Sophia, and then kids."

"You don't have a shortage of those." Carol smiled.

"I don't know any of my students personally, though. Wouldn't it be weird if I asked their parents if I can use their kid as a model?"

"That's not true. You know the Dixons."

Beth's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Daryl. Her lips still tingled whenever she thought of their kiss, and Beth couldn't deny that she dreamed they went further when she went to sleep that night. That morning at Ann-Marie's lesson, Daryl hadn't mentioned anything about the kiss, or their date the night before, but she noticed he was a little less discreet about his eyes lingering on her while they were in the same room. Beth had a hard time focusing after her lesson while Ann-Marie invited her to her birthday party and was giving her all the details because she could feel Daryl's gaze focused on her, making her flush. Beth wished they had the opportunity to talk, but Ann-Marie was already pulling Daryl away before either of them could say a word.

"Again, student." Beth pointed out, breaking away from her daydream.

"Do you go out on dates with all of your students' parents?" Carol raised an eyebrow at her. Beth immediately began to panic. How did Carol know they went to Savannah? Did she see them? If Carol had seen them, did anyone else see them? Gossip could run rampant in their town, she didn't want anyone knowing about them just yet. She didn't want any of this affecting Ann-Marie either.

"How do you know about that?" Beth demanded. "We weren't even in town."

"I was referring to the diner several weeks ago, but you two went out on another date? I was wondering why Daryl was gone last night." Carol mused. "So? How did it go?"

Crap. Beth shouldn't have even said anything. Even though there wasn't much to do in Coleson for a date night, they still had gone to Savannah, where it was less likely anyone would recognize them and spread the gossip around town the next day. They didn't need the entire town interfering in their relationship, when they were still trying to figure out what their 'relationship' was. "I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?"

Before Beth could answer, the bell above the door to the shop rang, audible from even in the back of the store. "Mom! Daryl's here!" Sophia yelled not a moment later.

"Be right there!" Carol called back and started to walk to the front of the store. Beth followed, surmising she could not escape from the back door without having to circle back around the front and be seen through the large windows facing the street when she went back to get Riley, sitting outside the shop with a bowl of water.

"Miss Beth!" Ann-Marie exclaimed as soon as Beth emerged from the back. She was riding on Daryl's back looking over his shoulder to see. When she saw Beth, she started squirming. "Daddy, put me down."

Daryl crouched to the ground and set her down carefully so she could run underneath the open counter and hug Beth around her legs. Apparently she had had a soccer game after their lesson today because she was still wearing her uniform, but Beth could hardly notice as she looked at Daryl. In the Georgia heat, he had opted for a button-down shirt with the sleeves cut off, and his usual pair of ripped jeans. Beth had a very hard time focusing on the little girl bouncing up and down in front of her when Daryl Dixon's arms were right in front of her.

Ann-Marie tugged at Beth's hand to get her attention and gave her a big smile when Beth looked down. "I scored three goals today!"

"That's amazing! I'm so proud." Beth smiled. "Did you win?"

"They don't keep score. But I do. We won. Six to zero. One kid threw up. It was gross." She informed Beth.

"Ain't about winning yet, sugar bean. Everyone's learning." Daryl interjected.

He was switching between looking at his daughter or looking at the ground, but never at Beth for more than a few seconds. Was he embarrassed? He didn't have a reason to be. But from what her father and Carol had said about him, expressing his thoughts like he had to her probably was hard for him. Especially when they involved telling a woman he was interested in her in more than a friendly way through the kiss they had shared. She knew she felt incredibly uncomfortable, now that she was in the same room as Daryl, and Carol, who knew about the two of them now, who was watching them expectantly. Maybe he felt the same.

"Will you come to one of my games?" Ann-Marie asked, bringing Beth's attention back on her. "They're after practice on Saturdays. We have some on Tuesday nights too."

"Beth's probably busy."

"No, I can make it." Beth assured the girl, looking to Daryl with a small frown then back to Ann-Marie. "I don't have any lessons after yours on Saturday. Most people have theirs during the week."

Ann-Marie's smile could have lit a stadium. "We don't have a game next week, but we have one the week after that. Will you come?"

"I'll be there." Beth promised.

"Okay, time for your daddy's secret project. Sophia, why don't you take Ann-Marie down to the diner to get something to eat? Bring something back for us when you're done." Carol reached over into the cash drawer and pulled out $30 to give to the older girl.

"Take Beau and Athena with you." Daryl ordered.

"Can we take Riley too?" Ann-Marie asked Beth.

Beth nodded. "Just keep him on his leash."

The two girls left, taking the small pack of dogs with them and leaving Carol, Beth, and Daryl alone in the store with the other customers milling around.

"I think I should make a round to see how everyone is doing." Carol walked from behind the counter and slipped between Beth and Daryl, who had still yet to say a word directly to her. She didn't understand him. Sometimes he acted like she was nothing more than thin air, but then he would do a complete one-eighty. Did he not want his friends to know? She understood they lived in a small town and discretion was key, but a small part of her mind nagged, telling her he wasn't serious about what he said. She tried to ignore it. Daryl wouldn't do something like that.

"What are you working on?" Beth asked Daryl, getting his attention.

Daryl hesitated for a moment before lifted the counter and started into the back room. "I'll show you."

Beth followed him into the back room, trying to keep up as he weaved between the narrow aisles, walking towards the back where Carol was before. Sitting in an unnoticed corner was the piano Carol used to hold her knick-knacks on, though the previous turquoise color was now sanded away and the wood stained a weathered gray, disassembled down to the sound board with the rest of the pieces stacked carefully nearby. She walked forward to run her fingers lightly over the wood, feeling the smoothness,

"This is beautiful." Beth breathed before turning back to Daryl. "Did you do this?"

He nodded and leaned against a nearby bookshelf. "It's for Ann-Marie's birthday. Figured since she's becoming a little prodigy now, she should have her own piano. Not finished yet, though. It still needs a few coats of stain." He sat down on a rolling stool and brushed off the one next to him as a silent invitation for Beth to sit down before picking up a brush and a can of stain and starting to work.

"It looks amazing. Ann-Marie is really lucky to have a dad like you." Beth noticed Daryl's jaw clenched just slightly and he nodded, keeping his eyes on the piano as he painted smooth, even strokes. Beth picked up the extra can and brush and started to work on the pieces nearby. The silence between them was comfortable while they both worked in the hot back room, but Beth still wanted to talk about the night before.

"I think I'm going to make something like that over there for my porch." Beth broke the silence between them, hoping that might start something. She pointed to a bench swing across the shop, sitting broken in the corner. "Maybe in a lighter color though."

"And cut your thumbs off?" Daryl quipped.

"I'll have you know the cut on my hand has fully healed." Beth painted one last stroke on the side panel and set it aside. "I'm sure it can't be that hard. I fixed my railing."

"It needs to be re-fixed."

"Is it really that crooked?" Beth frowned.

Daryl nodded. "I can come over tomorrow and fix it while you're at church."

"You don't have to. I can get someone to come out and fix it."

"Won't take me long. 'Sides, it would be payment for the lessons."

"What are you talking about? You already paid me."

Daryl gave Beth a look and reached into his back pocket, extracting his wallet and pulling out a stack of cash. "Ann-Marie found this in the practice book you gave her. She thought she had won the lottery."

"I wonder how that got there." Beth played dumb, rolling closer to him on her stool.

"I wonder." Daryl repeated, setting it down on a table nearby. "Why won't you take my money?"

"I am, that's how much you're overpaying me. I'm not lying." Beth continued when he frowned at her. "I'm not a professional instrumentalist, I just teach on the side for fun. I don't do it for the money."

"You lying to me?"

Beth frowned back at him. "I would never lie to you, Daryl Dixon."

A heavy silence fell between them as they stared at each other. She forced herself to stay still and maintain eye contact as Daryl's eyes seemed to stare right through her, as if he were still trying to figure out if she was lying. He finally looked away and went back to painting. Beth felt hot, and it wasn't just because it was easily ninety degrees in the back room. She reached down and grabbed the hem of her t-shirt, pulling it up over her head to reveal the tank top underneath. She turned it right-side out and folded it carefully to lay it beside her.

When she turned back to Daryl and the piano, she found him staring at her with dark eyes. There was an underlying hunger in his eyes, a hunger she hadn't seen in a man's eyes looking at her in a very long time as he looked down to her tank top before looking back up at her. She wondered what he would do if she just leaned over and kissed him the way he had kissed her on her front porch last night. She wished she could replay that moment in her head for the rest of her life. It just felt so perfect, and she wanted it to happen again.

Beth tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. "Can we talk about last night?" She finally said.

Daryl snapped out of his trance and looked away from her, a faint redness spreading on his ears while he wiped his hands on his jeans. "Yeah. Are you upset?"

Beth reeled back a little bit. "At what?"

"Kissing you the way I did. I was thinking about it after and I probably should have asked before I did it, it just…I don't know."

"Felt right?" Beth finished, and Daryl nodded. "I didn't mind. It was really nice."

"Yeah?" Daryl asked, turning his head to look at her.

"I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't think it was." She admitted, working up her nerve. "I wouldn't mind it happening again, if we're being honest."

He cocked an eyebrow and a faint smirk appeared on his face. "Are you propositioning me, Miss Greene?"

Beth shoved him in the shoulder. "I'm being serious." She said, her blush growing fiercer.

"I wouldn't mind it happening again either." Daryl agreed quietly. "I'm just not sure."

"Because I'm Ann-Marie's teacher?"

He nodded. "Just don't seem like it'd be okay."

"I've thought about that too." Beth sighed. "Keeping it discreet, or separating our professional and personal lives might make it work." Once she started talking, it was like she wasn't able to stop. "I mean, that's only if you want it to work. I wouldn't want to assume, I don't even know if—

"Beth." Daryl said calmly, making her stop as he rested his large hand on her knee. She looked over at him and saw that the corners of his mouth were quirked up slightly, like he thought her rambling was funny. He leaned forward, hovering a few inches away from her face, his hand still a heavy weight on her knee, feeling like the only thing that was keeping her grounded as their breaths mingled just before he closed the minuscule distance.

For some reason, this kiss, Daryl's silent 'yes' to their relationship, was better than their first, even though it was more subdued. This time, Beth was prepared, and met his kiss with a smile, making sure to take in all in. The warmth of his lips on hers, the feeling of his calloused hand on her shoulder, then her neck as he gently pulled her closer. Beth took that as a sign it was okay for her to wrap her arms around his neck while he slanted his mouth over hers, deepening their kiss.

"Wait." Beth pulled back before they could go any further. "What do we tell Ann-Marie?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll figure out a way to tell her." Daryl assured her. "She can keep a secret."

"Are you telling me your daughter is your accomplice?"

"Yeah. We commit bank robberies on the weekends. Beau's the getaway driver." He deadpanned, making Beth laugh. She leaned forward and he welcomed her kiss by wrapping his arms around her, picking up right where they left off. Daryl was bolder this time and gently pulled Beth off her own stool to sit in his lap, making Beth's heart race faster at the closer proximity. She felt her heart was about to beat out of her chest when she felt Dary's hand touch the slim portion of skin peeking out from underneath her tank top on her back before his hand slipped underneath the material, holding her closer.

She accidentally let a quiet moan out when Daryl moved down to kiss her neck, his stubble adding a wonderful friction as it rubbed against the soft skin of her neck. This was exactly how it had felt in her dream, but now that it was actually happening, it was a million times better. She grabbed onto his arms to steady herself as Daryl moved back up to her lips, using one of his hands to tangle in her hair and angle her head to deepen their kiss.

"Hey Daryl, are you—" Beth and Daryl jumped apart as soon as they heard someone enter the stockroom through the back door, but not fast enough to keep Rick from seeing them as he walked in, stopping in his tracks when he saw Beth sitting on Daryl's lap, kissing each other like they were each other's only source of oxygen. He fought hard to hold back a smile as he backed away towards the door.

"I…" Rick started and stopped to clear his throat. "I just realized I forgot to tell Lori something, I'll be right back." He turned in a blink and sprinted out the back door.

"RICK!" Daryl yelled. He stood and ran towards the door, holding up a hand for Beth to wait as he ran after his friend to stop him from telling the entire town, or his wife, which was essentially the same thing.

Sophia and Ann-Marie walked through the back door with confused looks on their faces just a few moments after the two grown men ran out. "Why is Daddy chasing Uncle Rick?" The younger girl asked.

Beth snapped from her trance and straightened her tank top to try to hide the evidence of their tryst from the two little girls, a blush burning her cheeks. "They're playing tag."

We're starting to get to why I rated this story M XD Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thank you so much for reading!

A little serious side-note, I want to thank you all for sticking with this story. I've had some personal problems that have gotten in the way of my writing, and I'm finally starting to try to deal with them so I can get better mentally and physically. I know my updates can be erratic, but I really mean it when I say your comments really brighten my day. Thank you again for your support.

Until next time~