Hello, everyone! It has been quite a while since I've written a fanfiction, and I've gotta say I've missed it. This is not my best work, but I absolutely loved writing it. I hope I can get a chapter 2 up soon. Thank you to everyone who visits this story! I appreciate it so much. If there are mistakes, I'm sorry, I wrote this late at night when the inspiration came to me. Reviews are definitely welcome, constructive criticism only, please :)
I got the idea for this pairing after Beth kissed Rick on the cheek while handing him Judith one day at the prison (can't remember what episode exactly). I thought it'd be a cute thing to explore, with lots of potential for a good fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead. A few things would be very different if I did.
It was a peaceful day at the prison. This was in stark contrast to what had happened a week before, with the Governor's attack that Beth had witnessed helplessly from a safe spot in the forest with her father, Carl, and Judith.
Now, their numbers had grown with the Woodbury additions and things were more lively and even comfortable. But she didn't let herself get too comfortable. She'd let herself get comfortable before, at her childhood home, the farm, and that had not been wise. She knew better than to let herself call a new place 'home' again.
But she was content, as she sat in the grass with Judith babbling happily on a blanket in front of her. She looked out at the makeshift doors that had been put up to replace the gates that the Governor's people had mowed down. They were secure (from walkers anyway) and she felt safe. Well, as safe as anyone could with hungry walkers groaning around their fences 24/7.
"Bethy." She turned to see her father approaching her, hobbling on his crutches.
"Hi, Daddy. What's going on?" She stood to walk over to him, concerned.
"Oh, nothing, nothing. I just wanted to let you know that Rick and Daryl are going on a run soon, wanted me to ask you if you needed anything for Judith or yourself."
She thought a moment, glancing over at the baby, who had now fallen asleep. "Just the regular stuff; formula, blankets, bigger clothes, any toys they can find. She's growin' fast."
He nodded, "Anything for you?"
She shook her head, "Oh, no. I'm okay for now. Tell them thanks, though. Ask Maggie if she needs anything."
Hershel smiled, "Of course."
Beth looked up at the sky, "It's gettin' darker, looks like rain soon. They goin' on a run now?"
"As far as I know, yes." Hershel put a hand on her shoulder, "I'll see you later." He turned as best he could on his crutches and wobbled back up to the building.
She smiled and turned back to Judith, glancing up at the quickly darkening sky. "C'mon, sweetie. Wouldn't want you to get rained on, now would we." Baby and blanket in her arms, she hurried back into the cell block.
She bumped right into Rick as she stepped into the common room. "Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed.
Rick chuckled, "It's okay." He reached out to stroke Judith's cheek before walking past them.
"H-hey, Rick?" Beth called after him, turning to face him.
"Yes?" Rick turned around.
"Be safe today," she said softly, smiling as she shifted Judith to her hip.
"We will. You, too." He smiled at her, before glancing down at the baby on more time.
Beth turned back around, her cheeks heating slightly, though she couldn't put her finger on the reason. She shook it off, continuing to walk back to her cell.
She really did hope they would be safe today.
A few hours later, Beth was in Rick's cell, singing softly to Judith as the rain poured outside. Thunder boomed around them, making her slightly uneasy. She knew it was childish to be afraid of the thunder, but every lightning strike lit up the dark cell block with strange shadows.
She was trying to get the baby to sleep, as it was getting darker outside. Judith's eyes fluttered closed and Beth sang for a bit longer before stopping to smile down at the baby. Carl walked in, moving the curtain to the side, "She asleep?"
Beth nodded, "Finally. I think the thunder was keepin' her awake."
"I can watch her for a bit if you want. You've been with her all day."
"Thanks, Carl." She stood up, smiling at him. "I really could use a break."
"No problem." He smiled softly back at her before moving to sit on his dad's bunk, looking down at this sleeping sister.
Suddenly, the common room erupted in loud voices and she swore she heard a scream of pain. Carl stood, ready to run out there, but Beth stopped him, "Stay with Judith."
She ran towards the common room, terrified. Was it walkers? Another attack on the prison? She saw Glenn, clutching a wound in his side that was gushing blood, struggling to keep himself from crying out. Hershel was hurrying to tend to him. Daryl was sitting on a chair being tended to by Carol, who was bandaging a wound on his arm, much to his dislike.
She was shocked and very much afraid. What had happened? Was Glenn going to be okay? Her eyes glanced to her sister, who was holding his head and sobbing, telling him it was going to be okay.
Rick wasn't here, the realization hit her with a jolt. Where was he? She was frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do. Hershel had plenty of help and didn't seem to need her, so she ran to the doors, intent on going outside to look for Rick.
Before she could get to the door, it opened, startling her. Rick stumbled in, his jeans over one of his thighs was dark with blood, and he was holding his shoulder, blood covering his hand. She rushed over to him, getting underneath his other arm to try and help him get some weight off of his injured leg.
She wanted so badly to ask what happened, but she knew that now wasn't the time. Hershel and Maggie were busy with Glenn and Carol with Daryl.
Her father had been educating her on some of the medical things just for a situation like this one. It was up to her to help Rick.
"Come with me, there's an empty cell we were goin' to use for emergencies. It's at the back of the block, do you think you can make it there?" she asked him gently, grabbing his hand that was slung over her shoulder.
He nodded, letting out a painful sounding grunt. It took them a little while to make it there, but nevertheless, they made it. She helped Rick lay down on the bunk, where his eyes began to fall closed as soon as his head hit the thin pillow.
She grabbed his arm desperately, "Rick, no, you need to stay with me, okay? We can't risk that."
"Mm-hmm." His face twisted in pain as he adjusted.
"I'm goin' to need to get your shirt off, alright?" she asked softly, pulling a kit of medical supplies over.
He nodded again, trembling slightly as his eyes stayed trained on her. She felt suddenly embarrassed under his gaze, but pressed on as smoothly as she could, fighting to keep herself calm.
She began to unbutton his shirt, helping him gradually work the sleeve off of his injured shoulder. He jerked and let out a small cry of pain as it came free of the wound.
"I'm sorry," Beth whispered as she pulled the sleeve over his hand, her fingers lingering over his for just a moment.
She studied the wound a moment, realizing that she really could stitch him up. He was going to be okay, at least, up here. She was still unsure about his thigh wound, though there was much less blood.
"This is goin' to sting," she said gently, pulling out a spray bottle of antiseptic. He flinched, biting his lip, as the spray hit his wound.
"Sorry," she whispered, dabbing at the wound with a rag. She tossed the bottle of spray back into the kit and grabbed for the needle and thread.
"I'm goin' to stitch you up now." She paused a moment to take a deep breath. She'd seen her father do this many times before, but she had never had a chance to do it herself.
His eyes watched her face the entire time. She paused a moment when a scream came from the common room, making eye contact with Rick, whose worried expression she was sure mirrored her own.
Beth finished stitching and tied off the end, satisfied with her work. She turned to the kit again to grab bandages.
She bound his shoulder once she cleaned up the blood around the wound with the rag. "There…all closed up. How's the pain?"
He shifted, his face contorting slightly, "It's alright."
"Good…" Her eyes fell to the blood spot on his thigh, and the small slit where it looked like a knife had sunk into his flesh. Not deep, but enough for her to fret over. "Now to fix up that cut on your thigh."
He nodded, "You gonna…cut my jeans off?"
"Well…" She looked up at his face. "Yes. But I don't wanna waste a good pair of pants like that. We can't really just go out to the mall and get some more." She managed a small smile.
To her surprise, Rick smiled, too. "Yeah…I could just take them off…if that's not too weird for you."
She shook her head, "No, this is a medical emergency."
"Alright." Rick smiled at her again. She couldn't help but smile back.
"Nice to see you're feelin' okay enough to smile again."
He nodded, "Thanks for fixin' up my shoulder."
"Of course. It's what I'm here for. To fix people up."
He just looked into her eyes for a moment before she cleared her throat, looking away with her cheeks turning pink, "Okay…time to take a look at that leg. Do you feel up to slippin' your jeans off? I think we can get that blood stain out later so you can keep wearin' 'em."
Nodding, he sat up, "Yeah, I can do it." She stood up and went to lean against the opposite wall, wanting to give him a little space.
She heard the soft chink sound of his belt coming undone and then falling to the floor. Glancing back over, she saw him climbing back onto the bunk in his boxers.
Kneeling by his bedside again, she inspected the wound. It wasn't bad, wouldn't need stitches, just a good cleaning and bandaging.
After spraying it with the antiseptic liquid, she placed a bandage over it.
"Okay, Rick, you're all taken care of. You can put your pants back on now." She laughed lightly, looking up at him only to see he was asleep.
That's good, she thought. He needed sleep more than anyone else here. Well, except maybe Glenn right now, of course. She hoped her daddy had been able to help him. She was sure everything was okay.
She sat on the floor to put everything back into the medical kit, thinking. She'd never really talked to Rick one-on-one before. Well, obviously, she had, but never actually talked. This was the closest they'd ever been. And it was weird. It felt weird. But a good weird. She had this feeling deep in her gut, but she didn't quite understand it.
Shaking it off, she placed the box back on the shelf. She couldn't help but smile at Rick's sleeping form. She'd never seen him looking so peaceful, and the sight made her feel just a bit more at peace herself, in an odd way.
She suddenly felt guilty for feeling at ease. There was no reason to feel that way right now. Her family was out there in turmoil. Glenn was severely injured. Maggie was terrified. And whatever happened to Daryl, Glenn, and Rick must've been really bad. But she couldn't bring herself to wake Rick and ask.
She knew she had to go and help them. Hell, she wanted to. Needed to help those she loved. She stood up, moving to walk out of the cell and leave Rick to sleep for a while. Looking back at his sleeping form, she still couldn't help but feel that everything was going to be okay as long as Rick was around to lead them.