#Lori
Chapter 1
Rick
Everything was about Rick. Rick's uniform, Rick's mother, Rick's Pride, Rick, Rick, RICK! Even after the world was flipped upside down and the dead now walk again, it's still all about Rick. Lori didn't understand how Rick, his hands covered in death, is still so magnanimous. Even in Rick's darkest moments, he somehow maintains his nobility. That innate goodness is what drew Lori to Rick in the beginning.
Lori and Rick were locked in a strong gaze, his face had softened and his blue eyes yearned for his wife again. He missed his Lori. They had been embroiled in an icy standoff through the duration of her pregnancy due to Shane's phantom still hovering over their marriage.
In this moment, the husband and wife could only think about each other. Rick was ready to move on, Lori was due to give birth and he knew his cold war with Lori had to end. Rick was sensitive; his ego was injured in a fashion that couldn't just be undone. His hostility towards Lori was justified in his eyes; he figured at very least he wanted her to feel the hurt she delivered to him. Childish: yes.But Sherriff Grimes felt like it was just.
Lori was amazed by Rick; his development in the last year astonished her. As much as he rejected her she found herself even more drawn to him. He was nothing like the Sherriff Grimes that policed Kings County and he was light years from the shy Ricky Grimes she met at Georgia State.
Georgia State was a unique choice for Lori, her family had a level of affluence but she purposely chose Georgia State for three reasons: it was in Atlanta, it was a cultural melting pot, and she would finally be away from her ever watchful father. Lori Madison's family actually moved from Maine when she was ten-years-old to the rural south of Savannah, Georgia.
Lori was focused on getting the hell away from Donald Madison and vanishing into the crowd in Atlanta seemed like a perfect plan. Lori's outgoing personality and beauty made her very popular on the campus of GSU. She enjoyed the night life; Lori yearned for the night light and electric lights of Peach Tree Street.
Lori remembered one night the sun had recently sank leaving the sky with races of mauve and orange. Surrounded by her equally beautiful yet anonymous friends Lori Madison swayed her petite body to Mariah Carey's "Fantasy". The girls were enjoying a break from classes at the high-end tavern located in the heart of Downtown Atlanta. It was only 7:54PM, so they were just getting started. After three drinks the girls planned to get some quick food to balance out the liquor then change and head out to the ritzy nightclub Kisses.
Lori was in her prime.
But hidden by the bar two baby blues watched her from a far. His face was softer then, free of scruff and lines from time. His skin was baby soft; in 1996 Rick Grimes struggled to grow facial hair. His dark hair was low but soft boyish locks still sat upon his crown. He was innocent in those days, a complete contrast to whom he is today.
The roundness of his pink slips stretched into a smirk when Lori's eyes met his. He nervously looked away; he knew a girl like Lori would never want a guy like him. No way is she looking at me, thought Rick Before taking a small swig from his Bud Light. Lori was looking at Rick; there was something simple but very beautiful about him. What made Rick all the more sexy was he had no idea how attractive he was.
Lori didn't cave to social norms back in those days, she went against the grain. Her long raven locks were teased into curls, and like the enticing maiden she was, Lori shook her beautiful hair invitingly. But Rick stayed seated by the bar and absorbed the sight. Rick admired the tight jeans and dark halter top that Lori wore, but he appreciated the Lori that he saw on campus as well.
Frustrated with his lack of courage, Lori finally walks over to Rick and grabs his hand to raise him from his seat. "On your feet, cowboy," demanded Lori.
Rick quickly sits down the brown bottle, "But I can't dance."
"Well you can't keep staring at me either, we are either going to dance or you can't look at me anymore. I know it sounds self-centered but you have totally been staring holes through me and it's kinda scary when a guy is just staring you down."
"I'm sorry," the pure Rick apologized. "I am so sorry; I really didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." Rick couldn't stop smiling through his apology.
"That apology loses its effectiveness if you're smiling through it," Lori placed her hand on her hip, challenging Rick.
"I can't help but smile, becauseā¦"
"Because what, I'm a girl and you don't think I can beat you up. I had three older brothers so I know how to beat up boys," teased Lori.
"I can't stop smiling because you're beautiful," replied Rick.
Sure it was corny; Rick was corny. Lori blushed and couldn't help but smile herself, "You can either dance with me or at least put on some sunglasses if you're going to stare bullet holes into me. So you decide."
"You decided, Rick," Lori demanded.
"Whatever you want to do, Lori," Rick didn't have time to argue with his wife today. There was fifteen pre-teens outside making an enormous mess for this 12th birthday party for Carl. Rick wanted something easy; Rick wanted to just take Carl and perhaps 2 of his friends to Disney World. It probably would have been easier than this tween extravaganza that Lori decided. And now that the power was knocked out by the lights and speakers needed for this event, Lori expected him to come up with a solution.
"Everyone knows you need a generator for these kinds of things, Lori," Agatha, Rick's mother added. "Who uses their own home to power this mini-Las Vegas show that you have going on out there."
"I'm sorry, Agatha, I'm not Bob Villa," Lori retorted. "And neither are you."
"Hey, you two," Rick interrupted. Rick always had to play referee when Lori and his mother were brought together. "Now it's a simple fix, a busted fuse ain't a sign of the apocalypse. Getting a generator at the last minute, may not be realistic."
"So what can we do, Rick?" Lori was stressed from the day and the distance that grew between her and Rick.
"We keep it simple; bring out the cake, sing 'happy birthday', call it a night. We already gonna need a cleanup crew to clean up this disaster." Rick began to look through his kitchen curtains to watch the crowd of kids and parents in his backyard. Even though the power was cut, Shane and a few of the officers dressed in full uniform did their best to entertain the children.
"Is that all you care about, Rick," Lori shot back, "The most simple, cheapest, route?"
"Don't you talk to my son that way!" Agatha interjected.
Agatha's homely appearance made her easier to loathe, "Rick, I keep my mother out of my marriage, can you please do the same."
"You uppity, arrogant, little bitch!" Agatha retorted with hostility and bile smothering her words.
Angrily Lori throws a glass plate, smashing into it shards. "This is my house and you are a guest-actually werea guest. You think you can barge in her making your comments and suggestion about my parenting and me being a good wife. You get out of my house and you better not even SPEAK to my son as you leave!"
"You gonna let her talk to me like that, your own mother?"Agatha's deep Dixie accent exposed her disappointment with her son.
"You know what," Rick began, "I'm not gonna do this. You two are making this about you, I thought it was CARL's birthday. You two grownups wanna throw fits like children, go head. My son needs me."
Rick would rejoin the festivities, disengaging with his wife and mother. Most of the guest hard the noise, but Rick dismissed it saying he dropped a dish. Rick was right in the end; all the kids cared about was ice cream, cake, games, and Carl. Lori stayed inside well after Agatha left in her 1975 Cadillac and well after Rick left for the bar alone.
Lori sat on her porch alone with a beer as Shane finished the clean up. "You know you don't have to do that?"
"Yeah, I know," Shane replied stuffing the dumpster with the oversized black trash bag. "It's not like you were going to do it."
"I had the intentions on leaving it for Rick."
Shane began to chuckle, he turned around to take a good look at Lori, she wore tight fitting acid washed jeans, paring it with a soft purple tank with a sandstone opened flannel shirt. Shane unconsciously licked his bottom lip at the sight of the woman looking utterly edible. She was alone, her body language screamed she wanted to be touched. Or that's how Shane read things.
"That's pretty spiteful," Officer Walsh responded. "You two still going at it?"
"For us to be 'going at it' we would have to talk to each other," confessed Lori.
"You know Rick," Shane reminded. "He's not one to talk about his feelings. He can tell you about his thoughts and philosophies on life, but he shuts down his feelings."
"Is that a cop-thing?"
"Nah, that's just a 'Rick'-thing." Shane wasn't exactly honest; he too suffered with displaying his feelings. He had a chain of girlfriends but Shane never ever committed to anyone. He had a bottomless well for a sexual appetite but he could never find intimate or emotional satisfaction in anything. Shane, more so than Rick, was completely disconnected with feelings. Shane could only feel the carnal action of them moment but he was completely ill-equipped to deal with the emotions after. But Shane noticed that he would often diminished Rick when he compared Rick to himself.
"When are you going to get married so I can give you advice," taunted Lori.
Shane scoffed, "Like hell would I ever get marriage advice from you." Lori playfully shoves Shane who too, begins to chuckle. Lori then wraps her arms around Shane's waist and buried her face into his chest. Shane's heart began to race, was this the moment, the second that he and Lori had been building up to all along? The texting, the secret conversations about Rick, would this be the moment?
"Shane?" Lori said, her voice muffled by fabric and Shane's chest.
"Lori," he replied, his voice low, almost seductive in tone.
There was a short silence before Lori finally said, "Please, bring my husband home."
