AU 4: Carick (Carol/Rick) plus the smidgiest smidge of Caryl and Sharol
Charity date auction
Shane flexed his way across the stage, sliding his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose and winking at the crowd of women (and some men) that surged towards him. He was always the police forces highest win, going to the widowed Mrs. McLeod last year for nearly six hundred dollars. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his uniform and the bid jumped up from almost two hundred to nearly four.
The Charity Date Auction was a fundraiser for the town, where local businesses and municipals came together and volunteered their most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes to be bid on. The money all went to local government, covering things such as park projects, highway fixes, and library events. The group that had the most money contributed to them won a company barbecue at the park.
For the police force, Shane Walsh was their biggest draw. Their fiercest competition, naturally, was the firefighters, who liked to pretend that Daryl Dixon was a secret weapon, as if more than one small garbage can fire hadn't been started in the hopes that he'd show up. While Shane was hunky and flirtatious, Daryl had that quiet brooding down to an art and it dropped panties all over the room.
Finishing out the bid, Shane shook his way off the stage, snapping Daryl's suspenders as he passed by. He jumped off the stage, winking and kissing the hand of some of the ladies that bid on him as he sauntered to the back of the room where Rick tried not to snort his whiskey straight up his nose.
"Six hundred and eighty five dollars. Let's see Dixon beat that number!" Shane whistled, taking up the scotch that Rick had gotten for him and shooting it back in a clean swig.
"Who won?"
Shane's eyes scrunched together before pointing at a slim blonde, her curly hair pulled half up. "That new hot shot lawyer that moved into town two…three months ago. Certainly going to be a better ride than ol' McLeod."
"You're just jealous," Rick nodded towards the stage, where Daryl fidgeted, picking at his fingers as if he thought the whole thing was beneath him. "Looks like Mrs. McLeod has switched her loyalties."
"Seven hundred!" the little old woman shouted out, waving her bills in the air. Mayor Greene hit down the gavel, proclaiming her to be the winner. Daryl strolled off the stage, but Shane didn't miss the smug smile he threw at him.
"Prick," Shane muttered, taking Rick's empty glass with his own and buying them another round.
"How'd you like that Walsh?" Daryl came up to them after a few minutes, a beer already half empty as he took another swig.
Shane rolled his eyes, his lips quirking up, "Yeah, yeah. You just wait till next year. I'm feeling a little winded from all the goddamn criminals I catch. Wasn't on my top form."
Daryl snorted, clapping them both on the back. "Right. When are you going to get up there, Grimes?"
"Oh, you don't know about the time Rick got bid on?" Shane said, barely suppressing the laugh that sputtered out. "Two years ago Rick gave it a shot and all he got was a pity bid from his ex-wife. Poor woman thought she'd spent enough money on the divorce and here she is shelling out fifty dollars so Rick could wipe that pathetic look off his face."
"Alright, he gets it," Rick quipped, rolling away from the two hollering men.
"He's strictly moral support now," Shane added, leaning over to muss up Rick's hair. He swatted the other man's hand away, running his hand through the greying curls.
"Wonderful, wonderful. Well, that rounds out the firefighters," the mayor said after a pretty black woman, Sasha, jumped off the stage. "Now we have our lovely librarian from Kings County Library. Carol Peletier, come on out."
Rick could feel the tips of his ears burning red at just the sound of her name. He ignored the way Shane sucked his teeth, lips curling, as he gave Rick a knowing look. As stealth-like as Rick could be when they were dispatched to take down a perp, he was not at all able to hide his feelings for the seemingly mild-mannered librarian. He took Carl there every Saturday, still shuffling him towards the children's section even if he was pushing into the double digits and could probably wander to other parts of the library. Rick would settle Carl in before searching out Carol, taking a vague interest in whatever shelf she was putting books back on. They'd make the usual small talk, but sometimes Carol's wit would get the best of her and Rick wouldn't be able to do anything but tilt his head and take her in. She was much more than she ever appeared to be.
The polite claps sounded as the woman, a paisley dress wrapped around her with a deep neckline exposing her long neck and collarbones, walked purposely to the center of the stage. She looked as if she'd rather get the thing over with, and Rick noticed the way she raised her eyes pointedly to Daryl, clearly exposing that she had a deal with him to bid on her and get her off the stage quickly. He automatically moved up to the stage, counting out the few bills he had. Clearly they weren't planning on many people bidding on her.
Before Rick could even register what was happening, he and Shane had followed after the firefighter. Daryl glared back at them, looking up again to see Carol's panicked expression.
"Twenty-five," Daryl mumbled, eyeing the three men.
"Fifty," Shane upped.
"Fifty-five," Daryl shot a look at Shane.
"Sixty!" Shane retorted. Carol's eyes shot to Daryl, pleading with him.
Rick shuffled through his bills, trying to count them as the other two kept upping the bid.
"Ninety!"
"Ninety-five!"
"Ninety-eight!"
"One hundred?" Rick croaked, pulling his money straight and looking up at the stage. Daryl cursed under his breath, as he had run out of money to bid and looked up to her apologetically.
After being declared the winner, Rick's eyes met Carol's and he was taken aback at the look of surprise that shone through them. Like she wasn't sure what to think. He could feel a heat rising through him, suddenly wishing that he'd just stayed at the back of the room and not gotten involved like he planned on. Rick made a point to shoot a glance at Shane. He held his gaze before Shane nodded, folding the rest of his money and slinking back to their table.
Her heels clacked down the side stairs as she came off the stage. She paused where Daryl was, whispering quickly to him until he gave her a light squeeze on her bicep and left her to approach Rick on her own.
"Hi," she said, a confused note in her voice.
"Sorry if I stole you away from Daryl, I didn't mean…"
"Oh, not it's okay. He was just being a good friend. We weren't going to go on a real date, probably just drink beer and watch something dumb," she gave him a small smile, easing her shoulders as she stood before him.
"Guess I gotta make better plans then," he grinned at her, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. He felt like a teenager who spent half the school day working up enough courage to talk to the pretty girl.
Carol shook her head, her lips pursed together, "Beer and something dumb is just fine."
Rick smiled back at her, pausing for a second before asking, "Why'd you arrange for him to bid?"
"Oh," Carol laughed, waving her hand in the air, "You know I never even come to this thing but nobody else could do it and I got cajoled into it. Anyway, I had heard about some poor guy who didn't get any bids until his ex offered up a few dollars—"
"Does everyone know about that?" he shook his head, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes.
Snorting, Carol tried to suppress her laugh, "That was you?"
"It was a slow night," he retorted but the glinting lightness of her eyes that stared back at him amusedly stole all his bravado away.
"Well, I'm glad you bid, Rick," she stepped closer to him, the tips of her fingers grazing against his forearm.
"So, when can you spare me a night?" he asked.
She looked around, biting her lip as a mischievous shadow flickered in her gaze, "Well I'm free tomorrow morning for breakfast."
"Alright, I guess we could do that. I hadn't really considered breakfast as an option," Rick rambled, slightly disappointed that he wouldn't be taking her on some big overly romantic dinner.
"But I only like to eat breakfast in bed," she stared up at him, her big, blue eyes widening with anticipation. Rick's eyes narrowed, his head tilting in that signature way as he tried to piece together what exactly she was saying. It hit him like an anvil, a smile creeping across his features. She blushed, but still stared at him brazenly. Wasting not another second, Rick took her hand, leading her out of the town hall.
"Where you going?!" Shane yelled for him, watching as the pair beelined for the doors.
"I got a date," Rick shouted back, absolutely beaming. He leaned into Carol quickly, kissing her cheek before ushering out the door. He was gone with a wink.
