A/N When I first began writing TWD FF a friend, texasbelle091, requested I write a Rick and Beth story based on the George Strait song, The Chair. I did. Almost five years later I've revisited that story, totally revised it, made it three times longer and given it a little something extra, I added a Christmas element. I hope you enjoy! Oh, the original story which some of you know, was Excuse Me Miss. It's been deleted.
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After a couple of years of trying to recover from what he was certain was the messiest divorce in the history of divorces, he was finally starting to feel like himself again. What made the divorce especially messy was the reason for it.
It was a classic in some ways. A guy comes home early from work and catches his wife in bed with another man. What made things extra messy and nasty was WHO he discovered his wife with, his lifelong best friend and work partner. The final piece of the big mess came in the form of a baby on the way.
Messy might be an understatement.
Why wouldn't it be messy?
It was tough but he worked through the heartache and the disappointment and a year ago he'd been hired as the new sheriff of a nice little town of 30,000. Not too big, not too small. Moving helped a lot; it made it seem like he truly had his "fresh start."
Rick Grimes was beginning to feel like he'd finally gotten it together. For the first time in a while he had a positive outlook and was actually upbeat about life and his future.
One of the best things was, even with the move he was still within a couple hours driving distance of his son, Carl. He could maintain a close relationship with his boy and still be far enough away for that fresh start. He'd made some new friends and he felt like the beginning of his new life was official, while he kept in close contact with that one part of his old life that still mattered, Carl.
He'd also decided it was time to get out and mingle, no more hiding from the world. He told himself he'd suffered long enough, life was short and it was time to start having some fun.
One of his deputies, Abraham Ford, recommended he check out a little country bar over on East Elm. Abe promised there was good music every Friday and Saturday night. He clapped Rick on the back and with a huge grin promised, "The beers are cold and the women are hot."
Rick just laughed. He didn't say it out loud of course, but the facts of his life seemed to prove a point, he didn't know beans about women. Then again, he did like a cold beer and there were a lot worse ways a guy could spend his time than looking at hot women.
Why not check the place out? Besides, he was sick and tired of staying home every weekend.
It was odd though, or at least it seemed that way, going out the Friday before Christmas to drink beer and look at women. But why not? He was alone anyway. Carl left that afternoon to spend his Christmas vacation with his mother and step dad. There was nothing to keep Rick home. He just hoped the place wouldn't be populated with folks all down and out with the holiday blues.
He was a little surprised when he walked in, he hadn't expected it to be so busy. The place was jam-packed. Then he reminded himself that even though it was just a few days before Christmas, it was Friday night. He should have expected a crowd.
He smiled as he walked toward the busy bar bustling with thirsty patrons looking to have a little fun. He ordered himself a beer and tried not to be too obvious as he took a look around the joint.
It was almost immediate, his eyes landed on her. She was sitting at a small table way over in the corner and all by herself.
Even though he was quite a distance from her there was no missing the fact she was a beauty. He could see the great big blue eyes and pretty blond hair. He also noticed she was well put together and looking country chic in a bright pink sweater, tight jeans and cowboy boots.
He decided he had to take a chance, he had to meet the pretty blonde. He just didn't know quite how to go about that. He only knew he had to think of something fast or some smooth-talking guy was bound to see her and that would be that. He couldn't let that happen.
The idea came to him and he didn't overthink it, he also didn't waste time making his way to her table. He approached her with what he hoped was a friendly smile and said, "Excuse me Miss, but I think you're in my chair."
She looked embarrassed when she responded, "Oh no, I'm so sorry. I'll move." She started to stand and he realized she was going to walk away. He couldn't let that happen.
Her moving anywhere away from him was not at all what he wanted. "No, no really that's okay. I'll just bring over another chair. I'm sure I can find one, and if you don't mind, we can share the table."
When she smiled and answered, "No, I don't mind at all." He could swear he had heart palpitations.
He didn't have much problem finding just one chair. He brought it to her table, sat down and commented, "Gee, I didn't expect it to be this packed here the Friday before Christmas." Shit, that sounded lame. He wished he knew the right words to charm her.
He tried again. He smiled at her and awkwardly asked, "Can I drink you a buy," shit, he shook his head as he corrected himself, "Oh man, I meant can I buy you a drink?"
But when she smiled again and nodded "yes" he forgot how awkward he felt. Who knows? Maybe she liked the awkward type.
He returned to the table with her drink in hand and as he set it down he smiled and said, "I'm sorry Miss, I didn't catch your name."
She was pink-cheeked but smiling too when she answered, "I don't think I mentioned my name, I'm Beth Greene. Thank you for the drink."
"It's nice to meet you Beth Greene, I'm Rick Grimes."
It was her turn to feel a little awkward and shy when she admitted, "Yes I know who you are sheriff. I saw you when you visited the school last week to speak with the students about the dangers of texting and driving."
"Do you work at the school Beth?" he asked her.
"Yes, I just transferred here last month from a school district near Columbus. I teach music and biology. Kind of a strange combination," she smiled and shrugged her slim shoulders.
She'd been dying to talk to this man since he'd visited the school. He was handsome for sure with his curly hair and ice blue eyes, and his smile, oh my gosh that beautiful wide smile.
She couldn't turn her eyes away when he'd walked on the stage of the high school auditorium. He had his hands on slim hips as he walked with a bowlegged stride that managed to be so smooth and sexy. He was one handsome package, but that wasn't all. He was also intelligent, patient with the young people and witty.
He brought her back to the present when he smiled and nodded his head agreeing, "That's a very interesting combination of specialties."
Then he got the courage to ask his big burning question, "Are you meeting someone here tonight Beth?"
"I was supposed to meet a friend of mine from work, Rosita, but just before you sat down I got a text from her. She said her boyfriend managed to get off work early and she really wanted to spend time with him tonight." Then her forehead wrinkled in concern when she remembered, "Gosh, she was supposed to give me a ride home. I guess I'll Uber."
She asked him her big burning question, "How about you Rick, are you waiting for someone?"
"No, I'm a solo act myself. I just wanted to get out of the house tonight."
She smiled knowingly and said, "Yes, it's hard for me to make myself do that. When Rosita asked, I was excited." She told herself she sounded pitiful. She quickly changed the subject asking, "This band is really great, aren't they? Do you know their name?" As she began swaying to the music.
Again he wished he had something clever to say but he'd never been "that guy." Maybe it was best just to be himself. It seemed to be working okay. So he answered, "No, I've never seen or heard them before, but yeah, they are good, aren't they?"
Then the band started to play an older Blake Shelton tune, "Nobody But Me," and he told himself it was now or never. He took a deep breath and asked her to dance.
She smiled when she took his hand and as they moved around the dance floor she told him, "I love this song, it's one of my favorites."
The way he looked in her eyes and smiled she was sure her heart had just melted, and he couldn't quite believe it when he said, "Yeah I like it too, it reminds me of you."
He thought maybe he was holding her a little too tight, but she didn't seem to mind. He was happy about that because he never wanted to let her go. Then he got another little shot of courage and offered, "You know you're not stuck Beth, and you certainly don't need Uber. I'd be more than happy to drive you home later."
She tried to hide how delighted she was, "Are you sure you don't mind Rick?"
"Not at all. I'd be honored if you let me," they were both grinning happily as they danced on.
He couldn't take it. It wasn't right and he was no player. He had to get honest with her. When they sat back down he admitted to her, "You know Beth, I like you a lot. I'd like for us to get to know each other better. I don't want to start anything without being honest, I have to come clean. That wasn't really my chair."
She smiled back, "I like you too Rick, and yes, I knew that."
They drove to her place and he walked her to her door, so reluctant to have to say goodnight to her. He smiled when he told her, "Thanks for sharing your table, having a drink with me and being my dance partner. One chance encounter turned this night turned into something so much better than I ever could have imagined."
He was shocked and thrilled when she answered, "It was my pleasure and thank you for the ride, but you know the evening doesn't have to end quite yet. If you'd like you could come in and have a drink with me."
There was no way he was turning down her invitation, he smiled broadly, "Yes please."
They didn't drink much, mostly they each just held their wine glass and talked. He told her the story of his messy divorce and she told him about a nasty break up she'd had. She clutched his hand when she said, "I guess we have a little bit of past heartache in common, but that's the operative word, right? Past."
"Yes right, past."
Her smile was so warm, and those eyes. He'd heard that old expression about losing yourself in someone's eyes but until he saw Beth Greene's eyes he'd never really believed that could be true. Still, he had no clue what his next move should be. He wanted to kiss her and he wanted to ask to see her again. Hell he never wanted to leave. For some reason though he just couldn't seem to get it together enough to do anything. He told himself he should just go, he'd probably overstayed his welcome.
He stood and said, "Well I guess I'd better get home. Thank you so much Beth, what a great evening."
He turned toward the door and she told herself, "Don't let this man go." She couldn't let it happen, "Wait, Rick please. I forgot to remind you of something."
He was puzzled as he turned and walked back toward her, "Yes?"
"Don't forget to pick me up in the morning, I'm going to need a ride back to the bar. Let's say about nine."
He was completely confused, "I"m sorry, what?"
"It's really important, I mean at least for me it is. I have to pick up my car." She smiled but also looked a little sheepish when she added, "You're not the only one who made up a story."
His smile kept getting wider, "I see, okay I'll be here at nine. I'll tell you what, how about I take you out to breakfast before we pick up the car? I don't want you going hungry."
"Oh that sounds wonderful, I love going out to breakfast. Maybe after that we can stop at a lot and pick up a Christmas tree. I've got the perfect spot for a little one right over there." She pointed to a corner by the window.
Wherever she ended up going with all of this he'd made up his mind he was going with her, "I don't see why we shouldn't. Are you expecting company for Christmas?"
"Well yes of course. You're planning to be here, right? Christmas Eve too. I'm sorry there won't be a crowd, it's just going to be the two of us.""
He was sure he was smiling like an idiot when he answered, "I'd love to come for Christmas Eve and Christmas and a crowd of two sounds perfect. How about I cook us a prime rib Christmas Eve?"
"That sounds so special and delicious, but it doesn't seem fair that you have to cook dinner tomorrow night and on Christmas Eve. I'll tell you what, I'll cook Christmas dinner. Do you like lasagna?"
He was laughing and she was trying not to when he said, "I love lasagna. I forgot to ask what you want for dinner tomorrow. I mean since I'm cooking."
"Well we're going out to breakfast so maybe we should have something light but high protein. We're going to need our energy to decorate the tree."
"I'll try to think of something light that goes well with tree decorating, and we should probably have a bottle of champagne. Is there anything else I need to know?"
She suddenly looked just a bit more serious, "Well yes, you've forgotten the most important thing. You haven't kissed me goodnight."
His expression got a lot more serious, his look was sexy and intense as he took her in his arms and gave her the goodnight kiss of her life. A kiss that lasted for such a long and pleasant time.
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A/N Aww, I hope you enjoyed this sweet little Christmas story and that you'll leave me a comment / review. As always, the chapter photo is posted on my tumblr blogs, gneebee and bethylmethbrick. Please have a look. If you celebrate I wish you a Very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukka. I'll be back with more Brick love soon. Until then remember, I love ya large! xo gneebee