Chapter 25! I can't believe we made it here. Thank you all so much for the support, it keeps me going.
As always, I do not own the walking dead (Goddamit.)
Please, please enjoy!
Rick's heart caught in his throat as he heard his name echo across the empty store. He panicked as he tried to figure out how to get to Beth. Standing up was going to be difficult enough; but running over there was going to be nearly impossible. As quickly as he could, Rick pulled himself along the floor to his left, where a shopping cart was turned over lazily against the wall. It took all of his strength to turn it upright, and use it to pull himself up. He was able to put a large amount of weight on it, and the wheels allowed him to move faster than he'd ever have been able to manage on his own two feet.
He pushed as solidly as he could with his legs, though his movements were jagged at best. When he finally reached the very last aisle where he had last heard Beth scream his name, she appeared, unscathed, staring at him confusedly.
"What are you doing?" she asked blankly, as she took in what he was sure was an odd posture. "I was coming to get you."
Rick was about to burst with frustration. He thought his weakness and injury was going to lose him Beth, and the whole time she was fine. "Why the hell did you yell Beth? Jesus Christ, you scared the hell out of me." Rick panted, and he watched her eyes soften.
"'M sorry. Just got excited." She answered softly, moving over to him. She took his arm, and swung it over her shoulders, letting him put his weight on her. "You're gonna like this. Trust me."
Rick sighed, and allowed Beth to usher him around the corner. He had thought that nothing he would see would take the edge off of the scare that Beth just gave him, but he was wrong.
It was a bed.
Rick watched as Beth practically danced next to him, and a noise that somewhat resembled a squeal escaped her throat. "It's one of those display beds to show off their bedding! It's shorter, but it's a bed!" she hugged his body to her, and Rick didn't know what relieved him more, seeing the bed, or seeing this much life in Beth again.
The two of them approached the bed almost reverently, and Rick pushed down on the dusty plaid blanket checking the bounce of the mattress. The bed stuck out of the corner, out of place among the destroyed shelves. Rick resisted the urge to fall backwards onto it and just live there for good.
"We actually got really lucky. A lot of stuff is destroyed, but not everything." Beth sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Actually, the shelf that's in best shape is the one with some preserves on it, which is weird. This place doesn't really seem to have a lot of groceries. It's more like a general store. One stop shopping for farmers." She grinned at Rick, who was still speechless.
Beth lightly pushed on his arm. "Go on, try it out!" she encouraged, and Rick shook his head softly, trying to come back to life.
"Wet clothes." He muttered, gesturing to the jeans that even now clung to his body.
Beth frowned. "I need to go board up the doors. You can strip down and I'll bring you some clothes when I'm done. The clothes are only like an aisle away anyway."
Rick didn't bother trying to hide his smirk at Beth's blush. "How are you going to board up?" he asked, feeling nice enough to relieve her stress slightly.
"Like I said, it's like farmer's store in here. There's a whole aisle of building supplies. I was thinkin' I'd just nail in some 2x4s for now." She shrugged, still not making eye contact.
Rick reached out for her and nodded. "Good thinkin' Beth."
She smiled back at him, but quickly turned and left, leaving Rick to chuckle. Rick groaned as he began to strip the soaked clothes from his body. He hated the sensation of the water logged fabric clinging to his body, leaving a film of sogginess in its wake. He briefly considered falling backwards onto the bed, but opted instead to go explore the clothing aisle for himself. Rick leaned heavily again on his shopping cart, determined to not be an invalid who let Beth do everything for him.
Rick grabbed a kitchen towel hung on the end of an aisle and wiped himself down, relieved to feel dry, though the prune-y sensation was less attractive to him. Beth was right; the majority of the store was in decent shape, though there were several aisles turned over. He didn't explore very far before he found the clothing aisle that Beth identified.
Rick sighed happily, ignoring the twinge in his back as he pulled on some dark green boxer briefs, and some thick wool socks. There was no shortage of jeans to choose from, and Rick took his time finding a fit he preferred, as he listened to Beth's intense hammering behind him in the distance. Rick frowned as he realized the right size of jeans was much smaller than it used to be. They needed to make food a priority here too.
Rick pulled on a long sleeved white shirt, and then chased it with a blue plaid shirt. He didn't know why he had always favored plaid, but there wasn't a surplus of choices regardless. He also picked out a heavy duty camel colored coat for himself, and placed it in his cart.
Rick turned to leave, but when he noticed a pink plaid shirt on the floor, he reconsidered. He picked it up and shook it off, and he couldn't help but think how much it looked like Beth. He quickly added it to his cart, and began looking for other clean clothes for her. He had originally considered letting her get it herself –she knew her sizes better than he did, after all- but after all the effort she'd already exerted today, she had earned the right to crawl into bed as quickly as possible.
There weren't really women's clothes available, so instead he was opting for men's clothes in smaller sizes. There certainly weren't any women's undergarments, so he got the smallest size boxer shorts he could, and hoped that she wouldn't mind. There were actually a few women's jeans available, and he grabbed her a couple of size options with those. The rest he had to garner from the men's section, and he was sure she was too small for some of it. But they would be hers at least, and they would keep her warm, and at the end of the day, that's what mattered to him.
Rick thought that he had everything, and was grateful for the weight that was now in his cart. It meant it could counteract his weight, and help him balance. His back was screaming from the bending and lifting, and he was ready to head back. But he changed his mind when he saw a flash of brown and yellow in the corner of his eye.
He reverently lifted the box, and inside saw the perfect boots for Beth. They were a soft brown leather, with a small, delicate sunflower on the side. He didn't have the slightest idea if they were in her size, and as he searched frantically around he realized they were the only pair. Still, he had to get them to her.
Rick moved slowly back to the bed, and was fairly surprised that Beth hadn't returned yet. The hammering had stopped several minutes before, so he expected her to have found him at any time. As he waited, he carefully shook the dust out of the comforter on the bed.
"Mistake." He grumbled to himself as he back twanged in protest.
"I hope you don't mean bein' stuck with me." Beth smirked at him from the end of the aisle.
Rick smiled back at her as he tried to lower himself onto the bed. "Neve- OW." He groaned, as he felt his back object to his movements. He watched as Beth frowned and quickly closed the distance between them.
"Not feelin' any better?" she asked softly.
Rick chuckled contemptuously. "What gave it away?" he sighed, debating between rolling around in an attempt to get comfortable and lying very, very still.
He heard Beth sigh, but was shocked by her command. "Roll over."
"What?" he asked, shock threaded through his tone. Beth only responded by rolling her eyes.
"Just do it." She sighed again, spinning her finger in a circle, not leaving any room for discussion. He followed her command, grimacing through his pain the entire time.
Rick held his breath as Beth's cold fingers pushed up his shirt, and began careful ministrations on his aching muscles. "Ow, ow!" he winced, and as she softened her touch, his outbursts settled into something more resembling "ohhh…."
He heard her giggle quietly behind him and his groans, and he couldn't even summon the energy to tease her. His whole body was relaxing as she carefully kneaded his lower back.
"You act like you ain't ever had a massage before." She laughed, and Rick could hear the smile in her voice.
It took more effort than he would admit to even talk. "Not since Lori." He mumbled, and Beth's thumbs hardened on his muscles. She hummed thoughtfully above him, and he attempted to turn it around. "You're pretty good at that. Practice on Zach a lot did you?"
Rick had meant it as a joke, but he felt the start even in Beth's fingers.
"I really hate grocery stores." He heard her sigh, and it was only then that he remembered that Beth's former boyfriend had died in a run with Daryl at a grocery store.
"Shit." Rick hissed, "I'm a right asshole, I'm so sorry Beth." His face contorted as he waited for her response. She would have been well within her rights to verbally lash out at him, but she remained silent above him, her fingers continuing to work his muscles.
"I'm just glad I got to know him, y'know?" she whispered, her voice taught with emotion.
Rick groaned as he rolled over, stopping her fingers, and sitting up to be eye to eye with her. "I do know, Beth. But that doesn't make it easy." He sighed, restraining his hands from reaching out and cupping her face, twirling her hair, or holding her hand. Instead, his gave shifted towards his own hands as he spoke the truth that had rattled around in his head for some time. "I don't know what I'd do with out you."
When Beth didn't say anything Rick allowed himself to rest his hand gently on her knee. He was met with her cold, water logged pant leg. "Christ, Beth, you need to change. You'll catch pneumonia if you stay in these." He quickly shooed her off the bed, in a move that he felt was a little more paternal than he would have liked. "I grabbed some stuff for you, it's in that cart." He added, pointing to the yellow cart that hugged the opposite end of the aisle.
Beth's eyes looked from him to the cart, contemplating its contents. She stood and walked towards it, cautiously pulling it closer to the bed. Rick watched in amused fascination as she first pulled out the jeans, selecting the pair in her size, and then as her eyes widened and she turned red at the selection of men's underwear.
Rick laughed, he couldn't help himself. "Sorry, that's all they had." He apologized, but he doubted how seriously she took it when he was still laughing. She only nodded, pulling out the plaid shirt he had salvaged with a small smile on her face, as well as socks, a clean undershirt, a sweater, and a coat. Her hand faltered as she reached for the shoe box that was nestled in the bottom of the cart. Rick watched her intently as she turned to face him, a question on her features.
Rick panicked, afraid she hated them. "I just saw those, and they kind of reminded me of what you used to wear. Back before… there's a sunflower on them. I don't know if you like sunflowers, but they're yellow, and they kind of remind me of you." Rick stuttered, as Beth walked towards him.
"I mean, your hair is yellow. And I thought they might fit. I hope they fit. It's the only-" Rick was cut off by Beth's chuckle as she sat next to him, kicking off the once white trainers that were too big for her feet. She peeled the wet gym socks off, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Rick swallowed as she pulled on the boots, wiggling her toes in them, proving that they fit appropriately. Rick exhaled in relief, and was surprised when Beth flung herself at him, her arms wrapped around his neck in a feeling that was far too warm considering her frigid clothes.
"Thank you Rick." Beth breathed into his ear, causing goose bumps to riddle his skin. Rick wanted to tell her that it wasn't a problem; she surely would have found them herself, he just thought she would like them. He was just glad they fit, they looked great on her. All these thoughts floating around in his head, on the tip of his tongue, and he never said any of them, for the sole reason that Beth's lips had fluttered against his own in a soft kiss.
His eyes closed and the sensation was gone all too soon. He reached out for her, but grasped only air. His eyes opened, and he saw only the wisp of her ponytail disappearing around the corner, presumably to go change clothes.
Rick felt the need to chase after her, but swallowed the impulse. If Beth felt the need to leave, it was because she wanted to, and he'd be here waiting for her when she got back. Just like always.
Yay stuff is happening!
It had to be Beth who made this first move, and I hope you guys are okay with it, because that's pretty much how it will have to be for the two of them. Rick is never going to push Beth.
I'm not super thrilled with this chapter, and its likely because it was originally much longer (sorry to those of you who like the long chapters!) but I chose instead to end it here. The missing scenes will show up next chapter. I just wanted some time to let this kiss sink in. So if it feels a little truncated to you (like it does to me) that's why.
For the record, Beth has shown moments of impulsiveness on the show, but I think this Beth, with what she's been through is much more methodical and careful. That kiss wasn't a passing fancy, but more of that next chapter, which is from her POV.
Thank you all again for the reviews- you don't know how happy they make me. I'll continue to respond to each one, as I like the dialogue between writer and reader. So don't be afraid to throw in things you like or don't like, or things you hope to see. No promises, but you never know!