Friend of a Friend

Carol invited Rick and his family to dinner the next night. She and Rick had been friendly but distant since they had reunited at the fall of Terminus. Rick was living in the biggest house with his family. Sarah, Abe, and Rachel were living there too. Carol had decided that it was time for Rick to move on in his personal life and maybe she needed to give it a nudge. With that in mind she also invited Sarah, Abe, and Rachel to dinner.

Carol and Michonne finished cooking dinner while Eugene and Alia set the table. Morgan lit the lamps and Daryl welcomed everyone in the house. Judith toddled over to be picked up by Carol and Carl followed her to get a hug from Carol and Michonne. Rick came over to take Judith from Carol and look over dinner. Michonne handed him a glass of wine and he carried Judith to a high chair and settled himself into a chair beside her.

Carol thought the table looked beautiful. The bright colors of the Fiesta seemed to glow in the lamplight and the faces of the people that she loved were glowing even brighter. Alia and Matthias was sitting between her and Daryl. Carl was sitting between Daryl and his father. Rick had Judith on his other side and Rachel sat on the other side of the baby girl. Abraham, Michael, and Sarah came next. Eugene, Michonne, and finally Morgan was on her other side.

Abe and Sarah had become closer in the last few weeks and Michael seemed comfortable with him. That left Rick, Rachel, and Eugene as singles. There were enough single men left on the mountain that Rachel could have her pick but Carol was hoping that Rachel would favor Rick. Rick needed a loving partner and this world was no place for a lone woman. Rachel was eating dinner and keeping an eye on Judith. The little girl had been known to start throwing food after she was finished. Carol liked the way Rachel wiped Judith's face and hands. She just did it without thinking. Rachel would make a good mother.

After dinner was over they sat around the wood stove and talked. The outdoor furnace provided lots of heat but it was very cold out tonight and the wood stove kept the room warm. They drank some wine that had been liberated today and told stories. Rick held Judith with Carl sitting at his feet and still felt a little lonely. Daryl and Morgan were doing the dishes while Carol and Michonne help put things away. Those four were obviously comfortable together. Alia and Matthias were sitting with Eugene in a big recliner. This wasn't a house, it was a home.

Rick remembered being in that home improvement store when Daryl had promised Carol that if she would cook dinner then he would do the dishes. Daryl had changed his life for the better from that day on. Carol became his wife and they were rearing two children together. The man who had wandered through life after Merle was now completely settled into this house with his family.

The kitchen crew finished their chores and joined them in the living room. Rick finished another glass of wine and began to loosen up. Michonne told funny stories about her and Daryl's adventures while looking for the Governor. Abe described Daryl working with Carsel's teenage sons on the run. The youngest one kept asking "what if" questions about facing dangers on a run. Daryl had given good advice for the first five questions and then on the sixth question Daryl had answered, "Run like hell. Always run like hell". That was a lot funnier after three glasses of wine.

The stories seemed to get funnier as the evening wore on. Carol excused herself to put Alia and Matthias to bed. Abe and Sarah left with Michael and Carl volunteered to take Judith home and put her to bed in portable crib in his room.

Rachel and Rick stayed for one more glass of wine and a few more stories. They left together about an hour later. Rick wasn't drunk but he was relaxed enough to ask Rachel to talk to him about what they had talked about in their meeting that day. Rachel was impressed that he asked so many cogent questions about what projects they had planned, what materials would need to be gathered, and what they hoped to accomplish. Their conversations drifted to their lives before the turn and what they had endured since then. Rachel yawned, "I think it is time for me to go to bed."

Rick remembered the way Daryl had said that he would do the dishes if Carol would cook. Sometimes you had to make your wants known. He liked Rachel and he wanted a chance to know her better. He stood up and held his hand out to help Rachel up. She put her hand in his and he drew her up close to him. Her eyes met his and he recognized a kindred soul. She was lonely too. He kissed her and she kissed him back. He pulled her closer to him and their tongues seemed to melt together. Rachel pulled herself back, "This is probably not a good idea."

Rick kissed her again, "Where is your scientific curiosity? My hypothesis is that we can both benefit from some sexy times."

Rachel laughed, "That may be the worst hypothesis I have ever heard". She hadn't pulled away though.

Rick said, "I don't think it is the worst. I promise to respect you in the morning." Rick wanted to keep her laughing. Guys that made women laugh always got laid. "I have chocolate".

Rachel appeared to consider, "What kind of chocolate?" She was smiling which Rick considered a positive sign and he kissed her again and put his hands under her sweater. Just enough to rub her back.

"I lied about the chocolate, but I will look for some on the next run". Rick confessed and she smiled again. Her skin felt so soft and warm and he slid his hands down to her hips and pulled her closer. He was hard as a rock and Rachel made a faint moan when he bit her tongue gently. Rick whispered, "I just want to feel like a man again."

Rachel tried to clear her head. She wasn't an impulsive woman and having sex with Rick was giving in to impulse, but she understood what Rick had meant when he said that he wanted to feel like a man again. She wanted to feel like a woman too. She had been forced into sex by her group leaders and now with Rick she was in control. She could decide to take him to her room upstairs and they could take off their clothes and she could enjoy having sex with Rick. Or she could push him away and go upstairs by herself. Somehow the second option wasn't very attractive.

"Let's go upstairs," Rachel said and some rational part of her mind was horrified at the prospect while the irrational part said "You go, girl".

Rick decided to move on this before Rachel recovered her senses and threw his ass out of her room. He turned off the lights downstairs and they went up to Rachel's room. The room was comfortably messy with all sorts of books and a laptop on her bed.

Rachel began moving the books and Rick resisted the impulse to sweep everything off in to the floor. He carefully picked up the laptop and moved it to a chair. "Oh, hell", he said and swept the rest of the books off into the floor. He said down on the bed and began taking off his boots. Rachel blinked at him and he froze. She laughed then, and began to take her sweater off.

Rick dropped his boots under her bed and stood up to take off his sweatshirt. He gallantly undid Rachel's bra and unzipped her jeans. The rest was a bit of a blur and Rick's good intentions to be a good lover collapsed like his cock when he came before he actually entered Rachel. "I promise to do better next time," he said.

"Let's raise the bar higher than just doing better than this time," and she laughed. "Now I never believed that I should off for later a job that needs to be done now."

Rick propped himself up on his elbow. "Yes, ma'am". He leaned over Rachel and suckled her breasts while his hand moved between her legs and found the sensitive nub. He began to rub it and Rachel put her arms around him.

Later he rallied to complete the act in a mutually satisfying way. Rachel kissed him and said, "I knew that you weren't a complete dolt."

Rick smirked at her, "I think I proved my hypothesis."

Rachel snickered, "I am an engineer not a scientist, but I know that you can't prove even your rotten hypothesis by a single event. The results have to be duplicated over time before you can assert that you have proven anything."

"Duplicating the experiment over time works for me." Rick kissed her neck and bit gently. "Why did you want to be an electrical engineer anyway?" He pulled back to study her face as she contemplated her answer.

"I was always fascinated by electricity. I was the nerd who took every science class but to me electricity is almost magical in what it can accomplish. It can bring light to the darkness, warmth to a cold place, run all sorts of machines, and it can be created fairly easily. It doesn't damage the environment as badly as burning fossil fuels and even common sunlight can make it." Rachel put her hands through Rick's bushy hair, "You can even make it brushing this mop, and why did you want to be a policeman?"

Rick sighed, "I don't know. Did I want to be a positive force for the universe or did I just want everyone to conform to behavior that I thought was right? I am not that man anymore. That world doesn't exist anymore. The people that I love mean more to me than rules now. I just want to circle the wagons and protect my family. Not just Carl and Judith but the people in these houses and on this mountain."

"Carol thinks that there is a dangerous man headed our way in the spring. She wants us to be ready with all sorts of ways to defend ourselves. I never thought that I would use my training to kill people, but it doesn't bother me. It is a kill or be killed world." Rachel knew that it did bother her but that she would have to do things she didn't like in order to keep their family alive.

"There will always be a dangerous man headed our way. That is the way of this world, but Carol does have a gift. She is right to mobilize the whole community and that is what she did yesterday. The run today went well and we're going out again in a couple of days if the weather holds. There will be more fighters from the mountain every time we go out. They will get things that they need and they will get experience in facing danger with a fighting group." Rick didn't want to talk about runs or ethics right now. He was in bed with a real life woman and he didn't want to talk about all the problems that surrounded them. "You do know that Carol fixed us up and probably knows what is going on right now."

Rachel laughed, "She cooked a nice dinner and we had an entertaining evening telling old war stories. We live in the same house, Rick. How did she fix us up?"

"She knew what she was doing. She showed us a home. She showed us two couples who love each other and who have found happiness together. Didn't you want that when you were in their home? It was all domestic tranquility and a few eye fucks thrown in."

Rachel giggled, "They weren't doing it for show. Carol and Daryl truly love one another. Michonne and Morgan do too. Maybe they wanted to give you a bit of a nudge. You certainly came out of the perfect daddy shell tonight. You sent your baby girl home with Carl so that you could hang out a little longer and because you wanted to cut me out of the herd".

"Now that is a romantic statement, "You wanted to cut me out of the herd". Rick grumbled.

"Okay, put it in your terms". Rachel kissed his ear and sucked on his earlobe. She wanted sex again and he knew it. Rick ran his hand down her neck to between her legs. "I wanted this. I wanted to be in a bed with you and have sex. I wanted to please you in bed. I thought that was all I wanted, but I want more than that. I want what they have with you. Is that too much too soon?"

Rachel shook her head, "I want that too. I have been impulsive tonight, but we have to start using birth control. After we have sex we are going to change the sheets on this bed. Carol sent over some sets of sheets from her stash today. So as I am saying this I know I have been totally fixed up. I have been played." She laughed again and then she kissed Rick. "I'm glad that you are getting better at this."

Rick said, "That's my girl, keep the positive reinforcement going".

TWDTWD

Carol finished brushing her teeth and came back into the bedroom to find Daryl sitting in his chair. She sat down on his lap and he cuddled her for a bit. "Okay, so you fixed Rick up with Rachel. Why?"

She leaned against him, "I love Rick. He loves me. We both messed up and we have another chance to be friends. I want him happy. I want Judith to have a good loving mother. Rachel liked him but he was too stubborn to admit that he liked her too. Just like a bunch of teenagers. They needed a nudge. I provided it. They're on their own after this."

Daryl said, "You are interfering in someone's life. If they wanted each other then they didn't need you".

Carol got up and fluffed up her hair so that it glittered in the lamplight. "Not everyone has a Ghost Merle to talk him through things." She settled herself on their bed and smiled at Daryl.

Daryl eyed her for a few moments. He had never told her about talking to Ghost Merle. Scary shit being married to a woman who could figure all sorts of things out. "I guess you know what I am thinking right now".

Carol laughed, "I don't have to be Nostradamus to figure that out. Come to bed, Daryl. That's a nudge, by the way".

Daryl made a face at her, "You are going to have to do better than that".

Carol grinned, "Come on over here and be my friend. I missed you today. We have been busy all evening and night and tomorrow will be here before we know it."

Daryl pulled himself out of the chair and came over to the bed. He crawled into bed and settled beside Carol. "What about poor lonely Eugene".

Carol groaned, "There is a lid for every pot, but I haven't found the right lid for that pot. He'll just have to fly solo until she shows up." She nestled beside of Daryl and went to sleep.

Daryl turned the light off and thought about Rick and Carol. Carol was offering the olive branch and Rick seemed glad to grab it. He hoped that they could all be close again but there is always a difference between your best friend and someone who is just a friend. Carol was his best friend and Rick was a friend.

"Did you really think I could go to sleep without being friendly?" Carol said.

Daryl grinned, "I feel damn friendly too."

AN

I have been in a forgiving mood about Rick lately. I hope that Season Five heals that wound that Carol and Rick's actions caused. So I wrote a chapter in which Rick finally gets some action. I couldn't help myself from writing him as a bit of a clod in the sack at least at first.

No one should have been surprised that I put Abe and Sarah together. Think biblical patriarchs. Sarah and Abraham were a power couple. I left a few clues to Rick and Rachel. Grandma Lydia knew that Rick's real name was Jacob Richard Grimes and he never used the name Jacob. Jacob loves Rachel at first sight in the Bible and it took him awhile in this story.