**I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE SEASON FINALE SO IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET, AVERT YOUR EYES!**

Well…the season finale was definitely something! It met all of my expectations I think, accept we still don't know where Beth is, and that's killing me! To be perfectly honest, I was pretty sure that they were going to find her dead. I'm glad they didn't.

Also, I KNEW Rick had it in him. He's definitely got some demons locked in the closet that have now escaped. I like the new Rick, personally. And I'm sorry but if my child was about to get raped by some white-trash fucktard, I would bite a guy's throat out too. And gut someone. So yeah. I feel like it was all justifiable at the end of the day.

Thank you to:

electrickpanda,texasbelle91, Guest,

kathymoonstone, mrsreedus69, ElenaBillings,

HeartoSteel, classykazmiller25, ZombertHunter,

SoFarFromPerfect90, 2Addicted2YourLoveBrooke,

RosieDollCorpse, and WalkerHarley for your wonderful reviews! Keep 'em comin'!

Also, thank you so much to the people to followed and favorited. I really appreciate it!

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen (Beth POV)

I jumped up and turned to face the unrecognizable voice, finding a middle-aged man standing in front of a band of four other men. I slowly stepped back until my back hit Rick's front, and I felt him snake an arm around my waist protectively.

A black man stepped forward, eyeing me as if I was a piece of meat. "Claimed."

The middle-aged man, who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward and put in arm in front of the black man. "Now, hold on there. We don't want to go scarin' 'em off, do we?" The black man smirked and stepped back without another word. The leader turned his attention back to us and smiled. "Sorry 'bout that. My name's Joe! What do you folks call yourselves?"

Rick and I remained silent in shock and at a complete loss for words.

Joe laughed stiffly, giving a small shrug. "Suit yourselves. See the thing is, folks, you're on our turf." Suddenly the overly nice Joe was gone and a monster took his place. "We claimed this place."

Rick's arm around me tightened. "We don't want any trouble, now. I was not aware that there were others here. If we could just leave-"

"Leave?" Joe and his band of misfits let out a laugh before he held up his hand to silence them, the atmosphere suddenly growing very serious once more. "Well, I don't know about you, partner, but she can't leave. You see," Joe motioned back to the black man. "my good friend over here has claimed her. She isn't goin' anywhere."

My heart leapt in my throat and I suddenly forgot how to breathe, making my knees lock. If Rick wasn't holding me with his arm, I would've fallen to the ground.

Joe took notice of my distress and chuckled evilly. "Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head, sweetheart. I promise it won't hurt…that much." He motioned with his head towards us and they all rushed towards Rick and I, ripping me right out of Rick's grasp.

"Rick!" I cried out, reaching to him, but grasping nothing except the cool air. These men were ruthless. The black man held me down as another man, with a long stringy hair, climbed on top of me. His hands were instantly everywhere and I let out a sob, knowing that we were terribly outnumbered and there was nothing that could save me.

The man on top of me pulled out a knife and grazed my cheek with it. "Stop struggling and this will end a lot sooner." He laughed maliciously and moved his free hand to under my shirt, grabbing my breast.

I let out a choked sob. "Rick! Help me!"

"Let her go!" Rick roared. "Get your fucking hands off of her!"

Joe stood behind Rick and took out his gun, pointing it at Rick's head. Rick instantly stilled, obviously deciding that getting his head blown off wasn't going to do me any good. "I see what's goin' on here," Joe said softly, I almost couldn't hear him. "This pretty little thing is your girl, isn't she? Aren't you a little old to be playin' around with such young pussy?"

"Aren't you?" Rick growled, never taking his eyes off me. I managed to notice how dark and dangerous Rick looked, and I quickly realized that he was very soon going to explode, and it wasn't going to be pretty. I let out another cry of distress when the man on top of me began to remove my pants.

Joe chuckled. "I'm gonna tell ya what's gonna go down here." The man on top of me stopped and looked over to Joe, waiting for him to continue. "I'm gonna let my friends take their turns on your beautiful lil' southern belle here, Rick, and then I'm gonna take my sweet time with her. You're gonna watch every Goddamn minute of it. When I'm done with her, I'm gonna put a bullet right through her pretty lil' head, then that's when I'm gonna kill you." Joe's men all let out a laugh, and before I knew it my pants were already half-way down my legs. I let out a frustrated scream and thrashed my legs around as hard as I could.

"A little feisty, ain't she?" Joe laughed, leaning down to put his head right next to Rick's. "I like it when they fight. Tell me, Rick, is she this crazy when she's in bed with you? What's she like, Rick?"

Rick was breathing heavily now, his eyes still trained on me. Suddenly he whipped his head back, head butting Joe. On instinct, Joe's finger pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the man on top of me right in the head, killing him instantly. Before the black man holding me down could react, I grabbed the dead man's knife and reached back with all the force I could muster up, drilling it right into his head. Joe's two other men instantly went to me but I was quick, standing up and stabbing one in the face before they could make a move. I cried out as the other one grabbed my arm and threw me against the wall, holding me there.

"Look," he whispered in my ear. He grabbed my face with his hand and forced me to look at Rick and Joe, who were now brawling, and it didn't look too good for Rick. Tears filled my eyes and I struggled against his hold. "Watch your boyfriend die, you little bitch. You're gonna fuckin' pay for killing my friends."

I had no choice but to watch it all unfold in front of me because the man's hold was too strong. Rick got up from the ground and both men grabbed each other, now face-to-face.

"What are ya gonna do now, sport?" Joe chuckled. "You lose."

Rick stared at Joe for a long time before he did something that I never knew he was capable of. He opened his mouth and latched his teeth onto Joe's neck before slowly pulling away, ripping Joe's neck open. Joe let out a cry of anguish before he fell to the floor, bleeding out. Rick turned his head to the side and spit out the blood and skin before turning his attention to us. The breath hitched in my throat, not recognizing the man walking towards us. Rick grabbed the man holding me and pushed him against the wall before picking the knife up off the floor that I had dropped earlier.

"No one touches what's mine," Rick growled. His hand plunged forward and dug the knife into the man's gut, slowly dragging it up his body, cutting his whole front open. The man gurgled as his innards all tumbled out, but Rick didn't stop there. He took the knife and repeatedly stabbed the man in the face more times than I could count, and all I could do was stand there in shock, shaking slightly.

Rick finally let the man fall to the floor in a bloody heap. He squeezed his eyes shut and he was breathing quite heavily, as if he was trying to pull himself back together. I don't necessarily think that what Rick did was wrong, but he was scaring me. This was a man I did not recognize. His whole mouth and beard was caked in fresh blood, and his hair was soaked with sweat, completely disheveled and sticking out in random directions.

After a moment, I reached a shaky hand out and touched his shoulder softly. "R-Rick?"

His eyes snapped open and he looked at me. "Beth."

I nodded, taking a tentative step closer. "Yes, Rick, it's me. It's Beth. Are you okay?"

Rick's eyes immediately softened and he pulled me in for a hug. "Beth. My God…"

I froze for a moment before hesitantly wrapping my arms around him. "I'm okay. We're okay. Let's just…let's find somewhere to clean up."

Rick pulled away, but only for a moment. He grabbed my face in his hands and kissed my lips forcefully. I held back the urge to vomit as the taste of blood flooded my mouth, but I didn't pull away. He pulled back slightly and peppered kisses all over my face and neck before pulling me in for another hug. "I'm so sorry, Beth. I saw what they were doing to you and I just-"

"Rick." I took his face in my hands and forced him to look me in the eyes. "Don't apologize. Those men got what they deserved. I admit. You…you scared me a little, but it's okay." I smiled reassuringly and kissed him again. "I understand. You were protecting me, and I can't thank you enough. I love you." I froze, suddenly realizing what I had just said. I tried backing away but he held me firm against him.

"I..." He began, making my heart skip a beat in anticipation. "…I can't live without you."

Disappointment flooded through me but I smiled anyway. He didn't say he loved me, but not being able to live without me was close enough. I can live with that. For now.

(Beth POV)

After finding a small creek to wash in, we gathered our things and started to drive back home. We made the decision that it wouldn't be wise to tell anyone what happened today, not wanting to cause a mass panic because of what could've happened, but thankfully, never did.

"I'm staying with you in your room tonight," Rick suddenly said, making me jump. The car ride had been completely silent up until then. "I'm never letting you out of my sight."

I took his hand gently. "Rick…you know you can't. Everyone would wonder-"

Rick's fist suddenly punched the steering wheel. "Fuck what everyone else thinks!"

I jumped and stared at him with wide-eyed and pounding heart. "Please just…calm down, okay?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Beth. It's just…I don't want anything else to happen to you. It's all my fault-"

"Rick Grimes," I said harshly. "Don't you dare blame yourself for what this. It wasn't your fault. It was all of them against us. You couldn't-"

"You were almost raped Beth," A lone tear slid down his cheek. "right in front of me! And you expect me to sit back and act like everything is okay? It's not!"

I was slightly taken aback by the fact he was crying. "Yes it is! We're fine! It didn't happen! We need to just move on!" I was growing angry now. I would much rather put it all behind me.

"Move on?" Rick yelled, his grip tightening on the steering wheel, making his knuckles turn white. "How can you just move on from that!"

I fought back the tears that were threatening to escape, not wanting to fight with him. It was a horrible feeling. "I don't want to dwell on it! I don't want to remember! I just want to forget." I let out a sob and covered my face with my hands.

I felt the car pull over to the side of the road and I heard Rick put it into park. He reached over and lifted me as if I was nothing, bringing me to his lap to cradle me against his chest. I struggled weakly, knowing that as soon as I was fully in his embrace that I would let my guard down and I would give in.

"Damn it, Beth, stop struggling."

"Put me back in my seat Rick! I don't want to be near you!"

Rick ignored me and held me tighter to his chest. "Hush, Beth," he said soothingly. I pushed on him one last time before completely collapsing against him, sobbing quietly. I gripped his shirt in my hands, vaguely aware of the sweet nothings he was whispering in my ear as he rocked me.

After crying for what felt like hours, I felt my eye lids grow heavy, falling asleep in his strong embrace.

AUTHORS NOTE: I actually worked on this chapter for a long time. I kept deleting and re-writing it. After the season finale, I was inspired to make it more like the episode so I, once again, re-wrote the whole thing. Sorry if it wasn't as long as you would've liked, but please let me know what you think! I LOVE hearing from you guys. It makes my day for sure. And all the PM's I'm receiving from you guys are just so touching. It warms my heart. Thank you guys so much. Much love to you!