Moments

With You

Taken place after the prison

"Just find a place where we can rest for the night." Rick struggled to speak through his pain. I had his arm over my shoulder trying to share in his body weight. He knew I was starting to struggle carrying him after about five miles from the prison.

"I'm okay." I say in a low voice. Everyone was angry, devastated, and a bit hopeless at this point. Carl walked ahead of us, I knew he was bottling everything up just like Rick and I were.

"Carl!" Rick angrily shouts to make him slow down. He begins to cough and sputter afterwords, weighing us both down. Carl turns around, infuriated,

"We need to find shelter before it's dark." Carl snapped at Rick. I struggled to readjust Rick on my side as he became more and more weak. He groaned in pain and gripped onto me tighter.

"I've got you." I say quietly to Rick, continuing onward down the road.

—

Carl led us to a house along the road that looked like a good place to stay for the night. Carl went up the front steps with ease, looking through the windows for anything inside. I stayed at the bottom of the steps with Rick to wait for Carl's consensus about what was inside.

"How's it look?" I ask

"We'll see." Carl answers before running down the steps and going along the side of the house. Rick begins to have a coughing fit, I set him down against the side of the house.

"I'm... I'm fine." He struggles to speak through his coughing.

"Just stay here for a minute. Don't get up." I order to him as I caught up with Carl. Carl was looking for a way inside the house. I tried to find an entrance as well but saw Rick struggling to get up from the corner of my eye. I ran over to him as he was gripping the house for support. I put his arm over my shoulder again and we both looked for Carl. We wandered into the backyard through a tall gateway, and to our surprise saw Carl on the roof. He opened the window from the outside and slid inside.

Rick becomes distressed and calls Carl's name. Before we had the chance to go after him, he opened the door to let us inside.

"You cleared the house?" I ask him. Carl nods and held the door open for Rick and I. We both hobble in before I set him down on the couch. He groaned from the impact of him sitting down. Carl went upstairs while I looked for medicine. I rummaged through cabinets and drawers to find ibuprofen and some bandages. I returned to Rick who was slumped on the couch where I left him. I sat down next to him and prepared a few pills for him to take.

"I know this isn't Vicodin but hopefully it'll help you a little bit." I say to Rick and hand him the pills. He takes them and cringes. His throat was all bruised from getting strangled.

"Will you let me take care of you?" I ask him with great vulnerability. My heart ached not only for him, but from all pain and loss we've all gone through. I thought that helping him would bring some sort of goodness to the both of us.

"I don't even know where you'd begin." He managed to say. He coughs a bit and then groaned. I took that as permission.

"Lay down." I whisper as I guided his head onto a pillow on one side of the couch. I had to help his legs up on the couch. I took his boots off and set them next to the couch. I caught his eyes focused on me, and finally they locked. I give him a small smile. This moment of taking care of him was one of the only good feelings I've had in the past few days. Not to mention I had a bit of a thing for Rick already. I finished adjusting his body onto the couch.

"Thank you." He says. I locked eyes with him once more. I was about an arm's length away from him. The moment felt a bit intimate. I give him another small smile before going to get blankets.

—
After checking on Carl, I went downstairs to begin keeping watch. Rick had fallen asleep a few hours ago, shortly after he laid down on the couch. I stalled a bit, watching his chest rise and fall from his breath. I had yet another wave of tenderness for Rick come along. I fought with myself inside my head, until my emotions got the best of me. I walked quietly over to him and knelt beside him in the dark. While he was still asleep, I gave him a kiss on his cheek. I slowly pull away from him, exhilarated and also uneasy from it. My indecisive thought process was quickly interrupted once his lips began to move,

"I was waiting for that." He smirks with his eyes still closed. I put my hand up to my mouth in embarrassment.

"Oh my god—" I scramble to get up from beside him. My heart pounding and face burning hot.

"Sweetheart," Rick says in a way to ease my nerves. He had his tired eyes open at this point. I was still standing, stuck in place. "Of all the shit that's happened this week, a pretty girl's kiss makes it a little more tolerable." He kept a smirk on his face. I couldn't believe what was happening, but my heart fluttered and I couldn't hide my smile.

"Well..." I chuckle and nervously play with my hands, "I'm glad you feel that way." I say with a smile. His smirk turned into a soft smile. It was quiet for a few moments,

"Why don't you come over here and help me?" He suggests kindly. I came over to him and bent down to help him,

"What do you need?" I ask. My hand under his side, helping him sit up. He looks into my eyes after asking the question. His eyes flickered down to my lips and mine to his. He placed his bandaged hand along the side of my face to bring my lips to his. We pulled away after a few moments of slow and sensual kisses. Both of us with smiles and foreheads touching, only a couple inches away from one another. I didn't have anything to say, only wanting the moment to last as long as it could. My wish came true as he pulled me into another long and deep kiss.