Savior

Unexpected Visit

The next morning Rick woke up groggy as ever, and late too. He figured he would wake up a little later than he normally did, but not this late. Looking over at the clock it read 11am. Rick was always up before 8, he rarely ever slept in.

Rolling out of bed he remembered what went on last night. Texting Negan, and talking to him. Rick really enjoyed it.

He made his way downstairs into the living room where Carl and Judith were watching tv. "Finally you're up, why did you sleep so late?" Carl asked, as he was always so nosy. "I went to sleep pretty late, just wasn't tired" "Mhm" Carl furrowed his eyebrows, knowing there was more than his dad was telling him.

"What?" Rick asked confused. Carl looked over at him again and giggled. "I know you were on the phone, I heard you talking." Why does this kid have such good hearing? "Well uh...yes, I was talking to someone." Rick confirmed. "What do you have like a girlfriend or something?" Without even thinking Rick instantly responded, "No, no. I don't have a girlfriend, Carl. Stop being so nosy." "Hey I got that from you" Carl laughed.

He's right, Rick is definitely the nosy type, but he knows when to stop. "Yeah, yeah" Rick rolled his eyes, holding back a chuckle. "Dad. It's fine if you do have a girlfriend, I won't be mad at you. It's already been two years, you deserve to be able to find someone." Carl's tone changed completely, he was serious now.

"Thank you Carl, but I don't have a girlfriend." Rick assured him again. Carl was quiet for a minute, slightly disappointed and confused. Who else would he be talking to? "So who were you talking to?" Of course Rick expected this question but he wasn't sure how to answer it. "A friend...Negan" Rick answered quietly. "Oh" Carl paused, hesitant on what to say. "I mean, if you have a boyfriend that's fine too, I don't care."

Rick was taken back by Carl's assumption, almost not believing what he said. He already knew his face was red, even without looking in a mirror. "What?" Ricks voice cracked, "It-it's not like that" Is it?

Carl immediately sensed his dad's nervousness...and his red cheeks. "Ok, if you say so." Carl turned around and continued watching tv. Without saying another word, Rick walked away into the kitchen.

Why would he even assume that? I know he has a big imagination but really? He thought to himself. I haven't even known the guy for long, but maybe....no Rick, stop. He snapped himself out of his thoughts, thinking he was crazy. "Enough" he mumbled.

Rick wasn't hungry, considering the conversation he and Carl just had. He made some coffee, just enough for one cup since he woke up so late. Once the coffee finished brewing, Rick took a cup from the cupboard and filled it up, then went to the living room to join Carl and Judith.

About 45 minutes later, Rick went back upstairs to his room, grabbing his phone. He expected to see a text from Negan, but there were no notifications. He quickly went into his messages, opening Negans text. Still nothing. Is he still sleeping? He can't be, it's way too late. Rick immediately texted Negan, "Hey, are you awake yet? I expected to get a text from you by now." He set down his phone and headed to the bathroom to shower.

As the hot water rained down on him, he started thinking, is Negan ok? I shouldn't be worried should I? No, he's probably fine, i'm overreacting. Throughout his shower, he tried to calm himself down, as he started to worry about Negan.

He let the water run a little longer before he got out, drying himself off and getting dressed. He ran to his phone to check for a text from Negan, but nothing. Rick noticed the small font that said "read at 12:04pm", now it was 12:42pm. He sent another text, "Are you ok?", instantly it said read. Rick convinced himself that something was wrong.