Savior

Confrontation

Rick couldn't calm his nerves as he drove to Shane's, he was thinking of every bad outcome there was of course. As he got closer, his heart began to beat faster, feeling like it was about to jump out of his chest. Rick and Shane had been friends for almost their whole lives, he didn't want to see their friendship end because of such a small thing. Or was it as small as he thought?

Rick pulled into the driveway, sitting in his car for a few minutes to collect himself. He stepped up to the door and knocked, waiting impatiently for Shane. As he heard the door release it's lock, his heart seemed to skip a beat. Shane quickly opened the door, meeting Ricks face, "Hey" Shane said, no emotion in his voice. Of course, always hiding his emotions. "Hi, uh," Rick replied quietly, raising his head to look at Shane. "I just wanted to have a conversation with you about yesterday. It's been botherin' me." He added, scratching the back of his neck. Shane sighed, "What about it?" He scoffed, Rick immediately sensed the anger rise in Shane. This is gonna be fun.

"It was uncalled for, what you said. It's none of your business, you don't even know the guy for fucks sake." Rick couldn't help blurting out the last few words from anger. Shane let out a small laugh, "So he is a faggot then? Since you're all pissed over this." Shane began to laugh louder, "I'm just gonna assume here that you're also one, right? Coming over here to defend your little suicidal boyfriend, Negan." He spat.

Ricks anger was about to spill over the edge, he tried as hard as he could to control it, but despite his efforts, it all came pouring over like one big waterfall. Rick swung his fist forward, colliding with Shane's jaw. He stepped back in agony, holding his face, trying not to stumble over. "Never say his name again" Rick commanded as he got closer to Shane, but out of nowhere, Shane swung back, his fist meeting Ricks lip, which was now dripping blood. He didn't even feel any pain, he couldn't, there was still too much anger inside him.

"How about you just leave and go back to fucking that freak." Shane snarled, trying to catch his breath. Rick wiped away the blood pouring from his lip, "You should be lucky he's not here helping me." Shane took his words as a challenge, hitting Rick again, this time in his eye. Rick almost fell to the ground as everything around him was spinning and his vision was going black. He rubbed his eye, regaining his vision slowly as he stepped up to Shane, using the rest of his force to hit him in the stomach, causing him to finally fall, gasping for air.

Without saying another word, Rick walked back to his car, leaving Shane on the ground. He didn't care about him in this moment, he got what he deserved.

Rick opened the front door, closing it behind him and slipping off his boots. He slowly walked into the living room where he met Negan. "Rick..." Negan said concerned, rushing over to the hurt man, looking closely at his wounds and noticing the collar of his shirt covered in blood. "What the fuck did he do to you?" Negan whispered, though he was angry. He helped Rick walk to the bathroom where he sat down on the toilet seat. He lifted Ricks shirt off of him gently, being careful around his face. "I'm so sorry, Rick I-" "Stop, it's not your fault." Rick mumbled, trying his hardest to talk.

Negan took a wash cloth from the cabinet and wet it with warm water, gently cleaning up the wound on Ricks lip. He pulled back, wincing in pain, "Fuck, i'm sorry" Negan pulled Rick back towards him by the back of his neck and continued to clean the wound carefully.

"I'm gonna go get you a new shirt, go wait on the couch." Negan said as he helped Rick stand up, "No. I'm fine, just get me a pair of sweatpants." Rick insisted, walking out of the bathroom towards the living room.

Negan still came back with a shirt, in case Rick changed his mind. "Do you need help changing?" Negan asked softly, handing Rick the sweatpants. "I'm ok, thank you." Rick unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants, taking them off but then sat down on the couch, not bothering to put pants on. Negan gave him a concerned look, then grabbed the sweatpants from the table. "Come on, let me help you." Negan offered, and if Rick wasn't so beat up and exhausted, he would've refused Negans help, but he could barely let out a whisper.