the great war (r.g)

nine

later that night, cora walked into deanna's huge home with izzy, still mentally preparing for the party. the house was bustling with people and laughter. the outfit jessie had imagine had been more than lerfect. it was a nicer red shirt and a pair of jeans. a simple outsit that cora would have been happy to doe in. she sighed and looked at her daughter to say "i am already ready to leave."

"me too," izzy said. although as soon as enid walked by, izzy left her mom and trailed after her like a lost puppy. it was cute.

so cora was standing there, alone, scanning the room for someone to talk to. then, once she spotted maggie, a swarm of people crowded her. people she had seen and might've briefly talked to but didn't know the name of a single one of them. "i'm so glad you're here, cora."

"i love that top, its adorable."

"there are wonderful snacks in the kitchen. it's just through that door."

"would you like a glass of champagne?" that was an offer that cora couldn't pass up.

"i'd love one," she answered. the woman who
might've been named marie, led cora into the kitchen where the champagne was. there was a man at the champagne bottle, pouring a glass. marie stole one and handed it to cora. "thank you so much," she said. cora took the drink gratefully as marie walked away.

she scanned the room, sipping her drink, looking for maggie again but lost her. she could see carl, enid, izzy, and ron bent over the table playing some kind of card game. abraham and michonne were in the corner discussing something that looked important. cora wasn't surprised that daryl was no where to be found. glenn was talking to noah in the dining room and cora was all alone. she was very content to sit in the kitchen and snack on the chips while peacefully people watching.

after she finished her glass of champagne, she walked over to the champagne guy who offered her one after pouring his own. "having a rough night?" he asked. thats when she decided she was going to be social. no more sitting alone, drinking like a woman going through a divorce. in one swift move, cora grabbed the drink from the man's hand and dumped it down her throat, downing the entire glass (granted it wasn't filled up all the way).

once she set the bottle down on the counter she looked back at the champagne guy and said, "not a rough night, just trying to build up the confidence to deal with a room full or strangers." the guys eyes widened as if she said something insulting.

when she looked back to the crowd, she locked eyes with rick. he seemed to have been watching her from across the room. she felt a heat flush into her cheeks. probably from embarrassment of just being seen scarfing down champagne. yeah, that was the reason. rick's eyebrows went up slightly as he nodded, like he was impressed. that made cora giggle stupidly like she was in high school again.

she turned around to grab two glasses from champagne guy. when cora faced the crowd again, she was a little surprised to see rick still looking at her. she wasn't disappointed, though. cora jerked her head toward the back door, silently asking if rick would like to join her outside for a glass. he nodded and the two made their way through the crowd to meet each other on the back patio. the only people out there was a drunk couple awkwardly dancing in the grass. cora and rick decided to sit on a bench on the other side of the yard. "you clean up nice," rick said, referring to her outfit. for the second time tonight, cora felt her cheeks flush.

"you don't look too bad yourself," she told him. she wasn't lying, either. rick looked more put together than normal. it fit him well.

"it didn't look like you were having too much fun in there," rick mentioned.

"hey, i was enjoying that champagne," cora said, acting hurt by ricks assumption. "you didnt look too much happier to be there. i wasn't the one who was staring." rick looked down as a small smile crept across his face. "but in all seriousness, i was not having the time of my life."

"why's that?" rick asked.

"honestly, i dont know. at first i thought it was the strangers in the room but the more i think about it, i'm fine with them," cora explained. "maybe it's the fact that i feel like we shouldn't be partying when the world as we knew it is over." cora felt stupid after saying that, like it wasn't a valid reason to be a downer at a party. "well, i mean..."

"you don't have to explain yourself. it makes sense," rick said. he looked over to cora and, again, they made eye contact. it was longer than it probably should've been, but cora was okay with that.

it could've been the champagne or cora's mind playing games but she could've sworn rick moved in closer to her. the moment was over quicker than it came once one of the people in the couple squealed. rick and cora both looked over and the man was folded over with his hands on his knees as the woman was looking down at him. "how much do you wanna bet he's going to puke," cora said. just as she suspected, the guy keeled over and puked.

rick threw his head back to laugh as cora leaned into him, laughing as well. she looked up at rick as he was laughing. he must've felt cora's eyes on him, as he looked down at her. the laughter faded as they both realized how close their faces - no, their lips - were to one another.

cora barely realized that the party was still going on in full swing because this time, cora knew she wasn't imagining rick inching closer to her until their foreheads were touching, lips just inches away from one another.