Stay With Me

July 16, 9 PM

***Amie's POV***
I'm so confused. Confused about everyone's reaction. Confused about the proposal. Confused most about why Lori gave me her ring. She barely knows me! I really don't know what to say. What to think. What to do.
I wasn't paying attention to anything until I heard Carl snoring.
"Babe. Wake up. We should go to the tent."
He jolted awake.
"Huh? Oh. Amie, I don't think we should stay in the tent."
"Why not? I'll be fine."
"It's not that. Scarlett's stuff is still in there. Are you sure you want to deal with that?"
"What other choices do we have?"
"I've already talked to Hershel. He said we could stay up here as long as we want. As long as we keep it clean."
"Wow. Okay. That works."
"Yeah. Now scoot over."
He jumped on the bed, almost making me fall off.
"Jackass," I giggled.
"You know, Sheriff. I could get used to this."
"I could too."
"Do you think we'll be able to have an actual wedding?"
"I hope so. We should plan it. Just in case."
"Okay. Wanna make a run?"
"Isn't that Glenn's job?"
"Yeah. We can make him a list. Make sure he gets everything we need. He goes on one every couple of days. I'll ask him tomorrow."
"Okay. Wanna start a list?"
"Sure."
I pulled the pen and paper out of the drawer.
"Do you need a dress?"
"Hells to the no. You ever ride a horse?"
"A few times. Why?"
"We are having our wedding on horseback. I'll ask Maggie if we can borrow the horses. You will be sitting on one. I'll ride up the aisle. We say our vows. Then we gallop away. Or trot, if you want."
"Wow. Was that your dream wedding?"
"Pretty much."
"Okay. There's a western store in town. We drove by it. We could get some new boots. Maybe even some tack. That is what it's called, right?"
"Yeah. I wonder how hard it would be to clear out. We could get a lot of useful stuff from in there."
"Like what?"
"Weapons, clothes, shoes, might even be some food."
"Cool. I could use some new shoes."
"Me too. I left my boots behind. All I could grab was my Converse and my Uggs. Unfortunately."
"What else do we need?"
"I wanna go get some flowers. For a bouquet and to braid into my hair and the horse's manes. I'll have someone take me to get some."
"Who? What kind of flowers do you want?"
"Maggie or Carol or Andrea. I want sunflowers and Cherokee Roses. And I think Beth has the dress I want."
"Okay. I love you princess."
"I love you too Sheriff."
***The Next Morning***
***Carl's POV***
I woke up barely able to breathe.
What the fuck?
I looked down and saw Amie laying on my stomach, her hip bone digging into my still-tender bullet wound. Her head and feet were hanging off the side of the bed. I somehow managed to slip out of bed without waking her up.
I walked downstairs and grabbed a bottle of water. I grabbed a packet of Kool-Aid I had hidden under a chair cushion and dumped it in the bottle.
I wonder why no one else is up.
I looked at the grandfather clock.
4:30AM
Fuck my life. I sat at the kitchen table for a little while, until I heard the clock strike 6. A minute later, Hershel walked down the stairs. He sat at the table with me.
"Good morning Hershel."
"Good morning Carl. Why are you up so early?"
"Amie was laying on me. It hurt my bullet wound."
"I see. How is she?"
"She's doing good. Could you do us a favor?"
"That depends."
"Could you hold a wedding ceremony for us?"
"I think so. I could even have the girls make a cake."
"That would be great! Amie wanted Glenn to get some stuff from the western store in town."
"Alright. I think I heard Maggie say she was going with him."
"Okay. Thank you Hershel."
He nodded. Amie walked down the stairs, her hair a tangled mess.
"Good morning beautiful."
She flipped me off as she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed water and a packet of instant coffee. She dumped it in and took a sip.
"Fuck this shit."
"Does the pregnant lady need chocolate?"
"No. I need coffee that doesn't taste like shit."
"I can do that. Give it here."
"Touch my coffee and I'll fucking stab you."
"Point made."
"I'm gonna go get clothes out of the tent."
"Okay. Bring me my grey skinny jeans and my black tank top and purple flannel."
"Okay. Do you want your bracelets too?"
"Yes please."
"Alright. I might talk to Glenn while I'm out there."
"Whatever. See if anyone's making decent coffee."
"Mkay."
I walked outside and was slightly shocked by the noise. Andrea and Carol were hauling water, Dad was making a fire, Maggie was collecting eggs, and Beth was milking the cow. I decided to go talk to my dad.
"Hi Dad. Are you making coffee?"
"No. We ran out. Why?"
"Amie only has instant."
"Oh. Make her something."
"She threatened to stab me. And she would do it."
"Yeah."
"Where's Mom?"
"In the RV. Why?"
"I need to talk to her."
"About the ring?"
"Yeah. Unless you could tell me why she did it."
"It was her great grandmother's. It has been passed down. Same with mine. So I want you to take it."
"No. Dad. I can't accept this."
"Yes you can. And you will."
"Wow. Okay. Have you seen Glenn?"
"Yeah. He's over by the RV."
"Okay. Thanks." He waved as I walked over to the RV.
"Hey Glenn."
"Yeah?"
"When are you going on the next run?"
"Today. What do you need?"
"I don't know. Amie has the list."
"Okay. Just get it to me before I leave."
"Alright. I'll go grab it."
"OK. I'll be here."
I ran back to the house, stopping at the tent to grab our clothes. I grabbed everything and ran to the house.
"Amie!"
"What?"
"Where are you?"
"In the kitchen!"
I walked in and handed her her clothes.
"Did you finish the list?'
"Almost. I have one more thing to add to it."
"Okay. Can you go get dressed and get it please?"
"Yeah. I'll be down in five."
"Okay."
I sat on the couch and waited for her to come down. She finally walked down, fully dressed.
"You look beautiful today."
"Thank you. This is the only outfit I don't have blood on."
"I see. Mom found some Goo-Gone in one of the cars on the highway. You could see if she could get it out."
"I'm not worried about it. It'll just get stained again anyways."
"Okay. Do you want me to make you some coffee?"
"How are you gonna do that?"
"My mom worked at a cafe. I can make a lot of the drinks they served."
"No chai. I'm thinking a vanilla latte."
"Okay. I can do that. I'll run the list out to Glenn first."
"Okay.''
I went out and gave the list to Glenn and went back in to make Amie's latte.

Latte recipe
3cups milk
2teaspoons vanilla extract
2cups freshly-brewed coffee
Directions
Heat milk in small saucepan on low heat until warm, stirring briskly and constantly with wire whisk to create foam. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Stir coffee into milk mixture. Serve immediately.

I handed her the latte. She took a sip, and her eyes grew.
" This is the best thing I've ever had! Where did you learn how to make that?"
"My mom worked at a cafe. During the summer she would take me with her. They would get busy and I would have to take some of the orders. I was famous for my vanilla latte."
"Damn. This is fucking amazing."
"I know. Glenn should be back in a couple hours. You wanna go see about fitting some of the tack?"
"Yeah. Lemme finish my latte first."
"Okay. Will you teach me some stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Cool. I haven't been riding for like 5 years. Or longer."
"I haven't been since just before this happened. I don't know how well I'll do."
"That's what practice is for."
She finished her latte and we raced to the horse pasture.
***A/N***
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! I haven't updated in forever and I'm so sorry!!! I've been really busy and I never have my phone so writing is a pain in the ass. So I will get the last 3 or 4 chapters up in the next week.