Rick's Ruby

Chapter 22

Ruby wasn't surprised to see Rick up and on watch when she woke, but she was surprised to see how calm he looked. Sitting at the entrance to the cave, looking out over the lake as the bright sun lit up the day, she laid there on her pallet between where his had been and Paul's, watching him. Finally, she pushed the blanket off and got up quietly, making sure not to wake the others.

He looked up when she got to him, and gave her a small smile as she sat down.

"Did you get any sleep?" She whispered and he gave a tiny nod.

"Enough. I wanted to watch the sun come up."

"You should have woken me. I would have kept you company." She tilted her face up at the sun, letting it warm her.

He watched her closely, his expression unreadable. "So, what do you think about this place?"

She thought about it, tucking her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. "I have to say, I never imagined I'd sleep in a cave. Or feel like it was as safe as it was." She looked over at him and stuck an appreciative lip out. "It wasn't half bad."

He grinned and looked back out over the water, nodding a little to himself. Ruby could see he wasn't ready to be fully back to normal, he was still much quieter than usual and that was saying a lot. A chatterbox he was not. They sat there together in silence until the others began to stir behind them, waking for the day.

Daryl took the girls above and to a private place to use the bathroom, and he and Carol chatted to each other on the way back, quietly. Ruby loved to see them interact, Carol's searching gazes and both of their secret, shy smiles. When they rounded the bend and got back to the lake, she was shocked to see Carl and Rick waist deep in the lake, Paul keeping watch from the shore.

"Look at that." She mused, walking up beside her friend, and he chuckled.

"Kid didn't want to go in, Rick got him to."

"Very nice." Ruby murmured, and felt Daryl come up on her other side. He gave her a sideways grin and nodded out at the water.

"Told ya."

"You love saying that, don't you?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged.

"Nah. Just that it's usually true." He said dryly and she laughed softly as he walked away to help Carol with something.

"Let's get in, too, Ruby." Beth took Daryl's place beside them and stuck her little hands on her hips.

"What the hell." Ruby shrugged, turning to follow the girl back to the cave. "You do realize it's going to be four degrees in there, right?"

"Don't seem to bother Rick and Carl." Beth grinned and they dug through their bags on the floor. They didn't have much, it was true, but there were certain things one had to have in this world and a swimsuit was one of those things. Being in water and needing to stay ready to escape at any moment dictated that. With towels held up for privacy in the small space they changed and Ruby noticed for the first time just how much weight she seemed to have lost in the last few weeks. Her deep purple two piece was getting big and she knotted the sides tighter to keep it up, emerging back into the sunlight with Beth and Maggie.

The girls dove into the water despite the cold, but Ruby paused at the shoreline and gave one last look around the small camp before following them. It was a rare moment of peace, the kind that can only come after a extremely traumatic event. The kind that, in the old world, got buried under stupid troubles like bills and drama and life, but that seemed even more poignant now. Ruby tossed their towels on the ground, gave Paul a bright smile, and waded in to join her friends.