Rick's Ruby

Chapter 23

"I have never been so happy to see you." She breathed into Rick's neck as he held her tight. Allowing herself a moment of pure relief before pushing back and looking up at Paul as he grabbed her almost as tightly, she gestured back at Daryl. "We had to jump into the river, he hit his head pretty bad.

Paul let her go and went over to Daryl's side. "I'm fine, come on, man." Daryl pushed Paul's probing fingers away from the cut on his head and got to his feet grumpily.

"Can we please get out of here, now?" Ruby sighed, anxious to leave the darkening trees behind.

"Definitely." Paul nodded, looking back at Daryl. "You walk ok?"

Daryl gave him a flat look and stepped past them a little slower than he normally would. He was headed slightly off direction, and Paul took the lead, steering them back toward the lake and cave. Ruby and Rick followed, but he hadn't yet let go of her. From the look on his face and the strength in his hands, she doubted he ever would again and the thought sent a delightful shiver up her spine. She'd missed this, just wished it didn't take something like almost dying to bring it back out.

They turned out to be much closer than she had realized. Five minutes and two straggling walkers knifed later, and they were emerging into the field between the forest and the road they had driven in on. Rick hadn't taken his eyes off her yet, and when they made their way down the hill and around to the cave, he led her away from it and right down into the water. She could hear the exclamations of relief from the group as Paul and Daryl got to them, and she looked back to see Carol sweep down on Daryl quickly. In stereotypical fashion, he swatted the attention away, and she smiled a little as she and Rick rounded a large boulder and got to the water's edge.

"After the river, this isn't looking as fun." She said dryly, confused as to what he was doing. He was so silent it was making her a little unnerved. He kicked off his shoes and held her hand tighter as he led her into the lake. When she was chest deep, he stopped and turned completely toward her. The look in his eyes was so intense it took her breath away, and she froze when he began to brush the dirt and blood from her face and neck with his hands.

Finally, he spoke, but it was low, and she had to watch his lips. "I am never... ever letting you go again."

"I'm fine." She said, hoping to console him.

He set his jaw and gave a slight shake of his head. "I didn't even see you leave. I am so sorry. You did it because I wasn't really here."

She frowned. "Rick, I didn't go out there because you weren't spending enough time with me. I left middle school a long time ago."

He frowned himself, but just looped his arms around her and untied the bathing suit top she wore. They were hidden from sight, and she deeply doubted anyone would come to them after seeing the way Rick led her away so pointedly, so she relaxed against him as he washed more grime from her skin. Reveling in the feeling of being in the arms of someone who loved her deeply and wanted her, of being so very safe in such an unsafe world, they stayed there far into the darkness of the evening.

Rick watched the group sleep from his position at the cave entrance. He should have been exhausted with the level of stress running through his body earlier, but he was wired. He'd almost lost Ruby, and it terrified him more than he'd even imagined it. He'd known he'd long ago fallen for the girl, but until he realized he'd never see her again (or worse, find her as one of those things), it hadn't really registered to him. When he'd taken her into the lake with him, it was more than to apologize. It was to feel her under his fingers and tell his shaken brain she was still there. Still breathing and real, that he hadn't screwed up so badly that he'd want to die. To love her the way she should have been doing, the way he hadn't loved other things in his life the way she should have and lost them.