Those Who Remain

Chapter 14

Ridge and I were taking a nap since we were exhausted, but neither of us seemed to be able to sleep. We were both cuddled up in bed enjoying the silence. It was the first time we were not worried about zombies or looters since we started traveling.

I let out a content sigh, and Ridge left a lingering kiss on the back of my head. A small smile grew on my face at the action, and I turned around in his hold so I was facing him.

"Hey," he whispered and smiled, "comfortable?"

"Very," I said back snuggling in closer to his chest, but frowned when I realized his heart was absolutely racing, "What's wrong? Your heart is beating really fast."

"Well," he said with a nervous laugh, "I love you, and I still get kinda nervous around you," a blush grew on his face, "and I'm trying to work up the courage to ask you something."

I swooned internally when he said he still gets nervous around me, and now I'm curious about what he wants to ask me, "You don't need to be nervous around me. I love you too." He smiled at me, "You also don't need to be worried about asking me something. You know I'm an open book."

He kinda just looked at me, and I cocked my head to the side waiting for him to ask me the question. "Will you go on a date with me?"

I smiled really large, "That's what you're so nervous about asking? Of course I'll go on a date with you," I laugh a little, "We already made out heavily twice. I don't see why, of all things, asking me on a date is making you nervous." I made sure to keep my voice in a teasing tone so he knew I was joking around.

"It's the first time I asked," he said laughing as well, "Are you telling me you wouldn't be nervous asking me on a date?"

I didn't reply right away, so he connected the dots, "Hypocrite."

"What do you wanna do?" I asked him to get the heat off me, "Go out to dinner? Maybe go to a movie?"

He just shook his head, "I know this may be hard to believe, but I don't think movie theaters and restaurants are open. I was thinking maybe a picnic and walk around town."

"That sounds perfect," I said, laying my head back on his chest, "I wouldn't want anything else."

-----

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. I looked up with unfocused eyes to see what looked like my dad.

"Dad?" I asked just to be sure as I sat up, "Is that you?"

"It sure is Gem," he said, pulling me into his arms and out of Ridge's limp ones since he was still asleep.

"It's so good to see you," I said into his shoulder as we continued to hug, "Did everything go okay on your way here?"

"Ya, it was surprisingly uneventful," he said as he pulled away, "Come on, let's go catch up while he gets more sleep." He gestured to Ridge, and I silently complied as I fully stood up.

"So you went on a supply run?" I asked after we had shut the door and walked into the living room downstairs.

"Yes, I did. We went down to the local target to try and find some extra food for the kitchen," he replied as he sat down on the edge of the sofa.

"Is there a public kitchen?" I asked, and my dad nodded.

"The little pub up the street is inside the fence, so they turned that into the community kitchen," he replied, "There are about three hundred people left in the community, so they thought it best to set up a kitchen."