In Hope Of Falling In Love (A Walking Dead Fanfic)

Chapter 46: Mending

Rick has his arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close; closer than he ever remembered them being.

She's warm and soft and she smells good, he notices, but she can't fix the hole in his heart.

He doesn't know what to say, how to tell her that many of the people she risked her life for are dead.

Glenn slipped away in his sleep from a bullet wound to the chest; he was so quiet in his last moments. Tyreese took a shot to the head and lies amongst the bodies scattered in the prison courtyard. Sasha, his sister, in all her grief, shot herself in the head.

Three people, three people he loved, all gone.

Daryl is in Beth's cell, bleeding out on her sheets from a shot to the stomach; no one knows if he'll wake up. Aislynn, Daryl's cousin and Carl's girlfriend, is glad to be alive after having a close call with a walker attempting to save Tyreese. 

She didn't, she couldn't, and all she's done is cry while Carl holds her, whispering words and telling her he loves her. It's not enough.

Rick tries to hold back tears, trying to forget about it but he can't, so now he's crying into Chloe's shoulder while she keeps him steady, rubbing his back.

"You'll be okay," she soothes. "I need you, your children need you, Rick. Everyone in this whole fucking prison needs you. We can't afford for you to forget who you are, to let the loses get to your head. In the end, we mend eachother, we do what has to be done."

Rick holds her, making sure to never lose her again, pulling her back to kiss her softly.

"I'll mend you," she whispers, her eyes holding back tears. "I'll do what has to be done."

Their lips meet in a quick kiss before she presses the side of her face against his chest, squeezing his torso.

"That's what we do," she sighs. "We fix eachother; we both need mending. I'm not scared of your baggage, I know about Lori and Shane and everything else, but if you're going to live you need hope. There's a spark of hope, but it's enough, right? Just to keep you going for son and your daughter and everyone else who has ever depended upon you."

"Thankyou," Rick whispers, kissing her forehead.

Something wet soaks through his shirt and Chloe's whole body shakes, and he finally realises she's crying and squeezes her tighter, not willing to let her go.

"I'm afraid of losing you," she says quietly, her voice mumbled through the material of his shirt. 

Rick rubs her back, trying to bring some comfort to her but instead she pulls back, separating herself from him.

"I hate that whenever I look at you, you're so distant. I hate that I may have already lost you and I don't know it. I'm falling in love with you, everything about you; the way you wake up in the morning, the way you smile at Carl and Judith, the way you laugh loudly, the way your eyes light up when you see everyone you love."

Chloe sits down on the bed, head in her hands, her body shivering in the late night cold. "I love you, Rick, and though I need you, everyone else needs you more. So I'll be pissed at myself if I let you stay in here instead of going and take care of the ones you love."

Rick slowly nods, the memories of her soft voice calling out his name as they both panted and moved as one only the night before. 

"I love you," he says, stepping towards her but she flinches away, falling to the ground in a crouch.

"I thought.. I thought you were going to hit me," she says bitterly, as though the statement brings back bad memories. Noticing the worry in his eyes, she stands, waving him off. "It was an old boyfriend, it was ages ago."

He kisses her again, savouring the sweet taste of her lips before they hear the screaming echoing through the prison halls.

I LOVE RICK AND CHLOE SO MUCH AS A COUPLE, WHAT ABOUT YOU GUYS?

PLEASE REVIEW AND LEAVE A LIKE OR A PREDICTION IN THE COMMENT SECTION, LIVE LONG AND PROSPER,

LOVE,

AMY XX.