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"we had to keep going, i'm sorry." michonne apologizes toward maggie, sympathy was clear in her distressed tone. me, lola, michonne, rosita, and maggie were standing in a close circle near the front gates of alexandria, michonne and a few of the others had just gotten back. yet without glenn and nicholas, rick and daryl are out there as well.
the attack on alexandria happened just a couple hours ago, and michonne got back with a few others a couple minutes before our current conversation. "so they're still out there?" lola questions with concern towards michonne, and she nods in answer to lola's question.
maggie started to tear up, and cupped a hand over her mouth in shock. "he said if he got stuck, he would find a way to send us a signal."
"a signal?" me and maggie question in sync unintentionally. michonne nods yet again, and i quickly processed this information. glenn will find a way, i remember him promising me and the atlanta group he would find a way to save the sheriff, and get back safely.
luckily he did, and even though i was angry it brought the walkers towards us, rick and i reunited and next thing we know i'm his wife.
"hey nik?" rosita questions, i look her way, "i know after the attack you were feeling pretty sick, you feeling better now?" after the attack rosita came by to see if i were alright, and i asked her to help lola clean up a little while i went to go see the doctor, and i figured out what was wrong with me. "i'm good, don't worry—"
"open the gate!"
the manly shout from a distance behind the alexandria gate gained my attention fast.
"open the gate now!"
my blood ran cold, and chills covered my bare arms. rick, i know it's him, i know it is. me and michonne looked at each other before running towards the gate, we both knew someone was out there, but i know it's him.
me and michonne pull open the gate with no hesitation, there i saw rick covered in sweat, running towards us with all the strength he had left in him. walkers were closing in on him as well, "rick c'mon!" i shout in fear, waving my hand towards me, c'mon rick, make it, please.
if it were one second later he would've been gone, surrounded by the walkers. as michonne and maggie rushed to successfully close the gate, rick falls into my arms from fatigue. he was dripping from sweat, and his shirt was ripped to shreds. his breathing was fast, i could feel his heartbeat thumping twice a second against my chest. "rick." i call as i cup his cheeks, bringing his eye gaze toward me, bunches of walkers were heard snarling and growling behind the gate.
when his sorrowful eyes met mine, my heart broke, it was easy to tell he didn't mean to bring these walkers back, he didn't. he made a mistake, and he tried, and sometimes, trying is the best thing you can do. he just shakes his head, leaning his head back onto my chest from how tired he was. i wrapped my arms securely around him, as of now i have to be there for him, i know the kids will be excited he's back.
•
it's been an hour or so since rick got back, and so far he's been around the community busy. carl and lola are out and about with the stroller taking judith on a walk, while i cleaned the house. aaron helped me fix my front door, which i'm grateful that he did because i wouldn't be able to sleep with a broken door like that.
"finally." i mutter to myself as i throw away the last paper towel i used to clean up the blood mess. i went through a whole roll of paper towels to clean up my tile floor, i scrubbed and wiped like my life depended on it.
the stain is gone, but now i just have a trash bag full of bloody towels. i slowly stood up from the floor, where the sickly feeling came back too quickly. i took in a couple deep breaths to help handle it, i have to contain it, i'm not ready for the talk yet.
as i grabbed the trash bag by the handles, i made my way towards the front door, where it suddenly flew open. i let out a small gasp at the abrupt interruption, but my slight fear was gone when my eyes took in the fact it was rick.
in reassurance i patted my back pocket to make sure it was still there, it was. his face showed slight confusion as he rested his hand on the silver doorknob, "whateya' doin'?" i let the trash bag slip from my sweaty fingers and hit the wooden floor, "um—well what does it look like i'm doing sherlock?"
rick just chuckles as he closes the door behind him, leaving us two standing in the room, "sorry—dumb question, are you okay? you looked startled there."
i was quick to answer along with a nod, "yup—i'm fine, i just—when the door flew open i got scared because that's what the man i told you did—except he broke it." i couldn't help but chuckle.
rick rests his weight on one leg, he smiles, "well i'm sorry about that."
i shrug, "you're okay." i pause to sigh, "i'm gonna just take a shower i think, i have time."
as i made my way down the hallway to the downstairs shower, i thought about how i have no idea on why i got the sudden idea to shower, it'd be good anyways considering—never mind.
i open up the shower glass door, reach in, and turn on the water. i heated it up to a perfect warm temperature my mind desired for now. i turned around to close the door when i saw rick shutting it for me, only he was inside the bathroom as well.
my mind immediately got the hint, i mean why the hell not? "i got time too." rick says under his breath as he takes off his belt. i chuckled, i truly missed rick because i was stressed about him being out there, i can only hope glenn makes it back to for our group and maggie.
we both stripped ourselves bare from our clothes, and got into the water. as the gushing water sprayed down onto us, i grabbed shampoo and squeezed the goopy substance onto his head.
as his arms wrapped securely around my waist, i massage the shampoo into his hair gently. i took a step back in the shower and made him follow me, that way the water could gush onto his head and get out the shampoo. i pushed his hair back and heard the remaining water in his hair drop behind him. unintentionally, my eyes met his, and i couldn't help but smile. he planted a long kiss on my lips, and when he pulled away the first thing he uttered to me was, "i love you."
my smile shined immediately, "i love you too."
with his arms still wrapped around my waist, i did the exact same and buried my face into his dripping chest. i felt rick stroke his fingers through my wet hair softly, i truly felt at peace knowing he was back home, with me, where he belongs. i just need to work up the courage to say what i need to tell him..
