𝙏he party continued into the night.
Adalyn was stuck to Rick, not leaving, not saying much. She had finished the first glass of wine and was halfway through a second. If this party didn't end soon, she was going to have to switch to beer just to feel normal.
She didn't question the sideways looks that Carol and Rick kept giving each other. Nor did she question Carol's lowered tone at the sight of Olivia, "Look, she's here, which means it's empty, so..."
"I'll go with you," Rick said as Adalyn looked between them, eyebrows furrowing with confusion.
"No, remember..." Carol said.
"You're invisible," Rick said with a chuckle.
"Mm-hmm," Carol agreed, and then she was gone.
"What's all that about?" Adalyn asked, looking up at Rick.
He shook his head. "I'll tell you later."
Adalyn wanted to press him, but then that woman was approaching, the man at her back. "Hey, Rick, this is my husband Pete," she said.
The man, Pete, stepped forward to shake Rick's hand. "Hey, good to meet you," he greeted with a good-natured smile. "I wanted to thank you for taking on being our constable. If we keep growing at this rate, we're gonna need even more."
"I hope so," Rick said.
"You want to come by my office next week?" Pete asked. "I'll take a look at you."
Rick raised an eyebrow, and Pete laughed. "And I probably should have said I was a doctor first," he said.
The woman chuckled. "I think it sounded nice either way."
She looked at Adalyn with a smile, holding out a hand. Adalyn hesitated, letting go of Rick just long enough to shake. "I'm Jessie," she said. "Nice to meet you."
"Adalyn," she replied. "Nice to meet you, too." Her mouth felt dry.
She shook hands with Pete before she took tight hold of Rick again. Jessie smiled as she assessed Adalyn. "I cut Rick's hair," she said. "If you ever want a cut, I'm happy to do it."
Adalyn just swallowed and nodded. Words failed her.
Pete took Rick's empty glass. "I'm going to go get us a refill," he said.
"Oh, I can do it," Jessie began, but her husband shook his head.
"I'm on it," he said, and then he was off.
Jessie flashed Rick and Adalyn a smile. "Having fun?" she asked.
Rick nodded. "Yes, I am," he said.
Adalyn hesitated. She let go of Rick again. This time she didn't take his hand after. "I'm going get some water," she said, and she left Jessie and Rick to talk, because clearly she wasn't needed in that conversation.
She didn't get water. She got a beer. Drank it in record time as she watched Jessie and Rick from across the room. She didn't like Jessie. That was plain enough for her to realize. She didn't know why. Jessie was perfectly nice, they probably would have gotten along if they had met before this all started.
But she was pretty, too.
And Adalyn decided that, for a woman with a husband, she was being way too nice to Rick. And for supposedly liking Adalyn, Rick was being way too nice to Jessie.
Maybe she was overthinking it, but that didn't feel like what was happening.
By the middle of her second beer, she finally felt that familiar head-clouding feeling.
Rick didn't notice when she left the party. Honestly, she was happy of it. She didn't want him asking questions.
She just went home.
The little guest bedroom she had taken up in felt entirely too small as she collapsed into the bed, not bothering change out of her clothes. The room was crushing her. Suffocating her. Sucking the air out of her lungs and making it feel like she couldn't goddamn breathe.
Rick Grimes wasn't allowed to have such a pull on her. Rick Grimes wasn't allowed to be able to just walk into her life and decide that he was going to be a part of it. The sheriff with his stupidly perfect blue eyes and the stupid but perfect way that he put everyone over himself wasn't allowed. And God did she miss that beard, but he still looked so good. He wasn't allowed to look that good.
Adalyn wasn't allowed to fall in love so easily, either.
That was impossible. That was never part of the plan. When she sat in the back of the truck, staring up at the stars as Abraham just drove, she pictured her future. Nowhere in that future was Rick Grimes. In fact, nowhere in that future did she live long enough to find community. To find home.
To actually find family after so many years of searching for it.
She didn't know how long she'd been lying there when she heard the sound of knocking on the door.
"Who's there?" she asked, words slurred to near unintelligibleness.
"It's Rick," he said, and that was really not what she needed then but her heart swelled the way it always did when she heard his voice. "No one knew you were leaving. I could've walked you back."
"You were busy," she said, face buried in the pillows. "I didn't want to be a bother."
He raised an eyebrow at that. "You don't bother me, Addy," he said.
"I'm too drunk to argue."
He moved to sit beside her. She moved away, but he just reached out, resting his hand on the center of her back, rubbing soothing circles. "You okay?"
No. In fact, she had never been less okay in her life.
"Yes."
Rick thought he knew pretty well when Adalyn was lying, and this was one of those moments.
He brought his legs up onto the bed, laying on his side, looking down at her. After a moment she turned onto her own side, staring him in the eyes.
"Hey," he greeted.
She managed a weak attempt at a smile that fell away in seconds. "Hey."
"Deanna wanted to know where you went. I told you got overwhelmed."
"Not too far off," Adalyn admitted.
Her head hurt already but she ignored it as Rick pulled her close, letting her bury her face in the crook of his neck. He kissed the top of her head, smoothing his hand up and down her back.
It took a long time for Adalyn to fall asleep. But she did, eventually. And Rick just stayed there, holding her in his arms.
