Those Who Remain

Chapter 12

I woke up to the sound of the bathroom door opening and looked over to see Ridge walk out in just a towel. He rummaged through his backpack to find a new pair of shorts, and I just watched him as he did, basking in the sight of him in just a towel.

It was weird to think about that fact we had just made our feelings known less than a week ago and yesterday we had made our relationship official. After two years of hoping and waiting on both our parts, we had finally figured out we were willing to give it a shot, and I couldn't be happier about it.

He noticed my staring as he turned around to go back into the bathroom, so I asked, "How was the shower?"

"Cold," he replied, throwing me a wink of his shoulder as he walked back into the bathroom and shut the door. I shook my head at his antics, highly entertained.

I closed my eyes again, quickly falling back to sleep, but right before I was, I felt Ridge put his arm around my waist, kiss the side of my head, and whisper, "I love you," in my ear making a smile grow on my face as I fully drifted off.

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I woke up again to knocking on the door, and after I shook myself fully awake, I realized that it was Dean signaling that it was time for someone to switch him for watch. I looked over at Ridge to see him still fast asleep, so I got up and opened the door.

"I'll take over. How's Lily doing?" I asked.

"She's sleeping like a rock, but it seems like her toe is bothering her a little bit," he replied.

"Is she awake?" I asked him, "I forgot to check it yesterday because of everything that happened."

"No she's still asleep," he said, "Just check it in the morning. I'm sure it's fine, just bruised."

"Okay," I said back to him, "You should get some sleep. I'm sure you're tired."

"Actually, can you just sit up and watch with me? I'm not tired, but I started to get lonely," he asked me, looking somewhat sheepish and that was the exact moment that I knew we made the right decision in taking him with us at the motel.

"Of course," I said, walking into their room and shutting the door behind me taking care to be quiet so as to not wake Ridge or Lily. "You know," I started, "you remind me a lot of my grandfather. He was one of the nicest people on the planet and protected those who had not wronged him. I feel you're like that."

His eyes teared up when I said that, and I started to feel bad because my intention was to let him know that I thought highly of him.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but he beat me to it, "My wife told me something similar to that before she passed last year. She had breast cancer that we caught late, and they said that we could try chemotherapy, but she didn't want that."

"I'm sorry," I said back quietly, "I had no idea."

"It's not your fault, but I wanted to tell you that because I want to say thank you," he said which surprised me, "The last year had been so lonely, and when the pandemic hit, I didn't know if I could make it through it on my own. I saw you out that window, and I couldn't let you be attacked like that."

"I never followed you guys intentionally, but I did know that there were strongholds in Tennessee because I heard it on the radio. I am glad I found you guys because now I feel that I have a purpose in this world."

A tear ran down the side of my face and he reached out to wipe it away as I replied, "You feel that way in just a few days?"

"I can't explain it, but you guys are like my "replacement family" for a lack of better terms," he said with a small, quiet laugh, "I never thought I would find that again."