Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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"She kissed me." It took me a few seconds to process his admission, my eyes betraying me as they started to water. Why am I crying? I should be pissed... right? I should start throwing things around the room. Instead, I furiously tried to blink them away, refusing to let them fall. They kissed? I breathed in deeply, felt my chest shake, and pain speared me through the heart. It literally felt like my heart was tearing in two.

"Did you fuck her?" I asked, my voice strained. How can he do this to me? After everything I've done for him. After everything we've been through together, and he does this to me?

"No!" He shouted, "God, no, June!" It could be because I hadn't slept in about two days, but his answer wasn't enough. I had been worried about her. I could tell she was into him, but I trusted him enough not to do anything with her. Rick reached out for me, his hands shaking, but I smacked him away and jumped to my feet, my chest rising and falling vigorously. I should've known! I should've! All that shit that went down with Pete was all for her! It wasn't because he couldn't stand by and let her be abused. It was because he liked her! My sadness quickly dulled away, and anger took its place. I could feel my cheeks flush with fury as I started to pace. The tears stopped threatening to overflow, and my fist balled. I want to hit him so bad right now.

"She kissed me, June," Rick stressed as he looked at me, "I strictly went to apologize. I pushed her--"

"All of that bullshit," I seethe, my fist shaking with how much anger flowed within me, "was for her, wasn't it?" Rick kept quiet, his pleading blue eyes glued to me.

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked, genuinely looking confused. "The fight?" I nodded, not trusting myself to keep a level voice, "I couldn't just turn a blind eye! She was being abused! When Pete attacked me, I went to make sure she was okay. I asked her if she wanted help getting away from him, and that's when the fight started. I swear to you, June. I never looked at her that way,"

"Bullshit!" I yelled. The volume of my voice even took me by surprise. I hardly ever yell when I argue with someone.

"June," Rick whimpered, almost sounding like a little kid being scolded. He grabbed me roughly by the arms and pulled me in. "I would never do that to you! I couldn't just pretend like it never happened—it was eating me alive." My vision turned red. I have to get out of here before I say or do something I will regret.

"I need to step away," I said as I moved toward the front door, "We'll talk when I either have a nap or cool down."

"June!" I slammed the door and stormed down the steps, desperate for sleep.

~*~

I stood opposite Abraham, grabbing the dead walker by the legs and grunting as we lifted it. I didn't want to walk around not doing anything, and I didn't want the first thing for Carl to see if he woke up was my angry face. I decided the best way to help me calm down was to get rid of all the rotten bodies. We walked a few feet before swinging the body into the giant fire, a slight chuckle coming from the ginger man beside me.

"I love watching them burn," Abraham chuckled again. I nodded at him and walked towards the nearest body, grabbing it by the feet. "Well, damn, Little Red. What's got your panties all in a twist?" I rolled my eyes and watched as he grabbed the arms, helping me lift the body with ease.

"What's got you so angry?" he probed again. I huffed and started moving towards the fire, not really in the mood to talk about it. "Whose ass do I gotta kick?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it, Big Red, okay?" I grunted as we threw the body into the fire.

"Suit yourself," Abraham frowned, his eyes tearing away from the burning body to look at me, "but just holler when you want me or Dixon to kick some ass."