Broken Road »» Rick Grimes (TWD)

Chapter 67

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"What?" I asked Tara and Maggie as I entered the kitchen with their eyes glued to me.

"Rick is here." Tara replied, her voice hushed.

"Why?" I inquired.

"He told Glenn he wants to talk to you." Maggie replied.

"Should be fun." I grumbled as I walked through the living room to get to the front door.

I walked out onto the porch, finding Rick speaking to Daryl before they both directed their attention to me.

"Maggie said you wanted to talk to me." I stated, looking to Rick.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" He asked.

"Sure." I sighed, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"I'll go in." Daryl stated, quickly walking inside the house and leaving me and Rick on the porch alone.

"You bring your girlfriend today?" I asked as I leaned against the porch railing.

"She's not my girlfriend." He replied as he walked to the end of the porch.

I crossed my arms and looked down at the chipped paint on the porch before looking over to Rick.

"I'm sorry." He replied, his eyes meeting mine.

"What changed? Was it the whore you met at White Oak?" I asked, feeling tears prick at my eyes as I immediately began going off.

"I cheated on you. She kissed me, I kissed back and one thing lead to another." He stated, the color gone from his face as he confessed to me.

I felt as if the air had been knocked out of me even though I had already thought about that possibility.

"I regretted it as soon as it happened. I was angry at myself, I'm still angry. I couldn't look at you anymore because I knew what I had done. I wanted you to get fed up and leave me first so I wouldn't have to tell you what I did." He explained, his voice cracking as a tear fell from his eye.

"When?" I asked, feeling tears pool in my eyes.

"While I was recovering at White Oak." He answered.

"Wow." I breathed as I placed a hand to my forehead and attempted to blink back my tears.

"I hate myself for it. I can't forgive myself and I won't. What we had was something no one has anymore and I ruined it. I hurt you and I'm still hurting you. All I can say is I'm sorry and I wish I could take it all back." He replied, taking a step toward me.

"Why did you do it?" I asked, forcing myself to look into his eyes.

"I don't know." He answered.

"Who was it?" I inquired.

"Lana." He replied, his eyes darting behind me.

I nodded my head and laughed before wiping the fallen tears from my cheeks.

"I had to tell you the truth." He stated, the pain in his eyes causing me to laugh.