Scarlett (Rick Grimes/OC)

Chapter 14

Rick answers a few more questions and I just watch him intently from the back. I can tell that he's stressed and worried, but he's doin' a good job a' not collapsin' under the pressure right now. When he finally hops down off the table, he comes stridin' back ta' where we're all standin' and immediately starts delegatin' work out.

"Alright ya'll, we gotta get this meetin' goin'. Tyreese, Daryl, Michonne, go find the others and get ta' the meetin' room. Hershel, Glenn, ya'll go ta' the meetin' room right now. Sasha, Scarlett, ya'll find Beth, Maggie, Carl, and Judith and go down ta' the infirmary with Caleb and stay there, understand?" Rick pauses, an eyebrow raised, and when no one says anything, he goes on. "Don't go anywhere secluded alone, and that goes fer all a' ya'll." Everyone nods and then Rick sighs. "This is gonna be OK, ya'll, I promise. Just fer right now, things are gonna be a little messy."

"We know," I say quietly. "We trust you."

Rick smiles at me just the smallest bit, and I just wanna kiss him.

{~~~}

Sometime after Rick sent us away ta' the infirmary, Michonne came ta' get all of us. The whole prison congregated in the yard and watched Rick and Daryl deliver a plan involvin' doubled watches, a curfew of sorts, and the implication of a buddy system. Nobody's supposed ta' go anywhere by themselves, especially after dark, and if you're caught out after curfew doin' somethin' suspicious, there could be consequences for both women and men. Even though it's a woman that did the killin' everybody's under suspicion.

The rowdy group a' people that were callin' fer blood were satisfied by this, but we now face a different problem: scared people packed tight in one area. All of a sudden, people are lookin' at each other different. At dinner, people kept lookin' around like they were expectin' someone ta' jump out and get 'em from somewhere. They held their kids close and didn't let 'em run around like normal, and when dinner was over, everyone pretty much went ta' their cells and stayed there.

I'd love nothin' more than ta' go collapse in bed and sleep for a million hours, but I have watch, and anyway, I have no idea where I could sleep. It's been mandated that anybody in the cellblocks has ta' sleep with at least one other person in the cell with 'em at any and all times, and now since Michonne is pretty much a permanent installation in Daryl's room, I don't qualify ta' sleep in my own bed anymore, and after a gruelin' three-hour watch shift on limited sleep with Beth, who damn well talked my ear off, I'm not exactly thrilled at the news.

Thinkin' about Beth's high, annoyin' voice makes the headache beatin' against the middle a' my forehead that much worse, so I start ta' think about who I need ta' go ask fer a bed while I pack an outfit and my hairbrush into a little bag ta' take with me.

I could always go ask Glenn and Maggie fer somewhere ta' sleep, but they're a couple and I know that they treasure their time together. Michonne and Daryl would let me sleep with 'em, but I know they'd be uncomfortable the whole time I'm in the room, and I hate makin' people feel uncomfortable. Hershel's a possibility, but hell, I think the old codger should be allowed some time peaceful time ta' himself, seein' that he keeps this place from collapsin' on a daily basis. That just leaves Rick, but I'm sure he's got Carl and Judith in his room with him, and I don't know how he'd feel about them seein' us even remotely together like that. Judith doesn't matter so much on account a' the fact that she's so little, but Carl isn't little and he's already got his suspicions about us. Shit, he may even know a little, but still, I don't wanna make him think his daddy's replacin' his mama right away or somethin'. I'm bone tired though, and I gotta sleep, so I might as well just go and see if Rick'll let me.

After I finish packin' my little bag, I head out quietly ta' the hallway that Rick's room is in. I walk real fast down ta' his door and lightly tap it with my knuckles, throwin' one quick glance down the dark hallway out a' habit. Man, I hate this part a' the prison at night.

Rick opens the door seconds after I knock and stands there, almost like he's surprised ta' see me. His face softens though, and he leans in the doorjamb easily. "Hey," he says quietly, and he smiles at me kinda fondly, which makes me happy even though I'm tired enough ta' just fall down and sleep right here in this grimy hallway.

"I need somewhere ta' sleep," I say softly in lieu a' greetin', incase the baby's sleepin'. I see Judith's crib in the corner a' the room, and it looks like she's layin' in it.

Rick's eyes dart ta' the side and then I hear footsteps in the room behind him. "Who's that?" I recognize Carl's voice even though he's talkin' kinda quietly.

"Scarlett," Rick replies. He bites his lip and looks at me fer a second before turnin' and lettin' Carl get in the doorjamb beside him. "She need somewhere ta' sleep."

Carl looks from me, to his daddy, and then back ta' me, nothin' more than a questionin' look on his face. The pause isn't long, but it's a powerful one. He knows.

"I don't see why she can't sleep here," Carl says easily after the split-second silence. I nearly breathe out a' sigh a' relief fer some reason.

"Come in," Rick says. I duck in the door and he shuts it behind me.

Wordlessly, I put my things down beside the door and take in the fact that Carl's bed is now in the room, along with Judith's crib, like I noticed earlier. Carl's already in his pajamas and Rick's changin' his shirt. I try not ta' stare and just fiddle with the tie on my sleep pants (I changed in my cell earlier). It's kinda awkward- the whole situation- but Rick tries ta' work through it.

"I guess Scarlett can have your bed and you can sleep in the bed with me," Rick whispers to Carl, just a few feet away from a slumberin' Judith. She's out cold, hands balled up by her face and eyes firmly shut, cute as ever. Carl nods and my heart kinda break fer a second 'cause that means that I won't be sleepin' next ta' Rick, but I kinda expected that. That'd be a little much fer the kid at this point.

But then Carl says, "Hey Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not stupid, just so ya' know. She can sleep in the bed with you. I know that you two are together. And no, I don't think you're replacing Mom or something stupid like that. It's time fer you ta' be happy again, and if she," he gestures to me, "makes you happy, that makes me happy too."

And suddenly I feel real out of place standin' there, like this is somethin' personal between a father and his son and that I shouldn't a' seen or heard it. But yet I'm glad I did, 'cause now I know that Carl thinks that me and his daddy bein' together is OK.

Rick is so very serious and calm when he says, "Carl, if ya' don't like me and Scarlett bein' together, or if ya' don't like her, I'll end this right now." When Rick says this, I'm kinda jolted, and fer half a second, anger bubbles up in me at the thought that he could so easily toss me away like that. But then I remember that Carl is his son and that I'll never, ever, so long as I live be able ta' come between that bond, nor do I want to.

Carl turns away from his father and shrugs like somethin' should be obvious as he yanks back the covers on his little bed. He glances my way as he says, "Besides you, nobody but her hugged me when I was scared the first night that lady got attacked." He climbs in bed and settles down under the covers. "Goodnight, ya'll."

"'Night," Rick and I say in unision. Then, we crawl up in the bed, kiss goodnight very, very quietly, and then fall right asleep.

***

Author's Note-

Thank ya'll so much for all the reads!! It makes me so happy to see all of these people reading my story!!!

Vote! Comment!!

Love ya'll!

- Madison :)