@shefoundpeace continued from here
Rick listened to her words carefully and as always he lost himself in the sound of her voice which was providing so much more emotions than most people did. Of course he was used to interrogating criminals, people who were used to lie and hide the truth behind shady actions or gestures, but Natalie had never been that kind of girl. She was always honest. Sometimes even too honest that it provoked big fights when she used to live here due to her stubborn mind, but on the other hand it made her raw and pure and it always showed Rick something he deeply admired, even envied about her. Even if he had been some kind of guardian for her and should be the grown up, it was her saving his lonely nights by her simple presence when his fights with Lori started. In that point he wished he could be like her and sometimes he thought he learnt more from her than she could ever be grateful about.
Rick only gave her a place to stay and reassurance, but she gave him so much comfort and made him feel seen, as if he really was worth something in this world and he never forgot that. In fact he felt seen now again, seen in a way he didn’t feel like in a long time as their eyes met and she crawled closer. Somehow he wished he could tell her how much she actually kept him alive the last years, but it felt like the wrong moment when she was in a place of need here. For now he only wanted to focus on her, on her needs and not his own.
“You deserve all of this, Nat. You worked so hard and came so far all on your own. You didn’t need us for this, you did this all on your own and that’s maybe why I didn’t think to see you here again... but I’m glad you are.” And more than that, since he felt a certain kind of warmth raising in his chest he couldn’t read properly yet. “I get that, trust me. Being around you has always felt the most natural for me too.” In the past this kind of natural was something Rick preferred to describe as “family”, but he realized pretty soon that she had always been more than just that. More than he should probably feel and made him somehow insecure about what to do next, but it was her coming closer with that sweet scent radiating from her hair, a smell he missed for too long and could easily make him drown into dreams he shouldn’t have, so he pushed it away for now and wrapped one arm around her to pull the back of her against his chest, so she would more or less lay in his arms but look up to him, while he tried to focus on the glass in his hand.
So often she fell asleep like this in the past, but right now he didn’t want her to close her eyes and just stay like this so he could admire how she now looked like, how beautiful he had become and how different it felt to have her in his arms now. His free hand striped away her long strains of hair, his thumb caressing her skin before he rested his hand on top of her stomach. “I missed having you here, you know you’re allowed to stay as long as you like. But there’s no pressure. I just... I gotta admit this house was not the same without you.” While his hand on her shirt was caressing her unconsciously, he laid his head back to look at the roof, not able to stand her gaze which would only make him feel flattered under the slight feeling of alcohol. But nevertheless he couldn’t swallow the quiet mumble he let out with his eyes closed. “I missed this.”













