don't hold on | rick grimes, twd

07

"so whatchu' gonna do?" lori asks rick and shane as she pours more water into the pot hovering above the fire, "we'd feel a lot better if we knew the plan."

nikki stood near the other side of the fire pit, with karleen right next to her. the sisters looked to rick, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"is there a plan?"

"are we gonna keep him here?"

rick and shane shared a look with each other. nikki wanted to speak up, but decided against it, she was only there because the two me. called a group discussion. "we'll know soon enough." rick answers, and that's when daryl walks up with his crossbow, the first thing the woman noticed were his bloody knuckles.

daryl stopped just a few feet from the group, "boy there's got a gang, thirty men. they have heavy artillery and ain't lookin' to make friends." he looked around to everyone, "if they roll through here, our boys are dead. and our women, they're—they're gonna wish they were."

nikki was instantaneously taken aback by daryl's sentence, "wait—what do you mean? rape? assault?" she questioned with urgency, her heart feeling like it was beginning to beat out of her chest. daryl raised his head to look at her slowly, and gave a small nod. so these are the type of people we're dealing with? great.

"what did you do?" karleen asks daryl, insinuating at the blood on his knuckles. he started walking closer to them, "had a little chat."

"no one goes near this guy." rick sternly told the group, eyes serious. lori went up to him, "rick, what are we gonna do?"

the man sighed, "we have no choice, he's a threat. and we have to eliminate the threat."

"so you're just gonna kill him?" dale asks with shock and irritation.

"it's settled." rick speaks louder, completely ignoring dale, "i'll do it today." rick walks off, dale hot on his tracks.

nikki felt relieved at rick's decision to put down the guy in the barn. the mother wasn't gonna take any risks knowing how dangerous his group was, knowing what they could potentially do to her, to her daughter. no, the teen had to die, before he or them get close to her little girl.

as the group began to break off into different directions, karleen turned to her younger sister, deep in her state of thought. "are you okay?"

nikki looked to her, and gave a slight nod. for some reason, she had a habit of telling others she was okay when she was the complete opposite. she was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight knowing that dangerous group was out there.

karleen didn't buy her sister's response, and stepped in front of her, taking her forearms into clutch, "it's gonna be okay. you know that, right?" she attempted to reassure with a soft tone, "his group left him for dead, and that's what they think now."

nikki swallowed the nervous lump down her throat, "but what if they didn't?" she rhetorically asked, her anxiousness more clear now. "what if they discover this farm and attack us in the night?"

"that's not gonna happen." her sister snapped back with confidence, her eyes narrowed. "you have to trust rick, alright? that guys gonna die tonight, and it'll be fine."

nikki let in a trembling breath, before giving karleen a nod, "i know." she breathed out, bringing her hand up to rest on her forehead.

karleen didn't say anything else, and pulled her little sister into a tight hug. she hated seeing her sister upset, or worried. it was habit for her to always try and comfort nikki, because she did in fact, raise her.

after hugging for what felt like a minute, karleen pulled away, gave her sister a smile, and walked off, leaving nikki alone with her thoughts. the mother felt okay again for all of twenty seconds, before she heard a voice behind her.

"can i talk to you?"

nikki firmly shut her eyelids, and let out an exasperated sigh. she had a feeling that this was gonna come up sooner or later, shane wanting to speak with her. she spun around, and just as it was expected, it was shane. he had bruises and cuts on his face, his hands resting on his belt, and his expression was unreadable, maybe a little sorrow?

she had changed her mind, she didn't wanna do this, not now. "don't." she sternly spoke before turning her back on him and walking off towards the house. almost immediately she heard him respond, "now hold on a minute, nik. will—will you just listen to what i have to say?"

"no."

she was almost to the porch when he spoke up again, "nikki listen—you don't know how much it hurt when i came back from the road with rick and you weren't there to greet me. but i saw it in your face when you noticed i was hurt, i know you still love me—"

the woman let out an audible groan at what he had to say, and whipped around to get in his face, her anger was activated instantly, "of course i do. why the hell would i not?" she threw her hands up in annoyance, "you're my goddamn husband, we're married shane. i still care about you more than anything. but you do realize that what rick told me, i can't just get up and shake it off—no. i need time, so will you please just give me that?"

shane gave her a long look before sighing in defeat, taking a few steps back with his hands up in surrender, "okay nik, if that's what you want. then alright." he turned around and walked away, but not before glancing at her one last time.

nikki could feel the tears brimming my eyes, and roughly wiped them away before they could escape. she was so sure she wouldn't get emotional talking with him like that, she assumed she had no more tears left to cry. but of course, he always knew how to bring them back, shane.

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!gif is of nikki when shane tried to talk to her!