wildest dreams ━ rick grimes × male!oc

chapter nine:

ƇӇƛƤƬЄƦ ƝƖƝЄ: "guess I’m in denial, try so hard just to kid myself, but I’m too weak to refuse."

Rick lets Carl drag him inside one of the large tents; it's cluttered with several opened bags and an unmade bed, the covers flung over one side and the pillows placed haphazardly in the middle. Rick is pushed to lay on the low camping mattress and quirks an amused brow when Carl fumbles to lay on top of him, curling into his chest and wrapping his arms around his neck. 

"Don't remember you bein' this clingy," Rick murmurs, petting at Carl's brown hair. It's longer than it used to be. "Missed me a lot, didn't you, pup?" 

"Yeah," Carl says, hiding his face in the space between Rick's shoulder and neck, spilling warm tears there, "missed you so much, Dad. Thought you were gone forever."

"I missed you too," Rick presses a kiss into Carl’s hair and scents him. He smells like chocolate milk now, sweet and a little bit powdery – just like he should. "And I'm here now. Not gonna leave you ever again." 

"Promise?" Carl asks, sniffling quietly.

"Promise." Rick says softly, pressing another kiss into Carl’s hair. 

The walkie on his belt buzzes quietly and Rick pulls it towards him, watching as the light bulb on the top flashes a clear green, catching a signal. It takes a few seconds for Ren's voice to come in, quiet and a little static-like, "gonna be real with you right now, Ricky. The moment I get to that shitty campsite, I'm taking the longest nap of my fucking life…. No, Glenn. Get in the car… Do you want me to say it in Spanish? Nuh." 

Rick snorts. His omega is unbelievable. He's out in the open with Glenn as his only backup and he's joking around, acting like an idiot. 

Carl raises his head and furrows his brows, looking both confused and curious. He sniffs at the walkie and frowns when he only catches the scent of seasalt, an echo of Andrea, and dark chocolate, his father's own scent. There are tears still running down his cheeks and Rick uses his thumb to wipe them away.

Ren's voice comes through again. "Okay, well, argue with the trees… what? No. Don't even try to get out of the fucking car and stop making that dumb ass betrayed face. I invented that shit. It doesn't work on me." 

Rick pressed down on the com and dares to ask, "do I even want to know?" 

"Ricky!" Ren purrs, soft and quiet, sounding delighted. "It's nothing," he says, "just trying to unglue Glenn from myself. He's like a fucking leech… hold on, just gimme a sec." 

"Who's that?" Carl asks, sniffing at the walkie again. 

"That's…" Rick trails off, unsure of how to explain the complicated situation he's gotten himself into with Ren, "someone that helped me get to you." 

Carl's nose wrinkles in distaste. "Is she pretty?" He asks, spiteful and abhorred at the idea of someone catching Rick's fancy; his pup knows him too well. 

Rick doesn't blame Carl's aversion, not after all the shit Lori put him through; especially ignoring him when he needed her as a mother and then just abandoning him with strangers, opting to leave and tangle herself with Shane. Rick will never understand Lori, will never understand humans and their patheticness. 

"He's a pretty omega," Rick murmurs, curbing his anger with thoughts of Ren's soft, grey eyes and the pretty curve of his pink mouth. He thinks of the moment he slipped his thumb underneath his omega's collar, felt the soft skin there and marked it up with his scent — the scene plays in his mind, over and over again, like a broken record.