I do not own any of the TWD characters.

Don't Hurt Him

Rick was late for his meeting with the university trustees – not officially late, but more so than was comfortable for him. It was freshman move in day and every available parking spot was taken. That had been the first obstacle to slow him down. Rick eventually had to settle on parking off campus, and taking off in a near sprint to get to the dining hall where the back room had been reserved for this meeting.

Incoming freshman and their families were everywhere – toting and hauling worldly possessions in an attempt to get their child settled into their new home for the next several months. Rick shuddered to think that he and Lori would have to attend to this task with Carl in a few short years. That is, if they could tolerate being around each other for an afternoon. Dodging piles of boxes and laundry baskets full of shoes, electronic equipment, and stuffed animals was a second obstacle.

This lunch meeting was a very important one – it was actually an interview. He had been working his way up the administrative ladder at this small private university since he'd graduated from there with a second degree – this time in business administration. He had been employed as the director of campus security but was now up for a vice president's position – vice president of communications to be exact.

The first time Rick had earned a degree, it was in communications. He wasn't able to put that degree to much use though before being called up to go fight in the gulf. Granted, with a three year old son at home and a very needy wife, it wasn't the ideal time to be sent overseas. However, Uncle Sam wasn't really concerned with convenience. By the time he'd gotten back home, a new baby was due to arrive. Not his, by the way. A so called friend had promised to look after Lori and Carl while he was away. Seems he had taken that promise a little too seriously the best Rick could figure. Divorce proceedings were underway even before the dust had been knocked off his boots.

Rick had finally reached the doors of the dining hall – checking his watch to see that he still had five minutes. Next he checked his reflection in the glass door to make sure he wasn't completely sweat stained. This is when he encountered the third and final obstacle of the morning. There was a line of freshman waiting their turn to get their photo id made. That's when he saw her. Time stood still. At that very moment, there was no crowd of people around, no honking of horns as people waited their turn for a place to unload, and no interview as far as he was concerned. Standing at the front of the line was what Rick Grimes believed to be the prettiest woman he'd ever seen. Normally, Rick didn't even pay attention to students. They came, they partied, and they left. But this girl, because really, she was just a girl – freshly out of high school and setting out to grow up, well, this girl had certainly caught his attention.

This girl was now standing in front of the camera. She held the small poster in front of her that identified exactly who she was but would be edited out later when they printed her actual id. Rick looked at the number, quickly committing it to memory. GR17934 – last name has to start with gr he told himself. Rick looked back up only to find that the beautiful girl had disappeared and someone else had taken her spot in front of the camera.

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Beth looked at the campus map she had hidden in the front of her folder. It was a small campus and she was a bit embarrassed that she still hadn't figured out the location of all of her classes. Beth took one last glance before closing her folder and making the short walk to her last class of the day – an introductory public speaking class. Checking her schedule, in her notes on her phone, Beth verified that she needed to be on the third floor of the building in front of her. Beth opened the heavy double doors leading into the lobby of the building. Some carpentry work going on to the left of the lobby caught Beth's attention. A maintenance guy was hanging what appeared to be a new nameplate on an office door. Vice President of Communications, Rick Grimes.

The maintenance guy dusted off the name plate and then opened the office door. "Mr. Grimes" he hollered into the interior of the office. "Mr. Grimes, come look and see if this suits ya." A dark haired and very handsome man was standing at a desk and looked up at the guy.

"Sure" he said. Upon entering the lobby, he surveyed the work done and slapped the maintenance guy on the back. "Looks great Alan. Thanks man." Rick looked across the lobby to see the girl from move in day waiting for an elevator. Their eyes met and locked for a few seconds. The dinging of the arriving elevator broke the standoff and Rick gave a slight nod of his chin. Beth flashed a shy smile and boarded the elevator. Rick took a deep breathe before returning to unpack some boxes in his new office.

Once in the elevator, Beth tried to regain her composure. She didn't know who in the world Rick Grimes was, but she believed him to quite possibly be the most handsome man she'd ever seen. The doors of the elevator opened, Beth quickly stepped off and made her way to her class. She did her best to not re imagine those crystal blue eyes of his staring into her hers as the instructor went over the syllabus and what would be expected of them over the course of the first semester. The class had participated in a "get to know you" game of sorts and then had broken into small groups to brainstorm possible topics for their first assigned public speaking assignment. Fifty five minutes later, Beth was packing up her things and the other students were filing out of the classroom. Beth checked to make sure she had everything when Vice President Rick Grimes himself walked in to speak to her instructor. Rick caught Beth's eye upon entering and then he spoke quietly with the instructor. With his business apparently completed, Rick made sure to look Beth in the eye one last time before slipping out as quickly as he'd slipped in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick now looked forward to every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Those were the days that Beth Greene had class in his building. He'd learned her name through a little snooping on his part. Well, it was more like a full-fledged senate investigation for a Supreme Court nominee. It was hard not to investigate – it was in his very nature. No one specialized in background checks like Rick Grimes did. Beth Greene, eighteen years old (Christ, she was just three years older than Carl), good Southern Baptist girl (that explains why she chose this college), graduated Valedictorian from her small town high school, parents Hershel and Annette Greene, two older siblings. Also, she was a double major (international/global studies and women's/gender studies) and had joined the Student Government Association club on campus. Beauty and brains Rick concluded.

Rick rubbed at his five o'clock shadow. When had he turned into a stalker? His initial passing fancy had turned into an innocent interest he told himself. That innocent interest had then morphed into and unhealthy obsession. An obsession that he was desperately trying to keep in check. Rick had turned into a dirty old man chasing after a young girl who had no idea that she was being watched on a fairly regular basis. For example, Beth probably had no idea that someone had made note of the fact that she had soup and salad for lunch every Monday. On Tuesdays, chicken and rice. Wednesday meant that she'd probably go for the baked potato bar. Thursday was a simple sandwich and a bag of chips she ate on the way back from her late morning spin class. By the time Friday rolled around, she didn't give a shit and usually went with the least healthy option the cafeteria was offering that day.

Rick should have known though, being that Beth was a very smart girl, that she'd been watching him watching her. She'd noticed that he ate alone every day, usually with a book or a newspaper or his phone. She also noticed that those things were simply props – the upside book was a dead giveaway. Beth knew she was being watched and strangely, she wasn't horrified or concerned. Rather, it gave her a sense of security.

It was a Wednesday. Rick knew this because Beth was doctoring up her potato. He just didn't know how in the world that potato could ever still be remotely warm by the time she got finished working on it. Every Wednesday, she added butter, salt and pepper, bacon bits and then cheese. Then she added more butter. Next, she added some sour cream and then chopped at it with her fork making sure all of the ingredients were evenly distributed before sampling the spud. He always listened for the "mmmmmm" that the first bite elicited out of her every time.

"I'd like to make you go mmmmmm" Rick mumbled to himself. Before he had time to conjure up that fantasy though, some cocky asshole walked up to his girl (because really, at this point, Rick considered Beth to be his) and joined her for lunch. Beth smiled up at the guy and told him that sure he could join her for lunch. Rick didn't hang around after that even though he hadn't even started on his lunch. He stood abruptly, dumped his tray, and stormed out of the dining room.

Beth smiled to herself – the first phase of her plan was now in effect. You will make a move Rick Grimes or you will move on she thought to herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick had done his best to put Beth Greene out of his mind. He didn't have time to obsess over an eighteen year old girl when his time would be much better spent making an impression in his new position. Rick decided to throw all of his attention and efforts into making a name for himself – his sights were set on becoming the youngest university president on record.

Rick had stopped watching for Beth in the lobby of the communication building, he'd quit eating at the dining hall on such a regular basis, and he'd tried his damndest to quit giving a shit. Yeh, Rick told himself he didn't give a damn.

It wasn't true though, not even a little bit. If anything, it had only gotten worse because now, his obsession had expanded to include the cocky son of a bitch that Beth was spending so much time with. Apparently, the asswipe was an international student – from Brazil or someplace like that, fucking soccer player. Rick hated soccer players – they thought they were God's gift to everyone and that rules and procedures didn't apply to them. Beth and her guy had been spotted at football games, Wednesday morning chapel, and local restaurants. To top it off, Beth was a regular at the soccer matches playing the official role of soccer girlfriend – out there supporting her man through all kinds of inclement weather. The couple had grown pretty close if one were inclined to pay any attention to campus gossip. It made Rick's skin crawl although he told himself he didn't care.

October had rolled around and that meant it was time for Homecoming activities to overtake any and everything else that normally took place on the college's campus. Lori was going to bring Carl to the homecoming football game, stay through the game, and then leave Carl with him for the rest of the weekend. Surely to God Rick could get along with her for the length of a football game. Carl would be Rick's escort to the Homecoming dance. He was actually fairly excited about having Carl and showing him around the campus, hopeful that he might choose this campus as his college home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The parking lot was full as well as the side streets. Lori had texted saying that she was having trouble finding a place to park. Rick told her to drive by the front gate, he'd hop in with her and help her find a hidden spot somewhere along the way. As promised, Rick was able to locate someone's yard that had an empty patch of grass. Rick knocked on the front door and spoke with the elderly lady on the porch. She'd told Rick that of course they could park there and then patted his check for good measure. Lori was still impressed at how Rick could get things done with a gentle touch – she did miss that about him. Everything she encountered nowadays was gruff and demanding – she didn't realize how quickly she'd get tired of the "kick ass and take names" kind of attitude. Somewhere along the way, Lori had realized her mistake but knew that they could never get back what she had thrown away all those years ago.

Carl slipped his backpack on and walked behind his mom and dad back toward the stadium. It was weird seeing them together – an almost rare occurrence.

"How's Judith?" Rick asked Lori kindly. "What is she now? Five?"

Lori smiled at his attempt to make polite conversation. "Seven. "Judith is seven and in the second grade."

"Wow" Rick stated. "And Shane? He doin alright?"

Lori stopped walking and looked at Rick. "He's fine" she answered. "Same ole Shane."

"Mmmm" Rick murmured. They had approached the ticket gate and Lori was reaching for her wallet. Rick took her by the elbow, held up his faculty badge for the attendant to see, and did his finger around their heads as if to say "they're with me". The attendant nodded and smiled at Lori.

"You didn't have to do that Rick" Lori told him.

"Hell, it's one of the few perks" Rick told her. "That and I don't have to cook for myself anymore."

Lori snickered at that. She was absolutely the worst cook on the face of the earth. She knew it, Rick knew it. He'd been the cook when they were a family.

"You do look pretty healthy actually – they feeding you well?" Lori asked.

"Food's actually really good. Hadn't starved yet anyway" he replied. They'd made their way back into the stadium. Rick sat down and Lori made sure that Carl sat in between the two of them before she took her seat. The first half of the game went quickly and then volunteers were quickly setting up for the halftime homecoming festivities. The band began playing the cheesy school song as some poor sap from the broadcasting department introduced all of the homecoming candidates.

This years' SGA representative is Elizabeth Annette Greene.

Rick sucked in a breath. Lori didn't miss it – she never missed a trick.

Carl made some sort of comment about how hot the chick out on the field right now was and Lori looked over at Rick who was still holding his breath and turning blue.

Beth is a freshman and is the daughter of Hershel and Annette Greene. Beth is majoring in

Rick tuned out at that point. Beth looked amazing, as usual, but there she was on the arm of that asshole of a soccer player. He'd walked her down the fifty yard line and then they'd taken their spot to the left side of the fifty, conveniently in Rick and Lori's line of vision. Lori was still looking at her ex-husband who still hadn't taken his eyes from the blonde out on the field.

"A freshman?" Lori questioned. Rick ignored her.

"Dad" Carl tried to get Rick's attention. "Dad?"

Rick snapped out of his trance and noticed that Lori was glaring at him.

"Are all the girls on this campus that effin hot?" Carl asked.

"Watch your mouth son" Rick warned.

Lori scoffed at Rick's tone. "I think she's spoken for already Carl" Lori stated.

Rick cleared his throat and looked back at the field. All of the candidates were out there.

This years' homecoming queen is

After a few seconds of silence

Beth Greene!

The crowd cheered and clapped. Carl threw in some whistles for good measure. Lori clapped politely along with the crowd but never took her eyes off of Rick. Rick kept his eyes on the field where Brazil boy hugged Beth and kissed her cheek after the crown was placed on her head. Rick could feel the red rising up the back of his neck.

Beth's eyes scanned the crowd where she located Rick – and what appeared to be Rick's family. The two made eye contact and just as Rick smiled, he noticed that Beth's smile was slowly dissolving into a frown.

"So, what's the plan from here?" Lori asked. "What do you and Carl have planned?"

"Oh" Rick jumped at Lori's voice. "Well, after the game everyone usually walks downtown for the homecoming parade – then there's a bonfire, and the dance is after that."

"Sounds like a lot of fun" Lori elbowed Carl who semi rolled his eyes.

"Carl, don't be like that" his mom told him. "All these hot college girls are going to be at that dance." Lori stared at Rick. "Should be a really fun time."

Rick tried to play off Lori's last comment. He knew that she knew. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of letting her know she was right. Even though she was right. He was a pervert. An old pervert.

"I think I'm going to go ahead and get back on the road" Lori stated. "I'm sure Shane and Judith have torn the house up sufficiently by now. You sure you don't mind driving half way to bring him back?"

"I don't mind at all" Rick told her. "If you need me to drive him all the way, just let me know."

"Kay" Lori said. "Carl, have fun, but not too much fun."

Lori left the stadium but when she found herself out on the sidewalk in front of the athletic complex there were golf carts all over whisking the homecoming candidates somewhere. Lori caught a glimpse of the queen herself in the cart that had just left. Lori was never bashful when she wanted or needed something.

"Excuse me" she approached a young man sitting on an otherwise empty golf cart. "Where are they going?"

"Right now?" he asked.

"Yes, right now" Lori tried to mask her irritation.

"They're going to the president's house to freshen up, have some official photos made with the president and his wife, then they'll be taken downtown to their floats for the parade" he told her, although he wasn't sure why he'd divulged all that information to a complete stranger.

"Oh, in that case, you won't mind giving me a ride to the president's house" Lori said as she climbed onto the golf cart.

"Uh, mam, I don't think I can do that" the young guy admitted.

Lori reached into her billfold and held out a crisp bill. "Fifty bucks says you can" she stated.

"Yes mam" the boy replied and applied pressure to the gas pedal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Lori arrived at the house she was happy to see that there were plenty of people milling about, so she blended right in. They'll just think I'm someone's mom she told herself trying to keep the panic at bay. Lori slipped into what appeared to be a receiving room – she saw flashes of light and assumed correctly that this is where the "official photo session" was taking place.

There she was - waiting her turn to have her photo made with the president and his wife. Damn, she's young Lori thought. And beautiful. And she seems sweet. Rick deserves happiness Lori told herself, leave this alone Lori. Lori turned to leave, but then she heard Beth excuse herself to go "powder her nose". Lori rolled her eyes. Shit, she's even been raised properly. Lori followed her into the restroom.

Beth's eyes flew up from the mirror to see Lori standing behind her. She immediately recognized her as the lady sitting with Rick at the game. Beth tried to swallow and not make it obvious that she was hurt, more than hurt. Why, she had no fucking idea. She and Rick Grimes were nothing – absolutely nothing. Just a little flirting in passing. She should've known the asshole was married – what a fucking creep!

"Beth, right?' Lori spoke first.

"Yes" Beth answered "can I help you?"

"Maybe" Lori said thoughtfully. "You see, I'm Rick's ex-wife."

Oh God thought Beth – an ex-wife. This just keeps getting better and better.

"Oh" Beth finally said.

"I just wanted to see who or what had Rick all undone" Lori stated. "And now, I get it. You are indeed gorgeous, but you're just so" Lori paused and then quickly finished up "soooooooo freakin young. What are you? Nineteen at the most?"

"18" Beth answered.

Lori grimaced. "God."

"Listen" Beth said. "There's really nothing going on – just a little flirting – I don't even think we've spoken."

"Uh huh" Lori said. "Don't hurt him. Please don't. I did and I've regretted it ever since."

Beth opened her mouth to say something else. "Really, Beth. I had him first, but you've got him now. You may not realize it, but he's yours – all yours. Please, he deserves to be happy – he's one of the best." And with that Lori turned and left the small restroom. A few seconds later, the president's wife was at the door.

"Are you okay dear?" she asked a very rattled Beth.

"Yes Mam" Beth answered. "I'm fine – sorry to keep ya'll waiting."

"Oh, that's fine" the lady smiled. "It's your special day."