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WHO: Bela and Rick
WHERE: At Bela's place in Maurtia Falls
WHEN: 3rd May
WHAT: Talking about stuff ~~and thaangs~~
WARNINGS: Possible language, mentions of violence. Will update more if necessary.

After Rick had contacted her yesterday about wanting to talk, Bela sent him back a message to confirm that he could come around to her house in Maurtia Falls whenever he was free. She wasn't sure what Rick wanted to discuss but she thought it would be best to offer him the privacy and the quiet of her home in case it was something serious.

She doesn't know what he would want to drink, but there is a pot of coffee in the kitchen and a bottle of scotch in the cupboard beneath the sink; whatever Rick chose Bela was prepared. Besides, it wasn't too early in the day to have alcohol and Bela had taken tomorrow off from work so she wasn't too concerned about a possible hangover the next day.

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Rick had avoided most everyone ever since his return. But he needed to get back to a normal life. And while he knew Bela wasn't Maggie, seeing her was perhaps the hardest of all because she reminded him of how he failed Maggie when she needed him most. And yet, that was also why he felt he had to see her before he saw anyone outside of his immediate family.

So when he arrived at Bela's home, when she answered the door -- Rick looked stricken. It was harder than he thought it would be. But it was also made easier by the long hair and choice of attire. And after a moment, he reached out and simply pulled her into a hug.

The look on his face confirmed that the situation was serious and that something bad had happened. Bela was about to let him in when Rick suddenly enveloped her into a hug, catching her off guard. There's a brief moment of hesitation from Bela before she wrapped her arms around his back and returned the hug. Comforting people wasn't always her strong point and being comforted herself didn't always happen either.

When he was ready to let her go and come inside, Bela would give Rick room to move. Until that happened she was going to let him do what he needed to do and not reject it. Bela didn't want to be the bad guy here.

Rick lingered there until he realized that maybe it was uncomfortable for Bela. And only then did he pull back, silently walking into her home. He looked around at the government housing before he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Someone else jus' got here from home. His name's Daryl. He's...a li'l rough around the edges. But I think you'll like him alright. Jus' givin' you that warnin'. 'cause that's another person who's gonna think you're familiar."

Rick looked back at Bela and then his expression saddened. Barely above a whisper, he confessed: "I failed her..."

Bela closed the door behind Rick after he entered, acknowledging what he said about his friend. "Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to look out for him." Something told her that it wasn't the sole reason for his visit, but it was still highly useful information for Bela, knowing that someone else from his family had arrived.

It was the first time that Bela had ever seen him look distraught; she frowned, taking a few steps towards Rick. "You mean Maggie, right? Is she-" Bela paused, not wanting to finish that sentence. "Tell me what happened."

Rick reached out, taking her hand within his rough one. "Can we sit?" It was as much to lead the way as it was to follow her guidance. This isn't it. This isn't it. There's more. There's gonna be more. He held Maggie's hand when he told her that. His eyes flooded with a fresh glisten of tears and he brought Bela's hand to his mouth, kissing it with distraught affection -- with confused emotions.

Maybe he shouldn't have come here. Maybe dumping this on her was a bad idea.

His eyes swept toward the exit for a moment, but he forced himself forward to follow her guidance. And only once they got to a comfortable spot did he say. "I don't know if she's dead or dying. But she's...she's pregnant. She started havin' troubles. It was up to me to get her out, to get her to a safe place." His eyes were distant, haunted by the memory. "An' I couldn't do it."

The comfortable spot was slightly worn couch in the middle of the room, and the best place for a conversation. One that Bela knew was going to be heavy with emotion. She could sense some hesitation from him, but she did ask Rick to tell her what happened and now Bela had to prepare for the worst.

"Shit." Her frown deepened and Bela chose that moment to give his hand a gentle squeeze in the hope that it would give Rick some comfort. She wasn't exactly an expert in these kinds of situations, but she seemed to find herself in them on occasion.

"I'm sorry, Rick. I'm not sure there's anything else I can say." Words wouldn't reverse what happened. "Your group though, were they not there to help?"

His weight felt heavy on that couch, and he wasn't sure if he should have continued to answer in broken responses to her questions or if he should lay out the full situation for her. It would help her to better understand everything, wouldn't it? He lingered in silence for a moment, drawing in a deep breath and squaring his shoulders as he summoned up the strength to talk.

"They were with me. You see, we met up with this other group. A community jus' like us. They had supplies that we didn't. They had a doctor an' everything. But they also had a problem -- there was this group called the Saviors that were pretty much threatenin' them. They'd come in every month or so an' take half their shit. In order to open up trade with them, I told 'em we'd take care of their problem with the Saviors. 'Cause we've always gone up against groups before an' we always won."

A beat.

"So, long story short -- we did go up against 'em. Took out a whole lot of 'em. Found out they were backed by some guy named Negan." Just the name struck such fear behind Rick's eyes. "But it didn't matter 'cause we thought we took out all of 'em. Didn't realize there were more until our Doctor got killed. Didn't realize there were more 'til Maggie started havin' problems an' we had to take her out to that other community. Me an' a few other members of my group hit the road. But the Saviors, they....they blocked us at every turn. No matter what we tried, how we tried to outsmart them. They were there. There was a whole lot of 'em. We tried to take Maggie out, carry her on foot an' then..."

Rick couldn't keep it together. His voice broke emotionally, and he buried his face in his hands.

She laid a hand on Rick's back after his voice broke, shifting a tiny bit closer to him. Her expression was difficult to read, but Bela felt sick on the inside, greatly disturbed by what had happened. It reminded her of the shitty things that people were capable of and his world was no exception; the dead weren't the only threat his group had to deal with.

"You did what you could with the knowledge you had at the time. How were you to know the true size of Negan's group? I know that saying this won't change a damn thing but no one can say that your or your group didn't try. I really am sorry. No one should have to go through something like that." It was rare for Bela to offer any kind of sympathy to anyone, but Rick had become a friend and he needed someone to listen him. She was trying her best to be that person.

The hand on his back began to rub gentle circles into it, hoping that it would help to soothe him, maybe ease his burden a little. Bela was prepared to stop if it wasn't what Rick wanted - until she was told otherwise she would continue.

"Is there anything I can do?"

It's asked of him quietly, perhaps slightly unsure at the same time.

It was comforting -- her touch. He hadn't been soothed or comforted over this since he got back. Mostly because he couldn't open up about it. But it was nice to have someone there for him. Her words couldn't heal it, her words couldn't make things go away, but they could ease the pain a little bit to know that someone else understood and saw how horrible the situation truly was. And...pathetic though it was, the fact that she looked like Maggie helped tremendously. In a way, it felt as though she was there for him, forgiving him.

"Tell me it's not my fault?" Rick said, and felt pathetic for even asking it of her. "Tell me I wasn't the one who brought it on my group? Tell me that I did all I could an' there wasn't any other way to get around 'em. That I ain't missin' somethin' that coulda got her to safety..."

Because as much as he felt guilt over someone dying, it was what happened to Maggie -- his promises that he would get her to safety -- that ate him alive.

"You didn't know that she was going to have problems then. Not having a doctor made that difficult to predict, yeah?" Perhaps they could have moved her to the other community before to ensure her safety, but it seemed to Bela that the group was very protective of their turf.

"As for your choices, you could have either laid down and die or do whatever was necessary to secure supplies; you went with the second choice. Any smart person would have. I also think an attack from Negan and his group would be inevitable, regardless of what you have done - they were aware of all of you and probably perceived your group as a threat."

Her hand came to a rest at his side, her arm tucked around him. Bela allowed her words to settle for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"She knows that you did what you could. They all know."

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