#Will I make it through the between season break? top 10 questions science can't answer

[granolabird]

What Matters

Pretty much no Hournite content tonight, and now we have to wait several months for them to come back- this is cruel and unusual punishment I say. Once again, to make up for the lack of hournite in canon, here’s a post S2 finale fic! It’s just Rick and Beth relaxing, and enjoying their lives now that they’re free of Eclipso. A lot of soft fluff with very minimal angst. It’s the happiness they deserve after everything they’ve been through.

Warnings: N/A

Taglist @hournites @bethchapelsbonnet

If you’d like to be added to my (probably) weekly Hournite fic tag list feel free to ask :)

.

Rick is exhausted. After everything, he could really just use a good strawberry milkshake and a several day long nap. That would be ideal. Instead he’s in the Pitstop loft, boredly skimming some outdated car magazine. He’d rather be out and about, or in a proper bed at least, but for the time being he has nowhere else to go. No home. The loft will be his living space for the foreseeable future, and as much as he loathes staying here he knows it’s still leagues better than when he lived with Matt. 

As he glances around the room briefly, Rick’s eyes land on the table in the centre of the loft. Rick’s supplies for fixing the hourglass are piled on one side of the table, his dad’s journal laid precariously on top. He’d given up on trying to fix it hours ago, too exhausted to even bother with the equations at this point. He’d spent so much time working away at the hourglass, he’d really rather be doing anything else. That anything else arrives in the form of Beth Chapel, who is suddenly marching up the stairs of the loft. Rick had been so absorbed in his own thoughts he hadn’t even heard her coming up the stairs, but as soon as he sees her he bolts up from where he’s been laying on the sofa.

“Rick! Sorry, I know I’m early, my parents insisted they drop me off early for… some reason? I don’t really know, maybe they have a date or something.” Beth says with a shrug as she leans against the table, careful to avoid Rick's hourglass supplies.

“It’s alright, better early than late, yeah?” Rick offers and Beth nods.

“Yeah! For sure.”

There’s an awkward pause, and Beth glances back at the haphazard hourglass pile.

“No luck with the hourglass yet?” She gestures to the pile, and Rick nods with a sigh.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of work. Really stressful too, I can’t seem to get it right. I’m kinda tired of it at this point.” Rick grumbles, tossing the old car magazine onto a side table before getting up.

“Well then I guess we should get going then! Give you something to do other than hourglass work, huh?” Beth offers with a small smile.

“Yeah!” Rick agrees before continuing, “Are the others already at the diner?”

“Well, about that… Cindy didn’t want to go, Courtney said she had impromptu training with Sylvester, and Yolanda had something come up with her brother so…” Beth looks at the floor awkwardly.

“It’s just us again?”

“Yeah.”

“As per usual.” Rick laughs and shakes his head.

“We can’t let that dampen the mood though, right? I mean we just beat Eclipso! It’s summer, we’ve still gotta have fun!” Beth says with a forced smile.

Rick can tell she’s trying her best not to act disappointed, but honestly he’s kind of relieved. He prefers spending time alone with Beth, although he’d never admit it. Courtney is always shooting him looks when Beth isn’t looking. He hasn’t told anyone how he feels about Beth, but he knows that Courtney knows. It’s only a matter of time before she says something, and then there will be no going back. So he’s not particularly upset that she isn't attending, but he doesn’t dare say that aloud. 

“Yeah, let's go. We can get milkshakes to go, and then walk around town? The day is so nice, we don’t have to stay cooped up inside. If that’s alright with you, of course.”

“That sounds like a dream, Rick.” Beth grins at him, and Rick ducks his head slightly, trying his best not to show that he’s utterly flustered. He smiles back at her, and then tips his head towards the stairs and they both head down together, just happy to be in one another’s presence.

  Rick drives them to the diner, parking out front, and making sure he pays for the milkshakes despite Beth’s objections. He insists that she definitely did more to save everyone during Eclipso’s attack and therefore he should pay for her milkshake. She objects that he was braver, going into battle without his hourglass but he waves her off and puts enough money for two milkshakes on the counter. The server behind the counter smiles at him knowingly as he puts the bills down, and Rick seriously begins to wonder if everyone in this town is aware of his feelings for Beth. Is he really that obvious? He glances at Beth but if she saw the look the server gave them she gives no indication. They chat idly, until the milkshakes arrive, and then they thank the server profusely and head on out.

“You know, milkshakes are much better when they’re the flavour you actually ordered.” Rick jokes as he guzzles down his strawberry milkshake.

“Hey! Yolanda was trying her best, she was still new at her job, give her some credit!” Beth jokingly elbows Rick in the side and they both laugh.

“Oh c’mon Beth admit it, this milkshake is much better.”

“It tastes considerably nicer, but I still liked the ones Yolanda made better because they were made by a friend.”

“That's The point! Yolanda didn’t know how to make milkshakes either!”

“Oh so if I made you a pizza would you like it more than your favourite pizza place?”

“You don’t even know how to make pizza Rick!”

“She was trying her best!” Beth sighs and shakes her head, chuckling. 

“That may very well be, but her best still wasn’t as good as this strawberry milkshake is.” Rick says before taking an accentuated drink from his cup.

“Fine, you have a point. But that doesn’t mean Yolanda’s milkshakes weren’t good as well.”

“I never said they weren’t!” Rick raises his hands innocently, and almost drops his milkshake. Beth laughs at him as he fumbles to make sure he doesn’t drop it, and he finds himself laughing along with her as they make their way down the street together, back to Rick’s car.

After everything with Eclipso, the day seems almost too perfect. The duo walk around town, browsing stores, playing with someone’s dog in the park, and now they sit in Rick’s car in the waning light with the radio turned on just slightly too loud as Rick drives them along the backroads. Rick can’t help but smile as Beth sings along to Dancing Queen, the song grainily playing from his car radio. He chimes in from time to time, and every time he does Beth grins at him and he feels like his heart is going to explode. This is everything he wanted and more. Rick was really starting to believe his whole summer, or maybe even his whole life, was going to be awful. For a long time he assumed the rest of his days would be spent in jail. And yet now here he is with the girl of his dreams, having the time of his life. He doesn’t think it can get any better than this. As the song ends, he catches Beth staring at him. He tilts his head, giving her a quizzical look as he turns the radio down.

“What’s up?” He asks, and Beth startles slightly, obviously not expecting him to notice her watching him.

“Hm?”

“I don’t know, you were looking at me all concerned? I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“I don’t know. I think I’m still processing it all. It’s a lot.”

“It is! I’m just… I’m worried about you. You lost Grundy, you lost your home, you lost your hourglass. I just want to make sure you’re okay Rick.” Beth gives Rick the look she always does when she’s worried about him, all wide eyed and soft. It makes him blush, and he’s infinitely thankful for the darkening sky helping him hide it.

Beth nods knowingly, and lays a hand on Rick’s arm.

“If you need to talk about it, or anything, I’m here for you, you know that right?” She offers quietly.

“Yeah, I know. Thanks Beth, really. You don’t know how much that means to me.” He takes a deep breath, trying not to cry.

“I think I do, actually.” Beth says it so quietly that Rick can barely hear it. 

Rick isn’t entirely sure he was supposed to hear that, but he can’t just leave a statement like that in the air. 

“What do you mean?” He asks tentatively, and Beth looks out the window suddenly, avoiding eye contact.

“Well, you did the same for me. When my parents were getting divorced you offered to help, and that meant the world to me. You were there for me when nobody else was, and now that I’m doing better I want to be able to do the same for you.” She doesn’t look at him while she says this, and Rick forces himself to keep looking at the road despite how badly he wants to check up on her.

“You what?” Beth is looking at him with wide concerned eyes again.

“I…” Love you. The words die on his tongue. It’s too soon to say such a thing, and Rick knows it. Even if Beth feels the same way, he can’t bring himself to say it. He wants so badly to let her know how much he cares, but every time he gets close he finds himself second guessing himself. He’ll get the confidence to say it one day, eventually. At least he hopes he will.

“I appreciate it Beth, really.” He bluffs, letting out a sigh as he drums his thumbs on the steering wheel.

“You did the same for me, I’m just repaying the favor.” She half-laughs.

“Well, no matter the reasoning it really means a lot to me. You’re always here for me when I need you, and for that I’m grateful.” 

It’s the truth. Beth means the world to Rick, and his awe for her grows more and more every day.

“Well, you’re welcome I guess? Just remember I’m here for you.” Beth says softly and Rick smiles, trying not to show how much that means to him. He’s desperately trying to bury how much he cares for her.

“Was I really that obvious?”

“I know, Beth. I’m here for you too, if you ever want to talk about Chuck leaving. Don’t think I didn’t notice how upset you were that he was going back to his family.”

Beth rests her head in her hand at that, letting out a downtrodden huff.

“Yeah, a little.” Rick tells her, and Beth huffs again.

“I know it was for the best, and he meant no harm by leaving me, but I really hoped he would’ve stayed. It was like someone finally understood me, and then when I finally started to think that I had someone like me on the team, he left. He didn’t even train me! There’s probably so much about the goggles I don’t know yet, but now I’ll never know. I’m ranting, I’m sorry, this is way less of an issue compared to everything that’s happened to you-”

“No Beth, it’s okay. You’re fine. I don’t even know how to begin to talk about everything that’s happened to me, it’s… it’s a lot. So let's focus on you for now. I’d rather not dwell on my stuff anyway, I feel like every time I think about it, it’s going to overwhelm me.” Rick reassures her, tossing a small smile her way.

“Okay. Yeah, then that’s what’s troubling me right now. I just feel like I had so much more to learn, you know?” Beth keeps looking at Rick with concern but she doesn’t pry on the subject of his trauma any further. It’s clear that everything hasn’t fully sunken in for him at this point. 

“Yeah, I get it. But look at all you’ve accomplished so far without Chuck! You impressed him, Beth. You’re strong with or without him I promise. Hell you’re probably stronger than I am right now, I don’t even have my hourglass.” Rick tells her.

Beth laughs at that, shaking her head.

“Nah, I think you could still beat me in a fight, I mean look at those muscles!” She pokes him in the arm for emphasis, and Rick finds himself laughing too. The previous solemn mood is seemingly forgotten as the duo begin to jokingly bicker over who would win in a hypothetical fight.

After a good half an hour more of driving and chatting, Beth glances at the clock, and informs Rick;

“I should probably get heading home. It’s getting close to dinner time, and superheroing aside, my parents will probably want me home to eat with them.”

“Alright, yeah. I’ll start heading back.” Rick turns his car at the next road and begins to navigate his way back to town.

“That reminds me!” Beth exclaims, making Rick nearly jump out of his skin.

“Sorry, sorry didn’t mean to scare you. I just remembered, my parents said if you ever get tired of staying at the Pitstop, or you need somewhere to eat, you can stop by my place! They want to make sure all my JSA friends are cared for, I think. They’re way more invested in all this than I thought they’d be.” Beth glances at Rick, clearly wanting to say something more, but not sure how to get the words out.

“Oh, well, uh, thank you to your parents? I appreciate the offer.” Rick isn’t quite sure what exactly to say in this situation.

“Yeah! Yeah. I was thinking, if you didn’t have any plans or anything, you could come to my place for dinner tonight? If you want to. We’ve always got room for one more, and I’m sure you’d like some real food after all the jail meals.” Beth is rushing her words, and it takes a moment for Rick to register what she’s said.

“You want me to come to your house for dinner? Tonight?”

“If you want to, yeah. My parents would love to meet you. They, um, want to get to know the JSA better. I think we’re having lasagna tonight, just in case that sways your decision.”

“Sure.”

Rick can’t help but think there’s something else Beth isn’t saying but he doesn’t ask, he simply resigns to his fate. The back of his mind tells him that this is Beth’s parents' way of meeting the boy who is going to date their daughter, but he has to swiftly remind himself that there’s no guarantee they’ll ever even date. That’s just his wild imagination talking.

“Sure?”

“Yeah, why not? I like lasagna, and I figure if your parents know more about the JSA it only makes sense that they meet us all.” 

“Right, perfect. I guess we’ll both head to my house then. Just warning you now, my parents will probably ask a lot of questions.”

Rick laughs at that, already thinking of all the questions he’s about to be bombarded with.

“It’s alright. I’ll be there with you, and that’s what matters.” Rick winces as he says it, thinking that was too sappy of a line. 

When he looks to Beth however, he sees her grinning widely, unable to hide her joy. Apparently it was on the right side of just-sappy-enough. He grins right back at her, letting the moment overwhelm him. Eclipso is gone, and he’s here with Beth, going to properly meet her parents. The future may be uncertain, but this very moment is perfect, and right now that’s all Rick cares about. 

As long as he’s got Beth by his side, he knows everything will turn out okay. That’s what matters.