Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and any non-canon storylines

Warning: Language & Violence

A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to another one of my Walking Dead stories. This times as you can tell it's a Rick/OC story, I've been planning this one for a while and finally decided to start publishing it. There are a couple of things you need to know before you start reading, 1) Rick and Lori are divorced in this story, 2) The first 5-10 chapters will be set before the apocalypse, 3) I'm currently working on other stories as well so if updates are slow then I'm sorry but I will try to post as much as possible.

Hayley Summers is portrayed by Amy Adams and Will Summers is played by Jaeden Lieberher

I hope you all enjoy this story!

Chapter 1 - Welcome To King County

Hayley took in a deep breath as she stood in the middle of the newly renovated bakery. It was small a long display case was to the left along with the till, on the right there were a couple tables for customers that wanted to stay in and eat. She had been working on it for the past month traveling to and from Atlanta twice a week to keep an eye on its progress, however now it was finally finished and Hayley had finally moved to Kings County. Along with her 12 year old son Will.

Hayley decided to move to King county a year ago after her divorce, it had always been a dream of hers to open a bakery and that dream had finally come true. Moving to a small town had always been something she wanted to do but her ex-husband had refused, he didn't like the idea even now but she couldn't give a damn what he thought he was lucky that he got to see Will at all even if it was only every other weekend.

"Mom! I finished the sign" a voice called from the small office in back before the pounding of feet could be heard. Hayley smiled as she saw her son running towards her a piece of paper clutched tightly in his hands.

"Go put it on the door then and hopefully I'll be able to get some help around here" Hayley had spent most of the day baking with help from her son who had his mothers flare for it. Even with her sons offered help she still needed another baker and someone to help behind the counter.

"Alright buddy did you clear everything up back there?" Hayley asked as she grabbed her keys and back from the counter.

"Yes mom and I made sure everything was turned off now can we please go home" Will whined causing Hayley to laugh as she ushered him outside and into the car.

They arrived at the small two story house in less than ten minutes. Will ran in the house and headed straight to the kitchen getting everything ready for their pizza night. Hayley looked around the small yet cosy house and smiled she hadn't felt this happy in years, a fresh start was just what she needed after the way her husband had treated her.

Her husband used to be a nice man, they had gotten married straight after college and had Will shortly after. Hayley believed they were the perfect family that was until he fell in with the wrong crowd. The changes were miner at first staying out a bit later than usual drinking a bit more, but one drink turned into two then three. He'd come home smelling of booze or not come home at all. She wanted to believe that he would get better, become better for their son but that never happened. She remembered the day she packed up and left taking Will with her. Hayley had gotten a call from Will's school saying he hadn't been picked up and when she got home she had found her husband in bed with another woman, she had yelled and screamed at him all with Will watching from the doorway unseen by the two adults in the room. The next few minutes went by in a blur she remembered the pain in her cheek from where he'd hit her, her son standing up for her and her ex-husband shouting at Will. She'd left that night with no regrets.

As Hayley walked into the kitchen she smiled at her son who was happily assembling his pizza, yeah she definitely had no regrets.

Rick sighed as he walked into the locker room at the station, he'd been called in around lunch to help with a case. Rick loved his job but sometimes he couldn't help but hate it especially when it cut into his time with Carl.

Rick and Lori had filed for divorce two years ago, he didn't want to at first afraid of what it would do to Carl but after talking about it as a family they decided it was the best decision. The two adults were constantly arguing about anything and everything and if he was being brutally honest they had lost the spark that they once had.

Despite everything Rick and Lori were still friends and whenever he wasn't working he would spent time with Carl who had adjusted well to his parents being apart. But right now Rick was heading back to his two bedroom apartment alone. Sighing sadly Rick pulled a clean shirt on before closing his locker.

"Yo Rick" Rick turned around to see his best friend Shane heading towards him "you coming out for drinks with the guys tonight?"

"Nah I think I'm good" Rick responded while heading towards the exit with Shane hot on his heels. "Just gonna stay home have a quiet night in"

"come on Rick! You never know you could meet someone there" Shane smirked

"At a bar? I'm not the love 'em and leave 'em type like you brother"

"Ouch I think you just hurt my pride" Shane said over dramatically before turning serious "fine I won't push it but you seriously need a date man, you haven't dated anyone since Lori and I think it would be good for you"

Rick appreciated what Shane was saying he did need to start dating again the only problem was he hadn't been on a date in 15 years and the last person he'd asked out was Lori.

"I'll think about it" Rick mumbled as they made it into the parking lot of the police station. Just as Rick was about to get into his car Shane called out

"Hey that new bakery is opening tomorrow you wanna go grab breakfast there before our shift, introduce ourselves?" Shane suggested

"Yeah sure, be good to introduce ourselves make them feel more welcome" Rick agreed before waving bye to Shane. Once he arrived back to his apartment Rick noticed that he'd failed to clear up the board game he was playing with Carl, a sad smile appeared on his face knowing that it would be a while before they got to finish it.

Laying in bed that night Rick thought about what Shane had said to him earlier. Rick hasn't had much of a social life since he and Lori split up, if he want at work he was with Carl or in his apartment watching crappy TV. Rick groaned running a hand down his face Shane was definitely right he needed to get back out there and move on the only problem was that he wasn't sure how.

The next morning Hayley woke up excited for the day ahead as it was officially opening day. Before heading to the bakery she dropped Will off at his new school wishing him luck and promising to pick him up.

When she arrived at the bakery Hayley was surprised to see some people already waiting outside for it to open, she told them all she'd be ready for business in five minutes before quickly rushing inside to get the display cases ready. Five minutes later Hayley took a deep breath in order to steady her nerves before flipping the sign on the door to open and unlocking it allowing the first customers inside.

Hayley was pleasantly surprised with how many people had turned up not only to buy her baked goods but also to welcome her, she guessed word travelled fast around here. She couldn't help but feel relieved at how everyone seemed to be enjoying her baking, the friendly smiles made Hayley feel right at home.

Hayley had just finished serving an elderly lady when she saw two gentlemen in police uniforms walk into the shop, they both looked to be in there mid 30's one of them was slightly taller and wore a smirk on his face upon seeing her. But it was the other one that caught her attention, he had a sheriffs hat on and the most piercing blue eyes she'd ever seen.

Snapping herself out of it Hayley smiled at the men "Hello officers, what can I get for you today?"

"Hello ma'am, I'm sheriff Rick Grimes and this is my partner Shane Walsh. We just wanted to welcome you to the community and introduce ourselves" Rick held out his hand for her to shake and she gladly took it.

"It's nice to meet you both, my names Hayley Summers"

"It's nice to meet you Hayley. Your shop looks wonderful by the way"

"Yeah we've needed a good bakery round here for a while now. Mind if we grab two coffees and two blueberry muffins" Shane spoke up for the first time after shaking her hand.

"Well thank you gentlemen. Would you like your order to take away?"

Rick was going to say yes but was quickly cut off by Shane "we'll have it to eat in"

"Okay well that will be $6.50 then please" Hayley smiled at them as she gestured them to go sit down and she would bring it to them once it was ready.

Rick and Shane went to go sit down at the table closest to the door. Rick was still confused as to why Shane had wanted to eat in "you do know our shift starts in 15 right?"

"Yep" Shane replied smugly "just figured you'd want to sit in enjoy the view you know" Rick just gave Shane a confused look causing his best friend to let out a small snort of laughter "oh come on man I practically saw your eyes light up once you saw her. Admit it brother you think she's cute"

"Well I mean yeah she's cute but I don't even know her Shane so don't get any ideas" Rick hissed at his best friend, sure the woman was pretty but he wasn't the type to go out with someone he just met. Before Shane could reply Hayley came over the the table

"Here you go officers two coffees and two muffins, enjoy!" Hayley placed the items in front of them with a bright smile adorning her face causing Rick to smile in thanks towards her. Rick decided to try the blueberry muffin first to see how good of a baker she was, he couldn't help the hum of delight that left his tips as he chewed on the tasty treat.

"Jesus these are fucking delicious" Shane mumbled through a large bite of muffin "we should come here for breakfast more often".

Rick just nodded in agreement unable to answer with his mouth full. The two best friends sat there and talked until they had to leave for their shift. Rick and Shane got up and headed towards the door but before exiting Rick turned to Hayley who was sorting out a display case full of cupcakes "thank you that was delicious"

"Thank you, y'all come back again okay?" Hayley smiled at him.

"Oh we definitely will darling" Shane spoke as he opened the door and headed towards the car.

"Goodbye Hayley" Rick opened the door but before he walked out he turned back to face her "oh and welcome to King County"

Note

A slow start but things will start to pick up next chapter. I'm so excited to write story so please let me know what you think!