Chapter 2 - Becoming Friends
It had been five days since Hayley had opened the bakery and business was good. She had managed to hire people to help around the shop. Mary was an older lady in her 50's who had years of baking experience so she helped out in the kitchens and there was Chloe who was fresh out of collage and needed the work. She helped Hayley behind the counter and looked after the place while Hayley ran errands or went to pick up Will.
Over the past couple days Rick and Shane had been almost every morning for breakfast. Except today it was just Shane and Hayley felt slightly disappointed that Rick hadn't been there. She had gotten to know the two officers since she saw them everyday, she found them easy to talk to and would find herself getting lost in conversation with them. She even sat down with them while they ate yesterday. So far she'd found out that Shane was a ladies man who flirted with anyone including her, although she just laughed it off, he wasn't really her type. Rick however never flirted with her he was always a gentlemen, she'd found out that he had a son named Carl who was a couple years younger than her own. She assumed that he was divorced due to the lack of a ring on his finger though he never talked about it and she wasn't going to bring it up, she knew from personal experience how painful that could be.
It was almost three o'clock and Hayley was preparing to go pick up Will from school when the bell chimed above the door. Hayley turned and smiled at the person walking towards the counter. "Hey Rick what can I get you today?"
Rick smiled at her as he walked up to the counter, Hayley noticed that he wasn't in his Sheriffs uniform so he must have the day off, "One chocolate chip muffin and one chocolate brownie please Hayley"
Hayley nodded and immediately got to work on getting his order ready placing the two items into a small cardboard box. As she was heading back towards him Rick's phone went off. The look on Rick's face told Hayley that he was extremely annoyed by whoever it was as he signalled that he was going to take the call outside.
Hayley watched Rick through the window as he paced stopping briefly to run a hand through his hair in frustration. When Rick came in the happiness was completely gone from his features.
"Everything okay there officer" Hayley asked softly
"It's supposed to be the start of my weekend off with my son but I've been called into work. Lori's gonna kill me" he muttered that last part to himself.
Hayley bit her lip debating with herself before finally making up her mind "how long will you be at work for?"
"A couple of hours, why?" Rick asked looking at her with furrowed brows
"Well I'm going to pick up Will so if you want I could bring your son back here with me and watch him for a couple of hours?" Hayley offered
"I couldn't ask you to do that"
"You're not asking I'm offering. They could sit and do homework even help me bake if they want, honestly Rick it's no problem at all"
Rick seemed to think about it for a moment before agreeing "okay I'll find a way to repay you I promise"
"No need for that, now schools getting out soon so we should probably go meet the boys and explain everything" She didn't need him to pay her back for this, he was already doing that by being kind to her and coming into her shop everyday.
The two adults decided to take their two separate cars that way Rick could go straight down to the station after seeing Carl. Normally Rick wouldn't trust someone he'd only met with his son so soon after meeting them but he trusted Hayley she was kind, he'd gotten to know her rather well over the past couple days and he could tell she was an excellent mother.
Ten minutes later the two of them pulled up to the school parking side by side just outside the entrance. Getting out the cars they both walked in silence, stopping just across the entrance Rick leaned up against a tree as Hayley stood beside him.
"So does Will always help out at the bakery?" Rick was the first one to break the silence between them.
"Yes he loves it, always insists on trying out new recipes. He even cooks dinner sometimes" A proud smile made its ways cross her face as she talked about her son and Rick couldn't help the smile that crossed his "What about Carl? Does he take after you?"
"Yeah" Rick let out a soft laugh "He's always asking me about my job, he mentioned how he wanted to be just like me when he's older not sure his mother would like that though"
"Well I think it's sweet that Carl has a dad like you to look up to, someone that gets the bad guys and saves people. All Will has is me and all I do is bake" Rick could hear the sadness in Hayley's voice
"Hey you're a great mom and one day that kids gonna be a world class chef you just watch" Rick smiled at Hayley as she smiled back at him.
"Thank you Rick" Hayley suddenly remembered something "should we exchange numbers? You know just In case"
Rick nodded as he got out his phone and Hayley typed her number into it as he did the same with hers. The two of them handed the phones back to each other while soft smiles played on their faces.
"Mom!" A voice called the two adults looked away from each other seeing Will walking towards them smiling, the smile soon turned into a confused frown upon seeing Rick. "Who's this?" Will asked as soon as he stood in front of the two adults.
"William Summers don't be rude, this is a friend of mine Rick, his sons going to join us at the bakery for a little while while he goes to work" Hayley explained
"So your the sheriff? Hello I'm Will it's nice to meet you" Will stuck his hand out for a Rick to shakes. Will had heard his mom mention the two officers that came into the bakery for breakfast everyday. He had seen the man and his mom talking and smiling at each other, Will was very protective of her especially after seeing the way his father had treated her.
Rick was shocked at how quickly Will went from practically glaring at him to beaming up at him with a smile on his face. Rick took Will's hand shaking it "It's nice to meet you Will"
"Dad?" A slightly timid voice called from a few feet away, three pairs of eyes turned to face a boy that was just younger than Will stood their nervously clutching is backpack.
"Carl" Rick moved over to his son and pulled him into a hug "This is my friend Hayley and her son Will" Rick introduced them, the mother and son waved at the younger Grimes. "Listen Carl I've got to work for a couple of hours"
"Does this mean I have to go to moms" Carl asked sadly
"No, Hayley has agreed to look after you. She's going to take you to the bakery and you can wait for me there okay" Carl looked at Rick sceptically "I trust her ok buddy"
"Okay Dad" Carl hugged his father before the two walked over to the pair waiting for them by Hayley's car. The boys got into the back seat while Hayley hung back to talk to Rick.
"Thank you again for doing this it means a lot"
"Honestly Rick it's no problem and I promise not to fill him up with cake" Hayley and Rick laughed at the comment before they said their goodbyes and getting into their separate cars.
On the way home Hayley could hear Will and Carl in the back seat discussing their favourite comic book characters. Hayley couldn't help but smile at how well the two boys were getting along. Will wasn't one to make friends easily he was rather quiet around kids his own age and got along better with adults so seeing him being so talkative with Carl had brought a small smile to her face.
Once back at the bakery the two boys sat at a table and got on with their homework so that they didn't have to do it over the weekend, Hayley's heart swelled as she saw them helping each other, seeing Will laughing and making friends brought tears to the single mothers eyes but she blinked them away before anyone could see.
Hayley had relieved her other two workers letting them go home for the day as they would be closing shortly. "Hey boys do you want any cakes before I pack them away?". The two boys immediately rushed up to the counter and started looking at what was left. Will decided on a chocolate chip cookie while Carl went for a red velvet cupcake, she handed them their treats watching as they said thank you and immediately rushed back to the table.
While the boys were eating Hayley locked the door and flipped the sign to closed, she moved to and from the kitchen and the counter placing what was left into cake tins, she also filled a little tin with a mixture of cakes and biscuits to give to Rick later on. Hayley was busy cleaning out the display cases when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
I should be there to pick Carl up in about an hour, sorry this is taking longer than expected - Rick
Hayley smiled at the text, she honestly didn't mind looking after Carl he was a great kid,
That's okay, it's no problem Carl is a great kid - Hayley
Hayley placed her phone back in her pocket and continued to clean the bakery. After she finished cleaning she noticed that there was still half an hour left until Rick came and the boys had finished their homework. "Hey boys Carl's dad won't be here for another half an hour, you boys want to make some cakes while we wait?"
Both boys immediately jumped up in excitement rushing to follow Hayley into the kitchen where they agreed to make some chocolate cupcakes. Hayley gathered all the ingredients as the boys put on their aprons and got everything ready. Hayley guided them as they made the cakes not really needing to help much, she only needed to intervene when the boys started a fight with the flower. When the cakes were baked and cool enough the trio started icing them, half way through the icing process a knock came from the bakery door. Hayley look confused for a moment before checking the time and realising that it must be Rick, she quickly rushed to the door unlocking it and letting him in.
"Hey sorry I'm late" Rick said as he stepped through the door "has he been okay?"
"He's been great, done all his homework. They boys are just finishing icing some cupcakes they made" Hayley grinned at the man as she led him into the kitchen where they found the two boys eating the cupcakes they had just made "and what do you think you two are doing" Hayley crossed her arms over her chest a stern exspression on her face as the two boys stood there wide eyed,
"Quality control!" Will blurted out
"We were just making sure they were okay" Carl added wiping some icing from round his mouth before he noticed his dad was there and ran to hug him
"Hey buddy you have a good time with miss Summers?"
"Yes she let me have a cake and then we got to bake some and she said we could take some home" the boy explained happily. The smile on Carl's face was infectious and the two adults couldn't help but laugh at how happy he was. "Hey dad can Will and his mom come to the zoo with us on Sunday?" Carl look up at his dad with pleading eyes.
"Oh Carl I'm not sure that-" Hayley started to protest not wanting to get in the way of their father son weekend but Rick cut her off
"Of course they can, if that's okay with them?" Rick look at Hayley as she turned to look at her son who was nodding his head enthusiastically.
"We would love to come thank you" Hayley replied as she ruffled Carl's hair "right boys it's getting late why don't you two pack up the cakes while I speak to Rick". While the two boys got everything ready Rick and Hayley headed to the front of the bakery "Thank you for inviting us Rick but I don't want to intrude on your weekend with Carl"
"You won't be intruding Hayley" Rick put a reassuring hand on her shoulder "I want you both to come. Carl seems to be getting on great with Will, plus I like talking to you so we'll have have a great day and get to know each other"
"Thank you" Hayley felt herself blush slightly at Rick's words "You're a great guy Rick and an amazing father. After the zoo you and Carl can come round for dinner, it's make your own pizza night on Sunday"
"We'd love to" Rick smiled at her as the boys came out the kitchen carrying two boxes of cupcakes. Hayley went through the bakery and turned everything off before ushering everyone out and locking the door. Hayley and Will said one last goodbye to Rick and Carl the two boys voicing how excited they were for Sunday before getting into their respective cars. Hayley and Rick giving each other one final wave before getting into their cars and driving away.
On the way home Hayley noticed that from the passengers seat Will kept looking over at her with a smile on his face "What's got you all smiley over there?"
"Oh nothing mom just happy that I made a new friend is all" Will replied innocently. Little did Hayley know that it wasn't the real reason at all.
Note
Another chapter done! I didn't intend for this to go on for so long but I just so into writing it, I was going to add the Zoo to this chapter but I'm saving it for the next one now. So Rick and Hayley are becoming friends and Will and Carl are plotting something. Can't wait to start writing the next chapter
Bleachlover202: Thank you for the review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Guest: awh that's so sweet thank you! I wish there were more Rick/OC fics I love reading them
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Thank you to all the people who followed, favourited and Reviewed this story I was shocked at how many did, it really gives me the motivation to write more :)