C.E.W - Well that part of the episode doesn't come until chapter 9, I've written a lot more for this episode then I had originally planned, and as for the lover's quarrel, you're almost right, you'll just have to have a read to find out ;)

thewalkerinme - Thank you so much ^_^ I like to think that his parents brought him up right, and having his younger sister around kind of helped with the politeness as well, always wanting to be a good role model to her and stuff like that ^_^ I definitely have different plans for the turmoil he's going to have to face, some of it as a part of the show, and some of it I insert in myself, but that will come along later ;)

And now, onto the next chapter. Hopefully you guys like this one...

Not long after everyone had finished eating their pasta, and finishing off the wine that had been placed in front of them, everyone gathered up their things and left the cafeteria to follow Jenner again. Soon, they were walking into what Jenner had told them was a living area, where the scientists would usually stay if they needed to stay overnight during work hours.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies: if you shower, go easy on the hot water," Jenner informed the group, catching everyone's attention with the last thing he said, as he walked away, Glenn turning around to look at the rest of the group excitedly.

"Hot water?" he asked rhetorically, smiling back at the rest of the group, whose grins were equally as big as his, the corners of his mouth stretching out quite far.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog replied, he and Glenn both laughing as they rushed into some nearby rooms, the rest of the group moving to their own, while Lori stopped Will before he started going anywhere, quickly pulling her hand away from his shoulder when she did so.

"Did you want to stay in our room tonight? It's always good having people nearby when you sleep," Lori suggested, which made Will smile, but he shook his head at her offer, knowing that now wasn't the right time to start pushing too many boundaries just yet.

"I'll be fine in my own room, don't worry. I've gotten used to being alone," he informed her, heading off to one of the free shower rooms and closing the door behind him, any noise from the outside being blocked out almost instantly. After leaning against the door for a few minutes, Will dropped his bag to the ground and started to strip off everything he was wearing, not wasting anytime, before he walked into the shower, turning on the hot water, getting instant relief as it started trickling down his back. Will had to admit, he couldn't remember the last time he had had a real shower, at least one that hadn't been from a bucket full of rain water, something he used to do to try and stay clean where possible when he was still in Atlanta. The last time he remembered having a real shower was after his uncle's accident, having not showered for three days since, Jonathan had forced him to have one, since he had been watching over Will while his uncle was in the hospital. Although he knew at the time that his uncle was still alive and might make it out of his coma, Will had never cried at the possibility of losing his uncle until he was standing under a hot shower, the full force of what had happened finally being clear in his mind in those few quiet minutes.

Somehow, without even realising it, the same thing seemed to be happening to Will in present day, tears rolling down his face as he started to realise that he might never see his family again. As much as he tried to keep on a brave face in front of everyone around him, whenever Will found himself with enough time to be alone, that was usually when he started to let his emotions run rampant. Especially with this new group of people, a group he had only been with for a little over a day, Will knew that he could never show any weakness in front of them, not wanting to be seen as just another weak child that needed protection from the world around him. It took him way too long to convince his uncle and the workers at the mechanic to stop treating him like a child, and he wasn't ready to let someone else treat him in the same way all over again. Although he didn't want to be a child again, Will started to think about how nice Lori had been to him, how motherly she had been, and then how fatherly Rick had started acting towards him. Even the rest of the group, who barely knew him, were already starting to warm up to him, welcoming him into their family without another thought about it. If he really was going to stay with this group, then he needed to feel a part of it, not separate himself fully from the group, allow himself to integrate as he grew closer to them.

The question was, would he last that long?

Not wanting to waste all the hot water, after standing under the shower head for another minute, Will turned off the water and stepped out, picking up a towel to dry himself off, and got back into his old clothes, walking over to the nearby mirror to look at himself. The first thing Will thought of when he saw himself in the mirror, was how thankful he was that he didn't grow facial hair very fast, having only developed a five o'clock shadow since his last shave a few weeks ago, the beginnings of a moustache starting to form on his upper lip. As he turned away to get dressed, Will noticed that there was a shaver on the side of the sink, picking it up to examine when he heard a knock at the door, turning around to see Carol, seeing a flash of her grey hair from the other side of the door in through the mirror in front of him.

"Everything good in here?" she asked, keeping her face turned away from Will, just in case she had walked into the room at the wrong time.

"If by that you mean, am I decent? Then yes, I am," Will chuckled, turning fully to face Carol who turned herself around, noticing the razor still in Will's hand.

"Have you ever used one of those before?" she questioned, smiling at Will when he shook his head, chuckling himself, a red tinge coming to his cheeks, hating to admit his inadequacy.

"I've only ever used an electric one. My uncle never really had a chance to teach me how to use a real one, he was always too busy with work or sleeping to help me," Will told her, noticing Carol's smile fade a little at his words, Will thinking he knew what her next question was going to be.

"What about your father? Couldn't he have taught you?" she questioned cautiously, not seeming sure if she should be asking Will what she was, having to wait a few seconds before Will gave her an answer.

"I lost both of my parents before the outbreak, back when all I had to worry about was whether I was going to make it into high school or not," Will told her with a sad smile, altering the truth for his own benefit, not ready for anyone to know the full story of what happened to his family. After giving Will a sad but motherly smile, Carol stepped back out into the hall and looked down both directions, noticing someone further down the right side.

"Dale, get yourself in here and teach this boy how to shave with a razor," she shouted to Dale, who appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, appearing seemingly out of thin air.

"Did I hear someone needs help with a shave?" he asked with a warm smile, nodding to Carol as he stepped in to stand beside Will, taking the shaver out of his hand as he did.

"That would be greatly appreciated," Will smiled, mouthing a thank you to Carol as she stepped out of the room, a smile on her face, leaving Dale to teach Will the ups and downs of how to use what he called 'a real man's shaver'. Once Dale had helped Will use the shave properly, Will made his way over to one of the unoccupied rooms, finding a fresh set of pyjamas for him to wear, which he quickly changed into, having been wearing the same clothes for who knows how long now. Once he was clothed in his new, warm, soft, flannelette… in his new pyjamas, Will left his room and made his way over to the rec room, finding that Carol, Sophia and Carl were already there, the latter two having a game of checkers, while Carol read a book on the couch, everyone seeming to look relaxed for the first time in a long while.

"You're looking fresher already," Carol smiled, looking away from her book when she noticed Will walking into the room, receiving a smile in return.

"I definitely feel fresh and clean too," Will admitted with a laugh, subtly pointing to the small pieces of toilet paper placed on his face, small red dots being seen underneath, which made Carol laugh as well. After realising just how many books were in the room, Will walked over to look at the books on the far wall first, skimming through them to find something he could read for the night before he slept, hopefully like a baby, for the first time in who knows how long.

"Do you want to play checkers with us? You can play the winner," Carl offered with a smile, moving one of his pieces forward while Sophia stared at the board, deep in thought, as if she were carefully planning out some form of tactical response.

"I don't think I'd be good enough to play you guys, I'd lose in matter of minutes," Will told them with a smirk, making the two children giggle as they went back to their game, leaving Will to continue his search. As Will continued looking through the shelves, having already found himself a bible for later use, Lori stepped into the room with yet another glass of wine, smiling at the group gathered by the couches as she looked around the rest of the rest of the room.

"Any good books?" she asked, looking between Carol and Will, both of them nodding their heads in assent, Carol being the only one to look up at Lori while Will continued browsing through the books.

"Uh-huh, enough to keep us busy for years. All right. Come on, kids, it's bed time," Carol told Carl and Sophia, the pair reluctantly standing up to leave, while Lori made her way over to the bookshelf.

"Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit," Lori told her son, swaying a little on her feet as she walked, seeming like she might tip over at any moment, which made Will smile a little.

"This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep. It's a real miracle, isn't it?" Carol said aloud, smiling down at the two children as she left the room with the kids, leaving Will and Lori alone in the rec room, browsing through the book collection in silence.

"Find anything good?" Lori asked Will, walking over to walk beside him as he looked through the books, her words slurring a little as she spoke.

"Well, I was thinking about reading World War Z, but I thought that might be in bad taste, so I'll just read Charlotte's Web instead," Will told her, trying to keep a serious face as he pulled out the book, making Lori laugh, which almost made her keel over, if not for Will grabbing her arm to steady her.

"A very good choice," she chuckled, taking a sip of her wine as her finger skimmed across the books on the shelf in front of her absent-mindedly, the contents of the glass swaying in time with her motions.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Will asked Lori, pulling her attention away from the books to focus on him, even if that focus was hard to have, given the amount of alcohol currently in her system.

"Of course," she replied with a smile, taking a sip of her wine as she watched Will closely, waiting for him to ask about whatever it was he wanted to know.

"Why have you been so nice to me, someone you barely know? First you were willing to talk to me back at the camp, not minding I was a stranger to you. Then you trusted me to walk your son back to camp, even if it was only a minute's walk away. And before, you offered to have me in your room, with your family, like it was nothing. I guess I just want to understand; how can you treat a perfect stranger with such kindness?" Will questioned, his words seeming to be a bit more serious than Lori had expected them to be, her smile fading a little to match how serious the teenage boy in front of her currently looked.

"It wasn't really that much, just a few words here and there, it wasn't anything too major. If I'm being honest, I guess my motherly instincts kicked in," Lori admitted with a shrug of her shoulders, seeming like all of what she had been doing since Will's arrival seem like something trivial.

"Aren't your motherly instincts being worked hard enough taking care of your own son? How can you have the time to worry about some strange teen that your husband found on the side of the road, when you have a twelve-year-old who needs a lot of attention, especially in the world we are living in?" Will asked, having not had the chance to see what a mother is since his own mother, who he hadn't seen in a very long time, his memories not popping up in his mind as often as they used to.

"I guess it's just something a mother develops. She develops the need to take care of other people's children, as well as her own, when they don't have anyone to be their parents. Because everyone, even teenage boys from Atlanta, need parents. Besides, all I've done so far is treat a stranger kindly, it's not like I've been treating you like my child, no one has," Lori pointed out, going back to looking at books, while Will remained serious beside her, not sure how he should be taking her words.

"When I tried having a second glass of wine, you stole the glass from my hand and gave me water," Will retorted, getting Lori to look back at him, a small smile appearing on his face for a split second, only to disappear again when Lori met his eyes.

"I'd like to think I was doing your folks a favour, and taking care of their child. As I said, it's what any mother would do," Lori smiled, finally managing to get Will to smile again, feeling like the need to be serious had long gone, finally feeling somewhat comfortable, or at least more so than before, in the woman's presence.

"Well, thanks I guess. For being kind to a perfect stranger," Will said, turning back to look at the books once more, starting to feel a little awkward, no matter how comfortable he currently was.

"My pleasure," Lori said, hiding a small smile as the pair continued looking at books, not noticing the person entering the room behind them. As they both found something else of interest to them, a nearby door slammed, nearly making Will and Lori jump out of their skin, turning around to see Shane, looking drunk out of his mind.

"Jesus, you scared me," Lori said, holding her chest tightly, waiting for her heartbeat to slow down, which Will was doing beside her, feeling like his heart could beat out of his chest at any second.

"You're telling me," Will agreed, not liking the look Shane had in his eye as he stared at the pair in front of him, looking a little glazed over, thanks to a mixture of sleep deprivation and alcohol no doubt.

"Beat it kid, I need to talk to her alone," Shane snapped, gesturing for Will to leave the room through the door Carol and the kids had exited through, but Will was reluctant to listen to him.

"Or you could go to bed and sleep off the alcohol that is probably going to make you say a lot of stupid things?" Will suggested, getting a glare from Shane as he walked towards the pair, stumbling a little as he grew closer and closer.

"I said beat it," Shane growled, tipping a little to the side as he approached Will and Lori, managing to regain his footing a few seconds after.

"Now is not the time. I think Will is right, we should all go to bed," Lori said, walking away with Will not far behind, only for Shane to block the former from leaving the room, refusing to give up on whatever it was he had set out to do.

"How can you treat me like this?" Shane asked her, taking a swig of his drink, not looking like he was going to be moving anytime soon, a fact that was starting to worry Will more than it should.

"You're kidding, right?" Lori scoffed, glancing worriedly at Will, who wasn't ready to leave the pair alone, not liking where the conversation could lead to next.

"No. Huh-uh," Shane mumbled, swaying on his feet, probably way to intoxicated to know what he was doing at that very moment which meant he was going to be regretting quite a lot in the morning.

"Can we not have this conversation in front of a teenager," Lori snapped, walking around Shane to get to the door, while Shane quickly followed behind her, along with Will, who was not far behind both of them.

"Why don't we, it's not like he'd be stupid enough to tell anyone anyway. Wouldn't want to get himself kicked out of the group," Shane spat angrily at Lori, while managing to passive aggressively threaten Will into secrecy, moving to the door and slamming it shut before Lori could leave.

"You told me my husband was dead," Lori snapped, her anger seeming to make her forget momentarily that Will was standing right next to her, having become fed up with Shane.

"Jesus, Lori. I didn't lie to you, all right? I didn't. Do you know what it was like there? Huh? Things were falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were walkers everywhere," Shane explained, getting uncomfortably close to Lori who backed away a little, unconsciously moving closer to Will nearby.

"So you left him?" Lori questioned accusingly, glaring at Shane, who started to become more apologetic by the second, his anger fading away.

"Everybody else ran. There were no doctors there. It was just me. He was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do. I even took my ear and I put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I-I-I-I… I don't know why. Maybe it was gunfire. I don't know what it was, but there was no way he could've survived that. No way," Shane maintained, hitting the door behind him in his frustration, making Will and Lori jump out of their skins once more.

"He did," Lori said simply, having calmed down enough to realise Will was still with them, having completely forgotten he was there for those few moments of conversation.

"Yeah, but then I had y'all to think about, didn't I? I had you and Carl, and I needed to think about…" Shane started to ramble, grabbing Lori by the shoulders, and pushing her back, until she was sitting on a table he forced her onto.

"Hey, stop that," Will snapped, moving to help Lori, only for Will to be shoved away without a second thought from Shane, who was holding his focus on Lori.

"You stay out of this, punk. I had to get you guys safe to Atlanta. That's what I had to do. If you thought for one second that he was still alive, would you have come? So I saved your life, you and your little boy's. That's what I did. Right?" Shane asked Lori, leaving Lori speechless enough for her only to shake her head in reply, not sure how she could respond to the things Shane was saying.

"Shane, you need to stop," Will tried again, grabbing his shoulder tightly, only to be roughly pushed away once more, being ignored by Shane, who was refusing to give up on his current line of thought.

"And if I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because…" Shane tried saying again, ignoring Lori as she tried pushing away from, while Shane refused to let her budge, pushing her back every time she tried to get past him. No matter how hard Will tried to get Shane off of her, he refused to budge, shrugging Will off every time Will tried grabbing at him.

"I love you," Shane finally said through all of his ramblings, catching Will of guard for a few seconds, making him freeze in place, not believing what he had heard.

"No, you're drunk," Lori insisted, trying her best to push past Shane, but with little success, only managing to get shoved back rougher than Shane had probably wanted to.

"And I know there were some things that say that you love me, too. Because there's no way that you could've been with me the way that you were," Shane continued on, grabbing Lori by the chin, to stop her looking anywhere but at him, only for Lori to try fighting harder to get away, refusing to listen to his words any longer.

"Shane. Shane. Shane!" Lori started to shout, which seemed to pull Will out of his momentary revere, going back to trying to help Lori, trying to be a bit more forceful then he was being last time.

"Just… Okay, Stop. Listen. You love me," Shane maintained, forcing himself even more onto Lori, who could do nothing to get away from Shane, leaving Will to take some drastic measures, to do something he wasn't used to doing. Without even thinking, Will managed to get the strength to pull Shane away from Lori and punch him in the face, seeming him reeling back a little, probably more from surprise then from the strength behind Will's fist. After being momentarily stunned by Will's punch to the face, Shane retaliated instantly, punching Will square in the jaw, sending flailing to the ground, hitting the solid floor hard, having the wind knocked out of him in the process. Before Shane had a chance to go back to abusing Lori, as soon as he turned around to face her, she slapped him in the face, nails first, scratching him across the cheek, knocking him back a little in surprise once more. Seeming to have snapped out of his momentary madness, Shane turned around to the door and, after pounding his fist against the wall, he walked out and slammed the door behind him, leaving Lori to rush to Will's side, helping him back to his feet, supporting him a little when his legs started feeling like jelly.

"Are you okay?" she asked through quiet sobs, looking over Will's already bruising jaw, only for Will to push her hand away, shaking his head at her question.

"Forget about me, I'll be fine, I've had worse, it'll just be bruised for a while. Are you okay?" he asked, caring more about her safety rather than his own health for the time being, knowing what she had been going through was a whole lot worse. In response, her sobbing became stronger, tears rolling down her cheeks as she collapsed forward into Will's arms, allowing him to hold her close as she cried into his shoulder, staining his shirt with her tears, as he tried his best to comfort her.

And here it is, the next chapter, one I actually really enjoyed writing.

Originally, I didn't plan on writing Will into this scene, instead I was just going to have him be shooed away to his room to go read and sleep. Then I started to think about his character, and the interactions he's already had with Lori, and I thought it would make sense for him to want to protect her, especially if there is a chance she may be reminding him of his own mother in some way, shape or form. Hopefully you guys don't think it feels too forced ^_^

Hopefully you guys will be able to give me your thoughts, I would very much like to here them, it's the readers that make stories get better as they go along. I want this to be the best series I have ever written, and will ever write, on this site :D

Hope to here from you guys soon, have a great day ^_^

Sneak Peek: Chapter 8 - Science Experiment - After the disagreement from the night before, Will hopes that the new day will bring something to reassure him that things are going to start getting better soon. Unfortunately, Dr Jenner reveals something that will bring this hope crashing down to the ground, leaving Will to wonder how the situation could become bleaker than it already is.