Her smile was even warmer than the bed, as she drew his lips closer until they kissed again. He gently pressed into her. This was their special moment of connection, enhanced by the morning rainfall, the dimly-lit bedroom and the warmth of the bed. This was more about communicating a mutual desire than about a primal need. This was lovemaking. Lovemaking with the only one you love.

It was just two hours later, when he was at the station getting ready for his shift, when the phone call came in. Neighbors in Jeff's apartment complex were complaining about a foul odor coming from apartment 235. Jeffrey Grimes's place.

He looked at Shane with panic in his eyes.

He was unable to focus and as Shane drove the cruiser with lights flashing and the siren blaring, Rick kept calling his brother. Every call went to voicemail.

Before Shane put the vehicle in park Rick had opened the door and bounded up the steps. He could smell the decay from the outside as his hands were shaking while he looked for her own key. Frustration got the better of him and with one kick he opened the door.

His brother was lying on the floor, his body swollen from decay and the Atlanta heat. Rick walked over, his legs barely holding him upright, before he fell to his knees at the remains of the body.

The smell of gunpowder and the coppery stench of blood permeated the room. Without regard to tampering with a possible crime scene, he took his brother's cold hand in his and started crying.

"Jeff…I would've helped. Why didn't you let me help?"


The paramedics gave Rick a tranquilizer, causing him to slump over in the passenger seat as he faintly heard Shane call Lori at home.

"Hey, Lori…Yeah, it's bad…You don't want to know…. It's bad…Rick's medicated…. I'll stay over to take care of Carl, or if you want I'll take him home with me...okay…alright…I'm almost there."

The raven-haired officer pulled the cruiser into the Grimes driveway. After cutting the engine he walked over to the passenger side and opened the door, catching Rick as he almost fell out of the seat.

The two partners, and long-time friends, walked together to the front door until Lori ran out and took Rick into her arms.

He crumbled at her touch, his body shook from the force of his sobs and when warm arms wrapped around his body. He turned in their embrace to bury his head in their owner's chest. A soft hand gently brushed over his hair and slowly he began to calm.

Shane helped Lori move him inside, where he flopped on the couch and let out pent up emotions.

Lori held him tightly, telling him over and over again that she loved him and they'll get over it together.


Rick awoke from his uneasy slumber.

He laid silently, thinking about how caring Lori was over Jeff's suicide. Although she was exhausted from staying up all night with a colicky baby, she sat by his side, always willing to listen, reassuring him it wasn't his fault, and catch every tear he shed.

Weeks later, when his mother decided to end her life in order to get away from the tyrannical regime of the senior Grimes, Lori did everything she could to console her broken husband.

He gazed at his arms, seeing a litany of light scars from the self-harm he did as a teen when he was desperate to get away from his father.

It was one reason Rick loved his wife so much. One of the many reasons.

His chest hurt at the thought that Lori would never be with him again in the darkness of the morning.

Unless he made things right.

He pulled on his clothes before heading to the kitchen. This was the day he was going to smooth things over with Lori. She was his wife, through good times and bad.

He would do whatever it took to get back into her good graces, even one step at a time.


After leaving his room he knocked on Lori and Carl's door. After a few moments, he heard light footsteps before the door opened, blocked by the chain on the door.

"What?" Carl asked, when he laid eyes on his father.

"Hey bud. I wanted to talk to mom."

Without moving the door Carl replied, "She's not here. She went to get breakfast. She told me not to leave the room."

"You can come with me, bud."

After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Rick swallowed a sob and added, "Carl, I'm sorry. I made mistake. Big mistakes, and I have no excuse. But I love you and I love your mom. I want to be a family again. Please."

When the child looked into his father's crystal blue eyes and saw them fill with tears, he relented.

"Alright."


Andrea sat at the table with a smirk on her face as the fractured family staggered into the kitchen.

Maggie arrived with Glenn, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist.

Abe and Ty entered the room at the same time, grabbing coffee before taking their seats.

Ty sneered at the blonde, thinking but not knowing for certain she played a role in the deaths of their friends.

Rick and Carl wandered into the room, and the younger Grimes immediately asked if anybody had seen his mom.

Andrea hid her smile behind her coffee mug.

Rick walked around the kitchen, looking into the large pantry before he moved to the lobby and started calling her name.

He returned to the kitchen, his heart clenched. It was then he noticed Andrea was wearing Lori's wedding and engagement rings, her earrings and necklace.

Fear, like a red-horned demon settled over him, sucking the strength from his limbs, and he fought to keep the dizziness at bay.

"What's going on? Andrea?"

Feigning empathy, she said "Lori left. She gave me these..." She wiggled her finger, Lori's engagement ring sparkling in the dimly lit room. "I think they look better on me."

At the mention of his wife, Rick had turned pale. His knuckles were white where they gripped the back of the chair in front of him. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you know the type of person she is? She killed everyone people. She abandoned Carl. She was bound to find out about us at some point. I got tired of riding you against a tree. We were fucking for months before we got here. She was just too stupid to find out."

"Don't talk about my family like that." He snapped.

"What...you're defending her now? It's over with you and Lori. Just accept that. And she's gone. Took a car, and goodbye. Accept the fact that she left because of what you said and what we did. You got what you wanted. You'll never see her again. But you're stuck with that little abortion." She said, pointing to Carl.

"Don't talk about my family like that!"

"With everything you've said to her, in front of everyone, over the past few weeks, and now you care about how people talk about her? You held a gun to her head the weeks ago."

The tears started to fall out of Rick's eyes.

"Men don't cry. Suck it up."

Daryl quickly left the hotel through the kitchen door, returning moments later.

"Rick. C'mere."

"Look." The redneck said, as he pointed to drag marks down the steps and blood in the snow. They followed the light footsteps all the way to where a set of tire tracks led from a parking spot to the road. The wind had picked up, making the cold winter's morning bitingly icy.

"Blood." Rick said, stoically.

"Yeah, back at the bottom of the steps too. Something happened."

"I gotta get her." Rick said breathlessly, starting to panic.

Rick thundered back into the hotel and stomped over to Andrea. He grabbed a fist full of blonde hair and moved her face to be inches away from his own.

"Where is she?" He asked, his voice a deep growl.