Dad and I spent the next two days installing the curtains above every cell door. The curtains covered the entire doorway, which I was thankful for. Knowing that I had found curtains the fit right. I woke up the day after we had finished installing the curtains, my arms were still sore from constantly being extended for the past two days. I sat up and got dressed for the day. I went and ate. I then sat stood at the makeshift table we had made from barrels and a pallet just outside our cells. I started to clean my gun. Beth had decided to sit on the stairs with Judith. Thankfully she didn't seem to be staring me down this time. I just kept to myself and went about cleaning my gun. I was almost done when Dad came up to me. "Hey."

I mumbled, "Hey", in reply.

"Carl?"

"Yes?", I said as I kept reassembling my gun.

"Carl?" I put the slide back on. Finished, I looked up from my gun to Dad. "I need your help with something." I went to put my gun back in my holster but Dad stopped me. "Leave it", he said taking his own gun belt off, "it'll just get in the way." I placed my gun on the table, along with my holster and magazines. I stood up. "Come on." I followed Dad outside. As we got to the gate, he handed me a shovel and grabbed two others. We walked down to the field, where Herschel was waiting for us. Dad handed Herschel a shovel.

"We have to dig up this whole field?", I asked in disbelief.

"Just a large section", Herschel said. I nodded. We started clearing it out, although I was struggling to do it properly.

Dad noticed and said, "You gotta dig in at more of an angle." I did it like Dad had told me to and the work became easier. We had been out in the field for a little while when Beth came down with Judith. Probably trying to get Judith outside more now that we could safely go outside. But, why did she have to come near us? It was nice seeing Judith, especially since I had been seeing her less lately, but I wasn't ready to be this close to Beth, not this soon since... I just turned back to what I was doing. By turning back to my work, I ended up knocking my hat off my head. I was about to pick it back up when Dad swooped in and picked it up. He looked at me and said, "We need to get you a farming hat." He then placed my hat on Beth's head. "There's a new sheriff in town", he said with a laugh. Beth adjusted it on her head.

"How's it look?", she asked.

"Looks good", Dad said still laughing. I looked at Beth, and it made me feel...happy, calm even. She noticed and smiled, that same warm smile. I looked away and went back to work, but I kept taking glances back at Beth. I couldn't explain why this felt so...right. I really don't deserve her. After the shit I pulled, somehow she hasn't gone and stabbed me yet. I kept working and glancing back at Beth. Could Herschel be right? That Beth, that she still...no, no, she's just trying to be the better person and not cause a problem, that's all it is.

"It could be like this all the time", Herschel said to Dad, but I felt it definitely applied to me in some respects.

"It's like this right now, that's enough", Dad said. We worked for a few more hours. We got about a quarter of the area we needed to clear done. We went in just before sunset. During dinner, by some twist of fate, or bad luck, I was stuck sitting next to Beth. I wanted to sink into a black hole when I felt my hand touch Beth's for the smallest second. After dinner, I walked back to my cell and collapsed onto my bed. I was awoken when someone opened the curtains to my cell, letting the early morning light pour in.

"What do you want?", I asked annoyed that someone woke me up.

"To kick your ass again", I heard a gruff voice reply.

"Fuck you."

"Let's go, you got some learning to do, kid." He closed the curtains again. I got up and got dressed. I walked out of my cell and into the common area where Carol was already making breakfast. I grabbed a cup of coffee and drank it quickly, before heading outside to meet Daryl. I walked down to the same spot in the field we had practiced in the first time. Daryl was standing there waiting, smoking a cigarette.

"You got another pack?"

"You want a whole pack? The fuck gave you the idea I got a whole other pack?" I was about to answer when Daryl pulled out the pack he was carrying with him and tossed it to me. "Found a whole carton when I was out with Michonne."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Merle doing better?"

"He's still acting like a dumb son of bitch if that's what you mean."

"Haven't seen him since he got back."

"Yeah, your pops stuck him in Cellblock A away from everyone."

"You blame him?"

"Hell no. Merle's blood, but..."

"You ready to start?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Good." Daryl and I kept training for the next couple of hours, I had improved but not enough to beat Daryl. "You did good, still kicked your ass though."

"Shut up", I said jokingly. Daryl and I went our separate ways. Daryl went off to go hunt, I sat down next to the fence waiting for Dad. I sat and smoked a cigarette while I was waiting. Dad walked outside and we went down to the field and finished clearing part of the field for crops.

"It's a good thing we got this done today, Carl", Dad said to me as we were finishing up. "Because tomorrow we get to plant."

"We can't just take tomorrow off?"

"No. The sooner we plant, the sooner we get to harvest. The sooner we get to harvest, the sooner we can stop relying on runs for food." I laughed a little. "What's so funny?"

"Do you really think we can survive off of tomatoes and soybeans for the rest of our lives?" Dad, in turn, laughed at that.

"We're not", Dad said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?"

"I was talking with Herschel. All the pigs we've seen in the forest, the farms nearby could still have livestock too. We're not just gonna be farming, Carl."

"Great, I get to get covered in pig shit as well", I said under my breath.

"Watch your mouth", Dad all but commanded. I laughed.

"Dad, the world's over, and you're on me about my language?"

"The old world is over Carl", Dad corrected, "This", he said gesturing to look around us, "this, is the start of a whole new one." I smiled a little.

"You're awfully optimistic", I remarked.

"Wouldn't hurt you to be as well", Dad replied.

"I've been finding that to be harder and harder to do lately."

"Why?", he asked. I sighed.

"I don't know."

"Because of Beth?", Dad asked as if he already knew the answer. I nodded. "Carl, I know she was...special to you, but, things like this, they happen. Me and your mom, we used to fight a lot. Sometimes we went weeks without talking to each other."

"This is different, Dad. I...I loved Beth, I still love her. It's just... I hurt her. I was stupid. I made stupid decisions. I hurt her by being stupid. And, I can't seem to forgive myself for that", I paused and took a deep breath. "Herschel, he said, that Beth still loves me, even Glenn told me that. But, lately, it's just been getting harder and harder for me to believe that." Dad nodded and looked like he was thinking of what to say.

"Are you sure Beth hasn't forgiven you, or have you just not forgiven yourself?" We sat in silence for a moment. "Come on. Let's get inside and get", he laughed", cleaned up."

"Yeah", I said laughing a little as well. Dad went off to feed Judith when we got inside. I went to the showers and stood under the stream of water for who knows how long. It was the cleanest I had felt in almost a year. I got dressed afterwards. Where's my hat? I went back to my cell to look for it. Where the hell is it? I went out to the common area where Dad and almost everyone else was sitting around talking after the day had ended. "Have any of you seen my hat?"

"No", was the almost unanimous response. Except, for Herschel.

He said, "Ask Beth, she might know." I don't know if I really care about it enough to ask. I walked back into the cellblock and she was there, with my hat. I stopped a couple of feet away from her.

"Looking for something?", she asked holding my hat up.

"Uh, yeah, you...didn't have to come give it to me." I took a deep breath. Why in the hell am I so damn nervous?

"No, it's fine", she said, walking over and handing it to me. We kept standing there in silence. I was nervously playing with my hat.

"How's Judith?", I asked, trying to break the silence and awkwardness. "I haven't been able to see her all too much lately."

"She's doing fine. She only seems to sleep whenever she's in one of those chairs you and Glenn brought back", she said with a smile and a small laugh. I smiled a little too. "I wanted to thank you as well."

"For what?"

"Maggie told me you were the one who cleared the field after the attack. Judith, she um, likes heading out there, so thank you." I nodded.

"Well, my Dad and Daryl, the people from Woodbury, they put up the gates again, so don't thank me. They did more." She smiled warmly and looked at me.

"I'll see you around Carl", she said smiling, then she headed back to her cell.

"See you around", I said letting out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. I went into the common area outside the cellblock and grabbed an MRE and water bottle. The usual nightly combo. I looked at the front of the MRE. Southwest Beef and Black Beans. Something different at least. Better have coffee. I opened the MRE up and immediately looked for the small plastic bag inside and looked for the small bag of coffee inside. There it is. "Jackpot", I accidentally said out loud.

"What is it?", Glenn asked.

"Coffee." He laughed and shook his head.

"You know if you keep drinking coffee at this rate, you and Michonne are gonna have to start fighting over what's left of it."

"Yeah? You better hope no one else around here gets a girlfriend around here, because we all know what you're going to be fighting over then." Glenn turned red a little, but we all shared a good laugh. We all finished eating and went our separate ways. I sat up in my cell, carving random things into the wooden shelf with my knife. What do I even have to put on this? I opened up my backpacks on the top bunk. I still need to unpack. I placed the picture of Mom, Dad, and me on the shelf. Along with my notebook, cd player, CDs, and a few books the others had managed to bring back. I looked at my gun sitting on the metal table. I had been leaving it in my cell for the past two days. I barely noticed it wasn't there. It was nice, not always carrying it around. It was also strange looking at the shelf, everything I owned now, except for a few shirts and pairs of socks, was sitting on one small shelf. I laid back on my bed and thought about Beth. What she had said to me specifically as she walked away. I'll see you around Carl. That's an improvement over last time. I covered my eyes with my hat and went to sleep. Thinking of Beth.