DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Walking Dead or any of its characters and original plotline. I also don't own any of the bands and artists referenced in this chapter.
-

Ron hadn't really been doing much all day. He woke up and hurried to get out of the house because his father didn't have any patients scheduled until noon and was supposed to be home all morning. Ron just wasn't willing to spend all morning with him, so after breakfast he told his mom that he was going to visit Mikey and left.

Mikey has been sick with some stomach bug for the last week, so Ron just sort of sat on his bed and they talked for an hour before he noticed how tired Mikey looked. He felt bad for keeping him awake so he told him to get some rest and left.

He'd been pretty bored, so bored that he had actually considered going to the library to read. But as he was walking down the street, he spotted someone up in the giant oak tree. He stared at them like they were nuts and slowly approached the trunk of the tree. 'Who the hell climbs all the way up there?' He wonders. He assumes its Enid, because he knows none of the adults would do something weird like this, the little kids are too small and weak to pull themselves up, and Mikey is lying in bed sick. Upon closer inspection, he realizes that he was wrong, the person in the tree isn't Enid, its that 'kid from Rick's Group' Carl.

'What the hell is he doing?! He looks like a freaking squirrel!' He wonders. Carl is just sitting out on a limb with his eyes closed. His face looks perfectly relaxed.

"Hey, squirrel boy!" Ron shouts, trying to get his attention.

Carl opens his eyes and looks down at him.

"What the hell are you doing up there?" Ron asks.

"Normal teenage shit!" The Grimes kid replies seriously.

Ron can't help but laugh. "Most of us normal teenagers don't climb up trees and take naps."

He sees Carl shrug.

Ron has noticed how lonely Carl seems most of the time, just walking around with his baby sister for company. He feels a little bad for him and decides that maybe he should invite Carl to go do something besides sit up in a tree like a monkey. It's not like Ron has anything better to do anyway

"Why don't you come down here and I'll show you how to do some REAL teenage shit?" He offers.

Carl hesitates for a moment before beginning to climb down and Ron blushes, wishing that he had been more clear with his invitation. Ron smiles at him and is about to say something but something is off here. He notices that something's missing. Carl looks...odd but he can't figure out why.

"Where's your sister?"

"At home. My friend Tara offered to watch her for the day."

Ron nods. That's probably what seems off. Everytime he sees Carl, he's got a two year old in his arms or hanging onto his hip. "I was wondering where she was. Every time I see you around, you've got her with you. Anyway, follow me and we'll do real 'teenage shit'."

Ron starts to lead Carl back to his house. He guesses that its almost noon and that his dad should be gone by now, and if he's not he must be leaving soon. He half expects Carl to ask where they're going, but he's noticed that the shorter boy doesn't talk much.

"What sorta 'normal teenage shit' were you doing up in that tree?" He asks, still curious as to why Carl took the time and energy to climb all the way up there.

"I wanted to see over the wall," Carl answers.

"Could you?"

Carl nods but doesn't elaborate anymore than that.

Ron knows that he's probably going to regret asking, but he needs to know. He hasn't seen anything outside of Alexandria for almost two years now and he's dying to know what it looks like out there. His mom always tells him that there's no need for him to ever go outside, and that everything is dead, ugly, and barren. But he thinks that she's just afraid of losing him, so she tries to keep him in by making it sound bland and dead "What's it look like out there?"

Carl stops walking and looks down at his feet, thinking of a way to answer the naive teen's question. "Well...it looks worn and damaged, you know? Like an abandoned building sort of. A lot of plants have grown because there's no one around to trim bushes, cut grass, or chop down trees. Its kind of dreary looking too... but it's beautiful."

Ron doesn't exactly see how something 'worn out and damaged' can look beautiful, but he doesn't say anything because he hasn't seen over the wall himself. 'Maybe it's one of those things that you have to experience for yourself to understand,' he thinks, watching Carl scrape his boots across the cement nervously. "I haven't seen the outside since the apocalypse started," Ron admits.

Carl looks up at him and gives him this weird look. Ron can't tell if its a 'You're Lucky' look or an 'I pity you because you're unexposed' look. Whatever it is, it makes Ron feel odd, so he awkwardly clears his throat before saying, "C'mon. My dad probably left for work, so we can play videogames and eat potato chips."

"Do normal teenage shit?" Carl asks with a faint smile.

Ron nods and smiles back at him. "Yeah."
-

Ron and Carl walk in silence to the Anderson household. Ron politely opens the door for him.

"After you."

Carl smiles at him and walks in, Ron following him. "Hey mom, I'm back!" He yells.

Jessie walks in from the kitchen. "You were gone for awhile, where were you?"

"I dropped over to see how Mikey's doing."

"Alright. Hello, Carl. Nice to see you!" She greets, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Hi Mrs. Anderson," Carl mutters, giving her a firm handshake to make up for his downcast gaze and quiet voice.

"Oh, just call me Jessie," she insists kindly. "Anyway, do want me to make you guys some lunch? I have some peanut butter or salami in the kitchen to make sandwiches."

"Uh, we're ok mom. We'll get ourselves something later, but thanks," Ron says, leading Carl up the stairs and to his bedroom.

"Ok, sweetheart! If you need anything, I'll be in the garage!" Jessie shouts after them.

"Ok, mom!"

Ron ushers Carl into his bedroom and closes the door behind them.

"So...what do you want to do?"

Carl shrugs. "Uh...what videogames do you have?"
-

Carl admits to himself that maybe he is enjoying his day off and that maybe, just maybe, Tara and Maggie and Carol were all correct when they said that he needed to get out and socialize.

They play shooter videogames for awhile (which, ironically enough, Carl is awful at) then they raid the kitchen for chips, popcorn, chocolate bars, and other generally unhealthy snack foods. After a little bit of small-talk and snacking, they talk about their families a little. Ron ends up saying something about his music giving his dad headaches.

"You have a radio?" Carl asks.

Ron nods. "Yeah, and a shitload of CDs. Do you listen to music?"

Carl shakes his head. "I used to, but out on the road you can't really because you don't have any CDs and all the radio stations are gone..."

Ron nods. "I get it. Hey, wanna look through my CD collection? I might have some that you like."

Carl smiles. "Yeah, that'd be awesome."

"Follow me."

Carl follows Ron over to his bookshelf, which has several comic books, video games, and boxes crammed into it. Ron grabs a few of the boxes off the top shelf and sets them on the floor. Both boys sit cross-legged on the floor and look through the boxes of CDs.

"What kind of music did you used to listen to?"

"Older stuff. Like, I'd listen to music with my parents in the car and I learned to love what they listened to."

"Really? I like a lot of the older stuff too, like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones."

Carl smiles. "Me too. I think my favorite is Bob Dylan."

Ron sighs. "My mom is a huge Bob Dylan fan but we don't have any of his CDs. We used to have one, but she was playing it kinda loud one evening and dad came home...he wasn't very happy about it. H-he broke the CD...and our stereo downstairs...and h-he..." Ron trials off and starts to look uncomfortable, thickly swallowing and staring intently at the CD in his lap.

Carl looks at him sadly. He scoots closer and sets a steady hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Hey," he whispers soothingly.

Ron lets out a nervous laugh and looks up at Carl. "Hehehe...uh, yeah sorry."

Carl shakes his head. "Its ok. You...you can talk to me."

Ron grins at him. "That's nice to know. You can talk to me too. I've noticed that you're really quiet."

Carl smiles back at him before selecting a CD from the pile. "Can we listen to this one?"
-

They spend hours laying side by side on Ron's bed listening to music. The volume is cranked up so loud that the walls vibrate and Ron's certain anyone walking by the house can hear their music. He doesn't care though, because Carl looks like he's really lost in the music and enjoying himself. His eyes are closed and his left foot absentmindedly taps along to the rhythm. He's serenely smiling, like he hasn't got a care in the world. They stay upstairs, listening to music and playing videogames until the sun sets.

"Hey, do you wanna stay for dinner? I think my mom made tacos." Ron offers.

"Sure, I just have to ask my dad first. Wanna walk to my house with me real quick?"

Ron nods, turning off his radio before the two head outside and down the street to Carl's house.

Carl walks into the living room to see that almost everyone is home for dinner except for his dad and Michonne.

"Hey Carl! Did you enjoy your free day?" Tara asks as she spots him walk in.

"Uh, that's sort of why I'm here. Can I eat dinner at the Andersons?" He asks, making puppy dog eyes at her.

Tara smiles and throws her hands up. "I don't see why not, but I don't think that's my decision to make. Your dad will be home in a few minutes, why don't you wait and ask him? I'd hate to piss your dad off because I let you do something he didn't want you to."

"It's fine, Carl. I'll tell your dad where you are, go have fun." Carol calls over to them as she plates dinner, dismissively flicking her wrist towards the door.

Carl beams at her. "Thanks Carol!" He shouts before running outside.

"Are you allowed?" Ron asks as Carl rejoins him on the front porch.

"Yeah. Lets go."
-

Rick and Michonne both get home a few minutes late.

"Hey guys," Glenn greets them.

Rick nods towards him as he takes a vacant seat. "How is everyone?"

That statement provokes the usual evening chatter from everyone. People talk in the groups that they sit with. Tara, Michonne, and Rosita talk about how Tara's day with Judith went. Abraham, Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, and Noah talk about their lookout shifts. Eugene, Father Gabriel, Carol, Rick, and Daryl sit together, going over daily events and not staying on one topic for an excessive amount of time. After Daryl talks about the run he and Aaron went on, Rick goes to jokingly tell Carl that Daryl and Aaron have found enough chocolate pudding to last him the rest of his life in the warehouse, when he notices his son's absence.

"Have any of you seen Carl?" He asks, looking around the room in confusion and feeling slightly panicked.

"He's not here? That's funny, I saw him walk in the front door about twenty minutes before you got home," Father Gabriel says.

Carol smiles as she feeds Judith another spoonful of mashed potatoes. "No, he was here. He stopped by to ask if he could eat dinner with the Andersons."

"Really?" Rick asks happily, unable to bite back the smile that spreads across his face.

"Yep. I guess him and Ron hit it off today," Carol muses.

"That's good. Kid needed to get outta the damn house," Daryl says with a bark of laughter.

Eugene nods in agreement. "It is good. Kids his age need social stimulation. Actually, all living creatures do. There was a study done by Harry Harlow, in which he placed rhesus monkeys into isolation for extended periods of time. These monkeys that were kept in isolation exhibited social issues, and when reintroduced into a group, tended to drift off on their own and were unsure how to act around their own kind. The isolated monkeys also suffered from depression."

Daryl, Rick, Father Gabriel, and Carol all stare at him. Even Judith gives him an odd look.

"I'm just saying that its good for Carl to get out and reintroduce himself into a group of kids his age. All of us are suitable companions for him, but teenagers are practically their own species and he needs to be with his own kind sometimes to avoid ending up like one of Harlow's rhesus monkeys."

"Eugene?" Carol asks.

"Yes?"

"Please shut up."

"Yes ma'am."
-

"Well, its very nice to have you with us tonight, Carl," Jessie says as she, Ron, Sam, and Carl all sit around the dinner table.

"Thanks for having me," Carl replies politely with a smile.

"Oh, its no big deal! I hope you like tacos and rice. If I had known that you were going to be eating with us sooner, I would've asked you what you like to eat and made that instead," Jessie says apologetically.

Carl would never complain about what someone prepared for him. Not only does he consider it rude, but after living on the road and never knowing when or what the next meal would be, all home cooked meals are a gift.

Carl shakes his head. "It's great, Jessie. Thanks. I like tacos alot."

She smiles graciously at him. "So...you're group has been here in Alexandria for almost three weeks now. You like it here?"

Carl nods.

"That's good. It must be really different in here than it is out there, huh?"

Carl looks down at his plate and nods again. 'You don't know the half of it,' he thinks to himself.

"I see your dad around a lot, but I don't see you very often. What do you usually do?"

Carl starts to feel a little uncomfortable. He knows Jessie isn't trying to make him feel this way, she's just a talkative friendly woman who's trying to get to know him, but all of her questions are starting to make his skin crawl.

"I watch my little sister most of the time."

"Ah, that's sweet. Judith, right?"

"Yeah."

"How old is she?"

"I sorta lost track of time out there. I think...she's two years old?" Carl says it like its more of a question than an answer.

Jessie nods.

Sam looks at Carl like he's crazy. "How did you lose track of time? You don't know how old your sister is? Do you know how old you are?"

Ron and Jessie shoot him a glare, mentally scolding 'Don't be rude!' but Carl racks his brain, trying his best to answer the question. "Well uh, out there there aren't clocks or calendars hanging around obviously. Alls you know is if its day or night and you can usually tell what season it is. I'm 14 or 15, because...I was 12 when everything started and its been going on for about two years, so...yeah."

Sam still looks at him dubiously. "If you didn't keep track of time, how did you know when stuff was gonna happen?"

Carl looks at him in confusion, not quite understanding the question.

"Like...I know that I go to bed at nine thirty and I get up at eight. And...Dad usually gets home late, but some nights he comes home at six and we eat dinner at six thirty. So without knowing what time it is, did you not know when to do stuff or when stuff was gonna happen?"

Carl sort of gets the gist of what he's saying. "No, you didn't know when stuff was going to happen. There really were no schedules, stuff just happened...when it happened. And you had to be ready for it."

"How can you be ready for something if you don't know that its going to happen?"

"You can't always be ready, but you can always think of the worst thing that can happen and you can prepare for that," Carl mutters. He wishes the words were his own, but they're not. When he was young and the apocalypse had just started, he remembers how scared he had been. After they had been through several shit storms, he had been shot, the group arrived at the farm, and Dale died and he felt personally responsible, he remembers that he would be too afraid to sleep at night and skittish around guns. His dad noticed that something was up and asked him what was wrong. Carl had tearfully admitted that he was terrified because 'there was no way of knowing what was going to happen and you can't avoid it no matter how hard you try' Rick had pulled him into a hug and told him that he was right, you couldn't be ready for everything, but if you thought of the worst scenario and were ready for that, you had a chance.

The Andersons all watch Carl look at his lap pensively, obviously deep in thought. Sam opens his mouth to ask another question, but Ron gives him a swift kick and a glare first.

"Sounds like it was rough out there Carl. Im glad you're here with us now," Jessie says, reaching out and touching the boy's shoulder.

Carl just sort of nods.

"Well, I made some cookies earlier this week. Do you all want some for dessert?" She offers.
-

After some small talk with Jessie and some cinnamon cookies, Ron walks Carl home.

"You don't have to walk me home," Carl tells him as they make their way down the street.

Ron shrugs. "It's the polite thing to do. Besides, I don't mind. Its not a long walk."

Carl smiles to himself. "Well, thanks."

"For walking you home? You don't have to thank me, its no big deal."

"Not just that, for hanging out with me today. I know I'm not the most interesting person."

Ron laughs. "I think you're pretty fucking interesting."

Carl shakes his head, still smiling.

"Hey uh, I'm sorry that my mom and brother were asking all of those questions. They weren't trying to be nosy they're just...chatty I guess. But I get that the stuff they were asking was personal and if they hit a sore spot, I'm sorry."

"Its fine. I didn't even notice," Carl lies. Ron knows he's lying, because he sat there at dinner and watched Carl bow his head in embarrassment and fidget uncomfortably, but he doesn't say anything.

"Your moms nice."

"Yeah, but she's a little loopy sometimes. You know, she's one of those creative artsy people."

"Yeah I can tell. She makes awesome cookies."

"She does, and her brownies are even better."

They stop in front of Carl's house. "Thanks for educating me on how to do normal teenage shit. Never again shall I spend my days in the trees," Carl jokingly vows.

"Well, I'm happy to have introduced you into teenage culture," Ron replies with a laugh, smiling at the shorter boy.

"See you around," Carl says, awkwardly shuffling away and towards his front door.

Ron watches him walk away. "Hey uh, were you planning to sit in the trees again tomorrow?"

Carl turns around and looks at him. "I don't know. Why?"

"Well, we could steal chocolate and marshmallows from the supply house, build a fire, and make s'mores while listening to some Cobain."

Carl feels his heart beat faster. "That sounds awesome. I'll ask my dad tonight."

Ron feels his lips stretch into a relaxed smile. "Ok, I'll catch you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you then," Carl says, waving at him before running into his house.

Ron watches him disappear into the house before starting to walk home. He's in the best mood that he's been in for weeks. He whistles a simple tune as he strolls down the street.
-

"Whoa, I don't think that I've ever seen a smile that big on your face," Michonne teases as Carl runs in the front door and flops down on the sofa.

"Oooh! He's smiling?!" Tara asks excitedly, flying into the room with Judith in her arms.

"Sure is," Michonne says, watching as Carl tries his best to STOP smiling. He's unsuccessful and just ends up in a fit of giggles.

"Oh my god, he did have a good time! See! What did I tell you, Carl?!" Tara jeers happily.

"Oh, you're back kid. Did ya have fun?" Daryl asks as he walks into the room.

"You bet he did! Look at that smile!" Tara says triumphantly.

Daryl grins as he watches Carl cover his face with his hands and laugh. "Yep, looks like he's in a good mood."

"So...what'd you do? How did dinner at the Andersons go?" Michonne asks.
-

"You sure seem to be in a good mood," Jessie says as she observes her older son.

Ron shrugs and continues to sit and play a board game with Sam.

"Yeah, usually you just mope around and bitch about shit," Pete slurs as he watches his sons play Clue.

"Maybe there's nothing to bitch about," Ron replies.

Pete grumbles at his smart ass answer but doesn't move to hit him.

"Ron had a friend over today," Sam says, rolling the dice. "I forget what his name was, but he was nice and he had a cool hat."

Pete looks at his wife questioningly.

"Ron had Rick's kid over today, Carl," she whispers.

Pete suddenly looks a little bit pissed. "Rick's kid?"

Jessie nods, not looking up from her book.

Pete laughs bitterly. "Ain't that sweet. You and Rick fostering a friendship between your boys. While they're off blowing up bottle rockets and tossing around a football, you and Ranger Rick can sit in the kitchen and talk. Have some coffee maybe. He'll let you babble on about your new water paints and watch you with a dreamy look in his eyes."

Ron frowns and feels his heart sink. Why does his dad have to ruin everything? He knows his dad is convinced Rick is in love his mom, but he doesn't understand why him hanging out with Carl has to have anything to do with it. Its not like Rick ate dinner with them or like Rick even came over with Carl.

Jessie looks at her husband in disbelief. "Pete, Rick didn't even come over with his son-"

Pete raises and eyebrow. "Whatever. Before you know it, he'll be setting up things for our son to do with Carl over at their house, and he'll invite you over too."

Ron sighs and bites his bottom lip as his dad roughly pushes past him and heads into the kitchen to get another beer.

"Mom, why's dad so mad?" Sam whispers.

Jessie smiles weakly at him. "He's just...worried that Ron isn't having the right people over."

Ron rolls his eyes at her. 'Reeeaaally mom? It sounded like he's scared that you've got the hots for Rick and that you two are gonna bang on the counter while Carl and I do stereotypical teenage boy stuff,' he thinks.

"Is Carl not the right kind of person to have over? He was kinda weird and quiet, but he seemed nice," Sam whispers, looking confused.

"Carl's fine," Ron replies before his mom can say anything. "Actually, we're gonna hang out by the library tomorrow."
He looks at his mom, silently challenging her to say 'no', but she remains silent and simply sighs.
-

After awhile of Tara, Michonne, and Daryl interrogating Carl on what he did during the day, Judith gets fussy. She spots her older brother and squirms around in Tara's arms, trying to get to him. Tara gives in and hands her over. Carl decides to take her out on the front porch for awhile.

He's in the middle of telling her a random story about a lonely theoretical dog that thought it was a squirrel and lived alone in the trees until another dog convinced him to come down from the treetops and showed him how to be a dog, when Rick comes out on the porch.

"So, I overheard everybody inside talkin'. They said you got home and had a really good time. Care to tell me what happened today?" He asks with a smile, taking a seat beside his children.

Carl grins. "Well...I went over to the Andersons and played some videogames with Ron. FYI, I suck ass at videogames. Anyway, he also has a radio and a bunch of CDs, so we listened to music. It was awesome because I haven't listened to music besides Beth's singing for so long. Just the rhythm and the beat...it was amazing and I literally lost myself in it. Then he asked me to stay for dinner and Carol said yes, so we ate tacos and Jessie and Sam had a lot of questions for me, but it was fine. We had some cookies for dessert, which were good enough to give Carol a run for her money."

Rick smiles at him. "Sounds like you had a good time."

Carl nods. "You know what, I really did. I honestly thought it was going to suck, but it was great."

"Are you and Ron friends?"

Carl really wants to say yes, but he's nervous to. If Ron doesn't see them as friends, that sucks and makes it awkward as hell, so he just shrugs.

Rick nods. "Well, I'm really glad that you went out and had a good time today."

Carl smiles at him. "Me too."
-

Long after Carl has fallen asleep, Rick is still up. He sits downstairs and relaxes on the sofa.

"Did you talk to Carl after he got home?" Carol asks from the doorway.

Rick nods and opens his eyes to look at her. "Yeah, he had a great time today. He got to be a normal kid for once."

Carol smiles. "I think you know what this means."

Rick looks at her in confusion. "What?"

"You can stop worrying about him! Ever since we got here, alls you worry about is Carl having a hard time adjusting and fitting in. That was a reasonable fear, I was worried about him too. I mean c'mon, he'd lived out there for years and seen and done things no one should ever have to, and the people in here haven't even killed a single walker. But, from the looks of it, he's found someone to hang out with. If this Anderson kid takes Carl under his wing and reintroduces him into civilization, he'll be fine."

Rick sighs heavily and nods. "I was worried about him. Like Eugene said about the monkeys at dinner, Carl hasn't been around people like this. He isn't used to civilized people. He's been out there in isolation,and I was worried that suddenly throwing him in here was going to be psychically hard on him, you know?"

Carol nods. "I completely understand. I was getting really scared when he started spending all of his time in here with Judith."

Rick groans. "Oh man, that scared me too. I was happy he was taking care of his baby sister, but it made me think that he was never going to get out there and adjust himself to a normal lifestyle with friendly people and a safe environment. It made me fear that being out there so long had permanently set him apart and made him feel like an outsider."

Carol nods. "I thought so too, but he went out there today and he found someone."

Rick nods and smiles. "I'm still a little concerned, but today definitely gave me hope."