Author's Note: Since The Walking Dead is back, my inspiration to write has finally come back too! Well, here's another update.

Chapter 4: Stupid Beanie

Piedmont park, 2:35PM

"Man, this is beautiful." Rick said as he closed his eyes, enjoying the peaceful sounds of nature.

Joining his friend in closing his eyes, Shane said, "Yeah, brother, ya got that right."

After driving around for what felt like months, they had finally found a park to hang out settle into and relax.

It was a rare sight to the pair, they had only been in the city for a couple of days, but they were already forgetting the humbling quiet Kings County, and replacing its image with the busy and load ways of the city. The two knew that when they left Kings County they would be home sick, who wouldn't? They had been born and raised their, their history, memories, and very existence had been tied to that one little corner of the world. Now everything had changed, they were changing; maybe they just couldn't fully grasp it until now.

Moments passed between the lifelong friends in silence, neither said a word. Eyes closed, the two just soaked in their surroundings, letting their other senses take over for their eyes.

Inhaling deeply, Shane savored the smell of the freshly cutgrass. Enjoying the scent the trees gave off, indicating that autumn was slowly approaching. The city lights were always a beautiful sight in all, but he was never a fan of the way the city smelled. He preferred the aroma the nature gave off, it just smelled so…natural.

Rick on the other hand was just listening to the sounds Mother Nature was singing to him. The way the leaves rustled in the wind, the soft chirp the birds gave off as they went about their business, but the thing he enjoyed the most, was just being able to hear his own thoughts again. Ever since he had arrived in Atlanta, he felt like he was moving a mile a minute, from noon to night. It was just good to have a moment to cool down and relax.

Finally, the two opened their eyes. Brown eyes stared up at the sky, a peaceful smiled found its way on to its owners face, while a pair of blue eye looked ahead of, staring at an unknown future.

"Shane, did I make the right call?" Rick asked, uncertainty finding his way into his voice.

Shane turned away from the sky and shrugged "Made a lot of calls, Rick, gotta give me more than that."

"You know what call I'm talking about." He said with a sigh. "This call, leaving home and coming here."

"Do you regret?" Shane asked causley.

"No." Looking away, Rick sighed. "I just…."

Shane cut him off. "You feel bad, because you don't feel bad."

"I just don't want to forget, brother. Forget my home, where I came from….my past…from her." The name sounded almost foreign on his lips. How long had it been since he had said her name?

Shane chewed on the inside of his mouth, trying to mentally arranging the words he was about to say. "Rick, it ain't like it was before. I know things different; the city, the job, what you call home! But listen, man, you still got me, got Carl. We ain't going anywhere."

Rick looked at Shane and smirked a little. If there were one thing that was dependable in the world, Shane would be it. Come hell or high water, Shane was always the one he could turn to for a problem. It had always been that way since childhood, and it made him for slightly better that things were still that way. It was relieving to know that while he still had other people's problems to take care of, there was still someone to help him take care of his own.

"I'm gonna have to start paying for all this advice sooner or later, Shane." Rick said with a small chuckle.

Shane laughed and replied. "Man, your fridge is my payment. Better keep that stocked or these Doctor Phil talks are gonna be gone."

"See I always saw you as Oprah." The now city cop joked.

"Oprah?!" Shane hollered in mock hurt. "The hell does that make you? Stedman?!"

"Maybe Doctor Oz." Rick offered, now laughing.

"Bitch, you're Martha Stewart!" Shane said back.

The two men stared each other down, neither blinking. Soon after though they erupted into a fit of laughter. All traces of seriousness had once again faded away from their train of thought…or lack of. They continued to trade insults back and forth, all the while still laughing.

As Rick and Shane continued to laugh like drunken college kids, a woman walked by them with her young daughter. The woman ignored the two, she had lived in the city long enough to know to just ignore the odd sights she saw. Her daughter on the other hand was much more curious about why the two men were acting so strange.

"Mommy, what's wrong with those two men?" The girl asked her mother.

"Nothing, sweetie. Their just…um, funny." The short-haired mother said back to her daughter.

The girl looked back at the men, they were now mock fist fighting, which looked kind of strange since they were still sitting on a park bench together she then looked back at her mother skeptically. "You sure they're not ga-"

The mother cut her daughter off "Now, now, sweetie, it's not nice to call people things without knowing them. And even if they were, there's nothing wrong with that."

"I know mommy." The girl said grabbing her mother's hand.

The mother kissed her on the top of the head, smiling she said "Good girl." She then sighed, smiling fading slightly. "Come on now, we don't want to keep your father waiting."

The girl's mood changed along with her mother's. "Ok, mommy." She said sadly following her mother away from the park.

Rick and Shane's laughter had died down some, now the two were just saying random comments back and forth.

"Hey, don't blame me for your kid saying things like 'third base' in public. Kids getting old, gotta know the bases." Shane said trying to sound smooth.

"He's barley thirteen yet!" Rick shot back. "Why the hell is he even be up to bat!"

Shane threw his hands up at his friend. "Ya ain't ever heard of little league?"

"Is that why you were band from going near the girls' team when we were in school?!" The Grimes man shouted back, realization finally reaching him.

"You're getting off topic!" Shane defensively replied. "Come on Carl, help me out here!" He shouted out to his nephew, hoping for some backup.

There was no reply though. Neither man heard Carl reply to his Uncle or try to agree with his father. They waited for something, but nothing came. After a moment of realizing, both men's eyes widened in horror.

Rick slowly turned to Shane.

Shane slowly turned to Rick.

Each man's face had the same look of understanding and terrifying realization on it.

Rick then slowly stood up "Shane…"

"Yeah, buddy." Shane whispered, standing up as well.

Rick gulped, running a hand through his short black hair nervously. "We forget Carl at the pizza place…didn't we?"

"Yup."

There was no words exchanged after that. No, there was just Rick and Shane, standing there numbly.

One second passed.

Shane took out his car keys.

Two seconds passed.

Rick took out his cell phone.

Three seconds passed.

Shane took out his gun.

Four seconds passed.

Rick told Shane to put his goddamn gun away.

Five seconds passed.

Rick took out his gun.

Rhee Pizza Parlor, 3:00PM

"So they just left you?" Beth asked, taking a bite of her pizza.

Carl shrugged, finishing his soda. "Nah, I wouldn't say left…um maybe got distracted, yeah distracted is the right word."

Beth just shook her head, sighing but laughing at the same time. "How many times does this happen?"

"More times than you'd expect, but to be fair, I wander off a lot." Carl offered, trying not to make his dad and uncle look too bad. "My uncle would always be like 'Carl, stay in the house' and my dad would just say 'I've got stuff and things to do' Never got to find out what he meant by that…"

"Your family is kind of weird. Carl." She said laughing to herself.

Carl laughed alongside her and countered "Well your hats are weird."

Beth's hands went to her favorite blue Beanie that was sitting on top of her head, she stuck out her tongue at Carl and shot back "My hats are awesome and you know it, Carl Grimes!"

Carl rolled his eyes. "Sure they are. Next thing you'll tell me is that I should walk around with a cowboy hat on."

"Well, I think you'd look cute in a cowboy hat!" Beth said in between laughs, mentally picturing Carl in one of those old Western Movies. "Like a mini, adorable client Eastwood."

Carl would have blushed at being called cute by Beth, but the fact that she said the words 'adorable' and 'mini' in the same sentence pretty much killed any compliment he could take out of it.

Groaning, Carl slid down into his seat, resting the back of his head on the both behind him "I'll be thirteen in three months, do I still have to be called adorable or mini?"

"Oh, come on you are!" Beth says as she lightly starts tapping her foot against Carl's. "Is that such a bad thing?

Carl picked his head up and looked at Beth for a second, taking in her features; her kind eyes, soft smile, the way the light of the room touched her face. Looking at her made him feel strange, talking to her made him feel even stranger. It wasn't a bad feeling either…he just didn't really understand what the hell it was.

"Maybe…" He muttered more to himself than to Beth.

"Why?" She asked, leaning closer to Carl so she could look at him better.

"I…uh…um" At that moment he prayed to the heavens for anything to interrupt this moment.

Before Carl could finish his pathetically attempted sentence, none other than his father, who had his python revolver drawn and ready for action, kicked in the door to the pizza parlor.

'And that's the last time I pray to the heavens for a distraction.' Carl thought, paling at the antics of his father.

Rick sprinted over to Carl and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug. "Why the hell weren't you in Shane's car?"

"I went back in for another slice of pizza." He answered simply.

Rick felt his eye twitching already. "What? When?"

"While you were busy yelling at Uncle Shane for trying to teach me what third base met." Carl said causally.

"What does third base mean?" Beth asked from her side of the both.

Rick's eye was now in full on twitch. "It means….uh…wait…Beth…when did you get here?"

"I got here after Carl called me." She offered simply.

"Why did he call you?"

"Because he said it'll be awhile till his dad and uncle realized they left him at the pizza parlor."

All Rick could was look back and forth from Beth's innocent looking face, to Carl's guilty like smiling face.

The Pizza boy then chose to walk onto the scene, handing the bill for the pizzas to Rick. "That'll be $12.23 sir."

At that moment, the door to the pizza parlor was kicked open again, this time by Shane, who was carrying a large and terrifying looking shotgun. "Where the hell is my nephew and who do I have to shoot?!"

"Oh, God, not you again!" The pizza boy screamed in terror.

"Boy, there ain't no God present here!" Shane hollered back at the pizza boy.

Grimes Apartment, 6:34PM

"Well there goes another place we're band from." Shane said walking into the Grime's apartment.

Rick followed behind him, rubbing at his tired eyes. He didn't even want to understand how today had turned into so much of a nightmare.

"I still don't understand what just happened." Beth whispered to Carl as they walked in after the two adults.

"Trust me, Beth, nothing that ever happens to this family ever makes any sense" Carl answered back. "Just be happy there wasn't a mail man close by."

Shane then howled over his shoulder "Told ya once, boy, I didn't start the war, but I'll be damn sure to finish."

While Shane started to lecture the youngsters about the dangers of the united states postal service, Rick had escaped into his bedroom, in hopes of finding some aspirin, and maybe a pillow to hold over his best friend's face for a couple seconds. He searched the room up and down, but he couldn't find nothing. It wasn't until he stumbled on the jacket he wore the day before that he finally found something for the throbbing headache he had. When he took the bottle out of the jacket pocket and a card went with it.

"What's this?" He quietly muttered to himself. Inspecting the card, he quickly remembered where he had gotten it from.

Michonne.

In a city as big as Atlanta, he had run into the same woman twice, who had just happened to be an internal affairs officer. It had either been a huge coincidence or…

Taking out his cell phone, Rick started to dial a number and brought the phone close to his ear.

The phone rang once, twice, a third , and finally someone picked up.

"Hello?" Familiar, yet painful voice to hear said.

Rick opened his mouth to reply, but closed it soon after.

"Hello?" The voice repeated. "Is anyone there?"

Rick cringed, then he hung up his phone and sighed deeply.

Throwing his phone away from him, the city cop ran his hands through his short hair, a nervous tic he still hadn't gotten over, he then laid flat on his back and stared up at the ceiling in his dimly lit room.

"I'm pathetic." He muttered to himself, closing his eyes.

"And that's why I'm banned from ever returning to any Kings County farms." Shane said proudly, finishing his story to Beth and Carl, smilingly at the memories of the boy's 12th birthday party.

The kids on the other hand had a different reaction to hearing Shane's story.

Carl sunk further into the couch he was sitting on, hanging his head low in shame at the memory of that fateful birthday, while Beth stared at Shane in horror, making a mental note to warn her daddy to never allow Shane anywhere near the farm…or her sister for that matter.

"So, I think I'm gonna go home now." Beth said rising from the couch. She nodded at Shane and gave Carl a hug goodbye. "Seeya later, mini cowboy" She whispered to him before walking out of the Grime's apartment, offering Carl a shy smile the entire time.

Blushing, Carl watched as Beth walked out, he gave her a small smile of his own and followed her eyes with his own until she disappeared out the door and closed it behind her.

Shane walked up to Carl and patted him hard on the back, knocking the boy off the couch "Well I'll be damned, I think the little man got himself a crush." He hollered proudly.

Carl's cheeks started to heat up "What?!"

"I think it's time we go over 'The Talk' again." Shane says with an evil glint in his eyes.

"I never got it the first time!" Carl yelled back.

"Never heard what?" Rick asked choosing that moment to walk in the room. He looked slightly drained, but Carl didn't pick up on it and Shane chose to ask about it later.

Shane then pointed at Carl and yelled "This little man might have his first crush!"

"My boy's growing up." Rick said proudly.

Carl put his face into his hands and muttered. "I hate my life."

"Now, now, little man, buck up. Your dad and ya ol' Uncle Shane gonna teach you about the birds and the bees." Shane clapped his hands together and gave the same look he always gave before something traumatizing happened. "Shall we begin, brother?" He asked Rick.

Rick laughed a little and stood next to his best friend. "Lead the way, brother."

"Now when a man and a woman-" Shane started.

There would never of been enough bleach in the world to wipe Carl's memory clean of the conversation he would hear.

Carl laid in his bed restless, even though his uncle's horrifying talk about the birds and the bees was still fresh in his mind, he still couldn't argue with the fact that there was something about Beth that he couldn't shake from his mind…he just didn't know what.

His cell phone then started to buzz from the nightstand on his bed. Scooping it up and flipping it open, he saw that he had gotten a text from Beth.

I'm outside. Get your lazy butt out here!
-Beth

Carl smiled and texted back.

Keep your stupid Beanie on, I'll be right there!
-Carl

Carl quietly closed the door to the apartment behind him, he saw Beth leaning against a railing, and she smiled brightly at him and waved him over.

'That smile is gonna be the end of me' He thought dryly

He joined her against the railing and she lightly tapped him on the head with her fist. A routine she was slowly working into being her normal greeting to him.

"So what'd I miss after I made my timely escape?" Beth asked.

Quick flashes of the talk he had with his dad and uncle flashed through his mind making Carl's soul and body shivered, something Beth picked up on.

"That bad, huh?" She says patting him on the back.

Shivering even more Carl whispered quietly 'The horror…the unadulterated horror."

Beth squeezed Carl's shoulder trying to comfort him. "Your uncle needs Jesus."

"Yeah…let's keep the church away from my uncle." Carl said, paling at the thought of his uncle going against the church in a holy dispute on the Virgin Mary.

"I…I don't even know what to say to that" The blonde-haired girl replied.

Sighing, Carl plopped down on the floor, Beth joined him right after, she nuzzled up close to Carl and rested her head on top of his, making the almost teenager blush deeply.

"Um, uh, what are you doing?" He said/stuttered.

"Trying to stay warm." She says wrapping her arms around Carl and hugging him closer. "It's like you're a little teddy bear!"

"You really want to take away a man's pride don't you?"

"You're a boy."

"You're an old lady!"

"I'm barley 15!"

"Still old."

Beth lightly tapped him on the head again. "Jerk."

There stayed like that for bit, trading stores back and forth, as they had done the night earlier. They didn't talk about anything important, neither mentioned their time before Atlanta, just about what they wanted to do in Atlanta.

She told him her dreams of wanting to be a singer/vet. She knew it was stupid sounding, but she loved to sing, she loved animals. Why not just pick two careers she loved rather than just one.

Carl didn't know what he really wanted to be in the future, but he knew who he wanted to be like. He wanted to grow up like his father and uncle, to be a good man who never gave up and faced every challenge with strong eyes and a brave heart.

They stayed up for the rest of the night talking, and it wasn't until they saw the sun rising that they decided it was time to go back to their respected homes.

Beth stood up from the ground, releasing Carl from her hug. "So, guess this is goodnight."

"Yeah, more like good morning." Carl said stretching his free limbs. He offered Beth a smile and she smiled brightly back at him. It was a strange moment for Carl, he felt nervous, but he also felt happy too. He opened his mouth to say something but Beth's phone started to ring from her pocket.

She took the device out and laughed lightly. "It's my sister. Probably wondering why I'm not in my bed."

"You better get home before she grounds you." Carl joked.

"You're one to talk, Mr. Grimes. It looks like you have some explaining of your own to do." Beth says with a devilish smile on her face. Without another word, she turns on her heel and skips away.

Scratching the back of his head in confusion, Carl watched as Beth skipped away. "What did she mean by that?" He asked out loud to himself.

Turning around, Carl saw the evil smiles of his father and uncle looking back at him.

"Damn it." Carl muttered.

Author's Notes: Well the little short update is over. I promise they'll be another one this Thursday night. The new updating schedule for all my stories is now once a week! Thank you for reading and make sure to review! Let's hope Season four is great!