Leon gave me tips and taught me how to fish and I stayed there and talked to him the whole time. We caught so many fish! Alexandria will be so happy to get all this food. Leon and I have to split them, of course, because he gave me the bread and jam and also taught me to fish.

"That's a lot of fish." Leon said.

"Yeah, I know." I smiled. "My group is gonna be so happy." I said absentmindedly.

"You have a group?" He asked me surprised.

Shit. I blinked at him. "…yeah. Do you?"

He seemed to hesitate. "…yeah, I do."

I relaxed a little but then got another idea. He seems like a nice guy, but it could all be an act. I don't know him yet. He stared at me and I knew what he was going to ask next. "I can't tell you." I said before he asked. "You seem nice, but…I don't know you." I shook my head.

Leon looked down for a moment like he was thinking or something. "I agree." He nodded. "We should…get to know each other first before we exchange that kind of information."

I blinked at him in surprise because I never expected him to say that. "Okay?"

Leon stood up straight. "Let's meet back here tomorrow." He said. "I see you're a reader." He pointed at my book under the tree where I left my bag. "I'll bring you a book. And you bring me something." He grinned. His smile was nice.

His request caught me off guard. "Uh…I don't know what to give you." I shook my head.

"Anything." He said. "I'm a…simple kinda guy." He grinned that grin again. "In fact," he paused, "why don't we make this our meet up spot? We can…trade." He shrugged.

I thought for a minute. This feels slightly wrong. I shouldn't make any kind of deal with anyone without talking to the group first. However, it seems like a harmless deal. Leon is one person. How bad could it be? "Okay, fine." I finally said. "But this better not be a trick." I warned him. "You better not bring anyone else."

"I promise I won't." He said seriously.

I stared at him for a moment thinking if this was a mistake, then I looked up at the sky. It's getting late. "I should get back." I said. "And don't even think about following me." I stood up and gathered up my stuff. We split the fish, I thanked him for his help, then we went our separate ways.

The Alexandrians were super grateful for the fish that I brought home. The others helped me divide it amongst each other. I took our share home and showed my dad and everyone.

"You were able to get some?" Michonne asked me.

I shrugged. "I told you I could do it." I smirked. She let out a laugh, then started preparing them. I was about to go upstairs to clean up when I remembered about the bread and jam. I sat my bag down then began taking the stuff out and setting it on the counter.

I was about to sit down the last jar when I had a thought. It just now occurred to me that they're going to wonder where I found fresh jam and bread. I tried to put it all back in my bag, but it was too late.

"Hey, what's all that?" My dad asked me.

Shit! I tightly shut my eyes and cursed myself. Turning to my dad, I saw he was giving me a weird look. "It's uh…some bread and jam." I stated.

"Bread and jam?" He questioned and picked up one of the jars. Michonne came over to take a look too. Daryl was by the bar counter now and was also observing the scene. "This looks fresh." I watched as he unscrewed the lid and sniffed it.

"The bread too." Michonne said ripping off a piece and examining it. They all turned to me now.

"Abby, where did you get this?" My dad asked me.

I hesitated while they all stared at me. "…someone…gave it to me."

"Who?" Said my dad.

"Oh, you know." I waved and shrugged. "Just…" I trailed off with a laugh and pointed behind me with my thumb. They were all staring at me weird. I wanted to run away.

"Why are you lying to me?" My dad crossed his arms.

I gave him an annoyed look. "I'm not lying to you."

"Did you steal it?" He asked me again.

"No, I didn't steal it!" I threw my arms up. "I told you. Someone gave it to me."

"Who gave it to ya?" Daryl finally spoke.

"Someone who makes jam and bread." I smirked and walked away before anyone else could say anything.

Narrator's POV

Rick Grimes shared a look with his wife and friend. "That was weird." He said.

"We still don't know where it came from." Said Daryl.

"Yeah, strange." Michonne said then ate the piece of bread that she ripped off. Rick gave her a look. "What? I'm not letting it go to waste."

Rick let out a laugh and Daryl shrugged.

Abby's POV

I went out onto the porch. That was almost really bad. What am I supposed to tell them if they ask again? I can't tell them about Leon. They'd be pissed that I didn't immediately tell them and also, they might go looking for him when he hasn't done anything wrong.

I sighed leaning over the railing, then walked down the porch steps. Looking over, I saw Max staring at me. Damn.

"Hey, Abby!" He said cheerfully and ran over to me.

"Hey, kid." I said apathetically. Max is a boy who we took in a while ago, he and his mom live here now. Max is nice but kind of annoying because he has an obvious crush on me. He's too young for me though, he's the same age that Carl would be if he were still alive.

"Thanks for the fish." He said. "Fish is my favorite."

"Yeah." I said. "Good."

"I didn't know you knew how to fish."

"Someone taught me."

"Who?"

"A friend I met." I decided not to lie to Max. He wouldn't tell anyone.

"Can you teach me?" He asked.

"Maybe one day." I said then dug my vape pen out of my pocket and took a puff.

"Is that a vape?" Max asked me.

I blew the smoke out before answering him. "Yup."

"Can I try?"

I thought for a minute. "Yeah, sure." I handed it to him. He took a puff then immediately blew out the smoke and coughed. I laughed.

"Abigail Grimes." I heard someone say. It was the old lady who lives next door. "Did you just let that child smoke?"

"Yeah." I shrugged.

She gave me an angry look. "He's a kid!"

"It's his life." I said in defense. "Fuck it." I shrugged again then smirked. Max laughed. I patted his shoulder. "I gotta go." I went inside after that.

I went back to that spot by the river around the same time the next day like Leon said to. I wasn't sure what to give him so I just grabbed that little ax that I found the other day. I figured he'd like it. Plus, he did say anything.

Leon arrived about the same time that I did. "Hey." He said. "Nice to see you again. I kind of thought you weren't gonna come."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well…I came." Then I shook my head because of the way that sounded. "I don't really know why though."

"I said I wanted to give you a book." He said.

"Yeah, I know." I gave him a stupid look. "But why? What is it that you want from me?"

He stared at me for a few seconds. "I don't know. I just saw you…and thought we could be friends." He looked down. "You looked like you could use a friend. You looked lonely."

I shook my head defensively. "I'm not lonely." I snapped. "I have more family than you could ever know."
Leon gave me a sad look. "Doesn't matter sometimes." I don't why I was being defensive anyway? It's the truth. I do feel that way. "I am too." He said sitting his bag down. I looked at the back of his head, he has curly black hair. I always loved curls. I shook that thought and cleared my throat. Maybe he does understand. "Here." He took the book that he wanted to give me out of his bag and handed it to me. It was a thick book.

I looked at the cover. "East of Eden?" I questioned. It was by John Steinbeck. I read Of Mice and Men by him and loved it so maybe this one is good too.

"You'll like it." Leon stated. "It's my favorite." He smiled. "And you kind of remind me of Cathy."

"Thanks." I told him and put it in my bag. "Oh. Here's what I brought you." I handed him the ax.

He let out a laugh. "It's an ax."

"You said anything." I shrugged.

"Yeah, but…I thought it would be something more fun."

"Well, I'll remember that for next time." I smirked. He smiled. I basically just agreed to meet up again.

I stayed there for a while and we just talked. I realized that…I liked Leon. He seems like a really nice guy and I enjoyed talking with him. And I don't care about where he comes from, he hasn't asked me so I don't think he cares either. And he's right, I am lonely and I do need a friend. He's perfect too. I asked him how old he is and he said twenty-three so four years older than me. We agreed to meet back here in three days. Leon wanted to give me some time to be able to read the book.

Later on back at home, I was sitting in the living room reading East of Eden. It was pretty boring so far. I hope it gets better. I mean…Leon said it was his favorite so…it should. Then again, I still don't know him at that well yet.

I saw my dad walk over in my peripheral vision, he bent down in front of me and looked at my book. "East of Eden?" He questioned. "Why are you reading that?"

I looked up at him. "Why not?"

He shrugged. "I just didn't think you'd be interested in something like that."

"Well…I read Of Mice and Men and loved that so…" I trailed off and went back to my book.

"I read that in high school." He continued. "I didn't like it." I didn't respond to that. "Looks like you read a good bit of it already."

"Yeah." I stopped and looked at it. "And I just started reading it today."

My dad raised his eyebrows at me. "Maybe you should take a break then."

"I'm a speed reader." I waved him off. "I always do that." However, I was getting a little hungry. "But…you're probably right." I closed the book and sat it aside. "I should give my eyes a rest." I leaned back with my eyes closed.

There was a brief pause. "You've been goin' out a lot recently." My dad said.

"Yeah?" I said then shrugged. "I like it."

"You wanna go on a run with me tomorrow?" He said. "We're just gonna take a ride up to the Hilltop and do our normal exchange."

Part of me felt annoyed because I wanted to go talk to Leon again tomorrow, but I didn't want to say no. "Sure." I said.

"Daryl's comin' too." My dad informed me.

I perked up a little. "Okay." I nodded. "Yeah, I'll go with you guys." He noticed how I changed my attitude, I didn't want him to think it was because of Daryl so I said, "it's been a while since I've seen Maggie so I'd like to see her."

My dad nodded at me. "Good."

I read more of East Of Eden as I was in bed that night. I finally got to where Cathy was introduced into the story, which I was anticipating because Leon said I remind him of her. I read more. This bitch is crazy! She killed her parents by setting their house on fire! How does she remind Leon of me? She's a psychopath!

I finished the chapter, then sighed and threw the book on my nightstand. After that, I laid down and got comfortable. I'm gonna kick his ass next time I see him.

"Aw what?" I said. "You guys are gonna make me sit in that small middle seat?" We were taking the truck that I found. My dad was in the driver's seat and Daryl let me get in first, which meant I had to sit in that terrible, little middle seat.

"Well, I don't thank my ass can fit in that seat." Daryl said. "And that's what ya get fer bein' so puny." He teased me. I just gave him a smirk and shook my head.

"It's not that long of a drive." Said my dad. "You'll be fine."

"Hopefully." I raised my eyebrows. We all got in and my dad started driving.

I brought East of Eden with me so that I could get some reading done while we're on our trip. I never liked reading in the car, though, it makes car sick.

I know Cathy, the girl in this story, is like crazy and a psychopath but I kinda like her. I don't know what it is. Like, she's done bad things but…she just doesn't want people telling her she can't do something or not do something. I guess after reading more and finding out more about her I can kind of see what Leon was talking about. I'm still gonna kick his ass though.

At one point, my dad and Daryl were talking to each other. I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying though because I was reading.

Just then, my dad slammed on the brakes and I squealed as I flew forward. Daryl immediately put his arm on me and held me back. "Sorry." My dad said. "There was a walker." I looked at him with wide-eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I breathed out. Daryl still had his arm on me and finally let go.

"Must be a damn good book." He said.

"It's okay." I said and put it down. I was starting to get car sick though so I figured that was enough reading for now. "I'm done for now."

"Good." My dad said. "Cuz we're here."

My dad parked the truck, then we got out and greeted Maggie and a few others. "I didn't know you were comin', Abby." Maggie said. "It's good to see you."

"Yeah." I smiled. "You too."

Her and my dad started having a conversation so I walked away a little. Suddenly, I had a thought to look around and see if Leon lived here. I still don't know where he's from. I walked around and watched people farming and doing other work, so far I didn't see him.

I walked with my head turned and walked into someone, it was Jesus. "Oh, hey. Sorry." I apologized.

"Abby." He smiled. "That's okay. How are you?" We hugged.

"I'm good. How about you?" I smiled.

"Great." He said. "The weather's been perfect so the crops have really sprung up." He nodded.

"That's dope." I said. "My dad and Daryl are here too. We just came for the usual exchange." I nodded.

"Oh good. I'll go say hi." He started towards him.

I had a thought and decided to ask him. "Hey, Paul?" I called him back. I'm the only one who calls him by his real name. He doesn't seem to mind it. I hesitated. "…does anyone live here named Leon?"

His eyebrows seemed to go down. "Leon?" He questioned and looked like he was thinking. "No." He shook his head. "That name doesn't sound familiar. I don't think I've ever met a Leon." He let out a laugh.

I nodded. "Okay." I said and kind of looked down.

"Why do you ask?"

I looked back up at him, he was staring at me. "Uh…" I trailed off. I wasn't sure if I should tell him or not because I didn't want him telling anyone else, but another part of me wanted to be honest. I swallowed and stepped closer to him until we were almost face to face. "Listen, you can't tell anyone about this." I said lowly. He gave me a curious look. "I met someone…a guy…out there. He told me his name but not where he's from. He doesn't know where I'm from either."

Jesus swallowed before speaking. "And your dad doesn't know about this?"

"No and I'd like to keep it that way." I said seriously. He gave me a look. "He's not a bad guy. Well…he doesn't seem like one at least."

"Abby, you know that doesn't always mean anything."

"Yeah, I know." I started to feel annoyed and regretted telling him my secret. I had another thought though. "Hey, you've been to The Kingdom like a ton of times, right?" I asked him. "Does a Leon live there?"

"I don't think so but I could ask around next time I'm there." He said. "I don't like lying to Maggie."

"You're not. You're just…not telling her." I smirked. He gave me a disapproving look. I sighed. "Okay, look…please just do me a solid and ask around for me but don't say anything to anyone. After you find out whether he lives at The Kingdom or not, I'll ask him next time I see." I nodded.

Jesus seemed to hesitate. "That's the deal?" He finally said. "You promise?"

"A hundred percent." I said with my right hand up.

His mouth pressed into a thin line. "Okay, fine."

I sighed in relief that he wasn't going to tell on me. "Thanks, Paul." I hugged him.

"Yeah just…don't make me regret this." He gave me a serious look.

"I won't." I promised.

While we were unloading the truck and exchanging our food and supplies, a man started talking to me. I couldn't remember his name but he was kind of strange. "I saw that book in the truck." He said. "That yours?"

"Yeah, I've been reading it." I said.

"That's a good one." He said. "I didn't like English class but I sure liked that book."

"Oh." I let out a laugh. I looked over and realized Daryl was staring at us, it made me feel weird so I looked back at the man. "English was always my favorite class." I wasn't sure what to say so I just said that.

"English?" He questioned like I was crazy. "I always hated it. You know what my favorite class was?"

"What's that?" I asked uninterested.

"Lunch." He laughed. "Best time of the day." He laughed harder. "I was the best at it in the whole school."

I pretended to laugh but was actually giving him a weird look. This is awkward. He picked up a box and walked away with it. Just then, I felt an arm wrap around me. "This guy botherin' you?" Daryl asked me.

I almost rolled my eyes but smiled. "No, he's not bothering me." I said with a laugh. I looked to make sure that guy wasn't coming back yet. "He is weird though." I said quieter. Daryl let out a laugh. "Why? You jealous?" I teased him and looked up at him.

"Yeah." He said. "I don't want no guy talkin' to my girl." He tightened his hold on me. I let out a laugh. He kept his arm on me. I felt his hand on my leg, his thumb was gently rubbing my leg. It made me blush. Daryl and I have this thing where we joke around with each other. But I sometimes wonder if he's being serious. I doubt it but…what just happened seemed pretty flirty though.

"We're about done." My dad said. "Why don't you guys get in?"

"Alright." Daryl said. "C'mon, sweetheart." I smiled at him calling me that.

After that, they finished by getting the last of the boxes inside the truck. I heard the back close, then my dad got in and drove us home.

I decided not to go out that day and just spent the rest of the day reading. Leon said it was his favorite book so he probably wants it back, which means I need to finish it so I can give it to him next time I see him.

It ended up storming pretty bad the next day so I couldn't go see him. I only had a few chapters left so I was able to finish it that day. I closed the book and looked at it. I can't believe I read that thick of a book in just three days. But I mean…it's not like I had much else to do anyway.

I'm not really even sure I liked it. It was just a random story and I didn't really even get the point. However, I did like the characters. I have a lot to talk to Leon about so I guess you could say I was looking forward to meeting with him again.

The next day, it was cloudy but it wasn't raining like the day before. I decided to chance it and just go. Besides, I'm not scared of a little rain.

I arrived at our spot with a smile on my face. Leon wasn't there though so I glanced around to see if I could see him coming. I couldn't.

I figured I would just wait there for him.

I ended waiting and waiting. It was getting later and later and Leon still hadn't shown. If I don't leave soon, I'll be walking home in the dark. Just then, it thundered. I looked up at the sky and it started drizzling a little.

I looked down feeling super angry and gritted my teeth. That asshole stood me up. I thought as I marched home.