Chapter Text
He pulled the car up to a stop in front of the house, looking out at it for just a moment before he parked the car. He glanced back at Carl in the rear view mirror, who was still enamoured by his comic book. He took notice that it was the same volume he’d been reading not even a week ago, and figured the kid had probably finished his entire collection so far and resorted to re-reading some. It wouldn’t be long till he’d be begging for more pocket money to get more. He picked at the steering wheel, glancing past Carl to the moving van pulling up. As if on cue, Judith woke up from her nap, stretching her legs a little and Rick gave her a small smile before unbuckling her from her kiddy seat in the back and pulling her up to the front.
”we’re here.” He announced to Carl, finally. The kid glanced up, and then out the car window.
“It’s..huge.”
Rick nodded briefly, their previous house was a good size, decent, but this.. well. Rick almost didn’t take the place when he saw how big it was - the absence of Lori already made their previous place far too large for comfort, and this was just excess. But the neighbourhood was reportedly great, and there was a nice job placement for him here so it was hard to resist.
“C’mon, let’s go. You gotta choose your room for the movers.” Rick answered, stepping out of the car with Judith held nicely on his hip. He glanced over at the movers, before he fished his keys out of his pocket. Carl stepped past him and onto the porch, looking around at the neighbourhood as Rick unlocked the door.
The neighbourhood was pretty clean, with littering signs on some of the lamp-posts about how it’s fineable, and posters to always pick up after dogs. There was some impressive front yards for some of the houses, with this particular pastel blue hand-painted house just across from them with a garden of various crops growing. When Rick had come to check out the house, he saw the owner of the house and garden handing out fresh produce to some of the others around.
As Rick finally unlocked the door, he took notice of a poster on the glazed and stained glass of it. A welcome party the neighbours were throwing. He’d figured one of them would have come to invite him in person, but they must have known he’d be pretty busy settling everything in place. Carl ran inside the empty house, looking up the stairs then back at the open plan living room and kitchen. He gave his father a look, before skipping steps as he rushed upstairs.
Judith babbled, and Rick smiled down at her gently, rocking her for just a moment before turning around to the movers.
”I sent the floor and decoration plans to you guys, right?” He asked.
”yes sir,” one of them replied, “just tell us where you want some of the things you didn’t specify.”
Rick moved aside so they could get to work, watching them for a good minute or so before heading upstairs steadily to see if Carl needed any help. He found the boy in the room with the large arched window facing the street, and saw Carl looking around and inspecting the joined bathroom and built in closet.
”This one?” Rick murmured, looking around.
“Yeah, think so.” Carl nodded, “is that okay?”
Rick brought his free hand up to pull Carl’s hat down, teasingly, “of course. The room right next to yours is Judith’s actually.”
Carl looked at said baby, the smallest of smiles brightening his face. “okay, good. I want to be close to her anyways.”
Rick’s chest swelled for a minute at those words. He knew Carl was somewhat distancing himself from Judith; he honestly figured the kid blamed her for Lori’s death but it was nice to see him close with her. He left Carl to take more of a look around, stepping into the corridor and taking a peek into Judith’s room. It was small, at least compared to the other rooms, but he could make something cozy and nice out of this for her. He and Lori did buy a lot of furniture for her room before her birth, so he was sure he’d get this looking nice in no time.
He hesitated at the master bedroom, his room, just standing at the door for a good minute before opening it up and stepping in. It was the room closest to the stairs, but furthest from the street. It was one of the bigger rooms as well, and Rick was unsure how he’d fill the room up.
He shook his head, before heading back downstairs. The movers were busy installing the TV and assembling the dining table, and didn’t really give him a second glance. He figured they work best unbothered, but it would still be ideal to keep an eye on them.
Judith fussed, suddenly, cheeks puffing and Rick knew what that meant just fine. “Hungry, huh?” He whispered to her, “long ride, I know, baby girl.” He steps outside to the car, opening the back door and settling Judith to sit while he dug through the baby bag he set up specifically for her. He found her bottle quick enough, and picked her up again. He held the bottle to her mouth and rocked her as she drank the formula without any problems.
”Hey there,” a voice spoke up, and Rick glanced up from Judith to the owner of the voice - an asian man with a woman with short hair. The woman held a basket wrapped up in plastic and filled with all types of gifts inside. Rick blinked, for just a minute, then finally managed a reply.
“Hi.” he said, “I’m Rick Grimes.”
”Glenn Rhee.” The man answered, “this is my wife, Maggie.”
”Nice to meet you. Didn’t expect..” he glanced aside, “a house warming gift so soon.”
Maggie flustered, “sorry, we just saw you park outside and felt it’s better to hand it to you now than later.” She looked at Judith with a kind smile, “who’s this?”
”Judith.” Rick introduced, “she, uh, isn’t much of a crier.”
Glenn laughed, “we don’t care otherwise. Hershel keeps us up all night. Judith here must be a blessing.”
Rick took a minute, “you have a kid?”
”Yeah.” Maggie smiled, “he was born three months ago and he keeps the entire neighbourhood up at night.”
Rick sighed in relief, he’d hoped there was another kid around Judith’s age so she’d have someone to play with. He didn’t want her to be alone, and couldn’t help but smile at the young couple. “Well, if you’re ever up for it, Judith would love for a play date.” He said honestly, “she hasn’t really gotten the chance to make friends.”
”of course.” Maggie nodded, “now, we’ll just leave this here on the porch and take our leave. We honestly just meant to drop it off silently.”
”no worries.” Rick comforted, “will you two be there for the welcome party?”
Glenn nodded, “it’s at our place, after all.” He pointed over to the same pastel blue house from earlier, “see you then?”
”10 o’clock sharp. Of course.” Rick nodded, and looked back at Judith who’d finished her bottle.
”it was nice to meet you, Rick.” Maggie settled the basket down on the porch, and Rick smiled.
”Likewise. Have a nice day.”
The couple left with long strides, talking to each other excitedly, and Rick couldn’t help but stare. He snapped out of it when Judith dropped the bottle onto the ground, and he huffed at himself for letting himself forget about it. He’d need to disinfect it again. He stuffed it back into its place in the baby bag and sat down at the steps of the porch with Judith in his lap comfortably. Carl came down sometime later, and sat down beside him. He spotted the gift basket, and grabbed it eagerly and started unwrapping it. He showed what was inside it to Judith, explaining what somethings were - like the wine bottle that he described as “grown up juice that you can’t touch.” And Rick rolled his eyes as he starting taking more things out.
”oh! Chocolates.” He grinned, “dad, you want some?”
Rick shook his head, “nah.”
Carl looked down at them, “more for me.” He took one of the chocolates and popped it into his mouth easily, grimacing after a moment.
Rick gave him a look, “what?”
“Dark chocolate.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at that. Carl absolutely hated dark-chocolate, saying it was always so bitter and ‘dry’. He set the box aside, and Rick stopped laughing when he saw Carl fidgeting and frowning. Rick’s hat hid his face and Rick couldn’t see his expression, but he knew exactly what he was thinking. He brought his hand up and rubbed Carl’s back gently.
“I don’t know how she liked them so much.” He whispered, sniffling.
Rick sighed, “Lori liked all types of chocolates. C’mon. Look at me.” Carl looked up at him with glassy eyes. “You gonna cry every time you eat any chocolate?”
”no-“ he brought his hand up and wiping his nose with his sleeve, “shuddup.”
He budged his shoulder gently, teasingly, “you excited to start high school here?”
Carl shrugged, “I don’t know. I won’t know anyone here.”
”You can make friends.”
”I had friends back home.” Carl argued, “now I won’t see them again.”
Rick looked around, Carl always got antsy when they brought up school or his friends. He wouldn’t hear Rick out at all, and even swore at him once when he tried to coax him into the idea of this new place. Carl didn’t quite understand why Rick needed a change of environment, a change of pace. It hurt him to see Carl so hurt, but he was doing what he thought was right. What was good for Judith. For him, and for Carl.
”I’m sorry.” Was all he could say. “But this is home now, Carl. The sooner you accept that—“
Carl’s shoulders dropped, and he met Rick’s eyes blankly. He didn’t say anything before he stood up and headed back inside without letting Rick finish. Rick ducked his head, looking down at Judith - who met his eyes with curious wonder - and he tried to distract himself with her instead. What felt like ages passed till one of the movers came out to him.
“Hey, boss.” He spoke up, “five hours till we’re done for the day then we’ll come back tomorrow, yeah?”
He nodded, and the man stepped back inside.
Ten o’clock came sooner than expected. The movers finished the living room for the most part, and they were left alone with three hours of rest till the party came. When they approached Glenn and Maggie’s house, he could already hear the festivities going on inside, despite them being on time. He guessed the people in this neighbourhood liked to arrive early. He hesitated on the sidewalk, before heading inside with Carl and Judith. Carl held Judith in his arms, sticking close to his father without much thought.
As they walked in, it felt like the mood dropped, and everyone went silent and stared.
“Guys, okay, this is them!” Glenn announced, “This is Rick, and Judith— oh, who are you little man?”
Carl took a moment, glancing around with wide eyes, “Carl.”
”It’s nice to meet you, Carl.”
Everyone stayed silent for the most part.
Rick nodded, “nice to meet you all.”
“Here, Rick, I could take Judith to the playpen if that’s okay?” Maggie suggested, making grabby hands for Judith from Carl.
Carl looked at Rick, who nodded. He handed over Judith without much trouble, and Maggie took her naturally. Rick looked around the house, covered from floor to ceiling with decorations. Glenn made the first approach, holding out a drink to Rick, and a drink to Carl; giving assurances it wasn’t beer but just soda. A small woman stepped forward, but her posture held her to a much higher status.
”Hi, Rick. I’m Deanna. We talked through the agency?” Deanna was the community leader, apparently, and a congresswoman. She was the number one funder for the community, and local businesses.
Rick took a moment, “Yeah- yes, I remember.”
”I’m very glad we have someone like you in our neighbourhood now. I’ve already told everyone about your past work as a sheriff’s deputy, and how you’re our neighbourhood security now.” She smiled kindly, putting a hand on his arm before turning to everyone else. “I hope you all treat Rick kindly while he keeps us safe.”
Everyone nodded and gave Rick ‘friendly’ but cautious smiles, and Rick did his best to return them. The party began again, everyone bustling and talking to themselves and as Deanna and Glenn slipped back into the crowd, Rick shifted awkwardly and tried to figure out how to do this. It’s been a long time since he’s…socialised.
”hey, I see other kids over there.” Rick gestured, “go talk to them. Try to make some friends.” He all but pleaded at Carl, who nodded slowly and headed over without any argument.
“So, you’re my partner.” A woman said, appearing out of nowhere. “I’m Michonne.”
”Deanna didn’t mention to me I’d have a partner.” He said, glancing down at his drink.
”well, you do.” She said casually. “It’s a lot, right?”
He blinked, “what do you mean?”
”the people.”
He cringed, “that obvious, huh?”
”Not really.” She shook her head, “I just read people really well.”
Rick nodded, Michonne seemed alike to him in someway, and he was sure they’d get along. Although if his track score with partners was anything to go by, he should keep his distance. That’s what you say about everyone. He took a sip of his drink, and avoided meeting Michonne’s gaze.
”you’ll get uniform and a brief on Monday next week. Deanna figured you’d need some time to settle in.” She told him, “I’ll give you a run down of the cul-de-sac and then some of our security measures.”
”Michonne!” A woman with blonde hair said, wrapping her arm around Michonne. “I’m sure the new neighbour doesn’t want to be bored to death at his own welcoming party.”
“Andrea, I’m just—“
”c’mon, give him some time to mingle.” She brought Michonne further inside the house and Rick’s stomach plummeted. Michonne was actually giving him a reason to not talk to others.
He decided to take a loop around the ground floor of the house, to take a look around, and to look busy and not so antisocial. He noted that Maggie and Glenn liked to keep a lot of photos on the walls, dressers, and basically any flat surfaces. There were plenty of Hershel, their kid, and some of them on their wedding day. Another blonde woman approached him, giving him a nervous smile, before speaking up.
“I’m Jessie. I run the local daycare.” She introduced, “do you think little Judith will be joining us over there? I could get you a quick place in if so - instead of having to go through all of that interview stuff. You’d just have to fill in a quick form about her needs and stuff.”
He nodded, “yeah, uh. That would be great. I was going to call tomorrow morning, actually. She’s pretty young though.”
She smiled brightly, “I’ll see what I can do for you. Don’t worry about her age. Judith seems like such an angel. Glenn and Maggie told me she barely cries, huh?”
He chuckled, “well, uh. Yeah. She’s really kind to me, I guess.” He shrugged, “cried like crazy on her first night at home, but she settled quick.”
“You think she’ll settle in here good?” Jessie asked, looking over at the playpen in the corner, where Rick could see Judith playing with blocks with Hershel.
”yeah.” He nods, “she’ll like it here. I wanted somewhere nice for her to grow up. It’s more Carl I’m worried about.”
“I have a kid just about Carl’s age.” She looks over to the group of teens, “that’s my boy Ron, he’s really open to make new friends. Carl can come over sometime while everything’s settling at your place?”
His shoulders dropped with relief, “that would be great.”
The rest of the night went like something similar, people coming over to him at their own pace and introducing himself. For such a small cul-de-sac, there were loads of people and it somewhat overwhelmed him. Not to mention they were all extremely excited to have a new person in their community. A woman named Carol said she’d bring over some food for him whenever he needed it when he brought up his gas wasn’t going to work for a couple days - and a man named Daryl said he’d help with any maintenance if he needed it.
“Just a heads up, by the way, you chose the worst house to move into.” Rosita said, hands on hips. Abraham rolled his eyes next to her, and Eugene nodded mechanically.
“Why? I thought it looked pretty good.”
”it isn’t about how it looks. It’s one of the better houses here.” Abraham informed, “it’s about your neighbour to the right.”
Rick took a moment, “what about them?”
”Him.” Eugene corrected, “it’s just one man.”
”Right. What’s so wrong with him?”
”he’s uh..trouble.” Rosita gave Abraham and Eugene a glance, “you’ll see. He’s not here.”
Rick frowned, but tried to not let the comments get to him. He hadn’t even met the man yet and he was sure he wasn’t that bad to be living in a place like this. But he didn’t see any reason for them to lie to him about his neighbour. He’d just have to see for himself. The party continues as you’d expect, Rick introducing himself and getting aquatinted with his neighbours and checking in on Judith every now and then - saying hello to Hershel, who was adorable - and checking in on Carl. Around 11, Everyone starts filtering out, and Judith was tuckered out and asleep in the play pen. He took her into his arms gently, not waking her up, and grabbed Carl as well.
”this was nice,” he told Glenn and Maggie, “thank you for having us. Carl?”
”Uh, yeah. It was fun. Thank you.” Carl told them, smiling.
Maggie smiled, “oh, don’t worry about it. You guys are welcome whenever. Actually, here’s our numbers, Rick.” She took out a pen from her pocket and headed over to the notebook by her landline and scribbled down two phone numbers. She pointed out the first one was Glenn’s and the others hers, before she handed him the piece of paper.
”thank you.” He looked down at the paper, “I’ll see you around.”
They headed back home swiftly, and Carl sighed.
”Couch?” He said, and Rick nodded. He took off his shoes at the door, and practically collapsed on the couch, and Rick settled Judith into the crib he brought into the living room for now while they figured out her room. He pressed a kiss to her head, before looking over at Carl. He pet his son’s hair gently, before murmuring a good night. He fixed himself a makeshift bed on the floor with pillows and blankets, and tried to sleep.
Tried, and miserably failed. He really hasn’t been able to get a good nights sleep since Lori’s death, but with the move it’s become worse. He really hasn’t realised how bad it’s gotten, how stressed he’s been recently. He swore he’d go grey by the end of the month if he didn’t give himself a break - but he couldn’t. Carl depended on him. Judith did too. And now everyone here, with his new job.
He took a step outside for some fresh air, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned against the porch railing. The chill in the air relieved him somewhat, giving him goosebumps on his arms as he breathed out steadily. You’ve got this handled. At times like this, he wishes he’d never quit smoking. Morgan said he’d call sometime later, and Rick could honestly use someone he trusted to talk to, for a bit.
The past couple of months since Judith was born had been hell, and now he was just happy to have a moment of silence. A moment to himself, even if it is just for the night. He felt guilty for feeling that, Judith was just a baby and Carl couldn’t really help being around him with everything going on. He needed to remind himself he was not the only one recovering from Lori’s death. The kids deserved better, and he could only hope he would provide it.
”hey there, new neighbour!” A voice piped up, and Rick startled, neck practically snapping up as he looked up.
”hey.” He replied, surprised anyone was out at this time.
The man approached, but didn’t step up onto the porch, but instead looked up at Rick from the sidewalk. “So you’re the one Deanna told us about. The old bitch didn’t mention you’d be arriving today - at least not to me.” He scratched his chin, smiling, “welcome to Alexandria.”
”Yeah, uh.” He ignored the man’s vulgar language, “there was a party.”
The man’s face dropped, glaring at Rick - although the heat behind his eyes didn’t seem directed at him. “Those assholes didn’t invite me. How nice.” He rolled his eyes, “oh, where are my manners. I’m Negan.”
”Rick Grimes.”
Negan laughed, eyes wide, “damn, Rick Grimes! What an awesome name.”
He ignored the comment, scratching the back of his head, “what’re you doing out so late?”
”I just came back from a meet up with an old friend.” Negan waved his hand in the air, dismissing the question. “I could ask the same thing to you?”
“Just couldn’t sleep.” He answered plainly, “didn’t want to wake the kids up inside so I came out here. Wanted some fresh air too.”
Negan tilted his head, smiling curiously, “you got kids?”
“Yeah, A boy and a baby girl.” He glanced back, “and you? You live alone, right?”
Negan nodded, “yeah, alone. Someone fill you in about me?” He smirked, “you can be honest, I won’t be surprised. I’d actually be more damn surprised if no one did.”
”Just said you were some sort of trouble, or the like.”
Negan chuckled, “holy shit, I would love to hear that to my face from the asshole who said it. I bet it was Spencer.”
Rick furrowed his brows, he hadn’t met a Spencer. Negan just rolled his eyes and smiled something mischievous, before he turned around on his heel and raised his hand into the air to wave as he walked away. The man didn’t seem like trouble, just a bit odd and vulgar. But Rick couldn’t count on his hand the amount of times he’s said that about people he’d seen during his time as sheriff’s deputy.
The wind made the bushes in front of the porch’s stairs rustle and bustle, and Rick brought his hand up to drag his hair back into place. The sky was clear besides the odd cloud, and the moon was particularly bright on this fresh night. Maybe it was a good sign, a sign of a new start.
“Don’t do this.” He said, “don’t. Lori wouldn’t have wanted this.”
”You don’t know what she would have wanted, Rick.”
“She wanted me to raise her, Shane.” He spat, “you take me to court, you better be ready to lose any chance of seeing Judith ever again.”
”that is my daughter.” Shane glared, “you ain’t taking her away from me.”
”the daughter you conceived with my wife. The same wife who wanted me to raise her— she said that.” He stuttered, “she said that in her last moments, Shane. You really gonna betray her wishes like that?”
“She’s dead.” Shane said coldly, “she’s gone, and you ain’t raising that kid. Whatever she said be damned.”
Rick laughed hysterically, “first you take my life, you - you - you take my wife while I’m in a coma, and now you want my daughter?”
Shane frowned, “I’m sorry, brother. I am.” He paused, “I’ll see you in court, then.”
Rick stood frozen in place as Shane turned around with the final word, and left, but not without giving Carl a ruffle of his hair and a goodbye to Judith in his arms. Carl called after ‘uncle Shane’ a goodbye, and a see you later and Rick didn’t know how to tell his son that the next time he’d be seeing Shane would be in court over Judith. Lori, in a white dress, stood behind the kids and watched as Shane left and Rick’s breath had hitched as she looked over at him with a smile that relieved all the pressure on his shoulders.
Morgan, a life time friend of his, put a hand on his shoulder and snapped him out of it. Lori disappeared and he slowly, shakily, looked over at Morgan who tried to check over him but it fell short as Rick pulled away limply and stepped towards his kids. He’d protect them with his life if he had to, for Lori.
The court case was very brief, Rick had gotten the best lawyer he could have and explained everything to him. He said it was an open and shut case, something he could easily sort out for Rick - with some compromises. Rick had shut that down immediately. He wanted absolute custody on Judith, “no per weekly type shit”, and made that absolutely clear. That had complicated some things, but it went over in court better than expected. The jury and judge, unlike Shane, wanted to honour Lori’s wishes and that was the main reason he had won the case his lawyer had said.
Briefly, on the way out of court, Shane rushed after him - disheveled and clearly upset that he hadn’t won the two week case, and begged to see Judith one last time. If Rick was a lesser man, he would have denied it, but he wasn’t and he let Shane say his goodbye. His fists clenched when he pulled Carl into his hug with Judith too, cupping the back of the boy’s head and murmuring reassurances. When Shane finally let go, Rick ushered Carl into the car and took hold of Judith again.
”bye, partner.” He told Shane, “maybe..” don’t. “If things get better - if I somehow forgive you, I’ll let you visit her.”
Shane nodded slowly, “bye, Rick.”
He didn’t sleep that night. Memories of the past lingering far too much in the dark, instead he kept a watchful eye over Judith and Carl, and pretended Lori wasn’t in the kitchen watching him. She was dead, and she wasn’t there, he reminded himself. When the sun came up, and enveloped the hallucination - he couldn’t resist but look up at her. She looked so alive in the sun, smiling at him. His stomach flipped upside down and he clenched his eyes shut before opening them again as there was a knock on the door.
He got up slowly, and wiped his eyes just in case before he opened the door.
It was Carol. “Hi, I know it’s pretty early, but I made too many pancakes for Me and Sophia.” She held out the Tupperware for him to take, “and I figured without gas you can’t make yourself breakfast so I didn’t want to throw it out.”
He looked down at the Tupperware for a moment, “this is…really kind of you. Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She shook her head, “I remember what it was like for me to move in here after..” she trailed off, “it doesn’t matter, just. Yeah. We’ve got stick together around here, so here’s this.”
He smiled at her kindly, “I’ll return the Tupperware clean. Which house is yours?”
Carol pointed over to the small house by Glenn and Maggie’s, with chalk drawings on the pavement outside presumably done by Sophia. Carol gave him a too bright smile, before saying her goodbye and heading back home. He murmured a goodbye back, and stepped back inside. He’d talked more in the last two days than he had in months- years, and if anyone who knew him was here to see that, they’d be shocked.
Carl was awake when he stepped back inside, sat up on the couch and rubbing his eyes exhaustively. He yawned, and blinked when Rick threw the Tupperware filled with small pancakes at his side. He opened it up without much question, and started enjoying his breakfast. The morning passes relatively quickly, and almost boringly, till the movers come to finish the ground floor for the day.
They finish the living room, and get onto the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, as well as a play area for Judith that Rick requested last minute after seeing Hershel’s play pen last night. He tells the workers he’d be back soon, as he takes Carl to Jessie’s like she’d requested. He wanted Carl to stay busy, and to make some friends, and as long as he wasn’t bored at home everything could work out.
Ron turns out to be the same age as Carl, and he’s attending the High School Rick plans to send Carl too. A girl is behind Ron, eating what looks like M&M cookies that Jessie must have made. Speaking of, she greets Rick brightly, and introduces him to her husband Pete, who was a doctor. The man gives Rick a look that rubs him the wrong way, but he doesn’t mention it and just shakes the man’s hand firmly.
“I best get back.” He tells Jessie and Pete, “the movers..” he trails off, and Jessie nods and tells him she’ll send Carl back before dark - or whenever he wants to leave. She promises she’ll look after them and Rick gives Carl a pat on the shoulder as his son gives him a nervous look.
He’s just about ready to head home, with Judith playing with her plushie in his arms, but he pauses when he sees a bit of a commotion. He considers heading over there, especially with the fact that he was supposed to be security soon. Michonne wasn’t near by, and the arguing just kept going and even began to unsettle Judith a little. He sighed, and stepped over. It was his neighbour from last night - Negan, he recalled, and Deanna in the middle of it. However, it didn’t seem like Deanna was particularly peeved, but the man behind her.
“What’s going on?” He asked calmly, the man behind Deanna glared. “Can I get an answer?”
”who are you?” The man asked.
Deanna rubbed her face, “this is Rick Grimes, Aiden. The new security I was telling you about.”
”right.” Aiden huffed, and the other man beside him shifted uncomfortably.
“Rick,” Deanna started, “these are my sons, Aiden and Spencer.”
He gave a firm nod at them, then looked over at Negan for a moment. He seemed to relax a little, lowering his posture and unclenching his fists when he noticed Rick was holding Judith in his arms. Rick cleared his throat, “so, what was going on?”
”Negan here was offering a complaint about the new curfew we’re setting in place.” She explained, “we’re only putting it in place because of recent vandalism from the local youth. We don’t want any more crime going on. It got a bit heated between him and my sons.”
”I’m saying we shouldn’t have to suffer at the shitty—“ Negan paused, huffing when he seemed to remember Judith was here, “at the inconveniencing actions of others.” He corrects.
Rick shifts his weight from his left leg to his right as Aiden begins to speak, “you don’t have a choice in that, just suck it up.”
“Suck it up?” Negan laughs, “oh, that’s good, really.”
”okay- okay. Just- Everyone take a breath.” Rick tries.
”No, no way.” Aiden shakes his head, “Ever since you moved in here, you’ve been giving us nothing but trouble. My mother is doing what she thinks is right.”
“Well it ain’t, and I’m saying my piece. You gonna do something about it, kid?” Negan leans close, “anyone ever tell you to respect your elders?”
At that, Aiden practically jumped past Deanna and onto Negan. Rick’s eyes widened in surprise , genuinely not having expected anyone to become violent. It’s not long before Negan grabs hold of Aiden and switch’s their places on the ground, pummelling down punches on the other man. He hands Judith over to Deanna swiftly before grabbing Negan and heaving him off of Aiden. Spencer quickly grabs Aiden and they separated the two.
”calm down!” He yells, pulling Negan back when he continues to struggle. “Listen, you want to calm down before you do something you regret!”
Negan looks back at him, “I’m not letting some kid think he’s some big man, I’m shutting that shit down since no one else will.”
”just- stop before Michonne comes over here and arrests both of you.”
Aiden calms down at that, huffing and bringing his hand up to his bloody nose. He hisses as he uses his sleeve to wipe the blood, and Negan pulls out of Rick’s grasp. Spencer looks affronted, giving Negan a disgusted look, before looking back at his brother and murmuring about getting him inside to get a look at that nose. Just as he starts taking Aiden inside, Judith starts bawling in Deanna’s arms and Rick steps past Negan to quickly get to her.
Negan looks at Deanna, just for a moment, before looking away. She doesn’t say anything for just a moment, while Rick shushes Judith carefully.
”I understand your concerns.” She frowns, “about the curfew. It’s only temporary. I’m sorry about my sons.”
”I damn well ain’t sorry about the..” Negan gestures vaguely at his own nose, “if that’s what you want me to say.”
Deanna shakes her head, “it’s not.” She doesn’t say another word, as she heads inside after her boys. Negan lingers for a moment, watching Rick and Judith.
”Is she okay? She didn’t get..hurt or something during all that, right?”
Rick swallows nervously, “no. She’s just upset at all the yelling.” He brings her up to his chest, cringing when he sees Negan’s face. “You got a couple bruises.”
He shrugs, “I’ll give Aiden some credit, he’s got a good right hook. I used to teach him in high school, gym.” He explains, “he’s been an asshole ever since he was a short-ass kid.”
”why’re you so worried about the curfew anyways?” Rick questions, squinting. Negan had come back to the cul-de-sac pretty late at night yesterday, and he wondered if it was a habit or if he had something else going on, and that was why he was upset about the curfew.
“I sell drugs and come back super late.” He said sarcastically, “I like spending time out at night, it’s quiet. Honest to god, it’s better out here in the dark.”
”yeah, I get it.” He muttered, surprised by Negan’s sudden change of attitude.
Negan looked up at the blue sky, then back at Rick, “you don’t see stars like the ones you see out here in the city at night.”
Rick slowly nodded, sighing when Judith finally quietened down and just whimpered against his chest. He looked over at his house, then back at Negan. “I’ll see you around.” He told him, before he made his way back inside. He found Judith’s baby bag and took out another prepped bottle of formula milk that he had spare from the other one that had dropped and fed her while he watched the movers.
While everything had happened outside, including him dropping off Carl, they had wrapped up the kitchen and Bathroom and began working on the play area. Rick started to feel the lack of sleep kick in around twelve, but forced himself to stay awake. Carl came back home sooner than expected, so Rick finally handed off Judith to him for him to watch while he figured out lunch and dinner for today.
He guessed they’d be eating takeout for a while, and took hold of his phone from his pocket to order some food.
”how does subway sound?”
Carl glanced at him, “good - sure, I don’t mind. For dinner too?”
”yeah, may as well order some for dinner while we get lunch.”
”okay. You know what I want.”
Rick placed an order, and noticed Carl had put down his stuff on the counter when he came in; which included the next issue of his comic. He picked it up, “this from Ron?”
”Enid.”
Rick raised an eyebrow, and Carl rolled his eyes.
”the girl.” He explained, “she said I could borrow it.
”Oh. You two friends?”
“I don’t know, dad, we just met. She doesn’t seem to really like me" Carl shrugged.
“But she gave you her comic.”
”lent it.” He corrects, “I don’t know. Girls are weird.”
It was Rick’s turn to roll his eyes, “sure, son. How was Ron?”
”he’s..” Carl looked away, “immature, care-free. He doesn’t worry about anything, or the consequences of his actions.”
”what do you mean?”
”well, he says mean stuff to his mom and little brother. Like he doesn’t care about them.” He looked away, “he kinda seemed…ungrateful.”
”I’m sorry he came off that way. Jessie said he was a good kid.” He comforted, he knew since Lori’s death, Carl has had a bit of hard time connecting with other kids but this didn’t seem like that. “How about we connect your PlayStation up with the TV? You can play for a while before lunch.”
Carl brightens at that, nodding excitedly. Rick heads over to the TV and reaches down to the console stand the movers had installed and put up the PlayStation there and grabbed the cable. He connected it into the TV easily, and picked up the controller and handed it to Carl and swapped it for Judith. He sat next to Carl when he started to play, and settled Judith in between them carefully. Rick was never tech-savvy nor really got the games his son played, but always watched curiously whenever Carl played in front of him. He went over to Judith’s baby bag sometime during Carl’s game and grabbed her baby food and her spoon and fed her while they waited for their food.
About an hour passed, and there was a knock at the door. Rick told Carl to pause the game, while he picked up the food and tipped the driver. He settles the food down on the dining table and glances over when Carl stands and picks up Judith. He settles her in her crib so they could both eat without worrying over her and comes over to sit with his dad.
He handed over Carl’s usual sandwich, and grabbed his wrap and coffee he ordered alongside it to help him stay up a bit longer.
“Mh-“ he swallowed his bite so he could speak up, “Carl, don’t make a mess.” He scolded, and the boy wiped his mouth quickly and apologised.
Carl ate quickly, obviously excited to get back to his game, and Rick watched fondly as he ate the last bite and practically ran back to the couch and grabbed his controller. The movers managed to finish Judith’s play area just as Rick finished his wrap and coffee, or they finished earlier and just waited for him to stop eating to tell him, but nonetheless Rick thanked them gratefully. They left for the day again, and Rick picked up Judith and put her down in her play area. He couldn’t help but laugh when she looked around in wonder. He let her play for some time, before putting her down for her nap.
There was another knock at the door, and Carl looked at Rick for a minute in confusion, before Rick got up to answer it.
”Hey, uh.” Michonne said, “can I come in?”
“Sure.” He stepped aside for her, “sorry about the..mess, the movers leave the boxes inside so it’s not a hassle to bring in.”
Michonne nodded, “you stopped a fight today?”
Carl paused his game, and looked over.
Rick rubbed his neck, “yeah, I did. You weren’t around, I just—“
”I’m not upset you stepped in. It’s your job.” She sighed, taking out a notepad “what happened? Deanna wants me to take full statements to put down.”
”After I dropped Carl off at Jessie’s I saw there was something going on and headed over. It was Deanna and her sons, and Negan.”
Michonne started writing quickly, “go on.”
“Negan had apparently brought up the curfew and Aiden thought he was disrespecting Deanna.” He explained.
”Was he?”
”I don’t think so. Maybe he was, I wasn’t there for all of it, just some of it. As far as I saw, he was only being rude to the kid, Aiden.” He paused, “is Aiden pressing charges?”
”no, I don’t think so.” She shook her head.
”He jumped on Negan first, so that’s probably why.”
”he’s a troubled kid.” She murmured, “Glenn had a fight with him too a while ago. Glenn gave him a black eye.”
He didn’t reckon Glenn to be violent, so either Aiden had done something or Glenn had a really good mask. He didn’t know either of them well enough to say which, so he didn’t form any biases. “I see.”
”well, I think that’s all I needed. All the stories match up pretty well, so thank you.” She smiled at him, “I look forward to start working with you on Tuesday.”
He nodded, “of course. It’s no problem.” He guided her out, and returned to Carl shortly.
Carl was looking at him with some sort of emotion Rick couldn’t pinpoint, and he turned off his game and the PlayStation and murmured he was going on a walk before he grabbed Enid’s comic and headed out. Rick watched him leave with surprise, and tried to ignore the guilty feeling in his gut. He did what he thought was right, even if there was a chance he could have gotten hurt in that fight. He was experienced enough to know how to break something like that up, and Carl should know that. But he guessed he couldn’t blame him for being worried about his dad. But he didn’t expect it to affect him like that. He told Carl that there wouldn’t be anything to worry about here in this new life, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be no trouble at all.
He should go say something to him.
He got up, and headed outside to find Carl. He pauses when he sees Carl on Negan’s porch’s stairs and Negan next to him talking. He doesn’t approach, but he does eavesdrop.
“Used to love those comics as a kid.” Negan muttered, “still do, got the biggest fucking collection in the world.”
”you do?” Carl asked curiously, “seriously? An adult like you?”
Negan laughed, “way to make me feel old, kid.”
”sorry.” Carl apologised, “dad doesn’t really get comics. Or games.”
”mh, I can tell. He seems pretty old-fashioned.” Rick didn’t know whether he should be offended or not.
”he likes to read.”
“And you don’t?”
”I read too, but comics are more fun.” Carl sighed, looking tired.
“Damn kid, what’s so rough in your life that you’re huffing like that at age 12.”
”I’m turning 16 soon.”
”yeah, whatever. Same thing.”
”it’s really not.” He shook his head, “I just.. Dad’s acting like everything is fine now that we’re somewhere new, but it isn’t. I hate how he pretends.”
Rick frowned to himself. He was just trying to do what he thought would keep Carl happy.
“Parents try to do what they think is best, even if they fuck up sometimes. I don’t know your dad, but he has a lot on his plate right now.” Negan said truthfully, although not unkindly. “I’m guessing mom’s out of the picture?”
Carl tenses, as does Rick. “She’s dead.”
”Jesus, sorry kid.” Negan cringes, “that fuckin’ sucks.”
He wishes Negan wasn’t so vulgar around Carl, he already had a tough time controlling the kid’s language, but there really wasn’t anything he could do about it. Carl was almost sixteen, Rick couldn’t parent his language forever.
”you’re the one who got in a fight right?”
”Yeah, Your dad stopped me from beating that asshole to death.”
Carl nods slowly, “was he…was he in danger at all during any of it?”
”nah, it wasn’t that big of a deal. He just pulled me offa the other dude.” Negan explained, “Deanna told us Rick was a sheriff’s deputy, right?”
”yeah.”
”Your dad’s probably done more dangerous stuff than break up a fight. He knows how to handle himself.” Negan grinned, “I mean, he somehow pulled me off of Aiden without getting hurt himself, so that’s some miracle work right there.”
Carl stayed quiet for a minute, “can I ask you of a favour?”
Negan paused, “you’ll owe me.”
”what?”
“I don’t just hand out favours, for kids or for adults, without something in return.”
”okay. Fine. What do you want?” Carl huffed.
”Depends on the favour, kid.”
Carl scratched the back of his neck, “could you— my dad’s been pretty lonely since everything.. can you try to be his friend? He’s always on my back about making friends but…” Oh Carl.
Lori was suddenly on Negan’s porch too, smiling down at Carl fondly and Rick flinched as she turned and looked over at him.
”Okay, sure. I’ll try to be friends with the tight-ass. Only if you…” Negan ponders for a moment, “take out my trash every trash day.”
”sure. Easy.”
Rick slipped back inside, chest light. Negan wasn’t as bad as he seemed, nor was he as bad as anyone had told him. He had just comforted Carl in a way even Rick didn’t know how to. He made Carl open up - something Rick’s been struggling to do recently and against his better judgement, he was nice to Carl. He wasn’t sure how he felt with Negan accepting Carl’s deal for him to try to be his friend, but if it made Carl feel more at home here Rick was willing to try making friends.
Lori suddenly walked past him, and he froze. She leaned over Judith’s crib and looked down at her daughter and began muttering something that Rick couldn’t make out. He couldn’t help it as he stepped over to Judith’s crib alongside her. He hesitated, before reaching up to tuck in a stray hair behind her ear.
But his hand just goes through her, and she disappeared again.
He needed to sleep.