He parked the cruiser under the only shady tree he could find in hopes it'd stay cool, not that it would help. June in King County was hotter than Hell and Shane Walsh was positive that was where he was headed. The picnic table she'd told him to meet at creaked under his weight and after a few minutes ticked by, Lori Grimes was nowhere to be found. Maybe she'd changed her mind or maybe she'd realized that the park wasn't the best place to meet. Not with all of her peers crowding the place with their toddlers, housewives who only came to the park so they could find something to gossip about. Shane had heard enough gossip for a lifetime.

Finally she appeared, waddling towards him, her skinny legs looking like they might break under the weight of her pregnant stomach. It was startling, Shane hadn't seen her since her piss had barely been dry on the stick and even then he'd been distracted by the very angry man who used to call him a best friend.

"You're late," Shane grunted, looking at anything except her swollen stomach.

"Maybe you were just early," Lori snapped back.

Whatever had happened between them, Shane knew it was long gone. It had been a mistake, the biggest mistake he'd ever made, one that had cost him his best friend. The Grimes family was off limits to him now and for good reason.

"This ain't the most discreet place," Shane told her, finally sneaking a glance towards her face only to find Lori frowning back at him.

"That's the point. If Rick were to find out, at least he'll know nothing else happened."

The silence afterwards lingered and Shane couldn't help but think about what he'd done to land himself in such a position. Once upon a time, Lori had been one of his closest friends, his best friend and partner's wife. Then Rick had gotten himself shot and while he laid up in the hospital recovering, Shane had filled in for him around the house, like any best friend would. It wasn't until he'd filled in for Rick as a lover to Lori that he'd really crossed a line, a line Rick had found out about the moment he got home. Needless to say, the two were no longer on speaking terms. Rick became a pencil pusher to keep the little wife satisfied that he'd never get shot again and Shane found himself more alone than he'd ever been.

In the beginning his intentions had been pure, until the sex started. Then suddenly Shane had found himself taking care of a family he'd never thought he'd have, at least, until Rick returned home to claim them.

"You gonna enlighten me as to what this is all about or am supposed to guess?" Shane asked, growing impatient.

If time and distance had done nothing else, it'd reminded Shane that he'd never had much in common with Lori. He'd loved Rick and Rick's son, but whatever had fueled his and Lori's evil deeds certainly wasn't affection, perhaps just desperation.

"I'm getting there," she answered, resting a hand on her stomach.

And finally with a dramatic sigh, she dropped the bomb.

"We've decided to move."

"Well congratulations. Am I invited to the housewarmin' party?"

"To Virginia, Shane. We thought it'd be easier to start over somewhere farther away. I thought you had the right to know."

It was pure instinct that his eyes shot back to her stomach. Lori had never admitted it, Rick had sworn otherwise, but every last citizen of King County knew that baby belonged to Shane and not her husband. She wouldn't say it out loud but suddenly Shane knew exactly the point of this little meeting. It was nothing more than her confession that she was skipping town, his baby included.

"So that's it?" He asked.

"I'm sorry."

Shane just laughed. What had he expected? For them to suddenly welcome him back with open arms, to actually allow him into their lives since he had every right to the baby growing inside of her? Sure, he could pitch a fit, demand a DNA test, but what good would that do anyone? The kid would have a good family. Lori and Rick had their problems, clearly, but they loved their kids. Carl Grimes was proof of how well they parented. Shane, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing to offer. Why screw up any more happy families?

"How's Hershel Greene doing?" Lori asked, clearly trying to change the topic, probably feeling too guilty to leave so soon.

"He'll be dead in a week."

It was a terrible thought but Shane was feeling all sorts of terrible. The old man had helped him out a lot in the past six months and Shane knew better than to speak poorly of him, even if Hershel had cursed his name quite a few times before their arrangement.

"That must be hard on his girls, losing their daddy"

"I imagine so, we don't exactly speak much. But he ain't dead yet."

"You still stayin' over there?'

"That ain't none of your business."

Shane was still staying in Hershel Greene's guest apartment but he wasn't in the mood to volunteer any information, she certainly wasn't.

Lori was getting nowhere and Shane knew she was aware of it. Finally she heaved her top heavy frame off the wooden table, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes. Maybe it made her next words easier.

"It's a girl," she said, walking away without a goodbye, running away from what Shane knew was finally a confession.

He refused to think about this baby, this girl, knowing it would do him no good to imagine a young woman with his features but Rick's beliefs. Maybe in a few years he'd write her a letter, apologizing to her in case she was unlucky enough to inherit his nose. Of course he wouldn't really. The Greene girls weren't the only ones whose father would soon be nothing but a distant memory.

Still in his deputy's uniform, Shane stood up, already thinking about the cold beer he'd drown the moment he got home. When he returned to his car, the interior hadn't even had time to heat up.

It was hard to believe that her dad laid upstairs in his bedroom, in what the doctors called a coma or a vegetative state - depending on their mood. Hershel had always sworn he'd wanted to die at home and after fighting her sister tooth and nail, the girls had finally agreed to move him to his bedroom, since Patricia was there to help and his insurance was willing to pay for in-home hospice visits.

But the kitchen showed no sign that the big man was gone, it still smelled of his cigars. Gone. Beth knew it was terrible to think of him that way already, but while his body needed no assistance in breathing, he would never be the same.

"It's about time you come down here, I gotta leave in an hour."

Beth ignored her older sister and took her place at the kitchen table, the same chair she'd sat in since their mama had been alive, trying to ignore her sister's tone. Maggie was nothing like Beth. Even as kids they'd been vastly different but still close. Beth had loved to follow her Daddy's footsteps and Maggie had grown up avoiding them. It was no surprise when the other girl moved off to Atlanta, the big city, as quickly as she could.

"Are you really leaving? When he's still like this?" Beth asked, wishing her sister could stay just a little longer. Maybe then she'd change her mind.

"I have gotta. My job won't give me anymore time off, it's been a month already. You heard the doctors. It could be days, weeks...months."

Beth didn't have a good reply so she settled for no reply. She hadn't really expected her sister to stay and she did understand where the other woman was coming from. Maggie had a job, a husband, a life in Atlanta. It'd been unrealistic for her to stay there, counting the hours until their father's last breath, there was nothing left to do. Even the effort that went into taking care of him had fallen to Patricia and the nurses who came to visit.

The time had come for the real point of the conversation. The one Beth had been in denial about since she'd come home from college graduation, only to have to rush her father to the hospital a few short hours later.

"We need to sell," Maggie finally said, taking a seat across from Beth. "And I know you don't like this topic but it needs to happen so we aren't arguing over a fresh grave."

Somewhere in the background, Patricia, Hershel's oldest friend, made herself busy looking for his meds but Beth knew she was really eavesdropping. Who could blame her?

"And I say we don't," Beth objected. "He's not even dead yet, Maggie."

To someone else Maggie might've looked cold but Beth knew her sister. Maggie survived, it was just what she did. When their mother had died, Beth had watched Maggie pick herself up by her bootstraps and just keep going, even though they'd only been children.

"You know I don't mean right now. I mean when it happens - and we both know it will."

Beth refused to cry. It would only guilt Maggie into staying longer.

"I wanted to keep this farm in the family," she admitted instead. "I was going to raise my kids here, I was going to practice with Daddy."

"But Daddy won't be here," Maggie reminded her. "Come to Atlanta, stay with me, we're the only family that's left. There are plenty of veterinarian offices hiring there. Let someone buy this place that might actually work the land."

Once upon a time, their father had been a true farmer. But in the last decade or so, Hershel had gotten too old to keep up with his crops. His farmhand, Otis, had died and the man's wife, Patricia, knew little. Beth could admit the farm's land never really intrigued her. Every time Hershel had tried to teach her anything involving a plant her eyes would glaze over and she was more likely to be found chasing ladybugs. Still, Beth loved the house and her dad's office and she didn't want anyone else to own it.

"Please, Beth," Maggie pleaded. "You know this place is too much work for one person. And the money could help us both. Do you really want to stay here...alone?"

Truthfully, that wasn't what Beth wanted at all. She wanted to turn back time, but that was impossible. At 24 years old, she was expected to be an adult now and an adult knew when the fight was pointless. The money would help - wherever she landed, probably Atlanta like Maggie wanted.

"Fine," Beth answered, feeling like she'd just betrayed an entire line of Greenes. "We can put the place up for sale. After."

They both knew what after meant.

"But in the meantime, I'm staying here. Maybe I'll fix the place up, right?"

"Sure," Maggied agreed, visibly relieved now that her little sister had consented. "Make Shane help you out, he's got two good hands."

"I was planning on telling him he has to leave."

Beth had never really warmed to Shane Walsh, though their relationship wasn't a particularly close one. All her life she'd heard her daddy moan and groan about the other man, some complaints justified, others just proof of his conservative upbringing. But either way, she wasn't sure why her dad had agreed to let Shane move into the apartment above his office. And she might've spent the last month grieving and worrying but she hadn't gone deaf. Beth knew all about the Rick and Lori mess. If a man would screw over his best friend, what else would he do? No, she'd been glad to let Maggie handle him since their dad had been ill, allowing her sister to give Shane the random odd jobs her father typically assigned.

"Don't be stupid Beth," Maggie said, being the bossy older sister she was. "He was paying Daddy rent money to stay here, you'll need that cash to keep things going for the moment. Plus he can help you fix it up if that's really what you want to do."

"Then what do you suggest?" Beth asked, knowing she'd hear it anyway.

"Give him notice he'll have to leave when daddy passes but he's welcome to stay until then. Unless you don't feel comfortable being her alone with him."

"It's fine," Beth assured her, too tired to argue.

Beth wasn't afraid of him, just cautious. Plus, Patricia lived there too now, not including the visitors.

There wasn't much to say after that, the sisters had talked themselves out the last few weeks. Maggie had a drive to make and didn't even stay for dinner, not that Beth was hungry. Their goodbyes were long but still Beth refused to cry, afraid her sister would offer to stay one more night.

Shane had been on a call, mentally plotting his escape, the day he'd heard about Hershel Greene renting out empty space. The plan had been to leave town, never look back, and allow Lori and Rick to live their lives in peace. The plan had changed. The farmhouse was well known around town, even if it was quite the drive away, and Shane had spent that entire trip cursing himself for such an idiotic idea. The few times the two men had dealt with each other their exchanges had been tense, neither thinking much of the other. But somehow Hershel had agreed to rent Shane the space for a generous fee of $800 a month, utilities and cable included, so long as Shane helped him with odd jobs around the house. Shane had known it was a steal, even by King County's standard, and before he could think twice, they'd shook on it. It wasn't as much distance as he'd wanted to put between himself and The Grimes family, but it was better than nothing and meant he wouldn't have to leave his job or his 401k.

Being away from everyone suited Shane just fine. The town was small, making gossip easier to get around, and other than keeping the job, Shane kept to himself. It'd never been in his nature before, but then again, neither had sleeping with his best friend's wife.

It was 7pm when Shane turned down the dirt road to the farm. The sun was just starting to go down and the first thing he noticed was Maggie's missing car. He'd known she was planning on leaving soon but truthfully, he'd expected to get an eviction notice first. Maybe she'd just gone to the store. With a heavy sigh, he got out of his cruiser, ready to hit the shower and wash away any feelings he had about his and Lori's conversation. The drive had done nothing to numb him, if anything he'd only grown angrier. Angry at himself, at Lori, at Rick, at anything that walked and talked. Shane was good at anger.

One hour later, he was showered and slightly less sober, but no less frustrated. Before everything happened Shane would've found a woman to fuck him into exhaustion but there'd been no women since Lori. Not because she'd been so great that she'd ruined him for other women but because it'd ended so terribly. Shane had been a bachelor and proud of it, with more notches on his bedpost than he cared to admit. He'd never intended to settle down. The family life had never been something he'd wanted, until it had been. Except the family was never meant to belong to him.

Even if he wanted a piece of ass, what woman would drive so far out of town to shack up in what was pretty much a two room efficiency? Shane had a bedroom that paired as his living room with nothing but a full sized bed to sit on to watch the ancient TV that sat on a folding table, stuffed into a corner., The bare kitchen included two whole feet of counter space and the bathroom sported nothing more than a shower. Maybe it'd worked for Hershel Green when all he'd needed it for was a place to sleep without waking the family when one of his animals required extra care during the night but so far the only thing Shane had found to do to occupy his time was keep his right hand busy.

After grabbing another cold beer, Shane left to go do the one nightly chore Hershel had given him, not caring if the screen door slammed a little too hard as he left.

He passed the main house on his way to the chicken coop, his job was to make sure they were inside before the sun went down and Shane was already late thanks to the beers he'd downed. Before the stroke, Hershel would've been on the front porch, rocking his life away with a sweet tea in hand. Sometimes Shane would stop for a chat, other times they'd both just nodded, not in the mood for company.

Tonight it was Beth Greene.

Shane stopped in his tracks when he saw her in her daddy's chair, almost mistaking her for the big man upon first glance, although clearly it wasn't. Just Beth, rocking away. He wasn't in the mood for conversation, not even with a cute little thing, and the light from the single bulb on the porch let him see her face, a frown if there ever was one. Women had been frowning at him all day.

But maybe the beers had hit him harder than intended because instead of walking away, what he knew Beth would've preferred, Shane took a few steps closer, figuring since he'd never speak to his own little girl, he could at least talk to Hershel's.

"Your sister gone?" Shane asked, noticing the way Beth stopped rocking.

He didn't blame her, he had a well earned reputation.

"Yeah, she left a few hours ago. Going back to Atlanta."

He didn't want to climb the steps and sit in the rocker next to her, but still he did it. The thing was probably older than him and had been well worn. Sometimes Shane would pass by and see Patricia sitting in it, next to Hershel, other times it was Pastor Gabriel, the man had never been short on company. But Beth on the other hand looked alone and when Shane sat down, she neither objected or welcomed him and that was good enough for him.

"How's your daddy doing?"

"The same."

"What's the nurse say today?"

"Nothing yet. She's in there right now changing his drainage bag."

Beth was short with her words, not that Shane cared. The conversation made him cringe, he didn't much like thinking about catheters and bed sores and he still wasn't even sure why he'd sat down. Beth was a sweet girl, everyone in town knew it and talked about her sunny smile and bright blue eyes but he'd never experienced them for himself. Shane was positive Beth probably took after her father and didn't much like him, she was yet to even glance his way. Then again, the girl's dad had just suffered a massive stroke so it probably wasn't helping matters.

"We've decided to sell the place," she finally said, still staring out at the fields. "After he dies."

Shane took another large gulp of his Miller and waited on what he'd known was coming.

"You should probably start thinking about other arrangements but you don't have to leave yet. Just so you know...have a head's up or whatever."

"Right."

Knowing it was coming didn't make it any easier to hear and before he could stop himself, his large hand came up to rub over the back of his head - an old tic that refused to die.

"Maggie's idea was to have you help me fix the place up while you're still here, if that's okay," she went on, her voice softening.

His first instinct was to say no, it was that kind of night. It seemed like everyone in the world just felt let dropping bad news in his lap and Shane wasn't in the mood for another helping.

But Beth had finally managed to glance his way, actually looking him in the eye as if to say she was somewhat sorry. Beth might not lose any sleep over his future homelessness but at least she seemed to recognize the harm her words had caused and that was more than most people had done for him lately, other than her father. And the people in town were right, she did have soft blue eyes.

"Sure," Shane grunted, finishing the beer.

"And don't worry about the chickens, I checked on them when Maggie left. Meet me in the morning and we'll discuss what needs to be done."

Before Shane could respond, the girl was gone, back inside where she belonged. He'd always heard Maggie was the bossy one, the one to watch out for, but Shane was starting to wonder if people didn't give the youngest daughter enough credit.