One more step

Regrets

******NOTE: in this story I use pictures if Beth to depict Elli, Beth is practically non existent in my story. Not because I didn't like her, but because it just didn't fit my story. I do not own the walking dead. The events have been moved around or changed, again just for the sake of Elli's story. I also will not be writing out scenes in detail, because if you have seen the walking dead there is no need to reread every sentence of it. Enjoy, I did this for fun and my own amusement. ******

Rick sat there smiling at Elli as the waitress set down their order in front of them. Elli wasn't smiling she just stared down at the table. He frowned just a bit. "Elli, we need to talk about it sooner or later." He had brought her up to the hunting cabin her entire life. But this trip was different, it was more of a necessity than a retreat. She and Lori had been at each other's throats, at first he blamed it on her just turning 18 and being a hormonal young adult who was trying to break free but the tension was growing by the day and both of his girls needed a break. Elli's mouth twisted. She didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to escape it. Everyone expected her to know what to do. All her friends had plans and aspirations, she wished she did, her mother wanted to know what she wanted to do with her life. It was the fall after her high school graduation, all her friends were packing for college finishing all their admission processes. She avoided his eyes looking to the door as the bell rang someone walking into the ancient diner. She watched as two rough looking men, probably hung over, entered and went to sit in the booth behind them. Rick noticed her avoidance. "Ellianna..."

She continued to avoid his gaze her eyes snapping back to her plate of eggs and hash browns. "What do you want me to say?" Her voice was almost a whisper. "Dad I don't have any answers for you. I don't know what I want to do. I'm so sick of everyone looking at me like I'm a failure because of it." Rick's hand snapped out in front of her making her dart her eyes to his, "hey, I never said anything about you being a failure!" She looked back to her plate and pushed her food around, "Well mom sure thinks I am." He shook his head, "no she doesn't she just wants to help you. We both do, that's what parents do Elli. They help their kids when they lose the trail. We just don't want you to have any regrets." Elli nodded, "Like me..."

Rick quickly looked at her his face stern and voice a harsh whisper, "you are not a regret! Don't you ever think that!" Elli clenched her fork, looking her father dead in the eye, "Dad I get it, I know you love me and all but you can't tell me you don't wish you could have changed the timing. Mom sure wishes she could. Nobody plans on having a kid at 18." Rick leaned back in the booth, "Did she say that?" Elli looked at him like a moron, "she doesn't have to.....she left when I was two remember?" Rick leaning forward "Elli she came back."

"Yeah when I was 6. Four years, she was upset about the timing enough to leave for four years before looking back."

"Elli you don't know the whole story."

"I don't need to know it." Rick sighed knowing this was classic Elli, she avoided talking about where her mother went for that time period like the plague. Rick guessed it was because she didn't want to know what could have been so important to stay gone that long. Rick settled and decided not to push it and go back to the matter at hand. "Ok, ok so what do you want to do. You want to take the year off? If you do it's fine. Hell, I wouldn't mind another year with you before you jet off to your adult life and leave your good old dad behind." She looked up at his smirk and his twinkling blue eyes and couldn't help but smirk back. "You have Carl it's not like you'll be empty nesting dad." But she knew what he meant. He loved both his children but it had been just him and Elli for the longest and Carl may have been his pride and joy, but she was the beat of his heart, his first born. "Hey listen, by the way, Shane is gonna join us for the hunt. He should be pulling up any minute" She nodded, this wasn't unusual. She looked around at the diner. It was full of guys decked out in their hunting gear. It was the opening day of bow season and the diner had always been the gathering place for hunters to grab breakfast hours before sunrise and dinner after a long days hunt. It was almost like an unofficial club, she had learned many of their names over the years. Rick hadbrought her here since her first hunt at the age of 4. Her picture from her first kill still hung on the wall with so many others of other proud kills. She finished her eggs just as Rick looked out the window, "there he is now. Grab your coat." She grabbed it and slid out of the booth. She slid it on as Rick went to the register to pay and turned to catch one of the rough men staring at her. She froze getting caught in those blue eyes. The older man with him suddenly turning to see what he was looking at. "Well! You off to kill baby girl?!" Ricks attention now turned to the older of the two who was turned away from him talking to his daughter. He waited to see if Elli would handle herself. Elli scoffed at the man then smirked, "hell yeah, y'all be crying like babies when I drag the biggest buck in this afternoon." Both the men chuckled as she finished pulling her coat on and confidently walked past them and out the door. The oldest one calling out to her before she exited "hell baby girl you get a bigger one than me and I'll buy you a slice of Alice's famous pie!" Rick smirked and followed her out to Shane's truck. The youngest of the men stared at her out the window. She was a pretty thing. Her hair was blonde and hung halfway down her back. Her blue eyes popped because of its color. He smirked watching her gather her hair over her shoulder and pull a beanie over her head. Her father and his friend laughing and chatting while throwing their gear into the friends truck bed. She smiled sitting on the tailgate making faces at the friend who was apparently telling her a joke. He was snapped out of his trance by a twisted amused face "You aiming for younger game brotha?" He snapped his eyes to the table and his coffee, "Shut the hell up Merle!"

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