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It started the morning after the supply run.

You were helping unload crates near the pantry, products of a run led by Rick and Glenn when Carl walked around the corner, little Judith in his arms as she looked around with her big, curious eyes that in reality seemed utterly thoughtless.

You looked up as soon as you saw the sheriff hat get closer from the corner of your eye, and smiled.

"Morning." You greeted him, taking a few jars from one of the boxes and setting them on one of the shelves in front of you.

"Hey." He simply replied, shifting his younger sister in his grasp to sit her more comfortably. He was planning of walking straight past the pantry, but he couldn’t just ignore you after you spoke to him so kindly, could he? Especially after gifting you…that. He still wondered what the hell possessed him with such confidence to even take that thing and then give it to you.

Then his eye landed on the necklace.

The necklace.

The one he'd given you.

The one you were actually wearing.

"…Oh."

You blinked. "Oh?"

Carl stared.

Then looked away.

Then back.

Then away again.

"You're wearing it." He said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible as he turned his view towards the little girl.

The second the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

Because obviously you were wearing it. That was how eyesight worked.

You touched the pendant automatically, a small smile appearing on your face at the comment. "Yeah."

"Oh."

There was a pause. An awkward one.

"I like it,” You continued, following with your work.

"Oh."

Another pause.

Carl wanted the ground to swallow him whole. Why did he have to make every conversation so awkward and uncomfortable? And why was it always with you? He didn’t have this problem with Ron or Enid. Mostly because his interactions with Enid were two sentences long and he always ended up fighting with Ron.

You looked suspiciously amused. "You're saying 'oh' a lot,” but your smile remained, somewhat widening slightly.

"I am not."

"You are."

"I don't… know what else to say."

That, somehow, made your grin softer.

Thankfully, before either of you could continue, a familiar voice interrupted.

"Well, well."

Carl immediately groaned.

You turned.

"Tara."

Tara approached carrying a dusty cardboard box, the top already cut open.

One glance at Carl. One glance at you. One glance at the necklace.

And her expression changed instantly.

"… Hm..." She only hummed, though what she meant was definitely clear.

Carl's soul left his body. "No."

Tara grinned, "Oh, absolutely."

"No,” He repeated, a little more sternly, and he could hear Judith giggling mindlessly by his ear.

"Of course."

"What are you talking about?" You suddenly joined in, crouching down to grab the smaller boxes inside the ones already in the (previously a) garage.

Tara pointed directly at the necklace, playfully twirling her finger in that direction before helping her unpack.

Carl nearly died.

You still looked somehow confused. Then realization hit.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Tara said.

"Oh my God, not at all!" You exclaimed, a faint frown quickly replacing your smiley face.

Carl turned around, "Okay, bye."

Tara only laughed at his response, sighing and lowering down for a box of protein bars.

Unfortunately, things only got worse.

Because once Tara noticed?

Other people started noticing too. Not immediately. But eventually.

And Alexandria was small. Very small.

The first victim was Enid.

Carl had been sitting on the porch steps of his house, once again spending time with Judith and playing with her toys together, the doll with a missing arm and pants she gave him while she kept the one with pretty silky hair and a full white outfit, when Enid appeared.

She sat beside him, quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

So obviously Carl narrowed his eye toward her, unable to ignore her much longer with such close proximity.

"What?"

Enid shrugged, but the corners of her mouth slightly curved upwards was pretty hard not to notice.

"What?"

"You have that look,”

"What look?" She answered, grabbing the hot pink toy car next to Judith and joining in on the game uninvited. The girl didn’t seem to mind though.

"The one where you're about to annoy me."

"I'm not annoying you."

"I like the necklace."

Carl nearly hit his sister with the doll with how hard he threw it to the ground, quickly snapping his head towards her to check if he had actually hurt her then turning back to her when he saw she paid no mind to him.

"What?"

"The necklace."

"What necklace?"

"The necklace you gave her."

Carl stood up, immediately.

"Nope."

Enid started laughing, "Carl."

"No."

"Carl!"

"No."

"You literally found her a gift."

"It wasn't a gift."

"I think that’s how gifts work."

"It wasn't."

She looked unconvinced. "Sure..."

Carl walked away.

Enid's laughter followed him all the way down the street.

The worst part?

You didn't seem bothered by any of it.

If anything, you looked happier.

The way you'd smile when you spotted him. The way you always walked next to him during community meetings. The way your hand occasionally brushed his when you passed supplies back and forth. Tiny things. Little things.

Things that probably didn't mean anything. Except they felt like they meant a lot.

One evening, he found himself sitting at the pond in the middle of Alexandria. He never thought he’d ever feel bored again, actually bored. Now he kind of was. Maybe. Was this how it felt being bored? Was he even bored, or did he just have too much in his mind?

The sky was turning orange. The world was quiet for once.

Then footsteps approached. Carl already knew who it was. All these times dreading your steps towards him had already made him memorize the sound and differentiate them from anyone else’s.

You sat beside him.

Neither of you spoke for a minute.

The sunset stretched across the horizon.

Beautiful. Peaceful. Rare.

You touched the star pendant.

"I still really like it." You mumbled, looking down at the reflection of both of them on the water. You wondered if there ever were fish in there before the apocalypse.

Carl looked down, "Oh."

You laughed, "There it is again."

"What?"

"The 'oh.'"

"I don't say that."

"You absolutely do."

He shut his mouth in a thin, straight line. There really wasn’t much to say.

You bumped your shoulder against his lightly, playfully.

His entire body immediately became aware of the fact that your shoulder was touching his.

Now he couldn't focus on anything else.

The pond. The sunset. His shoes.

Only you.

You glanced toward him, "Carl?"

"Hm?" He hummed, low in his throat as he exchanged your previous gaze into the water in front of him.

"You know something?"

"What?"

You smiled.

"It's one of my favorite things I own now."

The necklace? That cheap tiny thing?

You meant the necklace.

But somehow it felt like more than that.

Carl stared down like the pond would offer some kind of escape, or maybe even how to come up with a calm, unbothered response. Trying desperately to act normal.

"Really?"

"Really."

A small smile appeared on his face, one that he couldn’t fight. Again. The kind that only happened around you.

"You deserve nice things."

The words slipped out before he could stop them.

You looked at him. Really looked at him.

And suddenly the air felt different, softer, warmer.

More dangerous than any walker. Because Carl could fight walkers. This was impossible.

Your smile faded into something gentler.

"Carl." God, didn’t you ever get tired of saying his name so much?

He swallowed. "What?"

For a second, you seemed nervous too.

Then you reached over and very carefully, shyly took his hand.

Frozen.

Your fingers intertwined with his.

You looked down, and he thought your face was just as awkward as he often had his around you.

"I think you deserve nice things too."

The sunset burned gold across Alexandria.

The world kept turning. Walkers still existed. Danger still existed. Loss still existed.

But for one tiny moment, hand in hand, watching the sky, none of it mattered.

Suddenly he was the one who couldn’t stop smiling.

His fingers intertwined with yours.

And that was apparently all the conversation he intended to contribute.

You snorted.

He looked up.

"What?"

"Nothing,” You replied innocently, flashing him a small, teasing smile before facing forward again.

"Why're you laughing?" He frowned, already feeling slightly offended.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm really not."

Carl rolled his eye and started walking down the road, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Whatever."

The two of you had been assigned to a supply run together. Nothing huge, no dangerous mission. Just checking a few abandoned neighborhoods a couple miles outside Alexandria for canned food, batteries, medicine—anything useful.

The road stretched ahead of you, cracked pavement swallowed by weeds. The world was quiet except for birds and the occasional distant groan of a walker somewhere unseen.

Carl walked beside you. The trip was mostly silent, as neither of you knew how to start a conversation with the other or what to even talk about. Sure, you hung out together a few times with the other teens in Alexandria, but it’s not like you two were that close. You didn’t mind his presence. In fact, you liked it. It was nice to meet someone new, around your age, that wasn’t a total dickhead like Ron and actually cared about what was going on behind the walls.

"You think we'll find anything?" you asked.

"Maybe." He murmured.

"That's your answer?"

"Yeah."

"… You know, normal people use complete sentences."

Carl sighed dramatically.

"I think we might find supplies."

"There you go." You grinned again at him playfully.

He shot you a look.

Eventually you reached the neighborhood.

Rows of houses stood silent beneath the sun. Some had collapsed fences. Others were overgrown with vines. Most had already been picked clean years ago.

"We split up." He offered, looking around and analyzing the houses that went on into the not-so-far distance.

You nodded. "Three houses each?"

"Yeah."

"Whistle if something goes wrong?"

"Yeah."

"You'll come save me?"

He looked offended.

"Obviously."

"Just... don't do anything stupid."

You smiled.

"No promises."

The first house had a few CDs, comics, and some packs of ibuprofen and band-aids. The second had a few cans of food and batteries. The third did too, but whoever lived there seemed like they liked hunting and you found a small box of bullets hidden at the back of a cabinet. Not bad.

You stuffed everything into your bag and headed toward the meeting point.

Meanwhile, several streets away, Carl stood in the remains of a small suburban home. The place had been untouched for years. Most of the rooms were empty, and a thin layer of dust covered pretty much everything.

He'd already gathered some medicine and canned food when he wandered into what looked like a teenager's bedroom. The walls were faded pink, old and wrinkled posters of boy bands and video games hung crookedly. Carl felt a little bad about grabbing stuff that was not necessary at all and would only take space in his backpack, but that one poster of Science Dog was basically screaming at him on his face.

A jewelry box sat atop a dresser.

Carl almost ignored it.

Then something caught his eye.

A small silver pendant. Nothing expensive, just a simple little thing shaped like a star. It hung from a delicate chain. It looked quite a bit rusty already.

He picked it up.

The metal caught the sunlight streaming through the window.

For some reason, it immediately made him think of you.

Which was stupid.

Then looked around like someone might've witnessed the thought.

The room was empty. Obviously.

Still.

You'd probably like it.

Maybe.

Or maybe you wouldn't.

Maybe it was dumb.

People didn't just give people necklaces.

Did they?

Maybe they did.

He didn't know. He wasn't exactly an expert. The only examples of romance he'd ever really seen growing up were before the outbreak, in tv shows with awkward teenagers at school and whatever weird stuff happened between adults.

Neither seemed particularly helpful.

Carl turned the pendant over in his hand.

The star glimmered again.

It looked pretty.

You liked pretty things.

At least he'd noticed you stopping to admire flowers sometimes. And sunsets. And weird little trinkets left behind from before. You always saw beauty in things everyone else overlooked.

Carl swallowed.

Then quietly slipped the necklace into his pocket.

Just in case.

An hour later, you reunited near the neighborhood entrance.

Carl was already there, leaning against a mailbox, trying very hard to look casual.

You walked up.

"Find anything?" You questioned, hand holding one of the straps of your backpack around your shoulder, the other fixing the few little hairs that always seemed to escape your ponytail. No matter what you did, those damned hairs always managed to set free. It was irritating, even in a world where what you look like doesn’t even matter anymore.

"A little." He replied, his voice low and somewhat distant.

"That's it?"

"What?"

"That's all you're giving me?"

Carl groaned. "I found medicine."

"Good,” you nodded.

"Food,” he continued.

"Great."

"Batteries."

"Amazing."

"Can you stop it?"

You laughed.

The walk home started peacefully.

Then a small herd of walkers appeared from between two houses. Of course. Because nothing could ever be easy.

Carl immediately moved closer to you, his right hand already lowering to find the knife settled in between his belt and jeans. He had to get used to the fact that shooting a gun is not always a good idea.

"Six."

"I see them."

"We go around."

"Works for me."

The walkers shuffled toward you.

Carl raised his knife.

You raised yours.

The fight was over in less than a minute.

A few quick strikes, few heavy breaths.

Silence.

Carl wiped blood from his blade on the grass next to him.

"You okay?" His tone was still a little quiet, crouching to reach down comfortably.

You smiled.

"I'm okay."

Only then did he nod.

"Good."

By the time Alexandria came into view, the sun was beginning to set. Orange light spilled across the walls. The sight always brought relief.

The guards opened the gates.

You and Carl stepped inside.

People moved through the streets. Children laughed. Someone was grilling food.

For a moment it almost felt normal.

Carl walked beside you in silence.

And silence.

And more silence.

You glanced over.

He looked weird. Nervous. Which wasn’t that unusual at all. He always seemed to be annoyed for some reason, always mad at something, even when nothing was going on. Whatever. It probably wasn’t your business anyway.

Still, "You okay?" you asked.

Upon the sudden call for his attention, he was brought back from his mind to quickly turn his head towards you awkwardly. "Hm?"

"You've been acting strange."

"I'm not acting strange."

"You are."

"I'm not."

"Yeah."

He let out a mix of a frustrated sigh and grunt.

You cackled at how little it took to rile him up.

His face grew red. Which only made you more suspicious.

"Carl."

"What?"

"What is going on?"

"Nothing."

"Carl."

He stopped walking. You stopped too.

The evening sun painted everything gold. People passed by without paying attention.

Carl stared at the ground.

Then at you. Then away.

Then back at you.

You blinked.

"… So?"

His hand disappeared into his pocket.

Your heart suddenly sped up.

He looked like he wanted to run away.

Finally he pulled something out.

The silver star pendant.

Your eyes widened.

Carl practically shoved it toward you.

"I found it." He mumbled, already sounding like he wanted to get away from there and go back into his house.

"Oh."

"Thought you’d like it."

The words left his mouth.

Your chest melted.

Carl looked horrified.

"I mean—not because—"

He stopped. Started again. Then failed again.

"It just—"

Another pathetic stutter.

"… You like pretty stuff..."

You stared at him.

The necklace glimmered in the sunset.

And suddenly you couldn't stop smiling.

"Carl." You spoke calmly.

He looked ready to die.

"What?"

"It's beautiful."

"Oh."

As you gently took it from him, his shoulders relaxed a little.

"You really thought of me when you saw this?"

Carl rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess."

Your smile grew. "You know," you said softly, "that's really sweet."

Carl made a noise somewhere between a cough and a groan.

"Oh my God."

You laughed.

He rolled his eye.

But there was a smile now. A real one. Small, shy. The kind he didn't give many people.

You carefully closed your fingers around the pendant.

A simple little star. Worth almost nothing.

And somehow more valuable than any treasure left in the world.

“Thank you,” you said, the corners of your lips suddenly stuck upwards, unable to relax. “Help me put it on?”