#scremmmming

So this is actually a part of a long request I got from @ronxcarl and I’m not finished with it, but I figured why not post this beginning part since the last request I did was all sad and angsty. 

And so I can go to sleep knowing you all had some rarl from me to read

Carl might have stood at the door for longer than he should have and it didn’t help that the longer he stood there, the harder the task seemed to be. There were some instances when he considered just turning around and leaving without saying anything, but he knew Ron would hate him if he did that.

And if Carl thought about the roles being switched, he figured he would hate Ron just the same if he left without telling him. In this world, nobody ever planned on dying when going on runs, it just sort of happens.

And with the Saviors running around, this would be much more dangerous than just going out on a simple supply run. He had to let Ron know.

Slowly and reluctantly, Carl balled his fist and knocked his knuckles against the door a couple of times. He flinched when the door opened sooner than he expected, but relaxed when he saw Sam, Ron’s little brother, looking up at him.

“Hi, Carl…” Sam greeted quietly, obviously still spooked by the instability of the group at the moment. He seemed paler than usual, but Carl forced himself to ignore it since time wasn’t on his side at the moment.

“Hi, Sam,” Carl responded with a quick smile before dropping it unconsciously. “Um, is your brother here right now?”

The little Anderson didn’t reply with any words, turning and disappearing back into the house, leaving the door open behind him and Carl waiting at the threshold. It was only a few seconds later that Ron returned in his place, smiling brightly at Carl the way he always did when he came around.

Unfortunately, it was harder for Carl to smile back, knowing the conversation that was about to go down. The smile on Ron’s face wouldn’t be lasting for too long.

“Hey, Carl,” Ron murmured in greeting, hardly concealing the slight confusion in his voice. He looked around as if expecting to see something going on in Alexandria before addressing his boyfriend.  “What are you doing here? You’re earlier than normal.”

Carl shrugged despite knowing exactly what he was doing there. “Yeah, I know. I just came to let you know that my dad is going on a run…” His uncovered blue eye flickered to Ron expectantly, hoping that he wouldn’t have to explain his intentions any further.

Considering the way Ron’s eyebrows knitted together and how quickly his smile dropped, it was clear that he didn’t need any clarification.

Ron glanced over his shoulder into his house for a split second before closing the door behind him and towing Carl a few steps away by his arm. When they stopped, he looked the Grimes kid dead in the eye with obvious irritation. “....don’t go,” he pleaded under his breath.

“I didn’t come here to ask you if I could go, Ron.” Carl replied softly. “I’m not letting my dad go out there without me when we have the Saviors running around, probably searching for us to get revenge for the men that Daryl killed. I’d hate myself if he never came back.”

“And I’d hate myself if you never came back,” Ron hissed. “It’s the same way you feel about your dad possibly not coming back so….so at least let me go, too. I’ve been practicing with a gun. Look, I even carry it around with me.”

To prove his point, Ron pulled a small pistol from his back pocket and held it out.

Carl rolled his eye at that, smiling almost immediately afterwards because it was hard to get mad at Ron for this kind of stuff. He pushed the weapon away and shook his head. “That doesn’t mean you’re capable of using it on another human being. I’ll come back. Just stay here where it’s safe.”

Honestly, he wanted the conversation to stop here. He wanted Ron to suck it up and go back inside the house where Carl wouldn’t have to worry about him while he was outside the walls.

So he turned to leave, but Ron grabbed his arm and spun him back around, gripping the smaller male with both hands as if to make sure he stayed put.

“Please let me go?” He begged. “If something happens, I want to be there with you. I would feel much safer outside the walls with you than inside of them alone.”

Carl shook himself free of Ron’s grasp, giving the other a sharp look. “And I’d be safer knowing you’re inside the walls. My chances of survival are higher if I don’t have to worry about you.” He waited for a response that never came, watching Ron’s eyes drop in defeat. “I love you, Ron Anderson. I’ll be back for you.”

“I feel like people say that all the time,” Ron murmured. “….and then they don’t come back.”

Yeah, that was how things played out sometimes and Carl knew that all too well, but he didn’t want to admit that, especially not to Ron. He didn’t know if he would be able to handle hearing that reality.

“I will,” Carl stressed, taking the both of Ron’s bigger hands in his own for further comfort. “I’m not just saying it. This is a promise.”

He gave Ron’s hands a light, comforting squeeze before turning to leave. He managed to get one hand free, but when he tried to pull his other free, Ron refused and tightened his grip, following Carl down the front steps as if he planned to tag along. But Carl turned around and glared at him with one eye.

“Ron…” he groaned.

“...Okay, fine…”

When Ron let go of his hand, Carl’s face softened once more and he offered his boyfriend a faint smile before starting on his way. “Thank you. Oh, and by the way…” He stopped and looked back at Ron. “Could you stop by my house after we leave? I might have locked Enid in the closet.”

The Anderson raised an eyebrow at this. “She’s always been in the closet.”

Had the situation not been so serious, Carl would have laughed at the joke, but he ignored it and shook his head. “No, I mean it. I literally locked her in a closet. Please, get her out. But only after we’re gone.”

After this, he tried to turn around and keep walking, but then he heard a sigh from behind and stopped dead in his tracks with a pained grimace.

“What the hell, Carl?” Ron spat, his annoyance clear and sharp in his voice. “What? Did she want to come with you, too? Is that why you locked her in a fucking closet?”

No response came from Carl besides a visible flinch of his shoulders.

Ron noticed it, but he kept going. “This isn’t fair.”

Carl’s eye twitched at the comment and he turned back around for a confrontation as quick as his steps towards Ron. He entered the other’s personal space without much hesitation, only inches away from Ron’s face.

“A lot of things aren’t fair. I’m just trying to protect her. I’m trying to protect you,” he hissed quietly. “Deal with it and stay safe. Please. I’m begging you.”

Ron searched Carl’s face for a few seconds before reluctantly nodding. He grabbed Carl’s chin for a quick, but genuine kiss that lasted longer than he planned, making the goodbye even harder. “Okay, I’ll stay safe. You better stay safe, too.”

Having intertwined their fingers for one last time, Carl backed up and slowly pulled away with a playful grin. “I will. That way I can come back for more of that action.”

Ron pouted and narrowed his eyes, watching his boyfriend leave. “I mean it, Carl. If you come back to me beaten or even slightly broken, I will end you,” he called after him.