#twdcarl

“yer commin’ with me tomorrow?” daryl asked as you both walked back to your house after running errands around alexandria all day.

you nodded before looking up at daryl as he began to light a cigarette. “m’sure.” you smiled weakly. “can i have the rest of the afternoon off then?” you asked, your smile slowly turning into a smirk.

“sure.” he shrugged. “i think carols makin’ dinner.” he added as you began to part ways. “and don-“

“don’t forget to be home by dark.” you smiled. “see ya at dinner!” you sang as you wandered off, earning a wave from daryl before he disappeared into the infirmary.

you spun around on the balls of your feet and began to head back to the gate. it was nearing the shift change which gave you a chance to slip out without being noticed. as you walked towards the gate you had noticed abraham walking a couple meter in front, ready to change with sasha. swiftly you managed to sneak past the pair, slipping between the gate before sneaking off into the near by tree line.

as you began to stepped through the overgrown forests that neighbored alexandria, you shoved your hand gun into the back of your jeans. the occasional walker would stumble towards you but with ease you managed to put them down before finding your go to spot. just as you went to sit down you heard a twig snap behind you. you quickly grabbed the gun that was tucked between your belt and the fabric of your jeans and pointed it in the direction of the noise.

“just me.” carl smiled, causing you to lower your gun as he continued to navigate his way through the bushes and foliage. “and ya forgot these.” he smirked, finally looking up to meet your eyes as he threw a backpack in your direction.

you let out a breath of relief as you tucked your gun away before beginning to shuffle through the bag. “i’ve got my own personal stash.” you grinned, pulling out a bag of carols cookies she had made yesterday.

“betcha it’s not as good as mine.” carl snickered as he sat down, leaning up against a rotting log. you plopped down by his side, taking a bite of the cookie before continuing to search through the bag. “hand it over.”

you continued to look through the bag, shuffling the the comics as you handed the half eaten cookie over to carl causing him to let out a weak laugh.

“i meant the bag.” he smiled. “but i will take that.” carl smiled smugly as he took the cookie out of your hand. after you had picked your comic book of choice you handed the bag over to carl. “how’s your morning with daryl?”

“alright.” you shrugged, not fully invested in your comic just yet. “we’re goin’ out on a run tomorrow morning.” you noted before turning the page.

carl nodded as he finally picked out a comic and dumped the bag beside him. “for how long?”

you shrugged, not really knowing all the details as daryl typically didn’t plan too far in advance. “maybe a couple’a days.”

carl looked over at you and noticed how uninterested you were in your comic. “wanna trade?” he asked.

you smiled before passed your comic to carl before taking the one he held out in his hand. you quickly began to get settled, getting comfortable on the ground as you continued to share a batch of carols cookies that carl had swiped. you were so involved in the comics the afternoon had disappeared. the sun was beginning to set, casting dark shadows in the tree line causing you to look up from your comic. you let go of your comic book and gently tapped carls knee causing him to look up, almost startled.

“suns startin’ to set.” you mumbled, turning to look at carl for the first time in a few hours. “we need to leave if we wanna make it outta here before dark.” you noted.

“i reckon i saw a shed maybe a mile back.” he suggested, closing his comic book. “we could just spend the night there and head back in the morning.” he shrugged beginning to pack up the small pile of comics sitting by his side.

“nuh uh.” you shook your head, beginning to pack up your things. “i promised daryl i’d be back before dark.” you mumbled, jumping to your feet and swinging your backpack over your shoulders before turning around to face carl. you extended your arms before shaking your hands, motioning for him to take your hands. “come on grimes, i’m not getting caught in the dark with you again.” you grinned.

furrowing his eyebrows, carl took your hands and jumped to his feet before slowly letting go of your hands. “hey, last time wasn’t my fault!” he whined.

“i’m not even going to dignify that with a response.” you giggled, bending down to pick up carls backpack before handing it to him.

carl frowned as he took the bag from your hand before beginning to walk off. “oh shut up.” he smirked.

your laugh faded into a smile as you began to walk through the overgrown weeds and grass. you put a little skip in your step to catch up with carl before returning your normal pace.

“wanna finish the comics back at mine?” he asked quietly, briefly looking at you before returning his focus back to the path in front of him.

“sure.” you shrugged. “ya know i think carols cooking some big dinner tonight. we could read more then.” you suggested. “which means we are probably going to run out of comics soon.” you laughed. “again.”

carl let out a breathy laugh before turning back to look at you once again. “i actually have a surprise for you.” he smirked, his casual wander turning into a jog.

“hey!” you smiled, beginning to run after him. “did you go out the wall without me?” you asked, a little short of breath.

“you were out here without me!” he teased.

together you both ran the rest of the way, unintentionally turning the trip back into a race. although the race briefly got put on hold when you had to sneak back inside the walls but as soon as those gates closed, it was back to pull speed running. neither of you could contain your laughs or giggles as you would playfully push or pull each other. as you both began to run in the general direction of carls house you were stopped by an all too familiar voice.

“y/n!” daryl called out, sounding a little annoyed as he stood in the middle of the street, cleaning his hands with a dirtied rag.

your laughing quickly faded as you stopped running to face daryl. “shit.” you mumbled under your breath as you realized it had gotten dark quicker then expected. “what?” you asked.

“thought i told yer to be back before dark?” he grumbled, shoving the rag in his back pocket.

you smiled weakly before looking back at carl finding him almost not being able to keep in his laughter. “i’m hangin’ out with carl.”

“come on.” he groaned.

“s’just for a few more hours.” carl laughed as he tried to reassure daryl of your plans.

daryl let out a grumble before beginning to wander off, presumably heading back home. you let out an exhausted sigh causing carl to face you. he looked just as disappointed as you, his smile quickly dropping as he realized this would be where you part ways for the day. 

“guess i’ll see yer when i get back from the run.” you smiled weakly, beginning to walk backwards heading towards the house. 

carl flashed you a quick smile, almost forgetting about the run you had planned with daryl. “i’ll see ya at the gate.” he grinned, spinning around on the heels of his feet before beginning the short walk back to his house which was only next door to you. 

you let out a breathy laugh before following daryl back to your house, always keeping a few meters distance between the two of you. once you were inside you were quick to run past him, making your way up to your bedroom. after closing your bedroom door you dropped your backpack to the floor before flopping down onto your bed. just as you let out a deep breath, there was a knock at your door. 

“what?” you grumbled, pulling yourself into an upright position. 

“yer went outside the wall didn’t ya?” daryl asked blankly as he leant up against your door frame. 

“i’m not a kid anymore daryl.” you laughed weakly, not entirely in the mood to get into an argument with him. 

daryl looked at you, scanning your body for any injuries as you stared back blankly. “exactly.” he muttered, furrowing his eyebrows. “so why ya bein’ stupid.” 

you stayed quiet, knowing that daryl was coming from a good place he just had trouble expressing it. you began to fiddle with the cuticles of your nails causing daryl to let out a sigh. 

“dinner’ll be ready in a couple’a hours.” he noted before pulling your bedroom door closed. 

it was never usually that easy to get daryl off of you back, especially when he had his suspicions of you going outside the walls. at first you though he might have left to go recruit carol and try make her give some boring lecture but after almost an hour no one came back to your room. you began to settle in, as you could smell carols cooking begin to flow through the house. you were sitting at the end of your bed, reading comics you had read a thousand times before trying to kill time, expecting carol to call out your name at any given moment. 

your whole body tensed when you heard rustling coming from outside your bedroom window. quickly jumping up from your bed, throwing the comic on the bed before hovering your hand over your knife that was safely secured in hits pouch hanging off of your belt. you wandered over to the window and peered outside to find an all too familiar face climbing up the white trellis that lined the walls of your house. you pushed up the window and rested your elbows on the window ledge. 

“look at you.” you smiled. “workin’ up a sweat.” you teased causing carl to briefly look up at you with a smirk plastered on his lips. 

“shut up.” he laughed, turning his focus back to the trellis. 

“what happened to seeing me in the morning?” 

“i was bored.” he shrugged, struggling a little as he continued climb up the side of your house. “and.” he sang. “i never got to give you the surprise.”

you took a few steps back as he began to climb through the window, his hat falling off in the process. you had noticed his hair was a little damp, causing a few strands to stick to his forehead. as carl stood up, you picked up his hat before patting it back onto his head. 

“i forgot about your surprise.” you laughed as you watched carl straighten up his clothes before standing upright. 

“yup!” he smiled, pulling a comic book out from his back pocket. “here.”

you turned around to find carl holding an x-men 134. the colors were a little faded and the first few pages were a little damaged but you didn’t mind. in fact you had been looking for this comic for as long as you could remember. you looked up at carl and smiled.

“holy shit.” you huffed. “holy shit!” you almost squealed with enjoyment as you sprung towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck. “thank you, thank you, thank you!” you whispered.

after a brief moment of shock, you felt carls arms wrap around your waist. carl felt the comic book fall onto his back as you held onto it tightly. in fact, he could feel you smiling as your head gently rested in the crook of his neck.

“where’d yer find it?” you mumbled into his neck.

“doesn’t matter.” he grinned. he slightly pulled his head back so he could look you in the eye. “just don’t tell my dad i went out the walls alone.” he chuckled.

“only if you promise to take me with you next time.” you bargained, looking up into carls eyes.

“promise.” he whispered, his hands slowly beginning to unwrap from around your waist only for his hands to stop as they reach your hips.

you could feel carl slowly inching closer to you. his breath gently hitting your lips. carl found himself focusing on the smaller details of your face. he had only been this close to you on a few occasions but never had the chance to admire the small scar that had always been on the bridge of your nose, the light freckles littered over your cheeks or even the way the ends of your hair would curl, especially on your outgrown fringe.

it was almost like you couldn’t control it, you were being pulled towards each other. just as carl went to lean in your bedroom door swung open. you both pulled away from each other as you realized daryl stood there frozen. you could feel your cheeks beginning to burn as you looked over at carl who’s stood there frozen, scared that any movement might piss him off.

“the hell is he doin’ in ‘ere?” daryl grunted.

“he was just droppin’ off a comic.” you smiled, almost unable to control your laughter. “he-uh he was just leaving.”

“didn’t ‘ear him come through the door.” 

you smiled as you looked over to carl who was beginning to panic. “it’s no big deal.” you laughed, throwing the comic book onto your bed before beginning to walk towards your bedroom door. “dinners ready right?” you asked, looking up at daryl for confirmation. 

“mm.” he nodded. 

you briefly turned back to look at carl, flicking your head in the direction of the kitchen signaling for him to follow you. letting out a nervous laugh carl quickly jogged after you as you began to skip down the stairs, leaving daryl alone still standing by your bedroom door. 

“jesus.” carl mumbled. “i thought he was gonna kill me.”