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You don't like me, do you?
They're staring at each other, hiding in a hollow tree trunk with barely any space between them. Carl holds his hat tightly to his chest, awkwardly trying to avoid accidentally brushing against Enid's, although it's damn near impossible considering the tight space they're currently confined to.He turns his head away from her and looks out at the walkers that are making their way past, she leans towards his ear and whispers a sentence that he doesn't really pay attention to because he's too busy focusing on how her breath is tickling his neck.He turns towards her again, his eyes drifting down to her lips before quickly glancing to something else. He studies the patterns of the bark behind her and pretends he hadn't just imagined pressing his lips against hers.The stand in silence for a few seconds before he finally drags his gaze back to hers again. He licks his lips quickly, his heart thudding in his chest as he silently asks himself whether or not he's actually going to go through with what he's thinking about doing.Before he can overthink his actions, he leans in and closes his eyes, clumsily pressing his lips against hers. They stay like that for a few seconds, Carl's heart beating so fast he wonders if she can hear it.With that thought, he pulls away, opening his blue eyes and staring into her brown ones, he looks down as she smiles and a blush crawls up his cheeks."The walkers are gone." She informs him, and then she is too.
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Just Survive Somehow.
He's clutching a gun in his hands, and she's seated on the floor with her back pressed to his, a gun in her hands and a knife in her pocket. They sit in comfortable silence despite the fact that people are dying outside. Judith sleeps soundly in her crib upstairs, blissfully oblivious to the hell that's breaking loose.Enid moves away from him suddenly, the sound of her shoes against the floor and the loss of her comforting warmth against his back telling him so. He turns around to face her in confusion, his hands still holding tightly onto the gun.She kneels in front of him and hesitates before she puts her hands on either side of his face, silently leaning in and connecting their lips. It's short and sweet; an actual kiss unlike the one they shared previously.When she pulls away everything clicks into place and once her hands leave his face he reaches out and grabs her wrist to stop her from leaving.She sighs, settling down in her previous position, facing away from him so they can sit back to back again."Don't tell me goodbye." He requests, almost desperately, although he doesn't let that emotion seep into his tone.There's a beat of silence before she replies."I won't."
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I can take care of myself.
He's barely paying attention to what she's yelling at him. He knows it's something along the lines of how she doesn't need him to keep her safe, and that she can take care of herself.He shoves things he knows he'll need into his bag, checking that his gun is loaded and ready for use, but making sure that the safety is also on."Carl!" Enid yelling his name draws him out of whatever trance he'd fallen into, he pauses his actions and turns towards her."What?" He spits out, regretting it immediately, he didn't mean for that amount of venom to be laced in his tone.Either way, Enid doesn't back down. "I need to go with you, I need to help Maggie."It's all Carl can do to stop himself from letting out a loud sigh and rolling his eye. He considers his options for a moment, his eye glancing at the closet a few feet away from them.He makes his decision.He breaks the distance between them and crashes their lips together, Enid is shocked for a few seconds, he can tell by the way she stands rigid against him, her lips unmoving, but then she kisses back, and Carl wonders if she's right, and that it's better if she comes with them after all.But then they pull away, and he sees the determination that's still written all over her face."Get out of my way." She orders, saying his name when he doesn't move, "Carl!""Just grab some pistols from the closet." He tells her, "but hurry, we've gotta go now."He waits until she has rushed inside the closet, and then he makes his move, rushing towards the door and slamming it shut, pushing a chair under the handle.She shouts his name angrily from the other side of the door, slamming her hand against it in an attempt to get it back open."What happens if you don't come back?" She asks suddenly, after several seconds of silence, "how am I supposed to live with that? What the hell am I supposed to do?"Carl thinks in silence for a few seconds, unsure of how exactly to reply, but then he does."Just survive somehow."
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I'm not saving you anymore.
"You weren't taking a drive." She says matter-of-factly. Carl doesn't look at her as she realises what he's planning to do. "You weren't coming to get me."He glances at her, "I can't let him get away with this. You know I can't.""I know."Suddenly an idea pops into his head, and he blurts it out without really thinking."Come with me! You wanna kill him too, we can do it."She looks like she considers it for a few seconds, but then she glances towards the Hilltop and changes the subject."You said it. It wouldn't be for us, not for Abraham, not for Glenn, not for Maggie. You're doing it for you." She moves towards him as she speaks, trying to make eye contact with him.Carl looks down at the ground, avoiding her gaze, nodding, "yeah."Enid gets closer, so close that he can feel her breath on his lips, and he's brought all the way back to that moment in the tree where they shared their first kiss; his first kiss."So it all goes right," she says, "and you do it. How do you get away?"He shakes his head, "it wouldn't matter.""It would to me!" She looks up at him desperately, begging him with her eyes.He sighs and closes his own, resting his forehead against hers for a few moments before moving away and gently kissing her forehead.She looks up at him again, and before he can really think about it he's connecting their lips in a short, sweet kiss. It's similar to the one she gave to him before she left Alexandria, when the Wolves attacked and she left him a note telling him to Just Survive Somehow."Please don't go." She whispers against his lips when they pull away, "just come with me, you can't-"He shakes his head, "I'm just gonna go home."Enid looks at him for a moment, "you're lying."He looks away, "no, I'm not."She chuckles quietly, "you shouldn't go," she tells him, "but I can't stop you."She moves away from him and starts making her way towards the walls."They'll see you." He says as she starts to go."No." She answers, "they won't."And then she leaves him, and he watches her walk away, wondering if it's the last time he'll ever see her and if that's the last kiss they'll ever share.
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You made it back in one piece. You're still here.
Carl stands quietly as the gates to the Hilltop roll open. Maggie stands at the entrance, smiling and ready to greet all of them. It feels as though he hasn't seen her in months, even though it's only been days.His legs seem be moving on their own accord, people around him are hugging and smiling and crying. Daryl appears with Jesus from behind the corner of one of the buildings and his dad immediately goes over to hug him after hugging Maggie.There are so many emotions flying around in his head that it's hard to make sense of them, he's just glad to be away from Negan and the sanctuary.And then Enid sees him.She catches his eye as she's jogging down to meet the group, and for a second he forgets that she probably thought that she was never going to see him again.He walks up to her slowly, unsure of how to act around her, worried that she'll be angry with him. He can't tell just from the look on her face.She silently pulls him into a hug once they're close enough to each other. Her arms wrapping tightly around him, and he can tell as he hugs her back that she doesn't want to let him go, as if she's afraid he'll leave again if she does."I'm sorry for leaving-" he begins, immediately trying to apologise, but she pulls away from the hug and quickly presses their lips together to silence him. It's a kiss that only lasts a second but still manages to mean everything."Just…shut up." She whispers once she pulls away, "don't ruin it."Carl nods, because he understands what she means, and hugs her again.
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I can keep you safe.
"So what's the plan?" Ron leans against Carl's bedroom wall- the one closest to his door -as Carl stares out the window at the saviours quickly getting into their trucks below. "You already tried to take them out, I want to help as much as you do."Carl doesn't say anything for a long moment- he really doesn't want to talk to Ron, they've never really been the same since the boy had his little mental breakdown the same day Carl lost his eye, but Carl has stuck with him, especially since Enid is at the Hilltop now and she doesn't seem to be returning any time soon."I don't know." He says finally, "but I'll figure it out, so if you'd just leave me alone-""You can't keep doing this Carl." Ron tells him, and Carl can hear him moving towards him from the other side of the room."Doing what?" Carl asks, refusing to turn around and watching as the Alexandrians close the gates."Attempting to fight by yourself. You're just gonna get yourself- or worse, other people, killed. I want to help, maybe if we work together-""I don’t want your help!" Carl whirls round suddenly, clearly taking Ron by surprise as the boy moves backwards a few steps. "Why do you even care what I do anyway?""Because I care about you!"Carl scoffs, "as if!""I thought we were friends." Ron says."You shot my fucking eye out!" Carl yells."It was an accident!""Bullshit!""It was!""Either way, you were aiming for my dad." Carl says, trying to remain calm and failing. "You-"He can't finish his sentence because in a few quick strides Ron has closed the distance between them and connected their lips together. It's a slightly rough kiss, and its laced with lust and need. Something Carl has never really experienced.He can't help but compare this kiss to all the ones he's shared with Enid, her lips are much more gentle and soft, Ron's are needy and wanting. While Enid usually either kept her hands against her sides or loosely on his face, Ron's hands roam his body, never focusing on one place for too long.It takes Carl a while to realise that he has closed his eyes and is actually kissing Ron back. But he can't bring himself to care. There are strange sparks igniting in his stomach that he remembers feeling a few times with Enid, but eventually fizzled out.When Ron pulls away, Carl's sure his lips are red and swollen, and he isn't really sure why they've stopped, but then Ron reaches behind them and pulls the curtains shut before sliding Carl's flannel off the shorter boy's shoulders."What are you-?" He tries to speak but Ron interrupts him with a kiss again, and his hands drift down to Carl's belt and begin to fiddle with it, and Carl can't bring himself to tell him to stop- Carl doesn't want him to stop, he lets himself be pressed against the wall and kisses back with the same amount of lust that Ron kisses him with, and as more of their clothes fall to the floor, Carl wonders what will happen to their relationship after this.If he's honest, he can't really bring himself to care.