𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 , 𝐫. 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

thirty three -

"no, enid stays with olivia." he shakes his head.

"oh. i thought you and ron were friends."

"we are. i can be friends with enid too."

i nod my head at him, understanding that he must have a crush on her.

"don't wait up. make sure my dad's asleep in about 3 hours, okay? thanks, grey!"

"wait, carl—" i stop him and he lets out a huff.

"what?"

"just be ... careful ... okay?"

"grey," he laughs, shaking his head. "we just read comics and listen to the record player."

i nod my head, "right, okay—"

"we're not doin' whatever you and that hockey kid were doin' the night the world ended." he teases me.

i roll my eyes, "fine, have fun."

he flashes me a smile before disappearing down the sidewalk.

i head up the porch steps, thinking over the words carl just spewed out to me in a matter of seconds.

i compare with the things i was doing at his age, and in that instance, i make up my mind that he's totally fine.

"what were you doing with a guy on the night the world ended?" rosita's voice makes my head shoot up.

she and carol are already done inside and are leaving the house with three boxes filled of cookies.

i stand there, holding the door open for them with a frustrated expression, "nothing—"

"doomsday dick?" rosita's eyes widen, and then she laughs. "i knew i liked you, grey."

"go." carol kicks at rosita's feet.

my teeth are sunken into my bottom lip as i try to hold down a laugh. they head down the steps at the same time rick is coming up them. he's carrying judith who's asleep in her car seat and his eyes are staring into mine as he makes his way up to me.

"rosita, hold this box for me." carol hands her a second box.

"you're gonna be the death of me carol, i swear." rosita mumbles as they make it onto the sidewalk.

"there's plenty of other things that can kill you, i doubt it will be me."

i laugh at carol's remark and then focus back on rick, "you left the party?"

"daryl seemed fine now that he's no longer the center of attention and i wanted to get judith in her crib."

i pull the door open wider, allowing him to head inside first—so he does. he steps inside the now empty, quiet house, and i follow in after him.

"carl go to enid's?" his question surprises me as he stands with his back facing me to kick off his shoes.

"you know?"

"yeah, passed him on the way over here. what'd he ask you to cover for him?"

"he did." i nod with a laugh.

"i saw him sneak out last night too." rick says, taking the first step on the stairs. "i'll be right back down."

as i wait for him to come back from putting judith in her crib, i take a seat at a barstool by the kitchen island.

the kitchen smells of remnants of carol's cookies and there's still a few crumbs on the countertop that i'm going to blame on daryl from earlier.

rick's soft footsteps pad against the stairs as he comes back down to meet me.

"i wanted to ask you," he says, sliding into a bar stool beside me. "how was your run this morning?"

i scoff out a laugh, "it was more so getting to know the ropes of how they do things. let's just say ... you'd think with how much supply runners go out past the gates they'd have a system that works ... they don't."

"that bad, huh?" he rests his elbows on the counter, his biceps automatically flexing as he holds his palms flat together.

"maybe we can teach them a few things, if not, wish me luck, please." i cry into my hands.

his hand lands on my shoulder, fingers brushing my skin at the nape of my neck. a silence falls over us as we occupy minimal space in this large house.

"you know, my offer of askin' deanna to switch you out of supply running still stands."

i lift my head from my hands at his words, "no. no thanks. they may be idiots, but you know i like to go out there."

he gives me a soft smile, "yeah, i know."

"if you wanna head back over to the party, i can stay here and watch judith."

"no, it's okay." he shakes his head. "i was plannin' on stayin' here."

his eyes travel down to my palm resting face up on the countertop—the scarred over cut from grabbing my knife wrong back on the road is visible to him.

"how's your hand?"

"better. i told you i heal fast." a smirk grows on my lips.

"yeah, you weren't lyin'."

"you wanna play a game?" i pop up straighter in my chair.

"a game?" rick questions.

"yeah," i hop off the bar stool and make my way over into the living room. "no one's home, so why not? we can be as loud as we want."

a cough gets stuck in rick's throat as he stands under the beam of the ceiling that separates the kitchen from the living room, "i—i mean, yeah ... but judith's asleep upstairs, and—"

i stand up from behind the armchair and drop three boxes on the coffee table, they land with a clunk.

rick's face is frozen, mouth agape as he looks at the board game boxes.

"monopoly, battleship, clue, your pick." i smirk.

rick lets out a silent laugh, bowing his head to pinch the brim of his nose.

"carl found them in the attic nextdoor."

he sighs, walking into the living room and taking a seat on the couch across from where i'm sitting on the floor on the other side of the table.

"board games, you meant ... board games."

"what'd you think i meant?" i tease, knowing damn well where his mind was at a few seconds ago.

he shakes his head at me, refusing eye contact as he gets comfortable on the couch, "monopoly." he decides.

=

a/n important ⇩

2 short fluff chapters to establish some plot lines for later ;)

i don't know if anyone reads these authors notes BUT if you do : guys, i'm so excited for 'SEASON 6' of this book.

i have a FACE CLAIM/CAST LIST i'm going to publish for season 6 and that's where things get very involved with the plot and .... different IN A COOL WAY. i just hope y'all will stick around to read it!

predictions? thoughts? comment them, i'd love to read them :)

i appreciate the votes on the chapters <3 thank you

- episode twelve will be published soon since 10 & 11 were shorter.