Atlas || carl grimes a.u.

1.5 - calming down

I could feel my phone ring under my pillow. Who is calling me so late? I looked at my phone to see it was Carl.

I was confused about why he was calling. I sit up in the bed and answer the call.

"Hey, everything okay?" It's been a few days since we hung out since it's Christmas break.

It's been a few weeks since we went rollerskating. It took him a while to calm down but he eventually did.

Lydia and Enid made sure to make jokes about it causing me to roll my eyes. We did our finals, which I passed all of them.

Rosita and I spent Christmas together. I got some new clothes, Bath and Body Works stuff, and some decor for my room.

After opening presents, the two of us made hot chocolate and watched Christmas stuff.

Carl and I texted off and on, telling each other what we got for Christmas.

Christmas was a few hours ago so I don't know what could've happened in between when I was going to bed and now.

"Can you please open your front door? I need to talk before I lose my mind." I look at the time to see it's three in the morning.

I had to sneak him in. I tell him I'll be there in a moment and hang up. I quietly walked to the front door and opened it.

He was standing there, tears in his eyes. He had on the black and white Adidas joggers and a hoodie.

I told him to come in but quietly since Rosita's asleep. I close and lock the front door and take him to my room.

I close the door as he starts pacing. I sit on my bed and watch him pace around my room.

"Do you wanna tell me why you're pacing around my room at three in the morning?" I question.

"I'm going to kill him, Vanessa." I was taken aback by his sentence and anger. I had no idea who he meant.

Is he talking about his dad or Ron? "One, you're seventeen. You're not killing anyone. Two, can we backtrack and tell me what happened?"

He ran his fingers through his long brunette hair. "Good news, my moms getting married to the bastard Shane."

I'm assuming Shane is his dad's ex best friend. I was honestly shocked that they're getting married.

"Are you going to go?" I ask curiously. I watched him pace around my room in anger.

He glared at me for a moment and continued to pace. "If they think I'm going to this bullshit wedding, I swear."

He doesn't even finish his sentence because he's so pissed. I don't even know what to say to him.

"Does Rick know?" I ask him. He nodded his head while remembering back.

"I woke up to glass shattering so I went downstairs to check on everything." He spoke.

"I saw my dad shitfaced on straight bourbon in the kitchen."

He inhaled a breath and sat with me on the bed. "I asked him what was wrong and he told me to check his phone."

He explained that when he did, he saw the photo of his mom and Shane with the ring.

I felt so bad for them both. He told me how he helped Rick into the bed and he eventually passed out.

That's when he came over and needed me. "This whole situation sucks." I admit to him.

He nods his head in agreement. "What do I even do?" He asked while staring down at his tennis shoes.

I just sigh as I look at him. "Do what you think you need to do." I tell him vaguely.

He finally looked at me, tears were in his eyes. "I don't want to go though." His voice breaks for a moment.

It hurts seeing him this torn up. He inhales a shaky breath and leans his head on my shoulder.

The physical contact caught me off guard for a moment but I let it happen.

Without thinking, I reach my hand out to lace our fingers together.

I figured he would've pushed it away, but he squeezed my hand for reassurance.

We stayed like this for a while, his head on my shoulder and silently crying, with our fingers laced together.

It's like while we sat there, I could feel a shift in our friendship. I don't know how or why, but it was different.

I feel like we just connected on a deeper level somehow.

He's been hurt so much these past few months and the fact he shut everyone out, but somehow trusts me, feels good.

It's nice knowing he could feel safe enough to come to me about it instead of bottling it up.

He was here for an hour or two. Before he left, I made sure he was okay to drive and he nodded his head.

"Thank you, Vanessa." He whispered to me as he started to walk out.

I just sighed as I closed and locked the front door. I went back to my room and laid down in my bed.

I almost instantly fell asleep and when I woke back up, it was almost noon. I made sure to text Carl to see if he's okay.

I went into the living room to see Rosita was in the kitchen, putting groceries away.

She looked at me and smiled. "Well, someone was up late last night." I just smiled and started helping her with the groceries.

"If mom was still alive and dad cheated on her with her best friend and later got engaged to her best friend, would you go to the wedding?" I question.

She furrows her eyebrows towards me. "I don't know. What made you think of that?" She asked curiously.

I just shrug, not wanting to bring up Carl's name. "Just a question." I tell her vaguely.

She looks like she doesn't believe me. "Does this have something to do with Carl? I've heard the rumors."

I sigh as I tell her Carl's upset about this whole thing and doesn't know what to do.

She sighs while thinking about it. "Give him a few days to cool off and see what he does. Don't push anything." She tells me.

I nod my head and sigh. I talked to Carl for the majority of the day.

In the groupchat, Henry explains how Ron and Sophia are throwing a party.

We all agreed that we don't want anything to do with it. It surprised me that Carl suggested everyone come over to his house.

He said Rick was going to be working all night, patrolling the roads because of all the drunk people driving around.

I told Rosita and she said she hopes I will have fun and I'm careful. She told me how she's going to go the bars with Siddiq.

I'm happy she's finally starting to live her life and go out and do things. I bet she feels the same way as me.

I was kinda excited about New Years Eve with the group.

I wonder what could happen.