Keep you safe ~(Carl Grimes x Reader: TWD)

It was a squirrel

 You wake up to bright light and you feel the most refreshed you've felt in days. Immediately, you remember that you told Carl you would go for the last supply run with him last night. You stretch and pass by Michonne's room where she sleeps, and then walk over to the room that Carl and his father sleep in, but the only one there is Rick, who is also sleeping. I must have woken up pretty early... but where's Carl?

You run to the entrance and open the door to see Carl sitting on the bench, supposedly waiting for you. "Good morning," you say, wondering why he's here, looking at the ground, "why so early?"

"Hey," he says looking down. You can see his hands shaking, which causes you to frown, "I had a nightmare so I couldn't sleep."

"Oh," you say, able to relate to his experience. You've had a nightmare almost everyday since everything changed, until today, "can I ask what it was about?"

He looks back at the ground and tells you, "it was about my mom. She died at our previous camp."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

Carl finally looks over at you and says, "we should go now."

Carl leads the way to the house that hasn't been checked yet. When you arrive, he tells you to stay behind him for a second. He tries for the door and discovers that it's unlocked. He opens it quietly and nods to you to come inside. "I think the kitchen's over there," he nods his head at the room to the right. Carl walks over to the entrance to the kitchen, quietly so no walkers come, with you following and carefully peaks in, then says, "come on."

The two of you pack your bags with food and supplies then walk back to the house. You and Carl are walking and talking, and for some reason, laughing at some joke you told. It's really nice to have someone to talk to and laugh with for once.

All of a sudden, you hear a loud noise. Carl quickly takes your hand and brings you to the back of a nearby house. He leans against the wall, with his arm around you, holding you close, which causes your heart to pound. You like the feeling. You can feel his chest on your back and when you come to your senses, you feel another heart beating as fast as yours. You slowly peak your head out of the corner of the house, careful not to be too loud or move too far away from Carl's body. The two of you see a fallen garbage can, and something comes out from inside. You gasp, thinking it's a walker.

Finally, it reveals itself and you realize it's just a squirrel. It scurries off down the side of the road. You and Carl burst out into laughter and fall onto the grass. "It... it was a squirrel," Carl says, chuckling next to you. You giggle and look over at him, realizing his face is flushed yet charming as usual.

You and Carl head back with smiles on your faces. The two of you are walking close to each other, and you even feel his hand skim yours a couple times, which causes your heart to pound again. "So I still haven't heard your story yet," Carl says, breaking the silence.

"Well, where do you want me to start off?" You feel comfortable with him enough to share it all, the good and the bad of this whole experience.

"From when it all started."

"Okay... Well, I was a kid when it all started, probably like you. I was watching the news with my mom and we tried to carry on with life anyways, well, until it got a lot worse. We ended up losing our two dogs and since the government was no help and they practically blew up my city, we had to go to these camps. They were safe for a while, until the camps kept getting overrun by walkers. We lost a lot of good people, and for a while it was just my family and I."

"Who's in your family?" Carl interrupts

"My brother and my parents." When you arrive at the house with Carl, you both sit on the bench and continue to talk, "I was with them until we encountered a whole bunch of walkers and..." You struggle to keep your words in tact and the tears in, "And they told me to run away while they held off the walkers and that I would meet them at Terminus. And then I found you."

Carl looks at you like he's saying, I understand, I've been through it too, with those painstakingly beautiful eyes. You decide to break the silence, "so, what about you?"

Carl tells you everything, starting from his first camp and reuniting with his father. You learn about his gunshot wound and how he recovered with the help of a man, who has now passed, named Hershel. You also learn about how he had to kill his own mother and how the prison (his previous camp) got raided by humans.

"Oh my gosh," you say in disbelief, "I... I didn't know that people could be so cruel to each other especially after all of this."

Carl nods and leans his head back, looking at the sky, "I think I might have slept three hours last night."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep"

You feel as happy as ever and you don't want this time with Carl to end. You smile and joke, "if you want, you can rest your head on my lap and sleep."

He smiles and you see a hint of red on his face, "actually, that's not a bad idea." Carl takes off his hat and lets out a peaceful exhale, then lies on the bench on his side with his head in your lap. He closes his eyes, and says, "and if you want, you can touch my hair. Be gentle though." You let out a little giggle, which causes him to smile. You hesitantly rest your hand on his head and then stroke his hair, moving the stray strands away from his face, slowly. You see his expression fade to a beautiful emptiness as he dozes off.

You spend your time looking at Carl in his peaceful sleep. A couple hours later, you hear Rick calling your names and you tell him that you're outside with Carl. He comes outside and looks at you and Carl for a moment. You smile and say, "shh he's sleeping."

Rick smiles, "we're going to Terminus today. You should get your stuff and be ready." And he goes back inside to get all the supplies.

"Carl," you try to wake up Carl who doesn't respond. "Carl," you say a bit louder.

He responds by adjusting his sleeping position and groans, "just five more minutes. You're so comfortable..."

You can feel blood flow to your cheeks, "we're going to Terminus."

Finally, Carl gets up slowly and stretches. "Thanks," he smiles, blushing. You smile and the two of you go back in the house and tell Rick and Michonne about your findings.

While getting your things, you think about Carl, do I like him or something? I mean I always get that feeling when I'm around him... He's always doing these things that just makes my heart pound. I wonder if he feels the same. We've only known each other for less than a week but it feels like so much longer.. Anyways, today you're finally going to Terminus with new friends. You are so excited to finally be with your family again.