Wilted

e i g h t

By the third night in Alexandria, Rick had decided that it would be okay to sleep in separate houses and in our own rooms. Carl and I had gotten a room with two twin beds that were meant for teenagers. 

Even though this was a fine set up, the two of us had gotten used to sleeping fairly close to the point where we were touching each other. So, we pushed the two beds up next to each other to make a larger bed. 

"It's kinda weird." I mutter that night as we lay in bed getting ready to fall asleep. 

"Other than your face, what's kinda weird?" He asks. I gasp and playfully smack his chest. 

"First of all, rude." I tell him before continuing my original statement. "but having a bed, and a real door. We actually have a sense of privacy." 

"Are you saying you want to fool around Cherokee Dixon?" He asks playfully wiggling his eyebrows. "I might just have to tell your father. "

"Yeah and lose an eye in the process." I tell him. "That's also not what I meant. I'm just saying it's weird having our own room to ourself that isn't a cell."

"I suppose you're right." He says before leaning up on his elbow to stare down at me. "But you also know what this means right?"

"What?" I ask giggling at the grin on my cowboy's face. 

"They can't tell if we're reading comics with flashlights anymore." He says and I burst into a fit of laughter making myself cover my mouth with my hands so I don't wake anybody up. 

"You are ridiculous." I say between giggles and he just smiles down at me before placing his lips on mine. 

I run my fingers through his hair as he rolls on top of me without letting our lips break. I bite his lip lightly and I feel him smile against my own lips. 

"I love you so much Cherokee." He mutters. 

"I love you more." I tell him truthfully as he plops down beside me and pulls me into his arms. 

___

I wake up before Carl the next morning. When I get up slowly, he rolls over and sprawls on top of the beds. I chuckle as he drools onto his pillow. I make my way downstairs where Michonne and Rick are in windbreakers labeling them as the police. 

"Carl still asleep?" He asks and I nod my head. 

"What's for breakfast?" I ask  after smelling something on the verge of burning. 

"Instant pancakes." Michonne says before shooting a glare towards Rick. She turns off the stove and sets a platter of pancakes onto the kitchen island. "That somebody, was supposed to be watching."

"Pancakes?" I question raising an eyebrow.

"They had the batter in the pantry, all you had to do is add some water and stir." Carol says entering the room. "Snagged some syrup too." 

"I haven't had pancakes in so long." I laugh. 

"Alright, well we've got to go." Rick tells Carol and I as him and Michonne walk out the door.  "Can you keep an eye on Judith today?"

"Yeah no problem." I say nodding and looking towards the baby that is shoving pieces of pancake into her mouth. She's quite the mess with syrup covering her face and hands.

"There's a welcoming party tonight." Carol tells me. "You and Carl should be there, and if you can convince your dad to go..."

"I'll do my best." I tell her with a small smile. "But, no guarantee that he'll be there."

"I figured." She says grabbing her jacket before stopping. "And before I forget, Enid said you could borrow something nice from her to wear."

"Oh, okay." I say surprised, Enid and I had hardly interacted. "See you later Carol."

"See ya." She says bustling out the door as Carl stumbles into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

"Morning sleepy." I mock cutting up some more pancake for Judith. 

"Shut up." He says  playfully as he greets his little sister. 

"Apparently theres some sort of party tonight." I tell him. "We have to go." 

"Okay." He says nodding. 

"Apparently Enid is helping me find something to wear." I tell him and his eyebrows raise. 

"Enid?" He questions. "She didn't seem to like us that much."

"Yeah I'm confused too. Anyways you're on baby duty." I tell him. "Have fun with that stick mess."

Before he can protest I'm out the door and walking down the streets. Like each day I've been in Alexandria the wandering neighbors wave hello. 

I found Enid outside with Ron and when she notices my presence, she smiles saying a soft goodbye to Ron before leading me to her house. 

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you doing this?" I ask in curiosity.

"The people at the closet, they can be really overwhelming." She explains. "Based off of how you reacted at the house, I doubt you want to go through that. I'm just looking out for you."

"Oh, well thanks." I say awkwardly. 

"No worries," She says. "It's kinda nice not hanging with boys for once."

"You got that right." I say laughing as she begins pulling things from her closet. 

___

When we were finished, Enid and I had picked out an outfit that felt casual but was but looked nice. She gave me a simple white t-shirt and paired it with a light brown knit cardigan. We managed to find a clean pair of jeans and a pair of boots that felt so much better than the ones I was currently wearing that were two sizes too small and pinched my toes. 

She pulled half of my hair back so that it was out of my face and it shocked me to see myself in the mirror. The girl from just a week ago was still there, but I had a certain light to my eyes and I was obviously clean. 

"Woah." Enid said stepping back and taking a look at me. "You clean up nice Dixon." 

"I suppose I do." I said laughing. 

"We should probably get going." She says looking out of the window at the people beginning to crowd inside of Deanna's house. 

"Yeah," I say agreeing. "I guess we should."

"Oh, and one more thing," She says before opening the door. "They're watching your dad like a hawk, wouldn't surprise me if they're waiting for you to do something also."

"Noted." I say as we walk out onto the street. "Where'd you find all this stuff out?" 

"You learn a lot when your quite." She says with a wink before we enter Deanna's house.

____

Word Count: 1111

Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading, leave a vote and comment!

Also yes I know Enid is super OOC but I'd love for these two to have a bond or something like that.