𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙨 ♔ 𝙙.𝙙𝙞𝙭𝙤𝙣

107

"I did it," He informs her, tapping her gently on the arm and pointing down at the water. Aria's eyes light up with pride and she holds her hand out, his hand instantly slapping against her.

"Great job. Now we just have to be quiet." After a few silent moments, a fish tugs on Carl's line, his eyes widening in shock. Looking up towards her, he gasps softly. "Uh, I think I got one."

"Reel it in, reel it in!" Aria helps Carl reel the line in, both of them cheering loudly whenever they see a fish hooked. "You caught one, Carl!" She exclaims happily, both of their eyes filled with happiness.

—

Aria sits on the ground, chipping away at a stick with her knife. Her eyes glance up towards the farm before lowering back down, focusing on the task at hand. The sound of someone walking towards her distracts her and she looks up at the person, Carl appearing in her view. "Hey Aria! Mom's kinda busy right now and I have nothing to do."

He plops down right beside her, hands settling in his lap as he looks down at the butchered stick. "What are you doing that for?" He questions, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at it. Aria shrugs, eyes studying the stick for a few seconds before tossing it away, setting her knife down. "Did Daryl show you how to do that? I've seen him do that a few times before."

"No particular reason, I just got bored. Yes, he did show me how to do it. If you're so curious, why don't you just ask him to teach you?" She raises an eyebrow, already knowing the answer.

"No way! Daryl doesn't like anyone, he wouldn't want to teach me." Deciding to prove him wrong, Aria stands up and dusts her clothes off, motioning for Carl to follow after her. "Where are we going?"

"To talk to Daryl." Before the young boy could run off, Aria grabs his wrist and begins to walk off, pulling him after her. In the distance, Aria spots Daryl by his tree and she trots over towards him, an innocent smile beginning to play on her lips.

"Hey Daryl," She greets, catching the attention of the antisocial redneck. "Carl here was wondering if you could teach him how to shave a stick." With a gasp, Carl looks up towards Aria with wide eyes, shaking his head.

"I ain't no teacher," Daryl grumbles, glancing over at the two before looking back down at the squirrels situated before him.

"Please?" Aria crouches down in front of him, pouting slightly. It was irresistibly adorable and it always worked on her family.

Staring at her for a few moment, Daryl let's out a low groan before motioning for Carl to sit in front of him, snapping a thick stick in half. "Whatever." So for the next hour, Daryl teaches Carl how to carve a stick with a knife, Aria watching them both with happy eyes.

—

A desperate looking Carl runs in the direction of Aria, his blue eyes wide. "Aria, Aria!" Beginning to think the worse happened, Aria grabs her knife, only for Carl to shake his head. "No, these kids just won't stop following me!" He groans out, pointing back towards the kids that are running at him.

A laugh leaves her lips and she shakes her head at Carl, rolling her eyes. "They're only following you because they look up to you," She pauses, eyebrows furrowing. "Quite literally, have you grown since we got here?" She asks, beginning to measure Carl with her hand, his head reaching her chin. "Dang, you have!"

"That's not the point, Aria! Everywhere I go, they follow, I don't like it. I'm big now, I don't need people following me around." It was no secret that ever since they got to the prison, Carl matured. It was a bitter sweet feeling for them all. They hated that he had to learn to grow up so quickly but they were happy he was beginning to understand the dangers.