AUTHOR'S NOTE!
I felt bad, I couldn't just not update when you guys are so perfect and demanding. ;) I love y'all so I made this chapter and will hopefully be updating chapters so y'all won't be bored until October when stuff gets GOOD.. ya know the S6 premiere
So this chapter takes place after the Chapter "Change?" If you don't remember what happens in that chapter, I'd hope y'all go and re-read it. :)
ONCE AGAIN
THIS CHAPTER TAKES PLACE AFTER THE CHAPTER "CHANGE?"
NOT AFTER THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER "THE WEIGHT"
Also, the song for this chapter is "AfterTaste" by the one and only Shawn Mendes. :)
Here ya go!
•••
-this part is the ending of "change?"-
"Batman." He cracked a little smile
"Never heard of him." I chuckled
"He's only one of the coolest hero, ever!" He flipped through the pages.
"Actually superman was." I whispered enough for him to hear me.
"So you do know comics?" His eyes widen as he chuckled.
"I never told you that, but uh guilty." I smiled and blushed with a tad bit embarrassment.
--
I like what was happening with Carl. He wasn't a bad person, he just lost his path. He had guidance now from Rick, but I wanted to help as much as I could. That's what friends and family are for. This world can and will screw you over, it's not a safe haven or some kind of sanctuary.. It's a world full of sadness, disappointment, no guidance, and things that need your flesh for the upmost pleasure to their stomachs.
"I thought you were serious about not knowing who batman was." Carl fluffed his hair, and skimmed through the comics bringing a real smile to his face.
"I never told you I liked them because I didn't want you to think I was a tomboy or something!" I adjusted my sitting position on his bed so that I was faced to him.
"Bails, we climbed trees and made mud pies. Comics would've been the last thing that made me think that." He scoffed with a grin, and I shoved his arm playfully.
"So you did think I was one you little punk?" I chuckled and shoved his arm once more.
I liked this. I liked not talking about guns, bad people, or even the walkers. I enjoyed this great conversation. It almost seemed like the world we lived in was not real.
"What's on your mind?" I asked him, as he turned away while I was thinking.
He turned back to me with his blues eyes piercing mine, and he looked back at his hat. He hadn't worn it lately and I noticed it definitely.
"If I hadn't shot that kid, my dad wouldn't hate me and you wouldn't have hated me for so long." He fluffed his hair, and looked down at his shoes.
"Carl, don't. Your dad could never hate you, and I for one could not ever hate you. I was startled if we're being honest, but I knew you were scared. I was scared." I confided and I could feel the tension subside.
"I just think of how different it would be if I hadn't shot him." He messed with his hair in frustration.
"You can't live in the past, Carl. It's not healthy." I explained to him, hoping he'd understand.
"Oh yeah, because our present is so healthy." That took me off guard. He was everything but wrong. It's not and he nor me knew that for a fact.
"I hate disappointing people. Do you think I disappointed my mom?" I was taken back by his question and it gave me a gross feeling in my stomach.
f l a s h b a c k
"I have to do it. She's my mom." Carl explained to Maggie as I stood back, towering over Lori's lifeless and bloody body.
I couldn't contain all these tears and feelings. Lori died giving birth to Carl's baby sister. She's gone. She's dead. Lori was no longer among our group. One of the women figures in my life and my old life is gone.
Sadly I could put myself in Carl's shoes when I say I know how it feels to lose a parent. I don't have either of my parents with me on this earth anymore.
Carl came back over to my side, standing over Lori's body like I was. Tears were streaming so quickly down his face and I would love to be strong enough not to cry, for Carl. It was just utterly hard.
He stood with both hands to his side. His gun in his left hand, and sucked up the tears enough to see what he was about to do.
I inched my hand next to his slowly, wanting to hold his letting him know he is not alone. I couldn't bring myself to. I don't know why I didn't. I was an idiot. A scared idiot.
"Bye mom." Whispering softly as he brought the gun up in front of him. His hand shook a bit, with his eyes widening at the site in front of him.
I bit my bottom lip, shutting my eyes as my body shook slightly from the gun shot sound. I turned around abruptly so I didn't have to see Lori with a bullet through her skull.
"I know what you feel now, Bailey." Carl softly said referring to what I felt when my mom died in front of both Carl and I back at the hospital when we were twelve years young.
"We should get back to the other." He muttered walking passed me. I needed to gather myself, knowing that me being emotionally undone would help none.
e n d o f f l a s h b a c k
My lips began to quiver. Along with my eyes threatening to let a few tears slip away at that flashback. A horrible and sad flashback that I'd do anything to block out.
"What happened that day to your mom wasn't your fault." I softly said, and his eyes shot back up at me.
"I keep telling myself that, but I know inside that's not the truth." He shook his head in absolute defeat and disappointment.
"Continue to tell yourself that, because it's true. It wasn't your fault." I place my hand on his, and he was taken back at what I did. I was too.
I didn't think that I thought of Carl in anyway, but as a good friend. I don't think I do. Do I?
"You're the only person on this earth that understands me. I could say 'thank you' a million times and it wouldn't be enough." His eyes lit up like mine did. I'd never heard him say something so courageously comforting.
"I'm here for you." I gave his hand a squeeze and he a small smile crept onto his lips.
"I'm always here for you." His smile was now ear to ear and so was mine.
This was the Carl I'd known. The Carl I grew up with and loved as my own family. I hoped and hoped that his dark phase was just a phase and it was. He needed warmth and compassion to set him back, truth and a listening ear. I'd always be there for him, always.
"I hoped that you wouldn't give up on me." His smile still stood, as did mine.
"I told myself that too, that's why I'm here." Replying as I stood up from his bed.
"Well where are you going now?" He stood up from the bed, tossing his comics to the side.
"I have a job to do. Just like everybody else here." I smiled turning to leave so I could go and do just that.
"I'll help you. I don't think my dad would mind me missing my job with him to help you, right?" He hoped I would respond with a positive answer.
"I guess he wouldn't mind, huh?" I moved aside the sheet that was used to hide Carl's room, with him following me after.
"Well, we aren't getting any younger C'mon." He anxiously walked over next to me.
"Right" I responded, heading out to the other cell blocks.
He's right. We aren't getting any younger. We're only getting older. The world's only getting tougher and shittier. That's just how it is.
•••
"How do you hand wash people sheets, knowing that they've slept in these and possibly even farted in them?" Carl scrubbed the washing scrubber on the red colored bed sheet, and I busted into a fit of laughter.
"You farm! You deal with worms and dirt! Nothing is grosser than that." I finally contained my laughter, and continued to scrub the sheets.
"That's true. I think I just got used to the worms and dirt being on my hands, even under my nails." He taunted me, twirling his fingers in my face.
"You dork, that's so gross." I smacked his left wrist, and he held it immediately pouting.
"That wasn't very nice." He rubbed his now, red wrist.
"I'm sorry, I forgot we were 10 years old." I scoffed and flicked water from the bucket we washed the sheets in.
"Says the one who just flicked fart drenched sheet water at me!" He dipped his fingers in the water and flicked the liquid at me as well.
My mouth formed in the shape of an 'o' and grabbed one of the sheets. I turned it over his head and squeezed the excess water onto the top of him, losing myself in laughter.
"Oh, now you messed up." He smirked grabbing the big bucket of water and chasing after me. I immediately stood up from my seat and ran through the courtyard.
"Carl I swear if you dump that on me, I will fight you!" I shouted, following with laughter. I was obviously joking about being mad, but I'd still whoop his butt.
"Looks like we're about to brawl, Bails." Carl caught up to me and chunked the bucket of water on my head. I was completely soaked from head to toe in what Carl called "fart drenched sheet water."
"You ass." I scoffed, jumping on his back and fluffing his hair aggressively. He gripped onto my legs and spun us around, trying to make me dizzy. It was clearly working because I felt nauseas 5 seconds later.
"Carl, put me down!" I began to fidget on him, wanting to be off his back.
He set me down, and I regained my normal state. I wasn't nauseas anymore, but I could totally swing on Carl right now.
"You might want to hit the showers, you smell like fart drenched sheet water." He smirked, flipping his hair to the side. He had that sort of 'old justin bieber hair flip' going on, only Carl's hair was longer.
I wonder what happened to Justin Bieber?
Eh
I pulled my hair from the pony tail I had put it in before we'd started to wash the sheets, and swung my hair forward splashing Carl everywhere.
"Well, now you do too." I smirked back, and we both began to laugh with one another.
I missed this so much. Ever since the world had fallen to nothing, Carl and I never actually had breathing room to have fun with each other. I didn't think having fun even existed anymore in a world like this one.
"What are you thinking about now?" He asked, coming closer to me.
"Just how much fun we're having now. I never really thought their'd be an ounce of fun considering the circumstances we're in." I fluffed my hair, tossing it back up into a really wet messy bun.
"I'd for a second almost forgot about what we live in. I enjoyed it, I did." He ran his fingers through his slightly damped brown hair.
"I would love to just forget, but that's not always the case." I walked away from him, grabbing the wet sheets from the ground and throwing them over a clothes line.
"It's not always safe either." He added to my statement, tossing a sheet over the clothes line as well.
"Well, we just made the best out of it. I'd say we earned a pat on the back." I clipped one of the pins to my shirt that I had in my hand for a second, so I could pat myself on the back. Carl did so too, and we laughed together.
"You're so wet." He looked up and down at me, almost bursting into a fit of laughter.
"I mean I hadn't noticed whatsoever." I looked down at myself, rolled my eyes playfully, grabbed the bucket, and brought it back to my cell.
"I have a feeling if that bucket was still full of water, you wouldn't be the only one who's wet." He smirked, and I nodded my head.
"You'd be completely drenched by now. Don't test me Carl Grimes." I pointed my finger at him, and walked passed him going outside.
Carl's POV
I enjoyed the fact that Bailey was no longer ignoring me. I actually felt like I could breathe hypothetically speaking. I mean that I didn't feel like me letting my guard down and having fun with Bailey was going to get her or me killed. It was nice, more than nice. It was great.
I shoved open the cell block door, coming outside. I scoped the place out for Bailey, because I'd just seen her walk out here.
"Bailey?" I looked around for her, and immediately felt my body shock from a cold liquid all over me.
I turned around, water dripping from my head to toe to see Bailey standing behind the door with a large metal bucket that use to contain the water that was just dumped all over me.
"Who's the wet one now?" She raised her right eyebrow, smirking harder than ever.
"You really messed up." I spit the water that made its way into my mouth out, and jetted to her. She had made an attempt to run, but that failed when I grabbed her tossing her over my shoulder.
"Put my down!" She squirmed around rapidly, and I couldn't contain my laughter at all.
"Carl." I heard a familiar voice call my name, and I turned to see my dad staring me down.
I set Bailey down immediately, and she realized who was standing in front of the both of us.
"I just finished washing all the sheets in our cell block, uh we were just on our way to grab the sheets from the other cell blocks." Bailey tried to smile, but wanted just to laugh out a tad bit of fear.
"And Carl wanted to help out too. I thought you wouldn't mind if he helped me." She added, and fooled with her fingers.
We stood their waiting for my dad's final reaction to what was going on. It felt endless to say the least before he even reacted. The hairs on his beard moved up to his ear, revealing a smile on his face.
"No, that's fine. That's completely fine. I'm glad you too are getting stuff done and hanging out." He nodded his head, looking at the both of us still with a smile.
"I will be back tomorrow to help out with the farming stuff for sure, Dad." I replied, now fidgeting with my fingers like a weirdo.
"Sounds like a plan. Maybe even hang out with Patrick after you too are done with y'all's jobs. He's a nice kid." My dad put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. He gave one final smile and then headed back out to farm once more.
"I think I just peed a little bit." Bailey nonchalantly broke the silence, and walked to the other cell blocks.
"You didn't really pee did you?" I caught up with her.
•••
Bailey's POV
Today was more than great, it was fantastic. I enjoyed every moment that I spent with Carl. I enjoyed being with my best friend. To be honest, i don't know what I'd do without him. It's as though today me being with him filled apart of my heart. I discovered that I needed that closure with Carl. I felt that I lost a part of myself when we stopped talking for that while. It was dreadful to say the least. I'm just really satisfied with his progress and our friendship.
•••
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Nothing too special.. Jk that chapter was adorable and so fun to write. ALSO
NO shade to Justin Bieber at all. I am a believer myself, but I'm more of a direction.. Like AF.
I'm also super freaking excited because my best friend and I are going to see Shawn Mendes tomorrow in concert and might even meet him.
AHH❤️ please comment and like.❤️