"Hey sleeping beauty," Jane said, gesturing to Carl Grimes, who had just woken up. She laughed, but he didn't, his face stern and tired. Picking up a pillow, he playfully tossed it at her - it getting her right in the face. That's when he cracked the first smile of the day.
"How'd you sleep?" He said, sitting down next to her.
His hands suddenly found their way to hers, intertwining their fingers.
"Like a light," she almost whispers, because their faces are inching closer together. Jane feels Carl's soft lips brush against hers, and she leans in further to initiate the kiss.
"Good mornin' to you too," Maggie says, and they break away, whipping their heads towards her. Their cheeks stained red as they loosened their fingers, and soon Glenn was walking in the room.
"Hey, guys!" He said, cheerful as always.
"Hey Glenn," they chanted in unison.
The group sat together, sharing some eggs Michonne had cooked up. Suddenly, upstairs was filled with the sound of shrieks and wails. The sound was constant and repetitive, and Jane watched as Michonne got up to go see to it.
"It's fine, I'll go. Finish your eggs, Michonne," Jane said, standing up.
"No, I'll-"
"Just let me go. Pleaseeeee?? I've missed her." She pleaded, giving Michonne puppy eyes.
"Go on then." Michonne says with a smile, as Jane went rushing upstairs to tend to Judith.
"It's so hard to say no to that girl when I've missed her face so much," she says, and a laugh echoes around the room.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Carl says, combing through his hair with his hands. By that time, Jane was already halfway down the stairs with Judith cradled in her arms. She had instantly stopped crying when Jane picked her up. She had that effect on Carl, too. Something about being in her arms was just so comforting.
She sat next to carl on the sofa, him yawning and stretching still. Judith's tiny hands swirled and played with Jane's loose strands of hair, grabbing at them gently. It was a sight that made Carl's heart fill with joy. His girls.
"You're so good with her," he said, watching as Judith giggled softly.
"You think?"
"You instantly got her to stop crying. I don't think anyone has been able to do that so far," Maggie chimes in, admiring Judith and her innocence. Judith was hardly a baby anymore, but wasn't yet old enough to talk or walk too far.
"You'd make a great aunt for our baby," Glenn says, smiling.
"I don't know about that," she said, trying to hide the excitement in her tone. Sure, she didn't really agree with the fact that Maggie had chosen to have a baby, but she'd still be there with them every step of the way.
Feeling a slight pressure on her left shoulder, she looked down as much as her neck could bend, to find Carl's head leaning on her shoulder - soft snores protruding from his lips. He'd really fallen asleep on her. Her heart melted just watching his chest go up and down, whilst he made funny noises in his sleep.
Michonne had now taken notice of this too, and was grabbing at Rick to take a look. Rick smiled at his boy as he got up to rummage through some drawers, taking something out discreetly.
Jane turned her attention back to Carl, her cheeks heating up as he nestled in closer to her subconsciously. Hearing a click from the other side of the room, she broke out of her trance and turned her attention to it.
Rick stood with a camera in his hands, admiring a freshly printed Polaroid. He smiled at it, then handed it over to Daryl, who grunted (happily) and passed it onto the Maggie and Glenn.
"Give it over," Jane whispered, holding out her free hand as Judith followed her brother into a deep sleep.
Glenn took one last look at it, before handing it to Jane - his slight laugh evident in his face.
Putting it away in her pocket, she cradled the girl ever so slightly, as to not wake Carl. Even through her precautions, his eyes fluttered open - probably due to the other's stifled laughs.
He swallowed, lifting his cheek from her shoulder which left a bright red mark on the left side of his face.
"What happened?" He said groggily, putting a hand on his head as though to sooth it.
No sound came from the crew but slight chuckles and giggles, and he rolled his eyes at them playfully - Stroking one of his long fingers over Judith's cheek before getting up.
The stairs crunched beneath his feet as everyone watched him retreat back upstairs to his room.
He touched his face, realising that his bandage was beyond wearable. He hated taking it off, but he had to do it. He closed his door securely so that no one would even think of opening it. He hated the idea of anyone - especially Jane - seeing him like this. His ugly cavity was the only thing he could focus on looking in the mirror. He knew people didn't like it. He knew they'd be scared of him.
The gaping, fleshy hole in his face didn't give him any physical pain anymore - just insecurity.
His fingers grasped and pulled at the bandage, but couldn't decipher which was his own hair and which was the material of the band. Struggling and wincing at the thing, he observed that maybe it'd been too tight the last time he put it on.
He jumped at a sudden knock on his door, expecting it to be Michonne. If it was, he'd welcome her easily, as she was the only one who he let change it.
"Michonne?" He called out, his voice slightly frustrated as he continued to fiddle with the eyepatch.
"Michonne's out. She just left." It was Jane. it could be no one other than her. He didn't want her to see him, or his eye - but he didn't want her to go away either.
"Are you okay?" She said softly, with a hint of sadness in her pronunciation. He wanted to say no. Wanted to spring into her arms, and let them heal him like they'd healed Judith earlier. That's how it felt, anyway. But he couldn't let her take even one look at him. At his ugly, disgusting face.
He opened his mouth, about to say whatever lie sprung to mind, when the door popped open anyway.
Without hesitation, he spun himself round to face the wall, even though his bandage had hardly budged.
He could hear the floorboards beneath her bare feet as she entered the room, feeling her eyes on him.
"Don't come closer." He ordered, forcing a hand out to symbolise the action. She disobeyed, continuing to tread slowly toward him.
"Do you need help?"
He sighed. With Michonne out, and his fingers left useless, what else was he supposed to do? Risk infection?
He swallowed hard. She had him in a box.
"I don't want you to see it." He proclaimed abruptly.
"But you need help?" She still spoke softly to him, even though he was being somewhat stubborn.
He sighed in defeat and turned around to face her. His bandage hadn't moved an inch since she last saw him, but he stayed insecure. He felt like she could see right through him - through the cracks in him, searing with light.
"Sit," she said politely, gesturing to the foot of his bed.
He hesitated, but sat down anyway. He looked up at her - and admired her features, to take away from his own.
He was trying to see the bad in her, so he wouldn't feel so terrible about the bad in him, but he couldn't find it. Even in her darkest, most traumatic moments he could still see the girl she was.
The pretty girl he was in love with. The girl who could kill ten walkers in a heartbeat. The girl who survived.
She lifted her fingers to trace the hem of the band, and he flinched away slightly. She approached it again, with more caution this time.
She felt the opening of the bandage against her fingers, and pulled on it gently. It came undone under her touch, and Carl squeezed his eye shut as if in pain.
"Am I hurting you?"
"No. No, you're not."
She carried on unwrapping the bandage, the eyepatch falling loose along with it. His hair automatically fell in the way of the wound, and Carl didn't make an effort to move it.
Jane brushed her hands through his hair, combing it back behind his ears. She took a good look at him, all of him. Cupping his face with her hands, she smiled.
She couldn't believe he would think that she would be scared of him. She couldn't believe he was insecure, because frankly, he had nothing to be insecure about. He trembled slightly, maybe recalling the event in his head.
Pointing her face down toward his so they were level, she kissed his forehead. He looked up at her, astonished at this simple act of affection.
Moving down to his lips, she gave him a small peck and broke away, reaching for the new, clean bandage.
"Hold your hair up," she said, and he did so obediently.
She wrapped it easily around his eye, lacing in and out of his brown curls.
Once she was finished she stood up to admire her work. She'd done a good job for it being her first attempt.
"See, wasn't so bad now, was it?" She said, beaming at him. He gave her a small smile, which was all she would probably get.
"Not when you kiss me afterwards," he said, looking up at her fondly.
There was a long pause as they continued to look at each other. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she was really here, right in front of him.
"I think I like you better without it," she said, thinking aloud.
"Really?" His face lit up as she nodded her head.
"You're just so pretty," she said, as she got up to walk out of the room. He blushed profusely, and hid the fact unsuccessfully.
"Maggie wants us for something. Get dressed," she announced, and with that, she left.
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