❛ SURVIVOR'S HEART ! ❜
chapter thirty ―― oh, shit
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ CHARLIE GRAONED, dropping her head onto the table with a dull thud. She had been sitting at the picnic table by the rv since she woke up because Shane was still being overprotective, even when she argued that even Carl was on his feet and helping out around the farm.
"No, don't do that." Mason patted the back of her head with his free hand as he passed her, a bucket of water in his other hand. "You're gonna hurt yourself. What's the matter?"
"Shane's a dick."
"Tell him to fuck off." He told her. "You didn't have a problem telling him off the other day."
"That was different. I was pissed off and he's made it pretty clear that he doesn't think we'll find Sophia." She lifted her head as he sat next to her, sitting the bucket on the ground. "I just don't know what I have to do to make him see that I can handle myself."
"You could just not listen to him." He offered. "You don't have to sit here. Get up, find something to do that won't put too much stress on her shoulder. You keep listening and he's gonna keep treating you like a kid."
"When did you get so smart?"
"I've always been this smart." He grinned as he pushed himself up. "But seriously, nothing that's gonna hurt your shoulder." He bent over and kissed the top of her head before he picked up the bucket and walked away. Charlie sat there for a minute then she pushed herself up just as Glenn walked by her with a basket.
"Peaches?" He offered, holding the basket out towards her. "Maggie brought them over."
"I love peaches." She hummed as she reached in, she grabbed two and some jerky that she saw. "Tell Maggie I said thanks."
"Sure." He nodded, turned to walk away from her but her eyebrows creased – he didn't seem like himself.
"Uh, Glenn?"
"Yeah?" He turned back to her, adjusting his grip on the backet.
"You okay? You seem fidgety."
"Oh, yeah, I'm-I'm good." He nodded and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't look at me like that." He huffed as he turned away from her and she watched as he walked away, offering the others some fruit. Charlie shook her head, tossing one of the peaches into the air before catching it then she started towards Daryl's tent where he was laying on the cot, poking holes in the mesh with an arrow.
"Hey, Rambo." She ducked down as she stepped through the door. "Got you some fruit." She tossed it and he caught it.
"That jerky?" He nodded towards the meat in her hand as she sat on the cot next to his.
"I might share." She hummed as she put the jerky next to her. "So, how you doin'?"
"Pillow's not the best." He told her as she reached back, adjusting it and a smile pulled at her lips as she raised an eyebrow at him. "But, uh, I've had worse."
"Now that we've established that the pillow sucks, how are you?"
"I'm alright." He shrugged, turning the peach over in his hands. "Not big on bed rest."
"Yeah, I get that." She sighed. "So, I'm sorry about the other night, you should'a kicked me out."
"You were passed out in the chair, looked uncomfortable." He shrugged. "You don't take up that much room anyways."
"Still, you should've woken me up." She let her eyes drop to the peach in her hands. "You're hurt and I can be a restless sleeper."
"I know, caught me in the ribs a few times." He told her and her nose scrunched up.
"Sorry." She mumbled. "At that point you should've just pushed me outta bed."
"Thought about it." He hummed, a small smirk pulling at his lips as she chuckled, shaking her head.
"Asshole." She muttered, a smile on her lips as she grabbed a piece of jerky and took a bite. "I love jerky." She mumbled with a mouthful and he chuckled at the girl.
"You gonna join the others for gun training?"
"Why? I know how to shoot a gun." She told him, chewing on the jerky. "What I need is for someone to teach me how to shoot a bow, we haven't had a chance since before the C.D.C."
"Give me some of that jerky and we'll talk about it in a few days." He told her.
"Deal." She held out a piece of jerky and he took it, smiling to himself. "If you're lying, I will kill you." She told him as she pushed herself up and made her way towards the door
"Hey, princess." He stopped her and she turned to face him. "How's the shoulder?"
"I've had worse."
"Really?"
"No, it hurts like a bitch." She huffed before leaving the tent and she heard him chuckle as she walked away.
>>>>> • <<<<<
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "WHAT ARE YOU DOING all the way out here?" Josh asked as he neared Charlie who was laying in the middle of one of the fields, her eyes closed and her arm behind her head as a sort of pillow. She had her ankles cross and her left hand resting on her stomach.
"Figured you join the others for gun training." She told him, not opening her eyes even when he sat next to her.
"I know how to shoot and I'm not bad at it either." He told her, tilting his head back a little. "You like the sun, don't you? It's not often, but I've noticed that sometimes, when there's not much to do, you stand with your head tilted back and a smile on your face."
"I love the sun." She corrected. "I'm a tree." She mumbled and he chuckled. She sat up, pulling her knees up to her chest. "So I have a few things to apologize for."
"You don't."
"No, I do. I feel like shit." She rested her chin on her knee as she looked over at him. "I was a bitch to you back at the C.D.C. And most of it was because I don't do well in small spaces and when he locked the doors, I just, I panicked and I wasn't exactly myself."
"That's understandable."
"But it doesn't excuse what I said to you." She let out a breath, chewing on her lip a little as she tried to get her thoughts together. "I don't do well with relationships or intimacy. My past relationships all ended pretty badly, so when the world turned I wasn't really in the right headspace. I'm still not. All that matters is that everyone stays safe."
"We had sex, doesn't have to mean anything other than that." He told her, a smile on his lips. "I'm not gonna propose." She laughed, her shoulders shaking with the action. "So can we go back to being friends?"
"That would be great." She nodded. "But we're not just friends, you're family." She patted his shoulder before she pushed herself up and extended her hand out to him. He smiled as he took her hand and she pulled him up before they started back towards camp – the others had just gotten back from gun training.
"Charlie!" Carl ran over to her as she and Josh neared the fence. "You should've seen it. I can shoot!"
"Way to go, kiddo!" She grinned, extending her hand out to him and he slapped it in a high five. "I'm so proud of you." She wrapped her arm around him, pulling him into her side as they walked across the yard. "And I like the hat. Don't tell your dad, but I think it looks better on you." She told him and his smile grew wide before he ran over to his mom and Charlie smiled as she watched the kid run away. It was nice to see him on his feet and out of bed, it made her feel so much better actually seeing him out and about.
"You guys are adorable." Josh mused. "You look at him like he's your kid."
"I did help raise him." She shrugged. "And I did want kids. I used to have his baby doll, Shane called me crazy because I took it everywhere and I always buckled it up. I guess I've always had that. . . mom gene, I guess you could call it. Lori used to say that I would be a great mom, just because of how I was with Carl. Guess I'll never find out."
"You really don't think you'll have any kids?" He asked as they sat at the picnic table.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "Raising a kid is one thing. But raising a kid in this, I don't think I could do that. And don't even get me started on being pregnant in this hellhole, I'd hate not being able to help out and Shane would make it impossible for me to do just about anything."
"I think you'd be a good mom. Even in this world." He told her and she gave him a smile as he stood up and walked away. Lori glanced over at them, having heard a bit of their conversation, then she made her way over and sat next to the girl.
"Please don't tell me you're pregnant, too."
"No, I'm not." Charlie shook her head, her eyebrows pinched. "And what the hell do you mean too?" Lori's face paled slightly and Charlie's eyes grew wide. "You're- oh, shit."
NOVA SPEAKS !
i totally forgot to update yesterday!! so sorry!!
but I'm been sick the last couple of days and I've mostly been sleeping and when I'm not sleeping I'm working on a new fic, which I plan to post sometime tomorrow!!