under the willow tree - glenn rhee

part 2

marcella and glenn sat together around the campfire that wasn't lit, they talked and messed around as marcella folded clothes and glenn hung up washing. however, the two's time together was soon interrupted by an annoyed carl walking by, marcella stopping him.

"carl! come over here!" she called as he attempted to walk past undetected.

the young boy huffed as he reluctantly approached, the two older people pausing their chores as to see what was wrong with the boy.

"you alright, carl?" glenn questioned.

"shane's mad at me again." carl muttered, pushing his hat up as it had fallen and was covering his face, something that happened frequently due to it being too big for him.

"what did you do this time?" glenn asked, his intentions pure, yet his remark came off a little rude, earning a nudge from marcella.

"he means, why is shane mad at you, carl?" marcella spoke up.

carl stayed silent for a few seconds, contemplating wether it was a good idea to tell the young couple the truth. "i snuck into the barn to see the new guy that's chained up... shane dragged me out and said he would try and mess with my head... said he's a bad guy and he just wants to manipulate me." carl explained, his tone low as he isn't proud of his role in the situation.

"carl, you can't do stuff like that, for once in his god damn life, shane is right, that guy is dangerous." marcella began, however she then took a moment and realised carl doesn't need to be scolded again. "look, i get that you're curious about him and you didn't have any bad intentions by going to see him, but you need to always think about your safety before anything else... that's what's important. and i know that you're smart enough to know that sneaking into the barn to see him wasn't safe."

marcella places a hand on carl's shoulder now, having already kneeled down at his height to talk to him. "just please, don't put yourself in dangerous situations when there's no reason to, and if you do make sure you're doing it for the right reason. you're a good kid carl, don't let this world change that, okay?" carl nodded, having understood what marcella said and appreciated how she talked to him instead of just shouting at him like shane or his mum.

"now go on, your mother is in the house, make sure she knows you're okay." with that carl was walking towards the greene house.

as marcella watched the boy walk off, feeling like she'd helped in some way, glenn spoke up from behind her.

"wow... you're gonna make an amazing mom some day..." he stated with a smile.