THE ROMANTICIST | C. GRIMES

06 | CHAPTER FOUR

Carl stared back at himself in the mirror, setting his razor down the counter. His eyes trailed down to the teeth scars on his side, as they always did. Every single day, he'd sit and stare at it for a few minutes. It never failed to remind him that he should be dead right now. That he had to be the luckiest person alive. And that it was all thanks to Mollie. Without her, he would've died. She'd saved his life in a way only she could, and they barely even knew each other back then. Sure they were friends, but it wasn't like now.

They were mostly just friends out of connivence back then. Mollie was running from her grief and Carl wanted nothing more than an excuse to get out and kill some Saviors-they'd worked perfectly together. But now that the dust had settled, and they hadn't been talking face to face, they'd actually gotten to know each other. They'd talked about everything, even things Carl had never talked about with Michonne. Mainly his mom and her death and everything that he still carried with him because of his part in it.

Mollie knew him better than anyone else. She was his best friend. But besides Mollie, it was Michonne who knew him best. Easily. And something about the way that Michonne had been so confident in Carl's feelings when he himself had no idea what he felt threw him off. Was Michonne right? Was there something there? He couldn't tell, and he couldn't get Michonne's words out of his mind. No matter what he'd go onto do for the next three hours-eating, reading, playing with Judy-nothing worked. And he knew Michonne would just give him more shit if they went to the quarry, so Carl set out walking.

He'd intended to go to the gazebo and think, but his feet had carried him to the front door of Mollie's building, and then to her apartment's front door. He barely realized what he was doing as he lifted his hand and knocked. He hadn't noticed the music coming from inside until it turned down.

"Hey Carl." Mollie smiled at him after pulling the door open. "I thought you and Mich were heading out."

"Change of plans." He heard himself say, shrugging.

"Cool, c'mon in." She said, moving back into the apartment. Carl hesitated, now having to take control back and move himself inside. "I'm making some pancakes." Carl settled himself at the bar as Mollie walked back over to the stereo and turned it up. An all too familiar song began to play. "Jesus found me this cassette." Mollie commented, noticing the look on Carl's face. "I told him it was my mom's favorite, so he went looking. Found me a ton of others too, but, you know. This was the one I really wanted." Dreams by Fleetwood Mac flowed through the speakers, and Carl was brought back to all the time they'd spent at her mom's house.

Carl leaned on the island, his head resting on his hand as he listened to the music. As the chorus began to kick up, Mollie began to sing, her small swaying turning to into light dancing as the song progressed. Carl couldn't help but laugh lightly, her own laugh mixing in as she tried to contain it and keep singing. As Carl sat there, his foot tapping against the metal stool in time with the song, a realization blossomed in his mind. Michonne had been utterly and completely right, and wrong. He had feelings for Mollie, 100%, but it wasn't going to take him three weeks to do something about it. Nor would it take him two.

———

Carl and Mollie had spent the day doing loads of nothing, as it was Mollie's first fully day of her "vacation"-as she called it. Now, the sun was about to set, and Carl was dragging Mollie over to the gazebo.

"We would get a way better view from the roof, you know." She pointed out, looking back towards her building. "Or from the roof of your place. Literally any other roof than the gazebo."

"Just trust me." They moved off the street and into the grass. Carl circled them around to the other side of the gazebo, dropping Mollie's hand so he could fish the ladder out from underneath. They'd meant to mount a ladder to the side, but no one had ever gotten around to it. "C'mon." He didn't waste any time, climbing up the ladder as soon as he'd gotten it steady. "Hurry up, or you're gonna miss the sunset." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head lightly before climbing up after him. They sat in the edge that over looked the pond, a tree break outside the walls allowing them the best sunset view in all of Alexandria.

"Woah." She breathed out. The sky was painted in hues of purple, pink and orange, with hints of blue and yellow. She could also see a few stars beginning to twinkle in the colorful sky. "This is-"

"Best view around? I know." He smiled, bumping his shoulder into hers. Mollie looked over at him, prepared to make some snippy comment back, but she stopped short. Carl was looking over at her, light apprehension on his face but also determination. "What is it?" Her voice was light, just barely louder than the chirping bugs of the pond. Carl didn't respond, instead leaning over to close the gap between them and placing his lips on hers. Just like the last time, Mollie hesitated a moment before leaning into the kiss.

Though, this time it was Carl's hand that moved, cupping her face and deepening the kiss. When they finally pulled away, Carl didn't move his hand.

"I'm not sorry this time." He spoke after a few seconds.

"I never was."