THE ROMANTICIST | C. GRIMES

07 | CHAPTER TWO

Mollie had been looking around for Carl for about twenty minutes. She'd only gone off to talk to Dr. Dana about the Kingdom's herb stores for a few minutes and she managed to completely lose him. She'd checked most everywhere, except one place. The Royal Gardens. She made her way over, stopping when she reached the entrance. Her hands rested against the bricks as she leaned forward, her eyes fixed on Carl's back. He was sitting down on the pathway, right in front of Ben's grave. She hesitated, but after hearing his voice lightly talking, she decided to move forward.

"Hey." She said softly, trying not scare him. "Been lookin' for you."

"You found me." He said, moving over slightly so she could sit next to him. The Daylilies were still there, on Ben's grave, and a few other flowers had begun to grow around it. "Did you do this?" Carl motioned to the lilies.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Day I left for Alexandria." They both took their eyes off the grave, looking over at each other. "What were you doing over here?"

"Talking about you." Carl answered after a few moments. "I figured it was only fair to let him know how you were doing." Mollie scooted closer, wrapping her arms around Carl and putting her head on his shoulder.

———

It'd been a nice week in the Kingdom, a small extension of her vacation, but Mollie knew it was time to get to the Hilltop. She was sure she'd come back to the Kingdom soon enough, but there was work that needed doing and she couldn't put it off forever. A harvest had just been pulled, and since they were heading there anyway, Mollie had offered for she and Carl to deliver it to the Hilltop. She, Carl and Jerry had spent the better part of an hour packing the Jeep with everything that they needed to take-just barely being able to fit it all in on top of what the pair already had.

"Seems I've arrived just in time." Ezekiel's voice caught all their attentions. "Wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to say goodbye."

"Yeah, you arrived in time not to have to help with this." Mollie sighed, leaning against the back of the Jeep.

"I have something for you, Carl." Ezekiel said, reaching into his jacket. His hand wrapped around the leather, but he didn't produce it yet. "I noticed you still wear bandages on your eye. We have leatherworks here, with our smithy, and I took the liberty of having this made." Ezekiel now pulled his hand out, holding out a brown leather eyepatch towards him. Carl glanced over at Mollie, who simply smiled and nodded at him to take it. Of course she'd been involved with the planning, at least somewhat. She'd managed to measure his head while he was sleeping to figure out what size to make it-but it hadn't been easy with how light of a sleeper he is.

"Ezekiel, I...I don't know what to say." Carl said, taking the leather into his own hands. "Really, I..."

"It was my pleasure." Ezekiel nodded. "I can tell you'd be ever too polite to ask for one to be made, so I took it upon myself. Just know that you are one of us, just as Mollie is. All you need to do is ask, and the Kingdom will happily provide."

"Thank you." Carl said, looking down at the eyepatch as Mollie pushed off the back of the Jeep, moving over to hug Ezekiel goodbye. Fifteen minutes later they were in the car, Mollie driving while Carl debated with himself. He'd never taken the bandage off in front of Mollie, thinking it'd freak her out too much. And if he thought it was going to freak her out, he certainly didn't want to do it while she was driving.

"Aren't you going to put it on?" She asked after glancing over at him and seeing the brown leather still sitting in his hands.

"I don't want the hole in my face to scare you while you're driving." He joked. He didn't expect Mollie to stop the car, turning towards her and raising an eyebrow. "What are we doing?"

"Carl, your face isn't going to scare me." She said, a frown beginning to etch onto her face. "It never could. Trust me." Carl sat and thought for a moment.

"The only person who's ever seen me without it besides the doctor was Negan." He admitted. There was one major thing they'd never talked about, something Carl was convinced she'd forgotten about even though she hadn't. His visit to the Sanctuary when he was going to kill Negan. It felt like a lifetime ago, maybe even two lifetimes. He'd changed in so many ways, but that stupid bandage had remained. In truth he hated the thing, but he hated the way his eye looked more. He put the eyepatch on his lap, his hands moving up to take the bandage. Mollie reached out, stopping him before he could unravel it.

"If you're not ready-"

"No, I am." He stopped her. "I am." He assured. She watched him for a moment, her eyes flicking around his face before she nodded, dropping her hand onto the center console. Carl had become an expert at taking the bandage on and off since he'd started doing it himself. It only took him a second or two now before it was completely unraveled. His hair fell in front of his face as he finally removed it fully, and he hesitated before looking back over at her. She reached her hand up again, fingers gently combing through is hair to move it out of the way. For a moment, neither said anything.

"See, I'm not scared." She assured softly, the tip of her index finger gently moving across the lower scars. She was familiar with these scars, these were the ones that had always peaked out from under the bandage. "I told you."

"Yeah. You did." He nodded, looking at her for a few more seconds before turning his attention back to the eyepatch. "Get us back on the road while I figure get this situated. It might take me a few minutes." She nodded, letting her hand rest on his leg while she started to drive again.