like real people do | c.g [#wattys2019]

S T O P

THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, I actually get some sleep. It's not much, just a little over five hours, but it's more than I've been getting. I wake up to an empty bed, which is more than unusual. I feel confused as I get up, but, for some reason, a hint of panic starts setting inside me. I get up quickly, calling out for Carl a couple times. I get no response back, and, running my hands through my hair nervously, I pad down the stairs, my footsteps not making any noise. I've just reached the end of the staircase when the front door opens, startling me.

"Hey, you're up already?" Carl asks, frowning slightly as he walks inside.

"You scared me." I mutter softly, ignoring the question. I'm not sure if I mean that he alarmed me when he walked in, or that I was genuinely scared that he wasn't there when I woke up, but I don't really care as I throw my arms around him, and he doesn't seem to either.

He sighs softly, and I think he understands as he presses a small kiss to my hair, carefully wrapping his arms around my waist. I've told him that my bruises don't really hurt anymore, but he doesn't really care. "Sorry, you were actually sleeping for once. I didn't want to wake you up." He says, me nodding softly into his chest.

I sigh as I pull away from him, muttering about having to go back to my house, before assuring him I'll come back later.

I jump into the shower once I get home, rubbing the sleep off my eyes. I don't know why I was so scared when I didn't see Carl this morning, but I was genuinely panicked. I was scared. And I don't know what that says about me, that waking up to an empty bed worries me this much.

I go to put on a tank top after I get out of the shower, but I decide to check out my bruise before I do so. It's slightly green now, with some yellowish undertones. It's a lot smaller, too, having decreased from going around my waist, to a small bruise slightly below my ribs. It doesn't hurt anymore either, but I still spread some ointment that Denise gave me on it.

Speaking of Denise, she decided to go on a run with Rosita and Daryl yesterday. Eugene and Abraham went outside somewhere, too. As they were coming back, a group of people got them. They took Eugene, and they shot Denise through the head. Rosita, Daryl, and Abraham shot most of the others and, besides having been grazed by a bullet, Eugene is fine.

Denise, though, she's gone. I only found out when I went to get some more vitamins for Maggie yesterday, and she wasn't there. Instead, Eugene was on the bed, Ro by his side. She looked slightly teary-eyed as she filled me in on what happened.

I never got to fully thank her for saving Carl and for helping me. I have no idea what we'll tell Tara, since she's still on that two-week run with Heath.

I'm reminded that I should probably go back to Carl's, so I snap myself out of my thoughts, quickly finish getting dressed, and dry my hair. As I go to walk out of the house, though, I hear Glenn calling out for me.