Together

Chapter 8

JC's POV

Carl stared at me, his eyes wide with shock.

"What makes you think that?" he finally asked.

I stared at the ground. "I don't know," I confessed. "Just the way he looks at me. Like he's planning to do something other than taking half of our stuff every two months."

I heard Carl sigh. After a few moments, he scooted closer to me, causing me to look up at him.

"I'm not gonna let that happen," he said determinedly.

"You don't know what he's capable of," I reminded him. "He's a lot stronger and smarter than you think."

"I don't care," he said in a low voice. "I'm not gonna let him hurt you or your group."

I changed my position so we were slightly facing each other. "Why?" I asked. "Why would you go through so much trouble for me?"

"Because I know you, JC," he responded. "I know that you're strong, I know your genuine, and I know you're a good person. I won't let him hurt you."

Holding back tears, I let my head fall forward onto his shoulder. Taking deep breaths, I was able to calm myself down.

I tensed up a little for a moment when I remembered that he had a girlfriend, but I relaxed when I realized I didn't really see him like that.

I just started to like him, like, 5 minutes ago, and he strikes me as more of a brother than anything else.

Once I felt a little better, I lifted my head back up and checked the time. 3:30 p.m. The gathering started at 4.

I stood up. "We better get going," I told Carl.

He nodded and grunted as he got to his feet.

I went over to my desk and grabbed a few papers that I wanted to bring.

As I neatly put them in my bag, I saw Carl come up next to me.

I watched as he picked up a paper I had crumpled up and thrown on the floor.

He spread it out and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Is this algebra?" he asked in surprise.

I stopped packing and leaned on the desk. "Yeah," I said simply.

"What do you need it for?" he asked.

"The same thing I need the maps for," I explained. "To help figure out where we're heading next."

"You're not gonna stay here?" he asked in confusion.

I shook my head. "Nope. If Negan keeps taking half of our stuff, which he will, we're eventually gonna run out and we'll die. That is if he didn't already do that job for us."

Carl nodded, still holding an air of confusion.

I chuckled a little and grabbed his arm, lightly pulling him out the door with me.

"Come on," I said.

As we walked out of the house and passed Kyle and Rylee, Carl turned to me and asked, "Are they your parents?"

I slowly shook my head as the memories started flooding in.

"Where are your parents?" he asked gently.

I gave him the response I gave  everyone. "Where are anyone's parents?" But wanting to explain more, I looked up at him and said, "They've been gone for a while now."

Carl nodded a little. "Yeah," he said. "My mom has been, too." He took a moment before changing the subject. "So, do you like comic books?"

I looked at him sharply. "Um, of course!"

He laughed. "Well, if you let me come on the run tomorrow, I have a ton of comic books that me and Enid like to read back home."

I smiled. "If it's okay with your dad, it's okay with me."

As he smiled back and threw his arm casually around me, I got the brother vibe from him again. And I couldn't help thinking that I have finally made an actual friend.

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Author's Note: So JC sees Carl as a brother! You don't have to worry...or do you mwahahahahaha