Carl's Discovery (TWD)

Carl's Discovery

So AllForLoveAndHappiness left me a review on FF.N asking if I could follow up on the last line of my fic Say My Name about Carl received the "unconventional sex education" and this is what happened. Hope it's good enough for you!

Carl was troubled.

Earlier that week, Hershel had moved them all into his house, and made sure that Lori had a good place to rest every night by giving up his own bed. The rest of them were sleeping in the living room in their sleeping bags. It was good fun, really. And on the first night in the house, he had woken up because Glenn was getting up, sneaking out of his sleeping bag, and creeping across the room and heading upstairs. This was mildly confusing to say the least, so Carl slithered across the floor to where his dad was sleeping, and prodded him awake.

"Glenn just went upstairs," he whispered when Rick opened his eyes. His dad blinked at him for a few seconds, no doubt as confused as Carl was. "Upstairs, Dad."

"He's gone to be with Maggie," his dad whispered back. He rubbed a hand over his face. "They're, um – you know how me and your mom love each other?"

"Yeah."

"That's what Glenn and Maggie are right now. They love each other, so they're having some time together."

Carl's brow furrowed. "You're not with Mom right now though."

"It's different. For one thing, your mom needs extra rest because of the baby."

"So Glenn and Maggie are like when you and Mom would go out and leave me with Sarah the babysitter?"

"Exactly. Now go back to sleep, Carl." His dad ruffled his hair and settled back down. Carl was satisfied and slithered back to his original spot to do the same.

The next morning, the incident was on his mind. He went to visit his mom and felt the baby bump, and then decided to go and see the horses in the stables. When Daryl was still resting in bed, Carl had gone to visit and had been promised that the older man would teach him to ride. He might as well get used to the horses.

So he skipped down the stables quite happily, waving to Andrea from where she was collecting water, and told T-Dog that his dad was looking for him because Rick had mentioned something about swapping watch rotas. He went into the stables as quietly as he could, so he didn't disturb the horses, and breathed in the musty smell of hay. Nellie whickered at him softly, tossing her head, and he went across to stroke her. He was still a little nervous of her, but Hershel said that Nellie was very nervous as well so they were both on the same page, which made him feel a bit better.

He wondered if Nellie would like a carrot, and glanced round to see if they were any. No, but there was a basket of apples at the other end of the stables on a bench. Those would do. So Carl set off towards the apples, quietly so he didn't spook Nellie, and glanced into the stalls as he passed them.

He saw something which made him stop straight away.

Glenn was on top of Maggie, his face hidden by hers. His hand was over her mouth and her eyes were screwed shut. Carl's own eyes widened. Was Glenn hurting Maggie? He liked Glenn; when he wasn't doing stuff, they would talk about comic books and video games and sometimes he made silly jokes about walkers to make him feel better. But the evidence was right in front of him.

Carl knew that he had to tell someone about this, and quickly. Still silent, he forgot about the apples and crept back out of the stables, running towards the house after he pulled the doors shut.

Halfway across the field, he stopped so quickly that he fell over on his stomach and groaned. His belly was still sore from when he got shot. He rolled over onto his back carefully and settled back in the long grass, using it to pillow his head.