All Hope Lost ( TWD FanFiction )

First Time Again Part 1

To avoid Aaron or Eric charging in to my room while Carl was still here, I told them that I was just going to go to bed and that I'd just see them in the morning.

They both told me 'goodnight' and I quickly made my way back upstairs and in to my bedroom, being sure to close and lock the door behind me.

Carl sat on the edge of my bed, kneeling over to unlace and kick off his boots. He stood up, reaching behind him and pulling my gun from the back of his pants, "This is yours, you're going to need it."

I smiled appreciatively, hesitantly reaching for it, "Thank you."

I tossed it between my hands a few times and then walked over to my closet, looking around at all of the boxes and trying to decide on a good hiding place for it.

"Don't hide it, Leslie. Keep it near you or on you, because like I said, you're going to need it."

I took my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down on it a few times before nodding my head and setting the gun on my bedside table, "Okay."

Carl and I stood there for a few seconds, neither one of us saying a word.

He pulled back the covers on my bed and then sat down on the edge of it, running a hand through his hair, "They didn't mind me staying a while?"

I turned around and tiptoed to my bathroom, trying to hide the silly smile on my lips, "No, they don't mind."

They didn't know.

"Okay, good. I'm not staying the night, just until you go to sleep, I guess."

I nodded my head and realized that he couldn't see me, so I muttered an 'okay' and began preparing myself for bed.

I quickly towel-dried the rest of my hair and then lazily braided it, tossing the plait over my shoulder so that I could brush my teeth.

There was quite a bit of bruising just under my jaw from when Echo had tried choking me. The bruises from the thumb and pointer finger were most prominent and I placed my hand over the skin, trying to line up my fingers with hers.

Carl's silhouette appeared in the doorway and I quickly dropped my hand, running my toothbrush under the tap, putting it away, and then pushing past him to bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no."

I rolled over on my side and he scrambled over to the bed, slipping under the sheets and laying beside me so that we were face-to-face.

"Because I'll listen."

Silence.

"You have lived long enough to know that there will always be something worse. If you were weak, you would have been dead by now. But you're still alive and you are strong. You need to learn from what's happened. You now know not to take strangers in so easily. You now know that your combat skills still need a little work. And you now know that you have a group of people who would go beyond lengths for you."

I blinked a few times, waiting for Carl to think of more things to say. I enjoyed my conversations with him more than anything. He was always so supportive and encouraging.

"You learn and you put it all behind you, because that's just what you're supposed to do."

I scooted over a little, so that I was close enough to give him a small kiss.

When I pulled away he smirked, "I must have said the right thing. Go to bed."

I laughed softly and shut my eyes, listening to the frogs croaking outside and Carl's slow breathing beside me.