𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 1 ~ Don't You Give Up On Me

Note: The long-awaited book is finally here! And inspired by a Lissie song of course lol XD 

It was like someone had ripped my beating heart from my chest and left me with an empty shell. But maybe that's what it was like. Maybe that's just what no one had ever told me...maybe it's why I was still here. Blankets were bunched up like a cocoon, wrapped around me tight. At first, all I had wanted was to get out there and go get my daughter back. But as Negan's grip on us tightened, I felt the hope of getting her back dwindle down to nothing.

What chance did I have to get her back anyway? What chance was there that she was even still alive out there? 3 weeks had passed already... I let out a breath across my chapped lips, the tears having already dried on my face. I felt numb, dead inside without her here. And on top of having to lose my baby, I lost my father, too.

Daryl was...somewhere in the Sanctuary, tied up and probably starving. Or worse, being tortured. I squeezed my eyes shut at the terrible thought, feeling my insides twist in anxiety. Daddy, please, be okay, I thought to myself. I felt the rush of warm tears behind my eyelids then and swallowed down the lump that had formed in my throat. Suddenly, I felt the bed dip beside me and I bit my lip at the intrusion, my eyes fluttering open but not turning around.

Just then, I heard a song drift up from downstairs and I bit my lip at the lyrics as a deep sigh sounded behind me. I knew at once who it was.

"You set the sun, I feel your waves..."

"You need to eat something..." Carl spoke softly, his voice patient like it had been all the other times he'd come in here.

"I look at the ocean, so big and brave..."

Poor Carl. He'd been doing everything he could think of to cheer me up, to comfort me in any way. Any other person would have given up weeks ago but not him. No, Carl was persistent, determined.

"Am I only a ghost? 'Cause what I fear the most is me..."

I felt his warm hand rest on the bare skin of my arm then but I moved away from his touch. Another sigh escaped his lips and then silence. I almost thought he had left, gone back downstairs with the others. But all of a sudden, I felt the bed dip down behind me and his hand rest gently on my hip. His other hand found its way to my dark hair, playing with the ends absentmindedly.

"Angel... Angel, you can't keep doing this to yourself," he told me softly.

"I left you on the coast for something only I can see..."

I let out a deep sigh, my eyes closing as I tried to just block out everything. I didn't want to hear it - why did I need to anyway? Desolation mixed with guilt ate at me every single day since I'd been parted from the both of them. It was my fault, all my fault.

"What kind of world will there be...when I wake up from this dream?"

If I'd just stayed at Alexandria that day, insisted that dad stay with me....then none of this would have happened. As if reading my thoughts, Carl spoke up then.

"I hear you call so far away..."

"You know you shouldn't blame yourself. This wasn't your fault..." his words were kind, gentle and I knew he meant it.

"Just keep me close when I'm afraid..."

Slowly, I moved my hand back to grab his and pulled his arm over my waist, intertwining our fingers.

"And don't you give up on me as I dive into the dark..."

Wordlessly, Carl moved closer, pressing his chest into my back whilst his other hand slid underneath my pillow to intertwine our other hands.

"Slip into the endless sea..."

His head rested right behind mine and I could feel his sweet, warm breath at the base of my neck, bringing me a sense of peace and security.

"Don't you give up on me, are you swimming in the stars?"

I'd only ever felt that being with Carl. Especially these last few weeks. Negan's men had made living here in Alexandria...insufferable...

"Breathing in eternity...don't you give up on me..."

"We're gonna make it, you know. We're gonna make it through this, okay?... We're gonna get your daughter and Daryl back... I won't let them just stay there. We'll find a way." Carl whispered promises into my ear, his thumb caressing my fingertips.

And in that moment, I knew with every fiber of my being that we would. Untangling myself from his embrace, I twisted around to face him. He didn't wear his normal Sheriff's hat, having left it on the nightstand by my bed. His long, dark-auburn hair hung in his face and giving him a small smile, I brushed it out of his piercing blue eye with my fingertips.

"There's my girl," Carl said softly, his hand reaching out to cup my face.

"I want them back. Both of them," I confessed, speaking up for the first time.

He nodded in understanding and I saw determination in his eye.

"I know you do. I do, too. But staying locked up in your room and starving yourself won't do either of them any good. You need to be strong for them, Angel," he encouraged me, sincerity clear in his words.

Slowly, I nodded and murmured a quiet "okay" before burrowing into his chest. The chuckle that emitted from his lips reverberated in my ear that was pressed against him and his hand came to rest on the small of my back.

"Please don't give up on me..." I whispered, my voice so quiet I almost thought he hadn't heard me.

Then gently, he pressed a light kiss to my forehead before whispering against my skin, "I never will."