Summertime <C. Grimes>

Carl's a chicken

Trevor McAllister

Trevor has been at Alexandria for about a week. He and carl have hung out a good bit, and Tevor is retiring after his shift at the gate.

I got into bed, ready to fall asleep, when there was a faint knock on the door.

I got up to answer it, expecting Aaron or Eric wishing me a good night's sleep. Instead, when I opened the door I was faced with Carl.

"Oh, hey," I murmured, rubbing my eyes. He looked concerned. "You alright?" I yawned.

"Uh, kinda. I, um," he stopped, thinking about something. "Nightmares." He wouldn't look me in the eye, something was off.

"Okay, you wanna sleep in here or something?"

He nodded. "I don't want to be alone."

"You can have the bed, I've got a sleeping bag."

He looked me in the eye. "I- I meant like, cuddling? My mom would always let me sleep in bed with her when I had bad dreams, and I feel like my dad would say I'm too old so..."

Pinch me, I'm dreaming. "Oh, um, alright. No shoes in the bed."

He chuckled. "Alright." He took his shoes off and we got into my bed. He gingerly wrapped his arms around me and we fell asleep.

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When I woke up the next morning, Carl's arms were still around me. I carefully turned to look at him, so as not to wake him.

He smiled slightly and opened his eye. "Morning Trev. You sleep okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, better than usual."

"Why's that?"

"Dunno. Usually I have nightmares about..." I trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"Your parents?" He asked. I nodded. "Me too. About my mom, and everyone else we've lost. The ones about mom are the worst. Sometimes, they're about what could've happened, if I hadn't, well, you know."

"You had to? Man, that's rough. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I didn't have to. I just felt like it was the right thing to do. Maggie had just delivered Judith and I didn't want her to have to deal with the weight of that."

I didn't know what to say, so I just hugged him. He hugged back.

He pulled away after a moment. "Thank you, by the way. This means a lot."

"Any time, it's the least I could do. I owe you my life after all."

He chuckled. "You don't owe me anything."

We layed in bed for a while longer in a comfortable silence before Aaron came in.

"Oh, hey Carl, didn't expect to see you here. Breakfast is done, we might have to make more pancakes though."

Carl sat up. "I'll be okay, thanks though. Judith will probably be waking up soon. See you around Trevor." He got out of bed and quickly threw on his shoes.

"See ya around Grimes."

He left the room, and the front door shut shortly after.

"So," Aaron started with a mischievous smile.

"Nothing happened." I rolled my eyes and my face flushed. "He just wanted some comfort 'cause he was having nightmares about his mum."

"I wasn't going to say that, I was going to ask if you'd want maple syrup with your pancakes," Aaron replied, obviously lying.

"Sure you were," I replied skeptically. "I'm gonna get dressed, I'll be down in a bit."

He nodded and left, shutting the door behind him.

I thought about last night as I picked out my clothes.

He didn't just need comforting, there was something else. Could he have feelings for me too?

No. I shook the though from my head. We're just friends.

I pulled off my shirt, put on my binder, changed my underwear, and pulled on my clean clothes before heading downstairs.

Aaron and Eric were both already eating. I sat down at the table and we ate in silence. I was glad neither of them teased me about Carl.

When I was done, I thanked them and headed out to work in the small garden. Michonne was supposed to help me, but when I got there Carl was there instead.

"Oh, uh, hey," I greeted him awkwardly.

"Hey," he smiled. "Judy was misbehaving so I offered to take over for Michonne so she could deal with Judy," he chuckled. "I hope you don't mind."

"No, no, it's perfectly fine."

We both got to work weeding the vegetable beds.

"So, Trevor, I've been meaning to ask you something," his voice cracked slightly, he sounded nervous.

"Ask away," I replied, wiping sweat from my forehead.

He hesitated, and looked away from me, focusing hard on his weeding. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to have the next Unwanteds book, would you? I've been dying to know what happens next."

"It's back at Reynold's Run. If I ever go back, I'll grab the rest for you," I replied. "You seem really nervous lately, are you alright?"

"I, well, no to be honest. I just really like someone and I'm worried they don't like me back," he sighed, and released the tension in his shoulders.

"Oh, somebody from Hilltop? I'm sure they'd be lucky to have you. You're a really good guy Carl, anyone would be lucky to have you."

"What about you?" He blurted. He started to blush.

"Are you asking if I like you?" He nodded, and I sighed. "Yeah, I've honestly had a crush on you since we met. It's obviously more than a crush now, but yeah. I like you a lot."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "I like you too. I was gonna tell you last night, but I chickened out. I feel like an idiot."

"How long have you liked me?" I asked.

"A week or so. When we held hands in my attic I had started having feelings for you and I wasn't thinking."

"I'm sorry for being harsh about that. I was just flustered because I didn't want to weird you out."

"Nah, It's alright. It's just good to know it isn't one sided," he chuckled. "I told Michonne I'd cook tonight, do you want to come over for dinner?"

"Are you asking me on a date?" I teased.

"No, unless you want it to be," he had turned beet red.

"I dunno, it's kinda weird to call it a date when your parents are there. Maybe some time we'll have to make ourselves a picnic by the lake. You free tomorrow around lunch?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

He chuckled and nodded. "I sure am. Sounds like a date."