Summertime <C. Grimes>

Attic

Trevor

Carl and Trevor are hanging out after Rick finally allowed Trevor out of the cell. Carl had helped him get situated and Trevor took a shower before going to Carl's place to hang out.

When we finally reached the unfinished attic he shut the door behind us and sat on the floor. He patted the spot next to him. I quickly sat too.

"So, what do ya wanna do?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I'd like to get to know you better. I know it's kind of cheesy, but do you want to play that dumb 20 questions game?"

I nodded. "Sure. You go first."

He thought for a moment. "What did you do before this? For fun or like, hobbies?"

I wasn't expecting that. "Um, I played video games, I took some MMA classes, I used to fence, I played guitar, and my church had this "conversion group" that my parents ran that wasn't really a conversion group it was just a bunch of gay kids hanging out. That's how Cass and Nora met. You?"

He chuckled nervously. "I wasn't that cool. I played soccer, that was about it."

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, I wasn't cool. Most 'a the kids at school were asses to me. That's why I took MMA, my parents wanted me to be able to hold my own."

He nodded. "So, your turn. Ask away."

There was so much I wanted to know, but I started small. "What's up with the cowboy hat? Did you live on a farm or somethin'?"

"Nah, it was my dad's. It's a sheriff's hat. He actually got shot right before this, we thought he was gone. His partner and my mom took me to Atlanta, eventually he showed up because his friend Morgan told him there was a safe space there. And well, a bunch of other stuff happened and we wound up here." He sighed sadly. "I don't wanna talk about that right now."

"That's okay," I replied sympathetically. "I get it. There's a lotta stuff I don't wanna talk about either. Like my ex-boyfriend."

He thought for a moment. "How come you almost always wear long sleeves?"

"You haven't noticed the scar?"

He shook his head, so I rolled up my left sleeve to reveal the scar that took up the majority of the underside of my forearm.

"I know it's not nearly as bad as whatever's under that eyepatch, but I'm still pretty insecure about it. I trust you though. What happened to your eye, if you're okay talking about it?"

His eye darted around the room, avoiding my gaze. After a moment, he sighed and looked at the floor. "It was shot out. I can show you if you really want, it's pretty gross. I normally wouldn't show anyone but I feel bad for asking about your sleeves."

"You don't have to, it's fine. I'm sure it's not that bad anyway. I had to see my arm bone and all that junk, I'd bet it's not nearly as gross as that."

He reached up and started unwinding the gauze.

My breath caught in my throat. Where his eye should have been, there was a large red scab. Like I had said, it wasn't nearly as bad as all the muscle and bone I had seen from my arm, but it was still a little frightening.

"Wow," I muttered. "Did it hurt?"

"I don't know. I didn't realize it even happened, I passed out from blood loss. It hurt a little when I woke up though, and it took a lot of adjusting." He started winding the gauze back around his head.

"Man, that must've been really scary."

"Yeah, I almost died. It wasn't the first time though," he chuckled slightly. "I think my dad and I are bullet magnets or something."

"You've been shot more than once? That's pretty badass."

"The other scar's near my chest, you wanna see it?"

"Oh, uh, sure?" I could tell I was blushing like crazy.

He lifted his shirt, revealing the scar. I stared for a moment, he was more muscular than I thought.

"What happened?" I asked sheepishly after a moment.

"Dad, his friend, and I were in the woods. There was this deer, the thing stared right at me, and dad told me to go try to pet it. Next thing I know I'm in some guy's farmhouse and I'm in excruciating pain. The guy's friend was out in the woods hunting. He saw the deer too, but not me. The bullet went through the deer and into me. There were three or four different pieces of shrapnel. Hershel, the guy that owned the farmhouse, barely saved me. He was Maggie's dad."

"So, I told you what happened to me, what happened to your arm? How'd you manage to break it that bad?"

I swallowed hard. "I uh, my ex and I were in my old tree house, before this all started. I don't remember what he did that started it, I try not to think about him, but he got pissed. He kept walking toward me, til we were out of the tree house, and he just kept walking and shoving. Eventually, the porch wall couldn't take it and broke. I scraped a massive layer of skin off tryin' to grab something so I wouldn't fall, and then on top of that, my arm landed halfway on a cement walkway. I landed on top of it. It's a miracle I didn't break anything else."

"Holy shit," was all he said.

"Yeah," I breathed. "He was an ass. I can't believe I stayed with him for as long as I did. I guess I was just lonely, after Emilie left. He's probably dead with my luck, he moved to Kentucky years ago. I miss him, and Nora, I just want Cass and James back," tears stung my eyes and began falling. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying in front of you." I wiped my dirty sleeve on my face.

"No, it's fine. I've lost loads of people too, it's not fun. I can only imagine not having anyone."

We sat in silence for a moment, and he slowly slid his hand onto mine. I pulled it away quickly, faster than I would've liked.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he was bright red, all the way to his ears. With any luck, I was too.

"No uh, it's fine." I tried to think of an excuse, but I was too distraught.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No, I mean it, it's fine." It came out a little too harsh. Shit.

"You sure?" He sounded hurt, he couldn't like me, could he?

I nodded. "Uh, yeah. I should probably get back to Aaron's place." I stood up and walked away.

I had hoped he'd go after me, but he didn't. The whole way back, I walked in silent confusion.

Did he like me back? No, there's no way. He was probably just being nice? Why can't I just have a grasp on social cues?!?

I eventually reached Aaron and Eric's house. I hurried onto the porch and went inside.

As usual, Aaron was on a run, but Eric was still home, probably in the office. I ran up the stairs and knocked on his door.

"Hey Eric, can I talk to you?"

"Sure Trevor, come on in." He turned in his chair and saw my distraught expression. "Is everything alright?"

I shrugged. "How did you and Aaron know you liked each other?"

"To be honest, we didn't," he replied. "We both found out we were gay and just decided to date. If you're asking about Carl, the best way to find out is honestly to just ask."

I sighed. "But what if he doesn't want to be friends anymore? What if he hates me?"

"He knows you're gay, Trevor. If he was uncomfortable with that, he would have told you." Eric smiled softly. "You never know til you ask."