Eyes Wide Open [TWD]

°•twenty-three•°

That night when it was time for everyone, except Axel and Rick who were on watch, to go to sleep Carl made his way into my cell.

"Hey," he whispers, setting his hat on the top bunk and sitting beside me.

"Hey," I smile a bit at him.

It felt unreal to be talking to him. I'd spent so long forcing myself to not think about him, now he was standing in front of me. And he was different.. I wasn't sure if it was because I was gone for so long or because we'd both changed so much. I kind of figured it was a mix of both.

"You settled in?" He asks, concerned like always, maybe more than usual.

"I think so," I nod, looking around the small cell.

"Kinda weird, huh? Living in a prison," he chuckles a bit but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah.. Kind of ironic," I say.

"What is?" He asks.

"The two kids with cop dads end up living in a prison," I shrug.

Carl is silent for a moment before laughing, quickly covering his mouth so it didn't echo throughout the prison and wake anyone else up.

"That sounds terrible," He snickers, covering his face with his hands.

We sit in silence for a bit and Carl lays back on my bed, his feet still on the ground.

"Still can't believe you're back. You're sitting right in front of me, talking to me. But, it still doesn't feel real," he whispers and I nod, knowing exactly how he feels.

"Three years is a long time," I say, turning around and sitting crisscrossed beside him.

He sets a hand on my knee, tracing over a small cut I'd gotten from God knows what.

"You've changed," he says looking from my cut and up to me.

"So have you," I say watching how his eyes go out of focus in exhaustion before he nods a bit, yawning.

"Tired?" I rhetorically ask and he nods again, covering his face with his forearm.

"Where do you sleep?" I question.

"Just next door," he mumbles.

I nod, though he can't see me.

"You can stay here tonight," I say and crawl so I can lay on my pillow, my back facing the wall on my right side.

Carl sits up momentarily just to fall back on the other pillow. I chuckle and he turns to face me. I close my eyes for a moment, my body relaxed. The bed isn't as nice as the ones at Woodbury but I feel more secure and safer. I open my eyes when Carl grabs my hand softly.

"I told you it was gonna be okay. I always knew," he whispers.

I look at his eyes then to our hands.

"Yeah, it is now," I nod.

He smiles a bit and I begin to drift off to sleep.

--

Beth had just finished giving Kate and I a tour of the prison. When Beth left to go start her watch, we continued walking around between the fences. I kicked a rock every so often, there were only a couple walkers out but they were on the complete other side of the yard.

"You doing okay?" I ask softly, feeling bad that I've completely abandoned her since we got here.

"Yeah, Beth had helped me find my way around and meet everyone," Kate nods. I nod as well, thankful she's feeling comfortable.