Haven (on hold)

11

"Controllers, abusers, and manipulative people don't question themselves. They don't ask themselves if the problem is them. They always say the problem is someone else."
-Darlene Quimet

~Aurora's Pov~

Mom, Dad, Shane, T-Dog and I were outside waiting for news on Carl. Hershel has been operating on him for a while and we've gotten no news yet. Mom was hugging dad holding his hand while my head rested on his shoulder.

We heard the door open and we stood up quickly, turning back to see everyone coming out of the house behind Hershel. "He seems to have stabilized." Hershel said. I felt the weight lifted off my shoulders, like I could breathe again. "Oh God." Dad said relieved. I looked down at the floor and smiled feeling relieved, Dad hugged Hershel for a second then pulled away. "I don't have words." Mom said on the verge of tears. Dad pulled me into him and I hugged him back, closing my eyes. He put a hand on the back of my head. "Oh.." Dad said holding me close to him. "I don't either. I wish I did. How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" He asked.

Dad and I pulled away and we looked at Hershel. "You two go with Carl." Dad said looking at me and my mom. "I'll go with Hershel." He said and walked inside. Mom put a hand on my back and we headed inside. "You go on, I'll be right there." She said and kissed my head. I walked to the room Carl was at to see he was sleeping. I walked up to him and sat down on the bed, holding his hand. I smiled at him, "You're okay.." I said feeling tears in my eyes. I shook my head as the thought of him not making it crossed my mind. I sniffled and wiped my eyes not wanting to think of that. I held his hand again and looked at him as he slept. I'm so glad he was okay.. I heard sobs coming from the kitchen as they broke the news to Patricia.

Mom stepped in with tears in her eyes then came to the other side of the bed, holding Carl's hand and putting a hand on his head. She also started crying, relieved but scared. We heard footsteps and we looked over to see Shane. He looked at all of us, "Stay." Mom said looking at him. I looked away from him and back to Carl.

~The next day~

The rest arrived at the farm earlier today, we also had Otis' funeral. I opened my eyes hearing voices. I saw Carl was awake, he and dad were talking. I sat up straight, "Hey, i'm like you now, We've both been shot. Isn't that weird?" Carl asked. Dad looked back at me hearing the chair squeak a bit since I moved. "Yeah i think your mother would rather hear we got the same eyes so let's keep that between us." Dad said looking back at Carl.

Carl laughed and looked at me. "Hey," I said, rubbing my eyes. "Hi." he said. I smiled at him. "Hey." I said softly. He looked back at dad. "Since you're in the club now, You get to wear the hat. Didn't you know?" Dad asked and put the hat on his head. "We'll pad the rim tomorrow so it sits better." Dad said looking at Carl. "Won't you miss it?" Carl asked.

"Maybe you'll let me borrow it from time to time." Dad said looking at him with a smile. "We can share it." Carl said fixing it. "Okay," Dad said and fixed the blanket on him. "Sleep now." He said. "Love you dad." He said, "I love you." Dad responded, He looked at me and gave me a soft smile. I returned it. He moved down so the hat covered his face. Dad put a hand on my knee and patted it. "Cmon." He said softly and got up. I got up too and we headed upstairs, he put a hand on the back of my head as we walked. "You alright?" he asked softly. I nodded and looked over to him as we reached the top. I nodded. "Yeah. I'm just tired, I couldn't sleep last night." I said. "Me neither." he said softly.

"Uhm.." I said looking down at my hands, "I- I wanna learn how to use a gun.." I said not looking at him, I don't know how he would feel about it. I had a knife, he gave it to me the day Carl got shot. "I hate feeling helpless, scared. I don't wanna feel like this anymore." I said furrowing my eyebrows for a second. I looked up at him. "I wanna know how to use a gun.. To protect myself and Carl and- anyone who needs help..." I said. He nodded, not taking his eyes off me.

"Shane and I were talking about training everyone to use guns." He said nodding a bit, I nodded too. "I want you to teach me. Not Shane." I said. "Shane's was one of our best instructors, he knows more than me." He said. I shook my head, "I want you to teach me." I repeated. He nodded after a second. "Did somethin' happen?" He asked, noticing Shane and I weren't as close as before all this.

I don't talk to him, I'm rarely around him. I hate him for what he did, for lying to us.

I shook my head looking away with my eyes. "No I just-" I said and looked over to see Mom standing at the end at the end of the stairs looking at me. Dad looked over to see her too. "I'm mad that he-" I said and looked at him. "-he said you were dead.. I just- i don't- trust or believe him anymore.." I said softly, struggling to form the sentence.. He put a hand on the side of my head and kissed my forehead. "What's goin' on?" Mom asked as she came up the stairs.

" 'rora wants to learn how to use a gun." Dad said looking over at mom. She looked at me, I looked at her too, unsure of what she would think. "A gun?" She asked, shaking her head. "Mom, please." I said looking at her, the tone spoke for itself. She looked at dad with a look on her face that had 'no' written all over it. "I'm not a kid anymore. I wanna know how to protect myself." I said trying to convince her.

"I'll teach her," Dad said looking at me, taking me up on my request. I looked at him too and he nodded a bit. Mom walked in the room and I looked at her as she closed the door behind her. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused by her reaction. If I had a daughter in this, I'd want her to know how to protect herself.

"I'll talk to her." Dad said, gaining my attention again. I nodded a bit, "Okay..." I said softly, He nodded, "Go on," He said moving his head to the side slightly, gesturing to me to go to bed. "Goodnight daddy." I said softly. "Goodnight," He said putting a hand on my shoulder. I walked away from him and went to the room I was staying at.

Word Count: 1198