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Eloise slowly walked over to her old friend almost not believing he was real until he practically ran to her, lifting her up and spinning.
"Holy shit!" Eloise screamed as she hugged the boy back before he finally placed her back on the ground, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You... You're alive." Jace breathed out.
"Hell yeah I'm alive! You didn't think I'd make it?" Eloise asked as her mind coursed through adrenaline, not properly processing what's happening. "I didn't think you'd be in Virginia."
Someone cleared their throat, making the two turn to see who it was. All of the adults minus the ones in the infirmary stood before them with furrowed brows. "Oh! Right." Eloise piped up, looking back and forth between the adults and her friend.
"This is Jace Park. He was my best friend before..." Eloise said as Jace gave the adults an awkward wave. "He called you Ellie? Thought everyone called you Lou?" Carol asked, crossing her arms. "Everyone did- does. I hate being called Ellie. He does it to piss me off."
"And what are you doing here, Lou? Carol told you and Carl you weren't allowed to come." Rick asked, looking between the dead Reggie and Pete then back at Eloise.
A big smile stretched on her face. "Tara's awake." The group smiled at the news as Rick nodded his head. "That's great. That's great. How about you go and tell Carl." Eloise smiled again, nodding her head and running up the stairs of Carl's house.
She barged into the room, turning on his lights and jumped on his bed like a little child. "Louie!" Carl groaned at the now bright room, putting his hands over his eyes to shield them. "Get up! Get up!" Eloise said, shaking the boy more and more.
"Why?" Carl whined out, digging his face into his pillow. "Tara's awake." Eloise cheered and Carl shot up as Eloise jumped one last time, crossing her legs mid-air and landing with her legs crossed. "Really?" Carl asked, a big smile growing on his face and Eloise eagerly nodded her head instantly and in one quick swoop, Carl grabbed onto Lou's waist, tackling her into a hug.
Eloise let out a loud happy laugh, almost childlike as Carl almost had them roll of the bed but was quick enough to roll closer to the middle.
Once the laughter died down, Carl sat up, propping his elbows beside Lou's head as he hovered above her. Eloise felt her heart jump at the close proximity of their faces. It was quite for a moment, both of them just looking into each other's eyes when suddenly, words spilled out of Lou's mouth before she could stop them.
"I like you."
As soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth, her eyes grew wide as her hands flew to her face, covering it in embarrassment.
"What?" Carl asked, taken aback by her sudden confession. Eloise sighed into her hands. "Can you just like... pretend you didn't that?" She asked, her words muffled in her hands but Carl could still understand what she said.
