Forever and Always

Love and War

I looked at Carl. He wasn't the same person that was holding me at my house. Whenever he was with his father, he seemed to change.

The unknown boy crossed the room and plopped on his bed. He turned off the light while I watched in disappointment.

"That's not what I meant when I said to talk to your father about your feelings."

I heard Carl snicker in the dark,"Then how would you have suggested I approach him."

I got off of my cot and walked to his side o the room. I turned on the light so I could see him,"You could have apologized about..."

I swept my hand in the general direction of my bed and continued,"That. Then you could have calmly taken him to the side and explained how you felt. You didn't have to do that in front of all of us."

Carl rolled over onto his side so that he was facing the wall,"It's not like he would have listened."

I sighed and turned off his light. Silently, I walked back to my side and plopped onto my bed, where I slept.

/ / /

I woke up to someone shaking me, lightly. I looked up to see Carl standing over me.

I turned away from him to mock what he did to me last night.

"Oh yeah." Carl muttered, "Very mature."

I sat up quickly and slapped him across his face. His pale face turned a dark shade of red. I guess he wasn't expecting that.

"How dare you? You were the one that was acting childish yesterday."

Carl lifted his hand up to his face and said in a low voice,"Breakfast is ready."

He turned slightly and then left the room.

I thought about what I had just done. On one hand he deserved it. He was acting like a spoiled brat. He was lucky to have a parent opposed to people like me who didn't have any. Rick was still there. My father was gone and my mother is dead. The least that Carl could do is appreciate the fact that he still had someone. On the other hand, he kind of had a right to act like that. I had seen the way that everyone treats each other here. Rick should be that one person that didn't treat Cal like shit.

I didn't really know. It didn't really matter now because what I did was done and like Carl said, there was no going back.

I pushed back the small covers and sat up in the cot. After stretching, I stood and walked to the main room.

Everyone was sitting around the table and eating silently. The faces that Glenn, Maggie, Beth and Daryl were making were those of people who wanted to be left out of an argument. Carl and Rick were glaring at each other over the table.

I moved to shelf and fixed myself a bowl of dry cereal.

The only seat that was left was the one that was right next to Carl. It seemed like it would be awkward to be sitting there after the misunderstanding of last night. I took in a deep breath of air and sat in the seat.

My hand print was still glowing on Carl's face. I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed it because as soon as I sat down, Daryl took one look at me. And then Carl. And then he laughed.

Not just a small chuckle, but a full, hearty laugh.

He excused himself, but once he was gone, we could still hear the laughter from down the hall.

Carl pushed his chair back from the table and said,"Jocelyn, let's go. Since I can't go by myself, I guess you have to come too."

I glanced at my hardly touched cereal and pushed myself back from the table. I walked with Carl to the room and we grabbed our weapons.

We left the prison and continued walking. Once in a while, we would come across a few Walkers and have to take them down. But other than that, we just kept walking. Not saying a word.

After a while, I had had enough,"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control of my temper and hit you."

He gave a small nod. I could tell that he was putting his walls back up.

I grabbed his hand and led him off to the side of the path where there was a small patch of grass. I lay my weapon on the ground and sat next to it. Carl followed.

I shifted my head to look at him.

The mark had faded away from his cheek. His eyes were blurry. Like he was ready to cry. He lifted his hand and wiped his eyes.

I took his hand and squeezed,"What's wrong?"

He looked at me,"I know what you're thinking. I have my father and you don't. Yet I still don't get along with him. You don't have anyone but Jacob and I have my father and Judith. It's not fair."

I let out a small chuckle,"Life isn't fair. The world is a dying piece of shit that's trying to screw us all."

He chuckled as he realized that that was the exact thing he had said to me when I was having this same realization.

I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tightly. He followed my lead and did the same. Then I leaned back and pressed my lips against his. Once again, the kiss intensified.

I heard the sound of the trees moving, and thought of last night.

Rick.

I pulled away from Carl and faced the person who was watching.

Daryl.

Without a word, he burst into another fit of laughter. Carl and I looked at each other.

Using both of our hands, we dug up clumps of dirt and threw them at Daryl.

He leaned down and pulled out a patch that was similar to ours. He threw it at us.

Carl and I jumped up, grabbed our weapons, and ran. Down the path and around. We tried hard to escape Daryl but he was too quick. I grabbed Carl's hand and pulled him. The gesture worked because we both turned, sharply, into a small group of trees.

When we turned, what we saw had shocked us.

To keep me from screaming, Carl covered my mouth.

That's a big cliffy. I have an idea on what to do. Two choices. Herd of Walkers or dead group member? If a member, tell me which one? I guess this is a contest to see what will happen next >_<

EMAIL YOUR CHOICE AT mikihillson@gmail.com or

COMMENT YOUR CHOICE BELOW

I'll try to get the new chapter out ASAP!

Let me know ~Miki