"Home at last." Carl breathed, plopping down on the couch. He watched as Luna gently set her bags down on floor, her eyes carefully scanning the room. Her gaze lingered on the few visible bullet holes in the wall, but didn't stay long before continuing to move. Her hands wrung around each other nervously, and she shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "What's wrong?" Her eyes quickly flashed to him.
"Nothing." She didn't sound too convincing, making Carl sigh.
"C'mere." He patted the cushion next to him. She hesitated for a second before walking over and sitting down next to him. "I can tell it's not nothing."
"I just..." She sighed, looking down at her hands. "I don't know. I just feel weird, being back here."
"What do you mean?"
"After what happened." She looked back up at Carl. "I just...I can't stop thinking about it, you know? About...how easy it was for those men to find us, to get inside. Nothing like that's ever happened before, you know? And I...I didn't think it would be a problem, coming back. But now that we're here I..." She looked around the room again, a light frown on her face.
"You don't feel safe here anymore." Carl said lightly. She sighed, nodding lightly as she looked back down at her hands.
"But I don't wanna go out on the road again." She said. "Especially not now, it's already fall. Being out there during the winter..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "It'd be too much, we have to stay."
"But afterwards, when the weather gets better, you wanna leave?"
"I...I don't know." She admitted. "Part of me never wants to step foot outside again...but...I keep thinking about what you said, back in that neighborhood. About my dad, about how maybe he went home." She leaned back against the couch, pushing her hair out of her face. "I know Virginia's a long ways away but...if he's there, if there's even a chance he's there..."
"We have to take that chance." She looked over at him, seeing the determined look on his face. "But are you sure you'd feel more comfortable in that house? I mean, with the past and what happened before you left and everything..."
"It's been so long it's almost hard to remember how I felt back then, honestly." She shrugged. "I'm sure going there, seeing it all again...it'll stir some of that back up, but it's better than here, where that's all fresh." He nodded along. "But what about your group? Your dad? I don't wanna take you so far away from where you know they were last."
"I think they're long gone, anyway." He waved a hand lightly. "It hurts, but I know how strong they are, how much they've already been through. They're out there somewhere, and maybe I'll see them again. But...but you're here now, with me. And I just wouldn't feel right without you anymore. I can't let you go all the way to Virginia alone, especially not if my plan would just be to aimlessly wander, hoping that I'd stumble across someone I knew. It's a waste of time, really. Besides I..." He trailed off, glancing down at his hands before back up at Luna. "I kinda think of you as family, too, now. Er, maybe family's not the right word...maybe...maybe it's more like..." His eyes wandered as he searched for a better word.
"Home." Her voice was quiet, and when he looked back at her she was looking out the window. "At least, that's what you are to me."
"Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah, home. You're mine, too."
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NOT DEAD YET | C. GRIMES
Fanfictionluna mortimer-smith had long learned not to trust anyone, staying in the middle of the woods as to avoid any contact with the dead or any other humans. one evening, she'd gone out to check her hunting traps like usual. little did she realize, thoug...