• Rain's POV:
You let it all go as Carl's traps you in his strong arms. For you cry forcefully into his chest, your body melting into his, as your ankles quiver below. Your voice squeaks, "They touched m-"
Carl releases you, tilting your head up to look into his tear filled eyes, "shhh, I'm here now, you're here now." Collapsing again into his strong embrace, he rubs small circles on the back of your neck, easing your state of hysteria.
Standing there for a few more minutes, he leads you over, supporting your body weight, to a log on the ground nearby. Carl makes sure you're comfortable first before also sitting down, placing your head in his lap. "I keep screwing up with you-"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Carl stops playing with your hair, "I keep letting you slip away from me. I keep letting you get hurt."
You grunt, sitting up carefully, still feeling immense pain all over. Your right hand planted on his upper thigh, your torso twisted to face him, and your legs in between his, you touch his face, adjusting Carl's tear stained hair.
He takes your hand away from his head, studying your face and its numerous abrasions. Slowly lifting up his other palm, he holds your temple, right above your partially black eye, and trails his thumb down to your split lip. As he sees more and more of the damage, you comfort him, "It isn't as bad as it looks, I promise-"
"Bullshit, I should've never left you alone."
"If anything, I shouldn't have ever left the house." Carl can't say a thing, and neither can you. Really it was no one but Joe and his asshole goonies' faults, but neither one of you would admit it.
Yet Carl still ignores your statements, again searching you for anything else. His hand pauses, you feel him shaking as Carl's fingers uncover a bruise which peaked out from your tank top strap. It was located just beneath the collarbone, close to the other which was already fading, but much larger. He only releases a small moan of sadness, but you try to calm Carl once again, "I was asleep, I felt noth-"
"It doesn't matter if you were asleep or not, what they did was...was inhuman." He takes the back of your head, pulling it towards him, and leans your forehead against his, "How the hell are you so strong?"
"I have people I need to be strong for," You felt Carl's breath on your face pause, his hands moving to your hips, holding you firmly. His jaw tilts up, your soft lips interlocking for a few sweet seconds.
This is until he laughs, pulling back, "Oh shit, they're probably wondering where I am. I went on a walk and never came back."
"What?! Where is everyone?" You laugh, Carl starting to get up, placing his hand out, helping you stand as well.
"Not too far, and we found someone..."
"Who?!" A smile erupts on your face, impatient and practically jumping for joy.
"Daryl," your grin begins to fade, "he was with Joe's group, but he's been like apologizing all morning, I've never seen him so..." Carl stops speaking, noticing your change of emotion, "He didn't do anything to you right? Because if he did, I-"
You shake your head forcefully, "No, no, nothing like that. But did he have any idea that I was there?"
"No, we told him about what happened with you after we took out Joe. He would've never stayed with them if he knew that you were there," Carl reaches out, holding your hand. Smiling, your positivity slowly but surely starts to rise again.
The road is only a few yards out of the woods, so despite a bit of a struggle, you make it, Carl then running ahead into the dirt path and retrieving a pistol. He holds it out, "Here, Joe had it."
