❝tragic backstories and using the word "dude" romantically, that pretty much summed up carl grimes and elle coleman❞
[carl grimes x oc]
[seasons 3-11]
[not completed]
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❖
Working with Deanna and Maggie was not at all what Elle had expected. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy it, it was just, different. To the young girl, being a leader meant being Rick Grimes. If you wanted to keep a group alive, run a community, you had to be Rick Grimes. Elle had been accustomed to that mentality. Rick did bad things, but he did them to keep the group safe. He took risks but was also extremely cautious. He knew what needed to be done and he would get it done no matter what.
Deanna was not like that, Elle learned that very quickly. She had come with plans to keep people out, what to do in emergencies, what happened to people in the community when they did something they shouldn't. But Deanna just wanted to talk about the future. Not the present, the future.
"I don't get it," Elle finally said, standing up from her seat at the table. "How can you talk so much about the future of Alexandria when we haven't even talked about right here, right now? There's not going to be a future if we don't think of ways to keep this place safe and sustainable."
"Wow," Deanna said, star-struck by the teenager. "I didn't realize when I brought you on how smart you are."
"I get that a lot," Elle said. "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back in a bit."
"You okay?" Maggie asked, standing up to stop her before she left.
"Just not used to sitting around all day," Elle reassured. "Besides, isn't one of us supposed to get Tommy from Noah and Glenn before they leave?"
"Got so caught up I almost forgot," Maggie sighed. "You okay getting him and taking him to school?"
"Please," Elle scoffed. "I got this."
With a quick wave and a final reassurance that she would be back soon, Elle left to go meet up with the run crew.
She still wasn't used to walking around the streets of Alexandria. She was constantly looking around, waiting for a walker to sneak up on her. It was worse when she was alone, it made her feel vulnerable. And after everything that happened to her on the road, feeling vulnerable brought nothing but pain.
That was why Elle's shoulders visibly relaxed when she ran into Daryl.
"Where've you been?" Elle asked as he fell into pace with her. "I haven't seen you since, wow, since Glenn punched that guy. Huh, that's weird."
"What's weird?" Daryl asked.
"Just," Elle sighed. "I mean, we used to see each other every day all the time, pretty much twenty-four-seven. Now we're here in Alexandria and I haven't seen you for two days. It's weird."
Daryl let the silence hang for a moment before he brought up the conversation he knew wouldn't end well.
"Spitfire..." he said in a tone that caught Elle off guard. "We gotta talk."
