diamonds|carl grimes

31 - ❝you're not going to change my mind❞

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"This is why I told you to stay back," Elle said through her teeth as she stabbed a walker that had snuck up on her and Enid. "I'm too distracted right now, I can't protect you."

"I can protect myself just as well as you can," Enid defended herself. "I'm the one who brought you out here, remember?"

"It's- That's not what I- uh!" Elle threw her arms in the air, more frustrated with herself than anything. She took a breath and looked back at Enid. "Noah is dead. So is Deanna's son. That's why I'm out here, okay?"

Enid's anger quickly turned to surprise. She had expected Elle to be angry about something, have some pent-up rage she needed to get out. But no, she was distraught over her friend, no, her family dying and she had no idea how to process it.

"I can't keep letting people come out here when there's a danger they might not even know about," Elle continued. "It was about revenge, it still is, it always will be. But after what happened, I just, I couldn't, I couldn't let-"

Rustling in the nearby trees made Elle shut up and bring her gun up. She stepped in front of Enid and scanned the terrain in front of her. She shouldn't have been surprised when she saw who was hiding from them.

"Oh my god," she groaned, lowering her gun. "What the fuck, Carl?"

That caught both Enid and Carl off guard. The last time Carl had caught them out there they had just run away. They never confronted Carl, he was the one who confronted Elle at the party.

Cautiously stepping out of the bushes, Carl eyed Elle and Enid. He didn't like it. He should've been out there with Elle in the first place. Enid was not Elle's best friend, he was. Though this jealousy was never something he would own up to. That was why he ignored Enid and only directed his words at Elle. It was so very mature of him.

"What happened to my gun?" he asked, staring at Elle's hand.

"Daryl has it," Elle said, not explaining anymore. "Go home, Carl."

"Not without you," Carl denied. "It's not safe. Two people just died."

Elle put her gun in her holster and started marching toward Carl, yelling, "You think I don't know that?! I sat with Tommy all night while he cried about Noah! I held it all in for him! So you don't get to come out here with that excuse!"

She was now standing directly in front of Carl, about as close as possible without touching. They were both staring at each other, not breaking eye contact and not saying a word. They didn't look away until Enid walked past the two.

"Where are you going?" Elle asked.

"I think you two need to talk," Enid told her. "And I'm supposed to meet up with Ron anyway."