Advice (The Walking Dead Rick and Michonne)

Chapter 1 - Tell Them

"Good morning," Michonne greeted Carl as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," he said distractedly.

"You sleep okay?" she asked.

"Hmm," Carl shrugged, "Alright, I guess."

Michonne frowned in concern. She knew that Carl sometimes had nightmares. Everyone sometimes had nightmares these days. She decided not to press him about it, for the moment at least.

Carl started poking around the kitchen, looking for breakfast. He had a habit of checking all the food supplies, assessing the options, before deciding what to eat. He did this even though they no longer had to strictly ration every bite.

"What are you eating?" Carl asked Michonne, who was sitting on the counter where she had a good view out the window.

"Peanut butter and jelly, on toast," she said happily.

The jelly was made from one of the resident's fruit trees and the bread was made from scratch. Most importantly, it was toasted in an actual toaster. Michonne knew better than to get too comfortable in Alexandria, but she also knew how to take pleasure in the small things, like an electric toaster or a new tube of toothpaste.

"That looks good," Carl said, "I think I'll have that too."

"I'll make you one!" Michonne said, jumping down from her perch.

"I can make it," Carl said, but she was already getting things out from the cupboards and plugging in the toaster.

Once Carl's non-traditional breakfast sandwich was made, they ate in companionable silence for a while, the teenager seemingly lost in thought.

"What's on your mind?" Michonne finally asked.

Carl sighed, clearly not sure that he wanted to answer.

"Michonne, can I ask you something?" he said hesitantly.

"Anything," she nodded, trying not to get worried.

Carl took a deep breath and began, "So there's this girl, Enid. She's like us. She only got here a few months ago."

He trailed off after that.

Michonne considered for a moment, and then asked, "Do you like her?"

Carl looked up again, a little surprised that she caught on so quickly.

He shrugged, "I don't know. A little, I guess. But she's with Ron... Ron is really nice, but he doesn't understand what it's like, you know, out there, outside the walls. It's like that with everyone here. It's like they're living in another world."

Michonne listened thoughtfully before asking, "Does Enid think that too?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's kinda hard to know what she thinks, though, because she doesn't talk a whole lot."

Michonne watched Carl absently picking at the crust of his sandwich. She remembered what it was like to be young and have a crush on somebody at school.

"Do you want my advice?" Michonne asked.

Carl looked up at her and nodded.

"I think you have to trust your heart. If you have feelings for someone, you should tell them. Don't wait and second guess yourself," she told him sincerely.

"Really? You think I should just tell her? What about Ron?" Carl responded uncertainly.

"It's okay to say what you feel, but don't pressure her to make a decision about it. If she wants to change things or not, that's up to her," Michonne cautioned.