Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Eugenius - 101

Warning! Smut-ish? Lil' bit of spice at least, I'm not actually sure what classifies as smut...

Nightfall had come, like it usually did, and so Negan took it upon himself to sleep in Rick and Rhea's bed. Rhea had come home from her own hunt in the evening, but was quickly kicked to the curb. Olivia stayed in Judith's room, she sat by the door the whole night, using herself to barricade it shut while the toddler slept peacefully. Brooks, however, was in her old room down in the basement. She couldn't bring herself to sleep in the bed, so she just sat on the floor beside it, her knees up to her chest, her elbows resting on them while she kept her head in her hands.

After two hours of silence, there was a knock at her oak wooden door. Brooks lifted her head, and stared at the door for a moment. "Come in." She called, expecting Negan to walk through into her space, but instead, it was her... Boyfriend? Ex-boyfriend? Brooks was quick to stand to her feet, and glare him down as best she could, but her hard expression faltered. She was standing there in Minnie Mouse pyjamas, so she wasn't exactly the most intimidating person. Once Carl had quietly shut the door behind him, Brooks was quick to ask. "What do you want?" Her tone came off harsher than her face looked.

Carl licked his lips, and looked her up and down. The summer weather allowed for her Minnie Mouse pyjamas to be made up of short pyjamas shorts, and a little tank top. He cleared his throat, and managed to make himself look back into his eyes. He was still just wearing black jeans and a white top, ready to run or fight at any moment, unlike Brooks. Brooks knew herself and Negan were too feared for anyone to try anything, so she allowed herself to be comfortable during her resting hours.

"You." He finally answered her question. Brooks' words failed her, as her eyebrows furrowed. She crossed her arms over her chest, but no words managed to escape her frowned lips. "This isn't you, Brooks. All this anger? Sure, I get it, you've been through it these past couple... Well, your whole life. But, you're still a good person. You don't want Judith scared of you and you don't want you family living in fear."

The girl couldn't help but scoff. "Yea, some family. All they ever done is bully me, turn their backs on me, blame me, hate me. I finally found people-"

"Don't say finally. Not all of us have treated you that way."

"You were one of the people who treated me that way. For the longest time, Carl. Just because you grew up doesn't mean you didn't do it."

Carl raised his arms as he whisper yelled. "I was a just a child, Brooks! We all do things that we regret when we're kids!" His anger came through, even though his volume was a mere whisper.

"Yea, we all make mistakes. Christopher's death? That was my mistake. You bullyin' me? That wasn't a mistake, Carl."

"You can't call it bulling when you just as easily did it back. At least I never put my hands on you, can you say the same for me?"

"It's all I knew!" Brooks wanted to shout, but she kept her voice a mere whisper. "And I tried to be nice to you, when we first met, I really did. But, you just called me annoyin', stupid, dumb, and ugly so I'm sorry that I didn't keep bein' all nicey-nicey to you the way you wanted me to be. I'm sorry that I actually spoke back to you!" Brooks ranted, taking a couple steps towards him as the gap between them began to close, Carl taking his own steps forward. "Most of all I'm sorry that I've hurt you, Carl, but I'm doin' what I have too to keep myself alive! That's all I've ever done! Try to survive this damn world cause from day one I've been screwed!"

Carl grabbed her hips, pulling her close as he spoke to her desperately. "We don't have to live this way! We can just go! We- we don't have to be apart of this war our parents have created. We don't have to live the way they live. We can take Judith, find Sophia and just leave. We can create our own paradise. For centuries adults have chosen death and destruction over peace and harmony... Why don't we just change that? Leave it all behind?"