ONE EYED BOY [C. Grimes][Rarl]

kids with guns

[Summery: Ron starts to open up to Carl after Enid breaks up with him, and Carl returns the favor.]

[Rating: Mature/Teen]

[Warnings: Swearing, A tiny bit of sexual stuff towards the end but not much, detailed death recollection]

Usually, I'm relatively good at worming myself into the minds of others and understanding their vague motives. Most of the time, it's easy to see a stranger's true intentions just by the way they hold themselves and how they speak. The eyes are a huge giveaway as well. Liars are distant and look shiftily at you as if waiting for you to call their bluff, while truthful people tend to want to be close and make constant eye contact.

I know that Ron Anderson is supposed to be a filthy liar, just like his father. My dad tells me to keep my distance, Mich reminds me to watch my back, and Ron's body language screams liar. He doesn't look at me. He doesn't get close.

Yet, I want to believe him. Especially now, watching him through the window, sitting on my porch in the middle of the night, head bowed against the darkness.

I shouldn't go out there, I know it's asking for trouble, but I still unbolt the front door, as quiet as possible, and step out into the humid night air.

I know he's been crying, even before I see his face. I hear his sniffs and I see his shoulders shaking.

He must know I'm there, as I shut the door, yet he doesn't move an inch, simply sits quiet, as if he's been waiting for me.

Moving over to him, I sit beside him, hanging my feet over the edge of the porch, just as he is. It's strange how he doesn't tell me to get lost, doesn't cuss and spit names at me. He just sits.

"Enid broke up with me," He said, after a moment of silence.

I don't reply. I don't know how to reply to something like that. It seems like such a little thing to me. She wasn't dead, she wasn't bitten, she was just backing off from Ron. Ron looked sick to his stomach, and he was messing with a pack of cigarettes that sat in his lap.

"You can have her, now. I'm giving you permission."

"I don't need permission," The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself, and I quickly add to it as he looks at me angrily.

"I-I mean, I don't want permission. Enid is her own person, I don't want to own her. She doesn't want to be owned. I don't want her, anyway."

A moment of silence passes before Ron laughs, rubbing his face with a pale, shaky hand.

"I've seen you two sneaking off-"

"We were just outside. We weren't doing anything, Ron. Just talking. She likes it out there, but everyone needs someone to watch their back. Even you."

Ron's expression sours. "I don't need anyone," he said, checking his pockets for a lighter, and giving up when he didn't find one. I pull mine from my coat pocket, producing a flame with ease. We make eye contact.

"Of course you do," I say softly, and he lights his beaten cigarette, offering me one as well. We smoke in silence, shoulder to shoulder.

"Why'd she dump you?" I ask after a few puffs, and he responds with a shrug.

"Pretty obvious, isn't it? I mean, I wasn't the best boyfriend in the world, was I?"

"No," I agree, tapping my cigarette in my fingers. "A little bit overbearing, in my opinion, but it was understandable. You were worried."

He nods along with my words, brown eyes finding interest in his worn out sneakers.

"I don't think I love her," He admits. "I just want to keep her safe. She deserves to be safe."