You're Weird, I Like It - Rarl

Realization

     Eugene was the first one on their list, Carl was apprehensive at first but the more he thought about how Eugene was, the easier it became to convince him. After Eugene, everyone else was fair game to Carl and Ron. They got Aaron, who laughed with them when he found out, they got Michonne on duty who threatened them back with a teasing smile; which both boys would admit later on scared them. They got Tobin, Spencer, and Rosita before their streak came to a halt in the form of Daryl.

     They would have got him, Daryl would have been their last one but somehow the man had managed to turn it around on them by having Carl walk into the trap instead of him. Hilariously yet, unfortunately, Carl ended up with a face full of green paste they had made from various plants outside.
     

Cleaned up and still bored it was Carl's idea this time; he even said Ron could say no and he'd be fine with it. He wanted to take Ron over the wall, he knew of a small town a couple miles away, they could see what was up, he could teach Ron how to protect himself outside the walls. Ron was wary but agreed on the condition that Carl never leave him alone out there; Carl grinned and agreed. Sneakily, they made their way over the wall, dropping to the other side, both sporting a knife though Carl had his gun too. Ironically enough they ended up playing a weird game of tag, tripping each other into the leaves while trying to make little to no noise as possible was harder than it sounded and only twice they had to deal with the walking corpses their noise had attracted. The rest of the walk was spent with increasingly odd questions by Ron which either had Carl looking at him funny or laughing. They made it to the town without incident and ended up searching through a bunch of houses.

     Eventually, they found what was once some clothing shop, what was ironic was that it was mostly untouched; Carl summed it up to the run down look it had on the outside as well as the semi-hidden location behind the foliage. There were signs of someone being here once what with the empty cans and bottles scattered around but they were all covered with at least an inch worth of dust around the place.
     Carl picked up a book, hearing the creak of the pages and the sound of sand sliding off. Ron had been looking through the untouched clothes, finding a bunch of plaid button-ups; the thicker material holding time better than the thinner cotton of most of the ruined t-shirts.
"We should probably head back now" Carl hummed, slinging the bag of stuff they had scavenged over his shoulder; Ron had his own, nodding in agreement with Carl. The two didn't joke around on their way back, going as fast and quietly as they could to beat the setting sun. Once over the wall once more they snuck into one of the unused houses on the edge of the community, setting camp up in the master bedroom; they couldn't bring it in without giving away that they had been out, Rick would know and they would both be in trouble, especially Carl.

     "There's still a lot of stuff there, we going back tomorrow?" Ron questioned, watching Carl. The brunette seemed to contemplate, looking around before finally looking to Ron.

He smiled, nodding "Yeah, I don't see why not, besides, we could...I dunno, make this place like our private stash?"
     Ron blinked, looking around at the room like Carl had done. Their own place? It was a hopeful thought to him, that one hopeful thought stretched his lips into a smile "Yeah"
A smile mirrored by the one stretching across Carl's face as he chuckled. He hadn't seemed repulsed by Ron's weirdness, his brain indicated this as a good sign, urging him to take action and his heart agreed with its everything. Despite logic stating it was only one day and he risked everything by going that extra mile he decided to do it anyway. He decided, despite all logic, he'd let Carl know. Walking side by side towards the more civilized area, Ron found himself fidgeting. It was now or never. He preferred it not be never.

     "Well, I...gotta go check in with mom, I'll see you...tomorrow morning?" At Carl's smiling nod Ron took a breath "Okay! Um...okay, I'll...yeah" he reached out, pulling Carl into a timid hug...and promptly licking up the side of Carl's face, coating his cheek in saliva.

Taking note of Carl's face which had wrinkled slightly, Ron's face flared red "Bye!" he turned, pulling his beanie down in an attempt to hide his cherry colored face as he power walked away from Carl, logic screaming at his brain for leading his heart into hurt that was sure to come.
Making it home Ron didn't see Carl for the next several days; 7 to be exact, Ron hid away in his home for a whole week, Mikey had to come to him in order to see him. He recounted the day locked in his memory to his best friend, explaining every detail down to what had been worn "And then, after all of it, I fucking blow it by licking his face! Licking! Once more I ruin everything, Mik"

     Mikey watched Ron fall face first into his bed and proceed to mumble profanities into the covers.
"I don't think you ruined anything actually" he chuckled at the sour look Ron gave him from the side "No, really! He's been asking if you're alright since your mom told him you were sick, that doesn't sound like a ruined anything to me"
Ron sighed "We were supposed to go back to that place the next day but I had to be a moron..."
Mikey rolled his eyes "Just talk to him...he's not going to, like, disembowel you or something, anyway, I gotta get back, moms got dinner cooking"
After Mikey left, Ron got up, looking out his window to watch Mikey go, instead watching Carl approach Mikey. Watching them talk a moment, Mikey would shrug, pat a dejected looking Carl on his shoulder, and continue on his way. Stepping away from his window before Carl could see him he plopped back on his bed, falling asleep.

     The next morning Ron stepped into his kitchen...only to panic and hide behind the wall; Carl was at the front door "Can you let him know I'm going on a run with my dad? We should be back by tomorrow" he heard his mother agree before the door was closed.

"I know you're there, Ron, I can hear you" she spoke as she came into the kitchen "Why are you avoiding Carl?" she looked at him, slim brow raised in question.
"I'm not, just didn't feel like doing anything is all, didn't feel good either" Just by looking at her face he knew she wasn't convinced but she wouldn't press "Feeling a bit better today though" he nodded.
     She hummed at him, watching him the entire time he made himself something to eat and headed back up to his room. In the end, he did end up going outside if only to get away from her staring; he could swear he felt it through the floor!
Making his way to his pond he wasn't expecting to be yanked into the foliage by Carl, who gave no room to protest. Alls Ron knew was suddenly his face was being assaulted by something warm and wet. And it was only after looking at Carl's equally red face that he knew what had just transpired, he couldn't even bring himself to wipe his cheek off, letting Carl's saliva dry "Carl, I..."

     "You're weird..." Ron flinched slightly at Carl's words "But, I like it" the blue-eyed boy smiled and Ron could swear to the sky he felt his insides melt as surely as he felt his face heat further into that same cherry color from before, felt his lips stretch into a timid smile. He'd never had his weirdness thrown back at him in such a way. Staring into Carl's smiling face he realized, and no disrespect to Enid meant, he liked Carl a whole Hell of a lot more than he'd ever liked Enid.