You're Weird, I Like It - Rarl

His Inner Monologue -Part 2-

Carl Grimes could say without a doubt that his life was as normal as the time allowed. He had his family, though not all were related by blood. He had his sister and his father. Their life was hard, he wasn't gonna lie, sleepless nights and days of starvation can change people, make them desperate. Not his group. They remained solid, they remained unchanged to each other. When Aaron found them, took them to his home, a place called Alexandria, he didn't know what to think, it was too good to be true. From the looks of it, though, Beige was about to be his life, just like the walls in Deanna's home when she questioned him.

Deanna's questionnaire was nothing to him, he answered with the truth, unblinking. The first time he stepped into their new chosen home, found that it had running water; running HOT water at that, he felt like it was a dream, this wasn't his reality, it couldn't be. But the more the day went, the cleaner he got, the comfier he got in a room to call his own, when his belly had real food in it, he came to realize that it was indeed his reality, this was real. This was their home now. This beige life was his now.

The first week there was awkward. People stared at him when he would push his sister around in her new stroller; like he was some kind of strange, freaky thing they'd never seen before to be gawked at.

He didn't like it. Not one bit.

When he met Ron on his father's insistence it was followed by Mikey and Enid. They were fun to be around, Mikey was cool and Enid gave the impression she was just there to be there but he could tell she was having fun too. Ron though. Ron was a riot, always asking or commenting on whatever game Mikey had in the console. One thing Carl noticed about him was Rons need to touch, he always had to be touching, leaning on Mikey or Enid in some way or fiddling with his shirt, didn't matter, his hands were busy; Carl could swear at one point he saw Ron playing with Mikey's mess of black hair. The longer he hung out with them the more he realized he had a lot in common with them. Even after meeting Enid out in the woods, after they discovered a mutual understanding, she still kept to herself. Mikey was more open but closed to anything outside the wall, But Ron...Carl couldn't quite put his finger on it but Ron was special.

He didn't find out Enid and Ron were dating until later one day when he and Enid were coming back over the wall, Ron was walking by, probably heading to Mikey's, looking rather distressed and fidgeting with his shirt to the point where it looked ready to rip. Carl frowned, worry etching into his brain.

"Something probably happened at home" she looked upset yet indifferent, he didn't think such a feat was achievable but here Enid was, achieving it. It had to be her face; her face was hardly readable. It wasn't until he noticed Enid walking away that Carl blinked, brain catching up "Where are you going?"

She paused, looking back at him "Performing the duties of being a good girlfriend and comforting my boyfriend, what else?" her voice was heavy with sarcasm but he could tell she did care; she was worried. Holy shit, though, you couldn't even tell they were dating, if anything he thought Ron might have had a crush on Mikey considering how Ron was with him. By the time his brain caught up with reality again, Enid was gone.

He didn't see her, or the other two, again until a few days later when he caught Enid about to go over the wall "Enid, wait up" they crossed over the wall together, walking side by side and keeping a look out for any curious walkers. "So...you and Ron?" Way to go, Grimes, that was one way to start a conversation!

Enid snickered "Yeah...been since a bit after I got here, hard to tell, I know, I'm not exactly the best girlfriend" she shrugged a shoulder.

"You care about him, right? A good girlfriend cares" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He knew she cared, yet she was so indifferent to him any other time "Unless...?"

She looked at him directly, causing him to swivel his head in her direction.

"I care about him, but not in the way I know he wants, not in the way he cares for me...I can't, it's not love, I know this, but he gives more of himself to the relationship than I can give of myself"

Carl frowned at her. That sounded...well, Carl wasn't an expert in relationships, he'd only ever had his mom and dad to base anything off of and as much as he loved her he wasn't oblivious to her dealings with Shane before his dad came back, or the issues that came after it. He wasn't stupid, he knew the chances of his sister actually being his father's child were low; didn't matter anyway, Judith was his sister and Rick's daughter no matter blood, she came from Lori, that was reason enough for them.

"So...why are you with him then? I mean...if you don't like him like that why are you dating him? Why even say yes?" It was baffling to him, why date someone if you had no interest in making a relationship with the person?

"Honestly, at the time I did want to date him, just probably not for the right reasons, you know?" No, he didn't, he'd only ever had one relationship, and it had been willing and wanted on both sides and very secret from his father "I wanted the attention he was offering, after being alone so long he was like an endless drinking fountain. I realized I didn't actually want to be with him later but...it's complicated"

She didn't like him like that, what was so complicated about that? "Well, to be honest, I thought he had a thing for Mikey"

He blinked in shocked confusion when Enid suddenly burst out laughing "what...?"

"Oh my God, dude, no, they're, like, super best friends or something but they're not interested in each other like that!" she was having a giggle fit now.

Carl was so confused "Then...what? Why is Ron always touching on Mikey then?"

"Like I said, super best friends, I thought the same thing when I first met them, I was so shocked when Ron actually asked me to be his girlfriend" she cleared her throat, trying to calm down "Yeah, no, they're legit just really close friends, they knew each other way before I came into the picture, so Ron's extremely comfortable around Mikey to the point of cuddling"
She smiled at the memory "I've seen him slide up into Mikey's personal space and just attach himself to him and bury his head into Mikey's side, or neck, and Mikey doesn't care" She wasn't going to mention the reasons as to why Ron did that, it wasn't her place to reveal his problems. If he wanted Carl to know he'd tell him, or Carl would find out through the gossip chain.

Carl blinked "Sounds like dating to me"

Enid merely smiled "Well, they're not, I can promise that, Ron's not interested in Mikey that way, he's told me so himself"
She had another fit of giggles at the confused look on Carl's face "So...he's bi then?"
"More or less, if you want to label it then yes, he's Bi, if you ask him, it's not about the gender, it's about the person" she noted Carl's thoughtful look "Well, in any case, you best get back, it will be dinner time soon"

Carl looked to the sky, squinting his eyes at the position of the sun "Yeah, I take it you're going out for a bit then?" He watched her nod her head before she continued on her way "Alright, be safe?" she clearly could be but what does one say to that? Have a nice day, I'll see you when you get back? Yeah right. Turning on his heel he went back towards Alexandria, the conversation between him and Enid running through his head.