Chapter 17

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by twtwddm

by twtwddm

'Dear Carl,'

The words I scrawled out in my messy handwriting sit at the top of the paper.

It's been almost a month since we've last spoken. Things went back to normal after the people who were sick either died or got better. We lost a lot of good people. I've moved back into my cell, but Carl moved out. Tomorrow is his 16th birthday. Well technically right now is his 16th birthday, considering it's 1:03 in the morning. Yep, I've sat up for the past two hours staring at the words 'Dear Carl' on a piece of paper. What do I say? I know you hate me, but Happy Birthday anyway. You know what, that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

'Dear Carl,

I hope you have a wonderful day! (if that's possible)

I miss being friends with you so much. I can't tell you how much I wish I could figure out what I did wrong, and go back and change it.

Anyways, I hope sixteen is a great year for you, and maybe Rick will teach you how to drive! I know your mom would be really proud of you.

I love you,

Xoxo, Anna.

P.s. Where did the time go!? Just yesterday you were 13 and showing up at my house! '

Before I can regret the letter, I quickly fold it up and stick on top of the birthday bag I found two days ago at Walmart.

Inside the bag I have neatly placed a folded up blue and white plaid shirt, because he always wears plaid, and a really nice hunting knife, all of which I found yesterday. Trying to get a decent present for someone in the apocalypse is pretty hard.

I stand up from my bed, grab the birthday bag, and run over to 'A', where Carl lives now. I tip toe into his cell and place the bag on his dresser. Light snores come from him, so he must have been really tired. I stand next to him and look at his face for a minute. Not being creepy at all. He looks much younger while he sleeps.

Carl moves slightly, throwing his arm out and pulling me down on top of him by my waist. Don't freaking breath.

His eyes remain shut, his breathing still heavy. I can feel his breath on my face, that's how close our faces are. I don't know how he hasn't woken up, with a 15 year old girl literally on top of him.

Alright. I'm gonna go about this in a cool, calm, and collected manner.

Stage 1. Remove Carls arms from the death grip around my waist. I reach behind my back as best as I can, lightly grabbing onto his wrists. As slowly as I can I pry his arms off and move them back so they're on either side of him. Very very slowly I put one foot on the ground, and then the other and stand up all at once.

I take one last look at him and kiss his cheek, and then dart out the door.

Mission accomplished.

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Third persons pov:

Anna woke up early the next morning, and went hunting for the day with Daryl. The two have finally gotten back to the brother/sister relationship they had before. Although Daryl is much older than Anna, the two get along very well.

Carl finally wakes up at 11:31 pm. Rick let him sleep in, because the day before while Anna was on a run, the two of them had worked hard in the garden the whole day.

There, Carl had confessed his feelings towards Anna to Rick, and told him the true reason why he wasn't speaking to Anna right now. Besides them, Herschel is the only person that knows why.

Of course, Rick told Carl that he was crazy for letting something as silly as that break up their friendship, and he told Carl that maybe if he told Anna how much he likes her, she would forgive him.

Carl went to bed last night, his fathers words playing over and over in his mind.

As Carl sits up in bed rubbing his eyes, his eyes drift over to the bright blue bag sitting on his dresser. He slightly smiles remembering it's his birthday, and thinking it was probably Rick who put it there, but as he unfolds the piece of paper sitting on top his smile quickly fades.

Carl reads through the whole paper at least three times, making sure the letter is actually saying what he's reading.

'I love you. Xoxo, Anna.'

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(Ok, shortest chapter ever. But one of my favorites <3 -xoxo)