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▇▇▇▇▇▇ 𝘿𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙎𝙄𝘿𝙀
❝ "CHAPTER SIX— novice" ❝

▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ BETWEEN BLYTHE AND CARL, THEY PROBABLY FOUGHT OVER FIFTEEN CLOUDS ON WHICH SHAPE THEY WERE. it wasn't tooth and nail, more for shits and giggles. they'd go through a phase, laughing so hard that they couldn't breath. it was refreshing for both of the teenagers. life had been so dense around them for a long time, that one simple laugh made them feel—well, higher than clouds, (both puns intended.)

"what about that one?" carl pointed out, "that's totally a hippo."

bly gave him a strange look, "no, carl, that's a rino."

"what about that one?" he said, "I'm thinking a fish."

"no," blythe fought back, "its totally a—nope you're right, that's a fish."

carl pumped a fist, "yes! one for the win."

she rolled her eyes, "oh hey," she pointed, "it's a heart!"

carl shook it off, "tsk, a cloud can't be a heart."

she shrugged, "I dunno, it looks like a heart to me," she hummed.

carl tilted his head, "I don't see it."

where they sat on the porch, they were shoulder to shoulder.

bly reached her hands over, taking his, "shape your hands like this—no, like this, dude stop being difficult!" she finally shaped his hand into a heart.

"there, now, lift your hand up at that cloud," she pointed it out.

carl squinted with one eye closed, the cloud infact, fit inside the heart shape of his hands.

he looked over at her, "nope, that's definitely not a heart shaped cloud."

bly rolled her eyes, nudging his shoulder, "bitch."

carls mouth fell open, offended, "—jerk!"

"d—did you just call me a jerk, carl grimes?" she placed a hand on her heart.

carl's face fell with a sarcastic sigh, "I'm sorry."

"it's just the hard truth," he added.

bly's eyes went wide, "oh you little shit "

carl tittered, not saying anything, he shifted his eyes back to the clouds, one hand reached over to rock a sleeping judith.

bly noticed how the sky only made his eyes bluer, his eyes almost—sparkled. his dark eyelashes were full and dark, along with his hair which fell above his jaw. bly pushed back the urge to mess with his hair, make it uneven and messy. she held back the urge to count every single freckle in his cheeks. she found it impossible to vanish in his icy eyes, it was like bly wasn't lost in them, almost as much as she wasn't lost in enids.

call it cliche, call it dramatic or even a chick flick moment, but blythe could handle getting wrecked at sea in his eyes.

"you alright there cloudy girl?" carl asked her, snapping blythe out of her daze.

she shrugged, "just fine, cowboy."

a breath of air left his nose in a slight chuckle.

behind them, the door opened, the two looked back at a shorter woman. it was deanna.

bly smiled with a wave, "w'sup deanna."

deanna smiled at the girl, "lovely morning isn't it, blythe?"

bly nodded, "very, you finished the interviews?"

deanna nodded, she succeeded in talking to every single newcomer about their past.

"anyways, darling, you mind making some of your special honey dew gram cakes?" deanna asked, "for the party?"

bly nodded, "sure thing, I'd be happy to."

deanna gave the teenager a job of collecting. collecting honeycomb from the bees, picking apples from the trees, and harvesting whatever they had from the gardens.

bly also picked up the hobby of cooking, so with her harvesting, she'd make whatever she could with her portion of the batch.

"can I also make a cherry pie?" bly asked.

deanna gave her a look, "only one, darling."

bly smiled, "thank you, they'll be ready by tonight."

"take your time, blythe," deanna gave her a warm smile before walking on.

bly swung her head over to carl, "you ever bake a pie before?"

carl shook his head, "no?" he said in question.

bly slapped a hand on his, "we're going to storage, and we're making a pie."

carl nodded, "all right, I'll get dad to watch judith."

when carl came back outside, he gave her a nod, "lead the way blythe."

she stood up, kicking a leg out, "okay, we'll need a cake mix, an egg, a few graham crackers, honey which is at my house. for the pie, flour salt, butter—uh, maybe salt. a bag of cherries."

carl looked at her, eyes wide, "does it usually take this much to cook?"

bly shrugged, "it usually varies, but for this, yes."

"and you have access to all these supplies? I mean, isn't there a limit?" carl asked.

bly laughed, "calm down, I'm a collector, I find what can be claimed from the earth, fruits, vegetables, animal meat, anything that grows from a tree."

carl nodded, understanding, "and honey? you got bees or something?"

bly smiled, "yes, I have bees."

carl sighed, taking in the information, "the things you learn about a girl in one minute."

bly chuckled, bumping her shoulder into his.

"well, anyways, I get to keep a portion of what I find for myself," she said.

carl formed an o with his lips, "so you make desserts?"

bly let her head fall, "are you making fun of my hobbies carl grimes?"

carl let out a shocked gasp, "no! I wasn't I promise!"

bly set her hand on his arm, "slim it, I was kidding."

when the two straggled into the storage, bly grabbed a basket.

they walked through the small isle of shelves. she noticed how there was always less food every time she went.

the runs kept getting shorter and less beneficial to the community. in the past three weeks, they lost four people in a run.

so, bly only took what she needed, nothing more.

carl said nothing, bly could understand how he was feeling. coming into a safe town with actual food to feed you every day was overwhelming.

she noticed how his eyes scanned the shelves, particularly at a can of peaches.

bly smiled, "have you eaten recently, carl?"

he shook his head, "no, it's fine though," he paused, "I'm used to it."

bly frowned, "well, lucky for you, I'm a pro thief."

carl's eyes snapped in her direction, "what?"

bly stopped, "dude, you've survived a fucking apocalypse for over five years, you deserve something,"

she gestured to the shelves with wavy hands, "what looks good?"

carl nervously bounced on one foot to the other, "I—I don't—"

he finally shook his head, "no, it's okay, I don't need anything, really."

bly gave him a look amd took a deep breath, "we're gonna play a game."

carl slightly smiled, "a game?"

"yes, come over here," she tugged him towards more shelves.

bly reached for her blue checkered bandana, (which was usually always tied around her neck) and gave the boy a look, "you trust me?"

carl tittered, "I don't trust a lot of people."

bly nodded, "that's good, but for now, trust me."

the girl walked behind him, raising the bandana over his eyes. carl's body tensed, bly could tell he was weary.

still behind him, she raised to her tippy toes, "don't worry grimes, I won't hurt you," she whispered just below his ear.

carl cleared his throat, "what uh—what's this game called?"

bly smiled, "i dunno, let's call it "the stubborn ass" game."

carl's head fell with a sarcastic scoff.

bly walked around so she was in front of the boy, she suddenly felt herself become paralyzed.

she could only see his parted lips, so close she could almost feel his breath. he blindly looked in her direction, or what he thought was her direction.

bly stepped back, furrowing her eyebrows, "okay, just go along with it."

she grabbed his shoulders and pushed him around in a circle, carl moved his feet around, trying to keep up with her spinning him.

she suddenly stopped him, facing a different direction, "whatever you touch first, it'll be all yours."

carl nodded, understanding. he lifted his hands up, totally blinded from the fabric over his eyes.

swinging his body around, his hands came in contact with blythe's face, "oh, shit, sorry."

blythe laughed it off, rubbing the side of her head, "don't apologize, go on."

carl kept his hand on her shoulder, "wait, so the game is still going?" he asked, "cause technically, I touched you first."

carl didn't realize what he said, he didn't realize the impact it had done on the girl.

bly was happy that the blindfold was impairing his vision, she couldn't take the mental damage from him staring at her red face.

"just uh," she rubbed her face, clearly fighting tooth and nail not to cry, "turn to your left,  shelves are right there."

carl tittered before moving to his left, finding the base of the shelves.

bly had to remind herself, you have a boyfriend.

you are happy.

don't ruin everything just because of this kid you just met.

carl's hand finally came across bags of dried fruit.

"oh hey," he said, "I think I found something."

bly strided over, pushing her thoughts down, "look at that," she said, "you did it, you stubborn ass."

carl snickered, pulling the bandana down, it hung loosely around his neck. 

"dried fruits?" he asked, "I see banana, pineapple, orange," he said, calling off all the different assortment of fruits.

bly took one of the bags from his hands, "oh, I made these myself," she stated.

carl gave her a mildly impressed look, "no way."

she nodded, "way. did 'em about three months ago."

"hm, the things you learn," he joked, "what else haven't you told me blythe bradley?"

bly shrugged, "I'm a pacifist."

carl tilted his head, "wait—really?"

bly scoffed, "hell no, I'd volunteer to fight a war. gotta love violence."

carl stared at her, "I genuinely can't tell if you're joking or not."

bly flattened her lips, "guess you'll just have to figure that out yourself, grimes."

she took the few bags of dried fruits and grabbed his sheriff's hat from his head, "you mind?" she asked, coming up with a plan.

"no," carl said, "not at all."

bly smiled, handing the basket of ingredients to the boy.

she then placed the small bags in the hat and quickly plopped the hat on her own head.

carl stared at the girl, his expression not changing, he had a glint of happiness in his eyes.

bly smiled up at him, "do I look like a cowboy?"

carl seen how her dark blue eyes lit up every time he saw her, he noticed her light freckled face, her round rosy cheeks, her long brown hair that had an arrangement of braids in it. he loved how she looked when she was genuinely happy, when she forgotten all her worries.

his hat on her head made him slightly turn red.

"you—look," he paused, "like a cowboy," he agreed .

bly titled the hat ever so slightly, "hell yeah."

"now, let's get out of here," she said, tugging his shirt.

the two got cleared by the woman watching over the pantry, and they were on their marry way. bly laughed as they walked out, her trick worked and the woman never realized that she snatched the dried fruits.

blythe and carl quickly made it to liams house where bly snatched a jar of honey.

thankfully, liam was nowhere in sight, so it was easy enough to grab what she needed.

"hey," carl spoke, "can I ask you something?"

bly dropped the honey in the basket, "shoot."

"well," he began, "anyone can clearly see that you're—uh, unhappy in this house."

bly sighed, "this house saved me, liam saved me."

"and yet he constantly hurts you."

the girl paused for a long moment, her mind raced to find something.

"carl," she grabbed his arm, pulling him over to the table, she pushed his shoulders into the chair, making him sit down, "I sat right here when liam told me everything was going to be okay."

"I just woke up from my coma, I had nowhere to stay, so he offered me a bed."

she dragged him to the lounge, "I stood here crying, while liam held me, he brought me back to this world."

again, bly was on the move, she dragged him towards the bathroom, "I was laying in my own blood on this exact floor, in attempt to end everything. liam stopped me, he healed me."

carl was in some state of shock, tears brimming in his eyes, "bly—"

she reached for her sleeves, pulling them up, showcasing her scars, "these scars remind me that I survived the darkside."

"I survived with liams help," she finished, "but lately, that asshole is ruining me."

"hey, hey," carl grabbed her shoulders, "it's going to be okay, you will get out of this."

"I don't think so," she held back her tears.

carl didn't know what to do. he could remember a time when his mother was upset with his father, they had fought a lot. the reason was still unclear to him since he was still seven at the time. the two adults had nothing more to say, just silent cries.

then he saw his dad just hug his mother, no words exchanged, just a tight embrace.

he could remember that a simple hug usually fixed everything that went wrong with the grimes family.

and that's what he did. he brought bly into a warm embrace, tightly holding her to his body.

bly hugged his torso, pushing her head into his chest while she wept.

carl could feel his heart racing and he wondered if she could too.

for longer then ten minutes, the pair stood in the bathroom, just holding one another.

she knew it was wrong to hug a boy she just met a week ago in her boyfriends bathroom, but it was something bly really needed.

it wasn't like the time in the tree, when they were inches apart surrounded by nothing but tension, this time it was warmer, sadder.

bly pulled away, sniffling, "thank you, carl."

they stayed close, carl looked down at her with a sad smile, "I'm glad it helped," he said, noticing she had stopped trembling.

bly rubbed her eyes, "we should—uh, go make some dessert."

carl nodded, "let's go."

the two left the house that was full of demons, and they left with a smile.

when they arrived at the grimes household, bly tossed the basket on the counter, "you're going to learn how to make some pie."

carl chuckled, "don't blame me if it turns out terrible."

bly shrugged, "I'll teach you, see the chef hat on my head? I'm professional."

carl frowned, "sorry to break it to you, but I don't see a chefs hat."

"yeah, it was supposed to be metaphorical," she said lightly.

"well," carl took his hat and placed in on her head, "now you're professional."

she grinned, adjusting the hat, "now, watch and learn."

bly is definitely deep in a toxic relationship and she doesn't know how to get out of it lmao

how was it?

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