Carl had seen and experienced his father in many different situations. Some of these situations might be unimaginable and frightening for other people, but not for Carl. Because he knew what Rick had gone through. What he had to go through to finally be able to make peace. He killed people to save his family. And Carl couldn't be happier to call Rick his father.

Even after today, he trusted Rick, even though he feared Deanna would kick him out. But then everyone would leave.

Even Elide, who was currently sitting quietly next to Carl in his room, doing nothing but stubbornly looking out the window.
Rick had been gone for quite a while and since what had happened outside, neither Elide nor Carl had said anything. Every time the girl turned her head to the boy, her heart broke a little more. That sad and dreamy look from Carl was very painful to watch. She didn't want to imagine what this boy had to go through. What he had to experience.

Sighing, Elide stood up. Carl, noticing her movements, looked up and tilted his head slightly. He didn't have his hat on today, allowing his hair to be seen in its full nature.

"Feel like going for a walk?" she asked him, holding out her hand with a slight smile. Pete had removed her bandages before the argument with Rick, leaving only faint traces of the injuries.

Elide was just as unsettled by the whole situation as Carl was, but she wanted to help him, maybe even as an excuse for their argument.

A smile crept onto Carl's soft-looking lips before he gently placed his hand on hers and let her pull him up. The sudden jerk brought the two teenagers closer than expected, almost touching the tips of their noses. Elide had always wondered what it meant to lose her breath, but now she knew. She was out of breath and the only thing she could look at were Carl's beautiful blue eyes that carried so much history but still held hope for new sightings.

"Thank you, El," he breathed softly and swallowed. Elide followed his gaze, which briefly jumped to her lips as she pulled away and let her hand slowly and gently slip from his. "Not for this. I've said things that maybe should have been left unsaid," she admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

Carl just shook his head. "Me too. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

Nodding, Elide walked to the door where two hooks hung, holding Carl's blue jacket and his acquaintance flannel shirt. Elide stroked it with her fingertips and turned to the boy who was watching her curiously. "Can I wear these?"

Perplexed, the boy blinked a few times before taking a step towards Elide. "Why would you want to put them on?"

Sighing, Elide looked at the shirt again as a small smile crept onto his lips. "May I?"

Carl grinned and narrowed his eyes slightly, causing Elide to nearly have a heart attack. This boy just wouldn't let her think straight and even when Elide was supposed to be absolutely shit, she enjoyed every moment with Carl that made her feel alive.

"If you really want to," Carl shrugged and took his own blue jacket. Satisfied, Elide pulled the shirt over her black T-shirt. It was quite a bit bigger and the sleeves hung loosely on her arms, but that was exactly what she wanted.
She would never admit it in front of Carl, but no matter what happened in the future, she wanted to have a part of Carl with her, even if it was just a piece of clothing that smelled extremely like him. He was also wearing it the day Elide and Carl met for the first time. And somehow those memories had earned a very special place in their hearts.

They both walked slowly down the stairs, meeting Carol in the kitchen. "Where are you going?"

Elide rolled her eyes laughing as she grabbed a cookie off the counter that Carol had put there freshly baked. "Just getting some fresh air."

Carol gave Elide a brief look of feigned anger as she watched her bite into the cookie with relish. "Be back in an hour. I need you to watch Judith while we're all at the meeting."

Carl and Elide looked at each other in jerky confusion as Carl wondered aloud first, "What meeting?"

The older woman took off her oven mitts and joined the children closer. "Deanna has planned a meeting to kick Rick out," she explained in a monotone voice, sounding unconvinced of the plan herself. No one would succeed in kicking Rick out.

"And we have to stay here?"

"It's better this way. Believe me."

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Carl and Elide had been outside for a while, enjoying the sun together, while laughing children kept running towards them.
Something had been bothering Elide all along and she couldn't hide that strained look and reddened cheeks from Carl, to her detriment.

"What is it?"

Elide's head jerked to Carl, who was eyeing her anxiously. Her eyes quickly found the ground again and she watched as the two teens' steps were in sync. At least until Carl stopped, thus forcing Elide to look at him as well.

"We said if something was bothering us we'd come to each other."

Elide sighed at the promise made and closed his eyes briefly.

"El, what's wrong?"

Nervously she played with her hands and finally gave in. Her eyes met Carl's.

"I'm scared it's over already," she explained quietly, watching carefully as Carl's face softened and he pressed his lips into a thin line. "My dad's not going. And neither are we."
His deep voice soothed Elide a little more and she managed a sad smile. "And what if it doesn't work?" the panic was audible from her silence, possibly she was exaggerating, but this fear of losing everything was driving her mad.

Carl said nothing, but just watched the girl silently. She had been panicked and scared so many times, but he had never seen Elide cry. It was inexplicable to him why he had never seen El cry, after all, there were hundreds of reasons for her to. But she was strong and Carl knew it.

"It's going to work out. You trust us, don't you?" Carl searched for eye contact and felt the tingle in his stomach as he got it too. The only thing he wanted, oddly enough, was to see just a small smile from Elide, even if it was very rare. But he wanted to be the reason for it and that fact made him think; Carl had many weak spots and Elide making him feel so soft and alive was a fear coming true for him.

Elide nodded immediately, her hand finding her left arm as she stroked it nervously. "I trust you with my life."

Carl was proud to have made it so that the two children could finally trust each other, it was incredibly important to both of them. They needed each other to get through all this, which would be impossible alone. They would be broken if they were not already.

The boy noticed Elide's uncertainty and watched her thoughtfully. Until finally he had an idea.

"Do you think we have cards in the house?" he asked impulsively, unable to keep a slight smirk from his lips when he saw how confused Elide was becoming.

"I think so? Why?"

"I've been losing a lot lately," he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "You, on the other hand, have been a pretty good player."

Elide laughed. She laughed with all her heart because Carl looked so lost and nervous at that moment that she almost didn't recognise him. The joy in her body filled her and she was more than happy to finally feel free and carefree again after all her worries, even if real life brought nothing but bad luck.

"I can actually play better than you," she agreed, playfully crossing her arms in front of her chest as she looked at him challengingly. "You'll be a sore loser again."

"Actually, I was planning to win," Carl replied with a laugh, brushing his hair out of his face, his smile broad and sincere. His freckles flattered his face, which was becoming more and more prominent and masculine. He had grown, and not just mentally, but in appearance.

Elide rolled her eyes and let her arms fall back to her sides as she pressed her mouth into a line. "Have fun with that, because I'm invincible."

"No one's invincible, El," he countered, suddenly holding out his hand, causing Elide's blue eyes, which were slowly learning to shine again, to twitch towards it and look at me, eyes widening barely noticeably. "Well then, let's not waste any time, right?"

Elide's heart leapt with joy and the woolly feeling in her stomach made her feel quite warm as she carefully placed her smaller hand in Carl's. His hand was warm and slowly, almost agonisingly slowly, intertwined with Elide's. As he did so, he watched very closely the reaction of Elide, whose eyes were still riveted on Carl's action; her lips were slightly parted and the wind blew her hair out of her face. She was a beautiful girl in his eyes and he could curse himself for these thoughts that made him look so weak.

When their hands were finally fully clasped, Elide looked to Carl and their eyes met.

"Right," Elide breathed, as if mesmerised, and said nothing as the beautiful and honest smile crept back onto Carl's lips, expressing his pleasure. As far as he could tell, Elide's action made her happy too, at least she didn't look upset.

Hand in hand, as if the two young teenagers had never done anything else, the two walked to the house and talked animatedly about the card games the two wanted to play.

In that moment of bliss, Elide wished she could hold on to that moment forever.

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maybe some of you think it's going too fast, but no. trust me.