Disclaimer: Don't own Walking Dead
Title: Annoyance
Pairing: Carl/Beth
Summary: Carl is mad at his mother. Who's there to comfort him? Beth, of course
AN: That episode last night was sick. Yes pun intended. Rick killed two people. I was all excited when he macheteed Tomas in his skull and left Andrew for dead. This takes place while Rick is doing that.
A grin rested on Carl's face as he walked back through the corridors of the prison to Cell Block C. He had been assigned to watch over the food, but he remembered that they didn't have what was needed to save Hershel's life. So, wanting to prove his worth, he set out on a journey to find the prison's infirmary to see what he could find. To his relief, the place had a lot of medical supplies that looked useful; he didn't know what was needed. Hecould shoot now and protect the group, but he had zero knowledge when it came to medicine and stuff like that.
So, he did what he thought was the best course of action. Grab some stuff and hope for the best.
He killed two walkers going there and back, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. It was second nature by now to shoot and kill. He didn't wanna use his gun, but he knew that he didn't have any time to waste as Hershel's time was almost up.
Opening back up the cell door, he saw Glenn peek out from the cell that they were keeping Hershel in. He couldn't wait to see the look of respect that they were gonna give him when he showed up with the supplies needed to save Hershel's life. Carl saw irony in this. The last time supplies were needed, they were needed to save his life. He owed this to the man lying in there dying. He saved him and now it was Carl's turn to return the favor.
"Where've you been?" Glenn asked.
"Just getting this," Carl responded with a smile, showing the bag with the supplies he took. He noticed the looks of shock at the reveal of the contents of the bag and could feel the pride flowing through his body.
"Where'd you get this?" he heard his mother ask.
"I found the infirmary." Carl beamed with pride as he watched Carol take out what she needed and started to work on Hershel again.
"You went by yourself?" Lori wasn't making an attempt to hide the panic and fear in her voice. Carl frowned at his mother's worry, getting annoyed really fast by it.
"It wasn't a big deal. I took down two walkers."
"You could've gotten killed."
Carl felt the pride wash away rather quickly and felt the anger take place. His mother was starting to push what little patience he had left with her. He could easily see his dad wasn't making an effort to deal with her either and while some of them didn't think he knew, Carl knew why.
'Cause that baby was Shane's.
That baby in there was the child of the man he helped killed. The man who took care of him for a month. The man who tried to kill his dad.
Carl had enough of his mother's attitude. "Get off my back already!" he blew up. He didn't show regret when he saw the hurt look in his mother's face.
"Carl," he turned his head to see Beth staring at him. "She's your mother."
"And she's always criticizing everything I do!" Carl shifted from his mother to Beth. "You guys don't know that she tried to get me to hate my dad for what he did to Shane?" the shock that was emitted almost made Carl laugh. "She criticized me for putting Shane down, she didn't want me to help protect this group and now she's getting in my face about going to find supplies that we need? Well I had enough of her," he looked back to his mother, who was close to crying. "I hate you!" he stormed out of the cell and climbed up the stairs to his cell he shared with his dad.
He slammed it closed and fell on the bottom bunk. He thought he did something right and now it was coming back to bite him in the face? Was there anything Carl could do without someone giving him an earful? He was done with his mother for good. He didn't care what happened to her anymore.
He heard approaching footsteps coming from the stairs. He didn't want to see anyone's face right now. He rolled over so he was staring at the wall to his left. He ignored the sound of his name being called. He tilted his hat over his eyes and stayed still.
"Carl?" he heard Beth calling his name again. He would normally love talking to her and spending time with her, but he wasn't in the mood to talk. His mother killed his enthusiasm. "Can I come in?" Carl turned his body back around to stare at her. "You wanna talk?"
"No," he answered.
"Can I at least come in and sit with you?" Carl was about to reject her offer before he saw her giving him the eyes he adored so much. It was her puppy dog eyes. Calling himself a wuss for falling for the trick, he got up from his bunk and opened his cell. Carl sat back down as Beth took a seat next to him, "That wasn't nice to tell your mother you hate her."
"I know," Carl admitted. "But she's always criticizing me for everything I do. I thought I did a good thing by getting those supplies for your dad."
"You did do a good job," Beth praised. "You might've saved my dad's life,"
"I know how much he means to you and I hate seeing you cry,"
Beth felt her heart start to beat faster at what he said. Did he really like her? She suspected that he had a crush on her, but couldn't exactly prove it. She did like him, though, so she hoped that he liked her back.
"I just wanted the adults to say that I did well and that I'm helpful to the group. I want them to see that I can help this group as much as they can. I guess that'll never happen," he sighed sadly.
He felt something press against the side of his head, sending a feeling of warmth throughout his body. He looked and realized Beth just kissed him.
"You can as much as any of the adults can. You most likely just got what was needed to save my father's life, you do a good job at taking out walkers and you are a great survivor." She praised him.
"I just wish they could see that."
"Of course they do. Your dad has so much trust in you. He trusted you to stay and protect us when they went to clear the corridor of walkers."
Carl shrugged, "I guess."
"I heard Glenn say how you're a little badass soldier." She giggled at the memory.
Carl laughed too, "That's funny."
"Even Daryl said you're one of the best shots we have. They might not say it to you, but Carl they do think you are useful."
Carl took it all in, repeating Beth's words in his head. "Thank you Beth,"
"I don't like seeing you sad either," she kissed his cheek. "Thank you for risking your life to save my dad."
"N-no problem," Carl stuttered slightly as he felt his body's warmth increase after feeling Beth's lips on his cheek.
"You're so sweet," she gave him another smile before rising from her seat on his bed. "You need to apologize to your mom."
Carl sighed before nodding and following after Beth as he descended back down the steps to the cell where the rest of the gang stayed. He would always remember Beth's words about how the adults thought of him and could go on knowing that he was useful to the group. He glanced at the pretty girl in front of him and smiled.
'I'm gonna ask her soon…real soon.'
End of Annoyance
I got mad when Lori shot down Carl's success at getting the supplies that basically saved Hershel.
I will write the date that they promised each other in 'Knight in a Cowboy Hat' soon. Maybe this week or weekend. But I have one more oneshot before that, that continues from here and Carl's last thought. Here's the summary:
"Carl wants to ask Beth to be his girlfriend. He goes to the people he thinks can help him. Glenn, Daryl and Rick. What can go wrong?"
You'll love that one.
