Hello my loves, I apologize for my long, very long -cough-threeyears-cough- absence, I am still very much here and still very much working on my other projects, but life and other things have made me quite busy, No excuse of course but thats what it is, I hope to continue working on my other projects to, so here is something I hope you like!
DBJonah
Ron Anderson never claimed to be the most normal boy around. Hell, before the Apocalypse he could count on one hand the amount of times from middle school into high school that he had told someone he liked them, only t be laughed at like he'd told a hilarious joke and called weird; They would walk away claiming they wouldn't be caught dating a weirdo. Out of that handful of before people, one had said yes…it lasted all of the entire school day before they decided the gossip about his apparent weirdness was more important than him as a person; so he didn't count that one yes as any kind of positive. It was a fond memory if anything though, and it would always be at the back of his mind as that one moment that would never happen again as long as he was alive.
When things with his family got complicated he just distanced himself entirely, which only added on to the facts of his weirdness in the eyes of his peers. He stopped trying when it came to these people, and they would later wonder why, when he ended up fighting a kid who had called his mother a cock-sucking whore, they hadn't realized before how cool he actually was. He had won in a fight induced by rage against the school bad boy. It was too late for them though, he wanted nothing to do with people who treated individuality as a weirdness, as something to be shunned. They had dug their own graves in his mind, rejected his personality when he wanted them. No longer. He would then, rather easily at that, step into the role of the very kid he had fought over his mothers virtue. He would become the bad boy, the loner…and he didn't mind.
When the Apocalypse hit he would admit with a smile that he was glad for it, his peers got what they deserved and he couldn't be happier. After awhile though, it got lonely and immensely boring without other kids his age around; there weren't very many left at least. He realized he'd have to once more try to make friends. That's when Mikey came in.
Mikey was an interesting kid; in his opinion anyway. He was attractive but not in the way Ron personally liked so it was easy for him to try being his normal quirky self around the dark haired boy; Mikey himself personally found Ron a riot to be around and bonded to him in a friendly manner like glue. They were near inseparable best friends who liked to game hardcore and sometimes cuddle; the cuddling was Mikey putting up with Ron's clingy periods, and sometimes Ron would wonder if closing himself off years ago was the right thing. Sometimes he wished he had met Mikey sooner, when the world was still normal.
Enid was like a breath of fresh air when she came along. She had piqued Ron's interest, leaving him to feel conflicted as memories from a time no longer made themselves known. He had recounted the times of his rejections; the handful that they were, to Mikey when he'd asked Ron what was wrong. It took a week for Mikey to convince Ron it was okay to be his weird and quirky self around Enid.
They were going out the next week and Ron couldn't even remember the lst time he was happy; moments with his dear best friend aside. Still though, things with Enid weren't easy. Ron often found himself wondering if Enid merely put up with him and only agreed to date him due to limited choice; but then she really didn't seem like the type to do that and she could have just as easily said no and chose Mikey instead.
Since the beginning, things with his family seemed to run on a day-to-day basis when it came to the general mood of the household; even now during the Apocalypse. There would be a good day but it would generally be between several bad, especially when his father decided Ron was the target; a rare occurence when his mother wasn't home to receive the brunt of the alcohol induced anger, the drink Ron had come to hate the most. These bad days made worse sometime seemed the only days Enid was even concerned with him, only time she looked his way lately, most often she was gone. He knew she cared, she wasn't heartless, he just wasn't her priority, hadn't been even when they got together. So when the breeze blew in a new set of people Ron was both anxious and excited…and if he was honest with himself completely terrified.
Like with Enid, Carl Grimes also intrigued Ron in that same way Enid had, once again leaving him conflicted but for a completely different reason. Ron wanted Carl…But he was with Enid who almost ironically enough came back within the same day as Carl's arrival. Ron didn't talk to Mikey this time, he didn't think Mikey could help him with this rather personal matter. He knew things with Enid were not going well; had not for a while now, but he wasn't about to cheat on her and it was hard to break up with someone when they weren't around. So he settled with trying to befriend Carl. The boy was just as elusive as Enid though, if not more so, and Ron dare not approach the boys home with so many people. It was a trial. Enid made the decision herself in his opinion when she began to cozy up to Carl like Ron was no longer a factor in her life. Sure. she checked up on him, she did care, but he wasn't Carl, he didn't have the know-how of the world beyond the walls. She confirmed it by breaking it off with him gently; he remembered it being gentle because it was one of those extra bad days. Moreover, without a thought she was back over the wall.
That event was a week ago, Enid was gone, she was not going to come back, that was why she broke it off he figured. Yesterday had been one of his bad days; his father had been beyond drunk and Ron was getting sick of him taking it out on his mom. Therefore, he'd intervened. He didn't regret it, he did however regret coming outside this day; the day after, with a large bruise across his face from when he'd been slammed into the wall, so he found himself a secluded place by the pond, where he currently sat thinking over things.
Like Carl. Carl had shown mutual interest in Enid when they hung out. Did that mean he was interested in her romantically or was it simply mutual on the fact that they had something in common? Could Ron be himself around Carl? Would Carl even accept Ron's quirks or was Mikey going to be Ron's only friend for days to come? Ron went both ways if he was honest with himself though gender as a whole didn't matter to him, jus the soul did, just what made a person their unique selves only mattered to him, not the physical body; though hed be lying if he denied it having a small part in his choices.
"Ron?" He jumped a mile out of his skin, that's what it felt like anyway. In reality he'd almost vaulted himself into the pond; his startled reaction had startled the speaker too.
"Carl?!" Ron looked up, twisting his body to do so, eyes meeting the bright blue of Carl's, causing the brunette to raise a brow before his face scrunched up in worried displeasure at the sight of the bruise splashed across Ron's face though before anything could be said Ron cleared his throat.
"Um…something up?" he'd admit to himself he rather liked watching Carl's expression change, it was so subtle you wouldn't notice it at all; unless you were Ron and currently studying the other boys face to commit to memory just in case he decided you weren't worth his time.
"No, I just…saw you come over here, you looked lonely and I haven't seen Mikey for some time now" ouch. Carl seemed to catch on despite his normally stunted social skills "I meant like your normally with him when I see him, not…um" he stumbled with his words, unsure of what to do and Ron found it adorably endearing.
He couldn't help but chuckle at Carl "I got it, dude, no worries…but yeah, Miks been sick as fuck these past few days so I've been banned from his side till further notice" He watched the subtle changes in Carl's face. Internally he was screaming, he knew Carl would reject him because he clearly liked Enid but his everything was demanding he d something to get it out in the open or forever suffer in silence! The fight was hard, he was losing.
"Oh, well…wanna hang out then, If you're not busy?" Ron rose a brow at Carl's quiet request, he remembered how shy he was when he first came, when they first met, this was almost like that except he was more aware of Carl now than he was that first day they met. For Carl to be nervous something had to be up…was it because Enid had gone over the wall and now Carl had no one to hang with? Ron was getting ahead of himself now, Carl wasn't that kind of person…he hoped.
His paranoia towards that kind of thing won "Not to be a rude or unappreciative friend, Carl, but does this have anything to do with the lack of the Enid-like presence that's usually with you…" He hadn't meant to sound so bitter cause he wasn't, well maybe a little but it wasn't aimed at Carl.
There was immediate regret on Ron's end at the sight of Carl's crestfallen face; odd as it was.
"No…" Fuck! Fix it Anderson! Make the boy smile, he looked better when he smiled!
"Hey, it's alright, we can hang, I'm just having an off day, didn't mean to snap at you, Enid broken up with me before she left so I'm a little ehh right now"
No more sad look, good…now to test out how rickety the bridge of friendship was.
"You know, we've never actually hung out, just the two of us, I might weird you out or something, you prepared for that?" Ron couldn't help the teasing smirk his lips had formed, more so when Carl reciprocated it with one of his own.
"Give it all you've got, I can take it" That smirk became cocky.
Ron couldn't help the perverse image that ran through his head. Hey, give him a break, Carl was attractive, and life had not been kind to him in the hormone department! Technically speaking he was still a virgin, his mind however had seen too much porn of a varying genre to be considered as innocent and virginly.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you!" Ron pushed himself up off the ground, dusting himself off. Now, in a normal situation, two teenage boys had a multitude of things to do, but in Alexandria, within the confines of a zombie apocalypse, there wasn't much to do…naturally chaos ensued. Chaos in the form of pranks played on unsuspecting Alexandrians.
Eugene was the first one on their list, Carl was apprehensive at first but the more he thought about how Eugene was the easier it became to convince him. After Eugene, everyone else was fair game to Carl and Ron. They got Aaron, who laughed with them when he found out, they got Michonne on duty who threatened them back with a teasing smile; which both boys would admit later on scared them. They got Tobin, Spencer and Rosita before their streak came to a halt in the form of Daryl.
They would have got him, Daryl would have been their last one but somehow the man had managed to turn it around on them by having Carl walk into the trap instead of him. Hilariously yet unfortunately, Carl ended up with a face full of green paste they had made from various plants outside.
Cleaned up and still bored it was Carl's idea this time; he even said Ron could say no and he'd be fine with it. He wanted to take Ron over the wall, he knew of a small town a couple miles away, they could see what was up, he could teach Ron how to protect himself outside the walls. Ron was wary but agreed on the condition that Carl never leave him alone out there; Carl grinned and agreed. Sneakily, they made their way over the wall, dropping to the other side, both sporting a knife though Carl had his gun too. Ironically enough they ended up playing a weird game of tag, tripping each other into the leaves while trying to make little to no noise as possible was harder then it sounded and only twice they had to deal with the walking corpses their noise had attracted. The rest of the walk was spent with increasingly odd questions by Ron which either had Carl looking at him funny or laughing. They made it to the town without incident and ended up searching through a bunch of houses.
Eventually they found what was once some clothing shop, what was ironic was that it was mostly untouched; Carl summed it up to the run down look it had on the outside as well as the semi hidden location behind the foliage. There were signs of someone being here once what with the empty cans and bottles scattered around but they were all covered with at least an inch worth of dust around the place.
Carl picked up a book, hearing the creak of the pages and the sound of sand sliding off. Ron had been looking through the untouched clothes, finding a bunch of plaid button ups; the thicker material holding time better then the thinner cotton of most of the ruined tshirts.
"We should probably head back now" Carl hummed, slinging the bag of stuff they had scavenged over his shoulder; Ron had his own, nodding in agreement with Carl. The two didn't joke around on their way back, going as fast and quietly as they could to beat the setting sun. Once over the wall once more they snuck into one of the unused houses on the edge of the community, setting camp up in the master bedroom; they couldn't bring it in without giving away that they had been out, Rick would know and they would both be in trouble, especially Carl.
"There's still a lot of stuff there, we going back tomorrow?" Ron questioned, watching Carl. The brunette seemed to contemplate, looking around before finally looking to Ron.
He smiled, nodding "Yeah, I don't see why not, besides, we could…I dunno, make this place like our private stash?"
Ron blinked, looking around at the room like Carl had done. Their own place? It was a hopeful thought to him, that one hopeful thought stretched his lips into a smile "Yeah"
A smile mirrored by the one stretching across Carl's face as he chuckled. He hadn't seemed repulsed by Ron's weirdness, his brain indicated this as a good sign, urging him to take action and his heart agreed with its everything. Despite logic stating it was only one day and he risked everything by going that extra mile he decided to do it anyway. He decided, despite all logic, he'd let Carl know. Walking side by side towards the more civilized area, Ron found himself fidgeting. It was now or never. He preferred it not be never.
Well, I…gotta go check in with mom, I'll see you…tomorrow morning?" At Carl's smiling nod Ron took a breath "Okay! Um…okay, I'll…yeah" he reached out, pulling Carl into a timid hug…and promptly licking up the side of Carl's face, coating his cheek in saliva.
Taking note of Carl's face which had wrinkled slightly, Ron's face flared red "Bye!" he turned, pulling his beanie down in an attempt to hide his cherry colored face as he power walked away from Carl, logic screaming at his brain for leading his heart into hurt that was sure to come.
Making it home Ron didn't see Carl for the next several days; 7 to be exact, Ron hid away in his home for a whole week, Mikey had to come to him in order to see him. He recounted the day locked in his memory to his best friend, explaining every detail down to what had been worn "And then, after all of it, I fucking blow it by licking his face! Licking! Once more I ruin everything, Mik"
Mikey watched Ron fall face first into his bed and proceed to mumble profanities into the covers.
"I don't think you ruined anything actually" he chuckled at the sour look Ron gave him from the side "No, really! He's been asking if you're alright since your mom told him you were sick, that doesn't sound like a ruined anything to me"
Ron sighed "We were supposed to go back to that place the next day but I had to be a moron…"
Mikey rolled his eyes "Just talk to him…he's not going to, like, disembowel you or something , anyway, I gotta get back, moms got dinner cooking"
After Mikey left Ron got up, looking out his window to watch Mikey go, instead watching Carl approach Mikey. Watching them talk a moment, Mikey would shrug, pat a dejected looking Carl on his shoulder, and continue on his way. Stepping away from his window before Carl could see him he plopped back on his bed, falling asleep.
The next morning Ron stepped into his kitchen…only to panic and hide behind the wall; Carl was at the front door "Can you let him know I'm going on a run with my dad? We should be back by tomorrow" he heard his mother agree before the door was closed.
"I know your there, Ron, I can hear you" she spoke as she came into the kitchen "Why are you avoiding Carl?" she looked at him, slim brow raised in question.
"I'm not, just didn't feel like doing anything is all, didn't feel good either" Just by looking at her face he knew she wasn't convinced but she wouldn't press "Feeling a bit better today though" he nodded.
She hummed at him, watching him the entire time he made himself something to eat and headed back up to his room. In the end he did end up going outside if only to get away from her staring; he could swear he felt it through the floor!
Making his way to his pond he wasn't expecting to be yanked into the foliage by Carl, who gave no room to protest. Alls Ron knew was suddenly his face was being assaulted by something warm and wet. And it was only after looking at Carl's equally red face that he knew what had just transpired, he couldn't even bring himself to wipe his cheek off, letting Carl's saliva dry "Carl, I…"
"You're weird…" Ron flinched slightly at Carl's words "But, I like it" the blue eyed boy smiled and Ron could swear to the sky he felt his insides melt as surely as he felt his face heat further into that same cherry color from before, felt his lips stretch into a timid smile. He'd never had his weirdness thrown back at him in such a way. Staring into Carl's smiling face he realized, and no disrespect to Enid meant, he liked Carl a whole Hell of a lot more than he'd ever liked Enid.