Love's dark side – Date
"Hey Sophia?" a voice said in a whisper.
The human-zombie hybrid looked over to her boyfriend Carl Grimes as they sat at the stump of a tree just outside the prison's perimeter chain fence. Sophia rolled her eyes before replying "Carl, you do know you can talk normally right? They won't hurt you if you're with me" also in a quiet whisper just to mock him. Said boy then looked around in an effort to prove her right and make her happy (he loved it when she was happy) and saw that again, she was right.
With Sophia having the body of a walker also came the stench of rotting flesh, Carl didn't mind it because every time he smelt her he would always remember the saying 'it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside'. In this case, that saying meant EVERYTHING because even though she was still a walking corpse, it still had Sophia's mind and that's why Carl loved her but another reason he didn't mind the smell was because if he were to go outside with her, they would be absolutely fine.
Any walkers that would walk by the young couple would either simply skim past or it would take a little look at Carl before walking on again; the closest call for the Grimes boy and Pelitier girl had been 2 weeks ago when Carl had accidentally connected arms with a stray walker and it had felt the scene of something... fresh on its skin. It had turned and Carl was pretty sure that if Sophia hadn't hissed at it like some sort of cat, it would've lunged for him.
"Alright then" Carl said, now speaking in his normal tone instead of a whisper. Sophia gave a smile before asking him to continue in what he was going to ask; a small blush suddenly appeared on his cheeks. "Well, it has come to my attention that... because we have never had the chance... me and you have never actually gone on a... date." Carl paused and looked at his girlfriend to see her with a smaller smile than before and a peculiar look on her face. Was it... acceptance?
"Carl, it's alright that we've never gone on a date; you don't have to shower me with all those cheesy things like flowers, pick up lines and chocolates." Sophia paused as her smile disappeared and a thoughtful look came upon her lips. Seconds later, it turned shy. "Actually, I wouldn't mind chocolates." Carl laughed at her greed for the sugary treat that came in all sorts of varieties; if Sophia loved anything (apart from him) it was chocolate. "No Sophia" Carl began. "I WANT to give you a nice night out. Come on, just ONE date!" Sophia held in the urge to laugh at how her boyfriend was pleading her like a child would plead its parent; in fact, she could've SWORN that she saw a walker or two RAISE AN EYEBROW at them. Sophia turned her head away from Carl as she made up her mind. When she turned back to see him a moment later, he looked anxious.
Sophia sighed. "Alright Carl, you can take me on ONE date but..." She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence because before she knew it, she was trapped in one of Carl's famous death hugs and he was pecking her on the cheek quicker than the roadrunner could... well, run. After much struggling whilst blushing a clear white, Sophia broke free of her boyfriend's grip and led him back to the prison so they could both prepare for the coming night.
It was only seconds later did Carl realise what he had got his girlfriend to agree to.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
Carl sighed as he facepalmed himself at his father's reaction. Unable to prepare the date himself, Carl had gone to the guy's 'annual meeting' (men talking about men stuff) and asked Rick if he could help his son prepare the date for him and Sophia. Unfortunately, Rick had been drinking a cup of water at the time so as soon as the question left Carl's lips, his father spat his drink out all over Daryl; this had caused everyone in the room to look at Rick and for Merle to start laughing at Daryl's misery.
"I said me and Sophia have a date tonight and I need your help" the thirteen year old boy repeated grudgingly. There was then an awkward silence for the next twenty seconds as every man in the room processed what Carl had asked his father. After a while, Damien Jenner raised his hand as if he was still at secondary school. When Carl raised his eyebrow at his big brother figure, Damien asked "Why do you HAVE to go out on a date? You've been with her for like what, three weeks now?" Damien looked to the other men for confirmation and they all nodded.
Carl sighed in irritation. "Because DAMIEN" he started, saying his friend's name more specifically than anything he'd said in the last five minutes. "I realised just earlier that even though we HAVE been together for three weeks that me and Sophia have never been on an actual date and she's the type of girl who deserves at least to know what one is like so we're going to have at least one." Carl paused and took in a deep breath to calm down his sudden anger towards Damien. "Now" he started again, calmer this time. "Can you guys please help me?"
I find it difficult to write in different accents so Merle and Daryl lines will be written as normal.
Daryl raised his hand just like Damien had prior, earning a laugh from his brother before Carl motioned for him to speak. "I ain't got anything planned" he said. "I'll help you out with Sophia." Merle scoffed from where he was sat next between Daryl and Hershel. "You?" he said sarcastically. "No offense little brother but you're not exactly the best with women." Daryl glared at his brother as everything seemed to go quiet around them. "And where's your proof?" Daryl asked.
Damien tapped Daryl's shoulder from where he was sat beside the younger Dixon brother. "I've got proof." All the men turned to look at Damien. He looked Daryl in the eye and said "You haven't confessed your feelings for Carol yet." Chuckles began to fill the room and before long, there was full blown laughter as Daryl sat at the table with a red face which for once, wasn't from anger. "Err okay" he began, a nervous tone in his voice. "This is about Carl and Sophia so can we please move on from me and Carol."
"What about me and you?" Carol called from round the corner.
Daryl dropped his head to the table the man were all sat around as the men's laughter doubled; so much that Merle was nearly on the floor. After a while of joining in on Daryl's misery, Carl walked up to the embarrassed redneck and tapped his shoulder. When Daryl caught his eye, the young boy hushed the other men as Daryl got to his feet and stood behind Carl. "Now" the boy asked. "Is anyone here apart from Daryl going to help me?" At the question, the men all looked at each other before they all smiled and Damien raised his hand before saying "Screw it, we'll all help you."
Carl couldn't help but smile as all the men got to their feet (in Hershel's case, crutches), maybe this date wouldn't be so bad after all. "Alright then" Rick began. "Hershel and Glenn, you two will help Carl with his clothes. Damien, you and me are going out on a run for some supplies for the group and extra stuff for the date and you two..." Rick paused as he thought for something the Dixons could do to help his son; it didn't take long before Merle threw in a suggestion whilst smirking. "We'll teach him about sex."
Carl's chin dropped to the floor. "WE'RE BOTH THIRTEEN!"
Carl blushed as he lied down next to Sophia on top of an old blanket in the prison courtyard, watching the stars. The reason for the blush was that to look 'cuter than usual' (Carl's words as he first saw his girlfriend that night), Carol and the women had put Sophia in a dark blue dress which unfortunately for Carl, was a size too big. Problem – he could see her cleavage. Why? The Dixon brother's 'teachings' of human repopulation had somewhat damaged Carl's mind more than it already was.
"This is really nice Carl" Sophia said, pecking him on the cheek to which he blushed greatly. "N-no-no p-p-p-p-problem" he stuttered in embarrassment, causing his girlfriend to laugh to which he smiled, as least she was happy. "Why are you so nervous tonight?" she asked. "You've never been this nervous before, even when we're out with walkers."
Carl was about to respond when he heard muttering from behind him and Sophia. Wanting to make sure they were safe, the young boy got to his feet and made his way to where he heard the noise which conveniently, was the locked gate back to the main prison. Making his way along the side of the fence, Carl managed to catch sight of the Dixon brothers. When Carl glared at them, they looked like a pair of deer in a set of headlights. "Hey little Carl" Merle said, trying to sound innocent. "How's the date going?" Daryl asked.
Instead of replying to his two 'teachers', Carl simply turned and walked in the opposite direction back to his girlfriend. With a sigh, he asked "Sophia, I'm REALLY sorry but do you mind if we move somewhere else? I think my 'teachers' want to get some practical footage for class." Sophia didn't understand what Carl meant by this but obliged; as long as she was with him, she was happy.
As the two grabbed their things and began looking for a new stargazing spot, Sophia raised an eyebrow in curiosity and asked Carl "What did you mean by what you said? Your teachers want 'practical footage'?" A blush came over Carl's cheeks and he swore he could hear Merle and Daryl laughing from somewhere nearby. Gathering up his courage, Carl whispered to his girlfriend what they meant and when he pulled away, he noticed her face was the clearest white as it had ever been.
Suddenly, Sophia's lips turned into a smirk and she said quite loudly "Alright Carl, the next plan of action is getting Daryl together with my mom." This time, the pair knew they heard laughter...
But there was only one laugh.