Carl thought they were going back to Enid's tent to read comics. That was what they usually did once the adults started entertaining themselves in adult ways. But when she took the two small kittens from his arms and thrust them inside the tent, zipping the flap closed behind them, he didn't ask questions.
Enid's hair hung down in two long braids, which meant Rowan had washed it and combed it for her. When she walked, the braids swung from side to side in time to her movements. From the way she had smiled at him when she was zipping up the tent, Carl had figured she was in the mood for a little mischeif. But he was still surprised when she strode up to the wall and started climbing.
Enid swung one leg over the top and looked down at Carl, who still had both feet on the ground. If he was coming, he better hurry up, before Rowan's loud mouth humping dogs came out and started barking. Tank had taken Enid in as part of his pack, and if he saw her climbing the wall, he would make a fuss so loud it would wake the dead. Literally.
"Chicken?," she asked the boy. He wasn't wearing his dad's hat. And he looked better without it, older and more grown up. More like a man and less like a little boy playing dress up. Carl wrinkled his eyebrows together at her rude suggestion. He might be a lot of things, but he wasn't a coward. Reaching for the first wrung, he started climbing up after Enid. He looked up just in time to see the top of her head disappear behind the wall.
"What are we doing out here anyway?," Carl asked once he landed on his feet on the other side of the wall. It felt exhilarating to be outside the walls, and even more so to be out here at night.
Enid didn't answer, which was typical of her when she was asked a direct question. But the moon was bright enough for him to see her smile. Instead of speaking she took her knife out, holding it in one hand and grabbed hold of Carl's with her other hand. Carl had bumped into Enid a few times, and gotten close to her when she was helping him with Judith's goat. But this was the first time she had deliberately made contact with him for any extended amount of time. Her hand felt warm in his and he held it tightly, twining his fingers in with hers.
Since Enid had her knife out, he got his out, feeling a bit awkward holding it in his non dominant hand since that one was holding onto Enid. But he had no desire to let her go. After pushing through a bush, they headed down a path togther, with Enid walking just slightly in front of Carl since she knew where they were going.
The rain that came in with the wind had not stopped completely, but it had trickled down to a soft drizzle that could barely be felt under the shelter of the trees. Carl tried to concentrate on listening for walkers, but it was hard with Enid so close to him. The warmth from her hand felt like it was creeping up his arm. Creeping, but in a good way. The heat ran down the side of him and came to rest in his gut, where it calmed the butterflies that were flapping around inside him. As they walked further into the woods, Carl could hear the sounds of crickets churping and what he guessed were frogs croaking. He knew from his time on the road that the sound of frogs meant there was water close by. Daryl had taught him that.
The path ended at a narrow section of beach. Carl could tell the spot was used often. The beach was well trampled, and even in the moonlight he could see a few large dogprints that had not been washed away by the earlier rain. Enid let go of his hand and tossed her knife down on the sand near the bushes. Then she started taking off her boots.
"What are you doing?," Carl asked. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt like a dunce. First off, when was he going to stop asking her stupid questions that she never bothered to answer. And secondly, it was obvious that she was getting undressed, so why was he going to say something to stop her. That was just plain retarded.
"Come on," Enid said, "Lets go swimming." She pulled her shirt off over her head and tossed it on top of a bush. Carl realized he was staring at the white bra she had on with his mouth wide open. So he turned his back to her and started unlacing his boots. He had never been undressed in front of a girl before. Well, not a girl he liked anyway. Changing clothes in front of Carol and Michonne didn't really count. The thought of seeing Enid naked, and of her seeing him the same way brought the butterflies back to life in his stomach. For a moment, he thought the ten pancakes and two gaint sausages he had shoveled into his face earlier were going to reappear. But the cool night air on his skin made him feel less dizzy. He took few deep breaths as he unbuttoned his shirt. That helped him feel calmer and more in control.
There were a few more rustling noises from next to him, followed by splashing noises from further away. Carl pushed his pants down in a hurry, debating if he should leave his boxers on. Walking back in wet underwear did not sound any more appealing than being naked in front of Enid. He turned to look at her small pile of clothes. He saw her bra and panties laying on top of her jeans and shirt. If she was brave enough to go skinny dipping, then he figured he was too.
The water was cold and Carl felt his skin prickle up with gooseflesh. The sandy bank dropped off without warning and Carl got a mouthful of the mucky water before he gained control of his limbs and started to swim. Enid was treading water a few feet away and he could hear her laughing. She had clearly been waiting for him to hit the end of that sandbar and go flailing into the lake. He cupped his hand and splashed some water at her, feeling satisfied when he heard her squeal.
"There's a floating dock that way," Enid told him, gesturing with one hand quickly before she dunked it back in the water to help keep herself afloat.
"Want to race?," Carl asked. The water was cold, and he had the urge to move fast and get his blood flowing. Enid did not answer, she just dove in the direction she had pointed in and started swimming like she was trying to get away from jaws. Carl swore before he took off after her, thinking about what a cheater she was. She had a head start, but he was a strong swimmer and got to the dock only seconds after she did.
"Beat you," she said, holding the dock with one hand while she panted like one of Rowan's dogs, trying to catch her breath.
"Only because you are a cheater," Carl informed her. He was smiling. Really he thought she was funny, cheating to win and then trying to rub it in. Enid splashed a bit of water in his direction and laughed. The hand she was holding onto the dock with moved in his direction. Then closer still, until her hand was touching his.
"Next time I will let you win," she said. Carl noticed the tone of her voice sounded funny, like she was telling him a secret. She let go of the dock and put her hands on his shoulders. To hold her weight, he instinctively reached up to put his other hand on the dock. Now their faces were only inches apart, with one of his hands on either side of her head. Under the water her naked legs bumped against his.
"Okay," Carl said. He had no idea what exactly what he was agreeing to. But he could see the tops of her breasts floating under the black water of the lake. He was having a hard time not staring at them. Despite the cold temperature of the water, he could feel the heat growing between his legs. And he was worried Enid might feel it too if she got too close.
In the moonlight, her dark eyes looked almost black. They both stayed still for a few minutes, their breathing slowing from the race and then speeding up again because of how close to each other they were. Carl felt her arms go around him, hands leading to forearms and then it was her elbows resting on his shoulders instead of her hands. But he had no idea what she was doing until her lips actually pressed against his.
The kiss was awkward at first, neither of them having any experience with kissing before. Enid and her cousin had practiced on stuffed animals once at a sleepover, but kissing Carl was a lot different from kissing a stuffed dog. She had seen Rowan and Daryl sucking face, and now she wished she had taken a better look at what they had been doing. Maybe she would have a better idea of what to do.
What she did know, was that the longer her mouth was touching his, the better it felt. The closer she pressed against him, the more he seemed to be pressing back. She felt the tip of his tounge against her lips and instead of being grossed out at the thought of being licked, she felt the urge to part her lips. Their tounges danced together for what seemed like a long time. The kiss made her feel almost tipsy, like she snuck too much of Rowan's apple moonshine. Then he was pulling his head back, not slow and easy, but yanking it back hard and whipping it to one side, his hair swinging against her cheek. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he shushed her up.
"I heard voices," Carl said. Enid nodded.
"Move slow and stay low, let's get around the side of the dock," she whispered, taking her arms from around his neck and grasping at the wooden planks with her own hands. One hand in front of the other, they moved together until they were around the corner and out of sight to anyone on the beach.
A cloud drifted by, letting the moonlight shine down brighter than before. Then Enid saw them, three men on the beach. One was holding up her bra, the white material easily visible. Another one was standing near the water's edge, looking out over the lake.
"Shit they found our clothes," Enid swore. Carl was wishing he had swum out here with his knife in his mouth. But he had been in worse jams than this one.
"Is there anywhere out here we can hide?," he asked Enid. She was breathing hard, thinking about how the men were touching her underclothes. The one holding her bra had lifted it to his face like he was smelling it. She was having a hard time concentrating. "Enid?"
"Yes," she sputtered, "there's a treehouse I have gone to with Rowan before. I'm not sure if I can find it in the dark. Can't we just run home?"
"If they follow us, we don't want to lead them back to Alexandria," Carl whispered. Enid had other ideas about that. Like letting these nasty bra sniffers follow her and Carl over the wall and then turning Tank loose on them. But Carl was right, they might have guns. And all the grown ups were high as a bunch of fucking kites right now, drinking whatever witches brew Rowan had cooked up for them. Stupid bunch of morons.
While Carl and Enid were debating on what to do, a few walkers wandered into the water on the east side of the lake and made their decision for them. The sound of the splashing drew the men in that direction, while Carl and Enid swam as fast as they could for the opposite shore. They ran into the woods like two tiny naked rabbits. Enid was mumbling to herself, trying to remember which was the treehouse was. When she hit that tree that was big enough to hide inside, she knew they were going the right way. The stomp and hiss of a walker scared her and she darted inside the tree, pulling Carl along with her.
It took the walker a few minutes to shuffle by, and the lack of movement combined with being cold wet and naked in the cool night air made Enid start to shiver. She felt Carl's arms go around her, nothing sexual about his embrace this time, just kindness in his touch as he tried to lend her a bit of his body heat.
When the sound of the shuffling footsteps could no longer be heard, Carl and Enid came out of their hidey hole and he followed Enid, who seemed more sure about where she was going now. They walked for about another fifteen minutes, which felt more like hours wandering naked in the dark woods. Then Enid stopped and looked up, a truimphant grin on her face.
"There's no clothes, but Rowan left an extra picnic blanket up there and I think maybe a few towels she uses for the dogs." Carl nodded, thinking about how welcome cuddling up inside a stinky dog towel sounded. It almost made him laugh. He followed Enid up the ladder and they pulled it up inside the treehouse behind them. The place was a little rickety, but it was better than nothing.
Enid laid the dog towels on the floor to keep them from getting splinters in undesirable places from the uneven wooden planks. She felt more tired than she had in a long time. Tired and cold and scared. Suddenly she was grateful for the walls around Alexandria in a way that she had not been before. The walls and her warm bed, complete with thick snuggly blankets that always smelled like Rowan since the woman used the same soap to wash her hair that she used to wash everything else.
Moving carefully so that she wouldn't push to hard against the towels and get stuck with a shard of wood, Enid lay down on the floor of the treehouse. Carl lay down next to her and covered them both with a blanket. He cuddled close to her, and like she had in the tree, she found herself welcoming the heat of his skin on hers. They both lay shivering under the ratty quilt until they finally warmed up enough to fall asleep.
As she was drifting off, Enid thought about how confidently Carl held her when he knew she was cold compared to how awkward he was in the lake when they were kissing. Kissing was something he could learn, but kindness and compassion were things people either had or they didn't have. For the first time since her parents died, wrapped Carl's boyish arms, Enid finally started to let herself feel again.