Author's Note: Hey gorgeous! I've missed this story and I'm sorry I didn't have something for you sooner but it's coming together. Here is some Carl and Enid goodness :)
Carl flipped his hair from the left, to the right, then back over again. He let out a frustrated breath and shook his hair so it all fell over his eyes.
He supposed none of it mattered anyway.
He had just gotten back from a disappointing weekend with his mother when Enid had messaged him with an invitation for milkshakes and fries at a local diner, Dellah's.
The diner was close enough to the house that Rick agreed to let him walk to the place by himself.
Carl glanced down at his phone buzzing across the bathroom counter with an incoming FaceTime call from Enid. He quickly denied it and flipped the phone over so he didn't have to look at the screen.
Enid hadn't seen him since he'd come out of his coma and Carl didn't want a blurry video call to be her first introduction to his new face.
He wasn't sure he could handle the pity-not from her.
Enid was finishing her entrance exam for a summer art program in New York and wanted Carl's help for her final project.
He wasn't sure why. He had little to no creativity and probably couldn't offer much advice. Carl knew he couldn't reject his friend any longer.
He had been actively avoiding her visits and her calls for months now. He owed her this
"Carl! Everythan goin okay?" Rick called from the living room and Carl shook himself out of his spiraling thoughts.
"Yeah just getting ready to leave!" He yelled back and Carl heard his father's heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. He gritted a smile as he opened the door.
"You sure you're okay with me going out tonight? You won't get too lonely?" Carl teased and Rick raised a brow as he leaned against the wall across from the bathroom.
"Course I am. You're a young man Carl, I can't expect you to want to hang with your old man all the time." Rick replied easily and Carl sighed. Rick sensed there was something more behind his teasing and waited for his son to elaborate.
"I just mean- if you'd rather me stay home I don't have to go out." Carl offered and Rick frowned. "Maybe I should just stay here tonight." He grumbled with a shrug and Rick thought for a moment.
"Did I ever tell you about my first date with your mother?"
"No, but Cousin Maggie always teases you about it. I think I know the story." Carl answered not really in the mood for reminiscing with his father.
"Yeah I think everyone in King County knows about the date that didn't happen, but nobody knows about the real first date."
This peaked Carl's interest and he quietly waited for his father to continue.
"Don't ask me why, because 20 years later and I still can't figure it, but your mom called me two weeks later to reschedule the date. I couldn't believe she wanted to go out with me again but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth soI began planning. I made reservations at the most expensive place I could afford and picked her up that Friday night with flowers and a hopeful heart ."
"And let me guess it was perfect?" Carl asked and Rick let out laugh.
"Hell no. It was pretty much as bad as it could have been. The restaurant was about 30 minutes out of town. About 10 minutes into the drive my truck started sputterin. We were on the side of the road about a minute after." Rick couldn't keep the smile off his face as he told his son about the disaster of a date. "Your mom was so mad. She sat in the truck with her arms crossed glarin at me through the window, all while I pushed the car back into town. We didn't even get to go to that fancy restaurant, we missed the reservations completely."
Carl bit back a smile as Rick scrubbed his hands over his face and shook his head.
"We ended up at Dellah's Diner eating greasy fries and burgers, and I'll tell you it was the best night I'd ever had. We talked until the place closed and I even made your mom laugh a few times. I thought she was perfect and for some reason, despite everything that led to that night she thought the same of me." Rick's voice grew quiet and Carl cleared his throat.
"That's a nice story and all dad but I'm not sure-."
"Enid is a good friend Carl. She has always been a good friend to you. You don't have to worry about how she'll react to you- she's not the type of friend to shy away from you. To shy away from your feelings. So I'm sayin, don't worry about the date, just be you."
Carl absorbed his father's words, but his mind only seemed to focus on his father calling this a date.
"This is not a date dad." Carl insisted and Rick smirked as he walked away.
"Sure son."
"It's not!" Carl whined and Rick threw his head back and laughed even harder.
"Of course it isn't." Rick said with a wave of his hand had he continued into his room.
Carl looked down at his old baseball shirt, ripped jeans, scuffed Converse and cringed.
This wasn't a date.
Right?
Carl could hit himself.
Of course this was a date. Enid looked prettier than he ever remembered. Her long brown hair was curled and tucked away from her face and even though Carl didn't know jack about makeup he could appreciate the work she did on her eye shadow.
She was wearing a dress ( Carl was sure he hadn't seen her in once since Duane invited them to his baptism). It was pink and short and was turning Carl about the same shade of pink himself.
She hugged him as soon as he arrived at the diner. She hugged him so hard she knocked his dad's sheriff's hat off his head and the air out of his lungs.
Enid pulled back to look at him and he shied away from her curious stare.
"You're still you." She said with such a wide smile that Carl's knees almost buckled. "The eyepatch is badass." She insisted and he believed her.
Carl's mind went blank when Enid took his hand and pulled him to the nearest booth, and his mouth ran dry when she scooted in next to him her leg brushing up against his. She opened the laminated menu completely oblivious to his nerves.
Good lord he was not prepared for this.
He stared at the side of her face and felt his stomach flip. When did his best friend become so.. beautiful?
Of course this was a date. Enid wouldn't look this pretty for just a friend.
"Did you hear me?" Enid asked and Carl blinked, She smiled and shook her head. "I see some things haven't changed. I asked if you want to split a few shakes."
"Uh, yeah that's good." Carl stammered, wiping his palms against his dark colored khakis. He was glad he changed into sometime a bit more formal before he left.
The waitress came and took their order but not before complimenting Enid on how nice she looked.
Dammit. He should have said that.
"Y-you do. Look, look nice." Carl stuttered and he hated that his speech problem chose now of all times to resurface.
"I don't look absolutely ridiculous?" Enid mumbled and Carl shook his head quickly. "My mom somehow convinced me that this was a date." Enid said with a dismissive laugh and Carl's heart dropped.
"Isn't it though?" He said just as quietly and Enid's eyes widened before she looked down at her lap.
"Is that what you want?" She whispered and Carl smiled deciding to take a chance.
"Of course."
As far as first dates go Carl reckoned this was one of the best (not that he had any others to reference). After they clarified with each other that this was in fact a date everything else came easy.
Carl didn't even think he was that funny but Enid spent most of the night clutching her stomach and filling the diner with the sweet sound of her laughter.
She told him about how much school had changed and how she missed having him in science class. She talked about her big sister and her new dog that was "cleverly" named Dog.
"What are you going to do for your birthday?" Enid asked and Carl set down his milkshake as he squinted his eye and tilted his head at Enid- An Rick Grimes original look.
"Huh?" Carl asked completely unaware of what she was talking about.
"Your birthday... It's in two weeks?" Enid repeated and Carl fell back into the booth.
Was it really his birthday? He was usually so excited about it, but with this hell of a year it hadn't even crossed his mind.
"Well I wouldn't mind just spending time with you." Carl answered honestly and Enid blushed as she gave him a smile. Her smile then dissolved into a frown and she shook her head.
"No we have to do something bigger than just hanging out. You're going to be 16 Carl that's a big deal!"
"It's really not." Carl replied with a light laugh and Enid turned to face him completely. Her serious look wiped the smirk off his face.
"What is there to celebrate Enid? My parents are getting a divorce because my mom cheated on my dad with my "uncle" Shane, I may have to repeat sophomore year because of how behind I am, and don't even get me started on-."
Enid silenced his ramblings with a quick but bold kiss to Carl's lips.
His first kiss.
He gave her a goofy smile and leaned in for another. When they pulled away Enid looked at him like he was the sun.
Enid was about as close to an angel as he would ever get on this messed up earth. He realized at that moment how much she meant to him.
"You're alive Carl. And that means so much." Enid said as she held his hand. The action instantly soothed him and he let her words wash over him as he closed his eyes.
"It just doesn't feel right without Duane." Carl said with his eyes still closed and Enid sighed.
She missed Duane too. School was lonely without her friends. She had become a student assistant for Miss Gavin (although she was sure Ms Gavin created the job just so Enid wouldn't have to spend time alone at lunch).
"Do it for him then. Live the life he can't."
Carl opened his eye and stared at her for a beat before smiling.
"I hate it when you're right."
"Well you better get used to it." Enid said as she dunked her fry into Carl's strawberry shake.
He stole a few fries from her plate and smiled as he stared out the window.
Enid pulled her phone out of her purse and scooted closer to Carl.
"Hey Carl." Enid called quietly and before Carl could process what she was doing she had snapped a picture of them catching him completely off guard.
Enid smiled at the picture but refused to show it to Carl despite his pleading and reaching for her phone.
After a while Carl gave up trying to see the picture and the night continued. They talked until Enid's older sister came to pick her up and Rick texted Carl to come home.
She hugged him under the stars and kissed him on his cheek before running to her sister's car.
Carl watched her drive away and headed home with a big smile.
One week after their date while Carl was in physical therapy he got a text from Enid.
It was a picture of her final project for her entrance exam.
It was them.
He stared at the painting of the two of them and he was instantly transformed back to the night. The painting captured a candid moment- Carl was staring at Enid and Enid's eyes were only on him. His hair was messy from being under his dad's hat and Enid's lipgloss was a little smudged.
She did an amazing job of capturing every detail of that night in the painting- she got the lighting right, the color of the booths, she even remembered the tear in the booth right near Carl's head.
But Carl found himself staring at how she had painted him.
She captured the basics, the hair looked realistic and she drew his features accurately. She even painted on a hint of her lip gloss on his own lips that had remained after their kiss.
But Carl found he didn't even notice the eyepatch. He always felt like it was the first thing anyone noticed about him now but in this picture, in the moment she had painted, all he saw was them. How he looked at her. How she was looking at him.
Somehow she had managed to paint him just as he is. He didn't look any less or weaker than he was before everything.
He looked like... Carl.
I finished my project. What do you think?
Carl smiled and made the picture his screensaver.
It was perfect.
Author's Note: Cute right? Carl deserves some happiness and some love! But you know who also deserves some happiness and love? Oh yes, it's time. Next chapter is Rick planning Carl's 16th birthday with a little help from his friend *Cough* Michonne *Cough*. Next chapter Thursday!
