NATALIE

I spun around when I heard my name. There was a teenage boy there staring with a weapon pointed at me. He had shoulder-length hair and a sheriff hat. Then it dawned on me and I realized who it was.

"C-Carl?" I said, unsure. It couldn't be him, could it? Carl Grimes was dead. He was dead. He had died a long time ago and the person in front of me was just someone else. Carl Grimes was chubby and short. The boy in front of me was…he couldn't be Carl. Nobody could change so much. I realized I had been staring for more than a minute but that didn't seem to bother him because he was staring too.

"Nat?" He said and I let out a little gasp as I heard the nickname only Carl called me. I didn't know what I was doing, I had zoned out but before I knew what was happening I had rushed forward and threw my arms around him.

I felt a single tear slide down my cheek as I buried my head in his shoulder. It was a long time before he lifted his hands up and wrapped them around my waist. I was sobbing by then into his shoulder and I felt his arms tighten around me.

It felt strange since I didn't know this person I was embracing. I breathed in his scent and it was just the same. He never smelled bad, even in this zombie apocalypse. Carl pulled away and cupped my chin as he stared into my eyes. I didn't want to pull away; I wanted to be in his arms forever.

"Natalie?" He said, his face full of concern "Are you okay?"

I nodded slowly and hugged him again. I couldn't believe it was really him. His voice had changed so much.

"Carl" I finally got myself to say.

"It's me" he said and smiled. I felt my knees going weak and I mentally slapped myself. This was Carl we were talking about.

He seemed to notice something was wrong and he helped me regain my balance. I felt myself blush but to cover up I quickly said "I missed you…so much"

"Me too" he said and tucked my hair behind my ear. I gazed into his eyes. His eyes were so blue. I never remember them being like this. I was probably imagining Carl like this because I had been alone for so long. He was probably like any other average guy our age. He probably wasn't so beautiful in real. God. What is wrong with me?

I heard someone clear their throat and we finally broke off our stare and I looked up at the woman from earlier. I gaped at her. I can't believe I didn't notice her the whole time I was hugging Carl.

"So you finally found your best friend back again, huh?" She said and grinned "I'm Michonne by the way. You never asked me my name"

I giggled because I was so happy and said "How did you find him?"

"Oh, we go a long way back" Carl said and smiled again. Ugh. Why did he keep doing that?

"How'd you figure out it was him I was talking about?" I asked her.

"Well you said he was cute and he's the only cute guy around here" She said and I immediately blushed.

"I never said he was cute" I mumbled and Michonne laughed.

"Come on Natalie" He said and started to walk out. I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and said "I'm so glad you're here"

I then entwined my fingers in his and we continued walking. Michonne followed us and I saw her raise her eyebrows when she our hands clasped together.

"What? I just found him, I'm not going to let go of him" I said to her and she laughed. I glanced at Carl but he had a serious expression on his face. He led us both back to a place but midway he let go of my hand to kill some corpses. I felt a bit disappointed at that though.

"Here's where me and my dad are holed up. We found Michonne just today" Carl said and opened the door. We walked inside and I saw Mr. Grimes there.

"Carl, god. I was worried!" He said and hugged him then he saw me. He gaped at me and cried "Oh my god. Natalie!"

He ran up to me and lifted me up in his arms "Gosh, you've gotten thinner" I laughed.

"And prettier" Carl added. Oh. Mr. Grimes put me down and I had almost turned crimson red by then.

After about an hour, I had changed my dirty clothes covered with blood and put on a purple tank top with cargo pants. I tied my black hair into a high ponytail and started to look around the house. Michonne had gone out to look for survivors from their previously believed safe haven. A prison to be exact. I wish I'd stumbled upon it and maybe I and Carl would have reunited sooner. I walked into a room and saw Carl there in front of a TV. He was staring at it and a pile of video games. He had a small smile on his face as he went through the pile.

"Carl?"I asked. He suddenly threw the video game back and jumped up.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare ya" I said.

"Like hell you didn't" he said smirking. I walked up to him and said "So what's up? Missing those nights?"

He cleared his throat and I corrected myself "Video Game Nights"

He nodded and said "Yeah, I guess"

"What did you mean by that earlier?" I asked him.

"By what?" He asked.

"Uh, nothing. Forget it" I said and walked away. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"God, you're the worst at pretending you're okay" He said.

"Carl, let go of my arm" I said.

"Oh come on; just tell me what you were going to say. Were you asking about when I said you had gotten prettier? I didn't mean it like that, okay? I meant it like a best friend kind of cute and pretty, you know?" He said.

"Yeah, I get it Carl" I said and smiled. I heard a knock and he quickly let go of me. It was his dad.

"Natalie sweetheart, can I talk to you?" He asked me and I went up to him. He led me away from Carl and said "You might have noticed that Carl is a little bit different" He said to me. I just nodded. Where was this going?

"He's not acting his age anymore. He's growing too big too fast. He needs to be a boy again" He said.

"What do I have to do with this?" I said swallowing.

"You used to be so close. You know him better than I do. I need you to try to get him back on track"

"Get him back on track?" I spat "He's not insane, Mr. Grimes! He's just different!"

"He killed an innocent person Natalie! Who meant no harm to him" He said, almost yelling.

"Yeah well. This world changes you!" I cried back at him.

"You obviously care about him more than anything else Natalie. Just please, take care of him. Make sure he's okay" He said.

"I sure will" I said and stomped away from him.

A/N: Thoughts?