#let me sprint pls let me cover more ground in this confusing world i dont know what tO DO

[aria0fgold]

Yaknow what, I'm just gonna treat Yume Nikki as a type of game I can only play for a short time everyday to enjoy everything in it.

[hartviqs]

#5 w/ carl grimes pls

Prompt #5 : “Why do you hate me?”

Warnings : angst, so much angst, crying, arguing??

The shopping centre was definitely bigger than your group had originally thought. Thinking there was hardly any chance that they would run into trouble, Rick had decided the group of four should split up, meaning him and Michonne would search one part of the mall, while you and Carl searched another. You were only supposed to be looking for supplies, things like medicine, and food, and any guns which may or may not have been left lying around.

But, due to your tremendous luck, you and Carl had run into a herd of roughly thirty walkers on the second floor. At first, you had done your best to take out the ones closest to you, figuring that if you could get rid of as many as possible, you’d have a better chance of outrunning the rest. Although, before you could raise your machete to the next walker, a hand had clamped down over your own, and you were suddenly being dragged in the direction of a drugstore.

With only mild complaint, you followed Carl through the shattered window of the store, hopping over the shards with ease. You cast a quick glance over your shoulder, spotting the herd of walkers following you at a frighteningly quick pace, before immediately facing forwards again. “Carl!” You exclaimed in worry, having no idea where he was leading you, or if he even had a plan.You almost lost your balance as Carl failed to warn you of the abandoned shopping baskets littering the ground, but thankfully, Carl was there to drag you to your feet, pulling you towards the back of the store.

“Don’t stop running!” He told you, pushing you in front of him, before jabbing a finger towards a windowless door behind the counter, “Get to that room, don’t stop!”

You didn’t hesitate to do as told, your machete still at the ready as you sprinted towards the counter, leaving Carl at the mouth of the aisle to hold off the walkers. Reaching the counter, you jumped over it, your jeans skidding over the glass surface of it, before your boots hit the floor with a thud. You heard the sound of gunshots coning from behind you, but you ignored it, instead focusing on opening the door to the backroom.

You jerked the doorhandle for a moment, hitting your shoulder against the wood roughly. With a groan, you looked back at Carl, watching him nail a walker in the head with ease, “It’s locked!”

“Then find the key!”

“Don’t shout at me!” You hurriedly began searching the counter, throwing open the cupboards to search through them too, before your eyes fell ona small, glass cabinet under the counter, which held five sets of keys. You heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping in annyoance. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” You grumbled, earning a rather pissed off shout from Carl.

“Any time now, Y/N!” He called to you, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

You threw a glare his way, but said nothing, immediately beginning to rifle through the keys, searching for the right one. It took a little over a minute to find the right one, which just so happened to have the words ‘back room’ printed on the front, and within the next few moments, you had unlocked the door, ready to lock it again. “Carl!” You barked at your companion, tucking your machete back into your belt before lifting your father’s hunting rifle up to aim, which had previously been slung over your shoulder.

Carl turned, seeing you ready to cover him, and quickly lowered his own gun, breaking into a sprint towards the counter. Bullets sailed past Carl’s head, a little close for his liking, but each one hit its mark perfectly. Just like you had done, althought with a little less grace, Carl jumped over the counter, before running straight into the room behind you. You shot one more walker, hitting it perfectly in the forehead, before following Carl into the back room.

As soon as you made it in, Carl slammed the door shut, locking it. But before you could heave a sigh of relief, Carl was shouting at you, his hand raised to point at you angrily, “What the hell was that?” He barked first, brow furrowing at your confused expression, “What took you so long?”

You stuttered for a moment, too confused to formulate a quick, witty response. “I couldn’t find the key,” You confessed slowly, clutching your gun to your chest protectively. “And besides, I only took a minute. What crawled up your ass?”

Carl opened his mouth to shout back at you, before cutting himself off. Either he had decided that what he wanted to say was too cruel to speak aloud, or he was trying to give off the illusion of actually having a decent point but not wanting to fight with her. Either way, his behaviour had pissed you off.

There had been a time when you enjoyed being alone with Carl. Recently, though, he’d turned into somewhat of an asshole.

You remained silent, slouching against the wall off shelves and allowing yourself to slide down until you hit the floor. Carl wrinkled his nose sourly, before rubbing his face with his hand, sitting against the wall opposite you, just as the walkers reached the door, and then started to hammer on it.

For a while, you sat in silence as the walkers hammered on the door, knowing you were in there. You occasionally looked back at Carl to find him already looking your way, but he never said anything. At last, you grew tired of his annoyed gaze, and quickly dropped your rifle to the ground with a sharp thud to catch his attention. “Why do you hate me?” You began, narrowing your eyes at him as he made a face similar to that of a deer caught in headlights, “I just think it’s funny how—”

“How what?” Carl responded with a slight snap, before lowering his voice, “I don’t hate you.”

You paused, raising your eyebrows, staring him dead in the eye in an attempt to discourage him from lying. He stared back, which irked you. “Then why do you treat me like I’m some dumb thirteen year old?” You continued to pry, refusing to just drop it, “You— You look at me like I’m some wounded animal, and you tail me like I’m a kid who can’t shoot, or fight, or defend myself. I’m not four, I’m not weak. I’m strong.”

Carl stared back at you for a minute, his lips holding a slight curl to them, as if he were amused by your sudden outburst. He sat still like that, his legs folded underneath him, before he lifted his hand to adjust his hat on his head. “I don’t hate you,” He repeated, ignoring the way you rolled your eyes, “Honestly. I don’t.” His face dropped slightly then, as if he were about to confess something. He opened his mouth to speak, before flinching slightly as a particularly loud bang emitted from the door as one of the walkers hurled itself against it. Immediately, Carl tried to change the subject, “We should barricade the door just in ca—”

“No,” You interrupted, eyebrows furrowed into a frown, “Say it.”

“Say what?”

“What you were gonna say, just then,” You pressed, glaring at him in annoyance. He really wasn’t making it any easier.

Carl opened his mouth again, taking in a short breath. “I don’t hate you.”

“We covered that,” You snapped back quickly, “What I’m asking now is, if you dont hate me, why do you treat me the way you do? Why do you get so pissed off when I make an honest mistake. Or, in this case, do nothing at all.”

“You were taking too long.”

“Bullshit!” You snapped, falling silent when Carl said nothing in response. You heaved a long sigh, lifting your hand to massage your forehead, finally deciding to drop the subject. If he wanted to be an asshole, who were you to stop him?

“I care about you,” Carl suddenly murmured, his bottom lip between his teeth as his eyes remained locked on one of the tiles on the floor just next to where you were sat.

Your lips parted in surprise, your mouth feeling a little dry all of a sudden. “What?” You asked him, your voice laced with confusion.

Carl looked hesitant, blinking slowly, before bravely lifting his gaze to look you right in the eye. “I care about you. That’s why,” He told you honestly, leaning his head back against the wall to look up at the ceiling, while your eyes remained fixed on him, your expression one of shock and annoyance.

“No,” You started, swallowing thickly, a sort of anger burning in your chest, “You don’t get to do that. To treat me like shit, and then tell me you love me like I’ll— like I’ll just fall into your arms and we’ll live happily ever after—”

“I never said I loved you,” Carl insisted.

“That’s not my point,” You bit back, eyes narrowed on him, “Why couldn’t you deal with your feelings the normal way?”

Carl widened his eyes in offense, giving a bitter scoff as the walkers hammered on the door, their incessant noise nothing but background music to their argument. “Do I look like a normal kid to you?” He questioned you, face tugged down into a glare, “I was eleven, and the world ended. You think I ever learned how to talk to a girl?”

“I was eleven too!” You shouted, growing angry with his idiotic excuses, “You’re not special, none of us are. Both of us were children thrown into a war, that doesn’t give you a good reason to be a jackass!” Your eyes were burning, now. You could feel the tears stinging in your eyes, threatening to spill at any moment.

A long moment of silence passed. Carl’s anger morphed into guilt, his brow furrowed sadly as you stared at the wall, trying to stop the tears from slipping down your cheeks. You’d never really been good at keeping your emotions inside. “Why?” You asked finally, “Why’d you do it?”

Carl gave a rather pitiful sniff of his own. “Because I knew you’d never feel the same,” He told you honestly, looking up just in time to see your anger skyrocket once again.

“But I do!” You exclaimed quickly, a hot tear spilling quickly down your cheek,  “You know how shitty that makes me feel? Especially because this is how I get to find out that you feel the same. I thought you hated me!” Carl leaned forwards, letting his hat fall to the floor miserably as his head dropped into his hands. “And for what?” You cried, tempted to hurl your rifle at him, “Because you liked me and— and you didnt know how to deal with it?”

“I’m sorry!” Carl shouted finally, voice hoarse as he successfully silenced you, head now raised, “I— I thought it would be easier. For both of us. I thought— I thought if I was distant, if I hardly saw you, and when I did, if I acted like a dick, made you hate me, then it would all go away, go back to normal.” He swallowed thickly, hands balled into fists, “But it didn’t. It got worse, and by that time…”

“You thought I hated you.”

Carl’s voice was barely above a whisper now. “Yeah.”

You nodded slowly, lips pressed into a firm line. You quickly lifted your hand to swipe the tear off your cheek, sniffling loudly as you did so. After a minute or two of nothing, you slowly kicked your foot out, nudging his leg gently, but keeping your eyes on the ground. “Come over here,” You told him slowly, voice still shaking, “Get away from the door, just in case.”

Carl looked up, almost surprised by your words, but didn’t complain. He slowly got to his feet, picking up his hat, too, before shuffling across the room to where you were sat. He leaned against the wall of shelves, slowly allowing his feet to slide across the cool ground as he sank to the floor beside you.

His thigh was warm against yours, and his foot nudged yours as he rocked it from side to side nervously. He had that same look as before, like he was about to say something. “What do we do now?” He asked, his hat resting in his lap as he fiddled with its rim.

You shrugged carefully. “We wait for the walkers to get bored, and then keep looking for supplies,” You told him tiredly, blinking to rid your eyes of any unwanted tears, “Or we.. we wait for your dad and Michonne to come rescue us.”

Carl let out a short breath of amusement, similar to that of a scoff. “I meant.. with us,” He murmured, chewing on his lower lip again, “We.. both know we like each other now, so—”

“What do you think we should do?” You interrupted, watching as he slowly lifted his hat up to study it.

He shrugged slowly, a slight smile coming to his face now. “I guess we just let things play out,” He told you, turning to place his hat on your head, before he adjusted it so it fell just over your eyes.

You couldn’t help but smile, too, feeling his arm nudge against yours, as if it were edging towards your shoulders. “Yeah?” You asked, cocking a brow at him in amusement as he slowly lifted his arm to wrap around you, squeezing you once.

Carl gave a nod, fringe falling into his eyes, “Yeah.”