Fix You ! Cegan

XXVI

Despite the fact that he has been sleeping for god only knows how long he felt himself drifting in and out of sleep rather quickly. The first two or three times he felt himself slip Neagn had woken him immediately and said something about food, but he was too tired to even respond and he just shook his head. He wasn't that hungry anyways. He was just tired- it was an exhaustion that he had never felt, one that he felt like reached every bone in his body. He woke up once and had Negn carry him to the bathroom, knowing that he would never make it there himself, but he was fast asleep by the time he even got back into the bed. He curled back into Negans lap happily without even knowing it and happily drifted off again. Right now sleep was the only thing he wanted.

Hours continued to tick by. At one point Negan had tried to move from under him, and Carl just grabbed onto his shirt and sleepily whispered to him to not go anywhere. It was rare for him to show any kind of need and Negan, who knew this well, decidedly stayed put with Carls hand knotted tightly in his shirt like he was clinging to it for life.

At one point he could have sworn he heard his dads voice floating above him, but his brain chalked it up to a lucid dream, because there was no way Negan and Rick could be in the same room for more than two minutes without death threats and a certain level of shouting, and the voices above him were calm and soothing. Someone was running a hand through his hair and he burrowed into the touch.

The thought of his dad and Negan watching over him- even if that's all it was-just a thought brought on by a dream- suddenly brought a calmness that he wasn't sure he had ever felt- at least since the end of the world had hit. The two of them, and their hostility towards each other, were Carl's greatest stressors. He had never actually allowed himself to wonder what it would be like if the two of them were civil with each other for longer than 3 seconds, even if it was just for his benefit. They were his only two sources of comfort in the entire world, and the fact that they were constantly pitted against each other just led to him being even more conflicted and stressed constantly.

***

There was a sudden knock on the door, and Negan jumped from his place on the bed. Carl was contentedly lying with his head in his lap. He knew very well who was on the other side of the door and he sure as hell wasn't going to answer it like this. He tried to gently slip from underneath Carl and to his surprise the boy jumped and his hand grabbed his shirt tightly.

"Shh, baby. I'm just gonna-"

"Stay." Carl whispered out, burrowing himself into Negan more. "Just stay, please? 'm just so tired an' sleep better with you here. " Carl never opened his eye, but Negan could tell he was half pleading with him because of the tone in his voice. Something he never did unless he was in that half-conscious state and had let his guard down completely.

"Okay. I'll stay right here."

"Thank you." And Carl immediately fell silent again and his breathing returned to a slower pace almost immediately, his hand kneading into Negans white tee with a death grip.

The knock came again.

"Just bring 'im in Dwight." Negan said hesitantly. He knew it was no use moving Carl. The door swung open and revealed Dwight, as well as the last person on earth that Negan really wanted to see with Carl sleeping in his lap- a blindfolded Rick. Dwight led Rick into the room, a hand on the mans back. Shutting the door, Dwight turned around to Negan, who nodded at him. He took the blindfold off Rick, who took in the sight before him.

"Well Rick this wasn't exactly how I pictured your first impression of my lovely abode, but your stubborn ass kid here doesn't want me to move, so this will have to do." He drawled out in his usual annoyed tone that he reserved for Rick.