Beauty in Death - The Walking Dead

-twenty two-

Reunion

(A/N: Set during the episode Inmates. Not going to follow the plot of it, though. It's going to revolve around the characters I want it to. In this case, it's Chloe, Carl, Michonne, and Rick.)

When the door opened and Chloe saw Rick and Carl on the other side, her heart nearly burst with joy. Michonne wasted no time in hugging Carl, and Chloe found herself wrapping her arms around Rick. "What happened to you?" She asked.

"Governor got the upper hand," Rick replied.

"It's a good thing I was there to save your ass, then." Michonne grinned. Rick couldn't help but return the smile.

Chloe turned to Carl, who was staring at her with wide eyes. "You look like you've seen a ghost," she said to him. He rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her. Chloe was a bit surprised at first, but then hugged him back.

"We thought you guys were dead," Carl said. His voice was soft, like he only wanted Chloe to hear. She buried her face in his shoulder. She was here, she was alive, if he could feel her presence, then he was calm.

➵

Chloe and Carl found themselves sitting on the porch outside while Rick and Michonne sat inside the house, discussing what to do next.

"Wait, wait, wait," Chloe held up a hand and looked at Carl. "You're telling me that you ate 112 ounces of chocolate pudding all by yourself?" She asked.

Carl laughed. "What can I say? I'm a man of many talents." He shrugged. Chloe pouted. "What?"

"I can't believe you didn't save any for me!" She exclaimed and then playfully shoved Carl. He laughed and raised his hands in surrender.

"In my defense, I wasn't sure if—" He stopped himself, his face falling. "I wasn't sure if I was ever gonna see you or anybody else again." He admitted.

Chloe frowned and looked at him. "Well, I'm here, so is Michonne. You're seeing us." She paused a moment. "I didn't see Judith in there. Is she napping?"

The color from Carl's face drained and he looked down at his hands. Chloe tilted her head and then heard him sniff. "She... she didn't..." He trailed off. Chloe's eyes widened and she wrapped her arms around Carl.

"Oh my God," She whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Baby Judith. Possibly the only good thing left in the world—and she was gone. How could that be? How could she have been taken like that? It wasn't fair. Chloe felt the tears prick the corners of her eyes, but she kept them in.

Carl leaned into her touch and sighed. "It's okay, at least she's with my mom now," He said softly. He pulled away and wiped his eyes and looked at her. "When the Governor attacked, you ran off to find Kacy. Did you?" He asked.

She hesitated for a moment, but then shook her head. "No, but I think she got out on the bus," Chloe replied. "I'm gonna find her. I've got to."

Carl nodded and looked at her. Her eyes were filled with determination, he'd seen that look before. She turned to him and offered a smile, but Carl could tell that it was a fake one. He grabbed her hand in an attempt to comfort her in some way and smiled back. "I'll help."

"Thank you." She nodded.

➵

Later that evening, when things had settled down, they started trying to find things to eat. Carl and Rick had some supplies from the bar they raided, and Carl had some other supplies from the houses he'd gone to while Rick was passed out.

Chloe was munching down on some old stale cornflakes and chips herself. It wasn't much, but it would get her through the night. "Tomorrow, I'll go clear some of these houses," Michonne said to them.

"I'll go, too." Carl nodded. Chloe would have volunteered, but she figured it would be better if she stayed at the house and watched after Rick. He had just been unconscious the past two days, after all.

When the sun had finally dipped below the horizon and the moon and stars rose into the night sky, Chloe went upstairs and found herself opening a window and sitting out on the roof. Was it dangerous? Maybe. Did she care? No.

"What're you doing out here?" She turned her head and saw Carl climbing out the window and onto the roof to join her.

She shrugged. "Just looking at the stars."

Carl sat down next to her. Chloe pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees. "Do you think Kacy's alive?" She asked suddenly. Carl looked at her in surprise. "It just seems like, if she died... I would be able to... to tell, y'know?" She looked at him.

"I think she's alive," Carl said. "I think you would be able to tell, too."

"I have mixed feelings about it." She shrugged. "On the one hand, there's this part of me that's saying she's definitely out there somewhere. But the other part of me is saying there's no hope."

"Well... which side are you gonna listen to?" Carl asked.

Chloe sighed and sat up. She glanced up at the sky. "I'm not sure yet," she replied and then looked at him. "Which side would you listen to?"

Carl couldn't help but stare at her. The moonlight bounced off of her blonde curls and seemed to envelope her. Her face was shining, and she looked so... beautiful.

"Whichever side is pulling harder." He felt himself moving closer to her, and he couldn't stop.

Chloe was leaning toward him, too. Her voice was no more than a whisper now. "How am I supposed to tell which is pulling harder?" She asked.

"When you know, you just... know."

Carl closed the space between them, not being able to take it any longer. He pressed his lips against hers, and went he felt her kiss him back, his heart nearly burst out of his chest. He could hardly believe it; he was kissing Chloe! Chloe was kissing him!

When they pulled away, only because they needed to take a breath, they stared at each other for a moment before looking down. "We should... probably get inside," Chloe said as she got to her feet.

Carl nodded. "R-right..."

They both climbed back in through the window and stood in the empty bedroom that had once been a young teenage boy's. Chloe cleared her throat and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "Well, uh... goodnight," she said.

"Yeah... night..." Carl replied. She turned to walk away, but then, in a spontaneous moment, she turned back around and planted another kiss on Carl's lips before scurrying off.

Carl stood there, smiling like an idiot. For the first time since the fall of the prison, he felt content.

➵

BAM. THEY FINALLY KISSED.

Not gonna lie, I had A LOT of fun writing this chapter! By the way, their office ship name is Chlarl. #Chlarl.

This chapter is dedicated to lovelymaddiegurl980 for shipping Chlarl as hard as I do XD

Comment and vote!

Read on, loves!

~Madison