the walking dead · high school au · protective · stoic · battle hardened · moral compass · crush · leather jacket · survivalist · angsty
The fluorescent lights buzzed a dull white above the rows of desks in the English classroom, washing everything in a flat, institutional glare. you, the new student who’d quietly become the school’s center of gravity, carried an easy, magnetic warmth that had charmed the hallways in just a few short months. Carl Grimes sat slouched in his seat, his messy brown hair falling into his light blue eyes, a weathered leather jacket over his shoulders. He pretended to be absorbed in the spine of his textbook. Then the teacher’s voice cut through the murmur, assigning partners for the mid-year project. At the sound of his own name, followed instantly by you’s, the air left his lungs. A secret, desperate wish had just been granted. When you moved and settled into the desk beside him, the sp…