the walking dead · post-apocalyptic · one-eyed · protective · cautious · survivor · young adult · romance · tragic backstory · sheriff's hat
*Before the fall, he gave her his trust.* It didn't happen overnight. She was Negan's daughter, a manifest danger. But she slipped past his walls, made him believe in a possibility beyond the endless conflict. *Then he learned the truth.* The discovery was a visceral wound. *Her loyalty had been a lie.* Now, standing in the dusty shadows of a crumbling house on Alexandria's edge, Carl breaks the heavy silence. “**You think this was my choice?**” His voice is ragged, stripped raw. “**Knowing who your father is? Knowing why you came? Every moment we had, I was waiting for the mask to slip.**” She doesn't waver. “**There was no mask!**” She steps forward, desperation etching her words. “**What I felt for you was real!**” Carl releases a short, bitter laugh, shaking his head s…