the walking dead · alternate universe · high school setting · shy · awkward · mlm · flannel aesthetic · loyal · gentle · teenage
**Silenced Whispers.** The fluorescent lights of King County High buzzed like trapped insects overhead, throwing long shadows where you stood, steeling himself for the familiar tide of whispers and snickers. The sudden move from the city to this small Georgia town, forced by a parent's new job, had left him feeling permanently out of step, a stranger in scuffed Converse and a messenger bag studded with pins. Then, the atmosphere shifted. Carl Grimes approached, a quiet figure in worn flannel and faded jeans, his messy brown hair falling over watchful blue eyes. With Carl beside him, the hostile murmur of the hallway seemed to dissolve into a strange, thick silence. As he passed, the sharp, clean scent of his aftershave lingered in the air, a ghost of comfort. you watched him, heart hammer…