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Forever Rising Phoenix	By : ImagineLayla131 Category: S through Z > The Walking Dead Views: 7147 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH THE WALKING DEAD FRANCHISE. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY FRANK DARABONT, AMC, ROBERT KIRKMAN AND TONY MOORE. NO MONEY/PROFIT IS BEING MADE OFF OF THIS FANFICTION!

Chapter List
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Hello world and my wonderful readers! How is everybody doing?
This chapter is actually kind of sad in my opinion, but still heartfelt and eye opening.
AGAIN, What would be the point of FanFiction if some of the characters always resembled how they were on the shows? If you don't like my story or have a problem with my writing style, then don't bother reading it.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NOR HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH THE WALKING DEAD FRANCHISE OR JELLY BELLY. ALL PROPERTIES OWNED BY FRANK DARABONT AND AMC (TELEVISION SERIES), ROBERT KIRKMAN AND TONY MOORE (COMIC BOOK SERIES), DAVID KLEIN AND THE JELLY BELLY COMPANY, RESPECTIVELY. I ONLY OWN MY OWN ORIGINAL IDEAS AND CHARACTERS.
Chapter Sixteen: Repercussions, Part Two
For their first disagreement, things had ended pretty well. "We should talk to Carl, it's been almost two hours. Are you ready?"
Rick hesitated, but found himself nodding. Better now than later, they had to hit it head on. "Yes, I am."
TEN MINUTES LATER
Rick and Delilah were outside Carl's door. He had turned the music off some time before they arrived, but found the door was still locked. Delilah knocked softly. "Carl? It's Delilah. Your dad and I want to talk to you." No answer.
"Maybe he's asleep, we should come back later."
Delilah shook her head. "No, he's ignoring us. We can't push this back any longer, Rick. You know I'm right."
He sighed, dreading this conversation, but knew it had to be done. "Yes, you are. Let's do it."
She pulled out a huge ring of keys and unlocked the door. They stepped inside to find Carl on his bed reading a Spiderman comic, not even looking up. "Hey, Carl."
Carl must not have realized that they walked in, because he was surprised to see them. "How did you get in here? I locked all the doors."
Delilah sat down. "You can't outsmart me, kid. Besides, that's one of the perks of being in charge, having the set of master keys to every single room here." She spun around the giant key ring before pulling a bag of Jelly Bellies out of her pocket. "Want some?" Before leaving, Delilah had changed into a red and white two layered shirt with jeans and her favorite white sneakers.
He gave her an odd look before shaking his head and glaring. "No, thanks. I'm not a little kid, don't try to bribe me with candy." Carl went back to reading his comic book. The discussion they wanted to have with him was a moot point, he knew everything and they were wasting their time.
Delilah looked a little shocked. "I'm not, it helped me whenever times were tough, it's why I always have a secret stash on me." She leaned into Rick. "You were right, that didn't work."
"I told you." He whispered back, to which she innocently shrugged.
"Hey, I've never been in this position before, I'm a newbie. You go first, you're more experienced, then I'll cut in whatever. I believe in you, Rick. Do it for us." She gave him a comforting smile and hopped up on top of the desk, opening the bag of Jelly Bellies and began quietly munching on a few as Rick leaned against the wall next to her. Delilah was right, he had to do it for them.
"Carl, I apologize again that you had to find out like this, you need to believe us when we tell you that it wasn't how we wanted you to find out." Carl continued reading the comic book, not even acknowledging Rick, which made him talk more. "We were getting to know one another better and didn't know where it would go, except the more time we spent together, the more we liked each other and things got serious. The plan was to sit you down and tell you about us after everybody in the group was found."
"Why keep it a secret?" Carl finally spoke up.
"For the reason that neither one of us knew how serious things would turn out, we didn't need it to be a spectacle, considering this is my first relationship since your mother passed away."
"You don't love Mom anymore, do you?"
Rick heavily sighed. "Of course I love your mother, I'll always love her for as long as I live. Except she's gone, we've both grieved long enough and we have to move forward. Delilah helped me do that. You didn't expect me to be single forever, did you?"
This made any after school special like a damn cakewalk. Delilah decided it was time to interject.
"Carl, I really like your dad and I like being with him. Haven't you noticed that he's changed in the past couple of months? If I'm the one that makes him happy, shouldn't that make you happy, too?"
They watched Carl throw down the comic book and look at her angrily.
"Bullshit, Delilah! You both have been lying to all of us. Now I know that you did teach Judith to call you "Mommy". I see right through you. You're one of those "unlucky in love" women who can't find the right guy to have a family with, so you have to sweep in and take somebody else's. This isn't your family to take!"
Delilah looked over at Rick, trying not to smirk, but could see he was annoyed, and she turned back to Carl. "That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard and entirely untrue! Where you came up with that, I don't know, but I can tell you this. I genuinely care about the three of you. Very, very, much. You're my friend, I think of you as a little brother."
"You're also old enough to know what happens when two people meet and have a connection, they spend time together and establish a relationship, which is what we did." Rick knew Carl was mad, but he needed to be more mature about all this.
Delilah nodded. "He's right. I know it's hard for you to see your dad with somebody else, that's absolutely understandable. I had the same feelings when my mom started dating again after my dad died, but in the end, I wanted her to be happy."
Carl wasn't letting anything either one of them were saying sink in, he was too angry. "We're not friends anymore! You're not my friend or my sister! You're just the whore that fucked my dad!"
Her mouth went slightly agape, but for Rick, it was the last straw.
"CA-RL! WATCH YOUR MOUTH! Don't you talk to her like that!" He hadn't gotten this angry at Carl since they had escaped the prison, when Carl took all the losses out on him. Delilah had never seen Rick this heated before, it was both intense and terrifying. He pushed off from the wall, trying to proceed over to Carl, but she hopped off the desk and blocked him with her arm.
"No, it's ok, Rick." Delilah lowered her voice. "Calm down, I have an idea." She turned back to a still fuming Carl and walked over to the edge of his bed, her arms crossed, and looked down at him. "Let it out, tell me things that I haven't heard a thousand times already, like that I'm a skanky slut whore and a bitch, which I'm not. Unlike my sister that screwed every guy without a condom from Simi Valley to San Francisco, I've only slept with two, your father included, but I know that you're infuriated. You can't hold it in or it's gonna fester up and eat you alive. I care about you too damn much to let that happen. Get it off your chest. Do anything you have to do that's not physically lashing out at another person. Yell, scream, throw something, whatever it is, but don't hit your dad. He didn't do anything wrong, this was something we agreed on for everybody's best interest. Yours, mine, his."
She didn't like his words, but she understood his anger and prepared herself for what was next to come. Rick thought this was a little unconventional, but he decided to just go with the flow. Carl glared over at him.
"How could you do that to me? You knew I liked her first, Dad!" That was probably what was bothering Carl the most. He knew his dad would move on eventually and could have gotten anybody he wanted, but why Delilah?
Rick couldn't help but roll his eyes at him. "Carl, get realistic. I know you well enough that you knew nothing would happen, that it was only a crush."
"Doesn't matter, you still knew how I felt. Delilah's closer to my age than yours!"
"That's something I'm overlooking. Before Delilah found us and we discovered Judith was still alive, I was in darkness, watching the world go by. I had to move on, because I was letting the loss consume me. I was practically a walker, empty inside and going through the motions. It's no way to live, and I see it in you, too. We have to keep on living, that's what Mom would want for us. If this were the world we used to live in, it's been long enough that it's appropriate for me to get back into dating. Delilah brought me back to life. Without her, I'd still be the same miserable I was two months ago. I'm happier than I've been since I found you and your mom in Atlanta."
Delilah turned around and looked at him smiling warmly at her. It made her want to cry tears of happiness at how emotive his words and feelings were, but also tears of frustration from having to restrain her feelings, she was falling more in love with him. She turned back to Carl, who was looking at a Pokemon poster on the wall. She sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Nobody will ever replace your mother. Not me or whomever your dad ends up with, and I'm not trying to, either. Your father loves you and your sister more than anything in this world, there won't be a single thing or person that would ever change that, he would sacrifice his own life to save one of yours in a second. Do you realize how lucky you are, Carl? I didn't have that. Something bad happened to me when I was a few years older than Judith and again when I was not much younger than you are now, and my father couldn't have given a damn. My dad was a rotten malicious sonofabitch. He abused me and my mom on an almost daily basis, he even tried to kill her. We all go through hardships in our journey, but at the end of the day, we have to think of our own happiness as well as others. Who I met two months ago is not the same kid you are now, Carl. You've also changed, you're finally able to be a kid and not have to have the weight of the world on your shoulders like the rest of us. Plus, your relationship with your dad is stronger, too. I know you're angry with him now, but please think this through rationally. You both deserve to be happy."
This was the most Delilah had ever revealed to Carl about her past, but she felt it was necessary to open his eyes about the situation. After everything that happened, he needed to see the bigger picture, which was that his dad had found somebody new. Carl was still looking at the poster after having taken all of Delilah's words in. He knew she was right, but he was still annoyed. The whole discovery of Rick and Delilah made it set in that Lori was further gone.
"I know, and I know I have to accept whatever my dad wants to do, even if I don't like it. What I don't know is if I'll ever get used to my sister thinking somebody else is her mother. The only thing I have left of my mom is Judith, and she'll never get the opportunity to know her like I did! How she acted or spoke, none of that! There's not even a picture anymore. Lori Sarah Campbell Grimes was our mother, you aren't!" Carl could no longer hold back, and he started crying, releasing all his frustrations. Rick walked over, putting his hand on his son's shoulder in an effort to soothe him, only for Carl to flinch. He looked over at Delilah, pained with hopelessness and distress.
The tension in the air was palpable, it crushed Delilah. In a way, they were similar, they didn't have their mothers. Except for all she knew, Rachelle could still be alive somewhere. Carl was with Lori up until her last breath, and he was right about something. There were no longer any physical mementos of her for him or Judith to inherit. Suddenly, a thought came to her mind, one that would hopefully make things a little bit easier in the long run. Delilah walked around to the other side of the bed and grabbed Carl's shoulders, turning him to face her.
"Buddy, look at me."
"No, don't try to comfort me, I don't want to hear it!" He shook his head, crying harder and trying to turn away, but she wasn't giving up.
"Please, just hear me out! I have an idea."
After another moment of crying, he finally stopped, allowing her to speak. Delilah took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
"Carl, what if you guys were still able to have something of your mother?" He looked up at her, confused, as did Rick.
"Huh? What do you mean, how?"
Delilah's next statement was something that made both Rick and Carl's eyes go wide in fear.
"I'll go to the prison and get the picture for you."
OMG OMG OMG OMG! IS DELILAH REALLY GOING TO RISK HER LIFE TO GET THE PICTURE?! WILL RICK AND CARL ALLOW IT?! CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SHE'S LEAVING HOME, WILL BE COMING SOON!
BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE STORY FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW AND SPREAD THE WORD! NO FLAMES!
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Forever Rising Phoenix