-Riley-

Carl and I had spent the last two hours reading a selection of novels in the hopes of passing the time, which we did successfully. 

We only realized what time it was when it became too dark to read, and we discovered it had been a whole day since our friends' and (in Carl's case at least) family's, death.

It was a painful reality to come to terms with, but we found comfort in the knowledge that we were still not entirely alone, and more importantly, we comforted one another. 

I was just about to suggest that Carl rested up for the night, when, having picked up another book, he asked curiously "Riley, have you read this one before?"

I couldn't identify the title of the book for a moment, but eventually my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I made out the words...

Fifty Shades of Grey? 

Ah....

"Nah, Carl, don't read that," I dismissed him, trying to resolve the situation in the least awkward way possible, but Carl was still in elementary school when the apocalypse began, and was naturally confused and curious on the subject. 

"Why not?" he inquired in a hilariously innocent manner, and I clenched my jaw at introducing the topic, which Carl was clearly quite new on. 

Jesus Christ, this is painful... 

I found it quite ironic that I was at ease with slaughtering masses of once-human creatures, but struggled and stumbled to explain this sort of thing to Carl.

"It's, uh... romantic," I elaborated as vaguely as possible, wanting to give Carl a satisfactory answer without delving too much into the topic, but I knew the young Grimes well, and as I suspected he wouldn't let up.

"What, you mean... you mean like, kissing?" he asked, smiling meekly and blushing at the mention of the word.

He's so damn cute, but this is so damn awkward...

I was pained inside as I realized that Carl wasn't going to relent any time soon, so there was only one way to fully resolve the conversation.

"Nah, Carl, I mean..." I hesitated a moment, knowing that many more questions would probably grow from this answer, but ultimately decided to get it over with, "I mean sex."

"Oh," Carl stammered, blushing an insane red at the mention of the word.

"Yeah," I sighed, pursing my lips as frustrating silence descended for a moment. Carl looked down at the floor in embarrassment, and I joined him. 

Discovering a 14 year old who can kill - some would argue even murder - but with no knowledge of sex or anything along those lines, was hilarious. The only thing was; this 14 year old was my boyfriend, and that introduced a new level of awkwardness to the situation.

He pursed his lips and sighed deeply, chuckling slightly at the two of us, tense with embarrassment, as finally the scorching red on our faces beginning to fade as it returned to its normal shade.

They were the most awkward couple of minutes of my life...

I should probably break the silence before it kills me.

"Give that here," I grinned, motioning to that damned book, as he passed me the novel with a confused expression on his face. 

With that, I answered his perplexed look by throwing the book out of the bedroom window. In a satisfactory fashion, its pages rustling as they encountered the gusts of wind that blew outside, the book began its inevitable downward spiral toward the ground.

Carl chuckled as the book plummeted away.

"It was just confusing things," I smirked, as Carl nodded in firm agreement, and we both laughed at the painful recollection of what had easily been our most awkward conversation to date - perhaps my most awkward one ever, and I could most likely say the same for Carl.

The blanket of darkness was beginning its daily travel, and with no light or power, any further reading was futile.

If that book was any indication, then I was thankful for the darkness. 

It drew a bittersweet conclusion to what I could only describe as the second most gut-wrenching day of my life, and in many ways it overshadowed the ill-fated events of three years ago.

Not only had my life been turned upside down, but my love's life had too. 

But what prevented this day from ruining my remnants of a life, as the other one had, was the fact that whilst we were both grieving inside, we did have each other. 

That was often something we took for granted, even in times such as these.

I was determined not to make that mistake.

Especially not now.

--

Sorry I haven't updated for a while - the problem with my school is that we get bombarded with tests just after Christmas, and revision had to take priority. 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and found it funny. 

Enjoy that feeling while it lasts, people, because it won't be this fun for too long ;)