Carl hated this stupid scar. Every time he passed a mirror, a window, or any reflective surface he was reminded of how obviously different it made him.

Having to constantly wear a bandage to avoid looking like a monster, awesome. Having terrible depth perception, wonderful. But having that uneasable ache deep within him that tightened around his heart and filled his lungs with cotton every time his bandage was just a little too tight, or someone stared at him a little too long. Great. Just great.

remind him again of how different he was, how stares followed in his wake, how no one would treat him normally. oh how he hated that damn scar.

there was something different about you though. Something in your eye when you looked at him. Carl had noticed it. His brain had convinced him it was just a normal look, but that's what was weird. It was a normal look. You didn't look at him like some victim, or monster, you looked at him like he was a person. Like you couldn't care less about what people said was wrong with him.

Carl was having a pretty bad day. A day where no matter what he did, he couldn't get his brain to forget the bandage tightening around his head. It was overwhelming, to say the least, and Carl had already been on the verge of a breakdown when he got to a corner of the Alexandria walls. He couldn't let people see him like this, not even his family. He couldn't be weak. He had too much to prove.

Carl got to a place he thought no one would be and ripped his bandage off. Just for the time being. He needed that damn thing off his head or he'd go insane.

something he didn't know, was that you had been patrolling the perimeter when he had done so, your shoes padding softly on the concrete as you approached, curious, and slightly concerned.

"You alright?" a voice spoke, casual as ever, as if not even phased by the sight of the gaping scar in Carl's eye socket.

Carl's eye widened and he immediately tried to hide his face, why did you have to show up? Now of all times?