Chapter Text
Glenn remember the first time his mother told him he had a father, and siblings. He'd been so excited, so happy even though he didn't really need anything more then his mother. She'd always been more then enough for him, she'd always loved him and made sure he came first in everything.
He couldn't really grasp what was being said when his mom slapped the big man that smelled strongly of something he knew adults drank sometimes. But he knew his mother was upset and he wasn't so sure anymore about this man that his mother told him would help him with a good school.
Being only 4 years old Glenn was already considered smart, with a bright future ahead of him.
He saw a teen boy, and an' older-then-a-teen guy, and later on his mother had told him they were his brothers. He hadn't been very sure about these boys either, since they looked alot like their father.
But then they started to visit, and even though Glenn was upset when Merle made his mother upset, he looked up to them and loved them from the start. They always played with him, and Merle learned him cool stuff like how to handle weapons, and how to get the kids at school to stop picking at him. His mother had been upset when she had been called to school, having to pick up a 7 year old Glenn who'd punched one of his bullies so hard that his nose started to bleed.
But Glenn was proud, because just as Merle promised, they stopped bullying him.
Daryl always played what ever Glenn wanted to play - no matter if it was an outside game or a video-game, he always let Glenn pick and he took Glenn out to awesome playgrounds. Guarding him and protecting him if other kids were being mean.
He remembered the first time Merle took him out to hunt. His mother had been furious, and he had been picked up by cops when they came out from the woods - but he'd been so proud because Merle had told him he was a natural at hunting and that he was fantastic with his gun. He got to keep the rabbits he'd taken down, and his mother had relented after awhile and made a very delicious rabbit stew in the end.
As he got older he started to understand that he and his brothers were different. Not only by their looks, but that his brothers hadn't had a loving mother like Glenn had. And he started to understand the difference between being a half sibling.
That didn't matter to him nor his brothers though - they clearly loved him the way he were, and he felt the same way about them.
Even though he knew Merle sent money to him and his mother, it was still too expensive to get into the best schools, and to be honest Glenn didn't really mind that. He had only been studying for the sake of his mother, he didn't want to disappoint her.
But when they couldn't pay for the school his mother wanted him to go to, and when his mother had been so sad and told him she was sorry for not being able to pay for it, he had told her the truth about not being very interested in that said school anyway. And also that he had kept up with the studies for her sake.
She had hugged and kissed him, told him she only wanted him to be happy and that he could do whatever he wanted and she'd always be proud over him.
So he dropped out, gotten a job as a pizza resturant as a delivery boy, a had been kind of happy with this. He finally made some money so he could help his mother out with the rent and other things.
Daryl and Merle always supported him, and even though he told Merle he didn't have to send anymore money this oldest brother only scoffed at him "Tha hell ya talking abou' kid?" - still pretending that he didn't do it.
Then a weird illness had struck USA, then the whole world started to report about dead people coming back to life. Glenn had thought this was some kind of giant prank at first, but then quickly realised it actually was happening.
He had started to try and get his mother to go to Merle and Daryl, but she had refused and said that they'd be fine by themselves, that this illness would soon be taken care of.
Glenn had believed her. Until the day he'd been out delivering pizza as usual, and panic had struck in Atlanta.
He was attacked by a walker when he was delivering his first pizza, and when he'd biked back to the resturant it had been overrun by the living dead. He knew they had to get out of the town then, that this was something that no one had ever been able to control in any way.
Discarding his bike he quickly made his way back to where him and his mother lived, keeping to the alleys and trying to keep out of the walkers sight. It had gone well, he'd only been noticed once by a group of walkers but he managed to out-run them.
Then he got to the apartment.. He saw one of his neighbours being eaten alive by 3 walkers, and he had to stop to throw up before he heard a scream that he recognized too well. His mother.
Picking up a discarded baseball bat he took out 2 walkers before he finally reached the door to his apartment, he heard his mother scream again and kicked the door open.
There was 4 walkers in there. Standing over his mother, tearing at her stomach and some had started to eat of her innards.
Things became a big blur as he screamed himself and then proceeded to beat the walkers into bloody pulps, he just kept hitting at their heads until he became aware of his surroundings once more. His mother laying too still at the floor, her beautiful brown eyes staring at nothing, and her chest not moving.
He started to do CPR. His hands slipped on the blood and his fingers touched soft, slimy things that he'd soon realise were his mother's intestense. He started to beat at her chest, screaming out in grief as he realised he was way too late, that his mother couldn't be saved.
Nothing mattered anymore at that moment. He picked his mother up and then sat down on the floor - holding her and just crying, knowing that there still was walkers out there but not caring.
There was some yelling and disturbance outside their front door but Glenn didn't care.
Then suddenly Daryl was there pulling his mother out of his arms and Glenn screamed at him, hold onto her for dear life. He still didn't stand a chance when Merle pulled him off her, and when he kicked at his oldest brother he simply threw him over his broad shoulder and that was the last time he ever saw his mother again.
So many things have changed.
He'd been in shock for some days, refusing to be called "Dixon", not eating, not sleeping, not talking. Then Daryl had started to almost force feed him, and Merle had started almost taunting him until he finally broke and attacked his oldest brother - only to be engulfed in a restricting bear-hug and held until he couldn't cry anymore.
Merle had gotten him to release his anger and grief, even if his method was kind of crude and hurtful at first.
After that some things became easier. And the way his brothers cared for him, and with Merle claiming he was now a "full" Dixon - he started to feel he still had things to live for. He still had a family after all.
How could he not live for them, when they did so much for him?
And yeah, they were nothing like his mother of course, but they were still the best brothers he could've ever wished for. Even if his upbringing was so different from what they've had, both sides did everything to respect each other, and Glenn came to crave for their love and attention even if it usually was given in a rough way.
The meaning of "tough love" had never made more sense then ever before.
After almost 2 weeks they met up with other survivors, and Merle had joked about stealing stuff from them and then leaving again. Or atleast Glenn thought he'd joked since when he's balked at the idea his oldest brother had laughed at him and teased him for being a "lil' pussy", and then never brought up the idea again.
Then their relationship had changed again.
Glenn had been very willing and very excitied about the fact that the big ex-cop thought he would be able to go scavenge by himself - praising his quickness and his way to think fast. So he'd jumped at the offer to go and went without even bothering to tell his brothers about it.
His excitement rising to almost euphoria when he'd found the giant house - totally untouched, with a bad-ass car just waiting for him up on the driveway. The big panicroom inside the house being stocked with different supplies.
He'd hit jackpot. And he'd been sure his brothers and the rest of the camp would be proud of him and his awesomeness.
So when he'd arrived with the kick-ass car, and hopped out to tell them all about his awesome adventure, his world then suddenly turned up-side-down when Merle barked at him, and his red angry face had made it clear that yeah his brothers weren't very impressed with him after all.
Then Merle was grabbing him by his neck, being pulled towards the woods and Glenn knew he was in a shit-load of trouble.
Still he'd been horrified when his brother pulled down his pants and boxers and started to slap his bare butt.
He'd never been spanked before. Hell he'd never had a curfew before.
And at first his screeches was of pure shame and horrification, because yeah... his brother was beating his naked ass for crying out loud.
Then the heat, and the stinging began and he started to sob in pain and humiliation, but the thing that really made him regret his decision earlier that day, was when Merle told him how disappointed he was. And when he realised he'd scared his brothers, and that each and everytime he risked his own life he was hurting his brothers as well.
Somehow Merle must've noticed this, because he slapped him a few more time (and oh did he ever feel those slaps, jesus it stung like a thousand frickin' bees) and then stopped.
Glenn didn't care about his hurting butt though, he only cared for his brother and the fact that he'd disappoint him. He tried to tell him such, and was rewarded with the softening of his olderst brother's eyes, and some kind words.
He still was shaken though that he'd been in this kind of situation, so when Merle told him to find Daryl he ran towards the camp. Because Daryl would be there, and with Daryl he could always expect some comforting.
And he wasn't disappointed when he burst out from the woods to see his other brother standing by their tents, looking like he'd expecting him and holding out his arm so that Glenn could get the hug he so badly needed.
He knew both of his brothers weren't that into physical affection like hugging, but they'd never psuhed him away when he did it so he took that as a consent that they didn't really mind it.
Daryl joked about Glenn being into him (EW!) and Glenn couldn't help but giggling.
But when Daryl tried to nudge him towards his tent he just had to make sure his brother weren't also disappointed with him. And it was the right thing to do since it ended up in more hugging and some soft words from Daryl that made him so warm and happy inside.
And he also realised that a spanking, while it was painful and humiliating, also was a way for his brothers to show him how much they loved him, how much they cared about his safety, and how'd they always protect him - even from himself and his less smarter ideas.