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“Do you really think we’re going to make this work?” Glenn asks as he follows Maggie through the hallway, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of walkers around him.
“I hope we can,” Maggie replies. “Once we get rid of the walkers, we can make it a home. It’s the safest place we’ve had for a long time, and it’ll be safe for Lori to give birth.”
“We haven’t really had any luck since the farm,” Glenn mumbles. He glances over at Maggie, and sees her frowning at him. “Sorry, Maggie. That was insensitive of me.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just keep clearing out the walkers,” Maggie says softly, gently squeezing Glenn’s shoulder.
“Have you talked to Daryl?” Maggie asks as they continue on.
Glenn sighs. He hasn’t really thought about Daryl all day, being busy with clearing the prison. He can’t remember the last time he had a full conversation with his husband that didn’t involve yelling or shouting. “No,” Glenn answers honestly. “We’ve been too busy clearing out the prison.”
Maggie looks over at Glenn. “You have to talk to him, Glenn, or you’re never gonna fix things,”
“I know that,” Glenn replies snappily. “But I’m starting to think he doesn’t want to fix things.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. Daryl loves you, Glenn. No matter what you think,” Maggie tries to assure him.
“If he still loved me, then he wouldn't find an excuse to leave every time I’m near him,” Glenn mumbles. “We wouldn’t yell at each other every time we talk to each other. My marriage is over, and I just have to accept that he doesn’t love me anymore. Our marriage was over long before the end of the world.”
Maggie stops and looks over at Glenn. “Does he still wear your wedding ring?”
Glenn blinks a few times as he looks up at Maggie. “Well, yes… but-”
“But nothing,” Maggie cuts him off, grinning at Glenn.
Glenn rolls his eyes, and moves past Maggie to open one of the doors. He glances over at Maggie, who instantly takes a step back. Glenn takes a deep breath before opening the door. His eyes instantly widen when multiple walkers start piling out of the room and right onto Glenn. “Shit!”.
“Glenn!” Maggie cries as Glenn falls to the floor, nearly being buried by walkers. Maggie quickly starts pulling walkers off Glenn, stabbing each one in the head with her knife.
Glenn’s heart is pounding against his chest as he shoves walkers off of him, one of them nearly biting him in the neck. Glenn has never had an experience with a walker quite like that before.
Once all the walkers are dead, Maggie instantly goes to check on Glenn to make sure he’s alright. “Glenn!” She runs over to him, helping him sit up. “Are you alright? You’re not bit, are you?”
Glenn breathes heavily as he looks up at Maggie, and then shakes his head. “Not bit,” he breathes, earning a sigh of relief from Maggie.Glenn groans. “Shit. That was a close one.”
“I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” Maggie says as she helps Glenn from the ground.
“We still have more areas to clear,” Glenn protests.
“No. Don’t argue with me on this one. I’m sure we can continue this tomorrow,” Maggie says. “Come on. Let’s go find the others.” She gently places a hand on Glenn’s back and starts leading the way back.
Eventually, Maggie and Glenn make it back to the main cell block where the group is.
Glenn spots Daryl with Rick and some of the others, but he’s too exhausted, so he doesn’t say anything.
“Hey, I’m going to go get cleaned up,” Glenn whispers to Maggie, and once she nods, he slips away before he thinks anyone sees him. Unfortunately for him, Daryl spots him walking away.
Daryl turns to look over at Maggie. “What’s wrong with him?”
Maggie sighs. She knows Glenn probably wouldn’t want her telling Daryl what happened, but she feels like she should tell him in order to get the two of them on talking terms again, because she knows all about Glenn and Daryl’s marriage troubles. Glenn confides in her about a lot of things. “Well, he’s fine, but… he did have a nasty run in with some walkers when we were clearing an area of the prison.”
“Care to elaborate on that?” Daryl asks, crossing his arms against his chest.
“He just got freaked out is all, Daryl. I mean, anyone would be when they’re seconds away from death,” Maggie says. “He said he’s going to go clean up, so I’m sure he’ll be-” She stops when Daryl turns and walks away before she can finish her sentence. Maggie smiles softly to herself.
“You’re really not giving up on them, are you?”
Maggie looks over and sees Beth walking up to her.
“I’m not the biggest fan of Daryl’s, but Glenn is a friend. I just want him to be happy,” Maggie says.
Daryl instantly heads to Glenn’s cell. He stops before walking inside. He glances inside and sees Glenn sitting on the bed with his face hidden in his hands, seeming quite upset. Daryl sighs quietly, before gently leaning against the doorway. “Can’t go a day without almost getting yourself killed, can you?”
Glenn jumps at the sudden voice, and looks up, sighing in relief when he sees that it’s just Daryl. “Christ, Daryl. Trying to give me a heart attack?” Then he rolls his eyes. “Maggie?”
“She told me,” Daryl confirms. “You’re gonna get yourself killed if you ain’t more careful.”
“You don’t need to give me a lecture,” Glenn mumbles.
“Apparently I do,” Daryl says, pushing himself off from the doorway. Glenn knows that tone of voice, and he already feels an argument coming on, but he’s far too exhausted to argue with Daryl right now.
“Daryl, please. I really don’t want to argue with you right now,” Glenn begs, before scooting back and leaning against the wall. “You can yell at me later. I’m just… tired.”
“Who said I was going to yell at you?” Daryl asks.
“Because we’re always yelling at each other?” Glenn mumbles, glancing over at Daryl. “When’s the last time we spoke to each other without having a go at each other?”
“We ain’t yelling at each other now,” Daryl retorts
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Glenn mumbles, though he can’t help but be grateful for this one conversation he’s having with Daryl because they aren’t yelling at each other. He sits up and looks around before grabbing his bag, pulling out some clean clothes. He stands up from the bed, and looks over at Daryl. “Gonna take a shower. I feel disgusting.”
“Want some company?” Daryl asks, surprising Glenn.
“You-” Glenn begins, and he can’t help the smile that forms on his face. “Yeah. Company would be nice.”
Daryl nods towards the door, and allows Glenn to follow the lead.
Glenn would like to think that things would get better after that conversation with Daryl, but nothing really changes between them. They aren’t yelling at each other like normally, but they aren’t speaking either.
A week after being at the prison, Glenn and Maggie are going on their first supply run together.
“As much as I appreciate the safety of the prison, I’m excited to get out of here,” Glenn says as he walks with Maggie. “Rick doesn’t want us to go far though.”
“Of course,” Maggie agrees, nodding. “We gotta be safe out there. Stay close.”
“Are you guys leaving?”
Glenn looks over and sees Rick, Beth and Carl walking up to them. “Yeah. We’re heading out now while it’s still light out,” he says, glancing over at Maggie.
“Be safe out there,” Rick says.
“We will be. Glenn and I make a pretty good team,”
“Can you tell Daryl we’re leaving? I haven’t seen him for a couple of hours,” Glenn says to Rick.
Rick nods. “Think he went out hunting, but I’ll tell him when he comes back,”
“Thanks,” Glenn says before looking over at Maggie. “We should get going while it’s daylight.”
Maggie nods, and walks over to get into the car. Glenn gets in the car as well.
They drive to the town that’s closest to them. They raid every shop they can for supplies. Luckily, Maggie finds supplies for Judith, and Glenn grabs a few things he thinks would be useful for the group.
Unfortunately for Glenn, the peace doesn’t last very long.
“Hands up,”
Glenn freezes as soon as he hears a voice speak, a voice that sounds oddly familiar. Glenn slowly turns, and his eyes widen when he sees that it’s none other than his brother-in-law, Merle. “M - Merle ?”
“I’ll be damned,” Merle says. “Thought I’d never see you again!”
“Glenn, you know this man?” Maggie whispers.
Glenn grimaces, because he and Merle have never gotten along due to Merle’s constant racist remarks, despite the fact that he and Daryl had been married years before the walkers took over.
“You’re alive?” Glenn asks, frowning. “We went back for you-”
“Ain’t that mighty kind of you,” Merle replies with sarcasm in his tone.
“You weren’t there-”
“Well I certainly wasn’t going to get bit, was I?” Merle asks, and then he looks at Glenn. “My brother-?”
Glenn lets out a sigh, because of course Merle would ask about Daryl, but Glenn’s not sure how the others would react to Merle being in their group. He certainly didn’t leave great impressions on them “Yeah. He’s alive,” he tells him. “Of course he’s alive.”
Merle laughs with victory, clearly happy to hear that his brother is alive. Things have changed though. “That’s great! Why don’t you take me to him?” Merle asks, slowly stepping forward, which causes Glenn to quickly hold up his gun, pointing it directly at Merle. He’s not going to let Merle go anywhere near Maggie. “Now, come on. You’re not gonna shoot me.”
“Take another step forward and I won’t hesitate,” Glenn warns, keeping the gun pointed at Merle.
“Glenn,” Maggie warns. “Why can’t we just-? I mean, he’s Daryl’s brother, apparently-”
Merle nods. “You should listen to the girl,”
Glenn scoffs, and glances over at Maggie. “He may be Daryl’s brother but he’s also a racist, homophobic asshole -” He looks back over at Merle. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten all the times you’ve called me a slur.”
“Come on, now. It’s just all fun and games-”
“It’s not all fun and games,” Glenn snaps. “You’re an asshole, and you haven’t changed. So, no. I’m not gonna take you to our group. You’re not gonna follow us either. Maggie, let’s go.”
Maggie slowly nods, and backs up to the car, keeping her eyes on the man.
Glenn quickly gets into the car with shaky hands, and takes off immediately once he and Maggie are in the car, all while keeping an eye on Merle to make sure he isn’t following us.
“Was that really Daryl’s brother?” Maggie asks as they pull into the driveway off the prison.
“Unfortunately,” Glenn mumbles. He stops the car, and sighs. “Now I’ve got to fucking explain to Daryl that his brother is alive and I know Daryl is going to want go to find him.”
Maggie frowns. “Why do you have to tell him?”
“Because I can’t keep a secret from my husband, especially not one like this,” Glenn says. He looks over at Maggie, before getting out of the car. He’s relieved Rick and Carol approach him so he doesn’t have to find them. He needs to find Daryl immediately. “Where’s Daryl?”
“He’s still out hunting, I assume. You two weren’t gone very long. Everything okay?” Rick asks.
“I just… I need to find Daryl,” Glenn mumbles, turning around and heading towards the gate.
“Glenn!” Rick shouts. “Where are you going? It’s not safe to go out there!”
“Merle’s back!” Glenn shouts back at Rick as he keeps walking.
Rick’s eyes widen. “Merle?” He looks over at Maggie for confirmation. “You saw Merle? Daryl’s brother?”
“Yeah, and Glenn didn’t seem too happy to see him-”
“Merle was awful to Glenn. I didn’t spend much time with the three when we were at the camp, but whenever I saw those two together, Merle treated Glenn like garbage, only ever respecting him whenever Daryl was around him. Merle knew that Daryl wouldn’t let him get away with disrespecting his husband,” Carol explains. “I thought he was dead?” She looks over at Rick with confusion.
“We didn’t know that he was dead. We just assumed. He was chained to a roof, and then the man cut his arm off to escape the walkers. I didn’t think it was possible to survive something like that,” Rick says.
“That explains the metal hook on his arm,” Maggie says.
“Merle has a-” Rick stops, and shakes his head. “I’ve got too many questions, not enough time.”
It takes Glenn about twenty minutes before he finally finds Daryl out hunting in the woods. Daryl’s caught a few squirrels, from the looks of it. Glenn takes a deep breath before he starts walking towards Daryl, but he jumps back when Daryl turns around, pointing his arrow directly at him. “It’s me!”
Daryl sighs, and immediately lowers his arrow. “Dammit, Glenn. You can’t sneak up on me like that!”
“I’m sorry,” Glenn apologizes instantly. “Can you take a break? There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Can it wait?” Daryl asks, and rolls his eyes when Glenn shakes his head. Daryl sets his arrow and the couple of squirrels he caught down on the ground. He looks back over at Glenn. “So? Talk.”
Glenn hesitates. “Merle…” He begins. He’s not normally supposed to talk about Merle, because it’s a sensitive subject for Daryl to talk about, but this time it’s important. “Merle’s alive, Daryl.”
Daryl growls. “Now ain’t the time to be messin’ around, Glenn,”
“I’m not messin’ around! Maggie and I saw him while we were out on our supply run,” Glenn says, and he scoffs. “Still the same Merle. Nothings changed, but I can’t be that surprised-”
Daryl walks up to Glenn. “Where is he?”
Glenn blinks. “I-”
“Glenn,” Daryl warns. “Where the hell is he?”
“I- I don’t know. We saw him in town-”
“And you didn’t think you should bring him back with you?” Daryl asks angrily.
“Hell no!” Glenn exclaims, his eyes widening, because even when they are having issues, Daryl is never this aggressive with him. “We haven’t seen Merle since we were at the camp, and we don’t know what his intentions are. Who knows the kind of chaos he could bring if we brought him here?”
“You never liked Merle…”
“Yeah, because he’s a racist prick, Daryl. You already know this. Why are you-?” Glenn stops when Daryl grabs his arrow and shoves past Glenn. “Daryl, where are you going?”
“Going to find my brother!” Daryl shouts as he walks away.
“Don’t you dare bring him back here!” Glenn shouts with wide eyes. “Daryl!” His eyes begin to tear up as he watches Daryl walk away. He should have known Daryl would choose Merle over him, especially with their recent relationship troubles. Glenn takes a deep breath, quickly wiping away the couple of tears that slipped out of his eyes. Glenn turns, and starts making his way back towards the prison.
Glenn doesn’t say anything to anyone, feeling too overwhelmed and emotional. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen now that Merle is back, and Daryl is most likely going to bring him to the prison.
After a couple hours of napping and waiting around, Glenn takes watch in the tower, needing distraction. He’s too in his head that he doesn’t hear the footsteps coming up.
“You were right,”
Glenn startles, and he looks over to see Daryl standing in the doorway. He pushes himself up. “Daryl?”
“Saw Merle. We got in a fight. Apparently there’s a town, run by a governor. Merle wanted me to go back with him, and I thought about going with him. But… I couldn’t leave you,” Daryl says, and he walks over so he can sit beside Glenn on the ground. “Sorry for earlier.”
Glenn huffs, and moves to sit closer to Daryl. “It’s okay. He’s your brother,” he whispers, and he hesitates, before he moves to rest his head on Daryl’s shoulder.
“Yeah, he maybe my brother, but he’s also a giant fucking asshole. Merle’s never going to change, Glenn. You’re my husband, and I don’t need Merle. All I need to know is that he's alive now. I know it may not seem like it, but when I’m with you, I’m happy,” Daryl says, moving to wrap his arm around Glenn.
Glenn smiles, and he glances up at Daryl. “You’re getting soft on me, Dixon,”
“Don’t get used to it,”
“Daryl?” Glenn asks. “That town. The governor. What if they try to come to the prison?”
“Then we’ll fight. We were here first. This prison is ours,” Daryl says. “We don’t go down without a fight.” There’s the Daryl that Glenn knows, that Glenn fell in love with. They may not be perfect, but as long as Glenn has Daryl next to him, then that’s all that matters to him.