Pulse➵Glenn Rhee

08

A/N: So that last chapter was... interesting? Thank you guys for the comments, they all made me smile hella hard. Happy reading.

Dedicated to newtnoots bc her comments make me so so happy

"A mistake? Are you fucking kidding me?" Glenn said, exasperatedly throwing up his arms. His hands roughly raked through his dark hair. He narrowed his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at me. "You kissed me just as much as I kissed you. You're lying."

I am.

"I'm not," I mumbled, crossing my arms. "I used you, Glenn, don't you get it? I wanted someone and you happened to be there. Get over it."

Liar.

"You want me to get over it? You think I can just shrug this off? God, Rae-" he said angrily. "You're such a-"

"A what?" I challenged. I had plunged a dagger into him amd now I was turning it.

"I don't know!" Glenn threw his hands in the air. He was furious at me. I couldn't blame him. I was being a bitch.

I plucked at the hem of my shirt and looked at his face, fragile and hurt. His voice softened, "It didn't feel like a mistake."

The shattered look on his face almost made me tell him why I couldn't kiss him again, even though I wanted to. It almost made me tell him the truth.

It hurt to like him more than I should, but I couldn't help to be drawn to him. He was my best friend in this world. But in this world, love can be deadly.

"Maybe not to you, but that kiss was a mistake," I said. I rubbed the back of my neck and my eyes were glued to the ground, like a child who had just been scolded. After a pregnant pause I said, "I'm sorry, Glenn. I wish things were different."

There was nothing I could do or say to make this situation any better. All I could do was find my way back into the old Georgia farmhouse.

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I slid down the door and sat with my knees pulled up to my chin. I wished I could find it in myself to cry. Something to relieve this terrible weight inside me.

I had been torn by my own desire and the fear to where it could lead. The fear of breaking a vow I made before the world became hell.

Lying had been the right thing to do.

***

The following morning I awoke to the sound of a vehicle pulling into the Greene farm. It was undoubtedly the rest of the survivors that had left the abandoned highway.

I stretched my arms above my head before standing on my feet. I had had trouble sleeping on the old, itchy couch, but mostly because of Glenn. Our kiss had meant something to me. I wasn't sure what, but I knew I couldn't act on my desire.

I opened the screen door that led outside and found that I was the last one to wake. The group and the Greene family was already awake and standing in front of the parked RV.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people," Lori said to the group that had just arrived.

"It was a hunting accident," Rick explained what had happened to his son. "That's all- just a stupid accident."

Carl's gunshot wound had been one hell of an accident. One that would have surely killed him if not for Shane and Otis's effort to find a respirator. Unfortunately, the effort had cost Otis's life. Maybe it was karma at work or maybe it was just what it was- death by the walking dead- but Otis's death was most definitely breaking Patricia's heart.