Hope || Glenn Rhee x Reader

28 || still not back

Everyone sat around the table.

You felt sick. It was dark out, and Glenn wasn't back yet. Your stomach twisted itself back and forth, and there was nothing you could do to stop it.

"Now Carl," Shane started. "Your dad probably just got held up somewhere. He's the toughest son of a-"

"No cussin' in the house," Patricia warned.

He had an amused smile on his face.

"You don't worry either, (Y/N)," Maggie said. "Glenn'll be back soon."

"Why would she-" Shane stopped, smiling a little. "Oh."

You blushed.

"Lori!" Carol called, walking to the living room.

"She's not in there," Maggie said.

"Where is she?" Carol asked.

Maggie looked around the table. Nobody answered.

"I'll bet anything she went to find Rick," you said quietly.

Shane nodded in agreement. "We gotta go look for her first. Make sure."

He stood up.

"I'll watch Carl," you offered. He nodded.

Carl didn't. "I wanna help."

"How about we stay in here?" you asked, smiling at him. "They can find her."

Carl scowled. Everyone else got up to start looking for Lori. You and Carl still sat at the table quietly.

It was awkward, so you tried to make conversation.

"Y'know, when I first met your dad, he was part of this really cool plan," you started. "To get a bag of guns in the street."

Carl didn't say anything.

"And also to get the hat," you said, pointing to the hat on his head. "It's yours now, right?"

He half-smiled a little.

"I wasn't much help in the plan. I stood on the roof, and that was pretty much it." you shrugged. "But I got to see it all from above. Like a movie."

He nodded.

"Between you and me," you whispered. "I think you're cooler than your dad. You looked pretty cool when you got shot."

"He got shot, too," Carl said.

"Well, I bet you looked cooler," you said. He smiled a little at that.

He made you think about Caroline. They would've been friends. You also thought about kids in general. You'd always wanted them. They were adorable. It was a shame that you'd never be able to have your own family, now that the world was filled with nothing but death. You admired Lori for deciding to keep her baby in these conditions. It was brave.

"Well," Maggie said, sitting down. "She went to find 'im."

"How'd you find out?" you asked.

"Daryl knew."

You sighed. "Of course he did. I have a theory that the ear necklace knows everything. Where'd it go, anyway?"

She shrugged.

You looked back over at Carl, who looked sad.

"Your mom has probably already found your dad," you assured him. He didn't look convinced.

"Car's pulling up," Andrea said from the door. "He's got Lori."

You all ran out to see Lori and Shane making a scene.

"You are such a-"

"I had to get you back here, Lori! I had to protect the baby!"

Carl stopped dead in his tracks, then ran to his mom, whose face was covered in cuts and blood.

"You're having a baby? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

You kind of glanced away from them, trying to look at anything else. You wondered why Rick and Lori didn't tell Carl.

Lori stuttered and failed to speak.

"Come on, let's make sure you're alright," Dale said slowly.

Andrea guided her by her shoulders. "Come on."

Lori stumbled a little and walked slowly toward the house, looking over her shoulder at Carl.

Carl glared at her.

"I'm sure your mom just wanted to surprise you... when your dad got home, I mean," you told him quietly.

He shrugged and stomped off toward the house, sheriff's hat falling off in the progress. He picked it back up off the ground, making a 'hmph' sound and continuing, steps softer on the beaten grass this time.

Maggie sighed next to you. "Gotta get back. Come on."

The two of you walked to the house side by side.

"He'll be back. I know he will. He's just caught up," she told you.

"Don't promise me that," you said, choking back a lump in your throat. "If he... If he's..."

You couldn't bring yourself to say 'dead' as tears threatened to spill over your cheeks. You bit your bottom lip to keep it from shaking.

"He's not," she promised, making you look at her. There was sincerity in her green eyes, but also fear.

"But what if-" you were cut off by your own sobs. She pulled you in by your shoulders.

"Stop thinking that," she said. "He's fine."

You nodded into her shoulder.

"Two days ago you were cryin' over him for a different reason." Maggie sighed.

You pulled away, wiping your eyes. "Let's go check on Beth."

She nodded, opening the door.

The two of you walked in to see Shane and Lori having an intense conversation in the living room. You ignored them and walked straight to Beth's room.

She looked even sicker than before as she lied on the bed that night. Her bright blue eyes were dull and her hair was as pale as the moon as bits of it fell from her ponytail. Her sickly white face was emotionless and covered with a thin sheet of sweat. Her small frame looked unhealthy as it sank into the mattress.

You worried for her, forgetting about Glenn for a second. But within another, he was already on your mind again.