𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XIII - 《poppy and the gang》

oOo

"Hey, you doing okay?" Glenn asked, lowering his hand of cards and bringing Diana out of her dejected thoughts.

Shortly after lunch, Glenn had dropped by with a deck of cards and both of them had taken residence in Diana's shared tent. There they'd been staying short of an hour, with Glenn attempting to teach Diana to play poker, which she was failing miserably at. The strange terms and rules confused her and, according to Glenn, she had a terrible poker face.

Therefore, it was obvious that majority of the chips – some smooth pebbles the kids had collected by the shore – were sitting in front of Glenn in neat oversized piles and he was diligently after the ones spread on the ground between them.

Diana looked up at him and nodded largely in answer, a tentative smile growing on her lips. "Yeah."

She hadn't told anyone of her less-than-pleasant exchange with Daryl the day before, not even her siblings and especially not her parents. She knew what kind of reprimand awaited her if she said anything about it. And knowing her dad, she knew he wouldn't sit quiet and accept it, so she kept it secret for Daryl's sake as well.

She glanced outside, the day hot and humid and brighter than the muted inside of the tent. She could see her mom walk past every now and then, tending to whatever issue was keeping her busy and low-key keeping an eye on them. Alice and Felix were not around, out helping with tutoring again. Or rather, Felix played with Carl's Pokémon card collection while Alice helped Lori tutor the kids. Sam was nowhere to be seen. He had to be forced to leave when Glenn had arrived, just so he'd stop trying – and succeeding – to intimidate the poor guy.

"Diana, I think already told you a thousand times: you have a tell." Glenn cast his cards aside and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Something you wanna talk about?"

Diana studied Glenn's concerned features, happy to see it wasn't shallow curiosity that led him to ask the question.

She knew Glenn pretty well by now. He enjoyed filling the odd silence in their conversations with snippets about his childhood antics and teenage shenanigans. Since that was something she hesitated in.

And so, it was only fair she let him in. But it was also unfair to burden him with her troubles.

So she shook her head politely and gave him an apologetic look.

Glenn leaned back. "It's okay, I get it. But just so you know, you can talk to me. About anything you want."

"Thanks, Glenn, and you too, you know?" After a beat, she added, "I think I... I think I probably don't deserve you."

"What? Shut your mouth." He scratched the back of his head and chuckled abashedly. "C'mon, I'm not that big of a deal. I'm just a guy that used to deliver pizzas."

"Yeah, and how would we eat delicious, cheesy pizza if we didn't have you?" They shared a grin at the inside joke. "You underestimate yourself, pal."

"And you're kinda overestimating me."

"No, I'm not," Diana said and shook her head once. Sincerity painted on her face and lilting in her voice. "I say it as I see it. You've known me for less than a week – a week, Glenn – and you've done so much for me already. You made me feel like I belong here, like I'm welcomed here and... and wanted. That's not an easy thing to me." She faltered a bit, then reached over their forgotten game and laid a gentle hand on his upper arm. "Thank you for that, I really, really mean it."

Glenn looked stunned back at her. His ears were red like torches. He composed himself and asked, "Is this the part where you confess your undying love for me and I have to gallantly reject you?"