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but it made you a stranger

GLENN FELT LIKE HE'D ROYALLY SCREWED UP.

He wasn't exactly sure what he did, or even what the hell had happened between him and Iris an hour ago. It had taken him completely off guard when she started yelling in his face, but then she was kissing his face and then she was shoving him off and then she was running away so fast it had given him whiplash.

The moment her lips had touched his, he was overcome with euphoria, with the feeling that everything was right in the world.

When he went down into the well, willingly, like it was nothing, he thought he was helping the group, doing his part, being the guy that they can count on, the guy that does the hard jobs because he didn't think anyone else should. If someone had to go down that well, he'd rather it be him, because everyone else had too much at stake, too much to risk. He knew Iris was upset about it, but in truth, he didn't think she would get as mad as she did.

There was a split second, when the rope broke and Glenn went flying down towards the walker that only saw him as prey, and his life flashed before his eyes, and he felt a rush of clarity. Why was he here? Why did he go down this well? What was he trying to prove?

And then the fear set in and all he could do was scream.

Her lips were soft, despite how chapped they were, like cotton candy or a perfect cloud or a new pillow.

It was the most terrified he had felt in a while. Worse than when he and Rick walked through a horde of walkers covered in guts. Worse than when he was kidnapped by the Vatos, before he knew they were good people and he didn't know if he was gonna die or not. Worse than when he was trapped in the CDC, waiting for their impending doom. Somehow, for the first time, this felt real.

"When you do stupid things, it actually affects the people around you, and if you die, that's it! No do-overs, you got that?

Once he was carefully lifted out of the well, and his hands touched the green grass, the ground below him was strong and sturdy and not surrounded by walkers. It was safe, it was solid, he could finally breathe. Anything that he felt while he was dangling over that well drained out of him and was replaced with a strong sense of relief.

Before Glenn could even process the fact that Iris Grimes was kissing him, she roughly pulls away, her breaths hot and mixing with his for just a second before she backs away, leaving him in bone chilling cold.

He looks up at the others as they crowd around him, but he was only looking for one face. She was stood to the side, staring at him with her bright blue eyes, but instead of her usual still waters, all he could see was a stormy sea. He needed to talk to her, he needed to say... something to her, before all of his bravery from his near death experience faded.

He stepped towards her, feeling like he was dreaming when the girl he's been falling for actually grabbed and kissed him. He wants to touch her again, he needs to touch her again, and he reaches out, like a dying man reaching for oxygen.

Iris stared at him as he approached, biting her lip with something indistinguishable in her eyes. He made a joke, like he always did with her when things went bad, but she didn't react the same. She scoffed, and walked away.

She pushed him off, her own shaky hands touching her lips, her soft, like cotton candy, like a cloud, like a new pillow, chapped and freshly swollen. She shakes her head, her breath hitching in her throat, and then runs away.

Glenn didn't follow, frozen in place, staring ahead into the open space that she once stood, feeling the throb of his own lips still reeling from the impact of her.

Iris Grimes had wormed her away into his heart, and Glenn Rhee would never know a day without the thought of her again.

It was senseless, how one little kiss could make his brain go haywire, how one little taste of the very thing he had craved for so long could magnify every single thought and wish and desire and dream he'd ever had about her, until she utterly consumed him.

He had desperately tried to find her once he had come to his senses, but she was nowhere to be found. She was avoiding him, she had to have been avoiding him. He just hoped she wasn't avoiding him out of regret, though he had run every scenario through in his mind and he just couldn't figure her out. She was under a lot of stress, with Carl and everything that was happening with Sophia, and Glenn knew he had unintentionally added to that stress. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Come on, Iris." Glenn mutters to himself, looking behind every tree in case she was hiding behind it. He just wanted to talk to her, to find out what was going through her mind, to apologise for not taking her feelings into consideration, for thinking that she could never feel anything for him, for doubting himself when it came to his place in her life. Whatever that place was.

He just needed clarification.

She wasn't sitting by any of the trees, she wasn't in the farmhouse, or the RV, or her tent. She was nowhere, like she had disappeared into a puff of smoke.

He sighs, and puts his hands on his head.

"You ready to go?"

Glenn looks up. Maggie was staring at him from her horse, an amused spark in her eyes as she held onto the reigns of a second horse. God, he must've been distracted if he didn't hear those horses approach. For a moment, he was confused, until he remembered that he and Maggie were supposed to be going on a supply run before the whole well and Iris situation.

He nods. "Uh, yeah. I'm ready."

He pats his pants pocket, feeling the piece of paper that Lori had given to him, when he had come across her looking for Iris in the main part of camp. She had been acting odd, which was apparently something the Grimes' woman did nowadays, and had asked for his discretion. Just like before, at the well, he knew he was the supply guy, the guy they count on to get whatever it was they needed, and the guy they knew would come back every single time.

"Okay, good. We should get going before we lose the light." Maggie says, steadying the horse that she held onto.

Glenn holds onto the horse, bringing his leg over the saddle and sitting himself firmly on the horse. Maggie passes him the reins, and his fingers tighten around the straps. He was pretty inexperienced with horse riding, so he was a little wobbly, but he followed Maggie's lead as they rode out of the farm and started to move towards the pharmacy in the little town.

Maggie was quiet as they rode along the desolate roads, which Glenn was more than fine with. He was thinking so much that his brain hurt, replaying the kiss over and over again, like it was the single most important moment of his life.

Maybe Iris was just overwhelmed in that moment, overcome by the high stakes and the adrenaline that rushed through her that she couldn't help herself, that it was the heat of the moment and the second she realised what she was doing, she came to her senses and that was why she'd ran away.

Maybe she really did have genuine feelings for him, and seeing him almost die was too much, and she couldn't stick around.

Maybe she was possessed by an evil spirit that had left her body the moment she kissed him.

Either way, having a girl like her kiss him and then literally run as fast as she possibly could to get away from him didn't exactly make him feel great.

"You know, when I first met you, I took you as a talker." Maggie suddenly says, and Glenn glances at her.

"Oh. I guess I am a bit of a talker." Glenn says, a little sheepishly. "I just... I'm thinking about a lot right now."

Maggie hums, moving gracefully in tune with her horse. She was a true natural with it, and Glenn suddenly felt bad that he had kind of ignored Maggie in his tunnel vision focus of Iris. He watches her for a moment. Maggie was interesting, the entire farm seemed pretty sheltered from the apocalypse considering how out of the way they were, it was probably unlikely she'd seen many walkers up close, and the one in the well was pretty disgusting. And Glenn would know.

"You all right?" Glenn asks, moving a little faster to catch up to her.

"I'm fine." Maggie replies, shrugging as she kept moving.

Glenn hesitates, but he keeps talking. "I saw the look on your face back at the well. Never seen one killed up close before? Guess it's kind of a shock. You know, being out on the road, we've seen a lot. Guess we've gotten a little numb to it."

Maggie spares him a glance, something in her eyes changing, but she doesn't reply, keeping her gaze ahead of her as they trod up to the pharmacy. In the same silence, the two of them secure the horses to the lampposts that stood outside.

It was still strange, seeing how abandoned everything was. Somehow, seeing it in a small town was so much worse than seeing it in the city. It felt more personal, in a way. There was a large sign in the pharmacy window, which just displayed that fact even more.

Take what you need and God bless.

Glenn took his backpack off of his back, holding it in his hands as he stared at the sign. He looks at Maggie, but she just walks to the door, opening it slowly. The bell still rang, despite her efforts to muffle it.

The pharmacy was a mess. Half of the shelves were broken and there were products all over the floor. It had obviously been ransacked, picked almost dry. Maggie had mentioned to him that she'd done this before, and she clearly knew where she was going. She turns to face him.

"I'll go see what antibiotics are left." She says, holding her hand out. "What else is on the list?"

"Uh." Glenn reaches into his pocket, pulling out the main list along with the piece of paper that Lori had given him, handing the main list to Maggie. "Why don't you get started?"

Maggie takes it, opening the paper. "What about you?"

"I'm gonna look around, see what's worth grabbing." Glenn excuses. Lori had wanted discretion, but Glenn was a pretty terrible liar. He swallows. "Just some general stuff."

Maggie nods, walking towards the back of the store, looking at the different bottles of antibiotics. Glenn watches her go, grabbing one of the baskets and checking all of the signs until he found what he needed.

Feminine Hygiene.

He spares another glance in Maggie's direction, seeing her distracted, and he crouches down, searching through the boxes. He honestly had no idea what was classed as a good test or a bad one, so he spent some time searching through the different boxes and bottles, sighing as he couldn't even see one in his sights.

His eyes widen when he sees the box, just in front of him on the floor. He picks it up, his hands shaking as the reality sets in. Lori had asked for a pregnancy test.

"What do you got?" Maggie asks, suddenly appearing behind him.

Glenn panics, shoving the box into his bag before grabbing the first thing he saw, standing up to face her. "Uh... um... Nothing. Just, like I said, general stuff."

Maggie raises her eyebrow. "Condoms?"

Glenn's jaw drops, realising exactly what he held in his hands. He winces, spluttering as he attempts to come up with an excuse, any excuse, that could get him out of this. "I-uh. No, I-"

"I didn't realise you and Iris were there already." Maggie comments, frowning somewhat playfully.

It only causes Glenn to panic more, shaking his head as he tries to force words out of his mouth. "I... Iris? What, no? I don't- I'm not, with Iris? No. That's not... did you... see something earlier?"

"No." Maggie replies, her cool voice a juxtaposition to Glenn's racing mind. "But she's your girlfriend, right?"

Glenn closes his eyes for a moment. "No, no. She's not my girlfriend. She's my... friend."

Maggie laughs, a hand over her mouth. Glenn makes a little noise of surprise and she only laughs more. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just... she's not your girlfriend? She acts like your girlfriend, you know?"

Glenn drops his arm, letting it fall limply by his side. He tilted his head, but he didn't catch any playfulness in her tone. "Seriously? You think she acts like my girlfriend?"

Maggie drops her bag down, smirking as she reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I know how girls are, and that girl likes you. She wouldn't put up with all of your-" She waves her hands about. "You, if she didn't like you."

Glenn frowns. "Uh, I don't know if I should be mad or happy that you said that."

Maggie rolls her eyes. "Okay, sit down."

"What?" Glenn echoes, scrunching up his face.

Maggie smiles. "We've got some time. Sit down."

She sits cross-legged on the floor, and Glenn found it so nonsensical that he couldn't help but chuckle, yet he still sits to join her. He was going to get along with Maggie, he decided, at that moment. She was staring at him as if she was expecting him to talk, so he did.

"She kissed me." He sighs, taking off his hat to run his fingers through his hair. "And then she ran away."

Maggie winces. "Ouch. That's harsh."

Glenn holds out a hand. "I mean, it was understandable. I did a pretty stupid thing."

"The well?" Maggie asks. "Yeah, that was pretty stupid."

"Yeah, well you don't have to tell me twice. I got that when Iris yelled it in my face."

"Sounds like you deserved it." Maggie comments. Glenn glares at her, and she bites her cheek. "Sorry. Okay, I'm bored, and I'm lonely, so I'm going to help you."

"Wait, really?" Glenn was surprised. Maggie didn't look like she was joking, so he continued. "Help me with what, exactly?"

"With Iris. You know, help you figure her out so you can ask her out? Or so she can kiss you again when she's not angry at you. Either works."

"No offence, but she's been my best friend since this all started, and if I can figure her out, I don't think you have a chance." Glenn says, standing up and grabbing his bag.

"She kissed you because she likes you, and she ran away because she's scared of the fact that she likes you." Maggie says. "She thinks that if she pushes you away, it'll somehow make her stop liking you, but it's not gonna work."

Glenn pauses, turning around. Maggie's words were confident, like she really believed them. But there was no way. She may have kissed him today, but she didn't like him, she couldn't like him, and Glenn couldn't open himself up to the possibility that she might like him, because he couldn't take the blow if she truly only saw him as a friend. That it was just a hat of the moment, and now their friendship could be broken because he couldn't look at her anymore without being overcome by it. "Oh. Wait, really? I thought she was just mad."

Maggie groans, raising her eyebrows. "She was mad, idiot. That's why she kissed you."

Glenn's eyes fill with confusion. "That doesn't make sense."

"People hardly ever do." Maggie replies, leaning back on her hands. "Which is why you need to talk to her."

"Yeah, but she won't let me get close to her!" Glenn exclaims. "Everytime I try and find her, she's just gone. She's avoiding me." He sighs. "I can't stop thinking about what she was saying to me before she kissed me. About how she doesn't have time to worry about me too, because of Carl and Sophia and everything, and I know she was mad, but it also... hurt."

Maggie nods. "She does seem to be under a lot right now, but if I've seen anything, I've seen how she leans on you. She needs you. She'll come around."

Glenn opens his mouth to speak, but Maggie interrupts him, looking outside. "We should go, my dad sends out the search party for me."

"Right. Right." Glenn nods, following Maggie as she puts her bag on her back, and opens the door to the pharmacy.

Glenn picks up his own bag, shoving the box into it before swinging it onto his shoulders, running over to his horse and picking up the reins.

Glenn thought that Maggie would keep talking to him once they got on the horses, but she was silent, trodding along the road without sparing him a glance. He frowns. Why were girls so damn confusing?

He moves his horse closer, catching up to her and looking her up and down. "So, was she mad at me or did she like me? Because, you didn't exactly specify."

Maggie stares at him. "She likes you and she's mad at you. That's why she kissed you."

"So, how do I get her to kiss me when she isn't mad at me?" Glenn asks.

"You have to stand up for yourself. Find her, and speak your mind. Tell her how you feel, and ask her to be open with you." Maggie tells him.

Glenn doesn't reply for a beat, thinking about that idea. One the one hand, he really wanted to do it, to get some answers and find out where he stood with her. On the other hand, talking to Iris about his feelings meant actually talking to Iris about his feelings, which was scary and had friendship ruining potential.

Maggie scoffs. They were just coming up to the gate of the farm now, which meant that he had to face reality soon. "You're helpless. Fine, I'll help you out. We'll talk more, but not now."

Maggie starts ahead, securing her horse to a tree and taking the reins of his horse. Glenn gets off of the animal, stretching his legs as Hershel walks over to the two of them.

"Everything go okay?" Hershel asks.

"Fine." Maggie gives her father a smile. "We got all the stuff."

Glenn gives Hershel a nod as he and Maggie walk away, heading to the kitchen of the house to take stock of the antibiotics. The moment they go out of sight, Lori slips out of the house, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looks around, making sure no one is watching.

"Did you find it?"

Glenn nods, sighing as he takes the bag off of his back, handing Lori the box. He stares at her, waiting for her to say something, anything about it.

But she just nods her head and walks back off. Which seemed to be all the women in this camp kept doing to him.

He licks his lips, groaning and turning around, about to go back to his tent and accept his failures and sleep for an eternity.

Iris was staring at him behind one of the trees. He did a double take, the sight of her making his heart skip a beat. She was frowning, which meant she probably saw that whole exchange with Lori. Goddamnit. She was already mad at him, and now he was keeping secrets from her about her own sister-in-law. He remembered Maggie's words to him, telling him to find Iris and talk to her and tell her everything he was feeling.

He starts after her, breaking out into a run. "Iris!"

She disappeared from his sights, hiding behind the tree that she was watching him from.

Glenn made it to the little group of trees, panting from his desperation. He stood on the other side, resting his head against the tree. "Iris, hey! Please, I just wanna talk to you."

No response.

Glenn walks over to the other side of the tree, expecting to see her face.

She was gone.

She had run out of his sight completely.

"Godamnit." Glenn grunts to himself, throwing his hat to the floor.

AUTHORS NOTE

❥ Welcome back to Doomsday!
❥ We get a little insight into Glenn's thoughts after the kiss last chapter, which I found very exciting. Iris is still avoiding him, which is very on brand for her lol
❥ We get a Glenn and Maggie friendship blossoming in this chapter! I love their dynamic in the show and I didn't want to totally take that away so I decided that Maggie is going to help Glenn out with his Iris problem!
❥ Please vote and comment if you enjoyed <3