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the ones left behind

IT FELT LIKE HOURS BEFORE GLENN HEARD THE OTHERS RETURN.

He hadn't moved from his spot on the abandoned dirt road since he and Michonne had made it to where the car was hiding out — practically collapsing on the floor the moment it came into view, wholly unable to keep moving any longer. Merle hadn't gone easy on him; his ribs were burning, his face was throbbing and there was a sharp pain shooting up his legs and back, but luckily nothing was broken. At least he was pretty sure nothing was broken.

He just needed a minute to rest.

Still, the thought of Iris going back to that hellish place without him brought a chill to his already bruised spine. Glenn didn't want to have to think about Woodbury ever again, but he would swap places with her in a heartbeat if it meant that he knew for a fact that she was safe.

Glenn forces himself to bite back the brewing frustration from being forced to stay behind, even if he knew it was irrational. He knew he was injured and he would just slow them down, but the thought that he was just sat here doing nothing while Iris was—

He shakes his head, massaging his temples in an attempt to quiet his overactive mind. He had always had an anxious mind, but both the apocalypse and the fact that he actually had someone in his life to worry about, had made it a thousand times worse. Usually he could keep his running mind under control, as long as he had someone to talk to, which was a role that Iris had always filled for him, since the moment he had met her, but Iris wasn't here. She was running headfirst right back into the town that had taken everything from them. Their dignity, their pride, their security.

He looks up at Michonne, but she stays as silent as a statue as she leans against the car. She wasn't exactly talkative, and Glenn wasn't even sure where she had popped up from, but she seemed trustworthy enough that Glenn felt like he could rest without worrying about getting stabbed in the back or kidnapped again. That would've been the worst luck. He couldn't help but wonder how she had managed to get the injuries she did, though it did give him a strange sense of solidarity with the woman despite the fact that she seemed to be on thin ice with Rick.

They mostly sat in silence, so Glenn was left to his own thoughts, which did not fare well when his girlfriend was currently facing down an entire town after experiencing such a harrowing and brutal imprisonment.

He knew that he wasn't okay, not in the slightest, so he dreaded to think what was going on in her head.

"Glenn!"

He jumps up the moment he hears Rick's voice coming through the trees, ignoring his aching legs and the slight limp he still had as he runs over to meet them halfway. His relief was like a weight being lifted from his shoulders, knowing that they were so close to being able to go home. "Rick. Oh, thank God."

However, Rick wasn't happy at all.

"Now we got a problem here." Rick says, clearly trying to keep his voice level as he approaches. Glenn tilts his head, squinting his eyes as he looks at the figures walking towards him. "I need you to back up."

It wasn't just Daryl that they had come back with.

Glenn didn't feel anger often. It just wasn't natural to him. Even after the world went to shit, he felt everything but anger. Numbness, desperation, despair, hope, anticipation, determination. It seemed pointless to be angry at something that wasn't anyone's fault anyway, not when the energy could be better spent adapting and surviving. Ever since Merle had first picked him and Iris up and forced them into their own car, all he had felt was pure, blistering, red hot anger.

Glenn breaks out into a run, clicking the safety off his gun and raising it without thinking twice. Michonne was right behind him, drawing her sword as fast as a wildfire, pointing it right at their shared enemy.

Merle Dixon was trailing behind Daryl like a lost dog, but he stares up at Glenn with a defiance that makes him feel sick. He can see Iris and Maggie in the corner of his eye, running over to his side and standing steadily behind him, but he does not dare move his gaze away from Merle, his fingers tightening on his gun and the veins popping out of his forehead. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rick yells, the moment he hears Glenn click the safety off his gun, but he is more focused on Michonne and her killer sword, putting his hands on her shoulders aggressively.

"Hey, put it down!" Daryl yells, his voice cutting through the atmosphere but not being able to shatter it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Merle raises his good hand, his voice just as grating as it had been when he was driving his knife over Glenn's face, taunting him.

Michonne tries to go for Merle again, but Rick hastily steps in. "Put it down!"

"He tried to kill me!" Michonne yells, and it was the loudest Glenn had heard the woman speak. He understood her plight more than most, and he was more than ready to defend her, even against Rick.

Glenn steadies his gun, shaking his head and staring daggers into Merle. He could feel Iris shuffle behind him, and it brought another spiel of anger at the thought of her having to walk all the way back with someone like him trailing her. "If it wasn't for him-"

Daryl scoffs, throwing up an arm in annoyance. "He helped us get out of there."

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you!" Rick exclaims. His eyebrows were furrowed and stern, and as Glenn looked between the three men, trying to figure out exactly what had gone down.

"Hey, we both took our licks, man!" Merle yells back, staring Daryl down, but his younger brother only rolls his eyes and scoffs.

"Jackass."

"Hey, shut up!" Merle shoots back. All of their voices were getting louder and louder, but no one was particularly worried about walkers while their weapons were wildly aimed at one another.

"Enough!" Rick's voice bellows, making both Daryl and Merle hastily stop their bickering, staring at Rick in shock at the way his voice carried like a megaphone. For a split second, things were almost peaceful.

Michonne lunges forward with her sword again.

Rick grunts, pointing his gun directly at her head before she could reach Merle. "Hey, hey, relax! Put that down now!"

Glenn breathes heavily as Rick is distracted by Michonne, glaring at Merle as he pointed his own gun at the man who was rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

Daryl notices his unwavering grip, not even moving when he steps in the way. He scoffs again, pointing his finger at him. "Get that thing out of my face!"

"Stop it!" Iris suddenly shrieks. She hadn't moved from her position behind him and Michonne, which hasn't struck Glenn as strange until right now, when he realised she hadn't been involved in the argument at all. Her voice almost made him jump, because it wasn't angry or even defiant like he would've pictured it would be, but it was more defensive and mindful. "You're scaring her!"

Glenn frowns in confusion.

Scaring who?

He turns around to finally look at his girlfriend, expecting to see her with her gun out or at least staring Merle down as aggressively as she had fought her way out of Woodbury ― the flashes of her killing that guard with the bone would stick with him for a long time.

Except she wasn't doing either of those things.

Iris was clutching a small child in her arms, holding the back of her head like a protective mother as the little girl buries her head in her shoulder. She was small and was wearing dirty clothes that didn't quite fit her right, and her brown hair was brushing against Iris' scarred cheek, which had to have hurt. A million questions form in his head, but for a moment, all he can do is stare.

Iris meets his gaze, and her eyes were soft like butter, rocking the child in her arms. The sight almost filled something innate inside him, but it was foiled by his utter bafflement.

"Who- who is that?" Glenn finally manages to stammer out, letting his gun fall to his side.

Iris scrunches up her face. "It's Bonnie."

Glenn blinks. "I'm sorry?"

"Bonnie." Iris clarifies. Her voice had a certain edge to it, tender and gentle in a way that would only hear when they were alone. "The little girl that I told you about, remember?"

Glenn did remember Iris whispering something to him about a little girl that had walked in on Iris when she was being questioned by the Governor. It seemed to have upset her even more than the scar on her face, yet it didn't answer his question. "Yeah. I remember. Why is she-"

Iris bites her lip, looking down at Bonnie in contemplation. Glenn wasn't sure if she was awake or not, but if she was, she wasn't talking. "She lost her dad. She was all alone, and there were so many guns going off. So I took her."

"You kidnapped a child?" Glenn asks, his panic rising as Iris' words sink in. Merle's presence seemed to take a backseat in his mind in his disbelief, his eyes widening and his face no doubt paling.

Iris shuffles uncomfortably. "Not... not exactly. She- her dad was awful. And now he's dead. She's all alone. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Iris..." Glenn tails off, because he genuinely has no idea what to say to her. She was holding the little girl in her arms like it was nothing, and only once he looked past the soft protectiveness in her eyes, he also saw the manic wildness in them, glinting like a knife against a chopping board. He didn't know what the hell was going through her mind, but he does know that this was by far the most impulsive, reckless act she had ever committed, and his stomach forms a pit as he thinks through every single consequence that could come from this ― which she obviously was not. Was he the only one that could be rational?

"She's all alone now." Iris repeats mechanically, like it was all she had been telling herself in her head. She takes a slight step back from him, as if she could sense the shock and the conflict that he felt deep down in his heart. She gulps, still stroking Bonnie's hair and looking away from him with a scornful expression, taking a further step back.

Glenn doesn't know if he has it in him right now to follow.

Daryl clears his throat and looks to Rick, his expression almost pleading. "I know it's a lot to ask, Rick, but-"

He is cut off by Merle chuckling manically. "Man, look like you've gone native, brother."

"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there!" Daryl's voice rises again, turning around to point his accusatory index finger at Merle.

"Oh, yeah, man." Merle chuckles again. He raises an eyebrow at Michonne. "He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby."

That was yet another shock so big that Glenn was surprised his heart didn't give out entirely.

"What?" He asks, turning away from Iris who was clenching one of her fists. "Andrea's in Woodbury?"

Daryl nods quietly. "Right next to the Governor."

Michonne exhales heavily as she grips her sword, attempting another run up at Merle. However, Rick stops her yet again, staring down at her through the barrel of his gun. "I told you to drop that! You know Andrea?"

Michonne didn't say a word, but her jaw twitched.

"Hey, do you know Andrea?" Rick presses

"Yep, she does. Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest." Merle answers. Michonne glares at him, but it wasn't enough to get him to stop talking. "Mm-mmm-mmm. Yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it."

"Shut up, bro." Daryl sighs, slapping Merle on the shoulder.

"Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying!" Merle defends. Glenn couldn't believe that Andrea was alive, and he fought the urge to turn around and see how Iris was reacting. Andrea's loss had come at a big blow, and the idea of her alive but with the man who had brutalised Iris' face was not an image he wanted to picture.

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asks. She takes a step forward, joining the main group and looking at Merle questioningly.

"Yeah. Snug as two little bugs." Merle answers. "So what you gonna do now, Sheriff, huh? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards. "

"Shut up!" Rick yells.

However, Merle was not intimidated. Glenn wasn't sure if Merle could be intimidated by anything. "Oh, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."

"Merle, shut up!" Daryl repeats, but it seems to only aggravate Merle more.

"Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll-"

Rick clocks him on the back of the head with his gun, and Merle falls to the ground with a heavy thump.

Rick sighs. "Asshole."

Glenn can feel his muscles relax once Merle was restrained, even temporarily. The group circles around his body, staring down at him in silence as they inwardly debated with themselves about what to do. Glenn had a feeling he was in for a very difficult few hours, and it wasn't only because of Merle.

Iris was whispering to Bonnie in a hushed voice, so quiet that Glenn couldn't hear the words that she was saying. It should've warmed his heart to see her acting so kindly and maternal towards a young child who was probably afraid and confused, but it just made him worry.

He was at a total loss. He had absolutely no idea what to think about the whole situation, but he knew one thing.

Iris was more unstable than he realised.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

"The prison isn't scary, not really." Iris says in a low voice, wrapping her arms around her knees. "We made it safe, my family. It's warm, with beds, and even a nice little courtyard. That's like a front garden, but it's super big."

Bonnie looks up at her, copying her motion. The two of them were leaning against the side of the car, taking a much needed breather following the tense events of the last few hours. Bonnie hadn't spoken much since Iris had scooped her out of the line of fire, which was understandable considering how much she had gone through in such little time. Her brown hair was still matted and cascaded down her shoulders, and she often sent anxious glimpses in the direction of the others. She seemed to at least trust Iris, which warmed her heart.

Iris sits up a little straighter, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She replays the moment in her head, when she had sprinted away from Woodbury with Bonnie safely tucked away in her arms. Bonnie had rested her head on Iris' shoulder, taking tired little breaths against her ear. It had felt right, like it was something she was always supposed to do. If only the others could see that.

She sighs, trying to push the thought out of her mind. Everyone else's opinions weren't important to her right now, not when Bonnie was right beside her, needing comfort and above all, a sense of security.

Damn what anyone else had to say.

"The prison is our home." Iris continues, the corners of her mouth uplifting into a sweet smile. "It could be your home too, if you'd like."

Bonnie's eyes widen in disbelief, and she finally loses some of the tightness in her muscles. "Really?"

Iris smiles wider when she hears Bonnie's little voice, knowing that she was getting through to the little girl. "Yeah! We have other kids there too. My nephew is thirteen and I have a little baby niece called Judith. She's so small that she could fit into your arms."

Bonnie looks up at her, and she gives her a small, but still childlike, smile. "Why is she so little?"

Iris laughs at Bonnie's innocent question. "She's just a baby. You were that small once, you know. But Judith is safe back at home."

"Home..." Bonnie echoes. Her voice takes on a wistfulness that felt odd coming from the mouth of a child, and Iris was once again struck with the urge to take her into her arms and wrap her up forever.

She looks over at the others, who were gathered a couple of feet away from her, engaged in what looked like a heavy debate. Her eyes linger on Glenn, catching the twinge in his jaw and the way that his chest heaved up and down in obvious discontent. Glenn had barely gone near her since she had returned from Woodbury, and apart from the frustration about Merle that she shared, Iris couldn't understand what his problem was. She bites her cheek and looks away from him.

"Does Judith have a mommy and a daddy?" Bonnie asks, drawing her attention back towards the little girl.

"She does. Her daddy is that man, right there." Iris answers, pointing out Rick. "But her mommy is with the angels now."

Bonnie's face falls. "My mommy is with the angels too. She was the best mommy in the world, but when I woke up in the morning, she wasn't nice anymore. She was scary, like the monsters. Is my daddy with the angels too?"

"Yeah, honey." Iris says, feeling the heaviness take place on her shoulders. She wraps an arm around Bonnie, holding her close. "I'm sorry."

Bonnie tucks herself closer to Iris, her voice just a low whisper. "He was meaner than my mommy, even though he wasn't one of the monsters. Will Judith's daddy hurt her like my daddy?"

Iris feels her heart break in her chest, tightening her grip on Bonnie. "No. Judith's daddy will never hurt her. And no one is ever gonna hurt you again, okay? I promise. I'm gonna take care of you now."

"Iris!"

Rick's voice carries over to Iris, and she looks up to see her brother and the others staring at her with stormy gazes. Rick had an eyebrow raised and his hands on his hips, beckoning her over with his head. Iris sighs and stands up, giving Bonnie a reassuring look. She glances at Michonne leaning against the car too. "Stay here with Michonne, alright?"

Bonnie nods, not moving from her spot as she hugged her knees.

Iris slowly walks over to Rick, Glenn, Maggie and Daryl with a questioning expression. She knew they were more than likely debating Merle, who was still passed out against the trees, and she assumed that her position on the matter would be obvious. As she approaches the four of them, she tries to smile at Glenn, but he barely even glances in her direction. Iris crosses her arms, suddenly feeling a chill despite the Georgia heat.

Daryl looks at her before he pleads his case once again. "Having Merle on our side could be good."

"Are you serious?" Iris scoffs, dropping her arms to her side as she stares at Daryl in utter disbelief.

"No." Glenn denies firmly, speaking at the same time as her. He shuffles uncomfortably.

Rick sighs, shaking his head. "It won't work."

"It's gotta." Daryl replies plainly.

"It'll stir things up." Rick protests. He may be their leader, but he did take the time to truly listen to their input, even if he didn't agree. However, Daryl had the entire group up against him.

"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now." Daryl reasons. Iris feels a twist in her stomach at the thought, knowing that it was only Carl, Beth, Hershel and Axel who remained. And Carol, who Iris had found out was alive and well, discovered in the time she spent at Woodbury. "Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."

Maggie puffs out a breath of air, shaking her head. "I'm not having him at the prison."

"He held a gun to our heads." Glenn exclaims. His voice was so much more coarse and rough than Iris was used to, and she hated how it made her feel. "Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol or Beth?"

Daryl brushes him off. "He ain't gonna hurt them."

"Well, his buddy would." Glenn says bitterly. He looked up at her for a split second, but he didn't seek out her eyes, only rested his gaze on the jagged gash on the side of her face.

"They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night." Daryl says.

Iris shakes her head. "Yeah, because that makes up for everything he's done."

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick says.

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?" Daryl questions, pointing back at Michonne. He snaps his gaze back at Rick, his eyes narrowing defensively. "And what about that little girl, huh? We just gonna take her to the prison like everything is alright? We don't even know that kid!"

"Hey!" Iris yells, her protective steak kicking in as she fights the urge to thump Daryl on the shoulder with her fists. "Don't you dare. I'm not giving her back to the Governor!"

Rick holds out a hand. "Michonne's not coming back. And as for the little girl... we'll talk about her later."

Iris scrunches up her face at Rick's harsh tone. How could he look at a small child like Bonnie and even consider turning her away?

"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie bites her lip, looking back at Michonne like she was feeling guilty.

Glenn sighs, nodding. "She did bring you guys to us."

Iris watches him carefully, waiting for him to bring up Bonnie, but he never does. When he first laid eyes on her, his surprise was something that Iris was never expecting. Sure, she knew he wouldn't immediately scoop Bonnie up in his arms and promise to take care of her forever, but his immediate denial and even indifference felt strange and a little cold.

Maybe he thought that Iris did the wrong thing, but she disagreed and she wouldn't let anyone make her feel bad for it.

"And then ditched us." Rick answers, rolling his eyes. Iris thought that Michonne seemed nice enough, not anything like Tomas or Andrew or even Randall from the farm. She seemed to despise the Governor and Merle just as much as she did, which meant that she could be willing to help them.

"At least let my dad stitch her up." Maggie requests.

Rick massages his temple, shaking his head once again. "She's too unpredictable."

"That's right." Daryl points a finger in Rick's direction. "We don't know who she is. That little girl ain't exactly a threat. But Merle, Merle's blood."

"No, Merle is your blood." Glenn says firmly. He scans his eyes over the entire group, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison."

"And you're part of that family." Rick adds. He stares at Daryl, willing for the archer to understand. "But he's not. He's not."

"Not after everything he's done." Iris whispers. So much had happened that Iris didn't even know where to place all of the emotions that were running around in her head, and having Merle around would only add fuel to the fire that was building inside of her.

Daryl throws up a hand, turning on his heels. "Man, y'all don't know. Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I was saying." Glenn replies, taking a step forward.

"No him, no me." Daryl grunts.

Iris scoffs, not saying a word as she shakes her head. Daryl sounded like a petulant child, and she couldn't even find the words to say anything to him as he made his declaration.

"Daryl, you don't have to do that." Maggie says.

"It was always Merle and I before this." Daryl replies, unwavering in his position.

"And this world has changed." Iris says, her face souring. "I thought you understood that."

"You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn asks, his face falling as he realises that Daryl was being deadly serious.

"You'd do the same thing." Daryl replies gruffly.

"What do you want us to tell Carol?" Glenn asks, and his words come as a deathly blow to Daryl, who scrunches up his face, but ultimately doesn't budge.

"She'll understand." Daryl turns around, turning to Maggie one final time before he starts to stalk off. "Say goodbye to your pop for me."

Glenn takes a couple of steps forward as Daryl walks away, but he doesn't follow. Instead, he yells after him, watching him in bewilderment. "Daryl, are you serious? Daryl!"

Rick exhales heavily and starts after Daryl. Iris pauses for a moment but breaks out into a run as Daryl walks past Bonnie and Michonne and towards the boot. The siblings catch up to Daryl, standing on either side of him as they match Daryl's long strides.

"Hey." Rick takes Daryl by the arm. "Hey. There's got to be another way."

"Don't ask me to leave him." Daryl spits back, shrugging Rick off. "I already did that once."

"We started something last night." Rick grits his teeth, his pace quickening as Daryl reaches the boot of the car. "You realize that, huh?"

"You said it yourself." Iris' voice comes out desperate, inwardly pleading with Daryl, but he just kept grabbing his supplies from the car. "The Governor is coming!"

Daryl grabs his crossbow and slams the boot shut. "No him, no me. That's all I can say."

Iris clenches her fist. She couldn't believe that Daryl would just leave it all behind. Leave them all behind like they were nothing to him. "Asshole. After everything, you're just gonna go?"

Daryl turns around to face her, shoving his finger in her face with an accusatory glare. "You gonna judge me? You just kidnapped a damn kid, Iris!"

Iris can't help but laugh with a sharp bitterness, raising her middle finger and pointing it at Daryl. "Fine! If you wanna go, then go! Leave it all behind, go on!"

Daryl swings his bag over his back, not even flinching at her sharp yells. It made her feel utterly meaningless to him, which stung even more than the scar on her cheek. He looks at Rick one final time. "Take care of yourself. Take care of Lil Ass Kicker. Carl. He's one tough kid."

With that, he walks away to join Merle.

Glenn and Maggie had already gotten into the back of the car, and Iris could see the back of their heads, imagining the expressions on their faces. She bites her lip, fighting back the urge to scream and break something when her eyes find Bonnie, clinging onto Michonne's hand desperately.

Rick runs a hand through his sweaty curls, walking back to the car and spitting harsh words at Michonne. "We patch you up and then you are gone."

Michonne doesn't argue, simply nodding as she joins Glenn and Maggie in the back of the car. Iris grunts as she picks up Bonnie, adjusting her weight against her hip and looking up at Rick in defeat.

"Rick, I think we should-"

"No!" Rick cuts in, making Iris flinch from the rigor in his voice, but he keeps talking, not giving her a moment to defend herself. "What the hell were you thinking, taking her like that? Oh, right, you weren't thinking. Get in the damn car."

Iris forcibly opens the passenger side of the car door and slams it shut behind her.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

Bonnie lay cradled against Iris' arms in the front seat.

She must've been exhausted, because she rested her head on her shoulder the moment Rick started driving, her breaths evening out as she curled up in the warmth of the car. Iris kept her hands on Bonnie's hair, stroking it softly and making a mental note to go through it with a brush when they got home.

The car was unnaturally quiet; the atmosphere stiff and tense as Rick pressed down on the acceleration, like he was trying to get home as fast as humanly possible. The silence was awkward, like they were all nothing but strangers rather than the family they had grown into, and Iris started to feel her sense of hate for Woodbury fester more and more as she watched the trees pass her by.

About halfway through their journey home, Rick sighs loudly and presses down on the break. Iris looks up from the floor of the car, frowning when she notices an obstruction in the road. There was a red car that looked like it was swerving to the side, and a large tree branch was blocking any chance they had at driving around it. They would have to try and move the car that was blocking their way.

Against her chest, Bonnie groans as she stirs awake. The quiet lull of the car was helping her stay asleep, but when it came to a stop, it jolted her awake. Iris pats her back as she shuffles, opening the door and slipping out. "Stay here a second, okay?"

She quietly shut the car door, taking one final glance at Bonnie, who had curled up against the empty seat in her absence, before she walked towards the tree branch and the abandoned car. Rick, Glenn and Maggie had gotten out too, staring at it as they tried to figure out how to get the car out of the road.

"Get the brakes." Rick says, holding a hand to his hips.

"I got it." Glenn replies, obviously still feeling the frustration from earlier, because he rips open the car door. The moment he did, a walker that was still strapped into the front seat by their seatbelt snarls and holds out its hands in an attempt to claw at him.

Iris reaches for the gun she had stolen from Woodbury, but Glenn took matters into his own hands. He grabs the walker and pulls it out of the car with nothing but his own brute strength, pushing it down to the ground with a yelp. The moment it was on the floor, he didn't reach for his own weapon. There was a sharp roar on his lips as he brought his foot down on the walker's head, again and again and again, until it was nothing but flesh and blood splattered on the ground. Iris' fingers brush over her gun one last time before she lets it drop to her side, just watching her boyfriend let his anger out in such a violent and brutal way.

She could hardly believe it.

When he was done, he turned around, running a hand over his bruised forehead and panting like he had just run a marathon. Rick takes a step closer, and after a moment's hesitation, Iris follows him.

Glenn stares at Rick for a full thirty seconds before he speaks in a cold, critical manner. "You didn't kill him."

"That's not why we went back." Rick answers. He was studying Glenn with something indistinguishable in his eyes, almost like he was looking at someone else entirely. Iris didn't know what to say to him, to either of them. Not now, not when everything felt wrong and her emotions were doing flips inside of her.

"No. That's right." Glenn answers, licking his lips as he finds his words. "You went back for Daryl. And now he's gone again and the Governor is still alive."

"Daryl was the priority." Rick reasons.

Glenn clenches his jaw, and his eyes avert to Iris for a millisecond before he focuses back on Rick, so fast that if she blinked, she would've missed it. "I should have been there with you."

Iris raises her eyebrows. She didn't understand why Glenn was so upset about not going back to Woodbury, considering how much he had gone through in there. She didn't understand a lot of things about Glenn right now.

"You were in no condition." Rick answers, speaking with a tight jaw like he was holding in the urge to yell.

However, Glenn didn't seem to have the same inhibition. His voice raises so loud that Iris can sense Michonne perk up from inside the car, and even Maggie tenses beside her. "But my girlfriend was?"

Good God.

This is seriously what he's mad about?

"Glenn, I was fine!" Iris yells back, before she could stop herself. "You were the one who wasn't fine!"

Glenn blows air out of his nose, looking at her scornfully and using his hands to get his point across. "Fine? You ran in there and you kidnapped a kid!"

"A neglected kid!" Iris shouts right back, breathing heavily as she takes a step closer to him, feeling the urge to defend herself even if it meant fighting with him right in front of Rick. "What was I supposed to-"

"You were supposed to have me there to reign you in!" Glenn spits.

His words hit her like a slap. She bites her lip, shaking her head as her eyes harden. She and Glenn had fought before, but this felt different. More significant. More serious. His comment struck her right in the place that it hurt, highlighting her insecurity and making her immediately yell back so hard that she strains her throat. "I don't need reigning in!"

Glenn throws up a hand and looks away from her. Iris can't help but chuckle out of pure anger, biting down on her cheek, but her attempt to pull his attention over to her fails when Glenn looks back at Rick. "I should have been there."

"Hey, hey!" Rick bites back. "You didn't come back with us because you could barely walk!"

Glenn doesn't pull his gaze from Rick but he points his finger at Iris, his eyes practically bulging from his anger. "What about her?"

"What about me?" Iris screams, but Glenn seemed content to keep ignoring her while somehow still acting like he was worried about her, looking at Rick with a nasty hostility.

"Do you really think she was in the mental condition to go back in there after what he did!?" Glenn yells.

"Glenn, let it go!" Iris warns, a frown building on his forehead that she wasn't sure could ever smooth out.

"Look at her face!" Glenn points at Iris again, his hard gaze going from Rick to Iris. He finally looked at her, but she wasn't met with the man that she knew and loved. Glenn wasn't even looking into her eyes; but the scar on her face.

She shakes her head, and Glenn seems to know that his words hurt her, because he licks his lips and holds onto his hips, looking down at the ground.

"Come on." Iris speaks, her own voice sounding eerily detached. "We're going home."

She only took two steps back towards the car when Glenn's voice called out again, speaking to Rick but loud enough that she could hear him.

"After all that effort, all the risk we took, Daryl just takes off with Merle?"

Iris doesn't turn around, but she listens.

"Well, he had his reasons." Rick sighs.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Rick." Glenn replies piercingly. "Doesn't change the fact that we're up to our necks in shit."

"You want me to turn the car around, beg him to come back? Throw down a welcome mat for Merle?" Rick questions, his voice raising as Iris sighs and walks right back to the car, her fingers hovering over the handle of the door. "This is the hand we've been dealt! Let's just get this out of here and get back. Get some rest. We can talk it out there."

"No, you guys do all the talking you want. I'm done." Glenn says, and Iris can hear his footsteps start to approach the car.

Iris pulls against the handle and forces herself to block it all out.

If she didn't, she truly thought she would explode.

AUTHORS NOTE

❥Welcome back to Doomsday!
❥ This was a heavy one, I apologise 😭 What a way to start 2025, huh?
❥ Glenn and Iris' first fight as a couple and it made me UPSET.
❥ This was also a very very complex chapter, and I hope that I pulled it off well. I think it's important to know that Iris is going through something unfathomable right now with both the loss of Lori and T-Dog and everyone that happened at Woodbury, and she is very far from a reliable narrator in this state of mind. What she did makes sense to her and it makes sense to me too (to an extent) but that doesn't make it any less reckless and impulsive, especially with how casual she is treating it. Her fight with Glenn was so difficult and unfortunately I have to say this isn't the end of their conflict.
❥ I think every good story has to have conflict and I genuinely believe that both Iris and Glenn are right and wrong in their own ways. They've just both got to calm down and recover from their trauma until they can have a proper good chat and begin to repair their little conflict. It made me so sad to write because it's really their first proper arguement as a couple, but I also do believe that it is realistic.
❥ Thank you everyone for reading my yaps at the end of every chapter 😭😭 It's always important to me that Iris doesn't get misunderstood because she's my baby and I love her.
❥ Please vote and comment if you liked <3