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When Glenn woke up, it was still dark and quiet all around. The silence was comforting, because it meant nobody was in danger - they still hadn’t gotten found by anybody or anything that could threaten their lives and they all could feel at least a little bit safe. But on the other hand the silence could mean he was all alone and everybody had left him, saving their own lives. The same nightmare had woken him up every night for the last week. He was alone, forgotten, there was nobody to help him when he needed it the most, as it scared him more than anything.
He tried to play it cool most of the time, whenever he could. The others had their own problems and stupid dreams weren’t really important (they weren’t true after all), especially when they could get into real trouble any time. So he’d decided to pretend everything was okay; he kept smiling, joking with everybody and arguing with Daryl when he could, leaving worrying for the times when he was on his own.
They hadn't met anybody suspicious in a couple of days so the journey to the next big city was easier than they all expected. They had found the food on their way, too, so everybody seemed to be a little bit happier and relaxed as far as he could tell. Darryl and Shane kept laughing; even Rick, Andrea and Lori seemed to be more relaxed, even if they were still careful and would always, from time to time, check every place they stayed in just to make sure everything was okay. But mostly Rick was spending time with Lori and Carl. It was good to see everybody at ease like that, especially since he knew it probably wouldn’t last for too long if the undead were to find them.
He wished he could be so lucky as to relax for a little while, too, or at least have somebody to talk to about his fears, but he didn't want to depress anybody, especially when all of them looked like they needed some peace. He couldn't ruin their good moods. He already felt like they talked to him mostly when they wanted something, and even if they probably never meant it like that, it still wasn't cool. Darryl kept making fun of him as always so at least not everything was different, but still, it would be nice to talk about what he wanted to instead of shouting. Everybody seemed to focus on the people they cared about the most, or at least it looked like it, and he was on his own. Even T-Dog was spending more time with Dale than before. It was hard , being so alone in the group of people who were closest to him. It felt like he was forgotten. But Glenn had gotten closer to T-Dog lately, too, so maybe it wasn't all that bad.
For some time now T-Dog was a person who was closest to him - they talked a lot, joked, bickered, took shifts together... just regular hanging out in each other's company. T-Dog actually got most of his jokes, even laughed at them, and he was fun to be around in general, people just didn't give him enough credit.
Glenn left the tent slowly and sat down on the ground next to one of the trees, looking at the sky. Clear sky without any stars or clouds. He looked around at the other tents, hearing somebody snore softly. He probably should get back to sleep, too, but for some reason he couldn’t.
"Hey, man. What are you thinking about?"
Glenn turned around to see T-Dog standing next to him, a big smile on his face. He smiled back, not even asking why the other man wasn't sleeping like everybody else.
"Just... can't sleep. Not really important," he answered, hoping they could just sit in silence for a while if T-Dog wouldn’t decide to get back to his tent after all. He felt weird. He wanted to talk to somebody, but on the other hand, telling everything he felt would expose him so much. He didn't want T-Dog to see him as vulnerable or weak.
"If you say so. You missed the supper, you know," T-Dog added after a few seconds of silence when Glenn just closed his eyes. What could he say to that? He was about to answer when his stomach answered for him, and Glenn was really happy it was night and T-Dog wasn’t able to see the blush that covered his face quicker than he expected. Great.
"Here," the other man said quietly and Glenn turned his head to the right to look what his friend was talking about. A paper bag appeared in front of his face and he blinked a couple of times, looking at the bag when T-Dog just shrugged.
"I had to hide them somehow so the others wouldn't eat them all. Found them the last time we were in a city and... I kinda forgot 'bout them," he swallowed, leaving the bag on the ground.
Glenn took the bag, opened it and he couldn't help smiling when he saw it was full of cookies. He couldn't even remember the last time he’d had these. He took one and ate it in a couple of bites . It really had been a long time since he’d even had a chance to look at brownies. While eating, Glenn had a feeling T-Dog didn't want him to look in his direction. When he cooked, Glenn always got the biggest share, when they have found friuts, T-Dog usually gave them to Glenn... now the older man looked almost embarrassed, looking at the ground while Glenn was eating. It wasn't really fair to the other man, so Glenn took one brownie and gave it to T-Dog, who after a while took it and lay back to rest on the ground. He swallowed the last piece looking at the clear sky. Glenn fought the urge to eat all the brownies and he closed the bag. Following T-Dog's example, he made a move to lie back on the ground, next to his friend. He opened the eyes when the back of his head connected with T-Dog's firm shoulder. He turned his head quickly to look at the other man, but he noticed only his closed eyes and regular breathing. T-Dog was relaxed, like nothing had happened and Glenn's head on his shoulder was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Glenn took it as a sign that everything was okay , so he just stayed where he was, with his head pillowed on T-Dog's shoulder. When he felt an arm wrapping around his shoulders he closed his eyes. And even if the soft kiss pressed to the top of his head surprised him, he just wrapped an arm around T-Dog's chest and smiled.
Maybe waking up in the middle of the night wasn't so bad after all?