I love your darlenn fics! And you're taking prompts?! I would love to read one where... Daryl doesn't know how to read. :))))))
I hope this is anything like what you were hoping for.
It took Daryl a week to move into a cell, to feel comfortable with it. Glenn offered to share with him but things were too new. Glenn and Maggie had a bit of a falling out. The sex has been good and Maggie was beautiful and sharp as a whip but it just didn’t work. They argued a lot after the farm was lost and realized what they had was just convenient and nothing much deeper. It wasn’t an ugly thing and neither wanted to call it a break up but they gave each other distance.
Glenn was entirely sure how he ended up sleeping with Daryl. He had always known he liked both genders equally so that wasn’t the problem. It just happened one night back when they were sleeping in their cars and running everywhere. There was no big ‘ah-ha’ moment, just a night when hands fumbled and lips met just a bit too harshly but still so perfectly and even though they didn’t discuss it they didn’t stop.
Now that they had the prison and Herschel was recovering everyone was heaving a sigh of relief. In their first days there Rick asked Glenn to write down directions to all the important parts of the prison, the arrows on the ways were nice but not very detailed after all. They didn’t want anyone getting lost in the tombs until they were able to clear it properly. So Glenn wrote everything out so each person got a copy.
When Glenn handed Daryl he’s he just tossed it on the floor by his bunk and went back to cleaning his arrows, “Don’t need any map to find my way around.”
“It’s precautionary,” Glenn rolled his eyes sitting next to Daryl’s legs on the bunk and snatched the paper up, “Like if you need to get to the boiler room right now. How do you get there?”
Daryl blinked at him, “I’ll figure that out when I need to get there.”
“But the answers right there,” Glenn held up the paper and pointed at the third bullet point, “Why figure when you have the answer?”
Daryl glanced at words Glenn was pointing then back at the younger man before looking back down at the arrow in his hands with a shrug. A thought popped into Glenn’s head and he was careful to voice it, “Daryl, can you read this?”
“With yer chicken scratch not likely.” Daryl muttered.
“Be serious,” Glenn huffed, “Can you read what I wrote?”
Daryl stared Glenn in the eye then glanced at the page again and let out an aggravated breath and jerked his head in a short shake, “Daryl-”.
Daryl swung his legs over and Glenn had to scramble up to avoid being kicked. He grabbed his bow and shouldered it a bit too violently. Glenn tried to grab his arm but he was knocked away.
“So what if I can’t read,” Daryl grabbed the paper from Glenn and crumpled it up in his fist before tossing it to the side, “I don’t need some damn instructions to know where I’m goin’ and I don’t need ya judging me.”
“I wasn’t, I just was shocked.” Glenn defended making Daryl roll his eyes.
“What a shock, the dumb redneck lives up to his title.” Daryl spat before heading out of the cell.
“Daryl, wait-” Glenn started to follow him but Daryl’s glare stopped him in his tracks.
“I have watch now, think I need your paper to help me find my way?” Glenn didn’t know what to say to that so he just shook his head no and Daryl stomped away.
Glenn picked up the rumpled paper and flattened it out leaving on the desk in Daryl’s cell. Glenn felt awful but there was just one option for him and with determination he got what he needed together.
It was just before sundown when Daryl came back to his cell. He had been pissed when he left but at himself not Glenn. It wasn’t the younger man’s fault he was never taught to read, that he had came from a shitty family. Daryl never really needed to know how, he knew enough to pass his driving test when he was a teen and sign his name to stuff back when that was important. So Daryl never mentioned it. He was honestly surprised to find Glenn sitting on his bunk when he got back, he figured Glenn would be done with him now.
“Whatcha want?” Daryl asked without much feeling of any kind in his voice while setting his bow down and kicking off his boots for the night.
Glenn patted the blanket next to him and shifted the book he had in his lap. The roll of Daryl’s eyes was good natured this time and Glenn smiled at the sight of it as Daryl sat next to him. Glenn opened the book and it turned out to be a journal with writing covering the first page with big gapes between the rows of scribbles.
“This is the alphabet.” Glenn stated and Daryl looked at the page again and some of the scribbles did look familiar.
“Glenn, I’m sor-” Daryl started but Glenn shook his head.
“It’s alright, but I’m teaching you to read. Okay? Please?” Daryl was embarrassed that he couldn’t do something little kids could but he couldn’t say no to Glenn.
“One condition,” Daryl said getting a raised eyebrow from Glenn, “Teach me yer name first.”
Glenn grinned nodding his head and Daryl couldn’t stop himself from leaning over and kissing those lips. Glenn gave him another quick peck when he pulled back before focusing on the page. Showing Daryl what each letter was and sounded like, making him copy them in the spaces between lines. By the time everyone was turning in for the night Daryl knew the sight of Glenn’s name by heart and wrote it without even having to look. Glenn slept in Daryl’s bunk that night, smiling as Daryl absentmindedly traced his ABC’s on the bare skin of the smaller man’s back.
Daryl couldn’t help teasing Denise as she floundered to explain the little extra not so necessity on the list. He smirked as she awkwardly finished telling him the soda was for Tara and practically ran away from her own embarrassment. Glenn quirked an eyebrow at her as she hurried by him, her face slowing growing redder.
“What did you do?” Glenn chuckled as Daryl innocent held up his hands in a shrug before tugging Glenn into a kiss. Glenn grinned against his lips before stepping back.
“Ya need anything special brought back?” Daryl asked giving the list a once over again and Glenn plucked it from his hand. Pulling a pen from his coat pocket he quickly scribbled something at the bottom of the paper before folding and handing it back. Daryl flipped it open and in Glenn’s small scrawl was one word ‘you’.
“Think I can manage that,” Daryl snorted pulling Glenn in for another kiss and another and maybe one more wouldn’t hurt until Glenn pushed him back laughing.
“Go on, Rick’s waiting.” Glenn shoved him in the direction of the front gate waiting until he was a few good paces away to call out, “Oh yeah, and we need soap!”
“What am I, everyone’s errand boy?” Daryl huffed.
“Heard that!” Glenn laughed getting a smirked thrown back at him.
“Meant fer ya to,” Glenn flipped him off, “Love ya.”
“Love you too.” Daryl smiled at the words as he tucked the list into his vest pocket after jotting down soap right below Orange Crush.
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