Way Home
glenn rhee x fem!reader
warnings: angst, reader goes missing, reader is mentioned to be malnourished.
You had promised Glenn you would be back before dark, that was over a week ago. In that week Glenn had searched for you relentlessly and when he wasn't looking for you outside the gates he was standing by the wall watching out for you.
He felt sick to his stomach each night laying in bed while you were somewhere out there. He refused to believe you were dead, you promised you'd come back.
The one time Rick suggested that you may be dead and they should stop searching Glenn blew up. Nobody had seen him that mad before.
"No! She would've never given up on you- Any of you!" He shouted before storming off back outside to the gate kicking a bucket on his way out sending it to roll down across the room that was now dead silent.
When weeks turned to months and the warm air turned into a bitter cold he still didn't give up but the hope of finding you was slimming each day.
Some nights he didn't sleep, he would sit in his cell that was covered in your things. He refused to let go of anything that was yours. He was distraught when your smell began fading from your clothes and pillows.
Somedays it would slip his mind for a second, a split moment that you were missing. He'd roll in the bad reaching for you but you weren't there.
The easy-going Glenn began fading as if he went missing with you. He almost never smiled.
Beth was the only other one to believe you were still alive so when the sun went down and he could no longer see the beyond the fence she would hug him and reassure him she believed you were alive too.
Sometimes you would visit him in his dreams. Sometimes you were returning as if you hadn't been gone for months or sometimes nightmares where he would find you dead or as a walker. Sometimes he would wakeup in cold sweats and other nights he'd cry so hard he would puke.
Glenn and you had began dating four months before the apocalypse. When shit hit the fan he ran to you. Every day he has survived was for you; to keep you alive. You of course loved your independence. It was meant to be a simple run but of course nothing was simple in this world, not anymore.
He was sitting in his cell holding the little rabbit you had loved so much, his mind elsewhere when he heard a sudden crash and shouting. His head shot up but he didn't move, he didn't have the energy anymore. But when he heard someone cry out "Oh my god! Is that Y/n?" he was up. He tossed the stuffed animal on the bed and ran out of the cell and towards the voices. Daryl, Rick and Maggie were carrying a door they were using as a stretcher.
"Found 'er, 'was half frozen when I found 'er" Daryl spoke, his southern drawl strong.
Glenn let out a cry, guttural and desperate as he rushed them. Hershel was quick on his foot and had them lay you down in the nearest cell. Daryl lifted you, thin and frail, and set you on the bed. A small cry escaped your lips, frozen and delirious.
Glenn shoved by then all and gripped your hand. Tears ran down his cheeks rapidly and the cries he let out her heartbreaking. Opening your eyes they were bloodshot from lack of sleep. You opened your mouth to speak but all that came out was a croak.
Hershel gently moved beside Glenn and got to work to warm you up and bandage all the wounds.
It wasn't until a few hours later did you fully wake up. Glenn had slid into the bed beside you and used his body to keep yours warm. He nearly broke down again when he felt how thin you were. Hershel sighed when he told everyone you were severely malnourished, it truly looked like you were on deaths door.
When Glenn heard your muffled groan he sat up and gently cupped your cheek and quietly mumbled your name.
"Glenn?" You turned your head and opened your eyes, your voice hoarse.
"Hi" Glenn practically sobbed out then leaned forward and kissed you twice on the lips.
"I got lost- I got lost and couldn't.." You were cut off by a coughing fit.
Glenn reached over and grabbed the water bottle someone had left for you when you woke up. He unscrewed the lid and helped you lean up. He brought the bottle to your lips and let you drink as much as you needed.
He pet your tangled hair as you drank. He wasn't a religious man but he mentally thanked whatever brought you back to him for keeping you alive.
