Marriage.
It's a social construct. There's no denying that. Humans created it, humans maintain it, and humans can destroy it. It's clear that as long as there's people around, marriage will exist.
The end of the world deconstructed it. Made it irrelevant for a while. It didn't matter and people wondered why it should. After all, this new world had far worse problems.
But it still existed. Even though the official papers were probably destroyed. The churches were burned. The rings were no longer made. The fact that a woman could be widowed meant that the idea of losing of husband, the idea of a husband itself, existed.
Maybe that's why he had to do it. Because he wanted to become a husband. Not just for the sake of becoming a husband either, but because it meant that he would be a husband to her. He wanted to be the person she called when she didn't know what to buy at the grocery store. He wanted to be the person who picked her up from the airport. He wanted to be the person she saw after a long day on the job. There were no grocery stores, no airports, and no jobs anymore but that idea was still alive. That person still existed. He had to let her know that he wanted to be that person for her.
It was a lot to take on. Two years ago, he never would have thought about fitting the mold of a married man. To take the responsibility of someone else's happiness and safety? It was enough to worry about himself. Just the simple task of staying alive constantly occupied his mind, at least at the beginning. This new world functioned around selfishness. Every man for himself. There was no room for something like marriage. But ever since she came into his life, he realized that there was no point in living if the only thing that mattered was survival. There was still the opportunity to be a good man. That's what the watch meant. Time was scarce and precious. There was only so long he had to be the person he wanted to be.
Of course, he had to go through procedure. Marriage didn't have a rule book; it never did. However, there was some sort of tradition that came along with it. For him, it was asking her father. His parents emphasized that part of a proposal. He didn't know if was a cultural thing, or maybe just out of decency but he knew he had to do it.
"I want to marry Maggie. And we don't have to have a wedding. I don't even know if we'll last a week but I want her to know."
"You have my blessing."
The ring wasn't that important to him but he knew that she would appreciate the gesture. Heck, he was even proud of himself for thinking of it. There were tons of married folks when the world ended and they still all had rings. He tried to hide his excitement as he took back the walker's diamond ring and washed it.
He and Maggie had been through a lot together. He didn't want to undermine any of it with a crappy proposal. After spending several nights writing down ideas (all the while keeping it hidden from the ever-nosy girlfriend), he finally settled on nothing. Maybe it was laziness or maybe it was a truly profound idea. He would just give her the ring as sort of an offering. A tribute to their relationship. And if she took it, she took it. If she didn't, it was a damn good ring.
Luckily she did take it.
Rick had a meeting with the group right after, but he could feel the excitement in her fingers when he held her hand. However, she couldn't contain it once everyone was back in the cell block. She didn't say anything, really. She just made an extra effort to wave her left hand around, especially in front of the women. Beth was the first to notice.
"Maggie, what's that?" Beth asked, grabbing her sister's hand. Without saying anything else, the two girls burst into a fit of giggles. Carol and Rick came to see the commotion and soon they were also smiling. Glenn stayed in their room, but couldn't help but to poke his head out and watch.
That night, there were plenty of pats on the back for him as well as the necessary "Congratulations". As the night went on, Glenn realizes that they were not only congratulating the engagement, but each other. This group, this family, was able to achieve some sort of humanity in a hellish world. Some would say the most traditional form of humanity: love.
When the Woodbury citizens came in, there was quite a bit of chaos. New names, new faces, but also a reaffirmation of old ones. Glenn introduced himself, then he introduced Maggie. "She's my girl-…wi-…fiancé…" It was clear there was something else that needed to be cleared up.
"Hey, Maggie?" He laid awake in bed that night. Her face was buried into the side of his chest. She grunted in response. "Are we married?"
He thought she was asleep judging by the lack of response but then she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What?"
Glenn sat up and leaned back on his elbows. "I mean, it's been a few weeks since the ring. But we didn't really do anything about it. So I'm not sure if we should or if we even have to? It's a stupid question…"
"No, it's not stupid." She glanced down at the diamond and chuckled lightly. "This certainly isn't what I imagined being married would be like."
"So we are married?"
"Why not?"
"We didn't have a wedding or anything. I don't know if you wanted one. Getting all dressed up and doing the cake and the dancing and the flowers?"
"Things are different now." He couldn't help but to sense a hint of resentment in her voice. "Call it what you want."
"Maggie…"
"I love you, Glenn. You're the only person I want to be with for the rest of my life. Whatever that means." She pressed a soft, half-conscious kiss to the corner of his mouth.
He thought about what she said. That was all the reason why he wanted to marry her in the first place wasn't it? To let her know that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with?
"I guess it's weird to think of myself as your husband."
"You're my everything."
"Now you're just being nice."
She smiled and pulled him down so he was laying on his side. "Take it or leave it."
He kissed her tenderly. "I'll take it." She happily met his lips with hers. He would never get tired of this, he thought. "So what did you picture being married like?"
"Living on a farm with a bunch of kids. Probably married to some local guy from the county. Boring jobs. No sex." Even half asleep, she had a playful glint in her eye.
"Well good thing we didn't turn out like that."
"No, we have a lot more fun."
"Can't say we're ever bored."
"Nope."
"And we do have sex."
"Yes, Glenn."
"It's nice."
"Mmhmm."
So that was that. For the next few weeks they lived as a married couple. They had their own room in the prison as well as a private space at the watchtower, because God knows that's the only place they ever got any privacy. It was a comparatively domestic life. Having meals together, compromising shower time, making the bed. However, they enjoyed the mundane things the most. For example, Maggie insisted on doing Glenn's laundry even though he said he could do it himself. (At first it was embarrassing to have her handle his underwear but his nervousness just made her laugh)
It wasn't perfect but things never were. Marriage, it seemed, was not as idealistic as Glenn assumed it would be. It wasn't until he got sick when it occurred to him that maybe being married made things worse.
The thought came when he saw Maggie's brilliant green eyes, swollen from crying. She tried to hide it by doing an awful lot of smiling but Glenn could tell. Would she have been that sad if they weren't married? If she wasn't burdened with the role of the wife, waiting on a dying husband? Hershel noticed his distress.
"What's wrong?" he asked. His tender Southern accent came out the most when he was concerned. Maggie took after that.
"Nothing. Just, you know, a little cold," Glenn tried to laugh it off but it hurt.
"I know that face, son. Your body's not the only thing that's aching."
"I'm worried about Maggie."
"She's worried about you."
"That's the thing. Maybe she wouldn't feel that way if we weren't…you know…"
"Married?"
Glenn nodded.
"I think we both know the answer to that. Son, it's not being married that makes her worry. She loves you. That's why she's worried."
Hershel put his hand on Glenn's shoulder. "I'm proud of you two. You've come a long way and to make a commitment like marriage is truly fantastic. It might seem hard sometimes but in the end, it's worth it."
"Thank you. For trusting me."
Hershel's tired eyes wrinkled around his endearing smile.
After a tremulous night, the road to recovery was imminent. Glenn was only conscious for a few minutes at a time but whenever he opened his eyes, he could see the outline of her body slumped in a chair beside the bed. Some time in the early morning (or late night), he made an effort to hold her hand. His fingers started to slide over hers when she sat up suddenly.
"Glenn?"
He opened his mouth to talk but only a raspy exhale came out.
"Shh…We just got the ventilator out of you." She rubbed her eyes and scooted closer to him. She took his hand in both of hers. "You're gonna be back to normal in no time."
She leaned her elbows on the edge of the bed and touched his hand to her lips. He slowly moved his hand to caress her cheek. His thumbed drifted over her brow and settled on the soft skin beneath her temple. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
An overwhelming smile came over his face. Never did the mere sight of someone exhausted and sleepy but safe make him so incredibly happy. And she was still gorgeous.
Soon, the energy left him. She still carried his limp hand in hers and held it close to her lips. "Thank you, God," she whispered. She let a few more tears slip down her face before she settled into an awkward position, half on her chair and half draped across Glenn's torso.
Their biggest test as husband and wife came after the prison was destroyed. The thoughts in Glenn's head were mixed up; everything was chaos. From the walkers to the explosions to the deaths, he wasn't sure what was happening. Though there was only one thought in his mind when he woke up.
"I have to find Maggie," Glenn said.
"Who's Maggie?"
"She's my wife."
Perhaps that was the only way to communicate how much she really meant to him. To a stranger like Tara, how could he explain everything they had been through? How could he convince her to help him? The ancient concept of marriage was the answer.
In that one word, Glenn could tell Tara was hooked. It was a mission now- to reunite husband and wife. It was something so essential, so classic that it could happen at any time. Before the apocalypse, three hundred years ago, now. Husband and wife needed to be together.
That's what Hershel would've wanted, Glenn thought. Hershel trusted him with her life and he could not fail. He would not fail. He believed Maggie was out there searching for him too. That was his fire. As long as he could feel her, as long as he believed, he would keep on going.
"Till death do us part," Maggie muttered in the train car at Terminus.
Glenn chuckled. "Kind of morbid, don't you think?"
"I think it's hopeful."
They sat together in darkness. Hands clasped together, just to feel the touch of skin.
"We haven't had a honeymoon." Glenn thought out loud.
"Honeymoons are overrated."
"Yeah?"
"I've got everything I need."
"Yeah. But maybe a nice hotel room wouldn't hurt."
"Mm…sex on silk sheets?"
"Wi-fi."
"You're such a romantic, Glenn." She nudged him playfully. They tried to stifle their laughter as not to disrupt the silence in the train car.
He threw his arm around her. His hand settled on her hers and he felt the hard texture of her wedding ring. Here he was, held hostage in a train car in the apocalypse, and he had his arms around a married woman.
His married woman.
He laughed.
"What's so funny?" she asked, leaning his head against his shoulder.
"This is unreal," he sighed. He looked down at her, eyes beaming with happiness. "We're married."
She laughed because she thought he had gone delirious.
"We made it."
Some people might have thought it was silly. Marriage. Such an old, loaded practice. Some may say it had lost its place in modern times. However, not many people gave much thought to it after the apocalypse. Perhaps it was truly dated. Perhaps it was something not needed anymore, an antiquated tradition for existing conditions.
On the other hand, maybe it was the key to survival. It had been the key for as long as humanity existed, hadn't it?
If there was one thing Glenn ever did right in this world, it was marrying Maggie Greene. She was his burden, his blessing. His wife.