Author's Note: Each chapter will open and close with a series of silly Enid-centric demotivational or animated gifs I'm working on. I'm calling the series, "Assertive Enid."

Here be the first.

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— Chapter 1: Besides the Always Ending

She was always pulling Glenn aside to steal a few sloppy kisses when she thought nobody was looking, but of course Enid noticed. Maggie pretended to be so reserved when out in public. Away from the eyes of the community, however, she made damn certain that she wore the pants to bed in that relationship. In fact, Enid had witnessed this first-hand. Rather, heard it, and let her mind fill in the gaps.

After Alexandria had been won back from that walker herd, Enid had been invited by Maggie to live in the spare downstairs room in their designated house. Enid was adamant, at first, but Maggie Greene wasn't really the type of person one could just say no to. Just in the first week alone, Enid could see what Glenn had meant when he told her that the only reason he brought Enid back to Alexandria was because he knew that Maggie wouldn't have wanted him to leave the kid to fend for herself. "We're not friends," Enid remembered him say, still so clearly. "I'm doing this for Maggie." Maggie, and their unborn child.

Speaking of the couple, their married life . . . wasn't exactly a soft one. No matter how quiet and careful they tried to remain upstairs out of courtesy for their newest addition to the family, Enid could hear the squeaks of the bed legs and the pounding of the headboard against the wall increasing its tempo at a hilarious rate in the silence of a rural night. The next day, Glenn would just have the same blasé, yet gentle, face he always had, whereas Maggie would strut about with that smug smile of hers indicating she'd gotten exactly what she wanted the night before. Enid noticed that it was only after those nights when Maggie wouldn't be separating herself and Glenn into some secluded corner to express her unruly affections without care; at least not for a little while. Glenn would be left uncorrupted for maybe a day or two, up until the itch would strike his raunchy wife yet again.

If a hunger like Maggie's could get satiated, it only served to further Enid's young curiosity about what kind of husband she had in her possession. Enid hadn't ever seen Glenn at full mast before, though not for lack of trying. Still, she'd stolen secretive peeks here and there as he'd step in and out of the shower. She found herself impressed. Her suffocating ex-boyfriend, the late Ron Anderson, may have been quite longer at rest, but Glenn's thickness in the same state was something Enid wouldn't mind wrapping her hands around. Being one of the four fittest men out of all the other sticks or blobs in Alexandria only added to the eye candy factor. Still, she had that thing about hating his guts. And his own opinion of her was even lower; never mind how spot-on it may or may not have actually been.

Sure, he continued to act like a father to her. Many times it felt genuine. A fair few moments were even kind of sweet. Somewhere in this generosity and sympathy, though, was what seemed like simple obligation. Maybe it wasn't enough to make it the sole and only truth, but it was there, nonetheless. A part of Enid felt that Glenn's casual caring of her was mostly at the insistence of his wife from behind the scenes.

Maggie made every push to be like her mother, and Enid was okay with it. In fact, the idea grew pretty quickly on the girl. With Glenn, however, it wasn't as strong. Or maybe, just not as pushy. They didn't talk much, and that didn't really bother her. Every sign of trouble, though, it was Glenn who was amongst the first, if not the first, to come running. Walker, stranger, collapsed piece of construction. He was there, every time, looking for her even if she hadn't been involved. Guess he really did worry deep down through all of that mutual hate they shared, but didn't really feel like he had to show it all the time. He did when it mattered, though. If anything, he reminded her a bit of how her own dad used to act. That suited her just fine. But there was just one problem.

No matter how hard Enid tried to, and no matter how hard Glenn worked at it, she just couldn't accept him as a father figure. That actually kind of pissed her off. Despite the existence of hate, Glenn had actually grown on her; even more than before that walker herd, though she refused to share that aloud. She wanted to like him, and she did, but something was stopping her from accepting him as her adoptive dad. Rather, something was stopping her from liking him, if that even made sense. Something she couldn't quite understand through what she felt like was just a lack of experience with such. The first pieces of the puzzle required to explain just exactly what these feelings were eventually came on one windy rest.

Twenty-plus days living under the Rhee family roof, and it was looking to be a night like any other. The moon was beginning to set when she heard the telltale scrapes of the legs of the bed upstairs indicating an energetic, if overanxious, shift of movement. That meant it was a bit after midnight. That meant it was a time when they thought Enid was fast asleep. Without fail, the girl heard the creaking. Slow, at first, but picking up speed. The pounding of the headboard against the wall grew louder and louder. It was normally around times like these that she'd roll her eyes, laugh, and then try to count the sheep faster before finally knocking out. They'd be at it till dawn, after all.

This wasn't one of those times. There was something new to the norm. It wasn't just Maggie's forceful grunts that she heard as per usual. Even through the heavy winds outside, she heard a man's voice from upstairs, too. Unmistakable, yet, at the same time, unfamiliar. It was Glenn, no doubt. But he was groaning. He was moaning, whining, and maybe even whimpering. He was getting happy, and was loving every second of it. He was getting it good, and he wanted more badly, and it was simply because of Maggie.

There was now a different sentiment entirely in the still-blossoming teenager. Where once was the vibrations of restrained tittering, there was a knot in her stomach. Where once was the rise and fall of steadying breaths to better bait over the wandering slumber, there was an inferno in her chest. Where once was the smile at the ridiculousness of it all, there was a grimace of exasperation at the theft of what she'd never owned. It was an unfamiliar feeling to Enid. She'd been an only child. She had always gotten what she'd wanted growing up. Even after surviving out in the world by herself. It was only until moving to Alexandria when things got complicated. Unfamiliar emotions had to be dealt with through learning experiences, and they were usually more error than trial.

Being trapped in a place of freedom for all. Fighting unease in a literal safe-zone. Feeling alone despite always having been alone. Much more anger. Way more tired. Sharing when she didn't want to share. Maybe even what her dictionary lying in the heap of other books in the corner defined as . . . she couldn't remember.

Her senses unwillingly focused on what Enid could only picture was specifically transpiring above her. She felt like she was being cheated out of all her hard-earned supplies. Yet, the contradictory heat of arousal confused her. The girl's hands were down her pajamas before she even understood what was happening. Chaotic, she went, right from the start; an effort to stun all the butterflies in her stomach. Muttering every curse she could think of, and making some up on the way. Breathing harder, and faster. She was blinking back tears, imagining the weight of a forbidden man.

Author's Note: That's right. Glennid. Because fuck it, ship everyone. Please note that Enid will have aged up by the time anything starts between them.

Also-

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