A/N: WOW! Seriously, thank you all so much for reading! I think I've replied individually to everyone that reviewed but if I somehow passed you up, let me know. To WhoMeOfCourse, thank you for taking the time to review. Since you're anon I can't respond personally! ALSO, I've never read the graphic novels. I sadly got into the show first and I don't want to read ahead and spoil the episodes for myself, so anything about the characters that doesn't fit with the comics I'm totally making up.

Mega thanks to my amazing BETA, Xtreme619! She has been beyond helpful. She always makes sure I'm keeping Daryl the badass that he is!

Disclaimer: I do not own. All rights go to Robert Kirkman, Frank Darabont, and all others involved. All others DOES NOT involve me, sadly.

Chapter Four

"Time to get up Sleeping Beauty!" Someone was slapping his face lightly.

"What the fuck?" Daryl swatted at the offending hands. When he opened his painfully heavy eyes he was greeted with Glenn's grinning face.

"I need you to tell me your name."

"What are you on about, Chinaman?" When Daryl tried to stand Glenn immediately pushed him back down, hands lingering on his shoulders.

"Just answer the question." Glenn rolled his eyes but the smile was gone from his face, and worry lines tugged at his deep, brown eyes.

"Daryl." He looked around wondering what was going on, the pain from his broken nose suddenly making itself known. "Dixon. My name's Daryl Dixon."

"Good." Glenn suddenly seemed a lot happier. "What day is it?"

"Are you kiddin' me?" Daryl looked at the other man incredulously. "It's the zombie apocalypse an' you want me to tell you the goddamn day?"

"I told you to ask him easy questions, Glenn!" Rick called over, face lit with amusement. Everyone else was looking on worriedly and everything came flooding back.

"Shit. Merle." Daryl stood, this time not allowing Glenn to guide him back down. "Where'd he go?" He asked no one in particular. Daryl's head hurt something fierce but he ignored it and started walking around aimlessly. "Huh? You people hear me? Where the hell did Merle go?" The redneck was stumbling around kicking things over in his wake. His hands were balled into fists, arm muscles bulging, and his face was turning an unattractive shade of red.

"We're not sure exactly where he went." Rick was standing with his hands up as though trying to calm an injured animal. "He walked off into the woods somewhere. I'm sure he'll come back once he's cooled off."

Daryl took a few calming breaths before stalking back to where Glenn stood to snatch his crossbow off the ground. Glenn took hold of his arm to stall him, eyes silently begging him to stop. The older man pulled away from his lover. Quickly Daryl leaned in close and captured Glenn's mouth in an apologetic kiss, pulling back almost as fast. They didn't have time to talk now but Daryl wanted him to know that he was sorry for the fight the other night, for everything that was happening, but he had to go after his brother. Glenn nodded in understanding.

"I've gotta go after him. Calm him down before he comes back. You haven't seen an angry Dixon til you've seen Merle in one of his moods."

"Now, Daryl, I really don't think-" Dale started but Daryl cut him off before he could go any farther.

"-You people just don't get it do you? Merle may be a lot of things, bad things, but he's always been there for me when I was actin' a fool. I owe him. A hell of a lot more than you ingrates." He sneered at them before stalking off, intent on picking up Merle's trail.

Glenn stared after Daryl's retreating back and even though he didn't like Merle he understood Daryl's need to show his family respect (even if he didn't think Merle deserved it). Glenn thought back on his own parents, how cold and harsh they were raising him, and how it had hurt more than he expected to bash their brains in when he found them turned and happily eating away at their unsuspecting lawn boy. Family bonds were strange; you could hate someone your whole life but when it came to protecting them you would go through any lengths to do so. Dale seemed flabbergasted by Daryl's outburst and Lori stood to the side looking offended. Rick, however, walked to Glenn and clapped him on the shoulder.

"He's right." Glenn said before Rick had time to comment, afraid the older man would somehow reprimand Daryl for his actions.

"I know." This stunned Glenn (and Lori, apparently, who gasped and walked closer to Shane). "He's right, Glenn, we haven't given much thought to how he feels about the whole situation. We should try to be a little more welcoming to Merle." Rick's face was strained as if it was physically painful for him to admit that.

"You can't be serious!" Shane spoke up for the first time. "That redneck junkie is nothin' but trouble. We should just kill him and get it over with."

"None of us like him," Rick agreed. "And none of us trust him, but that's going a little too far. Why don't we all just calm down and think about this rationally."

"You really think we owe Merle anything after the way he's treated us?" Shane took his hat off and ran a hand over his stubbly scalp.

"I don't think we owe Merle anything. But we definitely owe Daryl." Rick was speaking to everyone now and Carol was nodding in agreement, wringing her tiny hands nervously.

"Oh come on!" Shane's voice was steadily growing louder. "We don't owe that white trash piece of shit anything. He doesn't do shit around here, unlike like the rest of us! What does he do for us, huh?"

Silence. Then-

"You shut the fuck up!" Everyone jumped at the sound of Glenn's voice, the sound so loud it echoed slightly and his neck muscles were taught. No one had ever seen Glenn so man. "You just wish you were half the man he was! We would all be dead by now, half-starved and walker food, if it wasn't for him." Glenn charged at Shane, not the least bit concerned with the other man's larger size and police training. Rick swiftly swept the other man into his arms to hold him back.

"Relax!" Rick's arms were tight around Glenn's waist.

"No! I'm not going to relax. You think he needs you people?" Glenn spat, pushing Rick off of him but made no move to go after Shane again. "Any of you? The only reason he's still here is because I asked him to stay. He's told me over and over again how none of you care about him, and you know what, he was right. I can't believe it took me so long to see it."

Glenn looked around the group waiting for someone, anyone, to tell him he was wrong. Most of them looked ashamed, like a kid caught stealing cookies, but Shane and Lori stood their ground watching him with unwavering eyes. Carol looked like she was about to cry when she walked to him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a motherly hug.

"He's a good man, Glenn. A better man than most. I don't know what I'd do without him around." Carol kissed Glenn's cheek, stepping back. "He's done more for me, for Sophia-" everyone winced at the little girl's name, "-than anyone ever has. I'm so happy he has someone like you watching his back. And you!" She turned to the others. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves." The moment Carol was done talking she gasped, hand flying to cover her mouth as though she was surprised the words had even escaped it.

Glenn didn't wait around for another confession. He stormed to his tent and hid there the rest of the afternoon.

Daryl followed Merle's trail for hours. His brother was a big man and left a telltale trail; he never had perfected the skill of covering his tracks. The sun was long gone by then and the small flashlight Daryl carried in his pocket was proving to be a rather useless guide. He thought for a moment about heading back and continuing the search in the morning but the image of an angry Merle stampeding into camp made him think otherwise. Merle was big, but slow, and Daryl knew he couldn't be too far behind. A twig snapping in the not-too-far distance alerted him and Daryl stopped, crouching low, crossbow loaded and aimed. He was hoping it was Merle but these days you couldn't be too cautious-a walker could be anywhere. Anther twig snapped the sound of feet stepping through the underbrush told Daryl it was Merle's heavy step and not the lazy dragging of feet that was associated with the walkers.

"Merle!" Daryl called out, standing to shine his flashlight around.

"That you, little brother?" Merle came into view, his boots covered in mud and his face free of worries and anger. He looked like the old Merle, the one before the world ended. Still crazy, but not intent on killing everyone for no reason.

"'Course it is. Who else would follow your dumb ass all the way out here?" He muttered and let his crossbow drop to his side. Merle's face was covered in bruises and scrapes and Daryl knew he must look twice as bad.

"I sure did beat you good didn't I, boy?" Merle's good hand came up to grab his chin, turning his face side to side. Daryl was sure Merle couldn't see well in the glow of the moon but Merle's face was glowing proudly. Daryl could only nod, wanting to drop the subject to avoid further confrontation. "They wanna kick me out, yet?"

"Nah, they're too afraid of you to do that. Just don't go tryin' som'thin' like that again, asshole." Daryl grunted, hopeful his brother would return calmly to camp with him.

"Yeah, yeah. Them pussies don't know how to handle us Dixons, do they?" Merle sniffed, running his hand along the underside of his nose. Daryl noticed the way his eyes were glazed over and the lazy grin wouldn't leave his face.

"You high, Merle?" Daryl took a step back but Merle followed, crowding him against a tree.

"Why?" Merle asked. When Daryl's back slammed into the rough bark behind him Merle's stumpy arm came up to rest against his throat putting a menacing but otherwise not painful pressure there. Daryl turned his head away from the stubby remains of Merle's hand unable to handle the scarred and grotesque flesh. Merle laughed harshly in his ear when he noticed the cringe on Daryl's face. "Pretty nasty, right? Look at it." Merle pushed a little harder at his throat but Daryl didn't budge until Merle finally pushed enough to cut off his air supply. "Look at it!"

"I'm lookin'!" Daryl gasped out but didn't struggle. He knew from experience this would only make things worse. The stump made him sick and he felt a flutter of anger at Rick for leaving Merle on the roof like that. He had rationalized time and time again that Rick had done what needed to be done, had already forgiven the man but now, with Merle back he couldn't help but feel some of that resentment again. Finally Merle eased up enough for Daryl to suck in much needed air.

"This is what those 'friends' of yours made ol' Merle do to himself. If you had balls you'd go shoot Rick in the head for me." Daryl shivered at the familiarity of those words, almost identical to the ones imaginary-Merle had uttered to him when he was injured looking for Sophia. He was about to respond but then Merle was gone, feet away from him and grinning from ear to ear "But don't you worry your pretty little head over anything. I aint gonna put my hands on anyone 'less they put theirs on me. Let's head on back 'fore they think I killed yer ass."

Daryl followed Merle back to camp, his head spinning. Merle was unstable, always had been, but his mood swings now were giving him whiplash. Something was off and it wasn't just the drugs.

Glenn's tent unzipped and he looked up, startled, but was faced with Carl sneaking in and not a hungry walker. The small boy had his back turned to Glenn, looking around before ducking in and zipping the flap closed. Carl jumped when he turned and found Glenn staring at him, arms crossed over his chest. Did Carl expect to sneak in without Glenn noticing or something? Glenn smiled warmly at Carl, patting the sleeping bag next to him. Carl sat, taking his father's too-big hat off his head before speaking.

"I really like Daryl." Carl looked at Glenn. "He's not always the nicest person but I feel safe around him. And he always makes sure we have food." The child paused, looking around the tent. "My mom and dad fight about him a lot. Mom says he's not safe but dad always sticks up for him. He said the same thing you did, that we'd all be dead without him."

"I wasn't really yelling at you, you know?" Glenn tried to reassure Carl, ashamed that he'd made the kid feel like he was involved in a very adult situation.

"I know. But I wanted you to know I'm glad you made Daryl stay." Carl pulled something out of his back pocket and it took Glenn a moment to realize what it was. Carl was holding Daryl's buck knife almost lovingly and Glenn realized that Carl look up to Daryl, idolized him, even. "I don't ever want him to leave."

A/N: Please review! I truly love hearing from you guys and I've gotten some really good suggestions! They make my day…no joke.