Once again, I'm sorry it's taking so long between updates. I always plan to update my stories more quickly, but somehow it always ends up the same... Thank you for your patience. Here is the next chapter:

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Chapter 10

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Merle stumbled up the library's front steps as he made his way back inside. He'd just gone out to take a piss and had passed Levi and Lawrence coming up while Merle was on his way down the stairs. He wondered why Levi and Lawrence were so weird like that... Did they really just go outside to piss, together? Merle even made a snide comment about it, but they'd just shrugged it off and continued upstairs.

They were lucky there weren't many walkers out here. It was nice to be able to use the outdoors as a bathroom so they didn't have to use the actual bathrooms inside, which very often no longer had running water.

Merle swung open the front door, locking it behind him when he made his way back inside.

As he made his way toward the stairs leading to the second floor, he noticed someone coming up the stairs from the basement. It was dark inside the library, but he could see well enough to notice the figure walking slowly up the steps was smaller than Daryl or the others. It must have been the group's semi-captive member, Glenn.

"Hey, boy," Merle called out as he stumbled forward toward the kid. He noticed Glenn didn't quite look happy to see him, but that was nothing new.

Glenn stopped in his tracks as Merle continued walking toward him. The boy looked like he'd just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. He looked past Merle's shoulder toward the library's front door for a brief second, but didn't make a move to run for it. Instead, he just stood still, waiting for Merle to approach him.

"I know I said before, Glenn," Merle slurred as he walked up to Glenn, putting his arm around the boy's shoulders and noticing Glenn intaking a sharp breath and stiffening under his touch. "But I'm sorry, like really honestly sorry for actin' like I was gonna throw you off the roof. I mean, I'm not sorry. It was kinda funny, but I guess it was kinda mean too, you know?" Merle laughed his usual raspy laugh and pulled Glenn closer to his body with his arm.

Glenn almost felt like he was shaking, but maybe it was Merle who was shaking from a mixture of withdrawal and being quite drunk.

"Hey, said I was sorry," Merle repeated, dragging Glenn along with him as the boy seemed to have nothing to say on the matter. "You ain't got no right to be mad at me."

"It's okay, Merle," Glenn said in a small voice as he allowed Merle to lead him back up the stairs.

"What was you doin' down in the basement?" Merle wondered, stopping walking and therefore forcing Glenn to stop as well. Glenn had certainly looked guilty a few moments ago when Merle had first spotted him. "Why you sneakin' around for?" Merle added with narrowed eyes.

Glenn frowned as he looked up at Merle. The kid hesitated as though fearful he was going to be in some sort of trouble. He looked like he was about to cry. Hell, he may have already started to.

"Aww," Merle made a pouting expression with his lips, both mocking Glenn as well as feeling a slight twinge of sympathy for him in the same moment. "I ain't mad. You didn't leave the building. As long as you don't leave, you're free to look around a little. Probably just wanted to go down there an' study. You know you don't need to anymore, right? The world's over. Y'all Asians don't need to worry so much about medical school these days," he laughed another raspy chuckle.

Glenn looked down at the floor, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, you don't gotta be so melancholy, boy," Merle frowned. "Yer actin' like I just kicked the shit out of you. I been bein' really nice to you over the past day, you know?"

He could feel Glenn's shoulders shrinking down under his arm. Why was the kid acting so scared of him tonight? Merle really had been being exceptionally friendly over the past day. He'd been so friendly it even made himself feel sick. Ever since he'd walked in on Levi actually legitimately trying to rape this kid, he'd honestly felt pretty bad for bringing him here and felt even more guilty for noticing Levi following Brady and Glenn up the stairs yesterday and not going up to check on them sooner. In fact, he hadn't even thought to check what was going on up there until Brady came back down for tape. As soon as Merle realized Levi and Glenn were up in the room alone and completely un-supervised, he decided he should probably make sure Levi wasn't doing something awful. And of course, the guy had been.

Glenn still didn't say anything in response. He simply stood still, seeming to try to distance himself from Merle's touch without actually moving away from him.

"I didn't do nothin' too bad to you, Glenn," Merle was beginning to feel annoyed. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the drug withdrawal, or maybe both, but Glenn was really getting on his nerves right now. Merle dragged Glenn toward the wall and pushed the boy's back up against it so he could look down at Glenn's face while also cornering him so he couldn't run off.

He observed Glenn's wide, fearful eyes as the kid stood there, trembling slightly and staring up at Merle as though he was completely on edge, waiting for Merle to lash out in some way.

"What's wrong with you?" Merle growled.

Glenn shook his head, seeming to search for his words as he stared up at Merle. "I- I'm just tired. I just want to go to sleep. It's been a long day..."

Merle scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You're such a fuckin' liar. Did someone do something to you?" Merle glanced up the stairs toward the second floor. "Did Levi and Lawrence do something? I saw them going back upstairs while I was coming down..."

Glenn's lower lip quivered during a long, awkward pause. "No," he finally said, taking the liberty to turn away from Merle and start heading back up the stairs on his own.

"Not so fast, kid," Merle objected, grabbing Glenn by the back of his shirt and pulling him back. Putting his hand over Glenn's chest, he shoved the boy back against the wall. He needed answers.

Glenn winced, a lot louder than the small gesture from Merle warranted.

The older man frowned down at the boy who actually looked like he was in a fair amount of pain. Merle's eyes moved to his own hand which was holding Glenn in place over his lower chest and ribs. With a quick, darting hand, Merle pulled Glenn's t-shirt upward to reveal several darkening bruises.

With a fearful-sounding gasp, Glenn tugged his shirt back down.

Merle narrowed his eyes. "What did they do?" he wondered as he looked Glenn over. Suddenly Glenn looked very small to Merle, and very vulnerable. It occurred to Merle now that he had not paid any attention to what Glenn was doing all night. He hadn't paid any attention to what anyone else was doing really, not for a while now. He'd begun the night drinking with Levi and Daryl, and then just Daryl. How long had Levi been absent?

Shaking his head slightly, Glenn said nothing.

"What did they do, Glenn?" Merle growled, quickly growing frustrated. "Even Chinese guys aren't that color without someone knocking 'em around. Did Lawrence and Levi do this?" He gestured toward the boy's ribs. "And they threaten you after? Tell you to keep quiet about it?"

Glenn shook his head. "Those are from before," he lied. "Levi and Lawrence didn't do anything."

"Yes they did," Merle disagreed. "I can tell they did somethin' to you." He looked Glenn over again with a scrutinizing eye, taking in as many details as he could in his half-drunken state. Glenn's body was trembling and he had bruises on his arms and face in addition to the ones covering his torso. And Merle was pretty sure he didn't have that many bruises before. Glenn was acting awfully traumatized, and his refusal to tell Merle what had happened was certainly troubling. What if Levi had gotten him alone and finished what he'd started yesterday? "Tell me what he did to you, Glenn. I'll kill him if he did that again. If he did what he was doin' yesterday..." Merle could feel rage boiling up inside him. "I swear I'll kick the shit out of him. I'll throw 'im out to the walkers. I don't care. I'll do it. I don't put up with shit like that. That's sick. Tell me what he did."

Glenn in-took a shaking breath, but still offered no information as he looked down at the floor. "No one did anything. Just leave it alone. Nothing happened. I was downstairs by myself."

It was an obvious lie.

"I'll ask them then," Merle grabbed Glenn hard by his arm and tugged him along.

"Merle, don't," Glenn actually sounded fearful.

"Why not?" Merle glanced over his shoulder at Glenn who he was still pulling along with him. "They didn't do nothin', they'll tell me so an' we'll move on. Yer acting like somebody did somethin' to you, an' I'm gonna find out who did what. If you won't tell me, they will."

Merle could feel Glenn trying to pull his arm free from the older man's grasp, but that only caused Merle to squeeze the boy's arm more tightly.

"Please don't ask them," Glenn's voice shook.

Merle turned toward Glenn. "Why?" he asked again. "They threaten you?"

"What does it matter, Merle?" Glenn frowned. "You've threatened me too. Just leave it alone."

Merle shook his head and dragged Glenn up the stairs. When he threatened Glenn, he didn't usually mean it. He doubted Levi and Lawrence were just joking with the kid, and judging by the way Glenn was acting now, they'd done more than just threaten him. Glenn wouldn't look so scared if Lawrence and Levi simply told him to be good or else. Merle would also be willing to bet money that their threats were a lot more frightening than his.

When they reached the second floor again, Merle dragged Glenn through the door and made his way over to the table where Daryl, Levi, and Lawrence were drinking.

"You guys got somethin' you wanna tell me?" Merle glared from Levi to Lawrence.

Glenn was still trying to pull his arm free from Merle's grip as Levi offered the kid an angry stare.

"About what, Merle?" Lawrence wondered with a calm tone in his voice.

Daryl looked confused as he observed the situation, looking from one man to the next as his older brother continued questioning them.

"What'd you guys do to him?" Merle nodded slightly back toward Glenn, who was still trying to wriggle out of Merle's firm grip around the boy's slender arm.

Lawrence shook his head as though completely clueless. "Did he say I did something to him?" Lawrence wondered.

Merle narrowed his eyes. He looked over to Levi, who just shrugged.

"If either of you does anything to this kid, I will kill you myself," Merle promised, dragging Glenn along with him into one of the small study rooms off to the side of the main room. Daryl followed him and the three of them stood still and silent for a moment inside the room.

"Merle, what's goin' on?" Daryl wondered as Merle finally let go of Glenn and the kid backed himself up into a corner.

Letting out a long, annoyed sigh, Merle turned toward his brother. "Those guys did somethin' to him. When I was goin' downstairs, I met Levi and Lawrence comin' back up, and then I went outside, came back in, an' found Glenn walking up from the basement. He was actin' all weird, an' won't tell me what they did."

Daryl turned toward Glenn,who shook his head very slightly. "They didn't do anything," Glenn promised. "Merle's really drunk," he added, likely to explain away any suspicion the older Dixon brother had.

Merle felt an actual growl in his throat as he took a few large steps and made his way across the small room, cornering Glenn once more as the boy shrunk down in his shadow. Glenn's dark eyes were huge as he looked like he was bracing himself for something, likely expecting Merle to lash out and hit him. Of course he wasn't going to hit Glenn. That didn't mean he wasn't frustrated with the kid for refusing to tell the truth though.

"Merle," Daryl grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him back. "Let's just ditch them tomorrow night. We won't need to worry about anything they've done or will do if they aren't with us anymore," Daryl suggested.

Merle inhaled and exhaled loud, angry breaths. He was drunk. That much was true. But he wasn't so drunk that he was oblivious. Merle wasn't exactly the nicest guy in the world. If he were, he wouldn't have kidnapped Glenn off the street in the first place. But he wasn't pure evil like the other two guys were. He had a heart, no matter how small it was. When he brought people back to amuse him, he never gave the other guys permission to do whatever they wanted with Merle's hostages. He didn't mind them playing around in a similar way as Merle, but these guys, especially Levi, always took their games a step or two too far, and Merle was sick of it.

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