A/N: Oh lookie, still on schedule. I figured I just had to finish out the quarter. Speaking of which...The end of first quarter! Woo hoo! It's like I'm writing in real time because it took me 3 months to get to this point. Thanks to everyone for sticking with me!
To Sasha404, you have your pm turned off so I can't reply to your comments so I just wanted to say that Glenn's understanding is that Rick is gay, hence he asked Rick if he was interested in Shane. But then Rick seems to hint that he's interested in Lori. So his text implied that he's bi (could totally date a girl.) But Glenn thinks that Rick is 'putting on a show', but is willing to go along because he himself is not being truthful about his own interests. Hope this helps. If anyone else is confused by anything, please let me know.
Chapter 11
Daryl is relieved to get back to the dorm. He ignores the urge to brood over Glenn, and is able to force himself back into the routine of schoolwork. After all, he's gotten pretty good at denying his feelings for the past quarter, what's another few months?
The time when classes are winding down but before finals start is called Dead Week. It's a chance to study or catch up on reading and finish term papers. Glenn tries to get him to go to some activity in the Rec Center, Dawn of the Dead Week or some shit, but Daryl scoffs. He doesn't need to blow off steam (and spending more time with Glenn won't accomplish that anyway). It's time he can use to study.
When finals draw even closer the students start getting weird. Every night at midnight there's a tradition. He is in the library and sees other students all stand and walk towards the exit. All at once like they're possessed or something. Then he hears the sound, an awful cacophony of screams. Scares the shit outa him. He jumps to his feet wishing he had his crossbow. The sound grows and reverberates around the stacks. After a few confused seconds he realizes it's just yelling, just students venting their frustrations. The scream ends and students file back into the library, take their seats and continue studying like nothing happened.
Some start pulling all-nighters, then stumble around with bloodshot eyes and sickly pale faces, moaning and groaning until they get their morning -or midday or midnight- coffee. During the actual week of finals Carol organizes dorm study breaks. Hot cocoa and s'mores one night, nachos another, noodle soup the third night. She even posts flyers offering emergency laundry service. He feels like telling her to stop worrying about everyone else, to take care of herself, but he doesn't really know her so doesn't bother. She can run herself ragged if she wants.
He finishes his finals and feels pretty relieved. Of course, there's no telling what your professors might think of your writing or the ideas you came up with in your test essays. It's possible he botched his calculus final but doesn't think so. He's never taken finals at the college level, but if he learned anything growing up, it's that he can handle school. Just stick his nose in a book and keep his head down. Long as his daddy or Merle didn't catch him at it he was fine. He won't know his grades for a few weeks, but he's pretty sure he'll keep his scholarship as far as grades are concerned.
He works a few extra shifts at the dining service to make a little extra money and then it's time to pack up and go home. He takes what he'll need for the three weeks and is about to go after his truck when Glenn stops him.
"Hey, uh, I have something...for you...for, um, Christmas." Glenn is holding out a package. It's the size of a shoebox and wrapped in red paper, with a green ribbon and everything.
"What?" He looks at it and glares. "You shouldn't a got me anythin'." He's pissed and...embarrassed.
"No, no. It's - it's just - just something small. Um, Ella wanted me to give you something, so I... She asked me to. And my mom helped..."
At the mention of Ella and his mom, Daryl relaxes just the tiniest bit. "Oh." He takes the package and looks at it, wondering what it could be.
"S-so have a good Christmas." Glenn smiles.
"Yeah, you too."
They stand awkwardly for a moment until Glenn takes a hesitant step forward. At that movement Daryl flinches and he sees Glenn's eyes go wide. The kid steps back and turns away, busying himself with his bags.
Daryl picks up his duffel and swallows around the lump that's risen in his throat. He goes to his car and drives home.
Once he's home he doesn't bother getting the electric company to turn on the power. He has the propane tank and that's enough for hot showers and cooking, and he has lanterns for light. He hunts most days, since it keeps him occupied. He tinkers a bit on Merle's motorcycle. After a while he gets restless. He thinks about Glenn and wonders what he's doing. The kid told him he was going to Michigan with his parents to see family. He imagines Glenn bundled up against the cold in one of those thick puffy winter coats.
The package, the Christmas present from Glenn sits on the kitchen counter. He picks it up occasionally. The only presents he ever got were from Merle or his mama. His mama had given him toys, stuffed animals, toy trucks and cars, but those had all burned in the fire. Over the years Merle had gotten him a slingshot, the crossbow, a pistol, and a rifle. When he was older, smokes, whiskey, and girlie magazines.
He visits Merle on Christmas. He notices his brother is getting ripped and has a few new tattoos.
When he gets back from the prison he takes the gift and sits on the sofa, turning it in his hands. He doesn't know why but he waits until after dinner and then finally opens it. It's a dopp kit, a leather bag for toiletries. He vaguely remembers his dad having one, and Merle has one from the army, M. DIXON penned onto the canvas. It's...thoughtful and practical, just what a gift should be.
He feels really bad that he didn't get Glenn anything. But what could he even get the kid? Daryl thinks about all the stuff Glenn has back at the room and at his house. Then he starts thinking about the weekend with Glenn's family at Thanksgiving. He imagines how ridiculous it would be to invite Glenn here. What would they do? Go hunting? Camp in the woods? Cook over a fire? He's surprised that it doesn't seem so ridiculous, more like something he would really enjoy. Maybe Glenn would too. He looks around the house though, and thinks he couldn't have Glenn over when it looks like this.
He spends the rest of his winter break working on the house. He repairs the hanging shutters and missing shingles in the roof. Nails in loose boards on the porch and siding. Touches up the chips in the paint that look the worst. Sweeps out the entire house. Buys new cleaning products and cleans the kitchen and bathroom and windows. Drives into town to throw out a bunch of shit that belonged to his parents. Collects Merle's stuff and puts it all in Merle's room. It's still a pretty shitty house, he thinks when he's done, but at least it's not a fuckin' dirty shitty house. Not that he'd ever get up the nerve to invite Glenn over. He's seen the type of home Glenn is used to.
What's worse is that he's seen the type of family Glenn is used to. The type of family you have to have to become a person like Glenn. You need a daddy who sits and talks to you about his country's history, not scare you with stories of killing people for the color of their skin. You need a mama who cooks dinners and sets you up on dates because she wants you to have a family of your own like the one you grew up in. Not one who is too timid and scared to get you away from your raging alcoholic father. Too weak to take care of herself so she can be around to see you grow up.
It's not so hard to forget about inviting Glenn over.
He plants a few seeds in the garden hoping the winter rains will make stuff grow that can survive without being tended, that he can harvest when he's back at spring break. At the end of the break the house never looked better. He locks it up and heads back to school.
A/N: So none of the colleges in Atlanta really fit my idea of where these guys are going. Georgia Tech is more tech than I wanted, Emory, while more liberal arts, doesn't have a football team. So I'm imagining a combination of the two. The traditions I describe here come from GT: the scream during dead week is called Midnight Madness (some other schools call it Primal Scream) and the activities night is called One Night Stand. I changed it to Dawn of the Dead Week to sound more zombie-ish.