A/N:
I know, I know...two updates in one night? Has she gone crazy?

Well the answer is no, not yet. I just got the urge to write a little more, but I wanted to end the last chapter in that spot...
I hate when chapters are too long, yanno?
Anywho, hope you enjoy! Please leave a review!
I do not own The Walking Dead, quit rubbing it in!

x

"We're just not gonna talk about it?" Carol's voice seemed louder than usual as it filled the quiet dining area. They had all wandered in, everyone looking a bit solemn. They picked at their plates but said very little. After a short pause, Rick spoke up.

"What's there to say? She had a nightmare, we all have. Nothin' we need to get concerned about."

"Nothin' to get concerned about?" Carol's mouth dropped. "That girl was screamin' like a banshee last night - as if the devil himself was after her! That's nothin' to be concerned about?"

"How long you think she's been holdin' them nightmares in, Carol?" Shane spoke, coming to the girl's defense. "Bet she ain't had a minute to rest since the damn world went to hell. S'gonna take some time."

"I dunno how much time we'll have if she keeps wakin' up screamin' like that." T-Dog added. "I'm just sayin'...I heard that girl up on the roof. She could be attractin' walkers."

"So what do you wanna do?" Andrea asked defensively, looking between T-Dog and Carol. "Find a muzzle to put on her? She's just a scared young girl! Probably lost everyone she's ever known...that does something to you. You all know that." An uncomfortable silence settled in the room, and no one really moved. At last, Carol spoke.

"I'm sorry...it's just been so long since we've had a stranger around. It just makes me nervous. We still only just know her name."

"Lord, Carol, she's only been with us a day and a half." Shane sighed. "You want her to tell us her life story in one sitting? Give her some time."

"Fine, fine." Carol nodded, realizing that she was being unreasonable. "I just didn't want anyone bringin' us any trouble."

"And we understand the feeling." Lori commented. "None of us want any trouble, and we should keep an eye on her. We just shouldn't suspect her of being a problem when she's only just had a nightmare."

Breakfast continued a little more lightheartedly than it began. One a few people were missing from the table.

x

Glenn knew it had to be morning. Truthfully, he had been awake for a while now. He had heard people walking by. Felt their stares, heard their unspoken comments. But he didn't care. He was just fine where he was.

After another hour of sitting under the running water, Glenn had turned it off and picked Hope up so she didn't hurt her ankle any worse than she did while hobbling around on it earlier. She protested, though, only half awake. She had already disturbed everyone in her room enough with her screaming...she didn't want to go back in and wake them up again. Well...he couldn't just leave her in the shower, so he grabbed some clothes he had for her to change into, so she didn't make herself sick and he grabbed some for himself, of course. They wound up sleeping on the couch she had napped on earlier, when they were trying to doctor her ankle. So there he was, holding Hope...this beautiful, complicated, vulnerable, impossible, mysterious young woman in his arms.

Yeah, so he was getting a little sappy. It wasn't everyday he had a pretty girl sleeping in his clothes! Especially not recently...He was allowed to be a little (stupidly) happy about it. When he was sure no one was around, and she was still asleep, he would open her eyes and watch her. Sometimes she would sigh a little heavier, her brow furrowing as she looked pensive in her sleeping thoughts for a moment. Then, at last, her expression would relax and she would look peaceful again. Her dark blonde hair hair curled in all sorts of ways after they had exited the shower last night, so now it reached just a little past her collarbone. Some strands still looked particularly golden in the bits of sunshine that were shining through. Her skin was just as soft as the first time he had held her hand, and he had to be careful not to focus too much on that. Those types of thoughts could create some...rather awkward problems. He was going to let her sleep however long she wanted to. She needed it. And if he was helping by being there, well...who was he to leave, right?

Just as soon as he thought that, she groaned sleepily and rolled around on the couch. She was face to face with Glenn when she opened her eyes. The blonde blinked once, twice before she actually focused on him. Her brow raised.

"Did I wake you up?" Oh he was so busted. Glenn smiled a little.

"No, I...woke up just a minute ago." That's his story, anyway. She smiled sleepily at him. (And he thought that he might die right there)

"M'sorry..I'll get outta your way, you're probably hungry." Hope moved to sit up, and Glenn did as well.

"No - uh.." That sentence didn't get off to a good start. She looked at him questioningly. "I mean...I'm not that hungry. And you're not supposed to be walking around on that ankle. Let me help you." She didn't fight him when he gently pulled her up from the couch and wrapped an arm around her waist. He started guiding her towards the dining area before she stopped hopping along.

"Ah.." She squinted a bit. "I should probably change.." She motioned vaguely to his baggy shirt and shorts.

"Oh...right. Probably shouldn't go in sporting the latest in men's fashion." This earned him a short laugh. (And that was a start)

"No, I just mean...I don't want everyone thinking - " Hope continued to stumble over her words. "I don't want anyone getting the wrong impression." She gave him a firm look that made him blush a little bit.

"Right." He nodded. "We don't need any gossip around the group." Glenn offered her a smile as they turned around and headed back to her room. To be completely honest, he was just over the moon at the moment. They had a conversation. She spoke to him. And seemed likely to make a habit of it! Take joy in the little things. They reached her door and paused, awkwardly.

"...I think I got it from here." She grinned, obviously a little embarrassed as she avoid his gaze and removed her arm from around his shoulders.

"Right." He jumped slightly. "Right..." The young man quickly removed his arm from her waist and stood there for a bit, not knowing what to do. "I'm gonna change too...Here, I'll just wait for you, you'll need some help to get to the, uh..mess hall. Take your time." He could tell she was amused by how completely awkward he had just sounded, but he didn't care. She just smiled and nodded before disappearing behind the door, and he hustled down the hall to get changed himself.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

Hope wobbled around the room, having a mini panic attack. She couldn't find the clothes she arrived in, she assumed the women had taken them away after seeing them laying, soaking wet in a corner somewhere. Where had she left her clothes after Glenn brought her something to change into? She wouldn't blame the group if they decided to burn those clothes, though she really hoped they didn't...they may have been horribly dirty, but they did still hold some sort of sentimental value. Wobbling around some more, she reached her small drawstring backpack and fished around in there. It's amazing what your mind thinks to pack when you're about to leave everything you know. But she couldn't allow herself to get lost down memory lane. Despite what Glenn told her, she had a feeling that if she took too long, he would knock down the door to check on her, and that could lead to a very awkward, unwanted moment. She dug around and found some (reasonably?) clean underwear. She rolled her eyes when she realized her choices all those months ago. Of course her mind told her to bring along the pretty underpants. She rolled her eyes at herself, but began to shrug out of Glenn's clothes and dress in her own.

Her mind wandered back to the problems rolling around in her head. She would have to apologize for last night to everyone...Especially Andrea, Carol and those kids. To be honest, Hope felt like she didn't remember a lot of last night, but she remembered someone's horrifying scream...and then she remembered realizing that it was herself screaming. That was not a great realization. Then there was the intense desire to run...and then everyone was in the hallway. She heard screaming then, but she thought it was only in her head...

And then there was Glenn.

Oh, this was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to get close to anyone, especially not a cute boy. (What...cute? Where'd that come from?) The girl may not be able to remember much about the previous night...but she was fairly certain she remembered everything after Glenn came to check on her. The way he indulged her crazy behavior, sitting in the freezing shower himself. What he whispered to her...It could still bring a tear to her eye if she focused on it. Why did he have to be so sweet? She did not need to get involved in some kind of apocalyptic Cinderella-type fairy tale! It would be better to just keep running around, why was everyone here so content to just settle somewhere? Didn't they realize that Walkers were everywhere? Sure, you may think you're safe, but then one morning you wake up with an undead stench up your nose and rotting teeth at your throat. She glared down at her black and blue ankle, willing it (or threatening it) with her mind to heal quickly so she could stop this nonsense and get on with this miserable excuse for a life. She heard a quiet knock on the door.

"You okay in there?" It was Glenn. She was right. Turning and looking in the small mirror at the corner of the room, she studied herself. Black yoga pants (the was some kind of reason for packing those, she was sure. They were flexible?" And a long blue tank top under a black hoodie. So she looked like she was ready for a jog. She doubted any of these people were fashion critics in their previous lives.

"Yeah." She called, hobbling over to the door and opening it, coming awfully close to Glenn's face again. After a moment of them staring at each other like that, she looked down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, getting fidgety. "We should go."

x

Lori met the pair at the door, a plate of food in each hand.

"Oh," She started, clearly surprised. "I was just coming to check on you guys. Come sit."

The duo hobbled along slowly, following Lori to two empty spots as she set the plates down. Hope could feel their looks again, this time it felt much worse...this time she had actually done something worth stares. Silently, she picked at her breakfast.

"How are you feeling?" Lori asked, her tone nice and genuinely concerned. Hope felt her voice disappear again. It was like she could say a word if she tried, her throat suddenly felt like it was wrapped in sand paper. She wanted to answer, but...she just could find her words. So she continued to stare at her food, her muscles tense. She wanted to be invisible.

"She slept through the night after you guys went back to bed." Glenn offered, his voice a little cheerful, surprising everyone - mostly Hope herself.

"Well that is great to hear." Rick smiled at the both of them and started off on a different subject. Hope shot Glenn a brief smile, which he returned, a hand resting reassuringly on her back for a moment before the two dug into their food. She managed to glance over to the kids, only to find them watching her. Both Carl and Sophia gave her the sweetest smiles...she knew she was reallyin trouble then.

x

The day seemed to go by quickly, there was so much to do. Sophia and Carl were busy with worksheets that Carol had made, while Carol herself, along with Lori were on laundry duty. Dale was keeping guard on the roof while the rest of the guys were helping clean out a room for Andrea and Hope to share. The rooms were small, and many of them were still filled with items from their previous occupants. It was obvious that this was some sort of shelter before something happened...these belongings were not just from soldiers. Andrea was just supposed to be looking after Hope, making sure she was staying off her ankle, but that quickly got boring. They were sitting on the grass outside when Andrea decided to try talking again.

"So I guess I should thank you for getting me out of laundry duty today." Andrea winked at the girl who had been occupying herself by peeling a blade of grass. Hope smirked a little, wrinkling her nose and Andrea laughed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all about pulling my weight, but sometimes..." She sighed. "I didn't fall into the role of a housewife for a reason. Not that I'm knocking it, Lori and Carol do a great job. Just sometimes, I think if I scrub one more of Daryl's dirty shirts, I just may light them all on fire." That earned a few quiet laughs from the young girl. Andrea smiled thoughtfully at her, tilting her head to the side just a bit.

"You know.." She started, leaning back on her hands to soak up more sun. "I get why you're not talking, I think." Noticing Hope tensing slightly, she quickly continued. "You're probably thinking that if you start talking, everyone will want to know your business." She paused, making sure Hope was listening. "Well...that's true. They all want to know now, actually. It's driving them crazy..." She grinned a little, remembering her odd little family's recent conversations. "I just want you to know...I don't care if you never tell me what you've been through. I don't even want to imagine it, so I sure as hell know you don't want to relive it. So don't even worry about it. You don't have to keep the 'mute' act up around me, okay?" At that moment, Hope turned to look at Andrea, her face void of most emotion.

"...Okay." She said, her voice very quiet again. Andrea just about beamed.

"Good..." The woman pursed her lips. "I do have two questions, though." Reacting quickly to the look on Hope's face, she continued. "Nothing serious. First one...how old are you?"

"Twenty one." Hope answered, licking her lips as she realized how dry they felt. Andrea raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, really? I was thinking teenager for sure." Hope smirked and shrugged. She did get that a lot. "Okay, next question..." A slightly devious smirk painted it's way to Andrea's lips. "What's going on between you and Glenn?"

Hope gulped.

"...Nothing?"

x

A/N
LIAR!
Oh, sorry. Telling on my own characters...this chapter just seemed to be a little filler..ish.

Sorry about that :/ More exciting things to come, I swear!
I'd still love to hear what you thought. Until next time!