As always, my love and gratitude to my lovely BETA doctorkaitlyn - she is the best.

Dear Mr. Smith,

Happy Thanksgiving! I sincerely hope your holiday is faring better than mine [although, something tells me that it isn't]…

I've forgotten how condescending and disapproving my family members can be. I've been here less than a day and I miss my crappy lonely apartment already. Then again, maybe they are right. What real prospects do I have in Georgia? I'm probably just fooling myself and wasting the best years of my life for nothing. "Chasing some silly illusions" - quoting my dad. And given everything that has happened over the past several days… I'm starting to see his point of view.

For some stupid reason, I've began to think of the tenants of our apartment complex as my second family. With some of them, I have closer relationships than I ever had with my parents. Take Dale for example. I've just realized that I never actually appreciated the old man as much as I should've. Sometimes it seems to me like I've learned more from him than from my own dad… I'm going to miss our little chats and the time we spent together repairing his old RV.

This sounds pathetic, I know. It's not like I'm bashing my parents and family - not at all. They are all good people and, in their own way, they care about me too. Even if they act like they know what's best for me better than I do.

It's going to be weird returning to Atlanta and not finding Dale there. And the worst part is that it feels like I've let him down somehow. But what was I supposed to do? Rick informed us at the meeting he called on Monday that our new tenants, the Culver cousins Dave and Tony, were arrested for an attempted rape and, as the further police investigation uncovered, they were also the members of some gang of criminals. Randall, the youngest of the Culvers, apparently had not been involved in his cousins' affairs. And yet... I'm not sure if it's wise to let him rent an apartment in our building. Of course, I voted in favor of his eviction. I mean, if it was just me, I wouldn't have given a single crap about it… but I can't trust someone like that living under the same roof with young children. I mean, I get the creepy vibes from the guy. I noticed the way he stared at Maggie and Beth the other day in the foyer. Maggie said that Randall went to the same high school as she and he had a bit of a "stalkery" reputation back in the day. It was harmless then of course. Then again, I bet Norman Bates also didn't stir any suspicions while he was a kid!

Dale was upset because I didn't support his campaign to give Randall a chance and let him stay in our building. Not that my vote would've changed much - only T and Andrea were on Dale's side. But I still feel bad about the whole situation, most of all because the result of the vote pushed Dale to change plans concerning that trip around the country in memory of his late wife Irma (initially he had been planning to start it in April since the winter is not the best season for road trips).

At least I managed to say goodbye to him before I went to Michigan for the holidays. He will be gone by the time I return. He said that he didn't blame me and that he just needed to spend some time away from Atlanta for awhile but, you know, I felt that he was disappointed in me… I guess I'm an expert at disappointing people around me. Just ask my parents.

I understand how he feels: Betrayed – with the capital "B". In fact, I can relate to this feeling better than ever at the moment. It's when you suddenly realize that the person, whom you considered to be a friend, has had an agenda of their own all this time. And you don't understand what that means and how that happened. You feel confused because everything has changed in one second. It's like a veil has been lifted from your eyes and you see things around you in an absolutely different light. You're basically experiencing an emotional rollercoaster and the worst part is that the person who caused all this doesn't even want to talk to you.

Speaking of which, you know that I and Daryl have been avoiding each other lately? Of course you don't. How silly of me. :| To be clear – it's mostly Daryl avoiding me and I'm pretending to be fine with it. We have some problems... I won't go into any detail because it's personal stuff. He knows that we need to talk to resolve it. And yet he wouldn't make the first move and I'm… well, I feel intimidated. Maybe it's only my wild fantasies? What if I'm drastically misinterpreting things? But then again, how can you misinterpret that? Plus judging by Daryl's recent behavior, I'm not wrong in my suppositions. Every sign I see proves me right and yet I'm not confronting him. Reason #1 – I'm not sure how I feel about the recent discovery myself. It's all very twisted and complicated. I feel like a fool.

A selfish fool. Because obviously Daryl has other more important stuff to deal with at the moment, what with Carol being arrested for Ed's murder. Still can't believe she did it. The mere notion that Carol, who couldn't harm a fly on purpose, killed a person, is alien to me. Something like that is never easy to process. Though, Ed deserved his fate. I believe it was self-defence. She was protecting Sophia from that monster.

Damn it! That worthless piece of crap keeps ruining Carol's life even after his death. I s2g I could've killed him myself and never would've had any regrets about it. My blood boils simply at the thought of how he used to treat Carol and Sophia.

They say the Florida police department is keeping Carol in custody. At least Daryl is there now. I hope that they will release her on bail. Even if Carol doesn't have a family that could support her, she has friends. The tenants of our apartment complex are raising money in order to hire a good lawyer for her. Andrea is in charge of that. Apparently she has a good friend in the FBI – agent Michonne (I don't remember her second name). Perhaps it may benefit Carol's case somehow. Rick wants to help too but the Georgia police department has no jurisdiction in Florida…

Besides, he has his own problems going on – his separation with Lori doesn't seem to be going too well for him. I think his PTSD is returning again. He's been acting strange ever since Lori decided that she and Carl needed to move out. There was a disturbing incident with Rick and me just the other day. I was coming home late from work. And you know how someone has been stealing the light bulbs in the foyer on the first floor? Well, it was dark when I bumped into Rick on my way to my apartment. Long story short – he almost choked me to death because for some reason, he mistook me for a burglar or maybe even a Taliban member – for awhile, Rick seemed like he was hallucinating! I think he needs to go to a therapist or something. I have to wear a turtleneck now because of all the bruises and my sisters keep making dirty jokes about it. :S

I'm worried about him. If he continues like this, there is a chance that he may end up in some rehab center like his Army friend Morgan Jonson (or was it Jones?). They say a severe case of PTSD was the reason why the guy's wife divorced him eventually. So, Rick should probably do something about his condition ASAP unless he wants to join The Sunday Dad Club…

I hear my mother calling me to the dinner table. I guess the Rhee clan has finally gathered. Oh, well, I still have a few minutes to think of the things I'm thankful this year. Though, with all the recent events, I'm not even sure anymore.

Anyway. First of all I'm grateful to you. You helped me to pay my school bills and whatever your motivations were – I appreciate it. I'm thankful for my family, no matter how dysfunctional our relationship is at the moment and I'm thankful for my new friends in Atlanta. They've become my second family. Some of them even… well, never mind. It's neither the place nor the time.

Oh, and I'm also thankful to that drunk customer of mine that ordered pizza on my last day of work before the holidays. I don't think I've ever received such a huge tip! I wanted to upgrade my crappy old Xbox and it might have come in handy. But now I will give the money to Andrea who is collecting funds to help Carol.

Crap. I hear annoyance in Mom's voice – it's a sign for me to go.

Yours, embracing the holiday spirit, Glenn.

Thank you very much for reading and supporting this little fic!