Three months later…
Once again Glenn tried to get close to Maggie.
He couldn't help himself even though he knew already how these attempts ended every single time.
Rejection. Withdrawal. Awkward silence.
And yet Maggie was just so beautiful laying there on her side on their shared bed.
He couldn't resist the temptation.
The room was dim, but Glenn could see Maggie's familiar, beautiful form. He saw a glimpse of her bare skin too. That small, desirable strip between the waist of her jeans and the hem of her t-shirt called him irresistibly.
So Glenn stepped over to the bed and sat next to Maggie.
He stretched out his hand and touched her warm, silky skin lightly, tenderly with his fingertips. Without really thinking, just the way he had done so many times before. Ages ago Maggie used to react to his touch positively. Glenn could still remember how she used to roll on her back and smile at him seductively. Warmly, willingly, ready to be taken.
Why do we take good things for granted when we have them? Why do we understand their true value only after losing them? Glenn wondered once again when Maggie felt his gentle touch and stiffened instinctively.
She didn't turn to look at him, no. But just like before - her entire body signaled rejection, almost hostility.
"Don't touch me." She said in a whisper emphasizing every word.
Her voice was cold and distant, lifeless. Maggie didn't even try to soften her rude reaction. It was obvious she couldn't care less.
"Maggie..." Glenn tried to talk to her. But she didn't reply.
Glenn swallowed and blinked. He was a grown man, yes. A fearless survivor of the apocalypse. He didn't fear no death nor walkers. And yet this ... situation ... with a woman he loved more than anything almost made him cry.
It was so frustrating, so heartbreaking, so depressing.
Maggie didn't want to talk to anyone. She did her duties here in Alexandria without joy. She spent most of the time inside, clearly avoiding all social contacts.
Including their relationship.
She didn't want to touch him or kiss him or make love to him no more.
To tell you the truth they hardly talked to each other these days. They still lived in a same room to avoid the gossip, but that was it.
It almost broke Glenn's gentle heart. He missed Maggie like a crazy.
So he decided to try once again.
"Maggie… Please talk to me. Say something. I love you. I want to be with you. Couldn't we just… put it all behind us and go on?" He asked in a desperate tone.
Maggie sat up on the bed and gave him an indifferent glance. The emptiness in her eyes truly frightened Glenn.
"You really don't get it I see. I'm disgusting. Contaminated. You should find someone else I think." She noted in a low tone.
Being angry is somehow better than being sad. So Glenn got mad.
"I don't want anyone else! I want you! Damned it, Maggie, I love you and you know it! Please don't be like this, I can't take it no more!" He shouted, suddenly furious.
He just won't let it be, Maggie realized.
She cared about Glenn too much to drag him down with her. This misery was hers and hers alone. Somehow she had earned it. So she had to find a way to make Glenn love her less.
I know how. I have to be brutally honest. This will hurt him but eventually it's better this way. He will hate me, leave me and find someone else. It's that simple, Maggie figured.
So she inhaled and looked Glenn straight in the eyes.
"I deserved what happened to me. I cheated on you and enjoyed it. I slept with Daryl Dixon multiple times. The sex with him was wonderful." She confessed, observing Glenn's face with care. He paled, opened his mouth and then closed it again. He didn't know what to say so eventually he just listened to her without a word.
Maggie spared no details. She didn't even try to sweeten the ugly truth. She did it very determinedly, trying to arouse hatred.
She could see the efficacy of every single word.
So this is how love dies.
xxx
Daryl Dixon was frustrated.
Once again he was fixing his bike, hoping to be anywhere else but here. He didn't like it here in Alexandria. It was a safe haven, yes, but also… pretentious, self-righteous place full of narrow-minded, weak people.
I kinda like walkers more. With them the rules are simple. Kill or be killed. But here with these people… Daryl thought gloomily and shook his head.
The worst of all was his weird, twisted relationship with Maggie.
Nonexistent relationship.
He had tried to talk with her ever since the day Aiden and Nicholas died in the woods. But to no avail. Maggie clearly avoided him every way possible.
And she was unhappy and miserable. Daryl knew it instinctively, but there was nothing he could do since Maggie didn't want to talk with him.
So he just stayed close to her hoping that something would change eventually.
It was frustrating as hell.
And it was at that moment when something finally happened.
Glenn came to him, stepped out of the shadows without a word.
Daryl realized the truth the moment he looked at him.
He knows.