"Uh oh."

I looked up from the game of tic tac toe Glenn and I were playing to see him fixated on something behind me. I couldn't help but smile at his expression. Hard to believe only an hour earlier I almost unintentionally ended whatever it was we had.

"What's up?" I inquired, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Shane."

I'd heard the name before but I had no idea what it represented or who it belonged to. Glenn stood up and took initiative.

"What's going on? Did something happen?"

I was standing now too, a footstep behind him. I glanced between him and the approaching man, unsure of what was happening.

Shane held his hands up and lowered his head slightly. "Nothin's goin' on now, you can relax. Just came to give her a proper welcome."

Glenn relaxed and stood back, opening up the almost-barrier he had created between Shane and I.

"Eden, right?" I nodded, not taking my eyes off of him. He seemed like the town sheriff, the way he put his foot up on a stump and leaned forward on his knee. I learned later on that he used to be just that. "Well, I'm real sorry about what you had to go through but you seem to be functionin' well enough now. You're welcome to stay here, but you're gonna have to pull your own, understand? Lori's got plenty of chores she could use help with, so talk to her."

I hesitated, glancing at Glenn for approval before nodding. Shane, noticing this, looked between us for a moment; his mouth open like his tongue was running over his back teeth. He smirked and let out a quiet, one syllable laugh, shaking his head.

"I'll uh, leave you to it, then," he concluded, amused. As he walked away, Glenn closed the distance between us.

"Hear that? You're allowed to stay." Glenn rolled his eyes. "What else was going to happen? I doubt Andrea or Lori'd let him throw someone like you out to fend for yourself. Dale wouldn't either. Or me."

"Thank you."

He smiled and put his hand on my back, guiding me towards the crates we had been sitting on.

"You've thanked me enough," he said, taking his seat opposite me. "More than enough."

"I know," I admitted. "I just feel like I owe you something."

"You do," he said, turning the paper we were using. "About ninety eight-more conversations. And another game. Hangman?"

"Sure, it's been a while since I've played that."

Glenn started drawing out the lines and I fiddled with the dress that was lent to me from earlier. I was getting more used to it the longer I wore it. I wondered how I looked in it, but it didn't matter either way. It wasn't like I had much else to wear.

"Okay, you're up."

I started rattling off the vowels. It felt nice to let go of everything just relax with him. Well, it was nice to relax in general. Having Glenn with me was just an added bonus. I wasn't sure if he felt quite so pleased with my company, but I wasn't about to ask anytime soon.

"Agh, I don't know!"

"Come on!" He urged, a huge grin on his face. "You've only got a few letters left. You can do it."

I sighed and stared at the paper, counting out the spaces, wondering why this meant so much. And then it hit me.

"Oh my god, you didn't."

"Didn't what?" He asked, a knowing grin on his face.

"Now you're just making fun of me," I accused, smiling anyway.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," He persisted. "What word do you think it is?"

I rolled my eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Gorgeous."

He laughed at me and I swatted his arm, laughing along with him. It was strange how natural it felt to be around him so suddenly. I guess the whole 'you might die tomorrow' attitude sort of helped progress things.

"God, I love that word," He admitted.

"I'm starting to regret using it," I joked. "I think it's gone to your head."

"You don't mean that."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. Call it male intuition."

I raised my eyebrows. "Isn't it supposed to be female intuition?"

He laughed. "I'm hardly female."

"Hey," I said, shrugging. "I don't know that for sure."

He shook his head and laughed still, taking off his hat and scratching his head.

"You wouldn't use a word like gorgeous on someone you didn't actually think was gorgeous."

"You don't know that," I said back. "I could just be trying to get into your pants. These could be lines."

"Are they, now? Pretty poorly executed lines, then."

I was prepared to retort but my throat had other plans. I silently swore at myself for talking so much, yet at the same time I was mad that it had to end. My fingers grazed my throat as if touching it would somehow cure it. It didn't obviously, but it was a pointless habit I'd always had. I stared at the game of hangman, frowning.

"Eden? I was only joking," Glenn said, leaning down to look up at my face. "It was just a joke."

Shaking my head, I laid my hand on his and smiled, though I was tired.

"It hurts," I managed, still touching my throat.

He took a moment before he remembered what I meant, and once he did, he hit his forehead with his hand.

"Of course it does," He said, scolding himself. "I've been making you talk so much today, sorry. Take it easy from now on, okay?"

I nodded, liking his concern a little too much. Not talking was easy enough, especially when I could listen to him for hours. Time seemed to fly by as we spent nearly the entire day sitting and talking (more talking on his part) and playing games that I wouldn't have bothered with if the world hadn't ended. And yet, despite this, it was probably the happiest I had been in a long, long time.