I followed Dale's gaze.

There he was, closing the car door carrying a very full looking backpack on his shoulder, looking as wonderful as ever. I glanced at Dale but he was already heading back up to the top of his RV.

I made my way towards Glenn as quickly as I could without running or looking strange. I wasn't sure what I thought I was going to do when he got back but it certainly wasn't what I ended up doing.

Instead of leaping into his arms or pulling him into a long, passionate kiss, I stopped a few feet in front of him and lost every drop of confidence that I had gained from the conversations I had had while he was gone.

"Hey," I said, breaking the silence, however quietly.

"Hey," He laughed. He certainly was a trooper if he could find charm in my inability to speak.

"You made it," I said.

"I did," He replied, grinning at me.

I stared at him, trying to think of something to say, and he stared at me, waiting for me to try again, completely amused. I tried to remember that this guy liked me just as much as I liked him but somehow the thought just wasn't sticking.

Maybe I should go back to complimenting him. That seemed to work the first time.

"Nice hat," I said.

He laughed again and kept staring at me with a huge grin on his face. He was laughing at me, but it wasn't malicious. He was laughing because he knew I was trying really hard and he found it funny that I was having so much trouble.

"I missed you, too," He said.

"That's what I meant. Nice hat is French for 'I'm glad you're back.' I swear it."

Glenn rolled his eyes and closed the gap between us, wrapping his arms around me. Were I in any less control of my body, I'd have wet myself. I returned the hug after I came to my senses and I could feel my nerves relaxing. His hug lasted too long to be friendly and it was certainly his intention.

"Do you need help?" I asked once he'd stopped, indicating his bag.

"Yeah, sure."

I followed him into Dale's RV. He set the bag down on one of the counters. It sounded heavy. He opened it up and started putting things in cupboards. It was mainly canned food he must have found on the way. He started telling me how it went and that there weren't any problems aside from one or two stray walkers. I listened in silence, unpacking the bag a bit slower than he was.

And then I saw it.

Shoved in the corner of the bag, I pulled out a small box with "TROJAN" written in bold on the front. I held it in my hands for a moment, then I flipped to the back. I'd always wondered what they'd put on the back of a package of condoms. I wondered if they ever had to put a "may contain traces of peanut" on one of those. I laughed at the thought.

"Eden, what are –" He stopped talking abruptly. "Oh, god, that's-"

I looked up at him. He had his eyes fixated on my hands and he looked utterly horrified. He snatched the box away. I could hear the contents move around inside.

"That's not-! I didn't get that to use on you, I swear, I would never use those with- Wait, no I don't mean it like – I - I would never try to have sex with you!"

I wasn't sure if he was just caught off guard or if he actually meant what he had just said, but either way, it didn't feel good. His words hung over us and neither of us moved. I thought about asking but I didn't want to make him uncomfortable. Well, any more uncomfortable. So I tried to laugh it off.

"Yeah, I know," I said, trying to have a laugh in my voice. "For Lori and Shane, right? Yeah, I figured."

I swallowed and I touched my throat. It hurt, but not enough to make me stop talking. If anything, my pride hurt most. But it seemed like the best excuse.

"I'm- uh, - I'm pretty tired, Glenn. I'm gonna..." I trailed off but he knew what I meant. I left the RV quickly.

As I walked away I realized the ridiculousness of my reaction. What the hell was I doing? I waited all day for him to come back, and as soon as he was back, I took one comment way too seriously and screwed it all up. I stopped walking.

I was an idiot, but I guess it came with the territory.

Glenn had at least a year or two on me, which was at least at year or two away from high school and the constantly hormone-fueled student body. He didn't come fresh from a group of horny assholes like I did.

Glenn could act for himself. He could think for himself. He could speak for himself. I had the ability to do two thirds of that, but I actively chose not to. I chose to sit in the background and wait for people to tell me what to do. I chose to believe whatever was said to me regardless of what logic was behind it. As for speaking, well, my body refused to give me that option.

But the main point was this; the only reason I wasn't already having wonderful post-apocalyptic sex with Glenn was because I was too afraid to make my intentions clear with him.

So I turned around and headed straight for the RV.