Glenn was still there, obviously, since it had only been about thirty seconds since I'd left. I could see him through the window with his face buried in his hands.

I stepped into the RV, causing him to look up.

"Oh, Eden, you're back." He seemed grateful. "Look, about what I said, I-"

I closed the distance between us while he was talking. I wasn't in high school anymore. I wasn't with the group of kids I was before. I wasn't trying to impress anyone. There was no reason to hesitate, no reason to reconsider and no reason to hold back.

I placed my hands on either side of his face and pulled him forward. He seemed to understand what I was getting at and made no move to protest. I wasn't entirely sure what I would have done if he HAD protested, but it didn't happen. And that was all that mattered.

Kissing Glenn was electric. Whatever the chemical reaction was that was happening in my brain was completely working for me. It wasn't my first kiss, but it sure as hell felt like it was, because whatever I experienced before was nothing compared to this.

His fingers were tangled in my hair and my heartbeat was like a stampede. If this was why everyone kept hooking-up all the time, I was starting to understand their screw-survival-fuck-everybody mentality. And that was just with kissing.

Had I been a bolder person, I'd have pawed at his jeans. Unfortunately, I didn't quite hit that level of audacity yet. So, instead of slipping my hands down his body – which I'll admit, was a fantasy of mine – I pulled away, my eyelids feeling incredibly heavy.

There was a moment of silence as we caught our breath.

"That was..." He struggled for a word. "Unexpected. Great, but unexpected."

I forced myself to look at his face.

"To be honest," he breathed, leaning his forehead against mine. "I thought you'd hit me."

I continued looking at him.

"For what I said."

I closed my eyes.

"Hitting you wouldn't have felt as good as that."

He smiled. I did too. It was suddenly hard to remember what I was so afraid of before. Hard to remember why I kept something this great at arm's length. Hard to remember what I thought I had to gain by worrying.

"I heard a lot about you today," I whispered, trying to give my throat a break. We had parted now, and I was leaning against one counter and he was leaning against the one opposite me.

"Really?"

I laughed.

"The women had some interesting things to say. Carl did too. Even Dale."

"What'd they say?" He looked almost like he didn't want to know.

I grinned and looked off to the side.

"Lori and the others told me about how you acted when I first got here. Said that you were staring. A lot."

Glenn winced.

"Please tell me it's not all like that."

"Carl made me promise not to make you cry, because 'people on TV always cry when it comes to stuff like that.' Even shook pinkies on it."

Glenn groaned. He was covering his face with his hand now. "And Dale?"

"Dale guessed pretty quick that I missed you. Then he said that you were just as bad as I was."

Glenn sighed and seemed to start to retort, then paused. He looked like he was trying to figure something out.

"Wait, so that kiss... Was that because you heard all that stuff about me?"

Shit.

I glanced to the side.

"Yes and no."

"No, it is, isn't it? Because you didn't even want to touch me before."

"I totally wanted to touch you!" I argued, getting worked up. "I always want to touch you! It took a lot of effort to refrain from touching you!"

He raised his eyebrows and smirked. I avoided eye contact again and shrunk back against the countertop.

"I didn't mean it like that," I lied. He let this slide.

"Why, though?"

I looked at him, confused. And I told another semi-lie. "Because I'm not a complete pervert?"

"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "Not why didn't you mean it that way, I meant why did you refrain?"

I fiddled with my fingers and didn't answer the question.

"Eden?"

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable," I mumbled.

"No, I mean seriously."

I looked up from my hands. "I am being serious."

Glenn stared at me as though my answer didn't make sense. He also looked sort of pissed off.

"So the reason I've been treading so lightly around you is not because you don't like contact, but because you're afraid of making me uncomfortable?"

Silence fell over the RV again.

"Sorry," I offered.

"I think we need to work on our communication," he sighed.

"Yeah," I laughed. "No shit."

There was a pause again. He seemed to be working himself up to something.

"Okay, I didn't think this had to be said, but here goes." He got real close to me, almost rubbing up against me but stopping just short of contact. There was a smirk on his face and his eyebrows were raised as he said, "You can touch me anytime you want."

I swallowed and tried to pretend like his words didn't make me blush. Or think dirty thoughts.

"Same goes for me," I said.

"We'll see about that," he joked, taking my hand in his. "Come on, I haven't been with you all day. Let's go walk around or something."

I followed him eagerly out of the RV. I didn't really care where we were going. It was just nice to have him there. And to know that if I ever did get the nerve to paw at his jeans, he'd be cool with it.