CHAPTER THREE
"It was the best of times; It was the worst of times."
It was not the first time Glenn had woken up like this in the recent days, with Cordy curled against him, face tucked in the curve of his neck.
She had taken to slipping into his tent in the dead of the night, well after her brothers had fallen asleep. Sometimes they would have sex, but sometimes they would just lay there talking until they fell asleep. She would always leave early in the morning before the rest of camp had risen from the comfort of sleep. It wasn't that she was hiding it, she had whispered to him one night, but she didn't want her brothers to try and ruin it. They would find out, inevitably, Cordy had said, but she wanted to enjoy this, whatever it was, for as long as she could.
He trailed his fingers through her thick hair, listening to the steady pace of her breathing. He didn't always wake up before her, but it was nice when he did. He liked the peacefulness of the whole thing, liked to imagine that things were normal and they were maybe sleeping in a bed in his old apartment, and the world was not a veritable shitstorm around them.
But everything had to end eventually, and after a far too short amount of time of just laying there enjoying the moment, Cordy shifted, raising her head to peer at him through sleep-heavy eyes.
"Mornin'" She yawned, reaching a hand up to rub her eyes.
"Morning." He replied.
She smiled slowly before rolling away and sitting up, yawning again. As she sat up, the blanket slid down, revealing an expanse of bare skin. Part of Glenn wanted to reach out and tug her back but he knew better. When Cordy was up, she was up and there would be no lazing around. Besides, that would involve too much expression of vulnerable emotion. Cordy didn't like that, and Glenn feared she would throw it back in his face. Better to just leave her be.
"No supply run today." Cordy reminded him as she moved to get dressed, shameless as always. "I guess they'll try to rope me into…washing clothes or something."
"What if they do?" Glenn asked, watching as she pulled her shirt on.
"I'll throw their dirty underwear in their face." She responded without missing a beat, shooting him a devilish grin.
Glenn couldn't help but snort slightly, rolling his eyes as she finished getting ready, lacing her boots up before pulling her hair into a messy bun and slinging her bow and quiver full of arrows over her shoulder.
"I'll see you later." She offered, before leaning close, pressing her lips softly against his.
It was Glenn who deepened it, pressing his hand against her cheek as his mouth worked against hers until he had half the mind the pull her back down with him and never leave the tent.
She pulled away and giggled, a sound that sent a jolt of heat through him.
"Easy there, Darlin'. We'll have time for that later." She said with a coy smile and a wink. Then she was unzipping the tent and slipping out without another word, leaving Glenn to fall back against his pillow with a groan.
Cordy stepped out into the morning sun, zipping the tent shut behind her before turning to face her surroundings. As always, she was the first one up, besides Dale, who sat atop the RV, looking down at her with a knowing smile.
"Sleep well?" He called down softly.
A lesser person might have blushed or acted embarrassed, but not Cordelia. She lifted her chin and smirked. "Didn't get much sleep." she shot back, making the older man laugh.
Casting another look around the otherwise quiet camp, Cordy started over to the RV, climbing up to take a seat beside Dale.
"Must get a bit boring up here," Cordelia commented. "So early in the morning with nobody else awake."
"It's peaceful." Dale corrected. "When everybody gets up, things can get a little hectic. I like the quiet."
"Don't get much of that anymore, do we?" She asked, turning her gaze in the direction of the tent she shared with her brothers. There was no sign of movement, though Cordelia suspected they would be up soon. Merle had never gotten over the habit from his short stint with the military and, like her, Daryl was a notoriously early riser.
"I imagine you didn't get much of that before, either. With Merle as a brother."
Cordelia smirked slightly, turning to look at Dale. "You mean loud and obnoxious Merle? The same Merle who has to make a big fucking deal about everything. That Merle?"
"Yeah," Dale said with a laugh. "That Merle."
"Well, you'd be right. Daryl and I didn't get much quiet." She paused for a moment, expression thoughtful. "Unless we were in the woods. Daryl and I spent a whole lot of time in the woods."
"You are Daryl are pretty close?" Dale asked curiously.
"He raised me," Cordy explained. "Or might as well have. You see how Merle is. Our daddy was worse." When she had woken up she hadn't quite expected to have this conversation. Not that there was an issue with having it really. Cordelia had made her peace with the kind of man her father was a long time ago.
"And your mother?"
Cordelia frowned. "She left me." She said simply. Movement from the corner of her eye had Cordelia turning to see Daryl stepping out from the tent. He turned, gaze sweeping over the camp until he caught sight of her, raising her hand in a simple wave.
Daryl jerked his head in the direction of the woods, gesturing for her to follow as he turned to head into the woods, crossbow in hand.
"Well," Cordelia said, standing up. "I've been summoned. I'll see you later, Dale." She climbed down from the RV before hurrying off after Daryl. He often disappeared into the woods though, admittedly, Cordelia spent so much time going on runs into the city that she rarely got to join him.
"Mornin'." She greeted as she walked up beside him.
He didn't look at her, keeping his gaze set on the forest.
"You snuck into his tent again last night." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, but all the same, it made her look at him, startled.
"What?"
He sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "Cordy, I always knew when you snuck out. You really think you were fooling anybody? You really can't hide it now. Not from me."
"Daryl I-"
"He treat you right?"
"Huh?"
Daryl turned to face her then, blue eyes meeting brown. His jaw was set, expression stern. "Does he treat you right?"
"He treats me fine," Cordelia said finally, furrowing her brow. She had expected Daryl to be upset when he found out, had expected him to berate her for keeping secrets. She had not expected this calculated calmness. "Are you…angry at me?"
"Nah." He shook his head. "I understand."
She stared at him, eyes narrowed slightly as if she expected this whole thing to be a joke and him to turn toward her suddenly to start yelling at her and prove that he was actually pissed like she had expected him to be. She expected him to demand that she stop doing...whatever it was that she and Glenn were doing.
But he didn't. Instead, he only sighed again, tiredly, and shook his head.
"Merle doesn't know. I would keep it that way. He wouldn't like it."
"Merle doesn't like a lot of things." Cordy pointed out. She was still staring at her brother with a perplexed expression on her face.
"He really wouldn't like this." Daryl's tone was insistent, leaving no room for argument.
She took a moment, sucking in a deep breath. "I guess I'm just surprised." She said finally. "I expected you to be pissed when you found out. To be honest, though….I thought I was doing an alright job at keeping it from you."
"You remember your senior year of highschool? There was that party that that blonde friend of yours was throwin' an-"
"Shelley?" Cordelia asked, raising a brow. It had been a long time since she had thought of the girl.
"Yeah, her." Daryl nodded. "Anyway I told you not to go 'cause I knew just what kind of shit that girl got up to at her parties and you threw a fit. And then that night you snuck out your window."
Cordelia knew immediately, of course, just what party Daryl was talking about. It wasn't often that he had told her not to do something when she was younger, and even more rare that she would listen, but when it came to matters like drugs or sex or booze, Daryl put his foot down. "You knew about that?" She couldn't help the surprised laugh. "You never said anything."
"Would you have listened if I had?"
"No." she answered honestly shaking her head. Stubbornness ran in the family, after all.
"You never did like us tellin' you what to do."
"Why didn't you say anything? Back then, I mean. Weren't you angry?"
"Was pissed." He admitted. "But you didn't come home drunk off your ass or high. You had better sense than that."
"Okay," Cordelia sighed. "So why aren't you mad now?"
"Because you're a grown ass woman, Cordelia." Daryl said. "Because I can't make you do nothin'. Because I trust you."
He trusted her. Cordelia wasn't sure why the words hit something deep inside of her heart. Perhaps because trust was not something the Dixon siblings gave out so easily, not even to each other. How could they when Merle was amongst them, screwing over everybody but himself?
"Well, thanks Dare." Cordy said, trying not to sound too emotional. "And I'll take your advice. I won't let Merle know."
Daryl had been the one to take care of Cordelia when she was young. Not Merle and certainly not their good-for-nothing Daddy.
It was like this: when Cordelia was very small their father was at the height of his alcoholism and drug addiction. He was a drunk and he could get real mean. When it came to Daryl it was one thing. Nobody cared if his father took out his aggression on him. But Cordelia was different. She was small and vivacious and so innocent.
Daryl had only seen their father raise a hand to her once, when she was a little girl before he had put a stop to it, to the best of his knowledge. Daryl didn't know if his father had ever hurt Cordelia before that, nor did he know if he had after that and, if he were being perfectly honest with himself he couldn't bare the thought of asking and finding out that he had been unable to protect her.
After all, Daryl already had to wear the scars of his abuse, it didn't seem fair that Cordelia might have to as well.
Unlike him, Cordelia was lucky. Their father had died when she was still young. After that, at least, she didn't have to worry about anybody trying to hit her. Merle certainly had never tried, too caught up in the memory of their father's anger that burned like hot coals and also, perhaps too scared to face Daryl's wrath if he ever attempted it.
To his credit, Daryl had done his best when it came to Cordy. He had made sure she wore clean clothes to school each day and he had made sure that she ate three meals a day, even if it meant that at times the best he could manage for himself was sitting and watching her eat. He made sure she went to bed at night and woke up on time and did her homework. He tried to make sure she was happy, which was more than anybody else had ever done for him.
As he had watched, Cordelia had grown from a bright-eyed little girl into a remarkably stubborn, self-sufficient young woman. She could take care of herself, really. She was good at it. And she sure as hell could make her own decisions. Daryl didn't necessarily have to like them, though. But he certainly wouldn't get mad at them, unless they put her in danger.
As far as Daryl was concerned, whatever was going on between Cordelia and that kid, Glenn, was harmless for now. He would keep his nose out of it and let Cordy make her own decisions.
Merle, however, was a different story. With his loud opinions and disdain for...well, practically everything other than booze, drugs, and sex, Merle would likely disagree with Cordelia's decisions very loudly and very, very angrily.
Better to keep Merle in the dark about it. Better to lie to him and keep the peace than tell the truth and watch as he and Cordelia got caught up in a battle of wills.
Better to stay on Cordelia's side as usual, rather than trying to justify Merle's beliefs. Besides, in her twenty-two years, Cordelia had already proven herself to have more common sense then Merle had ever had in his whole damn life.
He watched is Cordelia crept ahead of him, moving through the brush silently, eyes set forward and bow held at the ready, arrow notched and ready to shoot.
They had decided to go hunting, something the pair hadn't got to do recently with all the runs that Cordelia was taking into the city.
They had done this quite a lot before the outbreak, disappeared into the woods for hours and sometimes days at a time. They weren't hunting for large game today, though. Instead, they were trying to find just enough for dinner. Soon though, Daryl would try going for something larger.
The sound of Cordelia firing her bow made him freeze, watching the trajectory of the arrow until it lodged itself firmly in the middle of a rabbit.
"Looks like we're having Bugs for dinner." Cordelia grinned over her shoulder at him as she sauntered over to her kill, yanking her arrow out before picking the creature up by the foot. "Rabbit's foot." She pointed out, turning to hold it out towards him. "Means we have good luck."
"Sure," Daryl scoffed. "Clearly." He reached forward, taking the rabbit and putting it into his bag with the squirrels they had gotten so far.
What Daryl really wanted was to bag a buck, drag that back to camp and have a night where he was sitting pretty, content and full. So far, though, he had been unlucky in that regard.
"We should circle around." Daryl began, catching his sister's attention, making her stop and look at him. "Don't want to leave Merle alone for too long. He'll get to wonderin' where we are."
Cordy snorted in contempt, shaking her head slightly. "He's like a damn kid we have to babysit."
They hadn't been out in the woods long, maybe just an hour or so, but they also hadn't told anybody where they were going before they left, choosing instead to venture off to hunt. Besides, Cordy had reasoned when they first set out, Dale had seen her follow Daryl into the woods. If Merle got to causing a fit, Dale would tell him where they went.
Of course, Daryl would have liked to get back in time to avoid that entirely. Cordelia was right, after all. It did feel like they had to babysit Merle. The bastard was stubborn, still going through what drugs he had left, despite both Cordelia and Daryl's misgivings. Neither of them wanted to deal with Merle as he was going through withdrawals but, just the same, having Merle high didn't help their case much either.
Not that it mattered though, really. Daryl had made his peace with being his brother's keeper a long time ago.
The two moved quietly through the trees, no words exchanged between them really, each of them too intent on looking for possible prey and listening for walkers. Besides, they had been doing this long enough, there was no need to talk.
They returned to camp some time later, stepping out of the brush to find that everyone was up now, the camp a flurry of activity.
Shane turned, dark eyes catching sight of the siblings, and he moved towards them, striding across camp purposefully.
"You leave and don't even tell anybody where you're going?" He asked, annoyance clear in his voice.
Daryl narrowed his eyes, sucking in a breath, ready to snap back at the man but Cordelia stepped between them, giving Shane a clearly unimpressed look.
"We're adults, Shane." She said, crossing her arms. "Didn't realize we had to ask permission to go on a damn walk."
Her tone sounded almost bored, but Daryl knew that Cordy was likely just as annoyed as Daryl over Shane reprimanding them. Without waiting for Shane to say anything else, Cordelia brushed past him, heading towards where Merle sat in front of the tent, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Daryl followed after her, dropping his bag at Merle's feet.
"Got some squirrels." He said. "A rabbit."
Merle smirked slightly, leaning back in the lawn chair he was sat in. "Good." he said. "Tired of eatin' beans and vienna sausages."
"We're tired of hearing you complain about eating beans and vienna sausages." Cordy said dryly, sliding her bow and quiver of arrows off her back and rolling her shoulders, stretching her arms over her head.
"Got some clothes that need washed, l'il sister. Best get to it."
Cordy huffed, fixing Merle with a clearly unimpressed look, arching a brow. "And what have you done today Merle? Beside sit on your ass. Wash your clothes your damn self."
Daryl could see his brother bowing himself up, getting ready to snap back at Cordy, an action that would inevitably lead to another argument between them.
Cordelia stood, eyes on Merle expectantly, arms crossed over her chest. Cordelia had mastered the look of icy indifference long ago.
"Hey Cordy," All three Dixon's turned at the sound of her name to see Glenn approaching them, dark gaze flickering between the three before finally settling on the youngest. "Shane wants to talk to us."
"Oh boy," Cordelia muttered under her breath, sliding her bow and quiver back onto her back before striding past her brothers, heading towards Glenn. "I'll let you know what he wants." She said to Daryl as she passed him, offering him a small smile. He only nodded, before moving to sit in the empty lawn chair beside Merle's.
"That girl has an attitude problem." Merle growled, blue eyes still set on Cordelia's retreating form.
"Ain't no problem." Daryl said. He reached into the bag, pulling out the rabbit that Cordy had killed.
"Man, are you kiddin' me? You heard the way she talked to me." Merle asked incredulously, turning to face him.
"Heard the way you talked to her too." Daryl pointed out matter-of-factly. "She was standin' up for herself. That's all."
Daryl admired that about his sister. He certainly had never been able to stand up for herself to Merle.
"Whatever, man. Somebody better wash those clothes. That's all I'm sayin'."
"Daryl knows. About us." Cordy began casually as they walked away, glancing at Glenn from the corner of her eye.
He blinked, turning to look at her with something akin to surprise, maybe a bit of fear, written across his face. "You told him?" He asked.
"He guessed." She corrected. "And he doesn't care." She shrugged slightly. "He knows I'm not a kid."
"He doesn't care?" Glenn frowned, looking at her with his disbelief evident on his face.
"Okay," she amended. "That's not what I meant. He's not...worried about it. He trusts me. He's not gonna like...murder you in your sleep or whatever." She shrugged, offering him an encouraging smile. "Which I know it doesn't really change anything because Merle is still a huge asshole but…"
"Merle isn't going to try to murder me in my sleep if hefinds out, right?" His tone was light, joking and it made her nudge him slightly as they walked.
"Let's not find out."
Cordelia didn't need to see Merle's reaction to know that he wouldn't be supportive of whatever was going on between her and Glenn. Hell, Merle was never supportive of anything.
"What does Shane want?" Cordy couldn't help but ask as they approached the man where he stood, talking to Andrea beside the RV.
"I don't know." Glenn admitted. "Wanted to talk to us about our run into the city tomorrow."
"Oh boy," Cordelia drawled, rolling her eyes. "Bet he wants to give us a fucking shopping list."
"Hey," Shane greeted as the two approached, crossing his arms over his chest. Cordy offered Andrea a simple nod of greeting before the woman headed off to where her sister was sitting by the fire. "Was hoping I could convince you two to take a group into the city on your run tomorrow."
"What?" Glenn asked, his eyes widening a fraction.
Cordy frowned, shaking her head slightly. "That is not a good idea." She said. Runs into the city were dangerous enough with it just being her and Glenn. Adding more people would just complicate things. Not that Shane would care, really. He only cared about getting the job done, not how it got done.
To his credit, he was the kind of person that people in the camp needed, strong and authoritative, but Cordelia didn't like him much. The fact that he had been a cop back before the world had gone to shit might have had something to do with it, but probably it had more to do with the fact that he could be a real dick most of the time.
But yeah, being a cop might have had something to do it. After all, hadn't that dislike been instilled in her for her whole goddamn life.
"Look, we need supplies." Shane said, tone impatient. "More people means more hands to carry them back."
"More people might also mean more possible mistakes. More ways to get us dead." Cordelia snapped back.
That was another thing. She and Shane had never gotten along. Cordelia was always ready to snap back at him, to call him on bullshit. She had never liked authority figures much.
"She has a point." Glenn cut in, tone far calmer than Cordelia's. More reasonable. "With just the two of us, it's easy. We get in and get out. Just like that."
"It doesn't matter, Glenn." Cordy said, narrowing her eyes slightly as she took in the stubborn set of Shane's jaw. "He's not actually asking us. Right, Shane? That was just to seem...what? Nice? Friendly? What he really meant is 'Fuck you, they're going whether you like it or not.'"
"Wow, Cordy, you really have me all figured out, huh?" He asked, fake amusement evident in his tone.
"Nah, I just know that asshole pricks tend to act pretty similar to each other." She responded brightly. "But I am right, aren't I? We don't have a choice?"
Shane scowled, looking between the two before sighing. "Look, it's for the good of the camp."
"So yeah," Cordy said, turning to Glenn. "I was right."
Glenn shook his head slightly. "So we take this group into the city and get these supplies and...what happens if something happens. More than just two people will die."
"Whoever goes will know the risks." Shane assured him.
"And what about the risk for us?" Glenn asked.
"Right. We can't just cut and run if shit hits the fan." Cordy added, crossing her arms.
"It's been risky every time you two have gone into the city." Shane pointed out, putting his hands on his hips.
"Less risky." Glenn told him. "More people is more risk for everyone involved."
"What if we just decide to not go, huh? What happens then?" Cordelia narrowed her eyes at him, squaring her shoulders stubbornly.
She could not figure out a single reason why she and Glenn had not been consulted when they were discussing sending a group into the city, but this whole situation was pissing her off. She and Glenn would be risking their lives in the city while Shane was sitting pretty at Camp where it was slightly safer.
"Well…" Shane began, gaze shifting between the two of them. "I had hoped you two would be a bit more agreeable."
"And I had hoped you would be less of a dick." Cordelia snapped back.
"Everyone is at risk." Shane said, his voice finally reflecting the annoyance he felt. "And everyone has to do their part."
"Are you trying to imply that we don't?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, her anger clear in her voice and on her face. She shifted forward suddenly as if to make a move towards him, but Glenn's hand shot out, catching her around the wrist.
His grip wasn't harsh or bruising, but remained unrelenting and was enough to make her pause, her rage still bubbling bitterly under the surface but her common sense finally speaking up to tell her that whatever her intentions were for moving towards Shane like that, they were stupid.
She was being stupid.
"We'll do it." She spat out at him finally. "But if anybody dies...that's on you."
With that she turned, pulling her wrist from Glenn's grip before stomping away towards the lake, leaving the two men to stare after her for a moment until Glenn followed in her path, casting one final look of disdain in Shane's direction before he did.
She could feel the anger burning coal hot under her skin. Just where in the hell did he get off, assuming he could make this decision for them? Who the fuck had died and made him the leader? Did he expect to bark out orders and have the rest of camp scurry around like ants trying to fulfill them?
"Cordy."
He reached out, placing a hand gently on her shoulder and making her stop, turning to face him with a scowl on his face. His voice had been calm when he spoke, his gaze gentle and understanding. He had to be pissed too, Cordy knew. He wouldn't want to do this any more than she did. And yet, he stood there, the picture image of calm.
"He's an asshole." She snapped, jerking her chin in the direction they had just come from. They were out of sight now, away from any curious eyes from camp. No doubt, they would be gossiping for the rest of the night about the argument that had just taken place. It wasn't like they had anything else to talk about anyway.
"He is." Glenn agreed with a nod, lowering his hand and taking a step closer to her.
"He wasn't ever actually going to ask us." She added, reaching up to push her hair out of her face.
"Probably not." He shook his head.
"How in the hell are you so calm right now?" Cordy asked, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.
"Well, I think you're mad enough for the both of us." Glenn said with a grin, actually making her snort lightly in laughter.
"I hate him." Cordelia said finally, the anger finally starting to ebb away, leaving frustration in it's wake. "I actually fucking hate him."
"I think he's actually doing what he thinks is right." Glenn shrugged slightly. "You can't fault him for that."
"Sure I can. If he thinks this is the right thing to do, he's a dumbass."
It was Glenn's turn to laugh at that, and Cordelia smiled softly. She liked his laugh, she realized suddenly. She liked his laugh and she quite liked his smile. She liked his dimples and the way the corners of his eyes turned up slightly.
Biting her lip slightly, Cordelia turned away. "I guess we can only hope he doesn't send anyone useless." She said, ignoring the fluttering in her stomach.
"Are you calm now?" Glenn asked. "You're not gonna like...run back there in punch him, right? There was a moment there where I thought you were going to."
"I might have." She admitted. "Probably best that I didn't."
"I think it's definitely best that you didn't."
Author's Note: Finally updating! I know this is a fairly uneventful chapter, but next chapter is kind of the gateway into canonical stuff. Thank you for everyone that has read and reviewed so far! Also for all the follows and favorites I've gotten. I know I'm not updating super consistently but I'm going to try to focus my attention more heavily on this story!
Also if you guys are interested in seeing any of the edits of prompts I've written regarding this or any other of my stories, you can check out my tumblr blog . com!