A/N: So I couldn't resist writing a little more. I've also decided this story will feature Deaf!Glenn.

Glenn stumbled through the trees as he tried to adjust his hat to fit him more snugly. He never took it off if he could avoid it. He especially didn't want to lose it now in the middle of the first exercise.

Glenn had been deaf since his freshman year of high school. His parents had sent him on a trip to visit his grandfather in some remote part of Georgia. He still regretted that he hadn't just said no. Lord knows, he hadn't ever really liked his grandfather. He had always been so strict, and he never seemed to much care for Glenn. His grandfather appreciated Glenn's cousins infinitely more, but his grandfather was always a stubborn man. He stuck to traditions, and tradition dictated that he fly his grandson in once a year.

Glenn knew that Pops invited his cousins several times a year. He only ever got a courtesy ticket once a year. He always tried to wiggle out of it, but his parents would frown at him disapprovingly if he ever tried to avoid going. In the end, Glenn always accepted the ticket, boarded a plane, and helped his Pops around his house for a week before they exchanged brief goodbyes. It was all very mechanical. Glenn figured it could be worse.

The summer before his freshman year, however, the plane he had boarded to Georgia went down with 'mechanical issues.' He's never been able to quite work out the details. He just remembers a few shouts and a terrible swooping in his stomach as the plane practically nosedived. He remembers he was sitting next to an engine. He remember a part of the plane near him - perhaps two aisles forward - getting ripped away. He remembers a lot of whistling and a huge boom from the engine that just ranged and ranged through his ears until it all just faded away until a very distant muffled buzz. Amazingly enough, he survived.

His parents and Pops sued the airline on his behalf. The airline settled outside of court with his parents - something that still stings since it meant his parents got a huge check to their own names. Money that should rightfully be his - since it was him who had taken the blow, him who had received the irreversible damage - never reached him. He should have received a portion of whatever was left of that money, but once he told his parents that he might be a little into guys, his parents had only squawked in horror as they recoiled. He didn't see a dime of that money again. Really, the only thing he got out of that is the hearing aids his parents had purchased for him with that money. He had his first pair for about 6 years before his parents decided to buy him some new ones. Fortunately, for Glenn, those had been purchased about a month before he had been kicked out. Also, fortunate for Glenn, he had managed to keep them as he fled the house.

When his parents had disowned him, Glenn had also packed a box of belongings and a backpack of clothes. He had grabbed several of his caps and a couple boxes of the hearing aid dehumidifer he had and made sure to stuff it all into his backpack. He had made his way over to a friend's house - a friend he knew from high school - and sat down in the guest room for awhile. Eventually, Glenn had pulled out his phone and saw the numerous messages that had filtered in since the moment he had left his parents' house.

Glenn had a big family. He may have been an only child, but his parents each had numerous siblings. All of them had something to say about his sexuality. A good portion of them had accused him of bringing shame to the family. A few had even issued death threats. That right there finally made Glenn's throat close up as he struggled to breathe. He wasn't sure what to do.

He didn't know who to turn to. The friend he was staying with only let him in out of pity. They really weren't that close. He was going to have to find a place of his own very soon - and away from here. Far enough away that he won't run into any of his family.

Glenn had closed his eyes tight that night as he curled around a pillow and tried to calm his breathing. A few choked gasps still escaped him.

Glenn didn't know why, but he wrote his address down every time he moved and sent it on a postcard to his grandfather. He moved around quite a bit between friends for a month before he finally found a place with Sheldon.

His grandfather hadn't sent any messages to Glenn during that time. There was no response. Glenn was wary of getting his hopes up. If anybody was going to be stubborn about family being family no matter how little you like them, it was going to be his Pops.

He had been overwhelmingly grateful when he had received a simple envelope in the mail two weeks before he had moved in with Sheldon. Glenn was not ashamed to admit that his eyes may have teared up a little even as his stomach clenched in anxiety.

Glenn had packed a small bag and had paid a little extra to carry on his box of belongings onto the plane. He only expected to be gone a week, but he just didn't feel comfortable leaving any of it in any of his friends' trust for longer than a day.

Glenn had initially been unsure about his reception, but Pops surprised when he simply nodded and curtly said "Hello, Glenn" like he did every time he exited a plane. He had then turned around heading for his truck, expecting Glenn to follow.

He did of course. And despite the fact that the week was done almost just as mechanically as previous years, it was still one of the best weeks of his life because Pops was family and this was all so achingly familiar.

Glenn decided as he boarded the plane to go back home that he perhaps did like his Pops, and maybe, his Pops liked him more than he let on if he was willing to still take him in for a week despite any criticism he may receive from the rest of the family. Of course, he was tough, strict Pops. He could handle himself, and he could most certainly handle the family.

He pretty much set Glenn's world from horribly spinning around to tentatively anchored down. He helped Glenn get his focus back. He also gave Glenn the name of the pizza parlor he was now working at. Apparently, he had pulled a few strings and the owner was an old army buddy who would be more than fine with giving Glenn a job as long as he worked for it. He also paid for a flight from Georgia to Pasadena, California. Glenn was just grateful that it was far from the rest of the family.

Glenn did work for it, and Pops still insisted on sending him a ticket every six months after that. Apparently, even his Pops noticed how much he needed the connection between them if he was willing to pay for an extra ticket each year. Glenn would just never be able to put into words just how grateful he was for that.

"What's the hold up?! You chink have no sense of direction, eh?"

Glenn breathed out in annoyance. This asshole was more racist than he cared to tolerate. Just keep your eyes on the prize, he started to chant to himself. Room and utilities for longer than a month if I get certified. It's going to be fine. He's going to make it through - despite every jeer and mocking curl of lips thrown his ways.

Merle, one of the instructors, was the most pigheaded person Glenn had ever had the displeasure of meeting - outside of his family, of course.

"Hussle, hussle! We don't have all day ladies! Let's get this exercise over with already! I don't get paid nearly enough for this shit."

Really, Glenn had no idea how he was going to survive the next three weeks under the tutelage of this jackass.

A/N: Yes, Merle. I hope none of you were too disappointed that I haven't mentioned Daryl yet. He's still awhile off, but have no fear! He's definitely a favorite character of mine, and I won't be able to resist him for too long. He's already fighting his way into the story.