#cmam

Your crush on him was so obvious that everyone but him could see it. The Aphrodite cabin thought it was adorable and many of them tried to play match-maker. Not that you minded much, honestly the fact that they cared that much meant a lot to you, and it really only meant that the two of you would always end up paired together in camp activities.

This summer, however, was different. The night started in high spirits, especially since, as you sat at the first campfire sing along of the summer, Chris was sitting next to you. He was so close your shoulders and knees touched. You thought about using the cold night air as an excuse to get closer, but you never got the chance because before you could move something happened. 

The new camper sitting across from you was claimed. By Poseidon. The big three weren’t even allowed to have kids with mortals You didn't blame the kid, but having someone who was forbidden even to be born be proudly claimed by a god that swore not to make a demigod, While you had been at camp for years and you didn't even know who your godly parent was.

You quickly excused yourself from the group and escaped into the foliage, unnoticed under the loud commotion the boy had caused. That the people you had known for years were to preoccupied with the new kid to go after you only rubbed salt in the wound.

Tears began to run down your cheeks as you made your way through the trees.

“(Y/N)!” you heard from behind you. You spun around to see Chris running to you, concern etched on his face. “Hey whats wrong? You just got up and left?”

Eyes focused on the ground, you refused meet his gaze. "(Y/N)," he said softly. His hands firmly, but gently, held your arms. You looked into his eyes for a second before bursting into tears. He pulled you to his chest and hugged you tight. Stroking your hair, he held you as you cried.

“My parent. I hate knowing that they don’t want me. No one does,” you sobbed into his shirt.

“I want you,” he said softly.

“You’re my friend," you began pulling away "of course you’d say-"

“No. (Y/N),” he said, cutting you off. He grabbed your shoulders and made you look him in the eye. The intensity of his gaze almost made your knees buckle. “Yes, you’re my friend, but I want you. I love you, not just as a friend. Seeing you is my favorite part of the summer. I look forward to it all year. And you parent is stupid for not claiming you.”

“Don’t call a god stupid, Chris.” you laughed as you scrubbed at your eyes. “It's never a good idea.” Another burst of laughter erupts from you as he flips off the heavens.

“Do you really love me?” you asked.

“Yeah,” he smiled sweetly and brushed a few remaining tears from your face.

“Good,” you said. “Because I love you too.”

At least you could plead basic human decency when you threatened to shoot the two men when they were about to murder Chris after the car crash.

The two of you had started warming up to each other again as you traveled from place to place, scavenging for supplies and protecting each other from the infected. But, once again, things changed. You were reunited with Travis and the Clark's a few weeks later after finding them hiding out in an abandoned suburban neighborhood in Arizona.

Travis hugged his son, crying tears of relief, as the Clark's checked to see if you were harmed.

“Are you okay?” Alicia asked. While Madison checked you for wounds.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” you smiled. Alicia pulled you into a tight embrace and Nick followed suit.

During the weeks you had traveled together, Chris had become more like the boy you had met months before, and less like the one who had shot the farmer in cold blood. While he was still distant to the rest of the group, aside from his dad, you had hoped everything would be fine—well, as fine they could be in the apocalypse—but once again Chris was ignoring you.

Whenever you tried to start a conversation with him he would act like he couldn't hear you or just walk away. You had asked Travis if he knew what was wrong, but he said it wasn't his place to tell. All your attempts to talk to Chris failed, until you finally managed to corner him one night.

“Hey,” you said as you approached him, sitting at a window of the abandoned house your group was staying for the night, watching the rain fall outside.

He stayed silent. You took a second to gather your courage.

“Why are you ignoring me?” you asked.

More silence. The only sound was water droplets pattering against the window.

“Chris, please. Whatever I did I’m sorry! Okay? I just want to be your friend again,” You begged. True, you wanted to be more than friends, but if friends was all he wanted to be it was enough for you.

He took as shaky breath before speaking, “You didn’t do anything wrong (Y/N).”

“Then why-”

“Because it hurts!” his outburst shocked you. “Because you’re amazing and kind and smart and you went with me and Brandon and Derek even though they obviously scared you, and you saved my life. I love being your friend, but watching you with something else hurts.”

“Watching me with someone else?”

“You and Nick,” he looked back down at his hands, no linger capable of looking you in the eyes.

“Nick and I have nothing going on between us,” you laughed.

“Really?” his voice sounded hopeful.

“No! I did have a crush on Alicia in middle school, but I got over that years ago.”

“Oh, so you’re not into guys?”

“No, I’m into guys too, and I’m definitely into you,” you nudged his side and gave him a cheeky grin.

His looked up at you, surprised, and you took the opportunity to lean forward and press a soft kiss to his lips.

1. You met Christopher Manawa

Getting separated from your group after a run in with a violent group of survivors was your worst nightmare come true. After a week of looking for them to no avail, you realized you had to keep moving.

You made your way East, hoping that the less populated areas would have less undead. On the way you ran into a another survivor that had lost his group.

Chris had left his father and stepfamily to join some other boys, but after Chris was injured in a car accident they left him to die.

The two of you decided that it would be smarter and safer to travel together. Neither of you expected to fall in love, but it was three months into traveling with Chris and you were head-over-heels.

A small fire crackled in front of you as you stared up at the sky.

“The stars are so clear here,” Chris mumbled beside you. You hummed in agreement and he turned to look over at you.

“They’re so beautiful,”

“Yeah, you are,” he breathed. You turned to look at him, shocked that he actually returned your feelings. He leaned towards you and his lips met yours.

After a few minutes you pulled away giggling.  

“What?” he asked worried that he had done something wrong.

“That was so fucking cliche,” you said looking at him with an adoring gaze.

“Shut up,” he pulled you into another mind-blowing kiss.

2. Marrying Chris

Weddings in Alexandria were less than traditional. Deana handed you a marriage certificate, you both signed it, and you were officially married. You and Chris decided not to have a ceremony, and it was the proposal that made it one of the best days of your lives.

Chris had seen a jewelry store on a run a few days ago and found a ring he thought you would love. Before the world ended, he probably would have waited for the perfect moment to propose. Unfortunately, in the new world the perfect moment might never happen, so he asked you immediately after he came home.

Anytime one of you went on a run without the other, the other person would probably be at home worrying. So, when Chris opened the door to your house, you immediately bolted to him and hugged him.

Once you pulled away he told you to close your eyes. When you opened them he was looking up and you on one knee.

“Meeting you was one of the best things to ever happen to me, even before the apocalypse. Despite the fact that the world around us is hell, being with you makes me feel like everything will be okay. I don’t no where I would be today, or if I would even be alive, without you. (Y/N) (L/N), will you marry me?”

3. Finding Elizabeth

Going on supply runs were the only time you could leave Alexandria. It’s not that you didn’t love the settlement, but being contained within the walls for years would have driven you insane if it weren’t for the short time you spent outside. Deana had sent you and Chris out for a few things.

On the way back, there was a small building surrounded by walkers. A noise came from within that attracted them and they scratched at the stores glass windows. The two of you took out the walkers and noticed a note stuck on the door. “Got bitten, please save my baby,” you read aloud. You realized what the noise was. When Chris got the door open you were hit with the sound of a crying baby.

The cries came from a back room that was locked from the outside. You grabbed the key that was sitting in the counter and opened the door. On top of the desk, sitting wrapped tightly in blankets and nestled into a baby carrier, was a small infant.

“How could anyone leave their child in here?” you asked picking them up and cradling them in your arms.

“They were bitten. The alternatives do sound to great either,” Chris said looking down at their tiny form. “We should bringg them back to Alexandria.” The child started crying again.

“But first we should feed it,” you said handing him the baby before searching the store for something that resembled baby food.

Those three things were the only good events you could think of happening after the outbreak. The baby ended up being a girl. After a long discussion and a bit of thinking the two of you decided to adopt her. You had named her Elizabeth, after his mother Eliza.

You laid in bed and looked over at Chris who was cuddling your now five year old daughter in your sleep.

It seemed somewhat stupid to you. That that was what made you cry when the entire world and life as you knew it completely changed for the worst, but he was the one person in who you told everything to. You both supported each other like when his parents got divorced. You didn't want to burden your family, they were already preoccupied with their own worries.

So when you came upon a group of boys, who gave you a very bad feeling, you were ecstatic when you saw Chris among them. The second you noticed him you shouted his name and threw your arms around him in a bone crushing hug which he returned full force.

When the boys he was with made suggestive jokes about the two of you, you did your best not to blush and give away your crush on your best friend.

As your two groups went to part ways you asked Chris to come with you and your family. You didn't want to say anything about the group he was with in fear he would get defensive, but they made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

After a few seconds of staring into your pleading eyes as you grasped his hands tightly in yours like if you loosened your grip even a little he would disappear and you'd never see him again-Which, in this new world, was actually quite likely- he agreed and you pulled him into a hug, relieved.

Chris had been traveling with your family for weeks now and he found that your family was more accepting of his "do what has to be done" attitude than his own was, but less trigger happy than the boys he was with before were.

Your family took refugee from the reality of the apocalypse around them by teasing you about your crush and occasionally even trying to play matchmaker. Nothing came if their meddling until you and Chris raided a small convenience store.

It would have been an easy in-and-out job if you hadn't gotten distracted and missed the zombie coming towards you from behind. You let out a yelp as it knocked you down and landed on top of you, snapping it teeth at you as you struggled to push it off of you. A shot rang out and the zombie collapsed into a motionless heap on top of you. Chris helped you push it off and pulled onto your feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked frantically as he checked you for injuries.

"I'm fine. Sorry, I got distracted," you said as he pulled you into a bone crushing hug.

"Fuck, you scared me," he said stroking your hair. It was the closest either of you had come to dying since the end of the world. The closest Chris had come to losing you forever. 

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," you admitted.

He took a shaky breath before pulling back and looking into your eyes. "No, (Y/N), I'm in love with you," the seriousness in his eyes left you speechless for a moment before you hugged him again, even tighter.

The room was unbelievably comfortable. The walls were round and made of yellow bricks, the circular windows let in a bit of moon  light, the wooden floor was covered in a large soft carpet, and the room was filled with plants.

A familiar rhythm of taps could be heard through the door before it opened and someone entered. You looked up and saw Chris Manawa, a boy from your Charms class. The two of you had spoken to each other a few times before and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t have a small crush on him. He sat down in the armchair next to you.

“(Y/N),” he whispered, catching your attention.

“Hmm?” you hummed. He held out a plate of cinnamon rolls that he must have gotten from the House Elves in the kitchen.

“Want one?” he offered.

“Thank you,” you nodded and grabbed one.

“How Quidditch training going?” he asked. “Are you guys ready for the match this Friday?”

“Yeah, we’ve been training almost everyday. Slytherin’s going to eat shit,” you smiled as he laughed. Your heart fluttered at the sound and you turned away hoping he couldn’t see your blush in the dim light.

“Good, I’ll be in the stands cheering for you. Don’t forget: I’m your number one fan,” he said. You secretly hoped it wasn’t a joke.

Pulling on your Quidditch gear, you listened to your team captain give a pre-match speech.

A smile spread across your face as you felt a faint scribbling across your arm.

You had been writing back and fourth with your soulmate since your thirteenth birthday. You hadn’t told him you had magic. Partially because you weren’t sure if he’d even believe you, but also because you were worried that even if he did believe you he would think you were a freak. A lot of the half-blood's you had met said that their muggle parent had a bad reaction to finding out their significant other had magic powers, and you prayed that you would never be with one of those people.

‘Hey’ it read. You scrambled to grab a pen from your locker.

'Hey’ you wrote back. 'Sorry I can’t talk right now. I have a Quidditch match in a minute’ It wasn’t until you were walking onto the pitch that you realized your mistake.

After a moment of panic, you realized, to your relief, they would have no idea what Quidditch even was and you could play it off somehow without having to tell them about the wizarding world just yet. You forced yourself to ignore the feeling of them replying on your arm. Then you and your team mates took to the air and the balls were released.

Once the match ended, you checked your arm and your heart almost stopped.

'Slytherin’s going to eat shit’ read your soulmates handwriting, scrawled across your arm.

'Yeah, they did’ you wrote back. The letters were crooked as your hand shook from both nerves and excitement. 'Meet me outside the locker rooms?’ You had never changed so fast in your life.

When you walked out you saw something that made butterfly explode in your stomach. Chris leaned up against the outer wall of the Quidditch pitch, as if waiting for someone.

“Hey, Chris,” you said as you walked up to him.

“Hey, (Y/N). You did amazing!” he smiled. “You’re definitely the best  beater on the team.”

“Thanks!” you said and realized you had no idea how to subtlety breach the subject of the possibility of him being your soulmate.

Wondering if you were actually lucky enough to have him be your soulmate, you took a breath to say something, but he spoke before you could. “The Slytherin team really ate shit didn’t they?”

“Yeah, they did,” you paused for a second before deciding 'fuck subtlety' and continuing. “Hey, can I see your arm?”

He smiled as if hoping you would ask that as he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, showing you his arm. You froze when you saw the writing on his arm. He pulled his sleeve down and grabbed hour hands, bringing you back to reality.

“I was hoping it would be you the second I read the word Quidditch,” he said looking into your eyes.