Random imagines for random fandoms

This is all my writing so far, but feel free to request more! Guidelines

The Society

Dating Jason Alvarado Headcanons

Dating Gordie Headcanons

Not His Type (Harry Bingham/Plus sized reader)

All That Matters (Campbell Eliot/reader)

Unrequited Love (Grizz/reader)

IT(2017)

Can I Stay (Henry Bowers/reader)

Bruises (Henry Bowers/reader)

Finally His (Patrick Hockstetter/reader)

Riverdale

English Project (Reggie Mantle/reader)

Umbrella Academy

Empty (Ben Hargreeves/reader)

Outer Banks

Perfect (JJ/reader)

Waves (JJ/reader)

You’re Beautiful (JJ/reader)

Dirty Little secret (Rafe/reader)

The Walking Dead

Taken Prisoner (Merle Dixon/reader)

Returning the Favour (Merle Dixon/reader)

No Funny Business (Merle Dixon/reader)

Rooftop Romance (Merle Dixon/reader)

Reunited (Merle Dixon/reader)

Bad Decisions (Negan/reader)

Slaughterhouse Rulez

Stu Macher x Reader

Warnings: Drug use, swearing

Summary: Reader and Stu hang out to smoke weed together

Smoke burned my throat as I breathed in, holding it in my lungs for as long as I could before it began to tickle, blowing it out in a long exhale. The closer we got to finishing our joint, the more the smoke threatened to make me cough. Stu reached a greedy hand for it as soon as it left my lips, waving the hand at me when I took a second too long to pass it to him.

“You are many things, Stu, but patient is not one of them. Jesus Christ,”

“It’s a good job I’m charming enough to make up for it then. And smart, and handsome, and funny,” he ticked the adjectives off on his fingers before taking a drag of his own.

“Not to mention humble,”

“That, too,” he seemed thrilled that I had thought of something to add to the list. I shook my head at him, letting my hair hang in my face to block the grin that threatened to bloom. Weed always made me embarrassingly giggly, and much as I enjoyed Stu’s company, his ego did not need to be inflated any further with the idea that everything he said was hilarious. “Where’d you go - don’t tell me you’re going all shy on me,” Stu leaned, peering around my hair to see my face, eyes wide and expression gormless. Laughter expanded like a bubble in my chest, rising up my throat until I could no longer contain it. A grin spread across Stu’s face in return.

“I see, I see. My level of comedy is clearly far too much for you to handle, I promise that from now on I will speak to you with utmost seriousness,” he waved a hand over his face to exaggerate the transition, grin switching to a pompous frown.

“No, please don’t! Without you I’ll never laugh again,” I attempted to mimic his frown, but found it impossible whilst he looked me in the face, more laughter threatening to bubble to the surface. Instead, I stared up at the sky, so impressively blue that I forgot almost entirely about my attempt to pull a serious face. “I have an important question,”

“Go on, you can’t leave me in suspense like that,” for someone so eager to enforce the puff-and-pass rule earlier, Stu seemed to have no problem hogging the spliff when it was his turn to give it up. I reached for it before continuing, my fingers brushing his clumsily as I took it. There was only a little left.

“Do you believe in aliens?” A ridiculous question that would no doubt have an entertaining answer. I finished the joint, flicking it into the grass, away from the picnic blanket we shared.

“Of course I do - I believe they like to catch rides on kid’s bikes, and make calls to the mothership to escape evil science dudes,” Stu wouldn’t be Stu without having a movie reference for every conversation, though expecting him not to go straight to E.T when I brought up aliens would be wildly unfair.

“For sure, and they can teleport bikes and have weird buggy eyes,”

Stu shuddered dramatically, “Creepy eyes,”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of E.T,” I teased.

“Not scared … Just a healthy level of cautious,”

Another laugh rose in my chest. The sound seemed to make Stu smile, his eyes lingering on mine in a way that made my face feel hot. Normally I would have looked away, but right now I was incapable of that kind of self-consciousness. The heat in my cheeks seemed to be stemming not from embarrassment, but from something else.

“If you think about it, if there are aliens out there, then to them, we’re the aliens,” Stu widened his eyes, as if he had said something ground breaking.

“Shit - so you do believe in aliens!”

“Kinda have to if we’re the aliens, and we exist,” Stu said. I was surprised that he did not say ‘duh’ at the end of the sentence.

“You are talking the most shit,”

Stu clutched at his chest in exaggerated offence, “Now that is just hurtful,” He turned his head away from me, chin pointed upwards.

“Awww come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that,” I leaned forwards in an attempt to get him to look me in the face, but he only turned his head further with a loud ‘humph’.

I kneeled up so that I could get more distance, leaning around him until he could turn his head no further to get away from me.

“I’m very sorry - I didn’t realise your feelings were so fragile,” I grinned through the apology at his ridiculous stubbornness. In fact, I couldn’t stop grinning, his sulking suddenly the most hilarious thing in the world.

Stu turned to face me, and suddenly we were almost nose to nose. “You call that an apology, huh?”

A wild and reckless idea overtook me for a second, my grin fading in an instant as the idea that he was close enough to kiss entered my head, and that a kiss would be more than apology enough for his feigned hurt feelings. He seemed to pick up on the shift, reading the thought stamped suddenly across my face, eyes dipping from mine and to my lips. It was just for a second, barely long enough for me to notice. But that second was enough of a spark to my confidence for me to lean in, acting on my impulsive thoughts.

Stu’s lips were soft, and he tasted like smoke. My body had twisted at an awkward angle to get face to face with him earlier, but now that there was no need for the empty air between us, I leaned into him for support. His hands found my waist as he kissed me back, tugging me into his lap. His body was firm and warm against mine, and I pressed myself into him, needing nothing more than to be as close to him as possible. We were connected, perfectly in sync, my lips parting just as his tongue moved to graze mine. My hands found his chest, his neck, his hair, mapping out parts of Stu’s body that I had seen but never before touched, memorising the planes of his back and the curve of his jaw. His arms tightened around me, bringing us impossibly closer together as he leaned back to lie on the blanket, pulling me down to the floor with him without breaking our kiss, so that I was in top of him. Which each passing second his mouth became hungrier, less soft and more desperate. His teeth caught against my lower lip, eliciting from me a sharp intake of breath.

I pulled away by an inch or so, only as much as I could bare, “Am I forgiven?”

“You most definitely are,” Stu’s familiar grin, wide and toothy and incredibly, undeniably hot, lit up his face. “You wanna know something?”

“What?” I returned his smile.

“You’re smoking hot, baby,”

The pun was truly awful, but somehow that made it even funnier. As I laughed, he leaned up to close the inch-wide gap between us, kiss lingering and slow.

Ghostface Stu Macher x Reader

Warnings: violence, swearing, sexual language, knife-play

Summary: What happens when Reader catches Stu before he can cover up the evidence of his latest murder?

It wasn’t like I’d never showed up to Stu’s unannounced before. In fact, I had done it plenty of times - either to surprise him, or simply because I could not be bothered to call ahead. But something felt off today, when I stepped through his unlocked front door and into his house. His was always leaving the front door open, even when his parents were out, which they had been for a few days now. I was always telling him to keep it locked, especially now with a killer on the loose, but he never managed to take my concern seriously.

“Hey, Stu, you upstairs?” I called up to him from the hallway.

“Yeah, I’ll just be a minute,” his voice raised at the end of the sentence, strained slightly.

I began to climb the stairs, “Everything okay?”

“Yep, yep, of course, just gimme a minute okay? One minute and I’m all yours, okay baby?”

I waited. One minute turned into five, and I decided that enough was enough. I finished my climb and pushed open his bedroom door.

“Stu?”

He turned to me, shirtless, his sweater bundled and bloody against his chest in one hand, a knife in the other. This was no kitchen knife, either, long and curved and dramatically pointed. It was the sort of knife meant for tearing through flesh.

“Stu,” I repeated his name - what else was there to say? His sweater was stained deeply red, he must have been in the middle of cleaning up whatever mess this was when I had arrived.

A grin broke out across his face. Then a laugh. My feet were frozen to the floor. This was a sound that should be heartening, but instead my stomach churned.

“Are you - are you the killer?” The words felt unnatural, ludicrous, even. Stu, my Stu, a killer? This was insane. There must be some other explanation for this, I thought, but still my body was frozen and my stomach felt choppy as an ocean.

“Oh baby, you’re so stupid,” Stu’s sweater had dropped to the floor, but he retained the knife, “How are you possibly surprised by this? Aren’t you supposed to know me better than anyone?” he pouted at me. Mocking.

“I thought I did,”

“Come on, now, don’t be like that - don’t act all high and mighty, hoity toity, morally superior,” he punctuated his sentence with the knife, gesturing into the air, “I know you get off on this shit - no-one watches Halloween that many times if they don’t want to fuck Micheal Myers,” Stu stepped towards me, slow and deliberate. I felt like prey.

My words stumbled, “That’s - it’s not true. And this is real life, not some movie, or a stupid fantasy,” So maybe I had an unhealthy interest in slashers. That was irrelevant. Micheal Myers had not killed any of my friends.

“Can’t I be your stupid fantasy?” He had backed me into a wall. There was no avoiding him now, no escape, no evading his touch. He placed an arm above my head, caging me in.

I felt cold metal sliding across my neck, down my chest. “Please don’t kill me,” my eyes were blurry with tears.

“Looks like you know your lines already,” Stu tilted his head down, lips making contact with my neck. Then teeth, pulling and sucking at the soft skin beneath his mouth. My breathing caught. I was achingly aware of the knife pressing into my side, and the feeling of him kissing my neck. My heart was pounding, and I was not sure which sensation contributed to it more - my persisting attraction to him, or the imminent threat posed upon me. Perhaps it was some strange combination of the two.

He pulled away to take in my face. I turned my head away, sure that if he saw my face directly, he would see the conflict on my face. But his hand gripped my jaw, turning my chin towards him so that his eyes could meet mine.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” He was grinning madly, “Now I need you to promise me baby, that you won’t tell anyone about this? I can make all your fantasies come true, but you know what I’d have to do if you told anyone, right?” His knife, which had been pressed into my side just enough for me to be aware of its presence, began to press deeper. Enough to make me gasp. Stu groaned. “You make such pretty noises, don’t you?” he pressed the knife against me harder. I felt it cutting, not deeply, but just enough to draw blood.

“I promise, I won’t tell anyone,” It was not as though I had a choice. But still, my breath was heavy. I did not hate this, or Stu, nearly as much as I should.

“Good,” Stu did not remove the knife straight away, instead sliding it forwards, lengthening the cut. I cringed, attempting to pull away from the burning sensation at my side, but Stu had me held in place. Tears slipped down my cheeks.

“I said I promise, okay?”

Stu leaned in, catching a tear on his tongue as it fell. The corners of his mouth twitched up. “Prove it to me,” he challenged. I was not sure exactly how I could fulfil his request, but I made my best guess, leaning up to kiss him on the mouth. The knife let up as my mouth slid against his, my chin upturned towards him. His hand found the back of my neck, cradling the back of my head in a movement that pressed my mouth further to his. My lips parted to allow his tongue to glide against mine, playful, teasing. The heat of his bare chest burned even through my clothing, igniting my skin wherever we made direct contact, burning even hotter in contrast to the cold blade now grazing my ribs. My body arched under its caress. It was so wrong for me to derive any enjoyment from this, but I had no choice, I told myself. I was doing this to stay alive, that was it, not because the sensation of Stu’s knife against my body made me feel alive, sending sparks shooting up my spine. My hands found his back, tracing the hollow of his spine, fingernails finding friction. Stu’s teeth caught on my lower lip, biting down to elicit a gasp from me.

“Can I really trust you, baby?” Stu had pulled away, only slightly, to murmur against my lips.

All I could manage was a nod.

The knife rose to my neck, “I need to hear you say it for me,” Stu’s eyes were wide, wild. I did not doubt in that moment that if I did not give him what he wanted, he would slit my throat and likely enjoy it. The thought had my breath hitching in my throat.

“You can trust me, I promise,”

Billy Loomis x Reader

Warnings: Suggestive language, cursing

Summary: Reader is confronted with their attraction to Billy as they try to cool off from the summer heat.

It was the hottest day of the year, the kind of heat that slowed everything down, making me sleepy and essentially useless. My saving grace had been Stu, surprisingly, who knew about a lake nearby, perfect for all of us to cool off in.

“Holy shit, it’s colder than a witch’s tit in here,” Stu exclaimed. He was the first to jump into the lake, pulling Tatum closely behind him. She squealed as he yanked her into the water, splashing her in the face.

“Thanks a lot, Stu. I was trying to keep my hair dry,” She splashed him back, but he grabbed her, lifting her up in the air and dunking her underwater. She came up gasping and swearing, whacking him on the shoulder.

“Come on in, guys, the water’s fine,” Stu seemed to already have disregarded his previous statement.

Randy began to unfold a camping chair, “Are you serious? You’re not doing a brilliant job of making it look appealing, and besides, the water’s probably full of all sorts of bacteria,”

“Don’t be such a pussy,” I ran forwards down the bank of the lake, launching myself into the water after Tatum and Stu. I knew that if I had approached it any slower, I most definitely would have chickened out just like Randy. The cold of the water made me gasp.

“It’s not so bad,” I said, though my body betrayed me by shivering slightly, shuddering at the cold.

“Very convincing,” Billy said from the bank, squinting at the water as if considering deeply whether the cold of the water was better than the heat.

Sidney shrugged off her shirt to follow us in, splashing through the shallow water first, letting herself slowly get used to the water.

“Get a move on, Sid,” Stu said, “Tatum and I challenge you two to a chicken fight - loser has to shotgun a beer,” he gestured grandly at the cooler by Randy’s feet. Billy had already taken one.

“So long as Billy doesn’t drink them all first,” Tatum added. Billy flipped her off from the bank.

“You’re on,” Sidney said. I let her hop up onto my shoulders - I wasn’t convinced that we could beat Tatum and Stu, and didn’t particularly fancy being tossed into the water.

Tatum seemed far more comfortable on Stu’s shoulders than Sidney did on mine, but Sidney put up a good fight, determined to win.

“Come on, Sid, push her harder,” I encouraged from underneath her.

“You’ve got this, Tate, those two don’t stand a chance,” Stu said, enjoying the opportunity for trash talk, “You call that a push? Don’t make me laugh, Sid,”

Sidney almost toppled Tatum, but something hooked my leg from under the water. Sidney and I both fell with a spectacular splash, freezing water entering my nose. I emerged, spluttering and soaked, pushing wet hair back and out of my eyes.

“You’re a fucking cheater, Stu,” I said.

He flung his hands up in surrender. “I don’t know what you’re talking about - maybe you tripped on a log? Or a fish? Either way you lose, drink up!”

“That was a clear violation of the rules,” Sidney protested, “But since you two don’t know how to be gracious losers, we’ll take the forfeit,”

I followed her out of the water, aware of Billy’s eyes on the two of us. I probably looked ridiculous - my hair was slicked back with water in a way that I seriously doubted my ability to pull off. As soon as I looked up to meet his gaze with a smile, he glanced back to the lake.

Randy threw me a beer with slightly more force than strictly necessary - he didn’t appreciate being called a pussy, especially not in front of Sid, who he handed a beer to directly. I leaned down to fish around in my bag for a key, but Billy handed me his penknife,

“Thanks,” I said.

He managed to maintain eye contact this time, smiling slightly, “No problem,”

“You should join us in the water - it’s not as cold as you think, I promise,”

Billy narrowed his eyes at me, “Quit stalling - you finish that beer, and I’ll think about it,”

“You drive a hard bargain,” I glanced over to Sidney, “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she grimaced slightly.

I punctured the can and opened the tab, holding it up to my mouth and tilting my head back in an attempt to avoid spilling any beer. Drinking anything this fast was an unpleasant experience, bubbles burning the back of my throat slightly, but consuming copious amounts of alcohol was exactly Stu’s idea of fun so I was well practised. It was gone within a few seconds. I saw Sidney struggle with hers, pausing halfway through before managing to finish the drink. Tatum and Stu cheered loudly from the water.

“So, you coming in or what?” I asked Billy.

“Someone has to help you take down Stu and Tatum,” he said, looking pointedly over to Sidney. Randy had opened out another camping chair for her, and was already beginning one of his movie-related rants. Sidney leaned her head on her elbow to listen in closer.

“Yeah I’m definitely down a team-mate, you think you’re up to the challenge?”

“We’ll find out, won’t we,” Billy pulled his shirt over his head, stripping down to shorts to enter the water. His body was angular, and I couldn’t help but admire the hard edges of his broad shoulders, imaging what it might be like to lean against his chest, have his thick arms wrapped right around me. He glanced up and I looked down, immediately averting my gaze. My stomach flipped as I realised that he must have known exactly what I was looking at.

“Hurry up, I wanna sunbathe once we’re done kicking your asses,” Tatum called out to us.

“Yeah, get your asses in here and quit flirting,” Stu added. Tatum hit his arm.

My face felt hot at his suggestion. I chanced a glance over to Billy, whose gaze was set on Stu, glaring intently at him through furrowed brows. I was grateful not to be on the receiving end.

The water felt slightly less cold the second time, but I shuddered as I entered nonetheless. Billy was close behind me, though I didn’t dare look back at him for fear that he would think I was staring at him again.

Stu seemed fascinated by my every movement as I got up onto Billy’s shoulders, watching the pair of us with a gormless grin on his face. I tried not to think about Billy’s hands on my legs holding me steady, or his broad shoulders, sure that Stu would know exactly what was going through my head if I did. I locked hands with Tatum, who was stronger than she looked, almost knocking me straight into the water, but I regained my balance, only just.

“You two have no chance at beating us - we’re a power couple, we’re built to defeat you,” Stu teased, but Tatum was slowly slipping, losing her balance.

“Leave it alone, Stu,” Billy said, just as Tatum slid entirely from his shoulder and into the water. Normally Billy coped well with Stu’s insufferable humour, but today he seemed to have finally hit his limit, though I was not sure entirely what it was that had done it.

Tatum emerged from the water, spluttering slightly, “Shit, guess it’s our turn,” she led Stu by the hand up to the bank to drink their forfeit. Billy watched after them, likely ready to glower at Stu once more if he turned back to us. Not particularly wishing to be involved in their quarrel, I laid back in the water, letting myself float on my back as I squinted up into the sky. It was the brightest blue I had seen it, the colour of forget-me-not flowers. I paddled gently with my hands, allowing myself to drift into the middle of the lake.

After a few minutes of peace, I heard the splashing sound of someone approaching. I let my feet sink, toes barely touching the ground in the deep water, seeing Billy stopping next to me.

“Everything alright with Stu?” I asked. He pushed dripping hair out of his face. His whole body glistened with reflected sunlight and water.

“He’s just being an ass. Nothing too out of the ordinary,” Billy smiled wryly at me. I smiled back.

“Okay, but if he ever bothers you, you know who to come to,” I made a show of fiercely driving my fist into my palm in a faux-threatening manner. It made Billy chuckle, but turned out to be a mistake - without my arms to paddle, keeping me upright, my feet slipped and my head almost ended up under the water. Billy noticed my struggle in less than a second, grabbing my waist to right me, holding my tightly to ensure my footing. He felt solid, legs long enough for him to be planted firmly on the ground. I held onto his shoulders.

“Thanks,” I said, somewhat embarrassed that I had so nearly ended up falling.

“No problem,” Billy’s face was close to mine - had we ever been this close before? I didn’t think so. “If I knew you were such a drowning risk, I never would have let you near the water,”

“What makes you think you could have stopped me?” I was distinctly aware of how breathy my voice sounded. And how dark his deep brown eyes were, never leaving mine. I was utterly trapped under the intensity of his gaze, unable to glance away even for a second.

“I can be very persuasive you know,” His voice was low. His face inched close to mine, and mine to his, the two of us drawn in to each-other by an unstoppable magnetism. My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, eyes fluttering shut as his lips met mine, slow and intense and deeply passionate, in a kiss that lingered on my mouth as he pulled away. This was entirely unacceptable to me. My hand buried in his hair, something I had not realised just how badly I had wanted to do until I did it, and I pulled him back down to me. There was nothing slow about our next kiss, his lips moving against mine with a fervour, stealing my breath and making my pulse race. An electric feeling expanded in my chest. The arm around my waist tightened, pulling me flush against his body, fingers gripping into my side with desperate firmness, pressing me into him. His teeth found my lower lip, biting until I gasped. His tongue grazed my lip before sliding into my mouth. I shuddered, this time not from the cold. My free hand found his back, tracing his spine before moving to his chest. His muscles were taught beneath my fingers. I felt him tense in anticipation of my touch. He reached under me to secure my legs around his hips, eliciting a sensation which made me dig my fingernails into him. He groaned into my mouth. I was utterly entranced, lost in the feeling of his body, so solid against mine, his fingers that were sure to bruise my side, his lips that had become an utter necessity that I would surely be unable to live without.

A wolf whistle drew my attention, but for a long moment I was still entranced, incapable of pulling away.

“My God, get a room you two,” Stu called out to us. Finally we broke apart, though my legs remained wrapped around Billy’s waist, his hands never leaving my body.

“Fuck off,” Billy responded. I let out a laugh. “See what I mean? He’s being an ass,”

“He’s not completely wrong though - maybe we could find somewhere nice and private,” I could not believe the words coming out of my mouth.

Billy’s eyebrows quirked up for a second, dark eyes heavy on mine once again. “Right now?”

I nodded, punctuating my point with a heady kiss that had him leaning down, following my mouth even when I meant to pull away.

“I’m going to make you all mine,” he murmured against my mouth, nose brushing mine, as if he couldn’t bare the distance between us, despite it being less than an inch.

Ghostface Stu Macher x Reader

Warnings: Threat of violence, underage drinking, kissing

Summary: Ghostface follows reader into the basement at Stu’s house party, but reader has an idea about who might be behind the mask

“I don’t know what you did, Sidney, but on behalf of the entire student body we all say thank you!” Stu had swooped in to walk with Sidney, Tatum and I, presenting us with flowers. He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes. He clutched his chest as if this was the most heartless action I could’ve taken. I laughed.

“Drop it, Stu,” Tatum said as Sidney looked down at the ground, but Stu was not put off.

He slid between me and Sidney, slinging an arm around each of our shoulders, “Ya know I say, impromptu party tonight, my house, celebrate this little siesta. What do you say?” I could smell his fresh cologne, feel his warmth next to me.

“Are you serious?” Sidney asked, unconvinced.

“Sounds like fun - might be good to take your mind off things?” I said.

“That’s exactly right,” Stu piggybacked off my reasoning, flashing me a grin. I felt my face heat up slightly, “If Tatum doesn’t invite the entire world, we’ll be fine. Intimate gathering, intimate friends,”

“What do you say, Sid? I mean, pathos could have it’s perks,” If Tatum was on board too, there was no way Sidney was saying no.

“You’ll be totally protected. Yo, I am so buff. I got you covered, girl,” Stu made a show of removing his arms from around us to flex them exaggeratedly.

“With Stu as your bodyguard, no-one is getting anywhere near you,” I said, and Sidney smiled.

“Come on, Sid. For me? It could be fun,” Tatum appealed.

“Okay, whatever,” Sidney caved in.

“Yeah? Cool, you guys bring food, alright?” Stu said, leaving to walk in another direction. I turned to wave goodbye, catching him doing a triumphant air guitar.

“Save that energy for the party,” I called back to him.

“I’ll be at the top of my game, don’t you worry,”

*

I was a few hours and a few drinks into the party. Stu had disappeared a little while ago, and embarrassingly, I was disappointed that he wasn’t around to hang out with anymore. Instead, I was sandwiched between Sidney and Tatum, sunk deep into the squashy sofa, someone’s legs across mine.

“I’m getting some more drinks - anyone want anything?” I asked, feeling more claustrophobic than thirsty. I was met with a general consensus that just about everybody needed another beer “I’ll grab whatever I can carry,”

Tatum removed her arm from my shoulders, and I struggled up from the sofa.

“Thank you!” Tatum grinned up at me.

“Be right back,”

I was still getting used to the size of Stu’s house, managing to open two wrong doors before I came across the basement - dark and steep stepped. I fumbled for the light switch, hand patting down the wall, until finally I felt it and flipped it on, lights flickering into being.

The fridge was impressively stocked - full of as much beer as could be crammed into it, bottles and cans stacked haphazardly, threatening to fall to the floor if I made one wrong move. I wiggled a few free, grabbing bottles by the necks in an attempt to fit more in my hands. It would be a miracle if I made it back to the party without dropping any of them, but one trip down into the spooky basement was enough for me, especially with a killer around; I would not be making a second trip if anyone ended up without a drink.

I reversed with the beers, shutting the fridge with my foot and nearly toppling over, stumbling backwards until I hit a wall. No, not a wall - a person, soft and warm.

“Sorry, guess I’m more tipsy than I thought,” I laughed, turning to see who I had fallen into. A white mask, mouth open in an exaggerated scream stared down at me. A ghostface mask. “Shit, you scared me,” Was this just a tone-deaf joke? Perhaps someone had meant to catch Sidney down here to really freak her out. Or maybe this was the real deal - I fought the urge to laugh. This could not be how I died, fetching beer at a trashy highschool party.

“I’m just gonna-“ I moved to walk around him and back up to the party, but he side-stepped, making me walk into him again. Something about him seemed familiar - his height, the way he stood, his smell … I realised then exactly who it was. I had smelled Stu’s cologne when he had put his arm around me earlier, and I could smell it again, now.

“Stu?” I let out my laugh, relieved. He had a tendency to take jokes too far, this was just an instance of his somewhat unsympathetic sense of humour.

Stu shook his head, mask turning from side to side.

“Come on, I know it’s you. Let’s go have a drink,”

Metal gleamed as Stu revealed a knife from inside one of his long sleeves.

“That’s not funny, Stu,” Was this part of his joke? Would he really take it this far, or was I somehow mistaken about the identity of whoever it was behind the mask?

The person tilted their head to one side, as if he were analysing what I was saying. For a moment, we were at a silent impasse. Then, Ghostface lunged for me with the knife. Beer slid from my arms, shattering on the basement floor, and I made no effort to hold onto it as I ducked. I shoved at the body in front of me to put some distance between us. I was trapped between him and the shut garage door - all I could do was try to evade his attacks. Part of me was still convinced that it was Stu, another knew that surely he was not capable of murder. He stabbed at me again, and this time I gripped onto his arm, but the knife was aimed for my chest. I was weaker than he was, and despite all of my efforts, the knife was still closing in on me. I knew in that moment that I was not going to win this fight, so instead, I turned my attention to the mask. I managed to push his arm to the side, stepping away from it so that he stumbled forward. Before he could recover, I grabbed onto the mask, yanking it away from his head.

“Stu?” The reveal floored me. I had been expecting this, I had known it was him, but still I was shocked. Stu regained his footing, taking advantage of my shock to shove me backwards and into a wall, a real one this time, knife at my throat. I was breathing heavily, from a combination of fighting him, fear, and, ridiculously, what felt like nervousness twitching in my chest at our proximity.

“How’d you know it was me, huh?” He pushed the knife further into my skin for a second, punctuating the question.

If it was anyone else, I probably would not have figured it out, “I just … recognised you,”

“You did? Well, I have to say, I’m very flattered - what are you, a stalker?” Stu was teasing me, laughing at me, with a knife to my neck. He stepped forward, even closer to me than before, almost touching me. I could still feel my chest rising and falling heavily.

“You’re flattered?” Part of me thought that maybe playing into this attraction could keep me alive, even just long enough for someone to notice that I had been gone too long from the party. Another part was shamefully intrigued as to where this was leading.

“Of course I am - don’t you think I’ve noticed you too?” he leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Who would’ve thought a knife was the way to get your attention?”

When he pulled back, I couldn’t help but glance down at his lips, how close they were to mine. As soon as my eyes were back on his, I knew that he had noticed. My face grew hot, but something shifted in his expression, becoming less playful and more serious as he surged forwards to kiss me. I tilted my head up towards him, my eyes shutting as his lips moved against mine, fast and hungry and full of desperation. I was pressed between him and the wall, the coldness behind me a stark contrast to the warmth in front. One of his hands found my neck, replacing the knife, thumb grazing my throat in a gentle caress meant to remind me that I was still entirely at his mercy. The feeling made me groan slightly. His teeth nipped roughly at my lower lip, hard enough to sting. I parted my lips for him, and he delighted in sliding his tongue into my mouth, leaving me somehow even more breathless than before.

His hands were on my hips, “Jump up,” Stu broke away from me only for a second, as I jumped up to wrap my legs around his waist. He used the wall to hold me up, one hand snaking back up to my neck, the other resting on my hip, fingers grazing the skin just beneath my top. He used the hand on my neck to pull my head to the side, kissing down my jaw until he reached skin soft enough to leave a hickey. Stu bit at my neck, sucking soft skin between his teeth, making me wince slightly which only encouraged him. When he was finally satisfied, he looked up at me, grinning, “You’re my masterpiece,”

The doorknob jiggled, before a knock on the door made him turn away. “You alright in there? I came to see if you needed help carrying the drinks,” Sidney’s voice sounded down into to basement.

I looked to Stu. Now would be the time for me to scream for help, “All good, I think the door locks when you shut it too hard sometimes,” I said. She would never make it through the locked door in time to save me, I told myself. But Stu was kissing my neck, nuzzling into me, and I knew the real reason.

“If you say so,” Sidney said.

“Yep, I’ll be up in a minute,” I struggled to keep my voice steady, but my reply seemed to satisfy Sidney, as there was no other sound from upstairs.

“How do you know you’ll be back?” Stu asked, finally removing himself from my neck to look into my eyes.

“I don’t, but I thought you’d want me to get rid of her,”

A smile widened across his face at my compliance, and his thumb caressed my throat once again, “Aren’t you clever?”

“Will I be back?” I asked; he was carefully evading answering his own question.

Billy Loomis x Reader

warnings: controlling relationship, violence, character death

summary: Billy gets jealous when reader has a male friend, and they get into a serious argument, prompting him to seek his revenge as Ghostface.

“The fuck was that?” Billy grabbed my arm as I walked out of the school building after last period.

“What do you mean?” I replied. I knew why he was annoyed, but I wanted to give him the chance to pick something more reasonable to be upset about.

He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop on the pavement, allowing other students to filter past us,. “Don’t play dumb with me - you were flirting with that dick Ryan all class.” his eyes were dark, angry. It wasn’t unlike him to fly into a jealous rage virtually unprompted, but the frequency of it made it no less frustrating.

“He’s my friend. And we sit next to each-other, what do you expect me to do, ignore him?” I felt my face heating up.

“I expect you not to flirt with other guys right in front of me,” he was almost shouting - I was sure that he would be, if we weren’t out in public.

“Oh my God, Billy, we weren’t flirting!”

“You can’t talk to him anymore.” Billy’s face was determined, unflinchingly serious.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” I moved to walk away, but his arms were on my shoulders, his face close to mine. My eyes flicked down to his lips - despite my anger, I still found him insanely attractive. He seemed to pick up on my moment of distraction, shaking his head at me.

“Come on, baby. Can’t you just listen to me? I know exactly what’s going on inside that guy’s head,” his voice softened a bit, and he leaned down to kiss me, gentle and persuasive. I felt my heartbeat quicken, but he pulled away after no more than a few seconds.

“I’m sorry, Billy. But you can’t ban me from talking to people, that’s not how this works,”

He turned away from me, running a hand through his hair. “Fine. If you want to act like a slut, be my guest, but just know that I won’t put up with that shit.”

The insult stung. I felt tears pricking at my eyes, but I blinked them away. “You know what, I’ve had enough of this. You can talk to me again when you realise how ridiculous you’re being, but until then, I’m done with this.” I marched away. He tried to pull me back towards him once again, but I shrugged away his hands. Maybe once he cooled off, we could fix this. Or maybe this was it for us. My tears returned at that thought, stinging and blurring my eyes as I walked home from school.

*

I was home alone when my phone rang, the harsh sound making me jump. I hoped that it was Billy, calling to make up with me, to apologise for being such a dick, and to tell me he understood. Or at least Tatum, so that I could complain about how he was yet to make up with me, and how awful he was being.

“Hello,” The voice was deep and unfamiliar.

“Hello, who is this?” I replied.

There was a chuckle from the caller, “Forgotten about me already? I’m hurt,”

“Billy, is that you? If you wanna talk, at least stop using that stupid voice,”

“You don’t make the rules anymore - this is my game. And trust me when I tell you, you don’t wanna lose.”

“Why not - are you gonna punish me?” I teased him, lighthearted, though a sense of dread was creeping over me. If it was Billy on the line, something felt different, and it wasn’t just the voice he was using.

“That’s exactly right. If you lose, I’ll make it slow, and painful, until you’re begging me to make it stop,”

There was a lump in my throat. My mouth was suddenly dry, “And if I win?” I managed to force the words out. It reminded me of what the police had been saying - that Ghostface had been using a voice changer to call his victims before they ended up dead. Scaring me like this was a sick way for Billy to punish me for our earlier argument.

“I’ll make it quick,”

“Billy, come on, this isn’t funny. Let’s just talk, okay?” My voice trembled slightly. I cleared my throat in an attempt to keep it steady, but it was useless, “We can work this out,”

“But we are working this out. What do you think this is? Now, are you ready to play?”

“No. I’m not playing your game,” I replied. The words were stronger than my tone, still shaky.

Billy, if it was him, tutted mockingly at me, “Forfeiting is an automatic loss. You sure you want to do that?”

“I’m sure. Just come and talk to me, please,” If I saw him in person, I could get through to him.

There was a click as he hung up the phone. And no more than a second later, the crashing sound of a window being smashed. This was not Billy; whoever it was had meant their threat, and was coming for me. I dropped the phone on my bed and sprung to my feet, running to my bedroom window. The drop was too far - but maybe I could climb up instead, onto the roof? Surely he wouldn’t think to look for me there. But there were footsteps on the stairs, far too fast, far too close. I had wasted precious seconds panicking and planning. The only place I could think to hide was under my bed - awfully cliche, surely the first place he would think to look, but maybe I could yank him over by the ankles from under there, and give myself enough of a head start to get out of the house. I grabbed a pair of scissors from my desk and dropped to the floor, rolling under my bed just as a pair of black boots appeared around my doorframe. My unsteady breathing, or the sound of my heart thumping in my chest was sure to give me away, I was convinced of it. But he stepped closer and closer, until his toes were right by my face. I could see black robes hanging around his ankles, and without seeing the mask, I knew that it was Ghostface.

If I wanted to live, I had only one shot at this. With all my strength, I gripped his right ankle, and yanked it towards me. He hit the floor, hard, and I scrambled out from under the bed, running for the stairs. He seemed to have taken inspiration from my move, however, grabbing my ankle as I ran past. I landed on my elbows, inches away from a broken nose. The breath had been knocked out of my body. I could see the mask now, as Ghostface tried to stand, but I kicked at his shins, sitting up and desperately trying to scoot away from him. He still followed, yanking me to stand up with him, gripping tightly onto my wrist. I raised my scissors with my free hand, ramming them as hard as I could into his shoulder. The sensation made me want to throw up. But he let go of me, staggering backwards, and I took off again, out of my bedroom, into the hallway, down the stairs. I chanced a glance behind me - the scissors had not held up Ghostface for long. The white mask leered down at me from the landing. In his good arm, he had raised a knife. My hands felt empty, now that I had thrown away my last defence. I had to get out of the front door.

I ran, breath burning my lungs. Broken glass from the front window caught in one of my feet, and I stuttered, almost falling at the pain. Every step seemed to drive it deeper, but adrenaline kept me moving and I had no time to slow down; Ghostface was faster than me. Despite my head start, I could hear his breath behind me, and just as I had stepped out of the door, a gloved hand had grabbed my arm once again, this time with no chance of letting go. He pulled me back into the house, slamming me against a wall. I felt dizzy.

“Please, please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything, I’ll play your game, whatever you want,” My defiance was long gone.

“Oh, so now you want to do as I say?” The voice that came from under the mask was no longer deep and artificial. My eyes burned, and I felt a tear escape, rolling down my cheek. Billy brought his knife to my neck.

“Baby, please, I’m sorry, okay? I should’ve listened to you - you know what’s best, you were right, okay?”

“Don’t lie to me. You know I hate it when you lie to me,” His voice was devoid of any gentleness, any love. It felt just as unfamiliar as when he had been on the phone.

“I’m not lying, I swear,”

“You fucking stabbed me with a pair of scissors you bitch - we are long past you getting out of this alive,”

I tried to shove away at him, but all it succeeded in doing was pressing his knife further into my neck. He reached up slowly with his bad arm to lift the mask from his face. Hair hung wild in his face - I loved combing my fingers through it, pushing it to the side when it hung down so that I could look him in the eyes. Now, his eyes were dark and filled with what I could only describe as loathing. I wanted nothing more than to look away, but I was fixated on him, the way that his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth twitched.

“Now, I want you to be able to see my face when this happens. I want you to look me in the eyes, and know how much you’ve hurt me - how much I wish you hadn’t made me do this,”

This felt absurd, it was utterly unreal, “You still don’t have to, please, we can forget about all this,”

Billy shook his head, leaning down until his lips met mine in a kiss. It was slow, deep - a goodbye. His free hand cupped the side of my face in what should have been a loving gesture. Maybe this could somehow make him realise that he didn’t want to lose me? That if he only kept me alive, I could make him happy. I kissed him back, and his knife lowered from my neck. His teeth grazed my bottom lip and I parted them for him, feeling him groan against me as he slid his tongue into my mouth. Tentatively, I reached my arm up around him, slow enough to communicate that I meant no harm. When he did not shove it away, I grabbed at the back of his clothes to pull him in closer, allowing the other hand to tangle in his hair. His kisses became faster, more desperate, stealing my breath with their intensity, and it was all I could do to keep up with him, the power of his tongue and his teeth slowly turning the fear I was feeling into desire. He pulled back for a second, eyes steady on mine as I panted slightly.

And then I felt cold, hard pressure in my stomach. I looked down. This kiss had been a goodbye after all, nothing more than a delusion, a distraction while he decided exactly where to place his knife. He kissed me again as he twisted the blade, swallowing my cry of pain. He kissed away the tears that fell down my cheeks, before yanking the knife out of me. My head span as pain overcame me - so much for adrenaline. I clutched the wound in my side, my hands soaking almost immediately.

“You’re so beautiful covered in blood, baby,” Billy’s eyes glittered as I slumped down the wall, legs giving out as I slid to the floor.

“Fuck you,” there was no point in niceties or persuasion - the deed was done. Patches of the world around me had gone shiny with dancing splotches. My heart was thundering and it was almost as if I could feel its rhythm in my wound as I attempted to contain the blood pouring out of it.

Billy chuckled, “I’d be a little nicer to the guy with the knife, if I were you,”

“What, or you’ll kill me faster?”

“Don’t be silly - that wasn’t part of the game. I can’t kill you faster, but I can make it a whole lot more painful,”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, please don’t,”

“You’d deserve it - you had my heart, you know that? And you decided to throw it away, to rip it apart and cause all of this, just so that you could flirt with another guy. I loved you. But no-one gets to treat me like that, to break my heart. No-one,” Billy was ranting, red faced, wielding his knife in a way that made me want to run, or at least step back. But I was trapped between him and the wall, the deep cut in my stomach prevented me even from standing. He crouched down, eyes level with mine. “God, I wish I’d known how good you’d look covered in blood. Maybe I would’ve done this sooner,”

I couldn’t help the sob that escaped my chest, the shake of it sending a jolt of pain through me.

“Come on, baby, don’t look so sad - I’m doing the right thing,” He caressed the side of my face with his knife, trailing it down from my cheek to my neck.

“Billy, I love you, please just call an ambulance, we can fix this,” I managed to choke out.

Stu Macher x Reader

warnings: cursing, making out, suggestive language

summary: Stu visits reader after the deaths of Casey and Steve so that, unbeknownst to her she can be his alibi. ((in this story, Stu is not dating Tatum))

I flipped off the bathroom light after brushing my teeth, sending the house into darkness, the only light coming from the crack under my bedroom door. Once inside, I shut the door behind me, moving to flop down onto my bed, more than ready to curl up with a book before going to sleep. But I never made it that far.

Arms grabbed me from behind - someone had sprung from my closet. I struggled, doing my best to wriggle free, but to no avail. Whoever it was was strong; they had me pinned tightly against their chest, despite my squirming. It was only when they let out a laugh that I realised that I knew exactly who the perpetrator was.

“Fuck me, Stu,” My hand was clutched over my chest as I fought to catch my breath, adrenaline still surging through me. In my panic, I had somehow failed to immediately recognise that it was my idiot boyfriend’s idea of a joke.

“Gladly,” he was still laughing, arms not leaving my body as he yanked me onto the bed, flipping me so that we were face to face.

“The fuck was that for?” I demanded. He was grinning down at me, the intensity of his gaze making my face feel hot.

“Thought it would be fun - I was right, you’re sexy when you’re scared,” he licked his lips. I felt like a deer caught in headlights - or in front of a hunting rifle. Prey, that he had caught, and was now deciding what to do with.

“You’re such an ass,” I replied, covering my vulnerability with an insult. It only made him grin wider as he leaned towards me, face centimetres away from mine before he stopped. His nose dipped further to brush mine. He was waiting for me to abandon my annoyance and kiss him, tempting me with soft lips that hovered just above mine. Normally, Stu did not possess the patience to be a tease. As soon as he got the chance, he was all over me, hands never leaving my body, kissing every inch that he could reach. My breath hitched as I thought about it, and I knew that this stand-off would not last long.

“Come on, baby, don’t be mad at me,” his voice was pleading, he almost whined, “I was just playing a game with you, I wanted to make you jump, is all,”

He couldn’t resist making the first move entirely, planting an open-mouthed kiss on my neck. It sent tingles through my body. He was winning and we both knew it - I couldn’t even pretend to stay mad at him for much longer.

“Do you promise you aren’t gonna do it again?” I at least had to put on a show of disapproval before caving in.

“I’ll cross my heart and hope to die, if that’s what it takes. Or scouts honour. Or pinkie swear!” He shifted his weight to lean only on one arm, grabbing my hand with his free one to link our pinkies, “I hereby swear never to scare you again,” he kissed my hand, locking in the promise.

“I guess that’ll do,” I said, allowing myself to smile at him. It was sweet, even if he was joking. He opened his mouth to reply, but I didn’t let him speak, leaning up to close the distance between us with a kiss. He hummed in delight, kissing me back deeply, tongue sliding against my bottom lip in a way that made me gasp. He took this opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth, grazing it against my own. I reached up to grip his short hair in my hand, tugging on it in the way I knew he liked, communicating to him exactly how good he was making me feel. My legs hooked around his waist, pulling his body flush against mine, so that I could feel every inch of him pressing against me, his clothes and my thin pyjamas the only barrier between us.

“You feel so good, baby,” Stu groaned, right next to my ear. He kissed his way down to the base of my neck, where his teeth found traction, biting down hard and pulling soft skin between them. I inhaled sharply, my body unsure whether to wince or to moan. He bit down harder, and I let out a yelp.

“Careful - my parents are gonna hear us,” I said. Stu grinned, entirely unbothered by the notion.

“Maybe you should try and be a bit quieter then, sweetheart. Cuz you know I can’t help myself, not when I know you’ll make noises like that,” He nipped at my neck again, as if to prove his point, slightly gentler this time. I knew that a bruise would bloom there tomorrow. It would likely be dark enough for my skills at using concealer to be bested, even though I had a lot of practise with Stu around. I wouldn’t have been surprised if that was his goal, marking me in a way that was sure to be seen by everybody. As if the fact that we were glued at the hip was not sign enough that we belonged to each-other.

“Just try and be careful, please?”

He groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically as if this was a great personal inconvenience. “Fine, but only if you come over to mine this Saturday - my parents are out again, so we’ll be nice and alone, and you can make as much noise as you need to,” He wiggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated, suggestive manner at me, and I couldn’t help but giggle.

“You have a deal,” I said.

“Yes!” He replied, triumphant. I was sure that, had he not been suspending his weight above me with his arms, he would have pumped his fist in the air. Probably more than once. He was still grinning as he leant back down to resume kissing me. I reached up a hand to cup his face, feeling the dimple of his cheek and the line of his jaw as his lips slid against mine in lingering kisses that made me desperate for more. I caught my hand in his sweater, making a fist in the fabric as one of his hands traced a line from my chest to my waist, before settling on the small of my back to press my torso against his, pulling us somehow closer together, our bodies aligned. He was warm, and I could smell his soap, fresh and aromatic. My sheets still smelt like him from his previous visit. Our tongues met as we kissed, making him shudder against me. I was breathless when he pulled away to kiss along my jaw, chest rising and falling rapidly. I couldn’t take the separation, directing his face back to mine so that I could kiss him again and again and again.

Merle Dixon x Reader

Warnings: Violence, death, injury

Summary: Reader and Merle attempt to escape the prison after the Governor attacks, kinda fluffy.

The sounds of gunshots filled the air, along with the groans of the injured, indistinguishable from the sounds of walkers. The Governor’s attack was brutal and unexpected and we were barely surviving, the prison dwellers being picked off one by one as we desperately attempted to defend our lives. What had begun as a well organised, structured attack had soon devolved into chaos as walkers had entered the scene, and the Governor’s people intermingled with ours, making it hard to tell who to kill and who to defend. At this point, it was only possible for me to focus on two things - escaping with my life, and finding Merle.

I zigzagged through the courtyard, deliberately making myself as difficult a target as possible. Shots rang past my ears, and it was impossible to tell if they were aimed at me or at the walkers and other fighters littered around. A woman I didn’t recognise was running toward me. She hesitated but I didn’t, a swift shot to the forehead leaving her crumpled on the floor. There was no time to regret my actions, only to survive. A pair of walkers meandered my way and I grabbed the machete at my waist, stabbing them both in the head in quick succession; they weren’t worth wasting my bullets on.

Rounding a corner, I finally spotted the familiar face I had been looking for - Merle. He was crouched behind a table, reaching around to fire shots at any approaching walkers or the Governor’s people. Two had him pinned down, steadily advancing, but they were yet to see me. With three shots I had taken them out; my marksmanship wasn’t perfect, but three for two wasn’t half bad. Merle’s head snapped around to figure out who had fired on them, and his face broke out into a grin as soon as he recognised my face. I couldn’t help but smile back, despite the circumstances, my run slowing as I got closer. Merle and I hadn’t exactly had the relationship talk, but from the way we acted it was pretty clear to us and everyone else just how important we were to each-other. We spent every night and every waking moment together, and Daryl swore that this was the longest he’d seen Merle tolerate a woman for. Not that that was a major achievement considering Merle’s track record, but in my eyes it was a pretty significant win. For a second, he broke eye contact to fire at another walker, and the second he looked back I could tell that something was seriously wrong. His face dropped. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, looking to him in confusion. But then I felt it, a heavy, leaden sensation of immense pain in my side. I glanced down and saw hot, red blood seeping through my shirt, spreading far faster than seemed possible. Everything froze as Merle sprang towards me and scooped up my swaying body, half carrying me to behind the table. He set me down surprisingly gently, before leaning away and firing shot after shot, presumably at whoever had just shot me. Stars spun across the front of my eyes and the world tilted around me, Merle’s arm holding me upright the only thing that kept me grounded. He stopped shooting.

“You ain’t dying on my watch. I’m gonna getcha up, ‘n we’re gonna run for those trees right over there, okay?”

It took my swimming head a moment to process the words, but I managed a nod, sensing that that was what he was waiting for. He kissed me, rushed and over far too soon, before draping my arm over his shoulder and pulling both of us into a standing position. I didn’t even have a second to process the sickening pain throbbing even harder in my side before we started moving. I tripped and stumbled at every step, fighting the urge to drop to the floor, close my eyes and give in to the pain, but Merle kept me moving. I knew I was slowing him down. The only thing that stopped me from pulling away and telling him to go on without me was the tight arm around my waist, and the certainty that if I stopped, he would refuse to go on without me. He always had been stubborn. By some miracle we had almost made it to the trees, blurring together into a smear of brown and green. Somewhere in the distance I heard Merle call my name, but he was too far away. I finally let myself fall into darkness.

*

When I opened my eyes for the first time, pain was the only thing I could feel, like fire eating into my side. My head swirled. I couldn’t see, my vision entirely splotchy. I opened my mouth - to speak, to ask what was happening, to call for Merle or anyone who could hear me, but all that came out was a groan of pain.

“Hold still. You’re fine, you’re fine,” Merle’s voice was raspy. He repeated the last two words over and over. For a second, my eyes became clear enough to register the scene in front of me - Merle was crouched in front of me, hand dark with blood that must be mine. He wielded a needle. I squeezed my eyes shut again as I realised what he was about to do, failing to hold onto consciousness as the needle passed through my flesh.

*

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I was aware of was the throbbing pain in my side. Dull, but ever-present. The second was Merle, his arm around my waist, resting carefully away from white bandages. There was a dark splotch in the middle, but it looked dry - I wasn’t bleeding any more. My head was resting on his chest. He breathed slowly - asleep I gathered, since we were surrounded by darkness, aside from the glowing embers of an almost dead fire. I turned towards him, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on his lips. I felt his mouth twitch into a smile before he kissed me back, warm and familiar, gently wrapping his other arm around me so that I was completely surrounded by Merle.

“Don’t you ever do that shit again, you hear?” His voice cracked slightly and he cleared his throat, attempting to play it off without appearing emotional. I let him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,”

“I ain’t joking. You try that again and I’ll kill ya myself,” Merle was tracing a soft line up and down my back with his good hand. Once upon a time, I would have believed him capable of killing me and getting a good nights sleep after. Now, I knew that he was full of shit.

“I won’t, I promise. What can I do to make you believe me?”

“I can think of a coupla things that might help,” The suggestive tone in his voice made me whack him on the shoulder. He chuckled, “You’ve put me through a lotta stress the past couple days, that’s all I’m sayin’,”

“Thanks for keeping me alive,” I said.

“I wasn’t just gonna leave ya,” Merle replied. I rested my head back onto his chest as his fingers continued their path up and down my back, my eyes becoming heavy again, but this time from sleep rather than as a result of my injury. My breathing slowed into a regular pace, matched by Merle’s, his chest rising and falling.

“I ain’t ever gonna leave ya,” he said, in a tone hushed enough that I believed he must have thought me asleep already. I let him believe that I was sleeping, keeping my breathing steady and not responding aloud, instead thinking,

Finnick Odair x reader

for @badrepwonder

“Catherine Taylor,” Chirped the obnoxiously cheerful Capitol woman. A girl who I had seen in passing once or twice trembled, tears threatening to spill as she walked up to the stage. Relief washed over me, and then guilt a second later; I was safe from the reaping, but for Catherine, the announcement of her name was a death sentence. Caught up as I was in my own guilty thoughts, I nearly missed the announcement of the second tribute.

“Finnick Odair,” The Capitol woman flashed a plastic smile as any sense of relief I had felt seconds earlier was replaced with cold horror.

He walked to the stage, casual and relaxed as ever, even having the nerve to grin over at Catherine as he shook her hand. As if they had entered some casual agreement, not as if they had just been selected as tributes to the hunger games. Finnick’s blue-green eyes sought out mine as the capitol woman spoke to finish the reaping ceremony. For a second, the calm facade dropped, the serious reality of the situation on his face for a moment, before he looked away and his face shifted back to a smile. Ever the charmer.

*

Two minutes. Only two minutes to say the things I may never be able to tell him again, to remember every tiny detail about him, two minutes left to love him before he left to die.

As soon as the peacekeepers allowed me into the room where Finnick was waiting, he flew towards me, immediately enveloping me in a warm embrace. I pulled him tight against me, clutching the soft sweater he wore, memorising the feel of his body pressed against mine for what could easily be the last time. We finally pulled apart slightly, only enough for him to look into my eyes as he spoke.

“Hey, I’m gonna be okay, it’ll take more than the Capitol’s bullshit games to kill me,” his smile was perfect as ever; looking at it felt like a knife in my chest.

“I know that,” I didn’t, “And I also know that you’re gonna charm all of Panem just like you charmed me.”

“Oh yeah?” his hand cupped my face, thumb brushing across me cheek.

“Yeah. You’re gonna make it back to me, and then we’re gonna have the most disgustingly expensive wedding you can imagine,”

Finnick laughed at that, reaching to kiss my left hand where his ring sat on my finger, before leaning to kiss my lips. Though his words had been calm, the kiss was not, desperate and yearning, and every part of me longed for this moment to last forever. His hands traced my back, my waist, my chest, taking in every inch of my body as I melted into him, at the mercy of his every touch.

A peacekeeper banged on the door, “One more minute.”

“I love you,” I wasn’t sure when I had started crying, but my words were broken and the thousands of things I wanted to tell him died on my tongue.

“I love you too,” tears were sliding down Finnick’s face too.

“Please, you have to come back to me,” I choked out and he kissed me one last time, holding my face in his hands, eyes never leaving mine.

“I promise.” This was the most serious I had seen him. Grim faced and utterly sincere.

“Time’s up,”

Two peacekeepers marched into the room and when Finnick made no move to stop holding me, to stop looking into my eyes, they grabbed him by the arms and pulled him away. His eyes never left mine as they dragged him out of the room, smiling sadly one last time as he left my sight.

Merle Dixon x reader

Warnings: cursing, mentions of violence, sexual language

I was pacing my cell, Judith asleep on my shoulder, Beth and Carl in the next cell over, talking quietly so as not to awake the baby. Carol and Hershel had also stayed behind, likely attempting to make a meal with what little food we had. For once, I wasn’t hungry, my stomach churning as I thought of Rick, Daryl and the others attempting to save Maggie and Glenn from Woodbury. For all I knew, they could already be dead. Ambushed by walkers, outgunned by the Governor’s men. Or worse, taken prisoner themselves, to be tortured as Glenn and Maggie probably were. I shook my head, clearing it of the thought. I had to try and stay optimistic, if only for the sake of Beth, Carl and Judith.

It had been one of the longest nights of my life. Sleep had been impossible, and as the sun rose, with every passing minute it seemed less and less likely that the group would return. I sat around a table with the others, doing my best to hide my fear and put on a smile as Beth played peekaboo with a giggling Judith. Suddenly, I heard the sounds of the gates opening, and I shot to my feet. Maggie and Glenn were first through the door, and I ran to hug them both. Beth wasn’t far behind me, sobbing as she saw her sister for the first time in days. The rest of the group followed, the only missing member being Oscar, who we had met at the prison. Relief washed over me, and then guilt at my lack of sadness at the loss. But my people, my family were safe, and I could feel sad later. For now, relief was all my brain could process. Last through the door was a man who I didn’t recognise for a second, but as soon as he made eye contact with me, I recognised him as - 

“Merle?” Before he could answer me, I was rushing forward to fling my arms around him, a gesture which he quickly returned, enveloping me in a tight hug. He was uncharacteristically quiet, and I realised that he was trying to hide his emotions, his breathing ragged as he clung onto me. I pulled back slightly to take in his face, more serious than I remembered, though just as handsome.

“Damn darlin’, ya look just as good as I remember,” He glanced down, eyes lingering on my cleavage, and I hit him lightly on the shoulder. Someone, probably Daryl, made a derisive noise in the background.

Merle seemed to remember that everyone else was in the room, expression shifting from the closest he could get to sincere to his signature grin. He finally pulled away completely, and I noticed the blade protruding from his arm where his hand used to be. Clearly we had some serious catching up to do. At the beginning, back when we were camped outside of Atlanta, Merle had been virtually glued to my side. At first, he had denied that this was to do with anything other than trying to get in my pants. It had taken weeks for him to even entertain the idea of liking me for anything more than that, but the more time we spent together the more undeniable it had become. Until, of course, Rick had left him handcuffed to a roof in the city. We had gone back for him the next day, but we were too late. All that was left of Merle was his hand, and a trail of blood. Everyone had assumed him dead until now. Now, when his arm was around my waist, like he had never been gone.

“He was with the Governor.” Rick finally spoke, tone heavily accusatory. Merle tensed beside me, but before he could retort I spoke instead.

“Come on. I’ll show you around, you can catch me up on everything,”

He allowed me to pull him away, his arm tightening around me as we passed Rick. I guessed that their reunion hadn’t been as happy as ours.

“Officer friendly still a massive prick, jus’ as I remembered,” Merle spoke too soon to be entirely out of earshot, but no-one acknowledged him.

“A massive prick who’s kept us all alive, you mean?”

“I woulda done that if he hadn’t chained me to the roof,”

“I know.” I lead him into my cell, where I sat facing him on my cot. I could tell that immediately, his mind went to what else we could be doing here, but I was determined to hear what had happened before I let him distract me.

“The Governor saved my life ya know. Woulda bled out if it weren’t for him, owe him my life. And this.” he gestured with the blade attached to his arm. “Came across Glenn and Maggie while I was looking for Michonne, couldn’t have her tellin’ no one else ‘bout Woodbury. Took ‘em with me to question on where Daryl was, where you were, but with the Governor everything gets outta hand. Soon as I saw Daryl though I was done with him, helped Officer friendly escape with the others, n here we are,”

I took a moment to process the information. He had kidnapped Glenn and Maggie. Allowed God knows what to happen to them under the command of the Governor, all to find myself and Daryl? I was unsure whether to be flattered or horrified that he would go to such lengths to get us back. In the silence his hand found one of mine, thumb running over the back of it, our fingers interlacing. For once in his life, Merle was willingly vulnerable, and cared about what someone else might think of his actions.

I looked up, eyes meeting his.

“Why?” Glenn and Maggie would likely never forgive him, and I still wasn’t sure if I could.

“Cuz I had to find ya. Ain’t no one out there got an ass like yours,” he smirked at me and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, I’m serious,”

“You know why,” he paused but I stayed silent, goading him to continue talking. “Cuz I love ya, that’s why. And I didn’ know if I could keep going without you.”

That was enough for me, even if he had some serious ass kissing to do for the rest of the group.

“I love you too,” I replied, running my arms up his shoulders to loop around his neck, pulling him close as I bridged the gap between us with a kiss. Immediately he scooped me into his lap, pressing my body close against his. His teeth grazed my lower lip and I gasped lightly at the sensation. It was as if every nerve in my body was on fire as he touched me. I couldn’t believe I’d survived this long without touching him, without kissing him, and now I never wanted to stop. When we finally broke apart, I was breathless, leaning my forehead against his, not yet willing to allow any more distance than that between us. Suddenly, exhaustion washed over me, my lack of sleep the night before finally catching up to my body.

“Nap with me?” I asked. Merle just smiled, briefly kissing me again before detaching the metal from his arm, setting the blade down on the bedside table. It was the first time I had seen his arm without it since he had lost his hand. I knew he would get defensive at any sign of pity from me. I lay down and tugged him down next to me, pulling his arm around me and curling into his body so that we both fit on the narrow cot. I felt him relax against me, arm snug around my waist, other arm around my shoulders, hand tracing my face.

“I missed you,” I finally said to break the silence. “I can’t believe you’re really here,”

merle x reader

warnings: swearing, gore, sexual language

“You sure he’s worth it?” T-Dog asked, skepticism written across his face.

“Him and Daryl are our best hunters. They may both share about three brain cells, and Merle is about the biggest asshole I’ve ever met-“

“Hey, fuck you,” Merle cut in. I ignored him.

“But the fact is we need them to survive. We’ll make it out of the city, but you need to go before the others leave without you,”

T-Dog looked conflicted, but after a few seconds he dashed out of the door, racing down the stairs. I pulled the door shut, locking it behind him. There was a strong chance that I had just ensured my own death as well as Merle’s. The sound of the dead beating on the door almost as soon as T-Dog had left seemed to give Merle the same idea.

“Well fucking come on then princess, I ain’t getting any younger over here.” He had that god awful smirk plastered across his face. “You know, there’s a lot I can do with these hands. Maybe I can show ya once I’m free,” he made a crude gesture with his cuffed hand.

“Maybe if you didn’t say shit like that all the time, someone might actually wanna fuck you. You’re disgusting, you know that?”

Instead of waiting for his no-doubt even worse reply, I walked over to see what had been left in Dale’s toolbox. It was mostly screwdrivers and spanners, nothing of any use to me, but I noted a hammer and most importantly a hacksaw. Hopefully it would be strong enough to get through the metal of Merle’s handcuff.

“Call me disgusting all ya like, everyone knows you want a piece of this,”

My cheeks grew hot and I fumbled the saw, almost dropping it as I walked over to him. It was a humiliating feeling to know that he was right. To know that despite what a piece of shit he was, over the few weeks I’d known him, I had developed some form of feelings for him. Merle had found me while out checking the camp’s perimeter with Shane. Having just escaped the city, I was exhausted and terrified, and just about ready to collapse on the forest floor and give up. Of course, Merle’s reasoning for taking me back likely had more to do with wanting to fuck me than anything else, but I wasn’t entirely convinced that Shane would have taken me back if Merle hadn’t been there to bear witness. We weren’t exactly close, but we shared a fondness for drinking and he taught me a few things about using a crossbow. I didn’t fool myself into thinking he wanted anything more than a one time fling with me; he flirted with just about anything with tits. But some small, stupid part of me still hoped for more.

I sat next to him, pulling his hand toward me to get a better look at the handcuffs. When I looked up, he was staring into my face with another stupid grin. I sent him a glare back.

“Come on now, don’t be like that. Last I checked we’re all alone up here, no-one needs to know, part from maybe a few walkers,”

“Would you quit it? I’m trying to save your life.”

“Jus’ trying to lighten the mood. You should really try lightening up sometime, wouldn’t kill ya,”

I rolled my eyes, corner of my mouth twitching upwards slightly.

“Looks like cutting through the cuffs is gonna be a no go, but this pipe you’ve been cuffed too looks pretty old. It’s worth a try at least,” I lined up Dale’s saw, and began working at the metal.

“So I’m gonna be stuck with a friendship bracelet from Officer Friendly?”

The thought made me laugh a little.

“It’s not like you don’t deserve it; threatening everyone with a gun wasn’t exactly your best moment.” I teased. In his defence, he had most definitely been high as a kite when he’d started pointing the gun. Not that that really made it any better.

“I wasn’t gunna shoot em. Definitely wasn’t gunna shoot you, ya far too beautiful,” Merle said.

“And so’s Andrea, right? And Lori, and Jackie, and every other woman who isn’t trying to eat us,”

“I dunno, some of those walkers ain’t too bad,”

I hit him on the shoulder.

“Can’t I make a joke? Or are ya gunna get jealous, hmm?”

I stopped talking to him after that, focusing instead on trying to make any headway with the pipe he was handcuffed to. After an hour or so, I had only made a tiny dent in the metal. Merle was getting increasingly annoying, and the sun was starting to slowly set in the sky. If we wanted to leave today I’d have to hurry; travelling the city in the dark was a death sentence. At least the walkers at the rooftop door seemed to have given up, or gotten distracted by some other unfortunate souls. They had stopped pounding on the door some time ago.

The saw blade bent slightly, but I persisted, determined to succeed, speeding up. Under the strain of my sawing, the blade bent sideways, and suddenly snapped under the pressure, coming clattering to the floor.

“The fuck did you do?” Merle demanded.

“The blade wasn’t strong enough. It couldn’t get through the pipe. I’m sorry.” I felt suddenly numb. I couldn’t look at him. I’d failed. I’d failed him. He was stuck here, to starve or to be eaten by walkers.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m gonna fucking die up here, god fucking damnit. Look at me, the fuck did you do?” He grabbed my shoulder with his free hand, gripping me hard, shaking me, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” It was one of the first serious, genuine things I’d said to Merle, and it was a death sentence. Tears pricked my eyes. I didn’t have the energy to hide them.

“No. Fuck that, we’re ain’t done yet. You got a knife, right?” He was still staring into my face, but desperate anger had shifted to urgency.

“Yes, but it won’t cut through metal,” I said.

His grim expression told me that he had already figured that out.

“You can’t be serious. You want me to- I can’t,” There had to be another way.

“You got no choice. It’s my hand or my life.”

It took me a few seconds to process this. The only way out would be to cut off his hand. And I would have to be the one to do it.

“Fine. But I’ll do it first thing in the morning. We don’t have time to get out of the city before it gets dark, and I don’t want you bleeding out overnight.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you cared about me,” His shit eating grin was back. Only Merle could look this smug after discovering his hand was about to be cut off.

“Good job you know better then,” I smiled and sat next to him, looking out over the darkening city. At least we were stuck somewhere with an impressive view. The setting sun sent orange streaking through the sky, bathing buildings in a warm glow. I glanced to my side. Merle appeared to also be taking in the sunset in a rare moment of silence.

*

“I’d do the same for you ya know,” Merle said, breaking the silence after a few minutes.

“No you wouldn’t.” I replied. It wasn’t something that upset me, it was just a fact - if the roles were reversed, I had doubts that Merle would have stayed on this rooftop even for Daryl.

“Course I would. Yer one of the only people I can stand in that group, not to mention ya got a mighty fine ass,” He grinned over at me. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“You mean it?”

“Yeah, course I do. I could stare at it all day,”

I hit his shoulder with mine.

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I ain’t good with the mushy stuff, don’t push it,” He was still smiling, eyes looking into mine for once instead of straying to glance down my shirt.

“Sounds like you care about me, Merle. More than you usually let on at least,” I was teasing him but this moment meant a lot; in short, Merle was shit at showing anyone affection. For him, this was like a declaration of love.

“Yer not gonna make me say it again so drop it,” he huffed.

“I’m just kidding around. And I didn’t just stay here because you’re a good hunter,” I confessed, staring pointedly into the distance to avoid his eyes.

“Course ya didn’t, ain’t no way you’d let me die without getting a piece of this,” It seemed to be his way of lightening the mood, diverting the seriousness of the conversation.

“We should get some sleep, busy day tomorrow.”

*

When the hot sun awoke me the next morning, I found myself nestled into Merle’s side, head on his shoulder, his free arm wrapped around me. I took a moment to enjoy the feeling of his broad body against mine, before pulling away to wake him up. The sooner we were gone, the better.

“Mornin’ “ he grinned lazily.

“You ready?” I asked, and his expression dropped to one of determined focus.

“As I’ll ever be,”

I retrieved my knife and a lighter from one of the pockets of my rucksack. It would have to do as a means of sanitising the blade as I had very little in the way of medical supplies. Shrugging off the button down I wore over a tank top, I folded it ready to use as a bandage for Merle. I could have sworn his eyes slipped down to my cleavage, far more noticeable now the shirt was off, but I wasn’t in the mood to bring it up.

“Can I have your belt?” I asked.

“Don’t need to ask me twice,” He said, the implied innuendo obvious. He unbuckled it with his free hand and tugged it loose.

I strapped it around his forearm, tight as I could make it, a makeshift tourniquet that would hopefully do something to stop the bleeding. It had to be enough.

Merle reached inside his pocket, and withdrew a small bag of white powder.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” I asked, very aware of the dangers we’d face in the city even if he survived losing his hand. Merle being off his face wouldn’t do us any favours.

“Need a little somethin’ to take the edge off,” He tried to form his usual smug grin, but his mouth wavered slightly. I nodded. Who was I to make that decision for him?

I gave him a minute or so, and when he nodded at me, I took my knife to his wrist and began to cut. There was far more blood than I had thought. And despite Merle’s best efforts to remain stoic, and the effects of the drugs, he was in an unbelievable amount of pain. I had to fight the urge to just give up and cry in a corner, but I did it for him. Even when he begged me to stop, to just make the pain stop. His yelling had begun to attract walkers, a few were banging on the rooftop door and the longer this took the more there would be. He gripped my arm as I cut, hard enough to bruise.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I muttered over and over again as I finished, his hand dropping to the floor with a sickening thunk.

Merle was breathing heavily, gasping through the pain. I pressed my shirt against the wound, tying it tightly and leaving the belt in place. There was so much blood. On my hands, my pants, the rooftop.

“Stay there. I’m going to clear the stairwell, I’ll be right back.”

He nodded.

I unlocked the door and wedged my foot under the door to prevent it opening all the way, a walker slamming forward and right onto my knife. It slumped to the floor. Another was quick to take its place. I worked my way through several before they finally stopped coming. Hopefully only a few had been close enough to hear Merle.

I hurried back toward him. The bleeding seemed to be slowing slightly, though it still showed no signs of stopping. He was losing too much blood. But I wasn’t willing to face that reality.

“You think you can stand?”

“Course I can,” he replied through gritted teeth.

I grabbed his good arm and pulled him forward, helping him stand, putting the arm around my shoulders so I could take some of his body weight. He was heavy, but any help I could give him I would.

We walked to the door and I lead him down the stairwell; it wasn’t wide enough for the two of us side by side, but he leaned on my back and I did my best to steady him on the way down. He stumbled a couple of times, no doubt the blood-loss making him dizzy, but we moved as slowly as I dared, me supporting him when he needed it. At the bottom, another walker lunged towards us. It took me a moment to grab my knife and stick it between its eyes, and I kept the blade in my hand after that. One free hand would have to do to help Merle. It was strange, having to protect him like this. Normally I was certain he’d object to me coddling him like this, but he had no choice but to rely on me for once. We made it to a fire exit around the back of the building in a room with several gas stoves. Merle wasn’t looking his best, blood dripping through the makeshift bandage on his arm. He seemed to have the idea at the same time as me.

“Do it,” He nodded grimly and I grimaced, but didn’t hesitate to light the nearest stove, placing a metal tray on top on the flames to heat through enough to cauterise the stump of his wrist.

“We’re gonna make it back, you know. “

“I know,” He said, but it was easy to see the uncertainty in his eyes.

The metal tray seemed hot enough, and I could tell he was gathering the will to do it, slowly, reluctantly unwrapping the open wound. I wasn’t entirely sure Merle could bring himself to. Gently, I took his arm in my hands, unwrapping it myself. Instead of watching the shirt unravel, he stared down into my face. Despite the circumstances, he still made my cheeks hot with the intensity of his gaze which I somehow managed to meet. I reached up, hooking an arm around his neck and a smile tilted the corners of his mouth. He waited for me to move closer first, and when I leaned my face towards his, he wasted no time in bridging the gap between us with a searing kiss. He was perfectly distracted. It was a shame to waste this moment but I did what had to be done, and drove his wrist down onto the hot metal on the stove.

“Son of a fucking bitch!” He exclaimed, yanking his arm away from the stove, and I winced.

“Shit, I’m sorry, but the bleeding’s stopped, right?”

He glared at me through the pain. “You serious?”

“I said I’m sorry, and I did just stop you from bleeding to death,” I smiled tentatively, and he shook his head, still cursing.

“So ya kiss like that fer a distraction? I’d love ta know what the real thing feels like,”

Kissing him had been stupid. But I was in the mood to be stupid, and I couldn’t resist kissing him again. He somehow mustered up that stupid, endearing grin as I pulled him towards me, lips meeting as his good arm found my waist. I could lose myself in the feeling of kissing Merle, all teeth and tongues colliding with no need to be gentle. His hand scooped me in closer until I was pressed up against him, before drifting to my ass with a squeeze. I hummed in pleasure, forgetting to breathe as he kissed me harder. When we finally broke apart all I wanted was to lean back in and kiss him again and again, to stay like this, pressed as close against him as I could be, not thinking about anything else.

Merle Dixon x female reader, set in Woodbury

Warnings : cursing, sexual language, violence

After checking several nearby stores and having one too many close calls with walkers, Glenn and I had finally found what we were looking for - baby formula for Judith. Maggie had offered to come too, but she was far better with the baby so it was just Glenn and I.

“We should get back, don’t wanna keep Judith waiting,” I said, eager to get out of the open and back to safety. You never could be too cautious.

Glenn nodded. I reached down, packing my bag and checking to ensure my gun was secure in my waistband, along with the couple of knives I had concealed about my person. It had become an unconscious habit of mine to check for them all every few minutes or so, just in case. Distracted, I didn’t hear anyone approaching until a confusingly familiar voice made me snap around, “Now where is it y’all good people calling home?” A man was approaching from behind a van parked a few abandoned cars away. A man I would recognise anywhere, and as his eyes caught mine, I could see recognition slide over Merle’s face as he realised who I was.

“Merle? You’re alive?” Glenn was as shocked as me, but seemed to find words far quicker. He was also quicker to hostility, hand twitching to his gun, but guns were the last thing on my mind.

I stepped towards Merle, a walk that transformed quickly into a jog and then a run as I flung myself into his arms, relief and happiness entirely overwhelming the rational side of my mind. He hugged me back immediately, muscular arms enveloping me, holding me tight and secure to his chest. We had been close when we had camped outside the city; he was the one who had brought me to the group. Probably only because he thought I was fuckable. But after a couple of weeks, what was once shameless flirting turned into a real friendship. And of course, I had always been too proud to admit that I might be interested in Merle as more than a friend. In the end though, none of that had mattered when he was handcuffed to the roof and seemingly gone for good. I had thought I would never see him again, and I had never been more overjoyed to be wrong.

We finally broke apart, but only by a few centimetres.

“Missed me?” He grinned the infuriating grin that I suddenly realised I didn’t find infuriating anymore, a reminder of how much I had missed everything about him.

His smiling eyes suddenly glazed over, expression dropping to a neutral mask as he stared over my shoulder. I turned and his arms dropped from my body. Six or so men, all armed with guns, all pointed at Glenn, whose gun had been confiscated, and at me. For a moment I thought they were strangers, but one glance back at Merle told me all I needed to know. He had drawn his gun too, but it wasn’t pointed at any of the strangers.

It was pointed directly at me.

For a moment, I froze in shock. Only for a moment. As soon as I had come fully to me senses, I raised my hands in surrender, backing away from Merle and in the direction of the strangers. Slow enough for it to look like scared confusion. As soon as I was within a metre of them, I nodded at Glenn, a warning before I darted towards the armed men, flicking a knife out of my sleeve and into my hand and in one smooth motion slitting the throat of the man closest to me. He fell to the ground, choking and spluttering. Glenn hit one of the men hard in the nose and then in the gut. I moved to the next, holding a knife to his throat, about to slice into his jugular.

“Hold on there honey, don’t make any stupid decisions,” Merle had a gun pressed into the back of Glenn’s head. Some part of me had thought that somehow, if we had managed to take on the strangers, Merle would have taken our side. Clearly I had been sorely mistaken. There was no way out of this. It was two to four, plus the man Glenn had attacked who was slowly standing back up.

I dropped the knife, and then the gun in my waistband. They didn’t need to know about the other knives I had hidden.

“Check she doesn’t have anything else hidden on her. Wouldn’t want a repeat of Bentley.” One of the strangers commanded. I assumed Bentley was the man whose throat I had slit. I felt a strange sense of pride that even though I had been overpowered, I hadn’t given in without a fight.

“Sure thing, Martinez,” Another man answered and stepped forward and roughly patted me down, fishing out my two remaining knives from my clothing. So much for keeping them hidden.

Glenn and I were shoved roughly into the back of a truck with three guns pointed at us as we were driven away, Merle and Martinez in the front. The drive gave me time to realise how stupid I had been, trusting Merle despite having no idea where he had been for all the time we had been apart. Of course he had found another group - how would he have survived cutting off his own hand otherwise? Glenn hadn’t been as stupid as me. He had known straight away that Merle wasn’t to be trusted. If only I had followed his instincts instead of mine, then this never would have happened. I managed to catch his eye, and mouthed ‘I’m so sorry,’ in his direction. He shrugged. Not an angry shrug, more of a ‘what did you expect?’ sort of motion. Somehow his acceptance of the situation made it worse.

When the truck finally stopped, we were roughly guided forward again, this time down some stairs and a few grimy corridors to two rooms. They pushed Glenn into one, me into another, and I heard him struggle and groan as the thuds of fists and feet hitting flesh filled the air.

“Stop! Stop hurting him, hurt me instead, please, please just leave him alone,” I yelled out, hoping that by some miracle I would be listened to, but no response. Just more of the horrible sounds coming from Glenn’s cell.

*

It had been at least a day- there was no daylight down here, but that was my best estimate. Martinez had come into my cell a few times, but I had not suffered half as much as Glenn had. Even so, I was painfully sore and covered in blood and bruises. I was sure more of me was bruised than not. But they seemed to have realised pretty quickly that neither of us would give up where we were staying, and at this point Martinez seemed more concerned with hurting us than with finding out where Glenn and I had come from. I hadn’t seen Merle since the drive to wherever we were. Part of me was glad,but some foolish part of me thought that maybe if he saw what was happening to me, he would help me. I knew that this was stupid, but I could help but hold on to that tiny, ridiculous hope.

A few hours passed and it had been a while since anyone had come into mine or Glenn’s cells when an unfamiliar man entered my cell, followed by Merle who was uncharacteristically quiet.

“Now here’s what’s about to happen. You’re going to tell me exactly where you and your friend have been staying and how many people you have. Understand?” While he looked unfamiliar, I recognised his voice from hearing him give orders to Martinez and the other men who had imprisoned Glenn and I. He was the Governor.

I scoffed, glaring up at him and Merle who was deliberately avoiding eye contact.

“You wanna play it like that? Be my guest.” The governor, still calm collected, turned to Merle.

“You know what to do,” he said, and Merle nodded, leaving towards Glenn’s cell. Obedient and quiet - two words I never would’ve dreamed could describe Merle.

I began to hear muffled groans of pain from Glenn, making me wince with every sound. I deserved this, not him. The governor smiled at me, watching my obvious distress.

“Leave him alone.” I demanded, only succeeding in making his smile wider.

“You know what you need to do, then I promise, we’ll leave him alone,” he moved forward, uncomfortably close, “Or maybe you need a little more persuasion? You know, it’s surprising how long a person can survive without their eyes. Or their feet. Or even their hands - isn’t that right Merle?” he called out the last part to the opposite cell.

“Sure is boss,” The first time I’d heard Merle speak since getting here.

“Now I’m sure you know what I’m getting at, but just in case, I’ll be clear. Merle is pretty handy with a hacksaw as I’m sure you know, and while we need you and your friend to be able to talk, we really don’t need you for anything else. So if him losing a hand, or both, or even worse, would get you talking then I’m sure we can all agree it would be worth that sacrifice.”

He wasn’t bluffing. He opened his mouth to yell the order to Merle, but I interrupted, “The prison. We’re at the prison. Please, please just leave him alone, you don’t need to do this. Please.” My resilience had broken. We could defend the prison. We could. But I couldn’t listen to Glenn getting tortured for any longer. I just couldn’t.

The governor chuckled. “Thank you, wasn’t so hard now was it.” He got close again, and in a sudden move he struck me across the face. Hard. For a moment, the world blurred with dark spots, before I lost my vision completely and fell into darkness.

*

I could feel myself being jostled in the arms of someone carrying me. They felt familiar, and I spent a few seconds trying to place who it was, still not fully conscious. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and saw Merle’s determined expression. He glanced down at me, but before I could ask him what the fuck was going on, I fell into darkness again.

*

The next time I began to be aware of my surroundings I felt the thin, scratchy softness of a prison mattress. Slowly, I opened my eyes, this time managing to hold onto consciousness. When I sat up, I saw Merle sat at the end of my bed. Hunched over - sleeping, I assumed. Looking around, I recognised my old cell. Finally something I could use to my favour. I reached under my pillow and grasped the familiar handle of my final knife, which thankfully hadn’t been moved.

I pushed the knife to Merle’s throat. His eyes snapped open, and he raised the blade attached where his hand once was, before relaxing when he recognised me.

“What the fuck, Merle. What the fuck!”

“Calm down honey - saved your life, didn’t I?”

“Oh that’s what you call it? You took me prisoner and watched the shit get beaten outta me and somehow you’re the hero?” I pushed the knife harder against his neck and I could tell how much he was struggling against himself not to fight back. That made me even more angry. What made him think I couldn’t kill him right then and there if I wanted to?

“I didn’t have a choice. But I got ya outta there, that count for nothing?”

I continued to glare at him. He smirked at me, infuriating and insanely attractive all at the same time, before gripping my wrist and pushing me back against the wall, forcing me to drop my knife.

“I saved yer ass, didn’t have to, but I did. The governor, he saved my life, but I chose you for fuck’s sake. I missed ya, didn’t you miss me?”

Of course I did.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” This was probably the first time I’d heard him apologise for anything.

Merle x female reader, reader saves Merle’s life after he cuts off his hand

Warnings: sexual language, slight gore, cursing

A banging at the door made me jump awake - I never slept deeply anymore, and I spent most of my nights in and out of what could barely be described as sleep, easily woken and constantly exhausted.

My first thought was a particularly persistent walker. But then I heard a voice, raspy and southern “I saw you through the window. Open up. Or I swear, I’ll kick this damn door down.” It was most likely a looter. Opening the door to him seemed immediately like the stupid option, but if he was serious about knocking my door down then I would have to find a new place to hide out, an extra risk I could not afford to take. My best bet was to overpower him at the door. He’d seen me through the window and probably assumed that I’d be easily threatened, but what he hadn’t seen was the pistol I kept hidden by the door, or the knives I had stashed under my mattress and around the small room.

The banging on the door got more persistent. I grabbed a knife, and ensured my gun was easily in reach. It wouldn’t hurt to have extra weapons he didn’t know about.

I swung open the door. A tall, broad man stood in my doorway. One arm was pointing a gun vaguely in my direction, the other dripping so much blood it almost looked black. His hand had been cut off.

“Get out. All your shit is mine now, don’t think I won’t shoot you just cuz yer a girl,” He sneered at me, feigning confidence, but his skin was tinged grey and sweat was beading on his brow. He was weak and there was no way he could physically overpower me in this state, despite his muscular frame.

I raised a sceptical eyebrow at his threat. Then, in one swift motion, I knocked the gun from his hand and pushed my knife to his throat, firmly enough for a small bead of blood to gather on the edge of the blade. He opened his mouth, probably about to say something stupid, before the full weight of his body collapsed into me and he lost consciousness.

*

Somehow, with strength I hadn’t even known I had, I half lifted, half dragged the man’s body over to my mattress on the floor. It was clear he had lost far too much blood. I knew it was stupid, but some part of me wanted to help him, even though I knew he had come here to rob me blind, and possibly to kill me after he had taken all of my possessions. I told myself it was because leaving him outside would attract walkers. But really some part of me was still weak and soft, and somehow I had sympathy for a man who could not give less of a shit about me.

Minor medical training from books I had scavenged and stolen told me that he was in desperate need of stitches, and likely had a severe infection from his wound, and that it needed to be treated fast or there was no way he could survive without a hospital, which, for obvious reasons, was not an option. The building I had set up camp in was a small convenience store in the city which I used to run, and decided to stay in when the dead started walking. Unfortunately, the store had tempted many thieves in the early days, but as time went on, less and less people braved the city. The man must have seen that my store was the least damaged for several blocks, and identified it as his best bet at survival. He was right - behind the counter were antibiotics and just enough first aid equipment for me to have a chance at saving him. Even if he had stolen my supplies, it was unlikely that he would have managed treating his own wound.

The stitches were the worst part. I had never liked needles, and as far as facing my fears went, this was seriously hands on. It was messily done, probably a laughable job compared to professional standards. And I was sure that the amount of blood on the floor, my hands and staining my clothes was biologically impossible. But somehow he was still alive, something I still hadn’t decided was a good or bad thing. At least he was unconscious for now.

*

Two days passed. I was getting used to sleeping with him around, trying not to think about what he might do if he awoke while I was asleep- waking up to a gun in my face was a real possibility, but one that I had to risk. I slept on the floor next to the mattress he was occupying, uncomfortable enough to be exhausted but easily woken if he or the walkers became an immediate threat.

I sat next to him on the mattress, cleaning his arm, checking that the infection was fading and that the stitches were holding like they should be. It was strange looking after someone who had barely spoken two sentences to me, those sentences being delirious threats after severe blood loss. I often found myself wondering what he would have been like if we had met before the world had ended, at a bar maybe, where he could have bought me a drink or two. I like to think that he would have been the type to hit on me shamelessly and I would have been cynical but secretly loved his advances. I cut myself off in my head. It was ridiculous to think like this. With some effort, I focused back on his arm and began to change his bandage, but my eyelids were growing heavy and I had forgotten how comfortable the mattress was. Every time I closed my eyes, sleep tried to pull me down. I just had to keep them open, just had to focus-

I jolted awake. It almost pitch dark, if I had to guess a time I would have said an hour or two before dawn. There was a hand around my mouth and an arm was around my waist, holding me still against the warm, hard body behind me. He had woken up. Immediately I struggled against him, biting his hand and elbowing him in the stomach. He swore under his breath, but his grip only tightened around me.

“Stop wrigglin’. There’s walkers in here, I’m tryna figure out how many, so for fuck’s sake stay still.”

I nodded. He removed the hand from my mouth, but the arm around my waist stayed. Probably a precaution in case I tried anything again.

“Sorry,” I whispered back. “How did they get in - and when did you wake up? What’s your name? Why haven’t you killed me yet?” Now wasn’t the time for questions, but I was desperate for answers. For all I knew, the only reason he hadn’t killed me yet was to keep me as bait for the walkers.

He shushed me. Then, he finally let go of me and stood up. “Wait here.”

He walked off in the direction of a shuffling noise, and seconds later I heard the thunk of a knife through a skull, and the sound of a body hitting the floor. The sound, quiet as it was, caused another walker’s movements to become frenzied. I heard snarling and then the sound of a second body hitting the floor. There were no more walker sounds, just the sound of the man walking back towards me.

I jumped to my feet and reached for the knife normally hooked through my belt. It was gone, as was the knife under my mattress. I had no defence against the stranger that I had so stupidly taken care of.

“Window’s broken, s’what woke me up. You were out cold. Hope ya had a nice nap.”

I stood up, trying to read his face in the growing bit still dim light.

“Name’s Merle. And you, sugar tits, are exceptionally lucky that I believe in returning favours.”

So he didn’t plan on killing me after all. I shook off the lingering fear caused by both him and the walkers getting so close.

“Thanks. And you’re welcome, I stitched you up good. And don’t call me that, or I’ll chop of your other hand,” He smirked at me, knowing my threat was entirely empty.

“Oh yeah? I’m not so sure you wanna do that, sweetheart, you haven’t seen the half of what I can do with this hand,” His smile was suggestive and I could feel my face getting hot.

“I’m gonna board up the broken window,” I attempted to ignore his last sentence, but it was clear he could tell I was flustered as he stepped forward, closing in on me.

Negan x Reader, reader is trapped with Negan hiding from walkers with no way out

Warnings : cursing, making out, slight mentions of violence

“In here,” Negan grabbed me by the arm, yanking me into a tiny dark room that, for now, would keep the walkers out.

I shook his hand off me and collapsed against the wall. I wished I could put more distance between us but settled for sending a cold glare his way, making him chuckle. He sat down next to me, far too close for comfort, but there was no room for me to move away.

“Calm your tits princess, if I’m not much mistaken I just saved your life. You should be thanking me,” he shot me a smile that I found far more charming than I was comfortable admitting.

“You saved my life? You’ve got to be fucking joking. If you hadn’t kidnapped me I wouldn’t even be here right now!” Just because I found him charming did not mean I couldn’t find him equally infuriating. I had been leading one of the attacks on the sanctuary, but Negan had ordered some of his soldiers to take me in instead of killing me. If I had stayed outside there was a good chance the walkers would have got to me anyway, but it felt good to blame him. There was no way in hell I would ever spare an ounce of gratitude towards a monster like Negan.

“But I think we both know that at least a small part of you is more than happy to be here right now, sweetheart,” His voice had dropped, low and husky.

His hand brushed my thigh, before settling on my hip. Though he had likely abducted me for my knowledge about Rick’s plan to take him down, Negan had made his desire to get in my pants explicitly clear from the moment I had met him.

“You’re fucking delisional.” I tried to force hatred into my voice but instead the words came out breathy and disjointed. His eyes were burning into mine with such intensity that I found it impossible to look away. Or maybe I just didn’t want to.

I was startled back to reality with the groaning of the wooden door keeping us safe, sounding dangerously close to giving way. I shoved his hand away, but the damage was done and I had left it too late.

“See? I can tell just how much you want me, you’ve just gotta admit it to yourself and we can have some real fun,” he winked at me and I rolled my eyes pointedly.

“Fuck off. If I have to spend the last few minutes of my life stuck in this shithole with you, could you at least try and make it bearable?” Normally I would never have risked pushing his buttons like this, but in the circumstances, it didn’t seem to matter if I was killed by Negan or by the walkers just outside.

“I can think of several ways I can make it far better than bearable. Besides, if both of us are gonna fucking die right here, what’s the point in you pretending to have morals?”

“I’m not pretending. You’re the one who’s lying to yourself- you really think I could be attracted to a man like you, who doesn’t give two shits about anyone?” His hand twitched, tightening around his baseball bat but I carried on. “All of this is your fault. All these people, they’re dead because of you and for what. Because you couldn’t handle being embarrassed by Rick? You’re pathetic.”

“You better watch that pretty mouth,” The playfulness had dropped from his voice, and my heart dropped to my stomach.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean-“

“Didn’t mean what, princess? Because to me, it seems like you meant every fucking word.” His voice was low and deadly, making the pit of my stomach churn in anticipation. Maybe it would be him to kill me instead of the walkers after all. “What - you think just because you’re a fine piece of ass you can say whatever the fuck you want?” He let out a short laugh, but I could tell there was no real humour behind it.

“Maybe I’ve just realised that it doesn’t matter. Either the walkers get me, or you do. At least if you kill me, I won’t be eaten alive.”

I turned to look at him, and saw him staring at me, a flicker of amusement behind his eyes. It was polarising how quickly he could shift between emotions, anger and amusement being the main offenders. I held his gaze.

“So you can say all that and still not admit what both you and I know you want? You’re fucking delusional sweetheart.” My eyes lingered on his jaw, and his dimples as he gave me a far too familiar shit-eating grin. I wasn’t sure if he had moved in closer or if I had.

“And what exactly is it that you think I want?” It was hard to focus under the intensity of his eyes. My words were breathy and low, and I knew how ridiculous I must have sounded, and how much I was giving away from my voice alone.

For once, he didn’t have a cynical response. He just leaned in closer. Slow enough for me to pull away, but it still took a few seconds to register what was happening as he kissed me for the first time with soft lips and rough stubble dragging across my chin. Some small part of me knew that this was a terrible mistake, but that part of me was quickly silenced as he pulled me up against him, and I felt him smirk underneath my mouth as my hands found his shoulders, his chest, the back of his neck, exploring every inch of him. I had spent far too long resisting my attraction to him, and in some strange way, I was glad that this was how my final moments would be spent. At least I’d go out enjoying myself.

After what could have been minutes or hours, he pulled away. His arms still pulled me up against his chest, but I wanted even more closeness. I leaned in to kiss him again, but he spoke before I could, “How about we get outta here, and then we can carry on somewhere far more comfortable?”

“What? Do you know how to get out of here? And you didn’t tell me?”

Negan chuckled. “Course I did. You really think I’d walk into a dead end?” He pulled a key from his jacket pocket, and gestured dramatically to the wall behind me. I stood, and saw a second door that I had not noticed in the darkness and confusion. He had a way out. This whole time, he had a way out. And he had chosen not to tell me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? We could have died, don’t you get that?”

He unlocked the door, holding it open for me to leave.

“But we didn’t. And I’d say the whole nearly dying thing was completely worth it, wouldn’t you?” I stood frozen, feeling like a complete and utter idiot. Of course he had ulterior motives, when didn’t he? “Ladies first,” Negan grinned his charming grin.

merle dixon x reader

warnings: cursing

summary: reader and merle ended up escaping the prison together after the governor’s second attack, au where merle survives, but reader blames merle for what happened

The days were getting colder and darker, seemingly reflective of my worsening mood and growing frustration at my situation. Since the governor had attacked the prison for the second time, I had been separated from the rest of the group, and stuck with Merle. The asshole who got us into this situation in the first place; without him, the governor would never even have known that we existed.

I was cooking rabbit over our campfire while Merle went on a supply run. We had been out here so long we’d had time to set up a proper camp - a scavenged tent, surrounded by barbed wire and dangling cans to alert us of any walkers nearby. It was as safe as we could be without walls and a roof.

“Hey sweetcheeks,” He knew I hated that nickname.

“Rabbit’s cooked. We should eat before it gets dark.” Difficult as it was, I did my best to be civil with him.

Surprisingly, he didn’t try to provoke me further, instead coming to sit next to me without a mocking word.

“Gotcha something today,” Merle opened his bag, pulling out a woollen blanket with some difficulty. It must have been a nightmare trying to fit it in there in the first place.

“Thanks,” I replied, momentarily surprised by the act of kindness. Sometimes he was almost nice. It seemed like every day he had to try harder and harder to be the irredeemable jerk I had come to know. Or maybe I was just going soft.

“Ya know, I can think of a coupla ways we can really put it to good use,” his smirk was back, and he had successfully ruined the moment. The worst part was, in the quieter moments, sometimes I thought about what it would be like to give in to his flirting. I was probably just lonely. No way I could ever actually be attracted to him.

“Do you have to be such a dick all the time? I mean I know it’s either you or I’m alone with the walkers, but you really know how to make them look friendly,” Sick of the cold and of Merle, I took the blanket and headed into the tent. He’d probably take at least another half hour by the fire and checking the perimeter, so I had at least some time to myself.

In an hour the temperature had dropped and somehow inside the tent felt even colder than outside. I was shivering violently, and the blanket Merle had found seemed to make no difference. It was fucking freezing. He seemed annoyingly unbothered though, somehow perfectly warm despite the weather.

Almost as though he could hear my resentful thoughts, Merle snickered to himself.

“What?” I demanded, forcing as much hostility into my voice as I could.

“Your teeth are chattering so loud I can’t sleep. Y’know, my side of the tent is lovely n’ warm,” I could practically hear his smug smile.

“Are you seriously hitting on me right now? You’re disgusting.” I scoffed, trying to sound offended by the offer and the suggestive tone in his voice. A small, secret part of me wanted nothing more than to take him up on his offer.

“C’mon now sweetheart, don’t act like you’re so high and mighty. You think I want you to freeze huh? Just get over here. No funny business.” He seemed to be being genuine for once, but it was always hard to tell with Merle. Either way, I was freezing cold. Maybe it was worth the risk of leading him on. Or the risk of him confusing physical contact for forgiveness.

“You promise?”

“Cross my heart n’ hope to die,” His smug, mocking voice had returned.

With a reluctant sigh, I shuffled over until I was right next to him. He was so warm all I wanted to do was snuggle in for the night. But I stayed an inch or so away from touching him.

“I ain’t gonna bite you,” He snickered.

“I know.” I replied defensively, internally cursing my luck to end up in this situation with Merle of all people. I was freezing cold and exhausted. And a growing part of me desperately wanted to give in to my inexplicable attraction to him.

I budged closer into him to rest my head on his chest and curl up into his body. He shifted the blanket to cover both of us, and slowly put an arm around me, pulling me closer. I realised he was giving me chance to change my mind and pull away. But I didn’t. He was gloriously warm, and surprisingly comfortable. Equally surprising was the fact that his hands hadn’t wandered anywhere below my waist.

“See? No funny business.” He seemed so smug to have proved himself supposedly trustworthy.

“Don’t think this changes anything.”

“C’mon now honey, you n’ I both know you don’t hate me as much as you pretend to. I know I’ve done some bad shit. But don’t go pretending you’re oh so perfect,” Merle’s voice was raising dangerously loud, loud enough to attract walkers, but I didn’t know how to protest what he was saying without outright lying. Of course I had done things I wasn’t proud of- if I hadn’t, I would be dead. And of course I couldn’t hate him. That was part of the problem. “Don’t you think I feel bad enough? I lost my own damn brother. It’s just us two now. So fuck all your moral-good-person bullshit. What’s the point, huh? Why bother.” He was facing me, arms no longer around me and in the darkness I could just barely make out his angry features. He had every right to be angry, just as I had every right to hate him even though I didn’t. Or couldn’t. And it would be stupid to keep pretending otherwise; he was right. It was pointless.

Before he could continue to berate me, I leaned forward and kissed him, slowly, gently, and to my surprise he kissed me back almost straight away. His stubble was rough but his mouth was soft and warm. Kissing him was a sensation I could easily get lost in. His arms found their way back around me, pulling me into his chest, and I could feel his entire body pressing up against mine but it still felt as though we weren’t close enough. I rolled onto my back, pulling him on top of me and breaking our kiss for long enough for him to speak.

“Thought ya said ya didn’t want no funny business,” he was mocking me, but for once I didn’t care.

Clegg x reader, slaughterhouse rulez

warnings: cursing, making out

I was going to be late. And for my first assembly- this was just my luck. I had lost track of time, and then got slightly (okay maybe more than slightly) lost trying to find where the rest of the students were, but by some happy coincidence, I had managed to finally find the place where everyone was gathered. As I approached, I was intensely relieved to hear their loud chatter, which must mean that no one important had started to speak yet. I hurried in, looking around me to try and figure out where my house was for me to stand with. That was my first mistake- not looking where I was going. The second was bothering to apologise when I walked straight into the biggest arsehole I had ever met.

"Oh- I'm so sorry- I-"

"Don't let me catch you talking to upper sixth again." He sounded utterly disgusted that he was having to speak to me.

I looked up, and saw a face that was so perfectly chiselled it annoyed me. What did shitty people do to deserve such amazing bone structure?

"Did you really just refer to yourself in the third person like that?" I managed to match his disgust in my voice, and stared him straight in the eyes, which only seemed to provoke him further.

"You don't speak to me, or even look at me ever again. Understood?"

It was very easy to piss him off.

"Well it's not exactly a privilege looking at you so I'm sure that won't be a problem," I was lying "but I don't think the not talking is going to work for me. After all, you need someone to remind you how much of a dick you are."

I watched the shock grow on his face- clearly he was used to getting his way the first time he asked. But I refused to give him the satisfaction of backing down. For a second, I thought he was about to hit me, but he just managed to restrain himself.

" How dare you? I am upper sixth, and you should start showing me a lot more respect before you get into serious trouble. Understand? "

Before I could reply, a figure in a large block robe entered the room with an entourage of students.

The room fell immediately silent.

Instead of replying, I opted for a silent response, and rolled my eyes pointedly at him.

*

Clegg, as I had later learned his name to be, had not managed to resist making my school life as miserable as possible in the upcoming weeks. I had once thought that perhaps my being a new student would provide me with some reprieve from harsh punishment, but I had been sorely mistaken. Most mornings now, I would be forced to wake up at an ungodly hour to run laps of the grounds with other miscreants, all the while enduring Clegg yelling insults and tormenting us.

And I was finding it increasingly difficult to keep my mouth shut.

"Get moving, you worthless pieces of shit. Come on! Get your fat arses moving, you aren't even trying!"

As a matter of fact, I was trying. Extremely hard. But the muddy terrain made my feet unsteady, and when they slid out from underneath me for what felt like the thousandth time, I finally found myself incapable of standing again.

“Shitting hell,” I cursed, my ankle collapsing as I tried to stand on it, the pain making me go lightheaded.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, stand up you useless idiot,” Clegg spat at me as the others ran ahead and I struggled to stand.

“Just fuck off, would you? I think it’s broken I can’t bloody move.” I glowered up at him. Probably a mistake if I wanted any sort of help.

His face contorted slightly- probably in disgust at the thought of coming near me- before he grabbed my arm to hoist me to my feet.

I was momentarily surprised at his help, having expected to have been left out on the lawns until one of my kinder classmates noticed me missing. But I was glad I had been too surprised to thank him.

Cursing at my stupidity the whole way back, he half lifted, half dragged me to the school. It was less than comfortable, and quite frankly I would have preferred to have been left on the ground.

“Are you always such a massive twat?” My ankle twinged in pain as I stumbled over the front steps, released from his iron grasp.

“Be glad I helped you.” He seemed almost smug, probably finding joy in the obvious pain I was in now I stood without his support, “Come to my dorm immediately after the matron has seen to you. I’ll be arranging a less physical punishment, since you are clearly too pathetic to even handle a jog.” He looked me up and down disdainfully. I rolled my eyes pointedly at him. He scoffed at me, and strode off, leaving me barely upright in the doorway to the building. Absolute wanker.

*

After matron bandaged my ankle- just a bad sprain, as it turned out, I had long missed breakfast. As it was a Saturday, I had no classes and therefore no excuse not to go straight to Clegg’s dorm. It was a meeting I was dreading.

It took me longer than I had expected to limp up a flight of stairs, and I knew as soon as I entered his room I would get an earful for it; at least he had his own dorm so I could at least avoid the embarrassment of being berated in front of an audience.

I knocked twice and he ordered me to come in.

“You took your time. Sit.” He commanded, gesturing to his bed. I perched on the end, not at all surprised to see it perfectly made, and all of his possessions perfectly organised.

“What do you want, Clegg.” I put as much animosity into my voice as was possible.

“First of all, show me some respect. Second- “

I cut him off, “I’ll show you respect when you earn it. You’re pathetic.” I stood up, putting all my weight on my good foot and focusing on not showing the pain I was in even from just resting on my bad ankle.

“I’m pathetic, am I? Well let me tell you something-“ He strode towards me, intimidating me slightly with his height, “You’re nobody. Worth nothing. And you had better start listening to me or I can make things much, much harder for you- it’s not like anyone would even notice.”

I stepped forwards, up in his face. He was trying to scare me and it wouldn’t work. “Are you really threatening me? You’re just a schoolboy. What are you going to do?”

For a second, he froze, staring me in the eyes, waiting for me to back down.

Then he closed the gap between us, kissing me, hard.

For a second, I was in shock. Then I remembered how to respond, kissing him back with as much anger and force as I could muster. He lifted me slightly to shove me against his wall, surprising me by taking care not to let my weight fall on my ankle. His teeth pulled on my lower lip, much harder than necessary but it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing.

I reached up to pull him closer, but one of his hands was quicker, pinning my wrists to the wall above my head.

My head was swimming with confusion that had quickly become overpowered with an aching desire I had never felt this strongly before.

I was helpless against him and he knew it.

“Clegg. You in there?” Meredith Houseman’s voice made me jump, but Clegg remained collected, pulling away only enough to reply “I’ll be with you in a moment.” but still not releasing me from his grasp.

His face was still centimetres from mine. There was nothing I wanted more than to close the gap between us, but with Houseman outside it would have been an exceptionally stupid move.

“Be back here this evening. Don’t be late- and don’t bother wearing underwear.”

For once, I felt no temptation to challenge his authority. I nodded.