SUMMARY — When Batu put a hit on you, Braxton did the only thing that made sense to him—he made you and your hacking his problem. Suddenly you had a handler and a “work wife” and “work husband” joke started to circulate.
WORD COUNT — 12,487
“Off the Books” (Braxton x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — Desperate hitman looking for a petsitter. Enter: you—the woman who will slowly turn into Braxton's greatest headache.
WORD COUNT — 5,548
“No Honor Among Thieves (Or Assassins)” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 1/9)
SUMMARY — What happens when another killer steals your kill? With Braxton involved, probably just chaos. And insults. Now the two are stuck in the world’s most violent will-they-won’t-they. Spoiler: They will. Probably after someone gets shot. Again. Featuring: medically questionable wound-stitching as a form of foreplay and Brax’s inability to shut up, even when bleeding out.
WORD COUNT — 3,061
“Blood Loss & Brotherly Love: A Survival Guide” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 2/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”. Look, here’s the thing about waking up with no gun, no phone, and a bullet wound stitched like it was too good of a job for someone who hated your guts—at some point or another, you had to do a little bit of self-reflection. But Braxton would rather crawl through broken glass.
WORD COUNT — 3,272
“Blood Sugar” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 3/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”. While tracing an old contract, Christian uncovers that Braxton unknowingly eliminated one of the Brotherhood’s enemies years ago. With Justine’s assistance, they begin unravelling the truth behind Echo’s allegiance to the Brotherhood.
WORD COUNT — 2,080
“Welcome (Back) To Fight Club” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 4/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”. Braxton told himself that newfound obsession wasn’t personal. That it was just about unfinished business. Pride. Closure. Whatever. But the wondering…Jesus Christ, the wondering.
When all the jobs were done and tied up in a bow, and he was alone with his head again, the wondering and thinking about Echo clawed at the back of his head like a demonic possession.
WORD COUNT — 4,006
“No Grave Can Hold Her Down” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 5/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”.
See, Braxton knew everything about getting trained to be a super-soldier from the ripe age of seven. It wasn’t the only thing that left him profoundly fucked up. But what in the world must have happened to her to leave her like this?
WORD COUNT — 2,035
“Honey, I Escaped the Murder Cult” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 6/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”.
Braxton strongly suspected Echo didn’t trust him or his methods just yet, but he had no problem with showing off—and proving her wrong. He talked like a man born to lie and knew how to vanish without a trace. Well, maybe not like Echo. Her methods were still a mystery to him. But he knew enough to get paid the big bucks he did, so. There was that.
WORD COUNT — 2,035
“Nothin’ Personal” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 7/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”.
Braxton handled the car like he’d stolen it from a war zone—which, coincidentally, he had done many times before. But the way he drove was smooth, fast, and with the muscle memory of a guy who regularly drove an armored convoy through a desert under fire. Not much rattled him in general.
Except, maybe, that woman in the passenger seat right there.
WORD COUNT — 2,729
“Apocalypse (With Extra Bang)” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 8/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”.
“Try it,” she said. “See where I dump your body.”
Braxton grinned, sinking even lower in the seat. “Nah, not a ditch, that’s predictable. You’d get creative—feed me to a coyote, maybe.”
She smirked. Again. “You get more annoying? I leave you to scorpions. For lunch.”
A laugh rumbled in his chest, dulled with lack of sleep, but real. “So, ditch it is.”
WORD COUNT — 2,468
“Collateral Affection” (Braxton x Original Female Character) (Part 9/9)
SUMMARY — Continuation of “No Honor Among Thieves”.
Braxton comes to a world-shattering conclusion that maybe, somehow, he deserves to have a life.
WORD COUNT — 2,121
“And Then We Were Two” (Frank Castle x fem!Reader)
Part 1/2
Part 2/2
SUMMARY — Years ago, Frank Castle pulled a broken girl out of hell. Now, she’s standing in front of him again—blood on her hands and a hit list in her pocket.
WORD COUNT — 7,118
“You Steal It, You Feed It” (Frank Castle x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — Frank decided to retire in an inconspicuous apartment somewhere in Brooklyn. Well, as much as a man like him even could. Normally, he minded his business at all times. Except tonight.
Tonight, he actually was busy. Had business. But no, there you were, crouched on the fire escape at asshat o’clock in the goddamn morning, right in his way—with a duffel bag, bolt cutters, and a look on your face like you were about to commit a felony no matter what.
WORD COUNT — 5,310
“Another Life” (Frank Castle x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — A guy walks into a bar and runs into the girl who would take no shit in high school. He’s a walking armory of trauma, she immediately reminds him of the most embarrassing haircut he ever had. They’re probably not going to talk about their feelings, but the banter might be decent.
WORD COUNT — 4,446
“Temporary Trouble” (Shane Walsh x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — It would be the summer of Deputy Walsh learning shit the hard way. First, never piss off people who got access to your lunch order. Second—the prettier the package, the sharper the tongue.
You, the newest temp at the precinct, were stuck dealing with Shane’s attitude, while Shane ultimately couldn’t decide if he wanted to strangle you or drag you somewhere private.
WORD COUNT — 8,534
“Highway To Nowhere” (Shane Walsh x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — Shane Walsh was supposed to be the villain. And I said: bet.
The the wrong person lived, the wrong secrets got buried, and then you showed up—with a sharp mouth, and no patience for self-loathing.
Canon-divergent Season 2. Emotional carnage, redemption arcs, and everyone's tired, including you.
WORD COUNT — 17,315
“No Rest for the Living” (Shane Walsh x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — The dead don’t stay dead, and somehow that’s not the strangest thing Shane Walsh has to deal with these days. Right in the middle of the apocalypse, he runs into a woman that can make corpses obey. Which, truth be told, is just one more headache Shane really didn’t need.
WORD COUNT — 16,002
“To the Bone” (Shane Walsh x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — Sometime in the not-so-distant future, Shane Walsh made it to GBI. As he rolled into a sleepy Georgia town to hunt down a serial killer, the last person he wanted to deal with was you, the local coroner—a brilliant, if quirky, woman who much preferred the dead to the living.
WORD COUNT — 11,489
“Loose Cannons—A Series” (Dixon fem!Reader)
Part 1—Robin Hood (Shane Walsh x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — When you—the sharpshooting cousin of the Dixon brothers—join the Atlanta camp, tensions arise and changes creep in.
Daryl begins to step out of Merle’s shadow, and Merle struggles with the possibility of redemption. Shane sees another Dixon as a threat, Rick—as an opportunity. Now, survival isn’t just about the walkers.
WORD COUNT — 3,282
Part 2—Unlikely Survivor
Part 3—Peace Offering
Part 4—Ain’t Dead Yet
Part 5—No Such Thing as Luck
Part 6—Nothing Left to Bury
Part 7—Dead Quiet
Part 8—The Devil Don’t Knock Twice
Part 9—Dust in the Rearview
Part 10— Close Enough to Kill
Part 11—Trouble You Keep
“No Surrender, Baby—A Short Series” (Grimes fem!Reader)
Part 1—After the World Ended
Part 2—Something Borrowed, Something Dead
Part 3—Bury Me Again
Part 4—The Girl and the Ghost
Part 5—Ain’t No Cure for That (Coming soon!)
Part 6—King County Dirt (Coming soon!)
“Dogs That Bite” (Grady Travis x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — Grady might have been foul-mouthed, but now he finally met his match. You, the new medic in camp, turned out to be way worse. More importantly, you didn’t give a damn about his tough-guy act and were determined to save him no matter what.
WORD COUNT — 8,384
“The Sun Will Rise” (Grady Travis x fem!Reader)
SUMMARY — Against all odds and his own expectations Grady Travis survived the war. What came after was, thankfully, not quite the unhappy ending he expected after all.
WORD COUNT — 9,264
Decided to make a taglist. Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged.
I found your grimes!reader x Shane fic on ao3 and came to tumblr to see your masterlist. 🤭 I'm def gonna binge all of it later JUST YOU WAIT. If I could be added to your tag list? I loveee how you write and how creative your fics are!! 😋
SUMMARY — Grady might have been foul-mouthed, but now he finally met his match. You, the new medic in camp, turned out to be way worse. More importantly, you didn't give a damn about his tough-guy act and were determined to save him no matter what.
AUTHOR’S NOTE — Will I ever get tired of comparing the men I like to dogs? No, probably not. This fic was long in the making because I recently re-watched that film to hurt my own feelings and couldn't get this silly idea out of my head. So... Enjoy? I hope.
WORD COUNT — 8,384
Masterlist
Taglist
The bullet wasn’t just a graze. Grady had been playing it cool for the rest of the crew, but the longer they rode to camp, the more he felt that damn thing lodge harder and harder into his side.
“Now you hold on Grady, you hear me?” Bible kept telling him, in between Gordo’s “Fuck!” repeated steadily all the way to the base.
“Ain’t nothin’, quit fussin’,” Grady muttered, feeling more and more lightheaded with every time Fury hit a bump on the road.
Once they got him out of the tank, Grady hit the mud with a grunt, clutchin’ his side while the boys shouted over him. Don yelled for a medic, voice hoarse with urgency.
“Grady. Grady, fuck man! Look at me.” Bible tried to hoist him up, which only made the pain worse and Grady nearly fell on him, some two hundred pounds of bleeding Cajun deadweight.
Then, over the noise, came a voice Grady hadn’t heard before—sharp, female, cutting clean through the chaos. He blinked through the haze, and there you were on the far side of camp. Red Cross band on your arm, medical bag damn near dragging you into the mud.
“The fuck’s that?” Grady rasped, pointing.
You were screaming at the truck driver who’d just dumped you here, in the middle of their own private hell. You cursed like a dockhand, making the nearby soldiers turn their heads. Then you stomped straight into camp, bag slung on your shoulder.
The entire crew was already watching you go and so Don screamed for a medic one more time. You turned his way and, like a bloodhound, you caught sight of Grady bleeding out. Didn’t even pause—you stormed over, nearly shoving Don out of the way.
“Bullet still in?” you demanded to know.
“Uh… ‘S untellin’,” Grady grumbled, but then your hands were on him and you checked the back for the through-and-through.
Moments later, you already got a stretcher from who even knows where, and instructed Gordo and Bible how to move him.
Well, instructed being a relative word.
“Stop your prayin’ and move ‘im, dammit, or I’ll stitch your goddamn fool mouths shut first!” you snapped, thick Georgia twang rolling off your every word.
“Fuck me,” Gordo grunted.
“Yes, ma’am,” Bible muttered, still worried.
Don scoffed. “Now, wait just a goddamn minute—”
Grady let out a wheezing laugh, then groaned, head falling back. Figures. Leave it to him to get saved by a crazy Southerner. “Hey, Top,” he croaked, clutching at the man’s sleeve, “Naw, don’t leave me with the mad woman, ain’t—”
Grady groaned as the stretcher jostled under him, every bump sending fresh waves of pain through his side. He tried to focus on your face hovering above him. Didn’t seem fair, someone so goddamn pretty yelling at him like a drill sergeant.
“Fuckin’... hellcat,” Grady gritted out between clenched teeth, one hand gripping the stretcher rail so hard his knuckles went white. “Just stab me with whatever’s in that bag.” His laugh turned into a cough, the metallic tang of blood sharp on his tongue. Shit. That ain’t good.
“You two! Stop!” You noticed blood on his lips and immediately leaned over him, eyes sharp. “You. Soldier. Hey, look at me,” you ordered and Grady honestly didn’t know what to do with that.
Then you knelt beside him in the mud and got to work then and there. You opened that medical bag full of monstrous tools, opened up his shirt and got a packet of sulfa powder. For the first time in his life, Grady honestly wished the woman undressing him wasn’t so goddamn pretty, because he was losing what was left of his goddamn mind.
“You two! Get me a blood plasma from the medical and more sulfa powder.”
Don stood there and watched as you ordered his crew around with an odd expression.
Grady hissed through his teeth as you tore into his hide like it wasn’t attached to him. “Christ! Fuck! Bitch!”
You just shook your head. “Yeah, yeah, been called that since ‘40, ya ain’t special.”
“Yeah? An’ ya ever heard of gentle, woman?!”
“Shut your trap already, less you wanna cough up blood next,” you snapped at him, already packing the wound full of gauze and rummaging in there for the bullet.
Dying suddenly seemed secondary and Grady squinted up at you. “Ya from Georgia.”
“Savannah,” you muttered, not looking up as you pressed down on the wound to stop the bleeding, which resulted in Bible and Don having to hold Grady down so he wouldn’t lunge at you.
“ARGH—!” he roared. “Ya trynna kill me?!”
But you weren’t having it. “Save your breath—ain’t got time for your lip, soldier.”
In fact, your movements were sharp and precise, like you’ve done it a million times before. And, hells, you probably have. Grady couldn’t decide how to feel about that just yet.
Already high from blood loss, he barked a pained laugh. “Hell. Shoulda known. Only a Georgia peach’d talk to a man that way.”
You glared at him again. Your hands were already stained with his blood. “That you trynna flirt?”
Grady thought about it. You could tell—his frown deepened.
“Yeah, why not,” he grumbled. “It workin’?”
“Hell naw.” You laughed. “Be glad if I don’t leave the bullet in, Louisiana.”
“The fuck ya callin’ me that for?” Grady grunted roughly. “I’m from goddamn Arkansas.”
You shook your head. “Got lotsa fight left in ya, huh?”
“Damn right.” Grady just grinned, his teeth tinged with blood and tobacco stains. “Ain’t scared a’ you, sugar.”
“Oh, well. Reckon now you are.”
And then you jabbed… Whatever the fuck it was, it was in. Sharp as fuck. He screamed.
Now, Grady knew pain. He knew how to take a punch to the face, that’s for damn sure. How it felt to get your rotten tooth pulled out by a lousy town barber. Ever since he joined this hell, he even had to be stitched up a couple times.
But this… This, he couldn’t even describe.
Grady’s grin faltered, his whole body tensing. “Sonuvabitch—!” He sucked air through his teeth as you rummaged through his side.
“Ma’am…” Don exhaled, still watching that impromptu surgery closely. “That how y’all say hello down in Savannah or sumthin’?”
“Naw,” you drawled, unfazed. You leaned in and still dug for that bullet. “This here’s just me bein’ friendly. Hello’s the part where I don’t let your friend choke on his own blood, Sergeant.”
Goddamn, the pain got worse, but you—you were efficient, clinical, like Grady was a piece of broken machinery (the irony of which wasn’t lost on Don). He looked almost impressed.
Gordo finally came back with that plasma bag, then took one look at the surgery and walked away, shaking his head and muttering curses in Spanish.
“You,” you looked up at Bible, who was still nervously hovering and muttering prayers. “Get me morphine from my bag.”
Bible did. You told him how to fill up the syringe while you kept Grady from bleeding out. The needle felt like a jab of betrayal and Grady scowled harder. “You had morphine the whole time?!”
“Shut it, soldier.”
“Naw, fuck—”
Dark spots swam in his vision. The last thing Grady saw before his eyes fluttered shut was your lips, pressed thin in annoyance.
“Wake your ass up, Coon-Ass,” came the rough command, accompanied by a sharp smack against his leg—not hard enough to hurt, but enough to jolt him. His eyelids peeled open to the sight of the medical tent, moaning and groaning wounded all around him.
Don was standing over his bed and Grady cursed under his breath. “I ain’t dead?”
“Nah.” Don chuckled, that wry smirk on his lips. “Why? You sound disappointed.”
Grady groaned as he pushed himself up on one elbow, wincing at the sharp pull in his side. Everything around him smelled like blood and gangrene, a combination that turned his stomach worse than last week’s rations.
“No, no, don’t do that.” Don moved quickly and pushed Grady back down. “You pull them stitches out, it’ll be both our heads that devil woman’ll have for it.”
Grady squinted at Don’s tired face. “They got you playin’ nursemaid now, Top? War must be goin’ real bad.”
His attempt at humor fell flat when a fresh wave of pain lanced through him. Grady’s hand fumbled at the bandages wrapped tight around his ribs, fingers coming away clean—no fresh blood at least. That was something.
“Nurse Hellcat did one helluva job.” Don smirked, trying to lighten the situation. Grady knew that tone too well. “Even the doc said so.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Don looked more hopeful than last time Grady saw him—his blood staining half the tank.
“Why’s she here anyway?”
“Moved from 101st.”
“Planes?” Grady sounded a bit impressed. Don understood why.
Operating a tank was one thing—but flying a plane, now that was something. They’ve seen a lot of the 101st during their time in Germany. Each time they flew over to rain hellfire on the Nazis, Don could see that boyish glint in Grady’s eyes.
The canvas flap at the tent entrance rustled, and Grady’s head snapped up so fast he saw stars. For a second, he thought it might be you—but it was just some private delivering rations.
Grady slumped back against the thin pillow, suddenly exhausted. “Fuck,” he muttered, more to himself than Don. “What now, huh? They gonna give ya ‘nother loader or what?”
“Who even knows.” Don sat down on the metal chair beside the bed. It was a rare moment of quiet—relative quiet—around them. They still amputated limbs in another tent over, but at least soldiers in recovery didn’t have to watch.
“How long they keepin’ me for?” Grady tried to sound gruff, but was doing a poor job of it.
The truth was, the cot felt too soft after months of tank steel, and the lack of artillery raining down on his ass was getting him real uneasy.
Don exhaled sharply through his nose. “Doc says ‘nother week, maybe two.” He paused, watching Grady’s face carefully. “Command ain’t decided on a replacement yet. Got no orders. Fury’s sittin’ idle ‘til you’re back or they find some poor bastard to throw in your spot.”
The idea of some green kid loading for his crew made Grady’s gut twist worse than the wound. “Two fuckin’ weeks?” he scoffed, pushing himself up again despite Don’s warning look. “Hell, I could load blindfolded right now. This ain’t nothin’.”
Then the tent flap rustled again, and this time Grady didn’t bother looking up—big mistake.
“That ‘nothin’’ took fifty-two stitches to close, soldier, and if you pop one, I swear to Christ I’ll throttle ya m’self!”
Grady huffed out a laugh, the pain in his side suddenly forgotten. “Ya will? I might oughta start bleedin’ on purpose.”
You walked up to Grady in two strides and… Then you just looked at him. Silent. Grady couldn’t explain it, but the way you got angrier and angrier sent a sick kind of thrill through him—better than morphine, that fire in your eyes.
“Your crew asked ‘bout you,” you told him, your voice much quieter now. “So I told ‘em not to worry. Don’t make me go back on my word, cowboy.” You nodded at Don, who was watching you closely. “Sergeant.”
“Ma’am.”
“You got yourself a colorful team.”
“So I’ve been told, ma’am.”
You jutted your chin towards Grady. “I ain’t gon’ berate a grown man like a child, Sergeant, but that don’t mean I don’t wanna.”
That made Don laugh—the genuine kind. Grady looked between you two, confusion etched deep into his face.
“They done told me some of what y’all do and the others said your loader’s entitled to be the way he is,” you said. “So I’ll ignore the lip.”
“Appreciate it, ma’am.”
“The—” Grady frowned, unsure if he should be insulted, because goddamn, you talked fast. “She’s got me all sortsa confused, Top.”
“She’s sayin’ you’re doin’ a good job, Coon-Ass.”
“Heh.” Grady grinned at you. “Damn right I am.”
You shook your head, exasperated. “Yeah, word’s even the Krauts piss themselves when they hear your tank’s comin’.”
“Impressed, sugar?”
“Watch it, cowboy. I ain’t nobody’s ‘sugar’.”
You noticed Grady moving again and you shot him a look. “I ain’t gonna be too hard on ya, less you give me a reason. And ya don’t wanna give me a reason.”
That got Grady all smug. “So what, you’re gon’ be real sweet, Georgia?”
“Don’t push it, soldier.”
“Name’s Grady,” he grumbled.
As for Don, he was watching that exchange with brows raised high.
He had seen men explode in rage before. Hell, he’d seen Grady cause plenty of it himself—Grady tended to have that effect on people. But this was different. Your anger was quiet and you had a mouth on you. That there was worse. Don could already tell it would make Grady want to poke you just to see what’d happen.
“Fifty-two stitches, huh?” Grady spoke again. His grin was all teeth, reckless, even as Don shot him a warning look. “What’s the matter, darlin’? Ain’t never had a patient thank you proper before?”
“You just… Get better, hm?” Don cleared his throat and stood abruptly, deciding that this here was not his problem.
Grady barely noticed him leave, too busy looking at you. Like so many times before in his life, he got that nagging feeling at the back of his head—like he should maybe shut his goddamn mouth.
But again, Grady had never been good at doing what he should. It’s how he had found himself on the front in the first place. First, Uncle Sam asked him real nice. Then threatened to throw his ass in Leavenworth if he wouldn’t go.
“So what, huh,” he moved on the cot, now getting irritated at the silence. “Ya gonna stand there glarin’ all fuckin’ day, Georgia?”
“Naw. But if ya don’t stop movin’ and rip those stitches, we’re gonna have a problem, Arkansas.”
Some of the others were looking up from their cots and Grady suddenly got uneasy. He didn’t much like people looking at him anyway.
He looked at you, all serious, then tried to sit up.
“Jesus, what’d I just say!” You rushed to his cot and pushed him back down.
Grady could almost taste the reckoning coming, and Christ help him, he wanted it. He’d seen men scream themselves hoarse in combat, but this anger of yours, it made his heart pound in a way no artillery barrage ever had. “Or what, are ya gon’ yell? Then yell, sugar, the hell,” he goaded, smirking.
“The fuck you starin’ at me for, huh?” He shouted at the private in the nearby cot.
The private gasped loud enough Grady nearly laughed—imagine thinking shock was still possible after Normandy.
You scowled. “I ain’t sewin’ ya back up if you keep tryin’ my patience.”
For a second Grady thought you might actually slap him, and damn if part of him didn’t hope for it. Anything.
“No?” Grady prodded. “So this here’s you tellin’ me I ain’t fit to wipe my own ass yet or what?”
The words tasted wrong even as he said them—he couldn’t help but being an ass even while half-hoping for scraps of human kindness.
“I seen soldiers rip out stitches to get attention before an’ I seen them do it to get sent back home,” you finally spoke, voice low. “So I will tell ya plain, soldier, ‘cause you might talk outta your ass, but you don’t seem too stupid. None of our boats are goin’ home anytime soon. Ya gotta learn how to survive inside your own head here.”
Grady felt something inside him twist. Whatever you felt towards him right then, it wasn’t anger anymore. Hell, it was something worse. Something that looked dangerously close to pity.
He opened his mouth, when the distant shouts for medics shook the tent canvas. Someone screamed outside and the strange spell between you shattered. You snapped to attention and rushed outside.
Grady lay back down, torn between relief and rage at being left behind. But like Don always said, war waited for no one—least of all a goddamn Arkansas dog, dumb enough to get himself sidelined by a lucky shot.
The outside was a cacophony of shouts. Grady closed his eyes, letting the noise wash over him like he did so many times before. He’d never been good at staying put. Never been good at much really, except loading shells and pissing people off. And right now, he wasn’t even fit for that.
It was dark when he woke up next, the recovery tent pitch-black save for one small gas lamp hanging above the entrance. Grady didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep. He slept well for the first time in four years of hell and while he should have enjoyed it, he couldn’t. Not really.
He wondered what time it was, if his crew was okay—and most importantly if he would get any more goddamn painkillers. His side was killing him. The morphine had worn off hours ago, leaving that hole in his side throbbing in pain.
A rustle at the tent flap made him turn his head. For a second, he thought it might be you, but it was just some fresh-faced orderly. The kid took one look at Grady’s scowl and kept walking.
“Yeah. Real brave bunch they got nursin’ now,” Grady muttered to no one in particular. He reached for the canteen beside his cot and winced as the movement pulled at his stitches. The water was warm and tasted like metal.
Outside, the camp was settling into that eerie half-quiet that came after chaos. The tent flap moved again and suddenly there you were.
“I’ll take over, Private. You can go,” you said, quiet. Probably mindful of all the other poor fucks around here, trying to sleep.
The boy couldn’t get out of the tent fast enough. You checked on all the serious cases first—amputated limbs, missing eyes, all the shebang.
Then you came up to Grady. You yanked at the blanket unceremoniously and checked his bandages.
Grady’s mouth went dry. He should’ve had some smartass remark ready, but he didn’t. He could see the dirt still smudged on your cheeks, the dried blood on your uniform. You’d been out there in the thick of it, while he’d been lying here like a useless deadweight. And your eyes held the same kind of resigned exhaustion he knew so goddamn well.
“Y’ wanna sit?” Grady jerked his chin to the metal chair next to his cot. “I ain’t gon’ run my mouth again, God’s honest.”
The words tasted pathetic as soon as he said them, but then, against all his expectations, you sat down with a deep sigh.
He could see the way your shoulders slumped—he had felt that same bone-deep weariness nearly every damn day.
“So… This thing gon’ kill me or what?” He gestured vaguely at his side.
You smiled, an exasperated type of smile. “You’ll live.”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded and reached for you, a little more eager. You saw that hand and slapped it away. Hard.
Seeing you get all annoyed again, Grady felt better.
“They really sendin’ a replacement loader?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. The question was just an excuse to fill the silence, to keep you there a little longer.
You didn’t answer right away, just rubbed at your eyes with the heel of your hand. “You really that eager to get back out there, cowboy?”
Grady looked away, suddenly unable to meet your gaze. But the nickname made him smirk. Not that he didn’t like his war name, but this one was something just for him. Something you made up on the spot and made him not want to answer to anything else.
“Ain’t ‘bout bein’ eager,” he muttered. “Just don’t like sittin’ ‘round while…”
He didn’t add the rest.
You wiped your palm against your thigh where you’d swatted Grady’s hand away, your mouth twisting in mild amusement despite yourself. “I asked. Command ain’t decided ‘bout replacements yet,” you admitted, voice hushed enough not to disturb sleeping patients.
Grady’s eyes darted to you, the faded lamplight illuminating the surprise on his face. “Ya asked ‘em?”
You leaned back in the chair and shrugged. “It was either this or watchin’ you try to rip them stitches out every damn hour.”
Grady looked smug. At this point you just let him have it.
“Your crew’s holdin’ down Fury with some private they dragged outta the clerk office. Kid looks ‘bout twelve.” You smirked, shaking your head.
Grady shifted on the cot, careful not to pull at his stitches this time—not with you watching him like that. “Hell, I was drinkin’ moonshine outta mason jars by twelve.”
“Stole a horse when I was ‘bout thirteen,” you murmured.
“Shit fire, Georgia.” Grady’s eyes went wide. “If this ain’t somethin’, I don’t know what is.”
His smirk widened at your admission—it was the first real thing you’d given him, something honest, just for him to know. At least that’s how he thought about it and you couldn’t stop him.
“You should be good for light duty in a week or so. ‘Less you rip those stitches horsin’ ‘round before then.” Your lips quirked despite the warning tone. “‘Course, reckon we both know ya ain’t got the sense God gave gravel…”
“The fuck’s light duty?” Grady frowned, confused like a child told he couldn’t play outside.
You didn’t answer right away, just studied him with those tired eyes that saw too damn much. Grady was suddenly deeply aware that Fury was out there with some greenhorn loading his shells—and here he was, while the war moved on without him.
“Could mean runnin’ messages,” you finally said, voice softer than he deserved.
“Goddamn,” he grunted. “Messages? Loadin’ that tank’s the most schoolin’ I ever seen.”
He could barely spell his own name without missing half the letters. All of a sudden the truth of it scraped against his pride.
You smiled, just barely, the kind of smile that made Grady want to poke at it until it turned real. “Could be helpin’ in the motor pool if you promise not to cuss out every private within earshot.”
“Ain’t promisin’ shit ‘bout my mouth.” Then you saw these wheels turning in his head and Grady licked his lips. “‘Less you wanna…”
“No.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He grinned. “Fine.”
“So you’ll behave?”
Grady shook his head. “Those grease monkeys got hands like goddamn waffles.”
“Waffles?”
Your confused frown made him grin harder. “Means drop more wrenches than they turn.”
You actually laughed at that and his chest did something very stupid at the sound. He wasn’t smooth, wasn’t charming—but stubborn as a mule and twice as ornery, that’s for damn sure.
“What kinda horse was it?” he asked, not ready to let you go just yet.
“Uh…” You let out a deep sigh and looked at him. “One of them spotted ones. Real beauty. Brown an’ white spots, black mane.”
Up close, you could see just how dark his eyes were. And his focus was fixed on you, entirely, the way he’d fixate on a jammed shell casing—like you were a problem he meant to solve with his teeth if he had to.
“Thirteen,” he muttered. “Bet you didn’t even look back.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “Ain’t that right, Georgia?”
But you were quiet again. That uneasy feeling settled in his gut—the one that said he’d misread this whole dance between you.
Then, your eyes filled with a nostalgic look—for a moment, Grady could have sworn he was seeing the ghost of that wild-haired girl in the weary medic before him.
“Georgia,” he started, then faltered. What was he even asking for? More stories? More time?
“You want a book?” you asked him all of a sudden and Grady huffed.
“A book?” He frowned. “Like for what?”
Your brows shot up and you looked at him, incredulous. It took him a moment to catch on.
“Nah, ain’t much for readin’,” he grumbled, like he was admitting to something shameful.
“You gotta do somethin’,” you insisted. “It’s what I saw helps y’all recover. If you just sit an’ stay in your head, ain’t gonna get much better.”
Then you rummaged through your bag and got him some paper and a small pencil. “Draw somethin’, dunno.”
Grady looked almost disgusted at the notion. He glared at you and shook his head in disbelief. “The fuck fuckin’ backwards med camp d’ ya come from, woman?”
But he took that pencil anyway and rolled it between his thumb and index finger for a while, like it was a particularly interesting cigarette.
One thing about Grady was you never had to wonder what he was thinking. He would either tell you or his face would do it for him. Truth be told, you kind of enjoyed that candor.
But to see him the next day so focused on that piece of paper was unusual to say the least. He was hunched over it like it was some kind of tactical map, his big hands dwarfing the tiny pencil.
You almost didn’t want to interrupt.
He didn’t notice you approaching and you sneaked a glance at the page—an honestly not too bad attempt at Fury’s silhouette. The lines he drew were dark and bold, which was to be expected. He didn’t seem like a tiny, precise drawings kind of guy.
Grady looked at the page with the same stubbornness he applied to everything—from loading shells to this godforsaken drawing. He even managed to get a smear of graphite across his nose at some point, which made you smile a little.
“Looks like a damn soup can,” he muttered before you could say anything, scratching at the stubble along his jaw.
“Naw,” you argued. “You just gotta even out the edges.”
He let out an annoyed huff. “Ain’t you supposed to be stitchin’ people up, not playin’ schoolmarm?”
“Barrel’s longer than that,” you said, ignoring the question.
“Like you’d know,” he grumbled, but adjusted the sketch anyway. “Ain’t like y’ ever had to fix her.”
“Naw, but I had to fix you, cowboy, an’ that sure earned me some favors in Heaven for my patience.”
That actually made him laugh—a rough, surprised kind of sound. Then you reached into your bag and placed more mismatched sheets of paper on his cot. Grady stared at the paper, then at you.
“Ain’t no damn artist,” he grumbled, then raised both hands. “There’s one thing these’re good for. Eh,” he mused, “maybe three.”
You squinted at him, already knowing one of them would be something like squeezing women’s backsides. But then some other thought took him and you watched the way his shoulders hunched, defensive like a cornered dog.
Somehow it made your chest tighten and you sat down beside him. That brought him back. “Ain’t askin’ for no damn art, it’s just somethin’ to keep ya busy. Before they get you punchin’ orderlies all day long.”
His laugh was rough, but for a moment it made his actual age show—so much younger than what war had done to him.
“You do this for all your patients, Georgia?” he muttered. “Hand grown men crayons?”
“Wish I had crayons,” you sighed. “Add a bit of color to my day.”
Grady’s attention shifted to your face and an absurd thought struck him: you’d look good on paper. Wild hair and all. The realization sat uncomfortably in his chest.
He had only survived this long because he wouldn’t let himself want for nothing more than to survive the day. Get some food and some smokes if he could find it, that was good enough for him.
But now he had way too much time on his hands. And there you were, making him think things he shouldn’t.
“You ever think ‘bout… what you’ll do when this mess’s over?” he asked, very quietly.
Your eyes met and for a moment you stayed quiet.
Then—
“Easy. I’ll never see Germany again.”
“Naw, but…” The cot springs creaked as Grady shifted, suddenly needing space from your closeness. “Not like—not the bullshit. Like… ya could work at a normal hospital, I reckon.”
You thought about it and then shook your head. “No. I’d rather learn the typewriter, actually.”
“The typewriter?” He chewed on the word a bit, like it was foreign.
“Yeah. You?” you asked.
“War don’t exactly make me wanna make plans,” he grumbled. “Ain’t got none.”
“But you made me tell ya!” You shook your head in disbelief.
“Heh.” He grinned like the devil himself. “Guess I did.”
Grady stared at the sketch paper again and tilted his head. Truth was, the idea of you clicking away at some desk in a fancy dress made his stomach twist—that was a completely foreign territory. A different kind of world.
You plucked the pencil from his fingers before he could protest, turning it over in your hands. “We had one back home,” you said quietly. “Mama used it for church bulletins. Sounded like…” You tapped the pencil against the cot frame three times—clack, clack, clack.
You tossed the pencil back to him. “Alright, cowboy. Got real patients to tend. You seem good enough to me.”
Hells, if bleeding was all it took to get your attention then… But Grady decided against it. He picked up that damn pencil instead.
A week later, they cleared him for light duty. Every young private in the motor pool came to curse the command for it.
“Jesus, dumbass, that ain’t how ya torque a damn bolt—gimme that!” Grady snatched the wrench from the kid’s shaking hands, demonstrating the motion with exaggerated slowness. “See?”
Grady wiped his grease-streaked hands on his already painfully dirty shirt, watching the wide-eyed privates scrambling to keep up.
You had a slower day so you came around to lurk—you traded another nurse half your lipstick for her coffee stash, so now you had a good drink and a show.
Grady noticed you standing there and immediately turned his annoyance up a notch—performative as hell, but you couldn’t tear your eyes away.
“The hell’d ya want?” he snapped, wiping at the black grease across his forehead and succeeding only in smearing it worse. “Ain’t got better things to do, Georgia?”
You noticed he had rolled his sleeves past his elbows, revealing well-muscled forearms. He moved differently now. Still quick, still sharp enough to intimidate everyone around him. But there was a cautiousness that hadn’t been there before. Like he was holding himself back from fully inhabiting his own skin until he was cleared for combat.
You walked up to him and took a very exaggerated sip of your coffee. “Decided to come see for myself who’s been screamin’ all over camp.”
But then you looked around the tent and had to admit all looked to be in a good—if slightly terrified—order.
“I hear you’ve been a menace, cowboy,” you said.
Grady let out a sharp bark of laughter. “Sugar, this here’s me bein’ nice.”
You took another slow sip of coffee, looking at him. Grady noticed and rolled his shoulders with deliberate nonchalance.
“Ain’t my fault these greenhorns couldn’t tell a carburetor from a tire,” he muttered.
The corner of your mouth twitched despite yourself. Grady thoroughly committed to being the loudest, most obnoxious bastard in any circumstances.
You stepped closer, lowering your voice so only he could hear. “You’re healin’ real good. Might be back with your crew by week’s end.”
“‘Bout damn time,” he grumbled.
Suddenly he was unable to meet your eyes. “They’re lettin’ you stay or you gettin’ a transfer outta here?”
“A transfer?” You snorted, shaking your head. “As if they’d let me. Nah, this here’s where I’ll be. Least until Hitler wises up and shoots his brains out.”
You studied Grady for a while and you could tell he didn’t much like it.
“What?” he grumbled, as if bracing for a fight.
“Nothin’.”
“Uh-huh.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Then what the hell’re ya starin’ at me for?”
He was healing, sure, but there was a restlessness in him you recognized—the kind that made men pick fights just to feel something other than useless.
“Just…” You sighed. “Don’t go gettin’ yourself shot again.”
“Can’t promise ya nuthin.” He grinned. “I’m mean an’ dumb. There sure’s a bullet with my name on it somewhere.”
You finished that coffee, suddenly wishing you had bartered for something stronger. “You ain’t dumb. And I ain’t patchin’ ya up just so you can bitch at me.”
As soon as you said it, something changed in the way he looked at you. Grady watched you, then just nodded toward the nearest busted truck. “C’mere. Show ya somethin’.”
He tugged you toward the shadowed side of the truck before you could protest. The sudden movement sent your empty coffee tin clattering to the dirt. “The hell—” you started, but his other hand came up to silence you, a rough palm pressing gently against your lips.
“Ain’t gonna bite,” he murmured, voice low. “Just… wanted to see if you’d follow.”
You remembered there were some rules and regulations that specifically stated how this was a spectacularly bad idea. Suddenly you couldn’t name even one.
Your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt and you pulled him closer. Grady lowered his hands and grabbed your ass without preamble, before ducking his head to kiss you.
That first kiss was a harsh one, like he was starving for it. But you didn’t mind one bit. Your head was swimming a little and you did your damndest not to make a sound. After a while, Grady slowed down, his lips brushing yours almost tentatively.
When he finally pulled back, you could tell he was waiting for you to bolt. But you didn’t move an inch.
Grady grinned, that smugness back in full force. “There. Now ya can remember which dog’s yours to patch up.”
You let out an incredulous, soft kind of chuckle and shook your head. “I don’t wanna see ya gettin’ shot ever again,” you said, quiet.
He lowered his eyes, suddenly all serious. “Georgia…”
“I know,” you said quickly. “I know. But I ain’t gonna pretend it’s not nice to steal a moment.”
For a long time, neither of you spoke. Grady watched your face closely, those dark eyes flickering between your lips and the medic’s armband on your sleeve.
Grady’s hand came up to run his fingers through your hair, lingering a heartbeat too long. “Shouldn’t’a done that,” he murmured, and you had no idea if he was talking to you or to himself.
“Too late now,” you murmured, completely disarming him.
You only held him tighter and now you actually let yourself embrace him. His whole body stiffened, obviously not used to any of whatever the hell this was. If he found a girl in any of them liberated towns, she’d usually be willing to sleep with him for cigarettes or a bar of chocolate. And he definitely wouldn’t get hugs after.
Grady stood frozen in your arms, breathing slowly. He hadn’t been held like this since… hell, probably since before the war. Maybe never.
“This ‘s some right nonsense,” he grunted.
You felt the exact moment he gave in—the way his shoulders dropped and his breathing slowed when he buried his face against your neck. His exhale shuddered out, hot and damp.
“Goddamn it, Georgia,” he said, quiet and angry.
And he held you tight now, unwilling to let go. When he finally spoke again, his voice was barely audible. “They clear me for duty, I’m gone by dawn.”
You looked up at him and you had nothing to say. What could you even tell him that would make this better?
“I know,” you said instead, then pulled him in for another kiss.
There were no sweet sendoffs out here on the front, and yet… You still stubbornly held out hope that there could be a happy ending. But you didn’t tell him that. You already knew he’d say you were smarter than that.
Grady’s hands tightened around you and he deepened the kiss with a roughness that bordered on desperation. He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against yours.
Then he stepped back and swallowed hard, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Hell. Just… stay alive, will ya?”
“Me?” Your eyes widened. “I ain’t the one doin’ the fightin’.”
You just put together the pieces that were left.
Grady’s grip on your shoulders tightened like he was thinking the same. “Seen ‘nough medics catch stray bullets out there.”
He could see him wrestling with it—the urge to do something he had spent five years training himself absolutely not to do. You were both pretending you hadn’t gotten closer, on purpose at that, but you did.
If they were to drag Grady back to that tank, you had hours together at best. And you both still pretended you wanted to do nothing.
A small stupid part of you wanted to just laugh. Of all the men to get tangled up with...
Finally, Grady jerked his chin toward the motor pool where the privates were still keeping busy. “Best get back ‘fore they strip every damn engine for scrap.”
He took two steps before turning back abruptly. “You—” The words died in his throat. For once, the man who always had something to say came up empty.
All of a sudden, one of the medics from the next tent over appeared at the entrance. He whistled sharply to get your attention, jerking his thumb toward the surgical ward. Right. Duty called. You walked out and turned away from the motor pool, but not before catching Grady’s gaze one last time. He wasn’t grinning anymore.
War made liars of you all.
The medical truck jolted to a stop at the crossing, the stench of cordite and burning metal filling the air. You stepped out into carnage—smoldering tank husks, the acrid tang of spilled fuel, and the orange glow illuminating piles upon piles of dead SS soldiers.
Your boots sank into churned earth. It went muddy with blood. You scanned the wreckage, watching the crew of the other two American tanks being escorted to safety. One of them must have driven straight on the landmine, and the rest of it was still on fire. And then you saw it—Fury, her barrel still hot, sides marked with shell impacts, but otherwise intact. There was a smoldering carcass of a Nazi tied to its front.
They had stood their ground and held that crossing. Now your crew was sent here to pick up the pieces and for a second or two you kept wondering if you even could force yourself to focus.
Movement near the tank made your breath catch and you sprinted that way before anyone could stop you.
And then you saw him.
Grady was crouched beside a wounded private, pressing a filthy rag to the kid’s leg while barking something at Gordo.
Half of him was completely blackened with soot, one sleeve torn open to reveal a nasty burn. He hadn’t noticed you yet, too busy keeping the young boy in one piece. They’d stared down death and spat in its face. Again.
None of them looked victorious, though. Just numb.
“Oh, shit fire, cowboy,” you muttered, unable to come up with anything else.
Grady finally looked up, blinking in shock. “Georgia?”
Then the private whimpered and Grady adjusted his grip. “Quit squirming, Norman, or I’ll knock ya out proper!”
“Fuck… you,” Normal muttered, grinning wide.
Up close, you could see the fine tremor in Grady’s hands.
“I got it,” you said quickly and took out the gauze and the sulfa powder. “Don’t let nothin’ touch that burn,” you warned Grady, then pressed hard on the private’s wound. The boy, Norman, howled. But you held him firm.
“None of that. You survived this far, you’re gonna get through this, ya hear me?” You looked at him sharply, then watched Norman give you a terrified nod.
“Y-yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Breathe.”
Grady watched you scare the boy into surviving with a faint smirk on his lips. There was something very close to fondness flickering in his eyes for half a moment. Then he sat down in the mud, leaning against Fury, entirely exhausted.
“Y’ did good, War Machine.” Grady grinned weakly, watching Norman’s pale face. “Kid took shrapnel tryin’ to play hero.”
“Wasn’t playin’,” Norman muttered. “Just… did.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Grady waved his hand, then regretted it quickly. That burn really was nasty. “Reckon y’ saved both our hides.”
Grady watched your hands as you were moving swiftly with the bandages. “Helluva place for a reunion, Georgia,” he said with a humorless chuckle.
“Somethin’ like that,” you replied, breathless. But you smiled when he reached for you, pressing one soot-stained hand to your cheek.
Norman watched you both with an incredulous frown, eyes darting from Grady to you. “The hell kinda Cajun magic did ya pull to get a lady like her?”
Grady flicked his ear, his scowl back in place. “Watch it.”
“They got your sergeant back there,” you said, trying to change the subject. “He ain’t lookin’ too bad.”
As the stretcher bearers approached, Grady took a half-step back, watching you help Norman get on it. The kid was obviously in pain, but no longer bleeding. You very possibly just saved that leg.
Later on, you and the Fury boys were all packed in the medical van. It rattled along the dirt road, canvas walls trembling with every pothole. Grady sat stiffly on the bench, jaw clenched as you dabbed antiseptic on that angry red burn snaking up his arm. You could tell he was only half-lucid, exhausted like the rest of them.
“You keep on fussin’, I’m gonna think you like me, Georgia.”
The other crew members exchanged knowing smirks.
“Hold still, you,” you muttered, fingers gentle despite your tone. The van hit another bump, making Grady hiss as your hand slipped. “Sorry.”
“Sure you are,” he grumbled, teeth gritted.
But he reached for you, placing his palm on your thigh as you worked on dressing that burn. Bible immediately pretended to study the floor, and Gordo suddenly became very interested in his boots.
Don cleared his throat from the opposite bench, eyes sharp despite his own injuries. “Coon-Ass ever tell you ‘bout the time he got that other burn on his—”
“No,” Grady grunted, opening one eye. “We ain’t sharin’ no stories ‘bout me, Top.”
You could see his ears going pink even underneath all that black grime. The van went silent again. The grumble of the engine and the rustle of the bandage became the only sounds around you.
Then—
“Best job I ever had,” Gordo offered weakly and they all looked at each other.
Grady laughed first, then Bible, then all the rest.
“Best job I ever had,” Grady muttered, eyes closed, his cocky smirk back in full force now that he had you fussing over him.
Don let out a quiet, relieved sort of laugh, and you found yourself right in the middle of a joke you didn’t understand. But it didn’t matter one bit. You wrapped that bandage carefully around Grady’s arm and then let out a deep, heavy sigh.
“You okay there, Georgia?” Grady asked.
You just nodded, trying not to fall apart. Because how could you even tell him you had expected to find all of them dead at that crossing?
The rumble of nearby engines signaled your return to base. Voices erupted around you, medics sprinting to action and escorting the most heavily wounded. The entire camp greeted the survivors like heroes.
When the van stopped and the others moved out, Grady hesitated. “Georgia…” he started, voice rough.
You decided to make it easy for him and just pulled him in for a kiss.
“Hey!” One of the medics waved at you, but then saw you were busy back there and he grinned.
“She comin’?” One of the nurses asked impatiently.
“We can give them a minute,” the medic replied.
Meanwhile, Grady kissed you back with a determined grunt that betrayed how badly he’d been thinking of you. When you pulled away, he pulled you back in. He wasn’t ready to let go, perhaps never would be. You got yourself one mud-stained loyal hound.
The medic outside cleared his throat pointedly. You could see the exact moment reality set back in—Grady’s gaze flicking past you to the camp, to Don, to where Norman was being loaded onto a stretcher.
“Yeah, go on then,” Grady grunted, jerking his chin toward the triage tents. “Bet they got boys bleedin’ out that need you more’n I do.”
Grady jumped out first and then carefully helped you down from that van. He held your hand a minute longer, giving you one more reassuring squeeze.
“You gonna be okay?” you asked, smiling.
Grady chuckled, for a moment back to his usual cocky self again. “Naw, I ain’t that easy to kill, sugar.”
No, he really wasn’t. In fact, pretty much everything about him seemed solid. Easy. Maybe that’s why you liked him so much.
“Finally! Kissed the livin’ daylights outta your man yet?” One of the nurses, Judy, teased when you entered the triage tent.
You rolled your eyes, but couldn’t hide that smile—even when you rushed to help her with another burn wound. “He ain’t my man,” you muttered.
“Oh, honey!” Judy chuckled. “If he ain’t yours, then butter my butt and call me a biscuit.”
The transport ship groaned underfoot as it cut through the Atlantic, the scent of sea salt a pleasant aroma after years and years spent in blood and mud. Somewhere below the deck, a harmonica started up with a wobbly rendition of “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”
Grady leaned against the railing, watching the coastline grow smaller and smaller through the morning haze. You moved closer to stand beside him. He didn’t look over, just put his arm around you. “Ain’t real yet,” he muttered, squinting at the distant shores fading away in the distance. “Keep thinkin’ I’ll wake up back in that damn tank.”
His breath was warm against your temple when he spoke again, voice rough. “You sure about this, Georgia? I ain’t… I ain’t much.”
You turned in his arms and looked up. Grady had faced down Panzers without flinching, and now apparently was sweating bullets at the thought of settling down.
“You can fix a tank. An’ draw one.” You shrugged. “Good enough for me, I reckon.”
Grady let out a huff, not quite a laugh. “Yeah, but I ain’t exactly what decent folk picture when their girl brings a man home.”
You arched one brow. “Uh-huh… And you think there’s a man back in Georgia who’d stand for my temper?”
“Heh.” He smirked. “Guess not. But a sweet li’l thing like you with a knocked-’round bastard like me—”
Before he could finish that thought, you pulled him by the shirt and pressed your lips to his for a quick kiss.
“I ain’t sweet,” you muttered, then kissed him again.
He let out a sharp huff through his nose, then just pulled you closer, resting his chin on top of your head. “Yeah, you are.”
“You gettin’ sentimental on me, cowboy?”
“Yeah,” he muttered into your hair, voice gone rough. “Gonna build you a house, Georgia. An’ we can get a dog.”
“One that ain’t mouthy like you, preferably.”
“Goddamn.” Grady snorted like he couldn’t quite believe you. “That’s how it’s gonna be?”
“Well, if ya jump now, reckon you could still make it back to Ger—”
You didn’t manage to finish, because he pulled you to him roughly and kissed you like he wanted to glue you together.
After he let you pull away, reluctantly, you just grinned at him madly. “Now who’s bein’ sweet?”
“Ain’t sweet.” Grady clicked his tongue once, grinning. “Just... plannin’.” The word came out awkward, unfamiliar.
“Last time you said you don’t make plans,” you reminded him.
“I lied.” His grin was all teeth.
He grinned even harder when you hit his arm in annoyance.
“Ya can plant a damn garden too,” he muttered. “Tomatoes. Corn. Whatever the hell else you like.”
“Yeah?” You tilted your head back to look at him again.
“Yeah. Ain’t promisin’ I won’t kill the plants,” he admitted. “But I’ll dig the holes real nice.”
“You best build us a bookshelf,” you decided. “Someone’s gotta stay literate in the family.”
Grady’s entire body stiffened at the word family.
“Might get a radio,” he added, like it was an afterthought. “So you ain’t stuck listenin’ to me grumble all day.”
You nudged him with your elbow. “What if I like your grumblin’?”
“Oh, darlin’.” He snorted and his arms tightened around you. “Yeah, now you’re lyin’.”
“You ain’t never caught me in a lie yet,” you drawled, stretching up on your tiptoes. “But I will say, if ya snore then we better build a doghouse out the back, too.”
That got his attention right quick—his whole face did this funny little twist between offense and amusement.
“The hell kinda—listen here, woman, I slept elbow-to-elbow with four other bastards in that tin can for two goddamn years and not once did—” He cut himself off when you started laughing, and the realization hit. “Eh, you’re pullin’ my leg…”
You laughed harder so he grabbed you by the hips and hoisted you up onto the railing suddenly enough to make you yelp—then he locked both arms around you, keeping you steady. “Yeah, guess I can make any noise ya like,” he muttered, leaning in until he nuzzled your neck.
Maybe it was the sunlight in your hair or the sea air making his head all hazy, but Grady just couldn’t stop looking at you.
“Alright,” he grumbled. “Gonna build ya a house so far out in the sticks, the only shit we’ll hear are the crickets and your smartass mouth. How’s that for a plan now?”
Then he kissed you before you could even think to argue.
hi miss Jess <3 i love this idea sm. i'm thinking of creating an au for Shane x my reader and i want to make sure it's okay with you. i'm fairly new to writing and am not sure if this is considered expanding your idea haha 😊 thanks in advance
Hey! Yes of course 😍 please tag me, I'd love to read it! 🩷
pov: despite all odds, Grady Travis survived the war. He now spends his days fixing things on your uncle's country farm and finding new ways to get on your nerves. You're absolutely not in love, not in the slightest...
Grady watched you go, especially the flash of thighs as you vaulted over the fence. His grin didn’t fade as he turned back to your uncle. “She always this friendly?”
The man adjusted his glasses, his eyes suddenly fixed on something Grady couldn’t see. “Didn’t put any new holes in you, did she?” He jerked his head toward the barn. “Might wanna watch your mouth ‘fore she changes her mind, though.”
If you want to read the full story, you can find it here.
Your Shane fic series is the reason why I’m gonna watch TWD btw. I’m in love with him thanks to you
Oh my goodness! I'm so glad to hear it, it's a great series all in all! 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🫂 but just wanted to preface this by saying he's a very controversial character and... Well, I'll let you form your own opinion. There are many interpretations of him. Mine is somewhat kinder. But him and Rick are my shaylas 😭
“Part 4—The Girl and the Ghost” (Shane Walsh x fem!Reader)
“No Surrender, Baby—A Short Series”
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
SUMMARY — Coming soon to a farmhouse near you: Rick’s sister spent twenty years pining after her brother’s best friend. Shane Walsh spent twenty years pretending he wasn’t pining right back. Then the world ended.
AUTHOR’S NOTE — I really tried to make their conversation flow, alas Shane is an emotional bastard and I hope I didn't make him OOC by accident... Apologies for the delay between chapters, I made some very important changes. While I always try to stick close to canon and make portrayal of Jon's characters as authentic as possible, I realized in this fanfic I cannot in good conscience include Shane x Lori romance. Not that I want to erase his flaws or anything, it's just that... I created this meaningful bond between Shane and Reader and I don't think in this universe he'd go for Lori. Not while Reader occupied such a huge chunk of his heart. So yes, apologize for the retcon. I had to heavily re-write chapter 4 and 5.
WORD COUNT — 6,537
Masterlist
Taglist
You checked on Carl later that morning and you had to admit, it felt good, knowing you had something to do with his recovery. Rick was still there, dozing off in the armchair by the window. You and Lori shared very stiff and very polite reunion pleasantries. She couldn’t ignore you any longer, not directly and right in front of Rick, but that didn’t mean you were best friends all of a sudden. No apocalypse could make you like that woman.
In the end, it was all so awkward that you ran away from that room as soon as you possibly could. You came back outside. In the yard, the survivors’ camp was bustling with noises so for a moment you let yourself enjoy the good, old-fashioned people watching. Some of the survivors were hauling water, evidently pleased with having the pump at their disposal. Beth and Maggie sat out on the porch, husking corn. An old man was setting up a watch station on top of an RV van. A few others were using the clothesline for the laundry, chatting enthusiastically like all of this was a pleasant interruption in their usual routine. Perhaps it was, you had no idea what life was like outside of this farm.
You decided to get busy and went to feed the chickens. As you walked towards the coop, you saw Shane standing nearby, in the dried meadow. He was leaning against the tree, that leg still clearly bothering him and yet he kept refusing to sit the hell down and elevate it. You watched as he took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, shook one loose.
“You trynna start a fire?” you asked, approaching him.
Shane didn’t look up right away.
“Tryin’ to mind my own business,” he grumbled, working the matches. “Nah. Should be so lucky…”
You sighed. “Whole field goes up, at least we’d know who did it this time.”
He frowned. “This time?”
“Yeah, happened once before, but they never found out who did it or why. Hershel told me some stories ‘bout the area, though. Apparently one farm over there behind that forest, it has always been haunted. So I guess it might’ve been the ghost.”
“Haunted. Yeah, right.” Shane snorted, the cigarette dangling from his lip. “That what Hershel’s got you believin’ out here? Ghost stories?”
“Beats bein’ bored.”
“Jesus Christ.” He shifted his weight off his bad leg, grimacing. “Ghost stores an’ chicken farmin’. You always were lucky.”
“Yeah.” You pointed to your bag of feed and then gestured to the coop where the birds were already clucking. “Speakin’ of which, they gotta eat.”
You thought he’d let you leave, but he followed. In any case, you wanted him to follow. Now that you finally had someone to banter with, life was looking less bleak. Nobody really understood your humor like Shane did.
Also, you doubted he’d listen even if you told him to sit down and let that leg rest.
“Lemme guess,” he said. “It was some Civil War soldier wanderin’ the fields at night, lookin’ for his lost regiment?”
“Who, the ghost?” You opened the gate and sprinkled the feed alongside the vegetable peels. The noisy birds gathered around you.
“No, the chicken,” Shane deadpanned. “Yeah, the ghost. Keep up.”
You smirked. “Thought you don’t believe in them?”
A hen squawked indignantly as another stole a scrap from under her beak. Shane shook his head.
“Alright,” he decided, his eyes focused now. “So it ain’t no Confederate soldier. What then?” He took a final drag and stubbed the cigarette out. “Some scorned farmer who hung himself? A witch in the woods? C’mon, don’t leave me hangin’.”
“It’s a girl.”
“A girl?”
“Yeah, one day this guy strolls into town, asks her too many questions while she’s trynna feed the chickens and she strangled him with her own braid. But then she regretted is, ‘cause he was kinda funny.”
Shane just stared at you for a moment, then let out a surprised bark of laughter that scattered three hens into an indignant flutter.
“Yeah, alright,” he said, shaking his head. “You got me. Real cute.”
“See? But don’t worry,” you said, tossing more feed around. “I only strangle people I like.”
“Comfortin’.”
“Mmm.”
You flicked a piece of dry grass at him and it stuck to his shirt. You knew he wouldn’t leave now. No, he just smirked that smirk that used to make you want to follow him into trouble.
“You ever gonna tell me what’s wrong with you?” you asked. “Or we just gonna keep dancin’ ‘round it till one of us drops dead?”
“Ain’t dancin’ anytime soon,” he replied. “Naw, just… Don’t see the point in pourin’ my guts out in the middle of a damn field.”
“Seems like a good place to me.”
“Yeah, well… Think that one’s got designs on you,” he said, nodding toward a particularly aggressive rooster strutting in your direction. “Better watch yourself.”
“Ain’t my first chicken war.” You shooed the rooster with the back of your boot. “You should be restin’ that leg anyway.”
“You should be mindin’ your own business.”
“Tried that. It’s boring.”
“Figures.” Shane sighed. “Ain’t nothin’. Just sprained, not broken, remember?”
He looked towards the house, but then right back at you. It was all so quick that you would’ve missed it if you didn’t know him. But you did know him. You knew that look on his face and it meant his head was somewhere ugly. Something in your chest clenched tight at the thought.
“Come on,” you said, wiping your hands on your jeans. “Help me finish before that rooster declares independence.”
“I don’t help with chickens. I’m a cop, not a farmer.”
“You were a cop. Now you’re just an asshole with a gun.”
Not many people could talk to him like that and get away with it, but Shane laughed again. That did something stupid to you, especially since a couple people from his group turned your way to get a better look. Apparently none of them believed he could even produce that sound. You tried not to let it get to your head.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “That’s me alright.”
Shane’s smirk faded as his gaze dropped to the bandage on your forearm. Before you could pull away, his hand shot out and grabbed your hand.
“The hell is this?” he muttered. “You told me it was fine.”
“It is fine.”
“Looks like shit, there’s dirt all over it.” He let go just as fast. “Gonna get infected out here, playin’ fuckin’ farmer.”
The easy moment between you was gone. Shane was back to being a leader of the pack.
“You ain’t stayin’ here,” he decided, quieter now. “When Carl’s good to move, you’re comin’ with us.”
You just stared at him. “Unbelievable.”
“What?”
“You. You’re unbelievable. Where the hell do you wanna go? This farm is the safest place I’ve been since this whole mess started.”
“Safe?” He scoffed. “Old man with a dozen kids and a prayer book, that’s… That’s real cute. Ain’t gonna matter a lick when a bunch of walkers come runnin’ at you.”
“Shane…”
“Look, I’m just sayin’.” He fished out another cigarette, needing something to do with his hands. “I found you once. Ain’t losin’ you again. And I’m sure as hell not stayin’ here any longer than I have to. This place ain’t equipped to handle a horde any more than our last camp was. Only, this bunch… Lemme tell ya sumtin’, none of them wanna listen to reason.”
You looked at him and this time you didn’t say anything. Just frowned, in that way you did when you were deciding something. Then you took him by the hand and marched further into the drying meadow behind the house, deliberately stomping hard to scare away any potential snakes.
When you were far enough, far enough from the group, from the house, from the other survivors you let go of him and jabbed your finger at his chest.
“You’re gonna tell me what the hell is wrong with you and you’re gonna tell me now, ‘cause I swear to God, Shane… I can’t take no more of this.”
“Jesus!” He yanked his hand away, but not very hard. “The hell’s wrong with you?”
“Plenty. But we ain’t got the time to discuss all that, so you start talkin’, ‘cause the way I see it, you haven’t been makin’ a lotta sense since the moment I saw you. Something’s botherin’ you, I can tell. One moment, we’re talkin’ like we used to, another… You change the subject, try to talk ‘bout weird stuff like, like ‘perimeter checks’ and some bullshit I don’t even wanna know ‘bout.”
“Jesus wept… Sorry that survival’s boring you, princess, I’m sorry for tryin’ to keep these people alive!”
“This ain’t about them! I don’t give a shit about these people, I haven’t even met half of them!”
“The hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“I care about you! But you’re bein’ weird! One moment you’re all ‘hey, you’re my girl, you know that, I’m takin’ you away from here’, another you’re all brooding and moody and you shut me out. And then there’s you and Rick—”
“Hey! Don’t bring your brother into this.”
“Well, I’m gonna! What the hell happened to get you two so… I dunno, you’re just weird around each other too. The only time you talked was when I was around, then nothin’.”
“So what, you’re the detective now, huh?” Shane nodded, an unamused grimace back on his face. “Lemme ask you somethin’, you been sittin’ on that speech long? ‘Cause it’s decent, it’s emotional, I’ll give you that—”
“Stop deflectin’!” You jabbed him with your finger again. “Start talkin’.”
“You really ain’t gonna quit?”
“Nope.”
“Even if I ask nice?”
You scoffed. “Especially then.”
“That so?” Shane looked right at you. Then at your mouth. For a moment, you thought he was going to kiss you, but then he just took the empty feed bucket from you and pointed towards the house.
“Come on,” he said. “Kid’s probably awake by now. You wanted to see him, didn’t you?”
“I saw him this mornin’, he’s fine.” You took a step back instead, annoyed at him for changing the subject. Again.
“Yeah, but he might need—”
“Jesus, just stop! I already saw him this morning, he was with Her Majesty who finally acknowledged my fuckin’ existence! They’re fine. But you’re not. So I’m not leavin’ until you tell me.”
A couple of the nearby survivors looked over again. Shane caught Dale’s eye from the top of the RV. The old man was sitting in his chair and had the binoculars pointed your way.
“Son of a bitch,” Shane muttered, then grabbed your elbow and pulled you around the side of the hay shed, out of sight from the main yard. “Just… Stop. Stop talkin’ to me like I’m some dumb kid makin’ noise.”
“But—”
“Nah, just stop, just listen for once, okay? Listen to me. I’ve been out there, alright? I seen what happens when places like this get overrun. Ain’t no wall high enough, ain’t no god merciful enough, not when there’s a thousand of ‘em pushin’ through the woods at once. You get that? That’s why I said we gotta go. And it ain’t a matter of opinion, it’s a matter of when. So when the day comes, you’re comin’ with me. End of.”
He let go of your arm and turned away, dragging a hand down his face.
“You think I’m sayin’ this just to feel important or sumtin’?” he asked. “You think I get off on makin’ you mad?”
“Sometimes,” you said, still unwilling to take it seriously. It pissed him off.
“I lost you once,” he said, refusing to stay quiet any longer. “I thought you were dead. Thought Rick was dead in that hospital. I lost everyone I ever gave a damn about and—”
“But that ain’t what happened,” you interrupted. “You stopped talkin’ to me long before the walkers.”
He finally looked at you, and there it was—that guilty, heavy look you saw yesterday from the top of the stairs.
“I’m not leavin’ you here,” he repeated. “Not after we got you back again. Don’t care if we haven’t braided each other’s hair for a decade, I ain’t leavin’ you behind.”
“Yeah, who’s makin’ speeches now? Shane, it ain’t been years since I last saw you,” you reminded him. “It’s barely been three months.”
“Yeah,” Shane replied, still angry. “I remember. And?”
“Yeah! And you barely even talked to me then, at the fucking hospital! My brother, in a fuckin’ coma, and you, you just… Pretended we were strangers! Now I’m suddenly important again, now you suddenly don’t wanna lose me.” You flailed your hands around. “It’s fine, you know. You don’t gotta… Maybe I remember you more than you do me. That’s okay. But we used to be the Three fuckin’ Musketeers and when I left that damn town the first time, when I left for Atlanta, you didn’t... You didn’t even call me. For years. But now I’m suddenly a priority? Man, you’re givin’ me whiplash.”
Shane went still and yet the world around you still went on. But nobody spoke. There was nothing but the dry rasp of cicadas and the wind rustling in the dried grass.
“You done?” Shane asked.
You didn’t answer, just crossed your arms over your chest and jutted your chin up. Never were one to give him easy exits.
Shane huffed out a breath and stepped closer, using his size the way he always did when he felt cornered. You didn’t step back.
“I don’t answer to you,” he said.
“Then fuck off,” you answered, your voice more bitter than wormwood.
And he did. He turned around, made three limping strides into the high grass, leaning hard on his good leg. Then he stopped. He looked up to the sky, muttering something, like he was asking some higher power to grant him patience.
“Fuck this,” he said. “You always did this. Couldn’t just fuckin’ leave it.”
He turned around, his face contorted, two incompatible wants tearing at him. He tossed that empty bucket aside, but it did very little to make him feel better. In all honesty he wanted to put his head through a wall.
“You want me to say it?” he asked, hoping the answer would be a no. “That what you want? You want me to stand here in the goddamn chicken coop and bleed out my feelings for you?”
“No time like the present,” you replied.
“Fine,” he spat. “Yeah, I never called you. I watched you pack your shit for Atlanta back in goddamn ‘99 and I didn’t say a damn word to stop you. You happy now?”
“No.” You shook your head. “You could’ve said goodbye at least. Or told me not to go. Or—”
But Shane wouldn’t listen anymore. He just started walking back towards that dried up meadow again.
“Shane!” you called after him. “What the hell?!”
He turned around and saw you following, but he just kept on walking. He heard you coming after him, quick footsteps in the dry grass, and he finally stopped when you grabbed his arm. He turned back around, and the look on his face was full of regret.
“It’s ‘cause there were lines,” he said finally, evidently now resigned to tell how he felt for once. “There were always lines. And you were gettin’ real good at makin’ me wanna cross every last one of ‘em.”
“What fuckin’ lines, what are you talkin’ about?”
Shane knew that he just said too much. You could see it in his face. But you pulled at too many threads now. The things unspoken, old and new, were eating you both from the inside. So no, you wouldn’t let this go. More importantly, he had nowhere to run, not really.
“You think I didn’t notice you followin’ me around, even back when we were no longer kids?” He shrugged. “You think… Christ’s sake, I stayed away ‘cause I had to! You deserved to have somethin’ bigger than King County. And then, then Rick got shot, then the walkers happened and Atlanta happened and I buried you,” he said. “After I buried your brother, I had to bury you too. Believe me, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”
“Wait, back up,” you said then and held your hand up. “What do you mean you buried him? I thought you got him out.”
“Ah, fuck,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his head again, like he wanted to tear his own skin off. “Okay, I gotta sit.”
You obliged him and you sat down together, the tall dried grass swallowing you both. At first he just played with a few blades of grass. He picked them up and tore them apart. Needed to do something with his hands again, you knew that state. Even he wasn’t reckless enough to light a cigarette here.
As for you, you weren’t going anywhere. You waited him out, looking at him the same way when you were twelve and caught him stealing your daddy’s beer. Nobody else held that power over Shane with just a look. But the worst part was, he knew you’d expect the truth, no matter how ugly it was.
So Shane started to talk. The tale was very dry at first, just facts, like he was giving you a police report of what had happened in King County:
“Yeah, I tried to get him out. Before I went for Carl and Lori, I went back to the hospital,” he said, staring at his hands. “Tried callin’ you too but you weren’t pickin’ up. And when I got there, it was chaos. Doctors runnin’ round, nurses screamin’, people gettin’ chewed up right then and there… And then I see the army and they start to gun them down. Not only the walkers, the civilians too. The fuckin’... The nurses, the patients, and… Yeah. I had to hide, then I got to the room. Rick was… Just layin’ there. There were all these wires, machines, all that. An’ he looked like hell. Worse’n hell.”
Shane’s hands kept tearing at the grass, the pieces falling into his lap. He didn’t look at you, almost like he couldn’t.
“They were quarantinin’ the town, lockin’ it down, and anybody inside that hospital was already dead as far as they were concerned. So… When I got to his room, the machines switched off. I tried to wake him. Shook him, yelled at him, the whole nine yards. Nothin’. No pulse. Nothin’.” He stopped. His hands were still. “Held his goddamn hand. Told him I was sorry. I swear to you, I couldn’t hear anythin’, no heartbeat. The power went out, I thought he flatlined.”
He wouldn’t look at you still. He looked up towards the forest line instead and he stared down those trees like he could see all the way back to King County from here. You knew what he was thinking—Should’ve kept my mouth shut. You could see it in his face.
“So I sealed the door,” he continued. “Left him there. Didn’t have a choice. Couldn’t bring a body through that shootout. Couldn’t… And you, you were in Atlanta. But you were supposed to be next. I was supposed to find you after, I was gonna get you.”
“So you left him?!” You hit his arm—hard—and he let you. Wouldn’t even stop you. “You left him!”
“Yeah, I left him!” He reached for you when you hit him again and grabbed your arm since apparently even he had a limit when it came to self-loathing. “I’m a piece of shit, okay? Wouldn’t search Atlanta neither. Came only as close as the highway before I spotted the first horde and went right back around.”
You went silent for a long while and Shane stewed in it, feeling horrible. You sat there, seething with anger, then yanked your hand away from his reach.
“I can’t believe you.”
“Babygirl, listen…”
You hit him, again, barely grazing his chin. “I fuckin’ hate you!”
You got up and marched right out of there, stomping through the dried grass that was at thigh-length so far out in the field. But Shane followed. He caught up to you in three limping strides and grabbed your arm, spinning you back toward him.
“No,” he spat out, seriously pissed off now. “No, you don’t get to do that. You don’t get to drag it outta me and then run off with your hands over your ears like a fuckin’ kid!”
You tried to yank free, but he held on.
“You wanted the truth!” he hissed. “You stood there and you told me to tell you. So I told you! You don’t get to act surprised now.”
“Let go of me,” you said
“Not till you look at me.”
“Fuck you, Shane.”
“Yeah,” he shot back, smiling coldly. “Probably. Go ahead. Hit me again. I deserve it. But don’t you dare walk away from me.”
You knew most of the camp wasn’t really that far away and this fight, this thing between you and Shane, it was way too entertaining to pass on. They were all probably listening and you tried your best not to yell.
“Let. Go.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I know what I am. So now you know too. And you hate me for it, and let me tell you somethin’, okay, you should hate me. Rick should hate me too, I think deep down he already suspects.”
You highly doubted Rick knew anything, but then again… You also knew Shane’s self-loathing went deep. Ever since his mother left them, Shane’s alcoholic father never failed to mention it was because she “never wanted any kids”.
“You think I don’t replay that goddamn hospital room every time I close my eyes?” he asked. “‘Cause I do.”
“Yeah,” you scoffed. “But then you went to get Her Majesty, of course!”
Shane frowned, deeply confused now. “Yeah. I did. Got her out, Carl too.”
“Yeah.” You nodded, your face bitter. “But not me.”
“The hell’s Lori got to do with it?”
“Everything!”
Shane stared at you like you just slapped him again. “She was right there. Hiding in her car, with Carl. And so what, I was supposed to, what, leave them? Let the army gun ‘em down so I could drive into the middle of Atlanta and find you?”
You considered it, really considered, and ultimately decided Shane didn’t deserve all that shit you were giving him for it. It wasn’t fair. Your issue with Lori wasn’t even about him. It was all about Rick and how she twisted him around her finger, made him bend over backwards for her while never being satisfied anyway.
It was all about the divorce papers you discovered at their house, done and drafted while your brother lay dying in a coma.
You didn’t answer. Finally, after a long moment, you spoke:
“I’m sorry. If you went in there, into the city, you’d either be bit and roaming or burned to a crisp.”
He clenched his jaw so hard it must have hurt.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “Know that now, don’t I? But back then I had no plan and no way to reach you. Called you near every damn day until your phone went to static, then nothin’. So I buried you. Both of you. In here.” He tapped two fingers against his temple. “Built a box and put you in it and walked away. That’s what you gotta do. That’s how you keep movin’.”
Shane finally looked at you and a million thoughts raced through his head.
“I can’t go through buryin’ you again. I won’t.”
You were both silent now and you were all out of punches.
In all honesty, you’d rather walk into a herd of walkers than let Shane Walsh see you cry, but somehow the tears came regardless.
“I don’t know what the hell you want me to say to that, Shane, ‘cause…”
“Nah,” he grunted, impatient. “I don’t want you to say a goddamn thing, but I know you hate me now. So just fuckin’ say what you mean or I swear I’ll lose it.”
Fair. He just spilled his guts and you were being a coward about it. Even if you never liked this mushy shit.
“Jesus, I don’t hate you. I had you in a box too, okay?” You sniffed. “You and Rick. Mom and Dad. Everyone. Whole goddamn graveyard up here.”
You wiped your eyes quickly, but not quickly enough.
“Hey, don’t…” He hated tears. Especially from you. It made him feel useless, made his skin itch, made him want to punch something just to feel useful again.
“Yeah, c’mon,” he grunted roughly then lifted one hand and hesitated, like you were going to vanish if he touched you. He swiped his finger hard across your cheek. It was all too firm, a little desperate, like he was trying to wipe away the proof from your face that this conversation ever happened.
For a long while, you both just stood there. But after a few moments of quiet passed, Shane leaned forward and you noticed he no longer had that hollow look about him.
“I shoulda found you,” he said, quieter.
“No, Shane, listen—”
“Nah, babygirl, I shoulda went down there and looked for you.”
That was the pet name he reserved only for you. It made your chest do something stupid.
“I let myself believe you were gone ‘cause it was easier.”
“Oh yeah?” You scoffed. “And what were you supposed to do then, leave the quarry, run back to Atlanta, then what? You didn’t even know where I lived.”
“I did.”
You stared at him, confused. “What?”
“It’s ‘cause…” He sighed. “After you left, I lasted maybe a week. Went ‘round your house, begged your address outta your mamma. Jesus, the shit she gave me for it…” He huffed out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, I never wrote you, but I had it.”
The tips of his ears were red. You could tell he hated every minute of that talk. He felt stripped naked, and he hated that you managed to do this to him just by asking.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he muttered.
“Like what?”
“I just told you I had a goddamn address, not a fuckin’ poem.”
You laughed quietly and shoved him, just lightly, like you always did when he got you flustered. “Okay, fine.”
“Fine?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.” He poked your arm, now a little more playful than dead serious from before. “But you see how none of it ain’t right? That… Ain’t what I promised you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Yeah.” He laughed, quietly, like he was afraid the others shouldn’t be seeing him like that. “You don’t remember? Hell, I’ll never forget. Rick and me, we promised your mama we’d walk you home from school, ‘cause you were gettin’ bullied. But we weren’t payin’ attention, talkin’ ‘bout some girl or a game or some dumb shit. We’re nearly there in the parking lot, next thing I know, you’re on the ground. Some bigger boys poked some fun at you, tore your backpack, I think. Ripped your shirt. You tried to fight them alone and I wasn’t quick enough to stop them.”
“Yeah, okay.” You cleared your throat, trying to choke down whatever sentiment that threatened to creep up on you. “I remember. We can stop talkin’ about it now.”
“You were what, yea high, twelve years old, hands on your hips, blood runnin’ down your nose, and you were lookin’ at me like you were the sheriff and I was the one in trouble.”
“Jesus, stop,” you muttered, embarrassed. But at least now you were both smiling.
Shane was quiet for a moment, watching your face so intently like you were the only thing in the world worth his attention.
“You wanna know the part you don’t remember?” he asked.
You made a face. “There’s a part I don’t remember?”
“Yeah.” Shane rubbed the back of his neck, glancing toward the farmhouse again. “Rick walked you the rest of the way home. Told your mama you fell off your bike.” He paused. “I went back.”
“Back where?”
“Back to those boys.”
“Let me guess… To beat the shit outta them?”
He didn’t answer, which was as good as an admission. Sometimes Shane would get this look in his eyes, like the one he had now. Something deeper, darker inside him took over and that angry blackness didn’t bother him at all. But still, you were pretty sure you were the only one able to glimpse it so openly. It was like he wanted you to see it and ask if you’d stay or go.
“Found ‘em behind the gas station. Two of ‘em. Big bastards, thought they were real tough. One of them, I broke his arm,” he said, almost casually. “The other one, I don’t remember exactly. Maybe a rib.”
“Shane…”
“Don’t ‘Shane’ me. They hurt you. They didn’t get to do that to you and walk away from it.”
The wind stirred the dry grass around you, whispering, carrying a fresher scent. You moved closer to rest your head against his shoulder and you saw Shane wanted to retreat immediately—probably fuck off right back to the camp, back to pretending he was just an asshole with a gun.
But he didn’t. His hand lifted, hovered, then settled against your back with too much force.
“Is that why you had a broken nose the next day?” you asked.
“Nah,” he smiled, just barely. “That was… My old man, he beat the shit outta me for fightin’.”
Your head snapped up and your face must have been horrified, because he gripped you tighter.
“Wasn’t bad, c’mon. He hit like a drunk, missed everythin’ important.”
He stared at you for a second, then let out a startled laugh. “Jesus Christ, girl… Only you.”
Finally, after that prolonged moment of holding each other, but not quite, Shane cleared his throat and took a small step back.
“I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do with you being here,” he said.
“Why’d you think you gotta do anythin’ at all?”
He huffed out a breath. “‘Cause it’s what I do. I gotta do somethin’. And everything I’ve done since King County… I told myself it was for the group. For Carl. For your brother. But now I ain’t so sure.”
“So maybe it was?” you muttered, getting way too unwilling to discuss the difficult things anymore.
“Some,” Shane agreed, reluctantly. “But some of it was ‘cause I wanted to be the cop again. Be in charge. Some of the reckless shit, I reckon it’s ‘cause I thought you were dead and I didn’t give a damn what happened next.”
You pulled away then and poked him right in the chest, harder than you meant to. “Don’t you fuckin’ do that.”
Shane looked genuinely puzzled. “What?”
“I can hear it in your goddamn tone. You wanna give up and go all Terminator or some shit.”
“Hey…”
“No,” you interrupted quickly. “You start talkin’ like that again and I’m gonna break your other leg.”
“Yeah, I’d wanna see you do that,” he snorted. “Christ, you talk big for somebody half my size.”
“You know I mean it.”
“Sure.”
“Stop pissin’ me off!”
“Nah.” He reached out and pulled you back towards him. “Ain’t gonna happen.”
And then, just like that, he kissed you. His hand was still at the back of your neck and he pulled you closer. At first, you were too shocked to really do anything.
For a moment or two, Shane tensed up, like he knew he fucked up and doubted this would end well for anybody involved.
But you finally found your courage and kissed him back. You grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him towards you, and Shane stopped thinking altogether. He kissed you harder, to make up for the twenty-odd years of wanting you and keeping his hands to himself.
As for you, you finally had what you wanted too and didn’t care about anything else. Just this, you and Shane, hiding out in that damn meadow like two teenagers, trying to shut out the world and everyone else around you.
Shane ran his fingers through your hair and refused to let go. He wanted to touch more. Wanted to leave marks on your skin where your brother and everyone else could see them. Maybe he really was losing it. Or maybe some part of him still believed you would disappear if he ever lost sight of you again.
He broke away first, still catching his breath, and you let out a small whine of protest. Shane huffed out a quiet laugh at that sound and pressed his forehead against yours.
“If you tell me somethin’ stupid like ‘we should stop this’ or mention my brother, I swear to God, Shane, I’ll sic that rooster on you, I will.”
He looked at you, incredulous. “Jesus, woman, can you stop with the threats for one goddamn second?”
“Nuh-huh,” you muttered into the collar of his flannel, refusing to let go of him. “No can do.”
“Alright then.”
Then his mouth was on yours again. Slower this time. You made a sound and his tongue slid against yours, deliberate and insistent. After a while of just this, just you kissing, Shane broke the kiss with a curse, breathing hard. Then he leaned in again and dragged his mouth down the line of your neck.
“Don’t you dare leave now,” you sighed.
“We can’t.”
“Don’t care.”
“Goddamn it, woman, I can see the goddamn RV from here. Dale’s got binoculars and nothin’ better to do with his time.”
That made you laugh, even though you still weren’t introduced to any of these people and had no idea which one exactly was Dale and which was Daryl. Not that you cared.
“Fine.” You yanked on his hair and made Shane bend down to look you in the eye. “But what the hell do we do now?”
He saw that hungry glint in your eyes and it hit him that he had seen it before. Back when everything between you was even weirder and he had to hold himself back even harder. But now there was no more fight left in him. In fact, what was left of his common sense was trying to make a run for it.
“What we do now,” he said, “is we get the hell outta this field, ‘cause I already know these people got nothin’ better to do than gossip. And then you an’ me are gonna survive this shit.”
“Oh yeah?” You took his hand when he offered. “You got a plan brewin’ between those big ears or somethin’?”
Shane snorted and squeezed your hand, maybe a bit too hard. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with my ears, smartass. Always heard you comin’ after me from the other end of the hallway, didn’t I?”
Shane started to walk back towards the house, limping a bit. He made it maybe five steps before he had to stop and adjust his weight.
“I’m fine,” he muttered, before you could say anything.
“Didn’t say nothin’.”
“You were gonna.”
“Maybe I was gonna offer to carry your stubborn ass back.”
Shane let out a laugh. “Sure. You weigh what, a buck twenty soakin’ wet?”
“Keep talkin’. I know where you sleep now.”
He looked down at you. His eyes dropped to your mouth again. Then he grunted and kept walking, trying to put a respectable distance between you before somebody with working eyes and a big mouth happened to look your way sgain. Except that he refused to let go of your hand.
“You don’t know where I sleep,” he said. “I don’t even know where I’m sleepin’ yet. Hershel’s still figurin’ out how to throw us out.”
“Us?”
“Yeah. My group. Rick’s group. Whatever the hell we’re callin’ it now.”
You laughed, exasperated. Shane glared at you.
“Whole point is,” he continued, “you can’t sneak up on me if I don’t got a fixed location. So there.”
“You’re ridiculous,” you said, still laughing.
“And you’re a pain in my ass. We established this.”
“I wasn’t gonna launch some guerilla warfare on you!”
“See, now you mentioned it, I ain’t so sure.”
You were almost by the porch now and Shane let go of your hand. Dale stood there, holding rope and trying to coil it into neat loops. The old man’s eyes moved from Shane to you and back again. You could already see Shane tensing.
“Mornin’,” Dale said.
“Mornin’,” you answered.
Shane just muttered something.
“Rick’s askin’ for his sister.” Dale informed you. “I’m guessin’ that must be you?”
“Yeah,” you said. “That’d be me.”
You noticed Shane watching Dale like the old man was a rattlesnake waiting in tall grass, but you decided not to comment.
“Go on,” Shane said to you, jerking his chin toward the door.
You went up the stairs, but turned around before you entered the house and gave Shane a quick look.
“Don’t be an idiot,” you said.
“Too late,” Shane replied.
You rolled your eyes and disappeared inside. Dale went back to coiling his rope. Shane stood there a moment longer, then let out a sharp huff through his nose, like a dog warning someone off its bone.
“Nice morning,” Dale said, his tone still breezy.
Shane grunted.
“Good to see the boy pullin’ through.”
“Somethin’ on your mind, Dale?”
Dale finished coiling the rope and set it down on the porch railing. “Just noticed you and the young lady seemed awful familiar with one another for folks who just met.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve known her since she was six.” Shane’s hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing hard.
Dale just stared and now they were both surprised that Shane shared anything with him so voluntarily.
“Yeah, nevermind all that. Tell you what, you got a point you’re workin’ toward here, Dale? ‘Cause I got a busted ankle and a long list of shit to do, and chit-chat ain’t on it.”
“Just makin’ conversation.” Dale picked up his rope, slinging it over one shoulder. “But since you ask… This group’s holding by a thread as it is. Rick comes back, we find this farm, now his sister turns up too. Lots of threads gettin’ tangled.”
“Tangled…” Shane repeated, shaking his head. “Ain’t nothin’ tangled, it’s all pretty damn simple. Rick’s family. That makes her my family. End of story.”
Dale looked at him for a long moment, absolutely not buying anything Shane was selling.
“Best get that ankle looked at,” Dale said finally, carefully stepping down the porch steps. “Wouldn’t want you slowin’ us down if we need you.”
pov: rural Arkansas. Just him, you, nothing to do. You were (more than) a little bit in love with Grady Travis. You still have no idea he'll never return from the war.
