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discodinosaur · 25 days ago

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➳ Talk So Sweet (Doin' Bad Things)

↳ the last of us | explicit | manny alvarez/reader | 10.1k | complete

Summary: It was common knowledge that you and Manny did not get on. But, after a run goes awry, you're the one patching him, and if disliked you that much, how come he's told his dad all about you?

--Or-- A slow descent into falling in love with the person you hate the most.

A lot of people knew that you and Manny did not gel well. It didn’t take a lot to work out between the icy glares, the cold shoulders and, sometimes, going as far as pretending the other didn’t exist.

Which ideally wasn’t the best for the rest of your little group. You hadn’t been part of the Firefly’s when they fell but you had known of Marlene, whisperings about her initiative and what would happen if she set foot in Seattle or even came across the WLF. Yet when the ex-Firefly’s arrived, you had taken them under your wing and in return, you became one with their group, though you figured that sharing a room with Leah had something to do with it.

Which brings you to now, sat in the corner of the mess hall with a greasy rag, absently wiping it over your pistol while Nora and Manny are at each other’s throats for what must be the third time this week.

“—You’re not going to tell Isaac shit,” Nora spits at him, spoon clenched tightly in her fist as she glares daggers at Manny.

Manny leans over the table, leering at her, “Sure, that his senior medic is shirking her duties to what? Bunk off with the armourer?”

Ohh, of course. It would be you that Manny has a problem with. If this was Abby or Mel, you can guarantee he wouldn’t have an issue with it. But you? That man has had it out for you the moment you spoke to him. Besides, you’d had this job cleared for days, a simple supply run and one that would be beneficial to the med-bay too. It’s just Manny being typical Manny that he needs Nora’s help now of all times.

“But it’s fine when you do it to get a piece of skirt, right? Besides, I’m not shirking off any duties.” Nora swings back easily, leaning back on the bench. “Never thought you of all people would be one to tattle to Isaac. Like even has time for you if it’s not Scar related.”

Manny’s jaw ticks and you can feel the anger rolling off him in waves, most of it directed straight at you.

“Nora, it’s fine. I can ask Owen to come with me,” you try, attempting to placate both of them, but Nora holds up a hand to stop you.

“No, no. You did get it cleared, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she turns back to Manny with a sickly sweet smile, “so take Mel with you.”

Manny jumps up from the table, jolting it so the cutlery rattles and he swears in Spanish. You glance up as he shoves his hands in his pockets and storms out of the mess hall.

“He really has it out for you, huh?” Nora asks with a shake of her head.

“Yup, something like that. I’ll meet you down the armoury in ten.”

You wait for Nora down in the armoury, leaning against the wall with the guns already signed out, while Olive, another armourer who trained under you, talks your ear off about the guy she’s seeing. Eric, you think his name is.

And then in comes Manny, closely followed by a hesitant looking Mel. She gives you a half smile as Manny struts over towards Olive. He doesn’t even glance in your direction, not when Olive asks you about Manny’s usual, nor when you slip back behind the desk to collect his shotgun and extra ammo. He clenches his jaw, white-knuckling the shotgun and nods his head to Olive in thanks.

Mel, ever the peacekeeper, apologises when Manny’s out of earshot, taking her pistol and rifle with a grateful thanks to you both and hurries after him with Bear in tow, barking excitedly at her heels.

“You should’ve given him an empty box of ammo,” Olive says quietly to you, eyes on the two of them heading towards a truck.

You snort, “Because that would go down so well when he gets back.”

“He can be so awful sometimes.”

“Dude probably just needs to get laid,” you shrug and then spot Nora making her way towards you and bid Olive a hasty goodbye.

It was late. Later than you usually stayed down in the armoury. But with Danny, Owen and Manny coming back later than predicted from their run, all three looking pissed, you silently took their weapons from them, cleaning them down and letting the three of them cool off in their own way. Owen had tried to help; lingering back and making small talk but you had taken the box of ammo from his hands and sent him on his way towards Abby knowing she’d appreciate his presence more.

You swung the keys to armoury on the keyring around your finger, waiting for whoever was in the shooting range to finish up and leave. But the minutes ticked by, the shots still fired and your eyes were heavy with tiredness.

Six more shots sounded and you gripped the keys tight in your hand, quietly going inside and let out a sigh at the sight of Manny in the end stall. Ear protection forgone and muttering to himself in Spanish as he reloads the pistol. You winced as he emptied it one by one into the target without hesitation.

“Manny.”

He either ignores you or doesn’t hear you as the gun clicks empty and he mutters again, throwing in another twelve rounds into the pistol and firing them off one by one, you count them as you hear the cartridges clink to the floor.

“¡Déjame en paz!”

You lean against the door, exasperated as he fumbles and picks up the ammo shells on the floor.

“Manny. I need to lock up,” you tell him firmly. The last thing you want is to get into an argument with him now. Both of you obviously exhausted, words would sting a little more and no holds would be barred for the slew of curses that could leave you.

“Need me to fucking translate for you?”

The frustration rolls off the two of you in waves and you chew on your lip, strutting over and collecting up the pistol and the handful of unused ammo. As you pull back, Manny’s hand wraps around your wrist and your eyes find the smear of dried blood on his knuckles, over his sleeves and up onto his neck. Your lips parting in surprise when you see the slice over his cheek, the split in his lip and the purple undertones of a bruise blossoming on his jaw.

“The fuck happened to you?” you ask before you can stop yourself.

“Nothing,” he snaps, turning away from you.

“Bullshit, Manny, look at your face! You should’ve gone to the med—”

“No. I don’t need to go to the med-bay. It’s just a small cut, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

He hasn’t let go of your wrist and the longer you stare at him, the more he starts to wilt under your hard gaze. He turns back to you, meeting your eyes and his grip loosens around your wrist. He lets out another sigh, and runs his other hands through his already rumpled hair. “I’m not going to the med-bay because Mel and Nora will just ask questions. I’ve had worse, now stop fussing over me.”

You wretch your wrist out of his grasp. “Suit yourself. But you’re in my shooting range.”

His throat bobs, jaw ticking as he glares at you with unspoken curses. But Manny turns away without so much as a jab, clearing up the mess of ammo spilling onto the bench. He’s silent, and when he speaks you almost miss it.

“Scars.”

You stop, turning on your heel, keys clenched tightly in your fist. “What about ‘em?”

Manny continues to hastily put away the ammo, fingers scurrying over the stray bullets, jaw set as he stares at the box. “They jumped us just past the park. We didn’t see them until they had the upper and then you can put together what happened after.”

“The park? Isn’t that supposed to be–”

“Exactly,” he nods, eyes flicking to you, dark under the fluorescent lighting. “Which is another reason I can’t go to the med bay. It was Isaac’s idea. If anyone else finds out they’ll be an uproar.”

“Of course it was Isaac,” you mutter under your breath and you clip the keyring onto your belt loop, stepping forwards towards him. “I have a med-kit down here that Nora restocked the other day. I’m not a doctor but I know how to treat a cut.”

Manny seems torn, an internal back and forth going on in his head and in the end he shakes his head with a swear in Spanish. “Fine. But make it quick.”

“Wouldn’t want to drag this out, Alvarez,” you sigh and fetch the small first aid kit. Your hand reaches out tentatively, cupping his cheek to turn his head towards you to get a better look at the cut. With an alcohol soaked cloth, you dab at it and Manny hisses at the initial sting.

“Did you kill them?”

“Course. I’m not Isaac’s top Scar killer for nothing.”

You thin your lips and say nothing as you clean up the mess of dried blood on his skin, feeling his quickening pulse as you wipe his neck, thinking nothing more than it being the adrenaline. You take a half step back and assess him quickly for any other injuries, turning him by his shoulders and noticing the wince as he turns to his left. His jacket, half open, does nothing to hide the creeping stain of blood that’s blossoming on his grey shirt.

“What happened there?”

He looks down, following where you’re looking and has the decency to shrug.

“Knife wound maybe?”

You roll your eyes at his unhelpful replies and pull his shirt where the wound is, scrunching it up just below his ribs. If he would just let you help him without being a pain in the ass then this would go over a lot smoother.

“I have some gauze…”

He says nothing but holds his shirt up as you gather the gauze and medical tape, your hands skating over his warm body as you take your time to make sure he’s not in any pain.

“If that doesn’t heal overnight, go to Mel or Nora, you might need stitches.”

“It’s not a stab would,” he says, smoothing over the gauze. “You’re just stubborn.”

“I’m stubborn?” you ask, clicking the kit shut and wiping your hands on your cargos.

“Si.”

You almost smile at him but you remember where you are and who you’re with and the urge to get out overwhelms you so you pick up his discarded gun and med-kit then hurry out of the shooting range.

“Turn the light off when you’re done.”

After that night in the shooting range, Manny starts to avoid you. To begin with, you hadn’t even noticed it, not with how the two of you skirt around each other, always trying to dodge the other if you can and with Manny spending a lot of mealtimes with his dad, and you down in the workshop, it didn’t even cross your mind.

It was Owen that noticed it first, the second week in while you were sat in the usual corner of the mess hall, Mel on his left and Leah sandwiched between you.

“You ever see much of Manny nowadays? He’s not joined us as much since we came back from that run the other week.”

Your head snapped up and you followed Owen’s gaze to the other side of the hall where Manny was sat with his dad, turned towards and gesturing with his hands as he spoke. You kept your mouth shut, let the other three speculate as you turned it over in your head.

But the more you dwell on it, the more it ate you up. You had been with him last that day, patching him up and he had retaliated with what? Avoiding you? Did he really dislike you that much that he would start ignoring his friends?

So what you do instead is grab one of the breakfast burritos in the early morning, when barely anyone is around and head to the gym, seeking out Abby. Because if anyone understands him, it’s her.

To your surprise, she’s not there and you chew your lip as you remember the few spots she has tucked away that she goes to that’s not her room. Finally, you check the library, and on first glance it looks empty. If it weren’t for the collection of ottomans pushed together, you would call it a morning and leave it.

But you know Abby better than that and beeline for ottoman’s where sure enough she’s sat hunched over, reading one of the old battered books on the shelf.

“Morning,” you greet her quietly, waving the burrito in her direction. “I thought I’d find you in the gym this morning.”

She shrugs with one shoulder and marks her page, dog earring the corner and takes the burrito. “Eh, I could do with a rest and Manny asked for the room last night. These ottomans do nothing for your neck.”

You try not to think about Manny asking for the room to be alone with someone else. You really do, but lately your mind is on him a lot more than usual – probably just something to do with that he’s been avoiding you.

“Does he seem like he’s avoiding you?”

Abby chews thoughtfully and then shakes her head. “No, he seems the same to me. But Owen did mention it too the other day. He has asked for the room a lot more than usual though.”

“It was Owen that made me notice it,” you admit, and sit cross legged on the ottoman next to her. “I saw him when he came back from that run with Owen. He spent some time in the shooting range, taking it out on one of the targets.”

The corner’s of Abby’s lips turn up into a small smile, “Yeah, he did mention that. We haven’t talked a whole lot about it if I’m honest. Owen hasn’t even let up about what the hell happened out there.”

You don’t bother to let on about patching him up. Both of you keeping it to yourselves but she does ease your mind and you manage not to think about him. You move on to other things, asking her about her workouts are going, being careful to pry too much into the details.

You leave Abby, heading back down to the mess hall to grab something for yourself before a long day down in the armoury. The amount of people going out on runs today was insane compared to usual, you figure that Isaac must be planning something soon with the amount of intel he’s gathering.

Just as you find a table for yourself, your eye catches on the shaky wave of José and your expression softens. Manny might be intolerable, but his dad is a sweetheart and always makes an effort with you. You slip into the chair next to him and you can’t help but worry your lip at how bad his hands seem today.

“How have you been? I haven’t seen much of you recently, I think you’ve been hiding from me,” he asks you, a warm smile on his face and you can’t help but smile back at him.

“Not hiding from you,” you say softly, “just… busy, you know? You seem well, though, how are you hands?”

“Oh, you know, some days are better than others. I’ve been meaning to thank you, by the way. For patching Manny up the other week.”

You splutter around your bite of food and blink at José, “huh?” you say, rather stupidly. Manny told his dad about you, but not Abby.

José smiles at you and pats your hand. “He told me about the run in he had and said that you were the one to find him down in the shooting range.”

“Oh… yeah I did but–”

“I know he’s not the best with words and can be a stubborn mule sometimes. But thank you, I appreciate you looking out for him.”

“It was nothing, mister Alvarez,” you say sincerely. “He just looked in a bad way and it was getting late. If I’m honest I just wanted to lock up.”

He smiles warmly at you again and grasps the top of your hand. “I know my son, and for what it’s worth I’m sorry he can be such a brat around you.”

You thin your mouth into what you hope passes for a smile, unsure of what to say because Manny can be so much more than a brat to you.

“Dad, have you—”

Manny cuts himself off as soon as he sees you and easily ignores you as he passes to sit on the other side of his dad. José gives you a good-natured eye-roll and turns to his son, saying something in quiet Spanish. Manny glances at you, replies back to his dad and turns his body to him. You feel like you’re intruding as Manny takes José’s hands in his own, turning them over and gently massaging his palms.

“I should go,” you say quietly to José and scrunch the foil from your burrito into a ball.

“Don’t be a stranger. You should come sit with me more often.”

You look between him and Manny, who’s not paying you any attention and nod slowly, “Promise, sir.”

And you meant it. But the whole way down to the armoury, José’s words about that night in the shooting range bounce around in your mind.

Being out in the field was a nice reprieve from being in the armoury. It gave the time to work on your aim and what modifications were working and which one weren’t. Today just happened to be the day that Manny, of all the people, was assigned partner on the run. You had tried to swap with Leah, even Abby but both of them were on higher priority jobs than you.

Just your luck.

When you got a glance at him in the mess hall that morning. He didn’t look particularly thrilled at the idea either and when he caught your eye, he bowed his head to talk with his dad. You had loaded your pistol forcefully and shoved it into your holster, not even giving Manny a second glance while he collected his own weapons later. You signed out a truck and started the ignition, letting it idle while you waited.

“You’ll waste the gas if you keep doing that,” Manny snipes, climbing in beside you and shutting his door with more force than strictly necessary.

You ignore him, rolling your eyes and the wheels spin as you overdo it on the pull away. Good, let him know he’s already pissed you off. You stop briefly at the gates and then put your foot to the floor on the Seattle roads. Neither of you say a word to each other on the way to the old garment factory, both of you too stubborn to acknowledge the other. Manny is stiff as a board when you glance over, head turned to stare out the window.

Getting in was easy. Both of you agreeing, without so many words, that stealth was the better option here. It had only just been scouted out earlier in the week – supplies that you could use but also a number of infected roaming the narrow hallways. This had to be a silent in and out job.

You took down two runners right away, approaching them from behind and forcing your knife into their throat, cutting at the muscle and sinew, letting them fall with a thud to the floor as Manny took out another. His method wasn’t as practised as yours, getting its attention and then jumping it. Even in stealth, he’s attracted to the violence and threat of getting caught.

Both of you keep your steps light and your flashlights pointing down as you make your way through the hallways, avoiding the factory floor as much as possible. Manny covers you as you pick the lock, crouching down, ear straining to hear the telltale click.

It’s when you open the door that everything seems to go wrong. The door swings open, knocking into an old, beat up filing cabinet that echoes around the room. Both you and Manny freeze. The second thing you notice is the ear-splitting screech of a clicker that looms out of the darkness.

Manny grabs your arm, fingers digging into the soft flesh as he pulls you out of your stunned silence. “Run, fucking run!” he calls to you and you become aware of your feet, dragging them to a sprint down a different corridor.

You turn, unloading a clip from your rifle into the nearest oncoming onslaught of infected. Runners fall like dominoes, and a clicker halts, head drooping as you shoot the fungus clean off, giving you both a few seconds to make distance.

The rifle clicks, out of ammo and you turn, sprinting with all you have down the rest of the corridor towards the bolted door. Manny is just two steps ahead, and rams his shoulder against the lock, forcing it open and grunting as he squeezes through the small gap. You see his hands on the door, fingers tense as he tries to hold it open but it’s too heavy and it shuts on you, slamming into place.

You reach for your handgun, popping two bullets into the stalker that’s crept up on you and you watch as it convulses on the floor before throwing yourself against the door, hand pushing on the handle. But it doesn’t budge.

“No, no,” you mutter, shouldering it again and clinging onto the handle. “Manny? Manny!”

“The mechanism is busted,” his voice sounds from the other side, just as panic stricken. “I’m trying.”

“Manny, open the door. Open the fucking door right now!”

Fear seizes you. Your hands trembling as you check the clip in your hand gun and you let out a whimper as you count the measly seven bullets you have left. That’s hardly enough to take out the whole corridor. Maybe this is how it ends for you, at the hands of infected all because a fucking door won’t open.

“Fuck… fuck!” you mutter, blood rushing in your ears and tears spilling down your cheeks. This is not how it was supposed to go. Not here, not a run with Manny of all people. You flatten yourself against the door and grip your gun with both hands, though it does nothing to stop the sway of the pistol. You count each bullet, chest heaving as you face death head on.

One. A runner hit in the shoulder, dropping to the floor and using its hands to crawl towards you, gurgling and thrashing on the floor.

Two. The runner goes silent, one final yelp and it stills. The door up head bursts open with the noise only a shambler could make, lolloping to one side from the weight of the pustules.

Three and four – both miss. The bloodcurdling, throaty hisses from a clicker and whines from stalkers join the shambler as they barrel down the corridor straight for you.

Five. Hits one of the stalkers and it lets out a scream, crawling up into the vents out of your sight.

Six. Another miss and tears blur your vision, your heart hammering in your chest. There’s nothing that can help you now.

Seven. You close your eyes, not seeing where the bullet lands and slide down the door, trying to make yourself as small as possible.

Your back gives out, and you fall backwards into nothing. There’s the sound of a slam somewhere in the room and then something is grabbing you under your arms. You thrash, trying to fight it.

“No!” you sob, pushing yourself against the wall.

“It’s me, it’s Manny.”

You breath catches in your throat and you use your sleeve to wipe at your eyes, blinking through the tears. His eyes are wide, cheeks drained of any colour as he raises his hands, palms up.

“Manny?”

“It’s me. I’ve got you. I need you to breathe.”

You keep your eyes on his hands as he slowly and carefully brings them down to hold your shoulders. He gives you a pointed look and you follow his lead, a deep breath in and then out. He repeats this until you’ve got it under control.

Feud, rivalry, some unspoken third thing between you be damned. You breathing catches in your throat and he steps into your space, one arm wrapping around you, placing his palm on the small of your back and you let your head fall into the crook his neck.

He’s murmuring in Spanish, other hand cupping the nape of your neck and his body swaying gently. You fit against him like he’s been waiting for this moment.

You want to be embarrassed, and maybe sometime in the future you’ll start to avoid him. But if he had been seconds later, you would’ve died. Right now, all you want is to be held. And Manny does, without any complaint or any offhand comment. He wraps you in his arms and lets you cry.

“You’re okay,” he murmurs in English. “You’re safe. Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

Infected throw themselves against the sealed door, muffled screeches and bang echoing around the room but all you can feel right now is Manny. His solid frame, his voice soft as he repeats over and over how sorry he is. You inhale deeply, getting gunpowder and citrus from his jacket and open your eyes and stepping back from him.

His hands cover yours, his eyes searching your face as you take a few deep, controlled breaths on your own. You’re alive. You weren’t savagely ripped apart and you’ve had much worse than this. You pull one of your hands free from his to wipe over your face.

“Why are you sorry?” you ask him eventually, your voice croaky and rough from all the tears.

“Because if I had wasted another minute trying to open that fucking door you wouldn’t be standing right in front of me.”

“But I’m here,” you tell him and squeeze his hand. “I’m right here.”

The door bangs again, louder this time and you pull on Manny’s hand. “We need to get to the supply cupboard,” you say, as if the past five minutes didn’t happen.

He looks at you wildly and shakes his head. “Are you insane? Fuck the supply cupboard!”

“We came here for a supply run.”

Manny’s not listening to you, he pushes aside one of the cabinets covering the exit and peers down the short hallway. “We’re getting out of here.”

“Manny–”

“No.”

He grabs your hand again, leading the way down the hallway. You have no idea where you even are, it’s too easy to get turned around in a place like this.

“We’ll go out one of the fire exits, should be easier to find the truck,” he says, walking slightly ahead of you. You nod numbly and follow him. You mind is buzzing with what just happened, between the infected almost getting to you to Manny holding you like you were something precious.

The sunlight attacks your eyes as soon as you step outside and you use your hand to shield your eyes while Manny barricades the door. You sweep the overgrown parking lot and don’t notice anything out of the ordinary then Manny taps your shoulder, pointing down the side of the building. You nod, and the two of you scurry through the weeds and fallen debris until you see the truck and your heart eases at the sight of it.

“Keys?” you hear him ask and you fumble the ring on your belt loop, unclipping it and handing it to him, silently getting into the passenger side.

Just like the drive there, neither of you say a word to each other, except the roles seem to have been reversed, and now it’s your turn to stare out the window. You know that you should be keeping an eye out but there’s still a tremor to your hands that you can’t quite shake and you want nothing more than to be back at the stadium, curled up in your bed. You just hope that luck is on your side and Leah doesn’t ask questions or, even better, she’s staying with Jordan for the night.

Fortunately for you, she’s not there when you get back. You’d dropped off your weapons, feigning a smile and a humourless laugh as Steve tries to joke with you, making a quick getaway with the excuse of needing a shower. But the walk up to your room, the seemingly endless flights of stairs to your level feels never-ending. You’ve never been so glad for the silence that greets you when your door swings open.

In a daze, you drop your pack off in the small kitchenette and grab your wash bag. You don’t remember the walk to the showers, or the hot water pelting down on your back. Getting back to your room is a blur, but when you crawl under the comforter and your head hits the pillow, you’re out like a light.

The knocking does not stop, and it worms it’s way into your dream – an incessant rap against wood that sounds like a timer, counting down the amount of ammo you had left in your pistol as the memory plays over and over in your unconsciousness. You wake with a start, sitting up and squeezing your eyes shut, hoping that whoever is on the other side of the door just gets the hint already.

When they don’t stop, you groan and swing your legs over the side of the bed and pad barefoot over the worn carpet. You grab the key, forcing it into the lock and the door swings open.

Abby, maybe, you expected. Nora, even Mel. But you certainly did not expect Manny to be on the other side of the door. Especially not holding a foil-wrapped dish and with his hair sticking up in disarray as though he’s ran his hand through it one too many times.

“Manny?” you ask, blinking at him to make sure that you’re definitely not seeing things.

“I noticed you weren’t at dinner,” he shrugs, looking way out of his depth and avoiding your eyes. “Least I could do is bring you some after today.”

“Oh, um, sure,” you say, opening the door wider to let him in. “Come in, I guess.”

Manny hesitates only for a second and then sidesteps past you without another word. He fills the tiny room with his presence alone. You know that it’s not the first time he’s been in here – not when you share with one of your friend group, but he’s not even glancing in the direction of her things. Instead he’s staring at the wall behind you, reading over the posters and prints tacked up haphazardly on the wall.

You take a seat on your bed, legs hanging off the side as your back hits the wall and Manny steps forward, looming over you, holding out the dish.

“It’s chilli. Muy picante.”

Your lips twitch as you take it – steam rising as soon as you lift the foil life and your stomach groans, you don’t remember if you even ate breakfast, today has been nothing but a rush then a blur for you.

You notice that Manny moves around the small kitchenette in a familiar way, it’s just a little jarring to see in your room. But you give the faintest of smiles in thanks when he hands you the spoon. What surprises you even more is that he unlaces his boots and sits the other side of your bed, being sure to keep some distance between you.

You take your first bite of chilli, thinking that the silence between you would be uncomfortable and awkward. But it’s not, though it might have something to do with Manny not speaking, it’s easy. It’s different than being around Owen or Jordan, even Nick.

He lets you eat in silence but something gnaws at you and you feel the need to break the quiet.

“I don’t… these things don’t usually affect me so bad. I’ve killed infected before and been in worse situations,” you tell him, your spoon clinking against the dish.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t handle yourself.”

“I know. I just, I feel like I overreacted.”

“Overreacted? You were seconds away from being ripped apart from infected. The door wasn’t supposed to get jammed, I don’t know what happened but I wouldn’t live with myself if you died on a run like that because of me.”

“Is that why you brought me food? Because you felt bad?” you bite out, pushing the dish onto your nightstand, suddenly no longer feeling hungry.

“No… no. It’s– it doesn’t matter. ” he snaps abruptly, running a hand through his hair and you let out a long breath through your nose.

“How’s your dad getting on?” you ask instead, figuring that the best thing to do right now is change the subject. It works, taking Manny by surprise that his frown wilts away, replaced by a softer expression only reserved for Jose.

“Bien, though his hands are still seizing up a lot,” he pauses for a moment and then adds, “he asked about you earlier.”

You give him a quizzical look, tilting your head and narrowing your eyes. Manny shrugs, not quite meeting your gaze. “He knew we were out on a run today. Guess he just wondered how we got on when he didn’t see you in the mess hall.”

Though his words sound honest enough, you can tell that Manny’s hiding something from you. So you wait him out and he shifts, crossing and uncrossing his ankles before he finally caves. “I told him –just him – that it didn’t go well.”

“Why? You barely say two words to me any other time so why are you now going to your dad about me?”

“Papá, he cares about you.”

“Right, right. But you? You can’t fucking stand me.”

Manny stiffens, even with the distance between you you can feel how he tenses up. Given the circumstance, you probably should back down, put it one side and curl back up in your comforter. Except, no. You’ve not wronged him, yet he continues to treat you like some nobody.

“Why is that?” you ask, “What have I ever done to you to make you dislike me so much when the others are so fucking friendly towards me and treat me like an actual human being.”

He clears his throat, and for a second you think he’s going to answer. But the silence just lingers, heavy in the air. You shake your head and get up, taking the dish towards the small kitchenette that Manny had to fit so well into. You run the tap, too many thoughts running through your head and a too heavy silence over the room.

Then he’s behind you, reaching past you to turn the tap off, so close that he’s almost pressing against your back.

“I don’t hate you.”

He says it too quietly and he sounds too honest for you to doubt him. You turn in the little gap between you and lean back against the sink.

“Then why—”

“Mierda,” he curses, voice strained and brows pinched together. “Because you’re so fucking radiant. You’re lighting up every damn room you’re in and I don’t want to snuff out that light with my past. And today? Fuck, today I could’ve lost you and it would have been my fault.”

“Your past? Manny, you think my past isn’t as fucked up? But I’ll be damned if it stops me from living.”

You meet his stare, eyes black in the low lighting of your room and so close to you. Just looking at you, his eyes flicking over each inch of your face, your neck and your shoulders.

“What are you doing?”

“Admiring you. Up close for the first time.”

You don’t know which one of you moves first, but your hands curl into his jacket and his lips are so fucking soft and they’re on yours and you want to drown in this feeling. His hands cup your jaw, tongue running over the seam of your lips desperately seeking more and more of you.

You let him in. Opening your mouth and hands moving up to twist in the curls at the nape of his neck that has him panting into your mouth. This shouldn’t feel as good as it does, but there’s a small nagging part of you that feels like you’re making up for wasted time.

You pull back, catching the sight of his wet lips and drooping eyes. He leans in, chasing you for another taste and you move your head to the side, his lips catching your cheek.

“Manny,” you murmur, breath fanning into his ear.

“Si, el sol?”

“You couldn’t have done this earlier?”

He chuckles, hands sliding under your shirt to grip your hips and you tilt back to look at him.

“Maybe. But my dad taught me that good things are worth waiting for.”

You pull him in for another kiss and this don’t time, you don’t pull away.

That’s how it goes with you and Manny. Like you two could play this game forever, the dancing back and forth, the hate with no heat behind it – it makes sense to you, unravelling since the first kiss you shared. It was always inevitable.

You share stolen moments – when Leah stays out overnight with Jordan, when Abby’s too focused in the gym, straining and overworking herself. Other times are when Manny sneaks into the armoury, pocket full of tin foil wrapped food, perched on the edge of your workbench while you finish up.

Somehow, god only knows how, you manage to keep it quiet. None of your friends seem to catch on. Mainly because Manny still goes out of his way to not be around you or you around him.

But as the days turn into weeks, you feel like Manny starts to know you, really know you. Little things that you didn’t even know about yourself and letting him in to see the deepest parts of you. He eventually tells you about the real reason José kept asking about you, that he could see right through his son, seeing it for what it was.

Manny, in a surprising turn of events, opened up to you. Outside of his bravado and arrogance, he could be incredibly sweet, spending every night he could with you, if not in your room, he would spend hours down in the armoury with you or up on the roof, out of sight from the patrolling watchmen.

“Abby’s asking questions.”

You adjust the focus on your binoculars and follow the movements of the Scar you’ve been tracking for the last couple of minutes. You’re laying on your front under the canopy of some ferns, damp dirt clinging to your clothes as you and Manny are on lookout. He lays next you, one hand on the small of your back, the other scribbling over a map in red marker.

“I’m surprised it took her this long,’ you reply, lowering the binoculars. “We’ve been together for what? Just over a month now?”

Saying it out loud still sends butterflies straight to your gut. Together. You and Manny weren’t just fucking around, he wanted to actually be with you. Though you two of you kept it under wraps, Manny couldn’t keep something like this from his dad. Who knew that José already had an inkling about how Manny really felt about you.

“You might not be keeping track, but my dad sure is,” he says with a huff of laughter right by your ear. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing, if Abby knew.”

Your mouth drops open in surprise and you turn your head to look at him, “Won’t she tell Owen?”

Manny shakes his head, pressing his forehead to your shoulder. “Honestly, she has so much on her mind right now I don’t think she’d even bat an eye to it.”

The radio clipped to Manny’s vest crackles and he yanks it off and you take the moment to look at him – damp from ever-rainy Seattle, unruly curls sticking to his forehead and the wiry beard that’s starting to get just a little too long. He catches you looking and smirks as answers the radio.

“Alright,” he says and tosses the radio into the grass. “We’ll watch them, take note of their paths and then I’ll write up the report once we’re done.”

“Ain’t you a gentleman.”

“Only the best for my girl.”

His girl. That gets a smile out of you and you raise the binoculars back to your eyes to hide your expression, biting down on your lip.

“You hiding from me, baby?” he asks, and you can just hear the smug smirk in his tone.

When you say nothing, feeling the heat creep higher into your cheeks, Manny plucks the binoculars from you, and takes your chin to turn your head towards him, pressing his lips to yours. You chase his lips with your own and Manny moves to roll you onto your back hidden with the greenery, letting out a soft gasp as your back hits the dirt.

“Manny!” you exclaim in a hushed tone, grinning at him.

“Shh, cariño, you want them to hear us?” he whispers against your lips, trailing a hot path of open-mouthed kisses down your neck. He props himself up on his forearm, hovering over you and the other hand caresses over your shoulder, to your jacket zipper.

Another gasp leaves you as you feel his warm palm on your stomach, pushing your shirt up and lowering his head to run his tongue on your heated skin.

“Here?” you whisper to him, pushing a piece of damp curl of hair from his face. “You’re doing this here?”

“Why not? Not like anything interesting is going on over there,” he replies, deft fingers already working at the button of your pants. “Besides, my girl looks cute when she’s all flustered.”

You tug on his hair, urgently wanting to feel his lips on yours again. He grins and pulls back with heat in eyes and then delicately kisses, you slow and languid, the complete opposite of what you were aiming for. It keeps you distracted enough to not notice his wandering hand, and you sigh when his fingers dip below the waistband of your underwear, trailing along your wet seam.

“Your hands, Manny,” you groan, “God, I’m obsessed with what your hands can do.”

“Just my hands, huh?” he teases you, dragging his middle finger down through your folds, gathering your arousal. He keeps his movements slow, deliberate, watching your every move. “And there was me thinking you liked me.”

He drags his finger, torturously slow, up to your clit and rubs cruel, teasing circles that leave you breathless. His smile widens, and leans down to whisper in your ear. “You do like more than just my fingers, right cariño?”

You nod, squirming beneath him as he moves his fingers in a tantalising pattern. “Say it,” he murmurs.

“Yes,” you gasp, “Course I fucking do.”

Manny smirks, seemingly satisfied with your answer. He pulls his finger back, over your wetness and then slowly pushes the digit inside of you, feeling how your tightness envelopes him.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he groans, stroking your walls and pulling all the way out and back in, stretching you open.

“Uh-huh,” you whimper, opening your legs wider and arching your back as he curls his finger in just the right way that has you wanting more.

“God, I wish I could taste you,” he murmurs, pressing you hard against the grass and attaching his lips to your neck. He pulls his finger out, dragging it through your wet folds, teasing and playing with you. Then a second digit joins and your eyes flutter, mouth hanging open as he fucks you open with his fingers.

“Manny,” you moan as your eyes flutter at the sensation. He knows just how to touch you, what makes you shiver and cry out his name. You curl your fingers into the front of his jacket, the other hand cupping his hard length through his pants and he lets out a raspy groan, hips rocking into your palm.

“This is about you, baby,” he tells you, though his voice is rough and breathy. “Let me do this for you.”

You realise very quickly that you’re helpless in his hands. His teeth nipping at your neck, sure to leave marks, his eye on you. Every step of the way he keeps fixated on you. His fingers move rhythmically, finding a brutal pace that has you crying out for more.

It’s his thumb that does you in. Pulling his hand back slightly to get the angle, thumb moving in tight circles on your clit, all the while praising you in whispered Spanish.

Pressure, hot, tight, coiling pressure builds in your stomach, a feeling that you want to chase and chase as it gets hotter, burning through you and Manny catches on quickly to what’s about to happen as his fingers move faster, with more urgency and his thumb rubs deliciously on your clit – finally letting your bathe in that high as it hits you.

Manny works you through, his dark eyes sparkling in wonder as you come on his fingers, hips rolling to chase the feeling for as long as you can.

“You’re so gorgeous,” he grunts out as you pant and keen, riding out the aftershocks of your orgasm. “Look at you.”

He’s beaming down at you, and you smile, eyes half lidded and breaths coming in heavy. He leans down, softly kissing you while pulling his fingers out of you and buttoning up your pants.

“Alvarez,” the radio thrown in the grass crackles and Manny starts, reaching for it to turn down the crackling static. “Alvarez, this is Boyle, come in.”

“Yeah, I’m here, give me a fucking second,” he mutters, using his clean hand to find the radio. “What?”

“Scars sighted coming your way. Both of you, get out of there while you can. Regroup at the old FEDRA checkpoint.”

“Copy that.”

He tucks the radio back into his belt and gives you an apologetic kiss to your cheek, “Guess the afterglow was kinda ruined, huh?” he jokes, getting to his feet and wiping his hand on his pants, leaving a glistening trail over his thigh.

He helps you up as you stare at the patch, and you would kiss him again. If only it weren’t for the whistle of a Scar and the whizz of an arrow that barely misses your left arm.

Getting called up to the FOB was never high up on your to-do list, and lucky for you it was only a rare occurrence that Isaac personally asked for you. You could count the amount of times you’d walked through the door to the once high-rise apartment block, echoes of screams and the smell of rot invading your senses. At least this time you were given some warning, quickly scribbling out a note and passing by Manny’s room, slotting the piece of paper underneath.

Right now, up high in the room that Isaac had relented and given you for the few days, all of that was drowned out – window cracked open to air out the room and a thick layer of dust coating the counter-tops. The only high point was that you weren’t here for long. The FOB was intense, a certain hum in the air of impending doom, so when you got back to your room – three days in, feeling like you couldn’t breathe you almost missed the crumpled slip of paper under your door.

Wiping your hands on an old rag for what must be the hundredth time you picked it up, oil stained fingerprints instantly smearing the paper as you unfold it, turning it right way up.

Hideout at sundown.

Firstly, when the fuck did Manny get called up to the FOB? And Secondly, how haven’t you managed to spot him yet?

You read over the note again, following the loop of his messy handwriting and shove it deep into your pocket. You’ve never been to his hideout before, but he’d told you enough to work out the route to get there – if you weren’t spotted first.

Time ticked by, even slower than usual until the sun started to set. You slipped out of the apartment window, being careful to not let it close all the way and sneaking around to the back of the FOB building. The path was overgrown, but that only meant that you were going in the right direction. You hop, almost losing your balance as the stairs give out under you. Three doors in front of you, and your best guess is the one directly ahead.

Inside, the whole place is aglow with the setting sun and the if the manga on the counter is anything to go by, you’re definitely in the right place. The space he’s created for himself is untidy, just how you pictured it but not messy. Stacks of old comics and card games litter the battered coffee table, mismatched blankets strewn over the couch and empty bottles sit nestled by the door. It’s almost too much pre-outbreak to you, the casual-ness of it all.

“Manny?” you call out softly, running your hand along the old dresser on the side. “You here?”

“Right here, cariño,” he replies, coming out of what must be a bedroom, given that his hair is all mussed and clothes rumpled. He takes your hand, lips against your knuckles. “You find the place okay?”

“Yeah, you breathe, letting out a long exhale, your eyes on him as he kisses up your wrist. “What are you doing here, at the FOB?”

“Isaac called us up. Jordan, Abby and me. We’re being sent out on a recon scout tomorrow morning.”

“A recon scout?”

“He wants us to get into a scar camp, take what intel we can, and report back. He thinks they are plotting some big attack on us soon.”

“The guns,” you say softly, “he’s tasked me with upgrading them with silencers and better capacity in the clips.”

Manny nods, expression sombre and then he swoops in, finally pressing his lips to yours, hands settling on your hips to bring you flush against him. The kiss is consuming, his tongue mapping out your mouth, memorising you in wake of tomorrow.

“This way,” he murmurs, walking you backwards into the room he came from, hands easily flipping the hem of your shirt up, making you shiver as he caresses over your bare hips. “I missed you.”

“Such a sap,” you chide, kicking the door closed with your heel.

“Maybe. Maybe I just can’t get enough of you.”

You paw at his shirt, pulling it over his head and run your hands over his defined chest. His answer to this is to pull off your own shirt, unhooking your bra and throwing it carelessly to the side while he gets a good look at you. His mouth finds your breast, taking the hardened nipple into his mouth and lavishing it with attention.

You let out a string of soft, breathy noises, cupping the back of his head to keep him close and the other hand unbuckling his belt, pulling the coarse canvas away and letting it join the growing pile of clothes.

“Been thinking about you ever since you left me that note,” he murmurs, string of saliva between his lips and your nipple before paying attention to the other, the more sensitive of the two.

A gasp leaves you, head tilting back and you grasp the hair at the nape of his neck, keeping him in place as he lavishes attention on your nipple. His hand skates down your leg, gripping it and moving it to hook around his hip.

You can’t help but grind yourself against him and he pulls away from your breast to grin at you and then sink his teeth into the heated skin of your neck, hands grabbing whatever they can of you and holding you as close as possible.

He maneuvers you down onto the bed, pulling off your shirt as you lay back and while you unbutton your pants he pauses for a moment, lips slick and hair mussed just watching you.

“Fuck me, I’m so lucky,” he murmurs and he unbuckles his belt, shucking off his cargos, revealing the impressive bulge of him tented against his boxers, a dark spot of precum seeping into the fabric.

The sight of him sends a wave of desire through you and you reach out for him, scratching your nails over his hip and he leans down, claiming your lips with your own once more. You both get caught up in the kiss, both wanting this after days being apart and the impending question mark that hangs over tomorrow.

He moves you so you’re now on top of him, guiding your knees to either side of his hips and letting you rock down against him. The pull of his clothed cock against your heat is a delicious friction that you can’t seem to get enough of.

“That’s it,” he grunts, squeezing your hips and trailing his fingers down to the waistband of your panties. You quickly get with the picture, moving away from Manny to take them off, throwing them to join your pile of clothes.

“Like what you see?” you ask, fully naked in front of him.

“Very much so.”

Manny lifts his hips and you pull off his boxers, hard length springing free, precum smearing over his stomach. You bite your lip and climb back over him, taking his length in your hand.

“Mierda,” he sighs, lifting his hips to fuck your fist. You grin at him, gathering the precum at his tip and coating it over the rest of his cock. “You gonna ride me, baby?”

“Mhm, that’s the plan.” you whisper and Manny moans, rasping and low, in the back of his throat.

Manny breathes heavily through his nose, his hands can’t seem to stop touching you. Running over your thighs, your hips and your waist, thumbing circles on your skin that have you shivering with arousal.

You swing your leg over his hip, back in the same position you were originally in. Manny’s hand drops from your waist to touch himself, jaw slack and eyes stuck on you. He’s beautiful like this, so openly devoted to you and waiting for your next move.

He lines himself up with you, breathing hard and you duck your head down to kiss him sweetly as you ever so slowly sink down onto his cock. Normally, you’d want to drag this out and he’d get you to least two orgasms before fucking you.

But you’re pent up and oh so fucking wet and you can’t help yourself. It’s not like Manny seems to mind, guiding your hips down onto him, teeth biting into his bottom lip and his long eyelashes fluttering as you fully seat yourself onto his cock.

“Take me so well, baby-girl,” he mutters, because Manny does not know when to stop, running his mouth with praise and sweet nothings.

God, you feel so full when you take him like this. Heat creeping up your spine as you give an experimental rock of your hips.

“Fuck, Manny,” you moan, finding purchase with your hands on his shoulder. He starts to thrust up into you, changing the pace to something desperate.

“Again. Say my name again.”

“Manny.”

He leans up, cupping the back of your neck and kissing you fervently, tongue diving into your mouth, mapping out every inch of you, committing it to memory. It makes you roll your hips slower and he pulls back, dark eyes meeting yours.

“Tan hermosa,” he mumbles to himself. “Tan buena para mi.”

He pulls out, brows pinched in concentration and grabs your hips, throwing you down onto the bed, switching your position. He puts one of your ankles over his shoulder and fucks into you faster, hips snapping brutally against your own, filling the room with the lewd slap of skin on skin.

The new angle does something for you. Every thrust of his cock hitting you perfectly, making your eyes roll back and your whimpers become high and raspy in your throat.

“Oh my– fuck!” you cry out, feeling your orgasm approaching, the familiar pooling in your stomach. “Fuck, keep going.”

“Yeah, you’re close aren’t you?” he moans, lips against your ankle as he thrusts his hips harder, driving into you with a renewed intensity. “Yeah, you’re fucking close.”

You let yourself go, pleasure tingling through your veins as you spasm around his cock. A whine leaves your throat, eyes screwed up as he fucks you through it, unrelenting pace and lips on your leg, murmuring how good you are.

“Yeah, that’s it, baby, so fucking pretty when you come.”

He slows, dropping your ankle from his shoulder and he swiftly pulls out once more. You whimper at the loss, reaching out for him and he links your fingers with one hand while the other strokes himself rapidly, hand flying over his cock.

Manny throws his head back, hand faltering and you feel him climax, splattering onto your thighs and you let out a breath, watching him reverently.

“You’re so fucking good for me,” he murmurs, guiding you to lay next to him, eyes heavy and a dopey smile plastered on his face. He rests his head on your shoulder, lips soft against your skin.

You huff, leaning over him to grab an old shirt of his and as you move to wipe it over him, he takes it from you, hands on yours.

“Let me,” he says and wipes at your inner thighs, over your stomach and then himself. He tosses it into the corner of the room and presses a faint kiss to your forehead. “Did I tell you that I missed you?”

“You might’ve mentioned it,” you whisper, smiling at him and settling down, hand playing with his curls, his hand on your thigh and bringing the threadbare blanket up to cover you both.

You found when you first spent the night with him that Manny’s a cuddler in his sleep. It was cute, finding yourself wrapped around each other, both of you getting as close as you can even unconsciously. This morning was no different – limbs tangled together, an arm slung around your waist, legs entwined with your own and his head in the crook of your neck, soft breaths against your shoulder.

You move your hand over his back, fingertips dancing up over divots in his muscles and you lace your fingers in his hair, letting the curls free in the pale morning light. Sunlight streams in through the gap in the blinds, soft yellow rays catching on the dust and coating the bed in warm haze. You smile against his hair, closing your eyes at how content you feel.

Manny stirs, the watch on his wrist beeping incessantly. The sound too loud and too jarring in the fresh morning peace. He fumbles, hands moving away from you as he struggles to turn it off then he slumps back down onto you, warm hands wrapping back around your waist, pressing against you.

His lips are soft as they place absent kisses along your shoulder, over the dip in your collarbones and to the sensitive juncture of your neck.

“Morning, querida,” he murmurs, voice thick and raspy with sleep. A sound that you’re more than used too but doesn’t stop the swoop in your stomach.

“Hi,” you grin at him, tilting your head to meet his lips in a soft, lazy kiss. His eyes flutter and he grins into your mouth.

“God, I wish I didn’t have to go out on this recon run. Not now when I know what you sound like.”

You chuckle quietly, his thumb resting on your cheek as he looks at you reverently, like you held the sun for him.

“I can be here when you get back. I’m supposed to be heading back to the stadium later tonight.”

Manny groans and leans in, lips pressing to yours as his eyes close and sighs, breath fanning against your cheek.

“You’ll wait for me?”

“Always.”

#my fics #discodinosaur #fic: talk so sweet #manny x reader #manny alvarez x reader #manny alvarez x you #tlou fanfiction #the last of us manny #the last of us fanfiction

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dameronspector · 2 months ago

Text

Getaway Car (Part 1)

Pairing: Manny Alvarez x GN!Reader

Summary: You've never asked Manny for anything- except this. You wouldn't stand for such a heinous crime so you ask Manny to rebel against Abby and spend the rest of your life peacefully. AKA you're a reluctant firefly and you save Joel.

Warnings: Friends to lovers, Established relationship, Mentions of starvation, mentions of killing people, reader loses her parents, Cursing, Manny is a reckless dumbass, reader is against Abby and the WLF/Fireflies, ANGST, fuck neil and his characterisation of Manny, Manny is overprotective, possible inaccuracies, thats it i think!

AN: my lovely friend @taylorsroxy inspired me to write this with her amazing prompt <3 and i had a long discussion with her, where we agreed that if Manny was a loyal friend, he’d be even more loyal as a partner. So this is that. He’s a very interesting character to me and Danny does a really good fucking job playing him.☺️ PS: I don't know anything about the game, my characterisation is based off the wiki information, the show and my own imagination. Plus, I headcanoned the QZ where they first met as Miami because that's Danny's hometown.

Look, you never wanted to be a part of the Fireflies. But it was either starving to death on the filthy streets of the QZ or getting shot at point blank because you asked for a place to live in.

2008

You were only 14 when they found you. Low on rations, stomach cramping in pain and your body aching throughout from the lack of food and energy— you needed to find a way to survive. You and your family had been on the run, trying to a find a place to stay. But the situation was escalating, many QZ’s were overpopulated so they would either throw you out or kill you. Somehow, your parents and you managed to escape and tried to enter a QZ near Miami but were stopped by the Fireflies at the main gate. They were going to kill you, something about it being a part of their job and that their QZ didn’t have extra space but your parents traded their backpacks and requested for one thing- for you to get shelter. You thrashed against the unfamiliar arms dragging you away from your parents. They were all that you had- the rest of your family being dead or unreachable. The last thing you saw before they took you away were the teary faces of your parents and a muffled sound of two gunshots. From that moment onwards, you made sure that you would go out of the way and help people in need, believing that a little humanity goes a long way. It was also a desperate time for you as you needed food and shelter to survive because in a world like yours, morals were non-existent and people would go to extreme lengths just to steal your morsel. So you steeled yourself accepted the job begrudgingly.

A week later, you were nursed back to health and put on patrols on your first night as a Firefly. Just normal recon stuff for a beginner, to check your ‘skills’ like you were in a damn military camp (it basically was, a military camp.)

And on that night, you met him for the first time.

They told you his name was Manny Alvarez. He was older than you by only a year and they said that he was one of their best. He was going to be your patrol partner, to teach you about the workings of the organisation and to show you around the area.

But even in the low moonlight with the filth and dirt surrounding you, all you could focus on was him. His hair was neatly cropped into a military-grade haircut—trimmed and shaved on the sides but you could clearly see his curls upon closer inspection. His jawline was sharp, skin smooth and he had the biggest brown eyes that shone even in the dark. His eyes were observant, always on the lookout for any trouble, and he had the most endearing set of lower teeth that were crooked in shape. He didn’t smile much around you at first, choosing to keep his space and hanging out with the 4 people who were always with him, but you were captivated by him. You thought it couldn’t get any worse but then he spoke to you with that smooth baritone laid back nature of his. And you were completely gone.

Maybe your sorrow and emptiness was making you act like this, or maybe you were just being a teenager, but you felt an instant attraction to him and you weren’t sure how to control it without embarrassing yourself like any teenager would in front of their crush.

2010

It’s been two years since you joined the Fireflies. And it’s been two years since Manny Alvarez became your new best friend. You weren’t sure how the friendship came to be. He didn’t talk much and you were too traumatised to speak up so you would just observe him and take in his instructions. But as time passed, you two started enjoying each other’s company and willingly hung out or partnered for patrol. You’d talk for hours- in hushed whispers, during a rainy night or in sarcastic jabs during a summer morning— Manny and you would be found chatting away, lost in your own bubble. Be it recalling fond memories or gossips from the QZ, you’d tell each other everything. Maybe it was because of your shared traumas that you two bonded, or maybe it’s because your souls just clicked. Nevertheless, you were glad you could at least be his friend.

Everything you knew today, is because of Manny. He taught you how to shoot, how to negotiate with traders, how to bargain, how to listen for any odd noises, how to deal with the infected—everything. Still, this did not lessen your hatred for the Fireflies. You took up these skills for survival, for self defence, if needed—not to kill innocents. Everytime you were asked to kill someone innocent, someone who had to be “eliminated” because there was no space in the QZ or because you were supposed to steal their supplies, you felt nauseous and disgusted. Often times they would threaten you if you didn’t finish the job and Manny would do it for you with no hesitation. That was something that always caught you off guard- his nonchalance at these actions. He wouldn’t think twice before pushing you aside and shielding you from the kill or the senior officers. He was also a hot headed man and you always worried that it would be the reason of his death someday. You’d be lying if you said that didn’t scare you.

One night while casually chatting, he shared that he was survived by his father, who was often sick and Manny would always help him in any way he could, that he had left Mexico to come to the States when he was just 10 years old, and ever since then, he’s been with the Fireflies. That shocked you to the core, he never got a chance to have a proper childhood. It made your heart ache at the fact that he had to grow up so soon. So you made it your mission to tell him things throughout the day that would bring out that curious and endearing shimmer in his eyes that you came to love and know.

You told him about your life before you came to the QZ and since then, Manny had sort of taken you under his wing. He’d become protective over you, accompanying you to do any kind of work, not letting you go alone or with someone he didn’t trust. You noticed that quite early on about him—Manny was fiercely loyal and a protector of those who were important to him. And the fact that he considered you important enough to feel protective over you, made your stomach curl with excitement.

Soon, he introduced you to his ‘family’ or his friends with whom he’s been with since he came to the QZ. Their names were Abby, Owen, Mel and Nora. You were a shy thing, you didn’t really speak to them unless they spoke to you first but Manny kept bringing you into conversations and brought you to meal times with them, encouraging you to talk. The more you talked, the more you got to know about their lives. You exchanged stories and eventually became a part of their group. Although you chose to maintain a safe distance because you were more comfortable with Manny, you were glad you finally had some more people to talk to.

Even after being around new people, you preferred to stick around Manny. Something about him and the way he acted towards you, put you at ease. Every time he would notice that you were sitting alone or disconnecting from the conversations, he would subtly bring you back by cracking jokes or by lightly flirting with you to bring out that bashful smile of yours (emphasis on the lightly.) He had no idea what that did to your poor heart. But that’s just how he was—jovial around his friends, always wanting to keep them happy and being the glue that kept them together.

He would magically appear whenever you had a nightmare. Your parents’ and the countless innocent lives’ soulless eyes haunting you everytime you closed your eyes. You swore Manny was keeping an eye on you because every time you jolted up from a particularly bad dream, he would be there to console you. He’d hold your hands in his gently, like you were made of something fragile and talk to you or just wipe your tears. Or he would cradle your head against his chest and softly hum a forgotten tune in your ears, staying there until you fell asleep.

In between all these new changes, you realised that one thing would be a constant— your feelings for Manny were not going away any time soon.

2015

It’s been 7 years since you became friends with Manny Alvarez and you spent those 7 years hating the Fireflies and falling in love with Manny.

You don’t even know how it happened. Somewhere along the way, the lines between friendship and something more kept blurring. He started touching you more, lingering hugs or a hand resting on your lower back, an arm slung across your shoulders or holding your hands when you had a nightmare or a panic attack. Manny became even more protective if that was possible—fussing over you before you left for patrol. And god forbid if you got hurt, he’d rain hell on the person who did it and on those who tried to hurt you. You humbled him by telling him to get a grip and that you were a grown adult (you were pushing him away because you couldn’t handle the rejection if he ever found out about your feelings) ,but Manny was as stubborn as a bull and he would have none of that.

You tried your best to become desensitised to all the immoral things that being a part of the Fireflies came with, but you could never stop that feeling of disgust when you saw the others defend these acts. This just made Manny act more and more reckless—going to extreme lengths to protect you if he had to. He’d simply take your gun out of your hands and end it in a quick and clean aim. You’d be left staring at him in disbelief, your insides curling with fear and want at the same time. This is not to say that you’re a saint, you’ve killed your fair share of people. Some out of defence, some because you just had to. But you drew the line at torturing innocent people and children for your personal gain, especially when you knew that the people in the Fireflies have done worse, having heard about the dirty secrets of almost everyone through the grapevine.

It all changed one day, when you’d agreed to patrol with a different person instead of Manny or the others. Manny was on edge since the night before, asking you to refuse or fake being sick. But both of you knew that was not possible.

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”, you asked him, exasperated. He was being a bit too much than his usual self right now.

Manny whipped his head to look at you in shock. “Overreacting? Are you serious?”

You rolled your eyes at him and sighed. “Manny, it’s just the routine. We’ve done this a million times before I’ll be—” “Yeah. We. We’ve done this before. You’re going with that loser today”, he ran his hands through his fair in frustration.

You paused and gave him a look before scoffing. “Is that what this is about? That we’re not going together?”

You saw the way he froze and locked his jaw, the muscle in his jawline twitching. “And what if it was?”

You gaped at him. There’s just no way he just admitted to that. You chortled and shook your head before going back to packing. “You’re being ridiculous, Alvarez.”

Your back was facing him so you didn’t see the way his face flashed with hurt. He didn’t want you to go without him because he believed that loser wouldn’t be able to protect you like he could and also because Manny worried about you. As soon as he had woken up, he felt a pit so deep in his stomach–his gut instinct warning him to not let you go. But he knew you didn’t have the luxury to do so.

You turned around to face his beautiful, sullen face and tried to comfort him. “Manny…I’ll be careful, I promise”, you whispered to him and held up your pinky finger. He looked at it and gave you a half-hearted chuckle. You smiled. “You know you want to”, you shook your pinky at him. He rolled his eyes and huffed in disbelief before reluctantly linking his pinky with yours. You squeezed it and brought your linked pinkies closer before pressing a light kiss against his. His eyes softened up and he suddenly looked boyish, your heart soaring with affection after seeing him behave like a normal 20-something year old.

You parted ways from him and Manny spent the entire day with his chest heavy because of anxiety. You couldn’t radio, so he had no idea if you were safe or if you were even ali-no. He had to be positive for his sanity’s sake. But it all came crashing down when you returned later than you were supposed to. Manny was already on edge, pacing around and not focusing on his tasks when he saw you walk through the gates. He rushed over to hug you.

“You’re late, what happened?”, he chided you and pressed you closer to him.

“I’m-i’m sorry…”, your hoarse voice responded.

In his panic, he hadn’t noticed how quiet you were, your body way too loose, your arms holding him way too lightly. He pulled back and held you by your forearms.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You’re so quiet..Did something happen?”, he hurriedly asked you, his entire being on edge as your body became slower and heavier.

“M-Manny—”, you whimpered before promptly passing out in his arms. Manny barely had a moment to realise what was happening when you passed out in his arms and he fell to his knees, his arms cradling you against his chest. If he was freaking out before, he sure was panicking now, his hands itching to hurt the person who did this to you.

“Hey-hey. Open your eyes, (Name), open your eyes! Please, look at me-”, he blabbered, hand shaking your face gently. It was then he felt something warm and sticky against his stomach. He pulled you away slightly and noticed a bright red stain against his shirt. And yours. Your entire middle was soaking wet from blood-your blood. And he was covered in your blood.

He felt sick. Manny was hyperventilating, he was not sure what he was supposed to do, his hands shaking out of pure adrenaline and fear. His breathing became laboured and he suddenly picked you up and rushed towards the med-centre, his vocal chords unable to produce any sound other than shaky whimpers. He felt pathetic and weak.

Manny wasn’t sure what he’d do if something happened to you. He was so used to your quiet, calm and courageous presence next to him that he was sure he’d lose himself if he lost you. He still hadn’t told you he loved you and now you’d die without ever knowing that he’s always loved you. That everytime he was away from you, it felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. That every time you looked at him with that shy smile on your face, he wanted to burn the world for you and keep you safe. Manny was sure of one thing—he’d find the person who did this to you and end them.

After two painful hours of waiting and wanting to die, Manny finally received some news about your health. They told him that someone had stabbed you, the wound was deep and your body showed signs of stress and exhaustion from blood loss and because you had walked for miles, your body was dehydrated as well. But they managed to control the situation and had stitched you up and since you were still unconscious and out of it, they informed him that you needed lots of rest. Abby and the rest had gathered around Manny to give him support as he was refusing to eat or drink or even move from that same spot he had been standing at since he got there.

He sat there next to you for 3 days. You were comatose for 3 full days. He felt like you were slipping through his fingers. But he couldn’t do anything, his body and mind too numb to even move or do anything else. And then you moved. Your hands twitched, your eyes fluttering behind the lids and he felt like someone had pumped oxygen back into his body. You slowly opened your eyes and tried to focus on the person before you, pained groans leaving your mouth.

Manny got up from the chair and laid a gentle hand on your head, soothing you, “Sh, sh. It’s okay, hang on. Let me get someone.”

You whimpered, suddenly alert when you realised it was Manny. “Stay. Please.”

Manny furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his jaw to stop the sob from tearing through his mouth. He wasn’t weak, he didn’t cry like this, so why did his throat feel like it had a big boulder stuck in it?

“Manny…” “Don’t waste your energy, (nickname). I’m here. I’m always here”, he reassured you and held your left hand in his, his thumb caressing your forehand.

When you were allowed to leave the med-centre, Manny oh-so-gently carried you to your shared room with Nora. He laid you across your bed and tucked you in, firmly telling you to not leave the bed and tell him if you needed anything. You just smiled at him and whispered a soft ‘okay’, heart fluttering at his care for you. He then took a moment to look at your exhausted face and felt his eyes well up with tears. He ducked his head, face scrunched up in emotion and shoulders shaking with silent sobs. You furrowed your eyebrows in concern, in your 7 years of knowing him, Manny has never cried in front of you.

“Manny? What’s wrong?”, you called out to him and reached for his hand, wincing in pain when you accidentally pulled on your stitches. His head shot up and he encased your hand in his, gently pushing you back into a comfortable position.

“I told you to not to get up. Are you going to listen to me or not?”, he chided you, busying himself with tucking your blanket around you, avoiding your scrutinising stare. He felt exposed. You always had a way of making him feel so vulnerable every time you looked at him with those expressive eyes.

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been so quiet for the past few days. Are you upset with me?”, you questioned him worriedly, your hands playing with a few loose threads on the blanket. Manny let out a weary sigh and leaned closer to lay his head on your chest, his arms carefully hugging you around the waist- careful not to aggravate your wound. You froze. If he was feeling extra clingy than usual, then he must’ve been really upset about something. You looked at him in concern and buried your hands in his loose curls, his hair a little longer now.

“What’s up, sweetheart? You’re worrying me. It’s bad manners to trouble the injured”, you lightly joked. You got an annoyed click of the tongue and his head burying deeper in your neck in return. You let out a content sigh and brushed your other hand across his back, happy to stay here in his warm embrace for as long as you could.

“You scared me to death, (Name). I was this close to dying of a heart attack or killing someone”, his hoarse voice vibrated against your throat. The muscles around your neck moved as you swallowed in guilt, “I’m so sorry, Manny. I should’ve radioed you but I’m alright, I-”, he cut you off with a self deprecating chuckle and propped himself up on his right arm, his left hand cradling your cheek carefully. “You don’t understand. You don’t get it, (Name). It felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the chest. Like someone had ripped my heart out of my body. You-you collapsed in my arms. How was I supposed to be okay after that? I couldn’t feel anything. My tongue felt like someone had poured cement on it. I didn’t-didn’t speak much to anyone for 3 days. I really thought I lost you. And if I would’ve lost you, I wouldn’t have any reason to stay alive.”

You laid there, your mind unable to comprehend the words coming out of his mouth. Is this what you think it is?

“Manny, don’t be stupid. Don’t say such things-”

“No, listen to me. I was so scared. I am still scared. I can’t do this without you, angel-”

“You don’t mean that, Manny, stop it-”

“I mean it, fully. I’ve been wanting to tell you this since so long..”, he sucked in a shaky breath, “but everytime I bailed because I’m so scared.”

“What are you-”

“I love you.”

Your mouth fell open and the response died on your tongue. You tried to sit up and regretted that immediately because you pulled on your stitches and it resulted in you gasping in pain, your bandage turning bloody. You let out tiny whimpers and squeezed Manny’s bicep in support. This meant that Manny was officially in panic mode and immediately leaned away from you to make you comfortable.

“Fuck, I told you to be careful. Just lay back down, (Name)”, he groaned frustratingly. He gently laid you on your back and gave you a hand to hold. You firmly grasped his hand and intertwined your fingers with his while he slowly pulled up the hem of your top to check on the damage done. Luckily, it wasn’t that bad and you didn’t need a complete dressing change, his fingers delicately traced the bandage. “How bad does it hurt? I can get you some painkillers that I have stashed if you-”, you squeezed his hands to bring his attention back to you. “What did you just say, Manny? Do you mean it?”, you asked him hurriedly.

He stiffened for a moment before nodding his head yes.

“Oh my god”, you exclaimed in a shaky voice, your eyes welling up with tears. Manny shot his head up and fussed over you in concern. “What- what’s happening? Are you hurting? C‘mon we’ll go to the med-” “Shut up for sometime, will you?”

He looked at you in disbelief before shutting his mouth and stared at you intently. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as he saw your eyes tear up. He raised a hand to wipe a lone tear that slipped out of your eyes. “I’ve been dying to hear that for the past 7 years, Manny”, you whispered to him, your heart pounding.

Manny’s eyes widened and he took a minute to compose himself before cupping both of your cheeks in his hands and leaned in to kiss them softly. Up close, you could see his beautiful moles and the tears shining in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me, angel?”, he murmured.

“I was so scared of losing you– that you’d think I’m weird for falling for you when we’re best friends. I’d get nightmares of you leaving me after I confessed to you, so I just ignored it and decided to act like nothing was happening when all I wanted to do was die everytime I found out you hooked up with others”, you confessed in a quiet voice. Manny turned red at that and averted his gaze in shame. You guys weren’t even together, so why did he feel like he had cheated on you?

“I-those were meaningless. They were simply Hook ups. Just that, I promise. All I wanted was to be with you every day, every second and if somebody tried to hurt you, I won’t hesitate to hurt them. I know that’s probably not normal, but that’s just who I am. And… that’s why I would execute the tasks that you couldn’t finish because I wanted to protect you. And if I have to do that by getting my own hands dirty, then so be it”, he confessed sincerely, caressing your cheeks with his thumbs and eyes darting across your face.

You were fully crying now, your eyes bloodshot, lips quivering, cheeks damp and your breathing laboured. You looked at him, your eyes swirling with emotions, and raised a hand to run through his curls.

“Stop crying, (Name), please, I can’t handle it”, he said in a desperate tone. “Kiss me”, you whispered. He looked at you for a second before resting a hand behind your ear, his thumb caressing your cheek and he leaned in to kissed you passionately, his nose smushed against your cheek.

And that was the best damn kiss you ever had in your life.

2023, Salt Lake City

You and Manny have been together for 8 years now and you’ve been stood by each other’s side like rocks. By now, the two of you and the others had joined the WLF to defend yourselves against FEDRA. Nobody could separate you two-Manny was notorious for his unwavering loyalty and he had saved you too many times for you to ever give up on him. No matter how difficult he got at times with his reckless behaviour, one word from you and he’d back off. People were also afraid of you two because of how well you worked with each other. Him with his shooting skills and you with your negotiation and strategic skills- the two of you were an unstoppable force.

These 8 years were nothing short of bliss for you. Manny was incredible as a partner-he was so loving, caring, loyal and respectful. Even in an apocalypse with limited resources, he’d do anything in his power to make you happy. He was so protective of you, he wouldn’t let anybody hurt even a single strand of your hair, especially after that one time you returned from patrol with a stab wound so deep, it made you comatose for 3 days. He was the reason why you woke up in the morning and you made sure he knew that, protecting him just as fiercely. Something in you cracked every time you remembered the hardships he faced and how he stills maintains a positive outlook even in the worst of times so you became a soft place for him to land. Always loving on him, caring for him, protecting him. Just as he did for you.

Him on the other hand, he was always in awe of how much empathy you had in you even after all the shit you’ve been through. You were both older and mature now, yet you stayed grounded with your mission that you swore by when you were just 14–still looking out for the people who were in need, especially children, making sure you could save as many innocent lives as possible. It made Manny fall in love with you deeper but also scared him because of how different you were from him. He was aggressive and ruthless with his targets, on the other hand, you’d try to save every single one of them. But you would also do anything for Manny. If someone even tried to look at him wrong, you'd be their worst nightmare. Manny would be lying if he said he didn't love that. Seeing your usually composed and kind demeanor take on a deadly and fierce look was...hot. Still, he was convinced you’d leave him someday, tired of the constant bloodshed and his loyalty to the Fireflies. He did his best to let go of the dirty work for you, but then he’d get scared of someone harming you and the cycle would continue. The two of you were such opposites and yet, you loved every part of the other.

Little did the two of you know, your bubble would be burst soon. Manny got posted at St Mary’s Hospital in Salt Lake City along with Owen and Abby. This meant that Manny would be separated from you for a while. And he did not take well to that.

“What the fuck do you mean you’re not coming with me?”, he seethed, his anger directed towards Isaac. You sighed and grasped his hands in yours to comfort him and ran your thumbs over the back of his hands. “Manny, you know how it is. I will be an extra baggage, I won’t-” “You’re not a fucking baggage, (Name)!”, he responded with exasperation.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking again, “I can’t do this without you, angel, I need you there with me. You know that”, he said it with such desperate intensity that you cupped his cheeks in your hands and stared directly into his eyes. You knew why Isaac didn’t choose you. The situation there must be dire enough that he wasn’t willing to take any risks, so he decided to send three of the strongest and sharpest fighters under him. You weren’t liking it in any way either, the thought of parting from Manny for a longer period making you feel nauseous, but you were in no position to question Isaac. He was your leader.

“Shh. It’s okay, I know. But, it’s probably for the best, baby. I don’t wanna be a distra-” “I don’t care. I’m not leaving you behind. You’re coming with us, that’s it”, he responded in a firm voice, his hands holding your elbows. You looked at him doubtfully. “Manny, what makes you think Isaac will listen to you?”

You felt his muscles twitch beneath your hands as he clenched his jaw. “I’ll figure somethin’ out. You’re coming with me. I’m not leaving you alone here.”

And he did convince Isaac. You didn’t wanna know how, but he did. He was determined like that, your Manny. So off you went to St. Mary’s with Manny, Abby and Owen.

At first, everything went as it did always– you guys got settled in, started mapping out trails, keeping a vigilant lookout for any raiders or infected and the usual patrols. Marlene was in charge of the hospital so she had a whole troop of soldiers with her, making you feel somewhat safer and this posting was also a personal one because Abby’s father, Jerry, worked as a doctor there. She was ecstatic to be reunited with her father again.

One day when you came back from patrol, the entire hospital was dead silent. As soon as you entered the building, there were bodies scattered everywhere, blood painting the walls and the floors.

“What the fuck?”, you muttered in disbelief. Either the hospital was raided by a large group or by a horde of infected. But upon closed inspection, you saw that a horde attack not the case. Abby, Owen and Manny followed close, their guns raised. Abby was on edge, worried about her father. “What the hell is this?”, her movements jumpy and her voice wavering.

You rolled a soldier on his back and noticed 2 gunshot wounds on his stomach. You checked the soldier lying a few feet away and he had a gunshot around his neck. You furrowed your eyebrows. “Guys, this is not a horde attack. They’ve got gunshot wounds.”

They checked the other soldiers and that confirmed it, it wasn’t a horde attack. “I need to find my dad. I’m going”, Abby conceded and tried to rush away to find Jerry. You stopped her by the arm. “Wait. I understand that you’re worried, but we don’t know if the hospital is empty. Let us scan the area first”, you tried to reason with her. She looked at you with a freaked out expression on her face. “Are you serious? I need to go find-” “Abs, hey, listen to them. They’re not wrong”, Manny tried placating her and came over to lay a hand on your back. Abby looked at you two and then Owen, him nodding his head at her and she reluctantly agreed.

The four of you spread out to scan the hospital. You and Manny scoured the upper floors while Owen and Abby took over the lower ones and the parking lot. “Careful, baby”, Manny murmured while covering you, his gun raised, eyes vigilant and footsteps careful. You nodded your head silently and focused on your surroundings, your heart pounding against your chest. The place was so eerily silent, you felt like every sound was a suspicious one. Both the floors were scattered with bodies with a puddle of blood around them, and you couldn't wrap your head around it. How big was this group of raiders that they took out an entire hospital? You cleared the 2 floors and reached the final one. No signs of life in any of the floors. You reached the final corridor and approached the operation theatre.

“Wait, let me go in first”, Manny whispered to you and gently pushed you behind him. You nodded and let him go ahead of you. Manny pushed the door open and froze. You tried to peak over his shoulder and before he could stop you, your eyes fell on the scene. There was a huge puddle of blood around a body. You raked your eyes across the person and noticed the headshot and brain matter around the body. And then you realised—

“Oh my god”, you gasped out and fisted Manny’s shirt in your hands. The body belonged to Jerry- Abby’s father. What the hell even happened here?

You could see Manny’s hands shaking from how tightly he was clenching them. His jaw was shut just as tightly, trying to keep his emotions at bay. “Manny…”, you trailed off, not knowing what to say. “What do we do? Oh god, she’s gonna-” “I know. I know”, he replied in a hoarse voice.

That’s when you heard a voice behind you- “Marlene is dead. Did you guys find my dad?” Abby. She must’ve noticed the way you two stiffened and immediately questioned you. “What is this? Did you guys find anything?”, she asked desperately. You turned your head to look at Manny with tearful eyes and he simply nodded his head at you, as if reassuring you that he’ll handle it.

And he did. And she was inconsolable. Which lead to her saying stuff that she would regret later, you thought. She vowed to finding whoever did this and to killing them. That she’d make them suffer so much, they’d beg her to kill them. You and Manny then found out that there were two nurses that were alive, they were hiding in the office and you brought them out in front of Abby. They told you who had done it–A single man. They said a single man killed 18 soldiers, Marlene and Jerry. Then they gave you his name- Joel, said he rescued the girl that Jerry was supposed to operate on. Before she could explain further, Abby abruptly cut them off. You gave her a look, something was odd. Because Abby never told you that her dad was performing surgery on some girl today.

The four of you immediately left the hospital and sought refuge in a nearby Fireflies shelter after burying Jerry's body. Abby, exhausted from what she had witnessed, promptly fell asleep before going on a vengeful rant. She kept saying the same things–that she’d find this Joel and kill him so ruthlessly that he will beg for mercy. You had so many questions because why would a single man go on a killing rampage over the surgery of a girl? And why did he kill Abby’s dad? What was she hiding? You were so deep in your thoughts that you didn’t notice Manny sit next to you. He nudged you with his shoulder and leaned his head to look at you. “You there?”, his voice came out in a hushed whisper.

You snapped out of your daze and turned to look at him. “Yeah, just…it’s been a lot”, you sighed. His eyes shined with understanding and he brought you closer to him by your shoulders, you leaned your head against his throat and hugging him tightly around the waist. Manny leaned his head against the top of your head and breathed in deeply. After a moment of calm silence, you decided to finally ask him. “Em? Did you notice the way Abby cut off the nurses when they were talking about the surgery?”, you asked in a soft voice. His body stiffened next to you, eyes closed in worry. He was hoping you wouldn’t catch that. “…yeah. What about it?”

You pressed a kiss to his throat and rubbed his chest with your hand. “Just….it was weird, wasn’t it? Why wouldn’t she tell us that her dad was performing a surgery today?”. Manny swallowed and rubbed a hand across your back. “Maybe it’s nothing, angel. We’ll- we’ll ask her later, okay? For now, let's get some sleep”, he said before kissing your head. You reluctantly agreed and let him take you to bed.

A week later, all of you had gone to visit her father’s grave and she had told the entire group about what she heard about Joel from the nurses– tall, ruthless and handsome and you noticed she was obsessively fixated on the handsome part, something sinister about it and the way she talked about this kid that Joel was saving with an air of carelessness. They came up with a very stupid plan about going all the way to Jackson to kill this man and your stupid boyfriend readily agreed to it, blinded by revenge.

“I’m sorry, but you realise you’re being way too hasty about this, right? This man killed 20 people on his own. How are we gonna stand up to him? He's in Jackson and from what I heard, it's a legit town. He has backups, for sure", you directly looked at Abby while questioning her decision. Mel was the only one who seemed to be in agreement with you, Manny refused to meet your eyes and Nora, Owen and Abby looked at you incredulously. “I don’t fucking care. We will just have to”, Abby barked at you. You stumbled back in shock. Sure, she's brash but she’s never spoke to you so…authoritatively before.

Manny grimaced and held your hand in his. “Okay, let's just...calm down. We'll talk about this later, baby", he whispered the last part in your ear. You turned your head to look at him in disbelief. "Manny-" "Not now, please", he looked at you with desperate eyes and squeezed your hand gently. You pressed your lips into a thin line and looked away from him, removing your hand from his grasp and wrapping your arms across your torso. Manny's hand was left hovering in the air, his heart squeezing painfully at the obvious wall that you had built up between you and him. He tried to reach for you but you simply shrugged him off and walked away. He tried to follow you but Mel stopped him and told him to leave you alone for sometime. So he stood there, his hands clenched into a fist and trying to swallow past the lump in his throat.

After that upsetting conversation, you decided to go back to the shelter and try to get information from the nurses. You needed to know what happened before you could take the next steps. "Why was that man here? And why was the girl being operated on? Tell me everything", you demanded.

"She- Jerry was going to operate on her brain. Something about isolating the cordyceps from it", the nurse replied hesitantly. You scrunched your face in confusion, "Cordyceps? She was bitten? And Jerry wasn't a neurologist, right?"

The nurses looked at each other nervously and wringed their fingers together, "Um- no. Jerry wasn't a neurologist. And uh- she was bitten but..", the nurse trailed off nervously. "But what?", you spit out impatiently.

"She was immune. Got bit but didn't turn. Marlene thought we could operate on her and make a cure, but we aren't trained for brain surgery, neither did we have the equipment. Just as we prepared her for surgery, that man came into the OT and shot Jerry dead. Asked us to unhook the girl and spared us in return", the nurse finally confessed. Your face shifted into a million different emotions. Not only was Abby's dad illegally performing surgeries but there was a girl out there who was immune to the cordyceps? "What the fuck...wait. How old was this girl?", you asked in distress.

"Must be around 14, that's what Marlene told us."

You felt nauseous, "And...was he-Joel, was he her father?", your voice breaking off because of the lump in your throat.

The nurse shrugged, unsure, "Looked like it. Had a dissociated look in his eyes, like he was in a trance."

"Was the surgery gonna work? Would there be a cure?", you asked with desperation and annoyance coating your tone.

The nurses averted their gaze from you, their body language screaming guilt. "I asked you something, goddamnit, was it gonna work?", you yelled at them in anger and they flinched before shaking their head no.

You felt disgusted and betrayed. Not only was Abby's father was performing surgeries that he wasn't even trained for, but he was operating on a non-consenting minor and The Fireflies had taken her away from her father-figure against their will? And to make it worse-the cure still wouldn't work? Which meant that they were going to kill this girl? You wanted to throw up. You felt sick from the guilt and hypocrisy, feeling complicit in this little girl's mistreatment because you were working with the same organization that was treating her like a lab rat.

You left the room with your mind swirling in a million thoughts. Why would they do that? Why were they allowed to do that? Why was Abby acting like she didn't know anything and now she was trying to kill someone to avenge her fraud father? You needed to do something, you had to stop them but you couldn't do it alone and you couldn't ask for help to anyone. There was only one person that you could confide in and you hoped he wouldn't disappoint you.

Manny was getting antsy after not being around you for almost an hour now. He had no idea where you went, beating himself up over your disappearance. Just when he was about to set off to find you, you rushed into your shared room in the hideout, your body tense with distress and sorrow.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?", eyebrows furrowed deeply and hands reaching for you, Manny tried to calm you down and understand what happened for you to be so scared.

You gripped his biceps tightly in your hands, looking up at him with teary eyes. "Manny- she-", you closed your eyes in agony. Manny widened his eyes and tensed up, his heart beating faster, "Baby, you gotta tell me what's up. Who did this to you?"

You let out a small sob and ducked your head, his hand came up to cradle your cheek gently. Taking a deep breath in, you finally told him. "I talked to the nurses. Manny, he- Jerry was a fucking fraud. He-he was performing a brain surgery on the girl without her consent. Joel was her guardian..? I don't know, I don't know-but--Jerry was a fraud. She was only 14, Manny. They were going to kill her for a cure that was non-existent. And Abby knows this, she knows this. Yet, she wants to kill Joel. We're all complicit in this...we're- We need to stop her-", you abruptly stopped and finally focused on Manny. He was way too quiet for your liking. His jaw was clenched and he wouldn't look at you. Your heart fell down to your stomach as you realised.

"You- you knew this", you whispered in shock.

Manny closed his eyes in shame before opening them and tried to bring you closer. "Angel-" "Don't fucking touch me or call me that", you growled and pushed him away. His mouth was agape and eyes bloodshot. "You--oh my god. How long have you known this?", you questioned him in a sharp tone. Manny swallowed thickly and avoided your eyes. "Answer the fucking question, Manny", you scowled.

"Since that girl was brought here by Marlene", he confessed in a low voice, his body stiff and shoulders drawn in at your tone.

The pain in your chest increased ten fold at his admittance. You thought you could trust him, that he wouldn't hide anything from you. You were such a fool. You let out a sudden laugh and pinched your nose between your fingers. "Wow. I was so fucking stupid to even think you'd be on my side. Your ego and your loyalty to this fuckass organization is way more important to you than an innocent life. I should've known...", you broke off into another incredulous chuckle and Manny looked at you with worried eyes. "Angel, please. Listen to me, Joel was a bad man, why can't you see that? He's hurt Abby-"

"Fuck if I care! Her dad was doing illegal shit to a child. I think Joel's reaction is super fucking warranted, Manny. You tell me, if that was your dad being operated on or if it was you on that operation table? What would you do, huh? You think your dad would've allowed his son to die? You would've let your dad-"

"That's enough", Manny warned you, his voice hoarse.

"Why? That hurt, huh? Good. Have fun with your little plan of vengeance, I'm out of this", you scoffed and moved to pack your stuff.

Manny's eyes widened and he finally moved to grab you by your elbow and turned you to face him, his heart pounding at your actions and he stopped you with a wavering voice, "(Name), stop. We'll figure something out. You're not really leaving me, right-"

You snapped your head to look at him, your eyes shining with fury and betrayal, "What are we gonna figure out, hm? Are you going to leave them behind and join me?"

Manny quieted down and stared at you with tears in his eyes, his brain working overtime- stuck between following his love or supporting his friends. Looking at the hesitant look on his face, you scoffed and ripped your arm out of his grip.

"You're not even trying to deny it, Em", you cried out, Manny's stomach twisting in pain at the sound. "This was bound to happen. I was stupid and naive to think you'd ever stand by me."

Manny's face shifted in sorrow and a tear fell on his cheek, his breathing laboured as he slowly realised that this was final. "Wait, no. Don't say that, please. I love you, angel, please", he choked out and tried to reach for you. You stumbled back from him and let out a soft sob, your throat hurting from keeping it in.

"This was a mistake. We were never going to work out because of your...priorities. I knew this since the beginning but-", you sniffled and swallowed harshly against another sob building up your throat, "--but, I loved you so much that I was willing to ignore that. Thought, there's people doing worse out there. And now? you are one of the people who are doing worse", you blabbered in between sobs and sniffles.

At your use of "loved" and calling him one of the bad ones, Manny felt his heart stop. He just wanted to protect you and his friends. Joel had hurt Abby, and he'd do anything to help his friends out but, you weren't wrong either. You spoke the truth--Jerry was a fraud and all of you would have been complicit in that girl's possible murder. Then why did he find it so difficult to just let go and follow you? Were his egotistical and vengeful tendencies really more important than you? But, even with all these thoughts swirling his head, all he could fixate on was trying to stop you from leaving. Because if you left, then his recklessness would just get worse. He was not capable of handling such a heartbreak. His lips quivered and voice shook when he finally spoke, "No, no, no, baby. Please, don't say that, please. I can't do this without you--"

"You shouldn't have done this with me. What, you thought I'm so dumb that you'll bring me here and I'll stay in blissful ignorance? You thought I was that easy to fool?"

"No! please, it's not like that. I'm sorry, I should've told you-"

"The audacity to admit that you should've told me, when you brought me all the way here just to keep me in the dark...some fucking nerve you have, Alvarez", you spit at him, you felt your face warm with anger and your nostrils flared. Manny shut his eyes in pain, his chest constricting and making him choke on his breaths.

You took a deep breath in and wiped the tears on your face. "I'm leaving. If you wanna join me, you're free to do so. But if not...and if I reach Joel before you, I will make sure every single one of you is dead before you even think to hurt another family again", you threatened him in a scarily calm voice.

Manny's mouth opened and closed like a fish, "Wait, you're- no, you can't go alone. Don't do this-"

"Why? You think I can't do shit without you? You know, since the day I found out about Jackson, I'd been wishing for a time where you and I could spend the rest of our lives there? Peacefully?", you confessed. Manny froze. You had never shared this with him.

"What?", he whispered out loud.

You scoffed, "Yeah, I was so stupid. Thought we'd finally have a place that we could call our own, a community...", you trailed off, your voice losing its spark and hope. You rapidly blinked your eyes to get rid of the tears and you finally looked straight into his eyes. His face was scrunched in pain, warm tears wetting his cheeks and his hands were tightly clenched into fists. "Please, don't go..", he whispered desperately. Your heart ached at his state. You've never seen him like this but you couldn't live this life anymore. No matter how angry you were at him, you knew you would cry every night in his memory.

You finally went closer to him and he looked at you with hope in his eyes. You lifted a hand to cradle his cheek and wiped the tears on them with your thumb. "I'll be waiting for you", you whispered to him and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, his moustache tickling your lips. He tried to hold you closer before you moved away and packed your bags.

You packed your bag and turned to look at him, still frozen to his spot, for the last time with unshed tears. "Bye, Manny", you whispered and rushed out of the room, sneaking past everyone who was busy with cleaning their weapons or cooking a meal. You knew Manny would never snitch on you, which is why you ran away in front of him. You grabbed the reins on your horse and rode away, tears streaming down your face.

Back in the room, Manny stood still, his eyes shedding tears once again. His throat hurt from the lump lodged against it and he slowly approached the bed to sit on it. He didn't know what was he supposed to do anymore. He didn't have a reason to live. He doesn't know how will he cope with the fact that you'd never touch him or tell him sweet nothings or keep him updated about your whereabouts. All Manny could do, was wait. Wait until he crosses paths with you, and he'd beg on his knees for you to take him back and give you the domestic life that you deserved.

Until then, he'd fall asleep with your scarf around him every night and pray to whatever higher power that exists to keep you safe.

Part 2

AN: ahhhh I hope you all liked this! Part 2 will have all the juicy stuffff like reunions and killings hehe

#manny alvarez x reader #manny alvarez #the last of us #tlou #tlou hbo #tlou2 #tlou season 2 #danny ramirez #fluff #angst #joel miller

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backtothefanfiction · 26 days ago

Text

Oh Baby | PART TWO: SETTLING IN SEATTLE

Manny Alvarez x Reader Insert

Summary: You and the gang settle into your new lives with the WLF

Warnings: MATURE!, pregnancy, angst, fluff, manny is a bit of a jerk, swearing, guns! We are playing fast and loose with both the timeline and general story canon, if that’s gonna bother you, don’t read.

Word Count: 5.2k

A/N: Hi, so here is part 2 of Oh baby. Thank you so much for the love and support on part 1, I can’t wait to share the full story arc I have planned for this. I’m sorry there isn’t a tag list, I’ve just come to realise I’m just really shit at keeping one. The series will be listed in the South Wing of my library (masterlist) from here on out so will be easy to find for future reference. If you really want to make sure you don’t miss an instalment when I post (I’ve not really thought out a schedule with this, just gonna post whenever) then maybe hit the follow button as an extra security. Anyway, Manny is a bit of a dick for a bit during this chapter, but his heart is in the right place, so we can’t be mad right? Right?

It took another day and a half of trekking through the snow to get there, the high snow drifts making it near impossible most of the time to move through the woods, but you made it- and you’d only thrown up twice in that time. You were considering that a win. Manny remained close to you for the whole journey, but never too close to draw too much attention to you both. But he kept a constant eye on you.

When he noticed you weren’t being sick again he tried to encourage you to eat some more, even sneakily offering you some of his own rations. You had tried to push them away, worried that this blessed nausea free break would be ruined by you suddenly adding food back to your stomach again. But he was pushy and wouldn’t take no for an answer- and you were glad he didn’t, thankful when your body remained settled and you were able to enjoy the first lot of food you had kept down in days.

You all mostly walked in silence, all of you conserving your energy as you moved through the howling cold as quickly as you possibly could. When you made it back towards the road things became a little bit easier again, however by that point the fatigue in your body was so great that no matter how much closer you were getting to the city, it still felt like it was miles towards your destination.

Once again you slowly began to fall behind. The cold air made your lungs burn. Your legs were starting to cramp from walking too much and you desperately just wanted to sleep.

“How much further?” you asked Manny as he doubled back to where you had finally come to a stop, your body hunched over, hands braced on your thighs as you desperately tried to get your breath back and muster enough energy to go on.

“I’d say maybe another hour and a half?” he said, turning his head to look for a marker against the city skyline to where the WLF were camped out.

You stood back up to look for the marker yourself, but your eyes were too tired from both your fatigue and the endless white that continued to surround you from all sides.

“Have I ever told you I hate the snow,” you panted, as you tried to instead focus on the man before you and find some solace and energy in him.

“No,” he muttered, his focus split on attending to you and keeping an eye on how far ahead the others were.

“I grew up in Arizona,” you muttered, “not all that much snow in the desert,” you complained and it made him chuckle.

You watched as he took one more look over his shoulder at the others, before his eyes softened. “Come here,” he said, reaching out for your backpack.

You reluctantly let him, once again, shift some of the items from your bag into his to lighten your load and take some of the strain off of your body.

“Thanks,” you said, as you moved to put it back on, the weight of it considerably less. You wondered how heavy his pack must be now, but you knew this was yet just another one of his ways to try and make amends with you.

“So you really think this is a good idea?” you said to him as you slowly began to walk again.

“I mean if you’d asked me yesterday before you told me-“ he hesitated as he struggled to say the words ‘you’re pregnant’ out loud, but you couldn’t blame him, nor did you actually need him to say it for you to understand. He blinked hard and swallowed down the unspoken words before he continued. “I would have said yes. And considering the current weather and the fact our supplies are running dangerously low, I won’t deny, I still think it’s the right move to make. Whether or not it’s a long term solution though?” he said, airing his thoughts, “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“I’ve heard Isaac can be quite the hard ass,” you confided as you looped your thumbs through the straps of your pack and hoisted it higher on your back as you walked.

“That may be, but if it means he keeps control of the city and we get to settle down in one place for a while…” he offered, his voice trailing off as he struggled to find a conclusion for his train of thought, but you got the gist of where it was headed.

—————————————————

“So how do we do this?” you asked as you approached the old media tower that the WLF had made their main base and finally caught up with the others. “Do we just knock on the door and show them our old fireflies necklaces or?”

You didn’t have time to receive an answer as the doors suddenly flew open and a surge of WLF members came out onto the front steps with their guns trained on the six of you. You immediately froze, your hands instinctively flying up into the air in a show of surrender, but to your surprise Manny stepped forward to block your body with his own. He had a hardened and protective look on his face, but it was a stance you knew was meant to protect everyone, not just you.

“Wait, don’t shoot!” Mel eagerly said, stepping forward, moving her backpack into view and showing off her old fireflies necklace. “We’re former fireflies. We were told by one of your scouting parties in the area we would be welcomed here,” she said optimistically, but your heart was still in your throat.

One of the leaders of the WLF pack lifted a finger and signalled for you to wait where you were. He gave a look to the woman beside him, silently telling her to be vigilant and keep the rest of the pack's eyes trained on you all, as he moved back inside the door to radio to his superior and give them an update.

It was an agonising wait that had your toes tapping with restlessness as you tried to focus on staying calm and optimistic. But on the inside you were mentally berating yourself for ever letting you all go through with this crazy plan.

“You got names?” The man came out again and asked and slowly each one of you introduced yourselves. He didn’t seem to react to any of them until he heard Manny’s and he seemed to grow a little starstruck. Once he had collated your names, he hovered back inside the doorway again to radio them to the superior once more and you were left frowning at the back of Manny’s head as you wondered why the man had reacted that way.

Another couple minutes went by of you all waiting out in the cold, before you were given the all clear to finally enter the building and you let out a low breath of relief as you followed everyone else inside. You stuck close to Manny’s back as you all climbed the stairs single file up to the 4th floor. He took one look back just to check where abouts you were, but you could see him relax when he realised you’d kept yourself close.

“You’ll wait in here,” the man who had led you in said, as he ushered you all into an old conference room that still housed an old wooden table and a mass of swivel chairs.

Although the group of you had been left in the room alone, it was clear from the shadows through the glass in the door, that a couple of WLF members had been placed there on guard to keep an eye on you all just in case.

Although you had been tired the whole way there, the adrenaline from having numerous guns pointed at you was still coursing through your body and you found yourself unable to sit still. You instead moved towards the windows that lined the back wall of the room and took a moment to look out at the snow covered city.

“What do you think they did with all the infected?” you asked, noticing the completely empty streets, but knowing from the fact you had all walked in here with no problem, there wasn’t any fence or defenses like they had in Jackson to keep them all out.

“Probably forced them underground,” Manny’s voice replied quietly, as he hovered looking out the window at your side.

—————————————————

You all waited in exhausted silence for what felt like nearly an hour before someone came to speak to you all. He was a black man of average build, but his presence in the room was immediately all encompassing and commanding.

He came to a halt at the end of the long conference room table before slapping a handful of paper files onto the table top with a heavy slap. Slowly you all came to hover around the table to accept your fate.

“Looks like you all check out,” he said firmly, yet his voice had a softness that told you you no longer needed to be on edge. His fingers slowly began to fan out the different files, his eyes dipping to scan the names on each of them.

“I will say though, many of your fellow fireflies who have sought refuge with me and my ranks thought you dead, as none of them have seen or heard anything about you in months.” He hesitated as he let his steady words permeate the air. “Anyone like to enlighten me as to what you’ve all been doing in that time?”

“We had a personal mission we were carrying out,” Abby spoke up confidently, before quickly adding a ‘Sir,’ as a formality.

“And what kind of personal mission would that be?” he asked, his attention focused on her.

“We were tracking down the man who attacked our base out in Salt Lake City,” she supplied.

“And was the mission successful?” the man asked.

“Yes, sir,” she said coldly and without feeling.

You didn’t know how she could be so closed off to what she had done. How she had acted. Even just thinking back to the way that man, Joel, had looked lying on the floor, his body bruised and bleeding, was enough to make your stomach turn again. The memory of the young woman’s screams echoed around your ears and you leant forward slightly to brace yourself against the table, your knuckles growing white as they wrapped around the edge.

You could feel Manny shooting you a subtle look of concern from your side, but you ignored it, not wanting to bring more attention to yourself than you already had.

“Which one of you is Manny Alvarez?” The man at the head of the table finally asked, his eyes flitting between Manny and Owen. But with a name like Alvarez, you thought it was easy to work out which two of the men it was he was looking for.

“Me,” Manny said, raising his hand slightly to get the man’s attention.

“The file we’ve got on you says you come highly recommended,” he said, singling out one of the files in front of him and flicking it open. “I’m told you’re good with a rifle and have a near perfect shot record.”

“Yes, sir,” Manny confirmed.

“Good, we could do with someone like you upstairs,” he said, before finally dragging his gaze back to the rest of you. “We’ll try and find you all accommodation. Training and drills will begin tomorrow at 08:00 hours. You’ll have 1 week to prove your worth, or you’ll be back out on the streets, you hear me.”

“Yes, sir,” you all affirmed

“Good,” he praised softly, picking back up the files and beginning to move towards the door again. “Oh,” he said, doubling back a step and turning back towards us. “My names Isaac by the way. And welcome to the WLF.”

—————————————————

TWO AND A HALF MONTHS LATER

The six of you had been split between two rooms. After a small debate it was decided that Abby, Owen and Mel would take one room, whilst you, Manny and Nora took the other. You were grateful too, because then neither you or Manny had to hide what was going on between you (not that Nora wanted many details, but you could speak freely even when she was around and it made things less stressful).

You had all completed the WLF initial trials, not that there had been any doubt that you would, being ex-fireflies and all, but it was a weight off knowing you could stay. You had regular food, a place to sleep, a steady routine that made the long winter days go by fairly quick.

You and Manny had managed to keep your little secret under wraps fairly well, the only issue being when you all had a physical. Although the nurse was supposed to report the result back to the doctor, you had managed to get her to take pity on you and have her sweep it under the carpet for the moment. After all, given everything else you had going on with the WLF, you still expected yourself to miscarry and this whole thing to resolve itself naturally. But that didn’t happen.

Your morning sickness had gotten better over the last few weeks, you were only throwing up once a day (if that). You were sleeping better at night allowing you to feel less fatigued in the day and you were finally starting to get some colour back into your cheeks now the weather was starting to turn.

The last of the snow had melted well over a week ago now, bringing with it fresh flowering buds on the trees and an influx of greenery to surround you. You had always loved Spring and that cycle of new life that began to emerge everywhere you looked. It always reminded you that things could so easily change and that even on the bleakest of days, something new was just around the corner. It gave you hope.

However the changing weather didn’t just bring new life to your surroundings. Just like the warmer weather had started to bring all of you out of hibernation, it did the same for the infected.

There had been many talks and meetings over the last week on how you were all going to combat it. More patrols. More groups marching through the streets to show the WLFs force.

You and Manny were often split up during the day, him relegated to camping out upstairs in the watchtower, whilst you were left to act as one of the many boots on the street. Luckily you usually had either Mel or Nora with you to watch your back and ease Manny’s mind, but it still didn’t stop him from worrying about you night and day.

“We’re going to have to say something at some point,” he said as he lay on his single bed across the room staring up at the ceiling, throwing and catching a small ball to keep his hands busy whilst he thought.

“And what if I’m still not ready for that,” you said as you rolled onto your side on your own bed to face him.

It was a small room with a set of bunk beds against the wall on one side and a single bed on the other. There were three lockers placed at the ends of each of the beds for storage and a single extra chair in a corner by the door. You had taken the bottom bunk so that Manny could better keep an eye on you, leaving the top bunk for Nora.

“Well when will you be ready?” Manny rebuffed gruffly, catching the ball and sitting up to look at you properly. “I mean, you’re not going to be able to keep it a secret much longer,” he berated, but his tone wasn’t unreasonable. “We’re three months into this thing now. Isn’t that when they say you’re usually out of the woods? It’ll only be another couple of weeks before you start actually showing.”

“I know!” You said, cutting off his rant.

You’d been having the same conversation for days now. Manny had been protective of you from the second he found out you were pregnant with his child, but lately he’d stepped it up a notch.

“Just, give me a few more days, okay?” you reasoned with him as you rolled back over onto your back to stair at the slats in the bed frame above you.

“Promise,” he said, his eyes staring at you, but you didn’t meet them.

“Promise,” you sighed noncommittally, but it seemed to ease his mind. For the moment anyway.

—————————————————

That was until another week later and you were all pulled into a meeting with Isaac and a few other higher ups in the WLF.

“I need a strong team to go out and survey the Eastern blocks of the city. We’ve been having an insurgence of infected in that area and we need to work out where they’re coming from so that we can push them back,” Isaac said from the head of the table. “Manny, I want you and Abby to head up that group.”

“We’ll take the rest of our crew from Salt Lake,” Abby quickly offered up. “Pad it out with a few of-“

“No,” Manny quickly interjected, cutting her off. All eyes fell on him as the room went quiet. When he turned and met your eyes, you knew what he was going to do and you silently begged him not to, but he ignored you.

“We’re not taking the whole Salt Lake Crew,” he told her.

“What do you mean? Why not?” Abby commanded, her brow furrowed, eyes laser focused on Manny.

“Yes, Manny,” Isaac chimed in, “why not?”

“Manny,” you warned him, your voice low.

“No,” he turned and said to you, “I’m not letting you come with us.”

“Manny, please don’t do this,” you asked him calmly, trying to keep things from escalating before they’d even begun, but he wasn’t having any of it.

“Why can’t Y/N come with us?” Mel asked from across the room.

Your eyes moved to Nora sat beside her and you silently pleaded with her to step up and say something. To counteract Manny before he could go any further. But she wouldn’t.

“Manny,” you turned back to him and nervously warned him again. You weren’t ready for this. You liked it just being the three of you that knew. The moment everybody else did they would look at you differently. And even if you were ready, this was definitely not how you wanted them to find out.

“She’s pregnant!” Manny blurted out before you could get out another word.

You glowered at him, a storm held in your eyes that told him how much you hated him right now. How betrayed you felt.

“Since when?” Owen asked, rising from his seat as he struggled to process the information.

When silence fell and it was clear Manny wasn’t going to say anything else, you finally bit the bullet and confessed. “I’m 3 months along,” you reluctantly told them.

“What?” They muttered between themselves, asking each other different questions and berating themselves for not realising. The only quiet one amongst your crew was Nora, who just stared at the two of you as the debris of the bombshell slowly settled.

“Well who’s the father?” Mel asked, still struggling to put all the pieces together.

“Well it’s fucking him isn’t it,” Owen snipped. “Why else would he know and the rest of us not.”

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Isaac said stoically, as you sat mortified in your seat. “After all, our repopulation efforts are just as important as all our other endeavours,” he continued, but somehow his words didn’t make you feel any better.

“This does change things a little, I guess,” he continued as the rest of the members of your crew in the room began to settle, “but Manny, I do believe the choice should be up to Y/N. We have had some pregnant recruits continue to partake in missions well into the late stages of their pregnancy-“

“I want to go!” You insisted, standing from your seat and leaning forward on the table with authority. You could feel Manny at your side shooting daggers back at you but you ignored him. “If everyone else is going, I want to go.”

“No!” Manny said forcefully. “Bringing you along will only compromise the mission.”

“How so?!” You interjected, rage beginning to rise in your voice. “I am still more than able bodied. I am keeping up with all the drills. I am still a highly skilled member of this team!”

“But I can’t guarantee your safety,” he stressed.

“Yes, I understand that and am prepared for any-“

“But I’m not!” he shouted back. “If you come with us, you will only be a distraction for the team. I don’t want anyone losing focus on the mission because they are too busy trying to protect you and watch out for you instead.”

“Then why the fuck did you tell everyone!” You spat back at him.

“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU!” he shouted and the room went deadly silent. “Either of you,” he clarified more softly. “Permission to deny Miss Y/L/N’s attendance on this and future missions,” Manny said, turning to Isaac for a final ruling.

Isaac hesitated a moment, looking between you and Manny, silently weighing up the situation. But you saw the way he looked at Manny and you knew there was no going back. “Permission granted,” he finally affirmed and you fell like led back into your seat as you felt your fate finally settle on your shoulders.

—————————————————

You didn’t talk to him for a week after they returned. Refused to even look at him. How dare he bench you like this. It was ridiculous. He knew how much of an asset you were to that team, baby or not, and yet he still sidelined you- for what?

“You know, you can’t ignore him forever,” Nora said one evening when it was just the two of you in the room.

“Watch me,” you bit, irritated, but you both knew your words were meaningless.

“If it makes you feel better, he was in a grumpy as fuck mood the whole time. Carried this look of guilt on his face and almost got himself killed because he was still too distracted thinking about how he’d hurt you.”

“What?” You said, sitting up and leaning your head out from the bottom bunk to look up at her.

“The fucker was too in his head and wasn’t looking where he was going. Fell through the fuckin floor didn’t he. Thank fuck he caught himself before he could fall through the next floor. There was a fuck ton of infected down there,” she said. “I mean he still disturbed them and they came swarming up the nearest staircase, but thankfully we had enough time to hop back out the window and climb down the same way we went in before Abby and Owen torched the place.”

“Shit, is that why he’s been limping?” you found yourself asking concerned.

“See you do care,” she smirked.

“Oh shut up,” you spat back, flopping back down onto your back out of sight again.

Two minutes later, Manny was returning to the room freshly showered, a towel tucked tightly in at his hips, his damp curls still dripping down his back. His sudden presence made the room tense and it wasn’t long before Nora was shifting herself off the top bunk and making a quick exit.

“I’m gonna go take a shower too and give you guys some time to talk,” she said, grabbing her things before lightly skipping out the door.

Although she had given you space to talk, neither one of you was chomping at the bit to break the silence between you. That was until he let out a low groan as he settled himself down on the edge of the bed. When you finally chanced a glance his way, he had lifted his leg slightly to observe the large scab that ran down the length of his shin.

When he lifted his head and was met with your eyes, you felt caught, like a deer in headlights. But you didn’t move.

“That looks painful,” you finally said.

“Yeah. Was,” he replied. “But it’ll heal in about a week or so, no big deal,” he added, putting his foot back on the floor before standing up.

You continued to watch him as he pottered around the room collecting the things he needed to get dressed, laying them out on the end of his bed. “You just gonna sit there and watch me get dressed?” he asked with his back to you, as he lifted his arms and applied deodorant.

“Maybe?” you said, but you didn’t turn your eyes away. After all, it wasn’t like you hadn’t seen him naked before.

“Fine,” he sighed, brashly turning around to give you a full eyeful of his junk as he finally dropped the towel.

Your eyes became glassy as they focused on his abs. You knew it was weird to just stare, but you couldn’t help yourself.

“You okay there?” he asked, as he rested his hands on his hips and waited for you to look away, but you weren’t fully there.

“Huh? What?” you finally said, blinking out of your daze and finally moving your eyes back up to his face. “Yeah- I’m fine,” you said, turning your body away from him fully and staring at the wall beside you.

You listened attentively to him as he continued to shuffle around and get dressed into his T-shirt and sweats, the usual items you all wore to bed. You heard the mattress springs groan as he finally sat himself back down on his bed and only then, did you turn around to look at him once more. He was sitting on top of the covers, his toes dangling over the edge of the bed. His arms were wrapped tightly around his knees and his fingers circled his wrist to hold them in place as he stared at you.

His face looked tormented and you wanted to ask him to unload his burdens on you, but you were also still pissed at him and liked that you were at least causing him some torture.

“You know I had to do it, right?” he said as an opener, but you didn’t respond. “You promised you’d say something and you didn’t,” he continued when all you gave him was silence. “What else was I supposed to do?” he said, his voice becoming irate when he couldn’t get a response from you.

Instead of answering, you rolled back to staring at the wall.

“Uhhhgg,” he groaned and you heard the sound of him running his open palm down his face in exasperation. “Look what do you want me to do? What do you want me to say?!” he finally barked, getting up and standing directly next to your bed.

“How about an actual fucking apology!” you turned and spat at him. “Did you think about that? You fucking out me to everyone and then sideline me from all further missions and you didn’t even apologise!” you barked back at him and his face fell.

You could feel your hormones coursing through your body. Feel your rage literally bubbling under your skin as it became flushed. All you could do was sit there and glower at him, words suddenly failing you. You were so mad- so angry- and you had no idea how to regulate that.

“Y/N-“ he said hesitantly.

“Don’t-“ you said, cutting him off. “Unless the next words out of your mouth are I’m sorry, just don’t,” you warned him and for once he actually looked frightened by you.

You both hesitated in silence for a moment, your eyes locked on one another as he waited for you to calm down. He listened to your breathing, counting the breaths out in his head as they gradually became deeper and longer.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said when your body began to soften and he knew you’d actually listen to him and accept it. “Please Y/N, I’m sorry,” he said, crouching down beside the bed so he was at eye level with you. “For all of this,” he added.

You sighed, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath.

“It’s not all your fault,” you reassured him. “It takes two people to make a baby and we were both reckless,” you said, your words chosen carefully to let him off of the hook he had placed himself on.

“Yeah, but I-“ he started, but you cut him off again.

“But nothing,” you said. “We are both grown adults and just sometimes…” you paused, taking in another calming breath, “sometimes these things happen.”

He gently reached out his hand for yours that was resting over your stomach and you let him, his thumb rubbing soothing lines across the back of it as he tried to work out what to say.

“How were you while we were away?” he finally asked.

“You mean apart from being cooped up here?” you asked him. “I’m fine- we’re fine,” you corrected and your words made the corner of his mouth quirk up.

You remembered back to what he said in that meeting, ‘Because I don’t want to lose you… Either of you.’ Although those words had gotten your back up at the time, your anger at being pushed aside clouding any other feelings those words might have made you feel, you sure were feeling them now.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he suddenly frowned, leaning closer to you and you realised you had begun to cry.

“Uhhh, shit,” you said, wiping at your cheeks. “Just stupid hormones,” you explained, letting out a small laugh at yourself as the tears continued to roll down your cheeks. “You know yesterday, I cried over a cucumber. A fucking cucumber,” you laughed, remembering the absurdity of it all.

“Why? What did the cucumber do to you?” he said with his own lightness, as he continued to hold your hand and help you ride out this wave of emotions.

“Didn’t taste right,” you told him.

He let out a breathy laugh before he lifted your hand to his lips and pressed a small tentative kiss there. “Kids not even four months yet and he’s already rejecting his vegetables,” he mused.

“Or she-“ you interjected, because there was really no way of knowing after all.

“Oh good, glad to see you two have made up,” Nora said as she stepped back into the room enrobed in a towel, her old clothes bunched up in her arms.

“Yeah,” you mused as you let your eyes roam over Manny’s side profile and you smiled. “We’ll see how long it lasts,” you joked and he turned back to you and smiled.

—————————————————

TO BE CONTINUED…

#manny alvarez #manny Alvarez x reader #the last of us reader insert #manny Alvarez imagine #tlou fanfic #oh baby #series #Danny Ramirez characters

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superhoeva · 2 months ago

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𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 (𝐓𝐖𝐎)

all my fics, blurbs, and other thoughts! reader is written as a black or poc woman but all are welcome to enjoy <3 | (18+/minors dni)

(FIRST MASTERLIST LINK)

𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐘

MANNY CASTILLO ⋆｡°✩

⋆ late for work – manny has a meeting with superintendent reynolds. you... don't care. (+18)

𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌

ANDREW "POPE" CODY ⋆｡°✩

⋆ awe – nothing is perfect, but pope is certain you're the closest thing to it (+18)

⋆ counting breaths – what happens when you fall asleep on pope

⋆ selfies – pope sends you a picture

⋆ under the bed – pope's a monster yet you still invite him in (+18)

⋆ broom closet – you and pope get trapped after a job goes hairy (+18)

𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 (𝐈𝐈)

SGT./CAPT. JOHNNY SOAP MACTAVISH ⋆｡°✩

⋆ rings – johnny enlists your help while going ring shopping for simon (+18)

⋆ night night – your roommate johnny kisses you goodnight (+18)

L.T. SIMON GHOST RILEY ⋆｡°✩

⋆ noisy – simon fucks you raw for the first time (+18)

⋆ fuckbuddy!simon (1) – scenes of you and your grumpy fuck buddy, simon riley (+18)

POLY!141/SERIES/EXTRAS/ETC. ⋆｡°✩

⋆ THE ESCAPE (1) (2) (3) – your small sleepy town has never been enough for you. maybe that’s what makes it so easy for inmate soap, his cellmate ghost, ad their friends on the outside to convince you to help sneak them out of prison. (+18/DARK)

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐆𝐎 𝐏𝐃

⋆ first – charlie sees you first, and decides you're his... even after you start dating his son (+18/DARK)

⋆ ten things charlie reid does during sex – charlie's sexual habits (+18)

⋆ breakfast in bed – charlie feeds you the most important meal of the day (+18/DARK)

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐓

MICHAEL "ROBBY" ROBINAVITCH ⋆｡°✩

⋆ thinking of you – robby gets himself off to the thought of his favorite nurse (+18)

⋆ greedy – robby surrenders. (+18)

⋆ the banquet – you and robby ditch a charity event (+18)

⋆ sfw headcanons (1) – my thoughts on michael "robby" robinavitch

⋆ lectures (1) – you catch robby's eye after he guest lectures for your class (+18)

⋆ bath – you and robby share a bath on his day off (+18)

⋆ kiss of life (teaser) – you, dr. adamson's oldest granddaughter, start a residency at the pitt (+18)

⋆ hyper (1) (2) – robby comes... a lot (+18)

⋆

JACK ABBOT ⋆｡°✩

⋆ ride – jack makes you ride his thigh (+18)

⋆ favorite – jack treats his favorite resident (+18)

⋆ weekends (1) – jack loves you too much (+18)

⋆ too much – jack mocks you (+18)

⋆ nudes – jack returns home after a an entire shift of your teasing (+18)

⋆ messy – jack aims for a record (+18)

⋆ butt stuff – you and freak!abbot explore anal play (+18)

⋆ nineteen – freak!abbot's sixth sense tells him your secret (+18)

⋆ slang – jack tries out some new vocabulary

⋆ pink – you use your new ribbons on jack (+18)

⋆ wednesday – jack helps himself (+18)

⋆ guard dog – jack abbot devotes himself to making sure you make it

⋆ showers – you have gym crush!jack's head spinning (+18)

RABBOT X READER ⋆｡°✩

⋆ teamwork – robby is in jack's spot (+18)

⋆ trouble – what happens when you smack their ass (+18)

⋆ seeing double – jack and robby pass you around (+18)

⋆ fifteen minutes – you spend your break with robby after jack blows up your phone (+18)

⋆ late – robby shows up late to find you and jack preoccupied (+18)

⋆ three courses – jack cleans up after robby (+18)

JAMIRA X READER ⋆｡°✩

coming soon <3

FRANCIS "FRANK" LANGDON ⋆｡°✩

⋆ losing dogs (prologue) – every thing comes crashing down after your best friend betrays your trust. (+18)

⋆ the frank(ie) effect (1) (2) (3) – frank's inside joke takes upon a life of it's own (+18)

⋆ forgive me yet? – frank screws up (+18)

⋆ longdon – frank's opinion on his new nickname (+18)

⋆ magic – seeing you in your element at work has frank planning his future

⋆ cream – you're still angry at frank for waxing his chest (+18)

⋆ guess who's not coming to diner – you and frank struggle to make your dinner reservations (+18)

⋆ jeremy – frank finds your your secret ink (+18)

EMERY WALSH X READER X JACK ABBOT ⋆｡°✩

⋆ possessive – walsh and abbot vie for your attention at work and home (+18)

𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒

ELIAS "STACK" MOORE

⋆ special – elias spots you in your club (+18)

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limerlove · 11 months ago

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#001.5 TOUCHING YOURSELF!

❝ ABBY!ANDERSON SERIES ❞

warnings. eighteen+, nsfw content: lowkey loser!reader, voyerisum, dub-con, dildo penetration (abby!r), minors hop off my shit, friends to lovers (eventually), nerdy!abby.

....AND THEY WERE ROOMATES, she’s always been just abby to you. best friends and thick as thieves. sweet as can be, breathing shy naivety with ever inhale of oxygen — a walking angel on earth. a gentle remainder of what’s good but looks can be so convincing? can’t they?

The college bar is no busier than it would have been any other thursday night. Any other night, you would have been able to handle the rowdy college kids, the old men checking out your ass with a lingering promise of a nightcap you would never attend but the promise of more kept the tips rolling into now deep pockets.

Two regulars going at it, again, leaving you and Jesse to split them up. Frank, the alcoholic with violent tendencies reaches for the visible switchblade attached to your carabiner. With a swat of his hand, Manny catches his limp wrist before shoving the chaotic pair outside.

God to honest truth, you should have been able to handle them on your own but your mind happens to be occupied elsewhere tonight.

You catch glimpses of her tonight. Abby’s tucked in the black leather booth, her laptop and books laid out in front of her. She insisted on coming here tonight, not caring to be alone in your shared apartment so there was no saying no to her sweet smile.

Soft, slushy braid lightly woven together, but it hardly held. Blonde strands framed her face beautifully, accentuating her soft jawline and supple cheeks. When she wasn’t looking, given you had a moment to breathe, you would take her in.

Abby sheds herself of her vest, a loose white button up disguises her figure along with the navy trousers fitting her loosely around her muscular thighs.

Adorable.

Quietly, you sport a smile, wishing it could be suppressed but it can’t.

It’s been a few weeks since that night. You’re sure you’ll never forget the way she moved, her beautiful hair you were goddamn obsessed with at this point, watching her hamstrings succumb to the pleasure, and the way her body writhed as she came. So, naturally, you hid here. With your loose lips, you were bound to spill.

But this? You couldn’t.

There wasn’t anyone you could talk about this with, especially not Abby. In your mind, you’ve run it over a few times, none of them end well. She’s always been a sensitive girl. Taking everything to heart since grade school. Her big heart remains on her sleeve and you adore her for it but now? It’s the demise of your doom.

You want to have her. It’s a craving in your blood, but you’d just tear her to pieces. So, what if she knew how to fuck? Emotionally, spiritually, mentally - you’d only ruin her into bits until she didn’t even know where you ended and she began. Abby being so woven in your day to day, the friendship the two of you shared, it’s all so complicated.

You did the only thing you know how to. Avoid.

Luckily enough for you, the first week is easy. Abby is busy enough with her schedule, the thought never even crosses her mind that you're avoiding her intentionally. Until you change the time you’re going to the gym, and you’re picking up extra shifts on the days you’re normally off. Still the saint she is, nothing is uttered. A hum, short and crisp with just a hint of disapproval laced in her tone.

She’s smart…careful.

Abby asks to come when she knows you’re unable to deny her request. Here you are, behind the bar, distracted. Again, with her nose buried in her books, pushing up her glasses to the bump in her nose ever so often. She sips the iced water, a lemon wedge and a couple cucumbers sinking to the bottom of the frosted glass. You offered her beer, something to help with her social anxiety but she refuses like she always does.

Need to keep my head clear, she says with a small smile.

Your shift is nearly over, thankfully. There’s a few stragglers in the bar, regulars who are often here every Thursday night make their way out as you clear off glasses, wiping down the countertop. Jesse’s words keep echoing in your brain.

“What’d you do to her?” Jesse raises his eyebrows, subtly nodding his head in Abby’s direction.

“Nothing! Why would you assume it’s me?” You shrug off as you make another cocktail for a woman tucked in the corner. “Because Abby’s as innocent as a fly. Some might find her annoying, but it’s her. Abby looks like a puppy who's been kicked. Stop being a dick to your girl.”

“She’s not my-” Jesse runs off before you can complete your sentence. Leaving you to huff alone, pouring another shot of tequila into the drink. “Fucking men…” You curse to yourself.

You waltz your way over, picking up her empty glass, removing the apron tied around your waist. “Sorry, didn’t mean to take so long, Abs.” The apology slips from your lips, but inwardly you find yourself apologizing for something else entirely, not that she would ever know that.

“It’s alright. I really don’t mind waiting. I, um, got some work done anyways. It felt good to get out of the house. Thanks for letting me tag along.” Fuck, she’s so sweet.

“You don’t have to thank me, loser.” You playfully wink, causing a light giggle. The tension in her shoulders dismisses as you help her pack her things. Instinctively, you wrap her books in your hold as she carries her bag.

The ride home is silent again, leaving room for your mind to wander. Your mind can’t help but end up here for the past week, occupying every second of every day. You ignore the wet patch forming beneath your trousers. The way your cunt is sticking to the fabric, your clit thumping its own heartbeat because of her.

Hardly do you sleep and if you do, you’re dreaming of your best friend. Sometimes, it’s delicate. Soft moments which feel like memories but more intimate. It’s Abby and you, hands cupping her jaw as the pad of your thumb soothes over her chin. Bottom lip tucked between both of hers as you savor her taste. Hints of raspberry balm and something minty invade your senses.

She’s perched on your lap, hips grinding into you as you slip your tongue inside her mouth. Exploring every inch of her, dominating her every step of the way. It’s almost harmless but it leads to more.

Just like tonight.

You’re able to sleep for once. Even if Abby and her perfectly sculpted, bare body is imprinted on your brain, you find rest. Or so you thought.

Really, you don’t know how you even got here. But she’s on top, the strap fucking up into her as she rides you like there’s no tomorrow. Abby’s freckled body facing away from you. Her palms resting on your strong hips, as she fucks down on to you.

The harness rubbing against your clit, watching the baby blue dildo sink into her aching hole as she chants your name like she’s praying to some god. Instead, it’s you. All she needs is you and fuck all you crave is her. There’s no one else nearly as special as her. The way she rides as if she was made for you, taking everything you have to offer, even when you thrust up into her, soft whimpers being pulled out of her each time.

The edges of her are blurry, she never turns around, but fuck can you feel her. Using you for own pleasure, not giving a single damn if it benefits you are not but fuck it does. It’s doing everything to you. From this alone, you could cum. You know you shouldn’t but you crave more. She’s a need that can’t be undone.

Desperately, you want to sink your teeth until all of her. Whatever she wants, you’ll do it. Even if it comes at the expense of your own sanity. God, you’re not careful enough to think about what it means and your hands speak for you on their own. Greedy palms reach out for her, needing to touch her and just as you do, reality sinks in.

Quickly sitting up in bed, realizing your alone, finally awake and fucking soaked. Blood rushes to your brain, your heart thumping. Unfortunately, sweat welcomes nearly every part of your body. You can feel damp hair sticking to for forehead as you feel utterly suffocated by the duvet.

You need to take care of this. She can’t know. She can never know.

The heavy heart beat in your chest, threatening to pump out, doesn’t stop. A sports bra clings to your sweaty chest as you attempt to catch your breath. Flashes of the dream plague your mind, intoxicating your brain with her. You see glimpses of her sparkling golden hair reflecting in the moonlight, entranced by the complete control she has over her body. Each moment calculated with purpose as she lets you fuck her.

With images of only her in mind, fingers sink deep within, a choked moan echoes out as you see the defined muscles in her back clench. You imagine the dream is real, it’s you taking what you please from her. It’s Abby sitting herself on your cock taking what she’s owed.

The thought alone has you slipping in another finger, severely lost in the thought of her, you’ve yet to clock your door open. Too lost in wondering how her face crumbled when she tumbles over the edge. Does she like to be fucked through her orgasm or does she prefer a gentle voice, whispering sweet affirmations in her ear? Both?

Curling your fingers into your g-spot, drenching your fingers as you find the one spot as you picture Abby, fucking herself on the dildo as it brings your closer to the edge. All you see is her and as much as you try to rid yourself of the thought, you can’t help how wet it’s making you.

Trying but utterly failing, you’re getting louder, incoherent moans tumblr before you can catch them. Soft whimpers as if you’re some sex deprived teenager rubbing your clit for the first time. It’s stupid, trivial, yet, you need this.

“Abby—” before you catch it, it falls from your lips. Tirelessly needy, you grab the vibrator from the drawer, bring the shaking toy to your puffy clit. Over-abused by your ministries but if you don’t finish, your actions are terrifying. The thought alone scares you.

“Please, Abs, I need you.” It’s then, you feel it. The tight band in your stomach being released from it’s strong hold. Deep pools of blue and golden waves haze your mind. As your eyes shut, you ride the wave as if you’re riding her.

As if she’s the one to bring you to completion, coaxing you with the soft rasp in her voice as sweet little nothings are whispering into your ear. It’s impossible to stop the way your body shakes, just when you watched her come undone the first time, you can’t stop it.

Maybe you would have if you’d know the truth.

Your blonde nerdy best friend wasn’t as innocent as she appeared. No.

Not when she leaned against the wall, your bedroom door opened as she got off along with you. Abby’s pussy swallowed her fingers as she pictured they were yours bringing her to the edge.

Fuck….No.

All the sins were piling up, and it was only a matter of time before it caught up to the both of you.

This is what roommates are for, right?

lmk what you think! mwah! ♡

#(ᝰ.ᐟ) tlou works.#ray cums out of her hibernation ....#hi ♡#okie back into hiding i go but! camgirl!abby is back !!!#i promise there is more in store for here #abby anderson #abby anderson tlou #abby anderson x reader #abby anderson x female reader #abby anderson x fem!reader #tlou #tlou x reader #abby amderson x masc reader #abby x reader #abby x you #abby x fem!reader #abby x y/n

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