#zombieland x plus size reader

[plus-size-reader]

Rule Number 2

Columbus Ohio x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2921 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Columbus finding you, hiding in a gas station, and feeling like he needs to keep you safe...which technically breaks his rules

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You had been holed up in that storage room for what felt like forever.

When everything went to shit, you had been at work, and going anywhere else didn’t really feel like an option. You gave it a shot once or twice, but there were only so many times you could almost be attacked before you moved on.

It wasn’t worth the risk.

Besides, it wasn’t as bad as it may have seemed to an outsider looking in. You had plenty of food and drink, even if the quality was a little iffy and it was basically secure.

You had put a deadbolt and chain on the door, and it would have taken quite a bit to get to where you were, often huddled up in the back room behind a second locked door.

It was safe from all manner of intrusion.

When the lights were off, which was most of the time to keep the generator from running, the zombies didn’t really come around too often. Every once and a while, you’d have to kill one off but not too much happened other than that.

It was peaceful, all things considered.

Until he came through.

You weren’t sure who he was at first, or why he was here. All you knew for sure was that if he didn’t stop making so much noise, he was going to bring an entire swarm of the dead down on you.

Which wasn’t alright by you.

So, you stood from where you had been, content to just sit on the floor and wait for him to leave, hoping that you could figure something out. What you had gathered from peeking out the windows hadn’t given you much to go off of.

Of course, it would have been far better to just wait it out but it wasn’t like you could stay here anyway.

Everything that was safe about this place would be gone after this little stunt.

There was silence there for a moment when you first opened the storage room door, but not for very long. The banging and yelling from outside returned shortly after you exited your safe space, solidifying your suspicions.

Somebody had to do something, and it wasn’t like there was anyone else around here other than you.

“What are you doing?” you whisper-yelled, unlatching the padlock and yanking the chain away from the door to peek outside, finding a lanky male standing there in a cold sweat. It didn’t make any sense.

What kind of person just stood around and waited for death?

Columbus jumped at your intrusion, shocked that you were even there in the first place. After all, he hadn’t exactly been expecting you.

There were no signs of outside life to be seen, which you had done very much on purpose.

The less attention you drew to yourself, the better.

Evidently, he had been trying to get in but it wasn’t until you opened the door that that plan actually started to seem like a viable option. Especially because in his attempt to get in, Columbus had drawn a bit of attention.

“Hi, I’m Columbus. Can I come in?” he tried, leaning against the side of the building in an attempt to get as close to safety as he could, without intruding on your space.

You didn’t look super dangerous, outright, but that didn’t mean anything in this world.

You could have been just as dangerous as anyone else, adn to be fair, you were thinking the same thing about him.

Of course, you weren’t overly thrilled at the idea of letting anyone in, not that Columbus could blame you. There was no reason you should have trusted him and stuck your neck out for a stranger.

Though, just when he thought you’d close the door and leave him there to an inevitable death, you opened the door just enough for him to slide past you into the gas station.

The room was quiet for a second as the male settled against the checkout counter, trying to catch his breath while you focused more on relatching the doors. It might not have done much against a huge horde of the dead, but it was better than nothing.

At least, it gave you some peace of mind.

“Who are you?” he asked, the first to speak between the two of you once you turned around, seemingly content with the state of your security.

If you turned off the generator and everything inside, eventually the Z’s would get bored and leave this place alone, just like they always did.

You were understandably guarded at the appearance of a stranger but you couldn’t help but be slightly offended at his question.

Who were you?

You were the only person who had been here since the start of this, and you were the person that just saved his life.

If anyone got to ask any questions, it was you.

“Why should I tell you?” you countered, crossing your arms without hesitation.

You weren’t armed, like he was and if he wanted to kill you, they certainly could have. However, he didn’t seem to be all that aggressive in nature, and you didn’t see him as a threat.

If anything, he was just being cautious, something you could respect.

Besides, you had no reason to be afraid of him. In a world like this one, you never expected to live one day to the next and you weren’t afraid of dying anymore. You weren’t really afraid of anything, within these walls.

You had lived this long, and you weren't about to get taken out by some random guy who looked like a strong gust of wind could take him down.

There was a lot more you still had to do.

“I just figured we could get to know each other. I told you my name” he shrugged, not entirely sure what the big deal was.

Sure, you may have wanted to keep your distance from people on the outside but if you were sticking to that, you would have left him out there.

You sort of agreed to smalltalk when you opened that door.

“It’s Y/N” you sighed, finding yourself far less inspired to keep doing this as the minutes ticked by. Clearly you weren’t going to get out of this whole thing without having at least one conversation.

There was no reason for this whole thing to go bad if it didn’t have to.

Besides, you both seemed to be perfectly reasonable people. It wasn’t like a couple of words shared could be any more life-or-death than anything else.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you” Columbus hummed, offering a hand to you which you took slowly, still not sure what you were supposed to feel about him.

This whole thing was just really weird.

“How long have you been here?” he asked, fully aware that he was talking too much but not caring enough to keep himself from doing it. It was obvious you’d been holding up here for a while, and you seemed to be all alone.

Which was strange.

Columbus had been alone for a while himself, of course, but he didn’t think a lot of other people were around doing the same.

“I’m not exactly sure. The whole time?” you shrugged, thinking back to those early days when you realized that something was wrong. The news outlets and internet were exploding, but you didn’t know what to do.

Locking yourself in the storage room seemed to be the best option you had, and while it wasn’t ideal, it had kept you alive this long.

“Wow, you’ve been alone that long?”

Columbus spoke in a way that made you realize just how upset about it you should have been. You weren’t dead, that much was true, but you hadn’t exactly been living all these months either.

All you did was get up, eat something packed full of preservatives and wrapped in plastic, and then sit around for a few hours before it was time to do it again.

It was no life of value, something that the male in front of you surely understood. After all, he hadn’t done a lot in this time either but at least he’d done some exploring, and had seen some things.

It had to have been better than being locked up in the dark all the time.

“Yeah, I guess I have” you sighed, deciding that it was no big deal even if it was. You did what you had to do in order to survive, and that was just what it was.

Still, there was something about it that really stuck with Columbus and while it might not have been the best idea, he knew what he had to do.

There was no way they were going to leave you here, anyway.

“Well, not anymore. You can come with me, if you want” he offered, the words meant to be more of a question than they were, but you didn’t really mind.

As you’d already decided, being alone wasn’t going to work forever.

The best chance you had at surviving and living a life worth anything would be if you accepted his offer.

It was either go him or get back into the storage room and do what you were doing before. He may not have been what you would have wanted as far as company but they were better than the rats.

You had really underestimated how lonely it was, being alone all this time.

There weren’t that many more people left alive anymore, and sticking together didn’t seem like too bad a deal.

You had definitely done worse since this whole thing came about.

...and it wasn’t lost on you that there was a lot of bad out there, and being in here had kept you from it.

You had no idea what you were dealing with, not like he did.

“Yeah, okay. I guess we should probably pack a bag and get out of here” you decided, finding yourself more and more unwilling to stay here as the minutes passed.

In all the months that you’d been here, it had been a big deal but now that you weren’t alone, you felt like you were suffocating.

You had to get out of here, and you definitely needed Columbus to help you do that. After all, he knew a lot more about this than you did, and you were sure that there was quite a bit he had to tell you.

There were plenty of rules Columbus had, and it was going to take some time to learn them.

Thankfully, you had all the time in the world and a new companion to spend it with.

~

“You okay?” Columbus checked, catching the way you faltered as you tried to cross the threshold of the convenience store.

It had just been so long since you had set foot outside and you weren’t entirely thrilled at the idea of having to do something so out of your comfort zone. Still, you knew what you had to do.

Columbus was right.

You couldn’t just stay here.

If you did stay, there was no telling what kind of person could stumble across this place, and there was no guarantee that they would be as friendly and non threatening as Columbus was.

You had no way to know that you weren’t in danger.

It wasn’t uncommon for other survivors to move through here pretty often, looking for supplies, and while the padlock was a good option to keep out the dead, it wouldn’t be so effective against other living people.

You knew that you had to go, as uneasy as it made you.

“Yeah, just a little nervous” you allowed, a new honesty blooming between you and Columbus as you decided to fully trust him. If you were going to travel together, you knew that you had to trust each other.

There was no other way.

Columbus nodded, taking all the things you must have been feeling into account. He should have assumed that this would be hard for you, given the circumstances.

You were panicking, and he couldn't blame you.

He wanted you to be as comfortable as you could be during this whole thing, but you also couldn’t spend too much time out here in the open.

The more time you spent here, the more danger you were in.

“Do you think this is enough?” you hummed, digging through your bag which was now full of discarded water bottles, stale potato chips, and granola bars. All this time, you had everything you needed to survive.

What if you left and that all went away? What if you couldn’t find any other food or supplies after you moved on?

What would you do now?

“It’s enough. I promise” Columbus tried, looking around every once and a while to make sure that the two of you hadn’t been spotted by anyone else, whether that be the dead or other humans.

It was clear that you were struggling and Columbus couldn’t blame you. 

Of course, you had been locked away in your storage room for all this time and it couldn’t have been easy to leave that space in favor of the unknown.

He knew what that felt like.

After all, he’d had to leave everything he knew behind when the world fell apart too. Eventually, you would adjust and living out on the road would become second nature.

You just had to give it time.

“You’re sure? Should I go get something else?” you questioned, further stalling in a desperate attempt to try and keep from having to go out there. It was pitch black outside, with no telling what was out there.

How were you supposed to be comfortable going out there without any preparation? It was horrifying.

“Y/N, do you trust me?” Columbus asked, interrupting you out of necessity, the distant groans and sounds of the dead setting alarms off in his head.

You really had to get going.

His words stopped you, giving you pause. Did you trust him? By all accounts, you barely knew him but he was the first person you’d seen around here in several months, and he was trying to help you.

In short, the answer seemed to be yes. If you could trust anyone right now, it had to be the man in front of you.

Slowly you nodded, taking the hand he offered you just as slowly, so that he could lead you out of the building fully. 

There was no going back now, no matter how much your brain was trying to convince you to run.

This was terrifying.

Still, you did your best not to think about it as you let Columbus lead you out into the parking lot, where a car, his car, was parked.

“I’m going to put some gas in the car, just stay here” he suggested, putting all of your bags and supplies into the backseat before handing you the shotgun that had been slung over his shoulder.

It wouldn’t take too much time, and then you could both get out of here.

...or at least, that was the plan.

As if this situation couldn’t get any more traumatizing for you, sometime between Columbus rounding the front of the car and beginning to pump the gas, you had managed to catch the attention of a single Z, stalking toward you in the dark.

Which, naturally, made you panic.

“Ohio! What should I do?” you called, absolutely horrified. You hadn’t encountered any of these things face-to-face before and it was much more frightening up close than you could have imagined.

Not that Columbus was any more prepared, really.

“Shoot it” he suggested, hoping that you would be able to do this so that the two of you could get out of here as soon as possible. As much as he wanted to help you, he needed to get this gas first.

Where there was one, there was always more and you didn’t have time to do both.

You did as he asked, your fingers fumbling with the trigger before you finally aimed at the shambling corpse in front of you, pulling it with slight hesitation.

By some miracle, the bullet found its home between the Z’s eyes, which earned a cheerful chirp from you. You had actually done it!

“Columbus, I did it” you hummed, celebrating slightly over the small victory. You had never felt such a rush in your life and frankly, you were proud of yourself.

The man on the other side of the car, however, wasn’t nearly as willing to throw a party yet. 

After all, you hadn’t learned the rules yet and until you did, he was going to have to make sure to teach you.

“Do it again! Rule number 2, you have to double tap” he called back, looking at you over the hood of the car but not bothering to join you at your side. You had already done it once and it was much harder to hit a moving Z than one that was down.

You could do this.

...and thankfully, he was right.

With the one remaining shell in the shotgun, you shot the Z in the head one more time, now putting it down for good.

Now you did it.

You had learned your first rule, and killed your first Z, all in one day. All thanks to this new stranger, who you only knew as Columbus Ohio.

[zodiyack]

Family

Pairing: Columbus x reader

Warnings: Violence, swearing, zombies, death?, SPOILERS TO THE FIRST ZOMBIELAND MOVIE, um probably some stuff that would make you grossed out? I dunno, it’s zombies man, fluff

Bold + italic: Columbus’ voice-over || Italic: Memory, but I’m sure that’s already been established in my other fics 

Note: I apologize if this is trashy, I wrote the beginning following the movie, since I’ve literally seen it about 100 times, and I realized I would have to include the reader more so I came up with the second half, but I’m not sure if I like it. Hope you guys enjoy! 

masterlist

Columbus woke up, puzzled. He turned to face the previously sleeping girl, eyes widening when he saw her bloody and vomit covered face. She was making weird groaning sounds, but he was too busy panicking to notice them.

“Oh my God. Are you okay?” He started backing up.

She opened her mouth to let a puke-like-liquid pour out. Columbus jumped up, startled, worried, and slightly grossed out.

“Woah, woah, woah!” 406 screamed and hopped off the couch, following him slowly. “Okokok, stop, stop, stop! ...What are you doing?” She lunged at him, reaching out with one arm to claw or grab him. The screams that came out of her mouth while doing so sounded inhuman, demonic even.

Columbus wasn’t sure of what was happening, but he was slowly processing it. And slowly processing is better than not processing at all. He darted off to the kitchen, 406 following behind, still screaming. His back hit the fridge and 406 slid into the kitchen.

He lifted a blender as a makeshift weapon, “Stay back 406. I don’t want to hurt you-” She blinked as the top half of the utensil fell off. Columbus stared at her for a few seconds, muttering one word when he realized what just happened to his form of protection. “Shit.”

406 lunged at him again, causing him to throw the blender to the side and move out of the way as quick as he could. She ran straight into the fridge, turning around and following him. They ran through the house, her being blood thirsty, and Columbus being scared for his life.

He ran into a room on the right and shut the door as quick as he could. However, 406′s ankle was in the way. He had shut the door on her ankle. She wrestled to get in, screeching louder when she twisted her foot and he pushed harder against the door. The bone was now visible, and Columbus, being the innocent sweetheart that he is, apologized over and over to the undead girl.

“Oh my God, I am so fucking sorry!” 

406 screeched, but in all honesty, it sounded like she was screaming “ow” in the inhuman voice. Her face kept contorting in pain, it didn’t last long though. She managed to push the door open.

Columbus ran to the connected bathroom, rushing to unlock the door that led out of it. Unfortunately for him, she was fast. She pulled him off the door and threw him into the shower, making the shower-curtain fall on top of him. 406 did as the curtain had done, but on purpose, and tumbled onto Columbus.

Panicking even more than he had just a few minutes ago, Columbus grabbed the curtain and tossed some of it over her head, putting his hands on her shoulders to keep it from coming off. Her face-shape began to appear in the curtain as she screamed and leaned forward. Her fighting grew more violent, her mouth almost reaching his face, he slid his hands to the part of the curtain behind her head. It would’ve suffocated a normal human, but once again, Columbus was in denial and too panicked to notice the abnormality

She grabbed the shoulders of his hoodie, the two moving around as they wrestled for life or death. Columbus finally got the upper hand and pushed 406 into the cupboard. Her mouth was more visible now, and she was biting over the curtain, which had gone into her mouth. A few chomps later, and her tongue ripped through the curtain, blood spilling out of the hole with it.

Columbus made a sickening noise, reaching behind himself with one hand, the other still holding his undead neighbor back. 406 was now grabbing his face in an attempt to pull it closer to hers while her tongue moved around. A smaller cupboard opened behind Columbus, allowing him to reach in. He pulled out a bag of cotton balls, taking a second look in confusion and slight regret.

The cotton balls were thrown at 406′s face, not phasing her in any way. He reached in again, pulling out a roll of toilet paper and throwing it at her, making a face after it didn’t affect her either. His reaction to the useless weapons could be summed up with the words; “What. The. Actual. Fucking. Fuck.”

He finally pulled out a random spray-can, spraying it into 406′s open mouth. She started coughing. Columbus was unaware that she was a zombie, as it was only the beginning of the apocalypse, but she was. And since she had only recently turned, she was faster and still reacted in a somewhat human way.

Columbus took the chance he was gifted, moving backwards on the floor while 406 coughed. By the time he stood up, 406 was growling and wrestled the curtain off. She crawled towards Columbus, who was now half on the toilet and grabbing the toilet tank’s lid. She finally reached him, only to get the lid smacked hard to the back of her head.

Breathing heavily, Columbus walked backwards out of the bathroom, slamming the door shut. He held up the lid, continuing to walk backwards. Panic and cautiousness never left him.

“You see, you just can’t trust anyone. The first time I let a girl into my life and she tries to eat me.”

He stopped halfway in the hall. Something didn’t feel right. 

The door pulled open with a loud creak, and 406 used the door frame to help herself stand up. She looked at him and limped forwards a little. Her eyes met his. Even though she was dead, her glare seemed so agitated, it felt human.

“Please...” He started backing up. “Listen to me,” he swallowed. The sweat was glistening on his forehead. “406. If you’re in there...You’re just sick.” Columbus shook his head, trying to reason with the undead girl. “Okay?”

406 moved her head around. She looked at him intensely. Then, she lifted her head to the ceiling and closed her eyes. She let out a loud demonic scream. It was the most horrifying shit Columbus had ever heard and seen; she limped towards him, dragging the broken foot behind, her speed picking up quickly.

Columbus prepared himself. She was getting closer. Closer. Closer. Until-

‘BANG’

He smacked the lid across her face with the rest of the strength he had. Her body dropped to the floor and stayed there. She lied limp and dead. For real this time. 

And with that, the rule of Double Tap was born. As well as Columbus’ other rules and knowledge of the zombies. Zombies existed, and it was time to wake up and realize it.

Where was Columbus now? He was with his family. No, not his real family...they were dead. He was with Tallahassee, Little Rock, Wichita and Y/n. 

They survived the grocery store. That’s where the two men met Little Rock and Wichita. They survived the Police Station. That’s where the four of them met Y/n. And they survived Pacific Playland all together. That’s where the two men rescued the three girls. That’s where they called each other family.

To be specific, he was lying in bed with Y/n. Cuddling is something that is need often in the zombie apocalypse, seeing as the world has been taken over by man-eating monsters. Cuddles were a way to comfort your partner at a time like this one. And that’s what they were. Partners. Lovers. Mates. Soulmates.

They were and had been for a while now. He was glad that he let a girl into his life once more. Y/n was his world, and he was hers. When Y/n met Columbus, she was serious, not afraid, ready to die. However, now that she had been with him for a long time, she was willing to cling on a while longer. And he was too.

Y/n bashed the third zombie’s head with the end of the rolling chair. Her safe place had been destroyed. The undead were closing in. Who would do this?

“Hurry! We’re gonna need to hurry if we want to get out of here a- ...alive...”

The h/c girl turned to the voice. It was a young girl. She had braids in her hair, a shotgun in hand, and was tapping the other girl next to her. The older girl turned and her mouth dropped open.

“Columbus. Tallahassee.”

The two men she must’ve been talking to turned. One caught Y/n’s eye. He was a rather sweaty, but cute curly haired guy. His curls were sticking to his forehead. He was breath-taking. The other male, was an older guy in a cowboy hat. If y/n had to guess, she’d guess he was Tallahassee.

“Uh- uhm- hello. Are you...”

“Bitten? No. But thanks to you guys, I could have been. What’d you do anyways?”

“We um...” The child spoke up again. She didn’t know how to explain it, her badass aura was replaced with shock. “Well we thought this place was abandoned.”

“That’s okay. Do me a favor though.” The group nodded, one of them shooting a zombie that managed to get through, then returning their attention to Y/n. “Take me with you.”

“Excuse me?” Cowboy-hat-man asked. He had a country-like accent, and that added to Y/n’s guess of names. He looked suspicious of her.

“Take me with you.”

“Why should we-”

“Okay. You know how to work a gun, correct?”

Y/n quickly pulled out shot a zombie that stood behind the curly haired man. It was like it came out of nowhere, but it helped Y/n prove her point and confirm the man’s question. “I don’t know. Maybe.” She shot the zombie’s head a final time, now that it had been in her view after the group moved to see what she shot at.

“Cool. I’m Little Rock.”

“Nice shot. Wichita.”

“Come on guys, are we seriously gonna-”

“Columbus. How’d you know to double tap?”

“Just something I do. Nice to meet you guys. I’m guessing angry cowboy is Tallahassee?” The group nodded with smiles on their faces. They didn’t even know it yet, but they seemed more and more like a family with each moment they spent together.

“Y/n?”

“Yes Columbus?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” She giggled, adjusting her head on her boyfriend’s chest.

“Y/n?”

She giggled more, “Haven’t we already done this?”

“Yes but...”

“Hmm?” She closed her eyes. She was listening to his heart beat and his talking, it was all so soothing.

“I’m glad we met you.”

“I’m glad you guys did too. And I’m really glad that we’re all together now. A family.”

“A family.”

Their lovely time alone was crashed by Tallahassee, a now 15 year old Little Rock, and Wichita. They jumped onto the bed, laughing amongst themselves. Their family wanted in on the cuddles. The entire family was there, and they were thankful.

[plus-size-reader]

Sneaking Around

Columbus Ohio x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 2344 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Tallahassee finding out that you, his daughter, and Columbus have been seeing each other in secret

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It was a bad idea.

All things considered, there was nothing worse that you could have done. You both knew it, but at the same time, you couldn’t help yourselves.

Once Tallahassee found out about this whole thing, he was going to lose his mind. However, as much as you loved and respected him as your father, you weren’t blind to the fact that he wasn’t always right.

Where Columbus was concerned, for example, he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Florida acted like there was something wrong with him, even though the younger male was arguably your father’s greatest friend in the world. It was where you were concerned that the whole thing fell apart.

Columbus wasn’t good enough for you.

The idea of the two of you together, in any way, made him want to throw up and Tallahassee wasn’t exactly secretive about that. It was his one rule, the one thing he’d forbidden you from doing.

You weren’t allowed to date him.

So, naturally, that was exactly what you were doing.

It was inevitable.

The two of you were around the same age, going through something that only you were going through, and as if you didn’t already know, the apocalypse was lonely.

It wasn’t like the dating pool was vast and diverse.

Besides, you didn’t see anything wrong with it. Just because Tallahassee was your father didn’t mean he got to decide everything you did for the rest of your life.

There was a difference between keeping you safe and running your life. All you asked was that he learned the difference and respected it.

The two of you had grown up together seeing as Tallahassee had you pretty young, and your mom gave up custody of you almost immediately. In that way, you knew you were closer than the typical father-daughter would be.

...but controlling who you could and couldn’t date in your early twenties was a bit of a stretch.

You liked Columbus, and at this point, you weren’t even sure if you’d be able to stay away from him if you tried. The only other option then, if you didn’t want to be lectured into eternity, was keeping your relationship a secret.

It wasn’t ideal, and you weren’t happy about lying to him, but sometimes you had to do what had to be done.

What Florida didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Right?

Wrong.

Sneaking around was bound to get old at some point, and the longer you kept it up, the more you ran the risk of getting caught, which just couldn’t happen.

You would never, ever, live that down.

Though, one of you wasn’t nearly as worried about getting caught as the other. In fact, Columbus was having a really good time keeping secrets from Tallahassee and sneaking around behind his back.

He was getting a kick out of it.

The older man had been busting his balls since they met and knowing that he had such a huge secret that Florida knew nothing about was some pretty sweet irony for him.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was head over heels in love with you.

From the start, Ohio had been in a desperate search for love and as soon as he met you, he knew you would be the one. There was just something about you, and he couldn’t imagine anyone else changing his life like you had.

You were strong and determined, without the uncontrollable anger and sass that Tallahassee had. It was as if you mixed together all the good qualities in the man with the genes of your mother, who he could only imagine was an angel.

That was the only way he could imagine Tallahassee having a kid like you.

It didn’t make any sense otherwise.

“Come here, look at this” You gushed, grabbing Columbus by the arm in a desperate attempt to get him to pay attention to what it was you were seeing.

After what had happened at Graceland, you had very little hope for the Hound Dog Hotel but it wasn’t shaping up to be too bad a time. All things considered, there was some pretty cool stuff here.

...and you weren’t the only one who thought so.

You hadn’t seen your dad since you walked through the doors and you were sure he was sneaking around here somewhere, snatching memorabilia from the shelves and singing at the top of his lungs.

At the very least, this place would put him in a better mood than he’d been in lately.

“Are you seeing this? These are Elvis’ actual shoes” you gasped, gesturing wildly to them as you fangirled. You had been raised on Tallahassee’s love of the King, and harbored quite the obsession yourself.

Being here was putting you in a really good mood.

Columbus grinned, watching you stare in awe at the blue suede, taking in every little detail of them as if you had never seen anything better before now.

It was sweet.

There was something sweet about it, something innocent that he hadn’t seen in you in a really long time. It was a real joy, without the worry or concern that came with living in a world like this one.

“I see” he hummed, not even bothering to hide the amusement in his tone as he talked to you.

A pair of shoes seemed a little silly as far as things to get this excited about were but he was just glad you were so happy. If you were happy, he was happy.

That was how this whole thing worked.

“And isn’t that amazing?” you continued, hoping that you could prompt a similar amusement from him but nothing came, not in the way you were looking for anyway.

More than anything, he just enjoyed being here with you.

The two of you didn’t get a lot of chances to be alone without the intrusion of someone else, whether that be Wichita, Little Rock, or worst of all, Tallahassee.

Just being together was all he could have ever wanted, but there was one other thing that would have surely gotten the reaction from you that he wanted so badly.

Without so much as a second thought, Ohio snatched the blue suede shoes from the pedestal they were on and slipped them on to his feet. It wasn’t a sure thing at first, but he quickly realized they were a perfect fit.

What were the odds of that?

“What do you think?” he grinned, doing his best to be suave in them, though it didn’t really work that way because he was too lanky and awkward. Instead, he sort of resembled a newborn calf learning to walk.

Thankfully, he was so endearing and adorable that you couldn't help but laugh.

“They’re very sexy” you teased, closing the space between you with a smirk on your face, doing your best to keep the giggled bubbling up in your throat at bay as you draped your arm over his shoulder.

“Oh yeah, you think?”

Columbus’ voice came in the same teasing tone as your own, his eyebrows wiggling as he looked at you, jaw tight to hold in his own laughter.

This was just too much for you both.

“Absolutely” you smiled, leaning forward just enough to capture his lips with your own as the best way to punctuate your point. They weren’t really all that sexy so much as you just liked him, but he wasn’t about to split hairs over it.

He was just glad to be kissing you, in all honesty.

However, the moment was over as quickly as it started because from somewhere behind you, someone else had entered the room and wasn’t about to leave you to it.

After all, Tallahassee was just doing his best to keep his head from exploding as he took in the sight of you, his daughter, in a heated make out with his most pathetic acquaintance.

It wasn’t happening.

He was sure it wasn’t.

The more viable conclusion was that he’d fallen somewhere and given himself a concussion, inducing hallucinations, or maybe he was dead. Anything would be easier to accept than what he was looking at.

“Oh fuck no”

Those three words were practically inaudible at first, but that too was short lived because once he’d realized that what he was seeing was really happening, that was when the yelling started.

...and once he started, it was hard to get him to stop.

In fact, by the time you’d turned around, fully separating from Columbus, your father was already red in the face.

Evidently, today was the day.

You were never going to hear the end of this.

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING THIS FROM ME? I MEAN, ANYONE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN HIM? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY RULES? THAT WAS THE ONE THING I ASKED-”

There was no good way for this to end, which you and Columbus both knew. Even as you looked at him, eyes wide, Tallahassee kept going. He couldn’t imagine how this had happened right under his nose.

As far as he knew, the two of you didn’t even get along but clearly that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t born yesterday, and he knew what kissing like that meant.

That wasn’t a passing smooch or a casual make out out of boredom. This was something the two of you had been maintaining for quite some time, and that was the worst part of it all.

You had been lying to him.

“Buddy, calm down. It’s not that big of a deal” Columbus tried, practically shouting into the void with his suggestion. Though, as soon as he spoke, Florida stopped his rant in its tracks.

Which wasn’t a good sign.

“Oh no, not gonna happen buddy” he spit back, momentarily making you glad he’d left his gun in the van. If he had it right now, there was no telling what would happen.

Tallahassee was angry, in general, but this was something different. For him, this was more of a betrayal than something that would make him angry, which made it so much worse.

He just couldn’t believe this was happening.

All you knew was that someone had to do something before this escalated much more and ruined the entire thing you all had going on. You were a family, but if you didn’t step in, there wouldn’t be anything left.

Clearly, Columbus wasn’t the one to fix this whole thing.

“Okay, can we just talk about this like adults please? I’m a grown up, remember?” you hummed, intentionally keeping your voice calm to keep this from escalating that much more.

Over everything else, you were sure he was more upset with you. At its core, this issue was about you growing up and doing something you shouldn't have done.

It had very little to do with Columbus himself.

If it had been anyone else, Florida would have been just as upset.

“Oh, you’re a grown up, well then, what am I even doing here?” he grumbled, completely ignoring the male at your side now, his focus completely on your face.

Objectively, he knew you were right. Even with as much as the world around you had changed, you had too. You weren’t a little girl anymore, clinging onto his pant leg and crying every time he left your side.

You were a grown woman, which was hard enough for a father to grasp, but this was something else entirely.

You weren’t allowed to be with him.

You just weren’t.

“That’s not what I meant. I just don’t get why it's such a big deal” you huffed, shoving your hands into the pockets of your jeans, where you could hide the anxious tapping you got up to.

All you were doing was seeing someone who you really liked and while having your literal father walk in on an impromptu make out wasn’t ideal, it also shouldn’t have been the end of the world.

He used to date plenty, before most of the population died out.

“Because it is. I told you not to do it, and you did” Tallahassee grumbled, crossing his arms, his words leaving his lips in a traditional dad fashion.

That was always his go to thing, even when you were a kid.

You can’t do that because I told you not to.

It might have worked out well when you were six years old and trying to tie your opposing shoelaces together but not anymore.

Now, the world was literally crumbling around you and you all faced death on a daily basis. If the worst thing you got up to was falling in love with a man who carried a tiny purell in his pocket, you didn’t get why that was such a problem.

Out of all the men you could have chosen, even before the end of the world, Columbus was by far the best.

He was sweet, smart, and cared about you more than anyone ever had in your life. By all accounts, you were lucky and while you felt bad for lying to Tallahassee about being with him, you wouldn’t have done anything differently.

Being with him was important to you, and you loved him.

Nothing was going to change that.

“I love him, okay? That’s why I didn’t want to tell you, because I knew this was how you would react” you sighed, finding it almost impossible to not just give up completely.

You knew that no matter what you said, it wouldn’t make a difference. Once Tallahassee had made up his mind, there was nothing you could do to change it.

As much as you would have liked for him to be supportive of your relationship, you weren’t going to stop seeing the man you loved just to appease him.

It just wasn’t going to happen.

It would seem that if there was any time for you to act like your father and take on his stubborn nature, it was now. You just weren’t ready to lose Columbus.

Not now, and not ever.