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Oh, for fuck's sake. You had gone and done it now. Actually, scrap that, you didn’t fuck it up – that idiot snitch did. You were doing everyone a service by going out past the safe zone for food. It wasn’t your fault that the animals were apparently getting smarter and knew to avoid your school’s part of the forest. You were tired of coming back empty handed, tired of letting the others down. That’s why you decided to ignore the rules and venture further out. The thing was, you had to go past the fishing hut to get where you needed to go (even though you were supposed to be at the hunting grounds), and that’s when that imbecile walker-fucker Justin must’ve seen you and told Marlon.
While you were successful in finding food, your happiness was short-lived as you walked through the gates to see Louis waiting for you, a frown on his usually happy face. See, Louis was your hunting partner for the day, but when the two of you realised there was no chance of finding food in the hunting grounds, he agreed to keep his mouth shut and let you go out alone. Once you saw the disheartened look on his face, you already knew you were in trouble.
“Marlon knows you went outside the safe zone,” he had said, crossing his arms. “Justin snitched, so now Mar wants to see you in his office. I think you’re in shit.”
It didn’t matter that you were able to score a wild boar that was big enough for all of you to eat good for the night. Hell, it probably wouldn’t have mattered if you came back with a buffet fit for a King. All Marlon cared about was making sure no one went outside the safe zone. What a stupid rule. There weren’t even many walkers around anymore – and the ones that you did come across were too weak and slow to pose a real threat. You had gone outside the safe zone before and nothing bad happened. Well, apart from Marlon making you give up food for the night which sucked.
While you were enraged that Justin had told on you, you hid your anger by letting out a defeated sigh, handing the boar to Louis. The boy thanked you, apologising (even though it wasn’t his fault), and headed over to Omar so he could get started on dinner. Your eyes scanned the courtyard, hoping to spy Justin so you could have a little ‘word’ with him before you headed up to Marlon, yet he was nowhere to be seen. Probably hiding from me, you thought. Little bitch.
It’s not like you feared Marlon. C’mon, none of these kids were even vaguely threatening. It’s just that he had the power to put you on the worst jobs for like a week or take away your ‘luxuries’ (being able to eat was certainly not a luxury). It had happened before and you worried it would happen again. And maybe he was a little scary when he was mad. Although you’d never admit that.
Your steps were slow and lazy as you trudged up the stairs to Marlon’s office. Spotting Rosie as you reached the top of the stairs, you smiled at her. She huffed in response, turning and going inside Marlon’s office, as if she was guiding you. She probably knew you were in for it, too. With a sigh, you followed the dog, slowly opening the heavy doors.
Marlon was sat at his desk, feet up on it and his hands behind his head. He looked up when he heard the door creak, his head tilting curiously. When he saw it was you, he moved his hands from his head and crossed them instead in a judging manner. Your eyes met the floor. The situation reminded you of a time long ago where you were sent to the principle’s office for calling some kid stupid and making them cry. It was a petty thing, obviously, but the way the principle looked at you made you feel bad. Same thing with Marlon.
You walked in, taking a few steps forward. You glanced up at Marlon, whose eyes were trained on you. For a few seconds, you debated what to say, as he didn’t seem to want to start the conversation. However, the patting of feet distracted you. You looked to the source of the noise to see Rosie walking over to you. She sat at your feet, looking up expectantly. You grinned, crouching down and bringing a hand up to her head. You stroked her behind her ears, just where she liked it. She looked happy at that, wagging her tail.
“I don’t think so,” Marlon spoke, raising an eyebrow at you. You furrowed your brows, wondering what he meant. He ignored you, whistling. Rosie immediately moved away from you, listening to Marlon’s call. He pointed over to the bed, telling her, “Rosie, bed.” Naturally, she did as he said. You assumed he didn’t want you playing with her since you had broken the rules. You bit your tongue, almost wanting to start an argument with him about it. I mean, having your food taken off you is one thing but not being allowed to play with the cutest dog ever? Uncalled for.
You crossed your arms, looking away.
“So, you know why you’re here, right?” Marlon asked, spinning his chair around and bringing himself to a stand, leaning against the side of his desk casually.
You puffed your cheeks out, not wanting to respond. Why did this feel so embarrassing?
“C’mon, [Y/N], don’t make this harder for yourself.”
Turning your head, you looked at Marlon with a scowl. Really, you had no right to be the one mad at him; he was just trying to be a good leader. But this was just annoying, since you had no other option. You supposed you should voice your thoughts to him. Your eyes met his icy blue ones, and you uncrossed your arms, sighing, “Look, I know I shouldn’t have gone outside the safe zone. But I had no other choice! The hunting grounds were empty and it’s so hard to find food these days so I had to do it! I didn’t wanna let the group down.”
Marlon sighed audibly, seemingly annoyed at your excuse. He ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes momentarily. Then, he opened them, looking at you with a glare, “You know better than that, [Y/N]. If you wanted to find food, you still could’ve hunted in other places in the safe zone, or even go help with the fishing.”
“Last time I did that, we came back empty handed, and then Willy cried because he was so hungry! I don’t want that again, especially not for the little ones,” you responded, exasperated.
“So, did you find food?” Marlon asked, changing the subject. He must’ve known you were right – he also hated it seeing the younger ones go without eating.
“I did,” you said. “Manged to score a boar, actually.”
You noticed Marlon’s eyes widen at this, but when he realised you were watching for his reaction, he quickly composed himself. The boy pursed his lips, standing up straight so that he was no longer leaning against the desk. He took a small step towards you, then put his hands on his hips. A hard stare was sent your way, causing your confidence to take a hit. Quickly, you found interest in the furniture of his office: the desk, the bed he shared with Rosie, the little name plate on his desk that had the name ‘MARLON’ carved into it, rather than that snotty principle’s who ran away like a bitch.
“Well, at least you brought something back, and you’re not hurt.”
“No, I’m not,” you replied in a slightly snappy tone. Of course you weren’t hurt, the outside of the safe zone wasn’t anywhere near as dangerous as he made it out to be.
“Quit it with the attitude,” Marlon hissed, suddenly pissed off at you.
Your eyes snapped to his, narrowing. You kissed your teeth at him, saying, “I don’t have an attitude! All I’m saying is that this whole ‘safe zone’ idea is shit, and just because that Erin girl died when she stupidly went unarmed to the river and ended up getting bit doesn’t mean that our areas aren’t safe.”
“Fucking hell, [Y/N], you don’t need to speak ill of the dead,” Marlon said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Listen, Marlon,” you began, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “We know there’s walkers out there. We know there’s always gonna be a chance of someone dying, or getting bit, or whatever else. But the majority of us? We’re smart enough to defend ourselves. It not going to be walkers that kill us, it’s gonna be starvation if this shit carries on.”
“Since when were you the leader around here?” Marlon questioned. “I know what I’m doing. I don’t need you to lecture me on how to be a leader – it’s really not as easy as you think.” His furrowed his brows.
Not answering to avoid insulting him further, you simply grit your teeth with a roll of the eyes. You’d heard him complain about how difficult it was being a leader countless times. You got it, you really did. Obviously, it wasn’t an easy job; you just wished he would listen to everyone else more often. It’s not like you were telling him to give up the safe zone thing for selfish reasons, and you were positive he knew that, too. He just wasn’t one to admit it.
Marlon apparently noticed your silence, as a smug smile appeared on his face. That boy loved being right. He then placed his hand on his chin in thought. “You know what? I’ll make the zone bigger, if that’s what you really want,” he decided.
“What? Really?” you couldn’t help the fact that your mouth was wide open in shock. It really wasn’t like him to listen to anyone, especially you with your sharp tongue and tendency to stray from following any rules he set.
“Yeah. You’re not the only one who’s complained about it so far,” Marlon replied with a nonchalant shrug.
“Oh,” it really did come as a surprise to you, regardless of whether his decision was influenced by the others or not. He did care about everyone and no one liked going hungry, after all. You smiled, “thank you.”
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure on expanding the safe zone at first,” the blond admitted. He took a step back, sitting on top of his desk. He looked at you, cocking an eyebrow. You furrowed your own brows, confused. Then, he looked towards the space next to him on the desk, patting it with his hand, “but when you start complaining about stuff, it’s for a reason.”
Taking the hint, you hopped up next to him, legs swinging off the side. You were curious, and a little confused, about his reasoning. Sometimes, when you didn’t understand what someone was saying to you, you’d assume they were being mean and get an attitude with them. A huff escaped your lips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I take you seriously,” he stated. You looked at him with wide eyes, surprised he would flat out admit something like that. But then you remembered: Marlon was confident, too. Pride would consume him most of the time, but he was confident. He laughed, “Why do you think it pisses me off when you break the rules?”
You stared blankly. Was he implying that he cared about you? No – he didn’t care about anyone except for Louis and Rosie, maybe Brody if he was in a good mood. You only caused trouble for him; getting into fights, breaking the rules, occasionally stealing Rosie and locking the two of you in your dorm room together much to Marlon’s dismay – so why would he give a shit about you?
“Uh… because you like your rules?” you said, though it was more of a question.
Marlon shook his head, smiling to himself. He exhaled a deep breath that he’d been seemingly holding in, then turned to you, staring with some intensity, “No. I don’t want you getting hurt, you know? I’m only harsh on you ‘cause you never seem to learn your lesson, and one day it’s gonna bite you in the ass.”
“Hey, don’t act like I don’t bring life to this boring old school! Yeah, I do stupid things a lot of the time but you’ve gotta admit, I’m a master entertainer,” you said in a cocky fashion, unable to help the shit-eating grin on your face.
“More like a master idiot,” Marlon countered, though he grinned back at you. It was nice to see him like that – smiling for once and having a genuine conversation. He was always so serious, caring more about survival than feeling alive. As if he read your mind, Marlon said, “I know you think I don’t care for fun and games, but you need to understand: I’m just a kid too, [Y/N]. The reason I’m so grumpy all the time is because I’m stressed out. This whole leader thing? It’s not easy. But when you do stupid things like try to fight Mitch just because he called you short, which you are, it is funny, and yeah, it’s nice to see you guys acting so carefree. I just… I get worried that one day you’ll take things too far and end up like everyone else.”
No, you were sure of it this time – he was implying that he cared about you. Marlon was never this open unless he was trying to say something. If only he could be a little more blunt and just spit it out already. You nodded at his words (ignoring his comment about your height), running your tongue over your bottom lip as you thought of a response. He had a point, to be fair. You were reckless at the best of times and there was a chance that this recklessness of yours could make you end up being eaten alive.
Marlon didn’t seem embarrassed that he spoke his mind. Physically and mentally, he was strong. Even now, there was an aura of power which radiated off him. He waited patiently for your response, light blue eyes dancing around the room as he did so. In a way, you envied Marlon for just how strong he was no matter the situation. You got mad at the smallest of things, whereas Marlon was able to exercise a crazy degree of control over himself even when he was pissed off, even though his anger issues were the reason he got sent to the school in the first place. Plus, he was able to keep yourself and the others in check, and that was a job you could never handle.
“You shouldn’t worry about me, Marlon,” you told him, eyes softening. You paused for a moment, heavily considering what you were about to say as your life could’ve got a lot more difficult if you went along with this. Nonetheless, Marlon was actively trying to help you, even going so far as to widen the safe zone, so surely you should aid him in return. “I’ll be fine. But, if it makes you feel better, I’ll… damn it, I’ll stop breaking the rules,” your fists clenched as you said this. In all honesty, you owed it to him to behave for a while. However, it was going to be really difficult.
Marlon’s brows raised. “For real?”
You nodded, running a hand through your hair. Your eyes meeting his, you took in his surprised expression. If he didn’t believe you, you couldn’t blame him. “Mhm. I guess I need to start taking things seriously too, and you. Even if I wanna slap you sometimes.”
Marlon simply rolled his eyes at your comment. “I don’t really see you giving up your dog-napping ways, though.”
“I won’t,” you laughed, glancing over at Rosie who was still sat in the corner. You winked at her like she understood what you were talking about.
“Hardly surprised,” the boy mumbled, though his eyes displayed amusement.
You smiled. Then, you were unsure of how to reply. Falling silent, your gaze dropped down to your shoes. Marlon didn’t know how to progress the conversation either, because he, too, went quiet. Great, an awkward silence. You mentally berated yourself for being unable to hold a conversation. You shifted uncomfortably on the desk, not knowing how to excuse yourself. The silence went on for thirty long seconds, before you cleared your throat, telling him, “I think I’ve gotta go.”
With that, you tried to bring yourself to a stand, but a hand slapped down onto your thigh, preventing you from getting up. You looked down, spying Marlon’s pale hand resting on said thigh. Your eyes widened, travelling from the hand to the face of its owner. Upon seeing your reaction, the boy quickly withdrew his hand, putting it at the back of his head in an awkward manner.
“Sorry,” he immediately apologised, looking just as surprised at himself.
“It’s fine!” you said just as fast. You didn’t necessarily have a problem with him touching you, you just didn’t expect it at all. You felt your face heat up. “You, uh, you don’t want me to leave?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah as in yeah, you do? Or…?” you questioned, looking away in embarrassment.
“No, I mean, yeah as in stay. Um, please?” his voice cracked at the end, causing a cutesy giggle to escape your lips. You slammed your hands over your mouth, cringing at the way you sounded. Ew, gross. Marlon laughed at you, though it came out as more of a snort, and both of your eyes widened in response, meeting the other’s gaze. Both you and Marlon burst out laughing, the previous awkwardness instantly disappearing. The two of you were in hysterics for quite a while, until you eventually calmed down.
You wiped away the tears that formed in the corners of your eyes. Once your vision was clear, you dared to look at Marlon. He was already looking, well, no, more like staring, at you. That’s when you took in all of his features. His mullet was his signature thing, and while most of the kids teased him for it since it ‘looked like a dead rat’, you kind of liked it. It was unique, after all. He had really nice eyes, you noted, a lovely icy blue colour that seemed like it could pierce into your soul. You then noticed his imperfections, the acne dotted around the sides of his face, the peach fuzz that was most prominent on his upper lip. The thing was, you couldn’t really call them imperfections. They made him, him. And if you were honest with yourself, he was attractive. You’d considered it before, though denied yourself from thinking about it as you didn’t really have the time for crushes and the like – not when you were fighting off the dead and worrying about whether or not you’d eat that night. Yet, now that you thought about it, those things were merely a distraction, blinding you from your true feelings that you were oh-so scared to deal with. And now that you finally thought about it, you had to admit to yourself, you may or may not have a crush or whatever they’re called on the boy sat right next to you.
“Quit staring,” Marlon said with a smirk, knocking you right out of your thoughts.
“Hey,” you began, tutting at him. You continued, “you were staring first.”
“Was I now?” he replied.
“Uh, yeah. In fact, you still are,” you stated, feeling a little insecure under his gaze. What if he was picking up on all your imperfections? What if he didn’t appreciate yours the way you did his – what if he thought you were ugly because of them? You bit your lip, furrowing your brows.
Marlon looked amused for some reason. He brought his thumb up to his mouth, licking it. Then, he moved it over to your face before you could protest and wiped it on your cheek. You shrieked.
“Ew, what the hell?”
“You had mud or something on your cheek,” he held us his thumb to you, and sure enough it now looked a gross brown colour.
“Don’t we all?” you asked rhetorically, feeling your cheeks warm up. Like, really? The only chance everyone got to wash was once a week where you’d all go down to the river to get cleaned up, and even then the river wasn’t the cleanest outlet of water in the world. So, of course you had mud on your face!
“Yeah, but no one has it that bad,” he said, raising a brow at your attitude.
He then glanced down to your… lips? You blinked, questioning if you really just saw that. Then, he did it again. Your unimpressed face melted into a more neutral expression, daring to copy him and steal a glance at his own lips. It was a daring action, for sure. However, you were curious to see how this would end. He definitely noticed your wandering eyes because he smiled straight away. “Oh, wait. There’s a little bit more.”
This time, he didn’t lick his thumb. What he did do, though, was let his eyes fall to your lips once more, suggesting to you that there was ‘mud’ there, too. Cocking a brow, you put on a smirk. If anyone saw you right now, both of your reputations would be ruined. Good thing you were enjoying yourself too much to care. Daring him to make a move, your eyes narrowed.
“Can I?” Marlon asked for your permission first.
Your smirk grew bigger.
“I don’t know, can you?”
“[Y/N],” the blond male said in a warning tone.
“Alright, alright. Go ahead,” you smiled, your hand creeping forward until it was on top of his own hand. He looked down, noticing your touching hands, and smiled back at you. Marlon, a little too quickly, leaned forward. Caught off guard, you closed your eyes, puckering your lips a little. His lips crashed onto yours, but not before your noses bumped a little painfully against each other. The kiss barely lasted two seconds before Marlon pulled away.
Opening your eyes, you looked at him, chuckling to yourself. It was pretty easy to tell that he had no experience with this sort of thing. Then again, neither did you. Although, you were sure you could be a little smoother than him. Marlon’s shoulder were raised and tense, an almost nervous look showing on his face.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t know you were so smooth, Mar,” you grinned, taking your hand off his and crossing your arms.
“Right, because you’re a fuckin’ master at this sort of thing,” Marlon hissed, rolling his eyes. You shook your head, realising he must’ve felt insecure since the tips of his ears turned a deep shade of red.
He huffed, getting to his feet and heading for the doors. Heart jumping at the feeling of him being mad at you, you hopped down from the desk, chasing after him. You yelled at him to wait, but he didn’t listen. His hand wrapped around the doorknob, clicking it open. Before he could walk out, you grabbed his wrists, pushing the door closed with the back of your hand. The boy looked at you with shock. You had him with his back against the wall, wrists restrained by the strength of your arms. A blush appeared on your face as you realised the position you were in.
“Wait,” you whispered, loosening your grip on his wrists. Marlon’s glaring eyes immediately softened upon seeing your desperate expression. “Like this,” you mumbled, taking his hands and placing them around your waist. Then, you wrapped your arms around his neck, forcing the two of you to meet eyes. You gave him a hopeful look as if asking him if it was okay, and he got the message, nodding. “Close your eyes.”
He did as you said. You smiled, tilting your head. Slowly but surely, you leaned towards him, licking your lips to make sure they weren’t dry. You closed your own eyes just as your lips met his own. There it was. Like that, it felt a lot more natural and you dared think, romantic. Marlon seemed to agree; he hummed into the kiss, his grip on your waist tightening. Impressed, you deepened the kiss, running your fingers through the hair at the back of his head and using the leverage to pull him closer. Hearing Marlon grunt, you smiled into the kiss, though he took your smile as an invitation for him to be the leader. He pushed back against you, his method of kissing being a lot more rough and demanding than your passionate way. You supposed that was just his way of displaying his power – he was your leader, after all. You let him have his fun for a while, enjoying the sweet taste of his lips against your own. After, you loosened your grip on his hair, gradually letting go of him. He took the hint, letting his arms fall limp from around your waist. At the same time, the two of you pulled away from each other.
Completely unable to help the giddy expression on your face, you beamed up at Marlon. The male smiled back at you. He seemed to still be a little surprised at what had just happened. “Okay, maybe you are a master at this,” he admitted, putting his hands on his hips. You of all people had really just impressed Marlon.
“Idiot,” you breathed, crossing your arms.
A soft huff sounded from the other side of the room. Your head snapped to the direction of the noise, only finding Rosie, who was laying on the bed staring at you. Despite her expression not looking much different from usual, you were certain there was an element of judgement in her honey eyes. Frowning, you looked at Marlon, who had also noticed this. You slapped a hand to your forehead.
“That is so embarrassing,” you whined, avoiding Rosie’s all-knowing gaze.
Marlon chuckled, “I guess we forgot all about her, huh?”
“Yep. I suppose you were just so head-over-heels for me that she just slipped from your mind,” you teased, punching him on the arm playfully.
“In your dreams, [Y/N]. It’s the other way around,” Marlon joked in return, giving you a light shove.
“As if,” you lied, although you knew it was true.
The male only shook his head in response, knowing you were, in fact, smitten with him. No one could kiss someone they weren’t strongly attracted to with that much passion. And he couldn’t help but return the feeling.