Mariah's P.O.V.
Location; Shopping mall
We are at the furniture store, and I can breathe again. I'm honestly drained, fighting that many Zombies is really an exercise, then there's the whole deal with my father, god I had hoped the apocalypse took him so I wouldn't have to. But I gave a promise, next time I see that bastard, he's dead.
"Hey" I snap out of my thoughts when Katie walks in, her hair looks better, she must've gotten it fixed and all. Before I knew what I was doing I had pulled Katie into hug.
"God, I was so worried" I whisper squeezing her tightly, I feel her go rigid before relaxing and she hugs me back. "I'm so sorry he took you" Katie immediately pulls away.
"It's not your fault, I promise you" She squeezes my arms reassuringly. I nod and plop down onto the closest bed and she joins lying beside me, the two of us stare at the ceiling in silence before I hear shuffling from Katie, and she turns to me.
"So, what's going on between you and Leo?" She suddenly asks and my whole face goes red, from the corner of my eye I notice a smirk starting to form on her face and she turns me towards her. "So, something's happened, huh?"
"No" I deny way too fast which only adds to her suspicion and her smirk widens into a grin.
"Sure" She drawls out chuckling at my reaction and we grin at each other. Then someone walks in, the girl from before followed by Xio, and Levi.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask" Katie says and sits up earning their attention. "Who are you two exactly?" Katie was looking at Levi and Xio, then I sit up with a sigh. The girl smiles at me.
"I'm Hua, it's really nice to meet you" She kindly introduces, and I grin at her then she looks at Katie. "And this is my brother, Levi, and his wife, Xiomara" Katie eyes them both wearily before nodding.
"I'm guessing you guys are staying" I say leaning on my arms and Xiomara nods.
"Yeah, I think we'd do good here" Xiomara state and I nod at her smiling. "And maybe I can even have our baby here" She says and nod a little.
"Better here than out there" I say, and she nods smiling at me while Levi glares at Katie and me. I raise an eyebrow at him, why exactly does the guys always have to be so annoying? Though Leo is something else now, I like him, more than I should especially during this dumb apocalypse.
"What's wrong, Sunshine? Don't want to stay?" Katie asks smirking at Levi the two of us probably having thought of the same thing as me. Levi scoffs at Katie.
"For one, don't call me sunshine" That makes Katie smirk and the two of us share an amused smile, even Hua looks amused. "And I don't trust you guys enough."
"Funny since you were the one who had a knife to Brandon's throat" I say, and Katie looks at me with wide eyes then turns to glare at the boy.
"Pretty sure you were the one who wanted to use my organs as Christmas lights" He says, and Katie raises her fist and I bump mine into hers. That causes Hua to burst out laughing.
"God, I know this place is going to be fun" I smile at her and she smiles back. Luna then walks in and looks around till her eyes land on me.
"Mariah, I need to talk to you" She says, I furrow a brow in confusion but stand up nonetheless and follow her. We walk to the back of the store where there's some privacy. We stand there in silence as I wait for whatever she's going to say. She looks like she's collecting her thoughts.
"Listen, I'm sorry" She apologizes, I furrow my brows in confusion, What's she sorry for? I know I've been annoyed by her, but she hasn't done something too bad. Noticing my confusion, she takes a deep breath.
"I just think we came off on the wrong foot, and I don't want to fight with you anymore" Luna says, I stare at her for a second before giving her a small smile. We've both been stressed about Katie and I get it, we both care for her.
"Well, I'm sorry for being a bitch" I apologize which makes her smile and she opens her arms for a hug, I grin at her and hug her.
"I'm glad we're somewhat friends now" She says as soon as we pull away, we hear clapping, and both look over at Brandon who's smiling at us.
"I'm glad you two are friends and all but I kind of need something and you're blocking the way" He says, I laugh and him and playfully punch his shoulder.
"Well, I have to go, we need to get more food and now that there's a woman eating for two, we need more" Luna says, and I nod.
"try the floor below us, there were a restaurant or two and a Walmart, but a few Z's there blocking the way" I tell her, she nods before walking away. I smile at Brandon as I walk away to a more secluded section to be alone with my thoughts. I find myself at the couch section and sit down on one of the big couches pulling off my leather jacket leaving me in my top. I pull my knees up to my chest thinking about what's happened recently.
"Hey" A voice cuts through the silence and I look up to see Leo heading towards me, I tuck my legs under me as he sits down beside me.
"Hey" I smile as I feel a blush already forming, gosh I'm not acting like myself. I don't like the fact that I'm crushing on him like this, I like our playful banters.
"You look like a tomato" I hear him say and I feel my cheeks redden even more then he pokes my cheek, I look at him with a glare on my face as he smirks at me.
"I will poke your eyes out, that's a promise" I threaten him which makes his grin widen.
"Oh, you don't like me seeing you that red?" He asks, I cross my arms in denial.
"I don't care, I just hope you know it's not because of you" I lie, he smirks already knowing I'm lying.
"If you say so" He shrugs, a smirk still playing on his soft-looking lips. I bite my lop before looking away, I feel his hand suddenly clamp down on my shoulder and I turn my whole body towards him, I still have my legs tucked under me but I'm leaning my side on the couch.
"How are feeling?" He asks, all trace of playfulness gone. I muster up a small smile. Honestly, getting Katie back and making up with Luna has lifted my mood.
"Better than expected" I answer honestly. His arm rests on the back of the couch, brushing against my bare arm, I feel a shiver pass through me from the contact, I don't know if he notices but he starts to caress my arm with his thumb and goosebumps appear all over my arm. He sems to notice and my brown eyes meet his hazel eyes.
I bite my lip nervously and twiddle my thumbs, his eyes trace my face as if memorizing my features. His hand suddenly grasps my arm, he looks at me hesitantly before pulling me towards him, I fall on top of him, and his hands immediately goes onto my waist and mine go on his chest. I look at him shyly, I notice a pink tint on his cheeks similar to my own.
"You haven't slapped me yet, so I'm taking that as a good sign" He mutters, I feel a small smile make its way onto my lips, his hand trail up my side before tangling it into my hair and pulling me closer to him. I start to lean in and so does he. I stop when our lips are a breath away before I find his lips on my, it knocks the breath out of me.
I grip his shirt a little before kissing him back, his lips moving gently against mine, the kiss is passionate and I try to pour my feelings into it, silently telling him my feelings. I pull away a little to get some air into my lungs but his hand on my waist makes it way up to my cheek and pulls my lips down hard on his, I can feel him smirk through the kiss but I for once ignore it and wrap my arms around his neck. When we're both having difficulties breathing, we pull away panting. His blush is gone, and he has his usual air of confidence around him.
"We're doing that again" He says making me chuckle. His hands moved back down to my waist and pulls me into a hug. I bury my face in the crook of his neck and close my eyes listening to his steady breathing.
"You like me?" I finally muster up the courage to ask and pull away slightly, only to look him in the eyes, otherwise I'm still in his safe arms. Leo's puts his hand on my cheek and start to caress it.
"If it wasn't obvious" He mutters, I grin at him which makes him chuckle then he asks. "You like me?" I scoff at him and roll my eyes.
"You really think I would just let anyone kiss me?" I ask raising an eyebrow, he rolls his own eyes at me mockingly. I can't help the small grin that makes its way onto my lips. His eyes drift down to my lips before looking me in the eyes and grinning. A small giggle bubbles out of me and I press my lips against his in a quick kiss.
"Mariah!" I hear Katie call for me, Leo sighs not liking the interruptions and tightens his hold on me.
"I have to go" I mumble playing with his hair on the back of his neck, Leo nods but quickly pecks my lips and lets me go. I stumble off him before heading towards Katie who needs help carrying a few things.
I wake up the next morning by the voices of the others discussing something, and notice that I'm the last one to wake up, nothing new.
"We need to repair it now, it could cause a flood in the mall, which would be really bad" I hear Leo say and I get out of my bed rubbing my eyes as I walk over to our new meeting area, really, it's just a table with chairs around it.
"Good morning, everybody" I say as I slap Leo across the head as I sit down beside him, he grumbles a few cuss words at me only making me smirk. We may somewhat be together but that doesn't change the fact that I like to annoy him.
"Morning" Brandon greets and slides some bread and strawberry jam towards me. "We were just talking about a water problem and pipe problems" Brandon says and I nod.
"What's the problem?" I ask as I start to put some jam on my bread, I feel a hand land on my thigh, that causes me to almost drop my bread. I don't look at Leo but I know if I do, I'll spot his signature smirk.
"One of the pipes seem to be stuck, no waters flowing out which means one of the other pipes is taking the load and it's too much to handle, it'll burst soon" Brandon explains then adds "Probably something clogging it"
"Well, the water should come from the boiling room, you should find the clog there" Luna says. I look towards Xio then at her baby bump.
"Quit staring at her" I hear Levi say, I roll my eyes at him.
"Relax, she's not exactly my type" I chuckle before smiling at Xio not even looking at Levi and she returns the smile. "I was just thinking that maybe we should get some medical supplies in case her water breaks earlier than expected" I look at Levi who understands and nods.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea" he says.
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Writers; Kaynad M. & Maryam S.
Word count; 2075